Yet Another Guitar To Feed...

I picked up this guitar for about $5 at an antique store last friday. One of the ladies there has been trying to get this guitar to me since last Fall, but for whatever reason, she couldn't get a hold of her son, I wasn't window shopping on the right weekend, etc. I was originally going to use it for parts--I still would like to build a coffin guitar--but when I saw the body and its classical f cuts, I just couldn't tear it apart. It's a Harmony Master, possibly from the 1950's or 1960's. A little glue, a lot of packing tape (no duct tape means not technically a red neck), and I was able to nurse it partially back to health. I'm still having trouble tuning it properly, but it's still an awesome guitar.
I also hit the thrift stores, and would you believe I found an unopened DVD of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians! It was, to me, similar to the experience of finding a brand new copy of a really bad movie in a thrift store. It's one of Isabella's favorites, so she was pretty darned happy to have her very own copy, too. Oh yeah, and there are certain family members in Devils Lake that are going to be watching it. You know who you are...
On Friday night, I went to a concert at the Eagles Club in EGF. It was actually a benefit concert for a kid who died unexpectedly that was apparently pretty into the local scene. I ended up getting there late, so I missed a few bands. I didn't feel like drinking, and was kind of tired, so I didn't have the greatest time. Overall it was pretty cool, though. I got to meet a couple members of Arc the Townsmen, who from the couple minutes I talked to them seemed like pretty cool guys, and a very cool band to listen to. A couple of other bands relied a little too heavily on their 4/4 Circle Pit riffs (a fairly generic crunchy riff played w/crash cymbals that works well for moshing) to the point that I didn't know if they played 3 seperate songs, or one really long one. It's still funny to see a girl bringing her kid every now and then to these things--now don't go calling Social Services right away, chances are she kept the kid in the back where it's open and where the sound come together a little better. Also the bass tones come out more, and if the kid was exposed to this kind of music since his her womb days, he/she'll actually not mind it so much.
On Saturday, we took Isabella to the circus. Karissa got screwed over by one of her housekeepers and almost couldn't make it, but was able to see the second half. It was weird, too, that she and I were both kind of disturbed by the treatment of the animals--not like they were being whipped out on stage, but just that they were made to be entertainers, to do things animals wouldn't and mostly shouldn't do in nature. We don't really know any better than the next person whether these animals liked it, it's just thoughts that ran through our heads. I was impressed, though that an elephant could stand on a ball and shit at the same time.
Isabella had a bit much cotton candy later and wasn't in a great mood, plus sh hadn't had her nap due to the showtime cutting in, so she was ready for bed pretty early.
I was annoyed that I had to go to work again already, the weekend seemed too fast. But then, I don't know why I get annoyed, because once I get here, I'm cool.
As far as the comic is concerned, I'm working on a new story. Golden Brown is finished and waiting for me to put it together into a big pdf file, the new story is currently being researched and prepared for, and I've even been thinking of doing another little short comic, just a couple/few pages. In the meantime, I've been occupying my hand with some more archaeological illustration, as you may have noticed. I'll keep updates coming.
Oh yeah, and this is the 777th post I've done on my blog!

A Couple More Archaeological Illustrations

The first one was done about month or two ago, the second one I just finished two nights ago. Both are from sections of a quilt found in Lovelock Cave, NV.

Quite a Weekend...

Wow, my last post actually had some comments on it--maybe I should tell more stories about nutjobs?

This weekend I took Isabella to my dad's while Karissa took her mom & sis on a little girls vacation to Minneapolis. I was supposed to help him and Jas move in, but they had time during the week, so they went ahead without me. I like the apartment, but I'm still getting used to my dad being in retirement and not living at the house he was in for over 20 years. At least it stayed in the family, and I know Jas & Amber will take good care of it.

That friday I had a bit to do around the house, and eventually found I had no time to sleep. Somehow I made it through the day and actually felt pretty good driving to Devils Lake. I slept like a log that night (I guess logs sleep, that sounds like utter baloney but since I said it, it's true).

