b.o.b.

Garage Band for the iPad

2011-03-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I know you all thought I was never coming back. Yes, I have fallen off the face of the Earth, or well, Atlas Quest at least. I hope to be back soon. Hopefully senior year (next school year, that would be).

But.... I got an iPad for Christmas.

First of all, if you don't have one, you need one. I don't care what excuses you have. You NEED one. They are amazing and a true demonstration of how far we've come technologically. And the original ones are marked down (I think) if you don't want to fork out the extra couple hundred for the new one.

Anyways, marketing pitch over.

The main reason I got on today was to give a little song that I made on my iPad this morning. I made it on an app called Garage Band, which is also for the Mac. I think the Mac version is a lot more expensive, but the iPad one is only 5 bucks and it comes with a ton of instruments built-in. It didn't take very long to make the song, mainly because the software is amazing, but also because it has the built-in instruments.

Be warned: don't get your hopes up. The song is nothing special. It's essentially the same thing over and over for about 30 seconds or so, but that's mainly because I don't have much time today to compose a masterpiece. Still, the software has given me (a musically challenged individual) the ability to compose a song in just a few minutes...

And some other software (also for my iPad) called Inkpad works similarly to Adobe Illustrator for the computer. If you haven't heard of Illustrator, it's essentially a professional drawing program. I use it at school in Computer Graphics class (I guess I'm alright at it). Anyways, I made the cover art for the song in about 10 minutes on the Inkpad app (also $5), purposefully simple for such a simple song.

When I got done recording the song, it reminded me of a railroad for some reason, so I called it "Tracks" and that's what the brown lines on the cover are (I hopeful you'd have been able to tell without me letting you know).

Anyways, I figure I should let you guys listen to the song instead of just talking about it.

Here's the link:
http://letterbob.webs.com/tracks.htm

Lemme know what you think in the comments =)

~BOB~

Spy vs. Spy

2010-04-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

(I know the post looks long... And it is, but if you don't read it all, try to at least skim it) =)

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock- 5:30 on a Saturday morning wasn't exactly my definition of "sleeping in," but it was well worth it. We were going letterboxing =)

After hearing so many great things about the original Spy vs. Spy event, my dad- X Marks the Spot -thought it'd be a good idea to go to this one and try our luck with some friends. Originally, he intended it to be myself, him, Gallant Rogue, and BullDawg. But, BullDawg got busy and, unfortunately, couldn't make it to the event. So, we decided to let a seeming double agent into the group. It was Yankee Chick, who wrote a request to join the team to Gallant Rogue, interestingly, literally minutes after Casa del Sol had told him to trust no one. We made sure she was legit, of course, and agreed to let her join the group.

So, I checked Facebook, showered, ate cold pizza for breakfast, etc., just in time to wait for Gallant Rogue to pull up. We headed out for our three hour drive and on the way, started chatting about our strategies and plots. Meanwhile, a motorcycle going around 120 raced in between our car and several others' while being chased by multiple police officers around 8:15 in the morning.

He obviously was running from the law (and not just from a speeding ticket), and it turns out he fell off the motorcycle a few miles up the road. He didn't look like he was in too good of shape when we went past, and we made conversation as we wondered how his motorcycle had ended up a good 300 yards past where he landed... It was an interesting and bizarre drive up, but we finally got there.

We were to start at Starbucks. We parked in the Burger King next door's parking lot and had 20 minutes to kill. Yankee Chick pulled up, as X went to get chips for the potluck later from the Farm Fresh across the street. When he came back, we realized we had forgotten to carve a team signature stamp... We pulled together some carving supplies and came up with a design. At first, X used the wrong team name for the design (niiiiiiiice), so we had to come up with something quickly. Rogue had a brilliant idea- our name was "Rogue eXiles" so he recommended we use the design of the Rx, as a pharmacy does. So, the design was drawn up, and within ten minutes, I had carved the stamp (Rogue finished the last corner of the X off), and we were all in matching white patterned headbands. Our team was ready to go.

Everyone but I, who was carving on the hood of Rogue's car, went into the Starbucks and got the first clue from the Special Agent Jason Bourne. It was a toilet paper roll. On it- a notice that we'd need it to for the park that had only Porta-Potties. Rogue had researched all the nearby parks and he immediately knew which one.

There was also one little detail- I was the Mole. Essentially, I held the key to the other teams' victory. The others were to tell someone a key phrase, in hopes that the person they were telling it to was the Mole. If they told the correct individual (me), then they'd get one of the five required mission stamps. The other 4 were boxes in the park that you had to get lucky in locating. There were quite a few scattered in the park, but only 4 of them were ones that would help you win the game.

We decided the best strategy to hide this fact and keep them from bothering me would be for me to play the disgruntled teen. I had one or both of my headphones to my MP3 in, trying to keep a bored look as other teams passed by and asked other members of my team if they were the Mole.

We were told at the gate that we'd need everything we'd received. X slowed us down, as he made small talk with Casa del Sol. Soon, we hurried him along and got into the park. We figured we'd solve the harder cyphers while we were fresh. Yankee Chick, Rogue, and I cracked several of the letter one, while X worked on one he specialized with. Overall, we spent about 20 minutes sitting under a small shelter working on codes.

But, we were in danger of being caught. Another group of Leabhar and Buster Bunny approached us and quickly roped us in offering to take a team picture. They had us. They told us they wanted to make a guess as to what country we were from. (We were assigned a country in the beginning that, if anyone with the two elimination stamps correctly guessed, we were out. If they're wrong, the other team gets to take the death stamp to use.) They quickly came up with a genius lie. They told us they had already taken out two teams with the stamp. Rogue decided to attempt a deal with them- we'd tell them who the Mole was if they intentionally guessed wrong. It was a great deal that we don't regret, even going back and analyzing our game.

The deal was made and the Mole stamp was quickly stamped into their book. It was something that may threaten our game, but if worst came to worst, we had an elimination stamp to try to get them out.

We had to get to some boxes and start getting on with finding the other 4 required stamps. We met Sherlock and Jason (again), and bribed Casa with an opportunity to solve Cryptex!... Bribing was incredibly legal, and strongly recommended, so we definitely knew how to pull it off. We got some other boxes, likely contained in places and with clues that are classified (well, may be used at future events like this, so I won't post any potential spoilers)...

We soon ran into Nancy Drew... But we had a problem: We had found a TON of the boxes and only gotten one of the required stamps other than the Mole stamp we already possessed... The other teams were gaining hugely, we suspected. So, we resulted to meeting with the double agent slicky kitty. We got some crucial information as to which boxes may be important to go for and which ones we probably should probably skip.....

But, there was another problem. We had told a double agent that I was the Mole. This... was a mistake.

We proceeded to go to a box that we believed contained a significant stamp. We got the box (across a bridge). But it was a dud- nothing of significance to winning the game. We were in trouble- being pursued. It was about to be all over.

We started crossing the bridge back to the main portion of the park when we encountered a group of four women. The double agent had given away who the Mole was. The group had four of the required stamps... and I was the last one they needed. But there was no escape. They had us. We reluctantly gave up the Mole stamp...

But wait! There was still hope. We had the elimination stamp. We had a shot!

And, the shot missed. We guessed the wrong country and the four women ran to the finish line... The game was over... And it had been a TOTAL blast =D

I was sad to see the game was over. It was a great time. In the end, we had skipped 6 boxes and half of them were ones we needed to win... We had gotten unlucky, but I truly think we had played a great game strategically.

So, we stuck around for the potluck. Had some fried chicken, jellybeans, and some other really good stuff =) We got some exchanges (although I forgot my signature stamp at home, so I'll be sending out quite a few copies of my signature stamp on Monday). Overall, it was an event of good company and well managed. I'd definitely do it again =)

And, on the way home, I got to sleep for a little while, so I made back some of the lost sleep this morning. But, my family will not see me until later than usual tomorrow morning. I'm sleeping in =)

~BOB~

Did I fall off the face of the Earth? No, I joined Facebook

2010-03-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

I looked over and noticed it'd been ages since I actually posted anything about me in a while...

But, I want you to know, it's definitely ENTIRELY not my fault =) Those who read the boards often may have noticed I haven't been on there very much... Of course, I've kinda been dying down on the social part of letterboxing for a while... Not to mention the other parts of boxing, too.....

But, like I said... It's not my fault... entirely... I won't blame it too much on life. That's definitely not it, I just got a Facebook account =) I prefer to keep it limited to only people that are relatives are friends nearly every day or they have been in the near past. I try not to add too many boxers because AQ is really where I can keep up with them =)

So... Moving on... What have I been up to? Well, school's been harder than the first two quarters, just as everyone who went here last year told me it would be... But that's okay because this quarter is going to be shorter than the other 3... We had a break that, other than summer break, will be our longest the whole year... My friends and I all referred to it as "Winter Break #2"...

Of course, it got really boring after a few days and it was just fine to go back to school =)

But wait.... I already covered this, didn't I? Yep, sounds familiar...

So, now I've started an SAT prep course at my school that meets every few weekends. But, I have to work on it everyday for 10 minutes on my own, but 10 minutes isn't too big of a deal.

Ummm... What else? Oh! I'm VOLUNTARILY (yes, VOLUNTARILY) reading The Catcher in the Rye and should be finished with it by tonight =) We're not reading it for class, so I can't get as much of the deeper meaning out of it, but reading for fun's not as bad as I thought a few days ago =) It's a very bizarre book, but all the different things that seemed kinda random are starting to connect, I guess... Who knows... Maybe I'll get more out of it by the end than I am right now =)

Other than that, nothing really is going on... Still loving the heck out of the hot tub =)

~BOB~

A Blog by X Marks the Spot

2010-02-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.atlasquest.com/people/blogs/blog.html?gBlogId=404

For an inside look into my dad's achievements in the workshop, follow him with the link above. There is not much there yet, but X hopes there will be something there to share soon.

~BOB~

The Indefinitely Long Weekend

2010-02-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

I went to school 2 days this week. It leaves me wondering if it was even worth to go those two days!

We had Monday off as a scheduled teacher's workday, had school Tuesday, snow day Wednesday, had school Thursday, and no school Friday. They called Friday off the night before because a winter storm warning was issued...

...And it was fairly intelligent to issue the warning because it's been a full blown winter wonderland since about 9 a.m. yesterday morning. And it has been everything they've expected: about 2 feet by this morning, continuing until later tonight giving us probably 6-8 more inches (at least!)

The snow wasn't sticking to the roads for about 3 hours after it started yesterday, but they're completely covered today. So... probably no school Monday, maybe none Tuesday.

Oh, and it's supposed to get worse! They're calling for more snow starting around noon on Tuesday... We're supposed to get around the same amount as we are this weekend...

So, this weekend may never end for me... And I'm enjoying it with the elementary kids on our street. They go out and play with their sleds nearly every day and I get bored inside and go out and join them...

Hehe... who says I have to be a mature high schooler.

~BOB~

Mysteries in the Mountains (The 100th Post)

2010-01-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, this is the 100th post to the blog! Didn't think we'd get this far, but woohoo! =)

(This post looks really long... And it is, but try to get through it all- it just looks really long because I made it into so many paragraphs)

So.... this weekend was awesome =D =D =D

We headed up to the Foxes' farm on Friday in my dad's Toyota truck (despite the poem I wrote on Thursday). We stopped at Subway restaurant on the way and later at the grocery store to pick up some chicken for dinner...

And, we got to the farm first... And I mean first... Mama Fox wasn't even home yet, so we put on all our warm excess clothing. Then they all started to show up... And, I gave her the event stamp, which Wassa cleverly suggested I mount to a whoopee cushion. It was inside an Outhouse birdhouse, so the farting noises just made it a hilarious stamp ;D

I found a few of the newer stamps on the farm, but it was so cold I was really wanting to hang out in the barn. Plus, mixing, mingling, and exchanging are fun =) I met a ton of boxers I've been waiting to get exchanges with, but it was so cold and there were so many people, I wasn't really going for too many PTs...

Mama Wolf finally showed up with her family and Seattle Bound (she didn't have her alligator with her, sadly)... While everyone was exchanging, the Wolf Family and I all went over the Outhouse to get the HH Hostel. Mama Wolf decided we needed to do a parody of the Blair Witch Project... That was the most hilarious part of the weekend! It was staged perfectly ;D

I have since learned from Mama Wolf that the rights to the "production" have been acquired by Wassa.... There's no telling what he could do with that!! The footage is hardly usable, but the entire situation, including the audio is priceless... =D =D =D

So... the rest of the event was a lot of exchanging in the cold and listening to others sing for the Sheeeet Music! PT... Yeah, I chickened out... I can't sing...... AT ALL ;)

We got Dixie to guide X, DC Stones, Seattle Bound, and I to our cabin. It was pretty nice, and we found the name of the street it was on amusing: Spooky Branch =)

That night, X, DC Stones, and I stayed back at the cabin while Dixie, Mojo, and Seattle Bound all went out in the cold to put some of the boxes in their places for the event. They asked if we wanted anything from the store... I always have a craving for cookie dough ice cream, so I kiddingly asked for it...

All of us at the house fell asleep around 11 while everyone else stayed up until like 4 in the morning ;)

Speaking of which, I'm kinda wondering what the loud crash *cough*DIXIE!*cough* in the middle of the night was... ;)

And......... When we woke up in the morning, it sucked... THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND! We drove 7 hours to go box in the SNOW?!?! But, the weather channel told us it was going to be sunny later... I'm not sure I believed it, but it did...

So, the "early sleepers" got up and went for some boxes near a really nice almost fairytale hotel. X and I planned to get those and then go meet up with the Wolves... On our way to Carrier Park (HQ for the event), we found out she totally wimped out... She claims it was because of the snow and her old green van's difficulties in it, but we all know she was just scared of the hug Fluffy Cow was going to plant on her =)

We froze our butts off at Carrier Park... The wind chill must have been around 0 degrees (maybe less) under there. But, I got my exchange with Fluffy Cow!! Wooh! =)

So, we dove into the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet (considering the fact that my dad didn't even get me breakfast) and stayed there for a while. I got exchanges with people I had missed the night before and others who weren't there...

The event stamp was PHENOMENAL!... It was carved by 3 Blind Mice (who else?) and a very large two layer stamp (are you regretting leaving yet, Mama Wolf?) ;)

X, DC Stones, and I all got together with Lavagirl and Seattle Bound. We did some quality slack-car boxing for the cemetery, but got some incredible stamp out of it =)

Lavagirl had to head home, but the rest of us hunted some more boxes and headed over to the barbecue restaurant... Those cheese fries were good (are you regretting leaving YET, Mama Wolf?) ;)

We decided to go for some night boxes... HELEN COME FORTH!! My dad's truck's engine had been spazzing out all day and I still hadn't gotten my exchange with Seattle Bound.

When we got up there, weird things began to happen......... As X and Seattle Bound were hunting the box, Seattle Bound's signature stamp disappeared... She set it on the top of her logbook right next to her and she reached down and it wasn't there. We checked all over, but it wasn't there.... And Dixie's passenger seat was up when she got back in her car...... and it wasn't any of us because we were all looking for Seattle Bound's sig stamp... But, in return for the sig stamp, the truck survived another day and got us through the 7 hour drive back home....

Thank you, Helen! But at the same time, darn it, Helen!

That's okay, because I'm going to carve her a new one within the week and send it to her, I'm hoping =)

We also picked up Undead Mayhem (great box!) and Zombie Elvis (a little freaky because of a story Mojo had told me about a usually drunk homeless man that lives near the box)...

We went back to the cabin after that around 10:30 or so... Everyone slowly started falling asleep... Except for Dixie and I... We were eating rocky road and cookie dough ice cream at 2:15 in the morning! ;D

Good times, good times =)

~BOB~

Twas the Day Before the Outhouse Event

2009-12-31T11:26:00.000-08:00

Twas the day before the Outhouse Event when all through the house

Only Bobguyman was stirring... For he wasn't carving a mouse.

Nor a cow, a fish, a chicken, or a lhasa.

He had carved a bird complete with an idea from wassa!

Bob too had carved a PT with a silly little pun.

When he saw it, he said "This'll be fun!"

It could be received from telling him a secret word.

He hoped that this everyone had heard.

The next day, he'd ride in X's Prius.

He kept saying, "I know they'll be happy to see us."

For it was sure to be a great event...

Even better than a Christmas present!

The boxers would anxiously log into the Outhouse!

Some with their kids and spouse.

The next day they'd head over to Carrier Park.

And box rain or shine until after dark!!

At the end of the day, they'd probably have some scars

And hopefully, (unlike Dina) be able to find their cars ;)

They'd all return home with fond memories.

Some might write 'em down on blogs or in diaries.

They'd all be happy to be back home, but then...

They'd all agree: We all must do it again!

Looking forward to the events!

~BOB~

Hot in the Cold

2009-12-19T12:31:00.000-08:00

Every kid/teen's goal in life is to get as much snow as possible so they get to miss school... Well, last night we got about 14 inches... And now, it's still coming down and it's over 20 INCHES!!!

So... what do you do when you're stuck in all that snow?

Well.... there's old TV game shows and Monk reruns recorded on the DVR...

Once I watched those, I had to do something... What better thing to do than...

HOT TUB?!?! =D

So, my dad and I were nuts enough to run out in only our bathing suits into the hot tub... And it felt good, especially with the snow dripping down on your head =)

...Until you had to get out... Those 5 seconds spent running around wet in only your bathing suit from the tub into the house truly sucked...

So... back to watching reruns from my warm house =)

Let it snow, let it snow, let schools close =)

~BOB~

Been Over a Month!

2009-12-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about what to write about on the ol' blog.... It's been over a month since I last posted... So... here's the month in review:

School... Homework's been calming down, but still a large load every night...

On Thanksgiving, I ran the annual Turkey Trot... I had a goal to beat one kid (probably my sister's age)... and..... I did... but barely! I was far ahead of him towards the end... Then he went full throttle to the point where I barely could keep up! My final time for 5 miles was 53:27 ... Not bad, considering I didn't train at all for it! ;)

I went to Kristi's Christmas... I helped the Interact Club earn money for it back a month or two ago and it finally came around. So... what is Kristi's Christmas? Essentially, a bunch of high school volunteers get a buddy (from an underprivileged family) for a day and help them pick out clothes, shoes, and other essentials at Target. Of course, there is a set amount of money each kid has, but it's kinda fun =)

And... I read two books for school... The first was Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It was a major eye-opener and very interesting to analyze... The second one was Winterdance by Gary Paulsen. Winterdance was less enjoyable, in my opinion, as it often trailed off and I often got bored to the point where I couldn't stay focused.

