Snowed In Today had been interesting, in the absolutely nothing going on in my life sort of way. I was thinking 'gosh, since I'm not working, I should have all of this free time and my creativity should just go nuts and I should be getting all of this stuff done!' Um, no. Yes, I have put myself on a budget because I have money in the bank, but I got to make it last until I get a new job or go to Ft Knox, and I've still got living expenses. So I've got a few projects I'm working on. I thought about going out and renting a movie or something, but something else got in the way. It's called about a foot and a half of snow. I shoveled the driveway with the help of the kid across the street (we started talking about the army, he has the perfect private mentality and plans on joining as soon as he turns 17) but I just gave up when it came to digging my car out of the snow. It just won't stop snowing around here, I'm thinking about trying to go up to the mountain if my car can handle it and taking advantage of the conditions, but, well, I am on a budget right now. So I did the next best thing. I decided to get my creative juices flowing by doing some art. I don't do enough art these days. And when I mean art, I mean fine art, not illustration which is what I tend to do more then anything now a days. I actually found this exercise to help loosen up the creative juices, you grab your MP3 player, put it on random, and draw a picture in the amount of time it takes you to listen to the song. THe song is supposed to help you come up with an idea of what to draw, but I discovered since I haven't been in figure drawing for about five years, my drawings gone to crap when it comes to gestures. I don't think I got a single good drawing out of the mix, at least, nothing worth posting. But it is a little exercise I plan on doing again soon. Once I got myself loosened up a bit, I decided to dig out some of my paints and a canvas and paint. I didn't have any idea going into the painting, so I just threw paint on the canvas as an idea started to take hold. Um, this was kind of where it was heading, and I was just staring at it as I was painting it and thinking 'what is this mess?' It wasn't doing anything I wanted it to so I came up with this brazilliant idea and flipped the canvas over. Um, it's still nothing fancy. I'm letting the paint dry while I stare at it and decide what I'm going to stick in it. When I paint, I tend to be a little bit on the expressionalistic abstract side, so I have to create a focus for the painting and shove it right in there, probably within the first third of the painting because if it is dead center, it is going to be BORING. Not that this is anything exciting anyway, because I still have no freaking clue as to what I'm going to do with this painting. I think I'm going to put a figure wading in the water with the nuclear sky in the background, but the figure will have to be in bizzarro land colors in order to make this work. No, it is not done. It might go the way of my last painting, which I hated how it was going so much I covered the canvas in Gesso and am awaiting the opportunity to strike so I can cover it with more paint. Not going to happen anytime soon. I really need to get back into my art. Maybe I'll put a post where I ask my readers to give me ideas, or something. Because I haven't got a creative flow going and it's driving me stark raving mad! And I'm snowed in . . . *sighs* Damn that Global Warming Labels: Art, hobbies, Weather -Risawn: # 5:28 PM - |

11.27.2007

Decorating the Tree I've gotten a little into the Christmas mood this year, I was noticing how unchristmasy it was feeling without the tree up so I decided that it was time to go decorating it. We have a fake tree that we used last year, and I found a few cheap ornaments to put on it as well as some given by the parents so that our tree isn't completely barren, but I found that I kind of like collecting ornaments. So I went out and bought some today. Our tree is far from anything fancy, in fact probably no presents will go under it (those will be under the parent's tree where we will most likely be spending Christmas morning with our sock and all) but because of the need to feel like it's that time, well, a tree is a given. Unfortunately, ornaments get to be expensive, so I think I'm just going to spend some here and there each year until I get a nice little collection going. And yes, the dollar store is a great place to get some inexpensive ornaments (that can also go on the backside to help even out the weight and everything. I even got a couple little rocking horses for the tree that came from my trip in Innsbrook Austria. No hallmark collector ornaments or anything like that for the time being. Last year was the first time I decorated my own tree. This year is the first year I'm actively seeking to improve on it. Collecting fancy little ornaments. Hmm, I see a tradition in the making! I've got a snowboarding ornament, and now a bunch of fishing themed ones, as well as some fun reindeer playing Twister. I need to go get another pickle from the mall. I also think I want to get a military themed ornament, and maybe some art related ornaments (not crafty, I mean art related). The angel at the top has special significance, she was made by my grandmother. Labels: Christmas, hobbies, holidays -Risawn: # 8:47 PM - |

