David's Blog

Body by... Playstation?

I just caught wind of this "great new product" -- The EyeToy Kinetic for Sony's Playstation 2 which was developed in association with Nike Motionworks. I can't decide if this is a really great idea or just another fresh serving of unsellable ideas.

What do you think of it?

Lana's Birthday

Last weekend Joy and I went up to Gainesville for the weekend. Officially, we went to celebrate Lana's birthday, but she wasn't there until the night that we had to leave so we did a lot of non-birthday stuff too.

What did we do? I can hardly remember the first day. Oh wait... NOW I remember. Whoa, how could I forget?

The trip started with Joy driving down to Orlando to pick me up. She picked me up from work so I tried to get people from my workplace to come out and meet her. She hears about so many of them on an almost nightly basis that she is curious to put faces and personalities to my descriptions. Unfortunately, I could only get one person to come out to meet her -- Nick. Nick was my part-time supervisor when I was a loader for the first four months so he was a pretty good choice. I think I pretty much botched the whole introduction though, because it felt akward to me. Hopefully, Nick didn't feel akward at all. Joy said she didn't so I know that at least 1/3 of the party was feeling totally at ease.

After we left UPS Joy and I stopped on International Drive and ate at Denny's. We've never stopped in at a Denny's together before tonight so it was kinda fun and exciting for that reason. Other than that we weren't so thrilled with the place. We were both thinking that Denny's was like Perkins or some other place that we don't frequent often. We had cinnimon raisin and peach waffles. I like the former and Joy liked the latter so we didn't do all that much sharing, which is always fine by me.

After Denny's I drove us up to Gainesville, where Joy had a hotel which was paid for by her job. That was really neat. We were both really tired and Joy likes the blog to be PG-13 so... uhm... Well, it was the best hotel stay we've had together yet! Joy even saved me a cookie from earlier in the evening. Man, I love cookies!

GAINESVILLE: DAY 2

On Friday, Joy and I woke up bright and early and had some hotel breakfast. Then we packed up our stuff and Joy checked out while I put the luggage in the car. Joy then took me to Jenn's place to chill there while she went off to work.
Jenn was there in 301 (the apt number and nickname) getting ready for class. We talked for 15-20 minutes, I played ogame, and then she went to class and I passed out.

The next thing I remember... Oh, yeah, I wake up. I am laying on Jenn's bed. She's on her computer, and we're talking some more. Then at some point she tells me about this plan to go and get lunch at Momo's and that Megan and Joy will rendesvous with us there. That was great. I had never had such a huge slice of pizza. It was also great to see Megan again. She looked like she was doing great, and from the sounds of things... all is well in her life and she is thriving. That made me really happy to know and see first hand.

After Momo's Jenn and I walked past a neat little bar that was offering free beer for an hour. We were right on time, but we decided against it. So we kept walking down University to the new Hillel. Neither of us are Jewish, but I really wanted to see the place and Jenn's a sport so she tagged along. That was a really impressive building and had a full-service kosher kitchen and cafeteria. I was hoping that I could do business there at some point. Only time will tell.

After exploring Hillel 'til it looked like it was going to rain, we walked to 301 and waited for Joy to come back. I totally forgot to mention that she wasn't with us because she was driving Megan back to Megan's place. I forget where Megan had to be, but I remember suggesting that Joy drive her there so she didn't have to take the bus and so Joy and Megan could get some time in together. I later found out that Joy really loved having that time with Megan.

Hmmm... what happened next? Jessica got to 301 somehow. Jenn went to a women's retreat / slumber party. Then Joy, Jessica and I went to GatorNights for a few hours. Wedding Crashers was playing, but Joy and Jessica had both seen the movie already, and Joy didn't really want to see it again nor did she appreciate what she considered gratuitous nudity for the film. We had a bit of a discussion about that before we left.

At Gator Nights we pretty much went around to everything except the movie. Joy and I had our picture taken to have photo keychains made. I love the free photo-keepsakes that you can get at GatorNights, by the way. We finally ended up finding our place in GatorNights after a number of misstarts. We decided to get Sorry and play that up in the food court. That was really fun. Joy and Jessica started out playing totally fair and just playing normally, but after two games passed they had decided to team up against me. Even double-teaming me they simply couldn't handle the Sorry master. At the time I wasn't this boastful, because I was pretty sure that one of them would pull out the win, but I got lucky. What can I say?

After GatorNights was over we were pretty much done for the night. Joy and I checked out Jessica's hamsters when we dropped her off, and then we went back to 301 and went to bed.

GAINESVILLE -- DAY 3

Saturday. Hmmm... man, this is why I need to blog shortly after things happen. Brain farts really suck.

