COMPLETEly Forgot

This very well may have been THE scariest moment in my life so far.

Have you ever had it happen where you completely forgot something? And I'm not talking about, "Oh I'm so so sorry I like completely forgot our little get together, my bad." I'm talking about where there was something that someone reminded you of and you have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. This just happened to me.

Tonight, we had dinner, and it was a fairly pleasant one at that. Then afterward we are all hanging around, my mom, my brother, and I, and my mom mentions to me, "Ahren, it's Friday night, it's your dishes night." I quickly retorted back, "No it's not, Tuesday's my dishes night." She replied, "Yes, Tuesday and Friday." I didn't know what to say except, "No, my dishes night is Tuesday and then I wash dishes on Sunday morning as well." It was then that my brother chimed in, "No, Ahren, I know you do dishes on Friday because when you started doing dishes on Friday, I switched dishes to Thursday night."

Now sometimes it'll happen where I will forget something and then be reminded of it and then remember or sometimes I will forget something, be reminded about it and vaguely remember what they are talking about. Never have I had an experience, until now, where I was told something and didn't have a clue what the person was talking about. At first, I was confused, then defensive and then I became scared. What is happening to my mind? Is this some sort of sick joke? Are they just trying to get me to do more chores? Out of everything in my body one of the things I value the most is my brain and my intelligence and I've always had a great sense of memory albeit sometimes selective though. This time was not one of those. I have racked my mind over and over and over again trying to remember just the tiniest tidbit, word, even feeling, memory, anything! but I have no recollection of doing my regular dishes on a Friday night.

In all honesty, I'm scared. I don't know what is happening to me or if it's normal. My mom and brother tell me it is but this has never happened to me before. I've always been able to remember something even if it was just a sense of the notion. This is the first time I have drawn a total blank and it scares me so much.

I want a comfort hug.
:'(

Random Writings

There is a technique in writing called free writing. The concept is that you start writing and don't stop let anything stopyou  no matter what (not editing or anything, just letting thoughts flow through your brain onto the paper) until you are done. (you can do it for a timed period or not). I recently was inspired by a wonderful person to write a bit, as he posted a beautifully written blog about writing. I ended up writing this. It's not too spectacular but it's something. Enjoy.

A yawn, a sigh, and "I wish you were here". The world is much to lonely of a place. Companionship and friendship is a force that keeps people alive. We need to be able to live together and love one another. I feel like life is this thing, this thing that is delicate and yet so solid. It's taken for granted. One day we will open up like blossom full of light. Intricate petals with drops of rain creating radiant sparkles in the sun. I long to be that flower giving joy to a small toddler who marvels in wonder at the beauty. The child's eyes reflecting it's image and it's radiance. Marvelous beings these children are who see the world with out judgment or bias. And when the only way to hurt a child is to not hold them, it makes you wonder how hurt we are from day to day. It's one of the reasons I love free hugs. We are able to give people touch in a healthy way, something that so many people are missing in their lives. 

My Problem With Blogging

I speak when there is something important that I feel that needs to be said or shared. I've never been too much for story telling but never the less, I love to share of myself and my knowledge. I just don't see the point in rambling on about the trivial details of my life. There is a whole question that arises (and it's a different answer for each individual) of what is worthy to share. What story or event in my life is blog-worthy and what is something just to pass by. What makes a good story and what is plain boring? Are these rhetorical questions or are they not? Am I trying to slip humor into an otherwise slightly drab blog...or not?

Let me give you a hint.... *WINK*
If this makes sense...then good...if not...I have the excuse of the fact that it's 4:41 in the morning!
Ha!
Ahren.....OUT.

Website Completed: My Life Has Returned!

Exciting News!
I have a life again!
After a super long haul, my current website project is done. I know many of my friends and family have noticed my almost constant state of stress and depression and hopefully those times are now over. This project was a huge one almost one too big but now it lays behind me for the most part (I still have minor things to do to get everything running and such but the majority is behind me).

The Website:
The website is: http://soulfireproject.com. It is a site that is to gather funding for the film "Connected" by Amy Walker. The idea is that the film is "produced" (funded) by the human community (as opposed to a corporate company) and that it's everyone's project as much as the creator's. Each person who donates (only one $dollar) gets their name in the credits of the film.
Overall I am very very proud of my work on the site and over the process I have learned so much.

Technical Overview:
The page website is built on PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, CSS, HTML and integration with Google Checkout. There is the basic page layout which uses a lot of CSS & JavaScript to display content and create the overall feel of the pages. I'm not going to go into too much detail should this information fall into the wrong hands.

My Standpoint:
I know there are still many things I need to work on regarding client relationsions and this has helped me see that. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to do this because it has forced me to learn so much and that, I have! I now have what I'd consider to be sufficient knowledge in MySQL & PHP and other web technologies, not that I didn't before just that it was very very limited. I know my overall confidence with webdesign (especially that of the dynamic nature) has expanded leaps and bounds beyond what it was before.

I'm not all too sure what else to say but a BIG thank you to those who have helped me along with this process. I really couldn't have done it without you. There were many times in which I have thought about quitting along the process but I fought to stay in the game and it was because of your support that I was able to. (You all know who you are)

So check out the site and then celebrate with me!
http://soulfireproject.com

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Dog House Disappointments

Ever since I can remember, my family has gone to The Dog House (a local restaurant). It was most-likely one of the first places we went to eat as well when we moved to Whidbey Island over 17 years ago. A while ago (i don't know when exactly) the restaurant and tavern was handed over to new management (I think because the owner died). I had not been to the place since but as luck would have it, the Braeburn (where we were planning on going) doesn't serve dinner and the pizzeria was packed and we had a show to catch so our third option was the dog.
We walked around back like usual to go into the restauraunt part of the building and open the door and there is no-one there...at all. I've never been there when there wasn't a mob of people already there. We find our seets at a table and then I noticed that my favorite funky lighting fixtures had been replaced by "stylized" new ones that don't even fit the rest of the building's look. We recieved our menus from someone who didn't seem at all happy to be serving us and I reviewed mine. There was my favorite thing that I almost always got - the spicy bean burrito. I have so many memories of that dinner. It's what I almost always had, you could count on going to the Dog House with me and I would have the Spicy Bean Burrito and a Cream Soda, now over the years that's changed some but still stayed pretty consistant. I decided that I couldn't break tradition so I ordered my Spicy Bean Burrito.
When the food came though was when I was even more dissapointed. The burrito was TINY! I remember that I would always have trouble finishing my meal and I would always have a to go box. Then one fateful day, I finally finished my burrito in one sitting, I remember being so proud. So then to have this small burrito that didn't even compare to the original one but was $3 more expensive was a total gip. I finished it in a couple bites and then was still hungry. I ended up finishing off a few of other people's dinners and half a plate of mis-ordered nachos from another table. All of it was not anywhere as good as it once was which really made me sad and frustrated. It's the same kind of feeling when you grow up and realize that your parents aren't perfect but in this case, it's not just a childhood fantasy gone awry, it actually got worse.

Set the Default View in Windows Explorer - Windows XP

It seems to be a common desire to have all of your folders in one specific view in windows. There should be an easy way to set this default view and there is but how is the big question.
Just follow the instructions in my tutorial image below :)


(Click the image to view a large version)

I hope this helps all of you who may have had this question.
Peace from Ahren

Why I love Gmail :D

This is just amazing and has some wonderful subtle comedy.
The reason why I love it (gmail/google) so much....well because it's unparalleled in its amazingness and usefulness/features and it's built and maintained by people that are totally on my level and don't pretend to be big professional know-it-alls.

<3 Google 4ever