spaceJASE blog

Birthday card

2011-12-27T11:35:00.001-08:00

Yay for arts and crafts! :)

Christmas Eve Chippie

2011-12-25T22:01:00.001-08:00

Chippie loves the tree. He sits by the plug until we turn it on and then sits under the tree. :)

Dad & Pat's cats

2011-12-01T08:51:00.001-08:00

Leelu and Zorro :)

Mouse

2011-11-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Michael Thomas caught this little guy tonight. I praised him until he dropped it. Then I scooped it up into a Tupperware container and took it outside.
More fun for cats when it comes back!
I'm always surprised at how well playing dead works at fooling the cats. They drop the little things on the floor and start batting at them, like, c'mon wake up dude! (That's when I grab them up.) Then the cats wander around looking for it. I took away their fun toy! :(

Making iTunes put my audiobook chapters in order by book

2011-10-29T08:40:00.001-07:00

It is a seemingly impossible feat. In fact I haven't been able to make it work the way I'd like. All my book chapters are listed alphabetically with no care to the actual book at all - or sorted alphabetically by the first sentence in the chapters. Anyways, it's a real pain to listen to on my old school iPod.

That is until I used the search function under music. Even though my books are listed as audiobooks, the search will find them BY BOOK TITLE. It might help that I have sorting set to album and the album set to be the book title... but there ya go.

Christmas in October

2011-10-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

I know the corporate giants have to maintain their profits even in this crappy economy but, really?!?!

Boxing Food for the Elderly

2011-10-20T07:30:00.001-07:00

At Second Harvest Food Bank

Our Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie boxed ~448 boxes in 2 hours.

I stacked them all. :)

Deus Ex - funny

2011-10-15T09:17:00.001-07:00

After tranquillizing this guy, his full body IK put him and his gun in this position.

Another dream

2010-12-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

Last night I dreamed I was in SF looking for a job. (Laid off a couple weeks ago so it's relevant.) I found my way to the underground parking lot of this huge conglomerate company building and went upstairs to talk to people. I noted that I would probably lose my car in the concrete maze.

Upstairs I had a good conversation with people and even saw a couple friends. I'd have to take a pay cut, but it'd be worth it to actually have a job and work with people I like. Then my buddy and I took the elevator downstairs. When the elevator stopped, I got off but my friend didn't saying the cars were even lower. I was left standing there because the doors closed too quickly to get back on. Rather than wait for the elevator I went to find the stairs to meet up again. But I couldn't find the stairs... People milling around said I'd need to take this other elevator back up a couple flights and then transfer over to the original one and go down a few floors.

I managed to do that but emerged in an area I had never seen before. Cars were exiting here and I couldn't see any way to get to my car's area. So I thought I'd go around... but it led me out of the building to a park like clearing that was fenced off and gated. I waited until some people were leaving through the gate and got in.

What I found was the most beautiful cliff side park full of flowers and butterflies with the sun setting behind me. The cliff and rocky shore below was illuminated in such an awesome way that everyone there was calm and serene. I took out my phone and took a couple pictures to show AJ. Then I sadly left that place to try and find my car and get home.

When I made it back to the building I found the maze even more complex. So steep in places I couldn't get anywhere. I started looking over ledges to the floors below crying out for help. And the strangest creatures were making their way through the maze now... not people anymore. I saw a father and daughter medusa-like snake people. (No snakes on their heads.) The father ignored my pleas, but the daughter stopped and wondered at me for a moment before her father took her away.

Then I realized it was a dream and took an overhead view to see I was on the opposite side of the building from my car and told myself how to get there.

Weird.

WTF dream

2010-11-18T07:06:00.000-08:00

Everyone has WTF dreams sometimes, right? I had one last night.

Here goes nothin'...

I found myself sitting co-pilot in a drag racer. Do they even have those? I was upfront like in an old biplane and the driver was behind me. It was meant to be an "experience" - maybe I had payed for it. Anyways, when the lights went green we took off like a bat out of hell and it was an amazing ride. The world came to a stand-still as we sped up and whizzed by - people looked like blurred streaks in my peripheral vision. At the end I got out and helped bring the car back to the starting line for the next rider. I realized that we had ended up in a field filled with campers. Maybe a KOA campground? Everyone knew to stay away from the drag strip so there were no issues. (I asked.) I think my wife was there and our two daughters were there (about 4 and 7) asking me how it was. The funny thing is... in reality I have no children.

Eventually we made it back to the starting area which was kind of a workshop inside a building. We pushed the car backwards into the 'garage' but couldn't enter that way so we went to the other end of the building and entered. What I saw was hundreds of lobster tanks. (like at an Asian supermarket where they keep crabs in waist level white tanks, not a fish tank like at a restaurant) The tanks were full of lobsters and being tended by Asians. (I think Japanese) Everyone was making sure the lobsters were OK and not fighting. My assessment was that they were having fun since I saw some balled up and 'playing'. They weren't wearing safety bands on their claws. The funny thing here was just before the dragster was going to take off, everyone had to 'clear' their hands from the water. As if they'd get electrically shocked.

One guy was being a smart-ass and pulled two lobsters out and held them up as the dragster took off. So I sat down at a bench and happened to sit next to Amy. (Amy Demerest (Sweet) who I know from our life in Japan long ago.) Amy handed me a form with a bunch of entry areas for people to fill out their name and address. I don't know what the form was for... but it was filled out completely. Or so the person behind me told me. I needed to start the next page. But then I realized that the last entry space on the first page was open so I started to fill that out. But I couldn't remember my address. I kept trying to think of where we live and wrote down one prefecture in Japan... but it was wrong. We had moved. But I couldn't remember the name of our current prefecture. Then I realized our house address was 4301. That's our current actual house number... in America. By this time I had scribbled out 2 addresses and was trying to write a third...

But my wife woke me up. It was time to leave and drop her off.

WTF

R.I.P. Stephen Jahner

2010-09-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Last week I found out Steve Jahner died. I haven't heard the results of the autopsy but apparently he collapsed in his store one afternoon. At least I know if he was in his store he was probably happy - whistling or humming a tune while helping people.

I'm totally bummed out about Steve passing away because I hadn't talked to him in a few years. My wife and I recently moved back to the midwest and I was really looking forward to stopping by the store and catching up with him.

Steve gave me my first job working at his comic book store "Capital City Comics & Books". I was... 14 or 15? It was great. I was always working - Steve made sure of that. And I did all the grunt work from dusting EVERYTHING to alphabetizing EVERYTHING. After a couple years he'd let me open/close the store so he could sleep in or something. Basically he taught me about hard work and responsibility. If I messed up I'd have to make it up elsewhere. It happened from time to time. But Steve didn't hold anything against anyone for long.

I studied superheroes and layout while sorting comics, learned about new authors and the world outside sorting books and got some anatomy in while organizing adult magazines. (That was usually my punishment for being late.)

Steve also taught me how to play guitar. I didn't practice enough, (just like piano) but he kept pushing me. I learned about a whole slew of new music from him. Classics like Jethro Tull and Earth Wind & Fire.

All in all - I will sorely miss Steve. I will think of him most every day because he gave me the nickname "space JASE". I use it everywhere. My website is www.spacejase.com - I owe you a lot Steve.

Thanks Steve.

Death by window...

2010-09-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

This guy surprised us one morning when he bashed into one of the front windows. Chippie was sitting there so maybe the bird was defending territory against our cat. Anyways - it was sad to see him die. It was quick, but not instantaneous. He was trapped in the bush outside the window and after a few ragged breaths he went limp. I thought he might just be stunned so I put him on the front steps. A couple hours later he was stiff. I meant to bury him but something took him away that night.

It probably seems morbid to blog about him - but I was contemplating the passing of animals out in nature. It happens all the time and if no animal takes note, certainly no human does. I mean, if he had a family, they probably wonder what happened to him. Why didn't he come back that afternoon? But if birds only have a few seconds short term memory, do they notice stuff like the passing of a family member? Surely they have some sort of longer memory or imprinting that allows them to know where their nest is - or who their mate or child is... right?

When our cats have died, the other cats came around and sniffed and pawed at them. And kind of sat there for a minute in turn. But that was it. Maybe death is just what happens and when it's done there isn't much to think about in an animal's mind. Why do we as humans make a big deal about death? Is it because we impact each others' lives more than other mammals? Do we remember people because we have longer memories and therefore feel more of a sense of loss?

I don't know the answers, but I thought it sad that this big beautiful birds suddenly met his demise with a stupid window.

It rained last night and...

2009-09-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

and this guy was hanging out under the potting soil. His eyes are so big and completely black. I think he must have been blinded by the camera flash.

I love these little creatures.

The weekend already...

2009-08-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

The week went so fast! I'm drinking coffee on Saturday wondering where the week went.
A couple meetings with coworkers, a couple tech demos for clients, a day trip to LA for a screening, up to SF for meetings... sometimes the week drags by, but not this past week. Good stuff.

Now - relaxing. :P

gold LEGO minifig score!

