Dating Woes: A pretty decent guy....

Sigh...at least he is, "...comfortable with who I am and the size of my penis without having to slap someone in the face with it to prove how big it is," because that would just be awkward.

My Self-Summary

I am a pretty decent guy. Sometimes I can be pretty depressed and sometimes I feel so good I think I might cry. I am learning to love myself and my life. I spent too much time doing the opposite and trying to destroy myself. I get kind of lonely sometimes because I don't have much of a social life but I am trying to work on that too. I am definitely a work in progress but I wouldn't have it any other way. Though I guess really everyone is a work in progress so maybe that is a non statement. I try to live a good life and treat people with kindness and respect but don't really expect the same out of people. People sometimes make me sad if I think about them too much. I guess I have too high of expectations. That's what people tell me...though I am pretty sure everyone has limitless potential and I try to see that in everyone I meet. Even when it's REALLY buried under crap. I hate social expectations and I like to say things that catch people off guard or make them uncomfortable.....sometimes when I think about space and the universe as a whole I feel so small I feel like I can't breathe and sometimes I feel like this whole life we live is just a dream and I expect to wake up at anytime but I continue on and on despite how tiny I am. I like to think about things on a cosmic scale because I feel it puts things into perspective and if your whole life is just a fart in the wind as far as time goes you don't take things so god damned serious. I get sooooo tired of everyone taking everything so fucking serious. Most of the shit we worry about doesn't even come close to mattering. Some things matter but for the most part it's all just a pissing contest. I don't care for pissing contests or dick measuring of any kind. I am comfortable with who I am and the size of my penis without having to slap someone in the face with it to prove how big it is. I am a bitter angry man who is also peaceful and full of love for my fellow humans but despise them at the same time. I am a walking contradiction and will never get lost in the conciseness of the masses. I dont water things down or walk on egg shells. I tell it like i see it and I don't stroke egos just so you'll stroke mine. Tell me the ugly hard truth even if it breaks me down. I'll get back up and offer up my face to the universe for another scar.....

Going through the change...

Here is a brief overview of my cartoon self going changes...directly related to Chris Grine's mood. :)
How much fun is it to work with cartoonists? No, really....how much fun is it?!? Check out Chris's awesome robots with stuff at www.shoeboxblog.com

Westside Stories: Architect PICKED!

Finally decided on an architect, Jamie Darnell...and having to send out the break up emails to the others makes me feel all barfy. Feel really good about my choice....but if he changes his mind like the last one, I might have a breakdown...

CANNOT wait to get started. This is all starting to feel real again.

Please to Enjoy 74

please to enjoy = 50% new + 50% new to me + 50% songs from back in the day + 50% songs that don't quite fit

Link to file:
https://download.yousendit.com/cmczV0p4bEErV3cwTVE9PQ

1. I Would Be Sad - The Avett Brothers
2. I Know What I Am - Band Of Skulls
3. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat - Beck
4. Eid Ma Clack Shaw - Bill Callahan
5. Fireflies - Chris Garneau
6. Everytime I'm With you - Dark Night of the Soul
7. Being Bad Feels Pretty Good - Does It Offend You Yeah?
8. Concrete - The Features
9. Fortune Teller - Forest Fire
10. Technicolor Health - Harlem Shakes
11. Dark Sedan - Karl Blau
12. Breaking It Up - Lykke Li
13. Into The Galaxy (Metronomy Remix) - Midnight Juggernauts
14. Only from Huggable Dust - Okay
15. Secret - The Pierces
16. Street Boy (Bonus Track) - Rodriguez
17. The Thrill Of Thirty Seconds - Skint & Demoralised
18. My Boys - Taken By Trees
19. Jazz (We've Got) - A Tribe Called Quest
20. Sit Down By The Fire - The Veils
21. These Few Presidents - Why?
22. Psychic City - YACHT

Dating Woes: wtf

Caption: I do love sunsets. (TRUE STORY!! Couldn't make this up if I tried.)

