The Blog of Electric Mayhem

The Lil' Dark Knight

2008-09-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

http://view.break.com/555681 - Watch more free videos

Olympic Blues

2008-08-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Does anybody else get sad at the end of the Olympics, like you're saying goodbye to a really good summer and you won't see those friends again? I always get like that, but I haven't the foggiest idea why.

The first Olympics I can remember are the Barcelona games from 1992, and every time they get to the montage at the end of the games the room I'm in gets all dusty. Seriously, it's not like I sit around for 3 years yearning for NBC's Tim Daggett and Elfi Schlegel to agonize about 14 year old Chinese gymnasts.

That being said, it certainly is awesome when the entire world can hit pause, or at least slow down, (except for Russia, apparently) on all its chaos to come together and do the amazing. Run faster, swim faster, and win more golds than what has ever been done before. Ever.

I kick myself that over every four years I eventually forget the fact we get that gift... every four years, like a great Christmas present for the world to see. And by the end of it, I'm always sad to see it go.

Too connected, and Not Connected at All

2008-08-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

So there's Blogger with two active sites, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, SMS, Skype, AIM, Google Reader with its sharing capabilities, XBox Live Arcade/X-Fire/& Steam telling me what my friends are playing at all hours, cell phone calls, a regular land line that my security system requires(?!) I maintain, 5 email accounts that I've been trying to get down to 2 for over a year but people refuse to quit using, and mail.

Is everybody else under this kind of deluge of communication, or have I overwhelmed myself with tech during my roaring 20's and now that I'm 30, with child and am in desperate need of some semblance of peace (hah!) coming to the realization that I signed up for this and have no way out? There's some friends that I keep in touch with (ok, not that often, look how much I update here, right?) solely through one of the methods above. Hence my predicament. Surely others are stuck here too?

In other news, my cats still crap like grown men with dysentery.

OH BOH HELL YEAH

2008-08-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

I figured it out!

Like an idiot, I was completely at a loss for how to log back in to this account. But tonight Emma, my new baby girl, went to sleep early and I had time to finally figure out how to post to my blog again!

I've been locked out forever, so hopefully I'll be able to update this more often now that I've set up a new method of logging in.

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-03-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

You have new Picture Mail!
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-02-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

You have new Picture Mail!
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

CraftyKnittyKitty

2006-11-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

Wanted to let everybody know that Ronda has a new blog over at: Crafty Knitty Kitty.com, where she'll be writing about her kitties, her knitting, and everything else she adores. I doubt our 1080p HDTV will come up in conversation over there, nor will the Cowboys 153 yards in penalties this past weekend. Although if you bring it up over there I'm sure Ronda will be more than happy to christen the site with a few F-bombs.

My kitties!!!

2006-08-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

My kitties!!!
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Anya and Chloe

Henrietta

2006-08-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Henrietta
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Strange Things are Afoot at the Local Petsmart Dude

2006-05-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

So the last few times Ronda and I have been to Petsmart I've hung out in the parking lot (which allows Ronda more time to give all of our hard-earned money to homeless kitties), but I digress. The last time I was waiting in the truck, two good looking young ladies (whom I presumed to be sisters) came out of the store, loaded up into the vehicle next to me, then proceeded to start making out. I was dialing the phone to call my buddy, so the next debate I had was, "look away? don't look away? what do I do? what's the protocol here? it's a parking lot?" Needless to say I decided to keep on calling my buddy, and ask him what he thought.

They drove away, and while my buddy laughed at my dilemma, another car pulled up, a mom and her young son jumped out. The son proceeded to stand in front of their car, pull his shirt over his head, while his mom took a picture....then they jumped back in the car and drove off. The hell??

So apparently strange things are afoot at the Petsmart.

Then this week, here we go again to the Petsmart, so this time I've got my camera phone ready. Sure enough, look what pulls up in the parking lot. This town is weird sometimes.
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Brady?

2006-05-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

Brady?
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Brady or not?

