briangalloway

new blog

2006-03-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

this blog has run its course, and i have created a new one in anticipation of my upcoming motorcycle trip to alaska. new blog is located here. let me know what you think. gracias.

ill prepared

2006-03-04T15:19:00.000-08:00

i'm quickly becoming aware of the fact that if the direction of my life was left to me, I would involve myself in very little, I would commit myself to nothing and I would probably talk to only three or four people on a regular basis. I don' really want anything apart from my little, comfortable world. hesitantly...stubbornly...I am glad my life is not left up to me. it would dry up very quickly.

why, microsoft....why???

2006-01-30T22:02:00.000-08:00

i grew up on macs...well, after the kaypro, that is. and an interesting (useless) fact about kaypro is that in 1983 they were the 5th largest PC manufacturing company in the world. anyways, my school had macs when i was little because our headmaster was john couch, of old apple "lisa" fame. i learned what a computer could do by working on macs...and when i say "what a computer could do", i mean that i learned how to adequately disguise my game playing when in typing class...i mean LoadRunner class...i mean typing class. i liked macs, but in the same way that a child who was only ever tasted orange soda likes orange soda. then i met the PC and began to learn its ways. as i forayed into the realm of the PC i simultaneously left the world of mac behind. not because it was a bad world, but because i had just found cream soda and the orange no longer held my attention. i became more and more comfortable with the PC and soon found little use for my mac skillz. that was probably sometime in the vicinity of 1993 or so. anyways, sometime between then and now, mac...oh, sorry...apple became this looming bastion of overpriced snobbery. i bought my current mp3 player many moons ago for just under $200 dollars and have since purchased a 40gb hard drive to upgrade it...and i'm still well under the price of a small, shiny, white apple item that holds a fifth of the music that mine does.

so where am i going with this? frankly, i'm not sure. i suppose it's all been historical data in support of this: apple...macs...whatever, are nice machines, but they cost too much and they cater to an ethos that i tend to find snobby, in the same way that Hummers cater to an ethos that i find snobby, just in a more southern, "i can crush you" sort of way. you don't necessarily buy a mac/ipod to be "all that you can be" when it comes to computers/music players. you buy it because it's white and it has a picture of an apple on it.

so, by now, i think that i have adequately proven to you that i used to really dig macs and now, while i have tremendous respect for the machines themselves, i despise them for all they stand for. and that leads me to this singular question that irks me to no end. if macs and PC's are really on the same playing field performance-wise, then why can't windows put out a music player that has visualizations that look better than Lite-Brite animations? don't you see, windows? i want to like you more. you had me at hello...but iTunes is prettier than you are. their visualizations are smooth...flowing...entrancing. i don't know if "entrancing" is even a word, but iTunes has me talkin' jibberish. now, i know what you'll say. "visualizations have no bearing on a music player's performance, so why do you care?" yes, true...and i honestly don't really care. i'm not in the habit of zoning out to "Alchemy", on its random setting, as it does its best to graphically display the outpourings of Yani. nor is this slight discrepancy going to sway me into buying a mac. but it seems like windows should care. shouldn't they want to impress me into staying with them rather than count on me to be like the old man in Shawshank Redemption who got so used to the prison that he was afraid of freedom?

ok, it's late and i can't believe i wrote this entire, inane post to come to the conclusion that iTunes looks better than WMP10. i just started typing, and the whole thing just seemed to dredge up old feelings i had for mac. we go way back, you know. it's like an old friend that i know is decent...but things have happened between us and i just can't talk to them anymore. sad.

console me, microsoft.

cell phone life

2006-01-29T09:31:00.000-08:00

a new phone has landed, courtesy of ebay, and it's showing me how lame my old phone was. i'm actually posting this from the phone, which simultaneously proves that the phone is awesome and i'm a total goomba. ok, all for now. more later.

