Bridgette kicked my ass, literally

Cindy and I just worked out to Bridgette's Bunny Bootcamp. It's 15 minutes of yeah right... oh wait oh my god that's hard... oh hell!

Then we did my back exercises I learned from my physical therapy a couple years ago. I'm now feeling light headed, and way wussy.

Bacon, coffee, and a lawn mower.

This morning, I don't know what time it was, I was awakened by the incredible smell of bacon and coffee. It reminded me of waking up in Garden Valley at the cabin, the smell of coffee and breakfast downstairs. The excitement of spending time with my family in the morning. I almost thought if I got out of bed, there everyone would be. But sleep came over me and I drifted back off.

I dreamed about dad. It was supposed to be his shop, but it clearly wasn't. I was helping him run the business. I don't remember much else. When I was awakened, this time by the scream of a lawnmower directly outside my bedroom window, my first thought was to call him and see how he was doing. When I fully woke up and realized where I was, and that he was gone, instead of being sad I just felt peaceful.

Turns out Cindy had made bacon (turkey bacon for those of you who are counting calories). Oddly enough there was no coffee, and she was watching The Bucket List. Wonder if the sounds of the movie influenced my dreaming subliminally.

So I came out in the living room, made some coffee and started to watch the movie. So I'm feeling sentimental this morning. I'm thankful that Nathan has moved down here. I think I see him more now that I ever have since we graduated. I'm thankful for Matt and Camille. When you don't have family nearby, it's really great to have a family unit in friends you've known for over 10 years. I'm thankful for Jeremy and Katy. Although we've known them for just over a year, it's like they've always been there. I'm thankful for Matt DeMille and Jessica. I definitely don't see them as much as I'd like, but I'm so proud of Matt for making the jump and coming down here and take on AFI like a Hulk Hogan comeback.

Go with me on that analogy, it makes sense to me. Matt's like the big brother I never had. I'm really proud of him.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and the Vancil's are hosting. Camille said she wasn't comfortable cooking a whole turkey. She'd never done it, and I wasn't about to let Thanksgiving go without a turkey. So I volunteered to cook the turkey. I'm looking forward to it actually. Cindy's a little upset. I think she was looking forward to someone else taking on the main course. I think she'll come around when she smells the awesome cooking in the oven all night. So Grandma, I'm gonna need your stuffing recipe, and a refresher on the turkey. I recall cooking a turkey before, but I don't remember exactly when it was. But I know I can do it, and I want to make it the way we have it at our house.

I'm also going to make a surprise. Not saying what it is right now, but it will be fun to make.

All this makes me come back to reality and think about what is really important to me in my life. Matt and Camille are going through a similar reflection right now. They're making some decisions, prioritizing what they want in their life, which also boils down to family. They've made it no secret that they want to start having children very soon. Must be the season, just thinking about family priorities. I've been reflecting on the idea of children. There's even a part of me that wants me to beat Matt and Camille to the punch. It'd be the last thing anyone expected. But the reality is, even though Cindy and I are financially pretty stable (for now), this morning's wakeup call with my neighbor mowing the lawn right outside my bedroom window, and hearing him walking around the outside of my house... well it reminds me that this is not the place I want to start a family. The lack of privacy makes me uneasy, and that's not the kind of energy I want my children to be born into. Of course, those are surface reasons and we have deeper reasons for waiting. Like... a home we can call ours.

So Vancils, go for it. You were the first of us to get married, it only stands to reason you'd be the first to shell out some offspring. Your kids are gonna have crap loads of aunts and uncles.

Guess I'm running out of steam. Looking forward to spending Christmas with the Messlers. I miss my family in Idaho and North Carolina, and I hope next year we can get together somehow.

Everyone stay well. I love you all.

San Fernando Fires

Hey everyone,

We're doing fine down here. The fires so far are missing us. I'll keep you informed.

Here's a map of where the fires are:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&layer=t&msa=0&msid=117631292961056724014.00045925b0aa1b3a5d6a4&ll=34.292112,-118.476562&spn=0.19146,0.304184&z=12

Yearbook

1952

So I found this website, (Thanks Rian), where you can upload your photo and it will make you a yearbook photo from the past.

Check out mine. Think I have a photo that's pretty close to the 1988 one.

