The Joys of Dentistry

Contrary to Aprils view of the week, my week was going ok--at least until Thursday. On Wednesday we went to Space Aliens with Kevin, April, Amber, Ben, and kids. The food was good, the service was about what you'd expect dyring busy times, but it was crowded and I felt claustrophobic. Give Ben an "Attaboy", though, for getting us a big fucking table on almost no notice.
On Monday night (I know, out of sequence), I counted out how many pages left of Golden Brown, and there are under a dozen left until it ends! I can't believe it's already almost at its end! I honestly can't tell you when or if there will be another Golden Brown once this is finished, I tend to like one-shots. I did get a couple pages of a teaser done, though, which should tell you very very little about the next story I want to work on. I still don't even know how often to post, or even how to really start the story.
I've also thought about trying to get Golden Brown published. I sent a few pages into a local publisher last summer, and he sent a copy along to two colleagues of his--one a "redneck-type" from Kentucky, who loved it, and a "black guy who grew up in the mean streets of Detroit", who said I relied too much on outdated ebonics and thought it might be construed as a little racist. I thought it was awfully convenient he just happened to have two colleagues who were stereotypical opposites who read it. And of course it relies on outdated ebonics. For starters, ebonics should never be considered a language because of its constant fluidity. It's a set of modern colloquialisms that may correspond more with a particular generation and should be studied more in a cultural sense. Also, it relies strongly on the language spoken in the films it pays tribute to. Dolemite, Superfly, Willie Dynamite--so of course Golden Brown speaks like them.
Oh well, maybe I can check out a print on demand service just do whatever advertising I can do on my own.
On Thursday I got a couple teeth pulled. I didn't feel it, but afterward I got hydrocodone, which I found I needed, and I'm hoping I'll be okay by Superbowl. I can eat food and all, I just have to keep it to one side, and that's annoying when you wanna stuff your face.
On that note, I am excited for Sunday because Amber & Ben are throwing a Superbowl shindiggity out at their place, and everybody's bringing snackies.
Speaking of hydrocodone, I popped one not too long ago and it's getting really hard to focus on this now, so I'm gonna git. I've been baked for two days now.

A Message To My "Friends"...

Haha, I bet you guys saw the quotations around "friends" and thought I was gonna say mean things! Seriously I have great friends, but I'll get around to the why's later.
Earlier last week, I asked Isabella if she remember who the new president is, and she replied Brok-Amama! She doesn't quite have his name down yet, but she's getting there. We then proceeded to have a serious conversation about Martin Luther King, Jr. I guess her teachers already told them about him in school, so all I had to do was fill in some details. We also had the "people with different skin color" talk, and it was actually harder to get her to stay focused on the conversation than it was to get her to understand what I meant. I guess I have to accept that she's already two steps ahead of me.
Later last week, we went to Grizzly's with Kevin & April, and Isabella and Aiden raised holy hell--but in a happy good way, so we all had fun.
Quick note: This past week, I posted 2 pages of Golden Brown, little present from me-to-you.
We headed to Devils Lake on Friday, had birthday Rhubarb pie, and just chilled at my dad's that night. For those who don't know, my dad has the best living room to just chill out in during the evening. It has tons of chairs all sourrounding a tv, and if you get tired (and you will if you stay in the room for longer than 10 minutes), nobody cares if you take a little nap or watch a movie.
On Saturday I got together with Derek and Kevin to practice in Derek's garage. There's really no way to sugarcoat it, so I'll just say the whole practice was a mess. We never have a permanent place to play, the places we do play aren't heated, and there's 90 miles that affect our communication skills.
Later on, in a fit of unusual clarity and lucidity, I managed to order 7 subs from subway and got the whole order right! Ask Karissa, I fuck up simple orders from McDonald's, so this was truly an accomplishment.
We met April/Kevin/Tab/Derek at the Paddlewheel Lounge that night, where I got a death balloon and badly humored birthday cards, right up my alley. Oh, and there were also silly hats involved. No, you fuckers, not the hats I usually wear, these were official National Doug Day party visors, which I still have and Isabella has taken a liking to. Later, after we officially took over the jukebox, Tab brought out the cake she made for me. It was a zombie skull on top of dirt (oreo crumbs), it said "Happy Death Day Doug" . The eyes were marachino cherries set into marshmallows and the teeth were made of chicklets. The cake itself was red marble (right?) and when I made the first sacrificial incision, strawberry(?) jam oozed out the top. I got so excited I went Borneo on it and ate the top of his head with my hands.
I was VERY appreciative that Tab went to so much effort with my cake, and it turned out awesome, tasted even better. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pics on our camera, so if you want to see how it all turned out, you'll have to wait for April or Tab to post their shots.
The whole party was great, and I would have loved to have gone on longer with it, but I had 3 shots too many and made friends with a toilet. I was a bit groggy/headachey/nauseous for most of Sunday, but it was totally worth it. For those of you who would have liked to come but couldn't make it, we took a shot in your honor.
See? This is why I make such a big deal about my birthday. It gets everyone else excited, and we end up having a big ol' shindig over me. Just a heads up, Tab--how are you at naked-lady cake? Just a thought.
So the message to my "friends" is simply thanks for giving me a fun birthday and putting up with me going off the deep end with my megalomaniacal, super undeniable, wonderful, fantastical self. I was humbly honored.