cell phone death

2006-01-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

it's sunday morning, about 9am. i very much like the fact that my church doesn't meet until sunday nights. i'm not much of a morning person, so it allows me the time to ease into the day before heading out.
now, let me tell you why cell phones suck. they suck the same way computers suck, and the same way any nice amenity sucks. and when i say suck, i mean they suck you in. they get their greedy little meat hooks into you and just when you are feeling most comfortable with them, they die. it's like an old pet or a good relationship that suddenly turns sour. how will i live? how will i operate? much of my day was devoted to that (fill in the blank) and now it's gone. and now, dear reader, my cell phone is gone. but it's not wholly gone, it has some hint of operation left in it, but i wish it were just dead. it's like when a old pet gets in a fight or gets sick and suddenly isn't the same old pet anymore. it would probably be better for that pet to just die completely and let everyone move on. i can't move on from my cell phone.
the screen doesn't work anymore. should i kill it? should i flush it down the toilet? i can still receive calls on it. i can still make calls, if i know the number i want to call. isn't that good enough? that's still light years beyond what i had growing up, right? yes, but i am a nerd, and halfhearted gadgets do not sit well with a nerd. normally, when a gadget stops working at it's fullest, a nerd buys a new one and either sells the old one on ebay (to the guy in kansas who is dying to place the finishing touches on his "dead cellphone sculpture" and just so happens to need a motorola v220), or the nerd takes apart the old gadget and tries to hack its innards for some ghastly, unintended use. i've tried so many different times and ways to purchase a replacement for this phone and i just can't seem to do it. cingular doesn't love me anymore (at least until july when they will offer me a free upgrade in return for a 2-year contract signature and a pound of flesh). ebay has left me cold and lonely. craigslist has not satisfied, although i am meeting someone today to give it another shot. why!?!?! can't i just be without a cell phone for a little while? sadly, i think the answer here is no...because somewhere along the line, i think i stopped owning the cellphone, and the computer, and the pet, and the car, and the "_____", and they started owning me. now that's a sad statement. i need to think about this some more. i know a guy who went on a communications fast a while back. he made it for a while but, if my memory serves me right, he decided to end it because it was just too impractical. is this a necessary evil? is it any kind of evil? maybe i just need to shut up, buy a brand new phone and call it a day. i think that's what i'll do...if this craigslist meeting falls through this afternoon. if i spend anymore time thinking, or typing about this, i should probably be put down...like my old pet. it can't be worth what i've given it.

ok, in other news, things are going pretty well. i haven't yet finished the table/desk item, but i will soon. i'm getting out of the navy in 4 months and 1 week and that simultaneously excites me and gives me pause as i still have not much of a clue as to what i will do next. i'm still formulating plans for a large motorcycle trip to alaska. i'm taking my real estate broker's licensing exam on march first and i think i'll probably work at home depot a little while when i first get out. other than that, not much is new. peace to all of you.

long time coming

2005-12-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

the doors are on finally. there's still a good amount of finishing work to be done, but that stuff should go fairly quickly.

beach flips

2005-12-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

high flying acrobatics at the beach with my friend, jeff. actually, i'm pretty sure my acrobatics were fairly low flying....but still fun.

another picture

2005-12-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

just finished the bottom of it up a bit ago. i'll start on the doors soon and should have those on fairly quickly.

current project

2005-12-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

well, i haven't posted any pictures of my current project in quite a while, so here goes.

this first one shows the front of the desk, where the doors soon will be:

this is the back:

and one of the sides:

chicken beer cat spider guns

2005-12-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

last night was a good time. jp and ryan came over and hung out at the hizniz (that's my house's name. i think i covered that a while back. weird? yes. deal.) i killed a black widow minutes before they arrived, which is good because not only is jp scared of them, but i found out that ryan is even more so. i think it was one of the biggest ones i've ever seen, too. the picture doesn't do it justice. creepy...

we bbq'd some chicken, cooked up some rice and made a batch of "not-quite-steamed-enough" steamed vegetables...it's my own special recipe. had a couple of beers, discussed the catholic church's views on artificial contraception, aided by a handy leaflet that was written in 1968 and has now somehow found its way onto my coffee table. my cat tormented jp, which is just plain fun to watch...(i know, man, i'm a jerk, but you should really see yourself!)

