Active

I've been slacking. Big time. The majority of my summer break has been spent playing Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, World of Warcraft, and Team Fortress 2. I've spent a lot of time checking up on blogs and wasting plenty of time on Facebook.

But right now, I'm spent. I spent the last 2.5 hours running around at Greenlake playing Goaltimate. Goaltie, for short, is a sort of newage ultimate game with a big goal in the middle of the field, and is played kind of like half court basketball. There is a lot of running and cutting involved. Add to the mix that some of the best ultimate players in the world (both men and women from USA World's team), makes for one tired MHG.

Last night, I got in two hours of basketball with a friend from the teaching program. The church he goes to opens up their gym from 9pm-11pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. We had five on five going for the full two hours. I can't tell if I'm more tired from the basketball last night or the goaltie tonight, buy my dogs are barking.

Today may be the last in a string of 28 days in Seattle with no measurable rain. I am sitting out on the back porch with our two cats keeping me safe. Watson is on the flimsy back railing, and Ichi is sitting guard at the top of the steps. Also, my water bottle filled with Gatorade is keeping the flies away, apparently, because each time I go to drink some, I am greeted with a few new drowning victims.

Note to self: I still strive to write. Do I write on a new blog, or this one? Daily writing? 1000 words. go.

Weekend Update

We're finally getting some snow in the Cascades! Ski season approaches, and I spent too much time this week working on mix CDs for my trips up to the slopes. Other than anticipation for skiing and boarding this winter, this week was also busy at school, and my Mom's foot surgery was Wednesday. The surgery went well, and besides being groggy from the pills, she is doing great. Dad and I are fixing all the meals and running errands for her while she recovers, and he has not even complained (much) yet!

In a weird coincidence, my cat Ichi hobbled in Thursday night, not putting any weight on his front right paw. I wasn't sure if he was making fun of Mom, or if he actually hurt his paw. He also had a gash on his ear, which did not look pretty, so either another cat or a raccoon got to him. We visited the vet today, because Ichi still was not putting any weight on his paw. He got checked out and the doctor thought his paw was either sprained or had a small fracture--but did not recommend an x-ray because there was not a big difference in treatment for where the sprain/fracture is located on his paw. The cut on Ichi's ear was actually a bigger surprise, because it went all the way through the ear, and after the doc cleaned the cut out, the hole was big enough to see through! Ouch! He'll be an indoor cat for the next few weeks.

School is steadily picking up. We've got a ton of work coming up at the end of the semester--right when the Stevens Pass will be opening. I'm trying to get as much of the work done before the ski resort opens. We've got papers, lesson plans, digital vignettes, parent-teacher conferences--all sorts of crap! Interesting crap, though.

Today is the Apple Cup: UW vs. WSU, and both teams are winless in conference this year. The anticipation for the game is probably higher than most years, because UW has not gone winless in their 100 year history, and it would please WSU more than any team to complete a defeated season for UW. I've got action on the game with one of my skiing buddies. I got 10:1 odds on a pushup bet that I could not refuse. If the game goes to overtime, he has to do 100 pushups. If the game does not go to overtime, I do 10.

Tonight is also poker and birthday night at Casa De Chako! I plan on bringing a present that is over 100% of my income... alright, the jig is up, my income is $0. I'll also try and dig some information on the current state of Dr. Chako's bankroll on Full Tilt for our side bet. I'm down a bit from where I started at the beginning of the month, but the losses aren't too bad.

After poker, I'll probably head down to T-town and get some Guitar Hero World Tour in with a guy who doesn't like sleep. Apparently he's got the place decked out with the drum stand and everything--get ready to RAAAWK!

Ichi the Skunk

My cat, Ichi, is a very regal cat. He doesn't much like anyone but me. Sure, he'll "love" you if you have food, especially tuna or turkey, but petting him is another story. He snakes his way around the living room to avoid my mom and dad's outstretched arms.

Within the last hour, I was playing a little online poker, doing laundry and cleaning my room when Ichi decided it was time to come and sleep in my lap.

"Ichi, I've got work to do," I insisted.

"Sure you do. Shut up and be a pillow."

As I was petting him, I noticed a little streak of white fur on the back of his head. He's a black cat, so it was noticeable. Ichi tends to rummage around in our neighbors' yards and gets all sorts of stuff stuck in his fur, so it wasn't a huge shocker. I picked it out and eventually booted him off my lap and continued cleaning my room. My Dad called to me from upstairs and said that Ichi was staring down a bird on the bird feeder out back.

