Exit Pursued By a Bear

I have a rule about watching reality television shows; they need to educate me on something. For example, I watch Chopped and Top Chef, but I don’t watch Big Brother or shows following celebrities. The Osbourne’s were the only exception to that rule, but that was because it was unintentionally the best say no to drugs campaign ever done.

When I first began this blog, it was about my move from Los Angeles to Seattle. It was a way to both document and reflect on all the changes go on in my life at the time. After I settled in, it then became about the process of going back to school to get my Master’s degree in Photography. It became less like a blog where you could learn something from my trials and errors and more about just me.

Thus, I’ve decided to no longer update this blog. I am still on all the social media sites and you can find me there. I’ll keep this active so that there is an archive. I find it interesting when someone stumbles upon an old post. Usually, it is my plan for conquering Greenland which I still stand by. 

There is another place you can find me writing. I started a new website/blog with a singular purpose. It made more sense to start from scratch that it did to revamp this one. 

My new blog is “The Questing Geek.” The name is a deviation of the “questing beast” which is from the time of King Arthur. It is a creature that has a snake’s head a top a leopard’s body with legs of a lion and the feet of a hart. This is comparable to how most geeks enjoy multiple fandoms or types of geekdom. For example, the Superwholock consists of equal parts Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock. This blog supports both kinds of hobbies; geeky and nerdy. The posts will be much like the beast as a mix of all kinds of different posts about all kinds of different things.

I realized that there is a gap in the non-fiction world that I had the right knowledge and skills to fill. There are plenty of books on how to organize your life and there are even some geared toward geeks/nerds. Yet, there are no books on how to organize your geek life. Examples: how to decide what books to read, how to organize your collections, how to connect with others in your favorite fandoms, and how to be a better geek.

The ultimate goal is to publish something more detailed through a publisher or as an eBook. Either way, a website will be a place to find people who might interested in reading about these topics. 

If these topics interest you, please come check out the blog. You can then follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media places. Believe it or not, publishers and marketing people look at how many followers you have. It becomes a factor in publishing your work. Clicking “Like” on a blog post or website will help an artist out. No credit card required and you don’t have to go anywhere to do it.

I appreciate you reading this far and to those who have been coming to this blog since I started it back in 2008. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you around the internet!

Rented Movies in 2016

Each category is in the order of when I watched them and (method I watched them in)

 The Beyond Awesome/Fun (A for Everything):

•  John Wick (Bought without watching)
  

The Award Season Awesome (A+):

• MacBeth (AP)

The Highly Enjoyable (A-/B+):

• The Intern (AP)
• Creed (AP)

The Award Season Good (B):

• Eye in the Sky (AP)
• Finest Hours (NI)

The Guilty Pleasures (A for Effort):

• Hotel Transylvania 2 (NI)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (Cable)
  

The Good (Solid B):

• Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (AP)
• Trumbo (AP)
• Jane Got a Gun (NI)
• The Good Guys (AP) 

The Just Okay (B-/C+):

• CBGB (NI)
• I Saw the Light (Cable)

The Bad (D):

•  High Rise (AP)
• The Lobster (AP)

(RB) = Red Box

(NI) = Netflix Instant

(AP) = Amazon Prime
(HBO)= HBO to Go online
(Cable) = Watched it at my Mom's house 
(Friend) = Borrowed from a Friend
(Hulu) = Watched on Hulu Plus

Rented Movies in 2015

Each category is in the order of when I watched them and (method I watched them in)

The Award Season Awesome (A+):

• Tim's Vermeer (Friend)
• Wild (GG) 
• Rudderless (AP) 
• Woman in Gold (RB) 

The Highly Enjoyable (A-/B+):

•  Ella Enchanted (AP)
• Age of Adaline (GG)

The Award Season Good (B):

•  Me, Earl and The Dying Girl (AP)

The Guilty Pleasures (A for Effort):

• Knights of Badassdom (NI)

The Good (Solid B):

• That Guy Who Was in That Thing (NI)
• Only Lovers Left Alive (NI)
• Horns (NI) 
• In A World (NI) 
• Leap Year (NI)
• Theory of Everything (RB) 
• Quartet (NI) 
• What Happened, Miss Simone? (NI)

