Today is Friday. I am not at work right now, I had a kinda sick feeling that was worse yesterday when I actually went. So I'm not totally playing hooky... Maybe just a little.
Jeremy Piven of Entourage fame (Ari Gold) was on Conan and Jimmy Fallon a few days ago. If you are a fan like I am, check it out on hulu. On Fallon he plays the drums! Pretty well too! Was pretty cool. Speaking of Fallon's show, it is slowly creeping up from "bad" to "almost ok" status. The monologue last night wasn't too bad actually, and the rest of the show is getting a bit funnier too. Don't get me wrong, its not a full transformation, but you can see that he is getting more comfortable up there. I guess it was only a matter of time. Conan started out the same way, although many people don't remember or were witness to that.
There are some movies out there I want to see. I heard Funny People was pretty good. Maybe I will catch that this weekend. I dunno.
I think it has been 8 weeks, and I promised pictures of my progress working out... Well I have been working out, but there were 2 weeks in there I wasn't doing it consistently. So, maybe you'll get pictures. Probably not though since no one reads this. I bet there is like 2 creepy people out there that constantly read this, even re-read posts something like 20 times a day or something ridiculous like that.
I go back to school in... 3 weeks? However long it is from now till the 24th, that is how long... Its alright, its only a semester. Will be nice to not have work for a few months, and then once I graduate the giant doors open. The doors out of the ominous and expansive labyrinth that is an education career from 1st grade until graduating from college. I don't want to think about the fact that I will possibly be re-entering a different section of the labyrinth, that graduate school side, but that is still an option. Greatest thing about graduating... It is like you are truly free. You have options. What an idea, what a country.
God bless America.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Ever So Interesting
You know what is amazing? Science. I have taken a strong liking to the Science and Discovery channel for the documentaries they often show. I was watching some thing on the human body and its perception of time last night, and now I'm watching some thing about dinosaurs. Great stuff. I don't know how I didn't think this stuff was cooler when I was a kid. It's all really fascinating. Maybe it has something to do with not being tied down to some artificial requirements like those made by the education system. That evil never seems to have an end to its retched madness...
But ya, it is interesting stuff.
Unlike my blog.
I don't have anything to write about.
There has been a tragedy in Pittsburgh. Several people were shot at a gym just south west of pittsburgh. This was att 8:15 our time, just a few hours earlier from me writing this... So random. The world is a scary place indeed, and it is stuff like that that reminds you how crazy and scary it can be. That is probably the last place you would ever think a shooting would happen. Poor people and their families. The guy apparently shot himself after going on the shooting spree...
Well I'm going to go watch some TV and try to not think about this sad stuff. Tomorrow is Kennywood day for the company I work for. If you aren't a Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania native, go google it. There is a lot of history to be learned when Kennywood is involved.
Till next time...
But ya, it is interesting stuff.
Unlike my blog.
I don't have anything to write about.
There has been a tragedy in Pittsburgh. Several people were shot at a gym just south west of pittsburgh. This was att 8:15 our time, just a few hours earlier from me writing this... So random. The world is a scary place indeed, and it is stuff like that that reminds you how crazy and scary it can be. That is probably the last place you would ever think a shooting would happen. Poor people and their families. The guy apparently shot himself after going on the shooting spree...
Well I'm going to go watch some TV and try to not think about this sad stuff. Tomorrow is Kennywood day for the company I work for. If you aren't a Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania native, go google it. There is a lot of history to be learned when Kennywood is involved.
Till next time...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Let There Be Music
Today is a significantly rainy day. It is so rainy I will make no attempts to go outside. This means one thing: music. I plan on playing no less then 3 hours of guitar. Either the 3 hours will come or my hand will feel like it's going to fall off at some point and I will stop. Either way it will be nice since I've only played like half an hour of guitar in the past 4 days. Unacceptable.
I went to the range yesterday. After hitting 100 some balls, I realized that I used to be good at golf. But that wasn't until after I got my swing back. Now I just need to go hit a 100 balls before each round and I should be A-OK.
Today is going fast and it is AMAZING. It is already 3 o'clock. and it is a Wednesday! The week is already pretty much over. This is probably one of my happier posts on here in quite awhile.
And now, I present to you... The AG poetry moment:
There is a light
A spectrum of colored contents
gleaming under a recessive darkness
I strum against the constant
the world has weight to bear
feeding into this ancient notion
I take time to listen
there is a wave of tranquility in the ocean
there is wisdom in the brush of pine needles
swiftly painting across one another
in the empowering force of the evening breeze
although they try as they must for you to forget
to join their ranks as devoted ones
you remember what it is like
to walk in the ocean as a sleepy sun
bows down to an uprising of diamonds
Untitled, by me.
See you next time
I went to the range yesterday. After hitting 100 some balls, I realized that I used to be good at golf. But that wasn't until after I got my swing back. Now I just need to go hit a 100 balls before each round and I should be A-OK.
Today is going fast and it is AMAZING. It is already 3 o'clock. and it is a Wednesday! The week is already pretty much over. This is probably one of my happier posts on here in quite awhile.
And now, I present to you... The AG poetry moment:
There is a light
A spectrum of colored contents
gleaming under a recessive darkness
I strum against the constant
the world has weight to bear
feeding into this ancient notion
I take time to listen
there is a wave of tranquility in the ocean
there is wisdom in the brush of pine needles
swiftly painting across one another
in the empowering force of the evening breeze
although they try as they must for you to forget
to join their ranks as devoted ones
you remember what it is like
to walk in the ocean as a sleepy sun
bows down to an uprising of diamonds
Untitled, by me.
See you next time
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wow
This is just really funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHriDR8F8o
I know, please don't judge me for my sense of humor. I had no idea turtles even made noises.
This lady on Jimmy Fallon has this like nasty vein sticking out of her arm... It is disturbing and looks unnatural. I dunno who she is, I think she is from some pointless cop TV show. They are all the same, like I mentioned in a previous post.
Including this week, I have 3 weeks of work left. It's only temporary, since I go back to school in August then back to working, but you never know what will happen once I'm graadduuuaaaaaaaaaaatttedddd.
Still banking on the lottery win. That would just make things a lot easier, that is for sure.
I am going to go eat a poptart and drink some water. I am really thirsty.
I played golf today and did terribly, but it was fun because I was with my 2 great friends whilst playing in this game of GALFIN.
Bye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHriDR8F8o
I know, please don't judge me for my sense of humor. I had no idea turtles even made noises.
This lady on Jimmy Fallon has this like nasty vein sticking out of her arm... It is disturbing and looks unnatural. I dunno who she is, I think she is from some pointless cop TV show. They are all the same, like I mentioned in a previous post.
Including this week, I have 3 weeks of work left. It's only temporary, since I go back to school in August then back to working, but you never know what will happen once I'm graadduuuaaaaaaaaaaatttedddd.
Still banking on the lottery win. That would just make things a lot easier, that is for sure.
I am going to go eat a poptart and drink some water. I am really thirsty.
I played golf today and did terribly, but it was fun because I was with my 2 great friends whilst playing in this game of GALFIN.
Bye
Saturday, July 25, 2009
No comment
Ho hum ho hum
It is saturday. I don't have anything for you. Watch this instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CKjNcSUNt8&feature=player_embedded
It is saturday. I don't have anything for you. Watch this instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CKjNcSUNt8&feature=player_embedded
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
7 days...
It has been 7 days... I'M SORRY! I know you were all giddy with anticipation for my next post, just refreshing this page every 10 minutes for the past 7 days... Or so I wish.
I didn't really have anything to blog about. Work consumes like 3/4ths of my day, and no one really wants to hear about that. If I don't think it is exciting no one else will either I guarantee it.
I don't know if Internet Explorer (which is garbage) or other browsers do this, but I love how in Firefox it has a spell check built in for everything you type. So if I type in something wrong, a little red dotted line will show up under my feeble attempt, and then I can right click on the word for spelling suggestions. Awesome. Much more effective than having to hit the spell check thing that is built in to blogger.
I came home from work this evening and as I was coming back, I saw that there was about 10 emergency vehicles blocking off the road. I was very curious, as I also noticed 3 news helicopters hovering above the scene as well. After taking a detour that I knew to get home, I learned upon booting up the computer that there was a fie in an apartment building complex that lead to 40 people getting evacuated. This was at 4:15 PM, and as of 6:00 the news said they were still fighting the fire. Crazy stuff, hope all is well and people are safe.
Sometimes disaster and big events like that, you sort of forget about them, or their severity, until you see something like 10 vehicles with lights flashing or look at the TV and you know exactly where it is where they are showing something. I guess what I mean to say, is it doesn't seem so serious until it "hits home" in a way. Makes sense, I guess. You probably wouldn't care as much if a meteor crashed into some village in China. But I'm sure you would be distraught if a meteor had just crashed into your neighborhood, almost demolishing your house... It is only natural I suppose. We tend to consider ourselves first before we consider others.
I'm done posting for today. Thanks for coming back... That means me and the 1 reader I know I have.
I didn't really have anything to blog about. Work consumes like 3/4ths of my day, and no one really wants to hear about that. If I don't think it is exciting no one else will either I guarantee it.
I don't know if Internet Explorer (which is garbage) or other browsers do this, but I love how in Firefox it has a spell check built in for everything you type. So if I type in something wrong, a little red dotted line will show up under my feeble attempt, and then I can right click on the word for spelling suggestions. Awesome. Much more effective than having to hit the spell check thing that is built in to blogger.
I came home from work this evening and as I was coming back, I saw that there was about 10 emergency vehicles blocking off the road. I was very curious, as I also noticed 3 news helicopters hovering above the scene as well. After taking a detour that I knew to get home, I learned upon booting up the computer that there was a fie in an apartment building complex that lead to 40 people getting evacuated. This was at 4:15 PM, and as of 6:00 the news said they were still fighting the fire. Crazy stuff, hope all is well and people are safe.
Sometimes disaster and big events like that, you sort of forget about them, or their severity, until you see something like 10 vehicles with lights flashing or look at the TV and you know exactly where it is where they are showing something. I guess what I mean to say, is it doesn't seem so serious until it "hits home" in a way. Makes sense, I guess. You probably wouldn't care as much if a meteor crashed into some village in China. But I'm sure you would be distraught if a meteor had just crashed into your neighborhood, almost demolishing your house... It is only natural I suppose. We tend to consider ourselves first before we consider others.
I'm done posting for today. Thanks for coming back... That means me and the 1 reader I know I have.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Geez
not sure if anyone just saw that, but I tried making a post from my mobile blog i have setup, and it failed terribly. It made like 10 posts and they were all fragmented parts of the post, pretty much unreadable. It was actually a decent post too. It had to do with my possible career path of being a game designer one day in the future.
Maybe it is a sign I shouldn't do that... Could be. I've never really been superstitious or believed in signs...
That last part made me think of the movie Signs... "Do you believe in signs?"
Top 3 of my dream jobs, probably similar for most 23 year old males. These aren't in any order cause any of them would result in me waking up loving the fact that i get to do one of these things
1. Game Designer
2. Movies or/and broadway (a lot involved in the former do the ladder as well)
3. Musical touring artist
All of them require breaks. Breaks are the key word to the entertainment industry. In the games industry you need to get lucky/get a break to get into the position of a game designer. Most game designers come from working as a level designer or a programmer for long enough that you get a sense of how to run the whole process from all contributing factors. Most actors and broadway people have been good for years but get put down first until they get that lucky break when an agent or a studio exec happens to see something you did and likes it. Or, that studio exec likes your "look" and thinks it would be great for their next movie, and even though your role in said movie might be practically meaningless, you have a chance at making your way now that you've gotten "in". the musical touring artist works very similar to the movie actor, just replace studio exec with recording studio exec.
It doesn't matter how, but once you get in and play your cards right, you could shoot off to stardom. Even if you don't, and you become washed up like many have in the entertainment industry, at least you had your one hit wonder or that one movie you were in! Better then most people.
If I ever really committed to trying to get discovered and pursuing all this, all roads point to California. I was reading on video game company websites about their hiring, and they only take people that live in southern california. So I think that is is safe to say your best chance (for any of those 3 professions) is to live in the area.
