Bloggin my Noggin

2006-02-21T13:02:00.000-05:00

Well, there is not much to report lately. Most of my time online is being monopolized by Dave's forum. Like I said, its more rewarding to get feedback on what you're putting on here. But I know there are still some people that read this and likely see nothing posted and get a little bummed.

Still havent gotten my Mac. Apple has pushed back the release by another week, but the good news is they bumped up their processors to make them even faster. Meaning if you ordered the 1.67Ghz you will now be getting the 1.83Ghz for no extra charge. I think thats worth waiting another week or so. I did get MacMall to bump my shipping up to 2-day FedEx instead of ground for free though for the hassle.

Both of our cats are sick. snotty and runny eyes. We have to give them this eye gel and put it right in their eyes! As if a cat is going to sit there and wait patiently while you squirt gel in their eyes. Yeah right. I practically have to put Grady in a figure four leg lock just to give him his medicine. Nikki is a little more docile, fortunately. She doesnt like it but she gives up pretty easily. They have been getting along more though which is cool. I even caught them sleeping right next to each other on our bed.

Snowed In

2006-02-13T00:13:00.000-05:00

Most of MD got about a foot of snow last night but there was a band of weather that went through our house that dumped 22" of snow. I was beginning to think we mkay not get a significant snow this winter season at all and that maybe Global warming may have something to do with that.

A huge snow used to bring me a lot of joy. It meant no school and heading for the nearest hill for sledding. Micah's family had this toboggin (sp?) that could hold 5 ppl and was fast. We would be out all day, get wet and cold and endure the torturous walk back home with frozen feet. I hated that feeling. I remember once sledding down an hill and ending up in this little creek and being totally soaked. I was nervous and thought I had to get home wuick before I froze or something. Mom always had hot chocolate ready and would dry our clothes in case we were going to head back out later.

As an adult a huge snow means shoveling and digging out cars. It means difficult driving. It means a higher heating bill. For the time being I genuinely dont like the snow and I don't anticipate enjoying my time in the snow until I have kids to enjoy it with.

Font followup...

2006-02-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

My prayers have been answered! Well, my WANTS have been answered anyway, and apparently have been somewhat answered longer than I thought. Turns out that there is a typestyle that will work on a mac AND a PC. They are called OpenType fonts. They are more expensive than individual PC or MAC fonts (as they should be) but in theory they should work on my new MacBook Pro! I happen to have a good collection of OpenType Fonts that I didnt know about!

You wouldn't believe how expensive fonts are. For a "family" of classic fonts which would consist of about 2,000 fonts, it is currently selling from Fonts.com or directly from adobe for $8,999.99. Unbelievable.

The new computer has a lot of bells and whistles that I didnt even know about until reading a PDF of a manual for it. Apparently there is a sensor in the laptop that senses when it is being dropped. If it senses this, it locks up the hard drive so it cant be scratched while reading, then when the sensor is stabalized, it activates again for use. Just in case it breaks and you need to restore your data. Thats cool. Plus there is a built in mini camera lense in the laptop, a backlit keyboard with a light sensor so when it gets dark the backlit keyboard illuminates. ITs awesome. I'm looking forward to really getting comfortable again in the mac environment enough so that I can go on some interviews and know what I am talking about.

MacBook Pro

2006-02-08T20:43:00.000-05:00

I took the plunge and ordered a MacBook Pro today. Its the latest and greatest that Mac has to offer. Its basically an apple powerbook with intel inside. ITs supposed to be 4 times faster than the current G4 macs (for anyone who knows what the hell I am talking about). I used Macs all the time at school and really grew to appreciate them. The operating system is streamlined and for Graphics they are the leading edge. I've been pondering going on interviews for design jobs but I know all designers work on macs and I would have to be fluent in Mac in order to succeed in this business SO the mac is the way to go. Goodbye crappy old laptop. I wont get it for a couple more weeks so don't expect me to have a macgasm on here anytime soon. I'll let you know what I think when it arrives.

There are always drawbacks, and the drawbacks for the MacBook Pro (other than apples high prices (2K compared to a comperable PC at 1K)) are software compatability. Since this new system runs on intel but is still on a mac operating system a lot of the design software companies (adobe and macromedia) don't have compatable software yet. They have been working on it and it should be available by the summer or somewhere abouts. Apple excelerated the launch of the MacBook Pro so they werent prepared. I don't have that software for a Mac system anyway so I knew going in that I would have to make the purchase. That software aint cheap either, probably 500-700 bucks or so. It will be worth it though.

