Recently in Randomness Category

1. Thank Rygel again for his kindness.
2. Think up seven things my readers (hopefully) don't know about me and list them:
   1. I was considering going into the ministry back when I was a Christian.
   2. I was terribly shy growing up.
   3. I wanted a pet skunk when I was growing up.
   4. I also wanted a pet python when I was growing up.
   5. I can tune out almost anything if I'm reading, writing, or working on the computer.
   6. I used to want to be a lawyer, but mainly so I could eventually become a judge.
   7. I used to worry that no one really liked me.
3. Pass the award on to the following people.  (Sorry, I don't have a full seven.)
   • Erin
   • Marisa
   • Lauren
   • Yewtree

This year, I decided to do something unusual for me.  I decided to file my tax returns early.  Normally, I'm the kind of guy who puts it off and forgets about it until April 12 (or later) and then rushes around to do get it done in the nick of time.

This year, I decided that there was really no point in waiting.  So as soon as I got my W-2 from my employer (and remembered to take it home), I installed this year's copy of Tax Cut and got business over with.  Hopefully, that means that my refund will be deposited in my account in the next couple of weeks.

I'm a bit disappointed that my Federal refund isn't bigger than it was.  As it is, it's not quite enough to cover the annual membership I want to get at The Iron Butterfly.  However, it should cover enough of it that I can afford it overall.  And at least I owed the state less than $100.  I may have to look at my witholding informationa gain and see if I can get a refund from the state next year, too.

But the important thing is that it's done and I can forget that the IRS exists for another year.

(The image in this post is public domain.  I found it through Public Domain Clipart.)

It's been a while since my last post. Unfortunately, life has been a bit crazy for the past few weeks. Between a crazy project at work, keeping up with dance classes, and fighting off what I can only assume was the stomach bug from hell, blogging has fallen quite low on my list of priorities. However, now that I have a half hour or so before I need to run to the company holiday party, I thought I'd take a few moments to write a bit about my adventure with friends to Toronto last Saturday.

Every year, my jazz instructor, Marina, goes to Toronto the Saturday after Thanksgiving. She had mentioned it to Rudi, who decided to go with her. At some point, they got the crazy idea to invite me. Having heard about these excursions from a couple different sources, I was all too eager to accept that invitation. So that morning, I crawled out of bed, into some clothes, and drove over to Marina's house. I was there by about 6:15. Rudi got there a half hour or so later, and we were on the road by about 7:00 that morning.

The drive up was pleasant and uneventful. We only made one stop, and that was at the border. This allowed us to exchange our currency and grab a quick breakfast at Tim Horton's. Then we went through the checkpoint and continued on our way to Toronto.

We were in the city by 10:30, so we parked in the garage across the street from the theater we'd be attending that evening and walked down to the facilities where DanceTeq teaches there classes. We arrive about forty five minutes before the modern class started. Class that day was taught by a substitute, Matthew Waldie. The class was too advanced for me (mainly due to the pace rather than complexity of technique), so I watched (which gave me plenty of opportunities to semi-secretly watch Matthew and pray the drool wasn't too obvious) while Marina and Rudi actually participated. Both struggled with the class at various points and Marina was particularly out of breath by the end of class. I actually took a certain amount of pleasure in that realization. After all, I saw in Marina's expression the same exhaustion and sense of pushing beyond her capabilities that I frequently feel when I take her class. So it's nice to see one of my instructors in that same space, herself.

After class, we did a bit of shopping. Of course, this meant walking from the waterfront to the major shopping areas in the city. Fortunately, I had the sense to pack a pair of decent sneakers. Shopping went pretty well, and I even managed to pick up a nice shirt, though I need to lose about another twenty pounds before it looks quite right on me. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of stylish clothing still haven't decided to let those of us in plus sizes look good. But I'll try not to rant too much about that.

After shopping, we made the trek back to the waterfront to grab a quick dinner and head to our show. We went to see "Lost Action" by the Canadian dance company, Kidd Pivot. The show was quite good, especially in terms of strength and technique. The company has four male dancers, and it's amazing to see the kinds of things a dance company can do with that kind of muscle. There was one scene in which all four guys worked together to lift one of the women and move her around the stage, twisting and turning her body. The fact that they did this without popping one of her joints out of socket -- let alone with deceptive ease -- was incredible.

The show itself was a bit confusing. "Lost Action" is an abstract performance piece, and I don't really do well with abstract art, at least not yet. One of the things that I took away from the performance was a sense that it involved a theme of enforced conformity, an observation that Marina and Rudi both felt made a lot of sense at the time. Of course, having just reread what Kidd Pivot says about the performance themselves, I'm not sure I was on base at all. Of course, Christine would point out that this is the beauty of dance. Different people interpret the same thing differently.

After the show, we made a quick, peaceful, and enjoyable trip back home. Rudi and I talked most of the way while Marina slept. Fortunately, she did wake up at the border so we could get across okay.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I look forward to making more of them in the future. I certainly couldn't have asked for better traveling companions, either. Hopefully, they feel the same way. (There was that one teasing crack I made to Rudi, though...)

