I want to go to film school

The Dude's Guide to Chatting

It's official, LOL is for girls, thats right, 14 year old-Twilight Reading-Slumber Party Throwing girls.
Dudes need chat lingo, we don't LOL or have BFF's. If we must text(it is unavoidable) then we need our own testosterone laden lexicon of lingo!
My first submission:
LAF= Laugh at Fail
CSL= Can't stop laughing
GOL= Guffaw out Loud, when something funny takes you by surprise
MOL= Muttley out Loud, when your scheming or plotting
NOL= Nelson out Loud (not ha ha), when your making fun of someone
OS!= Oh Sh..oot?
PFFT= spitting beverage of choice, possibly through the nose(harder to find a video than I thought)
CKII= Can't Keep It In, or can't hold a straight face
B= Bro, instead of BFF

It's a start

uhh, apparently they are taking over

YouTube - iPad - Parry Gripp

WIN!

Nostalg-Blog

I was reminded of this and luckily found some photos.
In March of 2006 I actually drove 6 hours to an audition to be, wait for it.. A Lego Land Model Builder!
It was a timed build competition, there were several huge bins of Lego, they said "GO!" and away we went.
I didn't win, but had a great time, the theme was "Pirates!" if you couldn't tell

Art, with a purpose

Read the story behind this

Gah! So cool

So much better then wasting time solving by hand

Daddy Daughter Dinner and Dance

I had been informed that this was going to happen I just didn't really think about what it entailed. My daughter is 8, and I was pretty sure that the last thing she would want to do is go to a dance with me. But she seemed excited and of course I was happy to go along. The dinner part was pretty normal fair, first salad, which I proud to say my daughter was the only kid at the table that finished hers. Next a main course of  lasagna and bread followed by desert cake. Then it was time for the dancing... uh, yeah. Ill admit that form one stand point it was cute, I was not the oldest or youngest father there. Tianna is my oldest, but there were some veteran dads there with their baby-of-the-family. There was even a teenage brother who came in place of his dad, so we covered the spectrum. And they played some mainstay novelty songs, Chicken Dance, Macarena, Electric Slide (which  I nailed by the way) but then we got to the new fangled modern party dances, Cha Cah real slow, Stomp Two Times, and some other Do-What-It-Says songs that move a lot faster than the Electric Slide. It was pretty funny to watch some young and not-so-young fathers boogie down. A lot of them could to "The Twist" pretty "good?" But it was when we hit the Daddy-Daughter themed songs that I lost it. I'm certain Tianna thought I was crying cause she couldn't keep up a two-step. I have a young lady for a daughter, and she is growing up pretty fast. I know that sounds do dang cliche, but that's just the way it is.

So, Tianna, if you ever read this I want you to know a couple of things:

Dance to every song - When I was a kid(and even tonight) I couldn't stay off the floor, it was just fun, I probably made a fool of my self doing the lawn-mower, but I had a blast, just fill in where you don't know the steps. It is better to be known as fun loving then a wallflower.

Dance with everybody - While I was never the most popular guy, there was this girl in my school that was, well, less popular. She wore a pretty awful dress to one dance and I'm sure was the butt of a few jokes. While I can't say I was so awesome as to instantly come to her rescue, I did eventually dance with her, had a nice conversation went to dance with other people. And there were girls more popular than me that tolerated a couple turns around the dance floor with my two left feet. If you can be the one to break the stigma and ask the nerd/geek/ugly/awkward person to dance you will come to someones rescue in more ways than one.

Come to the Dance Alone - (Except for Homecoming and Prom, you can have a date then, provided he has passed a series of background/drug/psychoanalysis tests and isn't afraid to ask me if he can ask me if he can ask your mother if he can ask me if he can ask you to the dance.) Don't be tied down, epically in Mid/High School, it is no fun, you have to kinda do what they want, they might not like to dance, they may just want to hang out being "cool," or run back and fort to the bathroom, and you will feel strange wanting to dance with someone else, they will get all weird, make the dance no fun and you may never see this person again for the rest of your life! Who needs that pressure? Get with that group of friends that is there being goofy and excited to just be together. You will have so much more fun, and that is what it's all about.

