Somethin's a Brewin'...

So, in the last couple of days, I have felt the effects of my life taking some turns on me. I'm not sure where it's coming from but I've felt it. They are very small changes but it enough of a change that I have to rethink how I do things now. just little things like how I react to my friends and roommates. (being that I NOW have to live with them) Also, things at work are slightly different. Maybe it's because I've been here for almost 6 months. That tends to be the milestone on when I get sick of a job. But I'm not sick of it at all. I LOVE it. I can't quite put my finger on it but it bugging me. My friends have definitley taken a HUGE hit and have changed tremendously. I have no problems with any of them but it's all new to me.

So here's kind of what has recently happened in my life that I think has to do with this "feeling" I have.

First of all, I just recently began school OFFICIALLY for the first time last semester. I was going minimum full time at 12 hours. Not too much for me to handle. I did ok as far as my first semester goes but it definitley was a change. A good one.

Second, my Mother is selling her house and I was forced to move out. I have lived on my own previoulsy so I wasn't so worried about that but I will no longer have that security in the back of my head that if i was in trouble or needed it real bad, my mom would always have a place for me. Also, it's the house my grandpa built and my mom grew up in. My grandparents are dead and so is my dad so my mom had to take care of it, primarily, by herself. She has remodeled the house left and right and it has been a huge stress to her and the rest of the family. It will be easier to have it out of our lives but It's hard for me to accept that. Her new place is an apartment that couldn't hold me in the first place even if I needed it. But Moving out has been great overall. i just have to get used to roommoates once again and that's not that bad.

Third, MY MOTHER IS SELLING HER HOUSE! We have lived in and abouts that area for 12 years, ever since we moved mere form Virginia. We moved a ton when I was little in Virginia so I was used to doing that alot. However, this is the FIRST time in my life that I had something that lasted more then 1-2-3 or 4 years in one place. I had background and solid ground built up in that house. I am the last of several friends who have moved away from the area and sold there houses. I had a REALLY hard time with my very last friend, Seth, who hadn't lived at his house for a while but his dad and brothers were still there. There was always an open invitation to go over there whenever. I GREW UP at that house and had tons of memories and friends that spawned from that house. When his dad got married and SOLD the house, I was really freaking out! Even though I hadn't been over there for like 3 years or so, I always drove by and knew I could stop in and hang out. So Brian, Danny, Matt, Seth, and now ME! I was the one who was removing all the roots and seeds that were planted there at my house and it has been very difficult for me emotionally.

Fourth, I finally have a single social life. Up til this point, I have stuck with a good majority of my early friends in life and have done stuff with them. They have gotten married and continued to be a huge part of my life as far as friends and social life. I have only recently released myself from my married friends and began this whole new social circle with my single friends. Don't get me wrong, but I LOVE my married friends. We have a lot of history together. I was the one who was wanting to do stuff all the time and planning things with them. But married people have a whole different lifestyle. I'm not married and just kind of went along with the flow. I didn't mind but it was hard for me to not notice that they were married and I wasn't. So I just happened to meet these single frineds of my while hanging out with one of my married friends at their house. I started coming over all the time and developed a whole slew of new single friends. I was imediatley taken up into this single lifestyle and LOVED every minute of it. New faces, new things to do, new places to go! And people who I could relate to and best of all... THEY LIKED ME!!! No one had a problem with who I was or even judged me for being who I was. It is great! However, i kind of neglected my married friends and haven't been as attentive or even present when hanging out with them. They used to be my ONLY social life and now the vast majority of it includes my single frineds. So I want to be excited and happy about my new friends and social life but I also feel horrible and guilty for cutting down my social time with my married friends.

Lastly, girls, religion and dating. OH MY! That's an entirely different subject which I will save for another post.

So in the end, with all these changes in my life, I've been feeling something inside that is just bugging me. I wish I had someone to just be there for me and help me feel better about all this. My family is definitely messed up enought that it's hard to even connect with my siblings let alone recieve any comfort from them. (Except my way awesome sister that has always been supportive to me.) I have usually recieved that comfort or support from a close friend who was there for me growing up. But now that I'm older and slowly moving away from old friends and with them old ways, I have this feeling that I think has been brewing inside and is about to burst out of me. I really have no idea what will happen when it finally does but I would like to understnad it and keep it under control when it does. Until then, there's always you blogger.com. :)

Movie Game #1

Let's play the movie game! Here's what to do...

First, name an Actor/Actress and a Movie they've been in and post it as a comment.
Second, someone else attempts to continue the list by either choosing the Actor/Actress or the Movie.

For Example...
The current Actor/Actress and Movie is "Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost"
The next person continues the list by either choosing...
the Actress, "Whoopi Goldberg" and name another movie she's been in like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" or
the Movie, "Ghost" and say another actor/actress that is in it like "Demi Moore"

Third, the next person must continue the list by selecting from the new Actor/Actress and Movie.