2006-05-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Brady or not?
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

The InterWeb

2006-04-30T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, ladies and gentlemen, so begins another hobby for the world to see. It's my new webcomic called "THE INTERWEB".For the longest time I used to use photoshop to make some gag jokes, but it usually took far too much work to hunt down just the right pictures, make all the right edits, and so on. I always figured I didn't have enough talent to draw, so I eventually turned to the realm of animation, where I took pre-existing models, (typically from video games), posed them, made screen captures, manipulated them in Photoshop, then used Flash to animate them.

Well, after spending several months on my last cartoon, which was a resounding success in my book, I realized that the only way to maintain success on that level was to bust my butt animating for at most a 4 minute joke. Feh!

So I decided that I'd much rather go for quantity than quality, although I'd still like to maintain some level of quality if you know what I mean. So with that in mind, what you're looking at is my first attempt at my little gem of a web comic. Now, before you go thinking I've went and grown myself an ego....no, I don't anticipate this being anything more than a venue for some (hopefully) good jokes. I stress hopefully.

So come by once in a while. I don't plan on trying to sell you on the site here. I hope to update as fast as I can draw, and I hope to draw faster as I get better at drawing, inking, and coloring. I've only been drawing for two weeks, which is fairly obvious, but I think I've got a good idea here.

Anya

2006-04-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

Anya&Ronda
Originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Here's our new kitty Anya. She's little bitty.

Anya&Ronda

2006-04-15T19:49:00.001-07:00

Anya&Ronda,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Here's our new kitty Anya. She's little bitty.

Anya

2006-04-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Anya,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Anya loves playing with the bouncy red ball.

AnyaPlay1

2006-04-15T19:48:00.001-07:00

AnyaPlay1,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Here's Anya hunting her pray.

AnyaPlay2

2006-04-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

AnyaPlay2,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Anya really gets into her toy.

Cuddles

2006-04-15T19:47:00.001-07:00

Cuddles,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Ronda and Anya cuddling.

BothKitties

2006-04-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

BothKitties,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Ronda's first attempt at petting both Chloe and Anya.

AllTuckeredOut

2006-04-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

AllTuckeredOut,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Anya, all tuckered out after a long day of play.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-04-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

You have new Picture Mail!,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-04-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

You have new Picture Mail!,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

You have new Picture Mail!

2006-04-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

You have new Picture Mail!,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

2006-04-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

The last funny thought I had was that it's funny that my last funny thought is that it was almost 5:00 p.m. and I could go home.

I think I'm ready to retire!

2006-02-24T12:43:00.001-08:00

Came across a couple of noteworthy websites that I thought I'd share. First, a link to the National Sex Offender Registry, which is in essence a mapped amalgamation with a national sex offender database allowing you to see the locations/identities/mug shots of sex offenders in your neighborhood. Creepy as hell to see how many live in my neck of the woods (6!).

On a lighter note, here's an awesome Einstein website that allows you to put funny stuff on the chalkboard, appearing as if Einstein wrote it. I wrote "After careful manipulations to several of my universal scientific truths, the following calculation was derived:

Fritz = Bitch

2006-02-24T12:43:00.000-08:00

2006-02-01T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a great link from Lifehacker detailing how to rip a CD, sync the MP3s to your iPod, then play any music off your iPod from any computer without ever having to install anything on that computer...and not once will you have to open iTunes to do it.

Hack Attack: The self-sustaining iPod - Lifehacker

2006-01-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a great guitar tab website. Good stuff here.

Schwing!!!

2006-01-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Schwing!!!,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

2006-01-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

Math Will Rock Your World: If guys with math degrees are getting six figure salaries, I'm going back to school...

2006-01-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

Finally! For years I've been waiting for the capability to do this. Essentially imagine having the ability to immediately share files with specific friends and family. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Big deal, I can already send any files I want via email." Which is true, but time consuming and cumbersome, plus limited by the capacity of your smtp server.

"AllPeers" is an extension for Firefox that creates a simple, persistent buddy list in your browser. You'll be able to share files immediately with your friends and family, all from the browser. Even better, they can get an RSS feed of new files, with a single click download them to their hard-drive, and you don't even have to be online...because AllPeers is a bittorrent client, and will allow files to be pulled from multiple sources.

It's essentially a basket floating in Cyberspace in which you and all your friends can share movies, music, photos, or any other files you want, securely. It's not out yet, but will be soon.

2006-01-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

A real scream - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports

Great article on Vince Young's performance in the Rose Bowl.

2006-01-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

IGN: First Glimpse: Revolution's Virtual Console 1367153

Here's an interesting article on Ninendo's next console, the Revolution. You'll have the ability to download and play games from earlier Nintendo systems on the new system.

The 2005 NCAA Football Championship Trophy

2006-01-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

The 2005 NCAA Football Championship Trophy,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

It took all of Tony's maturity to keep from doing a "suck it" pose.

We Are The Champions!!!

2006-01-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

We Are The Champions!!!,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Gina, Tony, and Ronda at the Tower.

Texas Longhorns: National Champions!!!

2006-01-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

Texas Longhorns: National Champions!!!,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

And it shall be known that in the late hours of January 4, 2005, a "Boh Hell Yeah" of nigh-mythic proportion was issued. In celebration of this night, here are some little known facts about our Quarterback, Vince Young:

Vince Young Facts

# Vince Young's tears cure cancer. But he is so badass, he has never cried. Ever.

# Vince Young does not sleep. He waits.

# Vince Young is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

# The chief export of Vince Young is touchdowns.

# If you can see Vince Young, he can see you. If you can't see Vince Young, you may be only seconds away from death.

# Vince Young has counted to infinity. Twice.

# Vince Young does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Vince Young goes killing.

# Vince Young doesn’t wash his clothes, he disembowels them.

# Vince Young is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man ate a fucking Indian.

# In fine print on the last page of the Guinness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Vince Young, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten.

# Crop circles are Vince Young's way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie the fuck down.

# Vince Young is ten feet tall, weighs two-tons, breathes fire, and could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing.

# The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Vince Young out. It failed miserably.

# There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Vince Young allows to live.

# Vince Young once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.

# Vince Young is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.

We are #1!!!

2006-01-11T14:44:00.000-08:00

We are #1!!!,
originally uploaded by tsmith1212.

Here's a pic of the tower the night we won the NCAA Football National Championship!!

A Picture Share!

2006-01-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

Here's a shot of the line leading up to the Texas Longhorns NCAA Football Championship Trophy.

Frank the Aggie.

2006-01-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of my coworker Frank, an Aggie wannabe. He's seen here lamenting UT's National Championship.

Fire by our house.

2006-01-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

So there was a big fire behind our house today. We were having a party while watching bowl games, and everybody assumed that the smoke in the house was coming from our grill (fajitas and steaks, weeee!!!). It wasn't until I saw my neighbors watering their backyard fence did I spot the fire. You can see one of the fire trucks in the picture dousing the area with water.

A Picture Share!

2005-12-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

Ha ha!

A Picture Share!

2005-11-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

UT vs. Kansas

Here's a pic from our seats at the UT vs. Kansas game. This was the last game we went to this year, and was an absolute blast.

2005-10-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me!!

Today was a great day, my 29th birthday. I got lots of love and wishes from family and friends, and Tony also gave me a beautiful opal pendant on a white gold chain. And even though I inadvertently tried to do away with my kitty twice and myself and Tony once, it was still a great day.

That is a funny story, one that proves that when you turn 29, you lose your mind. At least that is true for me.

It actually starts yesterday, the day before my birthday. Tuesday night I made dinner, just some pasta on the stove. The gas stove, and I apparently left it on. All night and all day today. It was on very low, and the flame must have been blown out. I've done this before, left the burner on low and found it the next day, but the flame was still burning. That was not the case today. I came home from work and the house did smell funny to me, but I didn't realize it was gas. I've had bad allergies this week and so I can't really smell anything distinctly. So I didn't really think about it much. I went outside with Chloe so she could play in the backyard. When Tony got home about 30 minute later, he immediately smelled the gas and started opening doors and windows, and told me to help. So I ran upstairs and opened all the windows. He gave me a hard time about forgetting the stove, and told me to pay more attention. We even talked about making a sign for me to remember to turn off the stove. After the house aired out a little later we went to dinner for my birthday.

