tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75071042155199192652011-04-21T15:36:09.183-07:00Mikeynoreply@blogger.comBlogger381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-67267953154082938442008-07-10T23:06:00.000-07:002008-07-10T23:10:06.418-07:00

and no play makes Mikey a dull boy

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-30149448535229208822008-03-22T20:14:00.000-07:002008-03-22T00:58:41.693-07:00

I got tired of the Superman thing. If anyone out there is dying to know the ending, then let me know and I'll follow through.Now we're onto a more grown up topic, profiles of the Disney Princesses. Daughter is just at the right age to be entranced by Disney's Princess marketing campaign. So that means that on most days I'm knee deep in fairies, musical numbers, and puffy dresses. As a coping

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-43432984891333955422008-03-03T22:59:00.000-08:002008-03-04T20:22:52.927-08:00

Daughter and I are watching a Disney Princess Sing Along thing and the narrator, a kindly old grandma type, says, "a place where everyone's dreams always come true"So, in my ongoing effort to educate, I say to Daughter, "You know that really can't work. See, what if my dream is that everyone else's dreams never come true? That's a logical flaw in her plan."Daughter looks back at me, "Shh,

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-25523304656661657002008-02-11T20:43:00.000-08:002008-02-11T23:30:57.319-08:00

Continued from this:We left off with Punchy McSpikyhead (Doomsday) facing off with the army and a sexually frustrated Superman flying back to the city with Lois.Superman's trip takes just long enough to let Doomsday demonstrate how little he cares about being shot in the face and how much he cares about administering punches to everything in sight. Superman gets there just as the army is pretty

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-66120786477047923322008-02-08T21:40:00.000-08:002008-02-08T23:01:01.749-08:00

So I'm watching a Superman cartoon on netflix online. This is about the time when Superman dies, but, like soap operas, no one in comic books ever really dies. So don't get all weepy.There are more absurdities than you might expect.We start out with Lex Luther (bald white guy who's the standard villian) set up as a philanthropist. Don't worry, comic books don't bother with multi-dimensional

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-23705891876849711082008-01-30T23:52:00.000-08:002008-01-31T00:31:28.296-08:00

I started this post in a completely different direction. It was going to be about how I generally manage to keep my weirdness pretty well under wraps, but that it sometimes sneaks out at odd, no pun intended, times.There's a problem with that though. See, I think I'm 100% wrong. Not the "I'm an odd duck" part, that's definitely true. I really don't think I keep it any where nearly as subdued as I

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-52665651284901597292008-01-21T23:55:00.000-08:002008-01-31T00:36:43.931-08:00

I was watching Finding Nemo with Daughter today and I remembered something from when I was a kid. This was remarkable in two ways:1. I hardly ever remember anything from my childhood. I really can only remember a handful of stuff before I was 17.2. Pretty much anything I actually do remember is the kind of thing that, while I can make jokes about it, most people find pretty horrifying. This

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-38905469315189908392008-01-07T13:54:00.000-08:002008-01-07T23:28:06.247-08:00

I don't think women appreciate how hard it is not to be 'the creepy guy' at the gym. The biggest problem is that there is a large enough number of creepy guys out there to safely assume that any male who glances at, talks to, or comes within 15ft of anything resembling an attractive woman, is in fact, a creep.I've become infinitely more comfortable around women since being married. See,

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-31584787874081750052007-12-29T20:17:00.000-08:002007-12-30T00:48:16.684-08:00

What do I want for Son and Daughter? That's complicated, but I can make even the simplest things complex.I want them to have a good sense of perspective. I want them to be able to objectively come to the conclusion that lots of the people they know are hopelessly dim and narrow. We're going to travel with the kids which will help this, and Daughter's already gone more places than most people I

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-48540673062372147912007-12-18T22:59:00.001-08:002007-12-18T23:06:39.023-08:00

Daughter and I made cookies. There was a point where things got out of hand as so often happens with cookie making.

