2010 resolution

After some thought I have come up with my new years resolution for 2010. I am resolving to be more autonomous. Yes, I did have to look that up in the dictionary to be sure of what it meant. I came to this decision after a review of what I was able to accomplish this year. All the things that I achieved were through my efforts. Anytime I thought it would be fun or appealing to involve a friend or family, I was told no. For some of the year last year that meant I stayed home. Towards the end of the year, I quit asking and went and did what I wanted to do. Don't have someone to go with me to a Kings of Leon concert? Went anyways. Couldn't find someone to go with me to a OSU game? Went anyways. Couldn't find someone that wants to go to a Reds game? Gonna go anyways in 2010. Is there a movie out I want to see? Better go see it cause no one else has the time. Would like someone to go to church with me? Wasting my breath asking.

So in affect, 2010 should be a much more enjoyable year. I am going to shed the burden of hearing why people don't want to do something and not involve others. No more sitting at home and carousing the internet when there is something I could be doing. Now that I don't drink much, I have more money for those things anyways.

I am also going to resolve to not buy any full priced video games. From where I am sitting, I can see 6 wii games that I paid full price for. I need to spend less money and actually less time playing wii and ds games, so I am only going to buy bargain priced games in 2010. Unless super mario galaxy 2 comes out, I will pay full price for that.

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Year in Review 2009

2009 has nearly come and gone and with it most events of consequence. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights for me.

-quit abusing alcohol on a weekly basis
-spent several weeks and months this year without a drink

-paid off my truck

-bought a house

-made more money than ever

-spent more money than ever

-seen more concerts in person than past years

-made a more serious effort towards my fitness

-asked for 4 dates or numbers, got 2 yes answers

-read more books and literature for pleasure than previous years

-found some music I liked enough to buy CD's of (Kings of Leon, Silversun Pickups)

-didn't really progress much on banjo playing skill (can play some of smoke on the water though)

-became more responsible via a puppy that I am now in charge of

-became more active in my church community

-changed church communities

-started reading the Bible

-made it another year without health insurance

-seen more movies, watched less TV

-learned more spanish

-improved quality of house (upstairs bedroom, windows in basement)

-ran two 5k's

-bought 5 new pairs of shoes (two pairs of justin cowboy boots, pumas, asics, dress shoes)

-had to buy smaller belts

-spent more time on computer than reasonable (no thanks to blogging there)

-almost have to shave daily now (didn't shave at all until after I was 21)

-went to two OSU football games, didn't travel to any new stadiums

-went to some Bengals games

-went to many of my sisters college basketball games, more than other siblings

-still have never done any illegal drugs

-didn't travel very much

-realized I have more family than friends

-didn't find a vocation, sill rummaging around as a farmer

In review this year did go pretty well for me. If I can continue having years like this, my life will be pretty blessed. The only thing I really think I am missing or would like to have is that special someone. I will find her or romance her eventually though.

Phase 1

Well today I finished phase 1 of my p90x attempt. My before and after pictures have been taken, and I can't tell much of a difference in my physique. I haven't lost much weight since day 1 either. I am at 199 according to my scale today. I have read on their message board that if you are doing the lean routine, the biggest changes don't come until phase 3 comes around. I don't really have a fear of no results, I am more looking forward to being able to say that I am a p90x grad. If the results come that would be fine, if not then I am still going to be active when I finish at the end of february. I haven't followed the diet at all and don't really plan to start. The only thing I can really do is limit my diet. I am going to run into eating fast food all the time after basketball games. Especially towards the end of february when tournament games start.

I also watched the goods live hard sell hard tonight. I thought it was really funny and all the great cameos were uh... great. The Arnett and Ferrell cameos were too good. The best part was the movie didn't take itself too seriously. It was an R rated comedy, but those are some of the best ones some times.

nasty christmas

I managed to convince my family a couple of years ago to switch to a nasty christmas type of gift exchange. This has gone real well and the gift exchange is very fun. The basic premise is that when your turn comes up, you can either open a new present of steal a present that has already been opened. If your present was stolen you have the option of opening a new present or stealing someone else's gift. I need to figure out a way to establish a clearer set of rules though. With the current style of play, a gift can be stolen more than once per round and that kind of dulls the  exchange after a while. A new round starts when a new turn comes up for a selected reason. The first year we went by age, last year we did birthmonths, and this year we did day you were born. I need to think of a new way to take turns for next year. This year we had about 30 people doing the exchange and gifts going around. I brought a mini keg of heineken, my gift of the last three years. I ended up with a dvd of body of lies. I haven't seen it yet so I am optimistic it will be good.

