So I recently made two big changes to my life.

One is that I joined the gym I talked about in an earlier entry. It passed all the requirements others told me to look for (Thanks Whaler and Marie!), is reasonably priced, is within walking distance to my house, has good hours and has all the cardiovascular workout equipment I could dream of. I do need to buy more workout clothes though, because one set won't cut it if I go three times a week.

The other is that I bought a rice cooker, and it is amazing. I can't get over how simple it is to use. Put rice and water in the bottom, put frozen chicken in tray on top. Turn on. Come back half an hour later, cut up chicken, mix in with rice and top with a bit of flavoring. I usually use a spicy miso or green onion/garlic sauce for mine. I think I'm going to experiment with alternative uses of it this weekend.

Meanwhile, it's November, and that means Christmas shopping should begin. I want to try to be done by the end of the month, as opposed to last year where I got the last items I needed on Christmas Eve.

Pat found and delivered my French Press to me, I am still trying to relearn how to use it.

MEANWHILE I have been re-reading Ender's Game. I always seem to read it annually every October. Great book and it means a lot to me. Another series I read annually is the Lord of the Rings. Every summer I read FotR in June, TTT in July and RotK in August.

Does anyone else have any books they seem to constantly re-read year after year? I've been reading the books above consistently since I was, like, 14. That's over 10 years of tradition!

Edit: And while I don't read them annually anymore, when I was a teenager I read the Vlad Taltos series multiple times a year. I respected and was inspired by Ender and the Lord of the Rings, but Vlad was my imaginary buddy. I used to dream about being able to go through a window from this world to that world and vice versa, selling modern stuff from here over there to make a killing and buying a title with the Jhereg. I'd offer my best stuff to Morrolen so I could be invited to Castle Black and basically be a smug Easterner up there. I'd even secretly pretend orange or grape soda was brandy so I could sip it while Vlad drank one in the books. Ah, youth.

So not only did my younger brothers Kevin and Kyle turn 16 today, they also ran their last track meet of the season and lettered, running 3 miles in under 18 minutes. Those guys are awesome!

Is there anything I should look for (or look out for) when choosing a gym or fitness center? There's a reasonably priced one that's a five minute walk from my house and I've been thinking of checking it out.

I had a pretty nice, low key weekend last week. Most of Saturday was spent on cleaning and laundry, but I got out to Adventures Underground to buy the Mage sourcebook my PnP group will be using for our next game. I'm playing an Acanthus mage named Saxon, presiding over the magics of Fate and Time, purveyor of dreams and scion of Arcadia. He's going to be pretty awesome, I just have to discover who he is.

On Sunday I was invited to participate in the Eberle's birthday dinner for Alex and Eric. Amazingly good food, mashed potatoes, steak, and salad. Mr. Eberle also had a pig of Ice Harbor's Imperial IPA which put it all together nicely. Everyone was asked to tell a story about Alex and Eric, and when I was asked my story was received with 'Awwwwwws' and clapping, so I consider that a resounding success.

Alex and I tried to play Madden Football 2010, his aunt and sister's boyfriend were playing it, how hard could it be? Well, by the end of our game neither of us had scored a single point. I ended up winning because I got 3 points on a technicality for something I don't understand. SOMETIME I will learn how to play football so when I accidentally win at Madden I will know why.

That evening we went to see 'Where the Wild Things Are', which I really wanted to like. I tried hard. The main character, Max, was utterly unlikable though. I find it very hard to feel sorry for spoiled kids who throw tantrums and bite their parents. The movie was so heavy handed with its sappy lines too ("But, will you protect us from sadness?" "I have a sadness shield, that can just block it and *sniff* it'll *sniff* be gone"). The characters were all miserable for no reason and overall I was very disappointed. I don't think it was even a children's movie. To me it felt like a two hour ritalin commercial.

And writing that reminded me that I really need to buy Coraline.

So if the Venture Bros. Season Premiere is on Sunday at Midnight, does that mean I need to stay up late Saturday or Sunday? I've never been good at these things.

Had a very nice evening with Alex and Eric on the eve of their birthday. Alex asked me what being 24 was like and I explained it to them.

24 is your last year in your early 20's. It is like staring down the edge of the abyss. You hear people say they are in their early 20's all the time. That is an accurate description. Once you hit 25, you will be in your upper 20's. "But Geoff, isn't that actually the mid-20's?" you ask? Sure. But I've realized that while people will say they are in their early 20's, no one says they are in their mid 20's. No, after 24 you are a twenty something or in your mid 20's, which is basically cose for upper 20's, and the grim specter of 30 lies beyond.

ANYWAY

We tasted brandy, watched Venture Bros. Season 3 in glorious Hi-Def Blu-Ray. Eric never ceases to amaze me with his uncanny vocal impersonations as he mimiced the show. We took a dog out for a walk at midnight and sent him chasing after a ball in a churchyard. All together, a pretty good evening for a pre-birthday.

