Published on March 4, 2012 by Stephen

Difficult Decisions

On Friday Levi and I took one of our cats, Peanut, to the Humane Society. The goodbye was difficult for both of us, but we found that it was the best option for everyone involved. While I would have loved to re-home Peanut myself, I would have had no way of guaranteeing his new home was safe and that his new owners were responsible. As the Humane Society already has systems in place to do this, and vets on hand, I figured it would be the best option for him.

The reason why Peanut couldn’t continue to live in our home, is because he was not getting along well with our other cat, Bella. When we adopted Peanut, we brought him home to a very large 950 sq. ft. apartment with plenty of space for him to get away to if he needed. When we moved to our new apartment, and lost 400 sq. ft., the cats did not have enough space to get away from each other when they wanted. Cats are very territorial, so they both ended up fighting over space. On the evening that we brought Peanut in, he was chasing Bella around when she was trying to sleep.

Bella has not shown any signs of missing Peanut. If anything, she appears to be happier. Her behavior has changed slightly. When we are home, we notice that she is playing a lot more than she used to. Almost immediately, we noticed that she would start playing with toys that Peanut would not let her touch prior to his departure, also she is now more vocal than she used to be. When we come home, her behavior is largely the same except that she is less hesitant to seek affection.

Overall, I feel that we made a good decision. It was a hard decision, but a good one nonetheless. Levi had some trouble with it at first, he was reluctant to say goodbye to Peanut but he knew that it had to be done. We both still miss him a bit, but we know that he will find a happy home of his own.

Levi has drill with the army this weekend so I am sitting at home right now with not much to do. OK..maybe that last statement isn’t entirely true..I need to vacuum, do the dishes, mop, clean the cat box, blog, etc. At least I am doing one of those things on the list, right? Never mind the fact that I am doing the easiest item on the list. (Though if you look at my habits, it might appear that it isn’t the easiest item on the list.)

Speaking of the blog and blogging, you may have noticed a lot of changes around here lately. I had some issues with my dedicated server that I lacked the knowledge to fix, and as a result my blog was completely messed up. I have since chosen to decommission my server. It was fun while it lasted, but in the end I just couldn’t keep it running on my own. (It was quite the learning experience though, and I am glad that I did it.) My server will be shipped back to me soon, and I need to figure out what to do with it. I might sell it.. who knows.

Published on February 28, 2012 by Stephen

Dehydration and Sandwich Shops

I am currently sitting with Levi at the Antique Sandwich Co. after a long day of laundry. When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t feeling well, though looking back on it now I was probably just a little dehydrated. (I had a headache and felt terrible..I really ought to drink more water.)

After lunch today, which consisted of a chicken sandwich, I got to thinking about the Antique Sandwich Co. and how good it would be for dinner. Levi had the same thought apparently, because he is the one who brought it up. (He is the one who always brings up food.. I usually just criticize the selection.) We like this place because they don’t skimp on their ingredients. Their sandwiches come loaded with a generous supply of sprouts, lettuce, cheese and meat. I personally enjoy the Ham & Cheese on Rye – it’s quite flavorful. (Though I might have to ask them to be a little less generous with the mayo next time.)

It’s good that they don’t skimp, because their sandwiches are anything but cheap. The high price of the food is made up for by the fact that the woman who took our order remembered us from our last visit and also because this place has wi-fi and is kind of super adorable. There are various items for sale around the Antique Sandwich Co. and many of them are quite adorable…like a stuffed penguin that I will probably take home with me if it is here the next time we visit.

Overall, the Antique Sandwich Co. is a great place to go for dinner or lunch. The Point Defiance Park and Zoo are just up the road from here, so you should make it a point to stop in when you’re visiting the area for those attractions. (Perhaps even pick up some sandwiches to go and enjoy a picnic in the park?) After all, the Antique Sandwich Co. is way cuter than the Zoo’s café.

P.S. The cheesecake is good too.

