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First entry of the new year. Updated my GothCode to GothCode98 and put in a tranlation button... that's on the "about me" page.
Also added a new button to my main menu.
Also updated my Ghost Stories page.
Added a Xmas picture page... basically just pics of me laying waste to my parents living room as I savagely tear open my gifts :)
added a new pic to me humor page
Ok... enough with the site updates... here's what's new in my life... last week I got hit by another drunk driver. This is the second time this has happened to me and I'm not too inclined to be nice and friendly about it. My car is demolished (*sniff*) but I am uninjured. Seat belts and air bags are a wonderful things. I can spare enough compassion to be greatful the other driver was not injured either. It was most clearly her fault (she made an illegal left turn and was drunk) and fortunately she was fully covered by GEICO. GEICO decided to not give me a hard time and classified the car as totaled so that's cool. No! You're not my friend and you can't have any of my money! Actually, I'll need most of it to get myself a new car.
so anyhow... I gotta new car... it's a Saturn stationwagon... green, of course.
Kelpie has a Saturn... is it not nifty? Worship the Saturn. (Props to Sluggy Freelance)
02.01.99-
Happy Imbolic/Candlemas to all.
I LOVE my new car. Finally have a vehicle worthy of putting my big 'ole Green Lantern symbol in the window.
haven't had much time for updates... been too busy...oh well... such is life.
There is no emotion, there is peace
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge
There is no passion, there is serenity
There is no death, there is the Force
For those of you who don't know... that's the Jedi Code
And after a brief bought with temporary insanity... I am, once again, myself. Boy... I don't know what the hell happened over the past weekend but it was a doozy. Maybe those wacky guys in the Government let something slip into the water. Whatever.
So... I've finally updated a few things... got rid of some dead links and such. The "teachers" button now leads to a link page of people I've trained with in the martial arts.
Western People always expect things to be good all of the time. And can't seem to understand when it's not. This is a very warped way to look at things. The Tao has both a white and a black half and each contains a bit of the other.
Well... yesterday was a pretty good day, all in all. I had a meeting with my old Wing Chun Kung Fu instructor. Haven't seen him in about 18 years. I'm going to start training with him again. It was great visiting his school again... almost like coming home.
Updated the Humor page
Can't tell ya what's coming next
'cause I don't know for sure
could be good and it could be bad
I don't know for sure
I guess that I'll continue on from day to day
the only way to answer that...
to answer that would be that way
I wanted this and I wanted that
I don't know for sure
and don't ask me 'cause I don't know
I don't know for sure
I never get confused 'cause I don't really know
So I'm happy... so what!
So what means, that I don't know
It's too simple to explain
but I don't know for sure
and words are never proper words
I don't know for sure
what is simple what is hard
is harder to discern
these feelings that I'm feeling
like the feelings that we learn
Can't tell ya what's coming next
'cause I don't know for sure
could be good and it could be bad
I don't know for sure
I never get confused 'cause I don't really know
so I'm happy... and so what!
So what means, that I don't know
Can't tell ya what's coming next, no
'cause I don't know for sure at all
Ash Wednesday - The Beginning of Lent
Lent... the great Catholic Excuse. This is when Catholics around the world "sacrifice" and give things up to show their devotion to God. Or maybe they're just trying to make up for all of the rotten things they've done for the rest of year.
Anyhow... I'll be joining them in this annual torture. I am.... giving up smoking... again.... this time will be the last time I try. If I don't make it this time, then I'll be smoking untill it kills me.
I am... giving up sodas during the week... none at all.
I am... getting up early each morning to do crunches and stretches
We'll see if all of this makes me a healthier and happier person. Right now I just want to choke the shit out of someone because I'm having a MAJOR nic-fit.
Once again, I'd like to call on my friends to send prayers, good vibes, etc. to my father. He was taken to the hospital today with some respiratory problems or some such. Turns out his heart is not pumping the way it should be and they are putting in a pacemaker today.
