In case there is actually someone out there who doesn't know me reading this, I should mention that my work week is only three days long.
I work extremely long hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, leaving me four days to do with whatever I'd like.
Unfortunately, there's not a lot I like to do, so the four days are pretty much wasted on me, but in any case, that's what my schedule is like.
Which means that today is my "Sunday," as I have to get up early and head in to work tomorrow morning.
Ordinarily I'd be getting up even earlier than I need to, as of late I've been heading in to work well in advance of my shift in order to make use of the fitness facilities there. However, the co-workers who are being gracious enough to bring me in to work on this car-less weekend are not, and understandably so, inclined to get up at four in the morning to accommodate my workout needs. So this weekend, as I had to for one third of last weekend, I’m going to have to call it a miss.
In any case, I’ve been going in early to work out for a while now, in an effort to lose weight, get fit, etc.
Taking an active interest in my personal fitness is something relatively new to me, and it began, largely, after I quit smoking a few months ago.
At the time I quit I’d been smoking for nearly eighteen years, so, as you can imagine, quitting was a rather daunting task.
One of the effects of the process was an abundance of energy. A friend of mine, who had undergone much the same thing, referred to it as “pointless energy.”
That was a pretty accurate description, as it was a sort of nervous energy that simply prevented you from sitting still. It isn’t any sort of energy that you can harness to engage in some sort of constructive activity. Mostly it just makes you want to pace.
The only way I could take advantage of the energy was by going for walks.
I went for a lot of walks.
I’d get up in the morning, walk five miles, come home, take a shower, sit around for a little while, then go for a three mile walk.
Then I’d sit at home for a while longer and go for another walk.
Some days I walked as much as fifteen miles.
The positive result, of course, was fairly rapid weight loss. I dropped about twenty pounds, and took four inches off my waist.
Since then my energy levels have normalized somewhat, and while walking is still a component of my overall fitness “plan,” I’m more likely to walk a maximum of ten miles on any given day.
But I have, as mentioned, ventured into other areas for fitness. My current regimen has an emphasis on strength training, and I’ve made some pretty major strides in that area.
Since losing the initial twenty pounds I’ve gained around fifteen pounds of muscle.
There’s still a fair amount of lingering flab, but for the first time in my life I’ve been sticking to an exercise plan well enough that I’m able to see tangible results, so that tends to be encouraging.
While I am pretty committed to the whole exercise thing, I think my natural inclination towards laziness has helped me keep from getting too “gung ho” and overtraining.
Of course, since I won’t be going in early to work out this weekend, I’m concerned that my laziness might gain a little too much ground.
So next week, during my four day weekend, I’m going to have to force myself to make use of the facilities here in my apartment complex. The equipment is of lower quality that what’s available at work, but something, presumably, is better than nothing.
In any event, the weekend is once again nearly upon us, which means early nights, even earlier mornings, and long, long, LONG days.
The one good thing about the weekend, though, is it leads me that much closer to the one thing in life that I have to look forward to: “Dead Like Me,” Sunday nights on Showtime.
If you haven’t seen DLM, I would recommend going out and buying Season One on DVD RIGHT NOW. Then call your cable or satellite provider and subscribe to Showtime so that you can watch new episodes of one of the greatest shows of all time.
I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this show, and there’s no way I can do it justice, so all I can say is watch this show.
Here are some sites that have info about DLM:
www.deadlikeme.tv
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348913
http://www.tvtome.com/DeadLikeMe
These sites will at least give you an idea of what the show is about and who’s in it.
After DLM, I then have fresh episodes of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” to look forward to.
ATHF is another great show, TWO seasons of which are available on DVD, though it is very different from DLM.
ATHF is part of Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” programming line, and it’s about the misadventures of a box of fries, a milk shake, a wad of uncooked meat, and their hapless neighbor, Carl.
To learn more, go to:
http://www.adultswim.com/shows/athf/index.html
Okay, that concludes the television show recommendation portion of this entry.
Anyway, for all of you (all ZERO of you, that is) who are obsessively coming back to this blog looking for new information, I’m probably not going to make too many entries over the weekend, since when I’m not working I’m pretty much sleeping. So odds are you’ll have to wait until Monday.
