Year: 2008

This week the day job boss is on leave which means I am in charge of the shop for six days. This means no sleeping in five days a week as per normal. I know, I know – poor Toren has to work like the rest of us schmucks, cry me a tsunami. Well it’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to. I don’t think you appreciate just how much I abhor dealing with the public. Overall it’s been pretty decent for these past couple days and I don’t mind shooting the feces with good-humoured customers generally (especially when Thor shows up to get hockey shirts made up), but when the customer is unhappy, that makes Toren unhappy. Toren smash. Right after Toren dig spiked pit trap just inside front door.

Furthermore I can’t just stroll out of the shop to get a snack, though bossman anticipated that by laying out six 2L bottles of Coke Zero for me before he left. What a character!

People who have been reading this blog for a while know that there was a time when I would post interesting news tidbits gleaned from Harper’s Weekly and often I would add some editorializing. I haven’t done that for a while, for several reasons.

Firstly, I take a tiny bit of pride in my blog content being more or less unique – if you want to read the news there are better places to go.

Secondly, those posts become dated very fast.

Thirdly, I get frustrated with news. I get frustrated with how the media perceives what they report on and I get frustrated on how they report on it and I get frustrated with the confines set upon news reporting in general – i.e. how much space and attention is given to one subject verses another (you know, Paris Hilton vs the dangers of alternative medicine, for example), how news is sponsored and how that censors the facts — all that boring old shit that everyone knows. That frustration builds until I get news burnout, which is very similar to how I get people burnout, but it lasts a lot longer.

The specifics of news stories will change from day to day but the underlying message is always the same: people are ignorant, intolerant, dangerous pricks. I learned that years ago, and then later I came to accept it. I don’t let it rule my personal philosophy and behaviour, obviously. I mean I’m a bit antisocial but I don’t feel like I’ve retreated from the world like a hermit because X number of innocent people were murdered today. And I don’t dress up in a bat costume and mete out street justice because among other things, I’m a pacifist and a coward. But I do what I can to not be one of those people.

Still, my reaction lately has simply been to ignore current events and distract myself with more pleasant things (or more rarely, work) which I’m actually somewhat embarrassed about, because I don’t think that’s a responsible (or healthy) outlook for a man of my age and my era, either. Best’s comparatively intense involvement in human rights issues and activism in general has shone a rather glaring light on my previously unspoken shame.* For the time being at least (pending burnout) I pledge to the Nine Gods of Slack that I will muster up some kind of wan crack at keeping up.

In summation, I am going to make a little more effort to stay on top of “the news” (besides what new cartoons are coming out) so I invite any and all to talk to me about current events so that I can showcase for all to see my vast ignorance of social, political, historical and geographical issues.

Additionally/as a result, I may bring back some of the news editorializing, but will try to keep it upbeat and cool. For example, did you know that Tom Jones insured his chest hair for $7 mil, or that they’re giving backpacks to flying lemurs, or that the BBC discovered that a female worm-like amphibian allows her young to peel off and eat her skin?

*Don’t think for a moment she has pressured me in any way into doing anything. On the contrary, I have found her ethos and work inspiring, just by being around her and hearing about her day to day a-doin’s. This falls exactly in line with my own philosophy of activism – leading by example.

Tonight on SciFi if you have access. I hope I don’t get cut!

All of this stuff happened this weekend and all of it with Deanna (who I refer to as “Best”):

Confucius Chinese Restaurant delivers bubble tea! And also Chinese Food.
I draw pirates while watching March of the Penguins finally (anyone want the DVD now that I’m done with it?) and while Best plays World of Warcrack.
Gaming at The Comicshop – a D&D zombie survival adventure. We ran out of holy water so we had the peasants pee in the aspersorium and the priest bless it. “I can’t go when there are zombies in the room!” was heard to be said. Superfun group.
Homemade pasta while watching WarGames on TCM. I wish I could remember all of the General’s down-home colloquialisms.
Reading Mouse Guard
Catching the tail end of the Chinese New Year’s Parade and visiting Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden. Unfortunately the bubble tea place was out of tapioca pearls which precluded any purchase from me.
Watching more episodes of Metalocalypse, which I think is the one and only DVD that Best owns, so that says a world of awesomeness right there. Not that I’m trying to convince you how awesome Best is – she made the moves on me so case closed. [addendum: she owns the Lord of the Rings DVDs too]
Homemade rib dinner at Dillon & Yvette’s while watching the train wreck that is The Grammy Awards (I think I’m good for another generation on that front). Only Stevie Wonder had to memorize his lines, although Cindy Lauper looked like she made a good try.

Here you can see a dragon reaching up to eat lettuce dangled in front of a business. We learned later that if the dragon eats your boutique’s lettuce it is supposed to bring prosperity for the new year. Oh those crazy Chinese! (You will have to make up your own sound as my camera has no mic.)

Random fun facts about De:

Her dog’s name is Lunch and she’s super well behaved (the dog, not Deanna. De needs some obedience classes pronto).
We met at a gaming convention at the Marpole Curling Club several years ago and she is super nerdy in the best possible sense of the word.
She is deep into the dark sub-levels of activism and is the education manager for an organization that handles litigation regarding women’s discrimination.
She was a hardcore Christian 15 years ago but now she’s decidedly not.
She can field strip and reassemble an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in 49 seconds. Actually I made up that last one, but it might be true!