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Old HTML Confessional of 2003.
Bless that Jon Hall, he had the CD waiting for me at his house. I saw stuff that I haven't seen in ages. Check out my site's design back in the spring of 2001.
And I think I was depressed when I wrote this.
Greg should be happy that this was on the CD. Although Sean will be horrified that this is back on the air. (YES, as a matter of fact, he HAS lost about 45 pounds!)
Check out how loaded my new/contents page used to be.
I really missed my Halloween page, I'm happy to have my punkin pictures back (I was, and still am, so proud of our Drunken Punkins that year).
A couple years ago, actually, the quite fateful mononucleosis-inspired Thanksgiving of 2001, we decided to have a real Thanksgiving dinner. Here's part of the menu, and here's what really went down (and back up!)
I made this for Jon when he was having a bad.... month. Yeah it has my first name... I know. Ignore it.
There are still many pages missing, but I thought I'd come clean with those.
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07-28-03
Server is in our sights - I need to install Apache and get everything BACK onto the computer, including the CD THAT JON STILL HAS!! The boy's a genius. And he turned thirty yesterday, which is special.
I don't remember Friday. I think Joe came over and we played Settlers.
Saturday Sean & I went up to Vancouver to hang out with the cousins, with the addition of cousin Mike and his ladyfriend, Jill. Mike and Jill moved to Montreal a few years ago, so we haven't seen Mike for TOO LONG. Out of all of the cousins, Sean spent the most time with Mike, since they were both the oldest. You can just sit and listen to Mike and Sean talk about ANYTHING and laugh for hours.
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 Old Friends: Colum, Shane, Jeremy |
 Debra & Dave |
 Rock Star Fireplace |
Since
Michael was still on Montreal time, we actually left by one and got some
sleep in time for the next day's brunch. Sean and I walked around Debra's neighborhood the next morning, discussing the possibilities of us EVER getting up to Vancouver to stay. It always gets worse when we go up there. It's like, as soon as we get to town, we're just so much more... comfortable. Like we know it's where we want to be. Which really makes it annoying because we've been trying to do this for years and dumb things keep holding us back. Yeah, it's always money. |
 Sega Skateboarding Game |
 Shan's fierce concentration |
Sean and I were stuck in line at the border for an hour and a half, then RUSHED to Jon's birthday party at Bill's Off Broadway.
Our schedules are so completely booked for the next three weeks, it's not even funny. Plus, I'm working on all the stuff I need to do for...... !!! LASER EYE SURGERY !!! which I'm getting done next month. Meaning: I'll be wearing my broken, glued, super-cool nerd glasses every day again. We have many visitors coming to Seattle in the next few weeks, and I'm excited about each and every one of them!
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07-24-03
I'm back and in better spirits. I found many more images late last night and today that make me feel a bit better. I'm still missing all files from 2001, though.
I have a lot to do today, but I'll be around.
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07-23-03
You guys, I'm trying. I really am. Greg was totally cool enough to let me throw all of my files on his server, but I only have so many of those files here. The others WERE on the server, and Sean is toiling away trying to rebuild it. It doesn't look like I'll be able to get those pictures back, but cooler things have happened.
I had the whole site up, well actually, it still is up... but I'm not linking to anything because so many images are missing and it looks awful. (update: it's all accessible now)
For example, my cast pages. Sigh. Anything that I haven't updated in the past year is just gone... other pages have images missing.
This makes me so sad.
I have a lot of work ahead of me.
A long, long time ago, I think I gave Jon a CD of all my Daymented files. As if I just KNEW this would happen someday and needed him to be responsible to hold the CD for me. He's in Vegas until Sunday (for his 30th birthday). But it's a thought.
Better news, though, for Dad. His site is back up. I hope everything is showing up. Please tell me if it isn't!
My Mom sent Sean this HUGE bouquet today. His Grandpa Dayment died last week and he found out RIGHT AFTER I sailed away on my cruise. I will write about Grandpa Dayment further when I have time to do it justice.