Mom finally got her high speed internet today! Its been a long time coming. She will be glued to the computer now I bet. Right mom? We'll see.

Cyndi and I adopted another cat this week. Her name is Nikki (Nikki happens to be the name of Cyndi's long time dog that recently had to be put down) so I think that sweetened the deal for her. This cat is already over a year old so she was very calm and approachable when we got her home. She is black and white spots, we call her a cow because of it. She is more like my cat growing up, she sits on my lap and falls asleep on my chest etc. Our other cat (grady, a russian blue) is very independant and likes to go wherever he damn well pleases. Grady is all up this new cats ass too. Excited about a new companion I think (maybe a little horny too, hehe).

LOST is almost on so I gotta go and be entertained for the next hour. Future posts will be courtesy of my new MacBook Pro!! YAY

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

2006-02-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posts. Its not that I've been too busy, I guess Its been more rewarding to talk and play on Dave's forum than it is on here. I like getting the responses and the dialogue, it makes it more fun. I realized that people were still checking this thing out and wondering why it wasn't getting used. oops.

So I had to fire another person yesterday at work. Its a wierd experience. I'm sort of in a unique situation I think. I'm in charge of such a large department with so much turnover that I have to fire people pretty regularly. Most managers probably have to terminate someone once or twice a year and probably dread doing it whenever it comes up. I have to terminate employment on a weekly basis. Someones rent, child care, drug money (probably) is in my hands. I've gotten better at it. I know now that when they leave my office they should know that they fired themselves and I was just following the rules and doing my job. Hopefully they still respect me and my position, or at the very lease dont shoot me in the parking lot. The person I fired yesterday was a 17 year old pregnant girl. I KNOW. Its terrible, I hated doing it but it was necessary. I look forward to the day that I am only responsible for my own actions.

Birthday

2006-01-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday someone mentioned my birthday coming up (Jan. 30th, gifts will be accepted) and asked how old I would be. I told them 28. I was wrong, its 27. I totally didn't know how old I was turning for the first time in my life, certaintly not the last. I need to start taking Ginko again. Every time I try taking it I get a sore throat almost immediately and stop taking it. I can't even tell if it works or not.

Another conversation at work one time was about teachers growing up. Most of my co-workers can name every single teacher they've had from kindergarden on up. I think this is crazy. I can honestly say that I cannot name a single teachers name prior to highschool. I remember 2 highschool teachers names, and a few professors from college.. a FEW. Turns out that is not the norm. My memory is a little low. Even at work with a lot of interviewers that work there or have worked there in the past they try coming back to work after having not worked there in a few months and I don't know who they are. Hopefully its not as bad as it sounds. I'm not walking around looking for my glasses and car keys everyday for an hour.

Scrabble...

2006-01-23T23:06:00.000-05:00

Cyndi and I went to a dinner party at one of her co-workers houses. I think we were the youngest people there but it was still cool. Her friend Kelly and her husband Tracey came too and we had a pretty good time. Tracey and I got along pretty well, he's into sports, videogames, games in general. He saw that they had a super scrabble game, same thing as scrabble but with more tiles and more of each letter. He said he killed at scrabble and wanted to play. I never really liked scrabble, didn't think I was that good at it and thought it was boring but it was better than making awkward conversation with someone I didnt know so I was up for it.

Turns out that I am a pretty darn good scabble player. I waxed them all, I was really surprised. My spelling is ok, not great but I think I have a decent vocabulary and more importantly knew how to manipulate the game with the board etc. I scored 551 points, which they all said was rediculous and they'd never heard of. Second place was Tracey with just under 400. Turns out Kelly and Tracey live just a few blocks away from us so we made some new friends and will be hanging out with them more often I'm sure.

Cyndi and I played scrabble again tonight with our new board that swivels (its a normal sized board though, regulation) and I scored 350 points to her 260. I don't really know whats normal, who cares, its pretty fun. We're trying to build up our board game collection. We're not really drinkers or anything so when people come over to hang out we end up playing games.

