Thursday, November 05, 2009
Mormon Art
I like to draw during Church and during Sunday School we talked about the Pioneers. They truly suffered and sacrificed a lot to come to this valley. We always talk about the major sacrifices of the pioneers, but sometimes don't think about their lesser sacrifices.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
LIFE!
I was going to do a bunch of stuff today. You know, get out there, really get stuff done. But just thinking about it was just wearing me out.
I think I am going to wait for my life to come out on DVD, but it'd be better if I could just download it on Hulu.
I think I am going to wait for my life to come out on DVD, but it'd be better if I could just download it on Hulu.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Coolest/Nerdiest day
So I haven't wrote in this blog for a bit.
but then, I got interviewed to be on the OFFICIAL Star Wars blog, so I think that kind of make up for it. If you see me, I will mention this because it is TOTALLY bragable.
This happened because I learned how to use Twitter from my brother Adrian.
Also, because I have the Force.
but then, I got interviewed to be on the OFFICIAL Star Wars blog, so I think that kind of make up for it. If you see me, I will mention this because it is TOTALLY bragable.
This happened because I learned how to use Twitter from my brother Adrian.
Also, because I have the Force.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Books (not the band, but you should listen to them also)
I have many ideas for books, many are partially written and some are just (good?) ideas. Maybe those few of you that haven't stopped checking my blog periodically can help me figure out which one to finish first. The parentheticals aren't subtitles, but descriptions (if the title is not enough)
Here we go:
• Who Died and Made You a Casserole? Funeral Potatoes and other sad dishes (Mormon recipes and their reinvention).
• Women are From Mars and Men Can Make Sound Effects (Okay, we get it were different, but your formula is all wrong)
• Gardening Through the Apocalypse (because you can't live off of Capreses Salad and Salsa. imagine the Zombie Survival Guide mixed with Victory Gardens)
• Confessions of a Mormon Menace. (self congratulation/flagellation)
• So You Are Having a(n Evil) Baby? (the story of Ploepl and Hoetz and their concerned parents)
•Gryphon Bicycles (juvenile literature about a boy who flies, but not the way he dreams about)
•Carl Alt Delete (short story, a man creates his own online resurection after he find offline life so disatisfying)
Well what do you, my adoring public want (both of you)?
Maybe I should just focus on coming up with titles. I could go off for a while on movie ideas as well.
Here we go:
• Who Died and Made You a Casserole? Funeral Potatoes and other sad dishes (Mormon recipes and their reinvention).
• Women are From Mars and Men Can Make Sound Effects (Okay, we get it were different, but your formula is all wrong)
• Gardening Through the Apocalypse (because you can't live off of Capreses Salad and Salsa. imagine the Zombie Survival Guide mixed with Victory Gardens)
• Confessions of a Mormon Menace. (self congratulation/flagellation)
• So You Are Having a(n Evil) Baby? (the story of Ploepl and Hoetz and their concerned parents)
•Gryphon Bicycles (juvenile literature about a boy who flies, but not the way he dreams about)
•Carl Alt Delete (short story, a man creates his own online resurection after he find offline life so disatisfying)
Well what do you, my adoring public want (both of you)?
Maybe I should just focus on coming up with titles. I could go off for a while on movie ideas as well.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Let's just be friends
She said that maybe we should just be friends.
I countered and asked if we could be friends with benefits.
She asked me what I meant.
I said, that maybe we should be friends but she should pay for my health insurance.
I countered and asked if we could be friends with benefits.
She asked me what I meant.
I said, that maybe we should be friends but she should pay for my health insurance.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The summer of...
Yeah, I promised a name for summer a long time ago. without a name this summer has been
The Summer of not warm but with lots of rain.
The Summer of not eating enough frozen custard
The Summer of I guess I'll just watch a little Ultimate Fighting until Daisy of Love is over.
Overtime Summer
The Summer of really, really, it's raining again
The Summer of life would probably be 100% more interesting with 10% more zombie attacks
The Summer of INTERNET!!!
The Summer of Saturday nights are for finishing videos about exciting business opportunities
THAT my friends is why it is important to name your summers. Without a name, your summer knows not what to do.
This summer may be many things
Roadtrip Summer
The Summer of Swing (rope not married couples)
The Summer of Love (didn't work the first time)
Homegrown Summer (I have a garden)
Air Summer (michael r.i.p.)
I even tried to sell everyone on this idea:
THE SUMMER OF DAMIAN
You know if everyone focused on me for one summer, we could take turns. Just think of how awesome this would be(for me).
