How was your weekend?

One simple question.

One tough answer.

I picked up my boss yesterday on the way to work (he locked his keys in the car) and he asked the simple question "How was your weekend?"

Not so good. Seems like it's an all around bad year for me, but I'm surviving. My mom spent Saturday night and part of Sunday in the hospital with chest pain (see her blog post here). On top of that, our bathroom remodel has hit quite a big snag. It seems our plumbing doesn't want to work (both the water supply lines and the drains). Then we have my Lasik surgery this Thursday which was running the risk of being delayed (until today). It seems I have a droopy eyelid and both the eye doc and regular doc wanted to check things out before clearing me for the Lasik (current prognosis is a mild case of Horner's Syndrome, but more details will follow after a meeting with the neuro doc).

And to top this off, my aunt spent time in the hospital last week with chest pain and I've lost two uncles this year. And let's not forget the declining health of my last surviving Grandmother either.

I'm starting to think I've hit my depression low so I've been trying to focus on the positive. no matter how hard it might be.

- I'm cleared for my Lasik surgery (I really hate glasses).
- I finally finished City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer (see my review here).
- Which means I can now continue reading Betrayal Aaron Allston.
- I'm still continuing to write in my journal (old school pen and paper).
- My blood pressure this morning was 98 over 66 (quite good she told me).
- Everything else looks good in the bathroom.
- I have a loving wife that puts up with my wierdness (and lately my crappy attitude).
- The afore mentioned loving wife will be bringing me a Quizno's sub today for lunch.

And that's as creative as I get right now.

City of Saints and Madmen
by Jeff VanderMeer

Rating: 5 out of 5

This book is fucked up. That’s the only way I can explain it. Plainly, simply, without a doubt, fucked up.

So bizarre, I’m not even sure where to begin. The first story was about a necrophiliac missionary that falls in love with a wooden puppet and is nearly sacrificed by a dwarf to a bunch of mushrooms. How a man can write a story like that is beyond me. It’s so out there I don’t think its here anymore.

Nearly half of this book is devoted to squid. The other half mushrooms. But it’s all fantasy. And to me, this is pure fantasy. There was no doubt everything in this book (down to the author’s bio) has more fantasy than the entire Forgotten Realms library.

And I was completely addicted to it all. There were times I tried to put it down, but couldn’t. it was as if the pages were laced with fungus powder that took over my soul and forced me to finish. Yet I should have known this would be an odd book from the start. FBS (Fantasy Book Spot) was giving away two signed copies. I won one copy (I never win anything). When it arrived, it was inscribed to a “Steve” (the other winner). And so it began.

While I’ll freely admit, this style of fantasy isn’t my cup of squid soup, it is the only book I’ve been so excited to finish just so I could write the review. But in the end my review adds about as much as a squid fart to this work.

One final note to those (like me) that dream of writing a novel, short story, or essay. Read this book (as should anyone else). To be blunt, if VanderMeer can get this kind of work published and sold, then anyone can get published. Even me. So thanks to the King Squid, my dream of writing just got a breath of fresh air.

Neil@tk42one.com
© 2006 TK42ONE.com Productions

The open descrimination of hairy men

I am a hairy man.

And I’m willing to publicly acknowledge that fact. I’m not admitting to it because that would imply it’s a crime to have a hairy chest.

Others see it differently.

Over the past few months, I’ve periodically checked magazines (Glamour and Cosmo) from a co-worker for humorous articles about sex advice. What got me hooked was how a woman was to use a donut to entice a man sexually.

And it had nothing to do with the man eating it.

Sorry ladies, donuts in my mouth beat donuts on my you-know-what.

Anyway, while breezing through these trashy magazines, I began to notice how the men are portrayed. Don’t ask why, I’m a happily married, heterosexual father. So while looking at men was a bit odd at first, it became suddenly apparent that nearly all the men have no hair on their chest.

I now call them “bald men” but maybe “boys” is a better term.

Back to the story, last month set me off in a quest to gather more empirical evidence to support my findings. Last month showed an impressive 2 men with hairy chests. But one was a “old, wrinkly, perverted nudist” in an ad.

But now I’ll prove to you that current women’s magazines (not those kind though) are biased towards a bald boy. I saw end the discrimination against hairy men.

Hairy men unite!


Glamour – August 2006 issue
Men with hair on their chest = 2
“Men” with no hair on their chest = 3 ½*

* I only count those men with no shirts on and have a visible chest. The ½ for this issue is from a man wearing a shirt that was unbuttoned down the front and hanging open.


Cosmo – August 2006 issue
Men with hair on their chest = 2
“Men” with no hair on their chest = 9*

* One "man" had his picture in there twice. I only counted him once.

Chad Vader

Another great video.....

Oops, Mom Googled Me

When was the last time you Googled yourself?

Makes you stop and wonder.......after laughing so hard Coke comes out your nose.

Law backs off from Bisbee 'artist'

Someone I've seen before is in the news.....

Law backs off from Bisbee 'artist' www.azstarnet.com ®

Here's one of my pictures

The rest of my pictures form my trip to Tucson here

Stormtrooper Bob Goes To Pittsburgh

Night Review

Night
by Elie Wiesel

Rating: 5 out of 5

If you think you’re depressed, read this book and you’ll discover you have no idea what depression is. There were moments when I didn’t know if I wanted to throw up, cry, or scream in anger. It turns out I ended up sitting in stunned silence most of the time.

For those that have never read this short, auto-biography, be warned. It’s not a quick read despite its short length. There are times you may need to stop and do something fun for fear you’ll be entrapped by the power of Wiesel’s words. This is such an emotional draining novel, there were times I felt more exhausted from reading this than from experiencing an actual death in my family.

For those that have read this, congratulations. You now have survived a fraction of the Holocaust. Be thankful you can put this book down and escape the horror. Others weren’t so lucky.

For those that have not just survived reading this story but have survived the real thing, I commend you. If there were Olympic medals given for emotional and psychological strength, you would get gold. Hardly words to express my amazement at your strength, but that’s the best my meager imagination can conjure.

For those that believe this never happened, this extermination of a culture, this harvesting of souls, you are the proud winner of being the dumbest asshat on the planet.

Neil@tk42one.com
© 2006 TK42ONE.com Productions
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Operatin relliM

Great way to start a Friday.

Operation relliM

I couldn't help but enjoy this little prank. Makes our saran wrap adventures look like kid's play.

All the best moves of Zidane

All the best moves of Zidane

Hilarious!

Internet Archive Wayback Machine

I've been aware of this site for years, but have never really thought of it as a way to look back at my own sites. Here's a peek at history:

My First Foray into web design (from our time in Shelby, NC)

My Current Site (still active)

Thanks to my cousin Eric for making me think of this old tool in a new way.