by christindall | Jun 24, 2004 | Uncategorized
Life is so interesting.
Today at least wasn´t as hot as it was yesterday. According to WeatherBug (AIM) it only reached 75 or 76. Which was much better than the almost 90 it hit yesterday. As someone who loves the rain, and the midst, and the fall, this heat is too much. Fortunately, our apartment is on the bottom floor and is quite cool, even when it´s blistering hot outside.
So today was a fairly typical work day. Worked through the ecommerce solution for my web design company, Fresh Rain Studios. Got all the meta tags management and implementation working – it´s really pretty freakin´ cool.
Anyway – enough about that. I was planning on heading out and running errands all evening, as I have several things I need to purchase and prepare in anticipation of my camping trip this next weekend. Jon (my brother), Mike (my dad), and I are going up the Mountain Loop Highway for the weekend. This will be Jon´s first real camping trip (his last he was like 2), and my dad´s first trip in a really long time. I´m really pumped, as it´ll be my first camping trip this “season” and I desperately miss nature.
We had a wonderful invitation that sure changed the tone of the evening. Andy and Holly Moe invited us spontaneously to meet them at Carkeek Park for a picnic of KFC. It was absolutely fabulous. We sat out on the beach and took photos of the sunset and the people. It was relaxing and fun. We then came back and watch one of my and Janene´s favorite movies, Uncorked – which the Moe´s had not yet seen.
As I have been exploring myself I have come to see things about me that I need, and want, and that I really am unhappy with. How does one go about changing oneself? Especially when there are so many things that need to be changed? How does one balance living life (including owning / running three businesses, a wife, and friends) and focus on changing without failing miserably? *sigh*
Couple quick notes about movies (probably do more full / formal reviews sometime soon):
Equilibrium:
A “what if” sci-fi movie, this movie is definitely enjoyable. Don´t expect it to win awards, but it´s definitely worth the couple of hours. The general premise is that WW3 wiped out most of the human race; in the aftermath, realizing that we couldn´t survive another global war, a method of deadening human emotions was devised – because human emotions were blamed for enflaming the world to the point of war. These rules were enforced by “Clerics,” highly trained soldiers who hunted down and eliminated those accused of “sense crimes”. The story tells of one cleric, the highest cleric, who … oh, nevermind. Watch the movie and find out. 🙂
The Notebook:
Fresh in theaters this last week, this was (in my humble opinion) a wonderful love story and a fantastic movie. Check out the trailer, and pay attention to the reviews when they say to bring kleenex. When we saw the screening there were like two people not crying at the end. It´s a very touching and inspiring story, and a GREAT date movie.
Harry Potter 3:
This was definitely better than the first two. A new director brings some real movie tricks to this one, and as a result the movie actually feels like a . . . movie. You know, instead of a book that´s been animated. I would recommend seeing it, especially if you like the first two. If you skipped them, or hated them, wait for video, but it´s probably worth the couple of hours of your time to catch it.
Enough for tonight. More sometime soon.
by christindall | Jun 23, 2004 | Uncategorized
It´s too hot. It was 82+ here in Seattle today. I love the rain, and I like the cooler weather. Fall is my favorite time of year. It was just too hot.
Fun weekend, though. Got to housesit for Janene´s boss and take care of their dog and cat. It was fun and relaxing. Went to the Edmonds Art Festival for a while, walked around the house for a while, relaxed and watched several movies, which I´ll give my thoughts on later sometime.
I´m picking Janene up at Life Choices right now, where she volunteers every monday night. Since she´s done, I´ve gotta run. But I´ll do my best to update this again with something intelligent soon…
by christindall | Jun 18, 2004 | Uncategorized
So in a past blog I posted something brief about the new car the Italian Police got donated to them. Here´s
another page, with many more photos – very, very cool.
So Janene and I are house sitting this coming weekend for Elaine, Janene´s boss at
Seattle Children´s Hospital. They live over in a townhouse on the east side – very sweet little place. I think the plan is to take the dog for a walk every now and then and make sure the pets are comfortable, and to just veg and watch Showtime and HBO all weekend. It has been an incredibly long time since we just relaxed – I´m looking forward to it!