I also broke my 5 week sobriety last night and regretted it today. I am really debating how I can avoid drinking much on new years eve at my sisters place. I hate staying sober at a place and having nothing to do. I also hate having a hangover that last for 14 hours. I don't like staying at a hose long being sober. I usually try to leave or am anxious to leave whenever I go somewhere else.

Christmas finale

Well christmas this year has come and gone. The more I think about what I should be doing during christmas, the more confused I am. As a christian I should be celebrating the birth of Jesus. The message I get from my church and most other religious materials is that the best thing I can do is spend time with my family. During the time I spend with my family, we simply exchange gifts and have a meal together. Jesus is the reason for the season, but I could be doing more for that effort.

Gift wise this year was okay. I got my first ever dog of my own. I also recieved the following:  longaberger OSU basket, season 4 of the office, angels & demons, a monkeyball wii game, a nice plush blanket. an osu foot stool, one sweatervest, an osu painting to hang on the wall, and a money clip. I am going to a nasty christmas exchange tonight so one more gift could be added to the list.

Gifts I bought for others include: a box of funnels, a light up sleigh, two ds games, a sons of anarchy DVD set, a jumbo mailbox, a moonshine jug, a dog grooming kit, an artie lange comedy dvd, a hydraulic jack, a dog OSU jersey, a mini keg of heineken,

Things I bought for myself the past week or so: an OSU rose bowl hoodie, an OSU hat, an OSU long sleeve shirt, a KoL dvd, a black wii remote with motion plus and black nunchuck, a lawn sweeper, a dozen railroad ties for my driveway, a new sirius radio for my truck, and a KoL cd.

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Dog-ged

Well it has been seen fit that I am in need of a dog. My family bought me a 8 week old puppy for christmas. They found Walter, as I named him, at the highland county humane society shelter. He is part lab and about ten pounds right now. I am not sure how big he will get, I'll have to wait and see. They also gave me some dog care gifts and things to get me going. Walter is even house broken a little bit, he will piss once he takes a couple of steps on some grass after leaving the house. He can walk up steps now, but not down steps. He is not jumping onto things yet either.

Overall I am not sure about having a dog. I enjoyed the freedom of not having seomething to watch over. If I got bored or in need of some canine comanionship, they were always at least two other dogs around to play with. Now I have to plan on getting out of bed early, buy food and other things I was free from earlier. I also now have to reposition my stance that dogs are for people who want kids but can't deal or are not in the right spot to have kids. I would much prefer to be in a marriage and taking care of a person to a single guy watching over a dog. I will put some of my DSi pictures up on facebook, and will have to get my real digital camera out for the walter pictures to post on here.

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Midnight Mass

One of the traditions of the catholic religion and possibly other religious factions is a midnight mass service.  The church that I have been going to has theirs at 11, but the theme and message would still be the same. I did witness a new tradition tonight. The father has a child from the congregation place a baby Jesus in the manger of the nativity scene to announce or commemorate the official day of christmas. I did really like the sermon given today. The message was that the best gift you can give someone you love is a hug and to let them know you love them. You never know when you will have your last holiday with your loved ones so letting your feelings be known is important. The church was as full as I have ever seen it also. The CNE christians did show up tonight. I shouldn't make too much fun though, I was a CNE guy for a while myself.

I do wonder if I have estranged myself by this tonight. The first midnight mass I went to was at arnheim, and when I was in high school. The past couple of years we have been going to Saint Thomas More for midnight services. My grandmother goes to that church and is active in that community. Part of the reason we would go was to see her. My sister was married in that church by our local pastor. I told my family that I was going to hillsboro tonight. I am not making an appearance for my grandmother anymore. I regularly go to mass regardless of her knowledge. She even told me this spring that I am the most religous of her grandkids and gave me my grandfathers old rosary. I can pick where I want to go and how I want to worship. I have chosen a church near to me and plan on staying with it. The only way I am going to change that is for marriage or love. I don't really plan on attending any other churches for convenience.

