Stencils used to mark bricks of cocaine before transport. Ha.
With a glass of warm champagne and a with a fistfull of m80s, I bid farewell to 2008 in the company of friends. As I pondered the new year, I realized that I'm quite excited to see what pans out in 2009, but I can't help but think how much cooler 2010 will be -- if only because saying it sounds so fucking hi-tech -- twenty-ten. Speaking of which, where the fuck is my hoverboard? Science is bullshit.
The holidays are officially over. I like to keep things low-stress around this time of year and this holiday season was no exception. That said, work hasn't been very far from my mind. I'm working on an 'above and beyond' project with two coworkers. We're doing some pretty cool stuff with Flex and an PureMVC. It's taken me way more time than I had hope for to come up to speed (the guys I'm working with are ActionScript wizards), but it's been fun. I really want to be awesome at this stuff, so I've had to dedicate a lot of time to this. It's starting to make sense, which is immensely gratifying.
My actual Clausmas was splendid, but getting to that point was a bit stressful. The days leading up to it were snowy ones. The Portland area got absolutely dumped on. Portlanders have a dicey relationship with icy roads. It was pretty fun, but as the 25th approached, the reality set in that I'd have to make a very long journey down I-5. Two days prior to leaving, it dumped even more. Neat.
In case you were wondering just how fucking crazy it was, these videos explain it well: Part I. Part II. Part III. I'm just glad I survived.
I fucking 5 (note the gridlock)
As the departure day arrived, I chained up the Jetta, made a 6-hour MP3 mixtape and hit the road with Ms. Kim. Not even 400 yards from my front door, I slid sideways due to some serious ruts in the icesnow. I almost hit the car next to me. Fun. After gassing up, we finally made our way onto the highway that connects to I-5. The pavement was mostly clear, so I didn't think it would be all that bad. It wasn't until we hit the junction of 217 and I-5 that things started looking shitty. There were so many goodamn cars on the road and the bumper-to-bumper traffic was moving around 3mph. The pavement was comprised of a big sheet of ice with some seriously big holes punched in it, so the ride was less than comfortable, even at a slow pace.
Eventually, the slow clip of the moving cars degraded to stop and go action, which I believe is the absolute worst. The stretch of I-5 from Portland to Woodburn usually takes 20 minutes. On this voyage, it took a whopping 3 hours.
Overall, the trip, which usually takes just over 4.5 hours took us 9 hours to complete. Shit.
Dreaming of a white Clausmas.
Once we made it down to Southern Oregon, things got a lot less hectic. We only stayed for 3 days, but we managed to take it pretty fucking easy. Much time was spent with my parents, imbibing cocktails and reminiscing while the snow quietly accumulated. I've only seen a few white Clausmases in my day, so this was a treat.
My father's latest masonry project
Clausmas day was equally relaxing and I made out like a bandit with some seriously good stuff (wireless keyboards, framed posters, a cigarette machine, extension cords, designer jeans, a new lucky ring, etc). However, I was really excited to give my gifts, one in particular to Ms. Kim. Clausmas was our 3-year anniversary.
Completed O.G. Lincoln
This year, much like last, I decided to craft Ms. Kim a painting from a stencil. It measures 18"x24". I spent a huge amount of time designing it, but the tedious part of cutting it out took over 7 hours. I believe it turned out quite nicely. Only after I hung it did I notice that the canvas I used is crooked. I'm not too pleased about that fact. Check out http://nerdsmasher.com/show/crime-og_lincoln for more a more detailed picture.
My parents were kind enough to use their matting, glass cutting and construction skills to frame a bitchin' signed Melvins poster from a show I attended last summer. I'm incredibly pleased with the results.
I would love to know more.
The day after Christmas, we made the trip back up to Portland as Ms. Kim had to work. I cleaned the house, as my parents were coming up the very next day for a quick visit. They were kind enough to haul up a truckload of booty, or 'encumbrances' as my father likes to call it.
Now that I have my own dwelling, I finally got my parents to relinquish ownership of their antique cigarette machine that they lifted from the basement of an Ashland house they rented during the 70s. Neat.
A small example of my massive collection.
My dad also brought up some wood that we used to assemble a kick-ass workbench in my garage. As we were drilling and hammering, I started looking at the wood. The main workbench surface was milled from trees harvested from the homestead. The shelving materials were salvaged from my the desk that used to reside in my old bedroom. I enjoy that. I also got my hands on a boatload of tools that I inherited awhile back, but never took ownership of. Gotta love more encumbrances.
I also retrieved one other peice of inheritance, but it really deserves an in-depth look. I'll save that for later.
On a side note, I recently stumbled across a wikipedia entry on Tristan da Cunha, which looks absolutely amazing. Check it out on Google maps. Zoom out.
So, to tie things up, it's 2009. What is my resolution? Well, I resolve to continue being awesome, to continue to not do meth and to document my life a little better. I made this resolution last year and quickly fell off the horse. I'm going to shoot for something biweekly. Maybe.
Best of luck in 2009, y'all.
