4.20.2007

2007 Easter Pub Crawl - The Ultimate Sacrifice

It looks like we finally got all of the pics from the Ultimate Sacrifice Pub Crawl collected and in the public domain. The Padre was out in full effect once again. Click on the pic below to check em out.


Ultimate Sacrifice Pub Crawl

4.19.2007

Day 3

Medically speaking, three days after a person stops smoking, all nicotine has left their system. Any discomfort or feelings a person has for cigarettes at this time are purely a result of the brain adjusting to the lowered levels of nicotine. Nicotine is chemically similar and mimics the actions of acetylcholine, a neurochemical that attaches to the brain's receptors and produces dopamine which affects a person's sense of pleasure and satisfaction. Dopamine is the same neurotransmitter that is involved in addictions to other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. After 16 years of smoking, my brain has been trained to receive a boost of this chemical cocktail about every 2 hours. Think about the hungriest you have ever been, then move that pain to the middle of your brain. Then make it worse, steadily over the next 7 days...

The good side...
These neurochemicals are produced in our own brains. The perceptions and emotions we focus on are reinforced by more of these same chemicals. Focus your perceptions on peace and contentment, you will have a damn good chance of feeling peaceful and content. That's what eastern medicine has used meditation for for thousands of years. I will use my mind to rid myself of this discomfort that is caused by my mind... Yeah, there is no spoon.

Shitty thing is, I have always used cigarettes to calm myself so I can meditate. Fuckers.

4.16.2007

I Quit

I have been smoking for a long time. I started smoking cigars when I was 16, and after I learned that they aren't the best thing before school, I switched to smoking Marlboro Red's. Full Flavor, Cowboy Killer's, Coffin Nails... yeah, they are all the same thing. Except for a brief stint during boot camp and briefly while I was married, I have been smoking pretty much ever since then. I have smoked a lot, at one time I was smoking a pack and 1/2 a day. Everyday. I have cut down considerably since then and except for when I am at the bar, I usually smoke about 5 or 6 cigarettes a day. This Saturday night I was out at a friend's house for a pig roast and I finished my last pack of cigarettes. I'm giving them up.

I never needed to smoke, I just like to smoke. But it does have a negative effect on me. And the positives of smoking don't seem to offset the negatives nearly as much as they used too. One of my favorite things is that I would get a few minutes to get up from the desk and go somewhere else for a little break. But there are other things I can do to get those little breaks, maybe I'll go run up and down the stairs or maybe walk around the building if its nice out. We shall see... I'm going to miss my little distraction. So please be a little understanding if I'm more inclined to bite now. I never mean for it to be personal ;)

4.10.2007

This Is Why I'm King of the Geeks

I love Wired News. It really addresses the issues I'm concerned with. They had a fun article on the nature of what it is to be a geek and it covered a topic that isn't always considered when most people talk about geeks. I also think that this explains why being a geek has turned me into a metro-sexual. The full article is here and be forewarned, not all of the links contained are safe for work. So be careful if you are in a controlled environment. Enjoy :)
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The 10 Real Reasons Why Geeks Make Better Lovers
04.06.07 | 2:00 AM

Editor's note: Some links in this story lead to adult material and are not suitable for viewing at work. All links of this nature will be noted with "NSFW" after them.

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I've read recently that geeks make better lovers because they are so unaccustomed to romance that they will do anything for their mates. Also because geeks don't have the social skills to cheat (wanna bet?).

Yeah, ha ha, let's chuckle at the stereotypes. Might as well add that geeks won't waste valuable relationship time watching football. Or that geeks are clueless and fashion-impaired and have the social skills of a bowl of fruit.

But you know what? Humorous Top-10 lists aside, geeks really do make the best lovers, for reasons that have nothing to do with adolescent ostracism or puppy-like devotion.

It's all about sex-tech. (Tell us what you think below.)

Geeks build it so you will come

Second Life's SexGen animation system, Red Light Center's (NSFW) beautiful sex animations and open-source teledildonics did not simply coalesce out of the mists during a marketing department meeting.

These projects require strong technical know-how along with an open-minded approach to sexual variation. After all, you can't build sex-tech that serves only your own preferences if you expect others to use it. Especially if you want them to buy it.