1954


1956

1966

1968

1970

1974

1978

1978 (I had 2 looks going on that year)

1980 (The Wolverine Year)

1984

1986

1988 (I actually had a hair style like that once)

I am a bobblehead geek

So was recently on a podcast to promote Dorkness Rising and the Demon Hunters Roleplaying Game.

You can check out the video here: www.geekscape.net

or

Bobblehead Don

I learned that I nod my head. A lot.

And "absolutely" seems to be a fallback word of mine. Sigh. Well, things to work on I guess.

Enjoy.

Really good day...

So why did I end up cranky? I did a lot of relatively productive calls today at work. Made some good appointments for the week. Got home. Read some really great stuff for Demon Hunters that we've been kind of working on lately. Matt really cranked out some material in the past few days. So I'm going through that.

Cindy really looks great to me. I dunno, maybe it's her new clothes, or her attitude or something...

Kind of thinking about doing something athletic. Jeremy wants to try an Israeli martial art with me that looks a bit like Wing Tsun kind of fighting, and they used it in some of The Mummy movies. So that could be cool.

So why the frack am I cranky?

Not really a bad mood, but just irritated, or irritable. WTF? Moody man I guess.

Wanna Buy Dorkness Rising?

Click on the picture above!

Long time no blog

Been pretty busy keeping up with the Dead Gentlemen news updates and blogs and such so I haven't had much time to update this one.

Not that there's too much to report. Haven't really taken pictures of the new place. We should do that. Dorkness Rising is now available on Netflix, and I just learned you'll be able to buy it at Target.com very soon.

That means that Blockbuster will be soon to follow. Hopefully Hollywood Video, Borders and Best Buy won't be long after that.

The DVD is selling like crazy, which is awesome. And so far the fan response is that it is definitely up to snuff of their expectations, and a lot of people are saying it's so funny they have to pause the DVD to stop laughing before they continue on.

That's pretty high praise. So I've been pretty busy trying to work on the next few things, as well as trying to drum up business for Revchem. Tough market out there.

Well, off to finish making dinner. Grandma, if I can get your username and password I think I can fix your blogs.

Wanna know what's up?

Go check out Matt's Blog. He's put all the energy down of what's happening so the rest of us don't have to. Thanks Matt.

http://invancible.blogspot.com

Cordy Learns the Treadmill

New Pics

NEW PICTURES HERE

Be my Netflix friend

We have been crazy busy, so sorry for the lack of updates. Want to be my Netflix friend though? Click here:

Be my Netflix Friend

We can see what each other is watching, and make recommendations.

Also, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising is now available on Netflix (well, after August 19th). Rent it, rate it, and review it please!!!

We Moved... Again

And we have cable! It's awesome.

Pictures to come. Still trying to find the camera. Internet is up. Making progress.

Cindy Leveled up!

I'm proud to say that I got to post this before she does. Cindy got a raise today. We're pretty stoked. Her employers are VERY happy with her performance and all the work she's doing. I'm very glad they've recognized that. Way to go babe!

It's busy time

Today was a busy day. I didn't even really leave the house. The Dorkness Rising DVD is progressing nicely. Approved the DVD cover today. Now they're working on the DVD menus. Pretty cool.

Work is finally starting to pick up. Was on the phone most of the day, and worked on quotes, in fact I still got one left to do. I think fruit is starting to bear. Yah!

It's beer o'clock!

Good News

Apparently I have an exceptionally well bill of health.

My life insurance premium went down after they got the results after my physical. I cost less than Cindy.

So apparently I won't be dying of natural causes. Looks like I'm on schedule for that explosion.

Hope that don't come any time soon.

T-minus...

So we start moving a week from Friday. Have we started packing? Nope.

Turns out our friend, Matt DeMille, is moving down here at the same time we're moving. Sorry Matt!

Got the Uhaul rented for the weekend. Won't have to do it all in one night, so that's good. Wish we were rich enough that wouldn't have to move. It will be a good move for us though. We'll be able to save for a down payment or something.

Might do another 48 hour film competition. My friend Dom Zook is looking at doing another one and asked me if I wanted another go around. I need the experience, and the dumb bastard keeps letting me direct, so we'll see what happens. This time we have all the time we want to write and develop the script, but it has to be shot and edited in 48 hours.

Hope we get a DP and a sound tech this time around.