4.06.2007

Demon Spiders I picked up the cold, a couple days ago I tried to go to work with it and I had both a cough and a sneeze. Plus the runny nose, the whole thing and as the day progressed, I realized I just wanted to go home and sleep the thing off. I told my coworkers I was sure I had Asian Bird Flu or something, because I haven't had these kinds of symptoms for a long time. They looked at me weird. A friend of mine posted a picture of a huge spider that came from China in a warehouse box and she mentioned how she can't stand to look at it but wanted to get more information on it. I have a little entomology background on account that I used to be Preventive Medicine and I thought I would take a look at it for her. I'm tempted to say its Lycosidae, which is a wolf spider, but I can't confirm this because all I have to go by is this picture and a few descriptions she has given. Apparently, its about the size of a fist, though I'm not sure if that includes the legs or not. However, when you do Taxonomy on arthopods, you tend to need a little more information to confirm this. Like, what kind of web does it weave, or does it even weave a web? What does its eyes look like? Can we get a better view of the pattern on its thorax and abdomen? Entomology was one of my favorite subjects within my job as Preventive Medicine, I loved it. Unfortunately, it was one of the areas that tended to be contracted out to the civilians. I do know a couple Entomologists, I was thinking of passing the spider along to them to see what they could find out, however I'm sure they would need more information then what is provided here too. She thinks its disgusting. I think its kind of cool. But then that's just me. Labels: Arthopods, hobbies -Risawn: # 10:41 AM - |

1.31.2007

Guitar Resumes Add this to the resolutions. My sister and I both have Guitars that we never really learned how to play. She stated that every year she puts 'learn to play guitar' on her list of new years resolutions and every year we fall short. So we decided we would encourage each other to learn by learning together. Working at a Music/Video/Book store is helpful, and I picked up a lesson book on how to teach yourself guitar. We watched the video yesterday (the beginning was a bit redundant) and got A Major, D and E chords to learn. So that is our assignment for this week. Play about twenty minutes a day, dip fingers in rubbing alcohol, and try to get those chords down. Then we need to learn to transition between them. Nothing like saying "hey, stop the song for a bit, I need to find D." The mountain is calling my name. Though the fog has still not lifted. Got to head back up and take advantage of the day. Labels: hobbies -Risawn: # 3:35 PM - |

11.05.2005

Yearbook Immortalization So, we're busy finalizing the yearbook. And because I got finnagled onto the yearbook staff at the last minute, the Yearbook people get to have pictures in the yearbook of ourselves, kind of like our own page, you know! I was trying to debate what to put in there to represent me, and I was looking at some of the silly pictures I took during this deployment. Because I never take myself seriously, and people would be good to know not to take me seriously either. So, I was originally going to post this picture. Because it shows me at work doing Preventive Medicine type thingies. And it's kind of a funny picture where I'm not really acting serious, you know, just a way to laugh at myself. But then I came to realize that I have a perfect picture to put in there. One that makes made me slightly infamous. Unfortunately, I don't have access to any of the photoshopped versions, I only have the original, Air Hose and all. But you know? That's ok. This tells it all. And immortalized in a yearbook. Yeah, what am I thinking? The yearbook staff got a kick out of it. And further kicks out of the Merchandising link. NOw their asking me why I haven't capitalized on the image more? I think Murray is working on helping me with that issue. Labels: hobbies, Pictures, Volunteer -Risawn: # 2:55 AM - |