Wow... my father has his own cyber-ware. Okay... the first time I hear "I am Sullivan of Borg"... I'm moving out *grin*
His surgery went well, he's fine, and doctors expect him to be home today or tomorrow.
In light of recent changes in my life... I have updated my "Gothcode". It's on my "about me" page along with a handy-dandy translation button
See this? ... I hate these things! No... I didn't smack into one... I just hate them.
Well... today was the court date from my accident. The girl who hit me plead guilty to DWI and got $300 fine, 12 mo suspended license, and 90 days in jail, suspended jail time pending completion of some course.
Anyhow... I've got a new digital camera and I'm playing around with it... put some new pictures in various places... one of my car on my photo page, some of my Green Lantern paraphernalia on my Green Lantern page, and one new one on my medieval page.
So... I've been working with computers for about the past 10 years. I'm on a computer for 10-12 hours a day... every day, for the past 10 years. So, for the past month or so, I've been having these headaches. Sometimes bad... sometimes not... but it's almost always there. And for the past 4 or 5 months, I've been having some problems driving at night... things are little... ehhh... blurry... oncoming headlights are hell... you know what I mean. So what do you think I should do about this? RIGHT! So I did it... now Kelpie has new eyes.
Wooohooo! As of today, I was formally accepted into the Wing Lam Kung Fu Federation
well.. today is it. I've been on Wellbutrin for two weeks, as persscribed... and today is the day I official quit smoking. It's 10:52am now... so far, so good.
other things I'm cutting out of my life: Booze! I just don't see a need for it. There is nothing I do that requires alcohol. And it's not like I do it that much anyhow... once every couple of months... so, why do it at all? The next morning is deffinately not worth it.
I have made some changes to my GothCode, in the "about me" section.
The things that prompt me to update this page... before I launch into my rant, I'll get the update info outta the way first.
I have updated my "Teachers" page. Rick Nowlin was the best martial arts instructor I ever had. There is now a link to info on him and another to the production company that's making the movie he's in.
There is also now a picture of Rick on my pictures page.
The "no smoking" is going well... yes, I have had a few cigs since my "quit date"... but all in all I'm doing very well on it.
The Independent Martial Arts Federation has recognized my Style as legit and granted me an Instructorship. I'll have a link the them and more info in a bit.
Walpurgis Night again... the night before Beltain. I think this year I'm just going to lay low. Things feel too much like "Witch Hunt" season to make as much noise as I like to.
Anyone watch the local news last night? Did you see the thing about the trolley car on M St. that went up in flames? That was right outside of my building.
I'm coming back from lunch and ... oh... what are all those people looking at? Hmmm... wow, trolley car is at an odd angle there... hmmm... front end of trolley car is smashed in... hmmm... there's a few flames in the front of trolley car... hmmm... the flames are little bigger... WOOOOSH! hmmm... no trolley car.... no tree... no car in front of where the trolley car was. Actually, the structure of those things were still there... but in no way could you say they still served their intended function... well, actually... the tree survived. The people who were hurt had been taken into the lobby of my building, so of course, no one outside could go in until those people were stabilized and transported. I haven't heard if any of the injuries were serious.
I haven't been to show since I left Richmond. Last night I went down to the Capitol Ballroom with a friend to see Spahn Ranch, Switchblade Symphony and Front Line Assembly. It was lots of fun watching all the Leather and Latex ppl running around... especially the female ones (hey! I'm a male and I'm a breeder... wadda you expect?!?) . But I tell ya... there was so much Latex and Sweat in there that whole club smelled like a used condom.
*ahem*
Anyhow... it was lots of fun... hasn't changed much since my old Punk days, 'cept the music's gotten better... and ppl don't really slam dance anymore... more like push dance.
New stuff! Kelpie got a Quick Cam! Soon as figure out how.. I'll set it up as a web cam.