Pretty silly of me to leave the stove on, again, for like the 4th time in the last few months. But not as silly as what I did next.

So we went to eat, and came home a few hours later. Chloe was upstairs but she came down to see us for a few minutes, then we started to watch LOST. She disappeared again, and I didn't realize it until after the show was over. So I went upstairs to find her. I went into the game room at the top of the stairs because she likes to lay on the ping pong table. Well, she wasn't there. I looked a little closer and realized that I saw her ears in the windows that face the street. As I walked over to the window, I remembered that a few months ago we had a bad thunderstorm and one of the screens was blown off the window. It is still on the porch waiting to be fixed. I realized then that Chloe was on the roof!!!

Yes, she was having a grand old time star-gazing in the cool night air!!! I called her name and she came right over onto the window seal, so I grabbed her and put her in and shut the window. Stupid me, I had opened the window and not even realized the screen was gone! She had been out there for at least a few hours. Thankfully she was ok. She was also mad that I shut the window, but she was safe. Whew! So in the past 24 hours, I've tried to gas us all, and then I left my kitty play on the roof. Way to go Ronda!

Well at least we are all okay, and hopefully I'll get my head back on straight before anything else happens!

A Picture Share!

2005-10-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

So Ronda and I went to the Texas-OU game this weekend, where we stomped the hell out of them. I wish I had a martini glass so I could taste their tears of unfathomable sorrow. I got some great pictures of the OU fans leaving the game early, and after 5 years I gotta tell you that it was as close to football heaven as I could get.

2005-09-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

So I went to the Texas-Ohio State game this weekend with my buddy Adam. We had a hell of a time, as we caught Robert E. Lee's game Friday night against Ohio's Colerain (sp?) High School, then the UT-Ohio State game on Saturday, then the Cleveland Browns home opener against the Cincinatti Bengals.

Here's my take on the Texas-Ohio State game. We came out strong, then Ohio State proceeded to whomp all over us, but never quite knocked us out, so we just lingered there waiting for an opportunity. Ohio State made about 4 mistakes that opened up the opportunity to win the game:

1. Removed Troy Smith (their 2nd QB), as he was running all over us for the 2nd quarter, and good portions of the 3rd too. I think Tressel took him out because they were unable to punch it in for the TD in the redzone, at least that’s what the OSU fans were thinking where I was sitting. Problem was, Zwyck had absolutely no pocket presence, as everytime he was in there we got great penetration and sacked (or hurried) him several times.

2. Attempted the 51-yd field goal. If they’d have punted, we would have gotten the ball most likely at the 20 yd line, at best. Our starting field position was horrid the entire game, and they could have stuffed us with a punt. Instead they went for the long field goal, missed, and gave us what was probably our best starting field position of the day somewhere around our 40. With the pass interference call that put us on the 48, and set up the drive for the score.

3. The fumble, unbelievably bad for obvious reasons.

4. All the fans, myself included, thought that OSU should have let us score the TD, rather than stop us on 4th-and-goal on the 1/2-yd line. If we scored the TD, they’d get the ball kicked to their special teams with 36 seconds to go, and their return man (Ginn) was averaging getting up to the OSU 40-50 yard line, which would at least have given them the opportunity to tie things up with some time on the clock. Instead they stuffed us, got the ball on the 1-yd line, and subsequently got sacked for a safety because Troy Smith (the QB who was having difficulty with the pass!!!) spent too long waiting for his WR’s to get open.

So yeah, Ohio State made a bevy of bad late-game decisions, but what killed them was that their defensive secondary was manning up on our WR’s, who were running wind sprints every other play, and their linebackers were stuffing the gaps to stop Vince on the run. That left nobody to cover the flats and gaps in the mid-field, where Vince got most of his passing yards with dump-passes to Jamaal Charles. Those passes to the flats absolutely killed OSU in the 3rd and 4th quarters, as they just ran out of people to cover that area sufficiently.

Here's a pic of a crazy kid who was screaming like all hell before and during the game. I sure wish I'd taken a picture of him in tears at the end. He reminded me of Chunk from The Goonies.