Other than that, not much has been going on...

The hot tub has become almost a nightly ritual =) Ahhhhhhh.... =D

~BOB~

No homework? NONE?!

2009-11-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, guys and gals... This is a bit unusual.....

I have absolutely NO homework... NONE... NADA... ZIP!... ZILCH!

It's the sign of the apocalypse or something! ;)

However, this week has been a bit weird... But weird in a good way. I had Monday and Tuesday off... Yesterday was a bummer having to go back, but today for some reason feels like Friday... Wish it was...

Moving on, I had the free time to tinker around with the ol' blog and I came across a fish feeding game... So, that's below. Everyone needs to feed the fish ;)

We have been getting quite a few new subscribers on AQ, especially this week! For those of you that are new, WELCOME! Hope you enjoy the blog... Unfortunately at this moment, I don't really have anything exciting to write about =(

~BOB~

OREO!

2009-11-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

Tinkering around with my DSi camera, I took this picture of my dog... I edited it so it's a tiny bit easier to see him... =)

You might notice he's a bit shaggy ;) He needs a haircut badly!

And, if you look below...

We've got another one of him... And, if you look closely, you'll see I'm not bright in the ways of fashionably dressing ;)

~BOB~

Another Few Weeks Gone

2009-10-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

As Halloween draws nearer, the leaves are absolutely flying off the trees... The weather is cooler, and with that, the hot tub is even better =D

Last week, I didn't have much to say... It was an entirely boring week...

This week......... well...... Pretty much the same. But, there were a few things to talk about...

First off, CONGRATS TO GOOFY GIRL! If you follow the boards, she had a baby girl EARLY this morning... Like 2 o'clock early! Hopefully I'll get to see the new baby in January =)

Also, since you're looking at this post, you can see we have a new layout! No particular reason for the change... Just like to keep things fresh ;)

We also have a new poll... I don't plan to post the results... I was curious and I found the results pretty interesting. Thanks to all of you who provided answers to my question! =D

So.... let's seeeeeee..... What was real life like this week?!?!

Swine flu is pushing through my school, horns first! I've had a few people in some of my classes get it, so it's moving closer..... Honestly, I'm not really worried about getting it... Even though it won't be particularly nice with my asthma, I refuse to let the media hype get to me...

And, like last year, there are multiple diseases going around at once... My sister had a fever all week (except today), so I had to be careful... No worries there. I steered clear of her all week.... Believe it or not, it wasn't hard to stay away from her ;)

I don't have a costume for Halloween either! And it's tomorrow!?! AGGG!

I felt bad when people showed up today wearing banana suits, tin foil suits, gorilla outfits.... Even Darth Vader outfits... The full ones!

That's okay... My mom said she could buy a plain white shirt that says "COSTUME" on the front just for me ;)

...I wonder how much candy I'd get if I went trick-or-treating ;D

We had a lot of finals this week... The quarter officially ended today. The tests were all pretty easy.... Then again, the tests here aren't really a challenge...

So.... that just about covers it...

Get a ton of Caramel Apple Pops for me! I LOVE THOSE THINGS! ;D

~BOB~

New Poll

2009-10-24T14:22:00.001-07:00

Today I am producing a new poll...

It's a random poll... Just want to see the results.

Some explanation is required though... The question is:

"Would you be interested if letterboxing introduced a points system?"

Essentially, I'm asking if you'd be interested if AQ had a system of points? You'd earn points for things letterboxing related, such as listing a box, hosting an event, or even posting. There'd be an amount of points assigned to each activity: e.g. Plant a traditional - 10 points, Host a huge event - 100 points, Host a swap - 40 points, Find a box - 4 points, etc.

What would you do with the points? You could trade them for LTCs, bribe your way to get new clues for special finders only, etc.

People would no longer be defined by their number of traditionals, but rather their points (with everything that they've done to contribute to the community- boxes of all kinds, posts, events, etc. -factored in).

Please be honest. Thanks =)

~BOB~

the curious....

Fredricksburg!

2009-10-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

WOW!

Just wow!

Today was a BLAST! It was the most fun day I've had in quite a long time =D

So... if you guys all follow the boards closely, you already know that Dixie, Mama Wolf, and Mojo all came up for the weekend event! Dixie wanted to learn more about her history and experience Fredricksburg, Mama Wolf wanted to exchange with me and hunt some boxes at the event, and Mojo was along for the ride! ;D

X and I woke up normal time this morning, got ready, and got on the road! It was about an hour drive to Fredricksburg... And, as we thought we were getting closer and closer, we noticed a car on the side of the road....... And, it said on the back "FREDRICKSBURG OR BUST!"...

...And, then I saw Dixie!! We were in the right spot! ;)

We got out of the car, did the hugs, and got all our stuff in order =) ...And then there was Wolf... Cussing under her breath as she approached ;D

Then, she got really excited as she saw all of us and we went into the coffee shop... Mojo joined us pretty quickly... We got our clues, my dad got his coffee, and Mama Wolf and I did our long-awaited exchange! * HALLELUJAH CHORUS IN THE BACKGROUND!*

The event organizer, Four Survivors had to get the lollipops separated for anyone who got the bonus clues... So, I decided I could help with that... And, we didn't have any scissors, so I used my ever trusty carving tool! Four Survivors asked if I wanted to get some scissors from the front desk, but I was having too great of a time! I DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' SCISSORS! ;)

Soon after finishing my job, BullDawg and Trailing Emerson joined us with their new baby Journey, as well =) We all picked up some clues...

...And we were off! After being kicked out of the coffeehouse by management (even after people offered them money to stay), we decided to hunt boxes =) Gallant Rogue decided to join us for the adventure =)

So, we went from store to store to bar to store finding nearly every single box =)

After running around in the rain, we stopped for lunch at one of the box locations. It was reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllllllly good food =D Scarab came in for a short time while we waited for our food and we exchanged =) Journey fell asleep, so BullDawg and Trailing Emerson departed...

And we hunted more and more boxes, exploring stores and bars and the Confederate Cemetery. Dixie was extremely interested in all of the history there, as she should be! It was pretty cool =D

We headed over to Carl's World Famous Ice Cream, which actually serves custard, according to Ellbee =) And it was GOOD!

And we walked around town and found just one more from that point... We told stories and talked about carving... Ya know, lettergeek stuff ;D

Dinner time came around so we made our way back to the tavern... There were lots of exchanges, some hard times given... (Yes, I'm talking about you Mama Wolf!) AND..............

I GOT NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE HUGS FROM WOLF! ;D

It was for a 3 Blind Mice stamp, so we had to! And there had to be photo proof.... And, Dixie was such a bad picture taker, we had to take it over and over again... We fired Dixie as the photographer after the second blurry picture and got Mojo to take it =)

Thankfully, the bad photography gene was not inherited from her mom ;)

Mama Wolf says she needs therapy, especially after having to do it three times!

So, after the hugs were done, we went upstairs, had dinner, exchanged with people, and had a raffle! I won a fancy cork to a bottle of wine and X won a box of fudge =D

Mmmmmmm.... Hopefully he's out of the house tomorrow so I can break into it before he gets the chance to =)

So, after saying our goodbyes, we departed... Agreeing we'd see each other again within a few months at future events =)

.....X and I agreed that it was a great time. I certainly wish we could do it again tomorrow! ;D

~BOB~

A weird week

2009-10-15T12:07:00.001-07:00

The week after a bomb threat isn't usually too crazy, right?

*obnoxious buzzer noise* WRONG!

This week has been CONFUSING beyond any other since school started! Allow me to explain...

If you don't already know how my schedule works, I have orange and blue days. Orange has 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th periods. Blue has 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th periods. 7th period is half the length of a normal period because we have it on both days...

So, Friday when we had the bomb threat, it was a blue day. As a result of the evacuation, the day wasn't completed and classes got behind.

Monday was off.

Tuesday was orange.

And... Wednesday was considered Blue. However, we did not get to go to our classes that day because of PSATs (which caused us to get farther behind).

So, today was orange (even FARTHER behind!) and tomorrow is blue.

BUT, tomorrow we won't even come close to catching up in my most important class of the day because we're having an assembly during that period! Which means I am going to have a ton of homework to make up for time in class missed.

So, as you can imagine homework has been confusing for me and I'm not really sure exactly where I'm at...

But, there is an advantage! Because teachers are trying to keep classes from both days at the same pace, I've had much less homework =D

PSATs were not too bad... Except for the reading assessment... Reading's never been my strong point!

And..... THIS WEEKEND'S THE BIG EVENT!! The weather's looking pretty crappy, but heck with it! I'm from Oregon! The rain is part of me! ;)

Dixie and Mama Wolf are coming up for the weekend... Fun =)

And, lastly... If you haven't checked out my DSi "artwork", here's the link ;)

I have added more since I posted the link last on my blog =)

http://letterbob.webs.com/art.html

I feel a good hot tubbing coming on tonight! Rainy and cold outside feels even better when you get in... Getting out.... Well, that's a different story ;)

~BOB~

A Cross Between Art and Video Games?

2009-10-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, before I start, I'd like to explain that I used to be addicted to video games! I couldn't get away from them and I used to play them all day.... ALL day...

ALL day... And, it didn't used to be any video games. They pretty much all had to be made by Nintendo. As I grew up (thank God I did!), I began to get bored with Nintendo, as every kid should. I began looking at Microsoft's video games and bought an Xbox 360 two or three years ago. That lasted for about a year before I was bored with that too.

So, downstairs in my basement now sit thousands of dollars worth of video games. The video games are rarely played. In fact, it'd be a sign of the apocalypse if I sat down and actually stayed interested in one of them for more than a few hours.

So... Earlier this year, I decided to actually rediscover handheld video games since the home consoles weren't doin' it for me anymore. After a lot of hesitation, I decided to buy a black DSi...

It was mainly because they were going to start putting weekly games out that I could download from home. Let's face it, I don't really want to go to a store anymore to pick up a video game unless I've been looking at it for a while... Which, in the last year, I've looked at about two or three video games before I've bought them... And that's about how many games I've actually bought from a store in the last year.

So, after getting home with it the day I bought it, I was looking forward to some quality games that I could download... They weren't going to be free, but then again, they were never meant to be. It costs a ton to make these games!

After looking around that first day, I found one game that I used some free points to download... And, I was bored with it in about 15 minutes.

After weeks of boredom and reconsidering my purchase of the DSi, I finally came across some puzzle games that I actually wanted. Since then, I've enjoyed it and yesterday, I decided to buy some software called "Art Academy". It was some of the most expensive on the virtual store, but having played quite a bit of it, it's worth the money! (It was 8 bucks worth of points, for the record).

Essentially, it's like paint for the computer, but WAY better. WAY better.

It has some fairly nice tools for use and you have the ability to use a stylus which makes it feel as if you were making art in real life! You can zoom in, follow square guides, and when you're done, frame it! You can save it to your photo gallery and bring them to the computer if you have an SD card =)

Well, after trying out the first few lessons they provided and taking advantage of some color editing features of the DSi, I've got a few of my "drawings" and "paintings" to show =)

So.... If you want to see them, visit here:

http://letterbob.webs.com/art.html

They go from the start to my most recent. The tree and the lime have multiple images. I saved them to my DSi gallery and used color techniques to adjust the images. And, if you're really paying attention, you'll notice where I messed up. The color had been preadjusted to an odd color I didn't have...

Unfortunately, you can't undo something in paint. You can erase pencil, but undoing a step cannot be done. It just shows how much it's like real life art ;)

So... there we have it =)

~BOB~

KA-RAZY!

2009-10-09T12:42:00.001-07:00

Today was interesting...

Well.... I guess it was a bit more than interesting...

It was bound to happen in a school of 2200 kids... We had a bomb threat today... *sigh*

And, actually, I was not that disappointed when told I had to leave school ;)

I was actually even less disappointed than I would have been on a normal day ;) I had some classes that I got to skip that were absolutely booorinnngg...

We got called out of computer graphics... A class that is possibly the easiest thing I've ever taken... I am just trying to kill the hour and forty-five minutes each day I have that class... I was working on a project and thankfully I saved quite a bit of progress right as they announced we had to evacuate.

After that class, I was to have PE with a substitute and we were going to play ultimate football for AN HOUR AND A HALF! ..... Oh.... my.... gosh.... Was not looking forward to it (not a big fan of football!)

And then I was to have lunch and then have to manage to stay a wake through a video (that we've seen before!) and take notes..... Darn the luck! I had to miss that? ;)

INSTEAD, I got to spend an hour and a half outside under the nice weather talking with friends and goofing off... And to think, we were at school! Of course, I had to leave my backpack inside or else I could have been doing homework... Would have saved me quite a bit of time this weekend... Oh well... It was fun anyways =)

Then, when they told us we were going to leave, it was time for an experience I'd never had before: walk across the street to the 7/11 and McDonald's ;)

I used my friend's phone to call my mom. "I'll be there in 20 minutes." Plenty of time =)

So, I sat and talked with my friend in McDonald's for a few minute until we decided the parking lot was WAY too crowded for our parents to park. So, we moved next door to the 7/11...

And, my friend was going to buy us slurpies.... only to find out that this 7/11 is one of the few without slurpies! ARRRGGG! =P

So, we waited for about 10 more minutes until my mom got there. And I can cut her some slack... That place was experiencing rush hour.... Only, it wasn't the regularly scheduled rush hour! Everyone was trying to retreat from the area and the police were trying to push them out while hundreds of students were crossing streets to get lunch and leave campus!

Sooo..... we went home and ate lunch and welcomed our guests...

....and I just finished taking a nap... Oh, it felt GOOD! =D

So, I do not have any of my stuff from school. It had to remain in the building... So, I have to go pick it up later tonight or tomorrow morning... *sigh*

But, that's okay. It's Friday! We have Monday off in addition to the usual Saturday and Sunday.... Sounds like we'll be going into DC with our guests and having a lot of fun =)

The next week is going to be crazy though... Like I said, Monday off... Then, we get out of school early on Wednesday because we are taking PSATs that day... Oh fun =P

Hmmm... the hot tub sounds good right now! =)

~BOB~

How is Bob?

2009-10-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it turns out that last week was just a week where teachers were trying to get everything crammed in before progress reports... And, as a result, I had a lot of homework last week and early this week.

So... now that we're done with cramming everything in, I've been much better. Not perfect, but better... I'm less stressed and enjoying the hot tub more than I've needed...

I finally got to finish my Kodak Method tutorial and I think it turned out well... I had a lot more pictures to put on the second page.... Unfortunately, my computer and camera are spazzing out and they appear to have been lost in digitality (yes, I know that's not a word) ;)

AND... I'm getting excited for the event up here on the 17th of this month... Why? Well, number one: it's an event... for letterboxing! How can you not love it? ;) The person who's hosting it came over earlier this month and is PUMPED... I mean, this woman is very excited! And that makes me excited for it too =D

And, number two: Dixie and Mama Wolf are coming up! That is sure to be a very good time ;) I'm sure we'll have some good stories to take away from it... And some stories like Dina's car story ;D

Well, hopefully nothing too humiliating... *muttering to self* darn tick... ;)

In other news... I mentioned having joined a club called Interact at my school. It helps the community... not much else to it =) I've been named Chairman of Beauty ;D Essentially, I am in charge of figuring out who waters the plants we planted last Saturday on what days. It only lasts for a few weeks, so I only get to remain Chairman of Beauty for a little while...

We're also preparing for Spartan Fest (my school is home of the Spartans)... It's an event where we sell food and drinks and everyone has a fun time... So, why are we selling things there? To raise money for an event in December called Kristie's Christmas, an event where underprivileged kids get to spend a certain amount of money on whatever they want at Target. People who have went said it really makes you realize how lucky we are and that these kids who have so little value their siblings and parents over themselves. Many of them get toys for their siblings and things we'd consider basics, like clothes.

It sounds like we'll probably be attending that as a group. I like the idea =)

So... that's pretty much it for now. Thanks for reading =D

~BOB~

I can't take it anymore!!

2009-09-29T13:54:00.001-07:00

WARNING: VENTING IS CONTAINED IN THIS BLOG POST!!!

I can't freakin' take it anymore... I am so sick of my brat of a sister Caroline....

She has driven me into a new lane of annoyance. She will not stop whining! I CANNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!

Some of you may remember my post a few weeks ago that contained some information about a fight we had. And, just like I did that day, I lost it today too...

I had asked her a simple question and she blows up on me. And, I blew up on her. My mom luckily calmed us down before we got into it too badly... She threatened to send us both to our rooms. I hollered back, "Good, because I'm already going there. I can't take this brat anymore."

I ran upstairs with my binder, huge textbook, and the laptop and closed my door, hoping to get some freakin' peace from the girl...... I was just hoping for a few seconds she would shut up and get over her huge self impression of "look at me, I'm miss perfect!"......

.....And yes, I did get a few seconds here and there... (And those seconds were heaven!) But, the rest of the freakin' time I had to listen to her moan and groan and whine and yell at my mom about her homework... (If I were my mom, I would have slapped the b#&$@ across the face by that point)... After listening to TEN FREAKIN' MINUTES of the constant whine in her voice (which, I'm not sure if I've mentioned I HATE enough), I finally put down my pencil, ran to my door, opened it and screamed in just about the loudest voice I ever have produced "CAROLINE!!! CUT THE WHINE OUT OF YOUR VOICE!!!! I'M FREAKIN' TIRED OF LISTENING TO IT!!!"

....and something along the lines of essentially "shut up already!"

I'm tellin' ya what folks... I'm just about ready to explode...

Oh, and you'll LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this: She then spent the next five minutes whining about how she's sick of me...

Ohhhhhhh..... myyyyyyyyy...... goshhhhhhhhhhhhh.... Are you kidding me?

Okay... Done venting... *sigh*.......

~BOB~

P.S. Yes, it is a good night for that hot tub! ;)

The Tub

2009-09-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

I have to scream it to the world: I LOVE MY HOT TUB!!! You may (or may not) have noticed that on my AQ profile I have written the words:

"Hot tubs may just be the best things to hit the Earth!"