The Just Okay (B-/C+):

• The Late Quartet (NI)
• Boyhood (RB) 
• Entourage (GG) 
• Nightcrawler (NI) 
• Insurgent (AP) 
• While We're Young (RB) 
• The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (RB) 

The Bad (D):

•  Foxcatcher (GG)
• Mr. Turner (GG)

(RB) = Red Box
(SPL)= Seattle Public Library
(NI) = Netflix Instant
(ND) = Netflix DVD
(AP) = Amazon Prime
(HBO)= HBO to Go online
(Cable) = Watched it at my Mom's house 
(Friend) = Borrowed from a Friend
(Hulu) = Watched on Hulu Plus
(GG) = Glowgaze.com

I had a dream

I had a dream the other night where the place I was working had a private zoo. In this zoo, they had an elephant that could talk. Mainly, he liked to do Marlon Brando impressions. He would scratch the underside of his chin with his trunk. It was physically spot on. However, I thought he sounded way more like Robert DeNiro. It was just wrong. The inflection and the accent just didn't match the movie quotes. I kept telling people that the elephant was broken. We should train him to do DeNiro's lines. They kept reminding me that the point was that it was A TALKING ELEPHANT. Still, if the elephant was going to do something, he should do it properly.

The Key is Greenland

We were having a causal conversation at work about our plans for world domination (much like one discusses their plans in a zombie outbreak) and I came to the conclusion that Greenland really is the key to the whole plot.

First, what do we know about Greenland (without looking at Google or Wikipedia)? Here is what I know:

• It has more Ice than Iceland and Iceland is more green than Greenland
• When flights to and from Europe to the US first started, it was safer to fly over it than the ocean.
• In Max Brooks' "World War Z," it is still a zombie hot spot.
• It is where you get sent if you know too much about the Middleman organization.
  
• ...and...umm...

Really, that is all I know about Greenland. I surveyed others and pretty much no one knew too much else. Some of them even confused it with Iceland. I have no idea if the country is divided into states or Providences. I can't name a city from it. I don't know what language they speak. I have no idea if they played any part at all in any war ever.

I think there is some kind of magical power there that makes everyone look to either side of it. No one pays any attention to it. What a perfect place to launch an invasion!

It is a great strategic place. The closest country is Canada ('nuff said) and yet you could easily launch attacks to the US, Europe and Russia from the cold comfort of your ice tundra.

You can slowly amass troops there. You can train the locals at first and then bring people in. It would be easy to spot spies once you cataloged the population because who goes to Greenland intentionally? Oh AND AND AND you could totally raise a polar bear army. Give them something to do. Who is a) going to want to fight polar bears if they invade or b) want to launch weapons at them? There is no way to have a popular war if the images of dead polar bears are on the news every night. If you play it right, you could have Coca-Cola as a sponsor for the war.

With global warming, it is going to be prime real estate. The whole country won't be ice forever. Shipping lanes will open up and then you can slowly launch the first wave of the attack - ICE PIRATES! You won't even need guns. You just need to train your narwhal army to swim alongside and threaten to feed them to them or just impale them on their horns. Who on god's green earth is going to want to go up against a whale with a horn? Seriously. Here there be monsters indeed.

Even if you don't take over the whole world, you could easily over throw the country and rule as you see fit. Not to mention most of the parts of Canada up there. Who would notice? You would have your polar bears and narwhals to patrol and maybe if you are really lucky, defrost some cavemen and raise them to fight for you. You can show them fire and pants and they will follow you as their benevolent leader. Cracking skulls and directing the polar bears to attack.

In conclusion, after I wrote this I Googled plane tickets to Greenland and came across this:

"Immigration and border formalities on entering Greenland tend to be very low key. Questioning is minimal and except at Kangerlussuaq, which has a traditional passport control desk, border staff will either meet your plane on the tarmac or may simply give an all clear to disembark. Airlines send passenger manifests ahead of time to immigration and if there are no concerns, they won't always send somebody - especially at smaller airports. If you need your passport stamped (i.e. for a residence permit) you may need to seek out border staff yourself or get in touch with Greenland Homerule to obtain the stamp."

