New Doodle

I can't take full credit for this little guy.  I was looking at stencils to prep for a Pumpkin Carving Party I'm attending tonight, and came across something very similar to what you see here.  I decided to take it and morph it a little into my own thing.  The original is on blue paper with dark blue ink.

I like him. :)

Paintball

Yes, you read that right ladies and gentlemen: paintball.  Saturday was not only the first time we Santa Barbarians saw a full day of sunlight in a few weeks; it was also a day I have been looking forward to for months.

My one and only paintball experience was many years ago when I sweet talked my way into an invitation to a “boys only” birthday party in high school.  At the time I had no clue what I was getting into, but I never forgot the experience.  It came to my attention this summer that many of my friends had never played the unique sport, and I wanted to change that.

To Lompoc we went, armed with only our courage and curiosity.  The paintball facilities in Lompoc are modest, with 2 optional fields to play on: speedball and scenario.  The day started off on a high note as Brian took a hit to his left butt cheek and my left leg took a serious beating.  (The welts are currently turning into some gnarly bruises.)

Bruno, after raising his hands diligently to indicate his “death” in the game, took an additional two to the back for the quintessential insult to injury.

The body count only went up from there, from pink head shots to high-pressured rib assaults, upon departure we felt like warriors.  At one point one of the "pros" wanted to take on our entire group of 9 by himself.  (Thankfully, he was not victorious.)  Later, however, we played a game of 4 on 12, and we had our humble asses handed to us. Granted we were bereft of a strategy, not to mention armed with rental guns while they sported hair triggers and kevlar.  Whatever.  Generally it seems the folks who are into paintball are incredibly good natured and laid back; I started describing them as "action nerds."

We had an excellent turnout of hodgepodge friends from many circles of life, and from what I’ve heard everyone had a good time.  Many of us are looking forward to trying out some of the other larger fields in Southern Cali sometime in the upcoming year.

Oh yes, the adventure is just beginning.  Hopefully I don't give into the urge to go out and buy myself a full set of my own equipment, but then again who could really blame me?

Paintball.  It takes a lot of balls. :)

Artwork

Recent drawing I did for a friend.  She requested something "girly."

Happy Birthday, Ava! :)

Pull-Ups

!

Look! A quest! 

Yes indeed, I have a new quest.  At the end of our paddling season, Coach mentioned at that one of the simplest fitness tests is the almighty pull-up.  (She may have even mentioned that 12 (!!) reps was a good number to shoot for.)

Ladies and gentleman, even after that fabulous season of paddling, I have never once in my life been able to do a pull-up.  I realized, however, that I had also never intentionally tried to change that fact.

Thus, my mission was clear, and many of my teammates have enthusiastically accepted the challenge.  I have given myself the personal goal of being able to do 3 pull-ups by Christmas.  

For the past month or so I have been walking from my place of employment to a local park, where my foe awaits me: the bar.  I guess technically it’s a set of monkey bars, but they do the trick none the less. 

The first week, no matter how hard I strained, squeaked, or ached - no matter how enthusiastically the toddlers scurrying about the playground cheered, I left in defeat.

That is, until today.

It took about a month, but my silly chinny-chin-chin can finally crest that metallic threshold.  

Once.  

With great effort.

As of this weekend, I am also armed with a bar of my own.  We set it up in our office doorway, so before I take a shower, after I take a shower, any time I feed the cat, or anytime I’m home and think about it, I can try my luck with our own personal torture unit.  Chris has been getting some good use out of it as well, which has been fun to see.

I will keep everyone posted on my progress.

(Someone mentioned my last cartoon was not up to date on my hairstyle.  Hopefully Captain Accuracy is happy now.)