+

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 11:59 AM

Ugh, I am so sick of reading about how much everyone hates big corporations. News flash, folks...big corporations are all about bringing in the cash, but most people are. If ratings are down for a radio station or a television show and they aren't receiving much of a profit, yes, things will get cancelled. If it's too expensive to keep employees, people will be laid off. Facts of life. Yes, there are some bad seeds out there, but that doesn't mean every single large corporation is that way. If you don't like it, do something with yourself and get in there and help change it. Stop moaning about it.

posted by Keri
0 Comments

+

Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 2:44 PM

Something happened to me yesterday that was so stupid it bears repeating. I previously mentioned that the black widows had moved back in. We had a nice understanding. They stay in the rear corners and I will leave them alone. No one had to die until Shawn came home. Yesterday when I got home from work I noticed that Bond was out of food. I walked into the garage, bare-foot, to put on my sandals, and just as I was about to stick my foot into a sandal, I noticed a web on my sandal with a little black widow prowling. Thank God I turned on the light before I stuck my foot in there. I have mentioned before that I have a bad case of arachnophobia, right? I lost control of breathing normally and backed away from the web. I backed into our garbage can, and as I turned around, I saw another black widow web on the garbage can. I looked around the garage, and I saw tons of webs around my bike, the shelves, the lawnmower, etc. My heart about pounded out of my chest. It was like a bad horror movie. I ran screaming back into the house, left a hysterical message on Shawn's voicemail and then I called my fellow arachnophobe, Christi. She told me I had no choice but to brace myself, somehow get into my car, and go buy a bug bomb. We had no Raid in the house to arm myself with, or really anything with aerosol, so Christi told me to arm myself with a bottle of spray bleach if the spiders got too close to me. I somehow calmed myself enough to get into my car and I sped out to Wal-Mart. Shawn called me in a panic soon after I arrived. He didn't understand my message at all so he thought I was in serious danger. I think he was frustrated when I told him what I was crying about. He helped me pick out a bug bomb that would kill spiders. I told him I was just going to toss it in the garage and yell fire in the hole. He said, no, I couldn't do that, that I would have to go back in the garage and place it neatly in the middle of the garage floor. I went hysterical all over again thinking about having to go back in there. In the middle of Wal-Mart. Yeah, I think people stared and pointed. I did make myself go back in there, and I walked a straight path down the middle of the garage, away from all webs. I placed down the bug bomb and then panicked and ran out. As I did, since I was in sandals, I slipped, twisted my bad knee and pulled a groin muscle. I have no idea if they're all dead or not, but I'm not going in there to scope it out. Thanks, Christi, for listening to me babble hysterically about my craziness. I'm sure you're laughing about all this too.

posted by Keri
0 Comments

+

Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 9:25 AM

I didn't want to discuss this here, but after talking to my mom last night and everything hitting me today, I feel like I need to. Yesterday my grandmother was entered into hospice. Two weeks ago she lost the ability to stand, and at that time the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with her. A week later she had another stroke, and this one affected the other side of her body. She can hardly move at all, she's lost the ability to speak, and she can't swallow. Her doctors and hospice careworkers have diagnosed her with congestive heart failure. She could live anywhere from less than 72 hours to three months. She's moving in with my parents on Friday, and we're going to Houston next weekend to say good-bye. I'm not asking for prayers for me, but for my mom. She and my uncle have had to make really difficult decisions in the past couple of weeks, and I can't imagine how hard it is on my mother to see her own mother like this. She lost her father twelve years ago, and now her mom is dying. Even if you don't believe in God, please send good thoughts her way. She needs all the strength and support she can get.

posted by Keri
0 Comments

+

Monday, June 14, 2004 - 8:34 PM

It just figures that the time Shawn goes out of town the black widows move in. It's like they know the one person in our house that is not hysterically afraid of getting next to them to kill them is gone.

posted by Keri
0 Comments

+

- 12:06 PM

I FINALLY had time to relax this weekend. After Kelley's wedding, going to Houston, and the lunacy of last weekend, it was so nice to have nothing to do! Despite having nothing to do, Sunday was the only day I really did nothing. The firm closed on Friday to remember Ronald Reagan, so extra bonus for me. I went to see Harry Potter Friday afternoon with my aunt. The third book is my favorite of the series, and the third movie has become my favorite thus far as well. I really hope they come out with a director's cut for this movie, because despite its length, it left out some things that (I think) needed to be explained for those who have not read the books. When Shawn comes back, if he wants to see it, I'll be more than happy to go see it again. After the movie I zipped into Dallas to have dinner with my in-laws who came to Texas for a family reunion. Before I got everyone ready for bed, I decided to brush Mufasa since he had some nasty mats develop in his fur. As I brushed one leg, an entire chunk of hair ripped off of his skin. We can say I panicked. That's a nice way of looking at it. I flipped through my book on Chows, and it said that when Chows shed, they lose a lot of hair. That's fine and dandy, but does it rip off their skin? My poor baby has bald spots! I did some more research when I shouldn't have (I was tired) and became convinced that he had mange. I talked to my mom the next day, and she said it sounded like hot spots, since the rest of his fur was very healthy. I obviously go to Petsmart way too much, because when I went there to pick up some medication for the hot spots, the manager asked if my Boston Terrier or my Chow had the problems. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, which hadn't been done in a while, and watching for anymore hair to fall off of Mufasa.