Published on February 23, 2012 by Stephen

Bad Habits, Weekends, Ms. Johnson, and God

I’m kind of in an awkward situation right now, where I don’t know if I should be blogging about the awesome weekend I had or if I should be apologizing for the little break I took from blogging. I should probably apologize first, on account of the fact that it’s ~~Wednesday~~ Thursday now so my weekend was a few days ago. I’m sorry. I had a great weekend with a good friend of mine. She came down from Seattle on Friday night to see our new apartment and we had waffles on Saturday morning before we all headed back up to Seattle to watch an improv show. On Sunday we went shopping for some new clothes, as mine no longer fit. (I also bought a new pair of shoes..which I love.) The best part is that I didn’t spend nearly as much money as I thought I would. Levi and I have another busy weekend ahead of us. A friend of ours is celebrating his birthday on Saturday and we’re meeting him at a local bar. I think it will be fun. This week has gone by rather slowly. Oftentimes I catch myself not paying attention to life and moving too fast, but this is one week that I just want to be done with. Levi and I had another surprise expense pop up yesterday, which kind of ruined my plans for buying a new couch, and it doesn’t help that our check for the deposit on our last apartment still isn’t here – Thanks Pinnacle! Due to the incompetence of the office that handles the check printing and mailing, Levi and I have not received a check that we should have received two weeks ago. Did I mention that they don’t return phone calls? Because they don’t. I am happy that we did not pay a deposit on our current apartment, because I don’t think I could handle going through this mess again when we leave this place. (We have no plans to leave this place, we love it here and I hate moving.) The check should be here this evening, but if it isn’t I’m not going to be happy – and neither will the manager of our last apartment complex, who has been put into a bad situation because of this mess. This morning I received a random text message. I replied to it asking who it was, and I came to find out it was a Ms. Johnson. Ms. Johnson had the wrong number, which she didn’t believe until she called me and got my voicemail. Thankfully she didn’t leave a message, because I don’t like checking my voicemail. I wished her a happy Wednesday, which she reciprocated. She also added “With God all things are possible” after the fact…and I think my response scared her away. (No Ms. Johnson, I don’t believe that God has anything to do with the outcome of a middle class Wednesday..) I have to get going, as I have to work today. I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, just like yesterday and I should probably get a head start at it. (…unlike yesterday…) P.S. I have not talked about this in a while, but I am back on my diet after going off of it. I got down to 205 pounds and then went right back to 215 pounds. I feel like I can maintain 205 pounds if I try a bit harder, and I might even try to get down to 200 pounds. (I think part of the reasons why I gained my weight back was the broadening of the employee meal policy at work… turns out that I, sometimes, can’t say no to bacon.)

