You sit around for days with nothing to talk about, and then everything happens at once. First off, the reason I don't have any content is because I've hardly left the house. This is indicated by the hair, the glasses (no contacts in days), and the "beard" that is starting to develop. The sleeping until 11:00, up until 2:00 probably needs to stop though. That's just a bad habit that'll kick me in the pants later.
Second is a personal grievance with the post office. My thank you cards from graduation got out a week late because of Music in May and today I got some of them back. Why? Because my stamps were a bloody penny short. Really post office? You returned them to me for a penny? Jerk. Now they're two weeks late. They even returned some with forever stamps on them along with the regular stamped ones. Cashiers usually have a penny stash if your short, but apparently not the post office. Again, jerks.
Lastly is a grievance with foods. I miss the day of walking up to foods and grabbing a box, end of story. No hunting through the zero trans-fat, low sodium, low carb, no sugar added, and so on and so forth versions. Seriously, I just want a box of damn crackers. But now I have to hunt and find the box labeled original. And, btw, Oreos have been completely awful since they took out the trans fat. Do people eat Oreos to be healthy? I don't think so. The fat is what makes them tasty, give it back!
At least I went out and did something today. Grocery shopping and liquor store ftw! It just took running out of rum and sour mix to get me to go outside...
Howdy neighbor
05 26 2008 - 4:19 pm. Category: misc
In my complex there are three types of parking: 1) covered numbered spots, 2) uncovered numbered spots, and 3) uncovered and unnumbered spots. Anything with a number is assigned. So whenever friends came to visit, I told them to just use unnumbered spots. Most of said spots are along the outside edge of the complex, but there are a few scattered throughout.
Sarah, being the good friend that she is, came down for my graduation and parked in an unnumbered spot between some numbered ones. No biggy right?
It turns out that someone in the complex is rather attached to that spot and consider it their personal space. Were it so, the person could have juts had her car towed. I double checked, and there is definitely no number. Whoever this was is too lazy to park their car in a spot that is a little farther away in the "visitor parking." Understand that I live in a small complex, if you have to park in those spots, you at most have a two minute walk.
For complete clarification, I took this note to the office. It's not from them obviously. And they confirmed that uncovered numbered spots are assigned (I was never 100% sure). Being the passive-aggressive that I am, I'm tempted to park my car in the unassigned spot, just because I can. No one can park in mine, and nothing says I can't park in that one.
All the time I have...
05 24 2008 - 03:15 am. Category: work
A couple quick general mood/stress/events/why-my-legs-are-about-to-fall-off thoughts:
Parents are some of the stupidest creatures that walk this planet.
The one paper you didn't stick in the folder is the one paper you will need. But don't worry, it is in your folder you just forgot what it looks like, you'll find it after you search everywhere frantically.
Hiatus
05 21 2008 - 10:15 am. Category: misc
I'm currently working at my university's 60th annual Music in May conference. I'm the lead mentor for the orchestra, so I'm responsible for 60 high school students and 6 mentors as well as being part of the mentor leadership team for the whole conference of about 500 students and 20 mentors. I've been working on stuff for it since Monday, and it all kicks off this morning. So basically, after today I'll be running 8:00 am to 12:00 am days through Saturday at a minimum and won't be posting anything.
I'm sure the internets can survive without me. But can I survive without the internets?
Blew my mind
05 18 2008 - 9:54 pm. Category: misc
You know it's a great story when it involves a monkey and a diploma. Sunday I stuck a piece of cardboard on my head, put on a tie, and walked at commencement. I'm now a degree-wielding adult. Look out world! Business Administration - Accounting/Finance to be specific.
I was completely blown away when my parents gave me a brand new polar blue Kia Rio. You can read the details over at Boyfriend's site. No power windows or power locks, but it has a CD player and good AC. I'm upgrading from the 15/19 mpg of my Charokee to 27/32 mpg, if not better. My gas mileage will nearly DOUBLE. And to top it off, my dad got university alumni license plate frames and Crater Lake plates.
I'm still wrapping my head around it. I'm completely amazed, flabbergasted, and rocked in my socks.
It's also a manual, which means I get to have a fun learning experience.
A eulogy
05 15 2008 - 8:38 pm. Category: misc
For a while now, my cell phone has been in its death throes. The battery lasts about a day, if that much. It was more or less always half dead or more. It'd also frozen on me several times this last month. Just completely freezing when I'm trying to write/receive a text. I'd have to pull the battery off. Here's to you, my lovely Pantech:
You were small, perfect, and despite your lack of fancy technology you served me well. I liked your industrial-esque style and simplicity. You will be missed, but the YMCA will put you to good use. Introducing, my new LG:
You are larger and heavier but far far shinier. By no means are you fat, you are nice and slim. Your camera is better, I can add music to you, and the slide is nice and smooth. Your surface is reflective enough for a mirror. I think we will be good friends.
"Nom Nom Obama"
05 15 2008 - 1:38 pm. Category: internets
So the past few days I've mostly just been sitting around the apartment not doing anything (a.k.a enjoying the freedom of no more college). Unfortunately, not participating in the world at large really dampens the blogable content available. Therefore, I give you:
I'm having some problems with the categories set up, so right now you can only see my last few. Only "default" is publishing to the page right now and once again, I don't know where to fix it and right now I don't feel like hunting through Pivot.
Introducting, 12 of 12
05 13 2008 - 01:53 am. Category: 12 of 12
12 of 12 is a simple concept. You take 12 photos on the 12th day of the month and post them. Mike over at What Some Would Call Lies introduced me to the idea. The Untitled Chad Darnell Project got it all started. So here's my first go at it:
8:30ish - Good morning wall! I have head butted it from time to time...
