Peaks and valleys, or, Take those ups with the downs

Head down, legs jammin. That's usually how I assault my days. Today, however, I experienced the first flat tire of the year. It certainly dampened my plan in anticipation of the coming rains. Just right outside my block, I hit the flat of Franklin blvd and was entering the cadence. Days of spin cycle training put me into this groove that activates once I see open horizon. So I burned my legs out to reach velocity. Of course, there's thousands of debris particles on the road. A glass shard embedded in the rear tire made quick work of my ambition. Not even a mile into the 5 mile ride to Ryan's house on the other side of Elk Grove. Walked my bummed ass home and got to work repairing the bike once again. It is a 1980-something Fuji road bicycle with a scuffed-out "Special Tou--" brand on the front tube. Got it at this hidden bike shop near Sac City called Flare Cycles.. which I will have to return to soon to get the rims trued after pedaling a hundred feet on a busted tire. In the immediate future, that just means I am forced into a day of physical recovery after lifting heavy free-weights yesterday. Boohoo. And here I wanted to see how many pull ups I could do in a minute at the Tiger Cage. Next time, muscles, you will be destroyed.

The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather (Trailer)

this.

Rain chase

The Future is a Mesh Stallion!

Life is velocity now, and it is orienting in ascent; to zenith realms, to brave new worlds. These goals are believably achievable this century. Avante!

Repository Personal Factors

Spurred by Kevin and his related blog entry at eggsandjuice, I will attempt to list my referential library. This doesn't quite include manga volumes and individual issues of comics I have collected over the years... perhaps that will be another post.

The transforming palate at the boundary of distinction

Half a decade ago, I was exasperated by the predictability of statements made by people I interacted with. In those days, I had to steel myself for the inane dogmatism a common citizen exuded. Circa right-now, I am routinely displeased by questions posed. Most certainly when it is an inquiry given and increasingly those I make. The invasion of a person's thought processes is no longer appealing. In other words, stop asking for prosaic reports. Bare some teeth.

I'm a searchlight soul

Necropolis 0.6a

17x24" sketch inspired by Joakim Dahlqvist's "Podalida" works

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DISGUSTED

I ordered a Long Island iced tea tonight. What I got was a travesty to refined alcoholic tastes. I watched the bartender grab a plastic cup and fill it with ice, then grab that universal nozzle contraption and press this magic button which dispensed a pre-mixed concoction that "tastes" like Long Island iced tea, topped with the obligatory jewel of soda. Never again. It is a depressing circumstance when a staple of liquor beverages is replaced with a factory blend. So I propose this replacement to your store-bought mixed drink:

28 years of social interaction

Barraging my mom with questions as a child. Staying up late/getting up early to watch Sailor Moon with my older sister. Playing Nintendo with family. Summer water fighting and breakdancing with the Warheadz. Writing letters to my pen-pal Micah. Walking home from school with the first best friends. Passing notes with classmates in high school. Underage drinking games. AOL chatrooms and spitting digital game at girls that may live in my neighborhood. Getting pwned on Battle.net Warcraft 2. Phone calls with the first girlfriend. Lunch period cliques. sQuiD! crew chat battles. Random drives with Bertrand. Geeky horseplay in the computer labs and every other hallway on campus. Piling into Lando's car and skipping class to eat fast food. High school graduation night and LAN parties. Waiting in line at the Warped Tour. Discovering the town and the city in the backseat of Ron's car. Tennis with Bryan. Shotgun rules and Rosario's Logic. Inventing new phrases and jokes with Ryan. Racquet club pimpin. Road trips with cousins. CRC shenanigans and Taco Tuesdays. Kickin it at Alex's place on Q st (and T st). San Diego Comic-con. A real glimpse of women at CSUS. Bars and clubs and bars and clubs and a rave. Late night pow-wows with the experienced guy cousins. Westcoast Brewfest. Driving to San Diego and L.A. with the men that I call my brothers. House parties at the Monkeyhouse, the Compound and West Sacramento. Text messaging. Trying to date a coworker. Bulls on Parade (birthday partying in the month of May). Online comic battles and forum trolling before the term was coined. Cabin trips and gathering as many of our friends together outside of the hometown. Dating on Myspace. Going to Las Vegas without parental supervision. Finally being behind our own table at a comic convention. Meeting Canadians, an Australian, and an Indonesian. Chicago cab drivers and driving to Seattle with Alex + Yuka to see James, Marley, and Rey. Whizzbang. Endless nights of Halo, Guilty Gear, Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Def Jam: Fight for NY, etc., or, How to Get Really Good At Trash-talking. The war room at Hoppy Brewery. Hitting on every other hot piece of female ass that walked thru the door at Utrecht (and spying on the gaggle of bitches that go to the sushi place next door). West coast sharkin' with the boys. Pillow talk. The unholy draw of Facebook. Convincing an exotic dancer to give me a discount. Unexpected mini-reunions at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse. Being the Mariposa hall's lab tech stud. Sessioning with Adam and Pat. The Bitter End, Buckshots and Fairfield county lockup. City Comes Loud and Second Saturdays. The Tiger Cage. Bringing Respark together to produce comic books and grazing the lips of majestic triumph/learning I am horrible as a leader. Smash and crash in Paragon City a.k.a. building a hermit shell via the City of Heroes mmorpg. Vandal runs in the daytime. The shape-shifting, recurrent Unicorn. Discussing theoretical physics on the light rail and talking down a drug dealer (and stealing their pipe). Having a whole conversation with my nieces and nephews. Drink and Draw. Relearning the first language I spoke (and lost) on a family trip to the Philippines; Learning that G.R.O.s speak better English after three beers. Conquering my traumatic spelling flaw with the word "unknown" and thus owning my voice and opinion. Discussions about Zeitgeist, the singularity, and other jargon. Separating the wheat from the chaff. Hookah intellectualism. Skype debates. Google+ hangouts.