I'm On Sprocket Ink Again. And I'm On A Soapbox.

I'm doing an unscheduled post today on Sprocket Ink.

Most everyone that knows me knows that I'm not one for getting too opinionated. Unless really pressed for an opinion, I tend to avoid getting involved unnecessarily in most debates by taking on neutral stance. What can I say? I hate drama.

But there are some things that get me riled up enough to say, "Enough is enough! This shit ain't gonna fly!". That's what went down today on Sprocket. I'm throwing my two cents in on a piece of legislature being proposed in Mexico City. Of course, it's is just my opinion on the matter. I don't expect everyone to agree with me.

That's all I'm going to say about it over here. You'll just have to click here if you want to know what I'm talking about *tosses candy in back of van and stands aside*. Go on ahead, you can trust me.

More On Foot Fetishes.

[Quick Update] I'm doing a lot better today. Thanks to a full night's sleep, some ultra strength painkillers (Yay, drugs!) and Mrs. C's loving "attention" (YAY, MRS. C!) I'm not in as much pain today. I've regained most of the mobility in my neck and the cold that was coming on seems to have retreated into whatever dark cave it came out of. So, basically, what I'm saying is that it's all good here.

Now, on to the real reason we're here today. And that is so I can send you elsewhere. More specifically, to Sprocket Ink for my latest article.

You may remember that, two weeks ago, I told you about a serial toe sucker striking fear in the hearts of the citizens of a town in Arkansas. Well, today I update you on that situation. So click here and head on over to see what's been going on in the town of Conway, Arkansas.

A Total Pain In The Neck.

Literally! That's my current affliction. I woke up at 2:39 this morning to a sharp, stabbing pain in the right side of my of my neck. At first I thought Mrs. C had finally had enough of me and was implementing the "til death do us part" clause of our marriage contract. She, however, was fast asleep and I wasn't bleeding, so I know she didn't try to stab me.

It has only gotten worse since then, which I think was compounded by the fact that I haven't been able to get back to sleep since. This, in turn is due to the pain I'm currently experiencing. It's a vicious cycle.

I've spent the majority of the day laid up on the couch bitching about it being consoled by some of you on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks. Even though it does hurt when I laugh (and turn my head, and lie down, and sit up and even breathe) I appreciate the you guys trying to make me feel better.

Added to that, a little sniffle I've been fighting off for the past few days seems like it's decided to take advantage of my weakened condition and I'm starting to feel a little feverish.

Resulting from all this, I've decided to take the afternoon off from class and sulk recuperate.

Well, I think I've griped enough for today. How are things on your end?

Oh, For the Love Of Coffee!

Yes, this one is new.
[UPDATE: I switched it out. Put up the unfinished one by mistake.]

I'm sure you're all well aware of my obsession affection for the quirky and lovable nation of Japan. But, think back. There is one thing that I do love more that. In fact, this one thing the top spot in my heart-next to my lovely wife, of course!

Hi, sweetness! (*whispers* - She may be reading this. *wink*)

But, I digress. Of course, we're talking about coffee, java, the cup o' joe, the sweet, sweet nectar from those wonderful magic beans.

So... beautiful...
source

Why do I bring this up? Because it's the subject of my post on Sprocket Ink today, that's why.

It's some great news for coffee drinkers-nay- coffee lovers everywhere. News so wonderful you'll feel like cheering, like celebrating, like lifting a toast (with a cup of coffee, of course). This news will help to further silence those anti-coffee Nazis. Don't believe me? Well follow the link over to my post on Sprocket Ink and see for yourselves.

Invisible Fence.

The other day Mrs. C & I were out. I looked in a store window and saw a jacket I liked and immediately I thought up half a dozen reasons why I couldn't have it. Excuses like, "It was too expensive," or "I shouldn't even think about buying new cloths until I get another job," or "You already have a jacket! Sure, the zipper's broken but it could still do the job."

Then I walked away. Before I even pointed it out to my wife, I had already argued myself out of it and we continued on our way without her ever knowing. And the truth is, I was right. Any one of those reasons was valid. Money is tight right now and I can't be careless of selfish with my spending. I'd get those things when things got better. But then I realized that I had been saying that too for quite a few years.

"You can't have it now. You will when things are better."

How many opportunities have I passed up in my life because I kept waiting until the stars aligned and there were no consequences to worry about? Saying to myself that I'd get what I wanted "when the time was right" was like one of those invisible fences that your dog couldn't see, but just knew was there. Some imaginary barrier that he couldn't cross when, in fact, all he had to do was just walk right through it.