Getting ready for Comic Con in San Diego at the end of the month. We're screening the movie there. Hope to have a great turnout. Then a couple weeks later it's off to Gen Con for 4 days of drunken debauchery and no sleep. Actually shouldn't be that intense, got enough people to cover and we can actually go in shifts.

For some reason, Cindy and I aren't sleeping worth crap. That needs to stop. Not sure what that's all about.

Hey Grandma, guess I'm not the only one that doesn't blog every day, huh? :)

Best in LA

As mentioned before, tonight was the Best in LA awards for the 48 Hour film competition.

No we didn't win. And thank god, there were some damn talented people who deserved to win it.

They created a new category this year, and there was a tie for the win. Best Comedy. Nope, we didn't win that either. That one I think we kind of deserved to tie. The other strong comedy was really awesome. Oh well.

We did win an audience award. Pretty proud of that. AND, our lead actress tied for an honorable mention with another actress for best performance. I have to say I'm pretty proud of that. Not that I take credit for her performance, just that she did a great job and I'm glad someone took notice. And I got to help out with that.

Over all, I think Cindy summed it up. "Well, I think you got what you deserved." Yeah, pretty much.

About the moving I mentioned. Yes we're moving in about three weeks. Trying to save some money on rent. Found a good place actually just down the street from us. Definitely not up to what we've been living in, but you can't beat the rent for what we'll be getting in the area. And we'll save about $700/month. It sickens me that what we're saving, WAS our rent at one point in our lives.

I'd say I'm very happy with things... going back to the film competition. For a guy who doesn't know his way around a camera too well, I managed to competently pull it off. Dom was able to cut it together well. We got great performances and had fun doing it. The script was awesome, thanks to Matt.

And I've learned something... or rather remembered what my goal is as a filmmaker. In some instances tonight, we were up against giants. Hell, most of the films kicked our asses. It was a good humbling experience. I'm not a brilliant director. I don't know that I ever will be. I want to be competent, to be able to do the job I'm hired to do, or however that goes... and I want to have fun doing my job. Directing is not my goal career. It's an important part of it, and I REALLY enjoy it, and I'm getting better at it. Filmmaking is my goal career. Unfortunately, that term is still a little too vague to really make it in this town. You really do have to pick something. It's most likely going to be producing, while I learn and develop my directing skills and career on the side, when the opportunities come along.

I also find that what I want to do as a filmmaker is definitely influenced by who I'm working with. It will be interesting to see how far that takes me.

So, I have a lot to learn, but what I do know can tell a story. Not many budding filmmakers can actually say that, even though they will say it. I know I'm not desperate, because I'm not locked into one specific role and I'm confident in my abilities, my relationships, and my trust in the unknown. I'm not out to prove anything, just to make a living at doing something I love, and spending time with people.

I sleep now.

Commitment

Really haven't had time to sit down and say anything. I decided I'm just going to write SOMETHING. Cripes, I blog about as much as DG has an update on the website.

Got a brand spanking new iMac about a week or so ago. It's awesome. I'm running both Windows XP AND the Mac operating system at the same time. It's so nice. I'm totally a convert. The main thing I don't like though, is no right-click. WTF? Of course Mac has never had a mouse that really had a right click. Suppose you could always just buy one. I've got a ton of them around here somewhere.

But, I do love the iMac.

So what else... my icons are dying off. George Carlin. Stan Winston. Hoping Sean Connery and Billy Connolly will stick around a while longer.

Got word today that one of my best friends... actually probably one of my first friends ever, Barry Newman, saw me in Vegas when I was there for the GAMA Trade Show. Sounds like he did a double take to confirm it was me. Wished he would have come by and said hi. But the place is a madhouse, so I know how that would have been difficult. Thanks Diane for the tip. Sent a message on his MySpace page. Maybe he'll get back to me.

I hate moving. I know it's the right decision... but I just f*ing HATE moving. I'm dreading it. Cindy said something about stability... yeah, join the club. It ain't just a female thing.

Stress has finally caught up with her. Wondered when it would. We've both been kind of missing our departed relatives lately. Must be the approaching holiday or something... not like we did anything for the 4th... but what else would it be?

Starting to play 4th edition D&D. I gotta say I like it. I do. Wish there was more material. Kinda feels a little dumbed down, but... I think it will be fun.

Delivered the movie to the distributor last week. Dorkness Rising I mean. So that's awesome.