It's true... don't doubt it for a second! ;)

It has magical powers... Until another person (or other people) come in and start conversations... Unless it's something I want to talk about, it drives me insane!

Anyways... moving on...

This week has increased a bit in stress level... My homework load got a few hours (each night!) heavier and the club I joined actually did an activity... Anyways, I'll get to that... But first, some of you may notice that I changed my picture on my profile page...

If you think that, you'd be.... WRONG! I actually changed profiles, not just pictures... My old account was of an e-mail I created probably 4 or 5 years ago and it just didn't represent me anymore... So, I changed it! =)

So, nothing big... but I wanted to inform curious minds (if there are any that were wondering about the minor change) ;)

Sooooo....... let's get back to the school topic...

It's getting harder... It's actually.... *GASP!* a bit of a challenge! ;)

They have forced me to step outside of my safe, relaxed zone and pushed me into the area surrounding it, called....... the evil homework zone... uuuuurrrrrrrrgggggg...... EVIL, I TELL YOU!

Especially on the weekends... I'm learning to get over the homework load in the middle of the week, but I still cannot get over the fact that they're giving us homework on our days off... and I'm not talking about a simple five minute assignment... I'm talking about 4-5 hours each weekend...

But, not much I can do about it, so oh well...

I've been sticking with the same 3 people since the first week of school... I feel like it'd be hard to really see and build a friendship with people outside the people in your classes or at your lunch... So, I don't have any outside people in my classes/lunch

...Plus, I wouldn't exactly define myself as an extremely social person...

Moving on... Today was fun... and, I'm not saying that in a sarcastic way, either ;)

The club I joined is called the Interact Club... It's wired with the Rotary and this is the first time they have done it at this school in 8 years... We help the community... Locally, Nationally, and Internationally... And today we helped locally by participating in the school beautification day. We got to plant some flowers in front of one of the entrances of the school... Orange and blue, our school colors (of course) ;)

I don't know what made it fun, I just enjoyed it... It felt... good.... *GASP!* ;D

So.... not much else to the day other than homework... This weekend, I have to study for 2 tests (and potentially a pop quiz)... Then, I have chemistry homework (chapter review), reading 68 pages in a book, and finishing a project... Sounds like fun, right ;)

Oh yeah, and you'll laugh at this...... I actually have....... PE homework ;) And, no, I'm not talking about running or anything physical. I have to know 4 muscles' names by heart by Tuesday...

It's nothing major, I just giggle a bit at the thought of having to do PE homework ;)

That's all for now! I need a hot tubbin' ;)

Not much is going on...

2009-09-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty boring... Not much is new at school. I'm finding my way around without a map (for the most part) and I have established a sense of direction. I've met a few people... not too many... But, I don't really care either way...

I'm getting used to my schedule and my teachers and this idea of two different schedules that each rotate every day. (It's hard to explain and understand, so don't really try to understand) ;)

I am somewhat enjoying my classes, somewhat not... I'm learning a ton in English (Pre-Advanced Placement), in both reading and writing. It's a hardworking class as we have a hardworking teacher. There's a lot with infering and literary terms.... I'm not a big fan of reading, but I guess I'm going to become one in this class ;) As far as writing, if I have a prompt and have to turn it in, I can write it and can include great details in a great format... (Here, not so much because it's my blog... I don't really want to spend hours writing a few paragraphs... sorry) ;) But, everything can be improved... and I'm very much learning she's looking for something different and better than what I'm presenting. Good. I won't be bored like I was last year.

My computer class seems like somewhat of a repeat of what I took the final term of last year... but, that's okay... It's a slack period, I guess ;) Plus, we're dealing with a different software from last year and we have to come up with our own designs... So, it won't all be new ;)

P.E.'s alright... It's not very different from last year except it sounds like we'll be playing a lot less of Basketball (sweet!! I'm not a fan of the sport). A quarter will be health and a quarter will be Driver's Ed... P.E. is the other two.

Spanish 1 is alright... It's not a great class, but it's not bad either... It's not that fun, but... I guess it's essential... *sigh* Oh well...

I'm in Chemistry, which is alright... Never have been a big fan of science (except when I was a little kid)... I'm also in Algebra 2 after I skipped Algebra and moved straight into Geometry last year... And, the review we've been doing is very, very simple. I breeze through it and can actually do the assignment during the break we have before the class and before she re-teaches it.

So, enough about my classes. Homework isn't as bad as I expected, but it's more than I had last year.... Oh well...

Enough about school in general. Tomorrow's Friday! Yay! The weekend =D

Since I last posted on my blog, I haven't been in the hot tub... I'm hoping to get in tonight.... Ahhhhh.... ;)

I also got a new video game for my Nintendo DS (yes, the video game nerd I used to be still shines through at times) ;) So far, it's pretty fun. It definitely requires some creativity and experimenting... For those who may have heard the name, it's called Scribblenauts. Very fun =)

And, my sister's attitude has improved a bit =) Thanks Dad! =D She still over-reacts a bit, but she's learning to get over it a bit more.... Yesssssss... I know, hard to believe, but true ;)

And other than that, not much is going on... I just wanted to post something on the blog. I haven't posted on it in a few days. You guys must have been getting bored without it ;D

~BOB~

Lots of Emotions

2009-09-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today, I had a lot of emotions: anger, happiness, and sadness... It was quite an enjoyable day at some points, and not so much at others.

It started with me getting to sleep in.... WHICH FELT GREAT! I was exhausted last night... And then my mom made me go to my sister's soccer game (where I played a video game, didn't pay any attention to the game, and listened as my parents watched my sister kick the ball 3 or 4 times in an hour and a half time period).... I get to go to her soccer games every Saturday. LUCKY ME!! /sarcastic voice ;)

Sooo.... then we got home in time for lunch... I was making good, tasty Ramen for lunch when I continued to hear my sister complain... Okay, I'm going to do a little venting here:

My sister is a brat. She doesn't know when to get over the fact that not everything is going to be the exact and perfect way she wants it. And when she doesn't get it the way she wants it, she gets a sound in her voice that is worse than scratching a blackboard. I ABSOLUTELY HATE THAT SOUND.... and, listening to it more than 3 times in the period of a minute absolutely drives me nut...

Before I go into detail, let me tell you that I am a very passive person. I go with the flow, do what I'm told (usually) ;) and very rarely lose my cool. I do not yell at anyone unless the are bugging the living **** out of me. And, when I yell at someone, I YELL at them. I can see the fear in their eyes... usually... because they almost never see me act like that.

Anyways... I was making Ramen and I heard my sister complaining to my mom when she didn't get the littlest things she wanted right. I wanted to smack the girl... I hate the noise she makes when she complains. (Did I mention that already?) ;)

So, I'm sure most of you know how it's going to turn out: I swiftly turn around as she's unloading on my mother about how mom didn't put her water in the right water bottle. And, I let it rip. My mom pretty much instantly moved out of the way, and I gave my sister heck...

We went at it for a good minute... I did most of the yelling... And, my sister, OF COURSE, has to tell me how it's none of my business (I roll my eyes at this to the point where they almost ache) and that I'm using a mean tone in my voice (as she's screaming at me as well). When I've given my sister enough to the point where I possibly can without getting in trouble, I stop. My mom waited a few seconds for the dust to settle and she says "Chris, make your Ramen and Caroline, turn the opposite direction"...

That's the way it usually ends. I look good, but not good enough for my mom to stand up to my sister and tell her how I was right for telling her off like that (which, I firmly believe my mom does believe)... So, I made my Ramen as I took some deep and angry sighs.... But, I was not about to let it go....

So, after lunch, my dad and I went out for a round of golf. On the way there, I told him my opinion. I was very vocal about it and I was hot about it. And, I think I finally got through to him that he and my mom need to do something about it. I think he found some of the things I had to say pretty interesting and I provided some good solutions to the problem. And, I basically let off some extreme steam (with me being the very heated furnace)... And, he told me that he would talk to my mom about the problem and then my sister about her behavior and hopefully finally have a solution... THANK YOU!!

So, soon after our conversation, we reached the golf course. We practiced for a 30-45 minutes... We got out onto the course and played with two other guys. I had a great game of golf. Possibly the best game of golf I've ever played. Seriously, I think I may have beaten one of the guys we played with (which I NEVER do). And it felt good. I think I was in such a good mood after finally getting the answer from my dad that I wanted, regarding my sister. And, it felt great to get away from a place I didn't want to be at the moment. Plus, I'd been practicing...

That left me in a great mood and we talked about how great we played on the way home =)

And, we got home to sadly discover that our dear friend Blooming Flowers had passed away after becoming very ill in the last week. Janet was a huge friend to me (as she was to most of us) and I was extremely sad to hear that she had passed.

I remember just being in the chat room with her just a little over a week ago. It's scary to know that things can happen that quickly! Her tribute page is quickly filling up with comments from everyone (including me) and it is very obvious she had a lot of friends on AQ!

She will deeply be missed! Please take some time to pay your respects to Janet on her tribute page (link above).

So, like I said, there were a lot of different emotions for me today... And, with that, I have to leave for a barbeque with our neighbors across the street! =)

~BOB~

Thoughts... Experiences... Life

2009-09-10T17:18:00.001-07:00

If you have a hot tub, you know how good it feels after a long day. It relieves stress and you just feel good when you touch the warm water... Then the jets kick in... Aww yeah... That's niiiiiice =)

Well, we got a hot tub last summer shortly before we received news we were moving... So, last week my dad finally installed it..... and we can't stay away... I absolutely love it... And it's great thinking time... =)

My dad and I have talked about what the future holds for the family and what we're going to do this year... And... I HATE it.... It completely sucks that we have no idea what the future is going to hold... There are so many chances. So many "what if"s and it is annoying the crap out of me...

One day we are thinking along the lines of staying here, and the next we're considering another opportunity my dad's been offered....

And, of course... I want to move back to Oregon... not just anywhere in Oregon: where we were before- Seaside. I want to have started and finished at the same high school, even if I didn't spend all my time there...

I want to see my friends again. I want to be back in the spot I thought I'd be spending the rest of the teenage part of my life in.

It's not that I don't enjoy Virginia... It's just that I don't feel I have a point in being here. It's a phenominal place for history. I enjoy the fact that there's so many interesting parts of our country here, but I feel like I'd much rather be in a place I love than a place I think is just so-so...

School's getting a bit better... Getting more used to my surroundings and the idea of a true high school class. But, at the same time, I'm just not enjoying it as much as my old school. It certainly is a different experience of high school...

I'm going to be taking Driver's Ed as part of my PE class, and I got behind the wheel in my dad's truck last week. I find it a bit difficult (especially staying in my own lane and slowing down before I turn). But, it's a bit fun... I guess... ;)

There are a lot of chances that we have in the next year. It's difficult having so many different possibilities... but, the hot tub will work it's magic ;)

~BOB~

Back to School

2009-09-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to say that this morning I was incredibly bummed to have to go back to school... But, I also have to say that it was much easier having already spent a year in high school (even if it was a different one).

It didn't feel like 2200 kids (I have told some people 3000, but the number had a huge decrease since last year, which was where I got the number)... because it was so spread out...

It was quite confusing trying to figure out my way to classes, but I had a map and my schedule with me, so I'm figuring it out... Homework load (at least tonight's) was not really anymore than I had in my old school...

I haven't met anyone yet... but that's okay... Even if I don't, I'm just fine being alone...

So, it wasn't as bad as I expected (which I knew it wouldn't be)..... But, I have to basically experience an all new schedule tomorrow because the schedule changes every day, back and forth. They call them orange and blue days. For example: today was an orange day which meant I had 1st period, 3rd period, 5th period, lunch, and 7th period... And tomorrow (a blue day) I will have 2nd period, 4th period, 6th period, lunch, and 7th period.

It's a confusing, I know... So, don't try to understand it... Basically all you need to know is that my schedule switches every other day... So, tomorrow is pretty much like the first day again...

*sigh* Oh well... Just means I probably won't have too much homework tomorrow... =)

~BOB~

The Last Day

2009-09-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

Today.... *sob*..... is the.... *sob*..... last day.... *sob* of summer.... *sob*

Which means.... I have to go back to school tomorrow.... *sigh*

I felt a bit better about going to my new high school when I went to the new student orientation... but, now I just don't want to have to wake up early in the morning and spend 8 hours of my day in a desk, then come home and do 3 or so hours of homework... uggggg......

Uggggggggggggggg!!! Definitely not too excited about that homework....... takes up my valuable life... *sigh*

I'm also not too thrilled about making new friends..... or figuring out the whole school formatting and best paths for me to take to get to my classes..... heck, at orientation the other day, I couldn't find the lunch room and it was 5 doors away from where I was....

Oh well... can't do much about it now... *sigh*

I have some reading work to do today... maybe I'll get something letterboxing related done today.... hard to say...

~BOB~

Writing Style

2009-09-06T05:31:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late on publishing the poll results for this week. So, here we go.

This week's poll was:

"Which writing style do you prefer?"

And.... *whole room goes silent as I'm frantically tearing open the golden envelope* the.... *still tearing open envelope* results are.... *finally open the envelope*

Informative, not littered with details - 0 votes... BOO!!! (to be honest, I didn't expect many votes for this choice)

Dramatic, with details that are a little stretched - 4 votes, 57%

Funny, makes me laugh - 3 votes, 42%

Hmmmm..... I'd love to know where that extra 1% went.... Oh well =(

And that's it for the polls.... for now, at least.... they were fun while they lasted, but I'm gonna hold off on them for a while ;)

~BOB~

The Week

2009-08-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here's what happened this week.

So, let's see here... I launched a new virtual and no one has found it. It's had a ton of problems and it has people completely confused... which I don't want... But, I'm pretty sure I've gotten all the problems worked out... we'll see ;)

My mind still thinks I'm in Oregon. I've been having dreams about being back there in school... And, sometimes even dreaming about my time in NC (probably because of my recent trip there).... I'm enjoying it here and then again, I'm not. I don't mind our weekly trips into the city because I get to see some history, but I don't want to get hooked on them because I have some big, big hopes of moving back to Seaside, OR next summer.... I'm hating the humidity, but it's going away slightly as we move into the fall.

I'm also not exactly pumped to be going back to school in 8 days... And, I'm not exactly pumped to be going from a school of 500 to a few thousand kids. It doesn't particularly appeal to me to be going to a much bigger high school than I have... Oh yeah... And, note to self: finish those reading worksheets and study for the two book tests you have as soon as you get back to school.... (You can probably guess I'm not exactly pumped for those either.)

Anyways, enough about school... I still have a week and a day..... until my life outside of school... my joy.... my enjoyment.... go away... YAY! Can't wait... *rolls eyes*

We took our weekly trip into DC this weekend and went into the Air and Space Smithsonian... Which was enjoyable... The planitarium show about Black Holes was pretty enjoyable =) And I liked that my dad knew a lot about the stuff with the airplanes and helped me understand the exhibits a little bit better....

Of course, we didn't get to see much of it... But, that's alright, that means there's more for another weekend...

The food in the suburbs is good too... Italian, especially! We've had Italian a few times this week with friends and we probably will again soon... It was better than any Italian food they had anywhere else we've lived. The restaurants are right up there with Olive Garden =)

And the food isn't good only at the restaurants... We've been eating a ton of my dad's porkloin barbeque... mmmmmmmmmmmmm..... And....... I think I actually like it better than the Carolina barbeque... I know, I know: GASP!! How could you betray us, Bob!! ;)

Anyways, I'm quickly discovering that VA has its perks and disadvantages... One of them (not sure whether it's a good or bad thing) is that the dentist (where I have to go to later today) is within walking distance.... And, friends aren't too far away, either ;)

People call me lucky because I get to experience a lot of places a lot of people don't.... Yeah, you're lucky if you're in a place you want to be.... But, it really sucks if you're in a place you don't want to be, especially if you have to move away from a place you liked... and still want to be....

~BOB~

Favorite Flipnote

2009-08-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

This week, I had a poll about the Flipnotes I created and posted on this website...

So, here was the official question:

"Which Flipnote did you like the best?"

Flipnote 1 received 5 votes - 62%

Flipnote 2 received 1 vote - 12%

Flipnote 3 received 2 votes - 25%

The answers were exactly what I expected them to be... Just wanted to make sure ;)

The answer you chose had nothing to do with your personality this time ;)

AND, with that, it's time for a new poll =)

It's up... just go to the bottom right hand of the page and vote! 7 Days Left!!! =D

~BOB~

Carving Techniques

2009-08-26T06:28:00.000-07:00

No one really asked me to post this, but people have asked me in the past what tools I use to carve and how I do it. So, why not do a blog post on it? ;)

First of all... I have no idea how to use an exacto knife for carving. I mean, I've seen tutorials, but it looks difficult and a little too overrated to me. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some phenominal carvings done with exacto knives (ElectricMedic on words - WOW!) but I just don't think they're for me. Who knows... Maybe one day I'll try it out and fall in love with it.

Second, I don't use magnifying lamps. Heck, I don't think they're overrated and I know that they're very useful. The problem is that my eyes get confused looking into them and it actually makes it harder for me to carve. So, if you have a magnifying lamp, and can use it, by all means, use it! I've heard from a ton of people that it has drastically helped them improve.

Third, I've been carving since April of 2008.... And since, I've only ever used my Speedball carving tool to carve. I have not used needles or exactos or wire tools. Although, I am a little interested in trying them out as well as giving the magnifying lamp another few goes. So.... anyways.....

The transfer technique is one of the most time consuming... It's the trace and rub on technique. I often use dumpr.net with the sketch tool to help. I have found SHH's Portrait Sketching blog post incrediby helpful after I've used dumpr. Unless I am out of mechanical pencil led, I will almost always use it over a wooden pencil.

Once I've traced, I place the cut out image and place it on the block. While holding it still, I tape all the edges so I can begin transfering. Once it's taped on, I rub over several times with the bottom of my Speedball carving tool. It's rounded, so it makes a great tool.

I peel off the picture I've transfered, fix any things I may have messed up on while transfering on the block, and begin. I usually use my modified #1 nib (or #0 nib) to carve. I only use something bigger when I have to get out big spaces of rubber. For the small details, I barely press down into the block with the tip of the #0. And, if I am doing it too lightly, I'll know because of the amount of white I see inside the led borders.