Lana still wasn't in town. I remember playing poker with the poker set that Joy got me for a wedding present. I also remember winning for the first time... ever. So, that was neat. Man, my memory of Saturday... OH! I remember other stuff now. Here it comes...

Saturday Joy and I drove around and looked at apartments all during the day. We did this until 4, 5, or 6. I don't remember which. Then we went back to 301. When I got back to 301 I played ogame for a bit and then Jessica walked into Jenn's room and turned on the TV. At some point we got to the Lifetime channel and there was this show on that I had written Jessica an e-mail about. I recommended the show to Jessica because it was about human trafficing. It starred Donald Sutherland and Mira Sorvino. It was really interesting and before long Joy, Jessica, and I were sitting on Jenn's bed watching this show.

Then things changed. I said something to Jenn that Jenn didn't seem to like. Joy said that I was being obnoxious. Ten minutes or so later Jessica and Jenn left for food and bathroom during a commercial and... well I told Joy I didn't appreciate the whole "obnoxious" thing. She wasn't really responding the way I was wanting, I got upsetl; a chair was kicked; Joy got more upset; I decided to split.

Later I was wondering what had gotten into me at the time, and I feel that watching that show really got to me. It was incredibly emotional and made me really angry to see people mistreat girls.

Back to the part where I split.
I left Jenn's apartment in an angry huff, but realized that it was really cold, I didn't have the keys to the car, and I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. So, I went back into the apartment to grab a sweater and the keys. Then I drove around aimlessly until I got lonely. This took less than two miles of driving... from Jenn's apartment to the corner of University and Buckman. At that point I called Nate to see what he was up to. He consistantly asks me to call him when I get into town, and I hadn't done that yet. So, I called him and aimed my aimless driving toward his apartment. By the time he had invited me to come over I was on the US Highway outside his apartment complex. FINALLY! I could be literal when I told someone I'd be there in a minute. :) (I love being literal with typically figurative phrases)

Walking into Nate and Conor's place was interesting. Some of Conor's family and family friends were there. I was inundated with people I had never met, which was suprising and disconcerting. I was still shaken up by the very intense TV show, and my argument and marital blunders, and now I had to meet new people! I handled that by focusing on finding Nate, which was harder than I expected, and trying to get involved in the game that was being played and not make a big deal of my presense.

It was at this point that I discovered that Conor has a little sister. Perhaps I knew this at one point. I did know that Conor had an older brother. He brother that up a few times before. I did not know about Mary, though. I felt really out of the loop.

Mary was cool to meet. She looks vaguely like Conor and I like Conor so Mary looked very familiar and good to me. It was such a weird positive feeling that I'd like to describe it in detail, but I don't think I can do the description justice. Oh well, I tried anyway. Here's another shot though. She looks like Conor and sounds kinda like Conor, but she's a girl. So, I felt like a friendship feeling toward this person who is a total stranger to me. So, I got this odd 'I don't know you, but I feel like we're already friends' feeling. It's rare that I feel instant closeness to a complete stranger, so when it has happened in the past I gave the event some sort of obsessive significance in my mind. That kinda happened again this time, but I thought it through and I am now officially brushing it off. I have an explanation after all. Conor's sister looks like Conor, and Conor is a really likable guy who I am friends with. Viola! Brushed off.

Back to the narrative.
After the game was done, people left. I don't know who these people are, but I am betting Conor does. Then our group tried to decide what to do next. Movie? maybe. Another game? No. Everyone had already eaten. Hmmmm... Minigolf!
We all liked that idea to some degree so we went out into the cold and waited for Nate to get ready. This wasn't so boring because we got to watch Conor and Mary fight. I caused this fight by admitting to Mary that I had never heard of her before. She asked me, and I wasn't expecting it so I went with honesty. Conor can handle his little sister, right?

Nate finally came out of the apartment and we were on our way. I had shotgun in Nate's car and Mike Sanford was in the backseat. We had good conversations, but between the three of us it was hard to focus on one topic. The conversation went all over the place. Very interesting. Our conversation did find a center eventually and that would best be described as church, GCL, or our near future plans.

Nate stopped at TacoBell so he and I could grab some food. I hadn't eaten and I was hungry.

We then arrived at the minigolf place. It was very hidden away. It was very little kid oriented. I started acting goofy to myself. I don't think anyone noticed except maybe Nate. He's too used to random goofiness to have given it any thought though. Nate, Nate, Nate...

We played minigolf.
There are lots of fun mini stories in our mini golfing. I don't think I should try to tell them all here. Nate and I tied for second place. We were the score keepers. Conor got the most points. He was trying to make that seem like a good thing. There were also kids wandering around the golf course for Halloween. I think that they were paid to do this. We didn't appreciate their presence so we did our best to keep them away. This was acheived in a number of ways... each unique to the age of the kid. One kid was asked if he liked the girl he was with. Another kid was goosed with a golf club. It was all in good fun. We cheated on the 17th hole. At the end we lost our balls down that last hole that leads back to the golf shop. There. This is 18 random sentences about the 18 holes of minigolf we played. I hope you enjoy them.