2009-07-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Went to the LEGO store today.
Spent too much $$ and got this as a prize:
My only complaint is that the hands are peach colored. Why couldn't they have made them gold? It's a simple paint over job - if you bend the legs at all the peach plastic is revealed. Still - I appreciate the novelty of it and that it was free. Thanks LEGO!

hot hot hot

2009-05-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

Got in the car yesterday and it told us it was 111 degrees. SHEESH.
No wonder people hang out at the mall so much! The LEGO store has nothing to taunt me with. I should have bought those air conditioners from Chris...
Global warming is alive and well here in the Bay Area. Oh and smog allergies as well.
*HACK*

Stuff you're not supposed to know.

2009-03-20T08:17:00.001-07:00

How is it when you find out stuff that you're NOT supposed to know - it weighs so heavily on you?

Stuff I'd rather just forget keeps rolling around in my head. It makes me feel pissed off sometimes, and uncaring other times.

You know - when you find out some politician did something crazy... you get weirded out.

But that's not what's on my mind... and I'm not telling so don't ask.

Friday the 13th

2009-03-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Today is once again... MY DAY! I love Friday the 13th. I somehow feel lucky while so many others cower with superstition. Be afraid all ye worrisome people. Be very afraid. :)

Uncle again!!! ...and... AGAIN!!!

2008-11-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

Tuesday last week while everyone was out voting, Maria and Greg had their twins Harlow & Lyla. They sure are cute! Yet again I have the chance to build on the "crazy uncle" or "cool uncle" status. I'm sure it will eventually turn into "wacky uncle from freaks-ville". We shall see how things develop.

Uncle time(s) 2!!!

2008-11-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Check her out: "Anna Elizabeth Sharlow" is getting printed - not for committing her first felony, but for being tracked along her life long journey as a human.

I meant to post about this earlier, but I'm an uncle AGAIN.
My other sister Carrie had a baby in October.
Congrats Brad & Carrie!

Now I get to be the "cool" uncle twice over! (Soon to be four times! More on that as the situation develops!)

Chip!

2008-09-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

"Chip" could be short for:
Chipper
Chipotle
Chippy
Chocolate Chip

We're not sure, but Chip is the newest Harlow family member. He's pretty cute and a ball of crazy. Yesterday I found him IN the fireplace behind the screen. He was covered in soot so we bathed him with a warm wet washcloth. He laid there and purred. I think he felt like his Momma was cleaning him. He's 6 months old.

Michael Thomas is on good terms with him, but Maddi has yet to let him get close without growling. She's very territorial it seems.

Vancouver, BC, Canada

2008-08-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Vancouver, Canada. The drive up was relatively uneventful, passed right through Seattle. Check out my pics here on Flickr.

Vancouver has an awesome backdrop of mountains to the north but the city itself is like Superman's crystal fortress. The city is a densely packed pile of glass skyscrapers. During the day it was kind of ugly, but when dusk came and people started turning on their lights, the city seemed to come alive and glow.

If you're ever in Vancouver, there's a section of Hastings street between Chinatown and Gastown you should avoid. AJ and I walked through that area once while exploring and it was overloaded with the homeless. From a distance it looked crowded and busy, like something was going on or many tourists were gathered. However, when we got closer we realized it was 100% bums. Not begging for change bums; Standing around trying to find another fix bums. Luckily they couldn't be concerned with passersby so we made it through the gauntlet without issue. I'd just stay away from there next time, though. Chris Degnan also recommended we stay away from that area... though after the fact. :)

Speaking of Chris Degnan, we hadn't seen him in about 5 years. It was really good to catch up and although we only were able to have lunch together, (Gorilla Foods - AWESOME) it was like old times, just chatting abotu everything under the sun. 'Deggy' also took us on a quick tour of the Relic office where he works. It's on the 15th floor of one of those glass skyscrapers. Pretty awesome view from there!

On our first day in Vancouver we walked all around downtown and then some totalling about 12 miles. Our feet were pretty beat! The next day we drove to other neighborhoods like West Van and Commercial St. Commercial street was Vancouver's Haight/Ashbury. Lots of hippie wanna-bes and many places for us to eat! We got all kinds of vegan desserts that we took with us for the drive home. The cool thing about Canada is all the hemp you could find in the food and everyday prodects. Hemp is great for protein and omega 3. It also is super strong and makes great bags and clothes.

Overall Vancouver was pretty cool, but we liked Portland better. :)

Downtown Portland

2008-08-23T12:17:00.001-07:00

Next on our trip we stopped in Portland, Oregon. (pictures on Flickr HERE)

We were really pleased with the number of vegan/vegetarian restaurants we could choose from. It had, quite possibly, more than the bay area! We had a hard time choosing where to eat, but decided to try Veganopolis (a vegan buffet); Blossoming Lotus (a branch of the place we found in Kauai, Hawaii); and Voodoo Doughnuts (an alternative doughnut shop that makes vegan doughnuts)!

The downtown area is relatively small and we spent a whole day walking around, eating and snapping pictures. The architecture is quite interesting and there were tons of people walking around.

The evening we arrived in Portland we went looking for the vegan mall we had heard of. It wasn't really a mall per se, but a building where the 4 occupying shops are all vegan focused. (grocery store, clothing store, bakery and a tattoo shop) When we asked if there was a place nearby to eat vegan, the clerk at the grocery store recommended Red & Black, a vegan cafe around the corner. We went there and got perhaps the best tempeh reuben sandwich I've ever had. While we were waiting for the sandwich to be made, there was a short presentation/video shown of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). (<--Wikipedia link) I had never taken an interest in the ELF before, so it was interesting to learn more about them. They are kind of extreme in my mind and I would never take on their methods of getting their message out, but I can see where they are coming from. I think they feel helpless in our country/political landscape and are lashing out in a... less than legal manner. Anyways, it was interesting to learn about the organization by happenstance of waiting for a meal. I think I'll stay away from ELF.

Crater Lake National Park - longest coast ever.

2008-08-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

The next day of our trip we cut across California and Oregon and stopped at Crater Lake National Park. It's amazing.

A huge mountain just blew it's top about 7,500 years ago and when it settled, formed this gigantic crater. It's nearly impossible to get down to the lake, so it is pristine and unspoiled by humans. The water is the clearest in the world and it's just about the largest and deepest lake in the world. It has no incoming or outgoing water, but the level remains about the same year round from rain and snow melt. Check out my photos on my Flickr site.

On the way there and back the forests had astounding numbers of orange butterflies swarming the road. I tried to capture a movie of it, but they are so small and move so fast that the video doesn't really show how many there were. However, this picture of our car can attest to the amount... and the Prius is one of the most aerodynamic cars made to date. Other cars and semi trucks literally had orange colored grills and hoods. One little guy flew away when we stopped at this rest area - he had been trapped in the grill.

One more interesting thing about Crater Lake - from highway 5, it is pretty much a gradual uphill climb to the lake. Our mileage getting there was a sad, sad 41 mpg. We took the south entrance in and the north entrance out. Our mileage got back up to 53 on the way out, though! It was pretty much full on coasting all the way down - about 85 miles to get back to highway 5. Not the longest pure coast time, but definitely the longest assisted coast.

(I LOVE to see how far we can coast - it's like a little driving game. It started in NY when we were always going hiking in the Adirondacks. The longest was only 3 miles. Then I found a 5 mile coast in Shenandoah National Park. The longest pure coast time is 7 miles down in Arizona near my sister Maria. But Crater Lake takes the cake as the longest assisted coast ever. At about 85 miles, I don't think that can be beat.)

Redwood national park

2008-08-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

We got back from our week long drive up north on Monday 08/18/08. The first place we went to was Redwood national park. It was pretty amazing. We've been to Big Basin park near home, but the trees in Redwood were insane!

I posted a bunch of pictures from the two hikes we went on. Check them out on my Flickr site. I really liked the sun cutting through the trees in the morning of our second hike. Really inspiring.

08.08.08

2008-08-08T23:56:00.001-07:00

It comes once in, what, like a century? Awesome. I thought of Kerri Sox. Her favorite number is 8. It must have been a very lucky/happy day for her.

Happy triple 08!!!

Oh and the Olympics started today! Awesome!

Amelia Chu

2008-07-17T08:57:00.001-07:00

Amelia Chu is now 1 month old and the Chus had a gathering in her honor. She's super cute and quite pleasant. We thought they were going to name her "Savannah" which we thought would be so pretty, but it's a fairly common Porn Star name... (#38 in popularity) which turned them off.

The Chus also showed off their new iPhones (Black & White) which Shun picked up that morning. Bryan was a riot - showing off his moves and being crazy in general. We had a good time talking to Fiona & Chi Hoi and also Chu's cousin. It's always fun to get together with that crowd.

Little Red Ferrari

2008-07-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

Sometimes Mike drives "The Red Car" in to work and we go get bubble tea - usually when he's planning a weekend trip and wants to warm the engine up. It's a really nice looking car. (I don't think I've seen a car that has nicer flow to it's lines. But I'm not all that in to cars.) It sounds awesome and rides great. You know how when you take a corner too fast and the car leans and you lean and stuff? Doesn't happen in this car. When Mike whips through the gears fast and you feel your face pulling off to the sides from the speed, it's really hard not to smile uncontrollably and start to laugh.There's no back seat because the engine needs a bit of room... They were nice enough to make the back end glass so everyone can ogle the engine. Even though it's body is ostentatious it still needs the occasional "ooh" & "ahh" over the engine to keep up it's self-esteem.