My job. Doing alright. Numbers were way down last month. But I increased my number of calls by at least 25%. Hoping to reach about 50 calls per week. We'll see. Today was a good day of how that could go. Tomorrow I'm going to ride with the most senior salesman with the company, apart from the owner of course. It'll be good to get perspective on how others do it. Good news is though, once the actor's strike is over, there will be plenty of work to go around and my numbers will be a lot better. I just need a good number of customers not directly related to the entertainmnet industry. And the majority of my customers are not, but they're also smaller customers that are being crushed by the downturned economy. Sales is hard work, but it'd be the same story if I were trying to get a movie off the ground... selling. In this economy. So I need to figure out how to do well, because if I can makes significant successes in this time, it'll be awesome when things are better.

Still dreading moving.

Bleh.

A New Dawn, err Don, err... what-the-F-ever

I am blessed with a wife who listens. When asked what I wanted for my birthday, I honestly couldn't think of anything other than spending time with my friends and family. We had talked about and tried to make plans to fly up to Seattle for my birthday, or specifically Bellingham, but we couldn't pull the finances together. Got a lot planned this year, and I'll be honest, I've been a bit liberal with the spending and the planning of the spending. Me? Right.

So you've all heard the story by now, but yeah, Cindy got Nathan and Jessica to fly down unbeknownst to me. It was fabulous. I really couldn't have gotten a better gift. I just wished there was a way to spend it with my family as well, but it's just a birthday. There are more to come. And, my friends are my surrogate family... but you know what I mean. And I just want to thank all of you who sent me a gift or a card. Thank you all for thinking of me, OH and those who posted on my MySpace. I'm really bad at responding but I got your birthday wishes and it means a lot.

I thought my body was reacting to some kind of subconscious anxiety about turning 30. So I attempted to face that anxiety and dig up some demons. What I did find, well I shared with you all in my last post. Odd thing though, my body hasn't really gotten better. My muscles are achey and tense and stiff, my stomach feels like it's all knotted up, and today my effing Rosacea or whatever skin thing I have has flared up again.

These are symptoms of anxiety for me. Yet, I cannot for the life of me figure out what the heck I'm anxious about. I don't feel emotionally anxious. In fact, I feel pretty blessed. I have my dream car. I live in sunny California. I really like my job. There's some great things happening with DG. My friend Paige just moved down. My house is awesome. Marriage seems fine and the dogs are happy. (I'll double check with Cindy about the marriage thing, but I'm pretty sure she'd have told me by now if something was up). What the crap do I have to be anxious about?

So I'm going to schedule an appointment tomorrow with the doctor and find out what the crap is going on and get a physical and all that. I just got one for the new life insurance we just bought, and everything checked out great. My cholesterol is great (better than Cindy's. ha!) Blood sugar seems fine, doesn't look like I'm on a path to diabetes or anything. I could certainly use more exercise, but couldn't we all.

I'll let you know how all that goes.

Today we went out with Paige down to Venice Beach. It was fun. Check Cindy's blog soon I'm sure she'll post some pictures. Oh yeah, maybe not. Our laptop has crashed. We called tech support and looks like we are still under warranty, so I'm running tests and it looks like the hardware is okay, just might need to reinstall the operating system or something. So Venice Beach was cool and we got to meet some friends of Camille and Matt's who live down there, Ben and Mary. You probably saw pictures of Mary on Cindy's blog when they went on that hike. Someday I'll get invited to one of those. Anyway we're all going roller skating tomorrow night with Ben and Mary and Paige and us. Again, I could use the exercise and hey, we're getting out! It's nice to have a friend like Paige who is a great instigator of getting out and doing something!

On the professional front, I have a trade show in Long Beach and a big sales meeting that coincides with it next week. Should be interesting. The trade show is for the aerospace industry I think, which I don't know much about so it will be a great learning experience. I've set some professional goals. By June 1st, my goal is to be making 10 calls a day. That's a seriously lofty goal, but I'm almost there. It just takes a lot of planning. Okay, so maybe that's a little high, but I'm shooting for 40-50 calls per week. Right now I'm about half that. I've picked up a few things in the past couple months though, and I think I can do it.

I'm also thinking about joining a gym. There's one just down the street from us. Need to find a partner to join with me though. I don't think Cindy and I would work out at the same time of day, otherwise that would be awesome. Wish me well on that.