i made an overly sugery, decafinated coffee drink for the three of us and we rounded out the evening by discussing women and guns (a strange and sometimes lethal pairing) and watching a few episodes of Ali G that my roommate has on DVD (by the way, i'm not endorsing the watching of sed DVD's. they're funny, yes, but you have to sift through much that is crude and offensive to get to the witty and clever).

a good chance to hang out and learn more about myself and others. exercising the mind is an area in which i need much practice, but it's good to discuss ideas and views with guys like these.

ok, that's it for now. westside till i die, which we all know means something far to profound to be communicated with words. peace.

hot lamp + wireless access point = stinky house

2005-11-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

in the red corner, weighing in at 3 million candle power, in all of its early nineties glory and out-of-placeitude...Hot Lamp...Guy!

...and in the blue corner, dressed in shiny silver, sporting a single, defiant antenna, clearly the underdog, wanting nothing more than to show just what he's made of...he's modern, he dispenses the internet, he's (unfortunately) made of plastic...he's the Wireless Access Point!

and there's the bell...Wireless Access Point jumps atop Hot Lamp Guy and Hot Lamp Guy gets piping hot over the unexpected maneuver. what's WAP's next move?...hmmm, well didn't see that coming. WAP succumbs rather quickly, melting all over HLG and summarily inundating the house in an aromatic blend of hot, burnt plasticy goodness.

anyways, enough with the weirdness. i set the access point up there a while back and just made a mental note not to turn that light on. funny thing about mental notes is that other people generally can't read them. so apparently one of my roommates turned that light on while i was away...i'm just glad i got home and realized what was going on before the thing caught on fire. here's the best part...as you can see, the lights are still working and amazingly enough, so is the network. fun...and stupid...as much of my life tends to be...in a good way, of course. i just wish i could have God's perspective every now and then. i bet it's hard not to laugh at times when confronted with lives such as mine.

2005-11-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

well, i guess when you you've known someone for over 20 years you tend to act a bit like them. my friend, shane, and i are the same video game character, it appears.

I am a Gauntlet Adventurer.

I strive to improve my living conditions by hoarding gold, food, and sometimes keys and potions. I love adventure, fighting, and particularly winning - especially when there's a prize at stake. I occasionally get lost inside buildings and can't find the exit. I need food badly. What Video Game Character Are You?

late...and early

2005-11-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

it's about 1:20 in the morning as i begin this post and i don't really have much to say, but it's just such a rarity for me to be awake this late (early) that i figured i should somehow mark the occasion by a post...about nothing...on a blog...that will be read by 4 people, tops. anyways, i hung out with two of my friends from church tonight. it was good to get out of the house. we met up at claire de lune for some beverages and conversation. jp was sketching (and by sketching i mean that he was drawing something that i will never have the capability of drawing but to him it's just another doodle on a page), and ryan was writing in his rather manly journal. the band was talented, but a little bit grating and eventually annoying. i nerded out with my laptop a bit...learning how to mix, record, remix, make beats, etc. on this cool program i have. it's a lite version, but still very cool. all in all, it was a good time. it's nice to get out and do things with other people, even if they're things you could do just as easily by yourself. i need to do more of that. it keeps the brain alive and focused on things other than itself. oh, and it's also good to keep a candle burning in your room...just because it is. now stop asking questions and go light a candle.

2005-11-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

well, i think this is about it. i'm going to do a few other things when i redo the floor, but for now i'm calling this thing done...and none too soon because i really need a shower.

sweet goodness

2005-11-09T17:04:00.000-08:00

it's almost done!

finally getting somewhere

2005-11-08T00:25:00.000-08:00

i was finally able to track down a replacement for the shower kit that was cracked. most of the hard stuff is done, now. i just need to finish up the walls a bit, as well as paint and put up some trim.

