Guest Blogger

My brother's blog is down and he is in Kansas so he asked me to post this for him. I haven't read it yet and I need to run to work so here goes.

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Kansas Trip
Right now I'm in bed. Away from my beautiful pregnant wife, soon to be son and dog. I miss them. Let's see right about now we'd just be finishing up watching Grey's Anatomy and the four of us would be snuggled up on the couch. Fortunately the dog doesn't take up too much space.

Tonight I am in Hayes, Kansas. I had the opportunity to fly out to Denver on thursday where my Grandpa Don picked me up in the motorhome. We then drove four miles to Colby, Kansas and stayed in the Wal Mart parking lot. I haveto say that this thing is pretty comfortable. Not as comfotable as sleeping next to my wife and dog (sorry Grandpa, but I think that's the way it's suppposed to be). For being a 1990 ford motorhome with over 100,000 miles on it, this thing is really in comfy. I truly enjoy my grandpa's company and I think I can safely say that he enjoys mine. I can't imagine traveling in such tight quarters driving through the rolling plains of Kansas with a fellow you can't stand.

With good planning we were able to have a leisurely trip getting good sleep and not too pressured to drive long periods of time at a time. We met up with Tonne family who own Special T Hunting (www.specialthunting.com). Let me tell you these guys are great! If you're ever in Tipton, Kansas look them up. They raise their own birds and are just down right nice people with a strong work ethic. We shot a nice two rounds of their sporting clay course which is 100 shells apiece. Out of 100, I hit 50. Not bad considering the last time I shot a shotgun. I was fortuante enough to use my grandpa's Franchi Falconet 20 gauge double barrel with a modified and improved choke. "She's a real hunny of a gun," as they say. I really like the sporting clay course and it's something I'd love to continue in WA. Altough I felt like me shoulder had been punched 100 times in the same spot. All that was to prepare for the next day.

Today was the hunt. A late start and a breakfast of jalepeno bagel with cream cheese, pepperjack cheese wrapped in black forest ham and some medium pulp orange juice helped to give us the energy for a long day of hunting. Now I won't go into all the details, I think perhaps me grandpa could do that better, but it sure was fun. We hiked up the first rolling hill to where the birds were said to be and didn't have a flutter. But a few minutes later I had a pheseant rooster in my vest. Buena, my grandpa's sweet pointing lab chased up first bird of the day and it happened to be right out in front of me on the right side of the field. As I heard the bird cockle and the flapping of wings I instinctively brought my gun up to my shoulder. I quickly went thru my checklist in my mind as I arraned the bird in my sights. I made sure that the dog was out of the way, that my grandpa was safely off to my side and that there weren't any lawyers in the line of fire and flicked off the safety. First shot: miss! Time for a second shot and bang, whoop there was a bird falling out of the sky. Now Buena is a beautiful dog and it's her instinctive nature to retrieve. She chased the bird down and brought it to my feet, trotting back to me with such a proud grin on her face. She was proud, and she should be. She had just completed the task that had been past down in her dog genes for many generations.

So now what?! There's a bird at my feet and there's nothing left but for me to put it in my vest and pack it. This went on all day and may not sound like fun to some of you who, but it was. We had great success at first but managed to lose track of a bird across a fence while Buena was busy retrieving another shot bird. By late morning we had missed a few opportunities but stilled enjoyed the hike through the brisk Kansas rolling hills. We hitched a ride back to the motorhome with Larry and they served us lunch, a refreshing break from the hunt. With a renewed energy we set out in a new direction with new direction. We didn't get far. The first bird was spotted before we left the driveway and before we were even loaded. They held the dog back while I went in after it. Turns out we got two birds before we even really set foot in the field!!

