The Life and Time Space

Team Hamster Hat and Other News

2009-09-10T13:01:00.001-07:00

I'm doing some writing for Team Hamster Hat. It's a website that reviews movies, music, food, and life in general. I've written a couple of standard reviews and I may or may not have something to do with the new upstart columnist - The Snarky Reviewer.

In other news, I've got a few potential projects in the works. Mr. Hannemann is trying to get a place for us to either bring back You've Lost Me or to do something similar for a different show. We're also both taking a cartooning class and I've been doing some writing for a new comic I want to start. That probably won't be for a while, but you never know. I've also taken on a small comic project for a magazine a friend is putting together.

I've also done a little bit of recording and maybe have found a singer. This may be the beginning of a new band. We'll see. There's lots of stuff in the incubator; hopefully, something hatches.

I hope you're all doing well.

-Mike Sherry

More comics?

2009-04-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Started up the comic again last night.
www.comics-comics.com

Nother Blog

2009-03-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

In my ongoing quest to maintain a regular exercise schedule, I have decided to start a blog, with my friend, Tyler, to provide some accountability. This way, I feel obligated to avoid slacking off. You can read it, if you want to, at www.mikercise.blogspot.com

That is all.

-MS

'Nother Podcast

2009-01-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

http://tinyurl.com/cctomy

Two Mike's, One Mic

2009-01-27T10:45:00.001-08:00

One of the little projects I've been working on is a podcast with my roomate, Mike. We did a few dry runs and we've decided it's time to share with the world. I'm not sure if our conversations are interesting to anyone besides us, but give it a shot if you're the type of person who listens to podcasts. You can find it...

HERE!

-MS

Re: Last Night's Blog

2009-01-14T10:31:00.000-08:00

I received two points of feedback pertaining to what I wrote last night. If I can paraphrase, they were

1) That was kind of depressing
and
2) Grown-ups plan for the future rather than the present and don't use the phrase "grown-up" in a self referential fashion

I think that both of those points are true, and also are kind of depressing.

I digress...

I signed up for a songwriting class at the Old Town School of Folk Music, because... why not? I like writing songs, and I certainly have a lot to learn on the subject. The first class was last Thursday and I'm happy to say that it was really good. The instructor recommended that we take whatever part of songwriting we find the most difficult, the part we usually save until last and then never finish, and do that part first. For me, that part is lyrics.

He brought up an interesting point and that was, in a nutshell, you have to write a lot of bad songs before you write good songs. Additionally, all your favorite songwriters have written loads of bad songs. You just have never heard them, because they don't play them for anyone else. So, I set my mind to writing. I told myself that I'd write and write and write all week and not play any music because once I have lyrics then I can do all the fun stuff and it'll be great.

So now I have no songs and I also have not played any music all week.

Last night I remembered another handy tip from class. The instructor shared a bit of personal experience with us. He said, "I remember back when I was working a 9 to 5 job," which is kind of an asshole thing to say to a bunch of people who still work 9 to 5 jobs and are paying you to teach them a class about writing songs and that's why you don't have a 9 to 5 job anymore, but once again, I digress. He said, "When I worked a 9 to 5 job, I'd get home from work and try to write lyrics and that creative part of my brain was just too tired. I could still do technical things like mixing and arranging, but writing was just too much, so I started writing in the morning."

The morning! That sounds good, right? My brain is tired after work, and I certainly haven't been writing anything good. Why don't I try waking up early, making some coffee and writing for an hour before work. It sounds nice, doesn't it? The morning sun coming in through the window. Sitting quietly at the table with a cup of coffee. Honing my craft. It'll be fantastic! So I went to bed a little early last night, set my alarm for 6am, and prepared my mind to create when I woke up.

Did you know that the sun isn't up at 6am in the winter? I didn't. Now I do. I have not been awake at 6am in years! What the heck are people doing up at that hour? God intended for us to arise when the sun rises and to sleep when it sets. There's this guy I work with who shows up for work at 6:30 in the morning. That's after he takes an hour train ride into the city. I live ten minutes away and I still show up late.

Long story short, I reset my alarm and went back to sleep. Put a mark in the fail column for today. I, however, am not giving up. I'm going to regroup tomorrow and give it another shot. Maybe 6:30am is a more reasonable time. I just checked the weather channel site and it says sunrise tomorrow is at 7:16am and there is a high of 0ºF. That doesn't exactly fill me with the joy of a new day, but I guess no one ever said this would be easy.

-Mike Sherry

Baby Steps

2009-01-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

A wise man once told me, "If you have a good idea, don't tell anyone about it, just start working on it. You lose your desire to share it with other people as soon as you start talking about it, and you'll never get it done."

I stopped drawing comics. It was a lot of fun, and I kind of miss it. Honestly, I haven't really done anything creative at all these past few months. It was a nice break, but I'm ready to get back on the horse. What, exactly, that means, I have not quite figured out yet, but I have ideas. I'm not going to go into detail for reasons mentioned above.

So what have I been doing? Working is the easy answer. That's what I tell people who ask. It's kind of true, honestly, and I guess that's kind of sad. The past year just slipped by in a blur of riding trains, sitting at desks, and a bunch of static in between.

I had lunch with my parents last weekend. They told me that I might want to start thinking about buying a house. Apparently there are some programs around that will give first time buyers money for down payments. I know it's a good idea, but buying a house seems like such a big anchor. I'm not sure where else I think I'm going, but it feels good to know I can leave. I'm not quite ready to be a grown up yet, but maybe it's time I started.

I'm going to take baby steps. I'm going to wake up early tomorrow and make coffee and eat breakfast. Grown ups wake up early and get things done.

This was not as funny as I hoped it'd be. It's been a while since I wrote anything. I'll try harder next time.

Death Cab

2008-12-15T11:50:00.001-08:00

I wasn't crazy about the new Death Cab for Cutie album when it came out, but I gave it another shot this weekend and I like it now.

-Mike Sherry

Comics Comics the Website!

2008-06-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and readers. I have moved all comics comics related activites over to www.comics-comics.com. The site isn't as pretty as I hope it will soon be, but it's certainly functional, so I hope to see you there! I'll be tweaking it and making it look nice as time goes on.

(Update your bookmarks and/or RSS feeds)

-Mike Sherry

More Instant Messenger Conversation Comics

2008-06-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

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Sometimes I feel like the blog posts I write to go along with these comics become a little detached or irrelevant since I usually post the comics about a week after the events that they detail actually happen. That was a very long sentence. However, in today's case, the topic remains true. The White Sox and the Cubs are meeting for their second and final series for this season barring the unlikely event that they both end up in the World Series. There's a lot of buzz around the city of Chicago about that possibility, but don't but into the hype. I think both teams have a very good chance of making it into the post season, but after that, who knows. Post season baseball is mostly just a crap shoot anyways.

As a life long White Sox fan, last weekend was not the most entertaining baseball I've ever seen, as the Sox got swept by their crosstown rivals. However, both teams remain in first place at the time of this post, so i just have to keep reminding myself that in the grand scheme of baseball, these games are no different than any other, and that bragging rights are only used by the insecure and those who are simply big jerks.

In other news, I have decided to not post comics on Sundays anymore, as it is the Lord's day and also because drawing seven comics a week is a lot of work. Instead I will be doing two panel comics for Saturdays and Sundays and then posting them together. It'll make more sense when you see it. I completed my original goal of 30 comics in 30 days, though you will not see them all for another week or so due to the delayed posting schedule. I do think I am going to continue with the project, though, because it's fun and I like how they're turning out. Thanks for reading, I've really been enjoying the feedback. Be sure to tell your friends!

-Mike Sherry

Instant Messenger Conversation Comics

2008-06-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

I should give credit where credit is due and this rant was all courtesy of Tyler who is a lot funnier and more talented than I am. Sadly, he's studying to become a lawyer or something. However, you should keep an eye out for his upcoming sci-fi serialm Vampires In Space. The title says it all. I should also note that I still do not know why his arch nemesis was the Sobe delivery guy. Tyler has always been, and will remain, an enigma. If it weren't for him I would not understand baseball to a degree that no one would ever really need to. Also, the other day he explained to me where money comes from. Turns out, the amount of money there is in the world depends entirely on how people feel on any given day. True story.

-Mike Sherry

Buying Games Comics

2008-06-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

You may recall an earlier post I made about purchasing Portal and Professor Layton and the Curious Village. This comic chronicles that fateful day. I kid you not, there are two Game Stops across the street from each other on Roosevelt and Canal St in Chicago. I guess it's convenient. It seems as though it would be more convenient to just have all the inventory in one store, but I don't know much about business. One thing I do know - I'm willing to pay an extra five dollars for a new copy of a game, especially if it saves me from walking back across the street. This much is evident.

-Mike Sherry

Office Comics

2008-06-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

I took that scrap of paper home with me because I still think it's really funny. I'll try to scan it tomorrow and post it. It also has a bunch of doodles of hands while I was apparently trying to figure out how to draw hands better. Good story, huh?

-Mike Sherry

Too Tired to Draw Comics

2008-06-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

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I guess in retrospect, I'm a little sad that I didn't tough it out for this one, but man, I was really tired. At least I got to make use of my crayons. Crayons don't come up as often as I would hope, so when I have the chance, I have to capitalize on it. Crayons are the new paint. You heard it here first.

I've got at least two new comics simmering on my brain stove. No planned date of release, but I'll keep you updated.

-Mike Sherry

NBA Finals Comics

2008-06-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

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I watched a handful of the NBA finals games with my friend, Davey. He's a big Celtics fan, so you can imagine his excitement. On the day this particular comic took place, he had a little bbq at his house, which is where the lighting of the charcoal comes into play. So to speak. During a previous game, we went out to watch it at our local chicken wing restaurant chain featuring a bison. Davey was saying how the Lakers run a good version of the triangle offense. As a young man who grew up in Chicago in the 90's, I had heard quite a bit about Phil Jackson's triangle offense, as the Bulls were wont to run it. I never understood quite how it worked so I had Davey explain it to me.

Davey: Okay, say these salt and pepper shakers are your guards, the sugar packet is the center, and the ketchup and mustard are the forwards.
Me: Mmm hmm... okay, wait. Which one is Michael Jordan?
Davey: *Sigh* The pepper is Jordan.
Me: Okay, continue.
Davey: Okay, the salt brings up the ball.
Me: Is that B.J. Armstrong.
Davey: Sure, B.J. brings up the ball and passes to Jordan. He tosses it out to the wing to the forward.
Me: Scottie Pippin?
Davey: ...passes to Pippin.

It went on like that for a while, but now I kind of understand how the triangle works. Also I got to reminisce about the Bulls in the 90's.

In other news, I stopped off at the grocery store after band practice to pick up a few items. I always think it's awkward doing light grocery shopping because when I go to the checkout counter, I always feel like the register people are judging me based on my purchases. Trying to make some assumptions about my lifestyle. Take today for example. I bought two frozen pizzas, a stick of deodorant, and 400 coffee filters. Now to me, well, I need all that stuff, but to who ever is working, they probably think I'm going to go home, eat a bunch of frozen pizza, drink 3 pots of coffee and... sweat a lot, i guess.

I just thought I'd share that with you. Have a good day/night.

-Mike Sherry

Dog Comics

2008-06-22T17:33:00.001-07:00

I was in Milwaukee this weekend which prevented me from posting any comics, so to make it up to you here's a double dose.

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So as I was saying, I spent the weekend in Milwaukee. I was helping my friend Chris record some songs. It was a lot of work but we had a good time and I think we got some good music recorded. I was basically pooped when we called it quits so I drove back to Chicago last night and went to bed.

I woke up refreshed this morning and did some shopping. I bought a Nintendo DS, which is pretty exciting. Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a really cool game. The art and music in it is fantastic. It's basically just a bunch of puzzles to solve, but those are a lot of fun, too. Speaking of puzzle games, I picked up Portal or "The Orange Box" if you will. I was mostly just interested in playing Portal. You get this gun that only shoots out, well, Portals, that attach themselves to walls, ceilings, what have you, and you can walk in one and out the other, or vice versa. It's really fun. I haven't played a lot of video games as of late, but I'm really enjoying these. Also the Nintendo DS is a pretty slick piece of hardware.

So that in addition to trying to draw more and putting together a more plot line based comic and also the band and recording with Chris... all of that has been keeping me pretty busy as of late. Work is work. It's not great, but it's not bad. It's just kind of something I do every day and it finances the rest of my life. I like to tell myself "Now I get to start real work when I leave the office every day. It makes me feel excited about life. You should give it a try. That is, if there are things you want to accomplish outside of work.

-Mike Sherry

Instant Messenger Conversation Comics

2008-06-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is an actual conversation I had sans the getting an appetizer part. I just threw that in because we're in the instant messenger diner and I wanted to contextualize the conversation a bit. Really it started because my status on Gchat was simply "Halving is half the battle". That was something I said a long time ago in reference to something I don't remember anymore. Any questions? Didn't think so.

-Mike Sherry

Instant Messenger Conversation Comics

2008-06-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

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Sorry, Mom. I don't know what it is. I'm just not that interested in dating right now. It's a lot of work, for starters. Also, as I have been happily single for the past three years, I'm used to doing pretty much whatever I want all the time. I guess I wouldn't turn down some perfect relationship if it came by, but consider my game to be in an indefinite time out.

This past weekend my Grandma got pretty excited when I said that I should "give Dotty a call".
"Who's Dotty?" she asked, but unfortunately Dotty is just a girl who I am hoping will cut my hair soon. It's rather long. Anyways, she thought I had a girlfriend, and I had to let her down, too. She asked me, "Do you have a girlfriend."
"No..."
"You don't want to give some nice girl the privilege of being your girlfriend?"
"Eh... you know... there's no hurry."

So that's pretty much where my love life stands right now. I'll try to keep you updated as things develop, but don't hold your breath.

-Mike Sherry

I've Done Stupider Things Comics

2008-06-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

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Mike and I actually made a few of these videos. I'll post them as soon as I get some time to edit them together. It might end up being a little too high concept for anyone else to find amusing, but I got a big kick out of it. Try it for yourself. It's a lot of fun.

I'm tossing around some ideas in my head for a comic with more of a story line. My original goal for this one was 30 comics in 30 days, but I like making these so I might keep them going after that. We'll see. Anyways, I'd also like to get an actual plot driven strip going, so I've been putting a lot of thought into it. It'll probably be a little while before that gets started, though. Just wanted to let you all know what I've been thinking about. I know you care deeply.

-Mike Sherry

Emergency Surgery Comics

2008-06-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

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Surgery is a very serious issue. It seems like more and more of my friends are having emergency surgeries as of late. Does the human body begin to deteriorate at age 22? I sure hope not. I still have to cross "Pitch major league game" off my list of things to do. I was led to believe that people and/or baseball players reach their peak around age 27 or 28. That gives me another three or four years.

Band Comics

2008-06-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

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I joined a new band recently, and my first show with them was roughly two weeks after I joined up. The show itself was not much to write about. You just can't expect too much out of a show when you play at midnight on a Sunday night. Anyways, it was a good practice gig for me.

I decided to turn off the air conditioning today and open up some windows. It's really nice out and there's a cool breeze blowing through the apartment, but I think the humidity is getting to me. I am simply pooped. I think I'm gonna switch back to the a/c. Nice try everyone. Nice try, summer.

-Mike Sherry

Nerd Comics

2008-06-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

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Yes, it is true. I purchased my first D&D book last week. A younger, less mature me would probably be too shamed to be discussing this with the entire virtual world, but I am older and wiser and perhaps even less mature than I was when I was 18, but I prefer to think not on that last point. I always avoided Dungeons and their trademarked Dragons for one very key reason: I was afraid I would like it too much. For what is it, really, other than a final fantasy game that I get to play with my friends? There was another Final Fantasy game that I liked a little too much and I am still feeling the aftershocks of it. So I feel that my timidness toward the game has been justified.

