Half-Nekkid Thursday - Shorn Edition

Truth be told, I've been sitting on these pictures for about two weeks now. I shaved a few weeks ago, but last week was the holiday edition, so I couldn't very well post them then. It took a few days to adjust back to the no beard thing, and I must say that I kind of miss it. A few beard advantages I can no longer make use of: Absorbing spillage when drinking too fast Free face warmer on cold days Mindless pulling entertainment while thinking A few others I'm forgetting... Chick's dig 'em Or so I told myself... I'm a little bummed about how the pictures turned out. I took them with my good camera, but they didn't focus very well and the lighting kind of sucked. Oh well, I'll be more careful if there's a next time. I kind of look mean in the totally shaved picture too.

Half-Nekkid Thursday - Christmas Edition

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night.

This turned out a little silly, but it was all I could think of to bring out a little holiday cheer.

Happy HNT everyone, hope your holidays are wonderful!

PS– Looks like HNT has been suspended this week, should have read before posting. But I'm going to leave it up anyway, my Christmas present to you all. Hey, it beats socks...

Weird x 5

Sheesh, double-teamed by Happy Kap and Jimmy. I think Heather got me first, but no matter, a tag's a tag.

Here are the rules:

The first player of this game starts with the topic. Five weird habits of yourself.

People who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says You Are Tagged (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

My five weirdnesses:

1. Well, this is tough for me because I think that most of the stuff I do is rather normal. Maybe that in and of itself is weird, so there's one, but I'm having a really hard time coming up with five.
2. When I eat meals, I generally focus on one thing at a time and eat all of it before moving on to the next item, e.g. eat all my mashed potatoes, eat all my salad, eat all my chicken. I do not mix food and I usually take measures to make sure they don't touch.
3. Along those same lines, when I eat finger-foods, I usually eat them one at a time. Pull out one (and only one) french fry, dip it in catsup, eat, repeat.
4. Again with the food, when I eat stick pretzels, I grab one, eat off all of the salt, then munch the pretzel itself (this is probably my weirdest habit).
5. Whenever someone asks me if I have a question about something (could be anything), How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? immediately runs through my head.
6. All of my T-Shirts are on hangers, not folded and sitting on a shelf. All of them have to be hung the same way so I can easily see what's on the front of them when it comes time to choose which one to wear. I also have to have my black shirts on black hangers and white shirts on white hangers.

Well there's my five, plus a bonus one I guess. Everyone I know has already been tagged, so I guess the game ends with me. I am a loser after all.

Queer-bait Loser

That's right folks, in case you haven't figured it out for yourselves, I am a queer-bait loser. How do I know you ask? Easy, a bunch of teenagers told me so. And we all know that teenagers are super-intelligent beings.

You see, I spent Saturday night camped out in front of Best Buy in order to finally obtain an Xbox 360. A mission which was highly successful, but very cold. Sometime around 3:00 AM, a group of very smart boys drove past all of us snuggled up against the wall, shouting and throwing powdered doughnuts out from the car windows as they passed.

Yes guys, you got us, everyone in line definitely appreciated you setting the record straight about our queer status. I mean after all, we were silly enough to sit outside all night to buy a video game console. That's pretty loser all right. Too bad you didn't stop to join us in the fun. Oh wait, that's right, your mommies won't give you any money to buy one so you have to make yourselves feel better by yelling and throwing things. I imagine you all cried yourselves to sleep that night while you thought about all the fun the rest of us will be having for Christmas while you have to spend the time diddling yourselves. Yep, queer-bait, that's me.

PS- We all laughed extremely loud when we saw you get nabbed by the cops as you screamed out of the parking lot. Dip shits.

I Am NOT Selling This One

Yay, I got my Xbox! It was way super cold out, and I have a lot of stories from the night, but I really don't have the energy to write about them right now. Suffice to say, it was a fun but interesting night.

35FF

Think about it.

1. What's your favorite radio station?
Well, it used to be this station. I'm really not a big radio fan because there aren't any stations that cater to my tastes. However, there's a local station run by the Seattle School District that has no commercials and all volunteer DJ's, 89.5 FM. They have a Gothic/Industrial show every Sunday night from 6:00 till midnight. They stream over the internet and I record it every week.

2. How would you describe the format?
Diverse. Most of the time it's trance/club/top 40 music. Sunday mornings they have a gospel show and I already described Sunday night.

