They Were Tears Of Joy!!!

Dear the Internet,

Saying you like Pixar is like saying you like the Beatles; of course you do, everybody does. I like Pixar. A lot. I've seen almost all of their movies in theaters. I have most of them on DVD. I've even met Brad Bird (writer/director of Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille) while I was working at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. It was just a handshake and a hello, but I still cherish it. So, because Cars 2 is coming out tomorrow (and even though it's getting bad reviews, I still want to see it), I thought it would be fun to rank my favorite Pixar movies. This, with a few exceptions, was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. To make things interesting, I'm also going to just admit the point at which they made me cry. Fair warning though, there are spoilers in here, especially when I talk about what made me cry.

A True Love

Dear the Internet,

I have a new love in my life and her name is 16 oz Insulated Klean Kanteen.

I upgraded from a Nalgene to my blue 27 oz Klean Kanteen a little over ago year and haven't looked back. It's durable, doesn't taste like plastic when the water gets warm, and doesn't give me brain tumors or whatever was supposed to happen if you drank out of an old Nalgene.

Getting My Ass Kicked

Dear the Internet,

When it comes to playing sports in general, I would give myself a B-. I, unfortunately, wrestled in high school, so I don't have a whole lot of skills that carry over to playing sports socially. For some reason, nobody ever wants to start a recreational wrestling team or go and have a wrestle at a picnic. Most of what I've learned about how to play different sports comes from playing pick up games in college. This means that if you're looking for somebody to do a layup or juggle a soccer ball or do anything with grace, I'm probably not your guy.

Hitting The Road

Dear the Internet,

Last year I ran the SF Marathon and finished just fast enough to say that I "ran" it. I had a lot of fun, but towards the end of training I was spending two hours running after having a full work day. This year I couldn't really justify the time commitment, so I signed up for the half marathon. I didn't really stop running after the marathon, but I definitely cut way back. I've started to ramp it back up in preparation for the race. This means that I get to put on those wonderful shorts that show off my pasty white, tree trunk legs and don the running shirts that let you know precisely where my nipples are.

The Best Part Of My Morning

Dear the Internet,

Another day and another piece of MS Paint art. I did this one in a bit more of a hurry because Mondays are super busy. I'm not 100% happy with it. The biggest problem I have is the color scheme. I tried to stay true to the actual colors of Muni and brown on brown with brown wood paneling just doesn't look good. Also, it is super hard to draw the same thing multiple times in Paint. Those seats are all kinds of wonky. Who would have thought that drawing forced perspective with a mouse would be difficult?

Anyway, this picture depicts my favorite part of my workday. See, my super awesome girlfriend and I take the same bus at the same time, only in opposite directions. She is getting off work just as I am heading in. This means that our buses pass by each other around the same spot everyday. I always try and sit next to the window so that we can wave to each other. About half the time there is a giant ad covering the windows on the bus so I end up waving to Jack Sparrow hoping that my super awesome girlfriend is on the other side. Isn't this just so cute it makes you throw up in your mouth?

More Fun With MS Paint!!!

Dear the Internet,
I was super bored at work today and, because boredom plus MS Paint equals masterpiece, I have a I brand new JPEG.

I've wanted to make caricatures of people I know for awhile, but it's actually super hard. The above picture is supposed to be of my super awesome girlfriend. I am mostly pleased with it, but I'm not in love with the lips. She has a much more infectious smile and I don't think I got that. I think I did a pretty good job with the hair and the eyes. Her eyes, like mine, go into a crescent shape when she smiles. Her head shape is a bit off too. I drew it a little kidney bean shaped, but its really more oval. It honestly took me a couple of hours off and on to get done with this first draft. Faces are just such subtle things that it can be next to impossible to get all of the elements right in a very limited application like Paint.

The Worst Part of My Job

Dear the Internet,

I can't really say too much about where I work because, well, people get fired for talking crap about where they work. I'll just say that I sit at the front desk, so I get the brunt of anybody looking to express anger. Sometimes it's actually my fault and occasionally I can actually do something about it, but the vast majority of the time I have to just sit there and take the blame and be completely unable to help. Here are a few of the most common things that crush my soul: