Mine Goodness

Where to start...

These last few months have been very, very busy for me. I've done everything from Comic-Con, to birthday bashes, to Bat's Day. It seems like everytime I'll have a chance to catch my breath I'm off and running again. (You can find pictures at my MySpace account: www.MySpace.com/Macabri .)

I've had a cold for about a week now, and I think it's from the constant shuffle (and a certain ill person I shared a drink with). I missed two days of work, but fortunately everything is still hunky-dory with my boss.

Next week is my birthday, but it looks like I'll be working on it for the first time in my life. O well, c'est la vie I suppose.

I've been doubly busy with wedding plans this last month too. Some things are working out exactly as they should, and some are still making me nervous that they won't get done in time. I've just got to hang tight and keep pushing to get things done.

Well, off I go again...

Broken Pieces

Trust is a delicate thing. It doesn't really take much to shatter it, yet it takes so long to fit the pieces back together. Even then you may never find some of the pieces again, little slivers lost in corners and under carpet.

The past month has been full of shattered trust. I think I've started cutting my feet on the pieces as I shuffle along, too depressed to even think about trying to gather them up and start working on the impossible puzzle they've created.

Maybe that sounds a little melodramatic, but I can afford a little melodrama at this point.

Those few folks who I've talked to about it might not even realize just how bad it is. I've been trying to keep my Comedy mask over the Tragedy one.

Of course, not everything has been bad lately. Not at all. But the breaking of trust on all sides is enough to haunt anyone for a while.

I'll keep hoping. That's all I can do right now.

Salute

Ahoy MySpace folks!

Breath In, Breath Out

So this past week has been as crazy as I expected. Both Nate and Corybabe came to town and it was non-stop madness. I'm going to do another Reader's Digest edition for the days we had.

Thursday: There isn't much to say about Thursday. I drove down right from work to meet up with Tach, Nate and Cory. We spent several hours at an In N Out (a restaurant Nate and Cory don't have) catching up. Corybabe also gave me another piece of fantastic art. I'll have to get a scanned version up.

Friday: Disneyland and more Disneyland. Everybody met up on Friday, including folks I haven't seen in ages. It was stellar day full of many photo opportunities and the chance to hop on a lot of rides.

Saturday: We kicked off the day by going to meet Forest J. Ackerman, a legend as far as monster and sci-fi movies are concerned. We thought we were going to be late and hauled-ass down the freeway to get Nate and Cory and bring them back up. However, everything worked out better than we expected. We got to Forry's to find a little old man sitting in a chair who invited us in for a tour and then invited us to lunch. This guy knew EVERYBODY. Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, etc. He was also a bit of a dirty old man and kept telling me dirty jokes and such. It was fun though.

After Forry we went to the La Brea tar pits and I got a chance to relive a bit of my childhood. Cory is also into paleontology, so that was good for him.

Towards the evening we dashed around Hollywood looking for the stars of our favorite actors before getting snazzed up and heading to Magic Castle. We were exhausted by the time we reached Nate and Cory's hotel, so Tach and I crashed there for the night.

Sunday: We got another chance to meet up with old friends and enjoy the hell out of our day. We were treated to a ride in the Lilly Belle (a private Victorian passenger car), and it was magnificent. I also got to see the Electric Parade for the first time since it moved to California Adventure, and what's more is I got to see it from the VIP seating.

The night ended on a sour note with me tweaking a nerve in my neck. Not only did we have to leave early, but I had to call in to work for two days because of the pain. It's still not perfect, but it's considerably better now.

So there is the quick version of the weekend. Pictures can be viewed in Tach's galleries at http://www.flanneljedi.com .

As for today, I spent time working on some "self portraits". In other words, I got gussied up, took photos of myself and then toyed with them in Photoshop. The results aren't bad either.







One final note. I did something I said I would never do, but seeing all my friends this weekend made me change my mind...I opened up a MySpace account. So you can find me there at http://www.MySpace.com/Macabri .

Terrifying.

Round & Round She Goes

I can't believe how busy I've been this past month and a half and how busy I'll continue to be. This is truly my first weekend to relax in quite some time. Since I don't want to post a novel about the past while, I'll give everyone the Reader's Digest version.