We will see. First I must complete my "back up", which is getting my Information Systems degree and probably grad school after.
/end post
Maybe it is a sign I shouldn't do that... Could be. I've never really been superstitious or believed in signs...
That last part made me think of the movie Signs... "Do you believe in signs?"
Top 3 of my dream jobs, probably similar for most 23 year old males. These aren't in any order cause any of them would result in me waking up loving the fact that i get to do one of these things
1. Game Designer
2. Movies or/and broadway (a lot involved in the former do the ladder as well)
3. Musical touring artist
All of them require breaks. Breaks are the key word to the entertainment industry. In the games industry you need to get lucky/get a break to get into the position of a game designer. Most game designers come from working as a level designer or a programmer for long enough that you get a sense of how to run the whole process from all contributing factors. Most actors and broadway people have been good for years but get put down first until they get that lucky break when an agent or a studio exec happens to see something you did and likes it. Or, that studio exec likes your "look" and thinks it would be great for their next movie, and even though your role in said movie might be practically meaningless, you have a chance at making your way now that you've gotten "in". the musical touring artist works very similar to the movie actor, just replace studio exec with recording studio exec.
It doesn't matter how, but once you get in and play your cards right, you could shoot off to stardom. Even if you don't, and you become washed up like many have in the entertainment industry, at least you had your one hit wonder or that one movie you were in! Better then most people.
If I ever really committed to trying to get discovered and pursuing all this, all roads point to California. I was reading on video game company websites about their hiring, and they only take people that live in southern california. So I think that is is safe to say your best chance (for any of those 3 professions) is to live in the area.
We will see. First I must complete my "back up", which is getting my Information Systems degree and probably grad school after.
/end post
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
What's Goin On?
You know what bothers me? For the past like 15 years or so crime and medical dramas will NOT go away. I mean CMON how many times can you beat a dead horse by using the same concept over and over? Sure, they may add some spice by making it a crime show and... oh wow, he can read minds! Or... It's a crime show... and she can see dead people!
Whatever. Garbage. It's all garbage. I don't know how people watch any of that crap. What is worse is I didn't even come on here to post about that. I saw a commercial for some medical drama and then it angered me enough to voice my opinion. Voicing opinions is good, that is the whole purpose of blogs. You get free reign over that sort of thing. Within reason I guess... There are those crazies out there that talk about doing illegal things to government officials and stuff like that and then get in a lot of trouble. Not such a good idea. The government is out there and they are watching!
Speaking of another Big Brother, the TV show is back on... You know there is nothing to watch on TV when you resort to watching that stuff. I don't even really want to get into that show. It is like you know it is bad, but you watch it anyway because it is like so oddly good at the same time somehow. I think it has more to do with the nothing being on TV in the summer then I'm giving it credit for.
What else... I dunno. I feel like I need another paragraph for a good post. Oh I know! Sort of like the legendary Planet Earth documentaries, Discovery channel has this thing about the Pacific, whether it be the oceans there, the islands, etc. It is truly awesome and very informative. You can learn a lot and it looks beautiful if you have an HD tv. I have been quite satisfied with the episodes I have seen so far. Consider it recommended to you all.
Work is so ridiculous long. This week it has felt so long it is not even funny. I don't know how people have been doing this for like 40 years or more that is just unbelievable I can't even imagine doing that. I dunno, maybe it gets easier to deal with or something once you have a chunk of years under your belt... Probably not though. Guess I'll just have to win the lottery, no problem there right?
One last note. Watching Conan, Michael Phelps is like the most uninteresting person to watch in an interview. Geez. I guess all that swimming doesn't leave much time to get much of an exciting personality. I dunno, might not be fair to say. Maybe he just doesn't like doing the whole interview thing. Wouldn't blame him, he is young and he has probably done so many.
Alright I'm done.
Whatever. Garbage. It's all garbage. I don't know how people watch any of that crap. What is worse is I didn't even come on here to post about that. I saw a commercial for some medical drama and then it angered me enough to voice my opinion. Voicing opinions is good, that is the whole purpose of blogs. You get free reign over that sort of thing. Within reason I guess... There are those crazies out there that talk about doing illegal things to government officials and stuff like that and then get in a lot of trouble. Not such a good idea. The government is out there and they are watching!
Speaking of another Big Brother, the TV show is back on... You know there is nothing to watch on TV when you resort to watching that stuff. I don't even really want to get into that show. It is like you know it is bad, but you watch it anyway because it is like so oddly good at the same time somehow. I think it has more to do with the nothing being on TV in the summer then I'm giving it credit for.
What else... I dunno. I feel like I need another paragraph for a good post. Oh I know! Sort of like the legendary Planet Earth documentaries, Discovery channel has this thing about the Pacific, whether it be the oceans there, the islands, etc. It is truly awesome and very informative. You can learn a lot and it looks beautiful if you have an HD tv. I have been quite satisfied with the episodes I have seen so far. Consider it recommended to you all.
Work is so ridiculous long. This week it has felt so long it is not even funny. I don't know how people have been doing this for like 40 years or more that is just unbelievable I can't even imagine doing that. I dunno, maybe it gets easier to deal with or something once you have a chunk of years under your belt... Probably not though. Guess I'll just have to win the lottery, no problem there right?
One last note. Watching Conan, Michael Phelps is like the most uninteresting person to watch in an interview. Geez. I guess all that swimming doesn't leave much time to get much of an exciting personality. I dunno, might not be fair to say. Maybe he just doesn't like doing the whole interview thing. Wouldn't blame him, he is young and he has probably done so many.
Alright I'm done.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Random Nonsense awmfeu; wfieojfos;
Monday.
10:34 EST
this might be the new worst time of day. You have already been at work or school for a few hours, and you still have at least an hour an a half give or take a bit until lunch time. Thinking further, you still have several hours until you can leave. I think I have found the new worst time of day.
Screw you 10:34.
My boss isn't in today. I have declared that since if he isn't in by now, and if he doesn't come in after lunch (crossing fingers) I doubt he will be here. That means if the only other person here that I work with leaves at 3:00 like he always does, I'm out of here faster then a freakin' bat on speed.
I think I'm going to get a haircut today. It's getting longer, as hair tends to do... It's not that it is too long, but it is getting there and I don't like that. I used to have my hair pretty long and curly. Now I like to keep it short. Looks better on me I think, most people that I have daily interaction with outside of a blog in the real world tend to agree. You should probably just take their word for it.
My stomach hurts. Besides the potential for leaving early, this day just has suck all over it.
10:34 EST
this might be the new worst time of day. You have already been at work or school for a few hours, and you still have at least an hour an a half give or take a bit until lunch time. Thinking further, you still have several hours until you can leave. I think I have found the new worst time of day.
Screw you 10:34.
My boss isn't in today. I have declared that since if he isn't in by now, and if he doesn't come in after lunch (crossing fingers) I doubt he will be here. That means if the only other person here that I work with leaves at 3:00 like he always does, I'm out of here faster then a freakin' bat on speed.
I think I'm going to get a haircut today. It's getting longer, as hair tends to do... It's not that it is too long, but it is getting there and I don't like that. I used to have my hair pretty long and curly. Now I like to keep it short. Looks better on me I think, most people that I have daily interaction with outside of a blog in the real world tend to agree. You should probably just take their word for it.
My stomach hurts. Besides the potential for leaving early, this day just has suck all over it.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Back Again
I'm not sure if I beat the previous record for days in between posts or not, but I don't think it matters when I am pretty sure I only average probably 2 readers every other week.
But the show goes on.
I had this whole week off, because I wanted and needed it to be so. I was in St. Louis as I mentioned from last Thursday till this Tuesday, and then I figured well I don't know if I'll be taking any other time off from work or not, so I am going to extend my vacation a bit... The result was taking the rest of the week off. Funny how fast that time went, as it is already 3 in the morning on Saturday as I write this... Down to a whole 2 days left of the vacation. I'm pretty sure one full work day feels like it is as long as this whole week has been. I'm not sure if that means I need a new job or what, but either way it is a sucky realization.
But there is no reason to dwell, no use in that really.
I kind of want to see Public Enemy (Enemies?) with Bale and Depp. It looks really good, and those 2 are pretty good at what they do, so it sounds like a winner. I haven't really looked at any reviews yet or heard anything about it interestingly enough, but that wouldn't really deter me anyway.
Not much else has really been new. I have been taking advantage of my time off by doing absolutely nothing, and it has felt good. I think I might try to use these last two days to good advantage and, oh I don't know, actually go outside or come out of my room for once. Usually I would see that as a bad thing, just hanging out in my room for most the day. But honestly it is such a great feeling to just relax like that and not worry about anything...
That's it for me, have a good weekend
But the show goes on.
I had this whole week off, because I wanted and needed it to be so. I was in St. Louis as I mentioned from last Thursday till this Tuesday, and then I figured well I don't know if I'll be taking any other time off from work or not, so I am going to extend my vacation a bit... The result was taking the rest of the week off. Funny how fast that time went, as it is already 3 in the morning on Saturday as I write this... Down to a whole 2 days left of the vacation. I'm pretty sure one full work day feels like it is as long as this whole week has been. I'm not sure if that means I need a new job or what, but either way it is a sucky realization.
But there is no reason to dwell, no use in that really.
I kind of want to see Public Enemy (Enemies?) with Bale and Depp. It looks really good, and those 2 are pretty good at what they do, so it sounds like a winner. I haven't really looked at any reviews yet or heard anything about it interestingly enough, but that wouldn't really deter me anyway.
Not much else has really been new. I have been taking advantage of my time off by doing absolutely nothing, and it has felt good. I think I might try to use these last two days to good advantage and, oh I don't know, actually go outside or come out of my room for once. Usually I would see that as a bad thing, just hanging out in my room for most the day. But honestly it is such a great feeling to just relax like that and not worry about anything...
That's it for me, have a good weekend
Saturday, July 4, 2009
I knew this mobile blog would come in handy.
I am currenty in St. Louis with my sister visiting my brother and his wife. We got here Thursday morning, at a time I won't speak of cause it may cause vomitting. Anyways, the weekend has been great so far.
Thursday we met my brothers dog, Onya, who is only a 6 month old pup. One of the sweetest dogs I have ever come across. There is no possible way to not like this dog. The training my brother has done for hours with the dog really paid off; this thing listens to ever little thing he says. It is quite impressive if you ask me.
Friday we hung around the house a bit, but then later on went down by the arch where they had a fair and the countng crows played. Afterwards there were fireworks.
To close last night we went to The City Museum. Think of a giant playground that spans 10 stories of this downtown building, and it's for kids and adults alike. This place is so unique and so bizarre one cannot even begin to describe this place. I took some pictures but I can't send them on my mobile blog, I will upload them when I'm home however.
Definitely considering writing a whole post about that place. If you ever have 4 or 5 hours to burn and your in St. Louis, please go you will not regret it. Warning though, it's not for those who are out of shape, overweight, claustrophobic, or afraid of heights. You must also have a sense of adventure. What a place.
That's it for me right now, happy 4th of July everyone
Monday, June 29, 2009
Blsah WEF wfj jsf blah
Today is the slowest day at work maybe ever... I don't know why, but it is. Probably has something to do with that being a Monday thing...
it's 80 degrees and sunny outside... and im in here. The worst part is so are like millions of other people around the US and the world working in office buildings... It's terrible. I am going to design an office that takes advantage of the outdoors somehow. I have no experience in architecture, but I did get a B+ in geometry.
Still thinking about Megan Fox... *drool*
back to play little games on my iPhone
it's 80 degrees and sunny outside... and im in here. The worst part is so are like millions of other people around the US and the world working in office buildings... It's terrible. I am going to design an office that takes advantage of the outdoors somehow. I have no experience in architecture, but I did get a B+ in geometry.
Still thinking about Megan Fox... *drool*
back to play little games on my iPhone
Another Monday, Another Post
So I did see Transformers 2 over the weekend, and it was amazing. The last 45 minutes is like one of the most epic things you will watch in an action movie in the past 10 years. Which means I was correct in my prediction. Not only were the fighting robots way more awesome the second time around, Megan Fox was slaaaaaammmiinggg gorgeous in this movie. There was one part where she was changing into this white dress or whatever, and you could see a lot of leg going on... and wow I'll just stop there.
