I am MacGuyver

Friday, April 18, I locked my keys in the car while making a routine, work-related bank run. I came out of the bank, reached into my pocket for my keys, and then saw them sitting on the seat in my locked car. I tried to squeeze my forearm through the crack in the window but it just wasn't physically possible without causing injury to my forearm or elbow. I couldn't think of anything at first. I knew no one in my family has a key to my car right now, so I knew I was in trouble. I took stock. All I had was my clothes, credit cards and change. I needed to reach this latch:



And I needed to reach it through this gap in the window:



Then I realized I had a chance. I was wearing these shoes, which were luckily untied,



because that gave me an idea.



It only took a minute or two. And that is how I became MacGuyver. Congratulations, now you and the whole internet can better break into my car and steal my empty coffee cups.

Week Off, Week On

The week of April Fools' Day I had off from school. There were no April Follies. I got back my grades, which amounted to another 4.0.

Thursday, April 3, I had the day off work, so I crashed at Trent's house the night before and we set out on the road after breakfast. We decided to go north, try out Highway 1 and see how far we could go in a day. Ate lunch in a tiny town on Hwy 1 called Point Reyes Station (which Trent kept mispronouncing RAH-yez). We ended up continuing north, and disembarking at a beach for a bit. (Check out these maps. I labeled everything and included pictures. Linking to the larger version might be easier.)

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That was good, but we hadn't even gotten as far as Jenner before we decided we ought to head back. Well, that didn't take long. Heading south on Hwy 101, we made up most of the afternoon's distance in about 15-20 minutes. Crossing the Golden Gates again, we arranged to meet up with my old friend JP and his girl Christine. Ate at an Italian restaurant, and it was good.

Friday, April 4 was relatively uneventful other than the fact that two of my new classes were canceled so I had to reshuffle my schedule. This quarter I will be working for P. Svalya, Inc.(my old boss), on MWF, and my new job in the Marketing Department at the college will occupy my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will be carrying 11 college units and working roughly 40 hours. Woo.

Over the first weekend of April we saw this movie called Stop Loss, which was pretty much depressing. Went with Aundrea, Katie, Bethany, Chris and Peter. Katie wanted to see it because she thought it was going to be a chick flick. After all, it had a bunch of boy-toy non-actors in it, like Channing Tatum and Ryan Philippe. But in the end it just made Bethany scared that David's going to get stop-lossed once he's deployed. Note to Self: No more war movies with significant others or members of the military. I felt bad, it really messed with her head. It's gotta suck being a military spouse.

On Sunday, April 6, I gave a lecture during middle hour, about being a good witness. Pretty difficult topic to teach, considering I've never been that successful, that I know of. (Witnessing, that is; sharing Jesus with people...proselytizing.)

The first week of classes was rather boring, although it did make the quarter look like it's going to be challenging. I managed to say the wrong thing a couple times at my new job already. Note to self: I am going to need some remedial training in distinguishing how to talk to different races. I am just not used to treating people differently depending on their skin color. To me it seems backwards, but if it makes people feel respected that I acknowledge that they look different, then I guess it's worthwhile. I am so post-race in my Silicon Valley mindset, it's really odd to think in terms of tiptoeing around potentially racially charged situations.

Thursday, April 10, I had an unusual day in that about five times in one day (which is about five times more than usual) some random but very cute girl made eyes at me or flirted with me in some overt way. Must have been wearing the right clothing or something.

Saturday, April 12, I spent the morning at a conference for church elders and "interested men" in San Leandro, at Fairhaven Bible Chapel. It was hot and I got a free book and some homemade salsa, and talked with an inspiring church elder from San Diego. Note to self: I like driving to San Leandro. Perfect driving distance. Long enough to think or talk something through. Saw the Fairhaven guys. They're awesome dudes.


Larger Map

My Aunt Karin and cousin Kim came into town for the day, so we saw them over pizza and beers in the evening. They're visiting California from Alabama, where they live now. Also saw most of the other cousins including Jessi, Adam and Ange, and even Josh. I talked to cousin Chris on the phone, so if only I'd talked with TJ that would have been all the Ballard-side cousins in one shot.