11.04.2005

Did I mention November would be Nuts? Latest on Nanowrimo? I don't want to even mention where I'm at in this story. But I'm not going to sweat it, I have a tendency to write a lot when I'm in the mood. I wrote 15,000 words in a few days once (during this deployment), so if I can focus on it, I think I can manage. Its just that procrastination trait that is so prominant in my personality that I have to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, the army is keeping me busy this month, which is a good thing, because if they keep me busy, the time goes by quicker. This month I'm basically helping out with the Urinalysis again (our section has it) and I'll be doing that every few days, along with manning the hearing booth. I'm also helping out with the Year Book and managing the Task Force Slide Show for Thanksgiving as well as helping conduct the Christmas Party for December. Then there is the usual reports, such as the DNBI report among other things. And we're getting ready for our replacements for 'when' they get here (that's classified) Man, I'm busier now that I got fired from my regular job then I ever was before! (er, I didn't really talk about that for good reason) And if I'm lucky *crosses fingers and hopes*, I might get a slot for the Schutzenshnur. What is that strange german word you might ask? Its a German Marksmanship badge. Which would look freakin' SWEET on my Class A's (that I will never wear now that I'm getting out of the military, for now) But it is a big maybe. If I can get to the range, I think I can get it. I just have to hope that I can get a slot. And as it appears, there is a good chance I might get a slot, if things work out alright. Its on my calender, just in case. And between all of this, I'm trying to write a 50,000 word novel and do a bunch of art exchanges just to keep my time occupied. HAH! That's real funny. Now about that 50,000 word novel I'm 'working' on. . . Labels: hobbies, Life, Nanowrimo, Work -Risawn: # 1:04 PM - |

10.25.2005

Pictures, in Other News So, in other news, I've been given some new tasks. One is, well, the yearbook. I have to put together some pictures and post four pages worth for our section of the yearbook. Well, since I'm already doing the yearbook, I've acquired a couple other taskings related as well. No, this is a good thing! I get to use my skills to put together a slide show following our deployment and surf through old clippings of the Guardian for information about our task force. This is different then the website, but somewhat related because of how many pictures i've collected from that, so I'm going through all of these pictures of the task force over the course of the year and I'm thinking 'hmm, this is cool!' So to even out the fact that I can't POST pictures, I get to have GOBS of pictures of what soldiers do in a deployment to Kosovo. Its like an excuse to GIVE ME PICTURES!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!! And no, you can't see them. But sounds like fun, eh? Labels: hobbies, Pictures -Risawn: # 7:42 AM - |

8.04.2005

Getting into a Musical Groove Free Guitar Lessons. . . courtesy of the Chaplain's assistant, and I decided to hop on board and pick up another hobby, or talent, or what not. I've discovered that small fingers go against you with guitar playing, but that's ok, that just means I have to work those fingers. And build up some Callouses (yeah, I know I mispelled that, balderdash) on those fingertips. I'm using the Church's Guitar for now, but I just ordered my own. It's an Ibanez Acoustic Electric Guitar, its shiny blue black and its on order! Soon it will be MINE! Then I can start practicing all those nifty chords and proceed to drive my roomies stark raving insane! WooHOO! Labels: hobbies -Risawn: # 4:49 AM - |

7.31.2005

Plans for August I think I need to make plans for August. . . and while I'm at it, the rest of the day. To start, the rest of this day, I will slump around in a vegatative state while my limbs attempt to recover. Yeah, I'm going to do NOTHING and it will be EVERYTHING I ever thought it would be! *yeah, I'm a fan of Office Space, so sue me* This month I think I'll be doing a lot of art. I plan on actually updating my webcomic at least twice a week through this month, and I went nuts and signed up for about eight different art exchanges. Then my WACOM drawing tablet, or rather the stylus, up and died. It cracked down the center. Now I need to get a new one, however it looks like they don't send to APO addresses, so I'll have to get it sent home and my family will have to send it to me. However, they are out of stock! But I was looking at some of these other drawing tablets, and considering how much time I've put into my drawing tablet, and how much I love the darn thing, that if I shouldn't just invest in a new more expensive one? I use this thing so often, why not? Anyway, its an excuse to use my expensive colored pencils I recently invested in until I get a new tablet. Yay for that! August will be a little weird, we've been having soldiers in and out for leave and whatever else all this summer. September will be a little hectic for me. And I also have that guitar I need to invest in. . . And I also vow to update my blog more often, about a variety of things. My brother mentioned how he misses my commentaries on Politics but I'm afraid politics has to stay out of the blog until I get home. I guess I should go eat some food (I didn't eat much yesterday other then power bars and things of that nature) and then I need to get ready to hobble over to the Chapel to attend church. See how LT G is holding up, he went on the hike too. Labels: Art, hobbies, Website -Risawn: # 3:47 AM - |