3. Do you think satellite radio will become commonplace, like subscribing to cable TV?
Yes.

4. Have you thought about buying a satellite radio subscription?
Yes.

5. When is the last time you said goodbye?
This question doesn't fit with the other 4.

Haircut Take 2

I posted quite a while back about my latest choice in hair salons. (yes, I'll pause while you snicker) Well, I went back today to get a little off the top and I had an experience similar to my afformentioned visit.

First off, Chloe is still hott (yes, two t's) and her fingernails still rule.

Anyway, she's working on my head and we both overhear a stylist/client conversation taking place behind us. There was an older lady sitting in the chair, looked to be in her late 60's, and she was chatting away with the gal doing her hair:

Both: yak yak yak
Stylist: Oh, I forgot to tell you, I saw your son and daugher-in-law on Evening Edition the other day!
Old Lady: Really? I had no idea they were going to be on.
Stylist: Yes, it was really exciting, I thought about calling you. They were giving a tour of their home.
Old Lady: Oh yes, it is a lovely little place.
Stylist: They were talking about food for the holidays and mentioned how they had just ordered $80,000 worth of caviar for the party.
Old Lady: $8,000?
Stylist: No, $80,000.
Old Lady: Oh good, that's my favorite!

I was happy to see that when I looked in the mirror, Chloe's jaw had dropped as far as mine.

Where do these people come from, and why does this hair salon attract them so?

In other news, long hair and overgrown beard...decent. Short hair and overgrown beard...not so much. I'll be shaving immediatly following my Best Buy camp out.

HNT

Sorry to dissapoint this week, I got to watching Nip/Tuck on Tivo last night and then just crashed. I had an idea, but today was a wash so, meh. Maybe if you're good I'll have a special Christmas edition next week.

Yeah, I have no idea what that means or where it's directed either.

PS- I've already decided I'm going to be The Carver for Halloween next year. There isn't much creepier than that guy/gal on TV right now. Wish I could figure out who the frig it is.

Woe Is Me

Yes, yes, I know, "oh to have my horrible problems". But this really sucks. As many of you know, I'm on a mission to find an Xbox Premium system. I found a pre-order bundle a week ago and reserved one. Then common sense took over and I cancelled the order. It was going to cost $1000. It wasn't inflated markup, just that they made you buy a ton of extra stuff...$400 worth of game system, $600 worth of extras (read shit I don't need).

So I'm at home this morning on a conference call and the doorbell rings. I timidly walk over to the door (had a nasty migraine today) and find a box sitting for me outside. I look at it and go, oh cool, Christmas! Go back to the study, grab a knife and head back to open the box. I open it up and...oh my god, oh my god...oh FUCK! Yeah, turns out the pre-order didn't get cancelled. In the box staring right back at me was an Xbox 360 Premium system, 7 games, 2 wireless controllers and 2 Play and Charge Kits (recharge wireless controller while you continue to play). Yes, there was a bright light and the sound of angles singing when the box opened.

So, now I've got this system sitting here, exactly what I am just dying for, just blatantly mocking me. I ran through some options on what to do with it and in the end...back to eBay. I'm keeping 3 of the games (which I can't play) and hoping I can still make the full price back. But the fact remains, I've had two of these things in my hands, yet I have none. Can you freakin' believe that? I can't.

My last hope remains camping out in the Best Buy parking lot this weekend.

Yeah, woe is me. Anybody got any cheese?

Rounding out the week

Going with photos this week.

1. What's on your feet?


2. Turn to your right -- what do you see?

I am a Messy Desk Grand Master.

3. What is the last thing you ate?
Yeah so you probably don't want a picture of this right now. So imagine a plate with chili pepper chicken over steamed rice for me.

4. What can you smell right now?

That's a picture of nothing.

5. Do you wear hats?
I have been known to don one from time to time, however no, I do not "wear hats". That is to say, I do not wear a hat for the sake of wearing a hat. Reasons for hat wearing:

• It's cold out and I will be spending a significant amount of time outside, e.g. shoveling snow.
• Work uniform (this has not been an issue since college)
• It's Saturday, I haven't showered and somebody wants donuts for breakfast.
• There are no other reasons for wearing a hat.
• Unless you're a chick in a baseball cap. That can be kinda hot.

Oh Wait, There it is!

For those of you that don't know me, I'm not a friend hog. I am very picky about who I spend my time with, and although I have what many would see as few friends, each and every one of them are extremely wonderful people that mean the world to me.