But I think this summer is about the slower things, the finer things.
This summer is
The Backyard Summer
I'm not going to do anything inside this summer that I can do outside. I have a new garden a new firepit and a hammock that needs some quality time. Some of this summer will be in my little back yard, and some will be in the BIG backyard.
Even though I am the indoorsy type, this is the backyard summer. If you want a T-shirt just email me (though I already printed them up, but with the Summer of Damian logo, so that will have to do). So quit moping around the house for Michael (r.i.p.) and Suzanne Sommers (the King of Dunks and the Queen of Thighs) and start moping around your backyard.
The Summer of not warm but with lots of rain.
The Summer of not eating enough frozen custard
The Summer of I guess I'll just watch a little Ultimate Fighting until Daisy of Love is over.
Overtime Summer
The Summer of really, really, it's raining again
The Summer of life would probably be 100% more interesting with 10% more zombie attacks
The Summer of INTERNET!!!
The Summer of Saturday nights are for finishing videos about exciting business opportunities
THAT my friends is why it is important to name your summers. Without a name, your summer knows not what to do.
This summer may be many things
Roadtrip Summer
The Summer of Swing (rope not married couples)
The Summer of Love (didn't work the first time)
Homegrown Summer (I have a garden)
Air Summer (michael r.i.p.)
I even tried to sell everyone on this idea:
THE SUMMER OF DAMIAN
You know if everyone focused on me for one summer, we could take turns. Just think of how awesome this would be(for me).
But I think this summer is about the slower things, the finer things.
This summer is
The Backyard Summer
I'm not going to do anything inside this summer that I can do outside. I have a new garden a new firepit and a hammock that needs some quality time. Some of this summer will be in my little back yard, and some will be in the BIG backyard.
Even though I am the indoorsy type, this is the backyard summer. If you want a T-shirt just email me (though I already printed them up, but with the Summer of Damian logo, so that will have to do). So quit moping around the house for Michael (r.i.p.) and Suzanne Sommers (the King of Dunks and the Queen of Thighs) and start moping around your backyard.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Bad Words
I've got a side project. It's words that I hate.
Swears aren't the only kind of bad words out there.
linky link
Swears aren't the only kind of bad words out there.
linky link
INTEGRITAS
So I have been doing an experiment.
This is for my brother Adrian, but really for me. Adrian is one of the most self-motivated people that I know. Currently he is working on an experiment about living with age-old virtues.
So here is the challenge that I have taken, and the pursuant experiment. For a year take up the cause of improving upon your virtues. Each month has a virtue associated with it and I personally challenge myself to live with that virtue as I understand it. I wear a wristband to remind me of that virtue and to talk with people who ask me about it. So this is the end of the first month. The month of INTEGRITY.
What a roast on me, huh? I mean I try to live with some integrity, but to proclaim myself as any kind of expert on the matter is cringe-inducing at best, hypocrisy at worst. But I want to be a better person and took up the challenge (even though I am not a bracelet-kind-of-guy).
What does Integrity mean? The Latin INTEGRITAS had something to do with being whole, or wholly united. I think of it as being "the same throughout". For me it has to do with a certain type of internal honesty and resistance to relativistic thinking.
My personal challenge consisted of a broad challenge, "Living with more integrity" and a specific challenge "To be unwilling to criticize anyone without being willing to offer the critique to them first." Yeah, really kind of me to be willing to criticize more. My thought though was that it would reduce criticism, especially backbiting and open opportunities for dialogue. To be the same in front of people as when they weren't there.
I found this challenge pushed me, pushed me to overcome resistance to confrontation, but I also had to bite my tongue a little more. Timing, when it comes to criticism it seems every bit as important as what is actually said. If an employee can and will correct behavior, no one else needs to know about it. If there is a family issue that needs to be discussed, talking about it with the person in-question accomplishes something. Whining about it to everyone else builds greater distrust. I don't want to use specifics from this challenge, because most of the conversations that ensued were great, but private, and by having more integrity I was able to keep my gripes that way.
So the month went fairly well, But I think I could use a year or two more working on this virtue. I am kind of proud of one story. i have that new phone, the one that people are talking about as a life-changing phone (it isn't, it's just a phone, but more computery). I had an extended warranty and the software started to act goofy. I was going to take it in, but I dropped it in some water and quickly pulled it out of the water. Over the next few days the software issue got worse.
So what do I do? The software problem was totally legit and should be covered, but I also did this bad warranty-voidable thing? As I pulled up to the minimalist store I had this debate in my head. How much do I really need to tell this guy to get my phone fixed? Is omission honest? Perhaps it is, but I thought it lacked integrity, so I tugged on my wristband and walked in. Some genius was signed up to help me and I decided to tell the whole story. To neither embellish nor to apologize, but to tell it like it is.