July 4th

2008-07-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

We went down to the park near the amphitheater in Mountain View for the 4th. They had a full orchestra playing Disney music and then set off fireworks at the end. They wouldn't let us on top of the hill overlooking the amphitheater because it's all dried out and is a fire hazard so we had to stay in the park near Google and loo over the hill.

You can see how not having a tripod makes for wobbly prolonged exposures. :)

This one looks like a Muppet to me.

Chihuly exhibit @ DeYoung

2008-06-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went with Kaan to the DeYoung museum to see the opening of the Chihuly exhibit. It was free that weekend and Kaan had the foresight to go early and get tickets. I have never seen glass worked in the way Chihuly does. It was amazing. I especially liked the way the exhibit was mostly black walls with lighting that cast excellent shadows and color patterns from the glass.

I posted a bunch of pictures here on my Flickr page.

Chris & Nancey get married! (FINALLY!)

2008-06-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

Two friends of ours from SCAD finally got married last weekend. (June 7th) We were so excited when we heard the news. I worked a several projects in school with Chris & Nancey and wondered when they were going to get together - they moved SO slowly though and didn't really tell people what was going on... or not going on... or whatever. :) After we left SCAD, Chris & Nancey used to come up to our place in NY every year for New Year's Eve. We would drink wine and talk all night long.

We made a weekend out of the wedding and drove down to L.A.. We met Jim & Terra Kuroda for breakfast and then drove up Sunset Drive until Hollywood. We found an AWESOME vegan restaurant across from "Zombie Tattoos", saw Hollywood and Melrose and a couple other things.

The wedding was really nice. Chris wanted a bit of Jewish tradition in the ceremony and it was a first for us so we found it very interesting. We met a bunch of people from SONY and DD and a lot of their family as well. Everyone was really nice and friendly.

I've got a few pictures here on my Flickr page.

Schwartz Visit (May 30)

2008-06-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

At the end of May, the Schwartz's came to visit us for a couple days. These are my host parents from when I was an exchange student to Germany... TWENTY YEARS AGO. We don't keep in touch too much; you know, holidays and stuff, but when we go to Europe we stop in for a few days.

They happened to be over here touring the west coast a couple weeks ago. AJ and I showed them our neck of the woods and drove them around SF and took them out to lunch on Saturday and Sunday. (Well, Karl always insists on paying.) They only stayed two nights and then took off to drive down highway 1 to see the coast of California all the way down to San Diego.

Did I mention that they are 72!?!?! I can only HOPE that I am as active as them when I'm twice my age now. It was fun to be able to "host" them for once. :)

More pictures here on Flickr.

Jack MUNNY & Drinks for Kaan

2008-05-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

I made this Jack Skellington MUNNY for Kaan - I gave it to him last night for his birthday. You can see more pics of it on my Flickr page.

We went to Greens Restaurant for dinner and Pearl's Jazz Club for drinks and music. A bit on the expensive side for the evening, but well worth it. Fun all around!

I'm a Pikachu

2008-05-13T20:22:00.001-07:00

Nintendo has some questions that lead to you being a Pokemon. I have unfortunately never played a Pokemon game... ever. But it looks like Nintendo thinks I have the personality type of it's most popular Pokemon.

PIKA!

GTA4 Special Edition

2008-05-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

I went to Best Buy after my dentist appointment on Tuesday last week to see if they had any copies of GTA4. They happened to have 4 copies of the Special Edition, so I bought that - I figured, I have a gift card (Thanks Dad!) so why not get that one? Here are a couple pics of the unboxing:

Inside the box was a lockbox. All gun metal.
Inside the lockbox was the game (of course) , an art book, a music CD, a Rockstar branded dufflebag, a Rockstar branded keychain, and keys for the lockbox.Worth the extra $20? I don't know, but it's kinda cool! I liked seeing the geometry they used for Times Square in the art book - It's quite similar to the way we created Times Square for Multiverse.

Oh and it's a phenomenal looking game. I have never played a GTA before so I can't compare the gameplay or graphics, but I think this game sets a new bar on visuals for the 360 & PS3. AWESOME.

Uncle JASE

2008-04-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Eden Grace Nagle - born 04/24/08
I'm an Uncle!
Congrats Tim & Michelle!

Home grown Fennel

2008-04-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

One thing I thought would be interesting to try and grow is fennel. I was surprised at how well it grew in this lousy soil. Here's a picture of me with one of the larger bulbs. The best part is - I leave the stump in the ground after cutting the bulb off and 6 or 8 more fennel bulbs spring up around it. Crazy! I don't have to replant it! Hopefully it will live through the summer - it's quite sensitive to the heat. It grew like mad through the cool winter.

Maddi's checking out the birds from "shotgun position".

Dragon SUV

2008-04-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

Some people choose their car as their means of personal expression.
Do you know someone with a Beemer?
Know anyone over 40 with a corvette?
I drive a VW bus by choice.

Some people choose to express themselves on their car as if it were a canvas.
I have seen many painted vehicles out here in the Bay Area. I haven't painted the bus though. The lime green paint job was done too well and it hasn't started rusting.

I spotted this SUV near the ATM and snapped a couple pics. The color combo and hood ornament are... classy.

Car Dreams

2008-04-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

The other day I had this really weird vivid dream.

I was driving around in a rusted out old white Camaro. All the rims were different with some from other cars altogether. I parked the car in front of someone's driveway accidentally and they came out to tell me to move. It had a couple flat tires and I couldn't move it. A bus load of migrant workers unloaded nearby came over; kind of admiring the car. I took out an air propellant can to fill up the tires, but it was empty. So I walked over to a gas station and filled the can with air. Then I walked back and filled the tires. I quickly left the area to go to the gas station to make sure the tires were fixed but had to go the long way around the block (of apartment complexes) because of one-way streets. Finally I got there and the tires were indeed flat again. At the gas station there was a couple who thought the car was in bad enough shape that they could buy it off me cheap. They started getting in and out of the car and actually tried making out in the back seat to see if it was "roomy enough". I just went across the street to the tire store and bought two new tires. (I got them extra big to put on the back and jack it up a bit.)

Then the next night I had a shorter dream.

We drove to a hilly town in the Prius and parked up on a hill and then walked down to ...somewhere. I don't remember. Later I went back to get the car and there was a ticket on it because we had left it for a couple nights and one of the nights was a street cleaning night. There was also some mail left on the car near the ticket for one of the nearby houses. I dropped the mail off to them and then went back to the car. The hood was now open - something that I noticed being closed before - and the entire engine was missing.

Bizarre - AJ says Freud would say I'm having "manhood" issues.

hmmmm

SONY CyberShot Operation

2008-03-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

In 2004 we bought a Sony CyberShot Prosumer type camera. It was pretty awesome. Not an SLR, but as close as you can get without the size. In November of 2005 I took a trip back to NY and dropped it in the airport. (And by dropped I mean flung it a few meters across the baggage claim area.) The LCD shattered, but we were still able to use it... we just couldn't see the pictures we had taken. It went from a "prosumer" camera to a "point-and-shoot" camera. SONY wanted $300 to fix it.
Here's a close up of the cracked LCD and the good one in back:

We got another lame little camera to tide us over until we felt like we wanted a new "good" camera. (Nikon Coolpix - don't go there.) Recently we decided we ought to buy a new camera but still didn't want to spend the $$ for an SLR or have to deal with the size and weight increase. AJ had this great idea that we ought to try and fix the Sony camera. I bought an "as-is" camera on eBay and took it apart. I figured out what piece I needed to replace and removed it from the camera and replaced them in mine. KAZAM! We had our old camera back! It cost me $30 for the as-is camera and $15 for the special tweezers to use on tiny electrical equipment.

Take it SONY!
JASE + tweezers for the win!

Doctor Frank and Fruit Bouquets

2008-03-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago on a Friday after work I went to a book store opening event. I don't usually do that kind of junk, except that this bookstore was having a special guest for signing. The book is "King Dork" and the author is the singer of one of my favorite bands (The Mr. T Experience) Mister Frank Portman, or Dr. Frank.

Dr. Frank sang a couple songs and read a couple excerpts (which was nice since I haven't actually read my book yet...) and signed things for people. I brought in my "Love is Dead" CD and he graciously signed it for me. It was nice to meet and talk to Frank and see that he's just another regular guy. I hate the "stars" who've let it go to their heads. Frank was easy to talk to, seemed a bit nervous and in general a nice guy. Like maybe someday I could be in his shoes having people want to meet and talk to me. Or at least be recognized for decent work. Yeah, right; If not by now then probably never, huh?

The other thing that happened a couple weeks ago was I complained to the neighbor about all the construction noise. He's been having his house rebuilt from the inside out for the last few months. Mostly on evenings and weekends. Times when one would think they could relax in peace and quiet in their own home. Well, table-saws and sanders and tile-cutters make a lot of noise that carries pretty well. He's a pretty nice guy though and promised to try and keep it down and within reasonable hours. (This, after I told him about Menlo Park noise ordinances concerning construction.)

One night it was 11:30pm and we were still hearing the saw. AJ gets up at 6:30 and we were already in bed so I just grabbed my cell-phone and text-messaged him. "It's after 11. Please make the noise stop. Thanks." The noise stopped and the next day there was a fruit bouquet on our doorstep. It was awesome. Dark chocolate (no milk) on fruit is TASTY! That Friday I went over to thank him for the basket and 3 hours later (boy, was AJ peeved) I stumbled home with a newly acquired knowledge of many local wines and new wine types. "Icewine" I had never heard of - but boy can it rock an empty stomach. Is it customary to get complainers drunk to ease their pain? Seems like a good strategy to me. Maybe that's why prohibition never worked out too well.

