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July 1st, 2009

12:17 am - I'm a beat poet... ...and you know just how I flow it, I got heart, I show it, But the ladies, they forgo it. So Death Star has another show -- this one is at the Blue Moon in the University District of Seattle. We'll be playing around 9:00 PM on Thursday, July 30th. The Blue Moon is a pretty decent tavern, and Steve's other band (Press Start to Rock) has played there a number of times, so I'm really comfortable there. It feels like a base of operations. We're working on merchandise right now, and are pretty sure that the "Hug Life" shirts are going to be ready. We're considering doing bottle opener keychains and buttons as well, plus we'll have the Soldiers of Fortran EP finished by then and ready for sale. CDs, keychains, and buttons should be about a dollar, and shirts will be $12. If anyone ends up wanting one but can't make the show, let me know -- I'll set one aside for you. Hand in hand with that development is the completion of the recording sessions for the Soldiers of Fortran EP, which we wrapped up on Sunday night. Our friend Nick (aka Bill Beats, aka Bullet Bill) did the production, and the tracks sound pretty good. They're all up on our MySpace page, for those interested in listening. In fact, here are the vital links, for those of you curious to hear what my Nerdcore project sounds like. http://www.deathstarhiphop.com is the eventual Death Star homepage. Right now there's nothing on it, but eventually we'll have a site up (eventually meaning sooner rather than later). We only purchased it about ten days ago, so it's very nascent. http://www.myspace.com/deathstarhiphop is the main band MySpace page. From there you can hear the four tracks we recorded and see the three videos from our first show. http://www.myspace.com/emceethreepio is my musician page on MySpace. http://www.myspace.com/c0splay is Steve's musician page on MySpace. http://www.myspace.com/talmanes is my personal MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/minustheear is Steve's personal MySpace page. http://www.tinyurl.com/deathstarfacebook is the Death Star Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/talmanes is my personal Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1786816714 is Steve's personal Facebook page. http://www.twitter.com/deathstarhiphop is the official Death Star Twitter. We post to it. Seriously. http://www.youtube.com/deathstarhiphop is the Death Star YouTube channel, where we will be posting our videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhPXt_EO86U&feature=channel_page is the video for The Sound of Nerdcore, recorded at the Mars Bar on 12-12-2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9qTEnPg5wo&feature=channel_page is the video for Who Wants to Be a Comic Book Villain, recorded at the Mars Bar on 12-12-2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq2mk_cqXAY&feature=channel_page is the video for Rollin' '20s, recorded at the Mars Bar on 12-12-2008. It's a lot, right? Try maintaining it all. Sheesh. The song of the day is "Looking for Group [Demo 02]" by my band, Death*Star. Even if you never download tracks from my journal, you should download this one -- it's my band! Current Location: Home -- Kirkland, Washington, USA Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Death Star, "Looking for Group [Demo 02]" Tags: death star

(1 Monkey Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

June 22nd, 2009

01:01 am - I wish I hadn’t… bought you dinner… Right before you dumped me on your front porch Give me my money back Give me my money back, you bitch Note: This was written back on March 15th. I hadn't posted it until now because... well... I just hadn't. I figured that, for posterity's sake, I should get around to that. Yeah, I know it's way overdue, but at least now I don't feel as strongly about it. So ends the story of Jess Hart, the Happily Smitten Bastard. This gets a little complicated, but bear with me. Hey, you can bare with me, too, if you want -- I don’t mind being the only one bare right now. After making plans for Valentine’s Day and getting gifts and going out of my way to be a good boyfriend, I was feeling pretty strong in my relationship; I was doing my best to give Grace the Valentine’s Day she’d never gotten from any other boyfriend -- ever. She picked the restaurant, we were set up to go see Coraline in 3D, and I had chosen thoughtful, personalized gifts and a card I thought would make her laugh but which was also pretty sweet. Aaaaaand… on February 12th, two days before Valentine’s and apropos of nothing, she called me over to her house and broke up with me. It really came out of nowhere. Her reasoning was an awkward jumble of concepts, including a run-in with an ex-boyfriend that she used to care about deeply (while she wasn’t interested in getting back together with him, it was offset by her not feeling the same about me); also mentioned was the fact that I don’t listen, as well as some oddness of the “it’s not you, it’s me” variety. I figured out pretty quickly that arguing logically and pointing out that this was a “to work on” issue rather than a game-ender wasn’t going to get me very far, so I took it like a man and wished her well, letting her know I’d be in touch to handle the exchange of mutual belongings. After about a week and a half I text-messaged her to arrange an exchange, and she put me off about it for a bit before finally giving me a time to show up at her place. I arrived, box in hand, having essentially gotten over it -- I’d had my feelings bruised, but I’m strong enough to move on with little damage, and while I missed Grace I wasn’t heartbroken. She invited me in, surprisingly, and after a few minutes of conversation she stated that she wanted me back. Her reasons were pretty sound: -- She’d known from the moment she broke up with me and watched me walk away that she’d screwed up. -- She’d wanted to tell me this from the get-go, but pride and embarrassment (and the fear that I’d tell her to get lost) prevented her from doing so. -- She’d been miserable and depressed since we broke up. -- She had actually gotten back together with her ex and realized she hated him and just missed me. I wasn’t terribly flattered, but I warily agreed to give it another shot -- after all, I missed Grace and didn’t want to break up with her in the first place. I was willing to work on things. At first, it was good. We spent days together at her place, I took her to see Watchmen, I played with Morgan and helped Grace out and tried harder to get along with her mother. But then Grace was constantly making plans with me and then putting them off hour by hour, keeping me on a string but not giving me my free time. I finally got a bit miffed about wasting my time waiting on her, and she called me up early on a Wednesday to let me know she’d decided it wasn’t fair that she was taking me for granted. She loves me, but she wants to focus all of her love and attention on Morgan, who she feels deserves all of it. She can’t be a good mother to Morgan while dating anyone, apparently, and she very stubbornly stuck to that despite my logical arguments. So I got shut down hardcore, and we broke up. Again. I wanted things between us to be civil, so I stopped by just to say goodbye the next day -- nothing major, just shaking hands and wishing each other well. No arguments, just a simple “I hope for the best for you” and a fare-thee-well. Grace was just not having that, however, and was pretty snarky to me about it, having nothing good to say to me and generally acting affronted that I’d do such a thing. I said I was sorry for taking up her time, and that was the end of it. Now we’re done. Am I upset? I was really sad when we broke up the first time, as I really cared about Grace and didn’t want to break up with her at all. I was a little depressed about it for a few days, and still hurt about it after a week, but over the next week or so I just sort of got over it. I do that; I recover quickly, I examined all of the reasons why it was okay, and I logically just sort of moved past it. Then she reeled me back in and made me feel all warm and fuzzy and wanted again (though I was really wary of it happening again), and then she slapped me down again just as fast. This time around, I’m feeling more like “Thanks for wasting my fucking time.” I gave her another chance and she squandered it, then had the audacity to kind of be a rag about it to me afterward, as if I didn’t have the right to feel totally affronted. My feelings are hurt a bit at how easily she cast me aside (she told me it wasn’t easy, but I still stand that if she actually cared, she wouldn’t have done it like that), but mostly I’m pissed off for getting sucked back in. I mean, I like Grace a lot and think she’s a great person, and I honestly hope for the best for her and Morgan in the future, but damn her for toying with me like that, whatever her reasons. I don’t deserve that. I wouldn’t do that to anyone, and never have. I hope these issues are things Grace works out before she tries again with another guy, which is sort of inevitable given her serial monogamist history. Oh, and on that other guy note? She moved on not long after me to some other dude. So much for focusing on being a mom. At any rate, I’m back to being single again. Wahoo. Isn’t it bloody wonderful? Today’s song is the Ben Folds Five, “Song for the Dumped” Current Mood: Not as Mad as I Was Back Then Current Music: Ben Folds Five, "Song for the Dumped" Tags: grace (public), relationship