If no one else can continue the list then you have STUMPED everyone else and win the game!!

The only rule is that you cannot use an Actor/Actress that has already been used earlier in the game. Once we leave an Actors/Actresses name, you CANNOT use iti again. However, Movie titles can be used several times as long as it's a different Actor/Actress.

I will post the first commnet and let the game begin!!

What is a Lumpkin?

To those of you who have read my list of Nicknames, you will have seen the name "Dougie Lumpkins" on it. One of my good friends, Westie Bergan, had given me that name quite a while ago and I have not had any worries about since.

However, one of my very good friends has informed me of the true nature of what a "lumpkin" is. Now, if any of you wish to know what that is, I will not hesitate to reply. I must give you this word of caution.... It's gross! Really gross! Like so gross you will regret wanting to know. But nevertheless, you will have wanted to know and you cannot say I didn't warn you.

But I have decided to not let this ruin the nickname that was so innocently given to me so long ago. No sick sexual favor will try to corrupt the Nickname's of Doug. So Westie, I will always be your little "Dougie Lumpkins" no matter what!

So to any of you SICKO'S who actually know what a "lumpkin" is or even worse have experienced it in it's fullness... GROSS!

Illegal fireworks are where it's at!

On our way home from Oregon last weekend, we picked some sweet Fireworks from the Illegal fireworks store. We didn't get home until late on the 4th so we decided to lite them off on the 5th with all our friends over. It was great fun.

Ben however didn't lite any of his that night so he had a bunch still to lite. Well, last night, we were bored and decided to finish them off out on our driveway. We quickly learned that flying fireworks and a carport didn't mix too well. After setting some of them off like they were supossed to, Ben wanted to experiment a little with them.

We threw a couple in the air and they went flying in crazy directions. I set one off that flew up and exploded as it hit the ceiling of the carport. That was pretty cool. I was tempted to light them off under Mike's car but that would've been a little TOO mean, even for Mike. There was giant exploding flowers, super spinny flying tops and mini-helicopter bombs. The best of all was the giant 5-shot roman candle! I had no idea how high or far it would shoot so when I aimed it up, I accidentally nailed the side of the brick house across the street! Luckily, the flaming retort landed on the cement walkway that was next to the house and no one was hurt.

After last night, I definitely know which fireworks I want to get for next year. WAIT! Screw next year! The 24th is right around the corner. Oregon, here I come again!

Sticks and stones really piss me off!

***WARNING! The below is merely an observation and is not directed at any specific group of people.***

You know, I really like my friends. But I hate getting teased about everything I do! I have made some new friends lately and it seems like the same thing is happening with them that has happened MANY times with any of the group of friends I've made through out my life. I start to get to know some people and things are really great. We laugh alot and just enjoy being around each other. But some where along the way it becomes "okay" to rip on Doug when ever they get the chance to. Like I said this has happened all my life and I really began to wonder why...

I have to admit I am a pretty goofy guy and, if you have ever MET me, I'm quite easy to make fun of. I honestly don't know exactly what it is. The reaction I give is probalble but I enjoy making my friends laugh and smile when they see me and talk to me. I don't mind letting myself become the target for so many EASY jabs. And boy are they easy ones. All the fat kid jokes? Come on, the 5 year olds in the Day Care I used to work at could use those on me. And the screaming like a woman? It's OBVIOUS that I do it. Way to point it out so everyone who couldn't hear me knows.

It's harmless fun when it comes to this kind of behavior coming from my close friends. But I've noticed that after a while, people just can't stop there! ANYTHING I do now is something that can or chould be made fun of. Like what I eat or how I talk or even the music I like. Stupid everyday things that make me who I am now become the butt of someones attempt to get a rise out of me. They just want a funny reaction out of chubby ole Doug. Sometimes the comments can get kind of offensive. There are times where I can't even play a game with people because all they want to do is stop, kill, or destroy me from having ANY sort of fun at all. It's no fun for me when that happens and that's where it starts to PISS ME OFF!!!

COME ON! There is a time and place where teasing and joking has to stop and feelings start to come into play. I can't be anyone else but myself and I wouldn't WANT to be anyone else either. So when everything I do becomes a just a joke or a some ten second giggle just to make someone else laugh, I begin to not want to do ANYTHING for fear that some close friend of mine will just put me down and laugh about it. It may not seem like much of anything to them because, hey, I'm goofy ole Doug. I can take it. We tease him all the time and he likes it. But... UGH... it really makes me angry when no one can see that enough is enough.

All my friends out there, please don't take this as me just whining that "everybody picks on me" or something. I know people pick on me and I definitley can handle it. Heck, I allow it. I would hope that the people who are my friends and should know me pretty well, would KNOW when they have gone too far. I may get torked about stuff and sometimes even annoyed but very few things will actually push me over the edge and FLIP OUT! I tell you what, I've gotten close a few times in the last few weeks and intend to continue to hold it back for the sake of my friends and myself.