I've been experiencing writers block with regards to my blogs, so I'm asking my readers to give me a bit of a push.

Ask me a question. Any question at all. I'll answer it to the best of my ability. (Note: "I'm sorry, but that's too personal for me to share with you" is a valid answer. But feel free to ask anyway.)

Bonus points to anyone who asks me a question that I really have to think about. And anyone who manages to ask a question that inspires me to write more than one post wins the Internets.

If there was ever a week where I might wish I could find the long-wished-for "do-over button," this is that week. The insanity of my week began on Sunday night when I went out to my car and hit the starter only to have the car instantly respond by going dark. So I ended up calling AAA on Monday morning to have the darn thing towed to the dealership. I then spent most of the rest of the day fretting over what could be wrong and how I was ever going to pay for it.

The good news was that it turned out to be nothing more than a dead short in the battery. The dealership was able to replace the battery and send me on my way. The down side is that because I took it to the dealership rather than just calling AAA and having them bring me a new battery, the repair cost about twice as much as it should have (figure in diagnostics and labor) and took most of the day to take care of. The loss of a full day of work (rather than an hour or two) is probably the most frustating part. But alas, I never would've guessed it was just a battery problem, given how the car behaved Sunday night. So that's just the way life goes.

On Tuesday night, towards the end of dance class, I ended up twisting my ankle. We were practicing our phrase, and when I got to the part where we do a hop and turned, I turned wrong and went down. I think I gave everyone -- especially my instructor -- a bit of a panic. I'm doing much better, but it hurt for a couple days. I even missed Wednesday night's dance class as a result, which is frustrating.

On top of those two unfortunate events (am I in a Lemony Snicket novel?), I've also been struggling with allergies all week. This means stuffed up sinuses, a cough (caused by post-nasal drip, I think), and just general fatigue doing to "feeling off" from the allergies. Wednesday night, I finally broke down and bought some over-the-counter antihistimine tablets. They seem to be helping.

Needless to say, all of this put something of a damper on my birthday on Wednesday. I was in pain and tired, so my desire to celebrate was rather diminished. This is a bummer, because I had already decided that I was actually going to enjoy my birthday this year. I've decided not to let getting older get to me and go back to enjoying having a special day that's all about me. (Yes, Narcissus lives.)

On the bright side, the car is now fixed, my ankle is feeling mostly better, and my allergies even seem to be clearing up. So hopefully, I can put this week behind me and enjoy a great weekend. And hopefully next week will be better.

The picture above is of Grey, Kisa, and Paw, two of the barn cats and my parents' indoor cat. The small group decided to curl up on the love seat together tonight, and Dad shot this perfect picture of them. I think it perfectly describes the quiet, intimate evening we've all had here in the Harris household this Christmas evening. Well, everyone except for Precious, who is stressed over the number of kittens currently occupying the house.

The Yule ritual went well Saturday night. A small group of us gathered at around eight, had a light meal, and then retired to the living room for a time of honoring the gods and working magic. Everyone seemed rather satisfied with the ritual I planned. (Though a certain goddess might take some small issue with my claim to have planned it.) After all was said and done, I think the party broke up around evelen that night.

I spent the night with friends, then headed on down to Mom and Dad's Sunday. This morning, Dad and I ran out to finish our Christmas shopping together, then came home to relax. Tomorrow, we'll open gifts together and have lunch before I head back home in time to get a good night's sleep before work on Wednesday.

Overall, it's been a good holiday season. I hope my readers have also found equal times of peace and the company of loved ones at this time of year.

I promise to get back to blogging soon. But in the meantime, I thought I'd post what I consider very accurate results from an online test.

What Is Your Daemon?

DOG - Your daemon may be a dog if you are loyal and caring, and like to know what is expected of you. You probably are very family oriented, and have a small group of friends that you are very close to, rather than a large group of acquaintances. You dislike confrontation, but you will stand up and fight for the people and issues that you really care about. You may prefer someone else to take the lead in a situation, although you would rather take the lead yourself than have the situation fall apart. You probably enjoy routine and order, but that doesn't mean you don't like to have fun. If anything, your friends probably know you for getting intense, child-like pleasure in the small things in life.
Take this quiz!

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After doing recent memes I was reminded of a blog post I did back in 2004, listing 100 random facts about myself. I've decided it's time to generate another such list, because eight facts just wasn't enough. I will probably repeat items from the 2004 list (and the truly bored are invited to compare the two and see how much overlap there is), but I'm okay with that.

Eileen has tagged me (unless there's another Jarred who reads her blog) for a meme. Fortunately, this one is only asking for "random" facts about me rather than "werid" facts. Of course, as a software engineer, I suspect my facts will actually be pseudorandom rather than truly random. At any rate, here goes the meme:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My random facts:

1. I used to be terribly shy and rarely spoke around others. In fact, one woman who used to attend the church I went to while in college admitted to me after two years that she originally thought I was mute.