Aiden in Charcoal

I can post this now, since Kevin and April got it. I surprised them with it a couple days ago. They'd been having a bit of patch with Aiden's biopsy stuff, so I thought this is a good time to finally do an "Aiden" pic. April took the photo I used as a source, and he's holding a toy stethoscope kinda like his daddy's, so I thought it had elements of the whole family in it that way.
Karissa pointed out that the lips looked funny after I finished it, so after I took this pic I went back and fixed it. This is why I need her around, she's a good second set of eyes. Isabella recognized him right away, so I was satisfied with that response.

A Saturday Post--What a Treat!

One more week until I turn 29! I'm gonna have to live it up this year, since this marks the twilight of my roaring twenties. Karissa's making me a pumpkin spice cake, Tab's making me something which I won't be able to see until Saturday but am sure it will be awesome. And if all goes as hoped for, I'll get to jam in Derek's garage. We'll sound pretty shitty, but it'll still be fun as hell to play again. I'll even try to get the banjo in on it.
I've managed to get ahead on the comic, I think I'm finally getting down to a conclusion, and it's exciting to think I'll soon have a finished story. Then on to the next one, which is about

I also made it back to the lab, which I hadn't seen in about 2 months. Nothing really new there, though, just picking up where I left off. I'm getting pretty good at the textile stuff, though, like trying to show what's fibrous v. what's animal hide. Yeah, it's riveting I know, but I like it, so there.
We finally got rid of the Achieva today! My brother, brother-in-law and one of his friends hauled it away on a trailer and left behind my dad's old Cadillac. Once we get it fully street legal, Karissa can look like Queen Bitch riding to work!

Dougmas and Beyond!

I suppose I should get around to ringing in the new year with a post.
Christmas was fun, all 3 times. It's not sarcasm, it really was fun, it's just that 3 of them takes it outta me. Karissa's mom got us a Wii, so I've been pretty addicted to that lately. Stupid fitness test telling me my age is 80. Karissa & her sister made their mom a coupon good for a free vacation for the 3 of them. I think it's a cool gift, I just hope their mom doesn't "parent" out and try to pay for stuff.
Karissa got me a gift certificate to the antique mall in Grand Forks, so within the week I became the (perhaps overly) proud owner of a brown bowler hat, who knows how old it is. I got her a Pink cd, which she played over and over again while we drove to Devils Lake the next weekend.
Everyone had already done their X-Mas partying in DL, so we just had a little hootnanny when we got there and relaxed afterward. My dad got me a baritone ukulele, which I've also become addicted to. A baritone is a little bigger than a soprano uke, and is basically tuned like the four high strings on a guitar, which means it didn't take long at all for me to pick up the chords. Karissa got a food processor & pajama pants, which she was very excited about. Isabella got a V-Smile from her grandpa, which she loves to play (she likes the Scooby game the best).
The tree and everything came down fairly quickly. Weird, that little part of me that used to be sad to have to pack that stuff up is even smaller this year, I was pretty happy to take things down and move on. I had a fun holiday and everything, I just felt DONE once it was over.

Geeking out musically here:
I stopped at Kenny's and finally picked up some fingerpicks for the Banjo! While I was there, I played some different guitars--I finally tried out a Gretsch and loved it! I also heard some playing going on in the basement from whoever was taking their guitar lesson, and was immediately humbled.
The fingerpicks are harder to work with on the banjo, but they add volume and tone to it, so I have to keep at it when I can--don't worry Jess, I'll have another recording for you eventually to show off how much I'm learning.
Karissa's been pretty patient with how cluttered the entryway is getting, since that's where I store my instruments I'm "currently" playing with. When we get a new place, hopefully there will be a room where I can hang all of my guitars/ukes/banjo up and keep things somewhat organized.
My BIRTHDAY is coming up! 29 spankings for this guy! We'll be heading up the weekend before to do some fun stuff. Unfortunately, the some of the peanuts gang won't be there, due to prior engagements and scheduling conflicts. On the bright side, Derek and I (and hopefully Kevin) will be having a little jam session in his garage when I come up, so I hope that goes alright.