Next weekend I get to go camping with my dad and my brother, which I´m anticipating with great joy. It´s been a while since I went camping, and I´ve never been (well, since I was like 5) with them. We´re headed up the
Mountain Loop Highway towards
Verlot / Monte Cristo. I am so stinkin´ pumped for that!
And then on the weekend of July 9 we get to go camping with some close friends! We´re doing a married´s camping trip with the Moes and the McMasters. The six of us are headed over to
Ocean Shores for the weekend. I´ve never camped on the beach before (although Bob and I were pretty close when we went to
Fort Ebey a couple of years ago), so that should be really cool. I´m definitely looking forward to that, as well.
It´s sunny and hot here in Seattle – it´s
supposed to hit 80+ today, I believe. Ugh. That´s too hot for me, although I can go swimming which I may just have to do.
Tonight´s date night, and we have free tickets to go to a screening of
The Notebook. I´ll let you know my thoughts on it sometime in the next couple of days…
Life´s busy, but this is all the fun stuff!
by christindall | Jun 16, 2004 | Uncategorized
I thought this was quite amazingly cool. Yes, the potential for misuse is there – and the device probably WILL be misused if it ever becomes commonly available. But hey, what are great inventions for?
The inventor of an “invisibility” cloak has said that his next project will be to develop the technology to allow people to see through walls.
Susumu Tachi, who showed off the cloak at an exhibition in San Francisco earlier this month, said he was hopeful of providing a way to provide a view of the outside in windowless rooms.
“This technology can be used in all kinds of ways, but I wanted to create a vision of invisibility,” he told BBC World Service´s Outlook programme.
“My short-term goal would be, for example, to make a room that has no outside windows appear to have a view to the outside, then the wall would appear to be invisible.”
Read the Full Story
by christindall | Jun 10, 2004 | Uncategorized
I do. I love old people.
Yeah, I spend a lot of time complaining about their driving (whether I´m in a hurry or not). About how they should not be allowed to drive any more.
But when it really comes down to it, I love old people. I´m proud that I live in a country where they can still be independent. Where they can go to the grocery store if they want to. Or out with friends.
I´m incredibly fortunate at 25 to have both sets of grandparents alive and well. My mom´s parents just celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary – 60 freakin´ years! That´s absolutely amazing! I have learned so much about life (and love, and the way things work) from my grandparents that I don´t know where I´d be without them. I have fond memories growing up of spending time with my grandparents, and their friends.
Old people have so much wisdom. So often they are looked upon as out of touch with reality, out of touch with today´s society. But I submit that they are more in touch with reality than many younger people in todays society. These older people have been through the wringer and come out the other side, full of strong character and life experience. We as a younger generation should above all respect that and take the time to listen to the stories our old people tell. Listen and learn.
Learn about what it was like to live through a huge depression, where food was literally scarce. To live through world upheavals and wars. To live in a society that still rewarded people for strong character, for honest and integrity, and for fidelity. A society that was more concerned about what was morally right than what someone´s feelings were. After all, what is a hurt feeling compared to a moral sin?
What would happen, I wonder, if the youth of today were required to be mentored by an old person. To help take care of an old person. To listen and learn, and to grow in so doing. My guess is that society would be a different place. Perhaps we wouldn´t be sliding down the slippery slope into oblivion, because I believe that´s where we´re headed. And it SEEMS like so few in our society see it. Or have the character and the guts to stand up and make themselves heard.
I wonder, would we listen?
Not at first, that´s for sure. Because I can almost guarantee that right now someone with character is standing up and saying HOLD IT! But do we hear it? No.
Perhaps we´ve forgotten how to listen? How many of us have no idea what´s happening in politics today? I know I´m definitely weak in that area, much to my shame. How many of us have never volunteered to help people, in a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter or a home? How many of us have no true understanding and appreciation of what the phrase “to serve” means?
I think old people are best at these things. Perfect? By no means. But definitely stronger than the vast majority of the rest of us.
So get up off your butt. Turn off your computer. Go hug and old person, and have a good conversation. I imagine you´ll enjoy it and learn something about life and yourself in the process.
by christindall | Jun 8, 2004 | Uncategorized
Three movie reviews for you this evening. Janene and I recently saw Van Helsing on a spur of the moment date. The other two, Big Fish and Paycheck, we saw this weekend because Janene has been sick with a bummer of a cold.