On a side note, I've noticed how lazy I'm getting and it needs to stop. I need some motivation to get up and be productive during the day. I've been sleeping a lot, probably too much and need to be helping out more around the house and trying to get some design work in the pipeline. I also want to get my butt up and leave early enough to stop at moms and see the kids a little more. I'm not making enough of an effort and not taking advantage of some ofthe free time I have to be with them and with Mom. I've been putting a list on our whiteboard of things to do during teh day which is helping but I need deadlines and an alarm to make it happen.

Tomorrow morning I'm getting up, doing dishes, straightening up the house for my wife, then drop off a package at FedEx before heading into work. Goodnight.

LOST in Munich

2006-01-20T13:10:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I would give a review on the movie "Munich". Its the latest from Spielberg about an Israeli assassin sent out to terminate the 11 Palestinians that were responsible for killing a team of Jews from the Munich Olympics in the 60's. Its been given a lot of acclaim by the globes and oscar buzz. "This movie needed to be made" I've seen this line alot in reference to it. Carl and I checked it out the other day before heading into work.

The movie was interesting, but not entirely entertaining. Eric Bana did a good job as the lead (remember him as the hulk and, more importantly, Hector from TROY). The movie was pretty slow. More like a documentary than a movie. What I did take from the movie is that I am lucky. To have a definitive home that is safe, food in abundance, a support system, a DVR (haha). Getting that make up call was worth seeing the movie.

On a side note, LOST is the best show on television. If you are not watching it you should be! True entertainment.

What in the Hell Was I Thinking?

2006-01-16T16:30:00.000-05:00

I was cleaning out our office today and found some of my old notebooks from highschool and from my days at U of M, College Park. I used to write little notes to my self constantly when I was bored at school, even through college. I remember doing it (as well as little drawings) but I didnt realize how much I really did and what I was thinking at the time. It was strange to remember what those little notes were about, I can't believe that our brains hold so much storage that it can put something in a backup file until you need it and BAM! there it is.

In high school I had all these little cartoons of the people in my classes, they were mostly nasty comics of scenarios I was in and scenarios I wanted certain classmates to be in. I also drew countless images of me or my friends giving the middle finger to other kids/teachers in school. I laughed as much rediscovering these as I did drawing them I'm sure. There were some I regret of course, some about my friends that I drew with other friends, stuff like that but it was the past!

I noticed a big change in my scribbles and notes while I was at College Park. I didn't realize how depressed I was when I was there, and how tired I was. I used to drive a little over an hour in rush hour traffic from Frederick to UM (near DC) everyday, then fight for a parking spot that was literally a mile away from my class. There were days that I would drive that hour+, walk 15-20 mins to my class and find a note on the door that said "class is canceled". I swear I wanted to break down that door sometimes. Anyway, looking at my notes and scribbles I noticed a lot of notes to myself telling myself to sleep. "I need sleep" "sooooo tired" "go to bed" and countless "Zzzzzzzzzzz". I had a lot of sarcasm towards my instructors or other kids in my classes: "Oh Really? WOW! Thats amazing! WHO CARES" there was a lot of that, which made me laugh. "This class is as boring as my nutsack" HAHA that one was hilarious. A lot of "this sucks" "I need to get outta here" and "this is so boring, no wonder I never come to this class". On a positive note, I did have a lot of notes about Cyndi in there too. (this was very early in our relationship) so I would write her name over and over again, little love note type stuff "thinking about you always" stuff like that. I kept the notebook out so I could show her when she gets home. I'm sure she hasnt seen them and I think she would appreciate them.

I didnt write notes to myself or scribble in hardly any of my notebooks from UMBC however. I think either the classes actually held my attention or maybe I just grew out of it or something. Needless to say my grades were much higher in UMBC than at College Park.

I guess this blog is an extension of writing notes to myself out of boredom. I am more likely to post something in here when I am bored so it makes sense. I hope I can look back on what I wrote in here when I'm 50 and wonder what the hell I was thinking?!

SNL is CRAP

2006-01-15T00:34:00.000-05:00

Saturday night live has really gone down the toilet. With the exception of the rare jewel of a skit (the chronic - WHAT? - cles of narnia) the rest is worthless lately. Chris Parnell still holds his own, and I dont think its the comedians fault. The writers just aren't pulling their weight. They did add Andy Samberg, the counterpart of Parnell in the skit I noted above. He successfully fills the void of Jimmy Fallon without all the laughing in the middle of a skit.