'77 VW

2005-10-31T17:02:00.000-08:00

somehow this beauty ended up in my driveway. it's not mine, but it's kindof like an extended test drive. my friend's dad bought it in 1982 and is moving across country now. he didn't know what to do with it, so he left it with me and i'm going to try to sell it for him...or break down and buy it myself. i really don't need it, but i've always kindof had a thing for vw buses. man, it's so cool...oh, and it was born in 1977, like me.

tired

2005-10-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

wow, what a day. i worked on that stinking tub all day and am sitting here in awe over how fast the hours flew by. i've found that i very much enjoy this type of work, but that it is physically and mentally exhausting. that's not a bad thing, mind you...just very different from my regular job. anyways, the frustrating thing is that i drove all the way out to Santee to pick up the shower wall kit and when i got back home i noticed a crack in it! i was really hoping to finish it up tonight and take a nice shower. the end result was a much different, and much more funny one. i needed to bathe, bad...i mean BAD. i really stank. so i took trips from the kitchen sink to the bath tub with pitchers of hot water. it's incredible how much water a tub can hold...you don't really think about it until you have to fill it up the way i did. so i took a bath in my new tub, drank a cold beer and assayed the day's work. all in all, not a bad way to spend one's time.
oh, and count yourselves lucky...for a minute or two i considered taking and posting a picture of me in the tub. then i thought, "wait...i don't even really like seeing that. why would anyone else?" maybe another time, when we know each other a bit better....till then, good night.

2005-10-29T18:28:00.001-07:00

fun with joint compound

2005-10-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

last panel up

2005-10-29T15:54:00.002-07:00

one more panel to go...

2005-10-29T15:54:00.001-07:00

most of the greenboard is in.

2005-10-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

plumbing works...for the tub

2005-10-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

new tub is in and hooked up.

2005-10-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

yes folks, i really am that hot....what can i say? when you've got it, you've got it.

2005-10-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

here's the new one, not hooked up yet. we had some problems at home depot, but i think we're going to pull through.

2005-10-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

jason came to the rescue, and helped me lug the old one out.

2005-10-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

and this is the reason for the whole job...it was starting to rust through to the other side.

2005-10-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

man, this guy doesn't want to come out.

dora the destroyah

2005-10-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

for some reason i decided that i would be able to replace my bathtub without calling a professional. we'll see how it comes out. this picture shows how it looked at the beginning except there were corner pieces in the shower...which are now lying in my driveway.

2005-10-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

toilet is now gone

2005-10-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

2005-10-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

i am your nephew, luke...er monkey

2005-10-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

this is my nephew, jude...um, darth jude, i guess. he calls me uncle monkey. actually, pretty much my whole family calls me monkey. nickname from when i was young and had a liking for bananas. today was jude and my niece, milan's, birthday party. i have to say that my family is the best of all. i have four older brothers and i get along with each of them swimmingly. there isn't any weird family politics going on....no one feels uncomfortable around a certain other person (unless they all feel weird around me and no one's said anything...hmmmm). it's just such a joy to know these people...to get to spend time with them and to continue to get to know them better. my parents are great. God has blessed us so much. i couldn't be happier with my family...i'm so happy that i get to spend eternity with them. i know that not every family is like this and i try to not take it for granted.

anyways, back to jude and mila. jude just turned 10 and mila is now 3. i gave jude a motorcycle ride last year on his birthday and repeated the fun this time around, except we did a short run on the freeway this year, too. we finished up the night with a game of "crazy eights" and i'm now getting ready for bed. i'm leading worship tomorrow for the morning and evening services. early day...

friday night party....yeah

2005-10-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

it's a friday night and i'm hanging out at my house, with my cat. if you had asked me at the age of 17 what i thought would be an average friday night for me 10 years on, you probably wouldn't have received an answer similar to my last sentence. i joke around with friends that i'm going to turn into the old "cat lady" that hangs out in her "i love my cats" sweats and fluffy slippers, surrounded by 30-some-odd cats who have long since forgotten that the carpet is not kitty litter. my one best friend is married and my other one works a crazy schedule and lives about 45 minutes north of me so it's not quite as easy to just casually hang out on a weekend night like we used to. (hmmm...this post is coming off a bit too whiney-like. i will change it....now!) so last night i was out in the jacuzzi with my ladies...you know, just chillin. we were sippin on a bit o' courvoisier and tellin' stories of growin' up in the hood. yeah, that's right, escondido...and now you know!

ok, this post is getting just downright strange. i'm signing off. a hearty good evening to all of youz...(all two or three of you that accidently arrived at this blog, that is. sorry you had to see me like this...)