A Picture Share!

2005-09-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot we took from our seats in "The DawgPound" at the Cleveland Browns' home opener against the Cincinatti Bengals. I was booed by the whole joint for wearing my Longhorn gear after our win. I cut loose with a "Boh Hell Yeah".

A Picture Share!

2005-09-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-09-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

So Adam sold his spare tickets to the game today. An honest to goodness sign from God that this was to be the weekend of Adam and Tony was the fact that the person who won the auction for Adam's tickets was a girl working for the International Headquarters for Victoria's Secret (as evidenced in the pictured envelope's letterhead).

A Picture Share!

2005-09-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-09-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

A Multi Media Share!

2005-09-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Kirk Herbstreidt (may he burn in hell) and Nic Lache attended the Tyler Lee / Colerain game tonight.

A Picture Share!

2005-08-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-08-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

2005-08-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a good article (Microsoft Meltdown 2005: Vista and More--ExtremeTech Analysis) on the next Microsoft Windows platform, Windows Vista.

2005-07-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

You see so much in the media these days about video games being directly related to recent increases in adolescent violence. Frankly, my take is that this is no different from those points in history where ignorant politicians/lawyers/media went after comic books and rock-and-roll, also forms of new media in their respective times.

Anyway, here's a link to an interesting article with something I always enjoy seeing, actual data.

2005-07-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! We just got back from the San Diego Comic Con...here are some pictures from our vacation, and some brief captions. Ronda and I both will be back later to tell a little more about our adventures.

Us at the San Diego Zoo

A Silverback Gorilla

A Hippo. I named him Henry.

When all the animals are hanging out at the after-hours zoo bar, this must be the guy picking up all the ladies.

Kimodo Dragon, and some kids.

Galapogos Turtles need love too.

Here's a view from the sky train over the zoo.

Here's a picture of our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Islandia. We had a balcony suite on the 10th floor.

Here's a picture of one end of the San Diego Convention Center, where the Comic Con was being held. Notice the line of people.

Here's another pic further down the building, again, lines were the theme of the week at the con.

Here's a view of the convention center and the San Diego Padre's ballpark from our plane, just for a scale of reference. The ComicCon filled all 3 floors of the convention center, and was about 5-6 football fields in length. In all, there were over 100,000 attendees at this years convention.

Here's a 7' tall Chewbacca made entirely of Legos.

Another Lego exhibit. "Look at the size of that thing!"

"I'll be back."

I learned that the Penny Arcade guys are going to be publish a compilation book through Dark Horse this fall.

Here's a pencil sketch by famed comic artist Alex Ross, depicting concept art featuring Tom Welling (Smallville) in the role of Superman. This piece was selling for over a thousand dollars.

Here's a nightshot from our balcony.

The next day we saw a host of interesting people, as evidenced below:

I'm Boba, the Fett. I bounty hunt for Jabba the Hutt to finance my 'vette.

A modern day Linda Carter.

The Klingons were in attendance in full force. "Chak-tah!" I have no idea what that means.

As were the Star Wars geeks, who prove here that they have an incredible amount of time on their hands.

Here's a few more Star Wars fans, posing in front of an 18-wheeler done up like Optimus Prime, advertising the new, live-action Transformers movie coming to theaters sometime next year.

Here's Ronda with a couple of friends we made at the convention, who were dressed as Aleria from the show Angel.

I didn't know what to even think then, and I still don't now.

Here's a Superman we saw at the Superman Returns panel with Bryan Singer.

....Bizzarro Superman am happy! Up with Man!

Who you gonna call?

The Superman Returns panel in Hall H, which held 6500 people that morning.

Here's Ronda at the panel talking on the phone with our friend Gina.

At the Con we had the chance to meet a lot of famous people as well:

Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in Superman: The Movie) and Ronda. To the right in the baseball cap is the guy who played Jimmy Olsen.

Elvira.

We saw lots of cast members from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, such as the guy who played several demons (including The Gentlemen) and the guy who played Adam.

Here's Seth Green, who played Oz in Buffy and Scott Evil in the Austin Powers movies.