And for the non-small details, I go DEEP. In fact, I've carved so deep before that I've gone through the bottom of the block. I've been doing better about not going so deep, but learn from my mistake: don't go deeper than you have to!! DON'T!

When I carve, I usually don't really pay too much attention to carving. My mind wanders and thinks about other things... Like virtuals or the LTC that I'll be making with the carving.... sometimes even other stamps that I want to carve. Or sometimes it's about life.

Try to find something to do while you're carving, other than just carving. It gets very boring if you just carve. I see carving as more of an opportunity to make something while coming up with an idea for something letterboxing related. I've tried listening to music while carving and it distracts me too much. If you find you're doing something that causes you to become way too distracted, don't do it anymore. Find something else.

After I'm done carving, I cut it out of the block with a sharp knife. I cut odd shapes, instead of a well rounded or squared shape.... Make a note of which direction is up with your Sharpie. Then, I get out all of the loose little rubber pieces by smacking it with my hand over a piece of paper... Then, I wash it off, dry it, and ink it up. I print it and make any corrections I need to. I usually print it again to have an image for me to keep...

And, I've got a stamp =)

~BOB~

The DC Art Gallery

2009-08-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to downtown DC on our weekly adventure. (We've decided that every Sunday we're going to go to DC to see another museum.) Last week, we took 25 minutes to get there by car. And, my sister demanded that next week we take the metro... So, today, we did.

Well, the metro wasn't what she remembered. She thought it was going to be a quicker way into town and she wasn't going to have to wait for the metro to start on its track. Well, almost as soon as we started moving, she started to whine... and, being as loud as she usually is, we all had to listen to it the whole ride there.... and, even while we were there.

My dad and I (mostly me) were making fun of her and laughing about it. She got even madder and started yelling at us to stop.... She went on and on to the point where I made several comments along the lines of I wonder if they sell earplugs somewhere around here....

So, moving off the venting, we first went into an art gallery. It was great! They had art depicting all sorts of stuff. My dad found several things that peaked his interest because they were made of wood.

I could feel the emotions the artists had when they were creating these. One of the most depressing pieces was a large, dark, clay rabbit hiding in the corner with it's eyes closed tightly. It was titled "i am nobody", which I found incredibly sad.

I thought it was definitely an amazing place.

We walked around, went by the White House twice and went into the White House information center a few blocks away... I didn't find it too interesting...

We took the metro back home and my sister got annoyed at my dad for playing a joke on her.... Gosh, there's no pleasing her, is there?

~BOB~

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL!!!!!!!! IT CLOSES IN A FEW DAYS!!!!!!

A Day of Close Calls and a Screaming Chinese Woman

2009-08-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Today, we got out of the house to the nearby Springfield Mall (we live in Springfield, which is about 30 minutes from DC)... We were going to go check it out and get some stuff done...

So, we went to the bookstore for my sister... spent about 1/2 an hour in there... And then we went to the at&t store... And, my mom finally got her iPhone that she's been wanting since before her birthday in June... She spent about 45 minutes in there while they figured it all out, while my sister and I sat in the car... bored to tears... with the AC running and the car on....

From there, we went to the mall across the street and she looked down as she was parking to see that she only had about 6 miles until she was out of gas... oops...

We all kept it in our heads as we went into the mall to get lunch... As we came into the food court, we were greeted by a sample woman for the Japanese cusine restaurant... We liked the sample... A LOT! It was for Terriaki chicken.... So, we got the #1 Terriaki special with double meat for 99 cents more =)

We all split it and we hammered it down =D

We bought my dad a new cell phone cover and my mom realized there was a Victoria's Secret and she had a coupon for a free pair of underwear... Rolling my eyes, I stood outside as I listened for about 10 minutes to a screaming Chinese woman on her cell phone... Try to picture this:

This screaming Chinese woman in a huge mall that was probably cussing out the person on the other line in Chinese... And every time someone passed by, she got louder!

...And I stood there for ten minutes... listening to a woman screaming in the middle of a mall in a different language... outside a Victoria's Secret store while my mom got her free poka-dot underwear... I couldn't help but giggle as a kid who had stopped behind her looked and listened to her and then sent me a look like how long have you been listening to this and how have you put up with it for more than two minutes?

So, anyways... my mom FINALLY came out and we proceeded on to the next store... A shoe store... See, the joke with us that I try to get out of there as soon as possible... so that my mom doesn't want to get anything..... And, I hate getting shoes. In fact, I have a pair of my normal shoes and some sandals... and a pair of flip flops that I never wear... and that's it... I put off buying new shoes as long as possible before my mom forces me to get new ones... That's how much I hate going shoe shopping...

I popped in there... Tried on three of one shoe... None fit... So, I tried on one pair of another shoe... They fit and I told my mom let's go pay hoping she wouldn't find something that would cause us to stay in that dreaded place any longer... Well... I failed in doing that... Apparently her mind wandered off and tried a new tactic of coming up with an excuse about how my sister needed new shoes... (NO SHE DOESN'T! SHE ALREADY HAS 10 PAIRS AT HOME!!! Ugggg...)

Forced to come along, she focused on my sister getting new shoes for a few seconds... Then, she went for her shoe isle... NOOOOO! I quickly ran in front of her to try to get her attention away from them..... but it was too late.... She'd found something that caught her eye...... I......failed.....

Well, we spent about 7 more minutes in there (not as bad as I had expected)... and we payed and left. She wanted to look around in the mall more... She found a rundown place upstairs with some really nice rugs... with some great deals... but, she wanted to measure before she payed a hundred dollars or so...

After that, we left and got to the car... Her GPS told her that in 0.4 miles there was a gas station... After driving around to the point where it said we had 3 miles left, we stopped at a spa and asked directions... Few, there was one in another mile. She found it, got gas... but it was incredibly close... She had about a mile left of gas...

But, my mom's wandering mind drove her into the conveniently located RadioShack across the road after she got gas... *sigh*... At this point, I had to go to the bathroom and we were still 15 minutes away at that point...

And, of course... I told her I had to go to the bathroom and she wanted to go make an appointment at the spa that gave her directions... *deep sigh*... She told us to stay in the car... She'd only be three minutes... which, she was... *phew*

I made it just in time... *phew-er*

~BOB~

AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL!!! ONLY 6 DAYS LEFT!!!!

One Million Dollars!

2009-08-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

This week's poll question was:

"You just won a million dollars for staying on an island for a year, what are you going to do with it? (Select as many answers as you think you can afford)"

This weeks poll was a sequel to last week's poll. For more info, if you missed it, click on the link =)

The results of the poll are in! Drumroll please!? *dundundundundundun*

We had 20 people vote in all! And their responses are:

Gotta pay the bills first, then stick it in the college funds for my kids - 11 votes (55%)

I think I'll save it for a rainy day... - 5 votes (25%)

Can you say "Beach House"? What about Corvette? - 3 votes (15%)

Well, I have a lot of letterboxing needs... And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT! - 9 votes (45%)

I think I'll open up a chain of LBNA stores across the country... Maybe the world!! - 1 vote (5%)

Stocks? - 5 votes (25%)

Charity! - 10 votes (50%)

And KuKu wants to go to Dartmoor for a month ;) ... So 1 vote (5%) ;)

Remember that everyone could vote for several answers, so the percentages add up to way more than 100% ;)

Last time, I had what I thought each choice meant about the person who selected it... So, I thought I'd do it for this poll too =)

Choice: Gotta pay the bills first, then stick it in the college funds for my kids

Meaning: You are thinking about what's happening right now and how the recession will affect your kids in the future. You want them to have a good education =)

Choice: I think I'll save it for a rainy day...

Meaning: You are a smart saver... You think about your finances in the future, even if it means you're not going to get a ton of fancy things.

Choice: Can you say "Beach House"? What about Corvette?

Meaning: You like the shiny and fancy things... Like a lot of people in America do ;)

Choice: Well, I have a lot of letterboxing needs... And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT!

Meaning: You put letterboxing right up there on the priority list... I would hope most readers would select this choice ;)

Choice: I think I'll open up a chain of LBNA stores across the country... Maybe the world!!

Meaning: You value your obsession so much you want to share it with the world ;)

IF YOU DIDN'T SELECT THIS: then, you value the secrecy of boxing, as most do ;)

Choice: Stocks?

Meaning: You like to take risks... if you think it'll benefit you in the end =)

And, the recession has stocks at an all time low... You'd be smart to do this if you had a million dollars in real life ;)

Choice: Charity!

Meaning: You want to share your money with people who need it a lot... You want to change a life or two... well, with a million, it may be more than just two... ;)

(Non-)Choice: I'm Going to Dartmoor for a Month!

Meaning: KuKu wants to go see the home of letterboxing =)

I think that would be quite fun, myself =D

So, hopefully, the options you chose were dead on... and if not... well.... sorry ;)

I put up a new poll... Please vote! It closes in a week =)

~BOB~

Trying Out Flipnote Studio...

2009-08-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Nintendo (maker of DSs and Wiis) came out with a DSi Application... it's downloadable from the DSi Marketplace... (which, I'm sure is a foreign language to most of you, but if you want to see it, go here.

So... (still) being the Nintendo geek I am, I have a DSi and I downloaded it... And I tried it out for a few hours... and it was great =)

And it was free, which made it even better =D

So, I spent a few hours or so working on my first Flipnote... and then an hour on my second one... and then I used a technique I made up to make another one... And, I wanted to let you guys see them =)

So, I have created a site with freewebs and posted the three I have made on there =)

Here's the link: http://bobsflipnotes.webs.com/

The first one took hours... Like 4 or 5... It may not seem like much, but it took a lot of work... Originally, I only made the Flipnote about the snail, but I felt it was too short and I put in the flower... Only to have the part with the flower being longer than the part with the snail ;)

The second one took about an hour... Even I'm not sure what's going on in it, but... I made it =)

The third one was made using the technique I used of the page turning on the first video... Since the videos on Flipnote Studio repeat over and over again, I just felt like making something that returned to instructing you to turn the pages of the never ending book... It wasn't as funny as I was expecting it to be when I was done, but I still like it ;)

So, enjoy =)

And, if you have any suggestions for my next Flipnote, go ahead and post in the comments space =)

~BOB~

ALSO! DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL! IT CLOSES TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT!!!!!

I'm Back!

2009-08-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hello again =)

Remember me? I'm the guy who took nearly a week off AQ... Bob? Does that name ring a bell? ;)

Honestly, the days that I was gone, I completely forgot about AQ... Yes, I know... You're sayingHow could someone do such a thing?! ;)

I had a great time the entire time I was gone... Although, a lot of it was spent watching TV (WIFE SWAP!... hehe) ;) and laying around the house, I enjoyed the time I got to spend down in Elizabeth City, (NC,) my home of 4 years before I moved to Oregon...

Not much has changed... but I miss living somewhere where you know everyone and everyone knows you... Okay, not everyone, but nearly everywhere you go, you'll find someone you know...

...Seaside was like that... a little bit... but there were so many tourists there that it was hard to pick someone you knew out of a crowd ;)

...And the food was good... Not for you, but it was tasty ;)

I had not had much fried food since we left NC... and I had plenty on my trip back ;)

I had Burger King for the first time in a year or so... and hushpuppies for the first time since we left... I got hooked on Ramen for a few days too ;)

So, anyways... I had a great time... even though we didn't get to go to Busch Gardens in the end as planned (*grumble, grumble*) ;)

We got back late last night after a great Fish (and everything else) Fry =)

Who missed me? ;)

If you haven't, please vote on the poll! It closes tomorrow!!! =)

~BOB~

And, I almost forgot about those pictures of my dog I promised to upload over a week ago:

Oreo (my dog) in his nook =)

Another picture of Oreo with his cow "fc"

(no, fc doesn't stand for Fluffy Cow!

It stands for fearlesscolon! DUH) ;)

Moving In...

2009-08-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

The last time I posted, we had nothing in our house but the very few things we brought in the truck...

We were expecting the movers to get here around 8 in the morning Friday... but, they'd pretty much forgotten about us until we called... So they told us to wait until 11 am...

2:30 they showed up and unloaded all our stuff... We had a ton of pizza with them and they were finished by 9 or so... Which meant our house was filled with boxes... which would have to be unloaded the next day...

So, as promised... they were unloaded the next day... by us... The day was not too exciting for us... The constant sounds of unfolding and then flattening paper as well as opening boxes was constant. It didn't stop for hours. We only took two or three breaks for lunch and we finally finished for the day around 6 pm...

We're at it again this morning too... Luckily, I leave tomorrow for a week so I don't have to help them finish unpacking (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS)... We made great progress yesterday and we have a few big rooms left...

Tonight some friends from E-City, NC are coming into town and Caroline and I are going back with them for a little less than a week... but, I won't have internet access, so I won't be on AQ or the blog for a few days...

Today, next to unpacking, I'll be working on a new stamp design... And we'll be going to a barbeque party tonight.... mmmmmmm... BBQ!!! =D

~BOB~

Poll Results

2009-08-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Last night, the poll closed... Well, technically, it was supposed to last another day, but I had told you last night the poll closed in a few hours, so I decided to close it so I wasn't lying ;)

So, let's recap. The poll was:

"IF YOU WERE OFFERED ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO GO LIVE ON AN ISLAND FOR A YEAR, STARTING TOMORROW, AND THE ISLAND WAS COVERED WITH LETTERBOXERS, WOULD OR WOULDN'T YOU DO IT, AND IF SO, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WOULD YOU MOST LIKELY BRING?"

And the results were:

Yes - Year's Supply of PZ Kut, Carving Tool, Logbook supplies, and Tupperware - 1 vote (7%)

Yes - Sig Stamp, Ink, LB Pack, and Clues - 7 votes (50%)

Yes - Computer with web access and a mailbox with its own snail mail address - 2 votes (14%)

Yes - If they offered me the million tax-expense-free, I'd go with nothing and live off the land - 1 vote (7%)

No - I don't forsee myself spending a year on an island, no matter how much they offer me - 3 votes (21%)

So, what did each of the choices mean? I created the choices to later explain to people how those choices meant what type of boxer they are. Check to see what the choice you chose meant:

Choice: Yes - Year's Supply of PZ Kut, Carving Tool, Logbook supplies, and Tupperware

Meaning: You like to plant boxes and show your creativity to the world!

Choice: Yes - Sig Stamp, Ink, LB Pack, and Clues

Meaning: You like to find letterboxes and experiencing things others have created!

Choice: Yes - Computer with web access and a mailbox with its own snail mail address

Meaning: You like the boards as well as letterbox types other than traditionals!

Choice: Yes - If they offered me the million tax-expense-free, I'd go with nothing and live off the land

Meaning: You like the hike most when you box! You're not necessarily in it all for the creative stamp in the end. You will probably slip a look at those clues for the boxes on the island before you go and hunt them even though you have nothing to stamp in with...

Choice: No - I don't forsee myself spending a year on an island, no matter how much they offer me

Meaning: You like letterboxing and you like to find rapidly... After all, there's no way there'll be enough letterboxes to occupy your time on the island! You'll get bored and slowly go insane because you don't have enough boxes to find! ...Either that or you just don't want to live on an island for a year ;)

So, anyways... That's what I got out of which options were provided... hopefully you're close to what I said above =)

Look for it! And thanks to everyone who participated in the most recent one!

I hope to have a new one out later today, based on a question Nitrocat asked ;)

~BOB~

The Anti-Verizon RANT!

2009-08-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

If you read yesterday's post, at the end I told you the phone guy was on his way... well... here's our story for the day...

It's taken place since Tuesday, really, so I'll start from the beginning... Essentially, we were all set to start receiving phone service on Tuesday... We were actually expecting someone to come out and hook us up... So, we waited and waited for the Verizon guy to show up... And after waiting till what seemed like noon, we finally called and asked when he was coming. The woman slightly giggled and said that they haven't sent a guy out to turn on phone service for years. They can turn it on from their closeby location and that it will be turned on between 8 am and 8 pm... My mom confirmed the phone number and we were all set.... Or so it seemed.... So, 8 pm came along... Still no phone service... My mom called and they told her something she couldn't believe.

They had no record of the phone number we confirmed with them earlier in the day... and, instead they had a new one for us... My mom was heated mainly because she spent a ton on printing on note cards that told everyone our new address and phone number, only to find out that wasn't valid... Anyways, my mom was on the phone for 2 hours or so and they told her she had this new phone number and they were sending a guy out to our house to hook it up the next day (Wednesday) between 1 and 5...

So, come 5 pm Wednesday, the guy hadn't showed up. My mom was even angrier that he was late and he finally showed up around 5:30 after she called... And then, when he finally showed up, he said he was going to have to dig up the ground and stick a cable in tomorrow... First thing... Well, he never showed up "first thing"... and we finally had to leave around 9:30... there was no note that said anything or any record that he had come by... So, my mom still angry that we had no landline called Verizon and asked them about it....

...Only to figure out that the guy hadn't told them whether or not he ever showed up... And we also found out our phone number had changed AGAIN... So, within the next two hours, it changed three or four times and we finally had enough with Verizon, especially after they told us we'd have to wait for 10 or 11 days for them to install a cord...

So, we pondered what to do for a few minutes and decided to scrap the bundle with Verizon... We'd keep DirecTV who bundled with them, but just go with Cox for the extra $15... And when we called Cox, they told us they can come out tomorrow and turn our phone service on...

Now, I don't want to sound paranoid, but with all of this trouble, I sure hope this stuff with Cox doesn't go the same way it did with Verizon...

So, anyways... that was just some of my day... The rest of it was taken up by visits to my school and Caroline's school... We'll see how the year goes... hmmm...

TONIGHT IS THE FINAL TIME TO VOTE ON THE POLL!!! SO DO SO IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!! IT CLOSES TONIGHT AT 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME!

~BOB~

moo!

2009-08-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a ton more entertaining than yesterday...

Last night, I was about to hit the update button on my blog on AQ, when I found out that it was being updated... I eagerly awaited whatever it was that was updated last night on AQ. I read the blog post by Green Tortuga... it didn't affect me really... Oh well... So, I started reading all my boards that I have as my "Favorites"... (there's a lot of them)... and I clicked on a post only to discover there was a moo! button replacing the agree on one of the posts... So, I clicked it... reloaded the page to see if it was here to stay, and it was back to agree... awww.... =(

Oh well... So, thinking I made a discovery, I posted it on the Yakking it Up board and proceeded to get a few laughs, a few confused individuals, a bunch of hugs, and some people that were interested... I had a few people that quickly discovered what I had said and some others that were surely convinced I was pulling their chain... So, the proof came out... some in pictures, some in comments... and it was funny to watch it all fall into place... The thread got going... kept going... and when I thought it was dead, it sprang back up as a joke (just like that dang tree in the AQ interview)... Wassa and Ryan commented as well as a ton others...

