On the Universe & Being Shameless

OakMonster.com - Talk Like A Pirate Day - Krispy Kreme - Captain Bubbles

It was Talk Like A Pirate Day last week. Since I’ve learned about the holiday 7 years ago, I’ve transformed into Captain Bubbles and gone to work as such. Every year. Last year, I sailed to the township of Long Beach to plunder a pastry shopped called Krispy Kreme. Since I was rogue at the time, I brought the booty to my good friend Doctor Justin to take to work.  This year, Captain Bubbles, now employed, repeated the raid and came away with pastries for her shipmates. One of my coworkers asked, “Where did you rent your outfit from?” “These...
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My Reading Evolution

OakMonster.com - Doctor Who - Silence in the Library

Brandon reads on average a book and a half a week. You wouldn’t believe how much of a relief it is when he got a Kindle for Christmas the year it first came out.  Our shelves were overflowing with books back then. We were taking boxes to our friend’s used bookstore or local library. At one point, I started re-selling them on Amazon. As for me, as you know, my goal is ALWAYS to read 12 books a year. Some years I did well. Some years I didn’t. So far, this year I’m on a pretty good path. Thanks to...
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Friendship is Magic

OakMonster - Otto and Bob's Big Boy

I was told a few times that my life would make for a great reality television show.  All the things I do are fascinating, they say.  I am quite certain someone else’s life is probably a hell of a lot more interesting than mine. But mine really ain’t that bad. But none of that fun stuff wouldn’t happen without my awesomely diverse group of friends I have come to know. I mean, what got me to write this post is this twitter conversation. Sure. You’d laugh at that little miscommunication about a recipe for the world’s hottest chile pepper.  But...
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The Old West Avengers’ Day Out

OakMonster.com - Old West Avengers - S&W Photography

Team cosplay is FUN! At the beginning of the year, I had a thought. What would Lady Deadpool look like if she was in the Old West? Not like the present Lady Deadpool that get transported back in time, but if Wanda Wilson really did exists then. Obviously, it wasn’t be this. And so, the cosplay idea for the Wild West Wanda Wilson was born. Originally, I was going to debut Wanda at 2013 Comikaze since I had so much fun as Hulk Bunny last year. But then WonderCon announced that they were returning to Anaheim. Since I didn’t cosplay...
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Raced On the Base

OakMonster ran a race!

This is my final original article as the Face of the Race for the Los Alamitos Race on the Base. It’s been fun writing for them!  Please give the Race’s blog some traffic and click here to see the original post.  Also, I was interviewed pre-race with both the Race on the Base blog AND the Orange County Register. Check them out! After all this time of having shared with you about my journey and struggle with running, I almost didn’t make it to the Race this past Saturday. Tuesday night before the Race, I was clutching the toilet bowl...
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Why We Love to Run

OakMonster.com - What I feel like when I run

This is my final original article as the Face of the Race before the Los Alamitos Race on the Base! I think I will probably have one more post-race. Please give the Race’s blog some traffic and click here to see the original post. My oldest brother, an avid runner, sent me a blog post last week from the Guardian called “Why We Love to Run”. Just over a week away from the Race on the Base, it is a good day to ask ourselves that question. Why, indeed? The blog post said we love to run because it’s a...
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