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CUPCAKES!!!!!
Sep. 23rd, 2007 | 09:32 pm
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Mmm... The Cure at Red Rocks
Sep. 17th, 2007 | 08:29 am
You purchased 2 tickets to:
The Cure
Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO
Wed, May 21, 2008 07:30 PM
Seat location: section RES 1, row 9, seats 4-3
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Titty Booze Tumbler
Sep. 15th, 2007 | 11:18 am
mood: hungry
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Fantastic!
Sep. 10th, 2007 | 09:57 pm
So it has been a while since I have written any sort of blog post so here it goes, hopefully I remember how to do it. I kind of think of my blog like a cactus. For the most part it just sits there not doing much, occasionally you have to pay some attention to it but really your like "yeah, I have a cactus". Maybe I should get a cactus. I need some sort of plants in my apartment. Then again I am sure I would get a lot of "OMG your vegan your going to eat your poor house plants!" jokes.
So life has been pretty constant recently, not leaving much time for silly things like blogs. However this evening is all about relaxing and being lazy; which gives me a chance to do silly things like update blogs. So what has been going on you ask? Lots of fantastic stuff, thus the title of this post. Katie came out from Boston for a visit and we had a good time. Went drinking, out to the Merc, hung out with friends, watched movies and NIN videos, ate a bunch of yummy food. It was good times.
So also during that same time I got the chance to hang out with Anna outside work. Our friend Hope had kind of nudged us towards each other, and forwarded a few emails to both of us of us telling her how we had a crush on the other. So on that Friday we all went out drinking at Smarty Pants and drank a shit load of Manny's. After that we headed over to Hopes place and did a little more drinking and some unspeakable things happened that I shall not repeat here, but you know what they say... a picture is worth a thousand words.
Later Katie, Anna and I fell into a cab and I was somehow able to produce the driver with enough information to make it back to my place. Katie took my bed and Anna and I passed out cuddled up on the floor in the living room. That point on I have had this silly happy grin on my face. We then hung out a few more times including nerding out over old skinny puppy and ministry bootlegs, going to Bumbershoot where we saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Kings of Leon and seeing The new Halloween. We have so much fun together, It's been a while since I have been this happy. So yeah, no longer single, and incredibly happy.
Oh and here is another silly little play list I put together. Download it and enjoy
So life has been pretty constant recently, not leaving much time for silly things like blogs. However this evening is all about relaxing and being lazy; which gives me a chance to do silly things like update blogs. So what has been going on you ask? Lots of fantastic stuff, thus the title of this post. Katie came out from Boston for a visit and we had a good time. Went drinking, out to the Merc, hung out with friends, watched movies and NIN videos, ate a bunch of yummy food. It was good times.
So also during that same time I got the chance to hang out with Anna outside work. Our friend Hope had kind of nudged us towards each other, and forwarded a few emails to both of us of us telling her how we had a crush on the other. So on that Friday we all went out drinking at Smarty Pants and drank a shit load of Manny's. After that we headed over to Hopes place and did a little more drinking and some unspeakable things happened that I shall not repeat here, but you know what they say... a picture is worth a thousand words.
Later Katie, Anna and I fell into a cab and I was somehow able to produce the driver with enough information to make it back to my place. Katie took my bed and Anna and I passed out cuddled up on the floor in the living room. That point on I have had this silly happy grin on my face. We then hung out a few more times including nerding out over old skinny puppy and ministry bootlegs, going to Bumbershoot where we saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Kings of Leon and seeing The new Halloween. We have so much fun together, It's been a while since I have been this happy. So yeah, no longer single, and incredibly happy.
Oh and here is another silly little play list I put together. Download it and enjoy
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My heart is a shitty drummer.
Aug. 15th, 2007 | 11:12 am
Yesterday I had my follow up appointment regrading my trip to the emergency room. I was looking forward to getting some explanation on why my heart felt like it was going to explode.
The doctor told me that he spoke with the doctor in the emergency room about my visit and that it turns out that I have arrhythmia and that my heart randomly has extra beats. The good thing is that its a type of arrhythmia that is harmless and doesn't need treatment. Everything else came back ok.
While it was nice to know that it wasn't anything serious, I wish I was able to figure out what caused it and how I can keep it from happening again. Actually, the doctor told me that It probably will happen again. He told me all the generic "be healthy" tips but nothing that I am not already doing.
You know, with my arrhythmia I could become some crazy ass musician. I would get a heart monitor or something that picks up the sound of my heart and hook it up to a computer and through a bunch of crazy effects pedals then drink a bunch of caffeine and make my heart go crazy while I sample it, loop it, and do all sorts of weird stuff.. I imagine it would end up sounding something like this.
The doctor told me that he spoke with the doctor in the emergency room about my visit and that it turns out that I have arrhythmia and that my heart randomly has extra beats. The good thing is that its a type of arrhythmia that is harmless and doesn't need treatment. Everything else came back ok.
While it was nice to know that it wasn't anything serious, I wish I was able to figure out what caused it and how I can keep it from happening again. Actually, the doctor told me that It probably will happen again. He told me all the generic "be healthy" tips but nothing that I am not already doing.
You know, with my arrhythmia I could become some crazy ass musician. I would get a heart monitor or something that picks up the sound of my heart and hook it up to a computer and through a bunch of crazy effects pedals then drink a bunch of caffeine and make my heart go crazy while I sample it, loop it, and do all sorts of weird stuff.. I imagine it would end up sounding something like this.
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It says on your chart your fucked up
Aug. 9th, 2007 | 01:40 pm
On Tuesday I had to take a little trip to the emergency room. While I was at work, during a thrilling meeting I started felling pain in my side by my rib cage, kind of by my heart. That was followed by feeling light headed and numbness in my limbs.