Now, Ichi has caught his share of birds in the past, and has proven his mettle as a hunter, but I have to question sitting directly under the bird feeder 6ft above his head. He stared up intently at the bird. The bird nibbled away at the feeder, and some seeds the bird was eating floated down towards Ichi, hitting him in the face. And then it came...

White hot loving from above. Right on Ichi's back. I'm not petting that cat anymore.

Ichi vs Snow, Round 3

Ichi didn't have any experience with snow growing up in Sacramento, so his first encounter with the white stuff came two years ago in Portland. Like most cats in snow for the first time, he tried to simultaneously swipe at and dodge the falling snowflakes. A cat in the snow for the first time is a favorite of mine, up there with dangling a piece of string off the edge of a couch and having kittens hurl themselves at it, and the always popular: feeding peanut butter to dogs.

Ichi got much more experience with snow in both Nevada City and Tahoe. He learned to not like snow very much. Smart cat. Whether or not he knows snow is a frozen form of his arch nemesis: water, I cannot say for sure. Today, when the blizzard dumped two inches of snow on Seattle, Ichi stayed inside.

Snow isn't the most amazing thing in the world, but when it falls in Seattle, it is a pretty big deal. Some years we don't get any snow in the city, and every so often we get a big dump. Today's two inches is by no means a big dump, but when the snow starts sticking, I've gotta reach for my camera. I stuck the photos up on Flickr. There are many more pictures of Ichi than the snow, because I had already been taking some photos of him the past few days. Tessa also got in on the snow picturing and stuck a few Maxwell Smart Wagner photos in for good measure.

A game to go along with a few pictures. See if you can match the caption with the photograph.

1) I hate you. I hate snow. I hate the flash on your camera. And once this plant grows leaves I am going to eat them.

2) Cocky high-school Ichi pose, looking slightly to the right of the camera.

3) Chris, buddy... my friend the laptop here told me, to tell you, that you play entirely too much World of Warcraft.

4) How much is that kitty in the window? (Free!)

Unofficial Professional Chess Player and Wet Cats

As I sip my Merlot in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace, I smile. Content in the fact that my victory over Matty Ebs will soon take place, and Jordan will swiftly replenish my dwindling poker bankroll over on Full Tilt. Yes friends, I will soon be able to call myself a professional chess player. I have yet to see a dime from my coaching gig, and the money I make from winning the first annual blogger chess tournament is more than I've made from any form of employment over the past month, thus it is now my profession.

The fact that I can't beat half of my friends at chess doesn't phase me. I'll be a professional, and they aren't, so nyah nyah! Andrew may be a professional drinker after his trip to Ireland, if he bets the right Irishman, but the Irish are supposedly strong drinkers and might require a handicap due to Andrew's size. If my friend accepts any sort of handicap, he is sure to lose, and will continue to hold the title of: Unemployed!

Today was quite the dreary day. I love dreary days in Seattle. It makes me wonder what Ichi does differently on a rainy day versus a dry day. He hasn't seen much rain since Portland, and he keeps meowing intently at me, commanding me to shut off the rain valve. I think Ichi probably sleeps more and 'cats around' less when it rains, much like the rest of us.

Another thing I've always wondered about cats is when it rains, their fur is wet to the touch, but are the cats themselves wet? Does the moisture get down to their skin, or does magic cat saliva act as Scotchguard for their fur? I guess it doesn't really matter, because I pet him as soon as he gets inside and press all the water from his fur into his skin anyways, hah! He hates that.

Holla at Me

Man, I haven't listened to Tupac in a while... good times. Tupac always reminds me of long high school nights riding around Seattle in Andrew's Honda, bumping the greatest rapper ever.

I just got back from hanging out at Tyler's place. It was a gorgeous summer day in Seattle, topping out at around 75 degrees... and I was cooped up in a First Aid training class down in South Seattle. I was ready to go toss the frisbee over at Greenlake the second I stepped out of the Red Cross office, and lucky for me, Tyler was down too.

We tossed for a bit, and finally got some long-tossing in, which we haven't done for a while. We usually keep the tossing short so we can chit-chat, but we backed it up a bit today and I got to run around a bit and throw some hucks. Frisbee fulfilled for the time being, thanks Tybo.

We walked back to his place and watched "300" for the first time. Renee and Tyler had already seen it, but didn't mind watching it again. I liked it, although I don't think it's at the Braveheart or Gladiator level. After the movie, Renee went to bed and Tyler fired up WoW. He got his 3v3 pvp team together with Mike and Guang, and I got to witness some high level arena pvp for the first time.