Can o' Worms

2008-03-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I went to Common Ground and picked up a worm composting thing. Can o' Worms. I also ordered one pound of worms to be delivered to my door. Can you guess how many worms are in one pound? Let me tell you. - 1000! It's awesome. I put the coir in the bottom of the 3 layers and put the worms on top. They immediately dove down into the dirt and I couldn't see them at all after about 10 minutes. Then I put some food scraps on the next layer up. They have been climbing up and eating it regularly. In a few months they will have filled layer two and I will put food on layer three. After a while they will all have migrated away from layer one and I can use it in the garden as fertilizer. Then that empty layer will become layer three and the cycle will continue. In a few years, I will have about 15,000 worms eating my scraps. Awesome!

Here are some pics:This is the box and bag the worms came in. There was a little bit of dirt in there too. I held it in my hand and although I couldn't feel any distinct movement, I could feel the bag pulsing as they squirmed around - it was like I could feel their energy. Very weird.

This is the worms just after putting them in the can. They dove out of sight immediately.

I was wondering to myself - is having a worm composting bin going against the morals and ethics of being a vegan? I'm not abusing them, but I am using them to my own ends. I'm not eating or selling their byproduct, but I am using it in my garden. I assume they're pretty happy to have food to eat all the time, but they are trapped in my can. I'm thinking it's not going against my personal beliefs or way of life, but I could see how people might argue against it.

WonderCon 2008

2008-02-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

This weekend was WonderCon. I went to a couple sessions and had lunch at Ananda Fuara. Then I walked the floor with Kaan. We met up with Craig and Dan Tanguay - who was in town for the GDC. This year there were many more people than last year. The expo floor was crowded to the point of annoyance for me. On the bright side many more people were dressed up for the masquerade. I haven't been to the masquerade, but it must be quite the show to see with all the crazy costumes. Here are a couple pics:

Me and Gumby have been friends for a long time. This is the first time he has been taller than me.A friend of mine Chris James made this R2-D2 from scratch and hosted a session talking about how to build one for yourself. There's a big community of droid builders out there. It's pretty awesome to see a couple R2 units cruising around the show floor beeping and chirping at people.

More pics from the show on my flickr site.

GDC 2008

2008-02-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

I went to GDC this year as a Multiverse employee. I didn't go to any sessions, but I walked around the expo and career floors and told people about Multiverse at the Multiverse booth. (Alan & Raf in the picture up there.) It was pretty fun overall. I met a few friends and made a couple new ones. Here are some pics of the crazy stuff they had there...
Starcraft 2 soldier at the Blizzard booth. Or should I say the Activard booth - nah - ATVI had their own booth too. I saw my old boss Steve there!

AW YEAH!!! A Big Daddy life size replica at the GDC! OK it wasn't really life size; how would they ship it around!?!?!?! It was taller than me, but not the 8 feet tall it's supposed to be. Well, it SEEMS that big in the game.

Multiverse Times Square

2008-02-17T21:20:00.001-08:00

I've been working on a virtual world demo at work.
It's a virtual Times Square!

Here's a video a company made for us on YouTube.

It's more interesting if you actually GO to the virtual Times Square, so go to this webpage of ours and follow the directions. Download the Multiverse client, register and log in! (Log in to "Times Square" It's not a huge place, but there's a lot going on.

There are other worlds available to see that people are making on their own. Want to start a world of your own? Go for it! It's FREE!

Props to Dustin, Mike and Chris for kicking out this cool demo of our tech with me.

Kauai, Hawaii

2008-01-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

We recently got back from a trip to Kauai.

It was like a late anniversary trip since my company branch closed just before our real anniversary. It was an awesome trip and I think we'll go back to Hawaii sometime - but a different island for sure. Maybe the big island to see the volcano!

We hiked 8 or 9 miles on the first day and got stuck on the rocky cliffside trail after sunset - luckily we had our flashlights with us and we made it back alive. AJ hurt her knee from slipping all over the muddy trail and the rest of the week was forced relaxation. Although we did go snorkeling twice and kayaking on the Hanalei river. Not TOO relaxed! heh heh

I uploaded the photos to Flickr so you can check them out via the link on the right. ->>
Hawaii is expensive - but a great way to experience a tropical island without leaving the comfort of the "American lifestyle" you've come to enjoy. (Note slight cynicism...)

Mass Effect

2008-01-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

I finally finished Mass Effect this past weekend.

It's one of the best games I've ever played I think.
It took me a while to finish it, but I did try to do everything available. I spent too long going back over conversation trees to see what every option would provide.

I think they did an awesome job on the visuals. I felt like I was playing a movie. They used motion blur, depth of field and "film grain" all the time during gameplay and it really made it feel cinematic. The only things I was disappointed in were during cutscenes: (and I'm just nit-picking here...)

Lip synching. They got close, but it was mostly just flapping of lips and no real forming of phonemes.

Lighting. The lighting was awesome most all the time except in some cutscenes where they chose the use lighting from underneath on the main character for dramatic effect even when the scene lighting called for something else. Also, on full body shots the characters didn't cast shadows.

Oh, and elevator loading was a good cover, but used all too often IMHO - I didn't want to go down to the barracks on the ship because it meant an elevator ride. :(

Once when fighting Rachni they popped in with no textures. I found this glitch amusing. I could see the modeling much better. Check it out:

Yeah I just took photos of my TV cuz I'm bootleg like that.

If you have a 360 - play this game.

2008

2008-01-01T23:57:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to ya!

birthday Haiku

2007-12-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

On this day back when...
thirty seven years ago,
they called me Jason.

Aptera

2007-12-21T16:40:00.001-08:00

I found my next car!
OK it's really a spaceship, but hey.
You wanna get it for me for my birthday?!?!?!
Didn't think so...
It'll set me back about 30k but it can be all electric or hybrid. The hybrid gets between 1000 and 130 miles to the gallon depending on how far you drive. If you drive 60 miles and charge up every night, you won't be running on gas hardly ever - so about 1000mpg. If you drive 400+ miles without charging then you'll need the gas and you'll only get around 130mpg.
Since I only live about 10 miles from work I'll be getting ONE MILLION MPG!!!

MWA HA HA HA~!

Go see the future @ APTERA.com

The Story of STUFF

2007-12-11T00:01:00.001-08:00

We all have stuff.
I like to collect stuff.
I have lots of LEGO bricks, video games and Hellboy figures. (They're not dolls!)

Watch this animation about where stuff comes from and where it goes.

How much trash do YOU put out?

Are you a consumer whore?

You know they are planning to get to the moon to mine it? What will happen to the Earth when it's moon is a crusty husk? No more tides? Maybe we will fill up the mines with trash!

Damn, I sound like a raving lunatic...

Thanks for the link, Nate!

Testy Robot

2007-12-05T23:17:00.000-08:00

I was driving my dad and Pat around SF showing them the sights over Thanksgiving weekend. AJ came with - we had a great lunch at The Stinking Rose - highly recommended if you don't mind the breath! (Thanks Dad!)

Anyways, when we got to the Pacific Heights area I stopped behind a tour bus and wondered what they were gawking at. Then I pulled over and took this picture of the BEST ROBOT EVAH. I think he must have been holding a sword at some point, but it now looks like he's clenching his fists in anger and crying out, "Who took my PANTS!?!?!?"

Christmas starts on Black Friday

2007-11-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned how I hate Christmas now? (OK not really...) I know you're supposed to have the spirit all year long, but when I know the "spirit" is marketing and sales driven I get annoyed. For us, Christmas season starts on December 1st. We bust out the decorations, tree and songs. But it seems for the rest of the USA, Christmas starts on "Black Friday". YAY - go consumerism! <- sarcasm

Anyways - here are a few pics from Union Square in the city - it was a bitch to drive and park, but we did it. I don't think we'll do it ever again. It's WAY to crowded in the bay area to "follow the crowd". You'll get crushed by the masses.

Thanksgiving went OK - we made a vegan dinner for family and it was pretty good. It's surprising how many things you can get that have no dairy - butter, milk, egg replacer - it wasn't really trouble to make everything... except the turkey. Tofurkey just doesn't cut it.

I am a consumer whore.
AND HOW!

SF Green Festival '07

2007-11-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

We had fun at the Green Festival. This was the only car they had there. It's a nice looking car, but really just a glorified golf cart with a top speed of 25mph. Sure you can save the world from certain smoggy death, but you'll be stuck on city streets. Check out the website here: ZENN.

We really like the food they have at the Green Festival. The first thing we had was so awesomely WEIRD it was great. It was hemp ice cream. Yeah that's right - the plant the U.S. deems illegal you can make just about ANYTHING out of... even ice cream.

SF Green Festival - there might be one in your neck of the woods!

No more Student Loan!

2007-11-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had $20,000 remaining to pay on my student loan.

Today I have no student loan.

It's like giving myself a $500/month raise!

I don't know whether to thank ATVI for laying me off or Multiverse for contracting me... either way I would not have been able to pay my loan off this soon if recent events had not gone as they did. I'm glad I could use the pain and frustration of losing my job and searching for a new one to my advantage somehow.