T-Minus... Whatever

Well I didn't get very far on this list. I'll post what I have, in no particular order mind you. Here goes:

Mastered forklift driving in a cold storage

Graduated Cum Laude with a self-funded education

Learned Ancient Greek

Went to Scotland by myself and studied at the University of Glasgow for a semester

Co-starred in a play performed at the University of Glasgow

Learned to drink beer (in Scotland)

Woke up several mornings without my pants, and no recollection of how they came off

Woke up in an alcohol rehabilitation clinic in Inverness as apparently I was too drunk to walk.

Slept on the streets of Glasgow, blanketed by my leather trenchcoat. Yes, due to more drunkenness.

Kissed a Greek/Argentine girl

Woke up with a Greek/German girl in my bed one morning, discovered we were both clothed and I was still a virgin.

Stood on the shore of the edge of infinity with my friends at 3am in Tacoma

Watched two of my spiritual mentors and pastors get ousted from their congregations

In my application process to go into the ministry, was told by the church that I had too much debt and to come back when I had less

Decided not to become an ordained minister until God says otherwise

Helped found an independent film company called Dead Gentlemen Productions (DG)

Directed and produced a feature digital movie

Helped create one of DG’s most memorable characters, Silent Jim

Filmed a demon resurrection ritual being performed on an actual alter

Kissed my best friend between takes of said ritual

Produced and managed Dead Gentlemen’s biggest film yet, “The Gamers: Dorkness Rising”

Was appointed Manager of Dead Gentlemen Productions

Operated Dead Gentlemen Productions’ online commerce

Initiated, negotiated and closed a distribution deal with the largest gaming publisher in the nation.

Made friends with the largest names in the hobby game industry

Played D&D regularly with the designers and writers of D&D

Married my best friend

Learned the marine industry from scratch

Became a professional in the fiberglass industry with no formal training

Managed a facility and employees

Promoted, moved to Los Angeles, and then promoted again

Graduated with the championship award from my sales training class

Bought my dream car

Contracted salmonella. Twice.

So far, can’t name one enemy.

Lived on friends’ couches for about 6 months

Was propositioned by 7 hookers in one night

Negotiated and facilitated a role playing game based on DG’s first films, Demon Hunters

Had lunch with Kate Blanchett and her family

Met and hung out with Ken Foree, star of the original Dawn of the Dead

Can call several designers and writers for Dungeons and Dragons (past, present or otherwise) close personal friends.

------------

Well, now I'm starting to feel like I'm boasting. I can say though that after all this time and all that has happened:

• My wife is still my bestest friend
• My friends are my family
• My family are my best friends (that's literal by the way)
• My grandfather is still my hero
• My regrets don't matter
• Next to my wife, my sister, my mother and my grandmother are the most amazing and strongest women in my life
• God still believes in me
• I love my job
• I'm ready for what's next and I'm planning for it

A slight departure for a second. One of my highschool peers died this past week. Quite the athlete. Took care of himself, stayed active, had a very active spiritual life in the Church of Latter Day Saints, and yet a rare cancer came up and that was that. Rendell Wilkinson. He was one of the popular guys in high school. Really well liked. I can't say I knew him well though. Yet his death has made me realize that deep down, I guess that dumb fear of approaching your own time is affecting me. I don't know that I'm actually fearing it, as I am feeling it getting closer, my time that is.

So in order to dispel all that, I'm going to print here for all the world to see what I haven't told many people. Of course my thought is that by recognizing it, then it won't actually happen because I'm consciously and reasonably presenting to everyone who would read this and hold it accountable.

For more than half my life, I've held some kind of belief that my life will end in some kind of explosion/combustion/ball of fire, before I'm 40 years old. This belief started when I had three separate and different dreams where I died in some kind of explosion, and I remember those dreams to this day, and I remember feeling the explosion.

There, I've said it, I've PRINTED it, and I can't take it back. So here's to outliving my life insurance policy, and to seeing just exactly how long I can stretch both sides of my family's longevity. Unfortunately, my teeth regardless do not hold the same life expectancy. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Yes, that's a pun.

F this S in the A. I'm going to bed. Godspeed, and don't get run over.

Viva Lost Wages

Yep, $200 at the Blackjack tables. That's MINUS $200. I was doing well, during the first 20 minutes. I learned 2 things, energy at the table is key. When you think it won't get better, it won't! So don't stick around no matter how much fun the people at the table are.