there's mud in your eye....and glue on your legs

2005-10-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

using the camera on my phone for this, so not the best quality, but this is one of the table legs for rachel's cabinet deal. how to put these together was really getting the best of me until this weekend...finally figured it out.

on hold

2005-10-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

i'm on the phone with my insurance company right now...a recorded voice just told me something reassuring about some other service or coverage that they could provide me. how much time have i spent on hold in my life? waiting for ATM's...in drive-thrus...waiting in the checkout line...waiting for...?

my brother sent me this link a few years back that was for some sort of research project. the basic idea was that you would load this deal onto your computer that would allow them to use your computer's resources while you weren't, thus amassing a powerful network of computation on someone else's dime. interesting idea. anyways, it makes me think about how i use my own computing power when i'm in those "waiting" situations. as it is, my mind tends to zone, to think on things that have no consequence on my reality, i.e. "hmmm, jennifer aniston may truly have gotten over brad pitt, at least people magazine thinks so" or "the person in front of me at the ATM should have been able to check the balance on thirteen different accounts by now. if they actually withdraw any money, i'm taking it." what if i could harness my mind, to use it on things that might have some use. maybe i could allow God to remotely access my brain to conduct His research while i'm not actively using it. maybe i could be solving complex problems or designing intricate woodworking creations.

i'm sure the actual time i've spent on hold or waiting over the past 27.9 years is staggering. i'm guessing that someone's calculated that time out for the average 27.9-year-old american, but i don't want to know it. time lost...time that could have been spent better. i will now check me email for the 19th time in the last hour to numb my brain to this sad loss.

2005-10-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

and...he's spent.

unwelcome vistor in the garage

2005-10-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

i usually have a "live and let live" type of mentality when it comes to other living things, even spiders..for which i have always had a strong disliking, but black widows receive no mercy. the shiny black and red reminds me of darth maul and i've really only met one person who wanted him to live at the end of the movie... i shot this guy with raid, and would have done the same to darth maul had i met him before that kwaigon...quaigone....qu4ig0n3...guy did.

2005-10-11T23:10:00.000-07:00

...and one more...

2005-10-10T10:05:00.001-07:00

and again.

2005-10-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

my favorite of the three

2005-10-10T10:04:00.001-07:00

working so fast the camera couldn't catch up

2005-10-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

jp at work

2005-10-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

here's all three pieces. i think the one on the right is my favorite.

2005-10-10T10:02:00.001-07:00

mom and brother jon. i think jon is explaining how he was in a dogfight with a MIG.

2005-10-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

jp's live painting demonstration...man, it's incredible to watch him do in just a couple hour's time what most of us would never be able to do given whole days and all the paint we wanted.

2005-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

the final product

2005-10-10T10:00:00.001-07:00

jp hard at work

2005-10-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

sunday morning...paint job came out pretty good, methinks.

2005-10-10T09:59:00.001-07:00

some time mid sunday...just a few hours before the show

2005-10-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

this is how things looked on saturday night. quite a bit more work to be done.

2005-10-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

some more pics from the garage. the one in the background is nearing completion, while the one being glued is mostly just beginning. i have one more to complete before sunday. argghhh...

2005-10-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

apparently cats get "blue eye" and picasa has no adjustment for "blue eye reduction".

2005-10-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

it continues

2005-10-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

so this is one of the projects i'm working on. it's obviously not done...none of the parts are actually attached, but i think it's coming along rather well. the artwork on top is by Mavinga. very impressive...he is an incredibly talented artist and it's an honor to get to collaborate with him.

sunday

2005-09-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday, as the post date will certainly attest to. I have been working out in the garage all day. I’m working on two projects right now…one is a cabinet for my sister-in-law, Rachel, and the other is a coffee table/painting collaboration with JP Mavinga. It has to be ready in two weeks…should be interesting. No time to type…only time to work.

2005-09-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

cat. not dead.

new

2005-09-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

blog...yay! had one, didn't really do anything with it. starting a new one....probably won't do anything with it. i'm a faux nerd, and a lazy one at that. we'll see what becomes of this...