Before tonight, their combined record was something shabby like 7 wins and 20 losses. Tonight, they finished with 8 or 9 wins and only 4 or 5 losses, so they were doing very well! Three of their losses came against the same team with two druids and a rogue--which has me looking forward to playing my druid at high level, they've got quite a few options when they hit 70.

Ichi is staring down at me from the top of the computer I've got on my desk downstairs. He's got a little booger, but I think I'll let it stay there and let Watson make fun of him tomorrow. Ichi doesn't seem to like Tupac as much as I do, dumb cat.

Saviour

I just saved a chipmunk's life from Ichi's evil clutches. OK, Ichi really isn't evil, he's a pretty nice cat. But, just after I busted out of a poker tourney this afternoon, just short of the money, he brought me in a live chipmunk as a consolation prize.

Thanks, Ichi.

He batted it around a bit, before it ran behind the love-seat we have squished into a little nook in our living room. I sort of assumed the chipmunk would stay back there for a while, because it would at least be safe back there. Nope! Ichi lured it out and played around with it some more, until it somehow squeezed halfway under a little rock seating structure in front of the fireplace. Its tail was sticking out, so I put on my motorcycle gloves tried giving it a little tug to see if I could get him outside to safety.

The tip of his tail came off in my hand, which probably isn't a good thing. I don't think chipmunks are one of those sneaky species that lose their tail to avoid capture. They could be, but I don't think so? Can any animal nerds out there help me with this one?

Anyways, I finally get in there with two hands and grab its torso (gently) and pull it out from little gap it was stuck in. It chirped a few times, but didn't really seem to mind the free ride outside. It was probably petrified, but I looked at it and its eyes were squinty--which could mean one of many things:

-pissed off
-you're squeezing too tight
-tired
-you pulled off my tail and now I'm going to die

I'm rooting for "pissed off" or "tired."

I set it down on the plastic table we have setup outside, and it quickly jumped off it onto the porch... where Ichi was of course laying in wait. Here we go again! But not really, Ichi swung and missed a few times, and the chipmunk made it to the edge of the deck and contemplated a swift, painless freefall suicide, or being a feast for Ichi.

I kept Ichi away for a minute, while I tried to get closer to chip-chippity. I made it within grasping distance, when it decided to leap! "Aw crap!" I said to myself. I looked over the rail and didn't see a little chipmunk corpse on the ground, but then I saw it clinging to the side of the porch, on the 2x4 just over the edge from where I thought it jumped.

Sneaky varmit! While I contemplated reaching for it again, Ichi beat me to the punch, and leaned over the edge to inspect, and found the chipmunk just inches away. Ichi batted at it, and it flailed its way down... down... down...

*poof*

Well, it was just 10 feet, if that, so the chipmunk blinked, then ran under the porch. The chipmunk is still alive, it got a free tail-trim, and Ichi is out on the prowl again.

Win, win, win!

Urrggh

livejournal just deleted my post, bastage.

Ichi ate a rat. and i have pictures. but they are too gruesome to show. so i won't op)ost them. I was going too, but weweeewww, they are nasty. why did i take pictures of him eating a rat? way to go ichi! kill dem ratsw! he ate everything but thi intestines, which I flung into the woods. even the tail. watch out, Bob the Bear, he'll eeat you next!

Ichi "Alarm Clock" D'Cat

I woke up this morning to Ichi meowing from somewhere. Where? I had no clue. After a few minutes of his meowing, I rolled out of bed and tried to locate where the sound was coming from. It sort of sounded like he was upstairs, maybe locked in a room (we had visitors last night), but it also sounded like he might be outside. So, to avoid any unnecessary interaction with the marine-types that stayed the night last night--I checked outside first.

I held the door open for a minute, but the meowing persisted. It definitely sounded like he was outside though. The meowing got louder, and I looked around the side of the house where I thought Ichi might be. Then he poked his head over the side of the roof and MEEEEEEOOOOW!'d at me.

I would have taken a few pictures, but it was early, and I didn't even have my glasses on. After a few minutes of coaxing, Ichi jumped down onto the little front-doorway cover and I hopped up onto a chair and grabbed him by his scruff.

Once he was safely inside, chowing down his breakfast, my mind started wondering what possessed him to climb a tree and get onto the roof in the first place. A bear? A chipmunk? A bird? I sort of hope it was a bear, and Ichi was smart enough to get away... but I'm pretty sure it was a bird.

I crawled back into bed and Ichi curled into a ball on the back of my legs and we slept until noon.

The End.