Thinking that it was due to the tension in my back I took some back medicine that they have in these little first aid cabinets at work. It wasn't getting better and wasn't going away. I thought that I might need some fresh air and went outside. While I was walking outside I felt off balanced and my heart started speeding up and slowing down.
I had someone give me a ride home from work and on the way I said "You know what, you should probably take me to the hospital." When I arrived they checked my vitals and everything looked ok. I sat in the waiting room for about half an hour. The took me back and instructed me to change into one of those lovely hospital gowns. After a little while the nurse came back and asked me some questions and took my vitals again and my heart rate was up to 136 bpm. She left and I heard her tell some one "Dude is ticking at 136 and no fever". A few minuets later she returned and told me they were going to hook me up to an EKG to look at my heart. "Its quick and easy and it gives us a good idea of whats going on". Shortly after I am being hooked up to an EKG. They put the electrodes onto my arms stomach and chest and hook them up to the machine. The little things the hook onto the electrodes reminded me of a scene in Idiocricy with the Health Master Inferno "This one goes in your mouth, this one goes in your ear, and this one goes in your butt."
He started up the machine and I peaked over his shoulder and tried to get an Idea of what all the squiggly lines meant. My guess was green was good, yellow was ok, and red was bad. Luckily I was seeing mostly green. He removed the electrodes and told me that the doctor would be in to talk to me about my results.
The doctor came, he looked like he was straight off some TV hospital drama. He asked me the standard questions: have you eaten, do you smoke, any recreational drugs, so on and so forth. He said that they were going to do some blood tests. However did not mention anything about my EKG results.
The nurse came back in and said that they were going to hook me up to the monitor since my heart rate was still high. Once gain, on things stuck onto me and hooked up to some machine. More laying around waiting. Then another nurse comes to draw blood for the blood tests. She commented on how high my heart rate was and asked me some of the same questions everyone had been asking. She drew blood, and hooked me up to an IV.
At this point I was kind of nervous. It seemed like it was something they were having a hard time figuring out. It was like they kept adding on tests as some sort of special bonus. I would of felt much more at ease if they said up front "We are going to do an EKG, Blood Tests, etc..." So I continued laying there, waiting.
Some guy came and moved the curtain all the way open and asked me If I was ready to go. I was confused. He asked me my name and date of birth, and kept looking at his chart. He then looked at my bracelet and noticed that they did not match. I told him "Good, otherwise I would be really nervous since I don't think I am going anywhere". My nurse came back in and said they were going to do x-rays. The same guy came back with the error corrected and wheeled me off to x-ray land. He had me stand up with all the wires hooked up to me and the IV running from my arm and twist into funny positions while he x-rayed my chest. I was wheeled back and more waiting.
The doctor came back and said that probably due to the pains I was having or stress.. or something I had a panic attack.. the back medicine i took had caffeine in it which made my heart rate go crazy. They pumped me with some drugs to counteract the caffeine and shortly after sent me on my way.
I was a bit confused about what they said. I am not a high stress kind of guy, and I didn't have much caffeine that day. I went back and looked at the back medicine and it had the equivalent to a cup of coffee.
I now have a follow up appointment with a normal doctor on Tuesday. Hopefully he can shed some light on to the situation.
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Portland? Why the hell not.
Aug. 3rd, 2007 | 08:56 am
The other day my boss told me that If I didn't have anything going on Thursday and Friday that I should take them off, so I did. I had no idea what I was going to do with four days off in a row. Seafair is this weekend in Seattle which for me means masses of people and terrible traffic. So that pretty muched rulled out doing anything in the Seattle area and gave me two options. 1.) Stay inside like a total nerd and do nerd stuff or 2.) Get the hell out of town. Get out of town it was.
Since I went camping last weekend and finally got everything unpacked and put away, it's not something I was too interested in doing again. So after some thinking and weighing my options I decided to venture down to Portland. Thursday morning I packed up my stuff and headed south. This was the first time I have randomly driven somewhere on my own.
A few hours later I arrived in Portland and after getting somewhat lost I was able to find my way to my friend Tisa's place. We decided to go get some coffee but were defeated by the heat as it was something like 10,000* outside; we settled for veggie pho. Yes I know, hot soup on a hot day doesn't make much sense but they had AC so everything was ok.
We then headed downtown and met up with Tisa's associate and went and saw the film Paprika. It was fantastic. There is a reoccurring parade scene with dancing home appliances, a frog band, and various toys. I think I might have nightmares about this at some point. The dancing appliances and frog band were awesome but there were some really creepy dolls that kinda freaked me out. Oh and a new fact that I learned is that you can order beer in some of the theaters in Portland, including the one that we were at.We then and did some drinking, went to 80's night at a gay bar where I discovered that the gay men of Portland seem to like me. After Tisa got totally trashed we headed back to her place and talked about how messed up dating / relationships are and then passed out.
Today is apparently "International bring your friend Toby to work" day. Which works out well since Tisa has to work for a few hours.
I have no idea why I am awake right now, I should be sleeping.
Since I went camping last weekend and finally got everything unpacked and put away, it's not something I was too interested in doing again. So after some thinking and weighing my options I decided to venture down to Portland. Thursday morning I packed up my stuff and headed south. This was the first time I have randomly driven somewhere on my own.
A few hours later I arrived in Portland and after getting somewhat lost I was able to find my way to my friend Tisa's place. We decided to go get some coffee but were defeated by the heat as it was something like 10,000* outside; we settled for veggie pho. Yes I know, hot soup on a hot day doesn't make much sense but they had AC so everything was ok.
