I'm not artistic enough. Or at all.

I can't draw for shit. I can't play any instruments. I've written a couple stories I liked, but it doesn't excite me that much. I need some sort of creative outlet. That's not quite right... that implies that I have some artistic urges welling up inside me looking for some form of release. It's more that I wish I was artistic, but I don't think that I am.

Drawing and painting is too hard. It seems like it would take years of practice to play a musical instrument well enough to do something actually creative, rather than just spew back notes on a page or what you just heard. I want to be artistic now, and I want to be good, but I don't want to put in the time. There's nothing unfair about that, is there? :)

Any suggestions for EASY, creative outlets? Maybe I should try more comics.

(PS: This post sounds more anguished than is intended. I'm not really broken up about my lack of artistic vision. But it would be nice to be able to create some sort of piece of "art" (whatever that is) that I'm proud of.)

Home again.

Well, we're back from Montana, where we've been for the past couple days, celebrating Christmas with the fam. In attendance were myself, Diana, Mom, Dad, Dave, Elaine, and Jocelyn. It was great to see the all the extended fam, but especially Dave. What a guy.

The house is not only complete but actually pretty liveable. We flew on Christmas night, which was pretty nice, as the airports were all pretty quiet. The next morning, we gathered together and opened pressies and so forth.

One of the first days we were there, it snowed about 6 inches or so. The rest of the trip, there was snow off and on, which made everything very beautiful. It was a lot of fun to play in, and we made a couple snowmen (who jumped off the balcony on their own accord), and attempted to make the Biggest Snowball Ever, but didn't realize how heavy it would be.

Much of the time was spent inside by the fire, playing games, reading, and just generally hanging out. I finished "The Man in the High Castle", which was pretty good. I burned through a book about a card-counting group from MIT who made millions of dollars from casinos. More intriguing was the fact that card-counting (without the aid of counting devices) is legal. However, casinos can kick you out for whatever reason they please, and trespassing IS illegal. But learning some basics of card-counting could hurt anyone, could it? :) I started reading "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson, and am enjoying that a lot, too.

We saw The Two Towers again, and I enjoyed it quite a bit my second time around. Now that I knew what to expect in terms of differences from the book, I could just sort of relax and and take it all in and enjoy it.

One day we went snowboarding. Dave and Elaine and Diana were going to take a lesson, but we didn't get there in time. So we decided to rent stuff, and I'd give some pointers as I could. I felt like I was in a little bit of a precarious situation, as the teacher of three very new snowboarders, but everything went really well. Dave picked the broad strokes really well, and was able to put together some turns by the end of the day. Diana was much more comfortable than her first documented attempt at boarding, and was able to make it down the hill without falling, but was still a little shaky of the whole "turning" thing. Elaine did very well for her first time, once she was one her feet, able to go quite a ways without falling and with some basic control over her direction. The fact that everyone was smiling by the end of the day, I think, makes it a success.

The whole trip was a lot of fun. And now we're home. And we move in like 2 weeks. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. :P

Ok, I need to get this off my chest.

Here's what I don't need to hear any more of for like, ever. Radio commercials that consists solely of a Christmas carol, only the words have cleverly been replaced with a song describing whatever product or service is being advertised. I simply can't believe that there are people who get paid to sit around in a room and come up with these ideas. I mean, seriously... at some boss-type person must have said "Yes! That's a great idea! Let's go with it!" Come AWWWWNNnnnnn...

It's Christmas Eve! I have to admit, my Christmas spirit has been a little lacking this year (if you couldn't tell by the above commentary). When I lived with my parents, there were decorations and music and various breads and cookies and whatnot. Diana and I have sort of forgone the effort, especially since we'll be leaving town. Last year we got a cheesy little tree, and I'm really not sure it was worth the effort. Next year will be different, though. :)

So, a half-day at work today, and dinner at the Rawls', followed by a visit from the Schatz's and game playing and whatnot. Then tomorrow morning we'll make some waffles and head back to the Rawls' for pressies and festivus, and then to the airport to head to Montana. It's going to be a long Christmas day, I tell you what. Then, back on the 30th. Huzzah.