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I want in like a substitute.

Working as a substitute can be a variety of things. Today I am going to talk about how many days I have worked. I have now been subbing since the 07-08 school year. I have a full year of work in the STRS system towards my retirement from my full time work in 06-07. The STRS system is a bit stacked against full time teaching from my point of view. I only have to get 120 days for a full year of work as a sub. The salaried teacher has to work 180 days, at least according to their contract. With that in mind, it would seem I am getting to be a more popular sub. If I use this time of year as a break point to stop counting, I see some interesting numbers. The first year that I subbed,  I didn't work at all this time. The next year I got to be a bit more popular, working 39 days. This year I have 47 days thus far. The main discrepancy is that this year I have only worked at two schools and one of them wouldn't have called me at all if it weren't for a maternity leave. Last year, I got called by the rockets plenty, but haven't gotten one call to work yet this year. Two years ago, I worked plenty of days over in mustang territory, but SS has not called back since the 08 graduating class. The second half of the year is usually the busiest. However if I go by this years trend, I will only work in one district unless an exact person takes off at PHS. This might not be a bad thing, but the point of subbing is to really try or showcase myself for a real job. I can't say that the noslowdown school is going to have any opening that I might qualify for soon. I would like to get out to to other schools, but am going to say yes whenever I am able bodied.

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say anything

I watched the movie say anything last night and really liked it. I could relate to the Lloyd character very well. He doesn't know what he wants to do in the next year after graduating or finsihing one part of his life. He takes a chance and gets to meet a girl is such a way that all he wants to do is spend time with her after they find each other. Then the romance is suddenly cut off and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He was very unassuming and kind of meek the whole movie. He tried to get advice from some guy friends and realized they were idiots. Mainly because he knew how it felt when he was with a woman he loved and that couldn't be replaced by hanging out with dudes.

I also watched inglorius basterds last night and didn't really like it. The movie had a very slow pace and not enough activity. I was also surprised that no body in my family knows about tarantino movies. I mentioned once or twice that it was a tarantino film and nobody knew what that meant. I must be the only one in my family who watches movies.

In other news, I had a pof date last night. It went well, but I don't really think this companionship will turn romatic. She was interesting enough and we were able to talk to each other, but it was missing something.

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Outlier

Last night I finished reading a book called "Outliers." The book was about people and their success stories. Then the book showed how the successes were not so much about work and effort as having the oppurtunity and background to achieve the success. The book also explained how the best way to perfect a skill is to spend ten thousand hours practicing that skill. I also found the sections about how the education system needs fixed and reformed very interesting. The book was a very good read and I am going to recommend it to about every one that I know.

hunting part II

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that people that actively hunt are idiots. None of the people I know that go hunting are hurting for food. If that was the case, they would play by the rules and tag the deer they take down. That really is what gets me. At least take the time to be honest. Claim what you shoot and make an effort to play by the rules. They are just out hunting because they need something to do or a reason to get out of the house,

The size of these hunting parties is something else also. The more people that are out there with guns, the more of a chance there is that a bullet will shoot something it was not supposed to. It just makes me really nervous. A single deer can pop up and take off running. Everyone moves to get a better shot, and some end up in places where they might be vulnerable to gun fire. They might even shoot in the direction of my house if they are not paying enough attention.

Opening day of gun season may be the worst. Every one wants to go 100 miles an hour on the first day of the season, then barely do anything the rest of the season. That really confounds me. If you are so committed to hunting, why don't you go everyday all day?

I could see the sport in bow hunting. That would be more of a challenge and closer to a actual contest of preparation and patience. The crowd in the woods we be much less and you would only get one realistic shot at a buck before they take off.

