I love being artistic, it's a driving force in my life. Mainly I express this through my music and our website. I've come across a couple of sites recently that help you express yourself artistically through Java.

The first site is http://www.stor.co.uk that's where I created the little avatars of Brie and I that are now on the home page. There is an issue with their applet though. Everytime I run it it wreaks havoc on my computers graphics, usually resulting in a reboot.

The second is the Hero Machine it allows you to put together your own Superhero.





I had to add the border myself in Photoshop.

We'll be getting an all-in-one printer/fax/scanner soon at which point I'll be able to more fully express my visually artistic side, but until then I'll keep an eye out for more sites that help in artistic self-expression.

Had another wonderful dinner with our good friends the Lichtenfeld's from Germany tonight. I did make mention to them though that in 3 times they have had us over for dinner, they have actually never made us any German cousine. They've made salmon, Indian, and tonight skewers with peanut/ginger sauce; all very yummy!

They mentioned that most of the traditional meals they make revolve around beef, and since we don't eat any hoven animals (we're not jewish, but we eat like them :) that makes it a little more difficult. Next time they said they would make us a German pasta dish.

To be fair we have had them over twice and once we served enchiladas (though it might have been pasta with sundried tomatoes and chicken) and the other Paella and neither of us is hispanic or italian.

oh my I just realized I've made two posts about food in a row.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have been eating too much pizza lately. Typically in our house we order pizza once a week. Unfortunately, that usually means Pizza Hut, because until recently North County has been plagued by a complete lack of quality pizza.

Coming from the Bay Area, we forget how spoiled we were to have such great food at our fingertips. If we wanted Chicago Style we could go to Pizza Chicago, for Sicilian, Tony and Alba's, or for thick crust, Stuft Pizza.

However, things took a dramamtic turn recently when they opened Oggi's Pizza and Brewery only 10 walking minutes from my door. Oggi's is actually a Stuft Pizza, in San Jose Stuft Pizza isn't anything too special, just a local pizza place. Down here in San Diego though Stuft Pizza's are franchises and mostly opened as Sports Bars, and Brewpubs. That's fine by me because they do make a very good Stout. In the first week Oggi's was open we went their twice and I could feel a lot of my unhappiness towards the North County dissipate at the first bite of a truly great pizza. Now if I could just get them to open a Pearl River Chinese food restaraunt next door.

I've been spending a lot of time getting the new site up and running, in particular learning Movable Type. Their default template will have to do for now while I try to write my own templates to match the rest of the site.

Friday Five for week ending 27-Apr-2002

1. What are your hobbies? Internet related activities and watching DVDs.

2. Do you collect anything? If so, what? I collect CDs, 791 in my collection right now, plus I still buy records too. I can spend hours in a good record store.

3. Is there a hobby you're interested in, but just don't have the time/money to do? I'm a musician and I'd love to have my own recording studio to work in. It's going to take a couple years to come up with then money though.

4. Have you ever turned a hobby into a moneymaking opportunity? I've been paid to set-up home theater systems. Including installing DirecTV, Suround Sound, and HDTV.

5. Besides web-related stuff (burbs, rings, etc.), what clubs do you belong to? I've dabbled briefly in the Virago Owner's Club (my motorcycle) and the Durango Owner's Club (my SUV), but never got very involved because I have very low tolerance for red meat eating, violence enjoying, aggressive personalities.

Friday Five for week ending 20-Apr-2002

1. What's your favorite TV show and why? Well, of all time I'd have to say Star Trek: TNG. It's the only show I can think of that I have ever gone out of my way to make sure I caught every episode when it originally aired. I don't watch Television much anymore, but of the shows currently in production I'd say West Wing, which is very unusual for me because I hate the 1 hour drama format.

2. Who is your favorite television star? Currently it's Graham Norton of the BBC's So Graham Norton. I find his wit and sense of fun and humour far above anyone else on TV currently.

3. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Off the top of my head, Six Million Dollar Man . I had to beg and plead and often sneak out of my room and stand in the hall way quietly in order to watch it. That's because it came on at 8:00 pm on Sunday's which was my bedtime for a school night. I even had the action figure.

4. What show do you think should have been cancelled by now? Funny enough, I was talking my wife yesterday and told her I wished they would cancel Ally McBeal and low and behold they cancelled it today.

5. What new show do you hope escapes the axe this season? I can honestly say that the only network show I even watch is West Wing and it's not getting axed. Other than that I watch cable shows. I do hope they are able to renew The Osbournes.

Just for the record I am Desire

Which Member of the Endless Are You?

Today I add something new, my dear friend and musical partner sent me a link to the site Fridayfive they post a weekly 5 topic questionaire from which everyone is to post their replies in their own blog, then leave a comment on the site with the address of their replies so others can read them. Here is this weeks, with my answers:

1. What is your favorite restaurant and why? Taisho Sushi, Carlsbad, Ca. - $19.95 gets you all you can eat sushi everyday, anytime during business hours, including Uni and it's all fresh and prepared to order.

2. What fast food restaurant are you partial to? Recently I've converted to Wendy's. I simply love their french fries, and it is all about the fries.

3. What are your standards and rules for tipping? Take tax and double it, if it's great there is no limit, if it's bad simply don't tip at all.

4. Do you usually order an appetizer and/or dessert? Really depends on the restaurant and what time I'm eating. If your at Islands you must get your basket of fries up front as an appetizer. Dessert really depends on what is offered and how filled I am by the meal itself.

5. What do you usually order to drink at a restaurant? Most of the time it's Iced Tea with lemon. If I am feeling a little tired and I have to work that night I order Coke (not pepsi), if I'm on a date with my wife then it's a beer (dark as possible).

I'm tired... I haven't been this tired in a long time. I started my new position with UPS on 4/1. I'm now the International Training Lead for SoCal District. That means that I'm the person who gives an orientation and three week training class to all new International Auditors for my district. I'm no longer working out of San Marcos, which was 15 minutes from my door, now I'm commuting down to the San Diego facility which takes about 40 minutes. That's not what is making me tired though, the classes are 7:30-10:30 pm then I have another hour of prep work for the next day. This is all very new so I was there past midnight on the first two nights. When you couple that with the fact that since Brie has to leave for work at 6:00 am I have to get up around 7:00 am to get Sebastian ready and drive him to school, my body is in shock from the 6 hours of sleep it is now allowed. I'm keeping my head up though, I'm sure my body will eventually adjust to this and I'll be ok.

I'm also dissapointed, I was told last night that UPS wants me to shave off my goatee, apparently they have this archaic policy that says that part-time supervisors and higher are not only required to wear business apparel (ties, no jeans), but they also do not allow any facial hair accept for a mustache, which must fall within certain guidelines. I've had a goatee for years now and I'm not looking forward to not having it anymore. They did give me the option of not wearing business attire since I am a Lead and not a PTS, but I already went out and spent money on dress shirts and ties and my boss really wants me to come across as professional as possible.