Well, we just got home from our shift at the NORAD Santa Tracking Center. What a blast! There are more than 100 people answering phone calls and e-mails from children all over the world who want to know where Santa is.
If you don't know about NORAD Tracks Santa, click here.
Merry Christmas, and if you're here in Colorado Springs and want someplace to hang out tomorrow afternoon, we're having an open house, bring a plate of finger food or chips or something, we'll have a keg of Arctic Lager!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Update on Mum ...
I talked with her for 20 minutes today, and I am much relieved. The doctors did not do surgery on her, instead they put in a drain and what amounts to a colostomy bag (yuck) and she has finally begun responding to the antibiotics.
In short, Mom is responding and recovering. The fever is gone, swelling and redness reduced and is looks like she'll be able to enjoy Christmas.
And my sister brought Mom and Dad two new kittens for Christmas. They've been tearing the house up - climbing the tree, unwrapping presents. In a way, as much as I wish that we were there visiting, I am glad we're not.
So, that's what's up now I need to rest some more before the beer mile!
In short, Mom is responding and recovering. The fever is gone, swelling and redness reduced and is looks like she'll be able to enjoy Christmas.
And my sister brought Mom and Dad two new kittens for Christmas. They've been tearing the house up - climbing the tree, unwrapping presents. In a way, as much as I wish that we were there visiting, I am glad we're not.
So, that's what's up now I need to rest some more before the beer mile!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Lots happening in the Guhrilla kingdom
and forgive me (Catwoman) for not posting more religiously.
Here's the deal: about 2 months ago, my Mother, who lives in Alaska, told me she had to have a lump removed from her breast. It turned out not to be cancerous, which is great.
Monday, she told me she had to go to the emergency room; she has been diagnosed with cellulitis, a serious, potentially fatal bacterial infection.
Wednesday, the infection had doubled in size. The doctors put her on vicodin for the pain and put a port in her arm where they have been injecting major amounts of high-power antibiotics in her blood.
Today, the doctor told her she's got "galloping cellulitis" and they are opening her up surgically to irrigate the infection with antibiotics.
So, if you are religious, please pray for my Mother, Linda. This is a potentially life-threatening infection (but the doctors are NOT using that terminology).
On a much lighter note, please come the the Arctic Brewery's Christmas party tonight! It promises to be a drunk and debauched time for all!
Here's the deal: about 2 months ago, my Mother, who lives in Alaska, told me she had to have a lump removed from her breast. It turned out not to be cancerous, which is great.
Monday, she told me she had to go to the emergency room; she has been diagnosed with cellulitis, a serious, potentially fatal bacterial infection.
Wednesday, the infection had doubled in size. The doctors put her on vicodin for the pain and put a port in her arm where they have been injecting major amounts of high-power antibiotics in her blood.
Today, the doctor told her she's got "galloping cellulitis" and they are opening her up surgically to irrigate the infection with antibiotics.
So, if you are religious, please pray for my Mother, Linda. This is a potentially life-threatening infection (but the doctors are NOT using that terminology).
On a much lighter note, please come the the Arctic Brewery's Christmas party tonight! It promises to be a drunk and debauched time for all!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
I hate this!
1) OK, I'll drink for whining.
2) Been stuck in a motel and classes all week - my workout schedule is SHOT. I haven't run since Saturday's Mall Walker's Hash. I am going crazy.
3) Poop.
4) I hear Brownie is gay.
5) Poop. I think I'll go do the Incline again tomorrow or Saturday morning. I gotta do something, damn it! Back in the office next week and I can get my daily runs OnOn.
6) POOP!
2) Been stuck in a motel and classes all week - my workout schedule is SHOT. I haven't run since Saturday's Mall Walker's Hash. I am going crazy.
3) Poop.
4) I hear Brownie is gay.
5) Poop. I think I'll go do the Incline again tomorrow or Saturday morning. I gotta do something, damn it! Back in the office next week and I can get my daily runs OnOn.
6) POOP!
Friday, November 10, 2006
The Incline
Is the most intense, most killer workout I have EVER experienced!