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

January 21st, 2009

11:45 pm - Nerdcore could rise up... It could get elevated. First things first -- if you're alive out there, sound off. I want to know who's still reading, and more importantly, who's still writing. I don't have time to read every journal on my Friends page (regrettable as that may be), but if you actually want my attention, this is how to get it. I'll toss you up on my Preferred Read filter and everything. I make comments and shit. I'm good like that. I also like to take the pulse of the readership every once in a while and figure out who's still with me on this wacky misadventure. There are some folks that I know will stick it out through my massive droughts and wicked posting flurries (aaybara, you know I mean you), but other folks come and go, which is fine. I just want to know who didn't come back after the hiatus. Now that we've gotten that over with, let's talk about some shit, shall we? I guess the first thing on my list of stuff to talk about is my band. Steve and I have been writing rhymes for Death Star for a couple of years now, but we're supremely lazy men. What started with us IMing each other random rhymes at work and scribbling down amusing passages on our lunch breaks eventually led to Steve researching beats online and him and me putting down rhymes to those beats, slavishly working within the time allotted and trying to come up with something we found amusing and entertaining. We never had any real intention of being taken seriously. ( Part 1: the Origin of Jess as a Hip-Hop Enthusiast ) ( Part 2: the Makings of an MC ) ( Part 3: Fuck, I Could Do Better Than That ) ( Part 4: A Fully-Operational Rap Battle Station ) ( Part 5: Arrogant Beat Thieves ) ( Part 6: This is the show. ) ( Part 7: Post-Stardom Regression ) ( Part 8: The Future is Ours ) Today's track is "Nerdcore Rising" by MC Frontalot. Current Mood: weary Current Music: MC Frontalot, "Nerdcore Rising" Tags: death star

(5 Monkeys Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

January 20th, 2009

12:08 am - Life is… better… Now that… now that I found you…. So. I have a girlfriend. This is essentially the story of how I got from where I was last year to where I am now, including how Grace and I met and got together but also including other persons of interest, my thought processes at this time, and other related information. ( This is the part where I explain why I stopped dating to begin with. ) ( This is the part where I start to reconsider that plan. ) ( This is the part where I first try to work the rust out of my joints and talk to girls. ) ( This is the part where I start talking about Grace. Yeah, I was surprised it took this long to get there, too. ) ( This is where my talking about Grace actually means something in the greater scheme of things. ) ( And this is how it is now. ) It's weird, getting used to having a girlfriend again. But then, most of the good stuff in my life has been pretty weird at the outset. Today's song is "Life is Better" by Q-Tip & Norah Jones. Current Mood: Cheerful Current Music: Q-Tip & Norah Jones, "Life is Better" Tags: grace (public), morgan, relationship

