I was tagged on the FB (yes, I have a Facebook account now, so you all can stop bitching ok?!) with another incarnation of the seven random things meme, namely 25 Things. Twenty five was a bit much people. I think seven was the perfect amount, it gave you license to add some content to each one and be a little more creative. So, that in mind, few here are more than a sentence long.

1. I am addicted to my iPhone.
2. I have had a gym membership for the past year and a half but never stepped foot in the place since I signed up.
3. I talk during the movie, MST3K/Rifftrax style. If something happens that needs to be aped I can’t seem to hold back. I’m sorry.
4. I don’t feel like a grown up.
5. I suck at video games. I love to play, love to watch people who kick ass at them, I just lack skills and it pisses me off so bad I break controllers and wake up neighbors.
6. I still play D&D every week on Sunday night. I have been playing off and on for about 15 years. I look forward to it all week.
7. I have a rare auto-immune disease called Sarcoidosis. Not much is known about why it happens and there is no known cure. It doesn’t affect me much in my day-to-day life and currently don’t need to treat it thankfully. If you’re interested you can read more @ www.stopsarcoidosis.org
8. I am easily distracted and have a tendency to tackle things and immerse myself in them intensely for a time only to move on to other things once my interest wanes. I am constantly beating myself up for my lack of follow-through.
9. I am opinionated and have always been honest to a fault about how I feel on most any topic. Over the past couple years or so, I have made it a point to bite my tongue and be discreet. I will still speak my mind, but only if you ask.
10. I am a grammar and spelling nazi. It even bothers me if my text messages are misspelled. I try not to judge people on their spelling/penmanship/grammar, but it’s hard for me.
11. I love to trout fish and hunt partridge, though I rarely get the chance but once or twice a year.
12. Numbers don’t stick in my mind. For example, give me your number without writing it down or entering it in my cell and I will forget it. When I enter it into my phone, check to make sure I didn’t confuse the order of the digits, even if you tell me twice and I repeat it to you. I just can’t remember them nor can I do much with them when they’re right in front of me, see #25.
13. I quit drinking on January 1st 2007. It’s been 2 years and life has been a lot better since.
14. I have a keen memory for jokes and funny stories. I love a good joke, funny email, video, commercial, whatever. Tell me half of a joke and nine times out of ten I can tell you the punchline.
15. I am still super close with a tight group of best friends from grade school/high school. I’m told this is rare. They rock.
16. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts but haven’t done any artwork in almost 8 years. I am scared that I’ll never find my creative center again if I don’t start working soon.
17. I haven’t dated anyone seriously in over 3 years.
18. I love new music. I have a new favorite song/artist/dj every other day. I would rather a dj or band play something I haven’t heard yet than sing along to the same old tunes.
19. I can whistle so loud it makes my ears ring.
20. I love tattoos. I plan on getting a full sleeve done within the next 2 years.
21. I don’t tolerate caffeine well. I get some pretty severe anxiety from it. I can drink a can of Pepsi in a day and that’s pushing it.
22. I love the television show Scrubs. I have seen every episode of every season so many times that I know every joke, yet I continue to watch them.
23. I am scared of Junebugs. I don’t know why. I know they are just beetles and they don’t even bite, but if one lands on me I will scream like a schoolgirl. Shut up.
24. I don’t care about sports. Pats, Sox, Bruins, whatEVER. I just don’t.
25. I’m bad at math. I’m a humanities guy, my skills with numbers lie in the basic add/subtract/mult/div, averages and sales percentages area and that’s about it.

I’ve been updating very seldom lately so this was a nice entry for my overclocked noodle to wind back down into outputting complete thoughts in lieu of indecipherable whispers, distracted utterances and random screams. I’ve been a wee bit stressed. Fear not though my loyal reader, I have a lot to write about though, and will make some time this month to bore you with all of it.

I dreamt of Geni?

So I’ve been buried up to my eyebrows with links and sites (physical and the web kind..) , books, forums, etc looking for genealogy for the past year off and on. I’ve been gathering names and dates, places, events concerning both sides of my family and it’s brought me to all kindsa new places. However, I somehow seemed to miss a particular site called Geni.

Geni is a social neworking site ala Myspace/Facebook for tracing the family tree and keeping in touch, planning events, etc. What a fantastic idea. I was looking at the Ancestry.com version a month or 2 ago (My Family I think it’s called) and wondered what the interest level would be since I had sent out a communication to some of my aunts and uncles asking for help and info and got no replies. Let’s just say I was more than surprised on Xmas eve when my Mother told me she invited me to the site. I explored in amazement. How could I have missed this?