Brownie, thanks for telling me about it. Yer a pussy for not coming. Oh, and WTF with the Barr trail only being 3 miles? You are high. 4 is more like it ...
The coolest thing about the climb, though, was topping out, looking around and realizing how incredibly beautiful my surroundings were! I will definitely hit this trail again!
Brownie, thanks for telling me about it. Yer a pussy for not coming. Oh, and WTF with the Barr trail only being 3 miles? You are high. 4 is more like it ...
The coolest thing about the climb, though, was topping out, looking around and realizing how incredibly beautiful my surroundings were! I will definitely hit this trail again!
Thursday, November 09, 2006
The Incline ... solo
I have never even been there, but f***in' Brownie wanked out on me! And he's not even going to happy hour!
1) Brownie, drink for wussing out.
2) I am going to the Incline tomorrow (today? WTF time is it?) FRIDAY at 1030. Any of you hosers want to come get sweaty, e-mail me.
3) poop. Just, f***ing poop.
4) I like beer.
Lick
1) Brownie, drink for wussing out.
2) I am going to the Incline tomorrow (today? WTF time is it?) FRIDAY at 1030. Any of you hosers want to come get sweaty, e-mail me.
3) poop. Just, f***ing poop.
4) I like beer.
Lick
Thursday, November 02, 2006
It was beautiful ...
I had a loooooooooooooooo (lotta "o's", huh?) oooooooooong day at the office today. Stuff flying at me from left and right. Everything had to happen now, everything was not quite working correctly, and it just wouldn't let up. Let me say one thing before I get over the long day -- Microsoft Server Extensions to support FrontPage are *EVIL*. Just my opinion. If you don't agree, keep that shit to yourself.
So, long day, 1/2 of it taken up with training (so I couldn't get the other projects done) and then, get the little things I didn't quite finish during the morning finished before I skipped out the door.
Got home, changed into my running gear immediately. Kissed the wife and away!
I headed West, the sun setting just over the shoulder of Pike's Peak, beautiful colors in the sky and a crisp, cool breeze. I just kind of locked in to my pace and ran. No MP3 player. No distractions, just me and the road. If only it was a little warmer, and a little less pavement, but, no matter. I just put on the miles.
About three miles into the run, I decided to do some wind sprints, just because I need to get acclimated to this altitude. I surprised myself, a little, but enjoyed the feeling of the wind on my face as I pushed just a bit harder. And the sunset was glorious.
The only bad thing about runs like today's is that they have to end some time. I took it easy, just four or so miles, but it was a great way to unwind from a rough day. I think I'll do it again.
So, long day, 1/2 of it taken up with training (so I couldn't get the other projects done) and then, get the little things I didn't quite finish during the morning finished before I skipped out the door.
Got home, changed into my running gear immediately. Kissed the wife and away!
I headed West, the sun setting just over the shoulder of Pike's Peak, beautiful colors in the sky and a crisp, cool breeze. I just kind of locked in to my pace and ran. No MP3 player. No distractions, just me and the road. If only it was a little warmer, and a little less pavement, but, no matter. I just put on the miles.
About three miles into the run, I decided to do some wind sprints, just because I need to get acclimated to this altitude. I surprised myself, a little, but enjoyed the feeling of the wind on my face as I pushed just a bit harder. And the sunset was glorious.
The only bad thing about runs like today's is that they have to end some time. I took it easy, just four or so miles, but it was a great way to unwind from a rough day. I think I'll do it again.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Let the Truth Sting
Once in a while, as song reaches through, either consciously or subconsciously and touches me. This song is one.
A little back story, I was recently turned on to singer-songwriter David Gray by one of my shipmates back on Lincoln. I liked the music superficially for a while, but something began to draw me in. I am not sure if it was the voice, the writing or the lyrics, slowly working their way into my consciousness, but David Gray touches me in a place that few artists ever have.
This song I am posting here, as he sings it on the album, is one such piece of music. It speaks to me of frustration, pain, reality, life. It is dark, his voice cracks and rakes like gravel as he sings it, and it just a very real, very heartfelt song. It just hits me in that way some songs, paintings, stories or photos reaches into my very core and touches me.