I feel better knowing Uncle Sam isn't breathing down my neck any more.

More about cats...

2007-11-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

These two sometimes are pretty funny.

You know a cat is comfortable living with you when they show you their belly. This is about as close as cats will get to synchronized swimming.
Maddi loves paper. She rips it off boxes and searches for paper to lay on. Michael Thomas is about to scare the bejeezus out of her...
YAY for cats - they're easier than kids. And even after $900 vet bill for Michael Thomas, I'd say they are cheaper too.

5.6 quake

2007-10-30T20:53:00.001-07:00

We haven't felt a big quake since we moved out here to the CA Bay area - or NorCal as some call it... Well tonight while sitting at the computers we got a nice one. At first I thought it was a truck outside as we live on a pretty busy street. Then I realized I was moving side to side. We went to check on the cats - they were OK.

Chu lives almost on top of the epicenter so he was rockin' big time. Stuff fell off the shelves. He and family are OK, though they keep feeling dizzy from aftershocks that are occuring.

Anyways - thanks Chu for the pic!

Struvite Crystals

2007-10-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Michael Thomas likes to go outside - he knows what doors are and tries to open them. Too bad cats don't have opposable thumbs!

Michael Thomas was in the vet for a couple days this past week. We got him back on Friday. He's fine now - and hopefully will be for a long time. He had crystals in his bladder that clogged him up. He couldn't pee! AJ noticed on Wednesday morning and I called the vet as soon as they opened. They realized what the problem might be and said I could bring him in right away. I did and they put a catheter in him soon after. They thought it would be quick and easy and he could go home that night, but he had it bad and they wanted to keep him there with fluids running in via IV and fluids running out until it was all clear.

We were really worried - but it seems to be OK now - we just can't feed him the food we used to. Too high in magnesium or something. The crystals are called Struvite - so we wondered if Maria's husband Greg is related to the discoverer of the crystals in some way...

Anyways, on the same day Michael Thomas came home, a friend of mine went in to have a stent inserted for kidney stones. This week seems to have been plagued by urinary problems!

JASE TV

2007-10-16T22:28:00.001-07:00

AJ thought I looked funny plugging in XBox 360 wires... can't say she was wrong. It gave me an idea for a character design! Hopefully something will come of it.

Cup Doodle

2007-10-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine (Eric DeSantis) started a sketch blog and asked me to take part. I've posted my first sketch there on CUP DOODLE and you can see sketches from other peeps as well. Our goal is to sketch at least once a week to keep the ol' fingers nimble. Go check it out!

Full time @ Multiverse

2007-09-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well, after a few weeks contracting with them, I've convinced Multiverse to hire me on full time. It took a couple beatings and a bit of pleading, but I did it. They all are really nice guys and I get along with them well. We'll be working on MMO games and supporting people using the Multiverse technology for their games. It will be interesting to learn all about PC gaming and MMOs. I kinda wish my desk wasn't a plastic picnic table, but I guess you can't ask for the moon at a start-up.

McCool works there so I'm hoping to start up a D&D group with him - or maybe we'll branch into some other kind of RPG nerdiness. Should be fun.

I hear through the grapevine that other ex-VV-artists are making due with contract work that may turn into full time. Cross your toes for them.

Wells Fargo ATM

2007-09-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

We went to a Wells Fargo ATM yesterday.
There were no envelopes around for me to make my deposit. Not that they were out, there weren't any storage bins for them either! Well, I started getting weirded out and talking out loud...

JASE - "Where are the envelopes? Are they all out again?"
AJ - "I don't see any..."
Lady at the next ATM - "They don't use envelopes anymore. You just put your checks in."

Woah.

Sure enough - the slot for envelopes no longer says: "insert envelope" it says: "insert cash or checks".
I'm all for using less paper. That's cool.
So I went through the process of depositing my checks. I told it I wanted to deposit some checks and it said to insert them. I had three. You can insert up to 30!

The weird part was - it didn't ask me for a total of the checks. It just asked for the checks. After I inserted them, it said it was processing them and then... IT gave ME the total. How the hell did it know? Two of the checks were hand written - do you think it was able to read handwriting? I find that hard to believe. It must have read the bar code at the bottom of the checks and ... no that wouldn't have worked - it MUST have been able to read the handwriting.

This officially marks the beginning of the downfall of mankind to robots.

FEAR THE ATMS!!!

Vegan

2007-09-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while because nothing much has been happening.
Well, AJ started school. She's crazy busy. But she's learning a lot.
I'm still working at Multiverse. We'll see if I end up working there full-time or not.

The biggest thing to happen recently is this:
We decided to go vegan.

It's not really that big of a change for us - most of the meals we make are or lean towards vegan anyways. We had already cut milk out of our diet - no biggie there. We hardly use eggs in anything except baking and those are easily replaceable by other products. I think the weirdest thing for me is cutting cheese. Usually cheese is not the focus of any dish, so that's not the issue. The thing is, I like the European (at least that's how I came to know of it.) way of eating cheese and other small Hors d’œuvres with wine as a meal in itself. I like the various "specialty" cheeses. I will miss those. We don't go out to eat much, so we won't be missing that kind of food. We will miss specialty ice creams. No more Chaat house or Rick's for us.

Why you may ask yourself would they want to put themselves through this kind of food torture?!?! Well, it's precisely that - torture - for the animals involved. I won't go into details - just pictures LOL - you can just remain ignorantly bliss not knowing where or how your food gets on your plate. Some people are OK with that - we turned a blind eye to it for a long time - not wanting to go down what we thought would be a difficult road. Well it turns out we were already heading down that road in our own gradual way and now we're there. Don't tell me that "That's how it always has been." I don't care how it has been. We have the means to be better than we were. Now, I'm going to at least TRY.

Don't think this post is meant to preach to you. It's not. You do what you want - I try to be an "I'm OK, you're OK" person - just don't give me crap for doing what I want in my life. It doesn't affect you. I'm just letting you know.

Skeet Shooting

2007-08-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Multiverse had a company outing yesterday and they invited the contractors. We went skeet shooting. Skeet is old Scottish for "shoot" so really we went "Shoot-shooting". Now as a person who has never held let alone shot a gun, I was quite nervous.

We went to a shooting park out in the middle of nowhere - hard to do here in the bay - which was about an hour away. I was in a group of 4 guys and they made me go first since I was the "noob". We were shooting 50 shots at 10 different targets. (6 stations, 1-2 targets each.) I missed all of the shots at the first station and then somehow figured it out at the second. I hit one at the second station. LOL I really figured it out on the third station where I hit 6 of 8. Then I came back from way behind to finish with the top score. (of our group that is - I hit 19 of 50 - others hit in their teens as well and some in other groups hit ~30.)

See, kids - video games CAN be applied to real life sometimes. Not that I want to hold or shoot a real gun ever again...

15 year anniversary ramble

2007-08-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we celebrated our 15 year anniversary. Being the 15th of August, it seemed like a pretty significant milestone in two ways. 15 years and on the 15th. I had planned on taking a trip to Hawaii for a week, but before I made the plans, I got laid off. So, we just went to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. I don't know why we go to Italian on our anniversary - we don't really seek out Italian restaurants normally. We like trying new weird different things most of the time. Maybe on such a significant day we just want to have something familiar so we can concentrate on each other.

The restaurant was Bella Saratoga and is housed inside a small Victorian style house on Big Basin Way in Saratoga. It was very quaint and quite busy for a weekday evening. (Everything is always busy and packed to the brim in this area it seems...) We ordered a full bottle of champaign this year - usually we just get a split. The waitress carded us, which we both found amusing. Occasionally we get carded in the checkout lane of the grocery, but not too often in a restaurant. Having worked in restaurants for a few years, we know you're meant to card anyone who looks 35 or younger, but since we are both over 35, we thought we had moved beyond that point.

We started a tally of things, which we do every year, but somehow it seemed more poignant this time because it was a multiple of 5.

15 years married.
18 countries visited.
25 states visited.
2 countries lived in.
7 states or prefectures lived in.
10 apartments lived in.
5 cats in the family.
3 languages learned. (English doesn't count)
200+ miles hiked together.

The fact that we've been married for 15 years makes people laugh and they always ask if we got married when we were 12. I don't know why people always say 12 specifically; it's weird. Maybe we look 28. This would be the best thing ever for AJ since getting close to "the hill"seems to be a big worry for her. Is it a girl thing? Is it American culture to only appreciate the young and not respect the old? These are bigger questions for another post I think. For now it suffices to say we have been married for 15 years and it's been pretty good overall.

In my little head there seems to be a marker of 26 or 27 years to "beat" since that's when my parents got divorced and we were married at around the same age (young, but not 12!). I don't think I consider it a challenge/competition to be better than them - but that's probably not a healthy way to think about marriage in general - so I'll just write it off as a nagging concern in the back of my head.