Because I need to be cheered up, here are some more pictures from the cruise:
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I'm wiped out. I'm going to bed. I'll be around tomorrow....
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07-22-03
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Thanks
for the Canuckistan CD, Jen. Sean knew every song and recorded
it onto his computer to keep listening to it! ( <-- Terrible picture - the camera batteries were dying.) We tried upgrading the server computer at Jon's house to Windows XP. In the process, EVERYTHING got jacked. I have some pictures from the cruise, but there are many more to come, so I'd rather wait to do the cruise page until I have the pictures from everyone who brought a camera. Since returning home, I had a bad case of the waves all day Saturday which knocked me out most of the weekend. Tonight we are going to Jon's house to see what we can save. I have *most* of my html files here at my house, although some may be lost from the server.... I dunno. We'll see if we can even get the stupid computer to work at all.... Seattle is in a heat wave - everyone's grass looks like straw. I am SO ready for rain again. But don't quote me on that this February. |
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07-15-03
Sean and I got to Pier 66 early and scored awesome parking thanks to Wally, who was manning the pier (Wally is one of my beloved Starbucks cops). After the rest of my family arrived, we went through many lines before we actually boarded the ship.
There are 12 decks (floors) and our cabin is in the back corner of deck 10. Laura and I dumped our stuff and scrambled around the ship for hours just to figure out where everything was.
 Laura on the deck prior to departure. |
 Laura and Grandma don life vests. |
Nice dinner with Grandma |
Me and Laura |
We snarfed at the buffet and played trivia in the Windjammer Bar with Regina from Norway (Regine is pronounced like the "reg" in "regular", not the American way). We partnered with Sandy from Oregon and we won! Our winnings: A deck of cards. Later that night in the Checkers showroom/disco, they had another game show, and out of the whole audience, both Laura and I were drawn as contestants (of eight) and I won!
Laura snarfs on delectables |
 We are the champions, we are the champions... |
All dressed up at the show |
Serene Islands |
Sunday morning we woke up in some serene islands and had breakfast with a couple from Texas (Dale and Lori). I don't remember what we did the rest of the morning but we were busy (and Laura cut my hair then). The boat got rocky and lulled me into a long nap.
That night we had a formal night, had steak and lobster and saw a broadway type show. I left early to steal some stuff from the pool. We wanted to get cushions and towels for Grandma because she's on our room balcony a lot.
So there I was all dressed up and walking through a nice restaurant between full tables, carrying chair cushions and towels and they were big and bulky!
I listened to a blues band in the Windjammer Bar, then we headed to Checkers Disco for some performances, then Regina pulled us onstage to join the dancers. I walked outside on the deck by myself for a while, missed Sean, and went to bed.
Monday: Ketchikan: Saxman Native Village
Laura dances with natives
Nice dinner with Grandma
Tuesday: Juneau
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07-11-03
I'm trying to think of ways I can update this site from the cruise ship (I looked around trying to find good info about my cruise, but I only found this), but their prices for internet are exorbitant. The best I can do is write it on paper, then give it to Jean while in Juneau on Tuesday, have Jean type it out and e-mail it to Sean, then teach Sean how to load it into Dreamweaver and put it on the server via FTP. But I want comments, dammit. I want something to come home to!
So what I may do is make the comments link ahead of time, but white, then have Sean paste the test then change the comments part back to green? Hmmm.... I'll have to work on that....
* UPDATE: Okay I tried, and the above is the best I could come up with. Deal.
ANYhoo I worked yesterday, which usually I don't, but things were rearranged for this trip. On Thursdays I'm taking that sign language class with Sean and Joe. Meaning, I'm going to class after work.
I'm going to class after work.
So it's roasty-toasty and I get in my car to go to class. Then I'm stuck in this immense traffic jam to get to 520, which will be a parking lot to get to I5, which is a parking lot itself. I trudge along in the heat for about twenty minutes barely moving, as we're all trying to get to the 520 to get to HEY WAIT A MINUTE! WHERE AM I GOING? WHY AM I HERE?
I was going to class after work.