You can't hear it, unless you find it and purchase it, but you can read it, and, hopefully, through my enthusiasm for this amazing artist, I can turn YOU on to something very special. Let the truth sting.
Let the Truth Sting
By David Gray
A Century Ends, 1993
The hour is out of joint
Black sun has arisen
And the river of words
Is flowing on through
The cages of tradition
They're handing out emptiness
We'll take it, cos it's given
Free with this plastic innocence
And these standards of living
And questions, lighted questions
Burnin' holes into my head
Hanging like shadows o'er the sun
Staring out like the eyes of the dead
And sometimes my soul flickers
When the wind of change blows cold
Over the mire of repetition
Down the corridors of rigmarole
What I say, what I think
What I put down in ink
I'm only tryin' to find a way to understand
And I mean no harm
I'm just searching for calm
In the storm of mankind
And do you find it there
In the sea of faces
That drowns you every day
Or in the silence and rubble and empty spaces
Where children and rottweilers play
Is it buried in the praise
Given so cheap
With a meaningless movement of the jaws
In the looking glass
That flatters you
Or in the rattle of hollow applause
Blind circles, moon and sun
Body willing, mind undone
One pain ending while another begins
Lies, ruin, disease
Into wounds like these
Let the truth sting
From the hub to the limit
Through the urban hollows
Out into the poles of the extreme
To echo through the numbness
Of these godless minutes
In the shadow of delusion's regime
And here watching the night
It opens like a flower
The days start to rust
Time pound a silent hammer
On this empire of dust
And I'm thinking about the bullet
And the TV screen, the dollar, and the clenched fist
And if we're searching for peace
How come we still believe
In hatred as the catalyst
Oh, through the borderline
In front and behind
One pain endin', while another began
Lies, ruin, disease
Into wounds like these
Let the truth sting, yeah,
Let the truth
And I feel it from the pit of my stomach
Into the ditch of my mind
Inside the chambers of my heart
As I stare half blind
At these walls of cardboard
At this space that I've rented
At your beauty that is crumbling
Though you try so hard to prevent it
Whoa, on and on
Body willing, mind undone
One pain ending while another begins
Lies, ruin, disease
Into wounds like these
Let the truth sting
Let the truth sting
Let the truth sting
Let the truth sting
A little back story, I was recently turned on to singer-songwriter David Gray by one of my shipmates back on Lincoln. I liked the music superficially for a while, but something began to draw me in. I am not sure if it was the voice, the writing or the lyrics, slowly working their way into my consciousness, but David Gray touches me in a place that few artists ever have.
This song I am posting here, as he sings it on the album, is one such piece of music. It speaks to me of frustration, pain, reality, life. It is dark, his voice cracks and rakes like gravel as he sings it, and it just a very real, very heartfelt song. It just hits me in that way some songs, paintings, stories or photos reaches into my very core and touches me.
You can't hear it, unless you find it and purchase it, but you can read it, and, hopefully, through my enthusiasm for this amazing artist, I can turn YOU on to something very special. Let the truth sting.