Isabella obviously didn't care where Grandpa lived as long as she got to see him and color pictures and watch movies at his place. She wasn't complaining either, when he wanted to buy her a bicycle. Speaking of which, she's super excited to try it out outside, and it's exciting to us that she's old enough to take on a bike (with training wheels, of course).

On Saturday, I took Isabella over to Tab & Derek's where she colored, farted and let Tab paint her fingernails green and purple (but not her toes). After making Tab promise to color a picture of Sleeping Bauty and mail it to us, we headed back to my dad's place to eat. That night, I went out bowling with Tab & Derek. My hand is still sore, but I had a lot of fun and really sucked by my third game. Wendy & Ryan came out, too, with Farnum, but he was tired so she ended her night a little early. We moved on over to the 11th frame afterward, but the joint wasn't very lively, so we got a couple pizzas and headed back over to Tab & Derek's, where we watched Dazed and Confused and the second half of Deathproof (because Ryan wanted to watch something with a car).
It was kind of weird, because I haven't been under any real stress lately, but just hanging out, barely buzzed on my 2 1/2 beers and watching a movie I've seen 20 times was exactly what I needed to have a good time. Kind of like when you're really craving swiss cake rolls, and you go get swiss cake rolls.
Of course, I did virtually the same thing at my dad's, so one could say I spent the weekend kicking back.

On Sunday I hung out (NOT hungover for once) with my dad and got to partake in the first cooked meal in his apartment-chili--then went over to Jas' place to take his bass amp off his hands. Amber gave Isabella a little stuffed dolphin, which Isabella wants to bring to school & show everyone now. On the way to Jas' house, Isabella and I had a very frank discussion about 'grandpa dying'. I had to explain to her that yes, one day grandpa will die, yes, it's okay to feel sad about it but you can remember all the good times youhave with him, no you can't just get a new grandpa, but we don't have to worry about it right now, because he won't die for a while yet. I felt so bad for her because she was nearly in tears contemplating my dad's mortality, but I didn't want to sugarcoat things, and we are certainly NOT the family that would tell her he'll go to be wih Jesus and be looking down upon us from Heaven.

It was quite a weekend.

A Little Slice of the Lord's Work?

A pizza delivery guy came into work last night and wound up getting no answer from the 2 rooms he was delivering to. On his way out, he noticed I was reading Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural, and remarked how he likes to listen to that late night AM radio show that discusses paranormal issues. Before I knew it, he went off on a tirade about how the supernatural exists and how all these scientists and psychologists who try to explain it away with brain disorders and natural phenomena are wrong. He also revealed to me that he used to work in the ministry (bet there's an interesting story as to how he left it to deliver pizza, but I knew better than to ask) and he saw stuff like demonic possession and healing first hand, assuring me that it CANNOT be explained and that people shouldn't try to understand the supernatural.
I thought about engaging him in this conversation, speaking my mind, and explaining that yes, all this stuff can and has been explained away, and no it isn't in fact real, and yes, the stuff they've talked about on that radio show has, in fact, been disproven again and again (i.e. crop circles, pyramids, ESP,etc.).
Why didn't I? Because it's draining to try to argue with someone who has made up their mind in the absolute about the supernatural as I have about the natural. Because, as Karissa has demanded of me during our more academic discussions, I don't have the proof in front of me--I don't have the medical journals, the diagrams and archaeological reports, the carbon and/or potassium-argon dating results that coroborate geological stratification, the statistics, graphs, or results of various medical tests on thimerosol--to show that I'm not just full of shit--I don't have anything other than a Skeptical Inquirer. Because I only had 5 more hours of my shift, and when I let myself get into discussions of this nature in the past, I would get behind on my work and then feel agitated that the person I had been debating with still thought I was wrong.
So I smiled and nodded, screaming inside my head for him to just go away so I could domy security walk already. He didn't pick up the little demon that was surely putting that scream in my head.
I shouldn't complain too much, though, because he gave me one of the pizzas he was supposed to deliver (neither room ever answered my calls) for listening to him proselytize.

