http://www.mikeoliveri.com Diary of a Supervillain Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:12:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I ran into a few items today I thought were worth mentioning, but really didn't merit a longer, dedicated blog post. So I'm just going to pile them up here. After reading that the great state of Kentucky is officially relying upon God for their state security, I learned that the ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/12/04/drive-by-blogging/ Ice Road Truckin' Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri. Sights like this are one of the few things that make me miss living in the 'burbs, or at least living in larger towns. The drive from my office to our second campus is six miles, and today four miles of it were covered in the ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/12/02/why-did-i-move-to-the-sticks-again/ I guess sometimes the universe really does balance itself: I missed the black belt ceremony last night, but got the snow day in return. I wish I could then say I was productive today, but no such luck. I've been running on tilt for a while and instead had a ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/12/01/snow-day/ After the rugrats woke me by pounding on my kidneys, I looked outside and saw snow. A few inches of snow, in fact, covering the ground and streets. No wonder they were so excited. I took them outside while I shoveled, then we had a snowball fight. I continued an ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/30/blizzards-brimstone/ My retail days are ten years behind me, but my hatred for Black Friday hasn't waned. It's long been my contention that the holidays, despite their outward appearance of peace and happiness, actually bring out the worst in people. This year, the masses trumped their usual selfish belligerence by trampling a ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/28/blackest-friday/ The Ninja in Repose Originally uploaded by MikeOliveri. I took this picture of the cat a week ago, but seeing it again now that I've filled up on turkey and stuffing has me thinking she's got the right idea. The sun's gone down so I'm not sure I'm going to find a ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/27/shes-got-the-right-idea/ Cullen posted another horror movie list, this one from the Vault of Horror. I thought I'd take a crack and see if I did any better with their list of horror flicks. Bolded titles are the ones I haven't seen. 1. Halloween (1978) dir: John Carpenter 2. The Exorcist (1973) dir: William ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/26/horror-flicks-round-2/ I now get to learn two new kata before obtaining my next belt. No pressure, but there is a lot of tension. Dynamic tension, to be exact. Sanchin is a tension kata, and as such running it is very different from running a "normal" kata like my other new one, Empi Sho. ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/25/sanchin-the-bonus-kata/ I'm happy to see the Better Place guys haved inked a deal with California mayors to build an electric car network for the Bay Area. The last time I talked about them, they were just getting rolling in Israel and Australia. I'm not yet convinced they're going to overhaul the auto ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/24/better-place-putting-up-rather-than-shutting-up/ I'm really pushing it this season. I blew a deadline for an original graphic novel, I've got a short story due for an anthology next month, another promised, and just got word that another anthology is back on track. Then I've got a novella coming due as Top Secret Book Project ... http://www.mikeoliveri.com/2008/11/23/crunch-time/