Whenever I'm feeling down, someone is always there to help me find my smile again.

Check out my sweet new duds! This is sooooooo me, I love it!

Thank you HappyKap. More than you know, thank you.

Half-Nekkid Thursday - All Smiles Edition

I want to smile, really I do. My face just won't do it right now.

I won't go into it here as there's really no point, I'm not fishing for Atta Boy's. Those of you who know, already know. Those of you who don't, well, you aren't missing anything profound. Just a day in the life.

Happy HNT everybody, I promise I'll be back to myself in another week!

SleepyTime Toe Tent

They've been advertising this thing like mad on the radio out here lately. Where do companies like this get funding from? I mean honestly, this is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard of.

SleepyTime Toe Tent

Parting With A Dear Friend

Unpacking Stage 00
Originally uploaded by That Will Guy.

Well, I think I'm going to do the unthinkable. I really, really want the 360 Premium system because you just can't do all that much with the Core system and the cost to upgrade is about twice the difference in price. I was hoping to find a Premium system first and then try selling this one, but things aren't going so well in that department. I figure if I'm going to get rid of it, I had better do it before Christmas.

Sad decision, but I think I needs to be done.


*update* Crikey! I sold it in under an hour for $200 profit. Um, thanks eBay!

C:\FORMAT 100.7 /FS:Country /V:TheWolf /Q

Why is it that whenever radio stations change format they always seem to go Country Western?

I said where I come from
It's cornbread and chicken
Where I come from a lotta front porch sittin'
Where I come from tryin' to make a livin'
And workin' hard to get to heaven
Where I come from
Last week my favorite station did the dreaded format change and I'm really upset about it. It used to be 100.7 The Buzz, Radio for Guys, now it's 100.7 The Wolf, Seattle's Hottest Country.

The previous format was really brilliant I thought, all "guy radio" all the time. Sure, they were a little over the top sometimes, but it was truly great radio. The thing is, I hate radio because you really have two major options: Music or Political Talk. I'm a huge music fan, but not of anything that stations play on a regular basis. I'm also a talk fan, but I get really tired of all the political mumbo jumbo because it just grates on you after a while. Regardless of your own political viewpoints, you want to be depressed and frustrated with the world, listen to politial talk. So The Buzz was perfect for me, no music and all talk, but no politics. They always had topics that were of interest to me as a guy and the format was truly unique. Also, on weekends, they'd have shows like Beer Radio, Cigar Radio (I don't smoke them, but still interesting) and a Tasting Room show where they'd sample different liquors or wines every week.

A few of the main shows are moving to another local station which plays Rock, but it's just not the same. I tuned into one of them the other night and it went somewhat like this:

*crap song*
*crap song*
*crap song*
Hey! You're listening to The Men's Room. We'll be back with some calls after this.
*crap song*
*crap song*
*commercial*
** CHANGE STATION **
The Men's Room used to be a great evening show on The Buzz. The two guys were always doing crazy news and talking about partying. Now they're just an interlude to music. No ability to really show their personality.

The old "top ratings" show from The Buzz, BJ Shae, is moving to the same station in the mornings to replace Howard Stern when he goes XM Radio next year, so I'll have to wait a while to see if they've ruined that one as well.

Now I'm back to no radio to listen to. Sux.

I said where I come from
It's cornbread and chicken
Where I come from a lotta front porch sittin'
Where I come from tryin' to make a livin'
And workin' hard to get to heaven
Where I come from
I've tuned into my station twice since the format change. Both times I've heard that cornbread and chicken song. Must be popular or something.

Will Stay Awake For Free Time

I'm sure none of you are asking yourselves "I wonder what's going on in the life of that Know It All guy these days?" so I'll pose the question myself.

My available free time has been totally consumed lately, so much so that I'm creating time by staying up later and later. The last time I went to bed before 3AM was November 20. The Xbox 360 really took a bite out of it and then last week I accepted a little moonlighting project which has eaten the rest. I've also been in a real shit mood lately and have avoided posting about it. And yes, I'm still avoiding it.

On the 360 front, I only play after everyone else has gone to bed, so by default it's keeping me up late. But that's not so much of a change, as I'm always up several hours after everyone else anyway. To illustrate just how much I've been playing, I need to provide a little detail.