Big Duke Aftermath Man, last night I slept like a baby. . . . . . Today I can barely move. . . just a grumble in agony as I tried to move from my bed to my chair so I could surf the internet. Yeah, because I wasn't going to Bulgaria, I got my internet refreshed. But now I have to console aching muscles and blisters. Good thing I did the mountain climb on a Saturday so I could use Sunday as a day of rest and recouperation. As that is what Sunday is supposed to be about. Now I have to go shopping for a Guitar. I think I'll put up a poll seeing which one I should get. No more mountains for me while I'm here. But I'm still glad I did it, even if I hurt and at times while I was climbing it I was wondering when my brain had decided to vacate the premises during the time when I thought this was a good idea. Oh well, I guess I better go get a bite to eat. Labels: health, hobbies -Risawn: # 2:49 AM - |

7.30.2005

Climbing Big Duke Ok, so my weekends shot, right? Wrong! Fortunately for me, I had a back up plan. It was an unintentional back up plan to boot. See, there is this mountain in Kosovo that overlooks our sector. Its official name is Lubojan, but the soldiers seem to prefer to call it Big Duke. Anyway, when we first got here, we were told that they might give us an opportunity to climb the Dukedom, just for bragging rights if nothing else. This is Duke, back when there was snow on top. . . I was bent on climbing duke ever since. And the first opportunity we got conflicted directly with my Pass to Bulgaria! GAAAHHH!!! Well, since Bulgaria has since been blown out of the water, for this weekend at least, I fell back on plan number 2. I found out what I needed to do so that I could climb Big Duke. Because we don't take rifles to Bulgaria, I found out I had to get my weapon out of the safe because I would need it for this climb up the mountain. Then I had to make sure there was a slot for me to go in as this is rather last minute. Fortunately for me, two people in my task force had to drop out. So I slid into one of their places instead. Which meant, I had to be prepared to leave Bondsteel at 6 in the morning. So I was up and eating breakfast, ready to go by six. Then I headed for the TOC. And ran into a snag. I wasn't on the Mission Request. Enter Explative here. For a moment I didn't think I would get to go and was gettin prepared to back to my room and sulk about how rotten this weekend was going to be when the Sergeant in the TOC fixes it for me. Now I'm in the Clear! WooHOO! Time to head over to the busses. Where we wait for an extra fifteen minutes. . . . . . and when the busses do come, they take us to Brezovica. . . Which is a Ski Resort, not the start point for Lubojan. But oh well. Kodak Moment! We were supposed to be up on the mountain ready to ascend by 0800, or something like that. After getting the location squared away and everything in order, we were at the Sawmill at 1000. Then came the ride up, which is in a POLUKR Deuce and a Half, as this is a POLUKR sponsored event (for you civilians, POLUKR is Polish Ukrainian, and a Deuce and a half is a really big truck) and so we load up into the back of one of these things and head up the mountain. That road is not meant to be driven on. Especially in the back of a Deuce and a Half. Its this really beaten dirt road with ruts and turns every which direction and I think some people were asking for some Preperation H by the time the 30 minute ride was all said and done. I just laughed, I thought it was a riot. So we get to the top of Lubojan, to our start point, and I'm looking at this at first and thinking "hmm, this isn't bad." The following picture is me at the start point, the end point is the tall point in the background. It is further then it looks. . . and it's steep! So off we go! Loaded down with food, water, and an Amber M16 (magazine loaded, no round in chamber). Along with a video camera and a digital camera. This is a kodak moment through and through folks! From start to finish! Well, we started our ascent at about 1115 or so, give or take a few minutes. The first little uphill battle already had me breathing hard but I was determined to finish this! I've wanted to claim Duke since I got here. So as you can see, the pathway behind me is laid out, I just need to head up. So we started heading up, everyone at their own pace. And I was drinking LOT'S of water. It still had me smoked very quickly, but not smoked enough to take away from the photo whoring. . . Man I was already hurting at this stage, as is evident by my posture. But no, I wasn't going to quit, see the little black dots to the right of my head? Those are the start points, which is the vehicles that bussed us up this insane mountain. Are you getting an idea of how steep this thing was? Yeah, it was steep. . . But don't worry, I reached the pinacle, I mean, it felt so close, I felt like I had gone so far, and I could see out into the horizon of Kosovo smog. . . . . . only to discover, um, not quite! Yes, I hadn't reached the top yet, but I was through the tough part, now I had a bit of an easier walk going to the next hill as we were gifted with a ledge to walk along. But this did not make the last leg of our trip that much easier. This thing was uphill the entire way. And my feet were seeking revenge by producing blisters. . . But I did make it to the top! It was my goal, and I swore to succeed! They even had nifty little certificates of achievements to hand to us upon completion! Only thing is, um, it doesn't have my name on it. Somebody told me to pose with it anyway, as nobody can read it *true* but because this was a last minute thing, I didn't have one made for me. The Pols said they would make me one and send it to me, so cool Beans! After all, I did make it to the top! This is a ridgeline of mountains (obviously), and Brezovica is somewhere to my rear. I don't think you can see it. I was so freakin' dirty. And sweaty. And altogether smelly. I had an orange for a snack. I reached the summit a little before 1400 (2pm for you civilians) And just to reiterate the Kosovo Smog. Yes, that is smog behind me, not landscape. I think that's Bondsteel on my Left Shoulder, but I might be wrong. And to make it known that I indeed conquered this mountain and it didn't conquer me! I was the champion! I had climbed its summit! This mountain was now mine! Oh wait, we still have to go down, don't we? Um, my feet are soar and I'm tired. And I have to now hike DOWN this thing to the little area to the right of the screen. Oh well, its all down hill from here, right? I learned the hard way that going down hill can be just as painful as going up. I acquired more blisters, on other parts of my feet, and my former blisters were getting worse. And because we were going down, I took advantage of my battle buddy's photography skillz. . . But anyway, I made it all the way down in just under two hours. I had stayed on the mountaintop itself for a little over an hour (and proceeded to be eaten by bugs, which had me wondering what bugs were doing all the way on top of this mountain. And then, when we got to the bottom, we were bussed back, soar and tired, in the back of a Deuce and a Half, on a rickety road, for the next 30 minutes. My feet got even with me in the shower by letting my blisters all pop. But honestly, it was worth it. For bragging rights and whatever else, (plus I got a T-shirt!), I can now say I climbed to the top of Mt Lubojan. Man I'm beat! Labels: hobbies, Kosovo, Pictures -Risawn: # 1:57 PM - |