Another weekend come and gone.

This weekend was actually pretty quiet. Diana and I watched Y Mama Tu, Tambien on Saturday night. It was acclaimed by critics as a good movie, but I'm not quite sure that I got it. It wasn't bad, but not as good as I was expecting.

Yesterday, I watched the Chargers lose a close one to KC, did some laundrey, and then went to Diana's parents house to make cookies. Rather, I sat on the couch and chatted and watched movies while other people made cookies. It was a nice afternoon.

I've been reading more Lord of the Rings stuff, and am enjoying that a lot. Diana read more Two Towers last night, and it made me at once dissapointed in the movie and excited to see it again at the same time. She's reading about Merry and Pippen and the Ents and the Entmoot right now, and it struck me again how much detail and depth was glossed over in the movie with regards to the Ents. Anyhoo...

Argh.

I finally got to see the doctor about my finger. They did some more X-rays, and saw that nothing was broken or out of place. They gave me a "stack splint", which is a big plastic thing to keep my finger straight. It's pretty blulky, and I personally think my own paperclip-and-tape job did a much better job. I'm tempted to continue with that, but I'll give this a little more time.

Last night, Diana and I went out to dinner to celebrate her last day of teaching. She works so hard, and I'm hoping that she can take some time for herself and do something more enjoyable than work. Iwan and Eryn and Little Buhr and I hung out that night and played some Gamecube game till the wee hours of the night, which was a lot of fun (for a console FPS :).

Today, me and D went to the airport parking area and picked up my parents car which they parked on Thursday. Then I've been bumming around here, and Diana's making cookies at her parents house.

So. The day has finally come. I saw "The Two Towers" last night.

My initial impressions are mixed, but getting better the more and more I think about it. The movie seems to depart quite a bit from the books, which is a little disturbing to me. Furthermore, the book (obviously) has so much more depth in just about everything that it's hard for the movie to do it all justice. I think that was easier in the first movie, which is much more plot driven and much lighter on character development.

There were some definite high points, which mostly correspond to my expectations from the book. Gollum simply rocked, and I loved his arguments with himself (Gollum vs. Smeagol). I liked the battle at Helm's Deep, once I got by the changes from the book.

There's so much to digest. I'm all in a tizzy. I need to see it again.

Letsee...

Work has really slowed down for me, which is a nice change over the past couple months. We had a deadline that we just missed, and therefore the project has been moved back to January. But we're basically finished, and just doing some final testing and whatnot. It's a nice feeling to be pretty much done. I can't wait until it's finally all rolled out and finalized and I can move on with my life.

I've lined up some tickets to see The Two Towers tomorrow night with Diana, Iwan, and M.Kyle. I can't wait to see it. Eryn's seeing it tonight, which is jealousy-inspiring, but even if I were conscious from 12-3am, I probably wouldn't be able to concentrate as much as I'd like to.

The Survivor finale is on Thursday. Diana as both Brian and Clay still left, I have Jan, and Eryn has Helen. So there's a 3/4th chance that the $80 will belong to one Spragg or another. I like those odds! I felt crappy with Jan as my second pick (after my first pick was the first guy voted off... I don't even remember his name), but she's hung in there like a trooper. Go Jan.

Julie's 2.5 year old daughter left this voicemail for me on my birthday. :)

Cuteness reigns.

Whoever invented weekends didn't make them long enough.