This invasion will be even easier than I thought. Bring on my polar bear army! I desire a Coke!

Most Attractive Female 2011 Nominees

Since I posted up the gentleman, it is only fair that I post up the ladies. Hello Magazine (A Brit magazine) is having a most attractive woman contest for 2011. There are 12 choices of most attractive and I didn't agree with any of them. So here are my suggestions instead:

In case you don't recognize her, she played "The Woman" in Season 2 of BBC's Sherlock

If you don't recognize her, she's the Tardis in Doctor Who.

(Yes, American, but still....)

I hope this satisfies all my readers with both posts. I realize it is only three, but I'm picky. I have to think you are awesome as a whole and not just a pinup. These ladies rock their roles plus of course, they all have serious geek cred just like the boys.

Most Attractive Male 2011 Nominees

Hello Magazine (A Brit magazine) is had a contest for Most Attractive Male back in 2008 which I blogged once before. Of the nominees for 2011, I agree with 3 of the 12. The ones I agree with:

I feel they should have also included the below since all of these choices are from somewhere under the reign of her majesty not to mention in the same league as the above:

(bit of a cheat here since he is only half Irish and born in Germany, but lives in London)

Now clearly this isn't of all time, but just in 2011, but I think my picks to choose from are better and the old standards. I thought I would share.

And yes, I clearly have a type.

Telemarketers and Me

An actual call....

Me: Hello?

Telemarketer (TM): Good morning! Can I speak to Kathy Boogejersky?

Me: *irritated* Speaking.

TM: Hello, I am calling from (some random weight loss place) and wanted to let you know that you or someone in your household have been selected for (some random weight loss promotion of pills and quick fixes to long term problems).

Me: *polite* No, thank you. I'm not interested.

[This is where they should give up. Just politely let me go on my merry way, but no. Therefore, they completely deserve the following.]

TM: *fake surprise* Oh, really? Can I ask why?

Me: *polite, but irritated tone* I find it a little offensive that you think that you can randomly call people and just assume that they or someone in their household have a weight issue.

TM: *happily* Oh, this isn't a random call.

Me: *deadpan* So you are saying that I need to lose weight?

TM: *studdering all over the place* Well, no, um...That is not what I meant.

Me: *irritated* Either way, I find this whole conversation insulting and as I said before, I am not interested. Thank you.

I then hung up. She should have just let me go when I said no the first time. I walked her right into that wall and I'm pretty sure they didn't train her for that response.

My Wacky Brain

Sometimes, my brain likes to do random things.

Wait, before I get to that, I should explain how I imagine my brain works. A long time ago, in a magical kingdom in Florida, I went to the Wonders of Life Pavillion.There I saw something called, "Cranium Command." I posted the videos below so you know what I'm talking about. However, they are long and um...dated.

"Cranium Command" was kind of like Herman's Head meets Innerspace. All the major body parts were played by actors/characters. The stomach was George Wendt (Norm from "Cheers"), the heart muscles were Hanz & Franz (Dana Carvey and Keven Nelon, respectively, playing characters from Saturday night live), the adrenal gland was Bobcat Goldthwait, etc. The left brain was played by Charles Grodin and the right brain by Jon Lovitz. This is how I view my brain.

I picture Charles Grodin in a suit behind a desk whenever I do left brain things like bills, math, organizing, etc. I picture Jon Loviz in his flannel PJS in an art room whenever I do creative stuff. If I do anything too left brain, my right brain will amuse itself my torturing my left brain. I am convinced the reason I am bad at math is because when my left brain is crunching the numbers, my right brain is just yelling out random numbers. It also likes doing things like singing random songs on a loop. This is why I listen to music or watch movies when I'm trying to get stuff done.

Now, that you have a visual of the inside of my brain. I can tell you the following story.

Even though I have a queen size bed, I always sleep on the same side. On the other side, I have a full length pillow I either sleep on or next to. I sleep with a sheet, then a blanket and a comforter on top. Tuesday night, I randomly decided to switch sides. I moved the pillow to the other side and went to sleep. In the morning, I woke up and noticed that not only is the pillow back to where it normally is and I on my side of the bed, but my covers are flipped with the sheet on top.

