Liz: What is ur password to get on ur desktop so I can iChat with my mom!!!!!
Liz: I hate ur passwords
Liz: Nobody cares or is ever in our study
Liz: It’s only annoying!!!
Todd: It’s your gmail password
Liz: Grrrrr
Okay, surprise surprise, you guessed it right: Cowboy Boots! I love love love them. I made it through work, and a steampunk wedding. The awesome thing about charlie horse boots, is that they are wider than most boots, so really my feet didn’t hurt anymore than normal. They are slowly becoming easier to put on though, the left one gives me problems…. but I have a major bruise on that foot. Anyways, here they are:
These suckers are beautiful! Its is almost a shame they are on my feet. They are lasered with black tulle, and of course nice and leathery! 
Now, I have to add just two more top gifts of my 28th birthday. I have to be honest, I have great family and friends. All my gifts were awesome, but I just want to add two more goodies to this blog.
My mothers gift. This thing is awesome and beautiful. My moms best friends daughter makes these and sells them in a boutique in Arizona. When my mom was visiting us this summer, she brought all of the fabric options and let me pick which one I liked. Even though Connor is almost sorta kinda 2, a lot of this gift will be saved for the next baby. But I still need a big bag to fit all his food he requires when we are out and about, so here is the awesome handmade diaper bag set:
So that awesome flower thing, is not a clutch like I thought it was. It is actually to hold your baby wipes! I am considering using it as a clutch though…..
Angry Baker and Marijuana Boy gave me the third gift I would like to share.
Here is some of what Angry Baker wrote to me in my birthday card:, “… you should know – the book is for real- she’s not joking around.” and my favorite line, ” I figure if you ever get around to reading, this would be a good one for you – maybe even work it into your sabbath scripture study!”
She knows me very well, I am a wannabe at many things, reading is one of them. But I have already read the special bonus interview with Eliza Dushku, and I’m feeling a blog post coming on about that one! So more to come about this book. Angry Baker, yes you are right, she is a bigger fan than me. I have read the intro, and I’m already wanting to put my dvd’s back on to re watch the clips she is talking about, I’m falling in love with this show all over again! I love this gift!
A consolation in turning 30 is that my siblings (except for one) are always even older than me! Celebrating the successful completion of thirty years (i.e. “I’m not dead yet“) was made more enjoyable by the deliberate planning of my wife. This birthday was particularly meaningful for me; I felt I finally had to face three facts:
1. I am not a fifth grade teacher.
2. I am not a famous doctor.
3. I am not a famous writer.
These were the three dreams I had in fourth grade. I thought I was so much fun to be around at that age, that it would be even more fun to surround myself with similarly aged children for a living. Of course, that was going to be my side profession after I became a famous (not a regular, normal, or average) doctor. Perhaps I would have grown to be a general practitioner. I don’t quite remember my exact goal. In my spare time, I was planning on writing books. Novels of adventure and heroics to match my favorite authors: Susan Cooper, Orson Scott Card and R.L. Stine. I have not done any of this. I also came to the realization I am not rich. I am not a rock star (not necessarily music). I am who I am. Now, instead of looking at the rich and famous 20-something phenoms, I am looking at those who started their ascension to riches and attention in their thirties. Surely that will be me. Right? Well, I think that was my realization. I’m not so much worried about that anymore. I now have three new facts:
A Christmas/Birthday present for my sister-in-law over at Waits4theBus– I decided to make an epic cross-stitch of Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. After completing the Mega Man project in June, I started looking around for a video game based cross-stitch pattern. I LOVE Sprite Stitch and Stitch Please for inspiration. As I was looking through various video game patterns, I was leaning toward a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme. Rather than use a pattern created by others, I wanted to do a Todd Waits original. I started looking for sprites used in TMNT video games from the NES and SNES. I found a good resource that I have since forgotten, and found a sprite of Krang. I new exactly what I wanted at that point! I grabbed another sprite of a dialog box saying “Tonight I Dine on Turtle Soup,” and used Photoshop to combine the images. I then used PCStitch Pro to convert the gif into a cross-stitch pattern with corresponding DMC floss colors, and created what has to be one of the coolest patterns EVAR!
Before I even started working on the actual stitching in September, I knew that I was not going to keep this for myself. My sister-in-law loves the TMNT, and I knew this was going to be her Christmas/Birthday present (they are the same day) from me. The whole pattern came out to about 8 x 14 inches. It was big, but so much fun. I really slacked off in October and November. For the first two weeks of December, I essentially watched movies and cross-stitched in order to finish in time. Every time I would finish an identifiable section, I would get so excited and think how much Wendy was going to LOVE it. I also couldn’t wait to post it online, but had to wait until after Christmas otherwise ruin the surprise. So Christmas has come and gone. She loved the gift, and I quote from Twitter: “@DarkYodeler Wow. That’s all I gotta say. Cross stitch has made it to a whole new level for me.”
Enjoy a full res shot and printable pattern after the jump:
Here are some pics of the Carrick Halloween Parade and Costume Contest. Connor had no interest in competing in the contest and ate his badge. Oh, well. Also, everyone thought he was a teddy bear. It’s all good. We had fun. Unfortunately, Liz had to work that day and was unable to make it to the parade.
Pics after the jump:
Yesterday, a friend took me to the Clairton Sportsman Club to do some target practice. I have not used a gun in many years, and the last rifle I shot was a .22 in Boy Scouts as a teenager. I expressed my interest in learning to hunt, and he told me he could teach me.
Our first lesson was in his gun smithing basement where he taught me a little about the science of ballistics– how the bullet moves through the air. Last night, he took me out to the range, and let me fire off a few rounds with his Remington rifle. I do not know the exact model, but it was an excellent weapon with an excellent scope.
Connor has officially inherited my ability to fall asleep anywhere. And, yes, every time his face shifted, music played. More pics after the jump:
Almost as hotly anticipated as The Death of Super Man, The Death of Glucose Man chronicles the life of Glucose Man and his “arch villain”, Glycolysis. So, Glycolysis wants to rule the world. The only way to do that is to steel the aptly named power rings of Glucose Man: Pyruvic Acidium 1 and Pyruvic Acidium 2. With those rings, he can rule the world by harnessing their power. So he goes and cuts Glucose Man in half because the rings are embedded in his torso. (?!) Harnessing the energy released from cutting Glucose Man in half, Glycolysis is able to create two more rings and alter their molecular make-up slightly. With his FOUR power rings he calls ATP, he throws them into the Super Electron Transport Chain Modifier to create 34 rings. Now he can rule the world. But don’t worry, according to him, “My motives were pure… honest! Oh, I’m so misunderstood.”
Hit the jump for the entire comic. It’s riveting. A precursor to Austin Grossman’s Soon I will Be Invincible.
While in fifth grade, I created a character I could really relate to. His name is The Vilosher. He was a super-violent teen whose family was murdered by corrupt mob men and police. With no one to trust he turned to his scientist friend to create an arsenal of weaponry to take on the people who murdered his family.
I wish I still had the short stories I wrote about him. Actually, there was only one. It had chapters. It was to be my capstone project for the fifth grade. I don’t remember the grade I received. In fact, I though I had lost all traces of The Vilosher, but I found this in my sketch book I used two decades ago. I think there is a gem here that may turn into the next big thing. Check out his arsenal after the jump.
It has been five years since I got my license. I had to renew it on May 7th. The people at the DMV were so friendly and helpful. One of the past three statements is false. Which is it?
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