However, I came back from Vegas on the plus side, so that's good news.

Overall it was a successful trip, and I'll write more about that on my report on the DG website.

That's www.deadgentlemen.com for those of you playing at home.

Still working on my last 10 years synopsis.

Insights I will share though, are that as my birthday approaches, I find myself less interested in video games or the newest gaming books or a new set of dice, or whatever. I actually found myself thinking "I wish I had a shop vac." or "A deck cabinet would be great." or "Someday we should get a patio furniture set."

On the other hand, I was in the same moments also pondering how to fabricate a gaming table out of fiberglass. So I guess I'm not foregone yet.

That about sums it up for now. I'm sure I'll be way more productive starting tomorrow. Yeah right.

Time to go to work!

I think Matt Vancil once told me this. I think he read it somewhere but it's a perspective I'm trying to hang onto. Someone once calculated that if you took an average human life span and represented it as a span of 24 hours, 30 years old would be 9am, and 65 years old would be I think 5pm.

I'm not exactly sure how all that was calculated since the years to minutes ratio seems a bit off to me, but the poetry in it is what brings inspiration to me. 9am. Time to go to work. 5pm. Quitting time... retirement. So the first 29 years of my life has been hitting the snooze alarm, finally getting out of bed, walking groggily around the house in my underwear, taking a shower, drinking coffee, listening to the news... in other words, getting ready. Getting ready to go to work.

Truth be told I've been in a funk the past week. I'm not sure if it's my diet, lack of exercise, realization I'm turning 30 or whatever emotion I might feel about that, or whatever. Might be all of it. I haven't really explored how I feel about being 30. I have been looking at my present situation however, and realizing where I'm at, and I'm trying to figure out where I'm going.

I've also done that stupid thing of comparing my life to another's and seeing how I measure up. While it's terrible and unfair to yourself to do that, it has actually caused me to appreciate my friends even deeper. I, and the people near and dear to me, have accomplished extraordinary things in our first 30 years. It's truly remarkable. The paths we've all chose has also put it us in very complimentary places for each other.

Ben wrote out something that I thought was inspiring. I'm not going to do it in this blog, but maybe next one. He wrote out a summary of his accomplishments/experiences in the last decade. I think he said he's going to post it up on his blog but he hasn't done it yet.

Ben's Blog

Yesterday I had my ipod on shuffle and Bing Crosby came on and sang "Counting your blessings". I've always loved that song. It's in the movie White Christmas.

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
I fall asleep counting my blessings

And so on....

And blessings are plentiful in my life. When I graduated from high school, if someone were to tell me that in a little over 10 years I would be selling fiberglass products to the movie industry in Los Angeles while I build my own filmmaking career, I would have told that person they'd be wrong. At that time I was going to be a Lutheran Pastor, going to PLU, then seminary, and then God knows where. Well, God did know, and turns out it wasn't the path of a Lutheran minister. At least not yet.

I am going to do that 10 year synopsis thing that Ben did. I think it would be a good exercise for me to see what exactly I have accomplished and experienced. If you feel so inspired, I would love to read yours as well.

I'm also not fishing for compliments here either. This is purely an exercise for my own benefit and publishing it on my blog is a way for me to keep myself accountable.

Have a great weekend. Maybe I'll have this up before then.

I am the Champion

Winning friends and influencing people, and having a sales advantage. Last night was my final class of the Dale Carnegie course The Sales Advantage.

A very incredible class, the culmination of which we all had to do a 7-minute presentation going through all the steps of the sales process that we had learned in the class. We all graded each other, and the person with the highest score was the champion.

I won!

So I thank all my classmates for the honor. I owe it all to the group experience, and to our lovely instructor, Christina Taggart, who encouraged us, educated us, challenged us, and led us powerfully through the course.

A lot of great things happening this year. It's a great year, 2008. I look forward to more of what comes.

Broke and going home

Talk about a city of excess! I was sensory overloaded in less than 24 hours. I walked probably over 5 miles yesterday.

So we didn't end up going to the Playboy party. We were pretty wiped from the day, and decided to chill out, sit at some tables and play a little poker. Boy was that F'ing stupid. I lost 60 bucks in about an hour. Bastards set me down at a table of freakin experts.