Here is what I think happened. Once I drifted off to sleep (which my left brain undoubtly handled), it suddenly realized that everything was backwards. It immediately draws the conclusion that this was a right brain idea. My right brain was busy filling my head with dreams to defend itself. My left brain managed to coordinated all my limbs and flipped everything so that the status quo would be preserved. Since it has no imagination, it just flips everything not realizing the covers didn't need to be flipped. I completely visualize Charles Grodin freaking out doing all of this.

Yes, I realize I am strange, but if you had Charles Grodin and Jon Lovitz arguing all the time in your brain, you'd be strange too.

Here are the "Cranium Command" videos if you want a better visual on what I was describing:




And the Midnight Run trailer because it is filled with Charles Grodin goodness:

To Resolve Project

I came across this on Facebook when Javier Grillo-Marxuach posted it. Javi is the creator of "Middleman" which I've mentioned more than a few times here. He also wrote for "Lost" and is just all around awesome.

"To Resolve Project" was created by designer/illustrator, Chris Streger. He decided that the problem with resolutions is you put them on a list and hide the list away. Streger asked designers to design something for iPhone wallpaper that illustrates their resolution. HERE is the original link to project description.

While I don't have an iPhone or iPhone related place to put it, I still really like the designs and wanted to show them off.

Here are my favorites:

Don't ask for directions by Matt Stevens


Designed by Jay Rogers


Designed by Alex Westgate


You can find the rest HERE. I actually like a lot of them, but it's just easier to have you go check them all out. Enjoy!

Fun Fact: Ruby Shooting Oswald Photo

This famous photograph was taken by Bob Jackson. It was a complete accident. He had gotten the shot all set up and was waiting for Oswald to walk past so he could get a good angle. He had his finger on the trigger button and was waiting. The gun shot went off which startled him and his finger pressed the button.

I heard this on one of my photography podcasts and thought it was a neat story.

Computer Virus

One of the reasons that my blogging got so behind is because I got a particularly nasty virus that took me three days to get rid of. Its all better now, but it sucked hard for about a week.

Favorite Cuisine

The question came up at work, "If you could only eat the cuisine of one ethnic group, which would it be?" A few people said Mexican, one said Italian and one said Japanese. I thought about it for a while and then answered "Irish." I got some funny looks, but I stand firm that is my favorite.

I don't like spicy foods and I'm hit or miss on fish. However, I have never met an Irish dish I didn't like. The first time I was ever in a real Irish pub was in San Diego. Most Irish pubs aren't really Irish. They are just pubs that have Guinness on tap.

I found a real Irish pub here in Seattle called "Fado" which is Gaelic for "long ago." How do I determine if it is real or not? Easy. If they serve my favorite dish, boxty.

Boxty is a potato pancake that is rolled like a crepe. You roll it like a burrito and fill it with different things. Here are your choices at Fado, for example:

Trinity Steak Boxty
Grilled steak, sauteed mushrooms, and onions rolled in our own boxty topped with a whiskey-garlic sauce. Served with seasonal vegetables.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Boxty
Corned beef, buttered cabbage, and a creamy mustard sauce wrapped in a potato boxty. Served with seasonal vegetables.

Blackened Chicken and Shrimp Boxty
With tomatoes and mushrooms in a spicy cheese sauce. Served with seasonal vegetables.

I had the trinity steak and it was awesome.

In case you doubt Irish cuisine has other great foods, here are just a few examples from the Fado menu:

Appetizers - Béaloga

Smithwick’s Mini-Burgers
Two Smithwick’s ale flavored beef burgers with pickles, onions and melted cheese.

Guinness BBQ Wings
A dozen extra plump wings tossed in our own Guinness BBQ sauce. Served with blue cheese and celery. Also available tossed in hot sauce.

Cheese Dip And Wedges
A creamy blend of Irish cheddar, pepper jack cheese and green onion served with boxty wedges for dipping.

Traditional Fare- Bia Traidisiúnta

Homemade Shepherd’s Pie
Ground sirloin and diced vegetables in a rich beef sauce, topped with colcannon.