Yes, I know it’ll be a hardship, but I’m sure you’ll manage, and I hope you all have a nice holiday weekend.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
On The Edge
This is an original image. It's of a character from some stories of mine (some written, some not) named Fontaine. She's a futuristic thief and thrill-seeker, amongst other things. Of all the many characters I've created, Fontaine is definitely one of my favorites. I don't draw her as often as I'd like, since I'm seldom satisfied with the outcome.
Cars, Cthulhu, and Cookies
Okay, here’s yet another entry, which, I think, is likely to be what most of my entries are typically like.
At the moment, the big thing going on in my life is my car.
On Saturday night, on my way home from work (I work weekends, obviously), I found myself at a red light opposite my boss. He and I made eye contact, and made jokingly indicated our intention to race each other.
Little did I know that one of my co-workers, who, along with his fiancé, who also works with us, was right behind me, was contacting our boss via the direct connect feature of their Nextel phones and egging him on ("You can take him!").
So when the light changed, my boss, much to my surprise, actually did gun it. I made a half-hearted attempt at catching up, but I had been quite thoroughly dusted.
Within their little Nextel circle, the three of them had a good laugh at my expense, and, again, unbeknownst to me, my boss suggested that, due to car trouble brought on by this impromptu drag race, I wouldn’t be making it in to work the next morning.
A few minutes later I took my exit, and headed for the toll booth. As I pushed the clutch in to shift down into first, I felt the pedal stop resisting me and go all the way to the floor, and I heard the sound of gears grinding.
I was dead in the water, unable to bring my car out of neutral.
I threw my hazards on and got out, assuring the woman who was stopping to help that I had a phone and that I’d be okay. As I was pushing the car off to the side, I was surprised to discover that my co-workers had decided to take the same route I take home, and so they were there to help me move my car, wait with me for the tow truck to arrive, and bring me home.
They told me about the whole Nextel exchange at that time, and I had to admit that it was pretty funny.
The nearest dealership available to provide warranty service was, of course, closed for the weekend, and so my car was towed off to storage until Monday morning, at which time, I was told, I simply needed to call the dealership and let them know that the car was on its way, and why.
On Monday I did this, and then waited for a response. Early in the afternoon I called again to see if the car had arrived. It hadn’t yet, but the girl working there assured me that she would call as soon as it did.
Before I knew it, it was after 5, and I hadn’t heard anything.
Tuesday morning I called the dealership and found that my car still hadn’t been brought in.
I contacted roadside assistance, who contacted the towing service.
She informed me that the tow truck driver had failed to document the fact that the wrecker’s lot was not my car’s final destination, and that the car was still sitting there.
I was amused by the roadside assistance operator’s assessment of this situation: “Hel-LO! Like you’re NOT going to want your car brought somewhere else to get fixed.”
In any case, my car was finally brought to the dealership on Tuesday, where it was determined that the clutch needs to be replaced.
Thanks to the holiday weekend, this will take more than a week to resolve.
The only “good” news to come out of this is that it will be covered by my warranty. I was a bit concerned, as I had read online that some people who’d needed their clutches replaced were dismayed to find that this problem was considered “normal wear.”
However, as the girl at the dealership said, in my case, with fewer than 10,000 miles on the car, it can hardly be considered “normal” for a clutch to blow out.
Unfortunately, in the meantime, I am car-less, as my warranty doesn’t cover a rental. I could pay for my own, but as my co-workers are willing to bring me in to work this weekend, I have no social life whatsoever, and there’s a grocery store right across the street from where I live, it’s possible for me to get by without a car for a week.
So renting a car would be something of a pointless expense.
Beyond that there is little in my life that’s new or exciting.
Well, I did submit a story for publication last week.
I haven’t actually submitted a story in almost nine years, so it’s sort of significant, I guess.I think it’s a good story, and I’m hoping that, at long last, I will finally get published.
What sort of story is it, you ask? Well, it’s sort of a fantasy story, but it has a lot of elements of humor, and it’s kind of built off of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.
Is that typical fare, for me? Not really. Back in the day, I used to write a lot of fantasy (Sword & Sorcery), and Science Fiction. After a while, I started also writing a lot of straightforward fiction that was semi-autobiographical.
In the last eight years or so, though, I sort of stopped writing entirely. I’d start things and almost never finish them.
In the last two years or so I’ve started doing a little more writing, and actually finishing a couple of stories. Again, they tend to be primarily straightforward fiction and Science Fiction. This is the first one, though, that I felt was ready for publication.