We then headed downtown and met up with Tisa's associate and went and saw the film Paprika. It was fantastic. There is a reoccurring parade scene with dancing home appliances, a frog band, and various toys. I think I might have nightmares about this at some point. The dancing appliances and frog band were awesome but there were some really creepy dolls that kinda freaked me out. Oh and a new fact that I learned is that you can order beer in some of the theaters in Portland, including the one that we were at.We then and did some drinking, went to 80's night at a gay bar where I discovered that the gay men of Portland seem to like me. After Tisa got totally trashed we headed back to her place and talked about how messed up dating / relationships are and then passed out.
Today is apparently "International bring your friend Toby to work" day. Which works out well since Tisa has to work for a few hours.
I have no idea why I am awake right now, I should be sleeping.
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Camping v2.0
Jul. 29th, 2007 | 11:39 pm
So once again Derek and I decided it would be a good idea to "get our camp on". Friday I finished up what I needed to at work, left early, and after a stop at home I was on my way down I-90 heading east out of Seattle. I was headed into the woods somewhere between the village of North Bend and the summit of the mighty snoqualime pass. After a short drive I arived and was able to secure a campsite next to the river. I somehow managed to erect my tent and set up. Shortly after Derek arrived and we decided we needed fire. After being unable to start the wood on fire using paper and a lighter, we had to resort to alternative method.
After fire was established we began drinking and projecting noise into the forest. Once the proper level of drunk was achieved we stumbled to our designated sleeping areas and passed out.
The next morning I awoke before the sun came up and stumbled out of my tent to take pictures. I realized the night before that I was apparently unable to finish my last rum and coke which was sitting atop my cooler. It looked like a leaf had fallen into my cup, oh well, not like I was going to drink it anyways. I stumbled up to the bridge and took some morning as the sun started to throw light over the mountains.
After a while I got frustrated since the sun was not coming up as fast as I wanted it to and realized while it was getting light out, all the sun was doing at this time was washing out the sky on my pictures. I headed back to the campsite and went to dump out my half cup of rum and coke. It was at this point when I realized that what I thought a leaf was in fact a small furry animal that had somehow managed to climb into the cup and found itself unable to climb back out. I felt bad for setting up the situation that lead to its demise. Unready to deal with the situation I moved the cup away from the area and decided to come back to it later.
Derek awoke and after some breakfast and more fire we haded to Franklin Falls. When we searched for a place to park and after a short while were able to find a suitable spot.
With the car placed atop a pile of dirt and gravel we hiked down to the falls and took some pictures, luckily we were there between groups of families and were able to get some pictures without people standing in the way.
On the hike back up we were looking for a way to get back down to the creek further away from the falls. Eventually we found it along with another smaller waterfall.
After climbing around on rocks trying to make it to the other side of the creek without getting our cameras wet we gave up and headed back to camp making a short detour up the side of a mountain.
Form one of the viewpoints on the mountain Derek spotted the remains of a car that had apparently flew off the side of the mountain. After some investigation he was able to determine it was a nissan ulitima.
We then headed back to North Bend where there was some sort of cycling event going on. Deterred by the mass of people we got some food, drank some beer and headed back to the campsite to continue the drinking.
Later that night we headed up to the snoquamile tunnel with various lighting implements to take some pictures. Almost 2 hours later we decided to pack up and head back to the campsite. (I would suggest clicking on the pictures and viewing them full size)
Once we got back we continued with the drinking, fire and noise and eventually went to sleep. The next morning we awoke to overcast skies and packed up the campsite. We talked about camping again at the end of August with more people and then headed back to Seattle.
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Henry Rollins
Jul. 26th, 2007 | 11:14 am
A few days ago I received my tickets to see Henry Rollins perform at the Moore Theater on Halloween. This made me extremely happy as I some how managed to secure 3rd row tickets and until I was able to hold them in my hands I thought I might of been experiencing some sort of crazy delusion.
So now I get to go see Rollins on Halloween with my friend Kacy and its going to be fucking spectacular. I am going dressed as a zombie, and am trying to convince Kacy to do the same.
Now some of you might be thinking, "Henry Rollins? Isn't he that Liar guy? that song sucks!" While I like the song "liar" for the lyrics I am not a fan of most of his music, a little too much screaming for me. However, the tickets I bought are for one of his his spoken word shows which are absolutely amazing and hilarious.
So now I get to go see Rollins on Halloween with my friend Kacy and its going to be fucking spectacular. I am going dressed as a zombie, and am trying to convince Kacy to do the same.
Now some of you might be thinking, "Henry Rollins? Isn't he that Liar guy? that song sucks!" While I like the song "liar" for the lyrics I am not a fan of most of his music, a little too much screaming for me. However, the tickets I bought are for one of his his spoken word shows which are absolutely amazing and hilarious.
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Serail Killers in the Making.
Jul. 21st, 2007 | 09:57 am
Chappie sent me a link the other day stating that "here's a good one to make you wish it was legal to kill people out of good will". The link was to a story about a girl who started a kitten on fire, including a picture of said kitten who somehow survived. She went on to state the fact that "most serial killers start out torturing animals".
This got me thinking since I am currently in the middle of reading Slaughterhouse by Gail E. Eisnitz. There are a lot of examples of how animals are deliberately tortured in the slaughtering process. Sometimes its to keep the line moving, sometimes its out of boredom or rage. Think about what you do for a living, eventually you get bored, you get angry and sometimes you have a lot of pressure put on you, and a lot of times its reflective in your work. Maybe you pull pranks on your co-workers, maybe you purposelessly do something wrong to get back at someone you don't like since you know it will bite them in the ass, maybe you cut corners to meet a deadline. It's the same for those who kill animals for a living, except they have animals in front of them all day long. They get bored an they stick things up the animals ass, or in their eye just to watch them squirm. If they get angry at someone down the line they might not stun the animal properly to have it cause problems for that person when the animal comes down their part of the line. Plus when the line speeds up, they cut corners and that means a lot more animals are alive and conscious during the slaughter process.