I think the only thing better then being an actor and having all that money because of it, is being able to make out with girls like Megan Fox. Sure it is just on camera, and sure it is only for one or two scenes in a movie, but holy crap every single guy in America is incredibly jealous of that Shi Labouff or however it is spelled kid. That kid isn't even anything special! If he wasn't a movie star, he would never ever in a thousand years plus one get a girl like Megan. It makes me quite mad and even more jealous. What a lucky man. I'm sure he knows he is lucky. He better, or he deserves a punch in the face.
Geez... Time to change the subject before I get lost in thought about Megan Fox
Anyway... Back in reality, nothing terribly exciting on my neck of the woods besides seeing that movie. The working out has sort of fallen out... I don't know, I need to regain motivation somehow. It's not that I mind doing it or that I mind that it is hard and is not easy. Just for some reason I can't bring myself to actually do it. When I do do it, however, I don't want to stop doing it. Even though it is hard and gets progressivly harder since your getting tired and everything.
I find that with a lot of things with me. I have the hardest time just getting started or commiting, but once I do I am focused and dedicated. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time starting, because I know I won't BS it once I start doing it. Like I've said before, anything worth doing is worth doing right.
If I could just get past that first step in my life, I'd be in a lot better shape. Haha, no pun intended but now that I realized it is a pun I'll actually leave it like that.
But it's not always getting past the first step, the bigger problem is finding the first step, and knowing how to take it. That is where things get tricky my friends.
Anyway, I am continuing to build up in my mind even as we speak the motivation to work out and stuff, so we will see what the result is I'm not entirely sure where it will lead me yet.
/end post
I think the only thing better then being an actor and having all that money because of it, is being able to make out with girls like Megan Fox. Sure it is just on camera, and sure it is only for one or two scenes in a movie, but holy crap every single guy in America is incredibly jealous of that Shi Labouff or however it is spelled kid. That kid isn't even anything special! If he wasn't a movie star, he would never ever in a thousand years plus one get a girl like Megan. It makes me quite mad and even more jealous. What a lucky man. I'm sure he knows he is lucky. He better, or he deserves a punch in the face.
Geez... Time to change the subject before I get lost in thought about Megan Fox
Anyway... Back in reality, nothing terribly exciting on my neck of the woods besides seeing that movie. The working out has sort of fallen out... I don't know, I need to regain motivation somehow. It's not that I mind doing it or that I mind that it is hard and is not easy. Just for some reason I can't bring myself to actually do it. When I do do it, however, I don't want to stop doing it. Even though it is hard and gets progressivly harder since your getting tired and everything.
I find that with a lot of things with me. I have the hardest time just getting started or commiting, but once I do I am focused and dedicated. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time starting, because I know I won't BS it once I start doing it. Like I've said before, anything worth doing is worth doing right.
If I could just get past that first step in my life, I'd be in a lot better shape. Haha, no pun intended but now that I realized it is a pun I'll actually leave it like that.
But it's not always getting past the first step, the bigger problem is finding the first step, and knowing how to take it. That is where things get tricky my friends.
Anyway, I am continuing to build up in my mind even as we speak the motivation to work out and stuff, so we will see what the result is I'm not entirely sure where it will lead me yet.
/end post
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wow...
i just made a post with like my own funny pictures and everything, and then blogger said it ran into an error... Screw that. I'm not typing up the whole thing again.
Here is the funny picture, by the way. I was talking about how Transformers is a good movie because of fighting transforming robots and hot girls:
Have a good weekend
Here is the funny picture, by the way. I was talking about how Transformers is a good movie because of fighting transforming robots and hot girls:
Have a good weekend
Monday, June 22, 2009
It's A Big World Out There
I have determined that not that many people read this. That's okay, though. It will not deter me from writing about what I do best: nonsense.
some random guy won the US Open in golf earlier today. The only thing worse for the PGA Tour and it's ratings for having some random guy win, is the fact that it happened in the middle of the day when everyone was at work, and younger folks were probably out and about on a beautiful summers day.
The Dave Matthews Band concert I atteneded on Saturday was unbelievable. I couldn't have asked for a better setlist. This was probably my 9th or 10th time seeing the band live, and I think I finally got to hear every song that I ever wanted to hear live. The new songs from the album translated wonderfully live, and overall it was a great night. Perfect weather too, which was lucky because their was supposed to be rain at any point in time during that day. In fact, it actually did start to rain about 20 minutes after we got out of the concert. Anyway, what a day and what a concert.
Rant time: It seems like each year I go to the DMB summer concert, there are less and less fans each time and more and more random people that are there because they think it is cool or they think it is an excuse to run around and spew high school drama from the top of their lungs... Oh well. At least I got to experience the time when sitting out on the lawn meant the majority of people were singing along and actually, and this is quite a concept, actually listening to the music. It seemed like most of the people there didn't even know there was a concert going on... That could have been for the fact that a lot of them were too intoxicated to even remember the music, but whatever. Whatever makes you happy I guess. I think the solution is to buy good tickets next year and get actual seats closer to the stage.
Anyway, enough of the ranting. It was still fun but I just needed to get that off of my mind.
Wimbledon has started. I know, I know, most of you (the few that read this) are probably like "WHAT?! why is he talking about TENNIS?!" Ok well first of all, Tennis is a good sport if you just get over yourself and watch it. Two, it's really the only sport that goes on during the summer that is also on TV and involved professionals that also coincidentally is exciting to watch. Don't get me wrong, I love golf, but it's better used as a sleep aid then a source of entertainment when it comes to watching it on TV. Don't even get me started on baseball. There are so many things wrong with Major League Baseball it is not even worth getting into. It would take longer then all the posts on this blog combined. And another paragraph too.
But anyway, it has started and I am excited. True, I used to be like you and probably passed when I saw tennis on TV, but if you get into it you will see it is pretty exciting to watch. It is pretty fast paced, the shots that are made are amazing, and there is a lot of tension in the close matches. It's a great sport really fun to watch.
Well I think that is all from me for now. Probably about to go to bed soon but want to check a few websites before I do, maybe read a little bit from the commerative Sports Illustrated I got a few days ago on the Penguins Stanley Cup Championship Season (Woooo!!). It has definitely settled in by now, and is now forever locked in history in my mind. A memory so vivid and important that it is ready to pounce at a moments notice, even in 50 years, from my subconscious into my short term memory when I am telling my grand children about the great Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the understated Marc Andre Fleury, and the underdog Maxime Talbot. Oh it is glorious to think about.
With that, I bid you a good evening
some random guy won the US Open in golf earlier today. The only thing worse for the PGA Tour and it's ratings for having some random guy win, is the fact that it happened in the middle of the day when everyone was at work, and younger folks were probably out and about on a beautiful summers day.
The Dave Matthews Band concert I atteneded on Saturday was unbelievable. I couldn't have asked for a better setlist. This was probably my 9th or 10th time seeing the band live, and I think I finally got to hear every song that I ever wanted to hear live. The new songs from the album translated wonderfully live, and overall it was a great night. Perfect weather too, which was lucky because their was supposed to be rain at any point in time during that day. In fact, it actually did start to rain about 20 minutes after we got out of the concert. Anyway, what a day and what a concert.
Rant time: It seems like each year I go to the DMB summer concert, there are less and less fans each time and more and more random people that are there because they think it is cool or they think it is an excuse to run around and spew high school drama from the top of their lungs... Oh well. At least I got to experience the time when sitting out on the lawn meant the majority of people were singing along and actually, and this is quite a concept, actually listening to the music. It seemed like most of the people there didn't even know there was a concert going on... That could have been for the fact that a lot of them were too intoxicated to even remember the music, but whatever. Whatever makes you happy I guess. I think the solution is to buy good tickets next year and get actual seats closer to the stage.
Anyway, enough of the ranting. It was still fun but I just needed to get that off of my mind.
Wimbledon has started. I know, I know, most of you (the few that read this) are probably like "WHAT?! why is he talking about TENNIS?!" Ok well first of all, Tennis is a good sport if you just get over yourself and watch it. Two, it's really the only sport that goes on during the summer that is also on TV and involved professionals that also coincidentally is exciting to watch. Don't get me wrong, I love golf, but it's better used as a sleep aid then a source of entertainment when it comes to watching it on TV. Don't even get me started on baseball. There are so many things wrong with Major League Baseball it is not even worth getting into. It would take longer then all the posts on this blog combined. And another paragraph too.
But anyway, it has started and I am excited. True, I used to be like you and probably passed when I saw tennis on TV, but if you get into it you will see it is pretty exciting to watch. It is pretty fast paced, the shots that are made are amazing, and there is a lot of tension in the close matches. It's a great sport really fun to watch.
Well I think that is all from me for now. Probably about to go to bed soon but want to check a few websites before I do, maybe read a little bit from the commerative Sports Illustrated I got a few days ago on the Penguins Stanley Cup Championship Season (Woooo!!). It has definitely settled in by now, and is now forever locked in history in my mind. A memory so vivid and important that it is ready to pounce at a moments notice, even in 50 years, from my subconscious into my short term memory when I am telling my grand children about the great Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the understated Marc Andre Fleury, and the underdog Maxime Talbot. Oh it is glorious to think about.
With that, I bid you a good evening
Friday, June 19, 2009
2:00 On A Friday
The only thing worse then waiting for the bell to ring in your last period of the day when you are a kid in school, is waiting for the clock to reach that hour when you are free from work when you are of adult age.
Unfortunately that time is still two and a half hours away as I write this.
So the NHL awards were lame. Was really badly produced, not very exciting, people didn't even really even clap most the time. At the very end when they were moving the camera around the audience, they cut to the great Mark Messier, who was seen head down texting on his cell phone... That's about how awesome those awards must have been even if you were there. Athletes can definitely put on a show if it deals with athletics, but boy... Hockey Players are nooo entertainers otherwise.
Ok, a little harsh. Every now and then their were a few good comments that showed some personality on the players part, but it was hard to tell when the awards were basically the "Russian Awards" as one of the presenters on the show actually even joked about himself. Hard to be interested when the guy up at the mic is speaking to the vocabulary of a 7 year old. Not his fault. If I was paid to play hockey in Russia and I was from the US, I don't think I'd put much effort into learning Russian, even after being there for a few years.
Was nice to see Chara and Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins) win their respective awards for best defensemen and goalie. They seem like classy guys, and they had good speeches when accepting their awards.
Enough about all that now, already took up half a post.
What else what else...
new iPhone software 3.0 came out. I don't know if I already mentioned it or not, but it is pretty cool. They added some neat features. I won't really get into it because as I am typing this the suspicion grows that I've already talked about this... But I could be wrong. Chances are if you own an iPhone you already know about it and probably have the new software.
Ok, so this is a chance for people to sound off... and a chance for me to see if anyone actually reads this.
I am looking for some new music to listen to. I just need a few albums to give a try to fit inbetween the stuff I have been listening to forever. If you have a band, a few bands, artists, whatever, leave a comment with your suggestions. It can be anything or anyone, even rap which I don't like but ONLY if it doesn't sound like usual rap. If you don't know what that means then your better off just not leaving that suggestion.
I don't know what else to write about. Life is kinda boring when you work 8 hours a day and then just do the same few hobbies every day (guitar, video games, read a magazine). Not that its really boring for me, because I love doing those things, but it doesn't leave a lot to write about on a blog...
Or does it it? I think I might have sparked a few ideas for my next post... Probably involving one of those hobbies of mine I mentioned.
Leave your music suggestions, please!
Peace.
Unfortunately that time is still two and a half hours away as I write this.
So the NHL awards were lame. Was really badly produced, not very exciting, people didn't even really even clap most the time. At the very end when they were moving the camera around the audience, they cut to the great Mark Messier, who was seen head down texting on his cell phone... That's about how awesome those awards must have been even if you were there. Athletes can definitely put on a show if it deals with athletics, but boy... Hockey Players are nooo entertainers otherwise.