Back to Nate and Conor's.
Once we were back at Nate and Conor's we were struck with the earlier dilemma again. What do we do? Finally we decided that we would put a movie on and play a game. That worked until Jet Li got into his first fight, which was in the first five minutes of The One. When the movie was over we all left. Good times.

Back at 301.
I had to return to a very upset wife. Fortunately she was sleeping. I snuck in, did a few things, and then went to bed too. Delay the inevitable!!

Sunday morning.
I woke up to Jenn talking on the phone. I have this theory about women talking on phones... but that belongs in another entry. So, I kinda stumbled around and eventually made my way into Jenn's room. Jenn was off the phone by this point and I was heading for the computer to play ogame and talk to Jenn at the same time. I made it to about the chair when I realized Jenn wasn't exactly dressed yet. She was wearing her towel, and I had morning eyes and hadn't exactly looked at her, but when I did I quickly excused myself from that situation. Embarrassed I went back to the couch. After deciding that it wasn't a big deal and that Jenn hadn't really reacted in any condemning way I was consoled and decided to watch Joy sleep. Then I joined her and cuddled her... or whatever that is called. Zzzzzz.

Sunday morning. Part II.
Joy and I woke up. There was tension. I had done well by her though because she woke up all wrapped up in me. She likes that a lot. Still... there was last night, and that needed to reckoned.

We both got ready and left for church. Jenn was going to be baptized today!

Church.
Still static between Joy and I. At some point this subsided, but I don't remember exactly when. I was fasting that morning too, so I knew I didn't want to get into anything with Joy. Tired, prayerful, and fasting makes for a vulnerable David.

Lake Wauberg.
We had gone back to Jenn's to change and get stuff for the picnic/baptism. Exciting times. I had a special woodsy outfit planned for the whole thing, but Joy thought I should go with my bathing suit on instead. it turned out to be the better idea by far, but I was all happy that I had dressed specially for the occasion. that happiness was displaced by the sensibleness of wearing the bathing suit. Oh well.

At Wauberg everyone was eating. Jenn was excited about the baptism, but nothing was really showing. I was feeling weird because I hadn't eaten and I decided to eat lunch with everyone. The baptism was just a few minutes away after all.

The water in Lake Wauberg was cold. Go figure. It was cold the night before. (See above) That gave Joy a lot to comment on as we headed down to the water and after the baptism. When we baptised Jenn there were three of us. Jenn wanted it that way. I said a prayer for Jenn, and the girls submerged most of her. I feel like Jenn kinda floated. I don't know if that means anything or not, but I still think it is fun to point out.

After the baptism Joy and I sat around on this picnic table in the sun. The water was cold and the sun was mild so I actually liked it. There were a few moments there when I was just sitting with Joy after people had left us alone... those few moments meant a lot to me. Everything was perfect. I should have told Joy how awesome I was feeling to just be there with her in the sun on a picnic bench in the park, but I didn't want to ruin the moment. Also, I kinda felt like she knew it too.

Lana.
When we were leaving Lake Wauberg I thought I saw Lana's Mustang. The girls brushed me off pretty quickly, but I gave LK a call. No answer. I left a message. We started talking again, and then Lana called back. Sure enough... it was Lana in her Mustang. See, I know when Lana's around.

We were all planning things for Lana's birthday, but we had more plans than time and bigger ideas than budgets. We had to make decisions and so I opted to just call Lana and run a few of our ideas past her. She nixed one and liked another so we just went with the second option.

Dragonfly. The preparation.
Sunday night was fun. We had played poker for most of the afternoon, and then I decided to take a shower, but most of the stuff was all nasty from Lake Wauberg water. I wanted to get that off me before we went out though. So, I opted to do Jenn's laundry. Jenn had one last towel that I didn't know about though, so I showered first. After my shower I through on the outfit I picked out for Jenn's baptism and I ran Jenn's laundry down to the community laundry center. I did that as fast as I could, which was hard because I forgot that I needed keys to get into the laundry place. I spotted some girl who looked like she would want to help me, and asked for her to let me in. This wasn't as easy as I had hoped. She wanted to investigate my situation and make small talk. Grrr. No worries though, I got in and started the laundry. Then I was off.

