9410 – Monday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BHK!!

Allison’s B’day! I buttered her nose while she was distracted by playing audiosurf. (Got it for $5 this last weekend.) I was a little disappointed that my mp3 of Christopher Walken reciting Poe’s “The Raven” was so linear.

As a gift / party-favor to all for BHK’s day – A GAZILLION Free to print and play games.

Oh BGG, how I thank the Internets you’re there.

If you’re not into free games, (or even if you are, dear journal) here’s a stop-motion zombie movie called Chainsaw Maid. Best zombie film this year. (from the same people who did Bloody Date )

No Lebanese Taverna Tonight – Falafel time must wait – instead we hit Gallo’s Deli – food is still pretty good. Not as superior as Selby, but only a block or two from the house. BHK opened the remainder for her loot tonight.

I got her an assortment of little trinket-treats – My faves were earring-studs in the style of mexican sugar skulls and a bottlecap pin with a pirate inside saying ARG in letter beads…. but I’m partial to things skully. I need to take a picture of BHK’s loot pile – other items were a lovey charm, a ouija board pin, and a horde of coupons to do / get things, from getting me in a good mood to a movie night with no snarky comments. (2 nights, if neither are Jane Austen-related).



1 year ago – BHK Bday, (buttered via nightstand dollop), lots of bayfest food and heat, parade, spidey lunchbox, tarot test

2 years ago – robo-post while I’m on vaykay with BHK, dragonfly-kitty pic

3 years ago – google talk, web-surfing, Katrina, Robertson apologizes, v05-blueberry, medieval career, book meme, palm doodle, weather, power-out phone post

4 years ago – bag lady update, Twilight Zone: Planet of the Apes

5 years ago – got bro a Ganesh, (but I skipped the digeridoo), law and order coloring book, first day at new gig as good server king of the south, gabbed with mi Hala re: jhumkas and moonstones, and happy thoughts of working with her, Shal’weez.

6 years ago – heroclix improvised weapons, deadly toys, poemtag

7 years ago – pirate joke, selectivity, amor, warning label poll

8 years ago – aliens operate on my body, rhymes, colors, stevie Geotarget

120 years ago – A plant grows in Mexteca, Mexico, which the natives call the “herb of prophecy.” A dose of it produces sleep similar in all respects to the hypnotic state. The subject answers with closed eyes all questions that are put to him, and is completely insensible. The pathologic state brings with it a kind of prophetic gift and doublesight. Furthermore he loses his will and is completely under the control of another. On returning to himself he remembers nothing of what he has done. –Excelsior Cottager, August 25, 1888.

9409 – Sunday

Two years ago today I arrived in Maryland and was picked up at the airport by BHK. Pretty much a life-changing experience for me. Now, we’ve been married, I’ve been up here at the same gig for over a year, and most of the dust has settled in our home.

Despite a few stresses, I love it here, and would never want to be far from BHK’s side. Newton and Pye are pretty great pals, with no real signs of antagonism between them. Work has its difficult moments, but for the most part, it’s a very good gig. I can honestly say that BHK has been nothing but wonderful, supportive and loving the entire time.

At the moment, we’re browsing the idea of looking at houses… we may or may not stick with the one we’re in now. The possibilities are improvement, knock this one down and rebuild from the ground up, or hit a third location. All options seem equal right now.

BHK brings me so much joy and happiness… even when I’m feeling low or hurt, she pulls me up and keeps me going. The marriage proposal and response was certainly the best thing to happen in my life for a long, long time. I feel happy knowing that I’ll be spending the rest of my life with her, through thick and thin.

I am thankful to Allison for making my world a better place. Everything that I perceive is a bit more wonderful because of her presence.



Today, we got up a bit later – in-laws came over to hang out. Chris and BHK went through BHK’s jewelry box… she’s got a lot of funky stuff in there, all of which is pretty dang keen. BHK did her best to keep her mother from acting the magpie and stealing sparkles, but it looks like a few items have floated back over to the mama-nest. We’ll have to swing over there in a month to liberate some of them back. Meanwhile, Larry and I sat in the office area, and talked about his life on the farm, dogs, cats, hunting and so on. It was a nice bit of gab from Larry, who is normally very quiet… he everyone else first dibs on the conversation, usually.

We were going to do Korean BBQ for lunch, but that got ruled out in favor of another trip to the Selby Sub Shoppe. BHK and larry split a half pepperoni/half meatball pizza, Chris got a big ol’ burger, and I got a black bean burger sub… it was all delicious, as usual.

We took the scenic route back, and picked out bits of ragweed, marsh mallow, and assorted sea grasses while taking in all the houses out back between Annapolis and home – some are really magnificent.



First few games on audiosurf – a fun little game that uses your music (or streaming audio) to build a racecourse to place klax-dr mario sort of brick building. Website explains it better, or the wiki here – it was on sale for $5 today, so we snagged it after playing the demo.


Inch Worm
The Sandpipers


Play Never Will I Marry
Linda Ronstadt



Punk Rock Girl
The Dead Milkmen


Play Happy Boys & Girls
Aqua



Play Shreveport Stomp
Jelly Roll Morton



Unsurprisingly, I’m the #1 top scorer for Shereveport stomp. I’m also the only person to have used it in the game. We’ll see what happens if/when BHK tries with her own login. You can see what tracks I’ve played at my computer here. (at least the ones it can recognize)



An AP story about the thousands of voting machines gathering dust in warehouses across the country after states such as California, Ohio, and Florida have banned their use. Many of these machines cost $3.5K to $5K each. Local election boards are struggling to find ways to recover any of the cost of the machines, or even to recycle them. The picture in Ohio is the most confusing, as multiple court cases limit the state’s options and result in a situation in which the discredited machines will nevertheless be used in the presidential election coming up in November. The state’s new (Democratic) attorney general has just issued a rule banning the practice of election workers taking the machines home with them the night before elections.



1 year ago – visit anniversary, this will be our year, new everything, barking mad, grindhouse breakfast, friday 5

2 years ago – points north, liberty city, psp ebooks, palm entries begin for a bit

3 years ago – mending, green beans, saudi swimsuits, batman, zombie astronaut, robocop art, pat robertson can bite me, gaming group, nostalgia, who meme, newt pic, evil twin, katrina-storm

4 years ago – more travel pix, ice cream novelties, Black widow, newtcam, harlequin gallery, helpful phrases, bag lady

5 years ago – watching walnut & his mamma on cam, goofy snl, she spies

6 years ago – Wreck of the Medusa, Feral, Muso, my trading card, LJ meet, taught Dave Heroclix, misc pix, ft laud sunset

7 years ago – yellow bellies

8 years ago – questions Geotarget