Kelpie got a pager! you can send me text messages by clicking here
Hmm... this dedication to losing weight is actually working. I've lost at least 2 inches from my waistline.
Went to the VA. Renfaire this past weekend... whatta blast! Had a great time and spent faaarrr too much money :)
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy!
This weekend's gonna be cooool :)
Going to an Amtgard Campout at Assateague. Wooohooo... D&D on the beach!
I'm working on setting up my web cam... should be available soon.
Kelpie Cam is Up!
Doing a minor face lift on my site. Seemed like there were too many menus and friends couldn't find the stuff they were looking for. The way it is now is probably temporary until I get inspired by something.
The campout was great, if a little on the errr.. hot side. We were camped out on Assateague, which is very close to Ocean City, MD. It's the island with all the wild horses. The general layout was like this:
Parking Lot
beginning of beach and camping area
Big ass Sand Dune.. like a ridge behind the camp sites...
over the dune was the rest of the beach and the ocean.
being a national park with restoration going on.. they requested that we not tramp around the Dunes. from about the area of the parking lot... a long ramp would go up to the top of the dune giving access to the beach and ocean. Well.. here.. look at this
we were the Eastport Camp. So anyhow... Sunday morning, I wake up about 6:30 am or so... open up my tent and look out. This horse comes trotting down from the parking lot, tromps up the ramp with resounding clomp clomp clomps... gets to the top of the dune... and stands there looking majestic for a few moments before walking on down to the beach.
It was pretty cool... we were literally sharing the island with them... they just sort of looked at us and we just sort of looked at them... and pretty much stayed out of each other's way other than looking.
the event itself was a blast. I fought well, role played well.. and generally just had fun. Got a bit of sunburn but not too bad. Sunday night, this girl we met did a great make up job on my face.. made me look just like Darth Maul. Then Darva and I had a lightsabre duel on the beach :).
so.. I'm back home now... a little bruised and a little burnt but very happy with my weekend.
I've canged the layout on some more of the pages... if anyone has any ideas on what would look good on this site.. let me know. I updated my "friends" page with a link to my friend Tisha.
woohooo... kelpie got a scanner... on my friends page I've put a link to pics of my ex-girlfriends.. well... the ones that I would still consider friends if they came around :)
I've also added two new pics of my friend Tisha
9:24 pm... added more pics... completely redid my pics page... sort of a "life of kelpie" theme.
Ehh... changed the pic page a bit more...found a song that kind of fit for it
Ok... I guess Tisha wanted to get in on the fun I was having with my webcam so she went and got one too... I'll be setting up a webcam page for her shortly.
It's been at least a week since I went off on a Rant so I'm thinking I'm overdue... so here goes:
20 some years ago, a guy named George Lucas wrote a story. And it was a great story! One that has an impact on me for most of my life. I know that there are many people out there who just as big of fans of Star Wars as I am... and some of them even more so. Because of the amazing impact each of the movies have had, and the space in between them where we could speculate about all sorts of things, this story has become deeply embeded in our collective psyche. Deffinately throughout the country... and perhaps even throughout the world.
In observing other fans and the websites of other fans, there is something slightly disturbing that I have noticed. That is the self-appointed Star Wars "experts" who meticulously pick apart each detail of the story for whatever reason. I'll give you an example, there's this guy who has a page about lightsabers... and it's pretty darn good page. And no one can deny that lightsabers are cool as shit! but this guy also speaks like he's a great authority on them... like he has the right to tell us what to think about lightsabers. he goes on for a while about how Ewan MacGregor picked his lightsaber out of box of them. He acts like he's offended that this was the case, instead of making the actor use the same design as was in ANH. He also goes off on rants about details of Episode 1 and states a number of times "I hope they explain that in one of the prequals"... like Lucas owes him something.