I specifically remember one close call. I was a sophomore in college, living in the dorms and on this particular night I was chatting away on AIM. My dear friend accused me of being a "nerd" and then told me to "go play your Dungeons & Dragons". To which I responded, "I have never played D&D, nor do I ever plan on doing so." Well, I appear to be eating those words now, and they are delicious, but back to the story. Not ten minutes after saying that, my friend Pete from down the hall comes into my room and says, "Hey, Mike. I'm hosting a Star Wars themed round of Dungeons and Dragons and I thought you might be interested in playing. I was. However, having just renounced the game for all of eternity, I had to politely decline.

So what pushed me over the edge? Well, two things. First, there is a new "rule set" that was published last week. From what I've read, the new rules to the game are greatly simplified (much to the dismay of many hardcore D&Ders) and slightly more accessible to the common man (of whom I am not). The second and final nail in this proverbial coffin was Penny Arcade's glowing endorsement and also an entertaining series of podcasts featuring them and Steve Kuntz playing through a round.

So there you have it. I think that my first round is tentatively scheduled for the weekend after the 4th of July. I will let you know how it goes.

-Mike Sherry

Intercom Comics

2008-06-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

I've never had egg foo young before, and I decided to try it tonight. I am dining on it as I type and I must say that it is... decent. I think there are srpouts in it and I also think that I can do without them. However I suspect that the structural integrity of the dish would deteriorate, were they to be removed. Also I would then just be eating a chicken omelet with gravy. That sounds pretty good, actually.

In case you're not familiar with John McClane, I can direct you henceforth forthwith. Sadly, I misspelled his last name in the comic. If I were able to, I'd hire a fact checker and a spell checker... and a wizard as long as I'm wishing for things. Speaking of wizards, this proves to be some interesting reading for anyone who has a love for a certain young wizard or perhaps for a young farm boy who embarks on a journey that spans a galaxy.

-Mike Shery

P.S. Michael Jordan was great.

Public Bathroom Comics

2008-06-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

The bathroom at work is a really strange, often gross place. Most public bathrooms are not ideal places, but work is especially strange, and not specifically my current place of employment, but every work bathroom I've ever dealt with. I think it's because you have to use it at least once a day and there are always people there that you're going to see again, probably very soon. Maybe I'm more timid than your average man, or maybe modesty fades as one grows old, but old men are kind of gross. A few days before I started doing these daily diary comics I remember going to pee and seeing a guy peeing in a urinal, hands balled up in fists, triumphantly placed on his hips. He was standing up straight, chin up, seemingly very proud of himself. It was like watching superman use a toilet. Luckily, I didn't get a good look at his face or else that's all I'd think about when I saw him.

There's always people leaving without washing their hands and on the other figurative hand, there's the people that wash their hands, dry them with a paper towel, and then take an extra paper towel with which to operate the door handle, for fear of the germs on it from the people who don't wash their hands. I won't even get into the smells that circulate through that place. I understand that cannot be helped.

The guy in today's comic stomped very quickly over to the urinals while I was washing my hands, I assume he peed, and then he just as quickly stomped out of the bathroom. I think he just liked stomping around. Some people are stomping enthusiasts, and that's fine. Everyone needs a hobby. I'm just waiting for the day that I hear someone pooping and talking on their phone at work. I guarantee it will happen.

-Mike Sherry

What Was That A PSA For Comics

2008-06-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

This is not fabricated in any way. I was listening to a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game on MLB.com while I was at work, and in between innings, this commercial came on. Just a guy and a girl talking, a little afraid. It was so scary. I'm not even kidding. The strangest part of the whole ordeal, though, is that there was no, like "don't drink and drive" or "buckle up, it saves lives" message. It was just the people talking and then "Milwaukee D.O.T." who is apparently in the business of terror these days. Thank you, Milwaukee Department of Transportation, for reminding us all of our own mortality, for truly you are not alive unless you are aware that one day, you will die. This is what it is to be human.

-Mike

Comics Comics

2008-06-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

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This is an actual phone conversation I had with Marjie. I guess I should apologize in advance to anyone who ends up making a cameo in these comics. The characters in the comics are not necessarily supposed to look like the people they represent. That is the magic of cartooning!

Some may say that I've fallen into a bit of a routine, but I can't say that I mind so much. Drawing comics and watching baseball is a hell of a time. I'm not gonna lie. Sometimes I sit out on my balcony, sketching away and just yelling at the top of my lungs "ENDLESS SUMMER!" Of course, it won't really be summer for another 12 or 13 days (summer solstice in the house), but that's the beauty of the endless summer. It is endless. My other favorite thing about nice weather is that it brings back all sorts of feelings and memories of being a kid and wasting all those really nice days inside, playing video games and reading. To this day, I get more reading and gaming done during the warm months than otherwise. Once again, that is the beauty of the endless summer. If I could spend the rest of my life reading, drawing, playing games and watching baseball... well, I should be so lucky. Here's hoping, though. See you tomorrow.

-Mike Sherry

Bad At My Job Comics

2008-06-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

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True story. Half the time I have no idea what I'm doing at my job. Recently, though, people have started to get to know who I am and for some reason they think that I know things. This, dear readers, is false. Someday, perhaps, I will know a thing or two, but as it stands now, I'm mostly just good for drawing things on the computer and looking things up on the internet. I did have one glorious moment where I was the only one on my team who knew how to fit a .pdf drawing into a slide on a powerpoint slide. That's right. I am useful. I'm also really good at reading comics all morning and drinking coffee. If anyone knows where I can do specifically that for a job, please let me know.

-Mike Sherry

Getting Older Comics

2008-06-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

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This is an actual conversation I had with my roommate, Mike. He is a lot funnier than me, so it works out when I can use his punch lines. I probably shouldn't advertise that on my own site, but I like to give credit where credit is due. I can't say I'm surprised I'm getting fatter seeing as how I really don't put forth any effort to remain not fat. Ah well. Maybe this new band will give me an excuse to jump around like an idiot and burn some calories. I had one of those reminders that I've gained some weight at band practice the other day. It's been about two years since I've played guitar in a band so when I started playing while standing up I noticed that something felt different. The difference was that the guitar stuck out about an inch farther on account of my belly being about an inch farther out, too. Oh the joys of getting older. I did eat a salad for lunch today. I didn't even get any dressing on my skirt. I'm not sure if caesar salad is particularly healthy, being that it's smothered in cheese and dressing, but I guess it's a step up from a blue cheese and bacon hamburger. I'm still banking on Mike buying Wii fit. "Get in shape and have fun" sounds real good, but I also have a feeling that once I'm on that board, working up a sweat, the "have fun" part won't be quite so prominent in the routine. Until then, I'm stuck trying to burn calories in my daily routine which usually consists of sitting at a desk for 8 hours, drawing on my couch, laptopping on my couch, and playing guitar on my couch. Also, eating junky food because I don't feel like cooking. Maybe I can spin around in my chair at work more. To sum it all up, all I learned in physical education is that staying in shape is a lot of work and I don't like doing it.

-Mike Sherry

Staying Home Comics

2008-06-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

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I'm really glad it's warm out. It may be slightly too warm at this point, but hey, it beats being frozen.

Every once in a while I need some quality me time, and by "every once in a while", I mean almost every day. I don't know what it is. I like being around people for the most part, but I just really enjoy that time where I get to be quiet and do whatever I want. I think I might be in the minority on this one. I remember, even as a kid, I used to really enjoy the days where I could come home from school and the rest of my family was working or doing something else outside of the house and I had the whole place to myself. I wouldn't do anything different, I think I usually just watched TV. I watched a lot of TV as a kid. It was a hell of a good time, too. Sidenote: Did anyone else watch a cartoon about five T-Rex dinosaurs that were also in a rat pack-esque singing group that also fought crime and one of them was also telekenetic? I might be the only one, and it was probably a really bad show, but I just really like imagining the pitch made to the studio that produced it.

"So what've you got for us?"
"Okay, I've got this great idea for a kids show. Dinosaurs that fight crime!"
"Nah, what else."
"Umm.... they're also a band?"
"Eh, still not interested."
"They're in a band that's like the rat pack."
"Hmm... nah, it's still missing something."
"One of them is telekentic."
"Genius! You've done it again."

Then the studio exec opens a closet door and money pours out like a waterfall and they both laugh and throw hundreds into the air and make money angels on the floor.

-Mike Sherry

Life and Timespace Comic 4

2008-06-05T18:34:00.001-07:00

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So here it is. Number four. Tonight is one of those nights that I hear professional artists talking about that will supposedly separate the men from the boys. I decided to go out to dinner tonight and spend an hour running around looking for a Joseph Campbell book which means that now at 8:30pm I find myself with a lot of work to do. I'm gonna power through it, though, because that's what you gotta do. Slam Dunk. Jordan. Alright, time to practice for band practice. Take it easy, folks.

-Mike Sherry

Instant Messenger Conversation Comics

2008-06-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Click thumbnail for full view.

This is an actual conversation I had over Gchat, which is the new AIM in case anyone was wondering. I figured that instant messenger conversations aren't very visually stimulating so I decided to turn the internet into a poorly drawn diner. I don't think I'm alone in this visualization. The comic speaks for itself, I think, that is to say, there is no interesting story behind it. However, there were some other good lines that I was thinking about making today's comic about that ended up on the cutting room floor, so to speak. So, through the magic of the internet, I bring you the dialog that didn't make it into today's comic...

kelly: ...but they get different sun. and hers is in a smaller glass jar. I'm also growing 2 spider plants and yellow flowers and babys tears or babies. i dont know if its just multiple babies or if the plant is made from the tears of babies
me: that sounds like a real tragic plant
kelly: yeah, but its incredibly cute
me: either way
kelly: maybe thats where the babies come in?
me: they should've called them "babies giggles". I'd like them a lot more.
kelly: its also called "Irish moss". Is that better?
me: yeah I like that. I also like "Butterfly Wishes"
kelly: no mike, thats not what they are called.
me: it could be...
kelly: no. its not.

me: where do you work?
kelly: think coffee. Its a pretty amazing coffee shop
me: do you like it a latte?
kelly: hahah yes. I couldnt think of another witty coffee joke. I tried to think of something with mocha, but i fell short
me: perhaps you were overcome with emochan

So that's it. I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.

-Mike Sherry

Thermos Comics

2008-06-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

Click thumbnail for full view.

I started making my own coffee to bring to work. It got to the point where I was drinking two cups every day and at today's prices that adds up. So I decided that it was time to start using my coffee maker at home. Unfortunately I didn't have a travel cup with a lid and instead of buying one like a normal person I decided that I needed a thermos. So I drove out to Target and started shopping around. I figured the housewares section would be the best place to find a thermos. Doesn't seem too far fetched right? Wrong. Well, half right. They had these frilly little 16 oz. thermoses with pink polka dots and baby blue stripes all over them. They clearly do not know what kind of man I am. Finally I had one of those great eureka moments. "THE CAMPING SECTION!" Long story short, I walked out of there with a 44 oz. beast of a thermos that keeps my coffee warm for upwards of 24 hours. Thank you Thermos brand Thermos.

-Mike Sherry

The Uncontrollable Few

2008-06-03T08:18:00.003-07:00

Hey, I joined up with a new band and I'm playing a show this weekend.

The Uncontrollable Few

June, 8 2008 at Silvie’s Lounge
1902 W. Irving Park Rd, Chicago, Illinois 60613
Cost : TBA

http://www.myspace.com/silvieslounge With The Crash Engine. http://www.myspace.com/thecrashengine

Be there or be square.

-MS

Orphan Works Act

2008-06-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

This is some Bullshit.

I don't know if you've heard of the Orphan Works Act, but the long and short of it is that there's a bill going through congress that would change copyright law quite drastically for visual art. As the law currently stands, a creator has an inherent right on anything he or she makes. As I understand it, if the OWA passes, that inherent copyright will no longer exist and artists will be required to register everything they create with private sector registry's for an estimated $10 per image. Then, if someone wants to use your image they have to "reasonably" search to see if it is registered with one of the registries and if not, they're free to use it, even if you did register it but they did not check with the correct registry. Say there are 3 different registries. Now say I lose my 100 page sketchbook. To be 100% sure no one will steal any of my sketches in there, I'd have to pay upwards of $3000. That seems slightly unreasonable.

Anyways. I probably shouldn't be saying so much about it since you can read the bill for yourself and well founded arguments against it here

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/issues/bills/?billid=11320236

There's also a quick and easy way to email your congressmen and state representative about it. It takes about a minute. I encourage you to do so.

/rant

Comics-Comics

2008-06-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

Due to popular request... Here's part 3 of my little mini-story about Jake.

Click thumbnail for larger view.

Also, I'm doing another little fun thing I'm calling "Comics Comics". It's one comic every day about something that happened to me that day. A journal comic if you will. So here's the first one.

Click thumbnail for larger view.

The office supply lady is actually really scary. When I started working I needed a stapler and they were out except for one that I saw still on the shelf. I asked her if I could take that one or if that was for the supply room and she yelled "No! That's for... Oh forget it! Just take it!" I had a similar problem getting a 3 hole puncher, and she usually glares at me when I try to get more pens. It's always a dangerous proposition, going to the office supply room. Recently I went on a run near lunch time when she wasn't around and acquired enough paperclips, red pens, and sharpie markers to last me for at least a few months. Last time I stocked up on sticky paper.

Life in an office is certainly strange, but as long as I can have an arch nemesis, I think I can keep myself entertained. I have another arch nemesis, too. A guy that started working the same week I did. He also just graduated but the difference between the two of us is that he graduated two days before we started, and I a year earlier. He had also spent a few years in the Marines, where as I spent a year meandering about the Midwest, drinking and playing in bands. The thing that really irks me is that I can't shake the feeling that he thinks he's better than me. It doesn't help that there's a clique of cool kids that has formed that I am very clearly not a part of. Mostly it doesn't bother me, but something about that one guy just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's just that I can't yell "I don't really care about engineering" at him without fear of losing my job.

Two arch nemeses down. Perhaps more on that to come later.

-Mike Sherry

More Comics?

2008-05-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

Well, the first comic got a pretty good response so I thought I'd post another. Here's comic 2.

Click for full comic.

I hope you enjoy. Maybe I'll stick with these characters.... I have not decided yet.

-Mike Sherry

Typo City

2008-05-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

My boss mis-spelled the word "do".

"...verify the changes indicated in your email due not affect the cable design..."

Nice.

L&TS Comic 1

2008-05-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post one of the comics I've been working on. I'm not sure if I'm gonna stick with this plot line or these characters, but I figured I should post some of the work I've done... so here it is.

Click thumbnail for full view.

-Mike Sherry

Still Working

2008-05-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on returning to my old heydays of having a presence on the internet, but until then, I saw this picture and it had "moment of zen" written all over it. I thought I'd share it with you.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen...

Terrible, Horrible, No Good

2008-05-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

This is my first "not at work" update in a while. I've been slacking off on the whole blog thing lately, but for good reason. I've got about 14.5 comics in the proverbial bag, first story arc is done, second has begun. Things are going pretty well. I figure, once I launch the comic site, I'll just blog along with the comic updates and that'll keep me on a pretty regular blog pace.

I didn't start this up to give you boring updates on my projects, though. I started this to talk about the ridiculous day I had. It started off on a bad or maybe good note, depending on how you look at it. I forgot to set my alarm last night, which I tend to do roughly quadrennially, but thanks to "body time" I woke up right at the regularly scheduled time. Not bad, right? That's what I thought, too. So I hop on the train to go to work, and I'm standing by the door, looking out the window across the way, like I usually do, when the lady sitting across the way wakes up with a start. She should "Woah, goodness! I didn' see you a-lookin at me!" and that seemed kind of normal for someone waking up on a train, even though I wasn't actually looking at her. I was simply looking at one of the ads near the ceiling. Anyways, I just gave her a quick smile as though to say, "No big deal, I've fallen asleep on the train before, too." Poor choice, because I was then verbally assaulted by her for the next 10 minutes until we got to my stop. I'll give you some sample dialog...

"Don't you be lookin' at me. You devil. You thief. I don't trust you. No sir. Bloody bucket headed (something) standin' there. You're lucky I don't have a gun cause I'd shoot you. And you (to an asian man standing next to me), and you (to someone else). You been to church this week? I ask God all the time why it is that the white man gets all the money when he's evil and I got nothin. I see you doing your taxes, doing your taxes in church. You bring your taxes to church, how dare you. I can't wait to see you in purgatory, burning in purgatory for what you did."