So back to the story Chappie sent me. I started thinking about all these people who work at slaughterhouses. I already consider them serial killers.. but a lot of non-vegans don't. However if you think about the fact that most serial killers (of humans) start off by torturing animals, and we have this whole industry full of them... It just makes you wonder.
This got me thinking since I am currently in the middle of reading Slaughterhouse by Gail E. Eisnitz. There are a lot of examples of how animals are deliberately tortured in the slaughtering process. Sometimes its to keep the line moving, sometimes its out of boredom or rage. Think about what you do for a living, eventually you get bored, you get angry and sometimes you have a lot of pressure put on you, and a lot of times its reflective in your work. Maybe you pull pranks on your co-workers, maybe you purposelessly do something wrong to get back at someone you don't like since you know it will bite them in the ass, maybe you cut corners to meet a deadline. It's the same for those who kill animals for a living, except they have animals in front of them all day long. They get bored an they stick things up the animals ass, or in their eye just to watch them squirm. If they get angry at someone down the line they might not stun the animal properly to have it cause problems for that person when the animal comes down their part of the line. Plus when the line speeds up, they cut corners and that means a lot more animals are alive and conscious during the slaughter process.
So back to the story Chappie sent me. I started thinking about all these people who work at slaughterhouses. I already consider them serial killers.. but a lot of non-vegans don't. However if you think about the fact that most serial killers (of humans) start off by torturing animals, and we have this whole industry full of them... It just makes you wonder.
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Twitch!
Jul. 17th, 2007 | 02:47 pm
So yesterday my right eyelid decided to rebel against the rest of my body and started twitching for no reason. Well maybe there is a reason. Maybe my right eyelid has some sort of plan to run away. Then I would have to post pictures up all over "Have you seen this eyelid?"
Speaking of eyelid, what is the bottom part called? I am assuming that the top part is the lid, as lids go on top of things. Maybe the bottom part is the eye holder that keeps your eye from rolling out of your head. I think it should be that way.. you all now have 2 eye lids, and 2 eye holders. Look at that, I gave you two new body parts you didn't even know you had.
In an attempt to keep my right eyelid attached, I decided to investigate on the internet and I found this:
Tonight I am going to make my comfort food for some work event where people bring in their comfort food and then everyone has to guess who brought in what. I would share what I am going to make, but a few co-workers read this and I wan to keep things interesting. Then again it will probably be pretty easy to pick out the vegan dish.
In other news I got 3rd row tickets to see Henry Rollins!!! On Halloween!! I am going to go with Kacy (who actually introduced me to the awesomeness that is Rollins spoken word) and we are going to dress up like zombies!!
Also my friend Katie from Boston is going to come visit at the end of August so I am excited about that.
Speaking of eyelid, what is the bottom part called? I am assuming that the top part is the lid, as lids go on top of things. Maybe the bottom part is the eye holder that keeps your eye from rolling out of your head. I think it should be that way.. you all now have 2 eye lids, and 2 eye holders. Look at that, I gave you two new body parts you didn't even know you had.
In an attempt to keep my right eyelid attached, I decided to investigate on the internet and I found this:
Eyelid twitching usually disappears without treatment. In the meantime, the following steps may help:
- Get more sleep.
- Drink less caffeine.
- Lubricate your eyes with eye drops.
If twitching is severe, small injections of Botulinum toxin can temporarily cure the spasms.
Ok I now understand why my eyelid is twitching, lack of sleep and too much caffeine. I guess I will have to get more sleep and cut back on the caffeine. I will not be able to do the eye drop things... every time I try to I end up closing my eye and getting the solution running down my face. I try this a few times and then give up... eventually someone looks at me and asks "Whats wrong Toby? Why are you crying?"Tonight I am going to make my comfort food for some work event where people bring in their comfort food and then everyone has to guess who brought in what. I would share what I am going to make, but a few co-workers read this and I wan to keep things interesting. Then again it will probably be pretty easy to pick out the vegan dish.
In other news I got 3rd row tickets to see Henry Rollins!!! On Halloween!! I am going to go with Kacy (who actually introduced me to the awesomeness that is Rollins spoken word) and we are going to dress up like zombies!!
Also my friend Katie from Boston is going to come visit at the end of August so I am excited about that.
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You Can't Stop It
Jul. 8th, 2007 | 05:47 pm
I have been getting questions regarding my email to CafePress. Yes, I got a response but it was pretty lame; here it is.
I guessed this was the reason that they wouldn't print the shirt, and I wasn't about to write another email arguing the use of a swastika. Although I was tempted to send a long ranty email asking if we should go back and edit out all the swastikas in history books, and try to pretend the holocaust didn't happen. Or perhaps we should go and edit out the face of George W. Bush, if thats not a image of hate I don't know what is. It was going to end in a glorious rant about George Lucas and how he likes to edit things, but I just didn't have it in me.
Instead, I decided to take my business elsewhere. The little ball of unhappy t-shirts can be bough here. I am going to start making other shirts too.. so keep an eye out.
However, little did the CafePress minion know.....
Dear azroth,
Thank you for contacting CafePress.com!
Messages of hate are prohibited through the CafePress.com service, and due to the immediate association with hate that the swastika represents; we have made the decision to put into effect a near complete ban on the use of the swastika image.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Your ticket code is LTK30043832095X. Please use this code in any further communication.
Best Regards,
Jessica S.
Content Usage Associate
I guessed this was the reason that they wouldn't print the shirt, and I wasn't about to write another email arguing the use of a swastika. Although I was tempted to send a long ranty email asking if we should go back and edit out all the swastikas in history books, and try to pretend the holocaust didn't happen. Or perhaps we should go and edit out the face of George W. Bush, if thats not a image of hate I don't know what is. It was going to end in a glorious rant about George Lucas and how he likes to edit things, but I just didn't have it in me.