Ok, a little harsh. Every now and then their were a few good comments that showed some personality on the players part, but it was hard to tell when the awards were basically the "Russian Awards" as one of the presenters on the show actually even joked about himself. Hard to be interested when the guy up at the mic is speaking to the vocabulary of a 7 year old. Not his fault. If I was paid to play hockey in Russia and I was from the US, I don't think I'd put much effort into learning Russian, even after being there for a few years.
Was nice to see Chara and Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins) win their respective awards for best defensemen and goalie. They seem like classy guys, and they had good speeches when accepting their awards.
Enough about all that now, already took up half a post.
What else what else...
new iPhone software 3.0 came out. I don't know if I already mentioned it or not, but it is pretty cool. They added some neat features. I won't really get into it because as I am typing this the suspicion grows that I've already talked about this... But I could be wrong. Chances are if you own an iPhone you already know about it and probably have the new software.
Ok, so this is a chance for people to sound off... and a chance for me to see if anyone actually reads this.
I am looking for some new music to listen to. I just need a few albums to give a try to fit inbetween the stuff I have been listening to forever. If you have a band, a few bands, artists, whatever, leave a comment with your suggestions. It can be anything or anyone, even rap which I don't like but ONLY if it doesn't sound like usual rap. If you don't know what that means then your better off just not leaving that suggestion.
I don't know what else to write about. Life is kinda boring when you work 8 hours a day and then just do the same few hobbies every day (guitar, video games, read a magazine). Not that its really boring for me, because I love doing those things, but it doesn't leave a lot to write about on a blog...
Or does it it? I think I might have sparked a few ideas for my next post... Probably involving one of those hobbies of mine I mentioned.
Leave your music suggestions, please!
Peace.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Another Mobile Post
So you will be able to tell which ones are mobile because I still haven't figured out how to put a title on mobile posts. I'm not that concerned though. It's sort of along the lines of how I always thought all book covers should just be white or black or something with an unimpressive font -- so as to never having to worry about judging a book by it's cover.
Speaking of that, does anyone over the age of like 13 even do that? I did that as a kid... But now I could care less what is on the cover.
I don't know how long text messages can be in the first place, so time to close this post. US Open starts today, which is cool, and I have the DMB concert on Saturday up at the Pavillion I am excited for. Now that I have an iPhone, anticipate pictures.
NHL Awards on tonight as well. If you like hockey I'm sure you will tune in.
Ok I'm done for now
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Long Time
It has been 6 days, I'm sure any reader I have had has probably moved onto other blogs by now. But I must continue. I am like the independent ice cream seller who has his little hut to sell ice cream out of, and down the street there is a big-time ice cream chain company with their 50 foot sign and a billion flavors. But you know what? That ice cream may be really good, but it tastes all the same. This ice cream is lesser known, but who knows? Maybe you think it tastes better then that ice cream. So next time your driving down the street, stop by. The line is a lot shorter here.
That is my beautiful analogy for the day. I love making them, expect it to occur again sometime.
So where were we last time?
I can't even begin to describe the feelings I have/had after the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. Even 5 days later or whatever it has been it still seems unbelievable, although there were certain points in those days that it would really hit me and I would get goosebumps reading an article or seeing a picture of the team. Crosby is on the front of this weeks SI, coming out tomorrow. Might be on news stands today already, I don't know. Mine always gets in on Thursday.
They have great pictures... I guess a magazine that basically calls itself 'Sports Pictures' should... The Leading Off portion of their magazine, which comes in the front (how appropriate) is the best part of the mag. For those not familiar, they fill two entire pages at a time of pictures from the past weeks sporting events. They are awesome, great photography, and wonderful quality. Like mini posters really. I am expecting an awesome one from the Stanley Cup game.
I could go on and on forever about the Pens and their victory, but I think I'll just leave it at the fact that I couldn't have been more happy and proud of the team and city. I'm pretty sure on this blog, a few posts back, I said something along the lines of not counting them out and believing... Well, believing is a big thing and after game 5 a lot of people either doubted or had already said it's over. Well it 'aint over until the clock reaches 0.00 on that clinching game, so maybe a lot of early-bird doubters learned a lesson from this amazing victory. What a win, and what an incredible season. October can not come soon enough.
The working out continues. This is the second week. I got some advice that I should just take a before picture, save it, and then in 8 weeks put it next to a picture of how I will be. Ok. Fine with me, just means I don't have to take pictures of myself every week for 8 weeks. Fair enough.
But the working out does continue. Going pretty well, today is actually another workout day so I'll be sure to muster up some good ol' Rocky courage and energy. Always helps when doing stuff like this to channel Slyvester Stallone. I don't know why.
Alright, enjoy the rainy day (if your in Pittsburgh)
That is my beautiful analogy for the day. I love making them, expect it to occur again sometime.
So where were we last time?
I can't even begin to describe the feelings I have/had after the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. Even 5 days later or whatever it has been it still seems unbelievable, although there were certain points in those days that it would really hit me and I would get goosebumps reading an article or seeing a picture of the team. Crosby is on the front of this weeks SI, coming out tomorrow. Might be on news stands today already, I don't know. Mine always gets in on Thursday.
They have great pictures... I guess a magazine that basically calls itself 'Sports Pictures' should... The Leading Off portion of their magazine, which comes in the front (how appropriate) is the best part of the mag. For those not familiar, they fill two entire pages at a time of pictures from the past weeks sporting events. They are awesome, great photography, and wonderful quality. Like mini posters really. I am expecting an awesome one from the Stanley Cup game.
I could go on and on forever about the Pens and their victory, but I think I'll just leave it at the fact that I couldn't have been more happy and proud of the team and city. I'm pretty sure on this blog, a few posts back, I said something along the lines of not counting them out and believing... Well, believing is a big thing and after game 5 a lot of people either doubted or had already said it's over. Well it 'aint over until the clock reaches 0.00 on that clinching game, so maybe a lot of early-bird doubters learned a lesson from this amazing victory. What a win, and what an incredible season. October can not come soon enough.
The working out continues. This is the second week. I got some advice that I should just take a before picture, save it, and then in 8 weeks put it next to a picture of how I will be. Ok. Fine with me, just means I don't have to take pictures of myself every week for 8 weeks. Fair enough.
But the working out does continue. Going pretty well, today is actually another workout day so I'll be sure to muster up some good ol' Rocky courage and energy. Always helps when doing stuff like this to channel Slyvester Stallone. I don't know why.
Alright, enjoy the rainy day (if your in Pittsburgh)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Burning Time
So I needed like 15 minutes before I left to go to lunch, and today is sort of a slow day and I don't have much to do... I was already perusing the internets throughout the morning, and was running out of sites that I frequently visit... So what was there to do?
Make another blog post.
I think this is only the second time i made two posts in one day. The first time was when this thing started, and I put an intro and the first "chapter" of life stuff that I was going to be talking about. Funny how I haven't done that in awhile, and it was the aim of this blog. Oh well. This is more fun anyway.
It's like writing in a journal afterall, and I wasn't going to do that because like I said in one of those early posts, who cares and who will want to read it? But then I realized, well that is all blogs are anyway. They are like these journals of stuff that their authors care about and then it just so happens that people come across these blogs and care about the same thing.
I'm still not sure if anyone actually reads this, it's something that blogger/blogspot/whatever this thing is called really needs to add; the ability to see how many people visit your blog... It would be nice to see if I have really been talking to myself and two other people the whole time.
If this ability already exists somewhere within blogger, then I apologize to the kind people that created this thing.
Still 6 minutes remaining.
If I wrote for 7 minutes, this post would probably get unbelievably long. How bout I waste some time by putting up some interesting links? I will have to find them, of course, and then it will take time to upload them into this post.
Searching...
Project Natal -- In case you didn't take my suggestion and look for it yourself, now you have no excuse but to just click on the link and learn about Natal. TRUST ME. Even if you don't like video games, you will be at least intrigued by this. I still plan on making a full blown post about this soon
Internet Economy Creates Jobs -- The power of the internets!! The internet has created a whole ton of jobs. Still convinced there is nothing it can't do. Except feel. And eat. I dunno maybe the internet eats and I'm just unaware.
Robot That Reads Intentions? This is both cool and kind of creepy at the same time. Robotics advances everyday in terms of things we get them to do for us, but this article talks about how scientists/engineers are working on robotic intelligence that can work with us. Very cool stuff. If I was smarter in the ways of mathematics and science I would have gone into Robotics; fascinating stuff.
I'm a minute past when I was planning to leave. Successful wasting time post, indeed.
Make another blog post.
I think this is only the second time i made two posts in one day. The first time was when this thing started, and I put an intro and the first "chapter" of life stuff that I was going to be talking about. Funny how I haven't done that in awhile, and it was the aim of this blog. Oh well. This is more fun anyway.
It's like writing in a journal afterall, and I wasn't going to do that because like I said in one of those early posts, who cares and who will want to read it? But then I realized, well that is all blogs are anyway. They are like these journals of stuff that their authors care about and then it just so happens that people come across these blogs and care about the same thing.
I'm still not sure if anyone actually reads this, it's something that blogger/blogspot/whatever this thing is called really needs to add; the ability to see how many people visit your blog... It would be nice to see if I have really been talking to myself and two other people the whole time.
If this ability already exists somewhere within blogger, then I apologize to the kind people that created this thing.
Still 6 minutes remaining.
If I wrote for 7 minutes, this post would probably get unbelievably long. How bout I waste some time by putting up some interesting links? I will have to find them, of course, and then it will take time to upload them into this post.
Searching...
Project Natal -- In case you didn't take my suggestion and look for it yourself, now you have no excuse but to just click on the link and learn about Natal. TRUST ME. Even if you don't like video games, you will be at least intrigued by this. I still plan on making a full blown post about this soon
Internet Economy Creates Jobs -- The power of the internets!! The internet has created a whole ton of jobs. Still convinced there is nothing it can't do. Except feel. And eat. I dunno maybe the internet eats and I'm just unaware.
Robot That Reads Intentions? This is both cool and kind of creepy at the same time. Robotics advances everyday in terms of things we get them to do for us, but this article talks about how scientists/engineers are working on robotic intelligence that can work with us. Very cool stuff. If I was smarter in the ways of mathematics and science I would have gone into Robotics; fascinating stuff.
I'm a minute past when I was planning to leave. Successful wasting time post, indeed.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Late Shift
Not sure why I am posting this late in the first place... I have to wake up in 6 hours and 45 minutes. That's alright though, after this I'll be sure to hit the hay.
Where did they come up with that expression anyway? Did beds of the olden days have hay somewhere in the mattress or something? I couldn't see hay being all that comfortable just by itself. I would think it would be pretty itchy, actually. But alas, I have never tried sleeping on hay before, so my opinion is uninformed about the subject.
Today was a workout day... This push-up workout is tough. The type I had to do today consisted of doing a sort of shuffle and then pushing up. You would hold yourself like you usually do at the top of a push up, but then you had to slide one of your hands over to the other, and take the outside hand and push it out further, and then proceed to do a push up. Going left and then right was just 1 rep, so it was tough... On top of being tired and still sore from Monday, I didn't do as well as I hoped I would, but i did as many as I could and they said that was alright in the program guidelines.
Speaking of doing what you can do, The Penguins pushed a game seven against Detroit. Friday can't come soon enough, and I am both excited and nervous. I am very optimistic, however. I don't know if I mentioned it in my last post or not, but in my opinion if we could get past game 6, I knew we would have a strong chance at game 7. It has seemed that all year when our team knew it was now or never, they always stepped up and showed their true potential. I believe this will be the case on Friday, and I strongly believe we can win that cup come Friday. It would obviously be very special if they could.
Even if we don't, it has been one heck of a ride, and not only in my opinion but as many fans and sports analysts say, this has been one of the best years of playoffs in a long time. It's done a lot for the sport and the NHL, which is good of course. Always a good thing when you draw people into something they previously didn't know much about, or didn't think they cared for until they experienced it... But then again, I guess thats with a lot of things in life.
I should sleep.
Until next time.
P.S. If you have any interest in technology, and more specifically video game technology, look up "xbox360 natal" on google and learn about this technology that will change video gaming forever. Next post will provide my thoughts on the initiative and what I think it means for video games in the future.