Comeuppance

I actually had to look up this word to make sure that I had the meaning correct. Our youngest mexicano had found some female companions nearby here and decided that he didn't need to go out with his fellow mexicans and known americans. Every saturday or at least once a week, we are committed to take them to the store of their choice. This usually amounts to us taking them to hillsboro and walmart or eastgate/beechmont. Well anyways, last weekend young fellow decided that he was going to go with his lady friends and ditch or abandon the group of people he could trust. It went fine last weekend, but this weekend his comeuppance came about. Young fellow and his lady friend went out to hillsboro and did whatever it is they might do. At any rate he pissed her off and she left him at the pharmacy. Luckily for him, I was in hillsboro with the rest of the amigos. Unlucky for him, we were in the middle of eating and I thought he could just wait it out and think about it some more. He may now realize that he can't trust others the same way that he can trust the people who are responsible for him. We can't just get mad and leave him at a store 20 miles from his place to sleep that we give him. A woman that we don't know can say f off and leave him on his own. Here in a day or two I am going to give him a list of taxis and our address so if he gets brave again, he can pay a taxi and have it hit him where it hurts, in the wallet. He needs to think about what it is going to cost him the next time he is abandoned by someone that is not on his h2a contract.

I am also a bit conflicted by this. Is this a very christian attitude to convey? I feel bad that he got left and ended up where he did, but I really think it is a bit funny. He doesn't have the time to go with us on our committed day. He does have time to ask me to take him to the store after everyone else goes. He does have the money to buy phone cards and pop, and then ask me to loan him 50 dollars. I told him no, but all of a sudden he now has money for beer this week. I don't know if Jesus would feel the same way about the situation, but part of why we are here is to live and learn and make mistakes.

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Tough guy

Today I was watching the buckeyes game and realized another thing about myself. I have no tattoos or piercings. I have this sort of stigma that tattoos are for tough guys. If I got a tattoo, people would just look at me and think, "who is this guy kidding?" I cannot think of a tattoo that I would want either. Nobody terribly important has died that I want to commemorate. A cross or spiritual tattoo would be okay, but they seem a bit attention seeking. I also seem to remember the Bible saying something about keeping the body clean and a tattoo would seem against that. Piercings are not much different. I am not a pretty boy or think that people should be looking at me. I don't want that attention. They seem a bit gaudy and can't really advance my personality any. "So, you thought enough of yourself that you got a ear piercing huh?" "Yep" would be all that I have to say. Sure, piercings and jewelry look good on women, but I don't think they are for men, me in particular. When I was living in the dorms, my cousin got his ear pierced, and a laughed and hee hawed about that a bit. But eventually it got old and I didn't see the point in trying to ridicule him for it.

van by the river sounding friday rant

My favorite thing about fridays is listening to WEBN at or about 5 PM. They play this celebratory/end of the week/I hate my boss thing then play an awesome song to get you in the mood for a good weekend. When I worked construction for my dads cousin, hearing that after a long week of work was a highlight of the week. Nowadays I mainly work for myself, but its still cool to hear. After the rant today, they played a cool christmas song where santa was ambushed and wanted cash instead of silly toys. It was the first time I heard that song and it was pretty cool.

I also got to sell my tobacco today. My landords contract is filled and I sold about 5000 pounds today bringing in a little bit over 8000 dollars. Most of my cut today will be used to pay my labor bill, but I sill have another 6000 pounds I can sell that will be straight profit for me. The tobacco turned out real well, I got a little more than 17000 pounds from 6 acres. Generally, getting 12000 pounds from 6 acres is the norm. I just hope I can still avoid any "cancer merchant" chants where cigarettes are thrown at me like in clerks.

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The Advent season

This Advent or christmas season seems kind of ho hum to me. I don't want to downplay the season or time of year that Christ's birth is celebrated, but this year is a little off in some ways. The gift giving part of what I am accustomed to is now at the point where I just buy and receive a gift from each family member. This is fine but some of the excitement of gift giving is dulled by sitting around and proclaiming who each gift is from.

Maybe its my attitude towards christmas. I haven't put up any lights. I don't have a christmas tree up, nor have I sent out any christmas cards. My house looks the same as it did during the summer and other months of the year. I do attend the church services but a sermon about financial woes and another about forgiveness aren't really tied into the season. At least not what I am used to hearing.