So, I stayed busy all day... I had pretty much nothing better to do than convince people of the real moo! button... (even though all the admins who commented denied it... pranksters...) and stand in front of my computer all day... I created a group, got a ton of people rallied up, and started a huge thread ;)

I have to thank the admins for entertaining me for the day... It was a way less boring day than yesterday... (thank God!) ...That pretty much made up my day...

Whether you believe it or not, I know that I saw the moo! button at least 4 times today on a wide variety of posts, including 1 on a post of mine... If you get lucky enough, perhaps you'll be lucky enough to see the moo! button before it disappears... =)

And I looked at the clock as soon as I woke up this morning.... I woke up at 8:59... because 9 must have been too good for me ;)

Good news too! Our phone is getting connected... (Although, they were supposed to come between 2 or 3 today and are just now coming past 5... *sigh*)

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL! ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT!!!

~BOB~

The Adventures of the Bored Club

2009-08-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

What did we do today? Not much...

Well, that's not entirely true... we just didn't really do anything productive...

I had pretty much no idea what time it was until around 4 pm today... I had no idea what time I woke up, what time the power went out, what time I ate lunch, or even how I managed to kill enough time for it to be nearly 8 pm at night...

I think I woke up sometime around 8:30... maybe 9... but it's hard to tell... I found that everyone else was up and my dad had long since gone into work... Not too much was getting done... My mom was doing a little cleaning and my sister was doing an art project or something along those lines...

I got on the computer (still stealing internet from our neighbors, which I'm starting to feel very guilty about) and logged on to AQ... I had nothing else to do so I stayed on for a few hours......

Then, (no idea what time it was... I think around noon)... the lights turned off... and everything stopped... The power was out.... There goes the entertainment... I knew it was going to be a LONG day...

So, probably 3 hours later, my sister and I had nothing to do... We'd eaten lunch, played all games we had and decided we'd lay on the ground... We don't get along well, but today we shared a common trait... Boredom... Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Caroline, I'm bored...

Caroline: Me too...

(4 seconds later)

Me: Caroline, I'm bored...

Caroline: Yeah, me too...

(a little longer)

Me: Caroline, I'm bored...

Caroline: I know...

(40 times of this being repeated later)

Me: On a scale of 1 to 10..... I'm bored

Caroline: *laughs*

(few seconds later)

Me: *groan*

Caroline: I know...

(a minute later)

Me: Caroline? ...

Caroline: I know, Chris, you're bored...

Me: I was just going to say that I don't know what time it is...

*laughing*

We then proceeded to go upstairs with the dog to Caroline's room because we were so bored and established the Bored Club and had ironically a Board meeting for the club ;)

The whole thing was a total joke and we decided we were going to boredly (is that a word?) chase the dog around downstairs in the dark basement... As we were about to go down to the basement, Caroline noticed her fan was moving.... which meant.......... WE HAD POWER!!! Woooohoooo

Well, we ran back downstairs and jumped up and down celebrating!!! And then, I opened the laptop only to find that I had to wait 5 minutes until the neighbor's wireless router rebooted... *sigh*... So, we went and chased the dog around in the basement anyway and got... you guessed it: bored! I ran back upstairs to find that I had internet... web access... civilization... You don't know how good it felt ;D

*phew*... Only to find out that not much had changed on AQ in four or so hours.... So, I goofed around on AQ for a while until I FINALLY looked at the clock and discovered that it was past 4 pm...

The rest of the day went quickly... (THANK YOU GOD!!!)

And now it turns out that our phone number that we've been giving out to a TON of people is not really our phone number... and we still don't have phone service or our own internet... #^$@* How does that happen? We confirmed it this morning at noon and we've known that was to be our phone number for almost a month.... only to find out it isn't... My mom is pretty heated right now... I feel sorry for the lady on the phone... Cell phone that is... =P

So, anyways... sorry to vent about how bored I was today or all the confusion with the phone....

Moving isn't fun at all =(

~BOB~

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL! ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT!!!

Getting Settled

2009-08-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday, we got to start living in our house after staying over with some Coast Guard friends... We slept on our beds (without the frames) in our sleeping bags last night and got started on the house this morning. My mom always cleans and scrubs and paints, etc. with my dad the first couple of days and then our stuff gets here on the moving truck.

Well, my dad had to work till around 3 or so in the afternoon, so my mom scrubbed and cleaned everything in sight when you're standing in the kitchen... and then we went to Target for a few hours to get stuff for the house... since we have a few rooms that we didn't have in our last house... (LIKE OUR NEW LETTERBOXING ROOM! -- where LTC and carving stuff will be kept and my dad and I can work on projects we have down there)... and she wanted to get some stuff for the new rooms. Well, my sister and I were bored to tears (no, not literally) ;)

We also explored a trail that led us to the plaza where the local strip mall is where we proceeded to get dinner from a pizza place. Which is great because we have an easy way to get to food whenever we want it... and there's a bunch of places to choose from there... So, we made a cheap dinner stop and got exercise in the process... not bad ;)

Anyways, thank God we have internet access or I probably would have died of boredom today... and tomorrow we get the phone lines and internet connected at our house (so we're not stealing from our neighbors who we've never met) ;)

I took some pictures of our dog in his newly discovered opened cabinet hiding spot. Since I've never posted any pictures of him, I figured it'd be good to post some so you can have an idea of what he looks like ;)

But, unfortunately, I went to upload them and the internet we're stealing from our neighbors is so dang slow it looked like it may take quite a while to upload all those photos... So, I think I'll try to share them later on this week when we actually have high speed wireless that's ours ;)

OH YEAH! AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL!!! ONLY 4 DAYS LEFT!!

~BOB~

We're heeeeere...

2009-08-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to be honest. I was not the least bit excited about moving again after thinking we were going to be in Oregon permanently. It was incredibly angering that I had to change high schools part of the way through. And, it's possible my dad may retire and we might go back to Oregon next year.

But, we're going to make due here and spend the time we've got. Do a ton of exchanges. See the museums. Hunt some urban boxes in DC.

But, technically, we don't live in DC. We live about 30-40 minutes outside DC in a town called Springfield. We live in the suburbs.

It's going to be a huge adjustment going from a school of 500 to 3000. Not looking forward to that... And, for the first time ever, it's quite possible that school will be ***gasp!!!*** a challenge to me ;) (Okay, no it's not the first time, but it's not often I don't get an A or B on something.)

I thought I was going to die of boredom in the car. It sucked having to drive 7 days (with a day's break after the 3rd day). But now it's over... and at least I had some entertainment with video games and a few books (for my required reading in my new school)... Next year, if we move back to Oregon, I'd have to drive and would have no entertainment whatsoever (NOOOOOOOO!)....

So, I guess it's time to start learning how to drive. (No, I haven't even looked at a book or gotten my permit... and I turn 16 in December.)

I'm glad we're here though. The house looks nice, we've got a bunch of friends here, and everything we really need is within a 2 mile radius... (grocery store, orthadontist, medical center, Starbucks, Baskin Robins, Chinese restaurant, McDonalds--I think--and a bunch more) =)

~BOB~

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL! ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT!

Blog Improvements

2009-07-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

While we're having a quiet night in Nebraska (well, actually we're pretty close to a highway, so it's not so quiet)... I decided to add some stuff to the ol' blog. I have a new poll at the bottom of the page, new site links on the right hand side, and I updated a few minor things like my profile space...

POLL! : I am hoping that you'll take time to participate in the poll down in the bottom right corner of the page... The poll closes on the 7th of August and I'll share the results then! =)

SITE LINKS! : I have put a little widget on the side of the page under a ton of stuff that shows a few of my sites and a few of my favorite sites... There's not much to it, but it's there =)

MINOR THINGS... : As I said, I updated my profile space and I also am trying to add some buttons to each post... So, they still haven't appeared on the previous posts, but hopefully they'll show up on this one... hmmm... =) UPDATE: They still aren't appearing.... *sigh* Oh well =(

Enjoy the updates! =)

~BOB~

On the Road.... AGAIN!

2009-07-26T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, as sad as I was to leave Oregon, I didn't really have a choice... I lost internet on Friday night, which I did not expect... and, I spent the rest of the night playing Solitare because we didn't have a TV... We said goodbye to friends and departed Saturday morning... It was a long day in the car.... uggggggggggggg..... Well, we got to the hotel. The room was nice, but the hotel had some poor qualities. The front desk workers were constantly on personal calls and a little rude, the pool area (at least my dad said) was nasty, and their wireless was broken (ugggggggggggggggggggggg-er)...

So, we got up bright and early after not sleeping too well... Ate breakfast... Then, got on the road... The day was long again, but not quite as long... Lunch was great (SUBWAY!).... We made great time and got to the hotel and checked in... We have wireless too!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!! *sigh of relief*

So... tomorrow's another long day... We stop in Denver, Colorado late Monday and stay Tuesday with my grandparents... Then, we leave Wednesday and have four days of driving until we get to Springfield, VA (pretty close to DC)....

*sigh*

We're on the road again....

~BOB~

Sugar... LOTS OF IT!

2009-07-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

I just got back from one of the best nights of my life. One of our friends got an all you can eat for 30 minutes in a candy shop for 5 people pass... Which makes for a truly amazing night! Well, I got invited to go. We walked in, looked around at the candy shop to see where we were going to go first... There were no limits except the 5 people and the 30 minutes.

So, as soon as there was no one in the store, he started the 30 minutes. We went behind the counter, and got into the truffles and all the chocolate first.... Which would have cost us a TON. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that we got to fill up a bag with anything we wanted and keep all the stuff in it (without going over an inch out of it)... So, I stuffed the first 1/2 of the bag with the chocolate and expensive stuff... And then we got a little full and moved to the main store and piled in all the sugary, sweet stuff... I got candy peaches, tons of jelly beans, gummy coins (like chocolate coins, but with gum instead), and some of the best taffy out there! Oh... yummm.......

So, come 15 minutes into it, all of the other four had filled their bags to the max and were completely full... Well, I'd saved room and still had a whole couple inches left! =)

So, I filled it with candy sticks... Got some cheesy popcorn... Stuff like that. So, I scrambled to fill my bag with other things like more jelly beans and some more chocolate truffles...

Then, it came down to the last 30 seconds. I started scrambling, still having half an inch out of the bag left! Crammed some good stuff in there, not really paying attention to what it was... and... it was over...

Then, we went and sat on the beach for a while. Watched the sunset and felt the sand. By the time we got up, we were ready for a few more jelly beans and some chocolate ;)

Such a fun night! =)

~BOB~

The Week's Mix

2009-07-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Since a lot of things happened this week, I'm just calling the Week's Mix...

Well, the packers and then movers are here this week. We're getting close to moving day... Which, I'm not too excited about... The house is totally taken apart. It's quiet and there are very limited things to do this week. TV's disconnected Thursday (NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!) and we should have internet till a day or two before we leave...

Tonight was the last night I actually get to sleep in my bed here. I now have to sleep in a sleeping bag on top of my matress =P

Other than that, things are pretty quiet here ;)

I also got some web design done this week. If anyone actually clicked on "kutsbychris.webs.com" next to "Personal Website" on my profile page before last Wednesday or Thursday, the page you saw is no more! I kept looking at the site thinking that the colors don't mix... and then there was the fact that the order form and the survey didn't work... which was not good... So, I used better colors, made all the pages on the site functional and split the picture page into three pages so it takes less time for the pictures to load. Check it out! =)

Then, I created a virtual called "Wordsearch" which is pretty much the only wordsearch of its kind. You have to build the puzzle first, then find the words related to the same topic. I host most of the virtual on my other site (letterbob.webs.com), but have a solution picture of a carved... well, I can't say because the picture is of one of the words in the puzzle... but, I'm really pleased with the result and I've gotten pretty good feedback on it!

Whether you're a virtual solver or not, this one's fun for the whole family (actually, I recommend trying it with at least one more person, not on your own... It's a lot easier when there are multiple people to supply answers). Wordsearch is located here. Try it out =)

So, that's what's been going on this week... Tonight we're going to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter with some friends... They brought it back down to PG... so I'm not sure if it's going to be as good as the last ones...

~BOB~

What a Rush!

2009-07-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

We went to Silverwood, a theme park about an hour and a half away from where I'm staying in Spokane, Washington for vacation. We had been planning to go since Thursday or Friday and my cousin Kaitlyn was getting really pumped to ride the roller coasters there...

I... was not. We lived in NC, about an hour and a half away from Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg, Virginia... I, never having gone on a roller coaster (and deathly afraid of riding one), never even considered going on any of the coasters. My parents even tried to bribe me with $50 if I went on a roller coaster one time we went there.... Nope... didn't take the deal...

Well, enough was enough. People were pressuring me (and my sister) to ride one... I guess I decided I would just go on one to make people happy so I never had to hear all this junk about you'll love it and stuff like that... Well, they decided we'd go and ride "The Timber of Terror"... has a pleasant sound to it, doesn't it ;)

So, I decided what's the worst that could happen? and decided to go ride one... Well, the line was quite long... 40 minutes or so of a wait..... ugggggg....

But when we finally got to the front, the nerves all became so strong that they cancelled each other out (like a negative times a negative in math) and I got on without really a fear in the world... Well, the way the ride worked is they didn't save the best for last... They put it right up in front of the start. We quickly went up a steep hill and rocketed down below! Then, we took some sharp curves, some little hills and the whole way, I was screaming my head off... Well, most of it... and in a good way....

I was actually having........ fun? Could it be? They.... didn't lie?! ;D

Well, as soon as it stopped I wanted to go again... despite my dizziness... But, the line was actually getting longer.... So, we decided to move on... We went on the Pacific Northwest's Longest Roller Coaster, "Tremors"... which, we rode close to the back, so I got a better experience. There were a lot more falls and a lot more speed... And we got a picture of me actually....... *GASP!* Smiling? *sarcastic voice:* No....! ;D

Then, we rode "The Corkscrew", which went upside down a few times... Which was really fun! And then.... just for the heck of it (because there was no lines), we rode it again... We almost rode it a third time...

Oh... WHAT A RUSH! ;)

~BOB~

Sorry to Clog Up New Blog Posts Bar

2009-06-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Apparently, switching to a new website address for a blog is harder than expected... I hit the update button and it reproduced links on Atlas Quest that were already there from the old blog... So, if you're seeing old post links on my home page, like I am, then I'm sorry... it's an annoying process...

And, if you don't already know how to:
To see posts from other blogs you may have missed since I hit the update button, hit the "All Headlines" button on the Blog widget and scroll down past my blog posts...

Once again, I am very sorry for the inconvenience!

~BOB~

New Web Address

2009-06-30T10:19:00.001-07:00

Well, with the contest coming to a close, I decided to change the website address of the blog to

bobguyman.blogspot.com

Hopefully, this will be more permanent than the former web address.

Thanks =)
~BOB~

Scandinavian Festival

2009-06-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today, we headed down to the Fair Grounds in Astoria. Not my whole family... Just two friends and I... Today was the start of the Scandinavian Festival. At the last minute, my friends invited me and I just figured why not? =)

We came at just the right time. They were having an opening cerimony. We listened to the national anthem because they were singing it right as we walked up. We hurried inside for the shortened lines so we could get something to eat quickly. We looked around at all the food and I decided on the "Viking Meal"... which had 18 mini-meatballs, bread, jam, butter, red cabbage (eww...), and potatoes. I enjoyed everything except the red cabbage... but, I did at least try it. Believe it or not, I was still hungry by the end of that (what can I say... the meatballs were small) and I went for some smoked salmon chowder. Oh.... that was spectacular =D =D =D =D =D

So, after we finished eating... there was a yodeler there... my friend's mom wanted to listen... not for the whole hour, but for a little while. So, I barely survived ;) (I'm not a big fan of yodeling)... but, I got through 20 or so minutes... with about a ten minute break. He actually had a very good voice, but I just don't like yodeling too much.

We headed out after that. All in all, it was a pretty good day (especially the chowder!) ;)

~BOB~

Quite A Change...

2009-06-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

Wow... over the last few hours, I got up after having my foot up for three and a half hours, I got up off my butt and walked around. I don't even feel any pain. I even went and played the video game we all got for my dad for an early Father's Day gift, which requires standing up (it's a golf game, so you have to swing standing up)... It's been almost an hour and a half since I got up and still no pain!

I took some prescribed Vicodin earlier, but it should be wearing off by now... !

~BOB~

The Deed is Done (Finally)

2009-06-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

The podiatrist operated on my toe this morning. It hurt quite a bit and hurts quite a bit right now... even with a strong pain killer in my system. At first, they weren't going to permanently destroy the nerves, but I said I want it done. So, she killed the nerves with some chemicals soon after removing the part of the nail. But first, she injected me with anesthetics... which hurt... a lot... Then, they cut and twisted and pulled out the part of the nail. I didn't feel that (THANK GOD!)... Finally, they poured the chemicals and cleaned it up a bit... So, I have to soak it each day for 10 minutes until leakage stops. So... it's not hurting as much as last time when they removed the whole nail. It stings right now, but I have it up, so blood's not rushing there...

Hopefully, I won't have to go through this again =)

~BOB~

New Name and New Format!

2009-06-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well, my life isn't that crazy to tell you the truth... and I wanted a title a bit easier to remember... and I was tired of the same old format that we've had here since the first few weeks of the blog's existance. So, I changed the name to just "b.o.b." and the subphrase to something that I think describes the title of the blog better... I changed the color and format...

...The one thing I didn't change was the domain name... It's still "bobs-crazy-life.blogspot.com"... which I think is a bit clunky... I'm not sure when I'll change it, but we'll see with the contest and the links to the page I posted... I wouldn't want any confusion in the middle of that... and... I don't have an idea of what the new domain name should be... I'm open to suggestions. Just remember no puntuation is allowed in the main name that goes before ".blogspot.com" and "bob.blogspot.com" has been taken =(

~BOB~

Contest

2009-06-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

My dad has encouraged me to carve a very detailed stamp image this summer. I agree with him that I need to move past Midsummer Night Dream and outdo it. I have been thinking about what I might want to do for carving and looking all over for stunning images, including the place where I found the Midsummer Night Dream stamp. And I have come up with very little... as far as things that I think are within my abilities. So...