Mind you, except for the part about shooting a couple of other individuals, this was all clearly directed right at me. There was one stop before mine and a few other people got on and she yelled at this other lady for a few seconds for being jewish, or she suspected that she was jewish I guess, but then it was back to me. "You're lucky I don't work downtown cause I'd fuck all ya'll up." Yikes. Anyways, what could I do? I just grinned and took it and kept staring out the window. You can't really reason with a crazy person.

So I get to work and it's my manager's last day cause she's really pregnant and she's going on maternity leave for the summer. This is sad because she's a really good manager and the guy taking over for her is scary and grumpy. Well, I had to talk to him for the first time since I got hired today and I tried to be upbeat and helpful, but he was not into it. I get the distinct impression that he doesn't like me, but then, I get the distinct impression that he doesn't like anybody. It's gonna be a long summer.

So work ends and that's nice. My birthday is coming up and my mom said she'd pay for some new headphones that I want. So I figured I'd take a drive up to best buy to check out headphones. Only... wah wah... I have a flat tire. I've had a troublesome tire for the past 6 or 8 months and I finally got it replaced like 2 weeks ago and now a different one is flat. MAN! That's some nonsense.

Well, that it for now. Tomorrow will be better.

-Mike Sherry

2008-04-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

I'm considering posting L&TS comic 1 on here later, just as a teaser. The first 15 or so comics will probably end up archived to begin with anyways, because I'd feel weird launching a site with only one comic on it. So... think about that, dear readers.

In other news, I registered www.lifeandtimespace.com in anticipation of the comic. Right now, it just takes you back to this blog, but that's fun, too. For me.

I bought a thermos last night and I've been drinking coffee out of it all day. It is everything I thought it could be and more.

Hmmm... oh, I posted a song on You've Lost Me. To listen to it, just go to the entry for "Raised By Another" and there's a link to the song in the text. Or... just click here, I guess. It's supposed to be a song that Charlie Pace wrote telling the history of West Caverberg. I hope you enjoy it. Credit to Mike Hannemann for co-writing the lyrcs and doing some backing vocals.

Alright, I should get back to "work".

-Hatchet Mike

Life and Timespace Comic

2008-04-07T21:24:00.001-07:00

Quick update. I realize the content has been a little low as of late, but I've been working hard to get a new comic up and running. I'm trying to get at least 30 drawn up before I think about launching a site. That way I can see if doing 3 per week is reasonable and also I can get used to doing it regularly. Here's some samples of early material. Just to whet your whistle.

And here's a dinosaur I drew for funsies.

To be fair, I was looking at a sketch that Aaron Diaz did of that dinosaur cause I like how he draws clouds and trees. I wish I had thought to learn how to draw earlier, but that's how it goes. I'll try to post on here a bit more, but no promises.

And don't forget to visit You've Lost Me. Episode 8 goes up soon and there's quick links to the comics on the sidebar now.

Take er easy.

-Mike Sherry

Tweet Tweet Twitter

2008-03-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

I added a Twitter feed to the sidebar because... I no longer have time for full length blogging. One to two sentences is all I can manage. So... I hope you enjoy it.

In other news, I've been working on a new comic. It's going okay. Still working on You've Lost Me, which has been getting mixed reviews. If nothing else, I'm having a lot of fun doing it. Mike Hannemann has talked about promoting it in the Lost forums he hangs out it, and that seems like it might be a more open audience than you guys since most of you don't watch Lost.

Work is good. Stopping acid rain. Awesome. Who has some good podcasts to listen to? My boss made a pretty strong pitch in favor of moving to one of the power plant sites and working there for a couple of years "Especially if you're young and single, it's a really good learning opportunity". I couldn't help but feel like it wasn't hypothetical. I should get back to work though. Ta.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

More Wacom Fun

2008-03-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here's some more sketches from the Wacom. Such fun!

Envy from Scott Pilgrim.

Hannah from Octopus Pie

I hope you enjoy them.

In other news, my songwriting class was canceled because I was the only person who signed up for it. I now have credit for 1 class at the old town school of folk music. That's cool. I will use it. I was just really looking forward to that. Ah well. I've been thinking about comics more than music lately anyways. Sorry I haven't been writing. I've been keeping all my ideas bottled up for maybe starting a new comic. Here's hoping.

-Mike

Run! It's the Wacommies!

2008-03-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

I've been switching gears on just about everything in my life every 2 days or so. It's been kind of confusing. One day I hate my job, the next day I like it, the next I think about playing guitar all day, the next I hate music, the next I just want to eat burritos... but I digress. I spent the last few months really thinking about starting up a band and I've been writing songs and it's been going well, then all of a sudden I just didn't want to think about it anymore. I'm starting up a song writing class this week, and I'm excited about that. Hopefully it'll make me think in some new ways about songs.

I digress. Lately I've been thinking about comics more. Knights of Omnus is basically dead. It was fun while it lasted but in retrospect we probably bit off more than we could chew on that one. I started up this Lost Blog and Mike has been drawing some comics for it. I have a hard time leaving things half done, though, when I can see a way to make them better. Thus, the pencil sketch comics we've been posting have been bugging me. So naturally I bought a new 6x8 Wacom tablet, a RAM upgrade for my laptop, and got to work. The Wacom is sweet! That plus Adobe Illustrator almost make me look like a real artist. I spent the last two nights getting myself familiar with it and I want to post two of the sketches I did. Without further adieu...

This is Andy French from the show Mission Hill. I drew a sketch layer and an ink layer in Illustrator and then colored it in photoshop. I was trying to figure out how to use the slanted calligraphy brushes to ink. I like some of the lines and others not so much. If anyone has any tips on brush selection or how to make good brushes, I'd appreciate it.

This is, of course, Kim Possible. I used a circle brush to ink this one. Once again, some parts I like, others not so much. Anyways, my point of all of this is to see if anyone knows anything about inking in Illustrator. Or if you have any other tips in general I'd love to hear them.

I have, once again, gotten a tab long winded.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen...

Do you like Comics? Do you like Lost?

2008-02-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

If you answered yes or no to either of those questions, you should check out my new Lost episode guide. With the assistance of Mr. Mike Hannemann (comic art and additional jokes) I will be watching, reviewing, and poking fun at Lost season 1.

So visit www.youvelostme.blogspot.com

We watch Lost, so you don't have to.

-Mike

Love is in the air.

2008-02-14T07:06:00.001-08:00

I overheard some nerdy flirting on the elevator as I came into work today. I thought I'd share it with you.

Guy: ...you should come work by me.
Girl: Yeah, that could be fun.
Guy: Marie is moving to another pod soon, so there's an opening!
Girl: Oh, then we can have some nuclear and fossil co-habitation. Your would immediately have to fill out ten times more paperwork.
Guy: Haha. I'm not sure if we have enough regulations for you.
Girl: Haha.
Guy: We could redefine what a combined cycle plant is. Nuclear and Coal!
Girl: Haha. Think it would work.
Guy: It would be tricky...

Then I left the elevator. I've never heard two people so amused by the thought of a nuclear/coal power plant. Oh. Young love.

-Mike

Here's your moment of zen.

Work to live.

2008-02-04T12:57:00.000-08:00

I had another class during lunchtime today. This one was on smart investing since I am now a proud owner of a 401k investment plan. My company seems to think it's important to know how to manage it, so they make everyone take a few investment classes here. It's not a bad idea. I suppose if I'm going to have to live off of this money eventually, I should know how it works. The only problem is that I don't really want to work until I'm 65. Also, I have vastly different ideas of how money should work than the rest of the world.

Examples...
1) The lady teaching the class did a good job, I should point that out first. I'm fully aware that the problems lie with me and me alone. That being said, she was trying to make the point that when you have money in a 401k, you don't take it all out at once becuase you'll get taxed on it as income and meanwhile it could still be generating some good interest. Her example was "If you have $350,000 in your account, why would you take it all out at once. You don't need $350,000 all at one time." And I thought, "I can think of a few things to do with 350 grand." and I raised my eyebrow in skepticism and she saw me. She then corrected herself, "Okay, I guess you could have $350,000 in a lump sum, but my point is..." But by this point I had stopped listening because I started thinking about how much it would cost to purchase and operate a yacht.

2) A major point in planning for retirement is how many years you're going to live into your retirement. This is a scary and kind of sad thing to think about because it's basically a question of "When am I going to die?" I'm 23. I'm not really ready to start planning for my own death. If I could, I'd retire at 35 and live until I'm 900. Apparently that's not a realistic goal. The point was brought up that people are living longer these days and she quoted some random study that said that kids born in 2007 will have a reasonable opportunity to live until they're 104. The teacher said that she was glad she was not born in 2007 because 104 years sounded like too long to live. Too long to live? What? 104 years doesn't sound long enough to me. Do you have something else you want to do? I'll be there'll be some interesting things to do in 2088.

3) There are suggested investment schemes depending on your "target retirement date" which is a misleading term, becuase it actually means, "The year you turn 65". If someone asked me, "What's your target retirement date." I'd say "tomorrow". It gets even more backwards because the sooner your target retirement date is, the more conservatively they will invest your money. Once again, I understand why they do this, but if I want to retire in 2025, I'm gonna have to be in some pretty aggressive funds. Their system has one serious flaw, and that is the assumption that everyone wants to retire when they turn 65.

Moral of the story. I need to figure out a way to make a lot of money in not a lot of time.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen...

I'd like to fill out your survey, but you have made it impossible.

2008-01-31T14:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have to take this 18 week course at work during lunchtime on thursdays. I won't get into how that is lame because lunch is a sacred time, because I feel like that is clear and doesn't warrant further explanation. The funny thing about this class is the surveys they send me afterward. An example is shown below.

Let's take a look at the first question. "How would you rate the handout material, if any?" That seems alright. First off, though, there was no handout material, but there's no "Not Applicable" option. So now I have to rate something that does not exist. How does one judge something that does not actually exist? What kind of gradiant scale does one judge it against? Compared to other things I've never experienced, this non-experience was worse. or better? average? Weird.

Second think to notice, and I guess this kind of renders my first query useless, but check out the scale that is offered. One to five, one being "Invaluable" and five being "Well Prepared".

...what?

Someone better check a dictionary, because that is a scale from "Pretty good" to "So Awesome". Let's take a look back at what this question is really asking.

"On a scale from Pretty Awesome to So Awesome, exactly how awesome was the handout material that we didn't give you?"

Now let's examine the second question, "How would you rate the presentation? Was the speaker well prepared?" Okay. That's two questions. There is only one opportunity to answer. The scale is from "Don't Understand" to "Understand Completely". Well... I guess I'd have to go with "Don't Understand" because I can only assume that they are asking if I understand the question, not the presenter.

The answer is "no". I do not understand this survey.

Bender is great.

2008-01-16T20:03:00.001-08:00

I've been reading my really old school Live Journal entries and it's a lot of fun. I should really blog more so I can look back on this when I'm 27 and feel warm and fuzzy.

-MS

You feel pretty confident about that?

2008-01-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

So that damn year in review is really bringing down my blogging ambition. I figure I should touch base though, with the new job and the new year and the new... PS3!!! Yeah I did it. I bought a PS3 a couple of days ago. I found myself coming home from work, making dinner, and then it was just a blur of TV re-runs and... well that's it. Until I fell asleep. I decided it was time I got back into the gaming world. I hadn't bought a new videogame in about 2 years, and I also didn't want to get back into ffxi. That's that dark side. Anywasy, it's pretty fun so far. I like the possibility of online gaming and I really like that you can download free demos of games.

Work is pretty good. I won't lie to you. The world of power engineering is not the most exciting thing, but I do have a few bullet points to share with you.

-I'm organizing a lot of the drawings for the project I'm working on and indexing them and doing other exciting office work. During my adventures in indexing, I came across a couple of interesting engineering terms. Apparently "Assy" is shorthand for "Assembly". I decided today that I was going to spell out the whole word rather than include the word "Assy" in something I have to turn in to my boss. I think I did the company a favor. I also came across a drawing for, and I'm not making this up, a "Reverse Osmosis System". I thought that Reverse Osmosis was something high school biology teachers made up as a joke. Apparently someone has turned that dream into a reality. In the form of some type of system. I can't tell you how it works or even what it really does, but I'd have to assume it involves taking something out of something else, maybe with plants.

-I've been on a huuuuge Penny Arcade kick. I started listening to their podcasts and they're really good. I have to try real hard to not laugh at my desk. I've also re-started reading the Penny Arcade books that they put out. Also good.

-There's a guy who sits next to me at work named Ken. He's not the new Dwight or anything, he's just a guy who likes to send me weird jazz songs from time to time. Anyways, my... mentor? I guess that's the best term... my mentor, Anne, thinks his name is Keith. I can't figure out if that's his nickname or if she just thinks his name is Keith for no reason. I've created the following scenario to change it which I'm just going to assume is true because it's the most entertaining... When Ken and Anne first met, he was a little shy and introduced himself as "Kennith" but she heard "Keith" and has proceeded to call him Keith. It has now been going on so long that he is too embarrassed to correct her. Fantastic!

So that's what I've been up to as of late. Hopefully I can crunch out the rest of this year in review before I decide to start the next one. Have a good Manuary.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Year in Review - April '07

2008-01-14T20:00:00.001-08:00

Oh April... It was the beginning of the end of my glorious retirement. I got my start date from Siemen's. I tried to delay it as much as possible by telling that that I could probably start sometime around the beginning of May (my lease on apartment 102 was up at the end of May anyways) and they took the bait. I had until May 14th. This was good news because it meant that I got to spend my 23rd birthday in Milwaukee, but more on that in May.

April was the month of Easter, which meant a trip back home again. I was actually heading home a lot at this point. I would get a little antsy in my apartment so I'd just drive back to Tinley, grab dinner with my mom, hang around for a bit and then go back to Milwaukee. Not a bad life. Anyways, on Easter I had to bring my car in to get some work done on it. This took much longer than expected and I ended up trapped at home for over a week. You know it's time to leave home when mom starts asking you to do things, and when she came home and asked me why I sat around all day and didn't empty the dishwasher... I would have liked to leave, but I was stranded. As to why I didn't empty the dishwasher, well, I didn't know that it was full of clean dishes. I didn't use any dishes that day, and I certainly don't wander around the house looking for work to do. I kept myself sane by spending almost every night over at Hannemann's house. His parents had gone on vacation for the week, leaving him in charge. There was a lot of Wii tennis and Wii bowling.

April also marks the beginning of baseball season. This was exciting because it gave me something to do and also because it snowed a shit ton in Cleveland so they moved three of the Indians' games to Milwaukee for dirt cheap prices. Having nothing to do, I treated myself to a baseball game. I may have seen one of the only 3 Indians vs. Angels games ever to be played at Miller Park. That's fun! Not having cable, I also started to listening to White Sox games on the radio. I could pick up Chicago AM stations in my apartment, so I'd play some videogames and tune in to the games. Oh, I also started eating a lot of peanuts (the kind still in the shell) and reading Lord of the Rings again. I'd just sit in my recliner, pull the trash can over (for the shells), and read and eat for hours.

The end of April marked my first of four shows with Conrad Plymouth. We rocked the Bremen Cafe, my friends came out to see us because they're good people, and I had a fantastic time. Whee!

Some memorable quotes...

They keep trying to tell me that just because my car's check engine light is on that it isn't emissions friendly (which is FALSE), I need to fix it (also false), and it's unsafe to drive. No, it's unsafe to drive because the rear defogger doesn't work and all of the dashboard lights have burnt out, but that's really none of your buisness, is it?

The Cleveland Indians were hosting the Angels (who you may remember from the hit movie 'Angels in the Outfield')

And the moments of zen...

Year in Review - March '07

2008-01-14T19:39:00.001-08:00

It may take me all year, but I'm going to finish this year in review. March was a good month. Things began to fall into place. Various jobs. Acceptance letters from various grad schools... other things... it started to get warm and warm time in Milwaukee is the best time in the world. I ate at the trocadero so much in March. Could I afford it? Probably not, but I did it anyways. What's the point of being retired if you can't enjoy it? I could really go for a salmon crepe right about now... or some flourless chocolate cake! Oh so good. So good.

It was in March that I also made my (hopefully) final appearance on final fantasy 11. I have a serious addiction to that game. I'm proud to say that I've been clean since last April, but I still find myself thinking about signing up again. The only thing that has stopped me recently is that I don't have an ethernet cable long enough to hook up my PS2. As time has gone on, I've come to realize that it really is an addiction and it takes a lot of self discipline not to fall off the wagon or... on the wagon... I forget how that works. The bad one. I think it's the same with all MMORPG's. They're bad news.

There was one pretty sadly awesome moment when I was back home for the weekend. I brought my PS2 with me so that I could play some ffxi. I stayed up until 1 or 2am gaming and I decided to have a beer while I was at it. Then I got tired so I put the empty beer bottle on my night stand and fell asleep. The next morning my parents were out shopping and I woke up around 10, and started gaming again in my pajamas. Then my parents came home and found me in my pajamas at noon playing videogames with an empty beer bottle next to me. They were real proud.

It should be noted here that from Manuary through April I was bowling every Sunday night with Team Free Estimates. It was to be our last run at the bowling league but man, we had some fun. Some other interesting notes are that I was watching a whole lot of Kim Possible at this time. Truly a great show. Also, I started playing keyboard with Conrad Plymouth. I miss those guys.

The final noteworthy event of March was Bridget and Allie coming to visit. They just make me happy. We went out to the Trocadero (yum!) and walked around cause it was nice out. It was a good weekend in general.

So that's March 07 in a nutshell.

Some memorable quotes...

Marquette students apparently go bat-shit loco when it gets warm. There has been constant yelling outside my window for pretty much the last 3 days. Drunk people wandering the streets, also sometimes things blow up randomly. A few hours ago I heard a police officer politely ask my neighbors to "stop it with the firecrackers" over his police car loudspeaker.

I'd have to say that I have never had so many people aware of the fact, and angry that I was a little gassy in the morning.

And the moments of zen...

Year in Review: February 2007

2008-01-08T09:04:00.001-08:00

February 2007

February started out with a bang. The Bears had made it into the Superbowl, or as The Onion put it "Bears Lead Rex Grossman to Superbowl." I went to Chicago for the game, but other than a Devin Hester kickoff return and a sweet halftime performance by Prince... it was kind of a depressing night.

I had another interview offer for some temp job out in Romeoville which I figured I should go to. This led to my first haircut of the year. I also shaved my "unemployment beard" in an attempt to look respectable. The day before the interview they called me back to tell me that the position had been filled. I secretly suspect it was just my mom talking in a funny voice so that I'd get my hair cut. She's a wiley one. The strange thing is that after I shaved my face all of a sudden looked really fat. I was worried briefly, but then Ben told me the same thing happens to him whenever he shaves. It's weird.

It was also around this time that my sleep schedule had gotten so messed up that I began searching for a reason to get up before sunset. The Price is Right gave me that reason. Bob Barker saves me again.

Hannemann came up to visit on a Tuesday or something and we had a little weekend in the beginning of the week because what's the difference at that point? We watched the entire first season of Frisky Dingo, I played a lot of final fantasy 12 which ended up being rather disappointing and we beat Kirby Super Star for the SNES and set a time record that we have yet to beat. Not a bad few days. There was also a lot of Bosco sticks being eaten and if you're not familiar with bosco sticks, do yourself a favor and try one. Mike got a little too excited about the bosco sticks and ordered like 16, but we only ate maybe 3 a piece along with the pizza we got. I lived off of reheated bosco sticks for like the next 5 days. Healthy? No. Delicious? Yes. Did I have any other choice? Not really.

I finished watching all three seasons of the office and probably started on season 4 or 5 of Scrubs this month, not to mention the first season of Veronica Mars. I was making some good progress. Oh, I also got an acceptance letter to IIT in February which was my ticket to justifable laziness through august.

One of the grad schools I applied for was in the Tampa Bay area, and convieniently my mom had to go to a meeting down there at the end of the month. She was complaining how it was going to be boring because it was only for 2 or 3 days and it was just her and boo hoo. I told her I'd go and keep her company if she paid for my ticket, which she did and it was the best deal ever. I got to go to the beach and drive around and look at old people. We also got to the hotel a little late and there were no rooms with 2 double beds left so the guy was like "Hmm... there's one room left and it has one queen bed. My mom and I looked at each other and then looked back at the guy... "That's not going to work." He sent up a rollaway bed, but my mom was still pissed so I think we got something for free, I dunno. It was a scary couple of seconds though.

Memorable Blog Quotes

the commercial now says that I can get a greasy hamburger for a buck or million dollar abs. One word: hamburgerhamburgerhamburger.

I decided I'd rather drive around a bad neighborhood than head into Indiana.

I really thought that Prince was going to win the superbowl. Just don't even play the second half. Present the Lombardi trophy to Prince. MVP? Prince.

"Excuse me, is there anything in this store that will not make me look like a chach?"

90% of nights, I go to bed upset that I didn't play shuffleboard. The remaining 10% is split between days where I did play shuffleboard, I didn't think about shuffleboard, or someone died playing shuffleboard.

Year in Review - Manuary '07

2007-12-28T16:14:00.000-08:00

Manuary 2007

Yeah, you read that right. It was Manuary. A time to eat red meat and do other manly things. There was much talk of Manuary around The Patrician which eventually led to an attempted coup by the "Vaganuary" contingent. It never stuck though, and their an attempt at a "Femuary" the next month was weak at best.

I'm proud to say that I stuck to my new years resolution for the most part. You see, upon completing college I took a look back at my life and realized that I've made good choices and worked hard to get to where I am and I was sick of it. So I decided that 2007 was to be the year of poor choices. The first of which was to avoid getting a job for as long as possible. I stumbled along the way a few times and found myself at an interview or filling out an application, but if I'm to be honest, my heart was never really in it. There was some pressure from the parents to do something with my life so I had to keep up appearances.

I then made the mistake that many new grads make when they don't know what to do with their life: I applied to grad school. Why did I want to go to grad school? Well, I had a couple of nice lines about wanting to learn more and blah blah blah that I could tell the admissions people, but really it was just something to do for a while that wasn't a job. We all know how that worked out for me. Anyways, I spent much of Manuary looking for schools, filling out applications, and writing a personal statement. I also attended an open house at IIT in Manuary. It was then that I began to toy with the idea of returning to Chicago. All part of the plan.

For the most part, my bad decision year was a lot of fun. I wish I could do it again. Sadly, bad decisions and fun cost a lot of money. My first realization of this came when my Marquette parking pass expired. I got parking over Marquette's winter break for a mere donation of a few canned goods, but with the school year starting again without me, I had to cough up $340, which is a lot of money when you're trying to be retired. I worried about it a lot the night my pass expired and actually couldn't sleep that night, but in the end I decided that the old credit card was going to have to take one for the team this time. The credit card took a lot of hits for the team in 2007. Priority number 1 in 2008 is to remedy that.

On a brighter note, I started out the month with a trip out to Kalamazoo, MI to see Kelly. It was an awesome trip. There was a vegan potluck which began my love affair with soup, I saw a basement show with a band that later had a jam session with Hanson, I went to a museum and did play time science experiments, I hung out at a coffee shop until like 3am and talked to a crazy guy and watched Scrubs on my computer, and I drank some pretty awesome coffee. What a town!

Other than that, I had my days completely free with the city of Milwaukee at my fingertips. Naturally I slept until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon every day. I also invested in a 120 gig external hard drive. It was a pretty big investment at the time, but I definitely got my money's worth. With the help of bittorrent, I downloaded and watched all the TV shows that I wanted to watch in college but had no time. First up was Scrubs. Five seasons of it. I'll walk you through a typical day in Manuary 07 for me...

2pm - Wake up, make coffee, check email, webcomics
3pm - Turn on Final Fantasy 12, watch episodes of Scrubs on my computer while I level up
6pm - Realize the sun has gone down and I should turn on some lights, maybe get dressed, take a shower
8:30pm - Get hungry, scrounge up some "breakfast" somewhere, Chipotle, Jimmy Johns, and Mac and Cheese are regular meal staples
9:30pm - Call someone at the Patrician
10pm - Walk over to the Patrician, drink PBR
12am - Go to Caffries, the annex, or some other nearby bar, play darts
2am - bars close, friends need to go to bed, I go home and watch more Scrubs, maybe eat another meal
4am~5am - get tired, go to sleep
Repeat

Other noteworthy events in Manuary '07:
-Season premier of 24 Season 6. This was momentous enough for Mr. Hannemann to make his first venture up to Milwaukee. More on this later.
-My graduation party. This paid my rent for the next few months and also provided me with a bottle of Jameson that I enjoyed during a few late night Scrubs viewings (thanks Trish and Sam).
-Around this time, Hannemann got laid off of his job and was spending his days just sitting around, much like me. So we invented what we like to call "the countdown". At this time, there were a few sites like alluc.org and peekvid.com that had TV shows and movies available that you could stream. Since then there has been some crackdown on such sites and they're basically just shells of what they used to be. Anyways, the countdown was where we both cued up the same show, then over IM I'd say "3,2,1,go" and we'd both hit play, have a few drinks and discuss the show. Genius.

Memorable quotes from my blogs...

Man, I hate doctors. They're always judging me and telling me what to do.

Manuary Moments of Zen

Year in Review - Intro and December 2006

2007-12-27T17:17:00.000-08:00

In case you've missed some of my exciting blogs, I've decided to do a year in review. My plan is to go over my blogs from the past year and give the highlights. I think I did this in 2005 as well. I don't think I ever did a 2006 year in review, but I wasn't working an office job last December. That's when all the real work gets done.

If ever there was a year to review it was 2007. I worked for a total of 16 weeks, went to school for 7 weeks, and that leaves... calculator... 29 weeks of nothing! I completed 1.5 work projects, 7 grad school applications, 4 homework assignments, 1 personal statement, 25 seasons of TV shows, 2 videogames, and wrote in 6 blogs. I went to 5 baseball games, 4 grade school soccer games, 1 horse rodeo thing show, 5 movies, 9 concerts (that I didn't play in), 1 play, 1 improv show, 0 dates, and won 2nd place in the fantasy baseball league I created. I wrote too many half songs, one full song, played 5 shows, and started and stopped teaching myself to draw. The visual arts just aren't for me.

And now, without further adieu...

December 2006
I figure I'll start with last December, because that's really where our 2007 adventure begins.

I ended my college career as an undergrad in December 2006. There were a few final bumps at the end, finishing a term paper, doing (or not doing) a couple of homework assignments, applying for a minor, getting denied that minor, then getting it back, etc. The highlights of the month, as far as academics were concerned were
1) Snow day. Possibly the last snow day I'll ever have, but I was glad I stuck around college for that extra semester so I could enjoy it.
2) Ditching out of my 2nd to last class halfway through and then skipping my last class altogether. I went out with no class. Literally.

The rest of the month was half spent at Cara/Amanda/Andy's Patrician apartment (which shall henceforth be known as "The Patrician") and the other half at my parent's house. This took place a little over a year ago, so my memory is a little fuzzy on the details but I do recall some frequent singings of the David the Gnome theme song, and watching season 5 of 24 over the course of 3 days which ended in a 10 hour marathon that made all of our brains feel like ooze. The night before my graduation ceremony marked the first annual Turkey party which also took place at The Patrician. I saved the day first by explaining the proper way to thaw a turkey so that everyone doesn't get food poisoning and then secondly by knowing the proper way to carve a turkey. I was pretty proud of myself that night. I think I also brought over a bag of frozen corn to go with Stacy's bag of frozen peas which I decided we could justifiably call "mixed vegetables" although I'm pretty sure no one ever cooked them that night.

I stayed up until about 3am and then graduated 5 hours later. I was tired, so I took a quick snooze during one of those speeches. They're all boring anyways. I also teared up a little bit during a speech because I was thining about a character on 24 that died during an episode we watched the day before. Poor guy.

The next weeks is kind of a blur. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything, thus setting the tone for the next year of my life. I recall there was a lot of darts being played at the time. I established myself as the darts champion but eventually Amanda got really good too. Then we just kind of stopped playing darts. Oh! I also had a really awkward interview with this tiny engineering sales company. I think everyone there (including me) knew that I didn't want the job, but I showed them Knights of Omnus and they looked at me funny and then never called me back. Awkward city.

I headed home for Christmas and New Years and just kind of bummed around my parents' house and used their cable TV and ate Chinese food a lot. That's all I remember about that week.

Finally New Years rolled around and we had a big ol' bash at... somewhere. Girl Talk was playing and there was a bar and a lot of people were dancing. The whole night is kind of a blur but I do remember thinking that with all the people dancing on stage I never actually saw Girl Talk. It could've just been a CD for all I knew. We stopped for tacos on the way back, well, some of us did. I think everyone else got on a bus. Anyways, Davey thought it'd be a good idea to run from the taco place back to his house. I didn't realize it at the time, but that's like 8 blocks. I felt sick by the time we got back and couldn't eat all my tacos. Then I slept on their kitchen floor. So that's how I started 2007, waking up on a cold, hard, tile kitchen floor.

Memorable quotes from my blog...

-It has allowed me to get one last snow day ... I'm not sure what my plans are for this weekend, but as I just told Dave, "Frolic" has moved way up on my list of possible activities.

-In just two weeks I shall be done with school possibly forever and then I'm not sure what happens after that but it will probably involve the words "Evicted", "Homeless". and "sleeping on your couch".

December '06 Moments of Zen

I'm playing a show.

2007-12-13T18:18:00.001-08:00

I think Cat and Girl is really about me.

2007-11-29T17:35:00.000-08:00

This comic was posted today.

This comic was posted about a month ago.

AND THIS COMIC was posted on my 23rd birthday.

Creepy.

-MS

Scoreboard Update

2007-11-29T06:54:00.001-08:00

Jobs applied for - 7
Interviews - 2
Job offers - 1

That was easy.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

I've been mulling this over all week... I think Plox pooped on me.

2007-11-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

Who's got two thumbs and another interview at Sargent & Lundy? This guy.

The phone interview went well. I conveyed my interest in working in the power industry which oddly enough is not a lie I made up to get the job, so keep your fingers crossed. The only bad part was that the guy answered all of the questions I had prepared during the interview so at the end when he said "Do you have any questions for me?" I did not. That's okay though, he said he'd have HR contact me to set up a face to face interview and I'll think of some new fantastic questions for them then. Real stumpers... WHAT IS THE CAPTIAL OF ASSYRIA?!

Let's take a look at the scoreboard.

Jobs applied for - 6
Interviews - 2
Job offers - 0

The weekend went fairly well. I ate a ton of delicious food. Friday night my cousin Rich came over and cooked Chicken Parmesian because he was exiled from his house for the night due to his wife's pampered chef party. Interesting that he was not invited considering he worked as a chef for a while. Her loss is my (and my stomach's) gain. Satuday night was "Dudes' Night Out" since my friend Tyler was in town and pretty much all of my other friends' girlfriends were out of town. This didn't really have much of an effect on me since every night is Dude's Night Out... or In as the case may be. In fact, right now is Dude's Midmorning In. That's a very special time where I sit in my pajamas and start thinking I should take a shower soon. Then I remember that I'm really low on shampoo and debate wether I should try to squeeze a little more out of the bottle or if I should throw on a hat and drive to Target to get some more.

It was decided that the goal of dude's night out would be to try to pick up a girl for Tyler. When I arrived, I was told that the plan was to find a girl, get her talking, then offer to get Tyler a drink. Tyler was then to say, "No, I'm good, but why don't you get something for her?" This shows social dominance in that we are willing to both buy Tyler a drink and to buy random girl a drink at his request. It also shows that Tyler is considerate enough to get her a drink. Well, 4 hours and as many bars later, we finally got the chance to do it and to most of our surprise it actually seemed to work. We even sent someone in to talk to her friend so that Tyler could continue his converstaion uninterrupted. We were pretty proud of ourselves... until I realized that we shouldn't get too excited that in 4 hours the six of us managed to talk to one woman. Most guys have a wingman... we have a squadron. Those guys can be my squadron anytime though.