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-84870784663672499752007-12-14T00:41:00.000-08:002007-12-16T23:35:37.397-08:00

Forgive me. I'm still not feeling very funny. Maybe I'll have some better stuff closer to New Years.I just watched American Psycho again and it got me thinking. Not about the directly correlated stuff like vapid materialism and lust and rejection of core humanity either. Instead, I ended wondering about how to convey a story like this without the blood.Well, of course it's possible, but I guess I

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-57475549386244733412007-12-09T00:07:00.000-08:002007-12-09T00:54:26.752-08:00

I'm doing something dumb, which is hardly unusual. At least this time it doesn't involve power tools or the local electric-grid.I'm making Ning run. Not through chasing her or anything, but that's not off the table. I've gotten a little concerned about her bones lately. See, she eats well, better than I do really, but her calcium +D intake might be a little low. Combine that with the fact that

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-15060144448311626342007-12-06T00:10:00.000-08:002007-12-06T00:34:01.201-08:00

The holidays drastically reduce my net weekly output of "The Funny". So my apologies for that.Here's a poorly spaced sign instead.

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-51205339359230124792007-11-29T22:52:00.000-08:002007-12-18T23:51:47.601-08:00

Daughter has started to fear things. She'll grab my hand and hold it in front of her face if any scary parts come up on one of her dvds. Now, the 'scary' is relative of course, so I'm often shielding her from something like an ogre doll in Little Einsteins.It makes me wonder how she processes fear at this age. She hasn't exactly had anything happen to be scared of, so it's strange how she can

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-68024852303708654942007-11-28T22:56:00.000-08:002007-11-28T23:15:17.160-08:00

I've been busier than usual lately. Standard workload for the normal job, and I've got a pretty full load of contracts on the side. I've managed to mostly keep up with training, though swimming is way behind.Christmas is coming fast, and, thankfully, Thanksgiving is behind us (see what I did there?). I don't like the holidays very much at all, but with Daughter and Son around I'm trying to do a

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-72940344749537591932007-10-27T17:18:00.001-07:002007-10-27T17:22:01.512-07:00

The alphabet pisses me off. I realize that this statement might need a little more explanation than most of my random declarations, so first, some background. I have kind of an arms-length relationship with reality. The world that exists in my head is a nifty place, full of well-formed theories and concepts that aren’t sullied by all that nastiness that floats around the real world. Try sending

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-42600870781476162952007-10-17T20:45:00.000-07:002007-10-17T22:36:49.318-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, and no one really has, I've generally focused my melancholy, laser like, onto punishing my body through constant exercise.So this leads to some delicious irony when I say that I'm in the best shape of my life.Side note, you might notice a large gap between this and the prior post. Well I was in another country with a slightly authoritative bent, and blogspot access is

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-72731019570812055982007-09-07T23:53:00.000-07:002007-09-08T01:42:43.384-07:00

I did another race a while ago. It was a very short one because there were some guys from work doing it for the first time. I did better overall and actually got second in my age group, but I'd blame that more on the less competitive crowd at these shorter races.So that pretty much ends my season. I've got maybe one more in mid-October that I might do, but other than that I'm aiming for next

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-67576738917956161362007-09-01T22:06:00.000-07:002007-09-02T00:10:16.735-07:00

I'm not a terribly domestic person. Like most statements, a lot of the actual meaning behind a statement like that depends on the precise definition applied to a single word. So 'domestic'; We've got kids, so we spend a lot of time at home, but I don't pay a lot of attention to the environment itself. Some people pride themselves on having a spotless kitchen, which is fine as long as they stay

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-91449539151424603942007-08-25T21:28:00.000-07:002007-08-25T22:38:44.991-07:00

This is bound to piss people off, but I may as well come out with it.I have to eat constantly and I'm getting sick of it.I started out skinny, and I've dropped almost 10 pounds in the last 5 months. I've upped my intake a hell of a lot and I'm trying to load up on the heavy calorie foods, but I've really only managed to hold steady. On top of that, I'm looking to up my run distance over the

