Lake of the Woods

It's been a long time since I've thought about posting something to the blog. I've neglected to post anything about the wedding (Oct 7th 2006), the honeymoon in Hawaii and a couple of birthdays. Looks like I've got a lot of catching up to do. Lets start with Tenise's birthday camping trip to Lake of the Woods.

We've been wanting to camp for a few years now but something always gets in the way (laziness). So we finally overcame our procrastination and set about making plans for the weekend in the woods.

I put together a checklist of items we would need. Found the maps, started planning and packing. This involved several trips to Wal-Mart of course. We ended up with all new camping gear except for a very nice tent that someone gave to Tenise some years ago. Its one of those big ones with 2 rooms inside.

We drove for about an hour to get to Aspen Point; where we wanted to stay. It was a very busy weekend there and we were lucky to get a nice spot down by the water. We arrived about 1:00 p.m. and camp was set up about an hour after that.

We weren't really paying attention to the tent so much as looking around at the scenery, and so we set the tent up facing the wrong way. Whoops. Once that was finished we decided to drive around and get some lunch at the nearby resort. The food was great, the service ... not so much.

After we got back from eating (best steak sandwich ever) we went for a hike around the shore-line. There were tons of people around, (bikini girls included) boats and jetskis racing all over the lake, and every campsite was full.We aren't all that active in our daily lives, so after a few little hiking adventures, we were tired and it was time to go back to camp and start a fire, kick back and relax.

We took a LOT of pictures of fire. When camping, the campfire is our replacement for the TV. It was great, we sat around talking about all kinds of stuff, then we played with fire!! When we got tired of fireplay, we retired to our luxurious tent and played cards until we "passed out". The campground was pretty noisy the first night and we heard yelling and screaming until about midnight (summer camp across the lake). Heh.. those suckers who go to bed early were probably getting angry.

Tenise and I are two of the whitest people on the planet. We were reminded of this when we went swiming the next day. We found a private little beach to hang out on. I forgot my sunglasses and had to use rocks over my eyeballs instead.

So we hiked and we swam and we ate and then we hiked some more. There were also times when we roasted things such as marshmallows and mushrooms.

This trip was in celebration of Tenise's birthday so after we got home we rented a bunch of movies and we hung out on the couch and tried to recover. My legs were sore for a full day after we got home. I made Tenise a mini birthday cake out of strawberry fig newtons and frosting. She loved it, but she loves anything miniature.

Happy birthday!

Blogger is being retarded or I'd post more photos here. If you want to see the rest go to www.flickr.com/photos/bret_blog

Ebaum's new TV show

Variety and The Hollywood Reporter confirm this morning that the popular humor/entertainment site, eBaumsworld.com has landed a TV deal with USA Network. Fox TV Studios will produce the show and it will be on following Monday Night Raw this spring. Full press release >>

Although I really hate ebaum for his theft and deception, I find it fascinating that USA would risk having a show made entirely of stolen material. So, I'm liking to the article. I found the comments in this digg thread far more interesting. Be sure to visit ebaumsworldsucks.com

The New Year

Hello again. Its been far too long since I've posted anything here. There is so much to say I don't know where to start

First
I'M ENGAGED! I proposed to Tenise, near midnight, New Year's Eve.
I planned for months to have the perfect engagement. To find that perfect moment, and say just the right thing. I shopped for the best ring I could afford, learned a lot about diamonds, and spent some quality time with mom discussing my plans. I knew Tenise wanted to go out-of-town for the New Year, so I made sure Zales would have my ring ready before we left town.

(I could go on forever bout this part) Zales screwed up my order, couldn't deliver on the promised date, and subsequently had to give me a temporary setting for the stone. I was so stressed because they finally admitted at the last possible moment that I couldn't have my ring for New Year's Eve. We worked out a deal and everything went as planned. (almost) Tenise and I returned weeks later to get the actual setting (shank) for the diamond.

We went to Yreka for a NYE party. While Tenise and her mother (Jennifer) were out shopping, her father (Don) and I went to coffee and wandered around the local hardware store. It was the perfect opportunity for me to ask him for his blessing before I popped the question.

I told Don that I had something important to say. Pulled out the ring. Told him how I couldn't imagine life without Tenise, and he gladly gave me permission to marry his daughter. He warmly welcomed me into the family, as did Jennifer later that night when she found out. Its been a wonderful experience, and I'm glad to be part of the Middleton family.

The proposal was after midnight, on bended knee and oh so very nervous. The perfect moment. I wouldn't change a thing. Don and Jennifer cracked open a bottle of champagne when we came home after 2AM. We stayed up late, and slept in late, and then drove back through the snow storm to Medford.

Its been kind of a blur since then. So much has happened. Our wedding date is October 7th, 2006. It will be held in Mt. Shata, CA. And will be a small, mostly family oriented affair. (more news to follow)

Second.
This blog will be changing a bit, as I am more interested in posting current events than posting stuff about my life. I'm sure news will make better reading material. I'll continue to post personal stuff, but mostly I'll be posting technology & political news from now on.

Third.
There is a bunch of stuff I'm too tired to write about. So I'll summarize:
Jeep problems... again. Computer problems that prevent me from reading text on screen for too long, hence the delay in posting. Changes at my job involving more work, in less time, for the same pay. Overtime, people quitting and me having to cover for them, the usual mass of video game playing (WoW mostly).... etc. and so on.

I've been interested in nuclear physics lately. I'm currently working on a Tokamak reactor, art project. I've also been playing with flash video encoding and action scripting lately.

I've been reading a lot. I just finished "The Radioactive Boyscout," and I'm continuing to read Robert Jordan's WoT series and Terry Goodkind's SoT series. I'm Also reading some fantasy by Mitchell Graham.

Sites of interest:

Radioblog: Almost any song, for free, in your browser (ie or firefox) temp folder. Low bit-rate, but the playlist feature is nice for access from any computer.

digg: My new favorite web 2.0 site. A community news site, with a technology focus. The comments are just as interesting as the articles... most of the time.

That's all for now (btw spell check seems to be broken, so forgive me.)

Testing Flock

This is a test. This is only a test. In the case of an actual blog post, this would not say test.

I am currently participating in the Flock browser beta testing. I've been using the new browser for a little while and I wanted to test out the built in blogging features. So, If all goes well, this post will end up on my blog, without me having to log in or anything.

Check out these links if you are interested.

flock del.icio.us

Wordpress.com

It's been a while since I've had anything to write about. Today, I am proud to announce that I'm wasting even more of my life blogging.

I was recently granted the privilege of opening a Wordpress blog account. They have some great ideas and tools for blogging. Unfortunately the site is by invitation only. You can sign up at wordpress.com.

I started a blog to document the crazy wallpaper I use at work. I hope you check it out. Glimpse

Liquid Sculpture

Some really cool photos of liquids in motion.



http://www.liquidsculpture.com

International Talk Like A Pirate (TLAP) Day

Well, it's that time again. Break out your eye patches and fake shoulder parrots, it's Talk Like A Pirate Day! (or TLAP for short) Get the latest on this silly little holiday over at www.talklikeapirate.com. (I think it should have been www.talklikeapirate.ARG!) Anyway, I was granted my very own pirate name today.

My pirate name is:

Dirty Tom Flint



You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

The quiz seems to be pretty random, so don't worry about your answers too much.