Busy Weekends, It Seems...

Our basement's still pretty dry. There are some wet spots, but no more than we usually get this time of year. I'm not crazy about taking the Kennedy Bridge detour twice a night, but at least that'll be done soon. On the plus side, I get to listen to more songs going to and from work.
The weekend before last, I took Isabella to A Knight For a Princess, a father-daughter dance. It was fun, and Isabella immensely enjoyed herself. We got there and ate the dessert sitting on our table before realizing we were supposed to wait and eat it after our supper, but oh well. We did the same thing last year, you'd think we'd learn. Next year, though, I'm definitely bringing company along.
Last Friday, Karissa and I got a new washing machine, but couldn't get it delivered (like we were told earlier) because Best Buy lost their delivery diver. So I had Kevin come with me the next day, thinking it'd be no big deal to stick it in the back of the van, but again-no deal. The box was 2 inches taller than the back door of the van, and I was told I could not put in on its side. Ben was nice enough to let us use his Durango, but when measuring it found it was also too small. I finally had the idea to call my cousin Cory, who was in town from Minneapolis for the weekend, to use his pickup (why we don't know anyone in town with a pickup is amazing!). Of course, his sister drove him, so no pickup. But his dad had one, so I convinced to Cory to help me and Kevin move the stupid washing machine.
It was was pretty cool to see my cousins when I stopped in. My uncle Paul lives in town, and I still hardly ever see him. He's got kind of a big family, and I haven't seen them in what seems like years. Cory was in town a few weeks ago, and he and I hit Mike's. They all went out on Saturday night, and I would have joined them (and Kevin & Butto later on), but I was really tired and went to bed like an old fart.
I found out the next day that my manager Becky had tried calling me the previous night because our weekend night auditor no-showed again. Unfortunately, she ended up doing the shift herself, and our weekend night auditor no longer works there.
On Sunday, we let Isabella hunt for Easter eggs outside, since the weather was nice. Later on we had a ham dinner and angel food cake with homemade sauce for dessert. You want to know how good that sauce was on the cake? Picture the best orgasm you ever had. Are you picturing it? Yeah, I bet you are...now picture it strawberry flavored.
This coming weekend, Karissa is going with her mom & sis to Minneapolis for a little mother-daughters vacation. I'm planning on helping my dad & brother move into their new digs, so Isabella & I are heading down to Devils Lake that weekend. I'm sure it'll all go okay, I'm still trying to adjust to the fact that my dad won't be living in that house anymore. I love that it's staying in the family, it's just that we've been driving down there at least every other month and staying a weekend with him since 2000. We can still do that, but now we go to his apartment instead of his house. I think it's just one of those little reminders of his mortality. He's been handing the holiday tradition duties over to Ang, the house (with all its chores and upkeep) to Jas, the family couch (which is unfortunately great for sleeping off hangovers) to me, and he's retired and going to live in a senior apartment complex a block from a cemetery. Gee, thanks Obama--all your talk about change and it's happening!

More Pointless Than a Male Nipple...

There are 2 things in this world right now that are keeping me up at night wondering what reasoning was put into thir creation.
1. Isabella got her pants soaked the other day playing in the snow at school, so they dried her pants & panties, giving her spares in the meantime. They let her keep the panties, and when I saw them I thought 'those...are granny panties...' Really? Granny panties for toddlers? Does she really need undies that go up past her belly button?
2. Karissa and I were shopping for new jeans a couple weeks ago, and when I tried on one of the pairs, it felt like the back end was just falling out. When I looked at the jeans type (I thought I grabbed loose fit), I found I had grabbed "low rise" jeans. For men. Really? I mean, even women mistakenly wear hi-huggers, and they have figures to show off. Do we really ever want to see a man's ass crack accentuated? Is "plumber" the new black? When I brought the jeans back to Karissa she must have thought by the look on my face that I got molested in the changing room. Low rise jeans for men. Seriously. Like those little yellow balls for your car antenna to help you locate where you parked, do you really want to see those everywhere?
These are things that disturb me profoundly.