7.20.2005

Hobbies I'm thinking of taking up another hobby. See, the Chaplain's Assistant SSG J is offering free lessons on the Guitar, and it makes me very much eager to learn how to try to play it. I've only played a couple of instruments in my lifetime and none of them stuck. I played the Violin when I was eight for about six months and loved it, despite the stereotype of most kids hating Violin practice but I had to discontinue it for a number of reasons. Then of course, there was that time in Fifth grade where everyone bought a Recorder and learned how to play that, in which I proceeded to drive my family insane through a variety of various shrieks and whistles, as anybody would wager to tell you that a Recorder makes only noise. In Seventh Grade, I took a quarter of Band and learned how to play the Trumpet, and I had a lot of fun learning how to play that, but being a seventh grader with other things one wants to do for electives, well, it didn't stick. I've always wanted to learn how to play an instrument really good, considering I can't sing if my life depended on it, having absolutely no vocal talent to speak of, but I love music and would love to do something. Unfortunately, if I continue with Guitar, I will likely have to invest in one. So I have to come to a decision of what kind of guitar I want. And what I want to do with it, and will I even stick with it after this deployment is over? I really want to, but just for the sake of learning how to play something do I want to do it. And lessons are free, I just have to provide the guitar! I think I'll go window shopping for a bit to see if I can find a good one to come up with. Labels: Guitar, hobbies -Risawn: # 6:04 AM - |

