Phoning it in...

So I got a new cell phone. It seems like every time I replace a phone for a newer one, the initial excitement over getting the package in the mail is followed by a great deal of disappointment as I begin to use the new phone. The downhill slide really picked up with my last phone. It had a camera, which I thought was pretty cool (since I'd not had a camera on a phone before), but when it came to more practical applications, like the games, I was let down with what was available.

My new phone could easily be confused with a toy, were it comically oversized, with its shiny plastic shell and its unchanging background image on the outer screen that brings to mind the Teletubbies, minus the flaming baby head. My first few phones had that staple of old cell phone games, Snake, which occupied me for hours on end as I would try to top my old score by keeping my snake from eating itself. My last phone, instead, had a demo of one of those games where you have the Pong paddle and ball which you use to break block, creatively name Block Breaker. A mighty four levels came for free, as well as a demo of some other game that looked entirely too stupid to play more than once. I think it was some kiddy golf game. My new phone has Tetris. Unfortunately, you can only play long enough to erase 4, maybe 5, lines, which is the king of all rip-offs. I don't even hit my stride until 10. It also has some cast-off pool game.

Yay.

As features go, the camera is fine. The information about it, much as with the rest of the phone, was misleading on Cingular's site, but then, that's to be expected, I suppose. The ringtones are embarrassing to the last, with the exception of the one that, for the first time in my personal history of cell phones, actually sounds like a phone. I preferred my 70's funk ring from my old phone (cobbled together from pre-made parts in an application that made ringtones...another feature missing in my new phone), or even the early 90's rap-like tone that I used for my alarm (I like the irony of those tones on MY phone), but a legitimate phone ring beats, well, all the other possibilities included.

I guess what bothers me most is that, in all my previous upgrades, I've never actually PAID for a phone. This one I did. Not much, mind you, but I did actually throw in a bit of cash.

And then I got screwed.

Haunt Me the Rest of My Days

As many of you are aware, I was once employed by the behemoth that is Wal-Mart. It was a dark period in my life and I try to think about it as little as possible. Unfortunately, there are no more than three stores in Clarksville, so I still do all my shopping there. The thing that really bothers me about it, though, is that in spite of the fact that I've not been employed there for over a year now and I'm almost always wearing slacks, a dress shirt and a tie, PEOPLE CONTINUE TO ASK ME IF I WORK THERE!

NO, YOU INBRED SIMPLETONS! AM I WEARING A BLUE VEST? DOES MY BACK ASK, AGAINST MY INNERMOST DESIRES, IF I CAN HELP YOU? DO I, IN ANY FASHION, APPEAR SERVILE TO YOU? If I didn't need to shop there, I would most certainly thrash the next half-wit that asked if I was a Wal-Mart employee, resulting in being banned for life from the Clarksville Wal-Mart Supercenter, Store #66. The waves of anger crash over me, flooding the lower 9th ward and leaving common sense sitting on its roof, waiting for a helicopter. But, alas, like so many stranded at the Superdome, I have little choice but to deal with the frustration and hope that, someday, this will all blow over...

Logos - The Image, Not The Word (VOTE HERE)

Last night, my wife kept me up late (she didn't mean to...she just has no real concept of time once it gets to when I need to go to bed in order to wake up ready for work...I am old, you know?) doing some logo work for her music club at the U of O. Actually, it wasn't the logos (well, one was done after my "bed time") so much as it was the rest of the stuff that she asked me to do that took me longer than I expected when I said ok. Anyway, since there's only 1 club and 4 logos, they're going to vote on them today and I thought it'd be interesting to see how their choice was compared to readers of Dim Bulb Comics. So, here they are...just vote in a reply.
a)
b)
c)
d)

What I did on my Vacation...

Alright, so, as you may have noticed (though less likely than you would if it were Cricket since a) he makes comics and b) his blog/rantspace is above mine) I went on vacation for a bit last month. First, we went to Idaho (by way of my aunt's house in Colorado Springs), and we had a good time there. It was miserable hot (like it usually is in Arkansas), which was odd since it isn't usually so hot or humid there as it was when we were there, but...that's the weather for you. Hooray for global warming!

Anyway, after stopping in Evergreen, Colorado, we went on to Chicago. Freakin' awesome town. I'd like to go back for a bit longer, but next time I'm going to know where all I'm going so that I can have directions. WAY too much walking done there (we ended up in a part of town were there aren't many bus stops and no taxis at all). But, we did manage to see some thing, so here's the pictorial bit...

We spent the morning of our first full day...actually, our only full day, asleep, but after that, we hunted down a daypass for the CTA (public transportation for those who live in the middle of nowhere...like me) and then we stopped at the Holy Name Cathedral (which was about 4 blocks away from the store where we finally found our passes). Awesome building.

After that, we did a bit of walking. I forget where all we went (based on the pictures I have with me at the moment) but I know that eventually we went to Grant Park to see the Buckingham Fountain (an Andria thing).

So I have to confess something...


That's right. I had no idea. I did manage to hear a little bit of Matisyahu while we walked by, though...


After that, we stopped by the Field Museum of Natural History. Fortunately, the T-Rex "Sue" did not eat my wife. Sue does seem a bit annorexic to me, though...probably should've popped over the the food court right behind her.

Anyway, after that, we wandered around a lot.

Eventually, we found our way back to the hotel and ordered ourselves some pizza and watched Ice Age 2 on tv. It was ok. The movie, I mean. The pizza rocked.

The next day we were supposed to be on the road by noon at the latest (which was also our check-out time at the hotel), but we decided that we wanted to see Wrigley field still, which we did, and go up the Sears Tower, which we did. I took the picture from the bottom on the day we got there, though...




So, we went up, I realized that once again I'd voluntarily gone up something incredibly tall in spite of my fear of heights and, well, it was cool, but I was glad to be back down.

Aren't we cute?

Anyway, so then, we drove all the way home and I didn't die from exhaustion while driving (though I came close...and even closer after working the rest of the day after that since I went straight to work). Then, worse than the Lollapalooza thing, I found out that Wizard World Comic Con was ALSO in town that same weekend. AND I MISSED IT! I am cursed! Anyway, I still had a good time.

Behold! Mine Child!

Look! That's my boy! He's due sometime in December and this is from our first ultrasound. The boy was extremely active during the process, but slowed down enough for us to find out that he's...well, a he. If you look hard enough, you can make out his nose and lips as well as his forearm, which is just above his head. We've mostly settled on a name, so barring any last minute changes, he'll be John Aaron Tobias Askins!

I might be a bit excited. There are rumors I was shouting out of our car window at people on the street as we went home...

Status Report

I am back.

I am at work.

I am near death.

More later once I am not a few of those things.

(Also, I'm smelly and bearded....I'm almost a hippy. Or a pirate.)

(...I need a parrot...)