The computer class in downtown Seattle that I graduated from a month ago. Am here I am, stuck, knowing that I could have gone the way I was supposed to go to get to Capitol Hill and I'd be done driving by now. But now I have to calculate which exit to get off on I5 and... grrr....
It was a long drive to class.
I haven't had a picture on this site for a while, and I still got nothing. So here's a picture of some of our fish.
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other day I kept hearing tap tap tap... it wasn't loud or anything,
but after a couple minutes I figured I'd see what it was. There was a butterfly caught in-between the shades and the window which runs behind the fish tank (see here). This means that Dominique (our cat) was on a mission to get it. But in her way was the fish tank. So as she's pacing back and forth on the table, right up against the front of the tank, the fish were going "OH MY GOD! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" |
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I'd love to stay and chat but I have tons of stuff to do for the cruise so... I'll try to get Sean to paste my update for me this week. Otherwise, I don't know how much access I'll have to my blogfriends.
Goodbye!
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07-09-03
How do I catch a crow? No, I'm serious. He's been "rark"ing at us for three days now and he's injured. I've talked to him/her, fed him, gave him water. Today he even walked right through the front door of our office, stood in front of my desk, and just looked at me. Then Rita, the office dog, came barreling at him, and it was a scene. Poor guy, he was just asking for help.
Tomorrow I'm bringing a cat carrier, just in case. But how to I get him in the carrier? Alison and I figure we'll wear oven mitts and throw a hamburger in the carrier and he'll trot in there. He's totally getting tame with us. If we go out to the deck and say something, he comes out of hiding, rarking at us.
Then after that, I have to drive the crow all the way up to Lynnwood which is about 45 minutes from my office. They won't pick him up and I complained, then she said "Yeah, animal rescue isn't a very lucrative business" and that shut me up.
Any suggestions? It's breaking my heart....
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UPDATE! After much consideration, and crow-chasing, we decided that the guy can get away from us. Meaning, he can also get away from a cat, or Styro with a BB gun. Therefore, he'll survive for the week that I'm gone. If he's still injured by the time I come back next week, then I'll call Animal Control.
It was very hot today, and I feared a long ride in a box in an un-air conditioned car could cause him more harm than good. While we were trying to catch him, the other crows ganged up on us. He has a posse. He can eat bugs in the grass, and quasi-fly when in danger.
Gimpy crow it is.
In honor of Greg's cat, the late Gimper, he is now referred to as Gimpy Crow.
07-08-03
I've been vegetarian since 1997, although I really didn't eat meat that often before then, either. When I did, it was usually a burnt quarter pounder with cheese and fries. Any time I did have meat or poultry, it had to be so overcooked that it was hardly edible.
I added seafood back into my diet a couple years later because I was getting no protein. Also, in 1998 I worked at this fabulous restaurant (Gila in Palm Desert. I think it's gone now) that had all the servers sample the night's special. I could never try it. It frustrated the owners and the chefs. The mexican cooks who could hardly speak english kept telling me I should at least eat fish. They had worry in their eyes. I loved those guys. Months after I left that job, I ate seafood again.
I went to a doctor a few years ago at Bastyr who told me that I either needed red meat once a week, or B12 shots once a month. I did neither.
Looking at the results now, I am a text book case of an unsuccessful vegetarian. In all those years, I ate pasta, cheese, and sugar, with loads of caffeine. I had broccoli here and there, but never any whole grains, legumes, and not nearly enough tofu or seitan or other meat replacements. Problem was, I didn't like the taste of meat, so I had no use for fake meat with meat flavoring. I also don't like the taste of most healthy stuff. I just don't.
So here I am years later, with water retention, the acne of a pre-teenager, flaky skin, bad cramps, and I'm pale and always freezing. My Dad once told me I looked like Powder (the movie, not the noun). And I did.
And I decided earlier this year that I would eat meat again.
I did some research online to figure out how to do this without getting sick - should I take tons of amino acids to help break it down? Which meat would be best to start with? But sure enough, every search string ended with a pro-vegetarian website explaining all the reasons not to go back to eating meat.