7.04.2005

Pimpin' my Other Blogs. . . Jon in Vector Control reads my blog. Since he's such a cool guy and he let me hang with him for a day and work with him, I promised him I would put some stuff on my blog about it. However, Vector Control seemed like a Milblog thing, and since I've been largely neglecting the good ol' Milblog, I decided to post about it there. So I'll direct you to that post if you so care to read about it. I've also been doing a lot more drawing, but not so much realistic drawing, but rather illustration. In fact, I've been doing A LOT of illustration lately (though I'm still neglecting my comic *sob* One of my illustrations I recently did I was really happy with. I even put the much neglected background into it. I do something a little different with each one. i think its my excuse to get better at my illustration techniques with good ol' PhotoShop. And it gets boring drawing the same thing over and over again. Labels: Art, Blogging, hobbies -Risawn: # 11:48 PM - |

6.10.2005

Roundhouse Labels: hobbies, MartialArts, Pictures -Risawn: # 7:02 AM - |

6.07.2005

The Current Goods Quick update on the latest. . . I finally, sort of, have the unit website up. See, its still missing most of its content, but I'm hoping to get that rectified ASAP. The Unit website is located here. Task Force Medical Falcon XI Now I have to get on the various sections' cases and get them to send me stuff so its not a barren website that only says 'Under Construction' everywhere you go. So that's the current big task I'm having at the moment. I also temporarily lost my sanity and signed up to participate in a Half Marathon over at the Finnish Camp (or was it the Fins who were sponsoring the 70 K road march? I forget which), however I haven't really trained for it and on Sunday I was playing sand volleyball and somehow I tore my left calf muscle and I'm thinking about going to Sick Call this morning to get that checked out, as well as this weird Nausea I've been having. I'm still doing Kajukenbo, in fact, thats the most successful endeavour I've undertaken while I've been here. But when I was working out yesterday, I hurt my calf even more. So I think the Half Marathon is a No Go. I'll talk to CPT H about it this morning after Sick Call. I wanted to do it too. So that means I have to get in on the next Dannish Road march if I want to do something kind of Psycho while I'm here, mostly just to say that I did it. I really want to do a Road March. Meanwhile, the French Army is doing an exercise in our Sector and are camped out here in South Bondsteel so we've been seeing the French everywhere. The Germans were here a few months ago doing something similar. I'm tempted to say Bonjour to them, like I was saying 'Guten Morgen' to the Germans, as that is the extent of my French Language speaking skills, but they've been beating me to it by saying 'Hi' first. I'm not sure if they're trying to get away from the French Hate Americans abotu as much as the Americans hate French Stereotype or if they are having girl withdrawals (because crap, everyone seems nice to me when they first meet me here) or maybe they really aren't the French that everyone makes them out to be. For crying out loud, they are in the military so that does say something!?! So I vow to say 'Bonjour' to them first today and take them by surprise. Most French don't expect Americans to start speaking to them in their native tongue. Right after I go see a doc about my leg. Labels: Europe, health, hobbies -Risawn: # 10:14 PM - |