Instead, I decided to take my business elsewhere. The little ball of unhappy t-shirts can be bough here. I am going to start making other shirts too.. so keep an eye out.
However, little did the CafePress minion know.....
....CafePress did produce 1 little ball of unhappy shirt for Lauren. Now CafePress will be haunted by the little ball of unhappy, but in a much more bad ass laser form.
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CafePress hates the little ball of unhappy
Jun. 24th, 2007 | 04:05 pm
As mentioned in my previous post I designed a little ball of unhappy t-shirt on CafePress. However it came to my attention that the link in my post was not working properly and stated that the item did not exist. Thinking I somehow fucked up the link I did some investigating and found out that CafePress hates the little ball of unhappy. The shirt has a status of "Pending" and the image is being reviewed. The information I got about why is as follows:
This image cannot be added to any product since it is pending image verification due to the following reason: Depicts drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products.
All images on CafePress.com are verified to ensure inappropriate material is not sold through our service. Please review Section 3.3 of our Shopkeeper Agreement relating to prohibited items: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/s
We will review your account and determine whether your image is in compliance with our policies and allowed on our network. You may change or delete this image if you believe that is not in compliance with the terms set forth in our Shopkeeper Agreement.
Please note that if this image is not in compliance with our policies and does not pass our verification, we may delete it at any time with no further notice to you.
If you have any questions please feel free to send an email to: imageverification@cafepress.com
Thanks! CafePress.com
Last time I checked the little ball of unhappy is not drugs, alcohol or a tobacco product. So I decided to write CafePress as they suggeted I do. My Email is as follows.
Dear CafePress drone,
I have recently placed an image onto your web site so it may be printed onto a shirt and sold as from what I understand that is what you do, it has been assigned a number of #20307267.
However It has come to my attention you are currently needlessly involved in the process of reviewing this image which is holding up the process of the shirt being created and distributed. I wish to save you some time and let you know that in fact this image does not need to be reviewed, as I have found an error.
When investigating why others were not able to view or purchase my newly created clothing product I came across this statement: "This image cannot be added to any product since it is pending image verification due to the following reason: Depicts drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products" This confused me as the image does not contain any of these things. I sat around for a while wondering if I lost my mind as the all mighty CafePress could never be wrong. I wonder if i had stumbled upon some new top secret drug, or maybe my little ball of unhappy looks like a puddle of some sort of blueberry flavored alcoholic beverage. Perhaps someone thought that I was high and or drunk when I created the image and that is some how in violation of some sort of secret CafePress code, but I assure you I was not. So I finally realized that to my surprise CafePress was in fact wrong!
This is where you come in, yes you. I require that you change the status on the previously mentioned image to approved, and not only approved but to "fucking awesome". You may also print one of these shirts for yourself and wear it proudly as it is a fantastic piece of art. Wear it with pride.
I thank you for addressing this issue.
- Toby Gallier
Mastermind behind the little ball of unhappy
Lets see what happens now.
This image cannot be added to any product since it is pending image verification due to the following reason: Depicts drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products.
All images on CafePress.com are verified to ensure inappropriate material is not sold through our service. Please review Section 3.3 of our Shopkeeper Agreement relating to prohibited items: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/s
We will review your account and determine whether your image is in compliance with our policies and allowed on our network. You may change or delete this image if you believe that is not in compliance with the terms set forth in our Shopkeeper Agreement.
Please note that if this image is not in compliance with our policies and does not pass our verification, we may delete it at any time with no further notice to you.
If you have any questions please feel free to send an email to: imageverification@cafepress.com
Thanks! CafePress.com
Last time I checked the little ball of unhappy is not drugs, alcohol or a tobacco product. So I decided to write CafePress as they suggeted I do. My Email is as follows.
Dear CafePress drone,
I have recently placed an image onto your web site so it may be printed onto a shirt and sold as from what I understand that is what you do, it has been assigned a number of #20307267.
However It has come to my attention you are currently needlessly involved in the process of reviewing this image which is holding up the process of the shirt being created and distributed. I wish to save you some time and let you know that in fact this image does not need to be reviewed, as I have found an error.
When investigating why others were not able to view or purchase my newly created clothing product I came across this statement: "This image cannot be added to any product since it is pending image verification due to the following reason: Depicts drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products" This confused me as the image does not contain any of these things. I sat around for a while wondering if I lost my mind as the all mighty CafePress could never be wrong. I wonder if i had stumbled upon some new top secret drug, or maybe my little ball of unhappy looks like a puddle of some sort of blueberry flavored alcoholic beverage. Perhaps someone thought that I was high and or drunk when I created the image and that is some how in violation of some sort of secret CafePress code, but I assure you I was not. So I finally realized that to my surprise CafePress was in fact wrong!
This is where you come in, yes you. I require that you change the status on the previously mentioned image to approved, and not only approved but to "fucking awesome". You may also print one of these shirts for yourself and wear it proudly as it is a fantastic piece of art. Wear it with pride.
I thank you for addressing this issue.
- Toby Gallier
Mastermind behind the little ball of unhappy
Lets see what happens now.
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Random Stuff
Jun. 23rd, 2007 | 01:07 am
Item 1.) I got out and took some pictures with my new camera. I have determed I need a better tripod as some of them turned out slightly blury.
Item 2.) Tomorrow there is going to be a random gathering of people at my place, there will be drinking and hilarious results. If you around and interested in joining in, give me a msg /email / phone call.
Item 3.) Sometimes I make random little playlists on my ipod and I thought it would be nice to share. So here is the first playlist of mine to become public. I think I will try to make a new one each week with various themes and music styles. You can download it here, if you don't like it I will give you your money back.