First of all, I have to say, get a fucking life! You are *not* an expert on lightsabers, nor is anyone else because the damn things don't even exsist. The Japanese have a word for people like this... "Otaku".... and yes.. there are sometings I can be "otaku" about.. like Star Wars and Green Lantern... but not to where is dominates so much of my life. And there is something that a lot of these Otaku have forgotten. That's the fact that it's NOT our story. Lucas came up with it, he wrote it, and he made the movies... it's HIS story, the product of HIS creativity and he do whatever the hell he wants with it. If he wants to have Yoda jump up in Episode 2 and do a Max Rebo song and dance number, it's his choice. Lucas doesn't *owe* us squat... no explinations, no prequals or sequals, NADA! He has already given us the gift of his creativity and anything more that's forthcoming is icing on the cake.
So shut the fuck up and watch the damn movie... if you don't like what you see... then I chalange you to create something better. Not just Star Wars as *you* think it should be... but something new, original and better... go ahead... I dare you.
Midichlorians Rock! Meesa Love Jar Jar Binks!
This is my desk at work
my computer knows the power of the Dark Side :)
updates:
I've updated the info on my "where's kelpie" page.
I don't care if the image on my webcam hasn't changed in a week... it's my toy and I'll play with it however I want to. If people get rude about it, I'll get rude back... and believe me, *no one* wants see my fat hairy ass up there.
Oh boy... this week is starting off much better than last.
I just went to lunch with close friend, and she told me the most delightful story :)
This person is the only person who has ever really been a "student" of mine in martial arts. Well, she got into a scrape this past weekend... against multiple opponents, all male rednecks. Not only did she kick butt... but she did so without sustaining serious injury herself, and without actually "hitting" any of them. She just kind of tossed them around for a while :)
I don't think there could be any greater affirmation of my efforts as a "teacher". I am so proud of her that I'm floating off my seat right now :)
I've been noticing that I'm starting to run a bit short on webspace. I've still got about 2 or 3 mb left, but it probably won't take long to fill that up. I really don't want to pay for extra web space, so I'm going to be moving some of my stuff over to a free provider. It's a fairly stable one, and I've already got a domain name for it.. http://sithlord.freehosting.net The drawback is that in order to keep it free... I have to put their advertising banners on the top... so... deal... the banners are fairly inoffensive and easily ignored... not like the anoying pop up windows that some other free hosting services make you use.
You may think you've finally gotten the upper hand... that what you fear is close to being extinct... you may think that it's your puppet that you've put in that chair. But you CAN NOT circumnavigate Karma. This will come back to haunt you.
There's no vestiage of begining, no prospect of an end
when we all incinerate it'll all happen again, yeah
if you came to conquer, you'll be king for a day
but you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away
and believe these words you hear, when you think your path is clear
You have no control
You have no control
You do not understand
You have no control
You are not in command
You have no control
No control
No control
You have have no control
If anyone is wondering what yesterday's bit was about... it's about the Panchen Lama. If he's still alive, he celebrated his 10th birthday on April 25th. He celebrated it in captivity, under house arrest by the Chinese Government for the last 5 years. Click the picture for more info.
Well... I survived my trip to Virginia Beach despite the best efforts on the part of the Atlantic Ocean to turn me into a lawn dart (quick aside, related to lawn darts, check these guys out... their motto is "in beer we trust" - just the type of super-intelligent anthropoids I'd love to hang out with).
and in spite of the nasty sinus infection I picked up, I did have a good time. Nothing like having a wave lift you up and plant you face first in the ocean floor to make you feel alive.
Ok... this is still freaking me out so check this out if you haven't already
I've long held the opinion that spiders are evidence of the Forces of Evil on the face of the Earth... spiders and hornets... as far as I'm concerned, hornets are just little flying weapons created by the Evil One himself... spiders are his servants and spies.
Many people will say, "oh.. spiders are helpful" or "spiders are good luck" etc.. yeah right... I can't help but remember the line from Usual Suspects, "the greatest trick the Devil ever played was convincing the human race he didn't exist."
Spiders would like you to *think* they are helpful and harmless
Ok.. so why am I on this spider kick?