Sunday I watched tv and sat around in my pajamas until 9pm. Then I went to the Pick Me Up cafe for a brownie sunday. It was awesome.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

From the creator of The Life and Timespace...

2007-11-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Korean Night just ended, and for those of you not in the know, Korean Night happens (almost) every Wednesday and a select group of people gather together to enjoy Korean television shows together. The location changes from week to week (to keep out the riff raff) but this week it was at my house. It was a delight... there is currently a black man whispering to me out of my TV about Iowa State University. It was... odd, at best.

Anyways. A successful korean night. Sadly everyone left and I find myself alone in my apartment and because of events that transpired earlier, I closed the door and immediately thought, "Well... I'm not going to bed anytime soon."

So let's go back. Let's explore the events of my day together. Come on, it'll be fun.

I woke up at like... 8am. That's really early. Remember, I'm unemployed. I thought it might be good though because I can make the most of my day. Wrong. I read my RSS feeds and a book for a few hours and then I took a 3 hour nap on my couch. I would've slept longer, too except the sun had started to set and was shining in on me and making me really hot.

Oh! I forgot the most important part of my day. I set up a phone interview with Sargent and Lundy for next Monday. So let's see the score board.

Jobs Applied for - 6
Interviews - 1
Job Offers - 0

Looking better!

The other day I realized that I have A LOT of cookies. We're talking two bags of oreos, a big box of butter cookies, and some thin mints I stole from a girl scout. BOUGHT from a girl scout. bought. I decided that I would share them with my korean night friends. But lo! I have no coffee table to set the cookies upon. This is where my college education comes into play. Engineering - Innovative solutions to everyday problems.
Problem - No Coffee table
Solution - Turn cardboard box from new speakers upside down.

I think it's fair to say that was brilliant. The Sherry coffee table even got the following review: What the table lacks in style, it makes up for with substance. Granted, there were about 150 cookies on the table at this time, but I think it's a fair review. I'll also say this: Life is a lot better when you have cookies. You also drink a lot more milk, which is also good. Basically, there is nothing I don't like about cookies.

During my nap I had a dream that I was jamming with Kaki King. She came over to my house after one of her shows and she and I and some other people all played some sweet music for a while. That was a good dream.

After Korean television was done we sat around and talked about computers and software code and the old Motorola days and watched the DVD screen saver hoping that the logo would hit exactly in the corner of the TV screen. Someone told me, "I like hearing the Motorola stories, because it sounds like all you guys really did was play games, hang around on internet forums, and break things." That's a fairly accurate description of my internship. If I could go back and do it again... I wouldn't change anything. I still don't understand how a soldering iron can explode, and no one has been able to offer me an acceptable explanation.

So here I am, probably going to be awake for a few more hours and all because I woke up like a normal person. There's a lesson in here somewhere, I'm just not quite sure what it is yet.

Oh, also, I posted a new song on the long stagnant Mike Sherry Music site. It was created with the assistance of the handsome Tyler Chirdon. Just a rough track, but I like how it sounds. Hopefully more songs to come. I've been doing a lot of recording and getting a lot of questions as to why there are microphones in my bathroom.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Harry Potter ruined reading and other musings...

2007-11-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

Jobs Applied For - 6
Replies - 0

It's still early, I suppose. I started to get bored yesterday, after filling my two job application quota, so I decided to make use of my free time to do something I never really get to do: go see a movie. So I hopped on the brown line and headed to piper's alley to catch Into the Wild. I mostly went because Kaki King did a lot of the incidental music and I wanted to hear how it turned out. Surprise, though, I really enjoyed the rest of the movie. I found myself sitting there in the theater by myself grinning like an idiot and laughing and really getting attached to the characters. Not to mention, there were a few choice songs off of Kaki King's "Legs to make us longer" album that really struck home, and also Vince Vaughn is a badass. Then I found out that it was a true story. Everyone else probably already knew that, but I don't pay attention to things often. I think I'm going to see the Darjeeling Limited today.

After watching all that traveling and whatnot in the movie I decided that I really want to go on a trip while I can. Of course I ran into the age old conundrum. When I have a job I don't have the time to travel and when I have the time I don't have the money. What I really want to do is take a train out to the west coast somewhere. I think that'd be a really cool way to see the country, and as Fry once said of Bender, "He always wanted to drift forever, but through the American Southwest." Ah well, I haven't given up hope quite yet. I may just head east instead. It's cheaper and I actually know people who live east.

I went to the bookstore on Sunday, which again was a bad choice. I get excited about books and I purchased three. This month's selections are Latro in the Mist which after the first 200 pages or so is quite good, Flight Volume 3 which I haven't started yet, but based on volumes 1 and 2 I expect to enjoy it, and I am America, and So Can You which I've only read the first 20 pages or so and it seems to be The Cobert Report in book form. His satire and sarcasm is a little harder to follow in printed word, which makes what he's actually trying to say a little less clear, but I'm hoping I can adjust to the style as the book goes on.

So that's my book report of the last 3 days. It feels good to be reading some books again that I can actaully enjoy. Ever since reading the final Harry Potter book, reading just hasn't been the same. Harry Potter is watching a movie in book form. It's not really challenging, but it's definitely enjoyable, and after about 5000 pages of it, you start to expect that same kind of enjoyment out of everything you read and you grow disinterested in getting to know new characters. Like, if Ron and Hermoine don't show up on the Peaquod to help fight Moby Dick... what's the point? But it seems I'm able to move on.

I've also been doing some writing and recording of music. It was going well until last night when I couldn't get some vocals to sound like I wanted them to and I got frustrated and went to sleep. Other than that it's going pretty well. If anyone has any advice as to how to go about writing lyrics... it's hard. My own captivating style of prose that you're experiencing right now just doesn't trasfer over to lyric at all.

-Mike Sherry

Job Search, Day 1

2007-10-31T20:59:00.001-07:00

So I officially dropped my classes this morning. It was good timing too because my mom called me to see how I'm doing later and when I told her I had dropped out she had a little freak out. Not so much because I'm quitting school but beacause now I don't have insurance. She was actually the one who reminded me that I don't really have any obligation to stay in grad school last week. She said to me, "You know, you don't have to stay." and I was like "Yeah.... yeah! YEAH! You're right."

Anyways, what she really meant was, "You don't have to stay once you find a job". You know what they say about assuming though.... you make an ass out of me and... uming... Anyways, she tried to convince me to wait out the rest of the semester but I quickly ended that argument with a "too late, already turned in the form". Sweet.

Here's a new feature I'm starting called Me vs. Jobs.

Jobs I've Applied for - 4
Jobs I've Gotten - 0

These numbers look bad right now, but I just applied for all those jobs like 5 hours ago. These things take time. The funny thing was that each job I applied for was different from the next. They were all electrical engineering jobs but one was working on nuclear power plants, one was designing transmission line systems kind of like what I did this summer, one was designing digital programmable thingys, and the last one was for Motorola Labs doing prototype wireless communications things. That one looked kind of neat because it was for a group that used to be called Motorola Labs but is now something else, but their job is basically to make things just to see if they can do it. They gave a presentation while I was an intern there and they had things like a phone that was the size of a credit card that you could keep in your wallet and... some other crazy stuff. Not a bad gig.

So that's the story, morning glory. If you hear of any sweet engineering gigs, let me know.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

So long and thanks for all the F's

2007-10-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I have not updated this thing in a while. There's a good reason for that. You see, I have a personal policy that I do not write if I am upset. That's how bad pop-punk is written, and I have no desire to be a pop punk band. Proper emotions for writing are as follows:
Happy
Angry
Hungry
Garlic
Spicy

Poor emotions for writing:
Sad
Lonely
Blue
Gassy
Ambiguous

If you have half a brain, you've probably figured out that means that I haven't been happy or angry (or hungry) enough to update the blog. Sorry if that's getting a bit real, but don't worry, crisis averted. You see, I've slowly realized over the past week or two that I'm sick of school. There's a lot of reasons for this, which I may or may not get into as I write this more... We'll see. Ultimately, I have made the decision that school is dumb and I don't want to do it anymore. That being said... seriously. I'm dropping my classes and... umm, out. Since making this decision earlier this afternoon, I've felt much much better about life as a whole.

So, why the big decision. Let's start from the end and work our way back to the beginning. We'll do it in that confusing fashion because I can most easily remember the things that happened most recently. So, wow, okay, I just realized that my difficulty in recalling simple events that recently happened might have something to do with my frustration with academics. So I guess right now would be the most recent possible moment.

Moving backwards...
I was looking into how to drop classes and turns out there's a website that you can go to and click on a little button that does it for you. First off this seems kind of unsafe if someone should get your password. Second, I have a hold on my registration for next semester because I haven't turned in proof of certain immunizations. No big deal except that the page you add classes is the same page that you drop classes and I'm blocked out of both. So now, because I haven't provided proof that I'm immune to certain diseases.... I'm not allowed to not take classes here. I hate academic administration.

A little further back in time I had midterms. I had an epiphony moment while taking my exam. First off, it wasn't going very well and I was freaking out. This is pretty standard practice for my exams in the last 4 years, but I realized a few things.
1) I don't really like engineering. Well, that might be a bit extreme. I don't like engineering school. I didn't enjoy undergrad and turns out grad school is more of the same except it's harder. I thought it might be more interesting and the professors would be more willing to... help? Not really the case.
2) If you're ever taking an exam and you have the thought "I'm wasting my life" then something is wrong.
3) I probably didn't do very well.
4) I'm sick of failing things.
5) If you keep failing things, eventually there comes a time to try new things.

I'm supposed to get the exam back tomorrow but over the past week I've gotten over the dissapointment of doing bad on one test and just come to the realization that I don't really want to be here right now. On top of that, I don't have to be here right now. I can easily get a job. A well paying job at that. If I stay any longer I'll just be wasting more time and money.

So what now? Well, there seems to be a good number of openings for electrical engineers around Chicago. I'll probably start appyling to those. In addition to that I've been talking to someone at Siemens US HR department and she's trying to find possible positions for me. I'm also planning on applying to a program Siemens has where you spend 2 years at 4 different areas of the company (6 months a pop) and they give you a bunch of leadership training and things like that. It'd be an awesome chance to do some international travel since I never got to do the whole study abroad thing because, once again, engineering school is no fun. That one's kind of a long shot because it's a selective program that looks for "top performers" and if they base that on my undergrad GPA, just forget it. But who knows, I seem to have fooled them into thinking I'm valuable over the summer based on the fact that they sent me to Disney World for that meeting of "elite interns". WTF was that anyways? I'm still not sure, but I met some people there who seemed keen on giving me a job. Can a man walk down the street without being offered a job? What kind of a country is this anyways?

So, school, I bid you a fond farewell. You have been a formidable opponent, and while you have won this final battle, I daresay that I won the war. For you see, I may be going out the way I came in (confused and failing things) but I somehow weasled a BS in engineering degree out of you. All it cost me was 5 years of trauma, stress, sleep deprivation, a few thousand dollars, and the ingestion of a lot of ramen and cheap alchohol. Seems like a fair trade.

So long, and thanks for all the F's.

-Mike Sherry

I couldn't decide between these two, so... Here's your moments of zen.

There are power lines in our bloodlines.

2007-10-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some interesting thing's I've heard around campus lately...

While leaving class one day I heard two engineering students casually flirting in the common area of the building. They were discussing something that I didn't quite catch, but the part I did hear went something like this:
Girl: Well, sometimes two plus two doesn't equal four.
(both laugh)
Boy: Yes, for extremely large values of two.
(both laugh a little more)
Boy: Or, two plus two equals five but there is no God but instead an evil genius, yadda yadda yadda.

He actually said "Yadda yadda yadda" just to make that clear. Anyways, it's lucky for him he found a girl that appreciates algebraic proof related humor.

Here's another good quote from my Microwave Theory professor, "This applies for an ordiary plasma type of situation."

Now who out there can name any "plasma like" situations, let alone enough to determine an ordinary one from an abnormal one. I certainly can't.

Finally, here's another quote from my Microwave Theory professor, "If there is no magnetic field, it shows no interesting properties... or it might... depending on what you're interested in."

That requires no explanation. I just found it amusing.

In other news, I purchased a reciever, some speakers, and a record player. The reciever got here two days ago, but the speakers and record player just arrived this afternoon. This means that for two days I had a really expensive box with some lights on it sitting in my living room. That's all been remedied though, and now... I can listen to iTunes from my laptop on some decent speakers, which was goal 1 for this purchase. Goal 2 was to be able to plug my iPod into some decent speakers. Goal 3 was to get a record player. I only have one record at the moment, but I hope to acquire more.

In other other news... I think I'm going to fail my only midterm. Three days ago I felt like the god of grad school. Today... not so much. It is truely a rollercoaster of emotion.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Snack Review

2007-10-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Tired of those bland burger buns? Try putting that patty in a cinnamon roll!

There's a blizzard coming? I'll get my gun.

2007-10-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

I had a dream I was blind last night...

Think about that for a second.

How boring is your life when your subconscious can't even give you pictures? It's like it just gave up like, "Ah... I need a break. Tonight you're blind." Jerk.

Today was cold. I decided that it was time I went and got some fall/winter clothes. You see, I got kinda fat this last year. Well, fatter at least. I'm not too broken up about it. I figured I wouldn't have to special order pants anymore. Up until this point I could only find pants in my size from Eddie Bauer that I had to special order. Now that I'm a 32-36, you'd think it would be easier to find pants. Wrong.

I decided to go check out American Apparel because I wanted a new hoodie too and they had some nice looking hoodies. There was one up in the Gold Coast area, so I hopped on the red line and took a ride up. I spotted an H&M while walking around so I went in there first. They had some hooded sweaters (which I'm way into) so that was exciting. However, they had no corduroys in my new size or even close to it. Meanwhile, there were a bunch of glam looking well dressed people staring at me with this sad look on their faces as if to say, "Oh... I remember my first makeover. He must be so excited." I didn't know I should get dressed up to go buy clothes. That makes... no sense. Anyways, I found a couple of things I was interested in so I got a fitting room and turns out I only liked this one zip up hoodie sweater. It was green and fit me well, the only problem was that the zipper was broken. No problem, I'll just go grab another one in the same size.

I walked back and forth through that store at least eight times and I could not find that sweater anywhere. Did they go out of style while I was in the fitting room? How does that happen? I eventually gave up. H&M is off my list.

I saw an Urban Outfitters next. I remember hearing good things about that place so I went to check it out. It was even more confusing than H&M. There were a bunch of hipsters carrying around 2x4's and drills and it was crazy! Apparently it was Urban Renewal Outfitters! Am I right? Eh!? eh... The really confusing part was that there were no clearly marked Men's and Women's sections. I'd be looking at suit jackets and then all of a sudden there were... crazy girl shoes or something. Urban Outfitters is also off the list for being confusing and for giving hipsters power drills. Hipsters don't know how to use tools. Everyone knows that.

Okay, might as well just go to American Apparel right? Wrong. The address that I had for the place turned out to be a building with no windows and a bunch of fences around it. There was a diesel store across the street but... no. I don't have that kind of money.

By this time, you'd probably think I was feeling pretty frustrated, and I was, but also hungry. So I started walking and THANK GOD FOR CHIPOTLE. I got a burrito bowl that I ended up throwing up a little of when I got home cause a bug flew into my throat.

The end.

-Mike Sherry

Closure

2007-10-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Dwight is finished.

-MS

True, I speak of dreams.

2007-10-03T22:42:00.001-07:00

I haven't had any drinks with espresso in them for a long time. That being said, I had a Mocha for dinner last night. I was trying out my new "nap and caffiene" approach to paying attention in class. The nap comes before the class, the caffiene keeps me going during the class, not the other way around. Well apparently caffiene is a "drug" and for people like me who don't partake in "real drugs" like... marijuana or cocaine or... I dunno... Nitrus Oxide, well, people like me aren't used to having "mind altering" substances in our bodies. I had cold stone ice cream once, and I hear that's like crack, but it didn't really do anything for me.