Here's a blurry pic of Amber Benson, who played Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was extremely nice to me and Ronda.

Here's a pic of Amber and Ronda.

We also met Nicholas Brendan, who played Xander on Buffy.

Another pic, Ronda likes these pics and said they all had to go on here.

Here's Ronda and Nick.

And here's Ronda getting his autograph.

We also picked up some pretty cool stuff while at the ComicCon.

Here's a high grade 1940 More Fun Spectre Cover my Uncle Rick purchased.

Here's a a Buffy the Vampire Slayer picture autographed by the entire cast.

Here's a sketch drawn for me of Gabe from Penny Arcade (by Gabe from Penny Arcade).

Here's another sketch by Gabe from Penny Arcade of the Fruit F***er, described in social settings as the "Fruit Friend". As you can tell by now, my theme for my sketches was "Boh Hell Yeah!" and "Suck it".

One of the guys from Aqua Teen Hunger Force drew this for me, after I requested him to say "Boh Hell Yeah".

Here's another sketch of Meatwad done by another guy from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, who asked for the story behind "Boh Hell Yeah", and upon hearing it, turned to the other guy and said in Meatwad's voice, "Hey blah blah blah, Boh Hell Yeah!"

Here's a Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) sketch penciled and inked by Leonard Kirk, previously an artist in the Tomb Raider comic, and currently drawing The Freshmen with Seth Green and Aquaman for DC Comics.

Here's another Lara Croft sketch.

Here's a Limited Edition Lara Croft print (#146 of 300) created by Frank Cho and Brandon Peterson that I picked up at the Con.

A Multi Media Share!

2005-07-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade

A Picture Share!

2005-07-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-07-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-07-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-07-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-07-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-07-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

Help me Obi Wan, youre my only hope.

2005-06-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Tour de Ronda.

2005-06-14T16:20:00.002-07:00

A conscious runner is a happy runner.

2005-06-14T16:20:00.001-07:00

At the end!

2005-06-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from Ronda's Danskin Triathalon

2005-06-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's over! All the months of training and in two hours, 6 minutes, I was done. I'm kind of sad now, but it was a great experience. Tony's mom and aunt came into Austin on Friday to be here for the Triathlon. On Saturday we went out to the Travis Co. Expo Center so that I could get my race packet, and check in my bike. Saturday night they made a great pre-race meal of vegetable lasagna, salad, squash and green beans. My sister Jessica and her boyfriend John came over for dinner too. She was also doing the Tri, her 3rd Danksin.

I was able to get in bed around 9 Saturday night, and actually slept well until 3:30am. When I woke up our kitty was laying beside me, purring her heart out. I got up at 4am, dressed, ate and left at 4:45 to pick up Jessica. We got to the Travis Co. Expo Center by 5:30, and took a bus to the race site at Walter E. Long Park, just a mile away. I set up my transition area, laid out my shoes and socks for the bike and run, etc. The swim is first, so I got my googles and cap and went to the swim start by 6:30. Tony, his mom Pat, Aunt Sharon, and my friends Gina and JJ were also there to support me.

My swim heat started at about 8:20. It went well until my right ear started throbbing, I guess the cold water shocked it. It was annoying, but I tried to ignore it and just push through. After the swim I ran to the transition area, and on the way I saw Tony and everyone there to cheer me on. I tried to get my socks and shoes on asap, but I was tired and was in the area a bit too long. But once I got out on the bike, it was a blast! The swim was behind me, by far my worst event. It was mostly cloudly and that helped since it wasn't so hot yet. After the bike I was able to quickly get on the run course and took off. I did walk a few minutes here and there, but I was able to run most of it. It was mucher hotter, by this time the sun was out and it was humid. When I got near the finish, with the crowd cheering and the air filled with excitement, I was able to get a little extra push in and really finish hard. I got a metal all my own, I'll try to get a picture posted later. Here are my times for the 2005 Women's Danskin:

SMITH, RONDA

Bib #2246

25-29

AUSTIN , TX 78749

Overall Rank

Class Rank

Swim

Swim Rank

Trans1

Bike

Bike Rank

MPH

Trans2

Run

Run Rank

Pace

Final

1860 of 2850

309 of 400

00:26:59

2228

00:07:44

00:50:03

1373

14.8

00:03:51

00:37:58

1687

00:12:14

02:06:37

My run was a bit slower than I wanted, but I was very impressed with my swim time and overall time. I figured the swim would take me at least 30 minutes and overall it would be about 2 and half hours, so I'm very happy with the results!