Well - that's a little too much introspection for me on one post. I shall now go play a video game or something to get back to basics. :)

MAC pro

2007-08-13T22:11:00.001-07:00

I got my BFA in 1992 - back then the only WISIWIG computers for creating art were MACs. Then we went to Japan for a while and the only computers smooth enough to show kanji on screen were MACs. Then we came back to the US so I could study CG and get my MFA and the only 3D app on a MAC was Form-Z. That led to me purchasing a PC. Then I built one myself. Now that PC I built in 2001 and have upgraded for the last 6 years is painfully slow and cumbersome - not to mention riddled with viruses. (Just kidding - I wiped them out.)
It's time to get a new computer and with the integration of Intel processors I don't have to limit myself to MAC apps. It is finally time for me to get the computer I've always wanted. A MAC. I went to the Apple website to buy a refurbished box (15% off!) and LO~ there was an 8-core available. I use a dual-core at work and it's great. The coders use quad-cores and they scream. An 8-core... well, I hesitated no longer than to get my credit card - the box will be mine as soon as Fed-Ex delivers the goods.

I'm almost afraid to make the change back to MAC after so many long years of being away. Will I be able to adjust?!? We shall see.

It seems they plan to deliver on the 15th - our 15th wedding anniversary! I couldn't have asked for anything better.

:)

Contract Work

2007-07-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

I got some work for the next few weeks.

A friend of mine works at The Multiverse and they need some art for a client. I'll be helping them out along with Mike Witt.

It's good to feel like I'm contributing to something again. The guys there are nice and the work should prove both interesting and challenging.

Anyways - it's at least a short term solution. Which is better than nothing! :)

South, baby. SOUTH!

2007-07-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went out to Vietnamese with Chu, Grace and Bryan. We thought they were going to take us to a new restaurant, but really, they took us to a mall.

A Vietnamese Mall.

We sat down in the food court and Grace took Alicia to several different shops and ordered different items from each place. Now, I know you're thinking - Mall food sucks. Well, American mall food might suck, but Vietnamese Mall food does NOT. It was amazingly fresh and DAMN GOOD.

We were a little out of our element, but it was somehow oddly familiar to that feeling we had from traveling / living in Asia. How awesome is it that they have such a large community of Vietnamese out here that they made a MALL entirely focused on them! Yeah, cities have "China-town" and "Japan-town", "Little Italy" and the like, but those are really areas or neighborhoods where people of similar ancestry gathered and lived, set up shops and generally communed. This is a MALL built specifically to service the Vietnamese population of the area.

Somehow it struck me as significant because out here in the Bay Area white people are kind of a minority. I mean - not really, but when you've grown up in the mid-west where whites are definitely the majority, it's a nice change to have such a solid mix of the world here. I think people are used to there being a "China Town" in a city simply because 1/6 of the world population is Chinese. There is going to be a Chinese group formed anywhere and everywhere. It's a given. But it's not every place that has a large enough Vietnamese population to warrant a mall devoted to their shopping pleasure.

I like that. There's a Vietnamese MALL here.

Anyways - on the drive back, I needed to get on the highway heading South and somehow we started saying "South, baby. SOUTH!" Over and over with gusto. We were just messing around, but Bryan has turned into a little tape-recorder at the wee age of two and MAN was he funny repeating us. He had so much fun saying "South, baby. SOUTH!" That he just kept saying it over and over all the way home.

We had fun.

Razorba

2007-07-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

"We Got Your Back"

That made me laugh. I found a link to this while looking around for video game companies to apply to. It's a big plastic golf club with a slot for your razor so you can shave your back yourself! It looks like such a time saver! I wonder if they have a shaving cream applicator attachment... or if you have to find someone with a strong enough stomach to lather you up.

Go check it out - you know you want one Dad!

LOL

(Going a bit loopy staying indoors in front of the computer - time to get out into the sun.)

Real Ice Cream

2007-07-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Real Ice Cream.

Sometimes we find weird new places to eat online or in the newspaper. Sometimes they are pretty good but we often don't go back just because we would rather try out something new. Real Ice Cream is different. We'll be going back... a lot.

Their website is really bootleg, but their food and ice cream is NOT. They are a chaat house, which is like Indian snack food. It's really good stuff at $3-4 per plate. But the big draw is the ice cream. They have 25 flavors of really interesting flavors. Sure there are some staples, but we want to try the fig, kulfi and masala chai! Last time I had chicoo and gulkand. I have no clue what those are, but they were GOOD.

I think we're going to try to go back today...

Try something different in your neighborhood!

ZeitGeist Movie

2007-07-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

In looking for images for this post I came across this - I find it hilarious that someone had the time to spend on this... couldn't they have done something more productive? ANYWAYS...

The latest buzz-word is viral marketing. Well it got me again and it was intriguing. I've received THIS LINK from a couple people now and I'm posting it here for whomever cares. Zeitgeist Movie is a 2 hour long commentary on things our society has accepted as truths. I watched it on my Wii on the TV with AJ. YAY, Nintendo!

The movie goes in three parts.
Part 1 speaks on Christianity and history as we know it.
Part 2 is about 9/11 and the media. (like a certain Michael Moore movie, but less dramatized)
Part 3 is about the Federal Reserve Bank, steering the public and war for profit.

I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I find it interesting to think about. Some things make sense to me - mostly the idea that one should always question rather than simply accept. It's good to think.

So watch and think.
Tell me what you think.
Tell someone else what you think.

Ratatouille

2007-07-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

I insist that you go see Ratatouille.

This movie is undeniably one of the funniest, most beautiful movies PIXAR has ever made. The world they created is amazingly complex and deep, yet appropriate for the characters and really pulls the viewer into the reality of the world. It is nigh flawless. The animation is impeccable. It was subtle at times and extravagant at others. I was in awe.

The plot as a whole was slightly predictable, but I didn't mind. The voice acting sometimes left a little to be desired - American actors doing French people speaking English is... a stretch. PIXAR ought to command enough of the world's attention to be able to cast the best English speakers of any country for added immersion in the film.

The last movie I saw was Spider-man 3 and I only saw it because I didn't have to pay. I almost swore off movies altogether based on that movie, but it didn't really seem fair to companies like PIXAR whom although tied to the monstrous hip of Disney, actually care about the story over the buck they will make.

I don't really like going to the movies; people kick your seat, talk through scenes, rustle wrappers and generally make movie-going unpleasant. Top onto that the hefty $10+ cost of the ticket alone and it's really not worth it. The exception is going to see kids movies. I can forgive kids because they aren't supposed to adhere to social mores yet and you get a much better feel for the emotional state of the movie through their unfiltered reactions.

I want to work in games, but after seeing this movie, I almost want to work in film... well, at PIXAR specifically. LOL

Again I reiterate - you must go see this movie. Don't wait for the DVD.

Resume writing

2007-06-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's a funny thing when you have to update/rewrite your resume. OK - not really. (What's actually funny is when headhunters call it a re-ZOO-mee. But that's another story.)

I'm not sure if it's standard or we're just told it's standard to keep your resume to two pages. Is this because it's generally accepted that a human will become bored after reading (skimming really) two pages or is it to try and keep the verbose people tamed down? I like making lists and that means that one whole side of the page is open, but lists get long and boring... how am I supposed to know if I'm over two pages if my resume is in HTML?

Resumes are weird. You don't know who is going to read them or what they like - you get too generic and you don't seem special, but if you're too specific then people will be lost. It's all words in the end and if you try too hard to be a word-smith you seem transparent. Which makes me wonder if I need a degree in psychology to write a resume.

Which leads me to the graphic layout of resumes. Having a history in visual communication I want to spice it up a bit, but I'm told I need to use certain fonts at certain pt sizes (Times Roman at 12pt) which seems really bootleg to me - I don't like serif fonts and have decent enough vision to see 10pt - I mean, going down to 8pt would be a bit much I suppose. Anyways, I'm sticking with Arial at 10. Well, 11 in some areas for you challenged readers. If I go too standard, you'll just pile me up with all the other resumes. In the trash.

How about having your name on both pages? That seems like an utter waste of space to me and if you can't keep the two pages together then I don't really think I want to work at such a disorganized place - but maybe that means you NEED me there.

*sigh*

What's FUN is trying to code indents and bold type in HTML - talk about visual noise! It's like a pile of < / crap >.
Yeah - I'm a bit wonky.

Check out this crazy resume - WOAH! Do you think he has more of a chance to get hired because his personal logo looks like Jesus?!?! The text balloons remind me of a disemboweled body, lungs, heart and kidneys there...

spaceJASE.com v2.0

2007-06-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

YAY - I've updated my website!
After the events of a couple weeks ago I was pretty down and knew in order to move on I was going to need to redo the 2 year old look and feel of my portfolio website. (as well as put up some new material) I went over to my buddy Chu's place and talked about what I could do. He had some great ideas and gave me a skeleton layout to start with. Well, now it's live and swanky. Take a look!
Will it help me get a job? I sure hope so! Stay tuned...

Mike & Ike, Target and Consumerism

2007-06-12T08:33:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when you're trying to save money you get this burning desire to spend some. Is that the consumerism bred into us by American capitalism? I think it probably is. And like Don Hertzfeld says in "Rejected" - I AM a consumer whore.

In a weak attempt to get my "fix" we went to Target to get some minor staple household goods. (Cat-litter. Amazingly enough, Target sells the eco-friendly Swheat-Scoop brand at a much cheaper price than pet stores do... but that's another story.) Whenever we go to Target we take a peek at the clearance section on the ends of random aisles hidden back by the bathrooms. It's bootleg, I know. However, yesterday the jackpot awaited my ever miserly self and I stocked up on...
That's right. They had Mike & Ike candies for 0.46 cents a box!
(They were marked down from $2)

YAY! Consumer needs satisfied with cheap consumable flavored candies!