Where did they come up with that expression anyway? Did beds of the olden days have hay somewhere in the mattress or something? I couldn't see hay being all that comfortable just by itself. I would think it would be pretty itchy, actually. But alas, I have never tried sleeping on hay before, so my opinion is uninformed about the subject.
Today was a workout day... This push-up workout is tough. The type I had to do today consisted of doing a sort of shuffle and then pushing up. You would hold yourself like you usually do at the top of a push up, but then you had to slide one of your hands over to the other, and take the outside hand and push it out further, and then proceed to do a push up. Going left and then right was just 1 rep, so it was tough... On top of being tired and still sore from Monday, I didn't do as well as I hoped I would, but i did as many as I could and they said that was alright in the program guidelines.
Speaking of doing what you can do, The Penguins pushed a game seven against Detroit. Friday can't come soon enough, and I am both excited and nervous. I am very optimistic, however. I don't know if I mentioned it in my last post or not, but in my opinion if we could get past game 6, I knew we would have a strong chance at game 7. It has seemed that all year when our team knew it was now or never, they always stepped up and showed their true potential. I believe this will be the case on Friday, and I strongly believe we can win that cup come Friday. It would obviously be very special if they could.
Even if we don't, it has been one heck of a ride, and not only in my opinion but as many fans and sports analysts say, this has been one of the best years of playoffs in a long time. It's done a lot for the sport and the NHL, which is good of course. Always a good thing when you draw people into something they previously didn't know much about, or didn't think they cared for until they experienced it... But then again, I guess thats with a lot of things in life.
I should sleep.
Until next time.
P.S. If you have any interest in technology, and more specifically video game technology, look up "xbox360 natal" on google and learn about this technology that will change video gaming forever. Next post will provide my thoughts on the initiative and what I think it means for video games in the future.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Workout Continues, Benjamin Button, Pens
That title is more like a headline in a paper then a title for a blog post. But, same idea since it tells you what this post will contain.
Haven't posted in a few days, sorry to leave everyone hanging on by the edge of their seat there...
Workout
So far so good. The beginning is sore, as I remember it being back when I lifted in school. Sore is a good thing though, it means you are actually doing work and not just pretending to work your muscles. Stretching definitely reduces the soreness, and you should always stretch before and after, but you should still have some indication in your body that you have worked out, at least a few hours after the fact... Just a note for any other skinny guys out there that are doing this with me. Expect the first pictures to come this friday. It will be like the base pictures, I guess, since I didn't take any before I started doing this whole thing. But oh well
Benjamin
So I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night. I was so engaged and interested in this movie, that the snack and drink I had next to me at the beginning of the movie remained untouched all the way till the end of the movie, when I remembered it was there in the first place. It definitely had its typical Brad Pitt scenes, where he is on a motorcycle or a sailboat just showing off his dudeliness, but overall it was a very thoughtful and original concept for a movie. I won't really get anymore into that, either you have seen it or you are planning to. Well I'll tell you to stop waiting and do it, you won't regret it.
It is a bit on the longer side, I think like two hours and thirty minutes, but even after all that time I was sad to see it end. Apparently it is based on a short story. Shame on me for not knowing the author, but props to him for coming up with a great story. Not really the hardest concept to come up with, when you think about it, "Ok...so, instead of this guys life regular, lets just reverse it! And throw in the classic love story but just make it applicable to the situation!" but the execution, the acting, and the way the story is told makes it a gem. Loved it. Gets my unprofessional seal of approval. And I don't watch very many movies. Mostly cause most of them are terrible
Pens
This could be their last game tonight. I think the fact that they are at home, paired with the fact that they don't want to see the cup go to another team on their home ice again, will at least give them enough extra push in their already high motivation to get this to game 7. Whether we beat Detroit at that last stand, on that game 7, on their own ice, is really 50/50 at best in my mind, but for now let us not dwell on that. We have to get through tonight first. It is now or never, do or die, and every penguin that will be on that ice knows that. Not sure I have been more nervous and more excited for a hockey game then tonight.
Lots of "professionals" aka journalists on the radio and such are throwing the whole penguins organization under the bus pretty much after Game 5 (which was, as we know, abysmal), but I think they put waaaayy too much emphasis on one game for them to think we are out of it. In my opinion, we are anything but. The only thing more motivating then loss is losing and being angry (in the right way) about something. That gives you a fire. We were angry in the wrong way in game 5, started taking stupid penalties and such. But I believe that if this team has channeled that anger into motivation, into "enough of this" kind of thinking, they can bring that cup back to Pittsburgh.
Do it Pens.
Andrew OUT
Haven't posted in a few days, sorry to leave everyone hanging on by the edge of their seat there...
Workout
So far so good. The beginning is sore, as I remember it being back when I lifted in school. Sore is a good thing though, it means you are actually doing work and not just pretending to work your muscles. Stretching definitely reduces the soreness, and you should always stretch before and after, but you should still have some indication in your body that you have worked out, at least a few hours after the fact... Just a note for any other skinny guys out there that are doing this with me. Expect the first pictures to come this friday. It will be like the base pictures, I guess, since I didn't take any before I started doing this whole thing. But oh well
Benjamin
So I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night. I was so engaged and interested in this movie, that the snack and drink I had next to me at the beginning of the movie remained untouched all the way till the end of the movie, when I remembered it was there in the first place. It definitely had its typical Brad Pitt scenes, where he is on a motorcycle or a sailboat just showing off his dudeliness, but overall it was a very thoughtful and original concept for a movie. I won't really get anymore into that, either you have seen it or you are planning to. Well I'll tell you to stop waiting and do it, you won't regret it.
It is a bit on the longer side, I think like two hours and thirty minutes, but even after all that time I was sad to see it end. Apparently it is based on a short story. Shame on me for not knowing the author, but props to him for coming up with a great story. Not really the hardest concept to come up with, when you think about it, "Ok...so, instead of this guys life regular, lets just reverse it! And throw in the classic love story but just make it applicable to the situation!" but the execution, the acting, and the way the story is told makes it a gem. Loved it. Gets my unprofessional seal of approval. And I don't watch very many movies. Mostly cause most of them are terrible
Pens
This could be their last game tonight. I think the fact that they are at home, paired with the fact that they don't want to see the cup go to another team on their home ice again, will at least give them enough extra push in their already high motivation to get this to game 7. Whether we beat Detroit at that last stand, on that game 7, on their own ice, is really 50/50 at best in my mind, but for now let us not dwell on that. We have to get through tonight first. It is now or never, do or die, and every penguin that will be on that ice knows that. Not sure I have been more nervous and more excited for a hockey game then tonight.
Lots of "professionals" aka journalists on the radio and such are throwing the whole penguins organization under the bus pretty much after Game 5 (which was, as we know, abysmal), but I think they put waaaayy too much emphasis on one game for them to think we are out of it. In my opinion, we are anything but. The only thing more motivating then loss is losing and being angry (in the right way) about something. That gives you a fire. We were angry in the wrong way in game 5, started taking stupid penalties and such. But I believe that if this team has channeled that anger into motivation, into "enough of this" kind of thinking, they can bring that cup back to Pittsburgh.
Do it Pens.
Andrew OUT
Thursday, June 4, 2009
New (Old) Ambition
Back in September, I had started a journey to gain some weight/muscle by working out. Nothing crazy, but definitely pretty serious. I did it four days a week with my old roommates down at our house during our senior year of college. It was easy because I had them to go with, for one, so I wasn't scared about going by myself and not knowing what to do. I had never lifted before this time in my life, and I am a skinny kid... So not only would it help me in a healthy way but I would probably also be more appealing to the opposite sex if I put a little more weight on.
It was also easy because one of my roommates, Theo, is an extremely fit guy, built like a barrel, and knew all about the weight room. He was also very nice to help me from square one especially cause I had no idea what I was doing. So we would go, Monday through thursday and do our thing, and come the end of November (making it 3 months that I had worked out) I had gained about 8 pounds just in muscle. It definitely wasn't from eating because I was eating about the same as I ate before, so it had to be the working out.
Anyway, the evils of school got in the way and I got way too concentrated on finals so I had slowly stopped working out. First it was going 3 days a week, then 2, and then just none at all. By Janurary I hadn't gone in over a month. I wanted to, but once you stop something sometimes it is hard to get back into it.
Fast forward to present day and here I am, back at square one. I lost all the weight I had gained from lifting, and my physique also returned to its unimpressive self once more. I hadn't lifted in several months, but today getting out of the shower this morning was the first time that I really noticed it. I felt a few different ways about this. I was part sad, I was part disappointed, I was part angry at school and at myself, but then most of all I felt a strong motivation. I felt the urge to get back into it, because I knew that it worked and I knew all I had to do was to do it, because I was there before. I saw back in early November how much more of a guy I looked like, instead of a skinny looks-like-a-teenager at age 23.
So today I decided I would get back into it. I don't live down at school anymore, so I don't have the 5 minutes drive to the brand new free gym that they have down at the university, but there is some weights and a bench down in my basement. Also, I read this really great article, that came with directions, the other day about how you can add layers of chest and arm muscle just by doing difference types ofpush ups. I was skeptical, but it came from Men's Health Magazine which is pretty legit if you ask me.
You do the push ups three times a week, alternating days. So I figured, great. I can do these three times a day then work on other parts of my body one or two days inbetween rest days for the push ups. After 8 weeks you are suppose to see a change, results varying of course.
So I have a plan, and I have the motivation. To make things more interesting, I am very confidently going to take pictures of my arm and chest at the end of each week and post them on here, so people can see the progress I have made. This will also help keep me motivated and sticking to it, cause I know I have the obligation to update my progress on here.
Not only do I want to do this for me, I sort of want to do this for other skinny guys out there that sort of wish they had a better body. I don't know how many of them are out there, and if they are even reading, but maybe they can see through my experience that if you put your mind to it, it is possible to do. You just have to do it, and do it for real. Don't half-ass it. Don't do it if you aren't going to do it right.
Anyway, tomorrow is the first day of the pushups, then it will continue on monday. Pictures will be up starting next Friday.
This post is already getting long, but go pens!
It was also easy because one of my roommates, Theo, is an extremely fit guy, built like a barrel, and knew all about the weight room. He was also very nice to help me from square one especially cause I had no idea what I was doing. So we would go, Monday through thursday and do our thing, and come the end of November (making it 3 months that I had worked out) I had gained about 8 pounds just in muscle. It definitely wasn't from eating because I was eating about the same as I ate before, so it had to be the working out.
Anyway, the evils of school got in the way and I got way too concentrated on finals so I had slowly stopped working out. First it was going 3 days a week, then 2, and then just none at all. By Janurary I hadn't gone in over a month. I wanted to, but once you stop something sometimes it is hard to get back into it.
Fast forward to present day and here I am, back at square one. I lost all the weight I had gained from lifting, and my physique also returned to its unimpressive self once more. I hadn't lifted in several months, but today getting out of the shower this morning was the first time that I really noticed it. I felt a few different ways about this. I was part sad, I was part disappointed, I was part angry at school and at myself, but then most of all I felt a strong motivation. I felt the urge to get back into it, because I knew that it worked and I knew all I had to do was to do it, because I was there before. I saw back in early November how much more of a guy I looked like, instead of a skinny looks-like-a-teenager at age 23.
So today I decided I would get back into it. I don't live down at school anymore, so I don't have the 5 minutes drive to the brand new free gym that they have down at the university, but there is some weights and a bench down in my basement. Also, I read this really great article, that came with directions, the other day about how you can add layers of chest and arm muscle just by doing difference types ofpush ups. I was skeptical, but it came from Men's Health Magazine which is pretty legit if you ask me.
You do the push ups three times a week, alternating days. So I figured, great. I can do these three times a day then work on other parts of my body one or two days inbetween rest days for the push ups. After 8 weeks you are suppose to see a change, results varying of course.
So I have a plan, and I have the motivation. To make things more interesting, I am very confidently going to take pictures of my arm and chest at the end of each week and post them on here, so people can see the progress I have made. This will also help keep me motivated and sticking to it, cause I know I have the obligation to update my progress on here.