01. The Faint - Phone Call
02. Thee More Shallows - Night At The Knight School
03. The National - Mistaken For Strangers
04. She Wants Revenge - Out Of Control
05. Hot Chip - Over And Over
06. Battles - Atlas
07. Nine Inch Nails - Reptile
08. Alec Empire - Addicted To You
09. Electric Six - Mr. Woman
10. Cloud Cult - Please Reamin Calm
11. The Dandy Warhols - The Dope
12. Say Hi To Your Mom - Blah Blah Blah
13. Cursive - The Recluse
14. Thom Yorke - Skip Divided
15. Tori Amos - Caught A LIte Sneeze
16. The Bird And The Bee - Again & Agian
17. Sia - Sunday
18. Elliott Smith - Pitseleh
Item 4.) By popluar demand there is now a little ball of unhappy t-shirt wich can be purchased here. I can't belive someone *cough* *cough* chappie *cough* already bought one.
Item 5.) I should be sleeping but training materials make Toby go crazy and not want to sleep in fear of having nightmares about said training materials.
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Adventures In Portland
Jun. 20th, 2007 | 10:36 am
I have been meaning to go down Portland for a while now, especially since becoming vegan. Apparently, Portland is the vegan mecca in the US, so I thought I would see what all the talk was about. On top of that my friend Tisa lives down there and I have only seen her once since I moved back ... 3 years ago.
Since Derek is also friends with Tisa (total "small world" story) and wanted to do some exploring in Portland I was able to convince him to join in the journey. I think we both wanted to get the hell out of Seattle for a bit anyways, at least I did. We decided to leave Saturday morning.
I woke up at the crack of 10am and after a tasty breakfast at the wayward cafe I made my way over to Derek's place. We had decided to drive down in Derek's glorious red 84 audi 4000 quattro which he had recently, with many modifications tot he engine bay inserted some sort of crazy turbo engine into. I also believe that he modified his 5th gear for better highway performance. However, since Derek is smarter than listen to anything played on the radio the antenna is not hooked up. This caused a problem since my ipod transmitter relies on an antenna and Derek did not have one of his own; we needed noise. So after Derek's quest to find a hard wire adapter that would eventually lead him to best buy who robbed him of $20 we had a solution. It was only that when he tried to implement that solution that we ran into problems. In short, this adapter was supposed to hook up to his pre-existing cd changer cord, it did not work. After some swearing, research on the internet, ripping the car apart and finding the solution was much simpler than it needed to be and made no sense, resolving a what seemed to be random issue with the rear power windows not going back up we had noise and were on our way.
However, that was not just some random issue with the window. As we drove down I-5 at high speeds we realized that the other back window was not rolling up, and it was starting to rain. Derek performed some sort of repair as he was driving and was able to get it back up. Later, I hear Derek say "OH SHIT!" and then cross multiple lanes of traffic to the shoulder since his oil pressure gauge was at zero. After ripping the car apart again on the side of I-5 the issue was resolved and it was determined that while ripping the car apart to install the ipod adapter that some wires got knocked around and came loose causing the previous issues.
We arrived in Portland around 4pm and checked into the hotel. We then made our way into the north west part of the city where I spent a large amount of money on a a new digital slr camera, a nikon d80, I named it Blinky. We then wondered about for a bit, drank some beer, got some food and eventualy meet up with Tisa and her crazy blue yarn hair. We went and visited Pirate Town, a closed industrial waste site in North Portland which has some abandoned and some what destroyed buildings covered in grafiti. I tried to take some pictures with blinky but it was getting dark and I didn't have a tripod so the pictures turned out blurry. We headed back to Tisa's place and she then found out that PLUNDERTHON! was going on. PLUNDERTHON! is an event where a bunch of people dress up like pirates, make "ships" out of shopping carts and cardboard and then invade various bar's and clubs. Tisa got dressed up in her pirate stuff, I threw on my bandanna in a very sad attempt to look somewhat pirateish, and Derek had his long hair. We were off to meet up with the pirates. We got into the club and there was a very bad 80's cover band and a bunch of pirates, It was a very surreal. After watching the pirates for a little and a very weak drink, we decided to leave, which I am kicking myself for. I would of liked to have mixed it up with the pirates a little more. However, on my way out someone offered me $3 for my bandanna, which I quickly took. We dropped Tisa off and headed back to our hotel.
We were abruptly awoken by the sounds of children in the room next to us. We decided to go and get some coffee and make our way downtown for some breakfast. We made it to Veganopolis (later to find out Tisa used to work there) where I filled my tummy with vegan breakfast food. It was ok but not anything special compared to the all mighty wayward. Wandered around a bit then met up with Tisa again. We went to Forest Park and hiked around a bit eventually ending up at the Audubon Society of Portland and watched newts and salamanders swim around for a bit. We then concluded our visit with a meal at the Pirate's Tavern which was damn tasty.
It was a good trip and nice to visit with Tisa. I think next time I go down I will stay longer and explore the city and surrounding areas more.
Since Derek is also friends with Tisa (total "small world" story) and wanted to do some exploring in Portland I was able to convince him to join in the journey. I think we both wanted to get the hell out of Seattle for a bit anyways, at least I did. We decided to leave Saturday morning.
I woke up at the crack of 10am and after a tasty breakfast at the wayward cafe I made my way over to Derek's place. We had decided to drive down in Derek's glorious red 84 audi 4000 quattro which he had recently, with many modifications tot he engine bay inserted some sort of crazy turbo engine into. I also believe that he modified his 5th gear for better highway performance. However, since Derek is smarter than listen to anything played on the radio the antenna is not hooked up. This caused a problem since my ipod transmitter relies on an antenna and Derek did not have one of his own; we needed noise. So after Derek's quest to find a hard wire adapter that would eventually lead him to best buy who robbed him of $20 we had a solution. It was only that when he tried to implement that solution that we ran into problems. In short, this adapter was supposed to hook up to his pre-existing cd changer cord, it did not work. After some swearing, research on the internet, ripping the car apart and finding the solution was much simpler than it needed to be and made no sense, resolving a what seemed to be random issue with the rear power windows not going back up we had noise and were on our way.