Unbeknown* to me the phone has a little moisture detector inside. I hadn't tripped the detector and I was in the clear and got a new phone. Now if I had lied, and the detector had been tripped, I wouldn't have a replacement phone, and this guy and I would both think I was a liar (which I try not to be). If I had told the truth and the detector had been tripped, the result would have been the same, but both the genius and I would have known that I told the truth.
In the end the "integrity" didn't win me a new phone. But I did win something. I proved to myself that I could be honest when it is easier not to be. This other guy saw it too. How much is your reputation worth? Certainly more than the price of a phone.
Oh yeah, this is how that story ends. The next day the phone fell out of my shirt pocket and cracked the screen. The software works just fine though, so it looks like I will be paying for my next phone upgrade.
*really that's a word?
This is for my brother Adrian, but really for me. Adrian is one of the most self-motivated people that I know. Currently he is working on an experiment about living with age-old virtues.
So here is the challenge that I have taken, and the pursuant experiment. For a year take up the cause of improving upon your virtues. Each month has a virtue associated with it and I personally challenge myself to live with that virtue as I understand it. I wear a wristband to remind me of that virtue and to talk with people who ask me about it. So this is the end of the first month. The month of INTEGRITY.
What a roast on me, huh? I mean I try to live with some integrity, but to proclaim myself as any kind of expert on the matter is cringe-inducing at best, hypocrisy at worst. But I want to be a better person and took up the challenge (even though I am not a bracelet-kind-of-guy).
What does Integrity mean? The Latin INTEGRITAS had something to do with being whole, or wholly united. I think of it as being "the same throughout". For me it has to do with a certain type of internal honesty and resistance to relativistic thinking.
My personal challenge consisted of a broad challenge, "Living with more integrity" and a specific challenge "To be unwilling to criticize anyone without being willing to offer the critique to them first." Yeah, really kind of me to be willing to criticize more. My thought though was that it would reduce criticism, especially backbiting and open opportunities for dialogue. To be the same in front of people as when they weren't there.
I found this challenge pushed me, pushed me to overcome resistance to confrontation, but I also had to bite my tongue a little more. Timing, when it comes to criticism it seems every bit as important as what is actually said. If an employee can and will correct behavior, no one else needs to know about it. If there is a family issue that needs to be discussed, talking about it with the person in-question accomplishes something. Whining about it to everyone else builds greater distrust. I don't want to use specifics from this challenge, because most of the conversations that ensued were great, but private, and by having more integrity I was able to keep my gripes that way.
So the month went fairly well, But I think I could use a year or two more working on this virtue. I am kind of proud of one story. i have that new phone, the one that people are talking about as a life-changing phone (it isn't, it's just a phone, but more computery). I had an extended warranty and the software started to act goofy. I was going to take it in, but I dropped it in some water and quickly pulled it out of the water. Over the next few days the software issue got worse.
So what do I do? The software problem was totally legit and should be covered, but I also did this bad warranty-voidable thing? As I pulled up to the minimalist store I had this debate in my head. How much do I really need to tell this guy to get my phone fixed? Is omission honest? Perhaps it is, but I thought it lacked integrity, so I tugged on my wristband and walked in. Some genius was signed up to help me and I decided to tell the whole story. To neither embellish nor to apologize, but to tell it like it is.
Unbeknown* to me the phone has a little moisture detector inside. I hadn't tripped the detector and I was in the clear and got a new phone. Now if I had lied, and the detector had been tripped, I wouldn't have a replacement phone, and this guy and I would both think I was a liar (which I try not to be). If I had told the truth and the detector had been tripped, the result would have been the same, but both the genius and I would have known that I told the truth.
In the end the "integrity" didn't win me a new phone. But I did win something. I proved to myself that I could be honest when it is easier not to be. This other guy saw it too. How much is your reputation worth? Certainly more than the price of a phone.
Oh yeah, this is how that story ends. The next day the phone fell out of my shirt pocket and cracked the screen. The software works just fine though, so it looks like I will be paying for my next phone upgrade.
*really that's a word?
