Something something... something

Have a lot of thoughts that don't go down 8n a written medium.

Have some ideas but still floating off before I get them down.

And then I get lazy.

Damn.

I keep lying to myself saying, yes! Of course you will!

Things co-workers say

Informed a co-worker of this: http://news.discovery.com/earth/rocks-fossils/piece-of-africa-found-under-alabama-140422.htm

The gist being a piece of Africa found under the southern portion of the USA.

He quips:

More proof that the South has been keeping them down for eons.

A long time ago...

Watched Star Wars again for the first time in several years. Forgot how GOOD it is until I heard the opening theme and was smacked in the face with a brick of nostalgia.

It impressed me that there were dedicated artists who used to build those models in intricate detail only to later have it blown to shit for the sake of entertainment.

Well... Then again, explosions are pretty awesome.

Stress and Vice

Stress and Vice. Everyone has both.

I was reading a comedy article on Cracked and one particular paragraph stuck with me.

"It may be stupid to get killed by your vices, but at least a vice gives you some pleasure in return for ruining your health. Getting killed by stress is just nuts - you're paying with your health for the right to be miserable."

Damn straight.

Of course much stress stems from job(s) you don't like but need to do to pay the bills.

Damned if you do

Starting with Fruit

I bought a decent amount of fruit over the weekend from Wally World and I had a small flashback to when I was a little bitty Tosen and fruit being much more affordable.

It might be nostalgia, or a skewed perception since I only ever went with my mother shopping and never really had to buy fruit for myself at the time, but all in all, it seemed to have gone up.

This year, being a bit more momentous than previous years, has made me seriously reconsider my eating habits as well as trying (in earnest, and not the 'I-know-I-should-but-I'm-not-really') to get more exercise; thus, the renewed interest in eating healthier foods.

Cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, watermelon, and pineapple - (due to my body hating the environment, apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, and other stone-pit fruits are out of my diet) - all delicious and ready for consuming. Except the strawberries, they are pretty awful at Wally World and even though I keep telling myself I won't buy them again due to the tart-almost-chemical flavor; they are my equivalent of the cadbury egg (or Mc Rib, or anything else that you forget they aren't that delicious,) and of course I would.

Non-organic, mass-produced fruits and, of course, not locally sourced - and it was stupid expensive (relative.)


If all of these government officials, interest groups, health officials, doctors, State groups, and <every other organization here> are so concerned with obesity and healthier living and eating; why the hell make it so out of reach for a (growing) group of Americans who rely on subsidized living to eat.

I saw sticker shock from one of the "cheapest" places, how can some people afford and/or tout upscale market grocery stores as a way to live healthier when some struggle to eat on the cheap.

But, I suppose I am over-simplifying things.

That doesn't mean I have to like it.
Back to my $40/week (fresh) fruit bowl.

Default IT

Apparently I am the default "Tech guy" at work.

Printer not working?
Nephew screwed up his laptop?
Can't access websites or the network or the server?

My job.

Even when it is not.

Sleep

My sleep has been all sorts of messed and twisted. I want to have a normal schedule again.

Maybe in a year or so.

Not even if I had the money

It must be pretty wonderful being rich (I do believe in a separation of rich versus wealthy) and be able to flaunt it in innumerable ways.

If someone is successful, it is their choice as to what they spend money on.

With that being said:

If this is real...

"Dog sold for nearly US $2 million at Zhejiang luxury pet fair." http://goo.gl/SlkjAT

Seriously?

Now, I do love animals and always had a dog as a pet. But even as a status symbol, $2 million for a dog?

I can think of a whole list of other things that would be just as effective at showing how rich one is.

But then again, I don't think I'll have to worry about that anytime soon.

Wow though.

Fix It Ticket

It is always fun to find out that you have a burnt-out headlight. It is especially fun when you are pulled over by State Park Police and informed on that matter.
$26 later and a strained shoulder (because apparently my car doesn't have clipped in headlights and are bolted), this ticket will be cleared. If it gets to the right office.

3rd Shift - a Haiku

Overnight work goes

No time to cook daily meals

Belly girth expands

Steam is Evil

Steam is evil.

Allowing me to search games that I have wanted and having sales on them that cost less than a meal at McDonald's?

 Pure evil.

Sure, when it first came out, people scoffed at the idea of an interface where you will have access to buy and download games (pretty much anywhere there is an internet connection) was laughable and little notice was given.