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

January 10th, 2009

09:01 pm - For now we stand alone... The world is lost and blown And we are flesh and blood, disintegrate With no one to hate NOTE: I wrote this at work on Tuesday, 1/6, at around 4 pm Pacific. I'm posting it now because I'm home and not busy. So on the subject of "more frequent", I already wrote a second post. How's that for more frequent? I've been getting this feeling lately, and it's one I'm familiar with but can't quite understand. It's the feeling I get when I examine an interest I have and think to myself, "Your knowledge of this is far too narrow for someone who claims to enjoy it". Does anyone else ever get this? Here's an example: I enjoy listening to hip-hop, and I'm in a nerdcore hip-hop group, so you'd think I'd know a lot about the music of nerdcore artists. Examining that, I discovered I have 2 of the 3 MC Frontalot albums, YTCracker's album, some of Beefy's stuff, Optimus Rhyme's stuff, and a smattering of random tracks. I mean, that's it -- I barely have any MC Chris, almost no MC Lars, and I've never even heard the majority of nerdcore artists (to be fair, most of them are utter crap; liking hip-hop and being a nerd rarely qualifies someone to make listenable music). As such, I feel wholly inadequate about my nerdcore experience, and feel like I need to beef that up. This happens to me frequently regarding books. Despite my huge breadth of experience reading fantasy, I haven't read any Eddings, Goodkind, Rawn, Farland, Haydon, Silverberg, or any of the other folks who are (I think?) rising stars or luminaries of the genre. While I think books are one of the media from which you should seriously cherry-pick your selections, I constantly feel like I'm thinly-read. Sci-fi is even worse, as the majority of what I've read has been either Larry Niven or Star Wars, with a smattering of random stuff (some good, some crap) thrown in for good measure. I mean, how can someone be a true sci-fi fan having only read one Heinlein book? Hey, at least it was "Stranger in a Strange Land", right? I feel this less regarding comics and graphic novels, but this has more to do with the sheer volume of what I've read than anything else. I still haven't read stuff like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac (which is constantly recommended to me by women, for some reason), Invincible, Ex Machina, Strangers in Paradise, Love and Rockets, or Y: the Last Man, but I don't feel like this makes my experiences in any way inadequate; I just haven't gotten around to them. Considering what I've read (and especially what I own), it's small potatoes. The same goes for film & TV, for the most part. While there are a bunch of movies I haven't seen, I rarely feel like I'm missing out (unless all of my friends have seen it, which drives me nuts). With TV, it's more my waiting to see something on DVD that everyone else saw when it aired, which is what happened recently with Weeds and Mad Men. Even so, I can sort of sense the feeling encroaching upon me if there's something everyone says I desperately need to see. I guess, upon examination, I tend to get this feeling the most regarding music and books. It's that constant feeling of "What the hell do I know about fantasy/sci-fi/philosophy/theology/neo-tribalism? I've only read X!" that just gets to me and makes me think I should go on some sort of spree of reading or downloading to make up for it. This urge is especially strong if I have some basis for comparison ("Man, I only have something-hundred hip-hop tracks on my PC, but I have literally THOUSANDS of rock tracks -- I need to branch out and listen to more hip-hop!") or if I find that the volume of what I've read comes from a single source or set of sources (like when I realized all of the neo-tribal lit I'd read was by Daniel Quinn, and immediately bought 3 books by different authors to make up for it). I suppose you could say this is a sort of inadequacy, like I'd be embarrassed for someone to find out that for a hobby I'm so passionate about I'm surprisingly shallow in my experiences, but I think it runs deeper; I think it's my Inner Jess telling me that if I'm truly passionate about it, I should know more and experience as much as I can. I should make an effort to branch out and read more and truly explore a genre or style, and not limit myself to the familiar. I do know that I need to read more, and that the major impediment to my doing so lately has been the books I've chosen (they aren't bad, they're just ponderously slow to read -- they aren't grabbers or page-turners) I should get back to my roots and start reading the stuff I know I'm hungry for, and perhaps see if that's what I've been missing. I probably need to put down the graphic novels for a bit (they're quick reads, but they're sort of pulling me away from novels) and focus less on watching DVDs and more on going cover-to-cover with some fiction. So… anyone else ever get this feeling? Today's Song: the Smashing Pumpkins, "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" Current Mood: aggravated Current Music: the Smashing Pumpkins, "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" Tags: books

(2 Monkeys Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

08:15 pm - I don't need to walk around in circles... Walk around in circles, Walk around in circles, Walk around in.... Note: I wrote this at work on Monday, January 5th, at about 5:30 pm Pacific. I only waited this long before posting it now because I've been really busy. Right. Another update after a long absence. It seems like every time I write in this journal, I have to catch everyone up on months of activities. Anyone who wants to ask where the hell I've been is welcome to do so -- I have no real excuses. Well... maybe one. It seems that as much as I love talking about myself, I really don't like writing about myself; it just takes so much time and effort, and I'm rarely in the mood. My most active LJ phases seem to occur when I can post from work, which as we all know is a period of time where one wants to do anything but what one is being paid to do at the time. I should be a better employee. First things first: I lost my old job as a press release writer. I deserved to be canned, so no real surprises. I have since taken a job writing online cell phone manuals, which is hardly fulfilling (but it pays the bills). I work with my friend Steve again (in different departments), and it's not all bad. You live, you know? It's not really worth writing much about, and I do actually kind of miss the old job. Also, I moved out of my one bedroom apartment in Lynnwood and into the spare bedroom at the Shire. When Corwin moved out, that left a spare room for Steve & Dima to rent out, and that room went to me. I've been living there since October, and honestly, it's pretty awesome. Sharing expenses helps a lot, there are a lot of comforts I've simply done without for years (cable, heat, companionship) that are built in to the place. I thought it would be hard to get used to having roommates again, but it's been remarkably easy. I remain as of yet still partially packed, with a bunch of boxes of books and whatnot in the garage; I'm sure it'll remain this way indefinitely. Back in September I embarked on a new diet with my father. We had attended a funeral for his uncle Davis, at which we saw his cousin Bob. Bob had lost a bunch of weight and looked great, and he said the secret was the MediFast diet he'd begun months prior. My dad and I resolved to do the diet together, and have been at it for months now. My dad has lost about 60 lbs and is looking pretty good; he says he has 30 lbs to go before his goal weight, and keeps me posted on his weight loss weekly. For my part, I have lost an astonishing 95 lbs (I know, right?), and will soon be going to the doctor for a physical and a bone & muscle density test to figure out what my actual goal weight is. My guess is that I'll end up around 240 lbs, with all of my hard-earned muscle finally out on display. It's pretty rad to be losing weight in this fashion, and I've had the support of friends and family throughout the process. I'm sleeping better, I feel better, I move better. I'm less tired and less easily exhausted, and I've got tons more energy to expend during my day. It's pretty sweet. The final and most surprising big announcement I have to make is that after about 4 years of being single (by choice), I actually have a girlfriend. After fending off the advances of many a dumb and dull female (why is it always the dumb girls who get crushes on me?), I sort of tripped and fell into a relationship with a wonderful girl named Grace. We met when I gave a speech to her training class at my new job and my arrogance and ridiculous sense of humor caught her attention, and we spoke a few times before she came over to my house to hang out (Steve was her supervisor, and she came over to chill without realizing I lived there). One thing led to another, and now we've been seeing each other for about a month. Grace is very cool and very fun, and not only gets my sense of humor but takes my jibes and mocking in good spirits, so we work well together. She has a 3-year-old daughter named Morgan who is cute but somewhat poorly-behaved (as 3-year-olds are wont to be), and Morgan and I are getting to know each other and learning how to get used to each other. Dating a single mom takes getting used to, and the extra responsibilities and last-minute alterations to plans are a lot to carry, but we're making that work out as best we can. The important part is that I really like this girl, so I'm willing to put in the effort. I said I'd likely remain single for the rest of my life, and I totally meant it, but I wasn't really given a choice in the matter and I have a feeling that's just the way Fate wanted it. "Left to your own devices, Jess, you'd just have stayed a bachelor, and we can't have that," says Fate, and I believe her. In other news, Steve and I performed as Death Star for the first time at the Mars Bar in Seattle to a packed house. We invited a bunch of friends and our goal was just to have a good time and make people laugh. What ended up happening is we brought the fucking house down and set the crowd on fire. Friends who had heard us practice were astonished by how good we were on stage, and people who had never heard us before were blown away. My family had the time of their lives, and I'm fairly certain that if we'd had another hour of material to do, the crowd would have demanded we stay on stage. I'm not normally shy about self-promotion, but I was completely amazed by the response, and I'm very proud of how well we did. We were asked to play this year's Penny Arcade Expo (no lie), and a club promoter asked if we'd be interested in playing Nectar and the Showbox. This was our first show, and those are the offers we got -- apparently we're awesome. We're currently working with a producer to swap out some of our cheesier beats for something a little more solid, and we're working on new material to round out our shows. I'll make sure to post up next time we have a show so you Seattle-area folks can attend. Nothing else really comes to mind at present, but hey, that's the update. I'll try to post a bit more about specific stuff in the coming days (I'm just writing this all out in Notepad and emailing it home to post), and hopefully I'll be more frequent with the jibba-jabba. Happy New Year to you all. I hope you're all doing well, too. Today's Lyrics: Soul Coughing, "Circles" Current Mood: awake Current Music: Soul Coughing, "Circles" Tags: death star, diet, grace (public), job, morgan, summary update, the shire