Although our shooting accuracy steadily dropped as we went along it was amazing to see the dog work and we really had a great hunt. Did I mention yesterday was 60 degrees? Today was colder because of a storng wind, but it was very clear. We settled up and sincerely thanked our hosts for their warm hospitality and celebrated our success at Applebee's after driving an hour and a half from Tipton to Hayes. Tomorrow we head for Denver and then I catch a flight out to Seattle. I lto travel, I like to shoot and I love to spend time with my granpa. And while I can't wait to give my wife a big fat kiss and feel my little baby boy kick my hand through her tummy or feel boo's wet little tongue lick my nose, I'm having a great time pretending to be a cowboy, sleeping in an RV under the stars with his trust-worthy companion, noble dog and dependable shotgun updating his blog on his handheld treo cellphone pda.
< /gabe >

An ode to www.smurfbite.com

Here is my new blog. I am still going to keep Wildhog as my main blog but I figured this would be fun. Let me know if you want to contribute. It is going to be a multi user blog so I can set you up with permission to post pics if you like.

As far as the name goes. I am going to stick with Learn to Draw as the official name but I will be rotating names through so you can always suggest new ones to me. Once I have it up and running you will see what I mean.

Let me know how you like it.
Help me by posting pics or emailing them to me.
Help me by coming up with more names for the blog.

Batteries not included.

As promised here is my battery story:

It all started about 26 years ago. I had just finished a bottle and filled my pants. I was ready for a nap. No no no. That's my story. This is supposed to be about my battery. I am still in this story but it takes place a bit later.

Fast forward 25 years. Shanna and I go on a vacation with my family. When we get back we realize that my car door has been left open for the entire 3 days we were gone so I wasn't very surprised to find my battery pretty much dead. I went to my parents' house and told my dad, asking if I could borrow his battery charger. I still have it by they way and this little known tidbit of information will come into play later so remember it. My dad loans me his charger and tells me that it will get me to work a couple times but I should really buy a new battery. He insists on loaning me the money for a new battery. As many of you know we had a baby about a year ago. With babies come bliss. I mean bills. Huh, funny how that works. I gladly accepted my dad's money and then promptly used it to keep the lights on, keep the water running, or feed the new mouth. Charging the battery seemed to worked just fine.

About a month ago my car battery light started coming on once in a while. It would turn off so I pretty much just ignored it. After all, I knew I had a weak battery and I was just delaying the inevitable. Then one night my car died. All gauges went to zero. All the lights turned off including headlights. I left my car at work overnight and got a ride home. Shanna and I jumped my car the next morning and took it to get a new battery. This was on Thursday.

The battery guy told me that he put a new battery in the car but the light was still on so I should have my alternator looked at right away. I nodded. He pulled the keys back sensing that I was blowing him off. "I mean you should have it looked at as soon as possible." I nodded. "Today would be good." This guy wouldn't give up so I told him I would. I wouldn't. I knew that I would have to wait until some time next week because I needed to get paid first.

I continued to use my car the next couple days. Sure enough, after 10-20 minutes of driving my battery light would come on. Then it happened. I made it all the way to Tuesday night. Driving home at midnight my car died. Deader than last time. No power, no lights, no gauges. I decided I better get off of I-5. When I turned on my blinker my car turned off. I literally crested the offramp hill and coasted down into a parking spot at the nearest gas station. This parking job had to have been providence because I didn't even have brakes to stop myself. It was the best parking I have ever done and I didn't do it.

Don't hate me but I have some other stuff I need to work on so I will have to finish this tomorrow.

Finally!

I should have gone to bed.

We had fun tonight at my parent's house. We went over for dinner with my family and some friends. The night ended with us talking about photo stuff. I'm not too big on it but I want to learn how to use Photoshop and Fireworks. When I we went home Shanna went straight to bed. I should have. I told her I would go to bead at midnight and right now I am 3 minutes late. I played around with a great photo of Gabe and Ashley's nephew Ethan. The result is the latest entry on my demo page. Just click anywhere on the photo. It may take a second to load and it probably won't run smooth on a dial up connection.

I only have room for a few more projects and then I will be forced to build a menu of some sort at which time I will add a preloader. Funny how I want I tell people I am a designer and yet for my own page I just jump right in and start showing stuff off. At least I have a site planned but it would be no fun to have to wait for it to be finished to show this stuff off.

Off to bed I go. My mind is racing and full of ideas for this and other projects. Flash is a dumb think to do before bed. I will probably just lay there for the next hour or two waiting for numbers, formulas, photos, and ideas to leak out of my ears so I can sleep. Hope they don't make a mess on my pillow.

