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Even though I was fasting, I had a lot of fun this weekend for my birthday. Friday night I went over to Stephanie’s place after not having seen her for about 10 months. It was nice to catch up and hang out with friends. Betsy, Jacob, Jesse and Deborah were all there. Kim was hanging out with Bridgid so didn’t come. We talked and they drank and ate a birthday cake that I only got to taste since it was the let down day of the fast.

Saturday I mostly relaxed and read some. I didn’t know what Kim had planned, but just before dark she drove me, Violet and Bridgid out to a corn maze and pumpkin field north of Seattle. It was a blast! Jake and Kimmy met us there. We all picked pumpkins, and as it got dark we headed into the corn maze. It was a huge 5 acre maze with the goal in the center. It was really, really muddy too. My two complaints about the maze were that there were a lot of places that people had pushed down the corn where there wasn’t supposed to be a path, and the goal of the maze didn’t have anything cool there. It was just a big open space. There wasn’t even a light. After the end of the maze though was a haunted section. I’ve never been in a haunted house with Kim before and definitely wasn’t prepared to. She freaks out! In a really fun way, but wow, she scared me more than anything in the maze. At one point an extremely tall scarecrow jumped down off it’s perch and started after us and Kim jumped up and wrapped both arms and legs around me and started screaming! Poor Violet realized after we got out of the maze that she had lost her phone, but fortunately she got it back the very next day.

Today I slept late, relaxed, did some work around the house, and went to see Grizzly Man since it had finally come to the Crest. Good film. It’s one to make you think. Now I’m not tired but feeling very hungry. I can’t wait to eat tomorrow…

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When I tell people that I’m fasting on my birthday weekend they look at me like I’ve said something sacriligious. “What about drinking and cake?” they say. I’m happy to pass that up to feel healthier. Besides, I had plenty of cake and pie last weekend and I eat pretty much every day, so I won’t miss it a for few days – much. (more…)

I used another one of my coupons from the awesome Chinook Book for a 2 for 1 massage at the Ayurvedic Health and Massage Center, which is really just one guy named Andy Warren. I haven’t had a professional massage in forever, but boy does it do me good. He does kind of a Swedish – Ayurvedic style massage, which is relaxing and seems to go by too fast, but what massage doesn’t? I think I prefer a deeper and less gentle style, but I’ll have to get one professionally to find out. I know that I like it when Kim walks on my back, so I imagine that it would be hard to get too deep a massage without wearing out the masseuse’s hands.

Kim’s also getting an Ayurvedic consultation since she’s become interested in that since we went to Kripalu. She’s also been reading some books by Deepak Chopra. It bothers me to hear it called a science, but it certainly is a way of life that’s been around for a while and I’m sure is a healthier lifestyle than most Americans practice today.

Stealing the Network: How to Own the Box makes reading hacker literature fun, and you learn a lot about computer networks while you read since the scenarios presented are all realistic down to the screenshots of the tools that are used. (more…)

October is a busy month for birthdays in the family. Kim and I drove back to Spokane on Saturday morning to go to a birthday bash for Dave, Grandma, Dad and me, as well as celebrating Dave and Sue’s anniversary. As has become the norm for long car trips, Kim and I listened to an audio book the whole way to the drive didn’t seem too long. We listened to “The Secret Life of Bees”. Haven’t finished it yet.

We arrived at Grandma’s and I setup an old computer for her so that she could start using email. It’s setup to use NetZero, so we’ll see if the free internet service is worthwhile for doing just email. I also showed her my blog so hopefully she’ll be reading this soon.

The party was at Dave and Sue’s house which makes for a very cozy gathering. My parents, Dave and Sue, Gwenda and Larry, Joyce, Sara and Sierra, Grandma and Dave and Sue’s niece were all there. The food is always to die for. Sara spent most of the day helping Sue cook Chinese food which turned out awesome. I ate myself silly and then ate pie and cake for dessert.

Kim and I played foosball with Sara and Sierra and had some pretty good games, even when Kim and I took on Sara and Sierra. Then we played a card game whose name I can’t remember, but whose biggest challenge seemed to be remembering to draw a card at the end of your turn.

It went late for a family gathering, I think around 11PM. After the party Kim and I spent the night at Grandmas. The next day we had a nice breakfast and Grandma and I went through a few lessons for how to get online and check email. It’s all very new to her, everything from the mouse to email, so I’m hoping it sticks. The weather was nice so we all drove downtown to take a walk through Riverfront Park and ride the carousel. Kim loved the carousel. I was a little bummed that the garbage goat wasn’t working.

Then it was time to get back in the car. That’s a lot of driving for 2 days, but it’s nice that it’s just a drive to spend time with my family.

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I’ve got a nasty, nasty cold and Alka-Seltzer Plus Effervescent Cold is the only thing that I’d found that helps. I think it’s the bubbles. However, either it doesn’t work as well as I remember, or this cold is tougher.

I never would have expected this musical tour combination. It seems like too much of a coincidence considering that I’ve been listening so much to both Mike Doughty and Erin McKeown lately, and I’ve seen them both perform recently after not going to any concerts for a long time. (more…)

I went to see Serenity at the theaters and am glad I did. (more…)

I enjoyed this book much more than I anticipated. (more…)

I just finished watching the 1927 film Metropolis and I wasn’t that impressed considering that this movie was so highly rated on the top 250 movies of all time. I’m sure it was very poignant at the time with communism vs capitalism, proletariat vs bourgeois being such a big deal, but it did’t do that much for me. It’s interesting in terms of what was possible with big budget films at the time, and it’s historical significance probably can’t be underestimated, but it seemed drawn out for it’s message. I haven’t seen a lot of silent films either, so I suppose I could be biased based on that. See it for it’s historical significance, but don’t expect to be entertained in this day and age.