This morning I go downstairs to my bathroom to do bathroom things and I encounter a spider. A dead one. Sitting under the little stool across from the toilet that usually serves as a paper and magazine rack.
It's a big one... but it's dead... on it's back... legs curled up... there's a big stick I keep in the bathroom specifically for dealing with unwanted insectoid intruders. I take the stick and shove him a few times to make sure he's dead... no movement.. legs still curled up.. he's dead. So I shove him over into a corner where's he's out of the way but I can still keep an eye on him... just in case.
So I'm sitting there... on my throne, as it were... contemplating the pure evil nature of spiders. I glance over to the corner... and sure enough... the legs uncurl and THE FUCKER STARTS MOVING!!!
"Oh, HELL NO" I shout... grab my bug slayer and WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
You see... spiders may be pure evil... the may be the most vile and loathsome creatures I can think of... but, as my undead arachnid friend discovered, they still understand a language I've gotten fairly good at speaking... KINETIC IMPACT!!!
You want a sign of our times? What sort of people are being produced by our society? In the 60s there was a big musical festival called Woodstock. The whole idea of it peace and love and all that hippy stuff. For decades, Woodstock has been one of the penultimate icons of the "peace & love" idea.
This past weekend has changed all of that. The current young generation, and generations to come, will remember Woodstock as a place of violence. Where 4 women were RAPED, in the mosh pit, in front of the stage, in front of everybody. And no one stopped it.
And then the festival was ended prematurely, because of a massive bloody riot.
I would like to thank all of the wonderful young people who were there, for shattering the icon of peace that I grew up with... I can see such a brilliant future for all of us now.
I'm outta here for the weekend! Going down to Richmond.
Quotes of the week
"I should warn you, she's hunting a husband in a manner that should require a spear"
"Kelpie had a little trouble with his computer
First it wouldn't boot.
Then it wouldn't boot.
Then it booted and said 'Fuck You' to the external mouse"
Anyone feel like loaning me a computer so I can play EverQuest? Seems my laptop will do everything *but* run that game *sigh*
yeah yeah yeah... I haven't updated in a while. Ok... my friend in Richmond is building me a new computer... one that EverCrack will work on. In the meantime, I've also been sucked into the Soul-stealing abyss called Ultima Online. It's fun stuff... better than anything else I've found without the presence of a girlfriend... hmmm.... maybe even better than having a girlfriend.
naaaahhhhh....... but on that note... I almost let it get me... it really, really tried but I managed to dodge it yet again. "It" is the "Terminal Fuck-Its"... that wonderful feeling when you just don't give a shit anymore. I was most of the way to completely giving up on ideas like "love". I was thinking how the only thing it's ever really bought me is misery... and I'm looking at all the relationships of people around me getting screwed up. It was like this cloud hanging over me and preventing me from seeing anything positive. I was almost resolved to being a cold heartless bastard for the rest of my life when I suddenly realized that it just.. wasn't me. That's just not the way I am. So I told the cloud to piss off and go bug somebody else.
I must apologize for something that happened a while ago. I was helping a friend with a rather intense and unpleasant emotional situation... and I dropped my ICQ into N/A... immediately, I was buried under multiple messages of "hey man.. how's it going"?? and the like...
I reacted... badly... I believe my response was a mass message of something like, "What part of 'N/A' do you not fucking understand"??? The words may have a little different, but that was general gist of it.
*I Know* that people I consider friends were offended by this and I haven't heard from many of them since. If any of you happen to look here... I am truly sorry for that outburst. I was way out of line and I sincerely hope that you can forgive me.
