Category: IRL

#missedconnections

Often, when I reference a previous work of mine, I will go back and read it over again. When I wrote up that last post, it spurred me to go back and actually read the good ol’ Work Blog (and not only because I had to dig up the link from Angelfire).

I mentioned in the last post that I’d be okay with someone flirting with me anonymously in the present day, but after reading the Work Blog over, I realize that what happened there was not flirting at all. No, I’d completely forgotten that it was a flat-out proposition for sex. You know, as long as I was going to bother doing the detective work.

Continue reading #missedconnections

Vindication! (and also rambling)

Most days I don’t eat lunch. I can’t be arsed to prepare something the night before, and I don’t get up in the morning with nearly enough time to make a lunch. If I do have a lunch, it’s almost always because either a) I’ve bought something at a restaurant, or b) I threw a pack of instant noodles in my bag.

The noodles, as instant noodles are wont to do, require some time in the microwave. Those three minutes are usually pretty boring. A couple weeks ago, I noticed that there was a pad of sticky notes and a mason jar of writing utensils on the counter in the lunch room.

Continue reading Vindication! (and also rambling)

A different kind of Easter egg

Sometimes I do irresponsible things.

My time working at Toys R Us was full of them, some more innocuous than others.

My job required me to carry around a pen and paper at all times, because I would have to take notes at a moment’s notice. As an “artist” of some description, I have an insatiable urge to doodle whenever any sort of drawing tools are nearby.

So, over the three years I worked there, I left many a doodle behind. On walls, on wooden boards, sometimes even on papers! All in the storeroom, of course. It would be really irresponsible to be defacing parts of the store that a customer might see.

Admittedly, sometimes I did find myself doodling on product boxes. Only the bike boxes, though, which were just plain brown with packing labels stuck to them. They were so boring.

I never drew anything obscene, of course. Just little goofy faces and the like. Something that might make a person smile when they found it.

Alright, fine. I drew penises on occasion. But only in dust!

The merits of loneliness

Living alone is pretty great. I can make myself a giant plate of spicy potato wedges and broccoli for dinner, and then eat it in bed while watching Adventure Time. And nobody’s going to give me crap for it.

Not that the Ex would have complained about any part of that besides the spiciness of the wedges. But I’m trying to feel empowered here. Stop poking holes, me!

Label graffiti

Sometimes I do irresponsible things.

My time working at Toys R Us was full of them, some more innocuous than others.

For example, at one point during my last few days as an employee there, I took a packet of large labels and wrote on them, one letter per label “BENDER LIVES LARGE AND KICKS BUTT”.

I took those labels, and stuck them on the inside of the freight elevator shaft, just above the door. Since people aren’t supposed to ride the freight elevator, in theory nobody should have ever seen it. But I thought it would be a fun surprise for any irresponsible young lads who might do so anyways.

It’s really too bad I didn’t have an iPhone yet at that point. I would have loved to have photographic evidence of my giant waste of time and also labels.

Anyway, that’s my story. I hope you enjoyed it.

#ThankYouIwata

Yesterday, the news broke that Nintendo’s Global President, Satoru Iwata, had passed away.

thankyouiwata

Now I’m heartbroken all over again. When you think of the CEO of a giant global company, you don’t think of someone like Mr. Iwata. His warmth and sense of humour made Nintendo Directs such a joy to watch, and his contributions to Nintendo as a programmer are legendary.

I couldn’t possibly hope to properly articulate how I feel and why, so here’s a really great write up. One of many that have been posted today. I’m sure that many more still will be written over the next few days.

Edit: Aw, heck. Here’s another one by a fellow Talking Time member.

iwataballoons

Rest in peace, Iwata-san.

In the wake of a Pepsi addiction

Over five months have passed now since my life sort of unravelled, and I’m still trying to stitch it up as best I can. It hasn’t been easy, and there’s still the looming threat of the financial and legal burdens (it’s complicated) hanging just over my head. But! I’ve been doing fairly well, and have made a few little changes to my lifestyle for the better.

All of them revolve around simply being healthier. The first -and this is a big one- is that I’ve cut out soda almost entirely. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a heavy soda drinker. Like, we’re talking a can a day during the worst parts. I know that’s not quite as bad as it could be, but it was still pretty bad (I’m honestly not sure how people who drink multiple cans a day stay alive). There were days when I would sit at work and daydream about getting home to a sweet can of ice cold, delicious Pepsi.

The really fun part of it, is that it wasn’t a struggle at all! Despite my previously unquenchable thirst for fizzy pop, it turns out all I had to do to quit was to say “No, I’m not drinking that.” That’s not to say that I haven’t had any soda over the last few months, but the numbers have gone way, way down. Maybe one can a month? I suppose that I can’t in good conscience say that I had a soda addiction, since my mind made absolutely no effort to stop me quitting.

I’ve had half a case of Pepsi in my fridge since February. I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon. I tried drinking one a couple of weeks ago, and it was awful. I did enjoy the taste and fizziness, but as soon as the fluid touched down, my teeth felt as if they wanted to jump out of my face, and the entire inside of my mouth felt gross as soon as I swallowed it down (and remained gross-feeling all night, even after brush/floss/Listerine). It took the whole evening to finish that can of Pepsi. Previously, I’d have polished it off in minutes.

These days, my beverage of choice is coffee. Usually free of sugar (I do indulge occasionally). At the office, it’s pretty much all I drink. At home, coffee is more of a Sunday morning treat, and my go-to drinks are tea and water. Sometimes I mix it up with a big glass of milk. At a restaurant, it’s just water (a nice bonus is that water is free!). And you know what? I have no cravings whatsoever for soda. It’s really great!

The only caveat to this change is the Slurpee. The Goddamned Slurpee. This is one thing that I cannot part with, as hard as I may try. I’m still on the Slurpee, but I’ve got it down to one a week, at the most. Sometimes I’m able to ignore it, but more often than not I give in to the urge. But I will defeat this foe as well! I’m done with soda, and I can cut out Slurpees too! I just need to find a suitable substitute.

Anyway, I’m not entirely sure what kind of health benefits this change will incur. I haven’t really read up on the technical aspects, but I know for damn sure that soda is a terrible, terrible thing for the human body. I think that I’m probably less fat than I was a few months ago, but I don’t know how much that has to do with the lack of soda, as I’ve also been making it a point to eat better in general and get significantly more exercise. My teeth are infinitely grateful for the change, at least.

A blast from the past

I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this on the ol’ blog before, but a co-worker of mine e-mailed this drawring to me the other day.

I drew this way, way back in 2011. I guess it’s not that far back, but it seems like forever ago to me. Anyway, it’s the cover for a comic that another co-worker had written and asked me to draw as a gift from the team for the previously mentioned co-worker’s birthday. I’d post the whole thing, but it’s terribly in-jokey and the inside art is a far cry from the quality of the cover.

While it wasn’t my best work, I remain proud of it to this day because it’s a thing that made at least a couple of people very happy. The entire thing has been on my personal drive at work ever since, and I tend to look back at it every once in a while. It’s nice to know that the person I drew it for still looks at it now and then, too.

Makes me feel like I have at least some worth as a human being.