(2 Monkeys Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

August 13th, 2008

11:02 am - It's a nice day for a white wedding... It's a nice day to start again. I'm going to go over my very busy run of the last few weeks. There were a lot of events. I will list them here. My father was in town for the last 2 weeks of July with his wife and my baby sister. I threw a bachelor party for a friend on the 2nd of August. On Friday, I attended a wedding for that friend and his now-wife (also my friend). The very next day I saw Dan (arcane) in a play and then halfheartedly and distractedly said goodbye to him before he moved to Atlanta. I'm gonna run through these events in an order that does not actually match up to what I just said. When describing my friends a while ago, I mentioned White Steve and Off-White Stephanie, the Wisconsin couple befriended by the Neckbeards around New Year's. They've been engaged since before we met them, and we were all invited to the wedding and all of that good stuff. Everyone expected to go, and that was very cool. Unfortunately, Steve's brother completely and totally failed to throw a decent bachelor party (Steph was present, for starters; Steve did not enjoy himself at all), and this was simply unacceptable... to Stephanie. Steph truly loves her man, so she enlisted Aaron (Steve's closest locally-present friend) to throw him a real bachelor party. Aaron, busy with work and school, outsourced this task to Dima and I -- the Neckbeards Party Planning Committee -- despite our complete lack of experience with the concept of a bachelor party (Dima had never been to one, and I had been to one truly terrible and boring bachelor party in my life). So Dima and I went to Greg, our most worldly and tale-wise friend, and enlisted his help. He was more than happy to give us inspiration, at which point we reached deep within ourselves and found that we already knew what we had to do. The power to throw an awesome bachelor party was always within us -- we just had to let it out. Greg's formula for a good bachelor party was fairly straightforward. You start in the daytime, and make the first event something physical and active so that people can get that testosterone out of their system before they start drinking and get a good sweat on early in the day. Dima's brilliant plan was to take us all out to play Broomball, which you play on an ice rink without skates using pre-prepared brooms. There were six of us (myself, Dima, Steve White, Steve Perry, Aaron, and Jason), and everyone fell at least one time except Jason. Steve Perry (heretofore referred to as Earclops so that he is not confused with White Steve) fell the most because he and I were playing goalie, and Dima was a damn dynamo on the ice, so Earclops was constantly harried. I fell flat on my belly twice, which was funny. We were all worn out quite easily because we are fat and out of shape, and once the game was over I pulled a groin muscle trying not to fall. It's been bugging me for friggin' weeks. Afterward, we went to Ipanema, a Brazilian steakhouse (this was my idea). They bring various meats around on skewers, and so long as you have your card up and turned to Green, they keep offering delectable goodies. We all ate like gluttons, filling ourselves up with meat, pineapple, and fried bananas. Everyone agreed that it was rad. We walked to Kells, a local Irish bar that Dima had located, and drank ourselves silly (but not blotto). There was much toasting and telling of tales, and everyone was happy. Afterward we went to the Deja Vu a couple blocks away. The Vu is a well-known local strip club, but Dima and I have never been strip club guys. Neither of us had ever been to one, so we leaned heavily on Greg's advice and went to one he'd recommended. It wasn't a bad experience, but from what I've told strip clubs in Washington suck because of all of the rules imposed on them by local government, and other states have it much better. I will probably never have a basis for comparison; I don't plan on making a habit of going. But Steve was very, very happy with the results of the evening. We later retired to the Shire for a couple more beers and some cigars, and everyone was completely worn out, which is what you want in a bachelor party. The wedding was six days later on Friday, and it was a very nice service held in a gazebo at a Kirkland waterfront park. The Unitarian minister led a quick and pleasant service interrupted by a toddler who would not shut the hell up and whose parents were incapable of understanding the ten-second rule for fussy children at a wedding, but otherwise it was nice. Then came the reception, which was a drunken Irish gathering of the best kind, and I got well and truly hammered to honor my friends. I am a chatty drunk, but hey... at least I'm a happy drunk. After telling that story, I find I really don't want to tell the others. My dad coming out for two weeks was great, and I miss him already -- he's awesome and I love him. Dan leaving... I'm not at all happy about that, though I'm happy that he's taking his life by the horns and steering it where he wants it to go. I just miss my friend already. Current Mood: blah Tags: dad, dan

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

June 18th, 2008

11:08 pm This is one of my song catch-up posts. I keep posting from work and forgetting to upload songs. That's like your reward for reading -- you get something to listen to afterward. On, "Slingshot" from this post. Cool Kids, "Black Mags" from this post. The Boomtown Rats, "I Don't Like Mondays" from this post. They Might Be Giants, "Older" from this post. Cujo, "Traffic" from this post. Yoko Kanno, "Doggy Dog" from this post. Gruntruck, "Tribe" from this post. Bonus Song: Blue Scholars, "50K Deep" -- it's from their new album, Bayani, and it's about a riot that occurred in Seattle in 1999, outside of the World Trade Center. I remember all of the events surrounding it, and knew some people who had been involved in it. Plus, it's just a good hip-hop track. Current Mood: apathetic Current Music: Blue Scholars, "50K Deep"