10:00ish - Haircut that was a long time coming.
10:45ish - The Trimet bridge over the road I drive every day to campus. Coolest part of my commute, it lights up at night!
12:45ish - Quick shot of Marsh, the central building on campus.
2:30ish - The not-so-exciting part of my 15-mile commute.
2:30ish - A lovely edition to "Spot the Spoiler."
3:00ish - Oh yeah... I should study for that final tomorrow.
5:30ish - Time to raid!
7:00ish - I'm using a power tool! +1 masculinity point.
7:00ish - Clearing space on the patio by hanging Boyfriend's bike up.
7:30ish - Date with Boyfriend to see Iron Man. It's worth the ticket and popcorn.
10:40ish - Putting together this post before bed.
As you might be able to tell, the lighting setting on my camera was incorrect for some of my pictures. Indoor lighting in an outdoor setting equals blue tinted pictures and I'm too lazy to finagle them into looking perfect. I think it turned out pretty well. It turned into a close documentary of my commuter life.
Old habits die hard
05 11 2008 - 01:29 am. Category: misc
The greatest tragedy in college is that they make you read really boring crap. Just because I like accounting does not mean I want to spend an hour reading about the proper treatment of a leasing agreement. I like to do it, no sane person on the planet likes to read about it. However, I do have very fond feelings towards my massive tax accounting textbook.
The top is the latest in the Saga of Recluce, an exceptional fantasy series that touches on sci-fi as well. The bottom is the second book in the Dragon Nimbus novels written by Boyfriend's aunt (many times removed apparently). I reccomend them both, although be weary of the Recluce books... the latest is number 14. I also ordered Wil Wheaton's Just a Geek which they tragically did not have in the store.
A combo of genres
05 08 2008 - 7:02 pm. Category: misc
This isn't the best shot ever, but I thought it would be a fun one to take. I'd just gotten back from the Oregon Society of CPA's Circle of Excellence. So I turned on guitar hero and told Boyfriend to grab his camera.
Business + Guitar Hero = ROCK!
Also, if you look after the "more" link, you can see the face Derek makes when orchestra is all said and done. (more)
Quick, dirty, and sick just how I like it
05 07 2008 - 11:46 am. Category: misc
If you're like me and your attention span for reading on the internet is severely limited, I suggest reading The Carpetbagger Report for short bits of informative politics. It gets the major point across. The last two entries are pretty interesting. I'm not creating a politics blog I promise, just wanted to share.
What I thought was the beginning of allergy season I think is turning more into a throat/head cold. I don't get sick often, I wasn't even aware that there there are spring colds. I thought that was a winter and fall type of thing.
"The Empire Strikes Barack"
05 05 2008 - 11:31 pm. Category: misc
I don't tend to like embedding videos because they slow down people's load times and garbage up a screen. But this is just too good to resist. Thanks Caroline. It also reminded me I need to mail in my primary ballot.
Four years ago I grabbed a screw driver and fixed the box fan of my soon-to-be best friend from college and future "wife". That was my first masculinity point. I haven't kept a tally, but I've earned some and lost more. This should give you an idea:
I wore my comfy new dress shoes with my tux for the orchestra concert last night. Little did I know, these particular shoes like to eat the back of your ankle. Like any smart-thinking woman, I found some band-aids. They did an excellent job protecting the point of attack.
I never realized how funny ankles look from behind. And sorry about the background mess.
That's a good question and happy 50th birthday dad!
05 02 2008 - 02:54 am. Category: misc
There are things you don't discuss with family, and for me it is sex and politics. Unless my grandma is on a wine-supported anti-Bush rant (I love her so). I'm sitting in my mom's sewing room as she's hemming my new suit slacks and an Obama add came up...
"Derek, do you follow politics?" she asks me. "Yeah, a bit" I reply. I don't read or watch everything, but I'll watch debates and The Colbert Report and follow the primaries as they happen. "What does liberal mean?" she poses to me. You would think I'd be dumbstruck and saddened at my mother's lack of awareness, but mostly I was surprised. The only answer I could give on the spot was "not republican *laugh*."
But what is it really? I suppose you could say it is a combination of political and social opinions. But that seems like a weak definition. And those are just the things that we define in relation to the bad guys. I couldn't give her a good answer, because I wanted to really say what it means to be liberal, but I couldn't. The only context I could think in was liberal in the sense of the opposition of conservatism. Which is largely what it is, but there has to be something more to it.
Everyone brings up gay rights, guns, and abortion but those are just political cannon fodder. It's a way of thinking and looking at our world that I have a hard time putting a definition on. Might you have one?
I was also proud of my mother. She voted for Bush, I'm sad to say, both times his name was on the ballet. I'm not entirely sure why, she's never clarified. But despite being at one point in the conservative camp, she can ask me that simple of a question because she wanted to understand what liberal really was, why it was the bad guy (according to her cousins, which is where this all started), and why Obama and Clinton are "too liberal" to be president because to her they don't seem all that bad. Asking that question is a lot more than many people in this country do.
I'm disappointed that I couldn't give her an answer.
You sit around for days with nothing to talk about, and then everything happens at once. First off, the reason I don't have any content is because I've hardly left the house. This is indicated by the hair, the glasses (no contacts in days), and the "beard" that is starting to develop. The sleeping until 11:00, up until 2:00 probably needs to stop though. That's just a bad habit that'll kick me in the pants later.
Sarah, being the good friend that she is, came down for my graduation and parked in an unnumbered spot between some numbered ones. No biggy right? 
I was completely blown away when my parents gave me a brand new polar blue Kia Rio. You can read the details over at Boyfriend's 