Looking forward to seeing Munich tomorrow. I'll let you know what I think of it.

Did anyone read "A Million Little Pieces"? by James Frey? ITs the book/author that is surrounded with controversy with Oprah Winfrey because apparently he embellished about his life in his book. The book is about his battle with addiction, I read it about a month ago. Who cares whether or not it is factually true? Its a book, its entertainment. If you were entertained why reading the book it was a success, period. Turns out other people were thrashing the author, Oprah was defending him. (No I don't read from Oprah's book club) I found this book to be interesting so I bought it and read it.

I'm reading the latest from Frank McCourt right now called "Teacher Man". Frank McCourt is the author of "Angelas Ashes" and "Tis'", both of which are great reads. I highly recommend all of them, but they are sort of in chronological order so keep that in mind if you decide to read.

How about Italy?

2006-01-13T01:09:00.000-05:00

I think its in the bag. Cyndi was down for a vacation this year whether or not we do the deck BUT.. she doesnt want to go to Paris for sure. She's a little paranoid about the people. The french can be difficult, particularly towards Americans I guess. She actually wanted to go back to Italy! My ears perked up when she mentioned that. I figured she would rather go somewhere she hadnt been. Cyndi has some family in Milan (northern Italy), she shacked up with them years back when she visited Italy through a school program. That part of the family still write letters and send cards (all in italian, they dont speak a lick of English). Anyway she seems to think we would be able to stay with them again if we went back. I did some research and Rome is about 4-5 hours away from Milan and Venice is about 2 hours away so we would be able to check out both of those destinations if we went there. As much as we would save on hotels it sounds very appealing.

I would love to see St. Peters and the Colleseum. The Pantheon (not to be confused with the Parthenon at the Acropolis). Sistine Chapel and misc architectural marvels. Venice would be a treat. Take a ride on a gondola and check out a few more museums. Take in the scenery.

I'm still doing some research but I think we are going to make this happen. Don't know when we will be able to go but sometime this year.

On a side note, Carl and Levi were on the Today show today! They were down in DC doing some sight seeing with Levi's fiance Emily since she's never been there and they stumbled upon a setup with Al Roker doing whatever he does (the news or something) anyway they were in the audience. I recorded it on DVR so Carl could see himself on TV. IT was funny watching Levi stretching his neck out trying to get on TV. IT totally worked, if I didnt know who he was I still would have stared at his head poking up instead of Al Roker!

London or Paris?

2006-01-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

Carl and I were checking travelocity for trips to either London or Paris last night while at work not working. (figure that one out for yourself) anyway, first we were thinking something simple like Vegas or the Grand Canyon since niether of us have been there (nor has Cyndi, lets not forget about her) but then we figured we may not get another oppurtunity to do this and we should take advantage of it and do something a bit bigger.

So where to? Remember my previous post about wanting to see more of the world etc. well I've decided not to think about it and just do it. Cyndi and I will inevitably have a kid sometime in the next few years so we need to travel now.

We were thinking London at first (Cyndi's already been to Italy even thought I would like to see the Vatican and all the history there) London seemed like a logical choice. Rich with history, english speaking people etc. But then thinking about where to go and what to see I realized that the stuff I really wanted to see was in Paris. Sure checking out the Royal family's playthings would be kinda interesting but we may only have one trip to do this in so we need to make it good. Paris has Notre Dam, The Louvre, Eiffel Tower (meh), and other misc art museums and architectural marvels that I would like to see all of. OH! I wonder if Cyndi can get a Government discount, I didnt think of that. wait... that may only apply to hotels in our own country, what the hell does a hotel in Paris care about an AMERICAN government discount. crap. anyway If anyones been to either or both of these destinations let me know what you think and where to go/stay etc. I'll be doing plenty of research on the topic as well.

Here's the delemma... Cyndi wants to build a deck this year (which I'm all for too) but building a deck AND taking a big vacation may not be possible. My thinking is a deck can wait a year, we need to travel before our spawn takes over our lives, whenever that may be. Her thinking is the deck will add value to the house etc and we just went to Bermuda this past year for our honeymoon. I've got some convincing to do. I haven't even told her about this idea yet, I just got the idea last night and I haven't seen her since other than her sleeping when I got home and me sleeping when she got up this morning. I think I can make this happen. I'll let you know what she says.