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

04:12 pm - Tell me about your planet's air... Can I breathe it, or should I dare? As many of you know, I am a lover of the fraternal twin literary genres of fantasy and science fiction, including many subgenres such as dark fantasy, urban fantasy, space opera, and hard sci-fi. One of my favorite authors of hard science fiction is Larry Niven, and I figured it was time I took a moment to write about my relationship with Niven's work and why I find it both fascinating and frustrating. This is mainly coming up because I'm currently reading Destiny's Road, one of Niven's later novels, and I'm simultaneously annoyed and intrigued by it. ( Click here if you want to read a rant about Niven ) The song is "Slingshot" by On, and I may post it when I get home, because I'll be doing other stuff at my computer, too. I should be attending a birthday party, but I'm just too tired to do it. (EDIT: I added the song) Current Mood: tired Current Music: On, "Slingshot" Tags: books

(2 Monkeys Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

June 6th, 2008

10:47 am - You're older than you've ever been, and now you're even older... And now you're even older, And now you're even older, You're older than you've ever been, And now you're even older, And now... you're older still. I am 29 years old today, and I guess I feel exactly that old. Convenient, that. I think feeling like I was younger would be a sign that I'm reluctant to embrace adulthood (I'm really not), and feeling older would be a sign that the world is wearing me down (and it isn't, yet). I'm just at the precipice of 30, staring it down, mainly wondering what life's gonna be like for me in 10 years. As expected, my relatives have been chiming in gently. My mother called me earlier, my dad sent me an email and let me know he'd be calling me, and my sister sent me an email with an awesome picture of us as kids (I may upload it later, if I get a chance). I'm getting well-wishes from various forums and online communities and all that, and it's all pretty much going as expected. I'm currently at work, writing this post (which is not my job), wondering how much work I'll get done today with my total slackitude and internally cursing a client who is nitpicking a press release I wrote for him. It wouldn't be so frustrating to me if it weren't for the fact that the parts he's nitpicking are direct quotes from him. If you want me to change what they say, that's fine, but don't act like I'm making misstatements. You made misstatements, Poor Communicator. This is not my fault. Dima made arrangements for a very large group of us to meet at Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse at 7 (it's a lot like Benihana, so there's your frame of reference), so that'll be a good time. Afterward we will repair to the Issaquah Brewhouse and partake of wonderful Rogue beer, and I will carouse with my nearest and dearest. It looks like I'll end up working on Saturday to make up for missing Wednesday (stupid food poisoning), so I'll have to keep it all in moderation (not that I wouldn't, anyway). Sunday is my day with my family, and we'll be celebrating my birthday as well as my grandmother's -- hers is actually on Sunday, so she's kind of got me trumped there. My mother's present to me was to take me grocery shopping yesterday and help me pick out healthy foods. I'm not going on a diet so much as I'm intentionally trying to surround myself with foods that are good for me. I have no problem eating healthy when it's made convenient and easy for me, and so that's exactly what we did, and I'm grateful for it. In my opinion, it's a pretty great gift. And that, as they say, is that. Songs for today are They Might Be Giants, "Older", and Cujo, "Traffic". I will probably get around to posting them soon, and do one of my song post update things where I point out that I uploaded songs. Happy birthday to me. Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Cujo, "Traffic"

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

May 28th, 2008

10:37 am - We are the doggy doggy dogs! We are the doggy doggy dogs! I haven't posted in a while, and today's post isn't going to be much of a revelation. It's the continuation of my list of 100 things I love about my dog, Harlequin. 41. When she was a puppy, Quin hated being supine for any reason. If you flipped her on her back, even gently, she would flip out and kick with all legs until she had her feet under her. Only recently has she been okay with occasionally being recumbent and chilling out. The other night, however, she was sitting up in the crook of my arm, and she intentionally let herself fall backward so I could rub her belly. It was absolutely adorable. 42. Quin reacts very differently depending on where you pet her. Rubbing her belly is something she seems to enjoy, but she doesn’t really react. Rubbing behind her ears makes her stick her neck out, and rubbing her head or between her eyes makes her close her eyes and relax. Rubbing her neck makes her turn her head so you can get at her easier. Rubbing her shoulders makes her stand up and arch into you; rubbing her back makes her start to get rowdy. Scratching her rump tends to get her to move it where she wants it scratched (as I’ve said before), and she’ll start snapping at the air and trying to play. Touching her legs tends to make her nervous, but she’ll generally tolerate it from me. 43. When Quin is near your face, if she doesn’t really want to be nuzzled or doesn’t want your face so close, she will stick a forepaw out and shove it right in your face, pushing and holding you back. Generally she just stares at you afterward. 44. As previously stated, Quin always wants to sit on my lap while I’m driving. She has a keen understanding of how that works, however, and knows the commands “scoot” (get out of the driver’s seat so I can sit down), “go on” (get off my lap so I can get out of the car”), and “come on, then” (feel free to jump in my lap). She almost always waits to hear these commands before actually moving. 45. Quin doesn’t whine, but she will occasionally make short, pointed whimpers. This isn’t a pathetic, annoying, or obsequious trait; she does this when there is something in particular she wants or needs, and she’s trying to communicate it to someone who just isn’t smart enough to figure it out on his own (me). 46. When I squirt Harlequin with a spray bottle, she jumps up and gets all kinds of alert and feisty. It’s not that she hates it, but rather that it has become some sort of silly call to action for her. 47. When you blow at Quin’s muzzle, she immediately tries to nip at the source of the “wind”; when you blow at her hindquarters, her little nub of a tail locks down over her butt, and she goes on alert, like an attack is coming at any moment. 48. Another of Quin’s favorite games is the biting game. She makes a playful nip at me, then I make one at her, and she tries to catch me while I retreat. It’s a classic dog game, but she obviously loves playing. 49. My sister and I were once playing cards at my grandmother’s, and Holly was holding Quin while she was playing. Quin kept drifting off to sleep, and her eyes would flicker shut, at which point her head would start to droop to the side. When it fell too far, she’d wake up, wondering what happened. This occurred something like six times in a row before Holly and I were laughing too hard to keep watching. 50. I always feed Quin just before I leave for the day. She follows me to the kitchen and watches, and then watches me leave the apartment with my standard goodbye (“Goodbye, princess. Daddy loves you. You stay and be good!”). If I ever come back into the apartment within the next few moments (because I forgot my keys or wallet), she’s still standing there; I have to be gone for a minute or so before she’ll give up on waiting for me and go eat. I'm halfway to the end. Today's song is "Doggy Dog", composed by Yoko Kanno for the Cowboy Bebop series. Current Mood: bored Tags: harlequin