The game development industry

2007-06-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

VGA out.
There were few of articles that popped up yesterday and today concerning my company.

They happen to be pretty relevant to me - so I think you ought to read them.
Here are the links.
Gamasutra article
Kotaku blurb
IGN
GameDailyBIZ
GameSpot
NextGenBIZ
Nintendo World Report

So, I am not alone in my plight - cross your fingers for all the peeps out there!

Now things get interesting...

Video Game Artist out.

Back and Busy

2007-06-04T23:27:00.000-07:00

NO that's not my desk-space.

We're back from our trip.

We had an awesome time. We spent 2 days in Joshua Tree national park, 2 days in Wickenburg Arizona (G&M wedding), 2 days in the Grands Canyon, 2 days in Zion National Park & 2 days in Las Vegas.

I will post pictures sometime this week - I hope. After we got back, we decided we don't really like the layout of the computer room. Since AJ will be spending more time in here working on school stuff, we went out and bought a few pieces of furniture to better organize the room. I have spent the entirety of my free time after work building a desk, bookcase, TV stand & file cabinet and attempting to organize all my computer, art and game stuff.

Yup - my space is being taken over. I think I'll be moving out to the garage.

LOL - just kidding. Now AJ will have a reason to be in here with me!

Out Again for a week Plus

2007-05-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

We're heading out again for a while. My sister's getting married in Arizona and then we'll be checking out the Grand Canyon and Zion. Should be fun - especially since we'll be stopping in Las Vegas for a couple days to see what all the hoopla is about. I wonder if it will remind of us the cruise ship at all...

See y'all later!

2007-05-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is a view of Nassau Docks in the Bahamas. I stitched together 3 photos taken from the upper restaurant as we left. Our cruise was great - mostly because of the company we had! Brian and Kerri (The Soxies as I have started calling them.) were exceptional travel partners - always in a good mood and ready to explore anything and everything the islands or the ship had to offer.

The ship itself, a Carnival "FunShip", was a gigantic box containing a small piece of Las Vegas and about 2,500 vacationers. We stood in line a lot for food, to get off the boat at port and for food. There was food available 24/7 - it was strange. We worked out a few days in the gym to try and counter the eat-fest, and we danced a lot in the disco.

We tried snorkeling for the first time and absolutely loved it! We snorkeled on all three islands. When the boat docked we rushed off and tried to get as far from the port as possible. We wanted to experience whatever island culture we could and find the best snorkeling. At Nassau we rented a scooter and drove to "Love" Beach. On St. Thomas we took a bus and ferry over to St. John and hiked to Solomon Beach. On St. Martin we rented a car and drove around the entire island and snorkeled at Baie Rouge. I think we might go back to St. John to hike and snorkel - and maybe St. Martin.

After we got back, Brian took us to DisneyWorld so I could go to the Lego store! I got a shirt and mug, but no Lego sets. It was great to see all the kids & adults having so much fun.

This is a panorama of Grand Case on St. Martin. I was standing out on a pier. I think I could retire here!

Overall it was an amazing adventure and although the boat was the weirdest part, we still enjoyed being there because we could hang out and laugh a lot with The Soxies. We have done the cruise thing once now and I don't think we'll go on a cruise again, but we will definitely go to the Caribbean again. (And we'll definitely be hanging out with The Soxies again!)

I've finally found time to upload all of our vacation photos. Chu recommended Flickr.com so I tried it out. It's really cool but I spent a lot of time labeling each picture and writing a caption - they make it so easy!

This is the overlook on the trail on St. John. It was raining earlier - but it's still gorgeous!

Anyways - check out the pictures here: Carnival Cruise 2007 - Caribbean
I plan on putting more pictures up in the future to keep the traffic on my website down. The main "spaceJASE" photo gallery is http://www.flickr.com/photos/spacejase/

Praying Mantis Party

2007-05-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Hey - we're back from vacation!

Before I go into our trip, I want to show you the bugs I'm growing. Last year the praying mantis in our yard impaled itself on a aloe/cactus thing and died. When OSH had their bug bags this year, I got a container of praying mantis eggs. I left them in the planters outside because it said they would hatch after a few weeks of warm weather. That was a couple months ago and nothing has happened because it's not really all that warm here in the bay area... until this week - we're having a warm snap.

Well the egg sack seems to have done something and this little guy is one of the family now - he's going to keep the garden clear of pests and buggies that eat my plants. He and all 200 or so of his brothers and sisters that is!!!

I saw Michael Thomas chasing something on the ground - when I noticed it was a baby praying mantis, I looked at the plant and saw that it was covered in babies! I was totally excited and snapped a bunch of pictures. Then I picked up the plant and shook it over all the different areas of the garden. Now those guys will have enough food and my plants will grow better! Hopefully they will be able to avoid the birds for the most part.

They are kinda creepy - but I like them because they eat all the other creepies.

Out for a week or two...

2007-04-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

Going on business to SCAD and then down to visit the Sox's.
Should be FUN!

See ya in a couple weeks!

Oil Painting #3 - Flowers

2007-04-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to the office next door and asked them if I could have one of the bouquets they have in the office. They get a new awesome bouquet every week and they let me have one. At first I painted on it a couple hours every day, but then I lost interest and had to really make a point of sticking with it. That meant that the flowers died off and I was still painting - so a lot of the painting is made up from what I think flowers "ought" to look like. In the end I think it came put pretty nice considering I've only painted with oils twice before. It was fun. I learned some things.

VodkaBear

2007-04-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a neat little animation I found while Googling for images at work. Yes I was working. Yes I took a moment to watch this. Yes I used Google as a verb.

Watch it - it's cute.

Growing Things

2007-04-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

Since this is the first time we've ever had a yard, I thought it would be neat to try and grow things.
It's been a learning experience - and gardening in the bay area is different than I remember it in Michigan. It's super hot during the day and really cold at night and not humid at all in comparison. I have been able to grow frost hardy plants from November like brussel sprouts, cauliflower, scallions & onions since the winter here only gets down to ~32 degrees or so.

Everything else here was planted in March.

The picture above shows the largest part of the garden. There are smaller areas of soil around the house where I have cilantro, parsley, sage & oregano.

I'm having fun learning & growing. The cats like it too. Mike rolls around in the dirt and Maddi suns herself among the plants.

The Third Stage

2007-04-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

Conspiracy theories abound about this nation's leadership.
I don't know anything really, but sometimes I really feel like leaving the country for a few years again. Just to take a break... but then I'd just get tired of where-ever and have to come back.

The Third Stage

Watch when you have 20 minutes to spare.
I know it's one sided, but these days, what isn't - deal with it. If you don't like getting info from anywhere but your own side, then oh well. Whatever - close your mind to whatever you like. Don't tell me I'm one sided, either - I watch other stuff when it's presented to me.

I have a hard time deciding whether humans are inherently good or evil.
Maybe when I'm rich I'll buy and island somewhere and not deal with all this crap.

It will probably be an atoll used for nuclear testing at some point...

AJ @ SFSU

2007-04-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note - AJ got her acceptance letter from SFSU. (San Fransisco State University) We've been waiting to hear for a few months now. This is pretty much the only place to get a counseling masters in the bay area. This means we'll be here for at least another 2 years. Maybe we'll move up to SF so she doesn't have to commute 1/2 hour for classes... but then I'd have to commute to work!

Hmmm...

Anyways - congratulations AJ! This is a big life change and a new direction for her. She's a natural in counseling anyways, but this will give her the education to back her intuition. We're all kinds of excited.

Monte Bello Hike

2007-04-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

We went on a 5 mile hike in Monte Bello Wildlife Preserve yesterday. It was great. The park goes along part of the San Andreas fault line and you can see the epicenter of the 1989 earthquake. Most impressive to us, however, was the amount of nature we saw. We really like animals and there were so many to see!

We saw deer and vultures - they're pretty common. AJ saw a rabbit bolt across the path ahead of us and when we got up there, he was still there! He was still as a rock and hoping we wouldn't see him. When I got close enough to shoot this, he crawled in deeper.

This newt was the only little guy who ventured out of the stream among about 20 others who were lazing around in the water. He wasn't afraid of me and I got close enough for this nice shot. Look at how bumpy his skin is!

As we were leaving the parking lot, I noticed this coyote entering the parking lot across the road. We went over and I got a couple shots of him. He was really scraggly and looked kinda beaten up.

It was a great hike - I can feel the sore comin' on!

Wondercon 2007

2007-04-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

The day before I got my face bacteria we went to the Wondercon with Kaan and Muge. I went in to work in the morning and then hustled up to catch the latter half of the day. I got to go to a couple discussions that were interesting. Then we went down to the floor to check out all the weirdos. OK OK, if I had $600 to spare I'd get one of those Stormtrooper outfits too. It would be an outward acknowledgement of the redundancy found in an artist's attempts to be original - it just doesn't happen. We're all clones now. Rehashing what has come before and thinking we can stand out and change the world...

Anyways, there were troopers galore, and all kinds of people dressed up as other things for the costume show at the end. Here's a Robin and Green Lantern.