"Of course consumers will still go to traditional stores and buy the games in a physical medium." Was the mantra of the publishing industry.

Steam has shown them all the power of their evilness; access to hundreds of gaming titles, direct downloads, ability to play offline, and what's even worse and most evil - they run discounts and specials on the games they sell.

The most evil of course, is the Steam Summer Sale, (or Winter Sale, or Thanksgiving Weekend Sale, or <insert event here> Sale).

How dare they give me options of buying a shit-ton (a scientifically proven unit of measurement equivalent to four butt-loads, or 10 grips) of games for less than the price of even one new game produced by mega-house production companies like Ubisoft -and their wonderful Uplay, which constantly needs updating, usually cannot connect, is way more invasive than it needs to be, can break your game or saves, and in general a poor copy of what Steam does - and does it with minimally invasive DRM for the games (at least the ones that are supported through Steam's version of DRM)?

Super evil.

Now they are not perfect by any means, but when they have been a step ahead of the game, they do it well.

Consoles be damned, you can pry my PC/MAC games from my (c)old, dead, fingers.

I was reading the other day something that Andrew Zimmern said in relation to people who post reviews on food,

“I’m no one’s food snob. I consider a perfect hot dog on the street to be as valid a food experience as dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns,” he says. “I do not care what people — who I don’t know where they live, don’t know what their eating habits are, don’t know what sort of expertise or standards they bring to the experience — telling me what they think of a hot dog on the street or Blue Hill at Stone Barns. It’s meaningless to me.”

And I feel he is right. I've eaten at some places that other detest; not for a lack of options or good food - it was because it didn't fit their personal preferences. I'll give or take an opinion on the fare and then let others decide.

 In a similar vein, although I like thought-provoking movies, books, and like to stretch my mental capacities; sometimes a good dick or fart joke goes a long way. The "shitty" entertainment that caters to the lowest common denominator is FUN. And really, that is ultimately what it is about isn't it?

For some intellectual discourse is the only way they can enjoy themselves, others it has to be a raucous and raunchy.

I find pleasure in both.

Watching an universally-accepted "stupid/tactless/pointless" comedy (that is full of double entendres, fart jokes, insane and unbelievable situations, physical comedy, gratuitous nudity for the sake of nudity, and an almost "B" quality to it - so basically any national lampoon, rom/teen/com/parody from the 70's to present, e.g. Kentucky Fried Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, Airplane!, etc) is just as fun as trying to wax philosophical about the Divine Comedy, or Goethe.

Situation and time.

Plus not having arrogant, close-minded pricks as companions helps too.

Organizing

As a child, I knew my friend's numbers by heart, probably a list consisting of 25-30 different people. I had a PDA as I got older, but it was so clumsy that it was effectively worthless and still easier to remember details such as birthdays, phone numbers, and addresses.

I was recently asked on a form to provide a contact number for emergency purposes. I realized that I had absolutely no idea what the first number was of my emergency contact, let alone the entire sequence of numbers (seven - not including the area code which, thankfully, I still remember) and although people always joke that technology is making us stupid; it is certainly making people rely less on their memory and more on how fast their thumbs are at typing.

Really consider this. Even with something as inconsequential as trivia is no longer remembered because we have the internet at the tips of our fingers. Facts are readily available but are not actually learned. 

"I can just Google it."

I love technology. When the pictures come out annually from CES, I drool over what new electronics are in the works. 

But maybe, just maybe, the feeling of a lack of creativity is from over-reliance on it.

Which brings me to the Moleskine plain pocket notebook.

More ideas have been floating to the surface of my mind at the most random of times, and writing it on my Smartphone has become more of a bother than help. The voice recognition is still not very good, and recording my thoughts is out because - well, I hate the sound of my own voice (vanity...). But writing the ideas down as they are fresh in my mind has started to make my brain feel more alive and dusting off the cobwebs from it feels good.

This time I will stay with it.

I am pretty sure I will.

Until I lose the it.

Have not in a long time

I used to blog nearly every day when I was younger.

Then I got out of it when it was probably some of the best time to do so when I was overseas.

Now I am back again, and maybe this time I will not delete it all and try to post regularly.

Or Not.

I do, however have a short story that I submitted to The Word Count Podcast.

Fun.

Recording a short story, versus writing one is definitely something that takes getting used to, especially

when you hear your own voice reading back a story you wrote.