I have decided to call a contest. Show me images that you can find that will best fit the things below and you may just win a little prize (will be specified later in the post)

Things that will be considered in judging:

* Detailed, but not so detailed that it will take me 20+ hours. I would like to spend 10-15 hours or so on it.

* MUST STILL BE CARVABLE IF IT IS SHRUNK DOWN TO 4 1/2" x 9 1/2" (a regular PZ Kut Block)... and should not be smaller in length than 4 1/2".

* Should not contain any nudity, suggestive themes, or too much violence (e.g. blood, gore, etc.)

YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED IF YOU BREAK THIS RULE.

* Score bonus points if your submission has a theme of nature... especially fish or water creatures.

All entries should be submitted by the end of the day June 30, 2009. You should submit them in this photo album: http://www.atlasquest.com/gallery/viewalbum.html?gAlbumId=1773

You may submit up to three (3) entries. Please do not use alter identities submit more entries than the average person. This requires you using the honor system.

If you submit the best entry that fits the things at the top, I will send you your choice of one (1) of these four (4): PZKut White A, PZKut White B, PZKut Orange A, PZKut Orange B. You will also receive a printed version of the image once it's been carved.

If you have any questions, contact Bobguyman on AtlasQuest (http://www.atlasquest.com)

Thanks! I look forward to all the submissions =)

~BOB~

Waiting Further

2009-06-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday when we tried to get into the clinic, we came 15 minutes too late... So, we decided to avoid the wait, we'd get in at 8 this morning as soon as they opened. There was a bit of a delay because the woman forgot her stethascope (sp?) at home and had to turn around. So, we waited for 15 minutes or so and got seen... And this is what she said:

She told us that the lab results from 9 days ago came back positive for Staph infection, not MRSA like it had a slight chance of being. But, the antibiotic that I am on seems to have fought the infection as best as it can. She thought the infection was gone, actually... So, there was a need to remove that edge of the nail, but in my head, I think I can wait a few days until I can be seen by a specialist and get the edge surgically removed for good. So, she offered to remove the nail, but it would grow back and I would have issues in the future with it OR refer me to a specialist (so our insurance will cover it) and give me a new medication to keep the infection away until I can see a specialist... I took the specialist because she didn't seem to think it was infected. If she really thought it was, I would have had her remove it right then and there....

My mom's huge problem with this is that the infection might go blood-born... but it's not producing pus anymore, just blood... I don't think it's infected, neither does a doctor... So, I think I can tough it out for a few days...

~BOB~

It's Time...

2009-06-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

We've decided after waking up to a very ugly, bloody toe this morning that we need to go get the side of the nail removed before it gets worse and goes into my blood stream. At first, I didn't want to at all, because my last experience with a little bit of a different procedure left me in pain for a week and a half.

Then, I realized it's not going to get better on it's own and we need to get it taken care of. We're going in this afternoon to get the side of the nail removed... not removed forever, just yet, but hopefully it'll be long enough for us to get to a foot doctor in D.C.

~BOB~

Shiny New Post Search Bar!

2009-06-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Blogger came out with a new search bar that you can put on your blog. I customized the settings and have limited it so that you can only search for blog posts.

In other news, I have begun posting new announcements and spoilers on my Project Bob blog! Check it out =)

~BOB~

The Source

2009-05-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

The source of my toenail problem that made it so the infection was not getting better has been discovered. It turns out while my mom was cutting it a month or so back, there was a piece that we missed that was way into the toe... Well, I was looking at it and I thought I saw a piece of skin. I pulled it up and it was like a hard piece of skin... It wouldn't go back down to where it used to be and just stuck straight up... I ignored it for a while and didn't think much more of it...

Then, I fooled with it more... It hurt to touch... My dad came in while I was messing with it. He looked at it and said "It's a piece of your toenail, not a piece of skin." I showed it to my mom. She got the tweezers, told me she wasn't going to hurt me (right then) and I found out she was lying when she ripped it out. Ouch...

But, it's a relief it finally came out... I'm just hoping it's all out...

~BOB~

Toenail

2009-05-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

This story's kind of nasty... Just to warn you...

Back last year (I believe in October or so), I posted that I had just had my ingrown toenail removed after weeks of pain of it growing farther and farther into the side of my toe. Last year, it had a large infection because of the ingrown toenail... Mama Wolf told me in private message I should probably have a surgery where they removed the nerve cells on that part of my toe so the ingrown part of the nail doesn't grown back... Well, I thought it would be good to get that done, but it started to leave my mind as the toenail seemed better to me.

A few weeks ago, it was hurting again. Since it grew back, I started cutting the side out every couple weeks, but this time, it was worse. The first day or so after we removed the ingrown part of the nail, it started feeling better... I thought I was in the clear... Then, it started hurting some more and I realized it was infected again. I soaked it in my bathtub and got excess puss and blood out, but alas, it wasn't healing. I started pouring Hydrogen Peroxide to help get out some of the nasty stuff... That was working. The swelling was going down and the skin around it was getting lose and dying.

Well, it was feeling better and looked way better until this morning. It was pussy and bloody again. I thought it was draining out some of the infection that was remaining and it was almost done. Throughout the school day, it kept bugging me and I felt like I needed to take it out of my shoe... After school, I took it out of my shoe carefully and saw some puss on my sock (I know, I know, you're thinking "WAY TOO MUCH INFO!" Sorry) ;) I told my mom it was hurting quite a bit and it was pussy and bloody again. She told me that we should go into a walk-in clinic nearby... After a lot of thought... I agreed... But, I made her promise that she would not consent to them removing even half of my toenail unless they had proof it was still in there and making the infection worse...

So, we went in and sat in the waiting room for about 45 minutes... maybe closer to an hour. The doctor finally came out and looked at my toe. She took some samplings, that because of the infection, were REALLY painful... The samples were going to be sent to a lab to make sure I don't have MRSA. She told us we need to cut the toenail in a special way from now on and I need take an antibiotic for 10 days... That's fine... I don't mind taking a pill... It's much better than having to get the nail removed... She said we may have to get part of it removed if the antibiotics and the cutting techique don't make it better... =(

And she put some ointment on it and wrapped it in bandages... and ever since that, it's been hurting... I'm hoping that's not a bad sign... hmmm...

~BOB~

Bob Gets A Filling

2009-05-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

I got a cavity filling yesterday... I didn't feel too much... The only thing that really hurt was having to keep my mouth open that long. They used this thing that went on the opposite side of my mouth than the cavity was that made the mouth stay opened.

First, they used this numbing thing that they rubbed on, they let it sit for 20-30 minutes, then they did it again, but only let it sit for about 5 minutes... Then, they did a really long shot that I didn't feel into my gums. They let that sit for 3 minutes... And then they put the mouth thing I mentioned earlier in and they drilled in... After a long time of that, they put the stuff in there to fill it and used this thing that shook my skull... It was actually kind of fun at that part ;)

They said the cavity went all the way down to my nerve, so I may have to have a root canal if I have intense feelings there when I eat or drink... So far, I haven't had anything, but I haven't eaten much on that side...

~BOB~

Seaside

2009-05-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

A few days back, I went with some friends in town to downtown Seaside. I started thinking about it.

Some may see the town Seaside, Oregon (the place I currently live) as a vacation paradise. Heck, we have thousands of people in for Memorial Day Weekend. The parking lots there are jammed during vacation week and the smells of sweet and salty food and the sights of all the crowds. There is a constant chatter of people and everyone seems like they enjoy it.

That's when it's busy. When it's not, it seems kind of like a ghosttown. The parking lots aren't very full and the sidewalks aren't packed at all. It's pretty quiet. The people in town aren't very rich. And you can't tell too well, but there's a huge drug problem, especially in the schools. It's kind of a run down place when it's no big weekend or anything. It seems kind of lonely...

~BOB~

downstream

2009-05-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today I went on a field trip to Portland with my computer teacher. I take Graphic Arts (which, by the way, is not too easy in my opinion) and it was required... Plus, I liked the idea of missing a day of school =)

So, we all got on a bus this morning and went up to Portland. The trip was about 2 hours up there to a place specializing in computers called "downstream". They were putting together videos and music and designs for business buildings... and even editing a movie. It sounds like that's what they do everyday.

First, we had to go upstairs... It was only 3 feet up, but my teacher thought the elevator would be quicker. So, the first group piled into the elevator and went up. Well, I was in the second group and we got into the elevator. The elevator was packed tight and the doors closed. Well... The elevator wasn't moving... And the doors didn't open when we tried to open them... We were trying to call people, but there was no service on the phones... So, we tried to open the doors again with the button and they worked... I think we exceeded the weight limit =(

We took the stairs after we got out and went into the main office. The guy in charge brought us to someone who was putting together a music video for someone brand new to the music business... He starts out with hours of material and has to shrink it to only a minute or so. He finds the best materials and cuts and pastes pieces of it... Kind of interesting...

Next, they split us into two groups. I went with one group into the sound room. He wasn't working on much (or at least it didn't look like it)... He showed us all these sound effects that he could add. They had a recording room next door and he told us they did about 85% of the sounds heard in the movie Coraline.

We went to the graphic room next, where they were using Google SketchUp to design some businesses. The things they showed us looked like they were pretty cool to someone into building design... but I'm not much for interior design, so that wasn't too entertaining...

One group piled into the elevator and the rest of us found out we weren't done. My teacher went down to get the group that went downstairs while we went into the movie editing room. They were working on a movie that we saw by the footage was named "The Runner"... Looked like a horror film based on one scene they worked on... They didn't talk too much about their jobs, like the previous people did... but that was okay...

After about 10 minutes, the group that went downstairs and my teacher weren't back... Within a few minutes, they got out of the elevator and said they got stuck... So, they checked out what we'd seen and then we went downstairs... NOT BY ELEVATOR! By stairs... couldn't risk getting stuck again.

We got back in the bus and went for Pizza for lunch... We got there and I was starving... I had only had a poptart at 6:30 AM and it was 1:30 PM... SO HUNGRY! So, some of the people I was sitting with had lots of money they brought... So, they ordered some breadsticks and wings for us while we waited for our pizza... Well, the pizza came first... then the wings 20 minutes later... then the breadsticks... We ate the pizza... and then I at a wing or two... and we took the breadsticks with us...

We ate the breadsticks on the way back... VERY GOOD =D And we got back around 3:20... Which is not too bad considering how much lunch and the elevator things took us... =)

~BOB~

Flinging Into Spring

2009-05-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

X and I went out around 9 o'clock this morning to go to the 4th Annual Spring Flinger. It was about a two hour car ride up there. I stepped out of the car and wondered where everyone was... It was pretty quiet outside, except for a few people... So, I went into a sheltered area where a ton of people were... It seemed like a lot more signed up for the event when I checked... I found out everyone was out on the trail. Well, I took about an hour to exchange with the people that were there, including Wild Rose of PBandJ, her daughter (Buggaboo), Celtic Cross, Spider Monkey, SN Bone, Claudia of Claudia and Alex, and Thunderbird. I also got the amazing event stamp! There is a ton of detail, folks. I let several people stamp the Midsummer Night Dream stamp and left it behind while I found boxes.

Then, X and I met up with Bookworm on the trail and found a few boxes... by the time we were done with the few boxes, it was time for lunch. So, we went back in and had at it. I had half a sandwhich, potato, chili, and bacon bits (made of real bacon!) =D

We were planning to go back out to hunt some more boxes, but we got caught with exchanges again ;) I met nsfbeads, Shutterbug, Nite Momith, Nana Banana, Cat Eyes, and Gischer Gryffindors. They were all very kind, but we never got back to hunting boxes ;) Oh well, meeting people is always fun =)

I got cootied twice, but I passed them both off! Yesssssssssssssssssssss......

I also got a ton of PTs and I filled a ton of my pages filled... And some cool stamp images =)

That was my day =)

~BOB~

New Poll

2009-04-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a poll since the first month or so that I opened this blog. We had maybe three or four people here at that time, so the results of the poll weren't to spectacular... So, I put a new poll up! Check it out =)

~BOB~

BLT

2009-04-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

The title probably makes you think that this is all about a sandwich. Nope. Before I get to what BLT stands for, let me first say that we picked out the name of our dog and we've decided on Oreo. He just had a day at the spa, where he got a haircut and I have to say he looks kind of funny now ;D

So, anyways... Back to BLT. BLT stands normally for Bacon Lettuce Tomato. Now, as much as I love Bacon (not so much Lettuce and Tomato), I can say that I am not talking about the sandwich. It stood for "Business Leaders of Tomorrow" today (oxymoron not intended). I got to miss school all day for this thing. My computer teacher made it so that all of us could go to this event. It only cost $5 to go (to pay for lunch) and you got a whole day of classes about success and leading. All the schools in the county had students that came.

It started out with getting a folder with all your information, including where and what you were going today. You got a name tag and a lunch ticket for later. We got a donut and our choice of hot chocolate, water, or coffee =) Then we went to the keynote speech where they talked about a whole bunch of stuff. Kind of boring there for a while... and then we got to awards for the county. The topics ranged from Typing Speed to Web Design Format to Flash Animation, and all these other computer classes. First term, I took Keyboarding II and apparently my teacher submitted my score. I took third place for the county in two topics both involving speed of typing and got too coffee mugs to keep... They're exactly the same, but that's okay ;)

Then we went to our first class. I had "Dressing for Success"... which had an employee of Nordstrom's there... She was nice and cheery and told us that we need to be ourselves... and how to dress for a job interview and to be a leader... (Mostly stuff I already know, but that's okay...) After an hour of talking about that, we went onto our next class. It was a keynote speech by a nationwide speaker named Aaron Davis...

He started the class by shaking everyone's hand and telling us to meet two people we didn't know and ask them a few questions... Well, being the not-so-social person that I am, I admit it... I chatted with someone I already knew... After that, he talked to us about who he was and he gave a funny and serious speech about how to lead and be successful... I thought his class was the best the whole day because I liked how he described everything and how he could relate to some of the stuff that went on when he was my age...

Then, we went to lunch. To my suprise (and dismay), they did not have any sandwich involving bacon... (awwwwwwwwww....) =( Instead, there were other lunch meats and bread and cheese to make our own sandwiches. Then, we had a choice of water or diet soda... Well, water was just too plain for me when I could have soda. So, I went with Diet Siera Mist.

The carbonation was overpowering and to prevent letting out a humungous burp echoing throughout the entire room, I burped through my nose for the rest of lunch... Which really hurts. It stings. It burns. I should have stopped drinking it after that, but what can I say? I was thirsty ;D

So, after I finished my sandwich and carbon-volcano soda, I had some cookies... And since there were four empty spots at the table, I had an extra... Okay. I've spent enough time on the topic of food. Now back to the main part of the day.

So, after lunch, there was another keynote speech. And Aaron Davis was speaking. I heard some of the same things, but a lot of new things. Then, we had to go to our third class. The speaker was the Astoria Golf Country Club top pro. It was less than exciting, I am sorry to say. But, as my dad pointed out, not everyone can be great at speeking in front of people.

Then, we went the end of BLT where they drew door prizes. Before that happened, when we were all sitting down, and two girls from my old elementary school came up and asked if I remembered them. I did and everyone sitting in my row urged me to go sit with them. I didn't win any door prizes, but I won two coffee mugs... Can I really complain? ;)

So, the story's dragged on really long... thanks for reading through it... Hopefully at least one person will make it through the incredibly long recap of my day.

At one point, I thought I saw Maiden. Turns out it was just someone that looks a lot like her =)

~BOB~

A New Puppy And A New Blog

2009-04-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

I meant to tell you on Wednesday when we got our dog, and I wanted to wait until we thought of a name for him, but I can't wait any longer... We have a new dog! As I said, we haven't made up our mind as far as the name. We've considered several names, including Hamlet, Romeo, Oreo, Java, Shilo, Beany Weany, Bean, and BOB! Well, obviously you know who suggested the name Bob ;)

But anyways, he's very affectionate and playful. He's the Maltipoo I talked about in last week's entry =)

Also, just today I opened a new blog called "Project Bob"... I hope to show sneak peaks of new stamps, virtual ideas, and LTCs there... Go check it out and subscribe to the blog here! =) ENJOY!

~BOB~

New Puppy Searching

2009-04-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Well, as you can well imagine, my whole family wanted a new playful puppy right after Glacier passed away. So, we went and looked at new puppies today. The owner of the kennel has one puppy she's offering for free because she's already gotten the money for it from someone else that never picked the dog up. When she called the buyers, they said they didn't want the dog anymore and that she could keep their money.

So, anyways... This free puppy is a very loving Maltepoo (cross between Maltese and a Poodle) and loves to be held. But he has a very playful side to him too. We wish we had gotten a picture of it today, but we forgot. My mom was not with us, so we're hoping she'll come see it soon. It's looking like this month will probably not be too good for a new puppy because we're all really busy... But, we'll see... =)

In other news, tonight I'm going up to Portland with a girl I've known since kindergarden to see the Broadway play "Wicked". She got tickets for her, her mom, and a friend. She chose me as the friend to take... =) They got a ticket for my mom too... So... yeah...

That means I'll be back close to 11 tonight... Which really stinks for school tomorrow... It's possible I may even sleep through my alarm at 6:15, but I'll make it through the day... Plus, I don't have any tests till Tuesday ;)

~BOB~

Tragedy

2009-03-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I am writing from near the border between Arizona and Nevada. I have not been on Atlas Quest for several days mainly because I've been enjoying my spring break down here.

My parents called my grandma's house today. VERY SADLY, my dog, Glacier, this morning was being neutered and passed away on the operating table. The doctors think he was born with a heart defect and as he was coming out of surgery, his heart stopped and they were unable to revive him. He was only a few months old. We got him in December for Christmas. I am extremely sad that this has happened, just the rest of my family is. I just thought I'd let you know.... =(

That smiley, as sad as it is, cannot express the sadness we're going through. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this time.

~BOB~

Re-Evaluating this Year's Prank...

