Now Where and WTF???

Things have been up and down the last few months, I posted some time ago what my daughter did with the cell phone that I was paying for. This was October and she hasn't spoken to me since, I think she is being unreasonable, she ran up the charges, she should have to pay for those charges. That was the second time her phone was shut off and I told her it would not come back on, she did finally pay for the charges. The phone stayed off though. She was also upset that I didn't save for her college. I haven't exactly been a great spot to do that, I made a mistake several years ago that cost me my freedom, and left me with some pretty sizable fines, and being where I was, I couldn't pay child support. The state is like the Mob, they don't care what your situation, it's like they say in one of my favorite movies, "Goodfellas" "Fuck you pay me".
I worked two jobs for almost two years to pay the back child support, fines, and the cost of court supervision. I worked my ass off to dig out of a hole, and after rebuilding a life she sticks her hand out. At this point I'm glad I didn't give money, I found out that she got a nice sum of money from her mom and is just blowing it on every thing but school!! I say if she wants to go to school so bad, join the Service or get a job. I won't coddle her, but now what??

New Medication Working?

I have been on a medication called Abilify for the last few weeks ,my mood seems better, I have motivation to do stuff. I just need the time, there are so many effects I want to learn and practice, I don't know where to start. Working on the Rings, Cups and Balls, Thumb Tips, Ambitious Card and who knows what, I have been working on these things at work when I have a bit of down time.
I just got some cool stuff in the mail today, L&L Publishing had a special, 8 Dai Vernon DVD and his book for 175.00, that's too good a deal to pass up. This company has had some great deals as of late, so I'm building up my DVD collection. I need to take a break and stay off that site for a while.
Went out and played Air soft late Sunday night with my stepson, Jasper's coworkers from Best Buys Geek Squad. Oh boy!! These guys had no clue how to handle a weapon that is not in a video game.... this was a blood bath. I am sure if this was a video game, I would be the one getting my ass kicked, It was still funny though.

Well, I Guess I Can Stop Bitchin..... For Now!!!

Yes, I can stop complaining for now, maybe it's because of the new medication I am on or the pep chat my good friend Tim Flynn gave me. Or the combination of both, he said that instead of complaining on the bad stuff, take a minute and look at the good things in your life. That's what I have been trying to do. My wife, son, more motivation to do magic, play airsoft and paintball. I can't wait to get back out there and show them young whipper snappers what an old army fart can do! While they are running around like a bunch of idiots, I am holding my position waiting for them to enter my crosshairs!!

My new den is as done as it's gonna get. looks fine, I have space to work uninterrupted but still hear whats going on in the house. I have been working on an Ambitious Card routine with cleared plastic cards, the kicker is at that the end of the effect, the spectator is holding a solid block of plastic when they thought they were holding the cards. I have also been working on Simon Aronson's Random Shuffle Shuffle Board. Great effect

Got to see an old friend from my Army days, Bernie and I were in the same squad while I was stationed in Egypt. I found him on Facebook, we shot some messages back and fourth. Then on Saturday while I was at the butcher, I checked my email on my phone and there was a message from Bernie saying he is in town for a 4X4 swap meet at the Puyallup fairgrounds. I met up with my wife, handed her the meat and shot down to the fairgrounds. I sent him an email via facebook and surprised the crap out if him. I guess he wasn't expecting me there so fast... Hell, I haven't seen him in 15 years. My wife and I met up him the next day, it was funny because I have told so many stories of those days overseas and it looked like she didn't really believe some of them. One when I was trained to be a combat life saver, or when some of the squad left our outpost to head to the little town to get some beer for everybody. He confirmed every story!

It was good seeing him..... hopefully it won't be another 15 years........

And Now Where???

Well, my new den is done, it's a little small, but there is just enough room to practice in front of a mirror. I have been working on Harry Anderson's "Three Card Prince", I bought this effect at the PCAM in 2004 and just never got around to learning it, I am surprised I still had the instructions. It looked confusing at first, but as with all magic effects,you keep at it, it will come. Sunday was a sad day for the Tacoma Magic Club, we held a Broken Wand ceremony for long time member Don Brisbane. Don passed away a couple weeks ago and we decided to have a celebration if his life at the meeting. There wasn't a dry eye at the meeting, I have known Don for about 16 years. He was one of the first magicians I saw at the club perform, I will never forget his "Too Many Bottles" routine or his "Paper Hat" and "Side Walk Shuffle" routines. He is a dear friend and will be missed very much.
Things are heating up at work again(what else is new) now it turns out that the guy we hired specifically to work Saturday and Sunday night graveyards, can't work Sundays due to childcare issues on Monday morning. I don't want to sound like a dick, but he was hired for those days, childcare is not our problem. My wife and I have made child care arrangements so I can sleep. On top of that the other guy who can work nights, doesn't want to, so the store wants me to change my nights off. I can't do that, Saturday and Sunday are the only days I have with my family and the only nights I have with my wife(wink). I have been there 15 years this summer, these two combined have been there two years..... do the math.
I guess the one great thing to really look forward to is spring, fairs and fastivals will be starting. I put in applications at the Puyallup Fair, Spring fair, Meeker Days and the Pierce County Fair. We will see how things go.