I hate to say it but I'm a pushover. I want my friends to like me and I LET them push my buttons so much they don't know where the line is or how often and hard they can push them. I'm a soft chubby kid who has feelings too. I guess my "STOP PUSHING MY BUTTONS OR I'LL RIP YOUR BLODDY SPINE OUT" signal is not loud enough. I should add some christmas lights to it and maybe they can see it better. OOO... some nice green and purple ones should do the trick!

The Burning Bush

Last weekend, my roommate Ben invited me to go up to Oregon for the 4th of July. We had quite a exciting disaster involving Ben's cousin, Steve (Aka. Dark Moses). Let me tell you what happened...

Dark Moses or otherwise Steve, likes to play with fire. He has burned down several things in his lifetime: two fields a barn, and several young children.

We were about to go shooting on Sunday afternoon when we were delayed getting into the car for some unknown reason. Steve, in this downtime, decided to meander towards the bushes in the center of the driveway with a butane lighter in hand. His eyes were drawn towards a pile cotton from the nearby cottonwood trees that had gathered itself into a small pile of kindeling there in the wind. He decides, because he was bored, to light the pile of cotton on fire and WATCH it burn for his pure entertainment.

All of the sudden, I noticed that Steve is now up looking for a hose. I had no idea why he was in such a rush... until I saw the pile of burning cotton which at this time had now turned into a burning pile of BUSHES!

So, I kind of freaked out a bit. Not like a complete freak out but I was definitely in panic mode. Steve had tried to stomp the fire out but it was too late. It had spread underneath the bushes where all the dead pine needles were and was just slowly creeping throughout the rest of the bushes on the other side of the island. I immediately looked at what kind of potential this fire could turn into if we couldn't put it out. The bush was on a island that was surrounded by the driveway so if worse came to worse, it would just burn down all the bushes and trees that were there on the island. But thinking about the wind, flying ash and the fact that Steve was standing 15 feet away from the source of the blaze with a hose that was obviously too short, calling the Fire Dept was not a bad idea. Ben, with his newly acquired hose, stopped me from doing so and I immediatley went to fetch another hose to extend Steve's feeble one.

At this time, Ben's dad, Art, was trying to get the sprinklers turned on as to help put out the now burning pillar of bush smoke that was at least 50 feet high and Ben's brother Cody was looking for someway to help. I asked Cody where another hose might be so I followed Cody to back of the house, retrieved the extra hose, ran to the front, attached it to Steve's kinked end and he was on his way into the bushes to defeat the burning shrubs. Meanwhile, Ben who had got his own hose from adifferent spiget, was spraying the bushes like he was watering them while conversing with the neighbor about this flaming pillar of smoke in their front yard. So I had to quench my panicing self and snatched the hose from Ben and dove right into the smolding island in a desperate attempt to prevent the spreading fire that steathily move along the floor of the dirt bed.

After about a couple minutes, we finally stopped the fire from engulfing the other half of the island and just had to put out the piles of fire and ash that was already too late to save and still burnign behind us. Let me tell you though... it was actually kind of exciting! I was covered, well not entirely covered, with charred marks all over my pants, legs and my shoes were just dirty as sin after I got out of those bushes. It felt so awesome to just grab that hose and dive right into the very heart of the fire and conquer it's sorry butt. I felt pretty proud about how I handled things. But Ben's dad, oh nelly, he was NOT happy. We stood there at those bushes with hoses in hand, spraying... no SOAKING those bushes down for at least 5 minutes after we had already put out everything.

I wasn't sure what to do after it was out. I was kind of afraid, not for me but for STEVE. He had just lit an entire 20 x 20 area of bushes on fire because he was frickin' bored. I couldn't help but laugh a bit and marvel at what a completely MORONIC thing it was!! No offense Steve! :) One thing is for sure. We didn't go shooting after that. In fact, we didn't do much of ANYTHING after that. Art pulled out his lawnmower to work on almost directly after we had everything put out. I avoided him for a while and was just praying for Steve and his wimpy little soul. He was toast. Burnt toast!!!

All in all, everything turned out fine in the end. Art never ripped Steve's heart out and fed it to his first born child while dancing to the gods of sweet revenge while Steve's naked body lay on the sacrificial alter of "I'm a complete Idiot!". Nor did Steve end up at the bottom of the Snake river with a lawnmower strapped to his chest and his mutilated arms and legs bolted to the grass blades with "Pyro" or "Moron" or "Dark Moses Sucks!" tatooed on them. No! None of that happend... But we sure blew the hell of Santa and Mrs. Clause the very next day! Steve even took her head off.

Nicknames

As you can see, I have listed the many different nicknames I have been called throughout the years by Family, Friends, and many of you who are reading this.

So if there is a name on my list that you think should be there, please let me know and I will update it. Maybe even include the reason you call me that in the first place.

*New Addition*

"Pudgikins 3D"
Contributed by: Steve Searle