P.S thanks to those of you who are checking my project page on a regular basis. I just checked my web stats and at least one person is hitting it everyday. I will try to post more often to it. Cool to know that I am actually using up some of my bandwidth.

Marriage is not for me.

Don't worry. I haven't thrown in the towel. Sit still and let me explain.

I am 26. Most of my peers that married are getting divorced. They are working on the final pages to the chapter in their lives that society has deemed the "starter marriage." Marriage isn't really sacred in our society anymore. This is tragic but not surprising considering what little is. "Self" is still considered sacred. That is the only real reason to get married anymore. A friend of mine always jokes: "think of the tax benefits." Too bad that is what most people are thinking of. Marriage has be reduced to nothing more than a financial agreement that benefits both parties. Think about it. You can sleep together, live together, buy a house, car, or even adopt a kid together but it is difficult if not impossible depending on your zip code to get benefits, insurance, and a couple of other financially beneficial things.

I don't think very many people go into marriage thinking this way. At least traditional male-female ones. Homosexual ones seem to either be about the above stuff or something to the tune of "we just want to announce are relationship to the public." There should be more to it than money and or public acknowledgement. Marriage isn't easy. Scientists believe that the "effects of love" only last 12-18 months. After that you have to work to maintain the relationship. Even with the best intentions it is easy to get caught up in the "me" of it. Most people say something like "marriage is all about sacrifice." It is and it isn't. That is a crappy slogan too unless you are pushing sports drinks or athlete shoes. No one puts self sacrifice on their daily To-Do List even though the world would be a nicer place if more of us did.

I have pretty much given up on playing video games. I still want to finish Psychonauts for Xbox but I have sold my PS2 and my Gamecube is collecting dust. I actually would have sold that too but oddly enough Shanna wants to keep it. I don't think of this as a sacrifice. To the outsider it may appear that my wife has me whipped and doesn't allow me to play. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have changed, not sacrificed anything. I would rather spend time with Shanna and Emma than playing games by myself. Sometimes I need "me" time and that is where the sacrifice starts to come in as I blogged earlier.

I had it pretty good as a bachelor. I didn't have to clean my room EVER. I had my own bed with my own blankets. I make a terrible sleeping partner since I snore and I like to sleep with blankets and pillows wrapped all around me not spread neatly and tucked in as Shanna prefers. I only had to do dishes when my dad came downstairs and got upset at the mess I made. I had my own bathroom and shower. My "rent" was about 20% of what it is now. I could stay up as late as I wanted, play games, watch movies, listen to music at anytime of the day. My only responsibility was to be at work on time. I filled the rest of the time in with as much sleeping, eating, playing, or "me" activities as I could. If I had taken the time to examine my previous life and look at where a wife, much less a wife and a daughter would fit in I would have seen that marriage wouldn't be for "me." If I wanted to maximize "me" time I should have told Shanna to hit the road and bought 12 pack of soda to keep me awake through an all night WoW binge. Getting married is probably the stupidest thing you can do if you want to live for yourself.

This is the sacrifice. Coming to realize and actually walk the walk that you aren't number one anymore. My greedy human nature tells me that if I find a plate Shanna left out I should leave one of mine or leave hers so she knows what I have to deal with. But I have found that picking up something she left out just because I am the one that found it or changing the roll of toilet paper even if it was empty when I got there encourages her to respond to me in the same way. I try to make myself the person I want to be married to. Sounds weird but say it to yourself until it makes sense. I think any marriage will work as long as both parties can remember that.

So I guess my marriage really isn't for me. I had good intentions going into it and I never meant for it to ever be totally about me but I know I used to put me first more than I do now. I have come to the conclusion that my marriage is for my girls. Mainly Shanna with a bit of Emma tossed in. I am already reaping the benefits so in the end I guess it is for me too. It's kind of like cooking. I can cook my favorite dish for myself and it is hard to beat. But the experience is much more enjoyable if I cook it for someone who enjoys it as much as I do. Hopefully they share some with me but if not things will be just fine.

If you ever hope to get married remember all this stuff. Don't let the idea of sacrifice scare you too much. The best way to live for yourself is to live for someone else. This is the best advice I can give you.