Published on February 13, 2012 by Stephen

Coffee and Marriage Equality

As I mentioned yesterday, I once again am sitting in a coffee shop blogging today. Levi chose to work on his paper today instead of yesterday, which is why we are here. The only problem is that Levi is still protesting the paper writing, and this place closes in an hour. He has only just now come up with a topic after almost an hour of thinking. (He is writing an example essay about the different types of essays.. which is only slightly ridiculous..) I probably shouldn’t say that him protesting is the only problem, there is one other problem we’re having – the drinks are terrible. They didn’t have spiced chai at this Forza, so they recommended oregon and just put cinnamon in it – I’ve never had oregon chai so I didn’t realize how terrible this drink was going to be. I got a backup mocha, which is kind of awkwardly flavored too – it tastes burnt. We probably won’t come to this particular Forza again. (The one near our house closes early, so we settled for this one.) Governor Chris Gregoire signed the marriage equality bill this afternoon, just like she said she would. This means that in 90 days it will go into effect. The last hurdle to get over is the referendum process. The people who do not support the bill will soon be out in full force, collecting signatures to get the bill on the November election ballot. You will likely be approached by these individuals outside of grocery stores and other retailers. If you are approached by one of the individuals, make sure you know what it is you are signing – they may try to mislead you so make sure you read anything they try to get you to sign. (Or even better, ignore them completely.) I know from personal experience that it can be difficult to ignore these people, they are pushy and usually very impolite when they have a cause. Fighting the inevitable referendum process won’t be easy. People are very opinionated when it comes to marriage, and the same people who supported the idea of extending the benefits of marriage to domestic partners in Washington may not be supportive of the idea of granting the actual right to a civil marriage to gays and lesbians. When a domestic partnership is involved, people tend to think that the union doesn’t really encroach on the “fundamentals” of religious marriage. A civil marriage on the other hand, shares a name in common with religious marriage so people are oftentimes confused about the differences. A civil marriage is not a religious marriage. In fact, a couple can be married under the church of their choice and never even file for a civil marriage. This doesn’t mean their religious marriage isn’t valid, it just means that they don’t have a civil marriage – the two are completely different. The reason why I write this post is that we aren’t done fighting. We won’t be done fighting until we no longer live in fear of having our rights taken away from us. While the governor has signed the bill, it is not yet a valid law and will not be for some time. If we lose sight of our final goal in the haze of a small victory, we may lose what we have fought so hard to gain – just like the good people of California did when they lost their battle against Proposition 8. They have since regained the right to marriage, but the same stroke of luck may not rear its head in Washington should we lose the referendum process. Furthermore, even though we have almost achieved equality on the state level, the federal government still does not recognize our unions and will not until the Defense of Marriage Act is overturned. There is still so much more we have to fight for and getting distracted now could prove to be a big mistake in the long run. Remember, when someone comes up to you to ask you to sign a petition to have the marriage equality bill put to a vote, don’t sign it. Even though it will likely go to a vote anyway, every person who refuses to sign is making a positive difference in the world. Also remember, if the bill does go to a vote, make sure you vote to approve the referendum and remember to pay attention to any other items on the ballot that might be related. You can also help by telling your friends and family about marriage equality and why it is so important. Remember, being silent about what is right is doing a disservice to your friends and family who are hoping and praying that they can one day enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples.

Published on February 12, 2012 by Stephen

Photo Editing, Work, Lattes, and Video Games

So, after saying that I was going to do it yesterday night, I finally got around to starting the edits on the photos from Friday’s Father/Daughter dance this evening. (I also said I was going to finish cleaning my apartment yesterday.. that didn’t happen either.) The photos all turned out great and, despite me having to adjust the exposure to every single file, it didn’t take long at all to finish the initial batch edits. I still need to go in and fix up each individual photo, but for the most part the photos don’t need much additional editing. (There are about 15 or 20 that need to have the backgrounds extended to the edge of the frame, at this moment I am very thankful for Photoshop.) In one picture, I actually had to replace a little girls right eye with a copy of her left eye because a bit of hair was covering it completely – the result was very natural looking.

Tomorrow, I’ve got a pretty easy day. I only work three hours and forty-five minutes, and then I have nothing else to do. I think I will probably finish cleaning my apartment when I get home tomorrow. The way I talk about it, you probably think that it’s filthy…it really isn’t – I just like it to be super clean. When you have two cats, it is very important that the rest of the apartment be clean, on account of the fact that the two disgusting felines usually aren’t.

Levi and I are currently sitting at a table in a coffee shop. I was hoping that coming here would get Levi to work on his paper that is due next week, but he has decided that he is just going to do it tomorrow. Which means that we might be making another trip..at home he is currently being distracted by Kingdoms of Amalur – he really loves the game. (I love it as well, but I’ve already stated that here.) I think his favorite part of the game is blowing up monsters, he doesn’t really care about the story much. In fact, he just follows the circle on the mini-map and blows up everything in his way.

Anyway, it’s time to get going. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do tonight.

P.S. I feel like a cliche when I blog from a coffee shop.

Published on February 11, 2012 by Stephen

Photography and Cycling.