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

March 20th, 2008

10:36 am - I just wanna fly my freak flag... Come on, join our tribe! My friends are a loose cadre of awesome referred to collectively as "the Neckbeards". ( What follows is a very long inventory of who my friends are. ) Today's song is the classic grunge anthem "Tribe" by Gruntruck (and no, I have no idea what the Hell he's singing about, either; that's really the beauty of it, isn't it?). I've found my tribe. Find yours. Current Location: Work Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Gruntruck, "Tribe"

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

March 13th, 2008

09:48 pm - Any time you want... Jump back to me any time... I've gone back and posted the songs for these posts: this one, this one, and both songs on this one. Of course, going back and reading old posts is a pain in the ass, which is why I'm also posting them here. I'm also posting today's song. Don't you just love me for that? Get 'em while they're hot -- they'll only be up for a week. Temple of the Dog, "Call Me a Dog" Radiohead, "Paranoid Android" Flyleaf, "I'm So Sick" Lovage, "Stroker Ace" Eve 6, "Anytime" I'm also taking a look at something I said a few weeks ago: In future entries: a rundown of who my friends are IRL, a discussion of all of my ex-girlfriends getting married, waxing poetic about the Neckbeards and Death Star, reasons why some of my posts are Friends Only and some are open, and probably a discussion of Urban Dead. Also, I will probably start posting funny or interesting stuff for people to look at -- less because I want the attention and more because I think a better understanding of who I am at any given time comes from what is currently making me laugh or think. So... I should do that, right? Oh, and GO PLAY MOVIE QUOTE TAG AT mqt_etc, because it's fun. Current Mood: happy Current Music: Eve 6, "Anytime"

(1 Monkey Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

March 10th, 2008

12:50 pm - You call me a dog... Well, that's fair enough... In the continuing series of 100 Reasons Why I Love My Dog, here is installment #4. I'm sure you've already seen installments one, two, and three if you had any interest in them, but I've put up links anyway. 31. All of my friends love Quin. Even Steve, who hates little dogs, loves Quin and can go on at length about why. She is universally well-liked. 32. When I originally started talking to my friends Steve and Dima about moving in with them, I was concerned that Quin was going to be an issue, because they don't have any pets. As it turns out, they're both really excited about getting Quin as a dog, because they know she's a good dog that they'll enjoy having around. 33. My sister loves Quin as much as I do, and often asks to take her for a week or two in order to spend time with her. It gives Quin some time with her Auntie Holly and gives me some time away from her (not that I really need it), but more than that it makes Quin a larger part of my family, for which I am thankful. 34. Every time my sister takes Quin, I miss her terribly and can't wait to have her back. 35. Every time I get Quin back after her being away for a week or two, she's extremely excited to see me and doesn't want to be away from me for more than a few seconds. 36. Quin has a number of different moods, all of which are adorable. Her personality is very unique and complex, but always cute and sweet. 37. Quin is extremely photogenic. There are a lot of pictures of her just staring with her ears up, but there are even more pictures of her acting goofy, cute, or playful. From pictures of her buried in a pile of dirty clothes to snapshots of her with a paw over her muzzle acting shy, she's always hilarious in pictures. 38. Most Toy Fox Terriers are white with some black spots and brown markings, but Quin is predominantly black. Rather than spots, she's got a large black blotch running down her back. Her coloring is unusual and unique. 39. Like many dogs, she's got those two little eyebrow markings over her eyes that give her different, amusing expressions, making it easier to anthropomorphize her. 40. Quin will stay still for almost anything, so long as I hold her and I'm the one doing it. Clipping nails, getting something out of her eye, checking her for fleas, flipping her upside down -- she trusts her Daddy to do all of these things and not hurt her. The song for today is Temple of the Dog, "Call Me a Dog", but I'm not at home so I can't post it. I'll do it later. (UPDATE: Song posted) Current Location: Work Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Temple of the Dog, "Call Me a Dog" Tags: harlequin

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

12:48 pm - When I am King... You will be first against the wall.... I have agreed to be one of the moderators for mqt_etc. For those not hip to the LJ culture, that's the Movie Quote Tag Et Cetera community. It's a pretty fun game -- the moderator posts 10 movie quotes, and you try and guess the movie. For every correct answer (verified by the moderator), you must post 3 more quotes as a comment on the original post, and you must let people know when they have guessed correctly. It is a self-perpetuating game, except when it fizzles out. If you like movies, join the community and play the game, if for no other reason than because it would make me very happy if you did. Today's song is "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead. I'm at work, so I can't post it up, but if you check back here at like 10 pm PST, it'll probably be posted. (UPDATE: Song posted) Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Radiohead, "Paranoid Android"