2009-03-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday... I looked at the board that was originally created for a private group of people at first and then released to the public. It was the board for the McJoke. I looked from the start to the actual prank. It looks like they started several months before April Fools' Day and finished just a day before the prank went live.

So, I think I have gotten this almost all the way figured out.... I'm pretty sure that Rock Stashing is the prank this year. Last year, the prank almost got out before it was supposed to go live. My personal thoughts are that anyone in this group, with the exception of a few who thought it was a good idea (which I do too, if it is real) are actually involved in the prank. My guess is they've set up a private group for all the people involved....

If you look back at last year's prank and the way it was planned, you can see that they created a website, made an alter-ego or two, and released tiny little hints along the way. They've already made a website, and I'm convinced a few alter egos were made and the admins could have changed the date that the alter-ego accounts were created. Tiny hints, as far as I'm concerned, have been released..... AND Green Tortuga posted about it on his blog. Now, Ryan, if you are reading this... I have to say that if you are on board with the actual idea of Rock Stashing, that's awesome and I respect that.... It just seems to me that if you post about it on the blog you use to make announcements about Atlas Quest, then it's REALLY important.

The timing of this all being announced and all the similarities with things about last year's prank planning just make it too suspicious for me........

~BOB~

April Fools Day Predictions

2009-03-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk about whether this Rock Stashing thing is legit or if it's the annual April Fools' prank. As many of you recall, last year, the prank was that Atlas Quest had signed a deal with McDonalds... Well, I totally forgot that it was April Fools Day and half way through, I figured out it was a joke....

Now, my take on this is that Rock Stashing is NOT the annual prank, like everyone seems to think it is. I highly doubt that Ryan is going to let loose his prank several weeks before it's April Fools' day. But, as Fluffy Cow stated on the boards, it could be a cover up. Even if it is, it sounds like a lot of people really like the idea and if it is a cover up, it could become real pretty soon... The fact that Ryan posted something on his blog a few days after it appeared on AQ and that he actually likes several things about Rock Stashing more than Letterboxing and is considering creating a seperate box type/website for it leads me to believe that it is a cover up or the real thing....

I have no idea what the actual prank could be.... any ideas, guys and gals?

~BOB~

By the way, if you didn't notice already, I added my little Atlas Quest thingy-mabop with my stats under my account link =)

The Ides

2009-03-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

Well, as many of you know, I went to a great event yesterday called the Ides of March! Wow! It was a TOTAL BLAST! =D I met a ton of people, hunted some great boxes, and got rid of the rest of my LTCs that I made...

So, X Marks the Spot and I were supposed to go to a running-jogging-walking thing. Well... the weather was TERRIBLE: windy and rainy and just flat out nasty.... So, we didn't take a two hour drive to Portland at 6 in the morning in the nasty weather after staying up 11 the previous night.

So, we waited till a little later... the hunting for boxes were supposed to start at 10 am, but we got there at about 1:15, which was 30 minutes before the linner (lunch/dinner) started. We got talking with Maiden and Marmalade and the coffee cake was so dang good that we left about 1:40...

We hunted one box, which had a great stamp =D We huried up and got money for the linner and headed to the restaurant. We got there only to find about 7 people inking up and stamping on the front of the Weatherlys car. It was another great stamp =D

After stamping in, we walked in to find a TON of people. They started it off with a game of Clue- Roman Edition... No one solved it within the time limit, so they drew names from a hat. I didn't win, but X did. So, he let me have the prize: a custom logbook from Camp Fire Lady! Oh, it looks amazing! Thanks, Camp Fire Lady =D

Lunch was awesome too! Very tasty pasta and bread! We sat at the table with Wildhair and her husband, 4 Ch, and Fenghuang.

After lunch, I exchanged with a bunch of people... Oh man it was great! So many nice people at one time! I missed exchanging with a few people, unfortunately... but I'm hoping to exchange with them at the Spring Flinger...

My Midsummer Night Dream stamp was not stamping too well... I think it all depended on the ink pad, whether a roller was used or not, and the texture of paper... I am hoping to have all that good stuff working well at the Flinger...

Anyways, I was sad that it had to end.... but I had a great time when it was going on... Afterwards, we went and hunted three other boxes for the event, and we only missed out on one of the three, which I think had been pulled earlier in the day... we headed back to Marmalade's house where we had a little afterparty and I got to exchange with Der Mad Stamper and his little Monkey boxing buddy =)

I got one more box at Marm's house and said goodbye... we had to head home.... sigh... but I'm sure we'll be back to Portland sooner or later... =)

~BOB~

A Week of Scores, Misses, and Hits... Literally...

2009-03-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

This was definitely one of my most interesting weeks of golf. I had some good holes. I got a par on one hole... (which is good)... a few bogeys (which is alright), and a 14 on a par 5 (that's NOT good)...

And.... I hit a car........... and left a dent... ummmmm... I'd rather not talk about it too much, but it wasn't fun... =(

So... anways.... now the title makes sense...

I made my golf team officially, by the way... I finished 10th out of 13 people that finished.

Hoping to go to OMSI, a major science museum here in Oregon... we went there when we lived here last right before we moved...

~BOB~

The Battle is Over...

2009-02-26T06:23:00.000-08:00

Well, my battle with avoiding disease is over... want to know why it's over? Because the fever won...

Ugggggggghh.... don't feel well right now... have aches and pains everywhere... maybe I'll take a Tylenol... I couldn't sleep for almost two hours last night and I'm exhausted... I know who I got it from. My friend Josie. I told her to go home and she's had this on and off for the last week or so... I told her to go home everyday she was there and she refused every time...

Now I have it and I feel terrible =P

I think I'll probably stay home from school today... since I don't have any books, I can't do homework... maybe I'll have my mom go in during like first or second period when no one's in the halls and get all my books...

*sigh* this stinks......... uggggggggggg.......

~BOB~

Girl Scout Cookies

2009-02-22T13:30:00.000-08:00

Girl Scout Cookies have always been favorites of everyone in my family. And for the most part, we all like the same kinds... and that's the big problem...

See, we all have our own stashes. My mom gets crazy if you eat outside the kitchen and therefore makes us all keep the cookies in the kitchen. I pay for mine, my sister pays for hers, and my mom pays for some for the entire family. Well, the family stash always goes first. Never lasts more than a couple days. I think my sister and I realize we can get free cookies from mom and just take all we can get from that stash. Once the family's supply is gone, everyone makes huge notes on their packages that say these are so-and-so's! KEEP OUT! Well, that note doesn't usually work because we still have my dad who is greedy for cookies.

He will go all out with the stealing. He even does it right in front of you. You'll be right near the cupboard and he'll take out your box and pull one... or two... or three cookies out...

It's a terrible thing and you have to watch your stash. My sister actually got so desperate last year she wrapped her boxes in notes of KEEP OUT! and everyday would count the cookies. I actually found it kind of sad because she wouldn't eat them. She wanted to save them and make the most of each and every box. By the time we were packing up to move from North Carolina to Oregon, my mom threw most of them out... *sigh*

They really do bring out the worst in my family... It's crazy!

~BOB~

Status Update: Now Avoiding the....

2009-02-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

Well, a week and a day ago, I posted that I was avoiding the Fluchitis: the flu and bronchitis at the same time. Well, now bronchitis has pretty much left the school, with the exception of a very small number of people. The flu is staying and it looks like it's getting stronger... and we have a new illness that entered the school....

.....THE FEVER!!! DUNDUNDUNDUN!!!!!

So, you know what this means, right? A new "Bob-nosis" because a ton of people are getting both the flu AND the fever at once. So, I came up with two options. You can choose the one you prefer... I have the "Fluver" or the "Fevlu". I like the "Fluver" because it just seems like it sounds right to me. I like the "Fevlu" because it sounds French.

The Symptoms: the same as the Flu and the Fever!

So, another week and I still have gotten NOTHING!!!! It seems as if I am immune to it because all the people I have been around have gotten sick... Every single one... and one of my diseased friends who had the Fever yesterday and the day before (and may still have it today) stayed at school and hung around the rest of us for two days in a row. Hmmm... and I'm still not sick!!! WOOOHOOO!!! =)

*sigh*... I really need to find something new to talk about on my blog...

~BOB~

Reduction Prints

2009-02-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Ever done a Reduction Print? I guess it's mainly for LTC'ers, but it's possible for others as well.

Basically, it's like a layered stamp, except you carve for one color at a time. For example, on this image, you'd carve out the white first and stamp in red as many times as you want plus more because you will lose several of the prints on the way through the different layers. Then, you'd carve out where the red in the finished image goes and stamp the remaining in black right over the red.If I had a better image with more colors, it would work for a better example. Basically, carve out the white first and then ink it up in the lightest color and move through the layers until you are to the darkest color. When you're all done with the final color, you can only print after that with that part of the stamp.Just a little interesting form of carving I learned at a Lino Block carving class a week or so ago.

~BOB~

Avoiding the Fluchitis

2009-02-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

All this week, I've sat back and watched almost every student in all my classes get some kind of sickness. There are two things going around: the flu and bronchitis. A TON of people are getting both at the same time, which makes for a terrible week for them... I decided that since they are often going to a person at the exact time, that saying "They caught the flu AND bronchitis," was just WAY too long... that "AND" added a whole quarter of a second every time I said it, so I decided to come up with my own "Bob-nosis" ;) I call it: "FLUCHITIS!!" (pronounced: FLooKItis)

Symptoms: the same as the Flu and Bronchitis... at the same time.... easy to remember, right? ;)

So, I started using it yesterday and I had to explain it to everyone, just as I am to you right now. I think it's kind of catching on.... well, I'm not sure.... but that's okay....

So, anyways... I am determined that I am NOT get one of the three: the flu, bronchitis, or fluchitis. I didn't get the flu shot, which I really didn't think I needed until now... and I am regretting not getting the shot.... There have been several people around the school with fluchitis that completely look like they're about to die... Not joking.... I don't get why they don't go home...

All three of my friends have now had the flu and I'm a little concerned I'm next..... uh oh....

A person I worked in health class with wasn't there today... and that's not good because she never is gone unless it's bad...

In fact, (as ironic as it is,) about 10 people out of 25 people in health class were actually in class today. Some were gone at sports, but that was only about 5 of the 15 that were gone. THEY GOT THE FLUCHITIS!!!

I'm hoping if I say it enough, it'll catch on in the medical field, since there's bound to be at least one doctor or nurse out there.... maybe you could pass it on.... *hint, hint* ;)

So, all I'm asking is that you'll cross your fingers with me that I don't wake up tomorrow with one of those terrible flu, especially bronchitis, because I have asthma and that could mean a trip to the ER if we're not careful! =(

I think, if I do catch anything it'll be the flu by tomorrow or Sunday because my stomach has been upset all day... ugggg.... =(

Imagine my sister's surprise if I wake up on her birthday tomorrow and am sick... that'll ruin it for her...

~BOB~

Ever Carved into Cork?

2009-02-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a great day... We started it off by at 8 in the morning going to a little bakery about 2 minutes away. We met a few boxers there: Camp Fire Lady, Marmalade, Maiden, Miniles, Cats Meow, and Nene. I had already exchanged with CFL, Marm, and Maiden, so I exchanged with Minilies, Cats Meow, and Nene over a cinnamon roll... We had a big reason to be there. They were going to pick up a clue book for my dad's newest box: Graveyard of the Pacific!

After we exchanged, we went over to a carving class that we've been taking for a few weeks and started off by finishing previous stamps we'd been carving on Lino Block (AKA The Mysterious Gray/The Mysterious Tan Stuff)... After a ton of attempts to get a good print, I got one and started on the next project... The teacher brought out some designs she had found for me before the class. The one I wanted to carve was in the shape of a circle. The teacher had just put out some real corks and some soft (fake) cork for people to carve on, if they could. I figured I'd try the soft (fake) cork out for this design... I drew the image on, because the transfer paper she had didn't work... Then, I got carving....... AND....... the moment of truth or absolute total failure resulted in......... absolute total failure! The soft (fake) cork wasn't hard enough to get a good grip on and by the time I did that class was at its end... Turns out the real cork, even with exacto knife is really hard....... So, the myth that any solid thing can be carved into: BUSTED! =)

I then proceeded to waste nearly two hours watching TV and eating lunch... just in time for The Usual Suspects Clue game to start =D I got lucky a lot of my guesses and had an easy strategy: Get every last card out of everyone I could by interogating them as soon as they wrote a response back. I was able to solve the mystery in an hour and five minutes correctly. I won the game... =)

Then, I watched a ton of Nick at Night, including Home Improvement and George Lopez (love that show).... and went to bed around 11 o'clock because I was baby sitting and my parents' movie went a little longer than expected...

~BOB~

My New Puppy

2008-12-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

Here Glacier is chewing a sock. I think it's my mom's.

This is my mom and Glacier. They're now near best friends.

Here is my sister and Glacier.

And here is X (my dad) and Glacier. I think X is the most appreciative of Glacier's addition to the family. He loves to play with Glacier.

ALSO: I found out I was wrong about the kind of dog mine is. It turns out it's a Latise- a combination of a Lassa and a Maltise. Just got it wrong a tiny bit...

We took some pictures of Glacier and I together, but I was having a bad hair day and I look incredibly tired... I decided I wouldn't post that one... Plus, you get the idea of what Glacier looks like.

~BOB~

An Early Christmas Gift!

2008-12-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

Well, we had been waiting to get a new pet for quite some time now. Our cat Mittens died last summer and my sister soon wanted another pet. We were going to move less than a year after our cat died and we didn't really know what the conditions were going to be like when we did. So my parents said we'd wait till we move before we decide to get a pet.

Well, we moved and my sister never did forget about wanting a pet. Anyways... we decided we'd try to get a dog... a small one... that didn't trigger my allergies...

After several months of trying to find out what we'd like, we decided we'd get a small white dog. The name of the type of dog I can't spell, but I'm going to try to... It's a Maltise. Which is a mix between Malta and Latise... (not sure I spelt those right either)... So, after several weeks of name suggestion, we decided on the name "Glacier". He's a happy, energenic, white dog... We adopted him earlier today and he has been whimpering since then.

We are trying to crate train him, so when he whimpers in his cage during the next few days, we have to leave him to whine or he won't be trained... Anyways... We're now a family of four and a pet! ;)

~BOB~

A Cold Day at the Rogue

2008-12-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

My dad, mom, sister, and I all went down to a place on the Columbia River called "The Rogue"... It's a restaurant with a bar and some really great food. We went down there today mainly because we found out a boat from the show "The Deadliest Catch" would be docked there...... and there'd be a free crab dinner =D

We got there and ordered some cheesy bread before we got on the boat and some friends in the Coast Guard =) Well, it was about 20-30 minutes after getting there before we could go onto the boat. After we got on, they welcomed us and told us tons and tons of stories (which some were not very entertaining.... but that's okay). We also got to ride up and down a tiny part of the River. We also got hot chocolate and got to see a little bit of an episode of the ship we're on getting hit with a massive wave! It was pretty cool....

...Not only was it cool... It was cold. FREEZING. I felt sorry for the people on that show that have to work in colder conditions than that.

We got off the boat and got back to our table... They had a free crab dinner and a fundraiser for the food bank =) I PIGGED OUT! I mean... why shouldn't I have? It was free food... Plus, crab! That's naturally one of my favorites, considering I was born in Alaska and king crab and fish were pretty much the only meats that were up there. After spending about an hour and a half talking, eating, and playing games with friends, we finally left... And yes, we donated quite a bit of money to the food bank because the dinner was so great =)

An awesome day!
~BOB~

Getting into the Holiday Spirit

2008-12-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we drove up to Portland to see a group of singers called the Singing Christmas Tree. Most of the people sit up in a large (I don't know what it's made out of, but it's big) fake Christmas Tree that has seats in it. About 120 people fit up in the tree and others stand below and to the sides of it. They also have a probably 30 kid youth choir and a pianist, violinist, and four to five singers who sing words separate from the group.

We stopped to see some puppies along the way, one of which we may decide to get for our family. I woke up just as we got there, changed into my fancy dress pants (which we'll hear more about a little later) and went inside the building. My mom and sister went to the bathroom and took about 20 minutes because of the huge lines! That just shows you how many people were there... and that was just in the ladies' restroom! It was jam packed! There were probably 200 people waiting in the main lobby! We grabbed a pretzel and two drinks before we went in and within two or three minutes of getting into our seats, the performance started. They sang very well for quite a while and then we had a few musical performances by violinists and pianists. After about an hour, it was intermission. We got to view the orchestra pit down below, which we couldn't see from our seats.

The second half was a little bit better, in my opinion, and it seemed a lot shorter. Then, we stayed around and talked to one of the choir members (we forgot to ask if he was sitting in the giant tree or not) and hit the road to go find somewhere to eat. We settled on Red Robbin....mmmmmmmmmmmm... Always one of my favorites =D Now, we're back to the dress pants. I was still wearing them and right after I asked for a napkin and we didn't have any at the table for me, my huge, beautiful Whiskey River BBQ Burger fell right in my lap. As soon as it happened, you could tell those pants were history... But that wasn't that big of a deal. The next time I would wear those, they would probably be too small.

I picked the burger up off of my lap and placed it back in my basket and continued to eat it... It was really good, but I had to hold my jacket in front of me, which looked a little awkward, as we were walking out the door. I changed back into my jeans in the car and we drove back home. I watched some TV and went to bed..... zzzzzzzzzz....

Today we're going to pick up the Christmas Tree and to set up for Christmas! All I'm asking for this year is one video game and tons of postage stamps, PZ Kut, and other Letterboxing stuff! ;)

~BOB~

A White.... Thanksgiving?! SA-WEET! =D

2008-11-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I went out of town this weekend and I am currently spending it with my family in Spokane, WA (A.K.A. The setting of my tick story this summer)... We got in at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday night and had a warm night in my uncle's basement... We woke up and had a fairly good breakfast and we spent much of the morning getting us all ready and watching "The Polar Express"... (A little early to be watching Christmas movies, but now the stores consider it officially the holiday season, I guess ;) Then our family started arriving. Cousins and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas came flying through the front door! The turkey was in the oven and everyone was either watching football, playing foosball, or in the kitchen getting ready for the dinner. I was known as Popeye in foosball and my cousins, sister, and I invented a new foos-game called "Rapid Fire" when we spun all of our players at rapid fire when 4 balls were in play at once. Then, at about 3:30, everyone said that dinner was almost ready. I kept telling them that was WAY too early, but with pie and all the other stuff we were eating, I guess we needed extra time to digest so we could eat more ;D We had a nice dinner and dessert. It was my grandpa's birthday, so we watched him open presents. He never got a cake, but we all shared some pumpkin pie..... MMMMMMMMMMM......... !! And all night it was snowing and we got to have a white Thanksgiving =D

I thought it was a pretty good Thanksgiving with family =D

~BOB~
who better go play with all of his cousins who are over ;)

A Good Day!