Nature Hike #3

I set off this afternoon for nature hike #3. This time I was prepared for the summit. I brought my camera, laptop, water and Ritz crackers for myself and to double as critter-bait. I was hoping for inspiration to hit me on the summit, then be able to type out whatever was on my mind. It was about 50 degrees when I headed out, so it seemed like shorts and sweatshirt weather. I got to the end of our lot when I heard a "mew!"

Ichi, up to his old tricks again! He decided to tag along, which was fine with me--but he wasn't getting my Bud Light (or Ritz crackers)!

Here is a video and a few pictures I took from today's hike. I didn't make it to the summit, because it just kept going up and away from the lake. But, I did find a nice spot to sit on some rocks and look out over the lake.

Backyard Nature Walk #2

After I polished off my Newcastle, I set off on my second nature trek this week. This time Ichi came along and helped me track the elusive Tamias umbrinus. We intended to capture (a photo of) the beast in his natural habitat.

Now, before you say, "Walking your cat? Isn't that a bit weird?" My backyard is a veritable Chuck E' Cheese for cats. There are rodents scampering around, birds swooping down to catch the rodents, and grizzly bears swatting the birds out of the sky. I would also like to point out that Ichi is no ordinary cat. And I have photo-evidence:



Ichi is either a dog pointing me in the direction of the elusive beast, or he is a damn good actor. I scanned the area Ichi was pointing at, but didn't see any animals. I did, however, see this weird looking rock:



We climbed the hill through the trees, and I was quite impressed with Ichi's rock-climbing skills. I'm not sure where he practices, but he's not far behind Chris Sharma. Ichi led most of the way up the hill, but there was no sign of our beast. We decided to turn back about 3/4 of the way up the hillside. The peak was in sight, and is my goal for hike #3--but Ichi started panting. Good dog.



He doesn't like being called "dog."

Here are a few pictures from the point we decided to head back home, starting off with the goal for Nature Walk #3:









Unfortunately, even in the national forests, there is quite a bit of trash, which both Ichi and I disdain.





We made our way back down the hill, when Ichi suddenly caught sight of something! I fumbled to turn my camera on and zoomed appropriately for whatever Ichi had caught sight of... unfortunately, it turned out to be his own shadow. Which he promptly attacked.





Just when I thought all hope was gone for this trip, Ichi's ears perked up one more time. He ran off, but when he heard the blood-curdling roar, he quickly hi-tailed it back to me:



I caught sight of something moving in the distance, and decided to stand my ground. I zoomed as far in as cameranly possible, then, from through the trees and behind a huge boulder it appeared...

Tamias umbrinus... and I was staring straight into its unmerciful, cold-blooded eye.



























Ichi didn't even bother chasing the elusive rodent.

When we got back to the house, Ichi plopped down and promptly turned the lights out:



Next on the docket: Mr. Blue Jay

Backyard Nature Walk

Hooray for part-time work on nice days! I got out of work at 11am this morning and valiantly held off from going to basketball at noon and re-injuring my ankle.

Must... resist... must... wait... for... ...frisbee.

Not being able to play frisbee this weekend would suck. I've been looking forward to this weekend of frisbee since the DUI tourney in Davis about a month ago. Looking forward to taking some more photos like these:



Tony was the big loser at poker night last time I was in Sacramento, although we both lost a big pot to Melinda, who made Tony stand on top of me, while I still had to hold my ear from a previous bet. He eventually wound up wearing not only flamingly red lipstick, but also "Halloween Orange" nail polish. Of course they both had to stay on the entire next day at the frisbee tourney, which I'm positive contributed to our big win.



Oh yes, how could I forget the cape I was forced to wear by Roxie (or was it Melinda? I seem to have a hazy memory of that night). The cape proved handy when I drunkenly started betting clothes... but yes, looking forward to some frisbee on Saturday!

Instead of ballin' it up, I went for a little walk in the national forest behind my house. Ichi lasted about 20ft, then scampered back to the house to stand guard. I walked past the new home being built, and found myself in an open area in the forest. It seemed a bit odd to have a gap in the middle of a forest, but then I saw a chimney. No fireplace, no house--just a chimney. It didn't really seem photo-worthy at the time, but it was probably the oddest part of the trip. I'm guessing a fire burnt down the house, and left the cement-block chimney standing? It looked like a fun rock-climbing problem if it is still sturdy (which I didn't check). Next time...

I continued past the non-existant house and found a little trail that doubled as a property line for multiple houses. This is where I met my first obstacle in my journey--Mr. Squirrley:



Where he got the peanut from, I have no idea. I didn't think Tahoe had any animals that laid peanuts, but apparently I was mistaken. Besides the dive-bombing blue jays (more on them later), Mr. Squirrley was the only animal to approach me on my trek. When he heard me coming he actually sprinted towards me (unlike all the damn unfriendly chipmunks--those tiny punks can go to hell, I got about 15 great pictures of dirt because they scampered away at the last milli-second). Mr. Squirrley perched up on a nice little stump for me, then did a few poses.