5.04.2005

Good News Bad News In my section, the NCOIC (ie sergeant in charge) often disperses bits of information starting with the phrase "do you want the good news or the bad news?" Sometimes I say "give me the good news, that way the bad news doesn't seem as bad" or sometimes I say "give me the bad news, so the good news can cheer me back up", depending on the circumstances. Well, this is one of those good news bad news situations. I have to dispense with the bad news first. Sofia Bulgaria is no longer on. Neither is the 25K DANCON road march. I was looking forward to both with much anticipation, and had to cancel them yesterday (well, technically, I postponed Bulgaria and will await the next road march, I hear they're having a 2 day 50 K road march, now that's an idea!) Which brings me to the good news. I'm going to Greece instead. I had to cancel the Road March because doing both the Road March and then walking around Greece the next day was a very bad idea and would have left me very very miserable. And i can't do two retreats right after one another so Bulgaria has to wait until later this summer. More specifically, I'm going to the community of Fillipi Greece, which is now in ruins. Now, if everyone flips open the New Testament, you will notice that one of the books in the New Testament is labeled Phillipians. In fact, I think there are a couple of books named Phillipians. These were specifically letters written by the apostle Paul to the people of Fillipi (also spelled Phillipi, depending on the map you read). This retreat is actually in relation to the journeys of Paul and the whole retreat is focused on him. Being a Non Denominational Religious retreat sponsored by the chaplains, I shall be going to Fillipi and afterwards get to shop in Kavala which is right on the Aegean Sea. We get to explore Greek Ruins! I'm mucho excited! I probably won't be blogging for those days, but I will take lots and lots of pictures and post a few online. Gosh, I think the army should deploy me more often! What, with free concerts, Karioke (which is particularly scary) Kajukenbo and opportunities to see Greece and Bulgaria, I don't think I've had this much fun in a long time! Labels: Bulgaria, dancon, Greece, hobbies -Risawn: # 9:30 AM - |

4.05.2005

Play Ball! I've decided to get back into Sports. I haven't played sports since I was in High School, but I think they are a great way to get in shape and it's an excuse to associate with fellow human beings, on a competitive scale. They have a 4 on 4 volleyball tournement coming up in a couple of weeks and I volunteered for that, seeing as I love Volleyball and played it through Freshman year. I even have knee pads, though I got them for something else. However something tells me this is going to be sand volleyball, they've got two sandpit volleyball courts outside the MWR building but whatever the case, it sounds like its going to be fun. The Task Force is also setting up a Softball Team, and the Top is constantly asking me to throw a Softball around with her. Something always comes up. I haven't played Softball for a while, I played a little in Jr High and Freshman year but I was never that good. Still, I had fun while I did it and that's the whole point, right? I even went so far to invest in a nice Softball Mitt and some batting gloves, because I could and they were sitting there calling my name. And of course, Soccer with Tornado. I played for the first time yesterday, we basically just kicked a ball around practicing, a lot of these Tornado guys really know how to play and I'm the token female because it's supposedly 'co-ed', and Tornado is a Combat Arms unit made up entirely of men, and so they needed to recruit some women. When I have nothing else going on, I ride a Bike around post. Due to a previous question, it's a Kent Trail Blazer, a shiney Blue Color. Nothing fancy, in fact, it takes more work then it should to get up a hill, but that's ok, because that just means more PT for me. You know, all of these plans are digging into my Returning Emails Quest and Book Reading time. And I still haven't finished Halo 2. *sighs* Oh well, Physical Endurance Building or sitting like a slug in my room playing video games/reading a large stack of books. Choices choices. Labels: hobbies, Video Games -Risawn: # 12:46 AM - |

3.26.2005

Shopping for Health Today was a beautiful day. Almost to beautiful. I almost slept in. Ah, who am I kidding, I did sleep in. I got up in time to throw a uniform on and get to the office to meet my sergeant tapping his foot and looking at his watch. I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping at night. Being a night owl, I am most active in the evening, at least, my brain is. All this week I've been having trouble falling asleep at night, just thinking about different things. Last night was particularly bad. I actually got in bed about 10:30, after finally finishing Freaks and Geeks, the entire season (why oh why did they cancel this series? I don't watch TV for the very reason that anything good like this gets canceled and they leave on crap like Friends for 9 seasons) and actually fell to sleep within a few minutes. Then around 2 in the morning, I woke up and found myself thinking for the next two hours. About a whole lot of nothing. Just thinking, about stories, perhaps what I was going to do today, what I did this week, how I should have handled something else differently, so on and so forth. I can't win. When I finally do get back to sleep, I can't get up when I'm supposed to. Or my alarm will go off, I'll glance over at it and say, "i'm tired, I don't have to be anywhere for 2 hours' and roll back over and the Z monster takes hold once more. I usually wake up about 15 minutes before I have to be anywhere. Um, today was particularly bad, because I didn't have to be anywhere until 9. They let me come in at nine. And I was still late? What the heck is wrong with me? Gaaaahhhh!!! Yeah, I've never been compatible with the military in this manner. I hate to sleep, but unfortunately my body rather loves it. Especially in the morning. So I'm going to work on getting myself into some kind of routine. Even if I have to force myself to do it, I will do it. I actually did it for a couple of days before, getting up at 5 to work out in the morning and I was where I had to be and feeling great. So I've decided to take part in some recreational activities. They've got a bunch of programs planned out through MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) like Softball and Volleyball and I'm thinking 'count me in!' That, and the weather has vastly improved over the last few weeks. Bicycles came into the PX. I went ahead and made a purchase. I also took it for a quick ride around South Town and found myself out of shape. A bike was a good investment, I think I shall start using it on those hills. My body will thank me in a couple months. Anything to get out of the barracks and doing something. And then I cringed when I noted that they got PS2s in. Finally. After I already bought one online and went through all that trouble. *grumbles* Oh well, you live and learn. And then somebody points out a typo on one of your most famous blog posts that you made 4 months earlier. ***GAAARRR!!!*** Labels: health, hobbies, Sports, TV Shows -Risawn: # 2:40 PM - |