More to See

2006-01-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

I've been lucky enough to see some sights outside of Ohio. First we moved to Maryland so Gary could work at Ft. Detrick. I remember being so excited when we were loading up the truck, even more excited when we saw our new place. All the cabinets in the kitchen, the new clean bathrooms. We were all so excited. It was the first day of school that I didnt like but thats another story. I wonder if we moved here in the first place if I would ever have seen some of the things I've been fortunate enough to see.

First was D.C. It was a school trip and we saw all the monuments and them some. I remember thinking how jealous some of my friends back in CIncinnati would have been to know. It wasnt until years later that I went anywhere worth noting. Micah, Casey and I took a day trip to NYC. We left at 6 in the morning, got there around 10am and spent the whole day there. Left around 9pm and got home late in the night. It was the ride home that I told them that I met a girl named Cynthia. I was pretty excited obviously, soon after that Cyndi asked me to go with her and her parents to Hawaii. HAWAII! I couldnt believe it. Why would her parents take me to Hawaii? Who cares! It was sooo much fun. I never thought I'd be there in my life.

For her 21st birthday we went to Disneyworld and then on a cruise to the Bahamas and Disney's private Island Castaway Key. The cruiseship was amazing. We've been on another cruise since then on Carnaval which actually wasn't that great. The ship was so-so, compared to Disney's.

Bermuda was by far the best destination I've been to. It was surreal. The island was amazing, just like the postcards. The people were great and it wasn't touristy at all. That was the best part. The food, oh man the food. wow. The best part was being there with Cyndi. She'd been there before, and remembered some of the spots to go. We had a blast just being there alone.

I can't wait to go somewhere else. I think its about time I got off of this continent. Cyndi's been to Italy and Greece. I'd like to see that for myself. Oh the food, I cant even imagine. The scenery, the culture, the people. I can't wait. soon enough. Life is short (see my previous post on what I think happens when we die) so I want to see as much as I can.

My computer is about to shutdown so this post is about over. I want to see the world but I'm too lazy to walk accross the room and get the power cord to my laptop, go figure.

Poor Palmer...

2006-01-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

I jumped off of my couch when I saw Palmer connect for a 50 yard pass on his second snap, and by snap I mean the sound of his knee snapping as he went down. NOOOOO!!!! I should've turned the TV off at that point. Bengals lost to the Steelers and now I'm left to rout for another team for the playoffs. What a bummer for Palmer, he was on top of the world, playing his ass off and now he's gunna have surgery and hope to make it to training camp for next year. This could botch next years season already.

Who to root for? Redskins? no. I know my sister would kill me to hear that but I dont care too much for them. I'm thinking the Colts. They are a class team and fun to watch. Payton Manning deserves some respect. We'll see what happens. If the Colts lose to the steelers next week the Steelers will be my new enemy. Then I'll be reduced to rooting for the team with the pretty uniforms.. NO! I'll root for the team playing the steelers, there we go. Thats good thinkin.

I just ordered my Cinci shirt too online, getting ready for my superbowl party. I'll still wear it. I was looking forward to wearing my cinci shirt and making some GoldStar cheese coneys for my guests. Screw that, I'm still making coneys. Carl's planning on making some ribs on the grill while he's here and Steven is going to be eating tacos (some family tradition that he cant give up) so we'll be eating a little bit of everything. Football looks so good on HDTV too, golf does too. We took down our xmas decorations so we rearranged the livingroom back to the way it was, with my spot on the couch in the middle of the living room so the surround sound falls on me! ooohhhh yyyeeeahhh.

Font Crossover

2006-01-06T18:56:00.000-05:00

IF there are any programmers out there or know some looking to get rich and make an impact in the world take this and do something with it.

Most applications work on a mac and a PC these days. Even complex applications like design software. As simple as it may seem, Fonts cannot cross platform. There isnt much that makes up a font so its seems like they should be able to work on both platforms. If someone either created a system of fonts that would work on both platforms or some application that would convert PC fonts to work on the MAc and vice versa they would be millionaires. So if anyone wants to be rich get on this pronto and let me know when its done so I can use them. Thanks.

2006-01-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

Religion part duh...