I ran across the Key's Complex courtyard to Joy's car, hopped in, and sped off to get a birthday card for Lana and an anniversary card for Joy along with three roses in a vase. Then I sped down 2nd Avenue to Starbucks to grab a gift card for LK's birthday. I was so pleased with myself for all this because I got all green lights, awesome parking spots, and made the whole trip without having Joy call me to see what was taking so long with the laundry. When I walked into 301, Joy hadn't even noticed my absense. I suprised her with the card and the roses, and she thought that I was trying to make up for the night before. I explained that I was not, and that it was all for the one year anniversary of my proposal. She was very pleased and decided that I was in good with her for the rest of the nigth.

Primpin'.
After sweeping Joy off her feet and making her very happy I decided to change into the Lana's birthday dinner outfit I had planned. I had put some thought into what to wear to this thing, because JB had sent me an e-mail saying we would have a night on the town in which we'd all dress up for Lana's birthday. I realize I took that a little too literally though. I literally packed to dress up for Lana... for her birthday. Kinda overboard and therefore embarrassing, but no one gave me any crap about it. In fact, when I showed Lana my outfit she seemed very flattered and impressed that I knew what colors she'd like for me to wear.

The outfit was thought to be a bust though, because I forgot to back black shoes. Though at some point in getting the gift for Lana I realized that we were going to Dragonfly, which meant that the DocMarten's I had worn to work Thursday night would actually be perfect... more fitting than the shoes I would have worn.

So, I got dressed and was in a big flurry. The girls were getting dressed and doing their primping too. It was all fun and games, and Joy and I were trying to remember the words that we had thought up about a week before for Lana's card. Finally, Lana left and we worked out what they were... or at least something like it, and then we took turns writing out our message on LK's card. Joy wrote one sentence. I wrote the next. And so on.

Dragonfly.
Joy and I arrived at Dragonfly right on time. That was awesome for me, because Joy feels that I am not on time 100% of the time. We also got a great parking spot that was a parrallel space right outside the restaurant. I was feeling really happy, celebratory, confident, and most importantly... like Joy was truly happy with me and proud to be on my arm. Joy was radiant the whole night. She was happy about her cards, her flowers, her man, and the fact that I took responsibility for Lana's gift, card, and remembering the anniversary to my proposal. The whole night was great. We even got to sit right across from the woman of the night too. Lana was so happy and glowing too. She seemed to be truly enjoying her night and all of our company. Everything went smoothly the whole night at Dragonfly, and when we left we went next door to the downtown Starbucks.

Starbucks.
In Starbucks people ordered all sorts of desserts, coffees, and whatnots. I didn't get anything because I'm not into Starbucks, but I did get to have some chocolate chip cookie. Amanda and Emily shared some of theirs with me. I was pretty suprised by that. I hadn't even asked! We stayed at Starbucks for a while and soaked in all the goodness of being there for as long as we could stand... then we were on our way again.

301.
Back at 301 there was a bit of a cake planned for LK and her special B-day. 21 candles were ready and Jenn was leading the show. I doubt LK made a wish, but it doesn't much matter because she didn't manage to get all the candles out anyway. JB and I did though, and we licked the bottoms of every one before the cake was cut. :)

After passing out cake and eating it we all pretty much sat around and talked. I remember being in some sort of daze. I knew that I was having a great time and I wanted to stay and be a part of the party, but Joy was going to want to leave soon. So, I kinda blanked out into the moment until Joy brought me back by telling me it was time to pack up to go.

After we packed everything, everyone helped us take our stuff down to the car. We were waved off very nicely and then away we went. Back to Orlando.

But first we had to turn around and give Jenn her keys back. Whoops!

Eyes Meme

I took this quiz, and I ended up with a tie so here are the two responses that go along with the tied score that I got. Originally the quiz just showed Eden, but it starts at the top if you get a tie.

"What kind of eyes do you have? (with pictures)"

Eden
You have eden eyes. Eden is the color of water. Your eyes symbolize your great flexibility. You are a creative person. You can think of many good ways to get your point across to people as you have very good communication abilities. When someone feels down or is hurt, you have the remarkable ability to help them and heal them. If you have too little going on in your life, you may be withdrawn and depressed, timid, manipulative, unreliable, stubborn, or suspicious. Some words to describe you: peaceful, sincere, affectionate, tranquil, intuitive, trustworthy, pure, loyal, healing, and stable.

Turquoise
You have turquoise eyes. Turquoise is the color of communication. Your eyes symbolize your intuitive nature. You can be over-analytical sometimes, possibly fussy and egocentric. You have the tendency to push your heart out of the way and let logic make your decisions. You are not shy, but you can be secretive, closed, confused about what you want, and maybe a bit sneaky and paranoid at times. Some words to describe you: cool, refreshing, imaginative, motivated, dynamitic, calm, peaceful, joyful, relaxed, truthful, healing, meditation, tranquility, forgiving, patient, sleepy, and day-dreamer.