Tomorrow, I will buy Eric nachos at Ice Harbor for dinner to celebrate his birthday, But ONLY if he eats nachos at every meal prior to that. It is the code and the birthday tradition.

Does anyone know any cool, lesser known bands that are fronted by women? I'm looking for some new bands with lady vocalists.

Here are some I like:
Bon Voyage
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Sounds
Tori Amos
Wendy Ip
Lisa Loeb

Suggest away! I can probably find it on Napster to give it a spin.

Why on earth was I ever a member of the Death Note community? I do not read slash fiction and have no interest in looking at pictures shirtless L and M. These two things were pretty much all that were ever posted there. *REMOVED*

Good news everyone! We're going to start using a wiki to edit the Bible and take out filthy liberal words like labor.

Here's my contribution:

Exodus 20:
8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
9 For six days you shall labour and do all your work.
10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

Labour? What? That sounds like union talk. Let's try an improvement:

Exodus 20:
8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
9 For six days you shall embark in free enterprise and do all your work.
10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

MUCH more clear. Except I am suddenly detecting an anti-capitalism bias in the Ten Commandments now...

Well, for the past two weeks or so my boss has been out of town, which puts me directly in his place. Let me tell you, it is exhausting. I don't know how he finds to do it all and more. Definitely very impressed he's been able to keep this up for so long.

So yeah, getting up earlier than usual, going home later than usual, having mind wracking tasks that make my palms sweat because a slipup could cost our customers a whole lot of money, panic! I've learned a lot though, and I think I've done pretty well too. Guess I'll know for sure when he gets back!

Alex and his aunt opened up their cheese shop last week. I went to both the soft and grand openings because the place is so cool. Premium cheese is amazing, and a far better snack than something like doritos. Especially since you don't have to stuff your face with it to feel satisifed.

I got some Cougar Gold cheddar, a five year old gouda (with these pockets of flavor crystals that are amazing to bite into), some sort of Italian table cheese, a German beer cheese, and a Spanish 'drunken goat' cheese. All amazing. I was disapointed when I tried the 'Jarlsburg' Norweigan cheese though. It was just so lackluster. I have shamed my ancestors.

Anyway, at the grand opening they had a jazz band put on an amazing show, Eric and I drew on their chalkboard tables (I did some nedroid fanart) to add to the classy atmosphere, and overall had a great time. The grey skies, windy weather, and rain was just the icing on the cake to make it the perfect day.

Sunday, I sadly slept in. I normally do not sleep in on principle, however I woke up at 7:30, thought I could get another hour in safely, and promptly woke up again at 10:25. Oops. Especially since church starts at 10:30. I briefly pondered skipping, then realized the sermon wasn't going to start until at least 11. So I got a quick shower, was thankful I just got a very short haircut, through on the clothes I had laid out the day before and was good to go. I got there far before the sermon even started. I'm going to have to try out this whole 'being organized' thing more often. It'll pay off even more when I'm on schedule.

There is talk at work about starting a library we can contribute books to and check out. I love this idea. I will happily empty the Bookworm of books I love to donate to the cause. I hope this gets off the ground.

Because my dad is totally awesome, last week he surprised me with some tickets to a Heart concert. I just got back from said concert and it was awesome. Those ladies can still rock. Feelin' a bit of Washingtonian pride right now.

Heart's 'Crazy on You' is one of the few classic rock songs I can specifically remember the first time I heard it. Nick and I were driving back home from Young People's, it came on as we were flipping channels and that guitar intro grabbed me. It was great to see them live, and such a surprise. My dad is pretty cool.

Tomorrow at work we are having a Back to School potluck. This means we are supposed to dress up like we used to in High School. I grabbed my trenchcoat and an old webcomic t-shirt from my parent's, so I should be ready. If only I still had a pokeball to attach to a backpack...

I was asked to be a groomsman at Nick's wedding! I am so excited/honored/thrilled. It's not gonna be until next year, but I can't wait to start learning about all the plans, suits, etc...

Huzzah!

Aw man, I found a rip in the elbows of one of my favorite shirts.

I'm gonna have to get a tweed jacket with matching elbow patches or something I guess.

Well, I've been working on this for a while, posted it on the forums and I thought I'd share it with my LJ friends. My Top 25 Albums of All Time (For this year)

This isn't a list carefully picked to showcase the most obscure music I have, or the most artistically sound even. If anything, this list represents the mashed potatoes of my collection. The comfort food. The music I continually return to.

For every album I've included at least one link to a sample of a song that showcases the brilliance of that album. I apologize in advance for any awful Youtube music videos that may be included with them:

25.

