See? Nobody cares.

I'm not a writer, really.
Blogging seemed like a good idea.
I'm all about the internets and all.
But I'm pretty boring, really.

Maybe I should make a New Year's resolution to try to write every day or every other day. Not just for the sake of blogging, but as a personal journal.

We shall see.

There's no stopping him

Rant

Ok. I've about had enough of this culture. Check please.

I just Stumbled on a website saying, "Five short holiday breaks are the best stress-busters!" And the article starts out with, "It may not amuse your boss ..."

Amuse my boss?! Dude ... FUCK THE BOSS!

People, we are living to work. We spend our lives at the job and feel guilty for taking a break to enjoy this life. And boss? I hate that word. This person is a supervisor. The only BOSS of my life is ME. And I don't live to serve my supervisor. We only have only one go around at this people (at least in these bodies), why the fuck are we tiptoeing around the subject that working has become all we really do?

Americans typically get 3 weeks off a year. A YEAR. WTF? Are companies so desperate for productivity? Actually they're not. Corporate America has engineered the American mentality very carefully. Think about it. You get up at 6 or so, get ready for work, get there at 8, work until, what, 5pm? Commute back home. Have enough time to say "HEY!" to your family ... your MOST PRECIOUS ASSET, by the way. Shovel some food in your mouth and go to sleep to do it all over again the next day. WHY?

Everybody knows that people fuck around at work. Taking smoke breaks, coffee breaks, surfing around the internet, playing solitare ... nobody does any real fucking work. I would bet that if the work day was shortened to SIX hours a day, productivity would skyrocket. Think about all the positive change it could bring! Parents wouldn't have to use daycare for their school-aged children. They'd be at work while the kids are in school, then out in time to pick them up! IMAGINE working from 9 to 3. MUCH less grumbling early in the morning, less dependence on caffeine cause you were able to actually sleep, go home while it's still light out (sorry Alaska) and spend the rest of your afternoon with kids, actually have time to MAKE a nice dinner... it boggles the mind.

The entire culture of this country would shift. Maybe that's the point. If it changes, maybe people won't be so hurried. If they aren't so hurried, they don't need the INSTANT gratification of so many consumer products to make them artificially happy. See? Engineered.

This is why places like Google are touted as such great places to work... they treat their employees VERY well. The employees, in turn, work hard for the company's success. Too many Initechs out there. Too many people live the Office Space nightmare. Haven't seen that movie? WTF is wrong with you.

If you haven't seen the movie, go right now to a place where videotapes or film are sold or rented, and buy it or rent and watch it. It is delightful.

Stitch Markers

I made a purchase several months ago at a local yarn shop (LYS). I bought some stitch markers for my knitting. If you DON'T know, stitch markers are kinda like place holders for your knitting. While you go along, you can place a stitch marker to remind you when to change pattern or etc etc. So these stitch markers that I bought were 5 bucks a piece and pretty simple.

I got to thinking, as I often do, ... why the hell am I paying five dollars for ONE of these damn things when I know I can make em!

So I did.

I went to some massive mart and got some wire and some beads and started churning out some stitch markers of my own. MUCH nicer than the ones I bought, I don't mind saying.

So I shared them with a little knitting group I go to on Tuesday evenings and they liked em. And I thought, well, if they liked em, maybe other people would too. I started making more and more and finally asked another yarn shop if they would sell locally crafted stitch markers. They said yeah!

I bought some cardboard stock and now I'm readying some of the puppies for sale. I'm trying to come up with a neat name/gmail addy to go with it. I'll take some pics of the ready-to-go product a bit later to share.

Fathers Day 2008

Fathers Day 2008
Originally uploaded by astrahl

Brian got to choose his own adventure this past Sunday for Father's Day. After receiving his new wallet with D pictures inside, I asked him what he wanted to do. He said that he wanted to do a first family hike in a local park.

And AWAY we go!

Drove to Capitol View Park in Frankfort and hiked one of the mountain bike trails. It was quite hot that day so we only did a mile or so, but it was still fun ... especially cause I didn't have to carry anything except the camera.

We actually got to the park while D had just fallen asleep in the car. He was awfully cranky so instead of hoisting him up right away, we made a drive of it to let the little guy get some rest (and give us some quiet). Brian drove us along a cycling route he took the other day. 30 some odd miles through the prettiest roads.

Just about the time we made it back to the park entrance, D woke up and was ready for some lunch. Fed him, packed his bottle away (as you can see in the pic) and set off on the hike.


The 17-year cicadas are out in force!
Saw and heard a LOT of those guys on the trail. Saw some deer too! D's first wildlife encounter. We made it back to the car and headed home after a nice Father's Day hike in the park.

Been awhile

YES YES! I apologize for all you devoted readers ... all, what, two of you? for not having updated this blog in a LONG LONG time. Baby blues and disinterest, really.

D is getting bigger and bigger, as expected. He's crawling pretty well and starting to pull himself up to a stand now. Still not sleeping like a little angel, but we pick our battles, don't we.

On the personal front... nothing much happening to me. I'm knitting, web-surfing, sweeping up a lot of dog hair. Haven't played many video games of late. Oh, I got a huge blow to the stomach about a highly anticipated game. Apparently, the makers of Spore have decided to add a bunch of "protection" to the game that pretty much commandeers your computer. There's no way I'm going to put my computer up on the chop for that. REALLY disappointing too, cause I thought this would be the next Guild Wars for me. sigh

XTREME Knitting

Money Close Up
Originally uploaded by astrahl

So, yeah, I've been branching out into other fun stuff about knitting. I've taken to hand dyed yarn. This little pretty is some superwash merino wool colored with Easter egg dyes. It's super easy stuff to do.

I think it's really cool. I've gotten really into it.

SOME people, you know who you are ... Ken, kinda tease me about it. Yeah, just wait until I make you a pink dick warmer, dude.