| Irvine |
[Jul. 25th, 2007|10:08 am] |
I'd like to introduce you Irvine, California. That link takes you to the Wikipedia article on the city, but here is an excerpt that I think accurately describes the layout, at least:
"The layout of Irvine [...] is nominally divided into townships called villages. The townships are separated by six-lane streets. Each township includes a spectrum of similar types of dwellings, along with shopping, religious institutions and schools. Commercial districts are checker-boarded in a periphery around the central townships."
Living in Irvine is simultaneously cool and frightening. I've put up a Picasa album of pics around our village, and I threw in some fun beach shots, too. Check it out here. |
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| We survived the move! |
[Jul. 23rd, 2007|01:53 am] |
We survived the move to California and are *finally* back online. I've put together a rough and quick (just the way your mother likes it) Picasa photo album with captions HERE, and that's about all I've got the energy for tonight.
Thanks to everyone who helped us get our junk out of Utah! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 18th, 2007|02:23 pm] |
Generally, I avoid the office watering hole.
The coffee that erupts from that spout is like flavored dirt, and the people that gather around it remind me of flies on a hot, steaming pile of...
Unfortunately, this afternoon has been dragging by, and I decided to take the risk. Perhaps I'll let you know how the coffee tastes in about 3-4 days, after it has had a chance to cool down.
I re-used my Starbucks cup from this morning, and the outer sleeve that is supposed to protect my delicate hands almost burned me within seconds of filling the cup.
I swear, that brew is the temperature of the sun. |
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| Death by Squirrell? |
[Jun. 14th, 2007|01:02 pm] |
Um, this is real news.
Sort of.
Reminds me of the time when I was 12 that I tried to pick up a big squirrell at La Jolla Beach in San Diego. It went on a rampage, too, and I still have the scars.
In my pride. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 13th, 2007|03:16 pm] |
This is just another work rant... ignore if you've reached your daily limit.
Last week, my boss instructed me to take our software development team "off the network" by the end of the month. There are too many network controls, he decided, and it makes it too hard for us to complete our work. He was also concerned that unknown changes to the network configuration might impact our workload in the future, and he couldn't handle that.
If I go through with his project, we have to avoid detection of the organization's official network admin group, because they have told us not to do this and will shut us down if they find out.
I put together a detailed plan describing everything it would take to complete the task and all the risks associated with it, including my recommendation not to do it, and when I came in on Monday to brief my boss, I discovered that he has taken the entire week off for an unplanned vacation.
Huh. |
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| Coincidence? |
[Aug. 14th, 2006|12:13 pm] |
I attended my cousin's wedding on Saturday, and I was absolutely flabbergasted to discover that they used the same judge to officiate their wedding as ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kasynia and I will be using for ours. Judge W. Brent West will be presiding over our marriage, and it was very cool to be able to see him in action so close to our own.
My cousin's wedding has been full of these types of surprises. For example, we discovered that they are going to the same general location as we are for our honeymoon. In addition, they used the exact same type of invitation as we will be sending out next week.
None of this was pre-meditated. I'm fairly close with this cousin, but since we were both getting married, we really haven't had time to chat. It's just a little creepy to see, because Utah has TONS of options for marriage, and we don't even live near each other. |
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| Kairi Kitty |
[Aug. 14th, 2006|11:28 am] |
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I present to you the newest member of our family. After an intense period of labor and an even more painful period of waiting, my househould has been blessed with "Kairi", kitten of the seventh seal. She weighs in at just under a pound and is the most absolutely adorable thing on four legs. We weren't quite sure if she was potty trained or completely weaned, but her owner gave us the go ahead because kasynia couldn't wait any longer. It turns out that she is 100% ready for kitten love with no messes or eating problems whatsoever. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 1st, 2006|09:30 am] |
She twisted the fabric of the small blanket over her fingers, focusing on the feel of the course fiber on her skin. The harsh light of the hospital washed out the colors, but she would always see it as bright blue and vibrantly yellow as ever. There were voices all around her, but she didn't hear them. She focused on the fiber. It was rough and course and comforting and familiar.
The sharp click of shoes on the tiled floor sliced through her thoughts and she looked up to see a young doctor standing in front of her. He was wearing mint green scrubs and there was a mask push down around his neck. In his hand, he gripped a pair of used latex gloves.
"Mrs. Donnelly?"
She stared, and he swallowed.
"I'm sorry."
She nodded, and blinked. Slowly, she lowered her gaze to the blanket. Her knuckles were white from gripping it, but she could not make herself let go. There were no tears. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 24th, 2006|11:47 am] |
This weekend, I took my son fishing. It was a momentous occasion - one of those 'fatherly duties' that I had not yet accomplished. He was bored out of his mind, but it was still a good day.