Not only do I want to do this for me, I sort of want to do this for other skinny guys out there that sort of wish they had a better body. I don't know how many of them are out there, and if they are even reading, but maybe they can see through my experience that if you put your mind to it, it is possible to do. You just have to do it, and do it for real. Don't half-ass it. Don't do it if you aren't going to do it right.
Anyway, tomorrow is the first day of the pushups, then it will continue on monday. Pictures will be up starting next Friday.
This post is already getting long, but go pens!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Music, Hockey, Random Bits
The Pittsburgh Penguins pulled out a win last night, which many of you may have known. To prove that we have been playing our game and we have more or less gotten unlucky in the beginning of the series, Bruce Orpik, Penguins defenseman, had this to say after the game last night,
No, that isn't the direct quote if you were really paying attention to the interview. Yes, that is pretty much exactly what he said, verbatim, because my memory is unbelievable like that.
Anyway, he is right. Hockey is like that. It is a crazy sport and like a lot of other sports sometimes a lot of luck is involved. It is frustrating when you hear things on the radio and blogs on the internet talk about how Fleury is playing like garbage or the Pens just aren't good enough for this Detroit team. Well #1, lucky bounces for Detroit is not a goaltenders fault. #2 If you go back and watch last years final and this years final you will see that the Pens are definitely up to the task, and getting the win last night hopefully shut up some of those that are quick to start throwing people under the bus.
-----
I don't think I mentioned it on this blog yet, but I love music. I have been playing guitar for something like almost 5 years, and I sing as well. I have some music recorded, if you go on YouTube search for "Andrew Graciano" and you should come across some of my stuff. I have a cover from the Dave Matthews Band -- song called The Space Between. I have a Learning to Fly cover, Tom Petty obviously. And I have an America cover, Sister Golden Hair on there. Go listen if you wish.
Anyway, the new Dave Matthews Band album came out, and although I have yet to listen to it I've heard it's pretty decent. Not great, not bad, but good. I can live with that. Especially since the band has been around 18 years. Holy crap. And no wonder, because they are amazing and one of my favorite bands of all time. Apparently lots of people agree with me or they wouldn't still be around.
-------
Random bits:
Notice the pictures? Yea. I know people are more prone to reading stuff with color
("OOOOHHH LOOK, VISUAL STIMULI!"), and I don't like reading blogs without pictures cause it sucks and is boring. Well ok, now we don't have to worry about that now. If they aren't regular pictures like these, they will be altered photos that I change for my amusement, but that will also fit what I'm talking about... sometimes. Don't expect anything amazing in photoshop, I'm talking Microsoft paint here baby. That actually will probably make them funnier anyway...
That is all. Enjoy this rainy day. Or if you aren't from Pittsburgh, whatever weather you may have.
" It's funny how it works, [Detroit]definitely played their best game tonight and ended up losing. We didn't play our best game and we got the win "
No, that isn't the direct quote if you were really paying attention to the interview. Yes, that is pretty much exactly what he said, verbatim, because my memory is unbelievable like that.
Anyway, he is right. Hockey is like that. It is a crazy sport and like a lot of other sports sometimes a lot of luck is involved. It is frustrating when you hear things on the radio and blogs on the internet talk about how Fleury is playing like garbage or the Pens just aren't good enough for this Detroit team. Well #1, lucky bounces for Detroit is not a goaltenders fault. #2 If you go back and watch last years final and this years final you will see that the Pens are definitely up to the task, and getting the win last night hopefully shut up some of those that are quick to start throwing people under the bus.
-----
I don't think I mentioned it on this blog yet, but I love music. I have been playing guitar for something like almost 5 years, and I sing as well. I have some music recorded, if you go on YouTube search for "Andrew Graciano" and you should come across some of my stuff. I have a cover from the Dave Matthews Band -- song called The Space Between. I have a Learning to Fly cover, Tom Petty obviously. And I have an America cover, Sister Golden Hair on there. Go listen if you wish.
Anyway, the new Dave Matthews Band album came out, and although I have yet to listen to it I've heard it's pretty decent. Not great, not bad, but good. I can live with that. Especially since the band has been around 18 years. Holy crap. And no wonder, because they are amazing and one of my favorite bands of all time. Apparently lots of people agree with me or they wouldn't still be around.
-------
Random bits:
Notice the pictures? Yea. I know people are more prone to reading stuff with color
("OOOOHHH LOOK, VISUAL STIMULI!"), and I don't like reading blogs without pictures cause it sucks and is boring. Well ok, now we don't have to worry about that now. If they aren't regular pictures like these, they will be altered photos that I change for my amusement, but that will also fit what I'm talking about... sometimes. Don't expect anything amazing in photoshop, I'm talking Microsoft paint here baby. That actually will probably make them funnier anyway...
That is all. Enjoy this rainy day. Or if you aren't from Pittsburgh, whatever weather you may have.
Monday, June 1, 2009
It's Like a Chameleon...
Another change to the blog.
After further consideration I've decided to write about pretty much anything on this blog. I had just made a post a few days ago about writing on the Stanley Cup Finals that are taking place, while promoting my penguins blog that I had made. Well to make it easier I just decided to scrap that blog and write about that on here instead. I was sufficiently frustrated enough that I haven't written about the first two games, but that is ok that I didn't, cause this is not a strict penguins blog. It's the omni-blog.
I think I should consider that as a name change.
Anyway, yea. Not only will write about my views on life as you have seen, I will also throw in stuff like that that I am interested in/are my hobbies.
That is all. I am at work and should be doing things probably.
Maybe I'll produce some content later that is actually worth reading.
After further consideration I've decided to write about pretty much anything on this blog. I had just made a post a few days ago about writing on the Stanley Cup Finals that are taking place, while promoting my penguins blog that I had made. Well to make it easier I just decided to scrap that blog and write about that on here instead. I was sufficiently frustrated enough that I haven't written about the first two games, but that is ok that I didn't, cause this is not a strict penguins blog. It's the omni-blog.
I think I should consider that as a name change.
Anyway, yea. Not only will write about my views on life as you have seen, I will also throw in stuff like that that I am interested in/are my hobbies.
That is all. I am at work and should be doing things probably.
Maybe I'll produce some content later that is actually worth reading.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Intermission
Not really a full-blown post this time, but this is about the full-blown posts.
I have been informed by a veteran blogger that the posts in my blog are way too long. Apparently the average number of words for a blog post is somewhere between 400 and 500, and obviously my posts are waaay past that. Might explain why no one one has left a comment or anything. They probably got to the 3rd or 4th paragraph, and then were shocked that the content continued and didn't stop like other blogs. Then proceeded to have a nervous breakdown and navigate away from this page immediately.
Or (if anyone has read this) they think it's rubbish. British vocabulary is fun.
So next time I make a post, it actually will probably only be a little longer then the one you are reading right now. It's win win for everybody. I don't have to type as much and you don't have to read as much. I'll probably make another post tomorrow, since it is friday and fridays are always great days of the week. Especially afternoons on fridays, they are just smashing.
I have been informed by a veteran blogger that the posts in my blog are way too long. Apparently the average number of words for a blog post is somewhere between 400 and 500, and obviously my posts are waaay past that. Might explain why no one one has left a comment or anything. They probably got to the 3rd or 4th paragraph, and then were shocked that the content continued and didn't stop like other blogs. Then proceeded to have a nervous breakdown and navigate away from this page immediately.
Or (if anyone has read this) they think it's rubbish. British vocabulary is fun.
So next time I make a post, it actually will probably only be a little longer then the one you are reading right now. It's win win for everybody. I don't have to type as much and you don't have to read as much. I'll probably make another post tomorrow, since it is friday and fridays are always great days of the week. Especially afternoons on fridays, they are just smashing.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Work & Money
Before I get into this, a little small yet extremely large significant change is coming to this blog. Scrap the whole book idea and layout of how I was going to talk about things. The core of the blog, however, will remain the same. That means I will continue to talk about how I view things. I don't think anyone has really read this yet anyway so keeping it more or less like a journal makes sense anyway. Except it won't be like a journal because I'm trying to talk about universal ideas and how I view them, not participate in some narcissistic online soapbox where I talk about "ohhh I really wish Susie liked me" or "ohhh my dog died". Who cares? No one. Anyway, on to the rest of this. Vamos!
I suppose the best way I can describe work and money is that they are evil. I am talking about school work (the worst kind) and a job/professional work. I am not talking about work that has a purpose. Before you start spitting and yelling, throwing your arms out saying "wha-wha-what?! work has a purpose blah blah blah", hear me out first.
So, there are two types of work: Work that has a purpose and work that does not. You might say, "well we work to be productive and contribute to society and so we can pay the bills".
Ok, now first of all, productivity is a huge problem all over the world (source: me) so don't try to pretend that you are this amazing person because working makes you feel productive. Second, you are probably not contributing to society with what you are doing.
Contributing to society = being a firefighter, a volunteer, a policeman, a postman, a doctor/nurse/something that helps people, a scientist, an environmentalist, a soldier, a good parent (think about it... its almost the best way actually)
Not contributing to society = finance, marketing, anything with computers, spreadsheets, balance sheets and accounting in general, almost anything (with some exceptions) where you work at a desk sitting front of numbers on a computer screen.
Sure, you are contributing to your company and your company may contribute to society by providing goods or services, but you are not contributing to that you are just contributing to your company. Without you your company couldn't contribute, sure, but who thinks like that anyway unless they are full of themselves?
Third, paying the bills. Ok, you got me. Unless you are lucky and are an heir/heiress to some family fortune, you need money just like everybody else in this world (mostly for the wrong reasons). But it doesn't make the point any less significant that money is evil. It drives people in the wrong ways more then it drives them in the right ways, and because of it this world is so corrupt it is unsettling.
I've always wished I could have lived before the age of electricity, even though I have an unhealthy obsession with the internet and video games, I think much simpler times would suit the kind of person I am... I often wish I could be reincarnated into a farmer in some remote place so I can do my work, see the merit in it right there as I am growing things and adding to the food supply. It's all right there, the results are simple and obvious. Simplicity. Simplicity is always the best course of action. Don't believe me? Consider this.
Let's go back to your extra super secret important oh so purposeful desk job environment for a second. Your boss gives you and your co-worker the same assignment. He wants you to come up with a budgeting plan for next year. A few days later you and your co-worker both present your idea to the boss. By some stroke of luck or something, you both essentially come up with the same idea. But, yours would take a lot longer and involves way more processes then your peers does. Basically, his is more simple and does the same thing. The winner? Not you. Him. He gets a raise potentially too and now you don't. Sorry.
Think of it this way, people always talk about how their Hondas last for years and years without getting fixed. While Mercedes owners warn people of the daunting repairs they have had to made over the years. Why? Hondas are built more simply then Mercedes. Are they as good? maybe not, i'm sure given the choice straight up people would pick a benz over a honda, but that isn't the point. The point is is simple. Simple gets the point across. Simple gets things done. Why go to A to B to C to D to E to F when you can just go to A to F? It's about efficiency too in that sense.
Simple and efficient. They are the two key words to work, and yet work is just littered with so much bullshit you kind of forget what the hell you are doing any of it for anyway. It becomes about the paycheck, and that simply is just not right. A paycheck should be something to compensate you for doing something of value, not something that is the focus of the employee from the beginning.
I know I still haven't talked about why this has a purpose or doesn't or whatever I started talking about in the first place, but forget that and focus with me now...
Think about it this way, as I was saying with the working for a paycheck... Think of a painter. Actually think of two painters.
Painter A is a great painter, he often likes to sit on park benches and just take everything in, the sights, the people, nature and the world itself. He enjoys it so much that he loves to recreate what he feels when he is immersed in nature, and so he carefully and diligently works on his paintings, trying to convey the beauty of the world that he sees with his eyes onto a canvas. The result are these absolutely breathtaking paintings. His paintings are so great that people instantly pay money for his works(and a lot at that)even though he simply states that "donations are appreciated" when he puts them on display.