P.S.
I wrote this about 2 weeks ago and I meant to go through it a couple times and clean it up as I don't think all of the wording is quite right. My thoughts are pretty much all there just not as organized and as accessible as I'd like. I got home and wanted to post something but it has been a loooooong week so I am just giving this to you in its original form. No new or original stuff tonight. I will post about the long week later but for now just be warned: If you run on batteries stay far, far away from me.

I'm so glad I found this.

Band name:Editors:Dumb name for a band
Song:Munich:Cool name for a song
Album:Back Room:Good name for an album

This is the best song I have heard lately. Almost like Interpol. People say She Wants Revenge has an Interpol sound. Listen. It doesn't.

Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's
Moon River is a song from Breakfast at Tiffany's
The newly released Anniversary of Breakfast at Tiffany's is Pink
As the name implies there is a breakfast at the famous Tiffany's Jewelry store

Thanks to Darren for submitting names for the smurfbite knock off site. I want more. Start coming up with artwork too. I have 5 drawings. How many do you have?

New project

I added another project to my demo page. This one does involve Emma but even my Grandma Emmy should be able to look at it. It is a bit weird but I think it is cool. I'm not really finished with it. Eventually I want to draw her face by in lines and then fill in the color but this is a good start.

Click the demo link to the right to see it. I need to fix the size but for now it is fine. Check Boone's blog for the original photo.

This time I need your help.

This last Fall I fell in love with a site called smurfbite.com. Don't bother checking. It's gone. I plan on creating an offshoot. The beauty of this site is that you will be able to post. You won't have to wait for me to post your pics. I need help with a name so I am holding a contest. I have only two ideas for the name of the site so far.

More fun than a barrel of Monkeys.

Son of Smurfbite.

The first is obviously unoriginal. The second is cool but I am basically gonna rip some guy off in deed so I probably shouldn't rip him off in name as well even if imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Post your ideas or email them to me. At the end of the week I will either pick one or maybe hold a vote. Get your paint programs warmed up because this site is only going to be as cool as we make it.

One final hint.

With the addition of this final hint it should be a dead giveaway.

- It involves a trip to a jewelry store.

Good luck. She still doesn't know.

Yet...

Shanna needs your help and time is running out.

I bought her a Valentine's Day present. It's just a small something. She is dying to figure out what it is. I told her Friday I would give her one hint per day and then give it to her on Tuesday. Here are the hints so far.

1. I am actually buying it for me but it is her gift. In other words it is something I want just as bad as her or more. ( It's not a bowling ball. )

2. It's pink.

3. It involves a river.

4. It could only have been made by a Tru Man.

Post your guesses via comment or email them to me. I'll give another hint tomorrow (Monday) and I'll post the answer on Tuesday. Shanna thanks you in advance for your help.

been bored

I didn't blog this week but I came up with topics everyday. Then I get home and do something else.

I played some WoW, Guild Wars, and even logged back onto City of Heroes for a night.

I read 2 books by Ravi Zacharias. Both were very good.

I watched Seven Samurai and Crash. Again both were very good.

I didn't actually do Flash stuff but I have updated my particles I just need to upload it. I did mess around with a lot of color stuff as I am trying to integrate it into my site someday.

And as usual I played with Emma a lot.

No Tucking Way!

When I was a kid I would tuck my shirt it. A far cry from today although my shirt is tucked in right now. I was such a dork that I would tuck it into my underwear. No one told me this was the wrong way. I was simply told to tuck it in. One day in First Grade kids were making fun of the class nerd. Turned out he had his shirt tucked in like I did and his underwear was showing. I pulled my shirt out before anyone could notice I dressed like him and then I made fun of him too. Later at home I spent a long time in the bathroom tucking in my shirt different ways to figure out why it was so dumb. It took me a long time to figure out tucking it in beneath your pants and above your underwear is the right way. Sometimes I wish I could tell that kid I am sorry but he would probably just think I was crazy. Unless he is putting lipstick on his lips and writing my name on his "people to kill" list like in Happy Gilmore. Then he might take me off his list but I guess I'll never know.