Yesterday was the most ridiculously long day of my entire life. As I had previously mentioned, I did portraits for a Father/Daughter dance at Elmhurst Elementary school last night. I haven’t yet sat down to edit the photos, but the in camera shots looked pretty good for the most part. There were a couple that I wasn’t so sure about but I can make them work. It’s probably going to take me six hours to edit all of the photos. I’ve got a lot of work to do tonight.

Levi has drill this weekend, so I went to a coffee shop with some friends. (This was a welcome departure from the other things I need to get done today… Like cleaning my bathroom.) Since Levi has the car, I biked to the coffee shop. The weather wasn’t super fantastic for it, but I did it anyway. When I went to leave, I noticed that my helmet was hanging from the chain awkwardly and it had been unclipped. I’m pretty sure somebody tried to take it, but they were thwarted by the way I looped the chain through the helmet straps. (Thwarted might be a bit strong of a word, but I like it.) Had they really wanted to, they could have gotten the helmet detached but I am glad they didn’t. I kind of need my helmet. Fortunately they didn’t try take anything else, like the $50 worth of lights that I leave clipped onto my bike. As I write this, I realize that my bike is just asking to be vandalized – it’s so vulnerable.

Since I’m on the topic of cycling, I should probably mention that I am definitely out of shape right now. The moderate inclines from my apartment to the Forza down the street had me gasping for air and praying that my legs wouldn’t explode from the work of moving myself uphill. I can honestly say that I am ashamed of my performance on the ride today. In my defense, I hadn’t ridden my bike for a few weeks before this afternoon. (I’ve been busy.) I hope that as the weather gets a bit nicer that I will be able to get out there more often. I should probably be going to the “gym” in our apartment complex to use the stationary bike, but I’m just so lazy that I never make time to go. I feel like there is always something more interesting I could be doing than sitting on a stationary bike, pedaling to nowhere…staring at a wall.

Levi should be home any minute now, so I have to figure out what we are going to have for dinner. I’m thinking sandwiches. I never think about dinner until it’s time to make dinner, and by that time it’s too late to do anything. One day, I’m going to figure out how to safely thaw chicken in 5 minutes.. You just watch..

Published on February 9, 2012 by Stephen

Bad Moods, Games, and Portraits.

This morning I woke up in a weird mood. I don’t really know how to describe it. It was like I was irritated and frustrated at the same time. It’s pretty annoying to wake up in a bad mood. I saw Levi off this morning around 7:30 AM and then proceeded to sit down and play Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning before I had to leave for work, hoping that playing the game would put me in a better mood. The game is a lot of fun, and I can tell that a lot of hard work went into it. There are so many side quests that I just don’t know what to do with myself. I have this problem where I feel like I need to do every single quest, and in Kingdoms of Amalur it is kind of difficult to do them all and still maintain a decent progress through the game. In the 10 hours I have played so far, I have only just begun to make good progress in the main story line. Given my lack of progress through the main story, you might think that I am getting bored with it, but I am not. Even the side quests have compelling story lines and are a ton of fun. (Trust me, I’m an expert…I’ve done like 8 hours of side quests already.) If you’re questioning whether or not to buy this game, just do it. (This is coming from somebody who hasn’t seriously played a single player RPG since Final Fantasy X. None that I have tried since then have been interesting.) The only reason why I’m even blogging right now is because I thought I should let Levi play before we head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a really long day for me. I work at seven in the morning until four (9 hours..) and then after that I have to go home, get changed, grab my camera and head to Elmhurst Elementary School where I will be photographing portraits for a Father & Daughter dance. I did the photos last year as well and they turned out pretty good – I am going to be using a flash this time, so the pictures should come out even better. Right now I am charging up my camera batteries for the shoot so that I will, hopefully, be able to make it though the entire thing. (I’ve got two batteries, which should be more than sufficient.) I need to get to bed soon, or I am going to be a cranky jerk tomorrow. I have so much to do tomorrow, and I probably won’t get home until around 10 at night.