2. I'm 5'10". My first boyfriend was 5'3". My second boyfriend was 5'10". My most recent boyfriend (though I'm not sure that word applies, considering we weren't together for much more than a week) was 6'2". If this trend continues, I suspect I'll need a stepladder to kiss my next boyfriend.

3. There are two points in my life where I seriously considered going into the ministry. The first was in junior high. The second time was in college. I've since changed religions (obviously).

4. I kissed a guy for the first time in my life this past February.

5. I absolutely love mathematics. However, I prefer abstract mathematics. This is rather strange for someone who is a software engineer, as engineers prefer practical applications of mathematics. (After all, it's what our job is about!)

6. My hand-eye coordination is terrible, if not non-existent. This is due to the fact that I had a lazy eye for the first twenty seven years of my life. My point of focus would change instantaneously, making it rather difficult to hit or catch a ball moving towards me at relatively high velocities.

7. I can count the number of musicals I've seen (either on television or live) on one hand. The gay male community is still debating whether to revoke my membership. (Note: Anyone who even thinks of complaining about my invocation of this stereotype should stop reading my blog now.)

8. I only have one planet in my entire natal chart that's in an earth sign. The planet is Venus. It's in Taurus. For those familiar with astrology, that explains a lot about my personality. (For those who know nothing about astrology, Neener!)

Okay, now for eight people I think will respond to a tag, but haven't been tagged by someone else (I hope):

The Crew
The Sentinel
Susan
Tracie
Craig
RampoPreacher
Mark
Estella

Pisco posted the results of when he went to a site that let's you create your own painting. I decided to try it out.

Click here to create your own painting.

Personally, I think Pisco's painting came out much better. Just further proof I'm a writer and not a painter/sculptor.

Back on Tuesday, Pisco listed ten tangible things he'd appreciate. I thought it was a neat idea and decided to do the exercise myself. Now I'm actually following through with that decision.

1. A walking partner.
2. A stable, somewhat assertive, compassionate, communicative, and passionate guy to share my life with.
3. An all-expenses paid trip for two to some exotic place.
4. A couple more good friends.
5. A hot tub.
6. A full body massage.
7. A paid holiday to work on my writing
8. A new wardrobe
9. A night of dancing
10. More opportunities to practice my tarot reading

As friends are doing the "six weird things about me" meme, I decided I wanted to play along. Of course, I'm still struggling with the whole fact that enough of my life is weird that I'm not sure how to pick six "exceptionally weird" things to list. But at any rate, here goes:

1. I don't like revealing skirts or shorts. Both should come down to the point where the knees are just barely visible.
2. My favorite musical of all time is "Sweeny Todd."
3. I don't really see what everyone sees in Brad Pitt.
4. I usually cry at some point during animated movies.
5. I love Frank Peretti's books.
6. At least seven times out of ten, given the choice between the two, I'd choose a nice long cuddle over sex. Of course, if I can have both at the same time, all the better.

I think most of the people who read my blog have already done those, so I'm not going to bother tagging anyone.

Friday night, I took Becky back to her place after spending a few hours running around town with her and watching a movie at my place. As we were driving, I noticed that my brake light kept coming on. Being a bit concerned, I called my favorite mechanic Saturday morning. He informed me that it sounded like I was losing brake fluid, especially considering my answers to his questions ruled out the other possiblities. Unfortunately, he also informed me that he wouldn't be able to get to my car until Monday, but I was free to drop it off and leave it there, just in case he found some free time this weekend.

As I didn't want to have to take extra time on Monday to get my car there, I agreed to drop it off Saturday morning. However, I decided I still needed a car, so I picked up the phone a second time and called Enterprise. They indicated they had a car available and I could have it through Tuesday. So when I dropped my car off at the garage, I walked the two blocks over to Enterprise's Henrietta office and filled out the paperwork to get my rental car.

As the woman who was taking care of me went to get keys, she asked her coworker what midsized cars they had available. He told her the PT Cruiser would be the best bet. Now I have to admit, I think PT Cruisers are ugly cars, but I'm not inclined to be too picky when it comes to a rental car. After all, I only have to drive it for a few days.

Apparently, I was completely oblivious (probabl due to the list of items running through my head that I really should've been doing at that exact moment rather than worrying about transportation), because I never noticed the color of my new rental car when I got into it and drove it off the lot. It wasn't until I got back to my townhouse, gathered up the stuff I needed for the day, and walked back out to the car before I realized that it was this incredibly light shade of lavendar. I looked at it and started laughing. The only thing I could think to say was, "Well, I guess I don't have to worry about anyone assuming I'm straight for the nex few days." I also wondered if the people at Enterprise gave me this car because I happened to be wearing my "2QT2BSTR8 shirt at the time."

I have to admit that as Saturday progressed, the car actually grew on me. I've affectionally named it "The Queermobile," much to friends' amusement. I've especially fallen in love with the color. I'm actually considering saving up my money and finding a body shop that can paint my car that same color, or at least something close.

Isn't it strange the things I find amusing?