We caught five catfish, and afterwards I learned the painful art of cleaning these strange creatures. First of all, they have barbs in their fins that work like hypodermic needles (sharp and hollow, perfect for injecting venom). During this 'adventure' I became intimately familiar with one of these barbs as it sliced through my finger with barely the slightest hint of pressure. The next best part about catfish is that they don't have scales; instead, they have hide, which you must pull from their bodies with a special pair of pliers. This was not easy. The rest of the cleaning, the gutting and slicing and chopping, were actually sort of fun. Hearing the snap of the spine as you sever the head is very satisfying. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 21st, 2006|08:48 am] |
As I drove to my son's preschool this morning, I was flipping through the radio stations and passed X-96. The clip of audio we heard as we zoomed past was "...boner of the day..." My son instantly exclaimed, "Daddy, I want to do the boner!"
I could not stop laughing for ten minutes. |
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| Broke my "no survey" record, damn! |
[Jul. 11th, 2006|04:14 pm] |
(Click here to post your own answers for this meme.)
| × I miss somebody right now. |
✓ I don't watch much TV these days. (Thank goodness!) |
✓ I own lots of books. (But never enough...) |
| ✓ I wear glasses or contact lenses. |
✓ I love to play video games. |
× I've tried marijuana. |
| ✓ I've watched porn movies. |
× I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship. |
✓ I believe honesty is usually the best policy. |
| ✓ I curse sometimes. |
✓ I have changed a lot mentally over the last year. |
× I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me. |
( it goes on... ) |
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| Engagement Photo |
[Jul. 3rd, 2006|10:44 am] |
I'm going to run some print tests today, but I think we've decided to go with this:
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| Engagement Experiment |
[Jul. 1st, 2006|02:26 pm] |
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kasynia and I met with our reception site today to finalize plans for the wedding. Afterwards, we used her mom and my camera to take some test photos to see if we can do it well enough ourselves to use them in our invitations for our engagement photo. Take a look and let me know what you think. |
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| Atkins Adventure! |
[Jun. 26th, 2006|03:32 pm] |
Wow. That is a bad title. If you, or someone you know, was injured by reading that title, please contact Keith Barton and he will help you recover your loss.
kasynia and I have embarked on the Atkins Nutritional Approach in an effort to shed a few pounds before the wedding. I have never "dieted" before, instead adhering to a constant personal goal of trying to keep the total amount of food I eat at a low level. This diet is strange because we can eat all sorts of things that have traditionally been considered "bad" for you, like butter and heavy cream and bacon and eggs, but things like Milk and Bread aren't acceptable. So far, I've lost about 8 pounds in the last week and a half.
One of the weirdest aspects of this diet is the effect on my energy levels. I don't experience the highs and lows associated with my normal sugar-filled day. I have a steady, constant amount of energy that is less than what I experienced on a sugar/caffeine high, but a lot more than what I experienced in a low period. Gone are those periods in the afternoon where my body just wants to fall asleep and I can't concentrate. Instead, I'm ready to go all day long. I kind of like that part of it.
In other news, kasynia and I bought my son a tux for the wedding. It was hella cheap, and he looks amazing. I can't wait to take some pictures of him in it and get them up on here. We have our planning meeting with the Chantilly this Saturday, and after that we won't have much more to do except smooth out all the tiny details associated with the wedding. Life has been hectic, but very happy and I guess I'm just looking forward to having the wedding, the honeymoon, and then relaxing for a bit. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 12th, 2006|09:02 am] |
In a continuing effort to keep this thing updated more often, I give you the following government-censured text. Enjoy!
This weekend went by pretty quickly. Compared to others who had vastly more engrossing events going on in their lives, kasynia and I didn't really do too much. We've been pounding out the wedding preparations, but took it (mostly) easy this weekend. On Sat-ra-day we attended our last photographer interview. The guy was nice, his work was decent, but he was way too traditional. Mostly posed photographs, and he insisted on including bucketfuls of prints with every package. We're really looking to have very few prints (just enough for a solid album) and then have full ownership of all the images afterwards. Anyway...we've decided on the guy we're going with and I get to call him today.
After the interview, we spent the day wandering around Salt Lake City. We visited several sites that various photographers had told us about, including an old LDS church that was built on the grounds of one of Brigham Young's estates. The church was boring (as I think all LDS churches are), but the grounds were actually quite beautiful. There were carved stone pillars and a small lake, huge trees and curved archways. Anyway, it was cool.
Yesterday, we were going to go to the Airshow, but when my son came back from camping with his mother, he was lobster-red and cranky as hell. Consequently, we did nothing fun yesterday but stayed home and relaxed. Maybe that was better. |
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