Kiddo, I love you, you are already an amazing person. You will go further than I ever did, and I hope that you can always be a positive influence  on others. I know you will be/do anything you want, and that you will work hard to get it. I have seen how you are already very empathetic to others feelings and needs. That is a gift. You can make people happy by just smiling at them(plus you look like a jack-o-lantern right now) so don't stop being positive and you will go far.

Love, Dad.

I got pranked on...

So the story is pretty embarrassing, I was on the phone trying to help an epically difficult and remedial user with her computer, besides waiting until the last minute to do this task, she was also insistent on just telling me the problem without listening to the instructions I was giving her. On my desk sits a wrench, and not just any wrench. This wrench is uses to adjust the feet of a large steel cabinet. I grabbed said wrench and pretended to bash my head with it repeatedly. Of course I over rotated on the last swing and, THUD! Popped myself just above my left eye, and split a good ¼ inch gash. The best part: there were two people sitting in my cubicle, “Did you just hit yourself Barry?” and “Your bleeding,” were some of the comments.

So due to grave concern for my personal safety, while I was away from my desk, working very hard for the better of the district, some felt the need to “enhance” my workspace with the latest in accident prevention technology. They made me a helmet, and padded the wrench, you can see thm in the photos. The cut does not look big at all, and really hurt my pride more than anything. What they did cheered me up, it was a great way to laugh off someting like that off, and nice to know people think about you.



Of course there is also video:

Meeting Sketch

Sketched with a Lenovo X61 in Windows Journal, during a meeting.

I didn't know we had it so hard...

When I saw this bit it made me laugh. I thought those "guys" deserved all the ribbing they got. Where does this happen?! Where in America is it socially unacceptable for men to "gather," what bunch of dudes have confabs about their feelings? It wasn't until the SuperBowl, with all the "sack-up," "reattach your shlong," "cars is all we have left," focused advertising that I thought there was some movement to disenfranchise men. I'd be curious as to what those dudes really do when the camera isn't on. The probably told the strippers not to show up that day...

Sketch

I'm going to start posting sketches, new and old from sketch books. Found these kicking around work.

Inspired by Jake Parker

Week 3 day 2

30 Minutes
2.4 Miles
195 lbs

Week 3, Day 1

30 Minutes
2 Miles

I was never cool, yeah never

Ill be the first to admit that as a kid I was afraid of everything, and I mean everything. I was not one to jump off the high dive (another first this year), I was more nervous about driving than a teenage boy should ever be, and I joined football only cause dad wanted me to, and that lasted about two weeks, it just made no sense to let those gigantic(5'3", Navajos aren't tall on average), hulking( average 120lbs, again, genetics) guys plow me over. I can still see the crumpled up jersey that stayed in the bottom of my locker, all year. Of course I realize now that it is more a state of mind than anything. Why do I realize that? Dougan Blain (names have been changed to protect the dorky). Dougan is the quintessential geeky, nervous awkward, clumsy 13 year old that well, was me. Albiet he is a little more brash and outspoken than I was, kids seem a little more vocal these days. But he is a kid, and I was a kid once, so I can relate. I think. I'm not understanding the disconnect here, what makes Dougan/adolescent me so afraid to try? I wanted to be part of the crowd as much as any kid, and there were things I refused not to do. Dougan couldn't repel down a 40ft cliff at summer camp, but I was thrilled to do it at his age. We both overcame the High Jump Fear, albeit I just closed my eyes and walked off. I don't care what you say, falling is a stupid sensation. He needed a little more encouragement, but he did eventually do it. So what is it? What it the switch that determines weather or not we will take that last step off the high dive? Does it mean I'm not brave? Am I weak?  I'm no Behavioral Psychologist, but here is my theory: Self Confidence, yeah. I had enough self confidence in my lack of cajones that I didn't need to impress any one. No matter that "she" was never interested in dating me, no matter that "they" never invited me to parties, I had  tons of time to myself to dream and plan and plot... yeah see where this is going?

There is a balance, I'm sure. I think Ill keep pushing, cause someone always pushed me. I was fortunate enough to have good support, so I need to provide that too. Now just apply this to my own children...