Well... more changes in my life... just little ones actually... I first became a vegetarian to prove to myself that I could... that I had the discipline to give up something like that. Approaching two years, I think I have accomplished that... I have nothing left to prove to myself as far as that is concerned. But... in the process of accomplishing that.. I think I gave up more than just meat... I think I gave up a little bit of "Me" (what do you mean when you say the word, "I"?). So... *drumroll* tonight *cymbals clash* I had *woman faints in the third row* A BIG ASS BACON CHEESEBURGER!!! AND I LOVED IT!!!!!
so... I am a carnivore once more... I'm not saying I'm going to go out and rend flesh every chance I get... but I am not going to treat meat as if it were nuclear waste anymore, either.
Well, well, well... a WHOLE LOT has happened in the past month. I used to go into this place for lunch almost everyday... called the Soho Cafe. There was this girl who worked as a cashier... the first time I saw her, she almost knocked me over with her smile. I was still dating Tisha at the time so it didn't have much more effect than that. As time went on, Tisha and I broke up (still good friends) and I continued to go to this Cafe. This girl was always so nice to me. There would be a long line at her register and a short one elsewhere... I would stay in her line just to say hello. The one day she tells me that she won't be working there anymore because she is going to school... not far away, Northern Virginia Community College. The next day I gave her my number. She didn't call for two weeks and I was about to give up.. then she called. Well.. to make a long story short... we are now dating :)
Her name is Sun Young Cho, but everybody calls her Sunny... very appropriate name because her smile is bright enough to light the sky. She just turned 21 last week... and has never had a boyfriend before.
She is so completely good and sweet... things that I thought would never exist in my life again. Needless to say, she has completely crashed through every barrier and defensive wall I had set up... the light inside her is probably the only thing that could have gotten to me this way.
There was a person I was interested in some time back... who had a deeper fascination with darkness than I did. I pursued her relentlessly... she accepted me as a friend... a very dear and close friend... but never gave me her heart. Once I asked her why and the only thing she could tell me was that I was too light. She basically said that I was a creature born of light... despite the darkness I would choose to dance with. I think now, that she was right. It took the light of this pure, amazing, wonderful person... to show me that... and for reasons known only to God... this girl seems to be crazy about me... Hear me complain :)
On other notes... the company I worked for... SIIA, seems to have gotten themselves into a bit of financial trouble and had to lay people off... unfortunately... I was one of them... anyone looking to hire a web monkey?
They tested that thing I was screaming about a while ago... that ion accelerator/collider thing that had a chance of creating a black hole here on earth... and.. well.. we're still here... but what the hell is this thing growing out of my back?
well.. a month after my last posting.. I am still unemployed. My money is still holding out ok.. but that won't last too much longer. Never assume that the universe is just going to go along nicely with what you have planned. By now... I wanted be well away from Arlington, out of this house. I love my parents dearly, and I know that everything they do, is trying to help me. It's just that they never ask me first.
Anyhow... things are going wonderfully with Sunny. She taught me how to say "I love you" in Korean... and showed me how to write it.
That says, "I love you
From: Cho Sun-young
To: Patrick"
I know I am not spelling this correctly so if I offend anyone of Korean heritage, please forgive me.. but it pronounced something like "Nanim - Tang Shin Er - Tsa Dang Ham Ni Ta"
Yes... Kelpie's got it baaaaaaaaad.
Well... Kelpie is still unemployed.. .but it looks like I'll be getting a job soon. I updated my webcam page... there's a picture of my girlfriend trying to hide from my camera. Now she's trying to tickle me to get back at me *grin*
I've started working out at the gym... on a program and everything... gods does my body hurt.. but I guess I'll get better. I have job interview this evening that looks promising.
My Sweetie was kind enough to give me the correct pronunciation of "I love you" in Korean... it's "Na Nin Dang Shin Er Sa Rang Hab Ni Da".... she also gave me a shorter way of saying it.. which is "Sa Rang Hae"... it looks like this:
I did that myself... yes, she is teaching me Korean in little bits... starting with writting and reading the letters. I also went out and bought a big-assed book on the subject.
Kelpie is practicing and studying... here's my latest effort in learning a new language...
geee.. guess what it says??
Yea, Bub... I got yer parameters right here