However, that was not just some random issue with the window. As we drove down I-5 at high speeds we realized that the other back window was not rolling up, and it was starting to rain. Derek performed some sort of repair as he was driving and was able to get it back up. Later, I hear Derek say "OH SHIT!" and then cross multiple lanes of traffic to the shoulder since his oil pressure gauge was at zero. After ripping the car apart again on the side of I-5 the issue was resolved and it was determined that while ripping the car apart to install the ipod adapter that some wires got knocked around and came loose causing the previous issues.
We arrived in Portland around 4pm and checked into the hotel. We then made our way into the north west part of the city where I spent a large amount of money on a a new digital slr camera, a nikon d80, I named it Blinky. We then wondered about for a bit, drank some beer, got some food and eventualy meet up with Tisa and her crazy blue yarn hair. We went and visited Pirate Town, a closed industrial waste site in North Portland which has some abandoned and some what destroyed buildings covered in grafiti. I tried to take some pictures with blinky but it was getting dark and I didn't have a tripod so the pictures turned out blurry. We headed back to Tisa's place and she then found out that PLUNDERTHON! was going on. PLUNDERTHON! is an event where a bunch of people dress up like pirates, make "ships" out of shopping carts and cardboard and then invade various bar's and clubs. Tisa got dressed up in her pirate stuff, I threw on my bandanna in a very sad attempt to look somewhat pirateish, and Derek had his long hair. We were off to meet up with the pirates. We got into the club and there was a very bad 80's cover band and a bunch of pirates, It was a very surreal. After watching the pirates for a little and a very weak drink, we decided to leave, which I am kicking myself for. I would of liked to have mixed it up with the pirates a little more. However, on my way out someone offered me $3 for my bandanna, which I quickly took. We dropped Tisa off and headed back to our hotel.
We were abruptly awoken by the sounds of children in the room next to us. We decided to go and get some coffee and make our way downtown for some breakfast. We made it to Veganopolis (later to find out Tisa used to work there) where I filled my tummy with vegan breakfast food. It was ok but not anything special compared to the all mighty wayward. Wandered around a bit then met up with Tisa again. We went to Forest Park and hiked around a bit eventually ending up at the Audubon Society of Portland and watched newts and salamanders swim around for a bit. We then concluded our visit with a meal at the Pirate's Tavern which was damn tasty.
It was a good trip and nice to visit with Tisa. I think next time I go down I will stay longer and explore the city and surrounding areas more.
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The Little Ball of Unhappy
Jun. 12th, 2007 | 08:54 pm
So I was having a conversation and the term "little ball of unhappy" jumped out of my mouth. As soon as I said it I realized how disgustedly cute it sounded and did not convey the image I was trying to get at all. I laughed about it for a bit and then said I had to draw it.. so I did.
Its been a while since I have drawn anything so it didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to. So at that point I decided to see what sort of damage I could do in photoshop.
I never claimed drawing In photoshop is a talent of mine, but it was fun to mess around with. I may start doing more drawings and seeing if I can sharpen my drawing and photoshop skills. However, my little ball of unhappy still did not look right... just this random floating blob. That was until.....
I thought I about photoshoping it onto the lead singer of dashboard confessional, I figure there is nothing that defines little ball of unhappy than an emo icon. However after searching for a picture of said person I figured out that once I worked my photoshop magic no one would know who it was. I thinking then of Robert Smith, if you can't do emo, the runner up is goth, but that hair was too much to deal with. Then I finally settled on hitler, one big ball of unhappy.
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Beta Camping
Jun. 8th, 2007 | 11:39 am
Last weekend Derek and I headed into the mountains for some camping. This is the first of many campings to take place during the warm months and in preparation for the ultra mega epic camping, with the tag line of "Fuck you! I'm Camping" that will take place sometime in the not so distant future where we hope to have many people to come join us for some drinking, music, fire, and miscellaneous acts of insanity.
This camping included much drinking, an angry river, and some drunk dialing. We also explored the snoqualmie tunnel, a 2.3 mile long stretch of old, very dark, rail tunnel.
To entice others to join us here are some pictures from last weekend, more pictures can be found here.
This camping included much drinking, an angry river, and some drunk dialing. We also explored the snoqualmie tunnel, a 2.3 mile long stretch of old, very dark, rail tunnel.
To entice others to join us here are some pictures from last weekend, more pictures can be found here.
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Luck / Ikea Hell
May. 26th, 2007 | 08:18 pm
I seem to be on a lucky streak recently. First I was able to secure tickets to see Robin Williams at the showbox (fairly small venue) where he was trying out his new material. It was pretty fucking funny, however I did notice that a few of his jokes where oddly similar to some Ralphie May and Hennry Rollins jokes. Hurm..
Next, I was able to snag tickets to see the Beastie Boys at the Crocodile Cafe (very small venue). The show was amazing, no scratching or samples, just all live instruments. They played a bunch of old /rare songs, even some of their old punk stuff. A review of the show can be found here. Apparently there were only 300 tickets sold, there were some people offering $400 for one ticket.
Then on top of that my best friend Nick is coming up at the end of the month for a visit, and is contemplating transferring back up here.