Sunday, April 13, I saw Run, Fat Boy, Run with Trent, Peter and Brett. Was a pretty good flick. Brett didn't not like it, Pete liked it alright, Trent was disappointed that it wasn't a Hot Fuzz paced comedy. I liked a lot of things about it, especially his rock band tee shirts. That's an old Siouxsie & The Banshees tee in the pic, people, which is instant cred in my book.

Week in the Knees

Wednesday, March 19th, was a boring enough work day. Very little occurred.

Thursday, March 20th, I went to class in the morning, dressed up in my slacks, the dress shoes I bought in that little shop in Rome, and my skinny sweater and tie. I was faux-interviewing for class. I showed my "tree" graphic design piece. Will get the video this Thursday. Then I ran some errands and met Grace for lunch at Pizza My Heart. Went to class and had class break snack for the last time with my classmates. Went home, tried to watch Farewell to Arms (Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes) but found it generally a butchering of Hemingway and went to do my homework, mid-film, before going to bed. Luckily the poster is pretty cool, and doesn't try to make Hayes look pretty.

Friday, March 21st, I worked, but I was worried about homework, so I left a little early. Went home and worked on some homework but had to clean up and go to Bible study before long. Came home from there and worked on homework late into the night.

Saturday, March 22nd, I got up and mowed the lawn, then worked on homework for a couple hours. Went over to the church to practice for Easter Service music, only to find out from Mike that the practice had been canceled. Went home for a couple more hours of homework, then drove over the hill to Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz for Silvanus' super-tame bachelor party. The lamest part of the party was the attempted Silvanus roast, because everyone knows there's nothing about Sil to roast. Overall it was a good gathering. Came back by 9 and worked on homework.

Easter Sunday was a sleepy morning. Went to church at 8:30 to help set up tables and chairs outside for the impending wedding reception, then went into church and half-worshipped, half-dozed. Note to self: even if it's awesome and amazing that I can pay attention even while fading in and out of consciousness, I probably shouldn't do it. Went home and napped. Went to Sil and Sarah Grace's wedding, enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. One of the bridesmaids was drop-dead gorgeous and by all accounts a godly young woman, so I sent my little brother toodling over there as soon as the reception was underway, post-haste. He couldn't break the ice, which means her ice is amazingly thick. After, Octavia, Daniel, Bethany, David, Trent, Peter, Chris, Mike Abraham, Katie, Jenny and I went to BJ's for drinks and appetizers. We had a kumbaya sort of mushy talk where we all told each other how much we appreciate each other. Then went home.

Tight, Tight Chromallishment

Tuesday, 3/18/2008, I went to class in the morning, worked a bit, wrote a one-page paper, painted all afternoon, and got to color class a bit late. Met Peter at the Great Mall because we were going to look for dress clothing at H&M. Note to self: I do NOT fit in H&M 30-30 pants. And it isn't my weight. We spent a while driving around talking on our cell phones looking for a coffee shop, couldn't find one, and drove back from Milpitas to south San José. Went to the usual Starbucks, and ran into my old coworker Kellan there, as well as Tony. Went home, invented the new craze, called nourishmogging, and then crashed.

Today, 8/19/2008, I just worked. Going home to do homework soon. And I pretty much don't have time to do anything else.

Hired. Cop. Clash. Call. Music. Hospital.

Friday 3/14/08 I worked all day. Got a call around noon from the marketing director at De Anza College, offering me the job for which I had interviewed. I accepted. I left work a little early and went to West Valley college where they were having the San Jose Clash speech & debate tournament. I judged a round from 4:30-6 then filled out the ballot for an hour before going to bible study. Went over to Trent's place and watched The Big Sleep, left around midnight, got pulled over by a cop on a routine "California roll" making a right turn on a stoplight. He let me go. Looked disappointed I wasn't a criminal.