After it was over I felt slightly sick, but I walked it off and had a banana and some water. Later we went to eat at Maudies, and I had my usual Bean and Cheese Chalupas and after that, Baskin Robbins!

I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me in my training, I'm lucky to have a great group of friends and family! I'm already looking forward another Tri!

~Ronda

A Picture Share!

2005-06-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

A Picture Share!

2005-06-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Mom, Sharon, and Ronda at Z-Tejas before the triathlon.

2005-06-09T00:50:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post. Of course, I'm Tony's wife Ronda, in case anyone out there reading this doesn't actually know us.

This Sunday I'll be participating in my first triathlon. The Women's Danskin in Austin, TX. The course is a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, then a 3 mile run. I've been training hard the past two months, so I should be ok. If I don't drown. Swimming is not my strongest event! Good luck to all my friends out there also participating, Jessica, Crissy, Vanessa, Jodi, Martina, Audra, Sarah, Emlea, Joy and Amber! Go Iron Chicks!!!

Afterwards, I plan to get a big juicy burger from Hut's and a large chocolate shake! Yummy!! Just the thought of it should get me over the finish line!

2005-06-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

So today Cyrus and I came up with the idea of merging comic artist Frank Miller with Rick James, essentially with me going on and on saying, "I'm Frank Miller, bitch! You won't be able to tell what I'm drawin', enjoy! Hand it to my blind wife, all she needs is a keyboard, scanner, hard drive, and a labrador to help her find the computer, and she can color it with a gradient! It's a celebration!"

Yeah, I didn't think you'd find that funny here, but trust me, there it was funny.

2005-06-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'm Rick James Bitch!

I love the Chappelle Show, although it's driving Ronda crazy.

In other news, Ronda's triathalon is this weekend, so wish her luck!

2005-06-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

So my brother Todd is in town, and night before last we had him park his car across the street near our house so Ronda and I could both leave for work the following morning. The people in the house 2 houses down from us proceeded to back their van into the side of Todd's truck. Todd discovered this when he went outside to his truck, saw the dent, and found a note calling him a "stupid jerk for parking in their driveway" with their insurance info (although they also wrote that they were tempted to tell him "tough luck sucker". Todd gave me a call, I came home, and took this picture. Todd hadn't moved his car at all, so this is exactly where he was parked relative to this genius' driveway.

It's a testament to this person's character and mental prowess to leave a note. Without that note it would have taken a crack squad of detectives to figure out who backed into Todd's truck.

2005-05-31T06:39:00.000-07:00

After gestating for almost a year now, I'm gearing up to writing down our endeavors in finding our house. Why a year, you ask? The story involves an Iraqi, a few websites, and me losing two-grand. It's taken me this long to even talk about it.

Other than frequent updates now occurring to the site, the other big news is that we have a new contributor, my wife Ronda. We here at The Mayhem (tm.) are excited that she's finally decided to join us, and look forward to her insights. However, I maintain the editorial right to delete anything approaching three concurrent posts regaling you, our readers, on all things Kitty.

All hail Kitty.

2005-05-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of our pumpkin from last Halloween.

2005-05-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the two cutest kids in the Star Wars line this year.

2005-05-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of our friends Gina and Haley (Haley just got married last night). Also seen in the pic is Fritz, saying hi to his mother.

2005-05-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a Batman sketch drawn for me by Jim Lee at last year's Wizard World Dallas.

2005-05-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here's Ronda, Ronda's cousin Kelli, and Ronda's sister Jessica at Kelli's wedding.

2005-05-29T11:14:00.001-07:00

Sunset on Montego Bay.

2005-05-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here's the path we took. We left from New Orleans, and went to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

2005-05-29T11:13:00.002-07:00

Here I am at a talent show.