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-7292238365593833802007-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:002007-08-19T13:48:00.596-07:00

Oh the shame.... Oh the soul crushing guiltI never put up a report on my last race.I did better than the prior one. Overall I went down two minutes which is good progress. Oddly enough I was two minutes slower on the swim this time and I added about a minute with a slower transition time. Last time I managed to skip just ahead of the crowd before the first turn. Not this time though. I ran right

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-3989781485500447232007-08-13T23:59:00.000-07:002007-08-14T12:57:30.506-07:00

Another benefit of having a Chinese wife is that I can learn how to deeply offend people in a new and challenging language. There's a lot more to this than just learning how to say 'assface' in Chinese. You've really got to get deep down into the culture and learn how to offend. You've got to learn how shake the very foundations of a person with a single well placed phrase. It takes study,

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-42351748514584278042007-08-09T21:47:00.000-07:002007-08-09T23:01:51.108-07:00

My wife, being all kinds of Chinese, exposes me to lots of interesting bits of culture that I really wouldn't get otherwise. What I've been seeing a lot of lately, is the penchant for status seeking through purchasing. It's kind of like the western, 'Keeping up with the Joneses'. Here, neighbors and friends will have small, and never acknowledged, competitions, things like 'whose lawn in the

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-18063845502467865562007-08-06T23:13:00.000-07:002007-08-06T23:15:35.319-07:00

Here's a contribution from someone who's notable for being not me:Ever heard of working poors? Very common here in Cali, a state blessed with sunny weather and high tech firms. With stock options, stock grants, stock discounts, bonus checks... many of us worked hard and we spent even harder. I noticed that people kept wishing they had more money. Nothing wrong with this particular wish. I myself

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-46680247552391684242007-08-01T12:42:00.001-07:002007-08-01T13:41:29.110-07:00

No one sent this to me, but having things to write about can't hurt.1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My father. With most parents, naming your child is pretty much the first thing you can make a mistake with. In this case my mother getting falling down drunk when she was pregnant with me would make my name mistake #2.2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I'm crying right now. I saw a picture of a

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-9499587604922963972007-07-22T21:56:00.000-07:002007-07-22T22:18:58.963-07:00

I'm having some motivation trouble right now. I should be on the trainer right now... well technically, I should have been on it for the last hour. Instead I've been nibbling away inefficiently at various kinds of work.Aside from trying to motivate myself through a lot of self-directed swearing, here are some other ideas I've either done, or have considered.I made chocolate chip cookies. This did

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-78222412772190521602007-07-19T20:45:00.000-07:002007-07-21T12:47:05.147-07:00

I have lots of little anecdotes, unfortunately most of them are really sad. Still, there are a few that won't turn your hair white.A few years back I worked in a small office with three other guys. A guy who I'll call Steve worked across the open air hall from us. One sunny week in spring, Steve had a full remodel of his office going. While the drywall guys were inside getting dusty, Steve

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-9527665794612859532007-07-15T20:07:00.000-07:002007-07-15T20:34:15.083-07:00

Did the race yesterday and, overall, I did OK. So, of course, I'm disappointed.There were good and bad points. The swim went very well, way better than I expected. I started wide outside and passed the main knot of swimmers in my group by the first buoy. From then on I was picking off people one at a time with a good steady pace. I managed to pass several of the slow guys in the prior age group

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-26449949037737388892007-07-13T20:37:00.000-07:002007-07-13T21:18:31.336-07:00

Race day tomorrow. I'm spending tonight packing and doing some transition practice. It's a straight sprint, 800m, 25k, 5k.Since, this is my first race on this distance, I don't have anything to really compare it to for times. So I'm just going to shoot towards the fastest time I can make and other than that, get a baseline time setup for future races.If I finish in 1:30, then that will put me

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-85904355519227627012007-07-08T22:56:00.001-07:002007-07-08T22:59:15.415-07:00