Van Helsing:
The basic plot of Van Helsing: Van Helsing works for a secret society call the Knights of the Order, based out of the Catholic Church. He is referred to as “the Left Hand of God” multiple times throughout the movie, and he is a primary “enforcer” in the Church´s fight against evil.
The movie starts with an encounter between Van Helsing and Mr. Hyde which sets the mood for the remainder of the movie. After returning from his encounter with Mr. Hyde to the Vatican, Van Helsing is sent to Transylvania ostensibly to help protect the last two of a royal bloodline dedicated to destroying Dracula.
The movie is wonderfully dark and entertaining. In the same vein as the Mummy and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (although it was much much better than League…), it is filled with comedic action, fun monster affects, and side comedy. There´s essentially no blood shown in the movie; indeed, very little actual death is shown, with the exception of the vampires – which was, for obvious reason, far fetched enough that it wasn´t particularly bothersome. There is much teeth and claws and snarling beasts as was to be expected. Probably wouldn´t be enjoyable for the person who doesn´t like to be startled or who has an aversion to vampires, etc. But if you enjoy those sorts of movies, by all means don´t miss this movie.
Big Fish:
Big Fish is the “life story” of Edward Bloom (played by Ewan McGregor and some other old guy – flashbacks and such), a bigger than life man from a town too small to hold him. Directed by Tim Burton, this film is full of eye candy and extremely enjoyable exaggerations. Following the life of Edward Bloom through flashbacks while showing him as a late life grandpa who is dying of cancer, the film explores life and creativity through tall tales – which turn out to be not quite so tall after all.
I personally enjoyed this film immensely. I enjoyed not only the scenery but also the emotions of the film. I´d love to hear what other people took out of this film.
Paycheck:
In the same vein as The Bourne Identity, although not as good (in my humble opinion), Ben Affleck plays an engineer who reverse engineers technology for a corporation. The premise includes the fact that Affleck gets his memory wiped clean after each assignment. After accepting an unusually long assignment he finds himself back “on the outside” with no memory of his last three years – and without the paycheck he expected to find waiting. In its place was an envelope filled with several strange and seemingly random items. Left to use the items in the envelope to unravel the mystery of what´s going on is the basic plot of this film.
It was enjoyable as an essentially “brainless” entertainment item, but won´t win any awards.
by christindall | Jun 6, 2004 | Uncategorized
One of my past entries alluded to the fact that I have really been thinking a lot about life and what I want out of it. Well, I´m still doing that, but it occurs to me that I should ask some of you a few questions to see where other people stand.
- What do you want out of life?
- Where are you now?
- Are you happy?
- What more do you want?
- What kind of life do you want?
- Do you like your life?
Anyway, I´d love to hear what your thoughts are!
by christindall | Jun 3, 2004 | Uncategorized
Well, I was going to leave the cars for sale blog up for a while but decided to update things a bit instead. If you´re here looking for the cars that are for sale, feel free to look at the full blog page (this is the newest entry only) or use the links off to the left here.
So spent this last weekend in Union, Washington, which is just outside Shelton (about 35ish minutes from Olympia) working on Seasonal Essentials administrative items and technology. Soon I´ll have the new version of seasonalessentials.com up and running, with our new pricing, a new design, some important technology upgrades, and our new merchant program. We´ve got product in three stores now, which is amazingly cool. We´re going to focus on merchant sales and let the online storefronts grow as they will, at least for the moment.
It was an interesting weekend for me personally, however, as I thought a lot about what I really want out of life; what´s important, what´s not, where I want to be and to go, how I want to live, what I want my priorities to be, and so on and so forth. Those of you who know me may chuckle because it probably seems that I´m always asking these questions and evaluating my life – and that´s true. 🙂 Sometime in the “near” future I´ll probably put some of my thoughts here, not necessarily because anybody cares but more to get it written down somewhere to work through it all.
Hope all of your Memorial Day celebrations were fun and relaxing! Let me know what you did in the comments section!