10.29.2004

Halloween Update Well, I mentioned before about my Halloween Costume, in all its righteous coolness. But myself, being the heavy procrastinator that I am, put it off and put it off until I was scraping to get it done the last minute. Well, it will look cool, but I won't be able to use it this year. That, and I made an error. See, I made the mask completely by hand, using Plaster Gauze and sculpty mold. The mask does look awesome so far, I just got a few more touch ups to do and then I can paint it, but I'm using a harness off of a protective mask to secure it to my head. I was supposed to leave plenty of room for my ears, but I screwed up and made the jaw straps a hair to high. My ears are covered. Damn. Well, I did learn a lot about mask making while making this mask. I was chronicalling the making of the mask through pictures, unfortunately my brother asked if he could borrow my camera and I let him, and therefore i didn't get the last part of the mask taken care of! Why did I let him use my camera? I curse myself. Anyway, some parts of the mask making turned out to be kind of fun. Well, I was going to make some ears to go with the mask (that is now pointless, becuase the mask harness goes over the ears now *growls* and I discovered Algenate, which is awesome awesome stuff. I had to put on a dorky looking bald cap to cover my hair so I would still have some in tact. It was goopy and runny. Oh, it felt good. I love slimy substances. Like for instances, my foot throwing days. Algenate makes a really nice mold. You have to wrap it in plaster gauze if you flop it on your head, but it comes out really nice. I have no pictures of the result. My brother took my camera. Plaster gauze masks. Yay! And back with the bald cap. Plaster is much harsher on your hair then algenate is. And don't forget the lubricant, in this case, petroleum jelly. I would have stripped my eyebrows if I had forgotten it. And I'm kind of fond of my eyebrows, thank you very much. So anyway, I had my base, my ear molds, and I just had to finish the damn thing. And Now my mask is just in the final stages. Looking really cool, but rubbing against my ears (you can see where I put these little buttons on the mask picture, five of them to secure it to my face.) And unfortunately, my digital camera is somewhere in Utah at this time. I might just have to borrow my sisters. I have to admit, that I owe a lot of this mask to my friend Ravyn, who inspired me to go this route. I've been wanting to do this for some time, but didn't know where to begin. I think I'll pimp her skills, she made a wolf mask, which is kind of the same direction that I'm looking to go at this time. The last picture I took, where I was getting somewhere, was halfway through the sculptamold stage. It looks like, er, nothing. GAAAHHH!!! I need my camera! (must call sister and hijack hers!) UPDATE - I hijacked the sister's camera. Took some pictures of the current mask. It still needs some work, but coming along in my opinion. Still not done, but will look very good once it's painted and smoothed out and all. It's still in a very rough form. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I should do about covering the harness. That's still a mystery. Update Numero Dos The ear molds, in their entirity. They got a bit banged up unfortunately. Major coolness dude. I don't think I'll be able to use them as I had intended however. Labels: Halloween, hobbies, holidays -Risawn: # 3:22 PM - |