Eventually, he realized I had no food. As nice as Mr. Squirrley was, I thought he might offer me his peanut, buuuut he just ran off into the forest behind me.

I continued on my newfound trail and it eventually met up with Martin Rd. I saw a car drive past, so I turned around because this was a nature hike. Two blue jays found me, but were darting around just as fast as the chipmunks--so I failed to get any blog-worthy photos of the winged beasts.

**Goal for next picture-taking trek through the woods is to get pictures of both a blue jay and a chipmunk. I may have to resort to baiting them with some Ritz crackers, but they'll get their cameos in this here blog, mark my words!

Growing tired of missing shots of blue jays and chipmunks, I decided Martin Rd. was where the million-dollar photos would occur (they sort of had to, by default). I hopped off Martin Rd. after about 50ft, and saw a relatively steep road that looked like it might have a good vantage point of the lake. It was appropriately named Zephyr Heights Drive, so I felt good about my chances. Also, behind a tree hid a pretty large gate that deters motor-vehicles in the winter, which just had to mean this road got pretty hairy:



The road was definitely steep. Maybe not as steep as some of the Sand Point roads I'm trying to get Tessa and Jrad to bike up in Seattle, but it had me straining. The pain was worth it though--when I got to the top I was treated to some gorgeous 180 degree views of the lake:





The ferry was a neat shot, because I could see just about all of the lake from up there, and the only ripple in the lake was from that one ferry. I was speedily snapping pictures of the lake, when I guess I ruffled some feathers:



This guy and his friend hopped up to the top of that tree overlooking the lake, then they dive-bombed me. If I had been a skilled photographer, I would have had a couple of amazing pictures, but sadly this blurry one was all I got:



I took the hint and got away from their nest, wherever it was, and decided to walk a bit further on Zephyr Heights Drive. To my surprise, I found a little bird convinced that he could fell a tree:



I liked his attitude. He could tell that the telephone pole was not an ordinary tree, and he was determined to knock that sucker down. How houses got built in a National Forest in the first place has me shaking my head a bit, but if I was a bird, or a bear, or a chipmunk, I'd be pecking/mauling/nibbling at every man-made thing on my land too. I wished the little guy luck, after he was kind enough to let me snap about 100 photos of him. I was trying to catch him in a good action shot, but that guy's wings moved so fast all I ever got of him were still shots of him just sitting there pretending not to be knocking over the telephone pole. I finally just settled on a video.

By this point, my camera was starting to fill up, and I was getting thirsty, so I decided to head back home. I was strolling down the steep hill to the tune of a few guard dogs howling at me, when I caught a glimpse of them stuck on their porch, and just had to take a photo:



They were cute, and just doing their job, so I didn't have any hard feelings.

I got back on the property-line path and two magnificently blue, blue jays trotted out to greet me. I went to go take off the lens of the camera slowly, and the birds kept their pose. I raised the camera slowly and tried to snap a quick picture, but they zoomed off and I'm pretty sure I heard blue jay laughter as I checked out my nice dust picture on the recall function of the camera. I'm almost positive they were the two blue jays from earlier on the path, who kept escaping my shaky hand. I gave up quickly this time and walked hastily back to the house.

I entered Ichi's "kill zone" about 20ft from the house, and gave a little peace whistle to Ichi, letting him know I was friend, not foe. I got a high-pitched Ichi meow in response and smiled to myself. I walked closer and slowed down, expecting Ichi to jump on me from behind one of the many parked cars in our driveway, but I saw no sign of him.

Then a piercing howl came from 10ft above my head:



Ichi in a tree again--you wouldn't think I'd be surprised, but I honestly was surprised to see how high up he was. He was probably a good 15-20ft up. I'm not sure if he chased a chipmunk up there (I hope so, damn evasive chipmunks!), but Ichi was very hesitant on his descent. I ended up flipping an empty garbage can upside down, and raising it as high as I could so he could jump onto it, then be lowered safely to the ground--but I'll give you a second to figure how that actually turned out...

Not as intended, that's how it turned out.

Ichi bounced off the garbage can and did a triple sow-cow from about 10 feet up, bounced when he hit the bed of rock-pebbles, then darted away. He was healthy enough to snipe some of the turkey in my sandwich 5 minutes later, so I think he's alright.

Update: He's alright.