For those of you not familiar with the new game system, it has a (brilliant) concept called Achievements. The basic premise is, as you complete certain tasks or milestones in a game, you unlock an Achievement. Achievements are all assigned a certain number of points (some more, some less). These points are tracked on Xbox Live and added up to create your Overall Gamer Score. So for example, if you look at the box on the upper right of this page you'll see I'm currently at 710.

Last night I was playing Zuma and a new Achievement unlocked: the 24 hour Achievement. This means that since November 22, I have spent an entire day of my life playing Zuma!! I've also played some of a few other games and finished the game Kameo as well. Yes folks, I'm that big of a loser.

As for Moonlighting, last week I was approached to create an advertisement for a certain magazine about a certain type of expensive animal. Yeah, I'm being vague, sorry. I've done a few of these before for the same people and always enjoy the work. However this one is a little stressful because it is going to be the entire back cover of the magazine. The ad space cost $10,000. A little pressure there you think?

I'll admit, I've been accused of being creative now and then, but I'm far from being a qualified graphics and print designer (I'm a Software & Web Developer if that tells you anything) so this has really been making me nervous. It has also taken a lot of time to get anywhere. I think I'm already up to about 20 hours since I started last Thursday night. I'm also a really bad business person when it comes to these things. How ever many hours I spend on creating these, I always cut the total in half before I figure the bill. Basically, in the end, I try to charge for the number of hours it would have taken had I gone from Zero to Finished Product with no iterations in between. Partially due to the fact that they are good friends of mine, but also because that's where my confidence lies as a designer.

So you take all that into account and also add in the fact that I still have a full time "real" job and you start to see what my schedule has been like lately. But wait, yes there's more, then you add in the fact that I have a very attentive 2.5 year old. I refuse to let things like this affect the amount/quality of time I spend with her, so I have to keep on top of that as well.

Yeah, I've been busy.

First In Line

What's one of the first things you learn as a little kid when it comes to traffic safty? Always look both ways before crossing the street.

Unfortunatly, as we grow older and get to drive cars ourselves, we tend to forget this rule when we're sitting in our "indestructable" box of sheet metal and fiber glass.

When you're first in line at a red light and it turns green, please think back to that early lesson of childhood. I'm not saying the wreck I witnessed in front of me this morning would have surely been avoided if the person opposite from me would have paid better attention to this golden rule of traffic, but I saw the truck coming from my right when the light turned green and I stayed put. Too bad for that red mini-van...

Obviously this is the idiot pickup driver's fault, but let that be a lesson to you, don't trust other drivers. If you count on other drivers to watch out for you, you're bound to be that red mini-van some day.

Thankfully there were no injuries this time.

Neglecting Again

I've been neglecting again, so here's some mindless bonus content while I work on some real stuff.

Your Power Color Is Lime Green

At Your Highest: You are adventurous, witty, and a visionary. At Your Lowest: You feel misunderstood, like you don't fit in. In Love: You have a tough exterior, but can be very dedicated. How You're Attractive: Your self-awareness and confidence lights up a room. Your Eternal Question: "What else do I need in my life?"

What's Your Power Color?

Yeah, whatever on that "How You're Attractive" description...

You Are Scary

You even scare scary people sometimes!

How Scary Are You?

SWEET!

Your Personality Is

Rational (NT) You are both logical and creative. You are full of ideas. You are so rational that you analyze everything. This drives people a little crazy! Intelligence is important to you. You always like to be around smart people. In fact, you're often a little short with people who don't impress you mentally. You seem distant to some - but it's usually because you're deep in thought. Those who understand you best are fellow Rationals. In love, you tend to approach things with logic. You seek a compatible mate - who is also very intelligent. At work, you tend to gravitate toward idea building careers - like programming, medicine, or academia. With others, you are very honest and direct. People often can't take your criticism well. As far as your looks go, you're coasting on what you were born with. You think fashion is silly. On weekends, you spend most of your time thinking, experimenting with new ideas, or learning new things.

The Three Question Personality Test

Pretty damn accurate for 3 questions. Sorry stupid people, I'll freely admit I'm short on patience with you.

Half-Nekkid Thursday - Nekkid Edition

Almost feeling bold this week, but not quite. I'm in a bit of a creative slump lately so this seemed the only logical thing to do. I know, what's the point of posting a nekkid picture if you're just going to render it unrecognizable? Truth be told, I work with a few people who read this thing and I'm sure they'll appreciate me sparing them the original. Plus I just haven't worked up the gumption to really lay it all out there. Maybe someday...