Friday, March 20, 2009
What I have been up to:
not much
just hangin' out
takin' it easy
just givin' people a soft time
leavin' off the last "g"
gettin' r' done
you know...
bloggin' what's on my noggin
Makin' brothers with the others (on LOST)
the usual
The yoozh
work, then rest. Next day, more work.
watchin' TV
drawin' on shoes
just chillin' yo
about 185 lbs.
the same ole stuff
the innernette
napping, a lot of napping
partyin' like it's somewhere near the end of the last century
mostly ponderin' regrets
abject loneliness
twitter
wistful sitting
a lot of facebook
roadtrips!!! (but mostly thinkin' about them)
reading
The Rock of Love (bus)
I can't believe it's not butter (spray)
makin' mac n' cheese
longin'
just hangin' out
takin' it easy
just givin' people a soft time
leavin' off the last "g"
gettin' r' done
you know...
bloggin' what's on my noggin
Makin' brothers with the others (on LOST)
the usual
The yoozh
work, then rest. Next day, more work.
watchin' TV
drawin' on shoes
just chillin' yo
about 185 lbs.
the same ole stuff
the innernette
napping, a lot of napping
partyin' like it's somewhere near the end of the last century
mostly ponderin' regrets
abject loneliness
wistful sitting
a lot of facebook
roadtrips!!! (but mostly thinkin' about them)
reading
The Rock of Love (bus)
I can't believe it's not butter (spray)
makin' mac n' cheese
longin'
Monday, January 26, 2009
Good Weekend
Highlights of this weekend included, but was not limited to
Thai Soup
Hot Cocoa
BSG
Hard Ticket To Hawaii
Steve Brule's tips for lonliness (click link on "living").
Supercut 3000
cupcakes
Hail Murray
Party Beards International*
Hotel Zombie
Surprise Brother
Church Lesson
Yamtastic
Soul Food Sunday
All in all not a bad weekend.
WARNING: Party beards should not be used while eating
cookies
cupcakes
nachos
or
Seven Layer dip [with bread knife]
Monday, January 19, 2009
These Boots
So one of my resolute resolutions was to make some more shoes this year. I am coupling that with a new blog to show off some of the shoes I have made in the past or will be making in the future.
Go here if you want to check it out, and let me know if you want a pair.
Since lists are working for me these days, I thought I'd make a list of future shoe designs:
Sharkfoot
Cloudkickers
The Big Toe
Kickzilla
Appendix Jokes: the shoe
the Yargbott 2000
The Wacky Circumference
The Shoehorn (teeth included)
Thorn foot
a shoe by any other name
Elizabeth Shoe
Shew flies
Star shoe-ter
Kick star (t)
Love and Rockets
Little Green Men
Darth Shoe
Boba Foot
Storm Kickers
Moon man
footloose (this is a shoe with bacon drawn on it)
Go here if you want to check it out, and let me know if you want a pair.
Since lists are working for me these days, I thought I'd make a list of future shoe designs:
Sharkfoot
Cloudkickers
The Big Toe
Kickzilla
Appendix Jokes: the shoe
the Yargbott 2000
The Wacky Circumference
The Shoehorn (teeth included)
Thorn foot
a shoe by any other name
Elizabeth Shoe
Shew flies
Star shoe-ter
Kick star (t)
Love and Rockets
Little Green Men
Darth Shoe
Boba Foot
Storm Kickers
Moon man
footloose (this is a shoe with bacon drawn on it)
Thursday, January 08, 2009
This year
To quote The Mountain Goats, "I am gonna make it through this year, if it kills me" since lists are a thing to do these days, I am going to write a list of goals, resolutions, plots, ideas of things to do
Run a marathon (do this in weekly increments, 1/2 mile every week oughta do)
Start selling my shoes on the internet
buy more shoes (so I don't go barelyfoot)
hot tub
make a shirt that says "it's better to hot tub, than to not tub"
make a shirt that says "What happens on the internet, stays on the internet"
resist the urge to start an internet t-shirt company
start new trend in fashion called business jammies
more naps with greater focus
spend less time watching crappy TV
spend MORE time watching excellent TV
get in shape
accept "round" as a shape
less pain
more joy
more almond joys
avoid paralysis
buy a muppet
create something for the ages
create something for the ageist (that makes fun of the elderly and their fragile hips)
name a child Agamemnon (it doesn't have to be mine)
find a baby momma
do a pushup
make bacon-butter a reality
Paella
get into at least one, anger-fueled pie fight
Get this show idea done
hold hands, feed ducks, kiss on a bridge
involve someone else in aforementioned goal
get new roommates (seriously, I am losing two good ones)
popecat
buy more art
spend more time with my friend Art
Conference calls with Trace and Brian, have action items
get a focus for this blog
use new camera.