I had a nice, leisurely Sunday of doing nothing but updating my site and reading my new book. I need more Sundays like that. If anybody out there is into fantasy, I highly recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. It has been a nice breather from the other series I'm caught up in. Sometimes you can only read about certain characters for so long, and then you want a vacation from them. Kind of like moving back in with family. Probably just as violent.

Website updates: pictures from a-kon are up, and some new cels came in (not the One Piece settei...that's not new, it just seems new because I was too lazy to upload all of it at once). Enjoy!

posted by Keri
0 Comments

+

Tuesday, June 08, 2004 - 3:56 PM

I don't think I've had a more insane weekend than this past one. I didn't post anything yesterday because I was half-dead from that chaos. Christi, Lee, his girlfriend, and I went to a-kon on Friday. Christi left Saturday and the three of us idiots stayed through Sunday. I really can't describe this event. The pictures (whenever I get them posted) will speak louder than I can here. I can say that I learned that even though, yes, I am an uber-geek, I am not a total loser. The total losers were those holding "hug me" signs (I guess because they don't get hugs at all in the normal world), those that did not have a hotel room and therefore did not shower all weekend, and those that roleplay as the character they dress up as. I'm all for roleplaying games, but dear God, do you really need to take a class on how to act as an anime character perfectly? Lee said we were "geek-elite", but I think I'm a downright geek-snob. But I'm not as bad as true geek-snobs. Go to your local comic book store or anime store and talk to the guy behind the counter. Visit an online anime forum. You'll catch on quickly. However, I will admit that I hugged one of these sign-carriers. He was really cute and he was dressed up as my favorite anime character so I gave in. No sooner did I do so when three others ran up to me and begged. One told me I was hot. I couldn't say no after such flattery. I will also admit that I dressed up a little bit. I wore my BADMAN shirt from Halloween two years ago, but nothing else of the costume. I had a few people ask if they could take a picture of the shirt, which made Christi really happy since she made the shirt for me. I also learned two new terms in the English language: "glomp" and "plushie". To "glomp" someone is to hug someone when that person is not looking and therefore not prepared. A "glomp" can also be a somewhat attacking hug. This happened to me twice. I did not know either person. I felt a little violated. Someone also held up a sign to me asking me to glomp them. I laughed outloud and told him I was flattered, but no. I have used the term "plushie" to describe my stuffed animals and dolls. I found out that a "plushie" is someone who, um, violates plushes and stuffed animals. I'm never calling my plush collection plushies ever again.

Besides walking around the dealer room and exhibit rooms, viewing the gaming rooms, viewing the art gallery, and watching people (plenty of that to do) we went to a couple of panels and got autographs. We saw Scott McNeil, a voice actor (and probably the next Mel Blanc) at the first panel. Afterwards I asked him if I could take my picture with him. He obliged, and then asked if he could get hugs from me and Christi. He smelled so good (not bad looking either)...Christi and I kept sniffing our shirts for traces of his cologne. The next panel I went to was a comedy panel put on by the a-kon staff. Apparently being a part of the crew makes you insane and want to do improv. It was interesting to say the least. I also got some things signed by Fred Gallagher, the artist for Megatokyo. He was so nice to talk to. I hope he comes back next year so I can get my poster signed.

Sunday morning I was ready to go. They had some interesting panels in the afternoon, and if they were in the morning I would have gone, but I was exhausted and a little geeked out. I paraded around the dealer room one more time with Lee, and the cel dealer I bought a cel from the day before called out my name and asked me to look at other Miroku cels. I thought I spent enough money...apparently not in his opinion. I resisted all temptation there and in the art gallery. Lee won a cool fan art drawing of Lupin III the day before. There was some awesome fan art in the gallery...it was hard to resist. I bought one thing for Sheri, since it was only 2 bucks, and then we departed. I crashed when I got home, but it wasn't enough to sustain me on Monday.

In addition to all this, I have a TON of elevator stories. So many, in fact, that I've decided to write a short story about it. If you want to know one story, go to Christi's site and read her story. I would write a small story here, but I think I've written enough and I'm sure most of you are bored. Just wait until I finish my short story and I'm sure I'll post it somewhere on the site. I'll try to get the pictures up this weekend. Oh, and for those of you wondering where Shawn was in all this mess, he went to Arkansas on Friday for AT (don't ask what it means, I can't tell you) and he'll be back in two weeks. I think he'll be glad he missed this event. I have to give the good sport award to Lee's girlfriend, Katie, who just found out what anime was a few weeks ago and then was dragged to this con. She was not prepared for what laid before her, and she ducked out to the room by early afternoon on Saturday. I don't think much can prepare someone for an anime convention. This is my third, and I still wasn't prepared for a lot of it.

posted by Keri
0 Comments

+

Thursday, June 03, 2004 - 1:01 PM

WHOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO! Booked our flight to Boston!

I'll post a real update after the a-kon insanity of this coming weekend. I'm sure I'll have pictures with that update too.

posted by Keri
0 Comments