I spoke to my Uncle Tim last week about this change, and worrying about the best approach. He suggested that I eat duck before red meat, because it was a lot like steak, but not quite as heavy. Consider, too, that my family is Culver Duck Corporation - with growers all over Indiana and a processing plant that was across the street from the house that I grew up in. So, of course, they were pretty happy to know I was considering meat again.
They did very well - they never harassed me - even when I ate nothing because they were all eating meat. Even when I was cold in July. Even when my hair got thinner.
Considering Sean's cooking skills have increased tenfold, I no longer had the fear of meat tasting the way I remember. It wouldn't be McDonald's. It would be Burgundy Beef with sauteed vegetables and Beef Stroganoff and slow-cooked Pot Roast and.... I could go on. Really, I could. While researching, I finally just ended up compiling beef recipes to look forward to.
While my family was here last week, they sang the praises of the Fat Flush Plan - I guess a bunch of my family on my Dad's side were on this diet and loved it. I got the book, and I started the plan yesterday. It seems okay so far. It incorporates tons of omega oils, some fruit, many vegetables, and protein, with fish or beef or chicken, etc. I drink loads of cranberry juice and water and pee nineteen times a day, and my caffeine weaning caused quite a headache, but I think I'm past the rough part.
The reason I'm telling you all this is twofold. One, it was a big day for me, because I ate duck.
 Me. Eating duck. And Sean cut off my head. |
 Sean. He made duck. I cut off his hair. |
It's hard enough for Sean to deal with. He's had a vegetarian wife all this time, and he was quite proud of it. And now we're cooking meat in the house and it's a big adjustment for him. I'm sure he will be eating meat much more often now, as it isn't shunned from the house anymore. (No, it wasn't really shunned from the house - but it did keep him from eating meat as much - we never had any in the house. I couldn't stand the smell of it. He knew I was grossed out by it. Etc.)
And about this Fat Flush diet, don't get all excited. I did it to clean out my system - it's a liver cleaning detox plan. No I'm not trying to get freaky skinny - don't panic. I just want to shed a few pounds - I have some water weight in my middle that should go away. (When did my waist go up to 31 inches?) Sean's worried that I'll lose my boobs. I'll try not to. ("Where are those things? I just had them a second ago.")
Another thing to consider: on Saturday I leave on my cruise. For a week. A bad time to go on a diet, but a good time to start eating meat again! So by this time next week I could be working towards a 35 inch waist.
That's enough about me. Here was dinner:
Duck breast (ask for Culver Duck!) in a hot skillet - no oil needed, just put it skin side down.
Add veggies to the pan (we did spinach, patty pan squash, and asparagus)
Fry like there's no tomorrow. About 20 minutes or more, uncovered.
Flip over duck for just a few minutes to sear the top.
That's it! Duck oil is SO good for you, especially if you are low in iron. Or vegetarian. HA!
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07-07-03
I walk through spider webs a lot. I mean, a lot. Does it mean that I'm a leader, or am I going places where I shouldn't be?
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07-06-03
| We
watched the fireworks from Jon & Amy's. From there, we had a view
of the fireworks in Elliot Bay (downtown Seattle), Lake Union (at
the top of downtown Seattle), and even some tiny fireworks in the
distance from Ballard (near our house) and across the water on the
peninsula (Bremerton? Silverdale?). It was strange driving up Aurora
at midnight with rush-hour traffic. Plus my paranoia that all the
other drivers were drunk had me gripping the steering wheel. Shane is in town for the weekend, so we had lunch with him the next afternoon. After that, we had a siesta on the couch for a couple hours. |
 The behinds of Sean, Amy, Jon, Dawn, and Marc |
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Later
that night we went to see Camarosmith at the Crocodile and I had a
chance to catch up with Julie, although not for very long. Julie was
a customer at Starbucks, and her boyfriend plays bass for the band,
so I took a chance that she'd be at the show - and it worked! Today the focus is cleaning the kitchen (which we haven't done since last weekend - really. The dishes from the Tim Tahara dinner last Monday night are still in the sink.) and cutting all the plants in the pool. It's becoming a jungle. Yesterday Sean pulled up the last of the mutant radishes and threw them directly into the compost pile. I hope the bugs like them. |
| Back
to the day of July 4th, my family was still in town. We spent the
day having Dim Sum at the Four Seas. I ate a lot of stuff without
really knowing what it was. It was good. We had so many leftovers
that I took them to Jon & Amy's for all of us to have for dinner
with the fireworks. This gave us the opportunity to start calling
Jon Meat Buns. The next morning I vomited and then I was fine. The family went on a tour of Alaska for a week. They come back Friday, then we leave for the Alaskan cruise for a week. They really wanted to see Alaska. • link |
 Rouches & Culvers |
07-03-03
Hi.