Not being a big fan of rejection, I’ve been very reluctant to submit anything, but I’m hopeful about this one. If it doesn’t get published it won’t be too big of a deal, as at the very least I’ve taken that first step (again).
You know, there are probably some metaphorical ties to my romantic life in there somewhere, but that’s another story entirely, and one I don’t feel like writing just now…
The real excitement for today, though, stems from the fact that I made peanut butter cookies. I never realized just how easy they are to make. I mean, I never figured them to be incredibly complex, but I figured that at the very least they had more than three ingredients (peanut butter, egg, and sugar).
In case you’re wondering, they turned out very well.
Cooking and baking are two recently-discovered talents of mine, and what I find more surprising than the fact that I’m good at them is the fact that I enjoy them.
In any case, I think this is a sufficient entry for the time being.
At the moment, the big thing going on in my life is my car.
On Saturday night, on my way home from work (I work weekends, obviously), I found myself at a red light opposite my boss. He and I made eye contact, and made jokingly indicated our intention to race each other.
Little did I know that one of my co-workers, who, along with his fiancé, who also works with us, was right behind me, was contacting our boss via the direct connect feature of their Nextel phones and egging him on ("You can take him!").
So when the light changed, my boss, much to my surprise, actually did gun it. I made a half-hearted attempt at catching up, but I had been quite thoroughly dusted.
Within their little Nextel circle, the three of them had a good laugh at my expense, and, again, unbeknownst to me, my boss suggested that, due to car trouble brought on by this impromptu drag race, I wouldn’t be making it in to work the next morning.
A few minutes later I took my exit, and headed for the toll booth. As I pushed the clutch in to shift down into first, I felt the pedal stop resisting me and go all the way to the floor, and I heard the sound of gears grinding.
I was dead in the water, unable to bring my car out of neutral.
I threw my hazards on and got out, assuring the woman who was stopping to help that I had a phone and that I’d be okay. As I was pushing the car off to the side, I was surprised to discover that my co-workers had decided to take the same route I take home, and so they were there to help me move my car, wait with me for the tow truck to arrive, and bring me home.
They told me about the whole Nextel exchange at that time, and I had to admit that it was pretty funny.
The nearest dealership available to provide warranty service was, of course, closed for the weekend, and so my car was towed off to storage until Monday morning, at which time, I was told, I simply needed to call the dealership and let them know that the car was on its way, and why.
On Monday I did this, and then waited for a response. Early in the afternoon I called again to see if the car had arrived. It hadn’t yet, but the girl working there assured me that she would call as soon as it did.
Before I knew it, it was after 5, and I hadn’t heard anything.
Tuesday morning I called the dealership and found that my car still hadn’t been brought in.
I contacted roadside assistance, who contacted the towing service.
She informed me that the tow truck driver had failed to document the fact that the wrecker’s lot was not my car’s final destination, and that the car was still sitting there.
I was amused by the roadside assistance operator’s assessment of this situation: “Hel-LO! Like you’re NOT going to want your car brought somewhere else to get fixed.”
In any case, my car was finally brought to the dealership on Tuesday, where it was determined that the clutch needs to be replaced.
Thanks to the holiday weekend, this will take more than a week to resolve.
The only “good” news to come out of this is that it will be covered by my warranty. I was a bit concerned, as I had read online that some people who’d needed their clutches replaced were dismayed to find that this problem was considered “normal wear.”
However, as the girl at the dealership said, in my case, with fewer than 10,000 miles on the car, it can hardly be considered “normal” for a clutch to blow out.
Unfortunately, in the meantime, I am car-less, as my warranty doesn’t cover a rental. I could pay for my own, but as my co-workers are willing to bring me in to work this weekend, I have no social life whatsoever, and there’s a grocery store right across the street from where I live, it’s possible for me to get by without a car for a week.
So renting a car would be something of a pointless expense.
Beyond that there is little in my life that’s new or exciting.
Well, I did submit a story for publication last week.
I haven’t actually submitted a story in almost nine years, so it’s sort of significant, I guess.I think it’s a good story, and I’m hoping that, at long last, I will finally get published.
What sort of story is it, you ask? Well, it’s sort of a fantasy story, but it has a lot of elements of humor, and it’s kind of built off of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.
