Solid Tattoo Philosophy

Lauren has a tattoo of me on her arm and I have been trying to figure out how to do it right. I came across this bit of advice on DeviantArt that I think is great advice. But if you’re reading this, you probably don’t need it, really.

Now for anyone who thinks that little butterfly - tribal sticker out of the friggin sticker cabinet at Hot Topic is original, you’re delusional. When you walk into a shop to do a permanent addition to your body be truly original in your thoughts. What do YOU like, what do YOU collect, what do YOU watch, what are YOUR favorite colors? Who cares if anyone else “GET’S IT”. If the artist points at the flash and says go pick something… FUCK THEM. Don’t settle for some shit off a wall that is in thousands of shops across the country because the guy behind the counter doesn’t want to put any thought into your piece. He or she is there as a service to you, to help and guide you during a big step in your life. If they have the opinion that you should feel honored to be on the same continent as them.. FUCK THEM.

tattooedone on deviantART

Radio Radio

Slowly but surely my internet radio station Radio Stranahan is coming together. It’s playing music, legally I might add, and has it’s own page and logo as you know if you clicked that link. It even has a dedicated phone line through Skype for requests in the US and I may add Europe or Australia in the future because it’s cheap. We’re working on organzing our vast music library and adding some ‘shows’ but if you haven’t check it out yet, please do.

All We Are Saying Is Give The Sign Of Satan A Chance

Anti-War Protests on Yahoo! News Photos

DENVER: A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said.

But you can’t say Bob Kearns is a crazy asshole so drunk with his own pretend ‘Presidential’ power that he won’t listen to reason, can you?

Kearns ordered the committee to require Jensen to remove the wreath, but members refused after concluding that it was merely a seasonal symbol that didn’t say anything. Kearns fired all five committee
members.

Ummm…

Seth Godin On The TSA

I swear - if some politician comes along who doesn’t sing from the same songbook as every other politician and starts talking about an agenda based on actually new ideas that change the way things are done, they’d win.

Sometimes politics goes beyond labels to issues of simple common sense. The TSA seems to me to have been a sad joke since 9/11 - that’s not liberal or conservative, it’s just stoopid.

Seth Godin tells his story of flying this Thanksgiving…

“No Cake!” the screener yells. “No pie either!” and they make the person traveling to her family throw out her home-baked cake.

We got up to the line. I had an ounce of gel left in a five ounce bottle. They made me throw it out because the label said 5 ounces (though it was clearly more than half empty)

Is this the sort of government we want? We deserve? We should pay for?The easy thing for me to do is say nothing. It makes me seem like a whiner, after all. But to stand by while all of us spend billions of dollars a year chasing the wrong thing, doing it poorly and telling exactly the wrong story is far worse than that.

Seth’s Blog

The Night Shift

Here at Chez Stranahan, our sleeping schedules have become rather bohemian. I get home from work at around 4:30 or 5:00 most nights. Sometimes I’ll take a nap almost right away, sometimes not. Lauren usually passes out at around 6:30pm or so although some nights she doesn’t make it to six o’clock and some evenings she’s up as late as eight thirty. Jack and Olivia prize their time when the parents are asleep so they can enjoy the best of contemporary animation and repeated viewing of the Scooby Doo Two movie.

I’m back up and about by nine o’clock or so and at this point the kids are still going strong. When Shane’s here, he’s online or playing World Of Warcraft or playing music. I work on blog posts or work on stuff in Second Life or other projects. This is the Night Shift - from about nine until one or two AM. Over the course of the night, kids vanish and go to sleep or just pass out and eventually I do, too; usually on the living room couch because by this time my spot in the bed is filled with at least one child and two cats.

But not to worry…the early shift is about to arrive. Lauren wakes up at three or four AM and comes out to the living room. I’m well rested after a couple of hours of sleep, so I wake up and drink whatever beverage my wife makes - iced tea or iced coffee. I fill her in on the late shift and we talk and sometimes I go to the bedroom and find a spot among the kids and kittens until I’m off for work at 7:00am or so.

And then the circle of life begins again.