I had eaten some pancakes for lunch. First batch of pancakes in the new apartment, by the way. They were delicious. Thanks for asking. Pancakes, apparently, don't sustain you for long and I think this had something to do with the crazy espresso trip I'm about to tell you about. The excess of caffiene in my stomach, combined with the lack of anything else all of a sudden made me feel really light headed halfway through my class.

It was kinda weird, but I went with it, because I didn't really have a choice, but I started to feel like my arms and legs were growing at an extraordinary rate. We're talking Mr. Fantastic kind of stuff here. Add to that the sensation that my hands were about four times their normal size, like in that Foo Fighters video. I really wanted to try and knock things over on the other side of the room and stand up and burst my upper body through the ceiling and yell, "I'm Huge!" Sadly, all I managed to do was sit in my seat and probably look really scared. My arms also felt really heavy as though I could not move them. This lasted for about 20 minutes. I can't remember what we were talking about in the class. I was way too amazed with my own rapid mutation. What a class...

Then last night I had a dream that I was back on my camping trip and Dave had set up the tent on a rocky cliff, but like, a smooth rock cliff. He softened the ground underneith by making a "cushion" of twigs and branches. I noticed there was soft dirt ground not 20 yards away so I asked him if we could set up the tent there. "Sure if you want to move it." So I started dragging the tent over but it wouldn't fit through a doorway...? Why was there a doorway in the forest? I don't know, but at that point I woke up and realized I was in my awesome new bed and I didn't have to worry about sleeping on stone. It was the best night ever.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

College 3: College's Revenge

2007-10-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

So to recap what I accomplished after I wrote that last post: I went to class, then I drank a bunch of coffee, then Kevin invited me to go to a show so I didn't actually do any work. But tomorrow... Oh, tomorrow will be the kind of day where legends are created. Legends of... software testing... and homework. I am going to watch last week's RF Integrated Circuits lecture so hard there won't be anything left to see. Other students will try to stream it and it will just be a reflection of their own dumbfounded faces, wondering what happened to the .ram file. Tomorrow, I will become immortal.

Speaking of school, I got an email from IIT about a week ago that read a little something like this...

"Dear Michael,

As you know, you were admitted to Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) for the 2007 fall term. If your plans for 2008 include graduate school, this email will tell you how to defer your admission. We want you to know that it's not too late to attend IIT!

Your admission is still good for the Spring 2008 term (which begins January 22, 2008), the Summer 2008 term (which begins June 2, 2008), or the Fall 2008 term (which begins August 21, 2008). To request a deferral, please send an email to gradstu@iit.edu and include the following information..."

Let's recap.

1) Yes, I do know that I was admitted to IIT for the 2007 fall term. I am currently taking classes here.
2) My plans for 2008 do include grad school. In fact, that's about all I have planned for that year.
3) Well I should hope my admission is still good for the spring. I was hoping to take more than 2 classes in my graduate career.
4) ...What?

Now... I'm confused. For those of you who don't know, I was accepted into IIT as a "non-degree" student, which means that I can take classes, but I don't have any basic human rights and if I don't re-apply and get accepted as a "degree student" by Fall 2009, I don't get to take classes anymore. However... it seems as though some people at this university think that I
A) Have been accepted as a degree student.
and
B) Currently have not enrolled in any classes.
Which is concerning on a number of different levels that I won't get into. In any case, I guess the fact that some people think I'm a decent enough human being to offer a deferment of admission to is a good sign.

Have you heard about Michigan? It was almost like a Sex Pistols song over there. The government was going to shut down due to an inability to reach an agreement on budget issues. So... anarchy in the MI. I initially thought this was really funny because no government seems like kind of a big deal, but the only article I could find on it assured me that campers who were being evicted from their campsites would recieve refunds for sunday night. However, upon further research I guess that things like Medicaid and other useful things would stop working. I guess anarchy isn't as sweet and those high school kids told me.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

TFD Random Picture Generator

College 2: The Return of College

2007-10-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

I think, perhaps, I have been taking this back to school thing a bit too lightly. At first I was all gangbusters about the idea. I was reading my textbooks to prepare for classes and reviewing my notes and whatnot, but the novelty of that wore off after a few weeks. That combined with the lack of actual assignments from my professors and an awesome new bed... well... it has been difficult to get anything too productive done. Oh, also the system I use to connect to the Siemens network (so that I can work) decided to stop working last week so I haven't even been able to get any work done.

I entered grad school thinking that I'm not here to relive my undergrad years. That time of my life has passed and I'm on to bigger and better things, but let's think about this for a second. My undergrad years were a lot of fun, and I had a pretty decent system in place for getting work done. Why should I have to change my whole life now just because I graduated. There are a lot of "undergrad lifestyle" aspects I can still make use of.

1) Skipping class - Yeah. I skipped a class or two in my day. Now that I'm in grad school, though, I only have one class a day, three times a week. There's really no excuse for not showing up, right? Wrong. When you only have a class once a week, that class becomes unbearably long. But since it's only once a week and longer, shouldn't skipping it be even worse? No! All of my classes are videotaped and posted on the internet. I skipped my first grad school class last week and have been watching the lecture in short chunks all week. Boy am I glad I didn't go. Today, while trying to watch the lecture, I literally fell asleep in the middle of it. That is not something I would want to do in the actual class, but now, it's not so much a big deal. I can just go back 15 minutes in the video and start up where I dozed off.

Which brings me to my next point.

2) Naps - Are sweet. The afternoon was not made to be awake for. Not all of it, in any case. Some music and a quick 20-30 minute nap and I'm back in the game. Since I have night classes, I'm now more likely to pay attention and be alert later tonight.

Which, once again, brings me to my next point.

3) Working at night - Waking up in the morning is nice. Making coffee, getting some work done, watching the price is right. These are all admirable activities, but if I don't have to get up every morning, eventually I just don't. I spent my first month back in Chicago waking up around 8am and working because I was used to it all summer, but then I got a new bed and staying in it longer became more and more appealing. Now I wake up closer to 10 or 11 most days which cuts down on the time I have to get work done. I told myself that now that I'm a grad student, I shouldn't be staying up late doing homework, because I have a college degree and that means I'm more like a real person who works during the day. Forget that! Ten at night is a great time to get some work done. Especially if I didn't get anything done during the day. I'm wasting valuable study hours because of some new vision of what my life should be. Santa works at night, and people love him. Why can't I?

4) Final Fantasy 11 - I actually don't want this to be a part of my life again, but sometimes I still get a small urge to log in and kill some bats or something... That game left some serious long term emotional scars. Last time I was in Milwaukee, I decided to walk by my old apartment and as I approached it, I started getting this feeling of excitement. A special feeling I got when I was rushing back home to play that game. It was a very strange moment. I have this crazy emotional conditioning reaction to the game. Scary.

5) Free Cell - In a moment of sheer stupidity, my computer told me that I was running out of hard disk space and it could delete some "non-essential" programs to clean up space. "Yeah, sweet, let's do that." Never. Ever. Let windows do anything without your express written conscent. Do you know what programs it deleted? Here's a short list.
-MS Paint
-Free Cell
-Solitaire
-Pinball
-Minesweeper
-Internet Explorer
WHAT?!? Non-essential? Those are pretty much the only essential programs I still have on this thing. My 73% Winning record in Free Cell is totally shot. I spent like 5 years on that. Can someone copy and zip up those programs from their computer and send them to me? That would be amazing.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Elevator to Heaven

2007-09-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this in a long time, and I think it's just because I need a little vacation from writing. It's pretty much all I did all summer, so it has been nice to take a break. That being said, this youtube video has inspiried me. Well... not the whole thing, mostly just the end. Particuarly the last line.

For those of you too lazy to watch a two minute video, I give you this quote: "Mankind will be free to persue our destiny by climing a ribbon to the stars." Or, as Andy put it...
eSuKaj: to throw things into space
eSuKaj: by using an enormous slip and slide

Yes, that's right, the idea first postulated by Nintendo in late 1996 may finally be a reality, and I, for one, can't wait.

My Stupid Life

2007-09-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

I had my second RF Integrated Circuits class which I'm beginning to realize is actually just "How to make a cell phone" class. Been there, done that. The class is kinda stupid so far because week 1 consisted of an overview of everything we're going to learn in the class. Did I understand it all, not really. That's why I'm in the class. Class 2 was a quiz which didn't count for a grade but was there so that the professor could gauge where the class is at. Well, this normally 3 hour class was only about 35 minutes. Score.

I was going to eat fried chicken with Kevin, but when I went to get in my car, I noticed that my rear passenger side tire was flat, and that there was a nail stuck in it. Apparently I should not have driven behind those guys from Wacky Racers. Well, fried chicken was off the menu, but chicken ramen sufficed.

This morning I woke up and set to work on removing the flat tire, and putting on my spare. This proved harder than I had anticipated. First off, my car didn't come with an owner's manual, so I was working from memory on how to change a tire. It's been a few years since I last had to do this, and I couldn't remember where you're supposed to put the jack. There's a reinforced plate somewhere under the car, but I was nervous about guessing because I didn't really want to accidentally put it under, oh... let's say the gas tank. Well, long story short, I figured it out. I also had to find something to wedge under the front tires so that the car wouldn't roll through the garage wall. I used my old Java book. Figured I could finally get some use out of it. So anyways, car's up on the jack, I remove the hub cap and the lug nuts. One problem: The wheel won't come off. I was pretty sure it should just slide off, and after consulting with my dad, I found out that I was right. The wheel had rusted to the...thing the wheel attaches to. After a few minutes of pulling it was clear that wheel had no intention of budging. So, I did what any reasonable person in my situation would do... I beat the hell out of it with this hammer.

My neighbor was down in the garage also working on his car. The only difference was that I was trying to change a tire by beating it with a hammer, while he was replacing his brakes. I must have looked like some of homo erectus sitting on the ground, yelling, and beating the hell out of a wheel with my newly fashioned crude tool. I got the last laugh though, because my merciless attack eventually persuaded the wheel to come off.

My grandfather once told me, "If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40." If I ever have children, I think I'll make an addendum to that.

"If something or someone doesn't do what you want it or them to, a sledge hammer can be a very persuasive tool."

So then I had to take the punctured tire over to a firestone to have it patched. I then had the pleasure of sitting in a firestone waiting room for 2 hours. It took some extra time because they had to replace the lug nuts and bolts. I had apparently damaged during the savage beating I issued to my car. They said they'd put them back on, but the wheel might fall off later. I decided to pay for the new bolts.

While waiting I was treated to some daytime television. First up was "Cheaters" which is a show about people who hire private investigators to find out if their partner is cheating on them. I was not very excited when this came on. "Oh great" I thought, "It's hard enough getting a date these days without television shows dedicated to making men look like jerks." But maybe there would be an episode about a guy whose girlfriend was cheating on him. Perhaps this show took an unbiased view to cheaters. I was almost right. A man came on the program suspecting that his partner was cheating on him. I was surprised and almost forced to eat my words... or... thoughts, but as it turns out this episode was about a gay couple. The "cheater" was still a gross man, albeit a gay man.

Next up was Judge Maria Lopez, who I imagine was from some Latin descent, or at least wanted people to think she was. During an advertisement for her show she was described as "Tough, and always opinionated." Last I checked, Judges were supposed to be neutral, as in, not opinionated. I'm not sure where these judge shows started, but I just don't get it. I really could've done better things with that half hour than watch some lady sue someone for $100.

And that's pretty much how I spent the last 24 hours. Now it's Korean soap opera night. Huzzah!

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Holy Grad School!

2007-08-27T16:29:00.001-07:00

I just finished my first official graduate school class (Microwave Theory) and here are my initial thoughts.

1) Minority Report - I am the only white kid in my class. I suppose that is to be expected in a technical graduate program based on the movies and cartoons I have seen that cover the topic. I guess I never believed it before. This isn't really a big deal except that it further builds on my feelings that I don't really belong in grad school. Hopefully I'll get over that after a few weeks.

2) Show up for class - One of the most important parts of school is showing up for class, right? Well, not if you're the professor. My firstofficial class was taught by a VCR. The professor (whose name is Dr. Wong, and he says "Wectors" instead of "Vectors". I think I like him, but so far I've only seen the one video) was flying to Washington DC to be on some panel so he
was unable to make the first class. He did record an hour long lecture which is "Just as good" as a regular lecture. He even took attendance, which as you might imagine, was really awkward.

3) A is the new D - As far as course demands, this class doesn't seem too bad. Dr. Wong said he wasn't big on homework assignments. He may give us a few which will essentially be take home quizzes. Other than that there's a term paper and a final exam and there's my grade. This is both awesome and terrifying. Lots of pressure to do well. My old undergrad saying was "B is the new A", but I think I'm going to try to change that to "A is the new D" because if don't get at least a B, I don't get to come back next year.

4) Sleep well - Okay this has nothing to do with grad school, but I bought a new bed today and it gets shipped here tomorrow morning. I figured it's time I upgraded from the twin bed.Tal pointed out that "it would be nice for when you decide to have one of your mistresses over." To which I countered, "I'm not running a hotel. They can call a cab." Also, I need to buy bigger sheets. Also, also, does anyone need a twin bed?

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Very Important Questions.

2007-08-22T20:52:00.001-07:00

How did Imperial walkers (AT-AT's (All Terrain Attack Transports)) turn?

-MikeSherry

Who is the P and how do we become friends?

2007-08-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last night was pretty awesome. My friend, Patrick is on tour with The Rentals as their tour manager/merch guy, which is pretty awesome. He gets to travel around the county in a slick tour bus, hang out in rock clubs, answer stupid questions, point at a banner that says how much everything costs, and... well that's about it I guess, but it sounds like he's having fun. Anyways, The Rentals were playing in Minneapolis last night so I met up with Patrick before the show, hung out a little, got some food, you know.

The show was at the First Ave, so we headed back and just kinda hung out until the show started. I found out that the First Ave was where Purple Rain was filmed. It seems as though wherever I go in Minnesota, Prince is not too far behind. I'm not complaining though. Prince is awesome.

I chatted with the singer in the opening band, Goldenboy, for a little while, and he was a nice guy with a sweet hat. He was also a great guitar/piano player. The second band, Copland, or Copeland... I don't remember how to spell it. They were alright. Maybe a little boring. I was trying to get into it and thinking, "Hey, these guys aren't too bad. I could be into this." But then someone informed me that Reverend Horton Heat was playing in the smaller club attaced to the First Ave. Patrick and I walked over and no one argued so we went in. I was no longer into Copland as soon as I saw Reverend Horton Heat. I thought, "Oh yeah, this is what good music sounds like." It was awesome. When we walked in, he played a rockabilly version of Greensleaves, which he claims came from way back in the day, and was the first "serf rock" song. Not to be confused with "surf rock". I stuck around for a bit and saw a few more songs. Then I decided I should get back and see The Rentals.

They also played a good show. I was never huge into them, but after seeing them live, my opinion has changed slightly. The music itself is good, I'm just not a huge fan of Matt Sharp's voice. I'm currently downloading their second album, which I hear is less poppy, so maybe I'll like it more. I picked up a copy of the EP they're selling and it is enjoyable. I'm also currently downloading Reverend Horton Heat, Nat King Cole (The rentals kept playing Nat King Cole videos throughout the night), and Purple Rain. Oh! One of the sweetest parts of the set was their cover of purple rain. Classic. I wonder how often bands cover purple rain at the first ave. Probably a lot. The guy who sang it was their keyboard/trombone player who I found out used to be in Nerf Herder, so that was pretty sweet as well. All in all, a very entertaining night. I chatted with Matt Sharp for a minute after the show. He seemed uninterested in chatting. Fair enough.

When I got home, I turned on the tv and caught a little segment on Sports Center about a NASCAR race. The "expert" said that the key to victory would be "gearing up and breaking." Well... that's pretty much what driving is. I guess that "steering" isn't so much an issue in this particular race. Nor is "passing other cars", but I suppose passing other cars kind of goes without saying in any race. What else could possibly be a "key to victory" besides speeding up and slowing down at the appropriate times? NASCAR is so stupid...

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Let the pros handle your driveway.

2007-08-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well, my morning was going pretty good. I woke up earlier than I normally would have chosen to on a saturday, but more on that later. Shower, dress myself, apply deodorant of choice, and check email... It's still only 9:30. I realized that McDonalds is still serving breakfast, so I drive on over, get some hotcakes and sausage and a coffee. My family is on vacation this week so they've left me in charge of the house. This basically means that I get to live here in exchange for cleaning up after the dog poops all over the house. It's only happened once so far.

So I take my breakfast out onto the back porch. It's a nice screen porch and there's a forest that borders the backyard. Pretty nice, pretty quiet, can't complain. I eat my breakfast (delicious) and I'm enjoying my coffee while reading new articles that have popped up in my RSS feeds (newspaper of the future). All of a sudden, some dumbass gnat flies into my coffee. "YOU JERK!" I yell, and I fish him out with my finger. I don't think he survived the traumatic experience because I can see him laying on the table a few feet away... maybe he's just catching his breath. Anyways. Now I'm sitting here trying to figure out if I want to keep drinking the coffee or if it's too gross because a bug committed suicide in it.

This event totally derailed my enjoyable saturday morning. I think I'm done with the coffee. Lame.

The reason I got up so early was because this badass storm rolled through last night. The lightning acted as a natural strobe light and turned my room into a really lame rave. My room has 2 outside walls and windows on both of these walls, in the same corner, under which lies my bed. I began to grow a little concerned that the intense winds or debris or something would shatter the windows so I moved and slept on the couch in the next room. Also, the dog was freaking out, so she felt a little better when I emerged. I was also a little worried that the dog would get scared and poop somewhere, but I also didn't want to let her go outside in the storm, so I took my chances. She held out.

So now my plans for the day include trying to watch the PGA championship, mostly just to try and figure out why my dad likes watching golf on tv so much, and then I'm going to go see the rentals. My friend Patrick (who plays in Conrad Plymouth with me, is tour managing for them this summer and they're in Minneapolis tonight. Maybe I'll get to hang with some rock stars.

Oh, I also wrote another story for The Music Store Memoirs. Surprise! It's about Kaki King.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

I cannot be held responsible for vomit related injuries.

2007-08-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying thank you to my sister, Juli, for making me a new site layout. She is a professional graphics designer which means that she makes her living by making things look pretty and not using

Marquee Tags!

Let me continue by saying...

I am not a professional graphics designer!

Also.

<"}}}}><

It looks like this fish is swimming through my blog!

Okay. I promise to never use the marquee tag ever again.

Moving along.

I made two monumental mistakes today. The first was decided that I needed a new book to read. Normally, this is not a huge problem because I often have a laundry list of possibilites, but I seem to have exhausted my list. No problem, I figured, I will just go to the book store and browse around until I find something. This is not something I should allow myself to do, and the reason will be made clear soon. I entered the bookstore, wandered around a bit... BINGO! Here's a table of books laid out for me labeled "Fantasy and Sci-Fi". I was reading the disription on the backs of a few books when a small strange man appears as if from nowhere, "Excuse me sir, would you like to try the blueberries and cream." Who the hell are you I think.
"Umm... No thanks."
"Okay." He says robotically.
Here is a man who definately does not like his job.
I decide that I should try to read something that does not have dragons in it. So, I continue my wandering. I remember reading the first chapers of a book titled "Post Office" or something that my old roomate, Dave, had. I couldn't remember the author's name (of course, now it couldn't be any closer the the front of my mind without causing minor skull fractures) so I just kind of wandered around thinking that I'd see it by the grace of God. I found myself in the graphic novel section and picked up "Flight Volume 2". I read volume 1 recently and it was enjoyable. Why not volume 2? Well, long story short... I walked out with three books. None of them were the one I had originally thought to get. Well, originally I had thought to go and find something good. So I stuck to my original original plan, but I didn't accomplish my second original plas which was to get that post office book. Maybe next time... if I'm lucky. That's why I should not be allowed to go into book stores without a plan.

My next mistake was to go into a grocery story without a plan. With my family all away on vacation I am forced, once again, to feed myself, unassisted. The grocery story seemed like a good place to start, mainly because they had hot stir fry to go. None of it really looked good so I decided to browse the grocery story. After about a half hour of wandering around looking at food, I eventually decided, "Oh screw it, I'm getting the stir fry."

I don't know why I've been having such a hard time being a consumer as of late. I think I am overwhelmed with options. Now... I'm not going to say I'm in favor of communism, because that lands you on certain governmental lists that I probably don't want to be on. But what I will say is that if you give me nine brands of bacon to choose between... I'm going to give each brand at least a minute and a half of consideration, because I care about quality bacon.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

That was one promise I could not keep.

An Open Letter to Bryan Percival Dunk

2007-08-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

Bryan,
You left the following comment in my blog about deodorants...
A) You're cheating on MoZ by using the TPFD RPG. YSSI.

4) I've been using the same Old Spice deoderant for about 3 years now. It's a solid. I tried out the gels, the invisible solids, the gel solids, the sprays (I was in France...), and just squeezing lemons in there. The good ol' solid stick remains the king. and they offer about 5 different scents, so I can mix it up. plus, they smell so potent, I never need cologne, and my girlfriend (and various other women...mostly moms) say I smell good.

To Claim A, I respond...
I have been using TPFD RPG for Moz on and off for years. Sometimes, when I haven't found a good MoZ in my everyday internet surfing, I just spend ten minutes or so searching through the RPG. That's just how it goes.

To part 4, I say...
1) I've been enjoying the spice scent all day. I don't think anyone at work has noticed me smelling my shirt, but I'm sure its only a matter of time.

2) I use blue. Which one do you use?

3) Somehow I suspect that the bit about squeezing lemons into your armpits was not a joke.

Thank you for the information.

Cordially,
Mike Sherry

The epic tale of my deodorant purchases.

2007-08-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this by saying that the following post is mostly about how I smell at any given point in time. You have been warned.

I have been using the same deodorant since high school. It worked, I liked how it smelled, and deodorant, in my opinion, should be something that you don't have to put much thought into during any given day. However, I have found myself putting more and more thought into which product is preventing me from stinking up any given place.

This all started about a year ago when I ran out of deodorant. Like any other normal person, I just went to Walgreen's with every intention of just buying a new stick. I was horrified to find out that my deodorant of choice was no longer for sale. At the Walgreen's near my old apartment, there wasn't a deodorant aisle, instead you had to ask whoever was working the cosmetics desk to give you your product of choice. I chose, instead, one that looked similar to my old deodorant, except green. It was okay, but I wasn't crazy about how it made me smell and then, one day, I left it in the car and it melted. So... once again I ventured to a Walgreen's (This time in Minnesota, where they let you casually browse down an aisle) and I explored my options. I quickly got bored and just picked one, not realizing that it was a "Gel" style deodorant.

Oh how annoying that was. I've used the same deodorant forever, so I never really thought much about different kinda, theories, or substances. I just knew that I didn't want anything that was advertised to cause women to chase me rabidly down the street. A) Because those commercials actually seem rather frightening, and B) because I have never seen a ravenous horde of women running after anything, suggesting the product does not work. But I'm getting sidetracked... Screw Gel deodorant.

In spite of my distaste for applying gel under my arms every morning, I kept using it due to a combination of my desire to not stink and my own laziness preventing me from going to buy yet another new stick of deodorant. This continued until a few days ago when Tal came to visit me and forgot to bring a number of various toiletries, essentials, and clothes. We went to a local Target to pick up the items he had forgotten to pack and I decided it was a good time to try to remedy my problem. I was pretty excited to go through the vast Target selection and find something I could really get behind, and after smelling a lot of deodorant, I decided on an Old Spice scent I enjoyed. This was mostly because Bruce Campbell is one of their commercial spokesman. Every now and then I just have to hand it to an advertising campaign and say, "You know what? Even if I'm undecided about your product, your commercials make me laugh, so I'm going to throw you a bone." Bruce Campbell has that effect on me.

Just as I had made this decision, something interesting caught my eye. Lo and behold! My original deodorant! Not only still in production but being packaged in twos for a discount price! Now I truly had a dilemma. I had already committed myself to trying something new, but now my old friend had returned. No problem though. I just got both. Perhaps to switch off between. Perhaps one will win out over the other. Perhaps I'll just use each under a different arm. I haven't decided yet.

Today I went with the Old Spice, and boy do I smell spicy. Perhaps tomorrow I will return to my old ways of smelling like the ocean. Yes. Truly my life is exciting.

-MS

Here's your moment of zen.

TFD Random Picture Generator

The Plights of Aunt May: Part 2 AND Like Water Under a Troubled Bridge

2007-08-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

So here's the exciting conclusion of the Aunt May saga. I hope you enjoy it.

In other news... Did you hear about the friggin' Minneapolis bridge collapsing?! I... never took that bridge, but it's still crazy. News and media people have been calling the house non-stop all night because my aunt is a civil engineering professor at the University of Minnesota. I kind of want to answer and pretend like I'm one of her colleagues. My name shall be... Laurence Brown... Dr. Laurence Brown... Bridge expert. Then, when they put me on live television, I'll plug my website. Yes... genius!

In all seriousness though, The Life and Time Space is fervently against bridge collapses of all forms. Terrible. Terrible....

-MS

The Plights of Aunt May: Part 1

2007-07-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

I created this blog with the intention of using it for more than just my personal blog. While that's a lot of fun, I'd like to get some other little projects going as well. So here's part one of a comic I made. The joke came from a night of watching Spiderman 1 with Mike and Dustin of Knights of Omnus. So here it is. The Plight of Aunt May part 1.

-MS

Disney World Meeting

2007-07-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

So Siemens decided it'd be awesome to send me to Disney World. This initially sounded like a sweet deal... and I guess it was, but why would you have a meeting in Disney World if you had no intention of going into any of the parks... nay... any intention of leaving the conference center ballroom!? Why, I ask.

I spent most of the time trying to estimate how many 72 inch round tables would fit into each ball room and looking for storage rooms. Things like that. The time I spent on building staff has filled my head with so much useless information that I will never have to use again. It saddens me.

I also spent a lot of time reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I will not ruin it for anyone, but it was really good. I feel like I should read it again, at a slower pace, because I sped through it. It was like when you swallow something quickly so you don't have to taste it, like a shot or something, but then it's still in your stomach and you still get drunk. I am definately drunk on Harry Potter closure.

But back to the intern event. I arrived 24 hours before the thing even started for some reason. I'm pretty sure whoever booked my flight was trying to be really cheap because why did I arrive at 2pm sunday when the thing didn't start til 2pm Monday? Also, why was I "guaranteed" a middle seat on both flights? Who asks for a guaranteed middle seat? "Excuse me, I am a big fan of sitting between possibly obese strangers. Can you guarantee me a middle seat?" Well, on the way down a mother and daughter sat in my row so I kindly offered to let them sit together. SUCKERS! I got the window seat. Nice.

I walked around the boardwalk near the hotel for a while and got some dinner because, well, I had nothing else to do. No one else from my office came on the trip and I hadn't met anyone because the conference hadn't started. On the bright side, I got my own room. I was nervous they'd try to stick me with a roomate, and rightfully so, because most of the guys there were douchebags.

The actual conference portion of the trip was okay. They gave some speeches about the company and told us all that we should work there. I guess it was only for "top performers" or top 10% of the interns or something. That's what they told us. Everyone got a real big head about it, and I'll admit it, I did too for a while. Then I began to feel like I was living a lie. I'm not sure if I'm a "top performer" or have "ambitious career goals". Most of the people there were real keen on becoming CFO's. If I'm ever in charge of a company. SELL ALL YOUR STOCK! Chances are the company is on the verge of making a large investment in some cartoon related endevor.

I really hate things like this because I get shoved into a room with 100 people I don't know and they expect me to "network". Man. It took me over two years to really find a solid group of friends that I truely felt comfortable with in college. I'm supposed to just open up my soul to these people in 2 hours? Here's a secret: I don't really care for most people... Especially people with popped collars who talk about being CFO's. Then on the second to last day, they split us into groups of eight and gave us a topic and told us that we had to come up with a 10 minute presentation on our topic and there would be a competition on the last day. Of course I get the group that's real into staying up late working on our presentation so that we can win. We decided to only have 4 people present so as to make the presentation more coherant. My original job was to "research" our various points, but that makes no sense! I'm not talking. What good does it do if I know all about our topic? So I went to help the guys in charge of preparing the power point. The group decided that we needed to incorporate some humor to keep the audience's attention. Now we're talking.

Usually when I make a power point presentation I spend 30% of the time preparing the actual content and 70% of the time coming up with jokes. This presentation was no different in that aspect, but it was different in the fact that the people giving the presentation had no sense of humor. They mostly wanted to re-use jokes that speakers from the previous day had used. Here's a little comedy tip: Callbacks are funny if you're referenceing your own humor. Call backs are not funny if you're referencing a company manager's presentation that wasn't really that funny to begin with. Here's the first idea I had that they shot down:

Change the "Siemens" logo on the slides to this

Apparently that's not funny, but the girl who kind of took over as the group leader (aka the one who talked the most and wouldn't let us go back to our hotel rooms) she decided that we should put in some random slides because one lady kept having random slides pop up in her recruitment presenation that siad "Work for Siemens" with the title "Not so subliminal message." Once agian, not really that funny to begin with. Less funny if we do it. But I tried to work with it. We found a picture of the company's founder, Werner Von Siemens, and made some random "Werner Says..." slides. Here were my ideas.

But these were not funny. The group leader girl wanted to go with...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!HAHAHA!!H!1!1H!H11H ONE!!!!

But somehow all humor got washed out and we ended up just going with the picture of Werner and the girl "acted" surprised and said "Oh, Werner, how did you get in there?" I tried to get all 4 presenters to simultaneously put their fists on their hips, tilt their heads away from the screen and say "WEEEEERRRRNEEEERRR...." but that wasn't funny either.

So guess what? Our presentation was kind of lame and we didn't win the barnes and noble gift cards. Too bad.

On the bright side everyone got a free iPod shuffle which means I now own 5 iPods. Why do people keep giving me iPods? It's the damnedest thing. I'm thinking about opening my own Apple store. I'm also thinking about having an iPod shuffle promotional giveaway... so keep reading.
There was one kind of normal girl in my group that invited me out to a dueling pianos bar that night after we finished working on our presenation. Against my better judgement I agreed to go. Really, I just wanted to sit on the patio outside my hotel room and read Harry Potter, but I figured I should try and "go out" to "have some fun" while I was there. Bad choice. All the guys that went were kind of douche cocks and the one guy in my group that liked my jokes who said he was also going ended up not showing up. At least the piano guys were good. I had a drink and then said I was tired and then read Harry Potter for about 2 hours before bed. The night turned out good in the end.

When it came time to present, all the groups ended up being pretty lame. The one group that did win gave a pretend press conference where the governor of New Jersey gave someone from Siemens an award for all the good work they did for the state. They only had one power point slide which was a picture of what I assume to be the new jersey capitol building. It looked kind of like this... in fact it is exactly this picture, which is not the new jersey capitol but in fact the US capitol building.

Anyways, that picture was sitting as their "backdrop" for the whole presentation and they opened it up to questions at the end. They only got one question which was total BS because every other group had to answer a bunch so I raised my hand and said, "I noticed the flags on your capitol building are remarkably stiff and unmoving. Is that some sort of new Siemens technology?" Heh. I was happy I got to get at least one joke in, even if it was during someone else's presentation. That's probably why they won. I deserved that gift card!

Oh, as a final note, I think I accidentally made a Star Trek reference while we were making our powerpoint slides. The guy making them said "Should I make something some color?" or something like that, and I said "Make it so." and then our moderator lady kind of laughed at me and did the star trek hand thing where you separate your ring and middle fingers but not your index or pinky. Like how your hand would look if you were wearing a three fingered glove, that thing. Anyone out there watch star trek? Is "Make it so." a star trek thing? If so, I should probably stop saying it. I just said the first thing that came to mind.

So that was basically my trip.

Here's your moment of zen.