Saturday 3/15/08 I spent the whole day at the tournament again, judging and spending time with the Winthers and fellow Clash alums such as my beloved ol' debate partner JP Rose and his girl, and other rascals including Joe Rose, Michael Majchrowicz, Kendra, Noela, Sammy Franusic, Thane Rehn and Joe Sheffield. Little Bob Rose isn't so small anymore; he got 3rd place speaker in the tourney, and was one vote away from qualifying for nationals. Went to the Duke for a drink and a bite before getting a crazy call from Hilary then heading home, tired out, around 1:30 a.m.

Sunday 3/16/08 was boring. Got to church late-ish, didn't socialize much after. Went to Starbucks because I needed some alone time with God, but saw Katie I. there, which resulted in one of those long catching-up conversations. Still managed to have a good quiet time but I didn't get much done in the evening.

Monday 3/17/08 I worked all day. Productive day. Also payday. In the bank parking lot, an Italian man tried to get me to buy 4 Gucci leather jackets for the price of one at half-off. Luckily I am not stupid and I just ignored him. I went to Rasputin because I couldn't find this album anywhere online:


I also thumbed through the bargain bins (50c - $2.95) and came up with some pretty good stuff. I always have to choose. Either way, I definitely checked some things off my want list without dropping much coin.

Went home, Brian came over but left again right away. Never got around to St. Patrick's day celebrations. Started trying to finish my homework quickly, but Peter came home with some kind of major abdominal pain and asked me to take him to the ER. He was in a pretty bad way but within a couple hours he had gotten better and the docs didn't find anything in the blood-work or ultrasound imaging. Got a late fast-food dinner with Trent. Talked for a while. Went home and crashed.

Paperist Interviewiary Inketty Scotchal Museumine Theatricality

Monday I went to work. Worked. Prepared for an interview. Didn't finish my paintings for color class. Wished I had, but they're not technically due till next Tuesday.

Tuesday morning at nine I had an evaluation on the draft of my final paper for my "today's working artist" class. My prof had questioned whether I could fit all of the history of poster art into five double-spaced pages, but he liked the paper and conceded that the only changes needed were of a grammatical nature. At ten I had an interview with the Marketing/Communications department at De Anza College. They put me at ease for the most part and most of the review went smoothly, except it felt pressed for time and the discussions about politics were a bit awkward. But then, political discussions usually are; thus the career shift into something I actually love doing! Marisa, the Director of Marketing, also graciously introduced me to a gentleman who needs graphic design work done for a CD cover, but I doubt he'll actually contact me about it. Note to self: get some business cards, pronto. Worked on my paintings for the rest of the afternoon and then in color class studio. Still wasn't done at 5:30 for class discussion; the legato piece was done but the staccato and crescendo were both still partially painted.

Wednesday I worked. More mediation prep. The printer wasn't working by the end of the day. Needed more ink, we didn't have any. Seems like it's always the photo cyan that goes first. I will say this. The HP Photosmart 3200 printer is worlds below the Canon Pixma iP6600D. There is no comparison, even as a backup printer. I just couldn't publish my work on the HP, period. Went home late from work because of the printing problems, having not even finished.

Yesterday I had no classes. By a freak coincidence, both classes happened to be out. I spent the morning remedying the printing problems at work, and then spent the afternoon in Mountain View. I was on my way to the Community School of Music and Arts, but stopped at BevMo to see if they have my illusive favorite scotch whiskey. Why? Because in January when I needed scotch I couldn't find any Sheep Dip. Turns out they have it at BevMo, regularly stocked. So I know where to find it next time. Google maps ran me into a dead end about two blocks from where I should have been, and I had a helluva time trying to find the right road to the CSMA. I finally got there, and I folded my hands behind my back as I perused their small museum, then asked for help from the front desk. One of their resident visual artists, Kyle, gave me a tour and explained the organization's functions and purpose. An amiable sort of chap, he led me around their small but impressive facility and showed me their art studios, classrooms and private lessons rooms, and concert hall. I learned a lot about their mission and should have more than enough for the "today's working artist" group project I need it for. It should also double nicely as an extra-credit museum paper for my color class.