Thus, I reinstate my previous decree about gambling. I don't do it. Casinos do not interest me in the slightest. The "free" drinks are nice, except when you put in perspective you just donated $60 to Las Vegas, you just spent $30 bucks each on those two little rum and cokes you had.

F!

It was an eye opener though. We are going back at the end of April for almost a week. By we I mean Matt, Jeremy and I. It's for a gaming trade show for DG. Anyway, we'll be looking into all those hidden coupons, cheap buffets, and so on... because it took us over an hour last night just to find a restaurant that wasn't an average of $30 a plate!

Where's the glamor in being broke. That's Vegas for you. Makes LA feel laid back and cozy.

It's Vegas!

Feet hurt. Too tired. But having a ton of fun. The mini handled well getting us out here. Below are some highlights of the day: ARREST ME, PLEASE!!!!!!! She was as bubbly in person as she is on the show. Bridget from "The Girls Next Door". Incidentally, Jeremy and I will be attending the Playboy party tonight. I have to find me some pants though. Well, I have pants, but apparently jeans might not be allowed. God I am a DORK!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dee Snyder:

Dee worked with Midnight Syndicate on a creepy awesome album, which I also picked up so he could freakin sign it. TWISTED SISTER RULES!!!!

Finally, since we're in Vegas, why not get a really freaking LONG Long Island Iced Tea.

That might just ruin me. We'll let you know.

Haunted in Vegas

In about an hour I leave for Vegas. Supposed to snow along the way in the upper elevations. We'll be driving extra careful in the new Mini. Jeremy and I are going, mainly because I'm going to a trade show in Vegas for the Horror/SFX/Haunted House Rides/Halloween type industry, and I didn't want to go alone.

Looks like a lot of fun. And then in about a month, I'll be coming back for a week for a gaming trade show for the release of our new Demon Hunters Roleplaying Game. That will be really fun and cool.

The week went pretty well. Got adjusted to working in the Mini as my office. I think it's gonna work well. It's very comfortable, and I'm glad that it is actually functional, and not just fun.

Went to go see a new movie, a test screening actually, of an awesome movie that involves LARPing. It was HI-larious! Look for it this summer. Little Big Men.

Welcome to the Family!

We did it. Wasn't planning on it, but it worked out. This is my new MINI!!!! It's a 2007 Cooper S, with a sunroof and rally lights. I wanted to get the Clubman, but we just couldn't afford it.


It's so freakin fun. I can't believe I have my Mini Cooper S. The CD player even reads MP3's, so I'm covered on totally not having to deal with the crappy radio stations down here.

Feels like a lot of room inside, but not a whole lot of legroom in the back behind me.



The rally lights are kind of interesting. I can say I don't seem many of those on the road. I got them for free though, so at least I didn't have to pay for them. They're essentially glorified high beams, but cool.

I am going to have to get the Bluetooth add-on installed at a later date. Costs the same as an add-on, which is fine. I can also jack in my iPod and listen to my library on that too. Just can't charge it, except I do have a car charger for it should I need that. I'll probably have to get a 12V splitter since I can only find one cigarette lighter jack in the car.

It feels all high tech and geeky inside, so that satisfies a lot of my nerdy desires. The interior is gorgeous, a piano black, black leather seats, really freaking comfortable.



Certainly not a crazy amount of trunk space, but enough to do the job I think. I can always get a rack to put on top, and if I get crazy rich in the next 5 years, I can always swap this out for the newer more awesome or something. Right now, this is about as awesome as I could ever think of. I had no idea I'd be driving that baby home, and we got a good deal. Cindy played the hard ball, and they came down about $4,000, and we came up to meet in the middle, at around $27k including taxes and fees.











Well, that's about all the excitement I can ooze. I feel great and I think this will help me perform in my job because I'm driving in comfort and in something that makes me happy, so I'll be more confident and relaxed in my sales calls. How cool is that?


















Yes, he did this to himself.

Electric Mini

Well crap! This is the Mini I want, and I can't have it! AAGGGHHH!!!!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/the_hybrid_mini.php

Mini Me

Well I don't have a whole lot of excuses. This blog is like the front page of the DG website. Dead.

The good news is, Cindy found a great job, I'm waiting on my bonus, and I'll be ordering my Mini Cooper soon.

It's harder than I thought. There are SO many choices. Do I get the normal Mini or the Mini Cooper S? Do I get it in the Clubman, or do I get a normal sized one? And the most difficult one of all, WHAT FREAKIN' COLOR???