....I kinda wanna go out with him.

Dating Woes: my ONLY woo-er...

Meet Dew Drop Down, he is "not really in a relationship place" but is interested in pursuing a "sexual partnership"...for the love of God....sigh.


Tear.

Dating Woes: FUNNY pic series

Ok, so after several people bugged me about telling some of my dating stories, I decided to post some of the highlights. I can't actually comment on dates, because you have to GO on dates to comment about them. :) Hopefully soon...you will be able to FULLY share in my dating pain. Till then, here are some funny pic series that I have run across.


1. Blurry Guy



2. Visor. No Visor.



3. Same guy, same weird angle, different places. (note: on one of the photos the caption says that he was surprised when someone took his pic. But you can see his arm holding the camera...and it is exactly the same as the others...hmmm.)

Please to Enjoy September: Strummin Boys

Ok, so I have missed a few months...had a few things going on, but hopefully I am back on track.



please to enjoy = 50% new + 50% new to me + 50% songs from back in the day + 50% songs that don't quite fit

Link to file:
https://download.yousendit.com/cmcxUXVnUzhreEEwTVE9PQ

1. Paranoia in B Major - The Avett Brothers
2. Summer Heads - Rhombus
3. Restless - Langhorne Slim
4. Baby's Hammer - The Features
5. Burning Stars - Mimicking Birds
6. House Of Valparaiso - Calexico
7. In This Lonely Town - Jeremy Jay
8. Burning Stars - Neight
9. Pistol of Fire - Kings Of Leon
10. 2 Atoms In A Molecule - Noah And The Whale
11. Hand on Your Heart - Jose Gonzalez
12. I'm the Man - Kansas City Bear Fighters
13. All Over Town - The Kooks
14. Coal/Ivory - Pale Young Gentlemen
15. Roll Away Your Stone - Mumford & Sons
16. Top Yourself - The Raconteurs
17. Shangri-La - M. Ward
18. When We Embraced - Micah P. Hinson
19. I'll Be Your Man - The Black Keys
20. All My Days - Alexi Murdoch
21. Beard Of Bees - Clem Snide
22. With Strangers - Little Joy
23. Gamble Everything For Love - Ben Lee

Dating Woes: NO words.....

I just had to post this....but it is waaaay to sad for me to talk about....yet..........my life is just.....I have no words. Thanks Chris Grine, for laughing at my pain. :)

Westside Stories: SIGH...now for the hardest decision.

I went from being unexpectedly Architectless, to having 3 awesome choices and all are small business and/or start ups which I love supporting. Still haven't decided....here are the contenders...

Stephen and Ersela: Agency
• Bro and Sis-in-laws of my new neighbors, Sarah and Thomas Mueller
• Fancy NYC Architects, who are currently part of amazing fellowship
• Only gonna be here for the design phase, which I didn't originally realize was an issue.
• A staircase designed by Stephen http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/dynamic-descent.aspx

Dominique and Ryan: Davison Architects
• Working on a LEED Platinum and Energy Star house right now
• Super nice
• Do extremely detailed drawings, which will make all our lives easier
• Have worked with my builder Jamie before
• http://www.davisonarch.com/

Jamie Darnell: (Recently left El Dorado to do his own thing)
• Built this amazing house that is in my new hood http://www.dwell.com/articles/plains-gold.html
• Had some awesome ideas of how to make my box, less boxy
• Have the exact same style
• http://www.eldoradoarchitects.com

Room with a View: Moving in...

I gots my key and officially started moving into 1610 West 41st....into a lovely room with lots of "character". Here are some highlights of my new digs.

1. Grime level one, since been removed, and to be honest, I might have been a part of making the grime, during one of the many nights spent drinking in this very kitchen.



2. My room, complete with DIRECT access to the shower though the giant hole in the wall.



3. Party hard, recycle hard.



4. Killer guard frog.

Westside Stories: Goodbye trusty old desk...

One more tiny chunk of my former life gone. Super sad to see this desk go, but I refused to move all 250 lbs of it again. Hope Kyle from Craigslist treats her well.