Friday evening was spent at a lovely little party at Eryn's house, where
Secret Santa gifts were exchanged. I drew Heather, who I only know
superficially, and got some CDs that Eryn said she might like (thanks Eryn!)
She seemed pleased with them, but I included the receipt in case she wanted
to exchange them for something else (I wouldn't feel hurt!) Eryn drew me,
and gave me Nightfire, a computer game. However, on opening the box, it
appeared complete except no CD. Dumb. So I'll have to go and exchange it
for a working copy. We had a great dinner, and played a really weird
Nintendo game that was dreadfully monotonous and fun at the same time.
Thanks to Eryn for being such a great (as usual) host.

Saturday, Diana and I did a little shopping during the day, accumulating a
couple more gifts for people. The evening was spent quietly in the study,
Diana working and me playing Counterstrike. Playing with headphones is
surprisingly easier than without. With such well-defined stereo sound, it's
pretty easy to pinpoint enemies from their footsteps. My scores have been
improving.

Today we went to visit the house again. One of Diana's student's parents is
a home builder guy, and offered to give us a second opinion as a gift. It
was pretty unecessary, but appreciated. I came home to watch the Charger
game while Diana tutored, and we met at my parents house in the afternoon to
take stock of winter clothes for Montana and to hang out. Afterwards, we
went to dinner with Diana's parents to The Samurai (yum!), and saw the first
half of a one-man play of the story of "A Christmas Carol", but told from
the point of view of Jacob Marley's ghost. Diana was underwhelmed, and
we're both pretty tired, so we've skipped the second half for some reading
in bed. We're a bit into the Two Towers, doing the best we can to read as
much as possible before the movie comes out. (I can't wait!)

That's my weekend in a nutshell.

Argh. Why does this damn thing lose my posts sometimes?

I feel like we're getting away with something. When we put an offer down on the house, we were the only offer so far, and of course we offered lower than the asking price, since we're good hagglers. We eventually agreed on a price that was still lower than the asking price. Since then, we've had the house inspected, and have come up with a list of things that we'd like to have repaired, and this was presented to the seller. They have refused to do all but one of the repairs (some of which were as minor as changing a lightbulb). The apparent situation is that since accepting our offer, the seller has had a number of other offers, undoubtedly for more than ours. I'm guessing that they're going to do all they can in their power (which luckily isn't very much) to make us back out of the deal. In that case, the house would go back on the market, and she instigate a bidding war and make off like a bandit. But we're too smart, and not going to take the bait. :)

Of course, we'll have to do a bunch of repairs ourselves, or hire someone to do them, but I figure it will be a good way to get introduced to the house, and it will be fun anyways.

Dude... this sucks.

We played Trading today in flag football. We did ok... better than last year, I guess. I think we lost 4 or 5 to 2 touchdowns. The worst news, though, is that I jammed my middle finger on my right hand. It didn't hurt bad, but it looked funny in my glove. I took off my glove, and found that I couldn't straighten that finger. I could straighten all of it except for the tip, which still pointed downwards (looking like when someone who is "double jointed" flexes their fingers). I poked around, and it was painless, swelled a little, but just wouldn't straighten. I came home and iced it, but it did show any signs of improving, so I went to my second favorite emergency room, Scripps in Encinitas.

Turns out I have sustained a condition called mallet finger. Looks basically like this. So, my middle finger is splinted straight, which makes typing a real PITA.

I'm so frusterated that I've played sports my whole life, and now I can't walk onto a field without hurting myself. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something. :( It could have been worse, but it still sucks ass.

My company's holiday party was on Friday evening. Lots of fun to hang out with people, and the dinner was nice. I didn't win any prizes, and we snuck out pretty early. Saturday was shopping and errands. We went to Ikea to check out furniture options, and saw stuff that we liked and didn't like. I have a feeling our house is going to be pretty empty for a while.

Yesterday, I was joined by Diana, Iwan, Sara, Gabe, Little Buhr, and M.Kyle for a little birthday-and-Chargers celebration. It was a lot of fun to hang out with everyone, even though the Chargers lost. Iwan gave me Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, which is a pretty damn fun little game. We played that for a while after people left. Iwan really needs his own computer. :) Although we'd probably never see him again if he had one, so maybe it's not a bad thing.