She & Him - Volume One
Standout Tracks:
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here
Sweet Darlin'

The most recent album I own that made this list. It has too much filler (A couple pointless covers) and is too new to me to be any higher, but this is a brilliant album. Zooey sings with a perfect old-fashioned lilt that takes me back decades. It's almost enough to make me believe the 50's were the perfect years.

( More music... )

This was a pretty good weekend. Chris, Crystal, Alex, and Eric and I all went wine tasting. Yes. Again. There are over 300 wineries within driving distance around here. We have a lot of ground to cover!

This time we went to Hogue Winery (I didn't know they produced the Genesis label) where I got a wheel that matches food to wine. Alexandria Winery was next, good stuff but too pricey for me. The place did stand out because IT HAD A SECRET PASSAGE BEHIND A SLIDING BOOKCASE. I think I squealed when I saw that.

The next stop was Heaven's Cave which was a very impressive place. They had a grand piano which Chris played on while the rest of us sampled. I picked up a bottle of their 2008 Riesling, a very delicate wine that was not nearly as sweet as most rieslings usually are. Another cool thing about Heaven's Cave is that all their profit goes to charity. A non-profit winery! The money goes to some institute that helps at risk kids, pretty neat. Alex is also working closely with one of the owners to give them a display at the cheese shop he's opening up, I hope that works out.

After that we hit up Cowan Winery, which had a nice 'down to earth' feel with classic rock playing in the background. The lady handing out the samples seemed like she could belong at our church. I picked up their 2006 Gewürztraminer. I am really stocking up too many whites, but hey, whites are my favorite. Finally, we made our last stop at Kestrel Winery, which was a decent place. Their merlot was fantastic, surprisingly better than their signature 'Lady in Red' series. It's always odd when that happens.

After that we went to get coffee to wash the wine taste out of our mouths. Chris and Crystal told us about the crazy people they met when they lived in Idaho Falls. People who thought their neighbors were reading their minds, a guy who got a series of tattoos symbolizing his son's murder, prophets, apostles and priestesses. Amazing stuff that you almost can't believe take place in rural Idaho of all places.

I am looking for a new comic series to read since I've finished Sandman and Lucifer quite some time ago. I think I'll be sticking with Vertigo titles since they've treated me well so far. So I'll probably choose between Y: The Last Man, Fables, or Northlanders. Has anyone read any of those?

I also spent some time this weekend cataloging a few of my books. My dad and sister use this Library Thing, and I have to say it's a fantastic system. Far more functional for archiving than GoodReads. Though GoodReads is vastly better for opinion/keeping track of what I'm reading.

As with all great American holidays, my plans for today revolve around food.

Breakfast: Steak and Eggs

Lunch: Steak and Salad

Dinner: Steak and Potatoes

I kinda have a theme going.

Hey guys, have you ever wondered what Neil Gaiman's personal library looked like?

Some seriously Hi-Res pics, I spotted his Brust books. 8)

When I opened up The Gypsy to start reading it, I noticed on the front page it introduced the authors as Steven Brust, P.J.F. And Megan Lindholm, P.J.F. Now I had seen P.J.F. before from Brust's other works, but that it also followed Lindholm's name intrigued me.

A bit of research turned up that it was the name of a writing group/club that also included Neil Gaiman. P.J.F. stands for "Pre-Joycean Fellowship", who strive to bring back the times when fiction and literature were not considered seperate. A good summary of the group can be found here.

It thrills me that so many of my favorite authors belonged to the same group and worked together, sharing ideas. It makes me feel like my love for their works is not accidental. It really reminds me of The Inklings.

P.S. Fitz fans. While looking this up I found this quote from Robin Hobb/Megan about the connection between The Gypsy/Brust and Assassin's Apprentice:

"Originally published in 1992 by St. Martin's Press. This was a collaboration with Steven Brust. It was re-issued from Orb in April, 2005. Writing this book was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my writing life, and rejuvenated my attitude toward story telling. Steve and I never wrote an outline or pre-determined the ending, but simply followed the story to its natural close. It re-awoke in me all the reasons why I had become a writer, and in may ways, gave me the impetus to write Assassin's Apprentice. I recommend, without reservation, any books written by Steven Brust. They are more than a pleasure to read; they are stories that will bear looking at from several angles."

So. Cool.

Went to the library after work to pick up some books (Stardust by Neil Gaiman and The Gypsy by Lindholm/Brust. I actually already own The Gypsy but I can't find it anywhere). While there I ran into my sister and nephews/niece checking out books. It was adorable, Jaeger would remove the reserved tags and Hans would scan the books. I went to say Hi and my legs were immediately attacked and then two little boys were attached to them. They helped me go find my reserved books and Hans showed me the next few books he was reading.

Good way to end the day!