Is that typical fare, for me? Not really. Back in the day, I used to write a lot of fantasy (Sword & Sorcery), and Science Fiction. After a while, I started also writing a lot of straightforward fiction that was semi-autobiographical.
In the last eight years or so, though, I sort of stopped writing entirely. I’d start things and almost never finish them.
In the last two years or so I’ve started doing a little more writing, and actually finishing a couple of stories. Again, they tend to be primarily straightforward fiction and Science Fiction. This is the first one, though, that I felt was ready for publication.
Not being a big fan of rejection, I’ve been very reluctant to submit anything, but I’m hopeful about this one. If it doesn’t get published it won’t be too big of a deal, as at the very least I’ve taken that first step (again).
You know, there are probably some metaphorical ties to my romantic life in there somewhere, but that’s another story entirely, and one I don’t feel like writing just now…
The real excitement for today, though, stems from the fact that I made peanut butter cookies. I never realized just how easy they are to make. I mean, I never figured them to be incredibly complex, but I figured that at the very least they had more than three ingredients (peanut butter, egg, and sugar).
In case you’re wondering, they turned out very well.
Cooking and baking are two recently-discovered talents of mine, and what I find more surprising than the fact that I’m good at them is the fact that I enjoy them.
In any case, I think this is a sufficient entry for the time being.
A little more about me
Okay, so here’s another entry.
As I mentioned, I’m not sure what my purpose in keeping this blog is, so it’s difficult to determine what I should write about.
Odds are that if you’re looking at this you already know me, as the only people too likely to stop by here are friends of mine whom I tell about this, though I suppose that there will be the occasional new visitor.
So I guess I should try to find some balance between just providing updates on my life for people who are already fairly knowledgeable about my life, and introducing myself to people who don’t really know me.
Easier said than done, I think, but I guess I’ll give it a shot.
As you can see from previous posts, I’m something of an artist.
I say “artist” even though I don’t really think of myself as such, but there’s no other term for it. I suppose I could say that I’m a “dabbler,” but that just sounds silly.
My art tends to fall into one of two categories: original images and portraits.
My portraits tend to be of famous women, like the image of Rachael Leigh Cook posted here.
My original images tend to relate to science fiction and fantasy, and are usually representations of characters from stories that I’ve written (or, more commonly, plan to write).
Again, most of the original images tend to be of women.
Why is that? Well, I like women.
I especially like to draw women, as, for one thing, I’m fairly good at it, and for another, I don’t think there’s any subject more deserving of representation in art than women.
I’m of the opinion that there’s nothing in the world more beautiful than a beautiful woman.
I can see how someone could see that as something of a patrician, or even chauvinistic attitude, and some people might be offended by the skimpy outfits and provocative poses in some of my images, but I make no apologies.
It’s what I like to do, I’m pretty good at it, and I’m not hurting anyone.
And yes, the images are largely unrealistic, but that’s rather the point of fantasy.
There’s a lot more I could say on the subject, but I think I’ll leave it at that for now.
In fact, I think I’ll end this post on that note. I don’t want to ramble on too much, especially for those of you who are new to the “World of Jon.” I don’t want to reveal too much all at once, since I have to keep some amount of mystery to keep you coming back for more…
As I mentioned, I’m not sure what my purpose in keeping this blog is, so it’s difficult to determine what I should write about.
Odds are that if you’re looking at this you already know me, as the only people too likely to stop by here are friends of mine whom I tell about this, though I suppose that there will be the occasional new visitor.
So I guess I should try to find some balance between just providing updates on my life for people who are already fairly knowledgeable about my life, and introducing myself to people who don’t really know me.
Easier said than done, I think, but I guess I’ll give it a shot.
As you can see from previous posts, I’m something of an artist.
I say “artist” even though I don’t really think of myself as such, but there’s no other term for it. I suppose I could say that I’m a “dabbler,” but that just sounds silly.
My art tends to fall into one of two categories: original images and portraits.
My portraits tend to be of famous women, like the image of Rachael Leigh Cook posted here.
My original images tend to relate to science fiction and fantasy, and are usually representations of characters from stories that I’ve written (or, more commonly, plan to write).
Again, most of the original images tend to be of women.
Why is that? Well, I like women.
I especially like to draw women, as, for one thing, I’m fairly good at it, and for another, I don’t think there’s any subject more deserving of representation in art than women.
I’m of the opinion that there’s nothing in the world more beautiful than a beautiful woman.