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

February 10th, 2008

12:10 am - I got a letter from the government the other day... Opened it and read it, it say they was suckas.... Today I attended my first Democratic Caucus. It was a gigantic clusterfuck. The caucus was located at Kamiak High School, which is about ten minutes from my apartment. Because of that fact, I figured, hey... won't take me long to get there, right? So it was a 45 minute trip. The problem is that Kamiak High School is in Mukilteo. For those not familiar with Washington cities, Mukilteo is like the definition of upper-middle-class-community. There's not a whole lot of commercial business, they rarely see much heavy traffic, and while it has a high population, that's because it is packed to the gills with condo complexes, cute little upscale housing communities, and other such domestic spots. The result of this kind of urban planning is that almost every road through Mukilteo is two lanes, one going either way. When you have the entirety of Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mukilteo, and south Everett showing up to caucus at a high school located in the boondocks of Mukilteo, traffic backs up all the way to the freeway. I spent a lot of time in that gridlock, and since I wasn't entirely certain where I was going, there were three occasions where I was in the wrong lane. The first was when I didn't realize that the traffic back-up was for the caucus; I was so far away that I just thought people were crowding the Mukilteo Speedway (the largest road in the city, which is two lanes going either way) and I got into a turn lane thinking I was zipping ahead of traffic. The secon is when I turned too early, like a dummy. The third time was when I was trying to be a hotshot and pass the gridlocked traffic, only to find that I'd sent myself off in some idiot direction. The lesson here is that most of the time, you can't get around the traffic when it's all going to the same place. Every boulevard I looked down and every parking lot I checked out was packed with cars, and people were walking to and from the caucus in droves. I ended up parking at a church on the far end of the Kamiak student parking lot, thinking I lucked out when I spotted an empty slot for myself. Turns out there was parking aplenty on the other side of the school; people were just imitating the others they saw parking far away, not realizing that there was still parking to be had. C'est la vie. I trekked over to the school, only to realize that I had no idea where the gymnasium was. Luckily, people were willing to point it out. There were campaign placards for Hillary everywhere; literally every window, every door, every concievable block of hall or wall had Hillary placards on them, and there were placards for no one else. I saw one handmade sign for Obama. I don't know what was up with that. There were maps up all over the place so you could locate your precinct, but I knew my precinct (Hipoint); I just didn't know what room we were in. After drifting around aimlessly, I finally found the proper room, but couldn't locate my goddamn caucus. I almost ended up hanging with the complete wrong caucus before spotting the sign bearing my caucus' name. In the meantime, I was listening to the room organizer, who had a midwestern twang to his seriously annoyed voice. Every thirty seconds or so he'd start whining into his mic about how he was trying to organize the caucuses, so people should stop asking him questions and ask another volunteer, or he'd be asking some caucus to hold their sign higher so their members could see it (usually they were asking Grove precinct). When I bumbled into the Hipoint caucus, everyone cheered and said, "Yay, another Hipoint voter!", and I was greeted by a warm round of smiles. Someone asked who I was voting for, and I said, "Obama" (yeah, I'm voting for Obama, and I'll explain why later), and I got an, "Awww, damn!" response, so I said, "Sorry if you're all disappointed by that." As it turns out, most of the people there were voting Obama -- it's just that the lady who asked was the sole Clinton supporter, and she was upset that few people turned out for Hillary. Despite all of the placards and the early lead for Clinton (due to the senior citizens who had shown up hours before to put the signs up and get in their caucus votes), Obama was gaining a steady, heavy lead, and Hipoint had all of three Clinton votes to twenty-odd Obama votes. I stood around for a bit, swapping opinions with my caucus-mates. The Clinton supporter (a fairly dumb woman in her sixties) was griping about how Obama is pro-nuclear power, and I countered by saying nuclear power is much cleaner and more energy-efficient than people realize. She brought up the toxic waste issue, and said, "You can't do anything with it." I countered with, "You can't do anything with fossil fuel waste, either. At least toxic waste becomes reuseable at the end of its half-life. I imagine that if we really started building more nuclear power plants, we'd be really careful about what we did with the waste, too." She didn't really have much to say about that. Despite loudly pointing out that I'm a Libertarian, I was asked to be the alternate delegate for my caucus, which is funny. The event was one of the biggest clusterfucks I have ever been a part of, with no one knowing where to go or what to do, people yelling at each other or trying to entice supporters for other candidates to their side (the handful of blind Kucinich and Edwards followers were not really happy about that, but most of the other attendees weren't happy about them declaring for non-candidates, either). It was really odd, and really interesting. I'd do it again. The song for the day is Black Steel by Tricky, from the Maxinquaye album. I thought the lyrics were close to fitting. Current Mood: amused Current Music: Tricky, "Black Steel"

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

January 17th, 2008

03:07 pm - I'm so sick... Infected with where I live... Damn this cold. As I said before, I'm used to either being so mildly sick that I barely notice (like with a sinus infection, where it takes me a while to realize, "Hey, I've got blood in my nose!") or so cripplingly ill that I curl up into a sweating, shuddering ball on my bed and hallucinate for three days (like when I get relentless superflus). Currently, however, I've got a nasty cold. I don't often get nasty colds, so this is a novel sort of unpleasantness. -- My nose is like a constant, ragged vent. It's not runny, and it feels dry and gummy inside, but then suddenly it'll run like a faucet, or I'll be struck with a powerful bout of sneezing. Half the time I've got wicked post-nasal drip, and it's really annoying. -- My head sort of hurts. It's not quite a headache, but the fuzzy, heavy feeling is a bit tender around the back of my head and the sides just over my ears. -- My whole body just feels tired. I have no energy. -- My throat is just scratchy enough that it's starting to affect my voice. -- My lips are seriously chapped. Luckily, I have a wonderful tube of Burt's Bees on me at all times, so I can fix that. I'm dosing up on Theraflu Warming Relief cold syrup (Daytime in the day time, Nighttime in... fuck, if you can't figure that one out, why are you reading this? Furthermore, how are you reading this?), drinking lots of juice (an entire jug of pomegranate juice yesterday, an entire jug of white grape/peach juice today -- thanks for the recommendation, louisa_mae). I ate way too much at lunch and now have leftovers I probably won't eat, because my mother made me chicken noodle soup (homemade!) and I'm picking it up later. My mom's pretty awesome. It occurs to me that I should talk about stuff. Most of my posts are updates or me talking about my dog, which is great if you want the general score of what's up with me but they paint a pretty poor picture of who I am. If I'm writing this to keep track of stuff, after all, it'd make more sense for me to write about details than the broad strokes. Just something for me to keep in mind, I guess. Today's song was chosen because it's very on-the-nose as far as the lyrics I needed. It is Flyleaf, "I'm So Sick", and I will upload it when I get home. I uploaded the songs from my last 2 entries, so if you're among the folks who download them, now's the time to head back and do that. Also posted today is the song I'm listening to, -- Lovage, "Stroker Ace". (UPDATE: Songs posted) In future entries: a rundown of who my friends are IRL, a discussion of all of my ex-girlfriends getting married, waxing poetic about the Neckbeards and Death Star, reasons why some of my posts are Friends Only and some are open, and probably a discussion of Urban Dead. Also, I will probably start posting funny or interesting stuff for people to look at -- less because I want the attention and more because I think a better understanding of who I am at any given time comes from what is currently making me laugh or think. Current Location: Work Current Mood: sick Current Music: Lovage, "Stroker Ace"