Today I went to Ikea with my dad. There is nothing like Ikea on a weekend... during a sale.. and a holiday. It was Ikea hell. I ended up getting a new dining room table, chairs, computer desk, and bed frame. However, since its Ikea what I got actually looks like this:
Some assembly required. So, to cope with that I stopped by the liquor store and bought some vodka and rum. Its going to be a long night of drinking and assembling furniture using instructions that only have pictures. Who wants to place bets on how, not if, I injure myself?
Next, I was able to snag tickets to see the Beastie Boys at the Crocodile Cafe (very small venue). The show was amazing, no scratching or samples, just all live instruments. They played a bunch of old /rare songs, even some of their old punk stuff. A review of the show can be found here. Apparently there were only 300 tickets sold, there were some people offering $400 for one ticket.
Then on top of that my best friend Nick is coming up at the end of the month for a visit, and is contemplating transferring back up here.
Today I went to Ikea with my dad. There is nothing like Ikea on a weekend... during a sale.. and a holiday. It was Ikea hell. I ended up getting a new dining room table, chairs, computer desk, and bed frame. However, since its Ikea what I got actually looks like this:
Some assembly required. So, to cope with that I stopped by the liquor store and bought some vodka and rum. Its going to be a long night of drinking and assembling furniture using instructions that only have pictures. Who wants to place bets on how, not if, I injure myself?
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Ever Been To Vegas?
May. 15th, 2007 | 09:49 am
Yesterday when I was riding the bus into work, this little old lady sat down next to me. She started talking to me, obviously not seeing the white cord running from my ears down to the little black box dispensing noise. Half awake I removed my headphones and looked over at her. She looked familiar, but i couldn't place it. She asked me where I worked, what I did, etc. She started digging around in her bag and then it hit me, I knew why this lady looked familiar. So I asked, "Have you ever been to Vegas?", "Yes, many times, why do you ask?" she replied. "Oh, I haven't been there before and am thinking about going." She seemed happy that I was actually interested in talking to her, but she did not know I had a motive. "Las Vegas is a nice place, I would recommend it, what are you thinking about going there for?" she asked. Planning out my next words would be crucial for me to accomplish my goal, so I chose wisely and responded with "I like going out to the Indian reservation and playing the slots, do they have lots of slots in Vegas?". I sat in anticipation of her response. She looked over at me smiling and said "Oh, your a man after my own heart, I love the slots, If you like slots, Las Vegas is the place for you". Mission accomplished, sometimes it doesn't take much to amuse me. It was as simple as getting a little old gray haired lady resembling the one in "Beavis and Butt-Head do America" to talk about her love for the "slots".
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Liberate The Sea Monkeys!
May. 11th, 2007 | 11:41 am
A friend of mine has a 12 year old son that I occasionally play video games with. Apparently I have become somewhat of a role model for him, which in itself is a somewhat weird for me. I enjoy spending time with him which was somewhat confusing for me for a bit, but then I realized that It reminded me of how nice it was to be a sarcastic dorky video game addicted kid. Its nice to revisit that every now and then.
Anyways, my friend brought him to work for "bring your child to work" day and he was showing off his shiny new black nintnendo ds. He wasn't too interested in the pre organized activities, so we decided to come up with our own.... go hide and play video games. I happened to have my ds with me and we ventured to some remote part of the building to play new super mario brothers. He seemed especially cocky that day, talking a lot of shit as we played, so I couldn't go easy on him. (not that I ever go easy on him, he can school me in a few games). After successfully defeating him I thought "That should end the shit talking" ... but I was wrong. He responded "Yeah yeah.. you won.. but I have.... SEA MONKEYS!" He reached into his bag and pulled out the plastic sea monkey tomb of death that he had received as part of the earlier "bring your child to work" activities and showed it to me expecting me to be impressed. His mom then looked at him funny and said "Wait, wait... think about who you're talking to here, the man is vegan" he looked a little puzzled "how do you think he feels about you re-hydrating the sea monkeys and holding them captive for your own amusement" I could tell he was really thinking about it. He knew I am vegan and knew the reasons behind it. He responded stating that they were given to him as he slowly put them back into his bag. I let him off the hook since he seemed to feel bad about it and got him thinking. Plus I did not really have a problem with it, they are pets. Its no different than having a fish tank.
From what I was told the sea monkeys were re-hydrated and he was having a moral conflict. He was reading up on the shrimp and trying to figure out of sea monkeys lived in salt water or fresh water, he was trying to figure if he could free the sea monkeys into some local body of water. He was confused since he re-hydrated them with fresh water, but thinks they should be in salt water. During this time he realized that he had not read the sea monkey instructions completely and forgot a step, the step about oxygenating the water. He went back and read the instructions again and found the part where it explains that you have to periodically transfer the water from container to container and was concerned that his sea monkeys were suffocating. He was so bothered by it he couldn't even look at the sea monkeys anymore, and when he did, the little sea monkeys had perished.
Now, unknown to me, apparently you can empty the container, re-fill it and start the process over again. So out of curiosity he did so and sure enough, more sea monkeys. He is now contemplating once again, freeing the sea monkeys. He feels bad when he transfers the water around to oxygenate it, thinking that all the sea monkeys are bumping into each other and getting hurt. He seems to be in a struggle between his curiosity and his morals. His mom is stressing the fact that he shouldn't be afraid that if he has sea monkeys that I wont hang out with him anymore and that he needs to figure out the way he feels about the situation, and while its good to take others feelings into consideration, he shouldn't base his beliefs on someone else's.
Apparently me begin vegan is effecting him in other ways as well. The other night as they were sitting down for dinner, he took a big bite of his hamburger and paused and forcibly swallowed it down and said "Its not good when I cant stop thinking about the cow." His mom is not giving him an easy out, he is making him think about why his feeling the way he is feeling, and making him do a lot of hard thinking. She told him that he could always talk to me about it but he responded "I'm not ready for that yet"