AtomicMrX

“Merry Christmas!” 5.8 MB (00:38)

I tried to make this into a Flash movie so it would be a little more cross platform friendly but it kept crashing my Flash application for some reason. Go figure. So it is in a Quicktime format and hopefully no one has a problem viewing it.

In the picture (and movie) Shannon is on the left, I am in the center and Jaki is on the right (our Toy Fox Terrier).

Here’s the link to make your own! ElfYourself!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Yesterday I went over to Jim’s to help him with his new Color Laser Printer. He needed a cable to hook it up and wasn’t sure which kind of cable and if it would work on the back of his laptop docking station. That was an easy fix and we hopped over to Office Depot and fixed him up with a USB 2 cable and his new printer was smelling up the house in no time. Laser printers can have a nice toner smell when they first start up. I had a black and white laser printer a long time ago with my first Mac - I loved it.

With the printer connected and working great we were off to eat. Jim had a great idea of a restaurant he had been at once before and I had never been to. So we went to Pizza Bella, downtown Kansas City on Baltimore. It’s only been open for a month or so and it was very cool looking inside and out. Jim ordered Crispy Brussels Sprouts and I told him I didn’t like Brussels Sprouts but I would try them. Wow were they good. I apparently had a bad first experience with them and I thought I would not like them - probably how they were prepared. We each ordered the same pizza (they come dinner plate size) - Prosciutto and Arougala with fresh parmesan cheese.

After dinner we went to the Power & Light District downtown. It’s still in progress of being completed but they have come a long way and should be done this next Summer is my guess. We went to a very fancy (but not too pricy) restaurant for a glass of wine. We sat at the bar and talked. The restaurant has only been open for two weeks so it is as new as can be. We’ll have to go back and have a dinner there sometime. We had a glass of Merlot each. Jim was tempted to have a second but I was doing good to finish the one I had and didn’t want another. I don’t really drink anymore - so a little is a lot for me.

I took a few pictures of the evening and here they are. Click on them to see them larger and you can navigate through them buy clicking on the left or right sides of the picture once enlarged.

Afterwards we stopped at Starbucks in Westport for some coffee. Jim was experimental and ordered some Latin version of an espresso and water and it tasted like watered down espresso and wasn’t very good but Jim persevered and drank it anyway (well most of it). I had the White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha but with less of the syrups than usual because I was afraid it would be sickening sweet. It was just right.

Here is the Wikipedia definition of World AIDS Day:

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, with an estimated 38.6 million people living with HIV, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 3.1 million (between 2.8 and 3.6 million) lives in 2005, of which more than half a million (570,000) were children.

The concept of a World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention. Since then, it has been taken up by governments, international organizations and charities around the world.

From its inception until 2004, UNAIDS spearheaded the World AIDS Day campaign, choosing annual themes in consultation with other global health organizations. In 2005 this responsibility was turned over to World AIDS Campaign (WAC), who chose Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise as the main theme for World AIDS Day observances through 2010, with more specific sub-taglines chosen annually. This theme is not specific to World AIDS Day, but is used year-round in WAC’s efforts to highlight HIV/AIDS awareness within the context of other major global events including the G8 Summit. World AIDS Campaign also conducts “in-country” campaigns throughout the world, like the Student Stop AIDS Campaign, an infection-awareness campaign targeting young people throughout the UK.

It is common to hold memorials to honor persons who have died from HIV/AIDS on this day. Government and health officials also observe, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995 the President of the United States has made an official proclamation on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements.

Here is a small portion of the list of friends I have lost to AIDS:

• Steve Lansing 1993
• Carl Woodford 1994
• Quience Sykes 1994
• Yul Stell 1996 (?)
• Paul 1997 (?)
• Darrin 1998 (?)

There have been far too many of my buddies at the bars that have been lost to AIDS as well. Unfortunately I can’t remember all their names and years of passing. I’ve never been good with names but I always will remember their smiling faces, conversations, and fun times dancing at the bars.

Today my friend Ken turns 46! Happy Birthday Ken!

I’m right behind him. I turn 45 in January 2008! Man are we old!

I have neglected my blogging! I had stuff to say just didn’t put it down into words - so here it is in review.

They re-arranged our desks at work to try a new system where we are broken down into “teams.” Each team consists of three artists and one copy checker and we are in a row of desks. I moved from the side of the room to the center of the room and now I share a desk with a night shift person.

The team I’m on is the only team in the room that is sharing with the night shift. All the other teams (6 teams total) have their own desk (double the drawer space). This meant I had to go from a two drawer desk to a single drawer desk. I had some consolidating to do and some throwing away to do as well.

It was good to go through all the crap hanging on the walls and trim it up. The person I share with is clean and organized so that is a perfect match and should work well in the future.

I’ve been enjoying my Wii! I bought Wii Play last weekend so now I have a total of two Wii-motes (their way of saying a remote) - meaning two players can play together. This brings the total of games up to three (Wii Play, Mario Party 8, and Wii Sports which came with the system free).

Last night on the way home from eating with Jim I stopped at Blockbuster and rented Big Brain Academy for Wii so I could see if it was any good and if I would enjoy buying it or not. I’m going to try and rent the games before I buy them so I don’t spend a lot of money on a game “I thought I would like” but end up not enjoying or playing much. I do like Big Brain Academy but just like the version I have for my Nintendo DS, it has way too many talking bubbles from the professor telling you what’s about to happen, what just happened, what you can do, and how you can do the next thing… it just gets old pressing the A button after every little thing he says - and he says a lot!

I mentioned I ate with Jim… it was great! We ate at the sushi bar again - Sakura. We got there at 6:00 which we thought was a little early but we were wrong! We had to wait about 10 minutes for a place at the bar. They have a oval bar with a train track that goes around the center area filled with sushi trays that you can help yourself to. It was packed! We both got the famous Spider Roll (which you have to request - it’s an $8.00 item and not on the train). I don’t think I will get it next time. I’ve noticed the last two times that the Spider Roll is getting VERY small from what it use to be. It used to be worth the $8.00 but now it is so small it isn’t worth the price! Plus they are getting stingy with the soft shell crab (when it’s fried it looks like a fried spider - hence the name)! Prices are based on the kind of tray the sushi is on. They have $1.50 and $2.50 trays on the train. At the end of eating they just total up your trays and that is what you pay. Most of their trays are $2.50 so it adds up quickly.

Well that is pretty much the last two weeks. Not a lot that is exciting but there it is. Now I will try to be a little more diligent this next week!