(I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

January 16th, 2008

10:20 am - And now I wanna... be your dog... Now I wanna... be your dog... And now, the continuing saga of 100 things I love about my dog. This is installment 3. The previous two are here and here. I imagine that when I'm done, I'll post the entire list of 100, just to see what I have. 21. Quin has this way of dominating a bed. As tiny as she is, she finds a way to start out sleeping in the exact middle of the mattress, placing me on the right half (at least, it's the right half if I'm laying on my back, watching TV). Through some slow, subtle, miraculous process, she manages to migrate further and further right until I am quite literally falling off the bed, wondering how a dog that does not even equal a tenth of my body weight or brain power managed to outmaneuver me so thoroughly. 22. I play a game sometimes when I'm holding Quin and her muzzle is close to my face where I talk to her and see how far I can get in a song, quote, or whatever before she starts licking me. Even bracing myself for it, she often catches me by surprise. 23. Somehow, whenever I say "Go get your toy!", no matter where we're at, Quin manages to find something suitable to play with and bring back to me. 24. When I'm driving and she's in the car, she always wants to sit on my lap. What's especially amusing here is that I drive primarily with my left hand, and she sits on my left leg. Regardless of what I'm doing, she's constantly sticking her muzzle under my driving hand, trying to get me to pet her. 25. Quin is equally excited to have her halter put on her and to have it taken off. Somehow these two events equate to equal levels of excitement, so taking her for a walk and ending that walk are both good times. 26. When I finish taking Quin for a walk, most of the time I take her inside to the stairwell of my apartment complex and take off her harness so she can run up the stairs. She does it in a very predictable, adorable pattern. First, she runs straight up the entryway stair set, which is the longest. Once she's reached the top, she waits for me, running around in circles excitedly. Then, she runs up the second set of stairs with me, matching my pace and never getting ahead of me. Finally, we reach the third set of stairs, which she runs up next to me until the last bit, where she dashes ahead just enough to win the race. I open the hallway door that leads to our apartment, and she runs down the hall, straight to my door, and jumps around outside so I'll let her in. It always makes me smile. 27. Quin has at least one black nail on each paw, which is really cute-looking. 28. Because of the way her body is put together, when she's excited and playful she leans forward and stretches her front paws out, sticking her rear end waaaay up in the air until she's roughly the shape of a stiletto high heel. 29. One of Quin's favorite games is "Slowly Approaching Claw", where I make my hand into a claw and make growly sounds and she watches it warily out of the corner of her eye, turning at the last moment to try and snap at it before I take it away. She is terrible at this game, but cannot get enough of it. 30. When she gets really excited while she's playing she sometimes tries to dig in the blankets, going at them with both forefeet at the same time. It looks completely ridiculous. And that's today's 10. I'll probably post the next 10 in a couple of weeks. When I get home, I'll be sure to post Iggy Pop & the Stooges doing "Now I Wanna Be Your Dog", for those who don't have it. Current Location: Work Current Mood: sick Tags: harlequin

(5 Monkeys Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

December 5th, 2007

10:40 pm - And if you want beautiful, pitiful... ...have me in a picture... Okay, so I said I'd try to get photos of Harlequin posted. Apparently, I have a Flickr account that I'd totally forgotten about, and the purpose of said account was, in point of fact, to upload pictures of my dog. Perhaps I'm more obsessed than I realized. Anyhow, here are a few nice images. ( Click here to view images of my dog, who may or may not seem adorable to you. ) And that's my baby. There are more pictures on my Flickr page, if you want to see them. Those are all a few years old, but she looks the same. A little more gray in the face, a little bigger now that she's fully grown, slightly chubbier (but not by much). Still the same spark and vim. That's my girl. Today's song is Photograph by the Verve Pipe, an underrated post-grunge band. Enjoy that and the pics. See you all next time I decide to post. Current Mood: nostalgic Current Music: the Verve Pipe, "Photograph" Tags: harlequin

(2 Monkeys Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)

11:41 am - How much is that doggy in the window? The one with the waggly tail? It is time for my continuing list of things I love about my dog. I got the first 10 out, so let's take it up to 20, eh wot? If I remember later, I'll post up pictures of Quin, too. 11. Quin always wants to be in the same room with me. If I'm at the computer, she's sitting in her dog bed a few feet away, napping. If I'm in the kitchen, she's sitting in the entryway. If I'm in the bedroom, so is she. If I'm at my mom's, she frequently pops her head up and looks around, only stopping once she's located me. Even if I'm not holding her or paying attention to her, she still wants to be close to her daddy. 12. When I'm laying in bed watching TV or reading, she sits right up next to my head, leaning on me and occasionally licking my ear or trying to get at my nose. Occasionally she'll lay her head across my throat, which she's done since she was a puppy. 13. When she was a puppy, she used to sleep in the crook of my arm at night. I sleep on my belly, with my hands meeting directly under my pillow, beneath my head; this means that she was nuzzled right up to my neck. She still tries to do this, even though she's too big to fit there. 14. Every time I take Harlequin out for a walk, she gets super-excited. She can't stop running so I can put her harness on, she dashes right out the door, then down the stairs as far as her leash will take her. When I've almost caught up with her, she jumps and scratches at the fire door to get outside. By the time we're out there, I've gone from being slightly annoyed at having to walk the dog (hey, I admit it -- it's a chore, not a delight) to actually being happy, because it's one of her favorite things. Her delight is so pure and complete that it becomes infectious. 15. When my grandmother and I went to go select a puppy from the litter, I was sitting on the floor and playing with them, trying to figure out which one I liked best. While the other puppies were playing and wrestling about, Harlequin crawled into my lap and promptly fell asleep. I love that my dog picked me, not the other way around. 16. Quin is fearless when it comes to bigger dogs. She will run right up and start nipping at them, trying to get them to play with her. She used to terrify Kody, who had over 100 lbs on her. Unfortunately, Barkley is such an exuberant and clumsy puppy that his innocent attempts to play with her are not met well -- he pounces and nips, and Quin finally understand what it means to be harried by another dog. I love how fearless she is, but also how she's adapting to being on the receiving end, because she's a good sport about it. 17. I love how sharp she is, mentally. Quin seems to understand more than I give her credit for, and is a very perceptive and intelligent dog. She's picked up a lot of words, an understanding of tone of voice and body language, and can generally intuit what you want or don't want her to do. I love my smart dog. 18. When she's tired, she'll lay her ears back and look sheepish (almost timidly scared, sometimes) and just want to be cuddled or held. It's heartbreaking and adorable to watch. 19. I love that after the worst break-up of my life, when I needed her the most and didn't have anyone else around, she was there and wanting to be held every day. I never realized how much I loved that dog until I really needed her and she was there for me. 20. She can stand up on her hind legs for extended periods of time, her forelegs held against her chest like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, peering up at me and not realizing how much she resembles a meerkat. I've actually seen her take steps on her hind legs before. I can't post a song because I’m posting from work, but who would want this song, anyway? Current Mood: cheerful Tags: harlequin

(2 Monkeys Launched Into Space | I Want You to Hit Me as Hard as You Can)