The tree was started by my uncle Phil Stratton (thanks again Phil!) and people started logging on, me included. I joined the tree and immediately looked for and found details on how to add a GEDCOM file, since I’ve put together a decent sized tree using Family Tree Maker on my desktop. Since there wasn’t much up yet by Phil and David, the merge was relatively painless. Ok, there was some hairpulling and frothing at the mouth at the beginning I admit.. Now all my work is up on a platform that includes everyone in a very interactive and fun way. I’m excited to see the network grow and flourish.

It feels new, lots of buzzing in the forum about new ways to improve, bug fixes, work arounds.. Lots to come I’m sure. This is an exciting development :) More later ~S

Well kiddies, the message seems to be "When in doubt, eat tranquilizers"

Well, Xmas was a success. Small fun gifts all around, just enough to have a laugh and not get real wrapped up (no pun intended) in compeditive shopping or one-up gifting. Spent some time in East milly with the fam. Mom’s baked ham rocks as always. Nice.

Realized last night that I’d felt a little out of sorts all day because I hadn’t taken my Ativan both nights when I was home this weekend! A quick flash of panic preceeded the swift realization that I felt fine, in fact, I may only be loopy from the long drive home I thought.

So I skipped it last night as well. Once I finally got to sleep, I was amidst some of the strangest repeating dreams I can remember in a while. Tossing and turning all night, then salivating profusely all morning for no apparent reason to the point of near vomiting, I took a hint and munched one (I only take a measely .5 mg now). I felt better, but also way tired, pretty much immediately. Scarily so.

Not this time, but at least I know what layer of hell I’ll be weathering when the day finally comes for me to kick lorazepam outta my life for good. Now it’s time for a nappy nap and hopefully sound sleep. Weird dreams are still ok though, bring em on.

- mobile entry

So, it’s been as cold as the proverbial witch’s tit for the past few days and today it’s actually warm enough to make me want to go outside but rainy enough to keep me from it. Maine. *sigh* Winter with its dark hours and gray days has been influencing my listening habits already.

For those who care, the Wintermix09 seasonal comp will be complete by New Years so check in and download if you like. I just wanted to show some love here for some stuff that may not show up on the comp that has been keeping my neurons all warm and tingly through the early winter bluster.

Click above to go to the official site

Thank you Sasha. You never dissappoint. I am so in love with this mix right now. Deep, melodic, varying beat formats, moody and just plain sexy sexy, I am giddy with this new addition to the catalog.

Click to learn more about Popgirl 23

Portland’s little secret, Jen “Popgirl 23″ Barnes is the wellspring from which the ripest tunes in our humble port town flows. She is one of the area’s most well-known and respected house dj’s. She should be, she’s only been at it for 12+ years now. This past year or 2 has seen Jen laying relatively low, but she has continued to put together spotless mixes that range from thoughtful and introspective to out & out stompers. She was awarded Best House Dj at this year’s 2008 We Push Buttons Awards. If you don’t already know what’s up, click above and get with it.

Come out and see for yourself on December 27th @ White Heart!

Hey Scooby!!

As I lay here at almost noon in bed in my boxers I ponder further my sadness of the loss of my sacred childhood ritual – Saturday Morning Cartoons.

My childhood years not being my favorite stage of my life, few shining moments shine thru the muck of that mire in my memory. Saturday morning is not only a bright spot but a continuous, reoccurring one that provided some needed escape on a regular basis.

It was with a near Xmas morning anticipation that I would wake as early as possible every Saturday and watch even the oldest cartoons I didn’t care for so much at first. Scramble to to cupboard for a big bowl of cereal (maybe a new prize dig?!), and take up my spot a few feet from the tube on the floor to see my favorite shows larger than life!

Scooby, Speed Buggy, Bugs, Daffy, Droopy, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Stooges, Starblazers, Space Ghost, the Hurculoids, Little Rascals, Speed Racer, Voltron, Tom & Jerry, Dungeons & Dragons, GI Joe, Transformers… On and on

Hey, where'd he go?!?

I still enjoy these shows when I can catch them. I watched them to, I daresay, an abnormally older age. When execs got together to discuss the inception of CN’s Adult Swim my pic might as well have been emblazoned on the cover of the marketing proposal with a big red target on my forehead.

I later found other things to escape into, for better or worse… But I still still watch cartoons with the same fascination I had as a child, though I still miss that special time.

- mobile entry