Published on February 8, 2012 by Stephen

Wordless Wednesday: Time Wasting.

Published on February 7, 2012 by Stephen

Games, Commercials and Games.

So you’re probably wondering why I said I was going to blog about everything that happened on Super Bowl Sunday, and then proceeded not to blog about it at all. Well you see, what had happened was, I forgot my laptop and camera at my Mom’s house that night and couldn’t blog because I didn’t have my laptop. (I hate blogging from my desktop because the chair isn’t as comfortable as my couch.) Anyway, here we go.

Sunday was nice, I’m not really a football person but it was entertaining to watch Levi cheer for the Patriots. Not only because they lost, but also because he didn’t really know what was going on – he just wanted them to win. Aside from Levi being silly, not much happened. Some of the commercials were funny, I really liked the one where John Stamos got headbutted – that one had me rolling.

Monday night was pretty normal. Levi and I enjoyed sandwiches for dinner and stayed home. Tonight, Levi has class but is now on his way home. Tonight we are heading out to the store for groceries and we’re going to pick up the game “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” – I’ve heard great things about it. (Also, my cousin’s fiancé was one of the people who worked on the game, which is actually how I heard of it.) I’ll be sure to blog about the game as I start to play it.

I have to cut this entry short, because Levi is now home and we need to get going. We’ve got a lot of stuff to do before nine, when the game store closes.

Published on February 5, 2012 by Stephen

Blogging, Bowling, Cell Phones, and Food.

For the last two or three days I have been telling myself to blog. I’m just now getting around to it. I’m just so lazy and my life is so boring that I don’t have a lot of stuff to write about. (That, and the internet is really distracting right now..)

Today I finished the first season of The Big Bang Theory. I’m sure my neighbors will appreciate the inevitable decrease of laughter coming out of their walls at two in the morning. I can’t really get over how hilarious this show is. I’d seen bits and pieces of it before getting the first season, but I’d never really gotten into the show because I didn’t want to invest myself into something halfway through it. (I’ve never been able to watch a sitcom without catching up on it beforehand. This is usually very expensive.) I am looking forward to watching the rest of the series in the next few months. It might give me something to do when Levi is in school and laundry doesn’t need to be done.

Our tax returns came in this week. Levi and I both used them to pay off our credit cards. For the first time in about 6 months I have zero credit debt right now. (OK, that’s not entirely true..I used my credit card yesterday for bowling alley reservations – I’ll get into that later..) Another thing we did with the extra money was upgrade my cellphone; I’ve gone back to a BlackBerry, specifically the Bold 9930. Some of you will probably scoff at the idea of owning a BlackBerry, but hear me out: this phone has the best keyboard I’ve ever used. I really loved my iPhone and the large selection of applications, but the BlackBerry platform offers everything I need and a good keyboard. (Not to mention, the Bold 9930 is the sexiest phone with a keyboard on the market right now.) While the iPhone was a gorgeous device, my need for a keyboard just wasn’t met with it. The keyboard isn’t the only great thing about the Bold 9930, the screen is also fantastic. The pixel density is high enough that images are crisp and the colors are fantastic. My only quibble is the battery life. The iPhone definitely beats the Bold’s battery life. That being said, the battery life is good enough even if it isn’t as good.

Now, back to bowling. We went bowling last night with our friend Angie. We don’t meet up with Angie all too often, but when we do we have a lot of fun. The last time we met up was my first trip to a bar since turning 21, which was a lot of fun. Bowling went as well as it can go for me. (I’m not very good at bowling..) Levi beat us every time. After bowling we went to Target and then Bertolino’s Espresso Bar. We sat outside because there were so many people, but it was OK because it was very hot in there.

Today, we’re going to be heading over to my Mom’s house to watch the Super Bowl and eat her food. My parents are going to be making Chip Dip and French Bread Pizzas. I freakin’ love chip dip.. I’ll be sure to blog about the time spent at my parents house later tonight. (Ok, don’t hold me to that one..)

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