I want to talk about this website because it's time for a fresh disclaimer.
I created this website for my family to keep in touch with me. My happy, healthy, Christian family. My grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles in Indiana and Michigan and all over elsewhere. It doesn't mean that this is a Christian site, because most of my friends will tell you I swear like I sleep at a shipyard. (No offense Joe - Bwaa-ha!) And it doesn't mean that I'm Christian, but I respect my family and their sensitivities.
Am I being overly protective? Maybe. But keep in mind I'm also protecting myself. Trust me - the second my 20 year-old brother says the F word in front of his parents - I'll get the blame because I'm the influential one. I'm the first. I'm the oldest. And, I was a horrible teenager and adult. It's okay though - when my family needs someone to blame, I'll take the heat. At least I'm far, far away.
So I appreciate the comments from all of you, but sometimes we use our speaking voice on blogs, and on this site, I don't use my speaking voice. I use my family voice. I hate to set rules here - it's not rated G - more like a PG. If I've deleted your comments, please understand that it wasn't in spite, it was just a panic reflex in regards to my audience. This site would be hilarious if I used my speaking voice. But not hilarious to everyone.
And a note to Jonathan Lamb:
I think your site is funny, really I do. But I've spent a lot of time and effort on this site to communicate to my friends and family about what's going on in my life. As soon as my cousin Chad died I posted about it here. People are writing about their broken hearts and very serious issues on their blogs.
My point is, this isn't a fake site. Please don't treat it as such.
I've read your comments and I think that sometimes they are interspersed with some truth and real-life background and I appreciate that, but other times I think you are simply advertising your persona on people's blogs and it works, I know it does. Just please remember the people around Daymented are real, and they are very important to me.
I hope this doesn't start a war on my own site. I just wanted people to know that there's an audience that I cater to that isn't just like me, that many of you don't see. This isn't one of those secret hidden websites.
I created Culver Dayment as a way to try to get web design clients - I want to design web sites as a career. Culver Dayment is linked from Dogtown Shelter, and my portfolio page links to Daymented. It's a tangled web, but I like it that way.
Thank you.
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P.S. I came home yesterday to my Grandma on a lawn chair in my driveway, about half way through my Fag Hag issue of Bust magazine.
- We have no plans for the 4th of July yet. Sean works that day. At Kinko's. On the 4th of July. GAAAaahhhh.
- I added some new images to the Graduation Page on Dogtown.
- LJC has a precious photo of her dog about to eat a strawberry on June 29.
- I think we bloggers should all figure out how we can get the most out of Google Bombing.
- Going Canuck is coming down for the weekend!
- I'm going to Stanford's restaurant tonight, which is just a chain restaurant, but I'm excited because they have my favorite portabello sandwich in the world. And I've tried many.
- I wish that Styrofoam Kitty and Incompetent Attorney would get married. It would be the most fun wedding.
- I had a very fun phone conversation with Cyndi last night.
- I had a very good mexican dinner with Sean, then there was a bright rainbow going all the way across the sky.
It's the simple things. I hope they continue all week.
(If the stupid comments don't show up, just keep hitting refresh.)
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Another one of the many reasons I live here - I just ran into Shawn Smith (Brad/Satchel/Pigeonhed/solo fame - see 03-27-03) shopping at Office Depot. We chatted. I'm a groupie.