Today was a big day. For the last 10 years, I’ve had a labret. Well today it was taken out and very likely for good.

I can grab you and mow down a crap load of zombies after the apocalypse, but I get cut doing it. Bottom line is it still goes faster and looks way cooler than just using my hands. Wounds heal and chicks dig scars.

I must be bored if I’m posting here. currently waiting in line at the Apple Store in Pasadena to pick up my iPhone 4. Been here since 5:30am. I’m about the 100th person in the pre-order line and there are at least several hundred behind me. This particular store has over 1700 pre-orders. Pretty bananas. What’s even more bananas is the line for the walk-in buyers who didn’t get a reservation in. That line is at least twice as long and there’s no way all this people are getting one.

Oh poop! The line is moving! The line is moving! Stay tuned. Or not. I wouldn’t.

Last Friday, I decided to go swimming with my iPhone 3G in the spa. For at least 30 minutes, my phone simmered in hot water while in my pocket. Needless to say, it was completely dead when I found it.

I immediately went to the interwebs to see if there was any chance of recovery. After reading several articles on how people tried to raise their water damaged iPhones from dead, I started my request to give life to Frankenstein’s monster. I threw it in a refrigerator for 30 minutes to draw out moisture. That didn’t work. I left it on top of the refrigerator overnight. That didn’t work. I used a blow dryer on it for over an hour. That didn’t work. I finally got so fed up that I tore it down to the component level. I was able to separate the whole thing by by front glass, LCD screen, motherboard, camera, connection port, battery, and camera. I used the blow dryer on the individual components and put it back together. That didn’t work. I broke it all down again and placed each component into a baggy filled with uncooked rice. The components stayed in the bag for 48 hours before I took them out, dusted off all of the rice, and put it back together again. That didn’t work… initially.

I plugged power into it and hit the power button. It started up right away! Now it did stay on the Apple startup logo for about a half hour before fully booting, but after that it was up and running. I immediately backed it up before testing any bit of it. That worked. Testing it, I found everything to be working just fine except for the camera which will just not turn on anymore. The LCD screen has this permanent 3D pattern in it now, but it’s not bad enough that you can’t see what’s going on. After all the voodoo and witchcraft I did it to over the weekend, it turned out to be the little iPhone that could. Success! Success I tell you!

Seems like most people who have tried to recover a water damaged iPhone have done so unsuccessfully. It’s why I’m totally patting myself on the back for this one. Go me! I just need to keep this thing running for eight more days when I pick up my new iPhone 4. Good luck to us all and jebus bless rice.

With Dio gone, the only thing left in this world keeping The Awesome alive is Chuck Norris and Mr. T.

“Who are you?” When most people are asked this question, whether it be at a party or some other social or professional setting, we often reply with our name, what kind of work we do, and maybe a quick fact about ourselves. “Hi. My name is Rich. I’m 31 years old, I manage production for an automotive photography studio, and I like movies.”

It’s a common response to what could be considered a common question. Over the past several years, I’ve been finding myself trying to answer this simple question, but with a much different intent. What we do professionally, our likes and our dislikes, even our name or age, do they really dictate who we are? The meaning of the question and its response has evolved greatly over these years for me as I continue to search for some sort of spiritual identity and refine my ideology.

Several years ago, long before I ever started thinking about looking for anything beyond my material and egoistic needs, “Who are you?” would have pulled from me the same response above. Honestly, I would still answer with that response now because most people I’ve run into who ask it are looking for the answers of a simple name, what you do, and something trivial about you.

Today, when asking it of myself, the intent is quite different. Because this seemingly simple question is, in my opinion, very complex to answer, I’ve had to take and break it down into several parts. “Who are you? Why are you here? What are the most important issue in your life?”

Knowing that I haven’t been able to, may never be able to, and don’t even expect to find definitive answers for every single part, I’m going to allow myself attempt to answer as it stands today…

I am a being traveling on the journey of life. I am good to others, good to myself, and good to the Earth. My life’s experiences have and will always show me the way towards giving of myself in ways that hopefully will add to another person’s existence. I am someone who will pave a path for the future by teaching and motivating those who follow through inspiration and not intimidation. I am here to show compassion, love, laugh, and embrace obstacles and failure because they serve to help me grow and expand my life. I am here to give plentifully, receive graciously, and remain passionate for all life. I am not here to focus on a destination, but to enjoy the journey.

I think spending the time in attempting to answer these questions has helped me identify an ideology I wish to follow the rest of my life. I know as the years of my life progress, this is something that I want to refine and continuously improve upon. This ideology, in my opinion, is being a good human and if I am ever seriously asked, “Who are you?” I want to be in a place where I can respond with, “I am a good human.”