2006-01-03T23:59:00.000-05:00

I had the same ideas that people use religion to fill in the gaps of our understanding, but for some reason I just don't like that idea. I think its true, I just think its weak in a way. I don't want to take the easy way out and fill in the gap. I have questions just like everyone else and I know my questions will never be answered, just like everyone elses. I don't want to make something up just to make myself feel better. I feel more content accepting the fact that I don't know the answers and will never know then trying to fool myself into feeling something that I know isnt true. (if that makes any sense). We exist. That is a fact that I cannot ignore, wouldnt want to. Maybe I'm just not on as much of a quest to find out the answers as everyone else is. In fact, maybe my "easy way out" is considering my quest over knowing that I will never know. Never thought of that.

I think the idea of religion makes people feel good about themselves and therfore, I think it has a purpose. For most people it makes them better people to be apart of it so I'm all for that.

I know so little about the bible, I'm treading on this ice here and will sound like an idiot talking about this stuff but I'll be the first to admit that. I'm sure Jesus existed, I'm pretty sure thats documented. What I'm not so sure on is in what form. The Son of Christ? that was a long time ago, I tell my friends if David Blaine were around during the same time doing his magic we'd all be going to the church of David Blaine right now. I know thats a terrible thing to say but its a funny concept you have to admit. OK, so Jesus died on the cross, later some farmers or something claimed to have seen him resurrected and passed the word? Or something like that? So like 2 farmers are responsible for the whole world believing that Jesus was resurrected and is the second coming of Christ? What if they were wrong? (believe me, my recollection of the story is probably wildly off but thats what I thought some people thought). People can be fooled.

I wonder how many people that believe in God or are somewhat religious have been converted to believing in Evolution compared to vice versa. I bet conceding to evolution is so much harder for people than conceding to God.

I'm heading home. Its getting close to 1am and I have an hour drive for Blaine's sake!

Prude...

2006-01-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

This may not shock anyone, may surprise some, depending on who reads this.

I've never been drunk, high, tried any drug, never even attempted to smoke a cigarette. I've never even wanted to alter my mind in any way and I don't think I ever will. I've tried alcohol, misc. types, and still do occasionally have a sip of wine or champagne but never even to the point of having a "buzz". I know this is not the norm, far from it.

The truth is, I know that if I did try any of these things I would probably like it. Everyone does, why would I be any different. Then again, I genuinely dont like alcohol, probably because I havent had enough of it to get the full effect of it. I know enough from other peoples experiences that addiction is the hardest thing to crack, I would be a fool to think that I don't have an addiction gene so its not worth it for me to try. I'm sure its a lot easier to not ever start that it would be to have to stop.

There is a downside to never having tried anything. People that know my choices probably think I'm a snob because of it, or a prude. I probably am a prude. I don't think im better than anyone for not having done any of these things, lucky maybe. I've had just as many opportunities as anyone. Its just not for me. Cyndi has a little bit of history with alcohol, but very little, and nothing with drugs or smoking etc. I'm very lucky to share this way of life with her. Very lucky.

Thanks Dave for sharing my thoughts on religion and for expressing yours. What you say makes sense, the part about we didnt exist and now we do so we must have been created. I would agree with that statement. I'll share more thoughts as they come to me.

2006, the start of something new?

2006-01-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

Cyndi and I are supposed to start going to these dinners with Fr. Charles (the reverend that married us) and some other people that are supposedly new to religion. I respect the fact that Cyndi believes what she believes enough to attend these dinners that will surely come with a hidden agenda. I genuinely want to learn more about religion, mostly just to figure out why people are into it. Most of my close friends are relatively religious or at least have that background and I dont so I feel ignorant when the topic comes up. They call me an atheist and I dont necessarily agree with that. Atheists will try to convince you that there is not god ... (sorry God)... but I wont convince you of anything. I dont know if there is a God or not quite frankly. I THINK that we evolved and I dont THINK that there is a God but I have no idea. I don't think there is a heaven or a hell, rather that when you die, the synapses in your brain that render thoughts stop firing and your body dies and thats it. End of thought, end of emotions, end of everything, forever. I don't think that is so far fetched, it seems logical to me.