Gettin It Put Together

So here it goes, I am getting my den together, seeing that setting up the basement didn't work out. We spent several hundred dollars having someone who said they knew what they were doing put in wiring and put up walls and it did look nice. For some reason, every time it rained heavily, water would accumulate on the floor down there. The sump pump was working, and when we lost power during a heavy rain storm, there was about 4 inches of water down there. I had to keep everything off the ground, it was a real pain in the ass getting down there to practice and keeping the basement warm during the winter. It also stayed damp and my props were starting to mildew. Darlene offered up the office, she moved all here sewing stuff to the extra space in the bed room. I packed away the things I don't use, put together and repacked my kids, family and busker shows. I also finished treating a bunch of ropes for various effects, I was taught by an old club member, Lloyd Cripe, to wrap scotch tape around the ends of the rope loosely and then put fabric glue on the ends. It will last for years and they did, I just thought it was time for new sets of "You Do as I Do Ropes", "Professor's Nightmare", and "Tarbary Ropes"
The desk set up is nice, I got a good deal on a T.V and DVD player and I also hooked up my Tape to dvd burner. Once the desk is cleared, I can play magic DVDs and practice without disturbing my family or being disturbed.
Things are still a bit messy
Some of my DVDs

My books, well, most of them.
My new Cups and Balls table that my good friend, Tim Flynn, made for me. I found tennis balls to do the routine with.

Sit And Ponder:"Why"

I sit and type, I hate typing, can't do it for crap. I should take a class, but I'm not motivated, in fact, I am completely lacking any motivation to do anything. Right now I am currently moving all the savable magic stuff from the basement to a room in the house, the office to be exact. Darlene has moved all her craft items to a corner of our bedroom and gave me the office. The basement has been having some flooding problems over the last couple years, I have everything off the floor, but it's still damp and some things have gotten moldy. I have had to throw out 10 years of Linking Ring and Magic magazines along with several items that couldn't be saved. I am in the process of replacing these items, fortunately they are not too expensive. The silks, ropes and books were able to be aired out and are fine, now I just have to organize everything, but I'm not motivated. It will most likely have to be put off for another weekend, again, as I can only catch a couple hours sleep and then it's off to a company get together for Darlene's work... at Tower Lanes in Tacoma.... big spenders. I will be grumpy as it is.
I am really tired of this weather, I want to get out and do some busking, I have put in entertainment applications for the Puyallup Fair and Spring Fair and Meeker Days. I hope to get on the Kids Stage at Meeker Days this year as well as do some busking. I found a web site that sells effects at whole sale prices so while I am doing some shows this year, I can sell some stuff and make some money. These items require little or no skill, Ball and Vase, Zig Zag Rope, Coin Slide, Fan-Ta-Stick, Svengali Deck, etc...

Bah! Humbug!!!!

Don't know where I am on the fence right now, I tend to get a little down this time of year and a bit angrier. Stores and malls are crowded, folks are ruder. Last Saturday, my wife, Andrew and I went to South Hill mall. It was close to closing, so we split up, she was going to Old Navy to get some shirts for Andrew and I went to Game stop to get a gift card for our nephew. On her way to Old Navy, she passed one of those kiosks that sell that fufu lotion, the salesman grabs my wife's hand and wouldn't let go! She tried to pull away several times until the guy finally let go, she calls me on her cell phone in tears to tell me what happened and then held me back so I wouldn't pummel this jerk! We ended up calling mall security( what a joke.. Paul Blart?) and they called the police. There was nothing they could( or would) do. The officer said because there was no malicious intent, the salesman didn't break any laws, there was nothing the police can do. So! If I am busking, and there's no malicious intent, I guess it's ok for me to grab people and hold them against their will and make them watch magic!!! If I had been there and seen this, I would have put 2 taser darts in this guy. We go back the next day to finish our shopping, we go to the food court to get some lunch, the moment I leave Darlene and Andrew to get food, this same jerk comes to my wife's table trying to make a sale!! Are you F#@$%^ kidding me!!! What is with people now a days!!!
Work is getting a bit rough again, the guy who works my nights off was let go this week. I will be working every night until we get someone hired and trained, as I write this, I am on day 8. Now there is someone here that can work my shift, but he has an "I don't care attitude" now. I am in a catch 22. I can take one night off a week for now, but doing that while working graveyard is useless. I would get home catch a few hours sleep, get up, do family stuff , go to bed at 11pm, get up at 5am am go back to bed at 10am and up again at 6pm. This guy doesn't do anything at night and I am not gonna bust my ass all week so this guy can chill for one night. It's less stressful for me to just work it. As it looks right now I will be going thru the first of the year.
I finally got my Christmas shopping done, I hate shopping this time of year!!! People are rude and it's all me,me,me. I don't know if I'm am guilty of this me, me thing. I went to Wal Mart to pick up a Radio Flier tricycle that I ordered for Andrew, while I was there, Darlene called me and asked if I could look for some Legos. She had been to several places and had no luck. I looked up and down the toy isles for a while and I finally found two boxes of them, one medium box and a small box, almost equal to a large box, they will have to do. After I get these and leave the toy area and head to the DVD section, a woman comes up behind me and says"Did you have to be greedy and take them both" Now when I was looking in that area, there was no one there and I told her that. She insisted on one, the bigger of the two boxes of course. I said "No, I was here first" at that point she blocked my cart and tried to reach in. I pulled back and told her to "Back off!!" She continued to get belligerent, to the point where I felt I needed to pull out my cap stun. I told her to get back or she was going to get pepper sprayed. Really, this woman gets into shopping rage over something like that. And yes with things the way they are now, I carry either a can of cap stun or my X 26 taser. I am really trying to get and stay in the Christmas spirit, but at this point, with the fact that there's a good chance I will be working straight thru to the end of the year, I don't know why. I think when I get home today, I will read "Old Man Logan" again.