To begin with, there was tragedy (see last post). The weekend after that we celebrated a friend's birthday at Magic Castle and there was much fun to be had. Then there was work and running around some more. After that Tach, Damien and I recorded an audition tape for Deal or No Deal for a couple of friends. Back to Magic Castle again. Again to Disneyland for to hang out with Darcia who is now permanently back from Canada. Then this week we went to Minnie's Moonlight Madness (a cast member event). Then I had an aunt and uncle here from out of town whom I haven't seen in 9 years.

Now take that last paragraph, fill in all the fine details, and BOOM, instant novel!

Now the highlights:

1.) Got some comic fodder for Tach: http://www.flanneljedi.com
2.) Had many giggles with the video camera: Kidney or death?
3.) Discovered a new favorite drink: Midori Sours
4.) Got to have a weekend with Darcia: Face paint
5.) Got to see my aunt and uncle: 9 years!
6.) Minnie's Moonlight Madness: Rope and trivia

Next week the Coreybabe and the Nate are visiting us, so we'll be spending another weekend running around with friends. This weekend should be calm except for a jaunt down to Disneyland to see the new Haunted Mansion effects they've put into place.

I also need to say a thank you to my buddy Dan who turned in my paper for a class so I could go to Minnie's Moonlight Madness. I owe you Dan!

As I Am You Shall Be

It's taken me a while to feel like posting on my blog again, because even though I have a lot of political rants to post, I knew what would come out when I sat down to type again. I knew I would feel like writing about the week I was pretty much MIA because I was driving back and forth from here to San Diego and from there to and from Arizona.

My grandmother, a true angel on earth, died on the 8th of this month.

I think the week of my grandmother's funeral was one of the toughest in my life, and it had the added bonus of being the first funeral I've ever attended. Her death was very sudden and unexpected. She was also the last grandparent I had left.

We spent the few brief nights in Arizona at her house at a time when just about anything would cause me to break into tears. It was harder yet when we had to look through things and decide if there was anything we wanted to take. It was like putting your hand in the cookie jar you're supposed to leave alone. I kept expecting Grandma to walk in any moment and ask, "What do you think you're doing?"

Everything was really beautiful at the funeral, including the weather, and I'm sure Grandma would have appreciated it...except for maybe the hearse ride to the church when the driver got lost. It was unbelievable, and I'll bet she was laughing in her casket. The driver actually stopped at a Circle K to ask for directions, and then proceeded to go the wrong way. We chased him down and managed to put him on the right track.

While I was there I did get the wonderful chance to reconnect with some of my family and meet a few members I don't think I've ever met before, including two men who I think count as being second cousins. Sometimes I don't regret how distant as I've been with some branches of my family, but at other times I lament it.

I'm doing alright at current, but it's all still in the back of my head. However, the last thing I've wanted this entire time is pity, and that makes me feel better. I hate people who use their family as an excuse for people to feel sorry for them.

There's just one thing that continues to nag at me, and that is that I left the funeral regretful. I was going to visit my Grandma next month, and I never even got the chance to tell her.

Two Weeks Later

I can't believe I've been offline for two weeks. You'd think I might of shriveled up and died from withdrawl by now.

Anyhow, things are good...real good. My new job is continuing to be everything I've wanted, and the world of retail is behind me. Right now I work four days a week and will be making more than I was at The Rack. My Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are open for now, and will continue to be unless I get bumped to working five days.

Another high point is that a couple of weeks ago I got to go to Magic Castle for the first time, and it was amazing! (Don't know what Magic Castle is? Go here: http://www.magiccastle.com/ .)

The only problem with going is that they have a dress code and I had nothing to wear since I don't dress up often. So I went and bought a decent dress at The Rack, but I wasn't too happy with it. As luck would have it we went to The Salvation Army to look for a jacket for Tach and I found the perfect dress there in just my size. As an added bonus they were have a 50% sale and I got change back from the four $1 bills I handed to the cashier. The dress is just right with no snags, etc. The only problem was a very tiny hole on the front which I'll probably have fixed. All in all I lucked out.

Another point of good news (for me at least) is that my best friend is coming back down from Canada for a bit. While the reasons for her temporary return suck, I'm thrilled that I'll be able to see her again. I've missed her loads, and I think she knows that.

If things keep up like this I'll be one happy camper for a long time to come.