I'm probably alienating what little audience I have with this post, which isnt my intention, I created this blog to share my thoughts and my ideas and this is one of them. I like Fr. Charles a lot, he's a good guy and relatively down to earth, I'm actually kindof looking forward to these dinners. I want to learn from these people. I know I wont be persuaded and I've been told that its not the purpose of getting together. I hope not. I'm hoping they arent expecting to hear me say that I dont believe but I want to learn and them reply with "WE GOT ONE!!!" like on ghostbusters or something. My parents taught us to think for ourselves and believe it what you want to believe (thanks mom!)

Now if I show up and dinner is setup in a nativity scene and there are candles everywhere, I'm getting the hell outta there...

Referral Bonus

2005-12-31T00:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks Dave for spreading the word on my new endeavor here. For those of you who clicked over here from Dave's site (frogtails) Dave is my uncle, my mom's oldest brother. He's grown quite the following from his site and I find myself reading it more and more as time passes. We think alike in a lot of ways so I guess I get that from my mom's side of the family. I notice how similar my cousins and my siblings are in the way we think and the way we communicate with each other. Its refreshing to have conversations with these people. In fact, thats my main motivation for this blog (see note below in my first entry ever). I'd like to have more interaction with that part of the family and learn from them a bit.

Some observations just from reading blogs over the last few months: When people talk about what they are thinking its an interesting read, when they write a 'nightly recap' of what they did that day, its not.

So today I cleaned up the house... (just kidding...haha, but seriously I did) I'll probably fall into the trap and write about whatever is happening in my life, maybe people just do that to fill some space and complete a post or something. I'll be more likely to avoid posting than to write about my boring life. (I'm sounding like an elitist or something like I'm too good to write about what I did today) what an ass. "I'm too good for blogs blah blah blah" yeah right.

Oh, crap, I should put out a disclaimer, I generally speak in sarcasm too, which I know doesnt translate for crap when typed so be aware, what I think I'm writing and what you may be reading could be 2 different things entirely.

Thanks Carl, for signing up for a blog just to put in a comment. Talk to you tomorrow for some real life conversation.

Do people sign off for blogs? should I sign my name like I'm ending an e-mail? probably not, its probably implied that its from be considering its my blog. Ok, I got it... uh... yeah I got it.

bowlliards

2005-12-29T18:14:00.000-05:00

So I have this idea for a game where the public would come out and play, similarly to going out to play putt-putt. I remember talking about this with some co-workers and I don't remember how it materialized or even if I had the idea in the first place but oh well, I'm taking ownership of it. So try to visualize combining bowling and billiards: you enter a large pool table where you are basically standing in an area around the size of a tennis court with pockets in the appropriate corners like a pool table. All the balls are the size of a bowling ball and only the cue ball has finger holes in it. The game is played just like billiards so when someone breaks, they roll the cue ball at the other balls and so on. Even the racking is in the same format as pins for bowling. Everyone would probably have to sign a waiver before playing though, imagine a bunch of bowling balls rolling at your feet rapidly. hehe, I still think it could work. Just a funny idea. I wonder if having this published on a blog counts as copyright?

My second blog entry ever...

2005-12-28T20:41:00.000-05:00

Yep. bored at work again. Who am I writing to? I don't get it. It seems vain to assume people are reading my "blog" when I'm pretty certain noone is. I don't think anyone knows about it yet really but even if they did there's not much value to reading it. If you are reading this right now, I'm sorry for wasting your time.

If you did read this let me know. Then I can taylor my posts to you and make this thing worth a damn.

andy@andystacey.com

2005-12-26T20:54:00.000-05:00

Me.

My first blog ever...

2005-12-26T20:21:00.000-05:00

I'm not much of a blogger. (at least not yet) I see the value for most people to express their feelings or thoughts through blogs but I have to be honest, my blog initialization factor is strictly out of bordom while at work. I have a pretty cushy job, supervising unsupervisable people. (teenagers mostly) So I make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing and wait for something to blow up (more frequently than you'd think). So in the meantime I sit in my cushy office and talk to friends or work on design stuff.

I have a lot of family that are bloggers also, another motivational factor, I've been getting a sneak peek at what they are doing by popping in on their blogs and I guess I feel guilty and think I should blog it up myself so they know what I'm up to and don't think I'm a snob.

So here it is. My very first post. Maybe my last, we'll see.

Cheers,
Andy (no I'm not british, I just like the way it sounds)