January 4, 2008

7 Weird and/or Random Things...

I got tagged: I am supposed to name 7 random and/or weird things about myself. Here is the link to Jen who tagged me: Casual Slack.



These are the rules: Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.



1. When I rub my eyes, they sometimes do this strange squeaking noise(!)



2. I am kinda OCD about certain things. For example, I have to check to see that the coffee machine is off several times, I check the front door to make sure I have locked it several times, and sometimes I like to make sure that I have closed the garage door when I am in a hurry to get to work in the morning! If someone calls and doesn't leave a message and the number on the caller id obviously isn't a telemarketer, I sometimes will call the number to see who it is! I can't stand wondering who it is and why they may have called. Now that's weird!



3. I don't like to go shopping at the mall. I like to go in, get what I need, and get out! Conversely, if I am at a bookstore, or music store, I could probably stay for like a day in there! Especially if the bookstore has comfy couches or chairs, and the music store has those music sampler machines!



4. While many people simply enjoy the hell out of painting rooms or a room in their house, I don't. I don't find it relaxing or satisfying, and it never fails that I get some paint on someplace it shouldn't be! I would rather pay someone to paint!



5. My wife and I have one child, a son. Our son has autism. He has what could be called high-functioning autism or aspbergers, but he is on the spectrum. He has come a long way from where he was when he was 2-3 years old. We are very very lucky! He is a great kid who, when most people see him and talk to him, would not be able to tell right away that he is on the autism spectrum. I credit great therapists and teachers who have worked with him over the years. It didn't hurt that I am a special education teacher and my wife works in the public schools also! We are so proud of him! He's in a general education 1st grade now!



6. I really enjoy playing guitar-electric and acoustic. Lately I have been obsessed with watching guitar clips on YouTube, learning songs or solos! I have an old (1975) Les Paul and a Japanese steel string. I would like to get a "classical" guitar also, because finger-style is what I started our learning/playing.


7. I semi-secretly (I've told my wife-she probably would concur!) wish that I was completely hairless, save for the hair on my head!

There you have it 7 Random and/or Weird things about me.

Now these people are tagged:

1. Aye! small thoughts...

2. Culture Kills...wait, i mean cutlery

3. For Your Entertainment

4. Jay's World

5. Monkey Muck

6. Some Guy's Blog

7. Anne Altman.

January 2, 2008

First post of 2008! (Same ol' BS - different year)

Hi everyone! Happy New Year to you all! Hope everyone's 2008 is starting off OK! Took our 7 year-old to see Alvin and the Chipmunks today. Our son has autism, and has sensory issues, especially with louder noises, so getting out to see a movie at the local "mega-screen" theatre is a big thing. He used to have a harder time dealing with noise, and he still does sometimes, but we give him earplugs, gum, sit in the back and hope that the movie is not going to be loud. He kept commenting "This is a long, long, movie!"
Well Alvin and the Chipmunks is one of those kinda obnoxious movies, where, when they have a music scene loud, pop music is magically turned up to 120 decibels. And there are a lot of music parts since it is about Alvin and the boys. I like loud, obnoxious rock music, but some of those scenes were just too loud for me! I liked the movie, but I am not sure that it is for kids younger than 10 or twelve-some of that humor would go over younger kid's heads in my opinion. Or maybe I am just getting older and things have changed, I don't know! David Cross who is one of my favorite actors and Jason Lee who I like a lot too are in it.

Anyway, before the movie began today there were those "movie cats" that tell people about getting treats and consideration of others at the theatre. Here is a little clip that could be considered an updating of the movie cat's (and the familiar anthropomorphic snacks') movie etiquette message:






Some people are just so creative and ingenious! This guy seems to be a great inventor and a funny guy! By the way, maybe GWB can at least be a good "chariot puller"!



I have been trying to learn some old classic rock stuff on guitar, and looking at Youtube clips really has helped me a lot! Some of the bands I enjoy trying to play are Judas Priest and ACDC. I have always loved Jim Breuer's imitation of Rob Halford and especially Brian Johnson from ACDC.



Since we're on the subject of music, I had to post this clip of Pablo Francisco talking about William Hung. This clip is one of the funniest comedian clips I have seen!




In searching for good strips to post here I ran across some links to some really interesting strips that I hope you will like. I have always liked Thing Part thingpart by Joey Sayers, and from his site I came across some others that I really like also.


Derek Kirk Kim Lowbright is a great artist in addition to having a great autobiographical edge to his humorous strips, shorts and stories. Here are a couple of his strips.


Another great comic strip is Married to the Sea Married To The Sea by Natalie Dee. Here's a couple of them. I like the way she takes these old prints and gives them new life!