2008-11-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

Today was what you call a better-than-the-ordinary-day, otherwise called a very good day =)

We went by the scrapbooking store and showed the manager, who now knows me very well because of all my boxing stuff I've showed her, all my LTCs! She was especially impressed with the ones from others that opened up and had multiple stamps carved for the same image... In total, she spent about an hour looking through the binder =)

Then, we stopped by an artist guild that was stunned by my The Two Lovers stamp! Not so fascinated by the LTCs, but that's okay. They wanted to know if I would carve a stamp for them. They said they'd pay me and they showed me the image (but they didn't have a copy of it I could use to carve) and it was pretty neat =)

Then we stopped by the animal shelter and we saw a lot of affectionate cats and some nice dogs (one of which almost bit my hand off)...

After the dog nearly bit my hand off was when it got back to an average day feeling because I had to stuy for exams after that... sigh....

.........Until a little later! I realized this blog officially has 25 subscribers! Thanks to everyone who's out there! I encourage you to subscribe to my other blog "The Bobble Head" too =)

All in all, it was a pretty good day =)
~BOB~

P.S. I officially put the link to my stamp carving business site on Atlas Quest. I am hoping for it to succeed. Within the next few weeks, I'm planning to carve a business card stamp for the stamp carving job. =)

Potential Dream Job!

2008-11-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

My dad came home today and said he talked to the scrapbooking store manager about me possibly getting a job there. I've been thinking about getting a job, or at least looking for one. So, this scrapbooking manager knows I carve stamps. I showed her my sig stamp a few weeks ago when I was getting some new LTC supplies... which is the only reason I pretty much wanted a job there... To be closer (and possibly to get a discount on) LTC supplies...

So, she said that they can't hire anyone until they're age 16 =(

.....But! There may be a customer who is looking for possibly getting a custom stamp for her daughter that just says her name... So, my dad gave the manager our number if the customer comes in. The manager suggested I should stamp all my creations on one sheet and bring it to the store just to show everyone my talents... Yay! =)

Just wanted to let out my enthusiasm =D

~BOB~

Chills...

2008-11-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Over dinner, my mom told my family a story a nursing student of hers told her. This student had a mother who committed suicide a few weeks ago and had to take time out of her classes to go away. So... onto the story... It's a little creepy...

The nursing student was asleep last night and dreaming. She dreamed that someone came up to her and told her that her mother was not really dead, just in hiding. She asked how this person knows the information. The person replies that her mother will give her a sign. All the sudden, the nursing student's husband shook her awake. He told her there was a person outside of their house. She looked out the window and saw there was a woman with her head down and her hands folded rocking in their chair. She told him to go out there. He made it clear he wasn't going out there. The strange thing was that the woman rocking, from what the nursing student could see about her, was strangely familiar to her mom. Same hair length, weight, etc.... odd...

She decided she would go see what was happening. She walked outside and asked the woman what she was doing and why she was there at 1 o'clock in the morning. The woman continued to rock back and forth, not looking up at all. The student said she was going to call the police so that they could deal with this mysterious woman. She did and they picked her up from the house. The police told the student they would take the woman to the hospital.

....Hmm... seems a little extraordinary to me... This is a true story, unless this nursing student is a very good storyteller. And the weird thing is, the student says that often times..... her dreams come true.... *dramatic music plays in the following tone:* DUNDUNDUUUUUUNN...

...Just a little story I thought I'd tell...

~BOB~

An Unexpected Surprise...

2008-10-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted and I didn't think I would for a lot longer. But, today, I found something sudden that I thought I'd tell you about on my blog.

We carpool with someone else in my neighborhood to the high school. We drove up to school and we saw a few police officers getting out of their cars. At first I was like: Whatever, bye mom. Then I noticed everyone started leaving the building... EVERYONE... In the rain... So, I decided to stay in the car rather than go out in the pouring rain. This man stood in front of the group of kids and said something we couldn't hear from the car. Then, we overheard a group of kids talking to each other as they were getting into their car: They're shutting the school down. Yeah, I guess they had a bomb threat. So, we stuck around to ask another person. Got the same thing from her. So, we decided to go get some coffee and go home.... So, that's my day today... Now I have to find something to do related to letterboxing because it's still nasty outside... Oooohh... I know! Bye everyone =)

~BOB~

My New Blog

2008-08-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

A little less than a week ago, I opened another blog that has topics that are running through my head at the moment. It's been listed on Atlas Quest, so you can subscribe if you want to. The title of the blog is: "The Bobble Head"... Get it ;) Check it out before you subscribe or decide not to subscribe... http://bobguymanshead.blogspot.com/

~BOB~

Changes to this Blog

2008-08-18T07:54:00.000-07:00

I changed a few things on the website, not much. I got a new signature stamp and posted it as my personal photo on my account on this website... So, that pretty much covers it for now... I've gotta go to the dentist this morning... =(

~BOB~

Crafty Fish in Cheese

2008-07-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to three places... The first involved Cheese... The second involved Fish... and the third involved a craft store that was going out of business and everything was 20-25% off in the entire store so we had to stop and spend a thirty minutes in it trying to decide what you are going to buy without spending too much on your stuff that you will use for LTCs... ;)

So, we drove an hour to the Tillamook Cheese Factory... Pretty cool. We watched them make the cheese in the factory and we had lunch and the Tillamook Ice Cream... =)

Next, we drove to the largest aquarium in Oregon! We saw all the fish and all the other things. We all visited the gift shop... YAY!!

The last stop which was unexpected was a going-out-of-business craft store... So, they had 20-25% off everything. I got some great stuff for LTCs and other letterbox supplies... just wish I could have gotten more... =)

So, that was yesterday. Pretty fun =)

~BOB~

A Day at the Beach... in a jacket

2008-07-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

So, I moved in a week ago officially and we got our first guests the other day: my two cousins, aunt, and uncle. We went to the beach today and guess what I wore there: a jacket! When you hear the words "beach" and "summer", you don't typically think about jackets and big shoes. But, now that we've moved to the Pacific Northwest, we should get used to the idea... It was an awesome day even though it was kind of cold... (Okay, really cold: My feet were numbed after only a few minutes in the water.) We went to the Pig and Pancake, a restaurant that's in Oregon and we all love to go there. =)

In other news, to make this about letterboxing, just a little bit... I am working on a letterbox... It's a book, a puzzle game, and it will travel from one person to another.......

I know, I know, it sounds like an 'X'box..... Well, I'm trying to follow in his footsteps in a little and not to just plant a piece of tupperware in the woods... =)

...More on that later...
~BOB~

I'm So TICKed Off

2008-07-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

The following is rated PG- er... I don't know how high to rate it. It's not child appropriate, let's just put it that way. Kind of gross, kind of funny. Now I'm just making you want to read it more, aren't I... Never mind... Just keep my warning in mind...

(The title was my grandfather's creation. Also, I don't know why I'm writing this on the NC boards, I just think you guys and gals would get more entertainment out of it...)

'X', I'm sure hope you're not reading this because you'll never let me live it down...

Here we go... So, we were out boxing today in near Spokanne, WA. We had a great time. It was a wonderful hike and it was a great walk... We saw a few deer and a couple animals and bugs that made my sister freak out (hehehe... -- sorry, couldn't resist) and we finally got to the box. It was a cool box and the stamps were pretty good. So, we headed back and were having a great time and we reached the car. I had felt tons of rocks and stuff like that in my shoe. So, I took them off and put them on the ground. (Here's where the dramatic twist comes in...) I noticed a small bug crawl out onto the laces. By now, my grandparents and sister were checking themselves for ticks and I thought, "Uh Oh! Here we go with all these ticks!". So, I calmly asked my grandfather what it was and he said, "Oh... It looks like a tick..." He flicked it off and I thought nothing more of it.........

For about 3 seconds when my sister had one crawling up her shirt. She, of course (typical her material), freaked out and was screaming and having like this heart attack!! So, without thinking, I flicked it on the ground, caringly because I didn't want her to pass out from screaming and her blood pressure raising so highly (yes, I'm adding a little drama) and also because I didn't want to listen to her screaming and whining anymore. So, now the car had a tick on the ground, which we couldn't seem to find. We found several more ticks on me and one on my grandma before we drove away. We were departing when I lifted up my foot and I had a tick on it. It was stuck in the thread. So, I asked if I could throw my sock out the window (not making that up... seriously) and my grandma threw the tick out the window and we managed not to throw my sock with it. So, we didn't see anymore ticks and we went for ice cream and some other boxes....We got back to my grandparents house and we were all going to go swimming. My grandma also said to check again for ticks to see if any bit you. So, my sister found one and freaked out (as usual), but luckily it hadn't bitten her. So, we got rid of him and I started to change into my bathing suit. I also checked myself for ticks. (You know where this is going, don't you?) Okay, don't joke me about this... Although, I know you all will... =)

Yes, I got a tick... Do you want to know where? Of course you do! Well...... *Bob hesitates*....................... Okay, in my butt.... Yes, it's true. (Told you, 'X', you'll never let me live this down.) So, I thought, "Okay, Chris. Don't be a Caroline- my sister - here. Remain calm." So, I did. I went upstairs and I told my grandparents. My grandfather said he'd check it out and see what he could do. He said it was in and he went to the computer I'm on right now and did some research about what to do. They said that if it's been in less than 24 hours, it should be fine to pull out. So, we pulled it out. It hurt a little, but I'm glad it's over and done with... *sigh of relief*... All of it came out, so I should be fine. As for the tick, we soaked it in rubbing alcohol and it's dead. Strong stuff. Only took about 2 minutes before it was finished.

So, that was the title for you.I'm thinking of carving a stamp and turning it into a PT... hehehe...So, that's my interesting (and somewhat-- no, REALLY disturbing) story for today. I'm sure you guys had a good laugh out of it... =)

*sigh*
~BOB~

A New Game in the Works...

2008-07-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

I have another game in store that I plan to announce within the next few days... If you missed the signups for "Pass It On!", Now's your chance... stay tuned to the LTC boards... Fifteen spots will be open. Although, I will not be counted in the fifteen, so the tracker will say sixteen......

In other news, we've got a new poll! CHECK IT OUT!!! =D

~BOB~

License Plate Game

2008-06-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

'X' and I came up with a game to pass the time on our long drive. We'd try to see a license plate from each one of the states. Here are the results:

On the 21st, we found 12 states.
On the 22nd, we found 25 states.
On the 23rd, we found 8 states.
On the 24th, we found 1 state and saw one from a province in Canada.
On the 25th and 26th, we were staying at my grandparents' timeshare.
On the 27th, we found 1 state.
On the 28th, we found no states.

We were missing three:
* Deleware
* Rhode Island
* Hawaii

Pretty good! =D

~BOB~

Bob's Crazy Move -- Journal 3

2008-06-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of our driving across country. I'm not in my house yet. I'll be staying with my grandparents for three weeks. So... what was yesterday like?

Day 7:

Actually, it was pretty good. We weren't rushed in the morning and I got an early start. So, we ate and drove for a while. We stopped for gas once or twice in the morning and stopped for lunch. My meal was leftovers from Olive Garden, but it got flooded when the ice in the cooler all melted. So, I got to eat breadsticks..... which was great because I love breadsticks!!! So, we got on the road again and had a long drive ahead of us. I finished my book by my uncle (it was very dramatic) and decided to start on another one... =) We drove a few more hours and reached our destination: Spokanne, Washington. We got out of the car and said hello to our grandparents. Then, we went to pick up my cousin. We got her from her house and came back to our gandparents house, where we swam! Great fun! So, we went to bed after a while... =(

Oh well... At least the driving portion is over... =D

~BOB~

Bob's Crazy Move -- Journal 2

2008-06-27T19:48:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't posted the last few days because I haven't had internet access (except for a cafe downtown)... Here are the last few days in a simple summary:

Day 3:

Just boring driving... UGH! I felt sick in the morning and I worked on writing a little bit. It was great fun! It was so far away that I don't remember what I ate and really what I ate. We arrived in Colorado at my grandparents' timeshare. It was very nice. We spent a few days there...

Day 4:

We enjoyed our first day at my grandparents' timeshare. I also got some new books that were written by my step uncle. I've been reading them for a while. They're pretty good. They're called the Dreamhouse Kings series. Check 'em out! We went swimming and had a great time at the arcade {although, over half the machines were broken... =( }... We had some delicious meals. We went to a cool town called Breckinridge, CO where we saw a car made completely of legos (except for the tires). We also saw some cool things that I'll be carving... =)

Day 5:

We went downtown where we shopped. I got some more things to carve =D We went swimming again and I got a huge headache!! ARGH! Took some medicine to help it go away.

Day 6:

We departed from the timeshare and went on the longest moving day this move. ELEVEN HOURS! The first hour and a half I felt really sick... I read almost the whole car ride! Which is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY uncommon for me. I just got into those books that my step uncle wrote... We had a great dinner at the only Olive Garden in Montana... YUM!

Tomorrow is our last day of driving (well, at least for my sister and I). It feels so great to be near the end of driving every day... We're staying at my other grandparents house for a while -- my parents for two and a half days and my sister and I for three weeks. YAY!! =D

I should have web access up there, so I'll keep you guys posted! =D

~BOB~

Bob's Crazy Move -- Journal 1

2008-06-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm moving from NC to OR. Here are the first two days of my stories:

I woke up early in the cabin we had been staying in for the past two nights. The cabin itself was beautiful. It was on the Coast Guard base. It was the day - the day of the event in Asheville. At the event, I would meet a whole bunch of people that I had typed to, but never seen. It was also the beginning of our long drive across country... UGH! First, we had to attend to some business: Turn in the keys to our cabin. But, guess what! The place we had to turn the key into didn't open for over an hour! We started our drive after... well... improvising (taping the key to the window). So, we hit the road. We got ten minutes down the road and we already had car problems: my dad's brake lights weren't working. We fixed them after a little bit of a break. We got on the road... again... and I fell half asleep, half not (I was asleep and getting rest, but I could here the music on the radio while I was sleeping). Later on, after I woke up, one of our pads, holding the kayak on top of the car fell off. We went back to get the pad and we fixed it... or so we thought.... (later about that). We drove another two hours to Quiznos and I got chili! YUM! So, we got on the road again (this phrase is getting familiar) and we lost the pad that we lost before again! And it was in a place we couldn't go back to get it... =( My dad came up with an alternate plan, using only one pad. We drove to the hotel and we ate dinner across the street. (We had a lot of leftovers.) We then drove to The Little Foxes' farm where the event was hosted. I got to meet some great people and I heard a little history about Doc Savage. I also got a cool t-shirt from Suziecurls (THANKS SO MUCH!!!) that said "got clues?" --made by Dixie -- and a cool card that seemed to be fitting for me from theseekers called "GO WEST YOUNG MAN!" (THANKS SO MUCH!!!). I got to hunt all the farm boxes and I had great fun! I got help from Suziecurls. Suziecurls, if you're reading this, thanks! =D We were about to leave, although I would have stayed a lot longer, but it was getting a little late and we had to get up early. So, we said our goodbyes to everyone and were about to hit the road when....

Mama Fox handed 'X' and I each a package. I excitedly opened it! It was a brand new leather covered logbook! The pages had been sewn into the book and it was very, very nice! It was awesome!!! Thanks so much Mama Fox!!!!!! We went back to our hotel and fell asleep.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................................

_____________________________________________________________________

Day 2:

I woke up early and didn't feel well. I didn't eat much breakfast, but I took a thing of Fruit Loops to go. We hit the road and I started feeling a lot better... I ate my Fruit Loops at a rest stop.... (YUM!) We drove even further and I fell asleep for a little while. I ate leftovers from the restaurant we ate the previous night... Pretty good. The rest of the drive was pretty boring, very little detail. EXCEPT! 'X' almost ran completely out of gas. UH OH! Luckily, there was a gas station. We drove to the hotel and swam for a little bit. I really loved the hot tub too! I slept very well that night....

More info on my travels soon! Stay tuned! =D

~BOB~

Penguins at the Beach

2008-06-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today was AWESOME! We drove up to Virginia Beach for an event and 'X' discussed some of his future plans for the west coast... We met at the Farmer's Market at 10 o'clock! I met some great people and we inked up for an hour. Overall, I had a great time! We found dulcimerdave's box at the Market. Then, some of us went over to the park to hunt another one of his boxes... We found the location and guess what!............ the pages of the logbook had been torn out of the logbook and left on the ground with the tuperware... It looked like it had been destroyed a few minutes (if that) before... =( So, never got that stamp (it was stolen when we got there), but I had a fun time anyway! =) Thank you Penguin Patrol for the great time!! =)

~BOB~

Moving Day Getting Closer...

2008-06-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

Moving day for my family is getting closer and closer...

Yesterday, I had to take all the things in one of our house's closet out and scatter them around the room. That was so we had a place for all our stuff that the packers wouldn't pack. Then, we had to take everything out of the attic and put it in that room because the packers won't go up there.

I am also told I will have to get all my stuff I am bringing on my trip together and unplug my systems if I want them to come with us (which I do) by Sunday night. Monday, the packers come.

It's getting far more obvious that we're moving...

~BOB~

Also, just a note: The poll will be coming to a close in only 5 days!! Vote now if you haven't!!

Event Stamp Carved!

2008-06-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just carved my event stamp for the "'X' and ~BOB~ in Asheville" event! It's got the theme of summer! YAY! I won't post spoilers, because I don't want to ruin it! It will be awesome! It is likely I will be using the stamp for an LTC... =)

~BOB~

Technical Issues... =(

2008-06-08T04:18:00.000-07:00

For all of you on Atlas Quest, I know my posts are appearing over and over on the new blog entries part on the home page. I have been trying to edit and delete my posts -so far, no success... =( I seem to have lost the edit and delete buttons... UH OH! Oh well... I just wanted to notify everyone about that!

~BOB~