Let the Truth Sting
By David Gray
A Century Ends, 1993
The hour is out of joint
Black sun has arisen
And the river of words
Is flowing on through
The cages of tradition
They're handing out emptiness
We'll take it, cos it's given
Free with this plastic innocence
And these standards of living
And questions, lighted questions
Burnin' holes into my head
Hanging like shadows o'er the sun
Staring out like the eyes of the dead
And sometimes my soul flickers
When the wind of change blows cold
Over the mire of repetition
Down the corridors of rigmarole
What I say, what I think
What I put down in ink
I'm only tryin' to find a way to understand
And I mean no harm
I'm just searching for calm
In the storm of mankind
And do you find it there
In the sea of faces
That drowns you every day
Or in the silence and rubble and empty spaces
Where children and rottweilers play
Is it buried in the praise
Given so cheap
With a meaningless movement of the jaws
In the looking glass
That flatters you
Or in the rattle of hollow applause
Blind circles, moon and sun
Body willing, mind undone
One pain ending while another begins
Lies, ruin, disease
Into wounds like these
Let the truth sting
From the hub to the limit
Through the urban hollows
Out into the poles of the extreme
To echo through the numbness
Of these godless minutes
In the shadow of delusion's regime
And here watching the night
It opens like a flower
The days start to rust
Time pound a silent hammer
On this empire of dust
And I'm thinking about the bullet
And the TV screen, the dollar, and the clenched fist
And if we're searching for peace
How come we still believe
In hatred as the catalyst
Oh, through the borderline
In front and behind
One pain endin', while another began
Lies, ruin, disease
Into wounds like these
Let the truth sting, yeah,
Let the truth
And I feel it from the pit of my stomach
Into the ditch of my mind
Inside the chambers of my heart
As I stare half blind
At these walls of cardboard
At this space that I've rented
At your beauty that is crumbling
Though you try so hard to prevent it
Whoa, on and on
Body willing, mind undone
One pain ending while another begins
Lies, ruin, disease
Into wounds like these
Let the truth sting
Let the truth sting
Let the truth sting
Let the truth sting
Monday, October 30, 2006
Not the best of days
Ugh ... What on earth could be worse than starting to feel crappy on a Monday? I mean, after lunch, I just couldn't keep my brain on track at all. I started kind of fading in and out, and not in the usual post-lunch "touch and go" kind of way. I just couldn't keep focused, I got all hot, and felt, in general, well ... crappy.
I took a nap after work. That helped a little, but I think its early to bed tonight.
Upside? The Monkey Boy had a perfect day at school. I was sure proud of him. He's had issues, got put in a special behavior management program in Seattle, but his first teacher this year (in the special program) told us he had no idea why the boy was even in the program.
So, adjustment aside, he has been doing pretty well, in a MAINSTREAM (non-behavior mod) class! We're fairly certain the reason is because I am no longer underway, and he needs that direct support of having his father home. Works for me ...
I took a nap after work. That helped a little, but I think its early to bed tonight.
Upside? The Monkey Boy had a perfect day at school. I was sure proud of him. He's had issues, got put in a special behavior management program in Seattle, but his first teacher this year (in the special program) told us he had no idea why the boy was even in the program.
So, adjustment aside, he has been doing pretty well, in a MAINSTREAM (non-behavior mod) class! We're fairly certain the reason is because I am no longer underway, and he needs that direct support of having his father home. Works for me ...
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Mmmf. Whoa ... It's kinda dark in here ...
Greetings and welcome to the Guhrilla Chronicles.
It is here that the ramblings of the monkey mind will continue. Everything is fair game here. Recipes. Ramblings. Rants and raves, yessiree, we'll have it all.
The cool thing? I dunno. I mean, why have a blog, anyway? Well, why not? Things happen to me. Things come to my mind. I write, shoot, think wild stuff some times. Why not put it down for prosperity, my own or to the benefit of someone else?
So here it is. If you don't like it, that's OK. If you do, great! Share with someone else!
By the way, all poetry and photos are copyrighted by me, but please feel free to share them as long as you give the appropriate credit!
So a little about the circumstances surrounding this blog: it was just time! As I was developing the Killa Guhrilla home page, I realized that blogging was one of the best ways to keep it up to date. So here's the blog. I will also update the site with photos, poetry, recipes and whatnot, I will also keep the blog up to date.
Plus, I always love an outlet where I can spend a little time and vent.
It is here that the ramblings of the monkey mind will continue. Everything is fair game here. Recipes. Ramblings. Rants and raves, yessiree, we'll have it all.
The cool thing? I dunno. I mean, why have a blog, anyway? Well, why not? Things happen to me. Things come to my mind. I write, shoot, think wild stuff some times. Why not put it down for prosperity, my own or to the benefit of someone else?
So here it is. If you don't like it, that's OK. If you do, great! Share with someone else!
By the way, all poetry and photos are copyrighted by me, but please feel free to share them as long as you give the appropriate credit!
So a little about the circumstances surrounding this blog: it was just time! As I was developing the Killa Guhrilla home page, I realized that blogging was one of the best ways to keep it up to date. So here's the blog. I will also update the site with photos, poetry, recipes and whatnot, I will also keep the blog up to date.
Plus, I always love an outlet where I can spend a little time and vent.
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