Things I loved about my desk:
• It was discolored in all the right ways.
• It had secret drawers and pull out tables for all my typewriter needs.
• It was born the same time I wish I was born...early 60's.
• We spent hours and hours and hours together during my design bootcamp time at Design Ranch.
• Pretty sure I could've survived nuclear fallout under it.
• There was sand in all the drawers from the sandblasting, which made finding a pen, like a tiny beach vaycay.

Gluten Hates My Guts: Zucchini Pesto Potato Magic!

Got inspired for this little combo after eating an amazing Zucchini Pesto soup at Happy Gillis. It is gluten-free and depending on the pesto you use, dairy-free too. My tums is thanking me for this little experiment gone really right!! So far, I have just been eating it as a main dish, but I bet it would be amazing with brown rice.

Zucchini Pesto Potato Magic: All parts are approx., mostly cause I am a rule breaker. :)

• 2 Medium zucchinis
• 4 Red potatoes with skins left on
• 1 Can of Artichokes or 1 box of frozen
• 1-2 TBS of pesto (Highly recommend Emily's amazing Basil Basil Pesto)
• 2 TBS Olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon, zest is nice too
• Couple shakes of dried minced onion
• Couple shakes of cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a pan, then add chopped potatoes with skins on. After a couple minutes, add the zucchinis, chopped, and everything else, EXCEPT the pesto. Let it all simmer together until veggies are the tenderness you like. I like the potatoes a little crunchy, so I let it cook for around 10-15 minutes. Turn off heat, add the pesto and mix around. Then eat! Yum!

Gluten Hates My Guts: Intro to the Body Ecology Diet

So, I ran across this book, The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates, on a website and it seemed like the answer to all of my issues. I am only half way through it right now but, very soon, my Body Ecology experiment will begin!! Just have to psyche myself up...it is not the easiest program to understand, much less, actually follow. It seems like a worthy experiment though!! I will be posting successes, failures, recipes, results, loves, hates etc.

Here are the issues it says it will fix or balance:
• Headaches
• Depression
• Low sex drive
• Food allergies
• Sensitivity to odors and tobacco
• Joint and muscle pain
• Digestive issues
• Poor Sleep


Here are the basic theories....which are all about balance:
• You need to eat foods that are balanced with expansive(sugar, coffee) and contractive(salt, meat) properties so your body systems can function properly.
• You need to balance your body's acid vs. alkaline so that yeast, which feed on the acids, cannot survive.
• 80/20 Rule #1 - stop eating when are 80% full so there is 20% room for your tums to digest.
• 80/20 Rule #2 - meals should be 80% alkaline veggies and 20% acid protein
• Eat/Avoid foods for your blood type.

Westside Stories: 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back

Wow. What a couple of weeks! After losing my architect, having zero people look at my house, garbage disposal breaking, computer dying, dad having another stroke....things are finally looking up. Slowly, but at least headed the right direction. I really should have been more specific when I yelled out into the universe I wanted to totally change my life. I should have added a few more exceptions to my "totally". Lesson learned!

On the bright side, I found a new Architect team that I am super excited about. They are a husband/wife team from NYC and the in-laws of my future neighbors, who are also building green on a budget. As much as I HATE the whole "everything happens for a reason" crapola, I truly feel like this combo of architects and builder are going to work out great!!

I am also moving on up, to the norther side, to deluxe room in a semi-sty. My friends Jason and Tom have a spare room since Ghattas is going to KU to be Dr. World Domination. I will be packing up the 4 boxes of stuff left in my life and living the next year+ with:

this guy....

and this guy...

and this guy (plus 80 more of his gnat friends that hang out in the bathroom).

Pretty sure all of this adds up to lots of adventure. Good thing, since I will not have cable or money left to go anwhere after my 3 rents/mortgages. UGH! Can't wait!!

Fingers crossed I sell my house before the stress of not selling it makes me crazy...er.