To be honest - depriving myself, waiting for 'the right time' - this has been my way of doing things for a very long time. I learned to have low expectations of certain things growing up. As a child, things started out pretty good for us at first. Poppa C was employed with the government in a supervisory capacity. Added to that, he had just started his own business on the side. He opened a video club - back when video cassettes were all the rage in home entertainment. And business was good.

We had money. What also helped was that we were living rent free in a relative's home while they lived in the US. We went to the malls to go shopping every weekend. We always got new clothes, a big colour TV (a big deal here in T&T back in the early 80's), furniture and endless toys for us kids. Our cupboards and fridge never went empty. Life was good.

Unfortunately, things took an about turn when he decided to leave his very secure government job to focus full-time on his booming business. Soon afterwards, it tanked. I was too young to really remember the reason it did but all I know is the entire thing came crashing down faster than any damage control could fix. After struggling for a few years trying to eek out an income from the remnants of the club, my father returned to his government job. Well, not exactly. He got a job. But he wasn't supervisory anymore. He had to take an entry level position with significant less pay and minimal benefits.

Then that relative in the US decided to return home soon after that so we had to find a place to live. Now there was rent to think about too.

And so, the tides turned. Children who were always accustomed to hearing 'Yes' had to learn to take 'No' and like it. Though I was still very young when all of this started happening, I was still the oldest. I understood the situation enough to know sacrifices would have to be made. I learned to deny myself for the greater good.

At least until things got better again someday...

Years later, I've allowed that same mentality to show up in my own adult life. So much so that, even when we were doing relatively well, I still had a tiny pang of guilt whenever I indulged in something. If something went wrong I would blame myself for not being more responsible. And if things didn't go wrong, then I'd tell myself that if I waited long enough, eventually it would. Because I took a chance. Because I couldn't wait until everything was perfect.

Now I know better, of course. Situations are never going to be 'perfect'. The right time can pass you by a million times over and you'd always miss it because you let that invisible fence of fear keep you from stepping forward. Sometimes, you just have to have faith.

I don't plan on becoming careless or reckless, but I think I'm going to say 'Yes' to myself a little bit more from now on. And try not to make myself regret it.

Just Where Have You Been This Week? - Getting Organized.

It's a national holiday here in T&T today. Republic Day which, as the name suggests, celebrates the country becoming a republic way back when. If you ask me, there should be some kind of rule against allowing holidays to be on a Saturday. Except for the few who actually work on a Saturday, who really benefits, right?

Not that is actually affects me either way since I'm still sans job. I've been kinda quite this week, I know. I guess sometimes it's hard not to let the whole unemployment thing bug me. But let's face it, that's not why you're here so I'm not going to whine about it (much). I've still done a thing or two, all the same. 

Let's start with what I've been up to here on my blog:

- As some of you already know, I've designed an early warning system of sorts for my blog in the from of crudely drawn stick toon graphics. This I posted about on Tuesday.

- On Wednesday I passed out an award one of my homies, Paul, gave me. There were actually two awards, but I was feeling lazy and linked a previous post where I had already received the second one.

What?

Meanwhile, on Sprocket Ink:

- On Tuesday, I wrote about a group of fed up housewives using what could be the ultimate weapon of mass distraction to finally bring an end to war on their island. Those guys didn't stand a chance.

- Thursday we looked at one country's ingenious method for preventing the zombie apocalypse. This could really be the answer. Now, if we can only learn from their one misguided error.

And that's it. That's my week in a nutshell. Feel free to click on any one of the numerous links above to catch up on anything you may have missed. I think I'm going to take this weekend to get myself in perspective and over the sucky mood I'm in.

See ya!

This Award Takes Me Back.

My good buddy, Paul from "I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference" was kind enough to pass on some awards to lil' ol' me. If you're not familiar with his blog you should really go check him out. He's a great writer and, right now, he's in the process of giving his readers a page-by-page taste of an adventure story he's working on and I've been hooked from the get-go.

As for my awards, first he gave me this:

Thanks, dude! It's going right up on my wall.

The rules for this award go like this:

I go back over my previous posts and pick out the 7 that made their mark in the following categories:

Most Beautiful:

When Vinny Met The Diva. - The post talking about where I first met Mrs. C.

Most Helpful:

The Wonderful World Of Blogging. - Basically, my guide on the personal changes experienced  by new bloggers (or, at least, this blogger).

Most Controversial:

Some People Need Feel In Order To Learn.  - I'm not very controversial but pretty sure I lost a follower over this one. But my follower list is a constant roller coaster ride so I'm not even sure.

Most Surprisingly Successful:

So... Apparently People Want To See Me Naked. - Just so you know, there's no nudity involved in this post. I totally phoned in this post to talk about the crazy-high stats on the previous post (no nudity there either) and this one went and outdid it.

Most Underrated:

Living With A Ninja. - It was done during Thanksgiving weekend last year and went virtually unnoticed.

Most Prideworthy:

An Analytical Look Into Social Interaction. - This is the post that gave birth to my stick drawing and another one of my all-time favorites.

Now comes the hard part.  I have pick out 7 others to receive this award. How do I just pick seven of you? Can't I just give it to everyone?


No?


It took some careful deliberating but I was finally able to make my picks. The lucky winners (in order of how I ended up typing them) are:


1. Nikki of My Cyber House Rules
2. Sugar Free of Sugar Free Thoughts
3. Al Penwasser Penwasser Place
4. Lost.in.Idaho of My Own Private Idaho
5. Nicole of Ninja Mom
6. ib of Habitual Hobbit
7. Copyboy of Not Worth Mentioning

The second award I got was this:

Thanks again, Paul. Since I did get this one before, I'm going to be lazy and redirect you to the  post here where I already followed the rules for this one.


There you go. All done.

My Attempt At Creating Structure.

New post up at Sprocket Ink! Go check it out. I've even included some stick toon boobs in this one. So that's something. I guess... No, really. There are a other reasons to check it out besides cartoon boobies...

Okay that's a big reason but there's a story to go with the boobs as well.

Aside from that, I've been pretty busy this past weekend. Busy tooning, that is. You see, I’ve gotten it into my head that I should come up with some sort of early warning system on my posts. I realize that, as far as my posting goes, I tend to be all over the place. Sometimes I post funny stories about things that have happened to me. Other times I attempt to be insightful and ramble on and on about some boring thought in my head another. There are posts for awards. And so on, and so on...

Anyway, I digress. As I was saying, I wanted to kinda give you guys a heads-up as to what you're getting into. What I came up with are some custom-made graphics that will start posts that fall into the various categories I frequently stick to.

So at the start of most posts you'll see one of these:

You'll see this one when I'm posting about receiving of giving out a blog award or generally thanking some one of my fellow bloggers for any kindness they've shown me.

Remember that boring meandering I mentioned just now? Now you'll be amply warned.

I expect I'll be using that one a lot.

When I start talking about the crazy situations I tend to go through from time to time, you'll see this.

I'll use this for minor updates, and miscellaneous information.

When I'm about to launch into a (often failed) attempt at humor you shall be forewarned by this one here.

For those less than inspired posts I throw up every now and then you have this.

That's what I've got so far. I expect I'll do more in the future but these'll do for a start. All this and I still can't finish part two of Girls' Day Out.

*Sigh!!!*

I didn't bother to make one for my toon posts because I didn't want to be responsible for anyone suffering   from stick toon overload on my blog. Anyway let me know what you think. Is this a dumb idea? Did I waste an entire weekend? Be honest. My ego can take it.

Just Where Have You Been This Week? - Having Cake Then Ending Up At The Dentist's.

It's Sunday so technically I guess you could say that my wrap-up should read "Just Where Have You Been Last Week" last week. But that would mean messing with my super awesome title theme, upsetting the delicate balance of nature, disrupting the space-time continuum and triggering the zombie apocalypse. I think it's best for everyone that we just let this one slide.

Your welcome.

In an effort of have some kind of order here, I'm experimenting with the structure of these posts again. This time I'm going to try separating my posts based on site with a graphic lead-in. We'll see how it works...

Here on AVCI:

I did a lot of tooning here this week. Some posts had a lot, some had only one but every post had them.

- It started on Sunday. That was when this blog celebrated its first year of existence. And, as I promised you, there was cake. Even if A-Bomb did try to steal it.

- On Tuesday I did even more toons to properly share my experience with using my school's public computers.

On Wednesday I went to the dentist. On Thursday I blogged about the experience. There was a toon there too.

Now, over to Sprocket Ink:

It was fetish week on Sprocket Ink this week with every story I wrote having some kind of weird obsession involved.

- Tuesday we looked at a young woman's attempt to live out vampire fantasy, in which she was the vampire and an elderly guy in the wheel chair, her victim. It wasn't as much fun for him.

- Thursday I indulged my own obsession with the lovable, ever quirky country of Japan. And, of course, a plucky and determined little robot was involved. We are talking about Japan after all.

- Finally, on Friday, I told you about the plight of a town in Arkansas. There's a serial toe-sucker on the loose and residents are now forced to abandon their flip-flops for safety.

Cut! Print it! Perfect! Oh, a bit of housekeeping. I'm back to my usual schedule on Sprocket, which is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll still be on at 10am on Tuesdays, but I've moved from 12pm to 11am on Thursdays now. Just so you know.

And so, with balance maintained and zombies held at bay, we close off this (last) week's wrap-up post. Until next time.

Keep it real (whatever that means).

A Trip To The Dentist.

I'll admit that I'm not the strictest person when it comes to dental hygiene. I mean, I take care of my teeth well enough. I brush twice a day and even floss. So they aren't all rotted and falling out or anything like that. My breath is normal and they look just fine, thank you. They're basically healthy. But, truth is, I could just be a little more... diligent, is what I'm saying. I have a bit of a sweet tooth and I could visit the dentist other than in cases of emergency a bit more regularly.

Needless to say, I get the occasional cavity from time to time. The last time was three or four years ago when a premolar needed a root canal (not a fun time). Yesterday, I had to make another trip to the dentist's office for a new cavity that developed on yet another premolar tooth.

Hoo boy!

This time, though, the whole thing was pretty uneventful. The cavity just needed to be filled. That's all! The dentist was a woman about my age who was very pleasant and not too hard on the eyes either (all of which made the easy process a lot easier). The whole thing was over quickly and painlessly. In fact, it was so painless that I spent half the rest of yesterday not being able to feel my upper lip from the painkillers. Not so much fun when I had to eat later. The only thing that was a little unsettling during the whole thing, though, was the x-ray.

Honestly, is that little lead bib really enough to do the job?

********

Did you think that was it? This is the part where I remind you to make sure and check out my story on Sprocket Ink today. I won't give it all away but it involves this awesome equation: Japan + robots + models in funny helmets = click here. You know you want to.

The School Computers.

In the time I was away from school, I had almost forgotten the wondrous devices there known as the public computers...

Wait! WAIT!!! That's not all. While I go get fitted for dentures, why not read my latest on Sprocket Ink? There, I use actual words.

Words Can't Describe.

 

 

I'll leave it at that. Thanks for putting up with me for a whole year, everybody.

Just Where Have You Been This Week? - Getting Stuff Done In The RL.

This has been a hectic week for me. I've been out every day taking care of one thing or another (none of which were blog-worthy, I'm afraid). Not to mention that it's my first week back at school. To be honest, I've had enough of outside already. But the weekend is here and it's time for me to give account of whereabouts again.

- The week started on Tuesday with my regular posting on Sprocket Ink. This one was about a really 'big' world record challenge. Here, on the same day, I made brief mention about my return to school. I also mentioned the upcoming one year anniversary of this blog (that's tomorrow, by the way).

- Then I reappeared on Sprocket Ink again on Thursday. I talked about the one possible advantage to door-to-door type work and how some census takers in Hungary are having that opportunity taken away by technology. And they torture the poor guys with an ad about it! Back here, I did what I call a pseudo-post just to send you guys over there.

- On Friday I was at Sprocket again to talk about some scandalous and deviant behavior displayed in public. These acts weren't done by some Hollywood celebs, mind you, but animals. So sad, really.

There! I've told you everything. That was my week.

Oh! Special thanks to fellow blogger Pickleope for not only mentioning me but also pickling me (not as perverted as it sounds... kinda) on his blog yesterday.

Anyway, as I said, tomorrow AVCI turns one year old. Come on over. It won't be anything big and fancy but there will be cake. Promise!

See you then.

Defending Men's Right To Bare Boobs.

As usual, I'm posting on Sprocket Ink again today. You haven't forgotten, have you?

So, what's it going to take to motivate you to go on over and check it out?

I know! How 'bout if I mention that it's got a video of a half-naked woman, in it this time. One that isn't grossly overweight, freakishly underweight or anything like that. In fact, she's pretty well-um-proportioned. Oh, and as a bonus there's a funny story about the plight of Hungarian census workers as technology stands to steal some of the little pleasures of the job from them.

Click here. You'll see.