2005-05-29T11:13:00.001-07:00

We saw this a lot while at sea...

2005-05-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of our group of friends (L to R: Adam Daley, Party Rob and wife, Ronda, Scott, and Holli)

2005-05-29T11:12:00.001-07:00

Another picture of our boat.

2005-05-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our cruise. This first one is our boat

2005-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of our new house, I just realized I hadn't put up any pics of it yet for you guys to see.

2005-05-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

Here's some Star Wars special edition edits I would suggest.

Dude!

2005-05-27T16:23:00.003-07:00

Yay...

2005-05-27T16:23:00.002-07:00

Sweet!

2005-05-27T16:23:00.001-07:00

ewww

2005-05-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Another

2005-05-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here's some Star Wars special edition edits I would suggest.

2005-05-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

This is the newest addition to our family, Chloe. Although she will answer to Little Miss Kitty von Kittikens as well.

2005-05-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

So I've now figured out how to post on here with pictures from my cell phone. I'll finally be able to have photographic evidence on here to corroborate my stories of dancing monkey women, 45 year old kendo experts and the like. That being said, as you can see I've now seen the last Star Wars movie, which made up for the other two movies.

Now that there's no more Star Wars, I guess it's time to start cranking out babies and try to catch up with the litter that Robby currently has (2, with another on the way at last count).

The Sox were down 0-3 and they came back, so anything's possible.

A Picture Share!

2005-05-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

So here's how I think Anakin should have appeared in Star Wars Episode 1.

2005-05-20T04:07:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!

As you may have noticed, I've finally decided to start updating the site again. It's been a pretty busy year so far, what with buying a house, filling up the house, decorating the house, keeping the house clean, having people visit the house, painting the house... you get the picture.

We've also been really busy this year, both good and bad busy. Most recently we've been busy attending my brother Todd's graduation, as well as attending screenings of Star Wars Episode 3 in Austin's new digital theater, as well as at the Alamo Drafthouse. This Wednesday at the Alamo they'll be showing Steve Martin's The Jerk, and serving free pizza in a cup. Hopefully I can talk Ronda into going :)

I've figured out how to take pictures and post to this blog using my cell phone, so expect much more frequent posts on the fly as Ronda and I come across interesting things.

So check out all the new posts below. I've also fixed the Letters from a Honkey archive so you can see all of my old miserable stories from way back when this site began, and for those that have emailed me to ask: Yes, the Louis Farrakahn African Name Generator will be coming back, as soon as I have time to create a new "Hall of the Stuped". Which won't be long, as there is plenty of stupid to link to these days.

As far as Star Wars Episode 3 goes (since everybody is asking me), I thought that it was just freaking incredible. It was great to meet some of the people in line again (Martha, Nathan, Chris and Amanda), and pretty fun seeing Nathan in what is and shall forever be known as the best Episode 3 Anakin Skywalker costume ever.

The movie was amazing, 9/10. I'd heard about several clunky bits of dialogue, but honestly I thought the dialogue was delivered fine for a Star Wars movie, the only awkward moment being *SPOILER* when Vader raised his arms and yelled, "NOOOOOOO!!!", and even then it wasn't how he yelled it, it was just the way he raised his arms and was standing...kind of like that old Energizer bunny commercial **. But even that wasn't too bad.

In all I'd rate it a tie with Episode 4. To be honest, I feel like I'll probably not ever watch Episode 3 without immediately watching Episode 4, so I'll probably consider them a single great 4.5 hour movie spanning twenty years. Since each Lord of the Rings film is 4.5-5 hrs, I figure considering Episode 3 & 4 as one film won't drive the wife crazy.

So now Star Wars (as a new movie every 3 years) is over. I've been involved in the community during college, and for almost a decade since college, so I guess now it's time to have kids and stuff.

Star Wars is over. Long live Star Wars.

2004-06-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally updated the website. It's sort of a mesh between the old site, and the newer content. As soon as I started making a fancier site, it took to much work to update. Hence, back to simple.

Expect an update soon on my own personal war with Iraq.