"All By Myself"

Michelle's out of town for the week up in New York City, visiting her family. I'm thus left here to my own devices. The house is rather dark and quiet, just me and the cats. I've only got one light, my computer, and the TV/DVD on.

Next week I head out to Oklahoma for a few days. I really need to play the guitar quite a bit before I head out, because otherwise my fingers are not going to make it when we do the big family singalong at my uncle's birthday party. Even if I play for an hour or two every night, though, I'm pretty sure this is gonna be rough on 'em.

Summer school continues well. Kinda wish I could just laze about all day, doing nothing, but that ain't gonna happen.

The cats are getting into the crazy period of the evening where they run circles around the living room and claw at things (the furniture, the walls, me). My only hope is that they'll calm down by the time I go to bed.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Rancid, "Time Bomb"

"Don't You Feel My Leg"

The trip to Oklahoma was...well, it was. Michelle finally got to meet my family (most all in one go over at dad's house), and everyone seemed to like each other. The whole traveling thing was a rough experience, though. We barely made our flight out to Oklahoma, and then we almost missed the (much too early) flight back to DC yesterday (that's due in large part to my inability to navigate and the fact that I forget where I'm going or how to get there a lot of the time). We also ended up spending a hell of a lot of time in the car for a four-day trip (over 600 miles in that time). But it was good to see everyone; my cousin's daughter has grown, my brothers both have steady girlfriends, and we got the chance to play guitars in heat of the Oklahoma night once more. Good times.

We have Teacher Orientation/Work Days all next week. While I'm ready to get back into the daily grind of it all, I really do wish I had a few more weeks to relax and not do anything. The trip to Oklahoma really wore me out, and I don't know that I'll be recovered by the time school starts.

Michelle is actually currently interviewing for a position at the school. Part of me feels this will be wonderful, and part of me worries about us working at the same place and both of us being teachers. But I'm sure everything will work out as it's supposed to.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Shins, "Australia"

"Looking For Store-Bought Bones"

We're only a few days away from the trip to Oklahoma to meet all the family. Michelle's kinda nervous about meeting them all in one go, but I'm sure it'll turn out fine. My family's just excited a got married; as long as she's breathing and has a pulse, my family will like her.

We got a Nintendo Wii over the weekend. The thing is freakin' awesome. The Wii Sports game is great for a group (as we discovered Saturday night; drunken boxing is so much less difficult than Jackie Chan movies would have you believe), and Super Paper Mario is one of the best games I've played in ages. It's a great mix of action platformer and a hint of RPG elements. Gameplay is innovative and intuitive, which isn't necessarily always the case with these things.

Really, the Wii does just about everything right. It's real easy to set up and play right out of the box, the controller is versatile and easy to use, and it's got a lot of functionality and creative possibilities without being too gimmicky. Sure, it may not be the graphics horse that the X-Box 360 or the PS3 are, but Nintendo has opted to go for style and substance over flash. And make no mistake, the system can still crank out some nice visuals. Super Paper Mario, for instance, isn't as fancy-looking as, say, Gears of War or whatever other games they've got running on the other systems. It does have it's own unique sense of style, and there are nice little flourishes throughout the game (like how each new world is "drawn" as if by an etch-a-sketch when you first enter it) that are really appreciated.

So yeah, definitely a system worth having, if you can find one (took us a week and a visit to about 15 or so different stores, not including the stores we called beforehand to see if they had any in stock).

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Camera Obscura, "If Looks Could Kill"

"Twenty-Twenty-Twenty-Four Hours To Go-o-o"

Things I have accomplished in the last twenty-four hours:

1) Started feeling much better (still kinda don't have much of a voice, though).

2) Bought groceries.

3) Vanquished the Evil Smell in the Kitchen (it was something in the fridge, which had to be purged of its contents, purified with fire and bleach water, and consecrated by members of the local religious community before we could restock it with edible food).

4) Watched some Monty Python's Flying Circus.

5) Hit baseballs at a batting cage for the first time in about a decade or so.

6) Got access to the Dim Bulb site via FTP again (so I uploaded somethin'!).

7) Slept like a baby and dreamt that PT Cruisers got 50-odd miles to the gallon, but only if you bought the basic model (the fancier models, however, only got 25 or so MPG).

Yes, I am truly a Renaissance Man.

I also bought the tickets (well, on Tuesday night, actually) for Michelle and I to fly to Oklahoma in a couple of weeks. The ostensible rationale behind the trip is to make an appearance at dad's wedding reception party, but the tacit reason (well, guess writing it down here doesn't make it so tacit, does it?) is to give Michelle a chance to meet the rest of my family. We're taking a side trip out to Wichita to see Mom as part of this little jaunt, so I actually rented a car as well (the first time I've ever rented a car). I anticipate good times and way too many embarassing childhood stories from my grandfather.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Hem, "Not California"

"There's a Bob Dylan reference in this movie just for you."

I am currently watching Music and Lyrics with Michelle. It's actually not a terrible movie. I admit a certain fondness for Hugh Grant movies, though I couldn't tell you why.

I've been sick all weekend. Whether it's allergies or whatnot isn't really clear to me, but Lord knows I hate not being able to breathe. And God, the phlegm...so much phlegm. It's made it tough for me to sleep through the night and such, but at the same time it's making me ridiculously sleepy. This only happens about once every six or seven months, but it's always a pain when it does.

Tuesday is when I present my Final Portfolio. I printed it out earlier this afternoon. Fifty pages of crap. Woo. I will be glad to get the damn thing done finally, as it's been a long time in the works. It also marks the end of my classes until at least September, which will be nice.

Looks like Michelle and I will be heading to Oklahoma next month for a few days of hanging out with the folks. The impetus for the trip is, technically, Dad and Vivian's wedding reception (seeing as how they got married a couple of weeks ago). For me, the greater draw is taking Michelle to see the family members she hasn't met. So that'll be fun.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Cake, "Italian Leather Sofa"