No, this is almost done

Just wanted to give you an update on my Egyptian mask. I guess you could say it looks pretty good; I spent like 3 hours shading the Jazz logo. Tomorrow I'll add a gold bracelet.

It is done!

Well I popped the freakin question! I was pretty suprised myself, that she said yes. The date is January fourth for all of you that have calenders. Start thinking about any kind of gift you can get us....

Tornado destroys Indiana

While attending a Peyton Manning autograph show recently, a few local residents got more than they expected. Instead of heeding tornado warnings and fleeing like most sane Avon residents, local nuts Brandon and Anna Shirley, along with their innocent son, Grant, decided to become storm chasers and see how close they could get to the edge of disaster. Remarkably, no one was hurt, although a few cows perished after being hurled miles from their pastures. Manning joined them in their storm chasing and also escaped harm, and to the delight of Colts' fans everywhere, will still start this coming Sunday. "It was quite an amazing ride," added Manning, who also stated, "it was quite a rush. It felt better than winning the Super Bowl." Bradon Shirley, local idiot who is a law student at IU, said, "My brother Jeff warned me about being close to such a storm, but no one ever listens to what he says anyway." The tornado destroyed most of Avon, Indiana, leaving many residents left to ponder what is left of their homes and belongings. Here's some advice to all members of the Shirley family : listen to your brother next time. By the Way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA!

Storm Trooper

Grant slept through his first tornado siren warning yesterday. He's been notorious for calmly riding out scary storms. I knew that there was a tornado watch but I did not think that anything would really happen. When I heard the siren, I reacted quickly. My first reaction was wrong; I ran to the window to see if there was a tornado somewhere. I walked outside in the midst of thunder and lightning to in a vain attempt to locate the active storm cell. Anna was more realistic. She went to the closet to change into more presentable pajamas. In the event that we were to be interviewed by the news in front of our destroyed house, she didn't want to be that person emotionally recounting the story wearing only her husband's flannel t-shirt. Jeff was a big help, really. His cool and rational tone recalled images of 911 operators on William Shatners' "Rescue 911". He talked me through the standard procedures and then followed up every 15 minutes. The follow up calls were the standard, "how are things" and then he would tell me to "check the post and leave a comment." I doubt 911 operators are as demanding. Thanks Jeff. Turns out, we both reacted irrationally. The storm moved overhead, flashed, thundered, and rained. Grant reacted correctly. We could have slept through it and been fine.

We all wear masks... metaphorically speaking

In case you were wondering, the top Egyptian death mask is mine, although it's not finished yet. So if you're not claustrophobic and you want me to make you one, too bad, we're out of plaster cast molding. More pics are forthcoming...

Bribes

Jenna, that IS a sucker that Grant is eating. It's the only thing that has made his haircuts a little better.

...I mean, my little friends

So Jenna thinks I don't miss her kids, since I only posted pictures of Grant. The aforementioned is partly true, every time I call her house there's kids screaming in the background. That part, I don't miss, but other than that, I wish I still you were closer, too.

Where have you gone, my little friend?

As I was looking through some of my old pictures tonight, I was reminded of the fond memories I have of Grant's last few days in Utah. (sniff) That's all I have to say.

Some real pictures for a change

Remember when people used to post real pics? Here's a tribute to that blog-era.

Here is Holland in the backyard pool, Rafe taking a nap on the stairs (I think Billy Ray talked him into it) and a group sink soak.

I will do better at posting pics. Give me time, I'm techno-challenged.

The Fat-om Menace

In a clash of the titans, literally, Darth Vader and his band of rebels were no match for the brute force of the Fat-om Menace, Blake Scoresby. He wreaked havoc on their pitiful Imperial Walkers, while his blaster shot down enemy fighters with relative ease.

Hoth Falls into Enemy Hands

Jeff, eat your heart out. Conner has mad MS Paint skills! I came home from work and Conner showed me his digital reconstruction of the Empire strike on the rebel base hidden on the planet Hoth. The force field generators (seen at the far left) are seconds away from being destroyed. But not before Luke Skywalker is about to take out the AT-AT, or Imperial walker (Luke shown dangling from it's underbelly). The rebel snow speeders (shown in upper left) and laser canons (bottom-to bottom left) are no match for the Imperial forces. The AT-ST's march toward the rebel base, annihilating everything in their path (seen bottom center with the lead scout transport taking out a rebel). An Imperial transport has landed behind the AT-AT bringing in reinforcements (Luke's crashed snow speeder is shown in front of the transport). The rebels were able to take out one AT-AT (shown at the bottom far right) with one of it's broken feet on fire.

[I recommend clicking on the pictures to view it more closely or right clicking and saving it and view in Paint- it would be a shame to miss the detail of the dangling Luke and the fried rebel in the snow.]

He also recreated the attack on the Death Star shown below.

What's Going on at 1:00am?

I'm taking my 1:00am study break to post another great clip by "The Onion". I am tired and I may regret this, but I trust that it will still be funny even after I get some sleep.
Country Music Stars Challenge Al-Qaeda With Patriotic New Song â??Bomb New Yorkâ??