I worry a lot.Too much really. It's something that makes me good at my job, but kind of cuts into a lot of other stuff.I should clarify 'worry'. I don't sit around nibbling my nails and rocking back and forth or anything like that. I just end up thinking about different situations and how to deal with them. The fact that these situations may be completely unlikely and years down the road doesn't

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-78023507875925608252007-07-04T23:25:00.000-07:002007-07-05T15:49:59.848-07:00

I've been meaning to post about the new bike for a while now. I went with the cheapest option, which wasn't altogether that cheap, but will allow me to look at getting some race wheels later if I need to.I've only taken it out on a couple rides since I've been spending a lot of time on the road bike in the trainer. The rides were good. The rides are more comfortable than the road bike was. That

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-6499490592047321402007-06-28T11:58:00.000-07:002007-06-28T14:24:16.248-07:00

I'm a little tired.Working until 1-2am I can deal with, but combining that with a 5am wake up to go swimming just isn't cool. With my standard 30 minutes wait time before I actually go to sleep, I'm looking at 2.5-3.5 hours of sleep on these nights, and that's to go into an endurance workout. That dog won't hunt, Monsignor.So what's an insomniac with acheivement issues to do? Well, I can cobble

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-49870169933651530892007-06-24T00:24:00.001-07:002007-06-24T00:24:36.524-07:00

I did my first race about six weeks ago. I placed in the middle of the pack, which was to be expected. I hadn't trained very long, first race, etc. I'm fine with that. But something has been bugging me ever since. I could have done better. I don't mean that I could have trained more or gone in with an expensive bike. I could have pushed myself harder. Much harder. Right after I finished and

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-3771813976938727342007-06-21T22:56:00.000-07:002007-06-21T23:54:08.494-07:00

It's interesting to see how radically different Daughter and Son are. Also, Daughter's personality is really being shown in sharp relief as Son is starting to show his personality more and more.Son is a happy kid. Smiles constantly, laughs easy, generally in a pretty good mood.Daughter is much more serious. Harder to get her to smile, rarely laughs, and she has a sense of humor based heavily

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-83827770119840025312007-06-17T15:09:00.000-07:002007-06-18T13:54:30.939-07:00

You ask a guy why he married his wife and you'll get a different answer depending on when you ask the question. If you ask while his wife's around, you'll get an answer ranging from, “I love her”, to a sonnet describing the nature of true love and how it somehow resides in his wife's perfect smile. Fun fact, the sonnet guy either had sex 30 seconds before you asked that question, or is trying to

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-22878303720071376652007-06-13T22:29:00.000-07:002007-06-17T19:00:46.387-07:00

To drastically misquote Huxley in a way I'm sure he wouldn't approve of, Mother's Day is kind of like a dirty joke, Father's Day is just outright offensive.I can deal with the Mother's Day part. Get Ning presents, day off, etc. Father's Day though, what are you supposed to do with that? Barbecue things I think. Beer is usually thrown in there somewhere too. For some reason I think there's some

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-53767046905137671732007-06-08T20:31:00.000-07:002007-06-10T22:25:22.956-07:00

Since everyone knows that spending dollars is a perfectly valid way to make up for a lack of training time, I'm shopping around for a new bike. Aside from the above untruth, there's also the general male love of gadgetry and toys. I'm lucky in that I really don't get bit by that bug too often anymore, and even when I do, I usually manage to snap out of the consumer-trance in time to stop before I

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7507104215519919265.post-21339925793083213142007-06-08T18:05:00.000-07:002007-06-09T22:58:00.270-07:00

Our house has been a viral ho down ever since I got back from Central Asia. It's been awful. First I brought back a stomach-virus souvenir that I was considerate enough to keep to myself, then I got a nasty cold, then Daughter had a fever that turned into a mucous fountain, then Ning and Son got sick with Son ending up at the doctor's a few times.Ning's generally taken the brunt of this at home

Mikeynoreply@blogger.com2