So, how's it going people? I'm not doing too bad, all things considering. I've got a couple of days off in a row, so I've been enjoying that quite a bit. I'm back to work at the store on Wednesday night, so I'm thinking I'll have a bit of time to enjoy myself between now and then. I've been playing a lot of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on the ol' PS3, and I'm almost done beating it (for the second time). It's such a good game, I mean, it looks, sounds, and plays out like a really good adventure movie. I guess the main character in most movies doesn't die like 60 times though. Whoops.
I'm blogging right now from the comfort of the Dupuy house, as Danielle and I have set up camp here for today. We've kind of been driving Danielle's mom around quite a bit, because her dad isn't feeling too good. He's actually in the hospital right now. He had a bit of an episode yesterday (they still haven't figured out exactly what was wrong), so they're keeping him for a few days for observation. He's (according to him) feeling better today than he was yesterday, so I'm sure he'll be fine, but I'd be mega-bored if I was him. The doctors seem to think that he'll be fine too, so I'm not too worried. He's been cracking jokes the whole time with the doctors, so his demeanor certainly hasn't suffered an ounce.
On top of all that, I'm helping Danielle with the final paper that she has to hand in for her
SPEAKING of that, holy fuck what a mess the world has become. And by the world, I mean the United States, and by become, I mean always is. If you haven't heard already, during Black Friday, which is this biggest shopping day in the US, there were CASUALTIES. That's right. People died while they were out shopping, or while they were working for a store. First off, one guy was trampled to death while trying to keep crowds back at the store he was temporarily employed at. I mean, holy fuck. Were people really willing to actually kill somebody to get a deal on a TV or something? Like, how fucked up is it that when you're actually walking on a human being, squashing the life out of him, until he's dead, that the only thought that crosses your mind is, perhaps, : "At least I'm in the door, and another step close to that electronic device that my son needs or he's going to be a little shit for the rest of the year". Seriously. I hope they find the people who are responsible for for this after reviewing the tapes, and they all go to jail. For years.
Also, two people were shot in a toys r us.
WHAT THE FUCK.
Sorry about the rant there. It just happens sometimes. Ok, well, it happens more often than not.
It's finally December. I like December. It's a very fast month. I mean, it's all holidays and Christmas drunks and New Year's parties. It's good. People can finally play Christmas Music and put up decorations and not have a molten-hot bucket of scorn thrown at them from my direction. I love the holidays. Don't get me wrong people, but as the saying goes "there's a time and a place for everything, so don't put your decorations up too early or someone is going to kick you in face". I stand by that. One of the neighbours on my mom's street had Christmas decorations up on the first of November. You know what that really tells me? It tells me that you're a fucking Christmas-psycho-nazi, who is all about everything going perfect, and constant accusations of people "ruining christmas" all day long on the 25th of December.
"Oh, don't open your presents so fast, you'll ruin christmas"
"Don't fight over what part of that joint gift is yours, because you'll ruin Christmas"
"Oh my God, I forgot to put that package of socks in your stocking. Now I've ruined Christmas"
"Why aren't you wearing any pants at the dinner table? All the guests are staring, you're making me cry, the food is getting cold, you drank all the wine this morning, and you're ruining Christmas".
(note: I've not encountered any of these statements in real life, save for the joint gift thing. Me and my brothers got into an argument over who owned which parts of the super nintendo we got one year, but there was no "ruined Christmas" said in an italicized fashion)
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited for the whole thing. I like giving presents the most. I like to give good ones so I can see people react. It's really the only effective way to "ruin Christmas" for me. I don't want you to know what you're getting because it's more fun that way. For me at least. I get to dangle people along, trick them into thinking they might be getting this, or that, or something along the lines of what they were thinking and then BAM, hit them with something awesome.
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Christmas!
That was my rant for today it seems. I should probably get along with posting the pictures. Maybe I'll explain them all first. (Danielle's cat is snoring. It sounds pretty funny).
On Saturday, it was Chuck's birthday so we went on over to his place for a celebratory potluck/drink-fest. Everybody showed up with some food in hand, drinks to match, and some cheer in mind. Danielle and I brought a taco dip, and a secret special birthday chicken poutine for Chuck (and everyone else). Chris brought some yummy smoked salmon rolls and an assortment of cheese and meat, Chuck and Alice whipped up a veggie stir fry, Omar brought a really really delicious soup (which resulted in my first knowing consumption of tofu), Gordon and Sam brought cookies and other dessert things, Mike brought some pie, and Sean and Aquamaria brought CHEESECAKE FROM THE GODS. Dan brought the hustle, but we'll cover that later. After everything was either cooked/heated up/ready to go, we all took up some food and sat down to enjoy. Everything was really good, and I even ate the smoked salmon roll things, despite my unexplained but strong dislike of smoked salmon. Here are some of the shots I took...
Picture of a picture??
Blurmar
Poutine components
Best present ever?
Then Dan showed up around 10:30 or so, and the ham level was through the roof. More ham then a pig farm, I'd say. So Dan did a little catching up, ate a sandwich, and then we got around to the cake...
Dan says: "IMMA GONNA EAT THIS SANDWICH!"
We soon discovered that Chuck and Alice's place has a fantastic feature: many nooks for hanging out in. You can lean in them, partially visit other areas in the house through them, and even store your stuff there when you come in. Danielle and I have nooks too, but they're too low for hanging out, and they have dangerous spikes in them that attack you if you try and put anything in them. I took some "nook shots".
FRENCH FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIES
Chuck got the Astro Boy boxed set from Alice for his birthday:
Sean made soup to eat. Maria got in his face.
"The French Fry Odyssey"
Oranges...
So I found this hair clip thing. It looked like a mustache. I made people put it on their faces. It was fun and funny at the SAME TIME.
Then, things got a little out of hand...
One of my favorites:
Pocket-stache:
STACHERO BOY
Eventually, there was a return of the Venn diagram.
A WILD GORDON APPEARS!
Smile, dammit
Cheese Cake
Danielle sees cheese cake
So, Dan did a rousing rendition of his version of "The Hustle". Of course he had to stretch...
and then verify that it was a vinyl copy of the song, on the correct record...
BUT THEN IT WAS GO TIME
Chuck was pretty happy with the whole thing, and everyone else loved it too.
Mike seemed largely unimpressed.
So that wraps up this update. This weekend bring DanMas XXI : Faxeimum Impact. If you want to come to the party, and you don't know much about what I'm talking about already (though I'm sure most of you do), lemme know! I've got to get back to helping Danielle out here, as I've been neglecting her for about an hour or two. I don't really remember when I started this thing today.
GFY,
Tony I