Catalyst Castle

Totally not what I was expecting.

Even if the Doctor can shut down Vader's lightsaber, somehow I can't imagine he is any match for the power of the Force.

I know some of my readers are fans of the Avengers movie, and I thought you might get a kick out of this. It's not my work. I wish I could credit it properly, but I can't recall now where I found it.

Hey, everyone! It's been a while since I posted anything new here. As you know, I started a new blog on gaming almost two months ago, and since then I've been posting new stuff there twice a week. But I've been sorely neglecting my more general blog here.

So, this is actually related to my gaming blog, but it doesn't really belong over there and I thought my friends might find it amusing. It's sort of a "behind the scenes" post, if you will. When I was getting ready to launch Catalyst Games, I knew I had a lot of stuff I could write about gaming, but I was having a difficult time organizing my thoughts to write anything. I mentioned this to my sister and she suggested that I could try making an audio recording of me "talking out" my ideas, and then refer back to that while I'm writing. I tried this and it really helped! I didn't have a device that could make a strictly audio recording, so I ended up using my webcam to record myself. This had the unnecessary effect of making a video recording of my monolog as well. When I watched this later I was really amused by it - it's not too often that you get to watch yourself talk!

This might be a tad narcissistic, but it really had me cracking up when I watched it, so I'm posting the video here for you to enjoy. It is a tad lengthy (about 11 minutes). Also, the audio is a bit quiet, so you may have to turn up the volume on your computer. You can read the resulting article here.

Just for fun, I used my webcam to record myself singing a song. After playing it back... wow. That was so awful. I laughed so hard I cried. I will never sing in public again.

And before anyone asks, I've deleted the video so I won't be sharing it. I decided it was too dangerous to keep around.

I can't take credit for this, but I found this cool picture online and just wanted to share it. All of the robots/cyborgs are from various movies and shows. How many can you identify? Can you find Wall-E?

My friend Kristen sent me a link to this video, telling me this was my theme song. I was quite amused, and hopefully you will be too.

I'm pretty sure I just broke the Guinness World Record for largest booger blown out of a human nose. Take a look!

And here it is beside a penny for scale.


OK, I apologize. First, it isn't really a booger. Second, I know this kind of humor is very childish, but I couldn't help myself. ^_^

I was feeling kind of silly, and I was about to wash my hair anyway, so I did the unthinkable and put hairspray in it (*Shock!* *Horror!*) so that I could attempt a crazy anime hair style. Then, being as vain as I am, I snapped some pictures in the mirror. And now, I'm posting a couple of those pictures to my blog. (Ugh... I'm so vain I should be shot. -_-; ) The photos don't quite do it justice. The hair do was EPIC. ^_^

So, I haven't posted anything here in quite a while and now I post something this silly. Boo... I'll post something far more serious in the next couple of weeks. (I think... Or, I probably won't. ^_^)

Allow me to explain.

I wash windows for a living. One of the accounts I do every month is a hair salon located near Altamonte Springs. I wash the windows on the storefront and I come inside to wash all of their mirrors. The hair stylists and the clientele are all older women, for the most part. Every time I work in there, it seems that someone always has some kind of remark to make about the work I'm doing. These comments fall, almost universally, into one of two categories. Either, (1) you would think that I was there performing brain surgery by the way these women are just in awe of my ability ("No, really ma'am, this isn't as hard as it looks." -me), or (2) you would think they had earned their doctorate in window cleaning by the way they can critique my work and point out the various things I could be doing better ("Yes ma'am, of course Windex and newspapers would do a better job, but I only do this for a living." -me).

On the other hand, one time I overheard a very nice old lady ask her stylist: "Do you think that young man would mind if I pointed out to him that he missed a spot?" Of course, I want my customers to be happy with the quality of my work, so if I miss something I'm happy to have someone point it out to me. I thought it was nice that this woman was considerate about it though. It also occured to me that she may have been aprehensive, because some young guys wouldn't take kindly to being called on the carpet, and may take up a retalitory attitude. That makes me sad.

-Your Friendly Neighborhood Window-Washer

So, I've already posted a review of Mascara, my favorite manga on the web, but I thought I would share a couple of other web comics that I follow from week to week.


No Need for Bushido is set in ancient Japan and weaves an intricate tale of love, war, intrigue, deception, ninja assassins, samurai warriors, blind Taoist priests, pointy hats, and dysfunctional families that historians forgot to put in the history scrolls... Go figure. This is actually a pretty great comic. It has an intricate plot, interesting characters that you actually come to care about, lots of humor, action, drama, and the most hilarious use of onomatopoeia. The art starts out very simple, but has really advanced over the course of the comic. The most recent pages are simply beautiful. There are currently over 400 pages and the comic updates with 1 new page every Monday. (Fair warning: some of this comic is PG-13)

The Adventures of Superhero Girl is a comic I've only started following more recently. It is actually published in a Canadian newspaper, but the artist is republishing the strips online. This comic tells the story of "Superhero Girl" and her mostly ordinary adventures - trying to find a job to support her superhero gig, trying to fit in with normal society, and her search for a fulfilling hobby. The art is pretty consistent throughout, as the artist has written and illustrated other comic strips in the past, and thus has had plenty of time to develop her skills and style. This comic doesn't have any overarching storyline, instead it mainly focuses on some kind of gag on each page. It is always a fun read though.

I write fiction for a living. But, until I start getting a paycheck from that I wash windows to pay the bills. While I'm working, it isn't uncommon for someone to approach me and ask what kind of solution I use to clean the glass. Normally, I'll just give them a straight answer. I use Ajax dishwashing soap heavily diluted in water. The brand isn't really important, just so long as it's a lemon-based, liquid, dishwashing soap. That's no trade secret, because the two most important things for a professional window washing job are good tools and plenty of practice.

Sometimes though, when the person asking strikes me as someone with a sense of humor, I try to give a funny reply. Once I told a woman it was mostly spit. Today I had a new one. I told a gentleman:

"It's a very simple formula, really. It's:

5% luck; 30% skill;

20% concentrated power of will;

30% tools; 15% get up and go;

that's 100% reason to hire a pro."

I had a nice day in field service today, thanks in part to the brothers and sisters I was out with. Speaking of which, do you ever find yourself out in the ministry all by yourself? Are you struggling to get in those last few hours, but discouraged because you're having to do it all on your own? Well then, here is the company you need!

Service Partners is staffed by qualified, experienced pioneers. We deliver them right to your territory! Our prices are very reasonable. (But don't expect them to offer you money for gas!)

I just had to share a couple of pictures I've taken in the last couple of weeks. They both capture unintentional real-world references to Star Wars. Or, maybe it's just a coincidence.

A week ago I got a hair cut. I went to a different place than I normally go, and they cut my hair really short! Considering that I love long hair, I was a little disappointing. It's not a big deal though. It will grow out, and at least I'll be able to go a lot longer between hair cuts.

Here's what it looks like:


And here's what my initial reaction was like: