You are lost

So it’s July already. While it’s hard to say what all I’ve been up to the last 7 months I can assure you it’s not very exciting.

Sara and I planted a small garden in the backyard a while back. We’ve got some various lettuces growing, as well as some strawberry, cucumber and tomatoes. It’s small enough to tend to without much effort, which suits my busy schedule well.

I also took a little time a couple months ago to mix some local wildflower seeds in the front yard, which has been pleasant. I think I might do it a bit differently if I were to try it again, they’re a little taller than I had anticipated and it doesn’t look good if your yard is a foot high.

My games have consisted mostly of things I already had, revisiting Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, Portal (in preparation for the release of 2), Final Fantasy IV DS and a bit of Chess. I’ve also returned playing Fragile Dreams, an interesting RPG for the Wii, with the intention to finally complete it. As for newer titles I really enjoyed Limbo and Portal 2. Really really enjoyed Portal 2.

I went on a bit of a health kick for a while where I quit smoking and was exercising regularly but fell out after about 3 months due to stress and time constraints. I might try to go back to it eventually.

There’s been more than that, but I wanted to just get a quick post out for the time being. I’ll try to do some updating in the near(er) future.

I don’t feel like organizing my thoughts so I’m just going to let this all out for now.

I moved.  It was a couple of months ago and it ate all my vacation time to do it but I moved.  I’m still in the same over privileged town in this nightmare state and the only breathing things I spend any time with are Sara and the cats; I probably see the cats more frequently.

It’s silent.  The fridge will hum at times or the gas furnace will kick on but everything else is quiet.  I should feel peaceful but my mind is still at work.  It never leaves.

Isn’t it fucking wonderful to have a job in this economy?  Many of my good friends back in MT just lost theirs.  Finnegans closed.  No warning to the staff.  Shit timing too.  I know I’m glad to be employed, I’m certainly not ungrateful, but it feels like there’s this pressure; that you’re not allowed to have a bad day because there are hundreds of people who would love the chance to be working.  Yeah, I get it.  But just because everyone wants a job doesn’t make them any more enjoyable!  It’s still fucking work!

My head is still noisy, even when the work day itinerary slips my mind.  News and bills come to mind.  Chores.  The ever expanding to-do lists of what I should do and what I’d like to do, both holding out for time.  More chores, and then work again…

Time is spent indulging in escapism, immersing myself in a video game or chasing a query online.  Anything to keep the mind distracted.  To relax, even a little.

I’m certain I could ramble on further but I’d rather stop here.  I just wanted to post an update of sorts, not throw a bitch session, but I guess that’s what I’ve got for the time being.  Good luck out there.

So, wow, 3 months went by.  I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t had a little time to write but to be honest it hasn’t been too exciting around here.

Here M.I.A. Born Free are Germany’s winner some  Ukraine’s entry inserts I want one to Saul Williams browse  through.

And  Police kill 7 year old girl oh  SWAT team storms civilian household wow Arm yourself in Ohio people Because online children are just better what the  fuck.

I’d write more on these things but really it’s too hot to sit in front of my computer right now.  Maybe I’ll write something of substance soon.

A fish a fish fishy ooh….

We are now half way through 2009 and to be perfectly honest I haven’t been too impressed with any of it.   Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been a bad year but so far it has failed to meet my low expectations.

Here’s a fighting game called Faith Fighter.  Use your deity in a death match!

And here’s a set of maps depicting density of sinners per county based on the seven deadly sins.  What did I learn from it?  Wyoming is as boring as it seems and never move to Florida.

I’ve been down for a couple months (for those of you who’ve noticed) and I’ve almost got things figured out.  A little more tinkering to do though.

I added some new pics to the wildlife section, most of which I took today and I’ll talk about… now.

A big motivating factor in my decision to identify the creatures I find in my yard on a daily basis is some of them are poisonous.  Most are not.  Some mimic those which are, but are not.  My task is to know the difference, because staying the fuck away isn’t always an option.

For example today I saw another of those red and black snakes.  I was excited to have the opportunity to show you all what it looks like, so I grabbed my camera and snapped some pics.  I had formerly thought it was a Banded Sand Snake, but as I got closer and studied it, I found it to be a Ground Snake (yes, that’s it’s actual name).  As you’ll see in the pic, the Ground Snake mimics the Sonoran Coral Snake, except it lacks the yellow stripes that mark it as highly venomous (the Sonoran Coral Snake is native to this area as well).  As far as no option to get away, well, this Ground Snake resides in my front yard.  By my front door.  Between the foundation and the slab of concrete that makes my porch, just under the paneling of my house.  Fortunately it’s only a little more dangerous than a Garter Snake; it has a mildly toxic saliva that can cause irritation.  I can deal with that.

As you’ll see I’ve also found a Jumping Spider.  I think it’s simply an Arizona Jumping Spider but I haven’t been able to verify that yet.  I’ve also found the Black Widow.  Not really a new thing to me, but not a wonderful thing to find next to your mailbox.

I can’t wait to get back to work, if for nothing else than to have something else to tell you all about other than my new found nerdy fascination with the various critters I find.

I saw a 17 year Cicada yesterday.  I was tidying up the yard when I raked over it, causing it to make the shrieky noises.  I didn’t know what it was at first, so I looked it up online.  These things are neat.  It starts as a nymph (I saw a nymph in my garden the other day t00 btw) and lives underground as deep as 6 feet.  After 17 years it emerges to molt (I’ve found some molts too) then lives for about 5 weeks above the surface before it dies.  Sweet.  Kinda like graduating from school only to die the month afterwards.

Other odd sightings include a couple of Praying Mantis’.  We had 4 of them on the porch the other night.  I didn’t realize that they came this far north. We had a Road Runner in the driveway the other night; they don’t look anything like their cartoon representation.

Apparently there are around 15 different species of hummingbirds native to this area, of which I’ve seen at least 4.  I’m learning more about identifying the local birds as I get time.

Ok.  I updated the photo gallery so pics are windowed for easier/better viewing, and added a slideshow function if you’re interested.  Most of the pics I take are high quality so to reduce lag time I resized them, which also reduces their quality a little.  It’s a fair trade at the moment, but I might add a high-res gallery in the future.

I’d like to add some pictures of everybody to my photo gallery.  I intended to take some before I left anyhow, but now I’ll have a place to showcase them.

I’ll slowly be adding some more features as I can.  There’s a lot of neat things I can do and nifty gadgets to play with, I simply do not have a lot of free time at the moment.

As a matter of fact it’s time for bed.  Goodnight.

My apologies to those unfortunate few who bounced from one place to another as I deliberated my medium for communication. Thanks to Sara’s net-savvy skills I am satisfied. I now have my own private island on the sea of internets to stomp my feet on and scream at the world with!

More importantly I have an easy and accessible way for friends and family to remain in touch, which is probably what brought you here. I’ll try to keep the site updated, and I hope you’ll continue to visit me here as time goes on.