TFD Random Picture Generator

Knights of Omnus delay

2007-07-19T13:03:00.001-07:00

Knights of Omnus will be updated tonight, Thursday, July 19. We're delayed, as usual. Sorry.

Do you have any silver tipped spruces?

2007-07-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

It was a rough weekend for me. I dunno what it was, I was just not excited to be wherever I was. I spent most of the time sleeping on the couch and watching baseball. Baseball is a really good thing to take a nap to... interperet that however you choose.

On the bright side, I woke up early on Sunday morning and went to Claire's soccer tournament with the rest of the fam. I think I'm bad luck, though. They lose every game I go to, and win the ones I miss. This game, in particular, was awesome. Not that they lost, but because it went to a shootout... and I got to yell a lot because my cousin Matt was there, too. It's much more fun to yell a lot when you're not alone. Anyways, this game went into a shootout. Shootouts are awesome. It's when the winners get separated from those who merely came to play a game. It's when one person is called upon to be a hero or forever live with shame. It's when... the goalies dive around like idiots. Like I said, Claire's team lost... like 8-7 in the shootout. Pretty much everyone but me was happy about the loss because it means they didn't have to come back later in the day for the championship game. Then again, everyone else in the family has better things to do. Including Claire.

Then dinner was kind of awkward for some reason that I couldn't figure out. I think somehting happened while I was out at the mall... buying socks... which was the highlight of my weekend. They're argyle, by the way.

So then the awkwardness of dinner set me in a mood that carried over until Monday morning. I woke up late and rushed to work because I thought I had to be super awesome pretend power plant operator fun guy but it turns out it was just a practice day and they didn't need me there at any certain time. Because I rushed to work, I neglected to get coffee, which only soured my mood even more. I'll admit it. I didn't really get much done yesterday. All I really succeeded in was getting extra annoyed by Dwight. On top of that, yesterday's "practice session" was supposed to be for today, when I was supposed to be super awesome pretend power plant operator fun guy, but when I got in today I found out that there's problems with the system so it's not happening today either which is why I'm writing this and now my freaking eyelid is twitching uncontrollably. I'm falling apart.

I was cheered up last night. I actually got to go out and have a social event with friends. My friend, Stacey, invited me to go to a music & movie in the park kinda deal with her and her sister. It was this funny r&b/trip hop band that played at 7, and they were alright. They had an electric upright bass which I found really amusing and there was also an old man who we suspect was on LSD that was dancing like a crazy person in front of the stage. It started out as random jerks of the body, but it kind of evolved into a rain dance of sorts, which was funny because it started raining later.

The movie was this old 50's movie called All That Heaven Allows. It was pretty ridiculous, and by some odd twist of fate, I had watched part of it in my english class last year. The three of us were all pretty quiet for the drive up and during the band. I was still kind of in my mood and I was also sleepy, but thank God for Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mike Nelson saves my ass again. My practiced skill at making jokes throughout movies really livened the whole situation up. The lead male role in the movie was a tree grower... or nurseryman, I suppose. Which meant a lot of tree puns that no one laughed at but me.
"Looks like she's barking up the wrong tree."
"I'm leafing you."
"Time to get back to my roots."
Aside from the puns though, it was a pretty ridiculous movie and we all had a good time. Also we got White Castle on the way home. I didn't think White Castle existed this far north!

And now I'm here. Sitting at my desk, wondering what to do with myself. At least I'll be in Disney World this time next week. I'm hoping I can ditch out on lame meetings and go on the Dumbo ride or something.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Colonel Sanders was the greatest white man that ever lived. -Charles Barkley

2007-07-14T21:35:00.001-07:00

I think I might be about done with Minnesota. It's not a bad place. In fact, it's a really funny place. It's just that I feel like my time here is winding down and I gave the city a shot and... well, it was a nice place to visit and all that. Here's a list of Minnesota pro's and con's:

Pros
1) Ducks just walk around all over the goddamn place like it 'aint no thang. Seriously. I got coffee today, and when I left the store there was a duck walking through the parking lot like she had someplace to be. You can fly, duck. What are you doing?
2) There are 10,000 lakes. That's a lot of freaking lakes. So far I'm 7/10,000. I guess I have some unfinished business here, but you try to do 10,000 of anything. See how far you get.
3) You see things like this.

Here's a guy who is an Impeaching enthusiast. He's not really in it for any strong political reasons. He just likes a good impeaching. Who's getting impeached? Who cares!? Impeaching is fun for the whole family.

Cons
1) 90% of my favorite people live in Chicago.
2) I hear the winters suck.

Anyways, I spent the night drinking red wine, writing, listening to music on my headphones and watching the White Sox totally blow it.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to Claire's soccer tournament. My new goal is to get kicked out of a little league soccer game before the summer's over.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your moment of zen.

Actual line from a "Just For Men Haircolor" commercial...

2007-07-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

"Just For Men gets rid of gray's.
Hiding who you really are."

I don't think haircolor can hide that fact that you're an anti-semite.

Just a thought.

Here I am. Rock you like a hurricane.

2007-07-13T07:08:00.001-07:00

It's been a long while since a real update so here goes.

New blog... eh? It feels sterile. Like I should hang up some pictures or something... hmm...

Not... exactly the best housewarming picture. I just found it funny that someone had run the booze cruise ship ashore.

So what have I been up to? Hmm... Well, I've been working out the details about this little blog in my mind. I originally was going to make a whole new website, but I figured I'd start small and work my way up. I've been doing most of my writing in My Own Personal Dwight since most of the exciting things I do in life happen at work these days.

Oh, speaking of exciting things happening at work, Siemens is sending me to Disney effing World! Why? I have no idea. That's not true. I kind of have an idea. It has something to do with how I'm awesome at being an intern. Four summers of interning will do that. I've pretty much got it down. Anyways, they're sending me to the most magical place on Earth for "Siemens Intern Experience" or as I like to call it Siemens InternCon '07! (pronounced "Aught Seven"). The best news of all? Dwight's not going. I was really worried I'd be stuck in a hotel room with him for three nights, but that is not the case. In fact, I'm the only intern from Minneapolis who is going. My manager basically thinks I'm a bad ass and he wants to keep me around, and frankly, I don't blame him. Okay. Ego in check. I apologize.

So, it sounds like I'm going to fly to Disney World, stay at the Boardwalk Inn, and then proceed to remain inside said Inn for the remaining three days. They've got a bunch of talks and "activities" lines up for us. It sounds like a lot of corporate, team building, learning game BS. I hate that stuff, but after being a student manager at the Union for a semester, I know how to get through it without shooting myself. I guess they have some offices closer to Chicago though, so I'm going to try and schmooze a little and maybe I can get a job hookup back home. That'd be ideal. This is a pretty good job. The only thing is... I really don't want to move to Minnesota. Not that it's a bad place, it's just not where I want to be right now.

In other news...
I got to be a substitute golfer on someone's golf team last night. I guess Siemens has a Thursday night golf league around here and I saw some of the younger guys in the cafeteria yesterday and they asked me if I golf. I haven't really golfed in probably a year, but technically I know how to golf. Also, I keep my golf clubs in my trunk at all times, just in case a situation just like this arises. They seemed surprised when I told them I had my clubs with me, but it earned me a spot on the team, so I got to go play 9 holes last night. It was a pretty good time. The first hole was rough, and I'm not talking about the part just off the fairway. I earned the maximum score of 10 on the first hole and I decided that it was going to be a long long night. Thankfully, things started to come back as we went on and I started hitting the ball in the air. Also, over the 4th of July, my dad gave me a golf lesson in our basement because he's a golf freak and has no qualms about swinging clubs around in the house. Also, I think he keeps a golf club in every room of the house just in case something like that happens. Kind of like how I keep them in my car at all times... hmm... the older I get the more I see how similar I am to my parents. Anyone? I digress... my dad gave me some tips to correct for the fact that every time I hit the ball it goes forward 50 yards and then immediately takes a 90 degree turn to the right. I tried them out last night and it was like magic! Middle of the fairway! I even got par on the last hole. In your face, hole 9!

Finally, I've decided on another blog project that I will start after I move to Chicago and the Dwight blog ends. I even registered a blogger page for it. There's nothing on it yet, but if you click this link I think the title will say it all. So that'll be my little side project for this fall. That and re-watching 24 and taking a picture of the kill count board after each episode. I feel like that's the kind of thing that needs to be documented. All are welcome to join me in the watching of 24 and Lost. Also, Season 2 of Frisky Dingo starts in August. August is going to be a good month.

Catch you all on the flip.

-Mike Sherry

Here's your first moment of zen in the new blogspace.

HP and the Order of the Frickin' Pheonix

2007-07-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a review of HP5 I put up on the Knights of Omnus site. I enjoyed writing it so I thought I'd put a copy of the whole thing here. Enjoy!

Guess who just say Harry [Frickin'] Potter and the [Badass Mothers of] the Order of the [Goddamn] Pheonix. That's right. This guy. I'm tempted to say I'm the only 23 year old that left work, drove straight to the movie theater and bought a ticket, but experience has taught me that there is always someone out there who can one up you. Judging by pictures I've seen from various conventions, I can sleep well at night knowing that in some respects, I am not the least cool person in the world.

That being said, I feel as though I am obligated to share my thoughts on the film, as I have been regurgitating "news" about it pretty much since the day this site launched. Without further adieu, my review of said Harry Potter film:

I walked into the theater, popcorn in hand and completely alone. Not wishing to look like a total poindexter in front of the entire moviegoing community, I took the first seat I saw. It was the end seat of the last row before the stairs start. I'll be damned if I'm climbing stairs to watch a movie. The lights dimmed and the previews started. "Man, I kinda want to see Hairspray," I thought to myself. "Is that weird?" Realizing that Christopher Walken is in the movie, I felt reassured that no, it is not weird, and yes, I will probably see that movie someday.

Onto the matter at hand: HP5. I sat there, astonished at their ability to cram 300 pages of information into the first 20 minutes of the film. This was to be expected I suppose. In fact, watching the entire movie up until the last few scenes were kind of like listening to a four year old explin the plot of The Little Mermaid to me. I already knew the story, and I could follow everything that was being said, but the whole thing just felt kinda rushed and there was emphasis on things that seemed unimportant while other points were left out completely. Once again, from a 900 page book turned into 2 hour and change movie, this is to be expected. I was okay with it, I caught a couple of subtle character development points they threw in that made me happy, and the soundtrack was much better than a four year old's retelling of any story, no matter how classic.

If it were up to me, the movie would have been a frickin' trilogy. There was hardly anything dealing with Ronnie the effing Bear. Most of the movie centered around Hermoine and Harry and that horrible woman from the ministry. Quittich? No. Ron being a prefect? No. Members of the order of the Pheonix? Nay. Not enought time to develop non-Harry characters. Though the cameos were appreciated.

It was all made up for during the last 30 or 40 minutes of the movie though. The movie gave us all what we wanted to see: Badass wizard fights. The end of this movie is what I was hoping the ending of Carnivale would be. Crazy lights and explosions and magic and... wow! Yes, it was fun indeed. Dumbledore showed that he does have some chops, and the kids were pretty impressive as well. I guess some people got to enjoy that in IMAX 3D, and to them I say that I, too, experienced the movie in three dimensions... as long as we're counting time as a dimension.

So there you have it. I'm trying to leave everything spoiler free even though we're discussing a book that's been out for over 3 years and has sold millions of copies. I'd also like to avoid examining each character and how I feel about them too in depth for fear of droning on too long and looking like a total lame-o. Assuming I have not accomplished that already.

Oh yeah... also... we made a comic. Dustin thought this one up a while back and has been looking forward to it for a long time. I'm glad we finally got to work it in. Oh, and welcome home to Dustin who returned from his many travels.

That being said, my boss is sending me to Disney World on the company dollar in 2 weeks because I'm the greatest intern that ever lived. I will be leaving care of the comics in the very capable hands of Mike H and Dustin. I have no doubt that everything will run smoothly for the 3 days I am away. Have a good week everyone.

Up Yours, Duracell

2007-07-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

It's not easy being a kid. People tell you what to do all the time, you're constantly trying to figure out this life thing, hormones, emotions, etc. I always thought that being an adult would be so much easier. WRONG. Life as a grown up is exponentially more confusing. At least as a kid my problems were clear cut. (eg. I want to go somewhere but I am not allowed to drive. Solution - Get someone to drive me)

I needed to purchase some batteries for my new camera the other day and I found myself facing one of the toughest decisions of my life. What brand of battery will I choose? They were all priced pretty much the same, but at some point in the recent past, battery making companies have decided that their consumers require special gifts for choosing this brand or that. This was the choice that I faced: Energizer batteries, which came with a free franenstein head toy, or Duracell, which offered me a free set of earbud headphones.

I didn't want toys, though. I wanted batteries. Yet here I was faced with this choice. Do I want to be the new owner of a Frankenstien head, or a set of earbud headphones? Truth be told, I didn't really want either. I wanted some freaking batteries. I was actually really dissapointed that I had to choose between free gifts. Why? Because no matter how old I get, I still have vague reminiscant feelings of peer pressure. What if the checkout counter person thinks I'm just buying these for the Frankenstien head? What would they think of me then? What does my battery choice say about me as a person? At this point I had been standing in front of the battery display, staring at batteries for a solid 10 minutes, weighing my options. Why was I so caught up in picking out some freaking batteries?! This is ridiculous! Finally I used my critical thinking skills and determined that I had absolutely no use for a Frankenstien head, but there was a chance that I might use a backup pair of earbud headphones. Duracell it is.

Now, I am at work. I have no idea where my real headphones are, so I think, "Awesome, the conservative, headphone heavy portfolio pays off!" I get my backup headphones out of the battery casing and plug them into my iPod.

These are the worst headphones I have ever owned. It sounds like the music is being filtered through a jug of water before entering my ears. They are too big for my ears, so they're loose and they make my ears hurt.

I hate batteries.

Mission Statement

2007-07-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Life and Time Space is a concept I've been toying with for some time now. Its purpose is threefold.

1) I've been getting involved in an increasing number of creative projects in the last few years, and it has been become difficult to keep track of, promote, and most importantly, let my many adoring fans know what's going on with all of them. This blog will serve as an effective base camp to let you know what I'm up to.

2) My livejournal and Myspace blogs have been enjoyable creative outlets for the past three or four years, but I'm thinking it's time to retire from those reputable source. They are great records of my life as a college undergraduate, but it is time to move on. This blog will also be my personal blog to write whatever I please.

3) I've taken an interest to the creation of comics. My main project, Knights of Omnus can be found in the same place as always, but I occasionally have an idea that simply won't work in the world of Omnus. This blog will be a place for me to post other comic/art related projects I come up with

So why should you care? Well, you the reader will have access to my delightful style of prose as well as any other creative projects I get involved with. You really can't beat that, right? My ultimate goal is for everyone to get as much enjoyment out of my creations as I do. Bottom line: Free entertainment.

FAQ:
Q: But Mike, it's so inconvenient to have to go to another website everyday. Can't you just use your (Myspace/Livejournal) blog so that I don't have to remember to check here all the time?
A: No. Quit bitching.
Seriously though, if it's that much of a problem, I'll occasionally remind you of this site's existence, be it through Myspace, Livejournal, Knights of Omnus, direct mailing campaign, threatening phone calls, or some other marketing strategy I'm not yet familiar with. You might also be interested in using this blog's RSS feed. Not familiar with RSS? You can read all about it here

Q: What's the status of your class action law suit?
A: I have been advised by my attorneys not to discuss this matter.

Q: What "projects" are you working on.
A: Here's a list of current and planned... things.

1) Knights of Omnus - A comic by myself, Dustin Guest and Mike Hannemann. Adventure, comedy, fantasy and snakes.

2) My Own Personal Dwight - You can choose your friends, your family is obligated by law to love you, but your coworkers are a total crap shoot. This is the story of Dwight, my odd coworker. Loosely based on NBC's "The Office".

3) The Music Store Memoirs - A music blog run by Dane Erbach that I occasionally write for. Good music and great stories.

I have a couple of other ideas in the works, but those will most likely start up at the end of the summer, when the Dwight blog ends.

So there you have it. I hope to see you again.