That geeks have the passion to commit their technical skills to expanding sexual options for everyone is evidence enough of their enthusiasm and dedication as lovers.

Geeks get personal with tech

All engineers may be geeks, but not all geeks are engineers. Doesn't matter. You don't need to know how to build a platform in order to do a half-gainer in full pike with a twist into the river of love.

A geek is more likely to figure out how to customize toys and to design arousing environments for your avatars to play in than a non-geek. And that experience translates into a greater sensitivity to atmosphere and mood during sex -- beyond lighting a candle.

Don't be surprised if your geek lover puts more thought into arranging the boudoir than you do, or if common household items ("pervertibles") soon take on a new dimension. More than one geek has told me that Home Depot is their favorite adult store.

Geeks dig consensual role playing

Geek lovers combine a well-developed and oft-exercised erotic imagination with their physical technique. It isn't a big leap from "I'm a level-13 thief, evil-aligned" to "I'm the prison warden and you're the new detainee." Scientists and therapists alike claim that the brain is the most critical sexual organ; a geek's familiarity with fantasy arouses your mind even as the handcuffs -- or the bag of loot -- bring your body to attention.

Geeks interact

A technophobe mostly talks to you in person, but a geek is happy to be with you by texting your phone, flirting with you in a chat room, Skyping you, Twittering just in case you're on your vibrating couch (NSFW), sending funny cell-phone snapshots to your e-mail, playing online games, commenting on your blog, Digging articles that interest you, seducing you by instant message….

Geeks get things done

Geeks know all the shortcuts. They research your interests, send you surprise gifts, plan your perfect vacation, get the bills and grocery shopping out of the way, write to their mothers, and tease you mercilessly, all while pretending to work. And when you ask them to set up your home Wi-Fi or install a home theater, it's done quickly, expertly and without complaint.

In other words, geeks know how to get everything else out of the way so there's more time for lovemaking.

Geeks are hot …

… and wear the coolest glasses.

Geeks don't shock easily

Geeks have seen all the porn you can imagine and then some, priming them to be open to your sexual peccadilloes. They are not only less likely to be shocked by your exotic requests -- they might not even realize that other people think your turn-ons are exotic.

Conversely, your geek lover might be relieved that your wildest fantasy involves only two other people, five utensils and a trapeze.

Geeks know kinky people

Geeks haven't just seen a variety of positions, kinks and fetishes in blue movies. They know (or are) people who enjoy those things, so they don't dismiss entire categories of sexual interests as the sole province of a bunch of weirdos in San Francisco.

It's hard to sustain prejudice and bias against an abstract group when you develop relationships with individuals and discover they're just like you. It doesn't matter if they dress up like ponies, or refuse to conform to a societal idea of gender norms, or eat pancakes for dinner. Geek lovers know better than to try to impose their sexual preferences or standards on others -- including your friends -- and are more likely to love and let love.

Geeks understand multi-dimensional relationships

Geeks connect with their online buddies in several guises, often getting to know the person behind the avatar as friendships deepen and move from adult communities to personal IM.

A geek can flow seamlessly between conversation about a friend's partner and kids in one window and an elaborate group sex scene in another, without feeling any discontinuity between the personas. Even if the friend is a 43-year-old father of two in IM, and a 22-year-old dominatrix in the group.

With all that going on, a geek has no problem accepting that sometimes you want mocha ripple cherry fudge chunk swirl with almonds and a waffle and sometimes you want vanilla lite.

Geeks aren't threatened by new tech or "the future of sex"

Geeks have read the science fiction. They know the dire predictions of a world in which the sticky press of flesh is replaced by neural nets and sex robots that also do housework (or is that house robots that also do sex work?).

Geeks have imagined more sexual dystopias than the average person and are the first to see the technological developments that could lead us down dark paths. Which only makes sense, considering who develops those technologies in the first place.

At the same time, geeks know better than anyone that something always goes wrong when you lean on machines for your social fulfillment. A geek doesn't mind if you bring home the iiErotoTrix 5000 v3 -- as long as you share it.

Literacy and the printing press did not replace sex; neither did photography, automobiles, video, online porn or 3-D escort services. Geek lovers spend enough time with technology to appreciate the unique wondrousness of human touch.

See you next Friday, Regina Lynn