Get That Outta Here! (Or, Dammit, I've been tagged!)

Get That Outta Here!
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

Ok yeah, so I've been tagged. But don't expect me to follow all the guidelines!

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

Um...yeah, I don't need to link back to you all, do I? Your links are on the side bar! We're all reading eachother's blogs, anyway!

2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.

Ok, this I think I can handle...

1) That's me, in the above photo, with my back to the camera. I played goalie on my high school water polo team. What's so weird about that? My first year, I got an award for having a perfect (1.000%) goalkeeping record. The wierd thing about it was the award; I was really just the backup goalie that year, and it was for just a few minutes of one game, because Danny, our regular (kick-ass) goalie (who went on to become a dolphin trainer for Sea World) was taking the SAT. By the time he'd made it to the match, the other team had only taken one shot on me. I blocked it, sending the ball out of bounds. As the ball was being collected by the ref to resume play, Danny came running in, and the coach promptly pulled me out of the water.

2) I used to play in a punk-ska band called "G-Spot". Don't ask. There's not good reason or story behind the name. It's a lot better than what the band was called before I joined: the Yeasties. Anyway, yeah, I played keyboards and harmonica, and we got to share stages with bands like Sublime, Save Ferris, the Ska-tallites, and Hep Cat. At my "going-away", last show with them, I actually took off my shirt and gave it to some screaming tween who was pressed up against the stage. What an ass, I know.

3) I'm raising my son in the same house I was raised in.

4) The first record album I ever owned (I don't remember if I'd actually bought it myself, or if I'd asked for it) was Shaun Cassidy Live! I think the only reason I wanted it was because he was one of the Hardy Boys--it sure wasn't because of the music, because the only song I can remember on there is "Da Doo Run Run" or whateverthehell it was called! And the first concert I ever attended was Charo (Cuchi cuchi!) at the Del Mar Fair. If that doesn't count, then my first concert would be Oingo Boingo at SDSU's OAT.

5) I've competed in international tai chi competitions--ok, so they were held here, in the US, but the competition came from around the world. I (and my team mates) did pretty well, if I do say so.

6) I've jumped out of a plane, I've bungee jumped, and I've even jumped off a bridge into Mission Bay, but I refuse to go to Magic Mountain.

7) It's been two years. I'll leave it at that and to your imaginations. ;)

T-Day in T-Town

Cook off
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

We're back from Thanksgiving at Grandma's. A good, filling time was had by all. Hope you all had a lovely holiday.

Old Taft
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

These first two photos go out to Lauren, who was wondering where the oil fields were in one of my past pictures from Taft.

Even when you can't see the fields, you can always smell 'em. My stepdad calls it the smell of money (can you guess who they voted for?); I call it the smell of a litter box the size of a town.

All your base...
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

There is a kind of austere beauty in some parts of the region, if you can get away from the areas littered with those oddly dinosaur-shaped things that pump ex-dinosaurs outta the Earth,

Meth house
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

and away from the run-down neighborhoods, where meth labs gone bad (is that possible) gut houses when they explode.

0.75
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

And if all else fails, you can always look up. It's a big, wide-open sky out there, with hardly any light pollution. There were a few clouds obscuring the full moon, but I did get a clear shot of this one.

Happy Birthday to one of the Fathers of Photography

Yggdrasil
Originally uploaded by ebilflindas

In the spirit of name of this blog, I'd like to let y'all know that yesterday was the birthday of Louis Daguerre. I just found out myself, but maybe you'd already heard.

So happy birthday, M. Daguerre. Thank you for developing the process that led to my current hobby.

Looking back...(or Watch Me Post Like a Lazy Dog)

I was looking over my old WordPress blog (what I'd switched to after trying a very early version of Blogger), and came across a fun little post that I'd enjoyed posting--though my readership at the time was probably Population: Me. Now that I can count my readers on almost all the fingers of one hand, I thought I'd port it over here and shake the dust off of it.

And now I bring you, Mixed Couple...

Mixed couple, originally uploaded by ebilflindas.

 

You might not know this, but I'm an ordained minister. Sure, it was a mail-order kind of deal. Well, actually, I don't know if the word "order" is appropriate. I simply sent a postcard to the Univeral Life Church stating that I would like to be ordained, and they made it so.

Although I did it on a lark, my intent wasn't to demean the honor and prestige of the position. In fact, I've had the honor of officiating wedding ceremonies for two good friends. And they were beautiful ceremonies, if I may say so. I did my best to arrange each one to be uniquely suited to each couple.

And while I know that the marriages themselves are no reflection of my service as the matrimonial officiant, there is a part of me that is disappointed that only one of those unions is still intact. Questionable, yes, but intact nevertheless.

So I decided that I would no longer offer my services as an officer of matrimony. I did not want anymore to put two people together who would only either split up or live unhappily ever after. I once even stood by this decision when another friend asked this service of me. While I did not enjoy telling him no--that since I had only met his fiancee once and otherwise didn't know a thing about her, I did not feel comfortable doing that for them--I was proud of myself for holding to my principles on the matter. (BTW, had their arrangements been for some time in the future, I wouldn't have been so staunch in my conviction. As it was, they were looking for someone to marry them within the week or so.)

He said he understood, but I haven't heard from him since. I wonder how they're doing...

Anyway, so when I happened upon this seemingly mismatched couple, you would think that I wouldn't have even had to think about not putting them together. And you'd be right. The thought of not joining these two never crossed my mind.

In my silly, mildly-twisted mind (mildly? HA!), I thought, how better to enjoy an ice-cold Pepsi than in a sensuously curvaceous Coca-Cola glass?

Of course the partnership didn't last very long. Shortly after they'd been made one, the Pepsi ran off--with me, in fact--leaving the poor glass empty, cold, and alone.

I must confess, though. I'd do all over again.