Painter B is a great painter, but he is actually more interested in the ocean. He often paints coasts and oceans because he likes them so much, but painting the ocean is much different then actually learning about it. But, alas, at a young age his teachers (either evil or good people, more on that later, or another post, this already getting long) and parents noticed he could paint and draw much better then anyone in his class and at such a young age. So he was encouraged and pushed to paint. He would much rather be learning about the ocean, but he realizes he can make money painting, so he does it. His paintings are good, but they are almost too technical in a way, almost have a forced feel to them... People pay lots of money for these paintings as well, and he knows that and that is why he paints.
See what I mean about purpose now? Which of those scenarios would you say contains the work which holds purpose?
We all have heard "do something you love..." but we also know we have heard "if you do that you'll never make any money"
And to me, this is one of the most depressing realities ever; to know that people often give up, forget, or limit their passion for something because someone said that they wouldn't get very far with it. To know that people willingly just drop their dreams for a more secure and lower risk career path.
I have always believed that nothing is worth doing unless you do it well, otherwise you are just wasting your time. But I also believe that you can't do something well unless you believe in what you are doing and you are passionate about what you are doing.
I know we all can't be painters, actors, professional athletes, whatever it is that might have been our dream before "reality" set in. But do we really need so many accountants? Do we really need all these people, around offices internationally, that are simply working to make money? That is what business is, isn't it? If you don't make money, you aren't in business, and if you still are in business chances are you will get bought out by someone that does have money.
But it is all about purpose... I know I keep knocking jobs that fall into the business arena, such as accounting and such, and for that I am sorry. I know (ohhh do I know) that God did not put me (or if you are of the believing type, I know that my genetic code and brain cell connector fireing-hicka-ma-jigger-thingys are not configured in such a way) here to be an accountant.
BUT! If that is your passion, and you feel that that work has purpose to you, then by all means, please!
I think that in a hypothetical world where money was not an issue but for some unknown reason we still had a work and purpose for work, the variety of jobs out there would be more even then they are. And what I mean by that is more people doing what they were meant to do. And I think when we look deep down inside, and we tell ourselves honestly without trying to convince ourselves otherwise, we all know what it is that we should be doing.
Please, if you are still in school, it is not too late for you. It isn't even too late for me, but I am getting close to missing the proverbial boat of opportunity, being a one more semester left college student. Actually, forget that, if you think you have already missed your boat it's ok, we live in modern ages we can arrange a helicopter ride to fly out and land on the boat for you.
To sum it all up, I just want to put it this way. Do what you love to do, and even if you aren't able to do it for a living, at least try. Just try. If it doesn't work out, then at least you can say you honestly tried. And don't just go try and be an actor if you know you suck at it. Sorry, that's just how life is sometimes. We can't be good at everything, but everyone is good at something. Do something that has meaning and purpose for you, and gives you satisfaction.
I know I didn't get to talk about how school fits into all this, but I'm actually glad I don't get to talk about that now. Avoiding the fact spared me a large headache and much frustration and anger thinking back to those terrible terrible years. Maybe I'll save that for another time when I really am just pissed off and have to just chew out the education system.
I suppose the best way I can describe work and money is that they are evil. I am talking about school work (the worst kind) and a job/professional work. I am not talking about work that has a purpose. Before you start spitting and yelling, throwing your arms out saying "wha-wha-what?! work has a purpose blah blah blah", hear me out first.
So, there are two types of work: Work that has a purpose and work that does not. You might say, "well we work to be productive and contribute to society and so we can pay the bills".
Ok, now first of all, productivity is a huge problem all over the world (source: me) so don't try to pretend that you are this amazing person because working makes you feel productive. Second, you are probably not contributing to society with what you are doing.
Contributing to society = being a firefighter, a volunteer, a policeman, a postman, a doctor/nurse/something that helps people, a scientist, an environmentalist, a soldier, a good parent (think about it... its almost the best way actually)
Not contributing to society = finance, marketing, anything with computers, spreadsheets, balance sheets and accounting in general, almost anything (with some exceptions) where you work at a desk sitting front of numbers on a computer screen.
Sure, you are contributing to your company and your company may contribute to society by providing goods or services, but you are not contributing to that you are just contributing to your company. Without you your company couldn't contribute, sure, but who thinks like that anyway unless they are full of themselves?
Third, paying the bills. Ok, you got me. Unless you are lucky and are an heir/heiress to some family fortune, you need money just like everybody else in this world (mostly for the wrong reasons). But it doesn't make the point any less significant that money is evil. It drives people in the wrong ways more then it drives them in the right ways, and because of it this world is so corrupt it is unsettling.
I've always wished I could have lived before the age of electricity, even though I have an unhealthy obsession with the internet and video games, I think much simpler times would suit the kind of person I am... I often wish I could be reincarnated into a farmer in some remote place so I can do my work, see the merit in it right there as I am growing things and adding to the food supply. It's all right there, the results are simple and obvious. Simplicity. Simplicity is always the best course of action. Don't believe me? Consider this.
Let's go back to your extra super secret important oh so purposeful desk job environment for a second. Your boss gives you and your co-worker the same assignment. He wants you to come up with a budgeting plan for next year. A few days later you and your co-worker both present your idea to the boss. By some stroke of luck or something, you both essentially come up with the same idea. But, yours would take a lot longer and involves way more processes then your peers does. Basically, his is more simple and does the same thing. The winner? Not you. Him. He gets a raise potentially too and now you don't. Sorry.
Think of it this way, people always talk about how their Hondas last for years and years without getting fixed. While Mercedes owners warn people of the daunting repairs they have had to made over the years. Why? Hondas are built more simply then Mercedes. Are they as good? maybe not, i'm sure given the choice straight up people would pick a benz over a honda, but that isn't the point. The point is is simple. Simple gets the point across. Simple gets things done. Why go to A to B to C to D to E to F when you can just go to A to F? It's about efficiency too in that sense.
Simple and efficient. They are the two key words to work, and yet work is just littered with so much bullshit you kind of forget what the hell you are doing any of it for anyway. It becomes about the paycheck, and that simply is just not right. A paycheck should be something to compensate you for doing something of value, not something that is the focus of the employee from the beginning.
I know I still haven't talked about why this has a purpose or doesn't or whatever I started talking about in the first place, but forget that and focus with me now...
Think about it this way, as I was saying with the working for a paycheck... Think of a painter. Actually think of two painters.
Painter A is a great painter, he often likes to sit on park benches and just take everything in, the sights, the people, nature and the world itself. He enjoys it so much that he loves to recreate what he feels when he is immersed in nature, and so he carefully and diligently works on his paintings, trying to convey the beauty of the world that he sees with his eyes onto a canvas. The result are these absolutely breathtaking paintings. His paintings are so great that people instantly pay money for his works(and a lot at that)even though he simply states that "donations are appreciated" when he puts them on display.
Painter B is a great painter, but he is actually more interested in the ocean. He often paints coasts and oceans because he likes them so much, but painting the ocean is much different then actually learning about it. But, alas, at a young age his teachers (either evil or good people, more on that later, or another post, this already getting long) and parents noticed he could paint and draw much better then anyone in his class and at such a young age. So he was encouraged and pushed to paint. He would much rather be learning about the ocean, but he realizes he can make money painting, so he does it. His paintings are good, but they are almost too technical in a way, almost have a forced feel to them... People pay lots of money for these paintings as well, and he knows that and that is why he paints.
See what I mean about purpose now? Which of those scenarios would you say contains the work which holds purpose?
We all have heard "do something you love..." but we also know we have heard "if you do that you'll never make any money"
And to me, this is one of the most depressing realities ever; to know that people often give up, forget, or limit their passion for something because someone said that they wouldn't get very far with it. To know that people willingly just drop their dreams for a more secure and lower risk career path.
I have always believed that nothing is worth doing unless you do it well, otherwise you are just wasting your time. But I also believe that you can't do something well unless you believe in what you are doing and you are passionate about what you are doing.
I know we all can't be painters, actors, professional athletes, whatever it is that might have been our dream before "reality" set in. But do we really need so many accountants? Do we really need all these people, around offices internationally, that are simply working to make money? That is what business is, isn't it? If you don't make money, you aren't in business, and if you still are in business chances are you will get bought out by someone that does have money.
But it is all about purpose... I know I keep knocking jobs that fall into the business arena, such as accounting and such, and for that I am sorry. I know (ohhh do I know) that God did not put me (or if you are of the believing type, I know that my genetic code and brain cell connector fireing-hicka-ma-jigger-thingys are not configured in such a way) here to be an accountant.
BUT! If that is your passion, and you feel that that work has purpose to you, then by all means, please!
I think that in a hypothetical world where money was not an issue but for some unknown reason we still had a work and purpose for work, the variety of jobs out there would be more even then they are. And what I mean by that is more people doing what they were meant to do. And I think when we look deep down inside, and we tell ourselves honestly without trying to convince ourselves otherwise, we all know what it is that we should be doing.
Please, if you are still in school, it is not too late for you. It isn't even too late for me, but I am getting close to missing the proverbial boat of opportunity, being a one more semester left college student. Actually, forget that, if you think you have already missed your boat it's ok, we live in modern ages we can arrange a helicopter ride to fly out and land on the boat for you.
To sum it all up, I just want to put it this way. Do what you love to do, and even if you aren't able to do it for a living, at least try. Just try. If it doesn't work out, then at least you can say you honestly tried. And don't just go try and be an actor if you know you suck at it. Sorry, that's just how life is sometimes. We can't be good at everything, but everyone is good at something. Do something that has meaning and purpose for you, and gives you satisfaction.
I know I didn't get to talk about how school fits into all this, but I'm actually glad I don't get to talk about that now. Avoiding the fact spared me a large headache and much frustration and anger thinking back to those terrible terrible years. Maybe I'll save that for another time when I really am just pissed off and have to just chew out the education system.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
I. From The Beginning: Topics we can all relate to
A. Friends
Now I know I'm probably not the most unique individual for being like this, and in fact I'm pretty sure this is how it is for most people anyway, but I always had just a few friends that I really acquainted myself with and then the rest were just sort of whatever. What I mean by sort of whatever, is that yea, sure it was fun and I would more times then not like hanging out with them or being in their company, but I wasn't going to go out of my way to be with them or get upset if I didn't see them. It is funny how the only friends I remember are one or two from preschool, although I don't remember their names or even what they looked like, just the situations we were in. Even more interesting is the sort of trend of average number of friends I had in my life.
The trend is definitely a parabola. A regular parabola. In my early years of school, from preschool to about 5th grade I would say, was the / part of the parabola. I had few friendships, and with each successive school year the number grew, but not as sharply as / I would say. It was more gradual then that but not by much. Then from 6th to about 10th grade I had many friendships, which was the peak or the – part of the parabola. From 10th grade onward was the decline, \ , having less number of friendships up until now, my senior year of college.
I believe, and remember this is all opinion, this is for the fact that the first part of the parabola is sort of the part of life where you are not really sure what friendships are yet and (like me) you were scared to meet those potential friends, especially the earlier you go back in school years. The peak of the parabola is what many people like to describe as the worst period of time in their life, being the middle school years. This is that awkward stage where you are transitioning from kid to teenager and teenager to young adult towards the high school years, and there is this social pressure to be popular or perceived as popular (the second applying to me really, much more on that later).
So that means one crucial thing happens: you know if everyone knows you and is friends with you that probably means you are liked and/or popular which gets you acceptance from everyone on a whole. Mission accomplished, well done, and you successfully avoided being thrown into the “being made fun of category” if you are able to acquire lots of friends during these schooling years. The last part of the parabola is where I believe there is a split between people like me and other people. In later stages high school, and through college, people either cut down their friendships to a small group that they hang out with and actually like, or they continue to try to get as many friendships as possible either because they are social fiends or they feel like they still need to do that to be accepted.
It is important to make sure there is the distinguishing factor here that you can have your core group of friends and still hang out with other people, but that core group is the only group your putting care and effort into, if your the first type of person. If your the second, there either is or isn't a core group that has care and effort put into it, but on top of that there is effort being put into all the casual friends as well. Personality has a lot to do with how it is determined whether a person is a type 1 or type 2 person.
What also might determine what type a person is is there life experiences as they are growing up, as well as self confidence or self esteem, but not always directly. What is interesting is that someone with low self-esteem might seek out just a few close friends because they don't think they would be accepted or understood by a larger group. On the other hand, someone with low self-esteem might worry that they are not significant or “worth it” unless a lot of people know them.
So who is to say which type of person is better in regards to the number of friends you have? Well, neither really once everything is considered. There are pros and cons to everyone situation in life no matter what it is, and this topic is no exception to the rule. Perhaps the best way to evaluate whether or not an individual is happy with their current friend situation, either being type 1 or type 2, is for them to ask themselves a simple question: When I am vulnerable, who do I want to depend on? Someone that just has a large collection of friends without any deeper connections being made within that collection may find themselves in a situation they were originally trying to avoid – being lonely. Sure you might know everyone on campus, at a bar you go to, at your workplace, etc., but when your dog dies, or when your girlfriend dumps you, or you need someone to talk to (really talk to), can you confide in [any of] them?
Perhaps that is what the type 2 kind of person prefers, though. Maybe they like the fact that they can tell people they don't know as well as a really good friend serious things. If you tell someone you barely know or kind of know something serious, they can't respond to you with stuff that you don't want to hear. Of course, they can't really respond to you with things that you need to hear either. Although, that is the type of thing a type 2 person could be perfectly fine about. They get something off their chest, and then it doesn't really develop from there on. In some ways, maybe they can begin to forget about it easier by talking about it once, and then leaving it at that.
I think we can all agree that whichever type of person you are, as long as you have friends in general you are in good shape. Having them is sort of like a basic requirement in life. Even if they are your own family members, as long as there is at least one or two. One could argue is it better to just have a few really close friends, or a lot of casual friends, but I'm not sure there is much argument for having friends or none at all. Friendship is sort of a multifaceted enigma of a force because it motivates us, it influences us, and it often times changes us. The limited responsibilities of friendship make it less daunting then a romantic relationship, and less serious, but none the less friendship somehow has the power to make us do so many things we would never do (usually) in front of complete strangers. We share our lives with people that at one time we used to not know at all, and our life experience is forever changed especially because of the ones that really make an impact. Friendship is often taken for granted, but when examining the concept with the right focus, it is possible to notice that there are very few things more important in this world.
Now I know I'm probably not the most unique individual for being like this, and in fact I'm pretty sure this is how it is for most people anyway, but I always had just a few friends that I really acquainted myself with and then the rest were just sort of whatever. What I mean by sort of whatever, is that yea, sure it was fun and I would more times then not like hanging out with them or being in their company, but I wasn't going to go out of my way to be with them or get upset if I didn't see them. It is funny how the only friends I remember are one or two from preschool, although I don't remember their names or even what they looked like, just the situations we were in. Even more interesting is the sort of trend of average number of friends I had in my life.
The trend is definitely a parabola. A regular parabola. In my early years of school, from preschool to about 5th grade I would say, was the / part of the parabola. I had few friendships, and with each successive school year the number grew, but not as sharply as / I would say. It was more gradual then that but not by much. Then from 6th to about 10th grade I had many friendships, which was the peak or the – part of the parabola. From 10th grade onward was the decline, \ , having less number of friendships up until now, my senior year of college.
I believe, and remember this is all opinion, this is for the fact that the first part of the parabola is sort of the part of life where you are not really sure what friendships are yet and (like me) you were scared to meet those potential friends, especially the earlier you go back in school years. The peak of the parabola is what many people like to describe as the worst period of time in their life, being the middle school years. This is that awkward stage where you are transitioning from kid to teenager and teenager to young adult towards the high school years, and there is this social pressure to be popular or perceived as popular (the second applying to me really, much more on that later).
So that means one crucial thing happens: you know if everyone knows you and is friends with you that probably means you are liked and/or popular which gets you acceptance from everyone on a whole. Mission accomplished, well done, and you successfully avoided being thrown into the “being made fun of category” if you are able to acquire lots of friends during these schooling years. The last part of the parabola is where I believe there is a split between people like me and other people. In later stages high school, and through college, people either cut down their friendships to a small group that they hang out with and actually like, or they continue to try to get as many friendships as possible either because they are social fiends or they feel like they still need to do that to be accepted.
It is important to make sure there is the distinguishing factor here that you can have your core group of friends and still hang out with other people, but that core group is the only group your putting care and effort into, if your the first type of person. If your the second, there either is or isn't a core group that has care and effort put into it, but on top of that there is effort being put into all the casual friends as well. Personality has a lot to do with how it is determined whether a person is a type 1 or type 2 person.
What also might determine what type a person is is there life experiences as they are growing up, as well as self confidence or self esteem, but not always directly. What is interesting is that someone with low self-esteem might seek out just a few close friends because they don't think they would be accepted or understood by a larger group. On the other hand, someone with low self-esteem might worry that they are not significant or “worth it” unless a lot of people know them.
So who is to say which type of person is better in regards to the number of friends you have? Well, neither really once everything is considered. There are pros and cons to everyone situation in life no matter what it is, and this topic is no exception to the rule. Perhaps the best way to evaluate whether or not an individual is happy with their current friend situation, either being type 1 or type 2, is for them to ask themselves a simple question: When I am vulnerable, who do I want to depend on? Someone that just has a large collection of friends without any deeper connections being made within that collection may find themselves in a situation they were originally trying to avoid – being lonely. Sure you might know everyone on campus, at a bar you go to, at your workplace, etc., but when your dog dies, or when your girlfriend dumps you, or you need someone to talk to (really talk to), can you confide in [any of] them?
Perhaps that is what the type 2 kind of person prefers, though. Maybe they like the fact that they can tell people they don't know as well as a really good friend serious things. If you tell someone you barely know or kind of know something serious, they can't respond to you with stuff that you don't want to hear. Of course, they can't really respond to you with things that you need to hear either. Although, that is the type of thing a type 2 person could be perfectly fine about. They get something off their chest, and then it doesn't really develop from there on. In some ways, maybe they can begin to forget about it easier by talking about it once, and then leaving it at that.
I think we can all agree that whichever type of person you are, as long as you have friends in general you are in good shape. Having them is sort of like a basic requirement in life. Even if they are your own family members, as long as there is at least one or two. One could argue is it better to just have a few really close friends, or a lot of casual friends, but I'm not sure there is much argument for having friends or none at all. Friendship is sort of a multifaceted enigma of a force because it motivates us, it influences us, and it often times changes us. The limited responsibilities of friendship make it less daunting then a romantic relationship, and less serious, but none the less friendship somehow has the power to make us do so many things we would never do (usually) in front of complete strangers. We share our lives with people that at one time we used to not know at all, and our life experience is forever changed especially because of the ones that really make an impact. Friendship is often taken for granted, but when examining the concept with the right focus, it is possible to notice that there are very few things more important in this world.
Introduction
I don't even really know what the actual motivation to even begin writing this was in the first place. I always thought of creating a sort of collection of journal entries about how I view different things in life, just to see out of curiosity if they matched anyone who happened to read them. In all actuality, it is 4:37 AM on May 8, 2009 when I am writing this introduction. I know the reason for that came about after two events happened: I was in the bathroom on the toilet, and later today I would be moving out of the house I have been living in down at school during my senior year of college. I'm not sure what impact the bathroom might have had, but I do know that the second event had me thinking about a lot of things.
Not only was it basically the end of my college career (I say basically because I have a semester left in the fall), there was about to be a lot of change that I sort of predicted coming up soon in my life. Most of the kids I know in college are graduating, with the exception of a few. I am about to graduate with plans to work for the family business (more on that later), and I am about to make a big change in my living situation and social situation (very much more, especially on the ladder of topics, later). On top of that, as I currently write this, I am asking a lot of questions about who I am and who I want to be in general.
So before me are a lot of paths, some that are more clearly defined then others because I am able to see far down them and sort of make out where that path is going to lead me. On the other hand, there are paths that are more convoluted by plants and trees to be able to tell where they lead. I think a lot of people like to use the analogy of paths to describe choices and direction in life, it just sounds so nice. The other parts of this writing will consist of my view on things in life. This can be almost anything, and I will hopefully cover some of the more important areas (friendship, relationships, education) as well as minor ones.
This book is broken up into sections, starting with my views on basic things that a lot of people might already understand because it is more or less a universal topic. Towards the end, however, will be a section that relates more specifically to me and how I (might) view things differently from the popular conception of a particular topic. Example: music is entertainment to the majority, to me it is like a 5th dimension (there are only four known ones... right?). I think this particular structure will help ease the reader into some of the more bizarre things I might bring up to discuss, instead of getting right to it. It will probably also help my case for anyone wondering if I am just crazy or on drugs, or both.
I'm not sure how much use this will actually be to anyone, or if it will even be all that interesting. I can only say that I think anyone that would bother reading this would be family and close friends, so they can sort of get a look at me and how I tick. Except this time the perspective is from the first person. Nevermind a lot of what you might think about me (notice I say a lot, but that is really just some I guess. I have always tried to portray myself to others how I really am inside), this time it is from the source. This time it is about me, my life, and how I understand the world around me. Anyone that comes to read this one day, I assume two things: You are someone in my life that cares enough about me to read it (not saying that you don't care about me if you don't, but it sure is awfully nice of you to be doing so), or by some miraculous stroke of luck I have become famous and these words are actually in a book and I have no idea who you are but you are reading about me because I'm, well, famous.
I do hope in sincerity that you do find it actually entertaining, I'll try to leave out boring stuff about my life unless I think it has an importance. And even more I hope the sections about discussing life will spark some sort of discussion between people. If there is one definite thing I know about life, it is that there is much that cannot be explained about it, but it is incredibly more interesting when those very things are discussed between friends. Enjoy.
Not only was it basically the end of my college career (I say basically because I have a semester left in the fall), there was about to be a lot of change that I sort of predicted coming up soon in my life. Most of the kids I know in college are graduating, with the exception of a few. I am about to graduate with plans to work for the family business (more on that later), and I am about to make a big change in my living situation and social situation (very much more, especially on the ladder of topics, later). On top of that, as I currently write this, I am asking a lot of questions about who I am and who I want to be in general.
So before me are a lot of paths, some that are more clearly defined then others because I am able to see far down them and sort of make out where that path is going to lead me. On the other hand, there are paths that are more convoluted by plants and trees to be able to tell where they lead. I think a lot of people like to use the analogy of paths to describe choices and direction in life, it just sounds so nice. The other parts of this writing will consist of my view on things in life. This can be almost anything, and I will hopefully cover some of the more important areas (friendship, relationships, education) as well as minor ones.
This book is broken up into sections, starting with my views on basic things that a lot of people might already understand because it is more or less a universal topic. Towards the end, however, will be a section that relates more specifically to me and how I (might) view things differently from the popular conception of a particular topic. Example: music is entertainment to the majority, to me it is like a 5th dimension (there are only four known ones... right?). I think this particular structure will help ease the reader into some of the more bizarre things I might bring up to discuss, instead of getting right to it. It will probably also help my case for anyone wondering if I am just crazy or on drugs, or both.
I'm not sure how much use this will actually be to anyone, or if it will even be all that interesting. I can only say that I think anyone that would bother reading this would be family and close friends, so they can sort of get a look at me and how I tick. Except this time the perspective is from the first person. Nevermind a lot of what you might think about me (notice I say a lot, but that is really just some I guess. I have always tried to portray myself to others how I really am inside), this time it is from the source. This time it is about me, my life, and how I understand the world around me. Anyone that comes to read this one day, I assume two things: You are someone in my life that cares enough about me to read it (not saying that you don't care about me if you don't, but it sure is awfully nice of you to be doing so), or by some miraculous stroke of luck I have become famous and these words are actually in a book and I have no idea who you are but you are reading about me because I'm, well, famous.
I do hope in sincerity that you do find it actually entertaining, I'll try to leave out boring stuff about my life unless I think it has an importance. And even more I hope the sections about discussing life will spark some sort of discussion between people. If there is one definite thing I know about life, it is that there is much that cannot be explained about it, but it is incredibly more interesting when those very things are discussed between friends. Enjoy.
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