I can see how someone could see that as something of a patrician, or even chauvinistic attitude, and some people might be offended by the skimpy outfits and provocative poses in some of my images, but I make no apologies.
It’s what I like to do, I’m pretty good at it, and I’m not hurting anyone.
And yes, the images are largely unrealistic, but that’s rather the point of fantasy.
There’s a lot more I could say on the subject, but I think I’ll leave it at that for now.
In fact, I think I’ll end this post on that note. I don’t want to ramble on too much, especially for those of you who are new to the “World of Jon.” I don’t want to reveal too much all at once, since I have to keep some amount of mystery to keep you coming back for more…
One of the things I like to do
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This is a painting of Rachael Leigh Cook that I did using Photoshop. It's entirely drawn by hand using my graphics tablet, using a JPEG photo of RLC as a reference. This is the sort of thing I do with my spare time. It's worth noting that this is the first even remotely successful attempt I've ever made at drawing RLC. Usually when I try to draw her, I find myself just staring at her, incapable of much in the way of coherent thought (I'm quite taken with young Ms. Cook). This time, though, I managed to stay strong.
Monday, August 30, 2004
First post
Well, I've finally gotten around to creating a blog.
I've actually been meaning to do this for a while, but laziness has continually won out, and I've stuck to just "meaning to do it."
Until now, of course.
As for what this blog is going to be like, at this point I haven't a clue. I'm sure that as the spirit moves me I'll make random posts about the significant events that occur in my life, which may or may not serve as some sort of commentary on life in general.
I'm also likely to post some of my art from time to time.
If you want to know who I am, well, my name is Jon, I live in Northern Virginia, I work in an Internet-related field, I'm divorced, 32 years old, and I live alone.
Those are pretty much the basics, and I guess I'll fill in the rest as I go forward with this.
The reason "bifrosts-edge" is in the URL is related to my username, Heimdall.
In Norse mythology, Asgard, home of the Gods, was connected to Midgard (Earth) by a rainbow bridge named Bifrost. At Asgard's threshold, on the edge of Bifrost, stood Heimdall, Asgard's sentry.
While I don't exactly feel like I'm some sort of Divine nightwatchman, I do feel a sort of kinship with Heimdall. Heimdall is himself an Asgardian, and lives within its boundaries, but he's not really a part of life. His position separates him from his fellow gods. He's very much on the outside, though he is on the outside looking out. This separation is due, in part, by choice. However, given his nature, Heimdall didn't have much else in the way of choice. Heimdall's senses have an acuity that goes well beyond those of his fellow gods, making him the ideal choice for sentry. It was a job he was born for.
It's a tenuous metaphor at best, but while I choose to live my life set apart from my fellow humans, like Heimdall, my very nature seems to make it an obvious choice.
So there you go.
I've actually been meaning to do this for a while, but laziness has continually won out, and I've stuck to just "meaning to do it."
Until now, of course.
As for what this blog is going to be like, at this point I haven't a clue. I'm sure that as the spirit moves me I'll make random posts about the significant events that occur in my life, which may or may not serve as some sort of commentary on life in general.
I'm also likely to post some of my art from time to time.
If you want to know who I am, well, my name is Jon, I live in Northern Virginia, I work in an Internet-related field, I'm divorced, 32 years old, and I live alone.
Those are pretty much the basics, and I guess I'll fill in the rest as I go forward with this.
The reason "bifrosts-edge" is in the URL is related to my username, Heimdall.
In Norse mythology, Asgard, home of the Gods, was connected to Midgard (Earth) by a rainbow bridge named Bifrost. At Asgard's threshold, on the edge of Bifrost, stood Heimdall, Asgard's sentry.
While I don't exactly feel like I'm some sort of Divine nightwatchman, I do feel a sort of kinship with Heimdall. Heimdall is himself an Asgardian, and lives within its boundaries, but he's not really a part of life. His position separates him from his fellow gods. He's very much on the outside, though he is on the outside looking out. This separation is due, in part, by choice. However, given his nature, Heimdall didn't have much else in the way of choice. Heimdall's senses have an acuity that goes well beyond those of his fellow gods, making him the ideal choice for sentry. It was a job he was born for.
It's a tenuous metaphor at best, but while I choose to live my life set apart from my fellow humans, like Heimdall, my very nature seems to make it an obvious choice.
So there you go.
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