Go on at least three road trips with the sole purpose of finding a good place to watch a movie
Make it to the Art Institute of Chicago, re-inact the scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
take the day off (with or without Ferris Bueller)
Get out of the country at least once, but not Canada (AKA: America light)
stop copying Brandon's joke about Canada
find out what's wrong with my guts
Paint a mural in guest bedroom and get people to stay in it.
bring less shame to the family name.
more insulation for the family house
backyard bbq
hot pots
hot pockets
get in at least one really good argument with someone that I love, and maintain a good relationship afterward.
break my heart or at least wound it.
cause less pain.
Thursday Night Movie Night, it's time to comeback.
MORE PANTS!!!
be less of a brat
clean up after myself, maybe even before myself (if I get ambitious)
cook at one fine meal a week, and by "fine" meal, I mean one that doesn't come frozen and have the name "lumberjack" on the box.
Gazpachho
find a couple of new Breakfast joints.
Be someone that others can lean on.
After they have been leaning on me for a while, quickly step aside so they fall down.
Rediscover the genius that is Yakov Smirnoff.
Pursue idea for "Perfect Strangers: The Movie"
coin a phrase
cash in coins in Spiderman-head-bank
Nickelcade
get past "Difficult" in Fieldrunners (grasslands)
keep opinions to myself
learn to animate in Motion
finish the ogre that is TCWWAK
more time on Wikipedia
less time on Wickedpedia
further entrench self in the position that musical theater is "not that enjoyable".
Come up with one new thing to do.
Talk to family at least once a week.
Less swearing
more wearing (pants)
see docs at Sundance.
see doctors after Sundance.
Be grateful
finish the cabin
New York City, 'cause I miss it.
be okay.
I think if I hit 50%, the year will be a full success.
Run a marathon (do this in weekly increments, 1/2 mile every week oughta do)
Start selling my shoes on the internet
buy more shoes (so I don't go barelyfoot)
hot tub
make a shirt that says "it's better to hot tub, than to not tub"
make a shirt that says "What happens on the internet, stays on the internet"
resist the urge to start an internet t-shirt company
start new trend in fashion called business jammies
more naps with greater focus
spend less time watching crappy TV
spend MORE time watching excellent TV
get in shape
accept "round" as a shape
less pain
more joy
more almond joys
avoid paralysis
buy a muppet
create something for the ages
create something for the ageist (that makes fun of the elderly and their fragile hips)
name a child Agamemnon (it doesn't have to be mine)
find a baby momma
do a pushup
make bacon-butter a reality
Paella
get into at least one, anger-fueled pie fight
Get this show idea done
hold hands, feed ducks, kiss on a bridge
involve someone else in aforementioned goal
get new roommates (seriously, I am losing two good ones)
popecat
buy more art
spend more time with my friend Art
Conference calls with Trace and Brian, have action items
get a focus for this blog
use new camera.
Go on at least three road trips with the sole purpose of finding a good place to watch a movie
Make it to the Art Institute of Chicago, re-inact the scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
take the day off (with or without Ferris Bueller)
Get out of the country at least once, but not Canada (AKA: America light)
stop copying Brandon's joke about Canada
find out what's wrong with my guts
Paint a mural in guest bedroom and get people to stay in it.
bring less shame to the family name.
more insulation for the family house
backyard bbq
hot pots
hot pockets
get in at least one really good argument with someone that I love, and maintain a good relationship afterward.
break my heart or at least wound it.
cause less pain.
Thursday Night Movie Night, it's time to comeback.
MORE PANTS!!!
be less of a brat
clean up after myself, maybe even before myself (if I get ambitious)
cook at one fine meal a week, and by "fine" meal, I mean one that doesn't come frozen and have the name "lumberjack" on the box.
Gazpachho
find a couple of new Breakfast joints.
Be someone that others can lean on.
After they have been leaning on me for a while, quickly step aside so they fall down.
Rediscover the genius that is Yakov Smirnoff.
Pursue idea for "Perfect Strangers: The Movie"
coin a phrase
cash in coins in Spiderman-head-bank
Nickelcade
get past "Difficult" in Fieldrunners (grasslands)
keep opinions to myself
learn to animate in Motion
finish the ogre that is TCWWAK
more time on Wikipedia
less time on Wickedpedia
further entrench self in the position that musical theater is "not that enjoyable".
Come up with one new thing to do.
Talk to family at least once a week.
Less swearing
more wearing (pants)
see docs at Sundance.
see doctors after Sundance.
Be grateful
finish the cabin
New York City, 'cause I miss it.
be okay.
I think if I hit 50%, the year will be a full success.
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