Went home, studied a bit, cleaned a bit, looked at the wrong clock the whole time. I say the wrong clock because I only know in hindsight that it's the only clock in the house that hasn't yet been "sprung" forward an hour. As a result, I was 10 minutes late to the community theater's delightful, sold-out production of My Fair Lady, in which my old buddy Brett Carlson plays several minor characters. Since I was late, I had to watch the first half of the play standing, but it was still worth it. I assume the production was sold out because it is brilliantly performed, but also because it is the inaugural production to be shown in Foothill College's absolutely beautiful new Lohman Theater building. Brett and I hung out after, past midnight, chatting about girls and career past midnight over Denny's burgers.

When I Don't Need to Do the Homework

Friday night after my last post I tried to go to the mall again, failed. Went to Bible study, that was fine but boring.

Yesterday I met Aaron, one of my best friends of mine since childhood, for coffee and catching up since we haven't really talked in months. He's thinking about engagement rings. I then spoke with Megan on the phone, which was flipping awesome though cut short, and then Leah, which might have been more awesome if it had been cut short. 'Sall good, sometimes I open my mouth and put my foot in it. I had planned to do homework, but I didn't get much done. I so often don't when I want to, then do when I need to and can't afford not to anymore. Not the best pattern. Went home to clean a little. Spring cleaning is the thing. Then I went to see 10,000 B.C. with Grace, Jared, Jean, Jenny & Jessica. That movie was so incredibly crappy, but had a fun cheese factor. Came back home, did nothing. Ennui! Went to bed.

Today I went to church, sat through it. God is good but my soul was a little like molasses this morning. Talked with Sharon, who showed me some verses in Proverbs 16 that helped me with my developing understanding of life-planning before God. Then saw Mike later, prayed with him and my dad a bit. Tony and Spen were there by then, setting up his Eagle project, rebuilding the benches outside the church building. Helped for a minute, saw "Mr. Ken" Morgan, my old scoutmaster from 10 years ago. Went over to Juicy Burger to hang with Trent and the rest of the crowd. Went home to study, ended up spring cleaning instead. Talked with Dougie on the phone for more than an hour, about his plans and his music and stuff. Says he's now an item with this girl Jen, who lives in Virginia, and he's planning on moving to Prague for a year to teach elementary school for MK's. Cool. We also talked about possibly music blogging together. At five met Dad & Mom and Peter over at the Johns' house for dinner. Indian food is objectively awesome, including goat meat and onion-cilantro-yogurt salad. Texted some with Leah about Big Lebowski quotes and Eagle scouts giving crappy sermons at Meth O'Dissed churches. Talked with Trent a little about the Prov 16 verses. Came home, working on stuff now.

Projmedlasewhiteys + Nubile Onslaught

Yesterday, 3/6/08, I headed to class with my written assignments in my hands. Turned in some handouts, got some more. Met with my project group briefly; nobody knows what they want to do but they're less ambitious than I am, which is understandable since I usually set unrealistically high project goals. Talk talk talk. Dropped by the office, where mediation prep is in full swing on three cases simultaneously. Needless to say, there is occasional confusion. I went to see Dr. Choi again for my back and neck, and again got some laser treatments and physical therapy. Went home, didn't work on homework. Talked on the phone briefly with Rob, chatted online briefly with Hilary and swapped texts with Leah. Kenneth participated in the chat vicariously, or so I'm told. Received the usual crap from my brother for having too many friends in different parts of the country. Rob sent me a link to the following site, which made my week.


Stayed up a little late editing a paper for Trent.

Today has been relatively brisk, catching up at work on some graphics I hadn't polished up for print yet, getting binders ready for mediations. Went to Valley Fair on my lunch hour to look for some new work attire, dressier clothing, etc. Didn't come out with anything. No particular tie or pair of slacks or shoes was calling out to me. I hate malls. In a rare event, I will now present you with a piece of media. The following advertisement video made me tear up a little. It's just that right-on. The fact that they treat the beauty industry the way Nancy Reagan treated drugs, well, I find it appropriate and applause-worthy.