So, I'm attaching some photos of these choices. Maybe you can help me.

Cindy is opposed to me getting the S version. Mainly because it's not as good in gas mileage. But truthfully, by not as good we're talking trading about 4 MPG for 60 extra horses.

The other thing I discovered in my research, is that the Cooper S version is in much higher demand, so it retains it's value far better than the normal Cooper.

Sigh. Think I still like the Clubman though. It's different and cool.

This one here is a Clubman regular style.




This is the Mini Cooper S Clubman in the blue.
I do like the blue, although I like the black roof and trim better.

I test drove the non S version and it seemed to have a lot of pep. But I keep reading that the more you drive it, the more you wish you had the get up and go, to maneuver through traffic or react and have it handle the way you want to.

But I am also wary of getting too excessive. To follow my buying interests, here are the following for any of you Dale Carnegie fans out there:

1. My Dominant Buying Motive is that I want Comfort. This will be both my mobile office and my play car. I spend a lot of time in my car for work and I want to be comfortable in it. I also don't really like driving and so driving a car that is fun to drive is kind of new for me.

2. Must Haves:

• Stickshift/Manual Transmission
• Sport Seats/Comfy seats
• Multifunction Steering Wheel
• Car Alarm
  

3. Other Considerations:

• Sunroof
• Everything Else. :)
  

This is the white color with the black roof I like.


So, what it amounts to is: Do I need the extra space in the back that the Clubman will provide? Would I rather trade 9 extra inches of trunk space for more horsepower? I don't think I can afford to build a Clubman S version unfortunately.

Sigh. Too many freakin decisions.

Happy New Year!!

This post unfortunately won't have pictures, but I'll post some later. Happy New Year everyone! We had a fantastic holiday this year and I wanted to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts. (some of these warrant pictures, so like I say, I'll post those later). For a great little video on how New Year's Eve went, jump over to Matt and Camille's Blog.

It feels like a lot has happened during the holidays. Both our old housemates got engaged over Christmas (not to each other). So Congrats to Emily and Michael, and Shimmy and Emilie. Yes, two Emilies, and Matt dated them both at one time or another. Michael's the odd man out, but I guess this now makes him the right man in! We're really stoked for all of you!!!

We had a blast gaming in Idaho with my sister and her friends. We got through an entire adventure in one night! It even snowed while we played. I love spending time with my sister when I can. She continually makes me laugh in new ways. It was great to see all my family, to spend time with my mom again, with my grandparents, and to see the extended family on Christmas Eve.

Thanks again to Adam and Julia for meeting us for breakfast. I wish we could have spent more time together but it was great to catch up even for a little bit.

Our Christmas gifts were great and meaningful. The highlight for me was mom's gift of her old wedding band, which fit my ring finger perfectly. Then the next day Cindy gave me a new wedding ring too! Unfortunately it didn't fit. So we went to the jeweler and got mom's ring sized for my right hand ring finger (which is a little bigger than my left hand), but we couldn't get my new wedding ring sized because it would have put it out of shape. When we got home, we looked up the site and found that they didn't make my new ring in a Men's size smaller than a 9. I'm an 8 - 8.5. It's going to work out fine though. We're going to return the ring and if they can't make a ring in my size of the style Cindy picked out, I'll get a duplicate of the ring I had originally lost, but an upgrade to 14k instead of 10k. All of our gifts were great and it seems we did well on the gifts we gave this year too.

I don't really have any resolutions for the new year, but I do have a few hopes and wishes.

• That mom and Cindy land great jobs ASAP
• That The Gamers: Dorkness Rising gets a great distribution deal ASAP
• That Demon Hunters: The Roleplaying Game does well
• That Jeremy's real estate business really takes off
• That Dead Gentlemen lands at least two great deals/projects this year
• That I get to see my family in North Carolina
• That Grandma and Grandpa Hall get well soon
• That I take up some kind of regular physical activity
• Maybe, just maybe, I begin learning the guitar (bass or otherwise)
• That I get to do some acting
• That I become extremely proficient with a pistol

I'd say that's a good start. Well, got to get back to work. Happy New Year Everyone! If you feel like it, post a comment on some of your New Year's Wishes/Resolutions this year. I'm interested in seeing what you hope 2008 holds for you.