Monday morning, and back to work for me!

House pictures are up! Take a look and let me know what you think.

The pictures generally follow a "right hand wall" approach. That is, if I have a choice of where to go next, I went to the room to my right.

My birthday! Huzzah! I was born 28 years ago this very day. Yay for me.

Tonight I'm going to my parents house for dinner and pressies. Tomorrow is my company's Christmas party, where Diana and I will put the patented Rawls family raffle-winning technique to work. Laugh all you want, but it worked last year. I'd post the secret technique here, but then it wouldn't be secret. Now would be a good time to win, though, given the new expenses in our lives.

Otherwise, all is well. Work continues, still playing Civ III and Counterstrike when I get the chance. I played a little Battlefield 1942 with Eryn last night, which was pretty fun, but it's too easy to die without knowing where the bad guy was, which is a really frusterating feeling.

Diana and I have been watching the Lord of the Rings on DVD, which one of her students lent to her. She commented that she's enjoying it much more this second time around, which pleased me immensely. There's quite a bit of information to digest, and I'm guessing that people new to the stories would enjoy it more in subsequent viewings simply because they know a little more about what to expect and can follow the story easier. I'm sort of skimming The Two Towers to get ready for the movie. I can't wait for that.

Nice people make me happy.

I called USAA about homeowner's insurance, and was helped out by a really nice lady, who not only was very helpful in answering all my questions and explaining the big words to me, but also recognized that my birthday is coming up and wished me a happy early birthday, as well as congratulating me on buying a house (and sounded genuinely sincere with both). It really made me happy.

And today I went to the DMV to renew my drivers license, and was helped by a really nice lady as well. The DMV kicks ass, now. The old stereotype is it being really slow and standing in line forever, but with an appointment (yeah, they need to be made a couple weeks in advance, but that's not too hard), I was in and out of there in 10 minutes during a lunch hour. Incredibly awesome.

Diana got me one of these for my birthday, and it's sitting on my desk right now. I love watching the little guys swim around, and the best part is that I can't screw it up by starving or overfeeding 'em.

Craziness.

I had no idea buying a house would involve so many forms to be filled out! We have the inspection on Thursday, and there are a couple of key things that we need the inspectors to look at, and I really hope everything goes well. It would suck to get this far and find out that there was some major problem with the house and that we shouldn't buy it. So, fingers crossed until then.

We had more flag football practice today. I love playing football. I kind of wish that I played football in a more organized way as a kid, but it's probably too dangerous as it is now. I heard from someone that NFL guys don't let their kids play football because it's simply too dangerous at a younger age when people don't know how to tackle properly, etc. But as it is, I love being play football for fun. We're going to scrimmage a team next week, which should be fun.

So it goes.

So, let's recount what I did this weekend, shall we?

Friday is below.
Saturday, I did a little bit of shopping with Diana, and then me, Iwan, and Little Buhr went golfing at National City. I shot perhaps my best round of golf ever, going 4 over in 9 holes (5 bogies, 1 birdie). The best part, though, is that I never got a double-bogey or worse, which I've never done before. So, yay. That night, I hung out with Diana, got mildly drunk, and played computer games. :) Today, I did some chores while Diana was out to breakfast with a friend, then went over to Iwan's to watch the Charger game. Instead of watching the second half, though, we went and played flag football with the Reynoldses and Little Buhr, which was a lot of fun. We got back JUST in time to see San Diego kick the winning field goal in overtime, which was really exciting. Then back home, where we made some dinner, and we watched The Insider, which was pretty good.

Now to bed, and not wanting to go to work tomorrow. :(

My birthday is on Friday. Plans so far include going to my parents house for gifts and dinner with my and Diana's parents. Hopefully I can get together with friends on Saturday, but that hasn't been discussed yet.

Bye