... and a super-deformed Alien.
I saw Two-Face, a group of Boba-Fetts, Sailor Moon, Obi-wan, Pirates and Ninjas too.

I bought a print from Mike Mignola and had Art Adams sign a couple old comics of mine. AJ was too scared to go meet "Apollo" from the old Battlestar Galactica. LOL I had Gene Yang sign a copy of American Born Chinese for me - then I sent it to Eric DeSantis. He likes Monkey King stories and this one was good. If you see it - pick it up. It's a light, humorous look at Chinese acculturation in American society.

Wondercon is fun - I'll go again next year. :)

Flesh Eating Bacteria On My FACE

2007-03-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

That face.
That face.
That beautiful face.

A few weeks ago I got a bacterial infection of the skin on the right side of my face. It was so swollen, that it hurt to eat, smile, laugh and talk. This picture is when it was at it's worst. I went to the urgent-care doctor the previous day and got an antibacterial shot and a prescription for the "Mercedes" class antibiotic pills. I went to my doctor a couple days later and he said I could get the "Ferrari" class drugs if I wanted faster results. I said I was OK with Mercedes. (Always liked German cars better...) This type of infection is called "cellulitis" but can, if left untreated, evolve into the flesh eating bacterial infection. (Like this isn't scary enough already!) It starts out as superficial, but it can get to the deeper skin and then your skin just starts falling off.
NEATO!

Anyways - having this picture and an image editing program on hand, I made a couple "fun" but scary images of what I might look like with a few more pounds - or a few less.

Fattie-JASE

Anorexic-JASE
I am all better now, but that side is still a little more flushed than the other. Go ahead and poke fun at the pics - I won't wish a flesh eating bacterial infection on you... and karma won't cause it to happen to you either!

Los Gatos walk-about

2007-03-22T00:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Los Gatos to walk around town with Chu, Grace & Bryan. It was fun to get out on such a nice day. We got some gelato and window shopped a bit. Here you see Bryan enjoying being served in his stroller.

Los Gatos downtown is nice - if a little full of itself. I am always drawn to the Lamborghini shop, the Bentley shop and the Ferrari shop. I don't get into cars much (driving a VW bus is more about the "character" of the car for me) but one can't help enjoy the graceful lines of those extremely expensive automobiles.

Too bad they get such crappy gas-mileage!

Lotus: 24/29 mpg - not too shabby for this little speedster! (Pretty much what my '77 VW bus gets...)

Bentley: couldn't get close enough to see the tag.

There was a Rolls Royce as well, but that gets 13/19 mpg. BAH! I scoff at you from my Pius. I mean, Prius.

Anyways - that was last weekend. Automobile shape appreciation day... and gelato with friends. :)

Hellboy MUNNY

2007-03-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

HEY - I'm back! It has been over a month since I posted last. I've been working a ton lately. I've got a few things to post about and this is the first... because it's the most exciting to me right at this moment.

Work has been down-shifting a bit now so I've been getting home a little earlier. I try to do something creative to unwind and this was my latest adventure. A Hellboy custom MUNNY.

I added clay to the MUNNY base model and then sanded it down. Then I primed it with gesso and sanded again. I painted the color with acrylics and put a matte varnish on top.

He has some minor issues, but overall I'm very happy with the way he turned out.

Jungle Mike & Laser Rain

2007-02-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

Mike was hiding out stalking birds the other day. Cauliflower on the left, brussel sprouts on the right. He's too clumsy to actually catch a bird, but he tries.
It's starting to warm up a bit during the day. Maybe we can go hiking soon! It rained recently while staying sunny out. The sky was shooting laser beams. Then it turned to hail for a bit. I need a digital SLR because this little thing couldn't catch it.

Working for the Weekend

2007-02-03T23:23:00.000-08:00

Or rather, working ON the weekend.
No posting for a while - sorry - working too much.
Working on the weekend even.
I shaved off my chops in protest.
I'll be OK.
Trying not to get sick like everyone else has been.
7,000 mg of vitamin C per day.
Who needs apples!
I shun you, doctor!

Things that get me through...

2007-01-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

When work is beating you down, watch a video.

People send links to videos around to each other all the time lately. YouTube is so big Google bought them. It's like a viral marketing campaign - you never know what you're going to get. It might make you sick - it usually makes you laugh. People like to laugh. So watch and laugh if you will.

The first video is "Le Grande Content" - Turn up the volume a bit so you can hear the speaker's voice. I like the simple imagery with hidden meaning... like the toilet that pops up when talking about learning about death as a kid from your pet hamster.

The second is "Poodle Fitness" - One of a series of "fitness" videos made in Japan by Panasonic for the 2004 Athens Olympics. So in answer to your question - yeah, it's real. I think it's kids in costumes and maybe dog heads composited in there later. In my work-stupor I thought they might be real dogs or even CG dogs for about 30 seconds... but then I convinced myself that dogs don't have hips set up to work like that...

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2007-01-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday we drove down to Monterey and went to the aquarium. I had to get out of the house and go do something that would totally occupy my mind and keep it off work - or else I might go crazy.

These seals (sealions?) were sunbathing on the beach along the walk to the aquarium. SWEET! It's neat to see sea life up close in an aquarium, though I don't think they enjoy swimming in circles all day long. A lot of the animals were rescued from oil slicks and starvation and stuff, so it seems like they're trying to do a good thing as well as teach people about the ocean. They tried really hard to inform people what fish are endangered and which are safer to eat in addition to trying to convince them not to pollute or litter in the oceans. The building and exhibits seemed kinda small for $25 each, but it is California coastal land space... I guess it was better than Boston's, but not as good as Shed's in Chicago.

Monterey Bay Aquarium LINK

Anyways, it was fun even though it was crowded. We really enjoyed the last hour when most of the people had cleared out to go eat. We went and found some clam chowder and fried oysters. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl = AWESOME. (I'm sure actually having it IN new england would have been better somehow...)

New Year's Eve 2006

2007-01-01T23:12:00.000-08:00

Last night we went up to SF to Craig & Jess's place. A bunch of people came over and we drank and snacked the night away. There was a talent contest and I displayed my musical skills in manualism. Although Matt was better on his guitar, I won the contest. I played "Auld Lang Syne", "Vader's march" (for all the Lucas people there.) and "The Star Spangled Banner". By the end I was pretty beat - I need to practice more to be able to do more long distance running. Maybe I should make some videos and put them up on YouTube.

LOL Yeah, right - I'll let ya know if I ever do that...

Christmas 2006

2007-01-01T22:54:00.000-08:00

This year we went up to visit my sister and her husband in Idaho. It was a crazy trip up with lots of bad weather to slow the drive, but the drive back down was clear and awesome. We saw the mountain range of eastern Oregon and all the northern California mountains too. Shasta is HUGE. We had a good time staying with the Bath family and celebrating Christmas with them. I had fun playing Guitar Hero with Tim & Michelle. You can check out the pictures HERE.

Merry Christmas & God bless us, every one.

Orgasm for Peace Day!

2006-12-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Yeah you read that right.
Today is the day to have an orgasm and immediately after, think about world peace. The organizers say you can direct that orgasmic energy for the good of all - 'Tis the season I say!
Read about it HERE or just do your part on your own!
Today is the day to change the world for the better and have fun "doing it."
LOL

It's Christmas time with Maria

2006-12-13T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hey! Click on the picture to see my sister and Santa jamming out. I thought it was funny that I took two pictures of Maria and Greg with Santa that were nearly identical so I made an animated GIF out of them. Greg is making moves on Ms. Claus... It's kinda funny if you're a member of the Harlow Clan. I thought it wasn't working, but it must be my browser at home that is broken...

Thanksgiving in Arizona

2006-12-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted last. We went to Arizona to have Thanksgiving with Maria - So that's where I'll start.

It was a good trip. We drove in one day but got stuck in L.A. for 3 hours in traffic. We went 60 miles. It sucked. I never want to go to L.A. Ever again. Well - I don't want to drive there ever. People are crazy. We almost witnessed an accident on the way back - we saw plumes of smoke rise up and all the traffic stopped. I quickly darted out to the commuter lane because it was still going and we drove past a woman who had rear-ended a truck. She was in shock and got out of her car in the middle of traffic. The engine was smoking so I don't blame her.

We made it to Wickenburg OK. Tired but OK. The next day was Thanksgiving so we hung out and cooked and ate all day. It was awesome. Just AJ, Maria, Greg and me. Greg and I played Wii a bit.

Friday we went on a hike up Vulture Peak. (Close to The Burg) It was fantastic. The peak gave great 360 degree views of the landscape. It was a tough rock-scale up to the top, but worth it.

Saturday we went up to Prescott and Jerome. That was fun. They are little towns up on the way to Sedona. We took small highways that wound all around the mountains up and down. It was awesome. On the way back we scored the longest unassisted coast - 7.25 miles. I like to see how far the car can coast. It's like a game while I'm driving. This was late at night so no one was behind me to care. Usually the Prius doesn't fare so well on coasts because it's so light - but with extra people in the car we did awesome.

Sunday we went to Sedona. This time we took the highway and Greg's car. No coasting. That place is stunningly beautiful. Like a picture book that's larger than life. My lame pictures don't tell 1/2 of the story. Speaking of pictures, you can see a bunch on this web page HERE.

I'll post more stuff this week of more recent happenings.