Corned Beef and Cabbage
Tender corned beef topped with a creamy white wine-mustard sauce. Served with red-potatoes and buttered cabbage.

Bangers and Mash
Irish pork sausages on colcannon with a savory onion gravy and peas.

All-Day Irish Breakfast
Two eggs, two Irish sausages, two rashers, two black puddings, two white puddings, two tomatoes, mushrooms and pan fried potato bread.

Grilled Pub Steak and Chips
A tender flat iron steak grilled to order with a red-wine sauce, mushrooms, broiled bleu cheese, tomatoes and thick-cut chips.

Desserts- Milseog

Black and Tan Brownie with Guinness Ice Cream
A warm, rich chocolate brownie topped with home-made Guinness Ice Cream, whipped cream, pecans and chocolate sauce.

Harvest Bread Pudding
A flavorful pudding with apples, cinnamon, sugar and walnuts topped with our own brown bread ice cream.

Brown Bread Ice Cream
A blend of vanilla ice cream and caramelized brown bread topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

Fadó Irish Coffee
Cleanse your palate with an age-old recipe. The Fadó signature drink features Bushmills Irish Whiskey, brown sugar, coffee, and fresh whipped cream with cinnamon swirls.

March Madness Mix

I've been making a music playlist for each month and sending the CD to a few people. I thought I would share the music I've been sending.

1. “Tahitian Moon” by Porno For Pyros

2. “Another Way to Die” (James Bond Theme from “Quantum of Solace”) by Alicia Keyes & Jack White.

3. “A Minha Menina” by Band of Bees

4. “Hello” by Cat Empire

5. “In These Shoes” bu Kristy Maccoll

6. “Little Toy Gun” by Honey Honey

7. “Don’t Bother Me” by the Blakes

8. “Baby Fratelli” by the Fratellis (I am a huge fan of this Scottish band)

9. “You Got Your Cherry Bomb” by Spoon

10. “Troublemaker” by Weezer

11. “Hot in Here” by Jill Souble (this is a cover of the original)

12. “Lights Out” by Santogold

13. “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon (I joke that this resulted in another song’s lyrics “the beds are burning”)

14. “The Fear” by Lily Allen

15. “Pull Shapes” by Pipettes

16. “Becky” by Be Your Own Pet

17. “Stickin’ to the Floor” by Artic Monkeys

18. “Rent-a-cop” by Ben Folds

19. “Don’t Bring Me Down” Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)


Just a sample of some music I've been listening to.

Apology

I am sorry I have been so bad at blogging lately. I am planning to catch up today and fill in all the holes from the last ...geez...six weeks. It really hasn't felt that long. I keep meaning to do it and just kept putting it off. Be prepared for a bunch of posts to fill in as much of the gaps as I can.

I blame the new couch the most. It's very comfy and away from my computer. Pictures will follow I promise.

I think I'm dying...

I don't feel well and I'm staying home from work. Ugh.

Christian Bale or Kermit the Frog?

All of the pics are HERE. These are some of my favorites:

The Economic Recovery Re-investment Act

I came across this list of how the money will be distributed it. I found it pretty interesting and thought you might as well:

$2 billion for renewable-energy research ($400 million for global-warming research)
$2 billion for a “clean coal” power plant in Illinois
$6.2 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program
$3.5 billion for energy-efficiency and conservation block grants
$3.4 billion for the State Energy Program
$200 million for state and local electric-transport projects
$300 million for energy-efficient-appliance rebate programs
$400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments
$1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
$1.5 billion for green-technology loan guarantees
$8 billion for innovative-technology loan-guarantee program
$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects
$4.5 billion for electricity g
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$850 million for Amtrak
$87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
$7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
$150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases
$150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”
$89 billion for Medicaid
$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
$20 billion for food stamps
$150 million for the Smithsonian
$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)
$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)
$1 billion for the Census Bureau
$15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
$83 billion for the earned income credit
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$300 million for grants to combat violence against women
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants
$6 billion for university building projects
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24
$1 billion for community-development block grants
$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
$650 million for digital-TV coupons; $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations"
$79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund