Chapter Sixteen (and Fifteen, and Fourteen, and Thirteen...)

Even while I was slacking off in my blogging, it seems Jaquandor just kept posting new chapters to his novel that he is publishing online. As the title of this post hints he is up to Chapter Sixteen. Get yourself over there and read The Promised King.

Happy Birthday

Here's wishing a happy birthday to The Mighty Quinn, and hoping that this next year takes it a bit easier on him. The kid deserves a break.

Pop Quiz

It appears that Amanda is prepping for the start of classes by taking every quiz she finds. She is a total nerd. No, really, she is. I on the other hand...

Modern, Cool Nerd 60 % Nerd, 52% Geek, 17% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd. Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)! Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in either of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 55% on nerdiness You scored higher than 62% on geekosity You scored higher than 10% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid

Hmmm, the writer of this quiz must be a dork, as they misspelled knowledgeable.

She Caved!

Just as I succumbed to the pressure from Jaquandor, my sister Amanda (actually my only sister, but now you know her name. AKA Djork in some of my comment threads) has bowed to pressure from me and created her own blog. Like any good blogger, she has responded to the posts in which she has been tagged. You can see that she is a much more prolific reader than I, but I suppose that is required when working on your MFA in poetry.

Now I just have to start working on my brother...

I Shoulda Called No Tag Backs...

After I got him on the DVD survey Sean tags me for this one on books. Although, it was almost two months ago...

Number of books I own
I have no Idea, and I am not going to count them.

Last book I bought:
Cat Chaser By Elmore Leonard
The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

Latest books I am reading:
Re-reading The Dharma Bums by Kerouac, and about to start on the latest Potter.

Last book I read (and have finished):
The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore


Five Books that mean a lot to me:
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien
The Dharma Bums by Kerouac
Fahrenheit 451 By Bradbury
Welcome to the Monkey House by Vonnegut (I love short stories and I love Vonnegut).
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Adams

Tag Five More:
Well, I can't tag Sean, and he tagged Jaq, so I am going to only tag four.
Dan
Pat
Mark
Amanda (oops, I guess this means you are going to have to start your own blog... Seriously.)

But I Know I'm Funnier than Him...

Jaq took the 3 Variable Funny Test, and so did I. We scored about the same which doesn't surprise me (although I would have expected him to score higher on the "Dark").

Here are my results:

the Wit (78% dark, 30% spontaneous, 22% vulgar)

your humor style: CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat. I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais AND FINALLY -- after you rate my test with a sweet, sweet '5' -- you must take this test next: The Genghis Khan Genetic Fitness Test. It's not mine, but it rocks.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on dark You scored higher than 0% on spontaneous You scored higher than 8% on vulgar

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

Where the Hell Have You Been?

Dan posted the other day about lack of sleep and other demands that have left him feeling zapped. I feel ya brother.

Elsa is kicking my ass. I've been going on between three and five hours sleep a night. Divided into two shifts. I am a zombie most of the time. But things are getting better. No more colic, and that is a big deal. This explains my lack of blogging lately. Any free time I have is devoted to getting other things done. Like eating dinner. In addition, during this free time my brain has been far from any condition to create a coherent post.

But, like I said, things are getting a bit better. I have been able to start getting some exercise in again, and that helps.


I have also been spending some time building a poker table, which is ready to make it's debut on Friday August 12. Elsa is at her most content when we are outside, so that has worked out fairly well.

I am also trying to devote more time to brushing up and delving deeper into Final Cut Pro, because, well, the hunt is on.

Test One-Two, Test One-Two...

Well, it seems Jaq has tricked me into posting. He has tagged me to answer a quiz that has been floating around. Granted he did this several days ago (over a week in fact), but hey, at least I am getting to it. And I may be the only one on his list to get to it.

1. Total number of films I own on DVD/video:
67. Although quite a few of them were free from one source or another, and are not ones that I would buy. Dan, would you like Stepmom back?

2. The last film I bought:
The Last DVD I bought was the first season of Millennium. I think the last movie I bought on DVD was Return of the King.

3. The last film I watched:
Last DVD watched: The Office Special. If you haven't watched The Office I command you to do so by the end of this coming weekend. Both series, and the special.
Last film watched Revenge of the Sith.
Last film watched on DVD Attack of the Clones (The Seven Samurai is sitting on the DVD player waiting for a free three-and-a-half hours).

4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
I don't watch many films over and over, but here are a few that I have seen many times.
Star Wars
The Blues Brothers
2001 A Space Odyssey
A Hard Day's Night
Raising Arizona

5. Tag 5 people and have them put this in their journal/blog:
Dan
Pat
Mark
Sean
Amanda (oops, I guess this means you are going to have to start your own blog...)

Sorry Girls, You Can't Take Piss Out of the Pool

I was going to follow up the last post with a post about the absurdity with which our mental giants, Debbie (can I call you Debbie? Too bad) and Julie, reacted after Adam found their post (Amanda points this out in comments), but Jaq did it for me.

Debbie says:

If anyone else has anything to say about what a horrible person I am, please keep it to yourself. I don't need a complete stranger's help to feel bad about myself. If you want to comment, you'll have to register. I don't get anonymity here so neither do you.

Well, I would like to register. Debbie, how do I do that?

Maturity on Display

It appears that there is a student at UW Madison, named Deborah, who finds pleasure in making fun of two-year-olds. Specifically my niece Hazel. Deborah seems to have removed the web page in question (after finding out that my brother stumbled across it), but you can see the page here thanks to Google's cache (scroll down until you see the Sims picture of a woman and a baby, and "Jennifer Green-Johnson" highlighted).

Deborah, I don't know what problems you have, but if this (assumed) sub-rosa derision of a sweet little girl has brought you pleasure, I pity you. You are pathetic. My beautiful two-year-old niece shows more maturity and compassion than you.

Lay Them Straight...

Also in the past four weeks Jaq has posted chapters Seven and Eight from The Promised King.

More Pictures

Elsa with cousin Hazel.


Staring at Mom.


There has been a high percentage of pregnancies at the Children's Yamaha Music School recently. Three out of thirteen teachers have brand new kids, with a fourth one on the way.


Chillin' with the other chilens.

Four Weeks Later

It has been four weeks since Elsa was born, so I suppose it is time for some new pictures and an update. In that time we have seen: cluster feedings (which is nothing compared with what has become part of daily life for some); screams that break your heart; the appearance of a normal belly-button; severe diaper rash caused by diarrhea; many visitors; gifts of food, clothing and other cuteness; many, many diapers.


But mostly we have had four weeks of joy at the hands of really well tempered little girl who really digs on Art Blakey.


We know she gets her good looks from me, so liking drummers must come from Mom.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you...

Elsa Ann Wentzel Johnson.

Born 2:46 AM, March 28.


7 pounds 14 ounces, 20 3/4 inches.


Krista and Elsa are well (but tired). Just the vital info for now, I'll post more later about the LONG weekend.

Stay Tuned!

Expect a major announcement sometime this weekend.

Pick Up Sticks...

It seems like I just posted a reminder to check out Chapter Five of Jaquandor's The Promised King, and already Chapter Six is ready to go. It also seems that every other post of mine is becoming a link to The Promised King. But I have to. If I didn't, a couple of hamsters and a kitten would face mortal peril.

It's Been So Long, I Was Beginning to Think it Would Never Happen...

No, not that.

The other day, as I was picking up my boots, I caught a glimpse of sunlight from the inside of my right Dr. Marten. After nine years of nearly daily wear, four sets of inserts (Docs only come in whole sizes), and too many shoelaces to count (well, not really, I just didn't count), the outside heel has worn through.


A sad day to be sure. I am now faced with the daunting task of finding just the right pair to serve me for the next nine years.


Although... the hole isn't that big, and I think we are in the clear as far as snowfall goes...

Have You Seen?

Jaq has posted Chapter Five of his novel The Promised King. Even if the link at the top of his sidebar indicates that the most recent posting was Chapter Four...

Oh, and remember to check out Diary of an Attic.

About Time!

No, not that. You can finally purchase 44's Free Land Wall at the iTunes Music Store.

For the uninitiated, 44 was a music project that Krista and I were involved with for about five years. You can read more about it here. But what you need to know now is that you have a very easy way of purchasing our one and only album. Not only is Free Land Wall available from iTunes, but also from Napster, Rhapsody, and a whole host of other online services. Check your favorite source to see if we are available. Or, for those of you who prefer to hold the jewel case in your sweaty little hands, smearing you fingerprints all over the liner notes and photos of the band (which is my choice), you can buy a copy of the actual Compact Disk at CD Baby. Another advantage to purchasing the CD is that you get the hidden tracks that are not available online. Oh, did I mention the price is a paltry $5? So get out your Credit Cards point your browser to your preferred purchase point, and buy! Hell, buy the CD AND the digital downloads. We'll thank you twice.

After Months of Anticipation, The Day Has Come

It has arrived!

Today I awoke from my nap on the couch to Krista handing me a small bundle of joy. No, not that.

Today the FedEx Man, not the stork, made a delivery. My (almost) free 40GB iPod is here, charging it's controversial battery as I type this. In all I spent about $25 on the different offers (plus another $30 for one of those Entertainment coupon books, but I don't count that since we have saved nearly that much using it's coupons for things we buy anyway), and about three-and-a-half hours signing up, canceling memberships and calling the company pestering them for information. It was a bit of a pain, and if you decide to go the route I chose, I think you will get best results by calling the company every couple of weeks.


But hey, a $400 iPod for a little over three hours work, not too shabby.