I have also found out something that I didn't know. Only catholics and lutherans describe this season as advent. I am not sure why this is or even the meaning of the word advent. It must be related to christ somehow. I am just not sure or the relation. I call this time of year as advent mainly just from tradition.

I don't know. I like seeing everyone else happy and enjoying themselves. However, I am a bit down this year. Last year I had just broken up with my girlfriend and was still drinking some. This year I don't have a lady friend and no real prospects. Maybe I will just turn into scrooge and become a hermit. I just buy any thing I want the rest of the year and really feel bad about others buying me gifts. I already have most of what I want or think I should have. Most of the gifts I get are based on how someone inconvenienced me throughout the last year. Last year I bout my mom 10 metal folding chairs because I was tired of trucking chairs back and forth between my grandparents and my parents. I have bought my dad and grandpa new shovels, sledgehammers, extension cords, 5 gallon buckets and other assorted farm use items. I bought my brother an extension cord so that he would quit moving around the good one in the barn. I bought my sisters dog care items so they could give them to their dogs.

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5050

I finished reading what I picked to be the best book of my year in 2009, 5050. The book is about a guy who runs 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. He has some ups, some downs and completes his goal. What I liked best about this book was that it made running and completing a marathon approachable. He mentions several first timers that completed the marathons with him. He didn't really see them as competitions and more about a journey being the most enjoyable part of any running. He was usually disappointed with reaching the finish line and having a certifiable end. While I haven't quite reached his level of skill and star power, I am looking forward to getting more miles on my shoes. I keep reminding myself of a quote I saw "Running cleans what a shower cannot." I can feel better about eating like an idiot or not being on a diet plan if I know I am going to work later and get that out of my system. Dean, the author of 5050 says that he follows a caveman diet, because when he eats food a caveman would not have had access to, he feels worse at the end of his run. Maybe one day I will reach that level. I also remember another interesting idea from the book. Dean describes how athletes are simply able to regulate how much they sweat better than others. They have trained their bodies to regulate their temperature better than the rest of us. A well trained athlete will sweat more than a regular person on a first workout because their bodies know what to do. Dean also drank a couple of liters of water a day. I also found it interesting that he was able to do all of this on less than 5 hours of sleep a night. Sure, a marathon is small compared to hundred mile runs and other forms of a ultramarathons that he completes, but 5 hours is not much for expending about three thousand calories a run. I had just got up to 600 calories burned when I did my runs and I was usually tired or ready to be done by the end. This guy achieved his goal and only lost one pound. That is something else.

I also am watching a documentary on PBS tonight about Peter and Paul during the rise of Christ. I am finding it very interesting and educational. It will be a while until I get to those sections in the Bible, but it still is good to see something so informative.

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Job

I finally got around to finish my double reading of the book of Job. As with some other stories of the Bible, I have heard of this epic slice of God's wisdom grace. I just don't know all the names and circumstances as well as an honest christian should. All in all, I did very much enjoy the book of Job. I found it a bit hard to keep up with the language being used, especially by the non-Job folks. I really shouldn't stress out about this very much though. People smarter than me have written plainer language versions and studies to make the Bible more accessible to modern day accounts. I was really surprised by a couple of thoughts. By my second read through it became clear that the citizenery of the Old Testament didn't really know about Satan. Job was convinced that God had done this to him and was being punished for reasons beyond his control. Never once did I see that an equally powerful being could have done this to Job. I don't mean equally powerful as in the most powerful, but in such a way that should be known and talked about. I found that a bit odd, but then again the best trick that Satan could do is convince the world he doesn't exist. I also found all the great descriptions and qualifiers of people and God in the book very interesting. It was pretty cool had God showed up and put Job back in his place after talking to him. Job realized that his strife and demanding to know were not important enough for God to be serving Job. I will really have to read a good retelling to get the most important points from the book.

I also have increased my KoL fandom. I bought the because of the times CD the other day and have been listening to that. I don't think it is as good as only by the night, but am enjoying it. The album is a softer listen from what I have gathered so far. I also bought a DVD of a concert they played in london, but haven't watched it yet. I may keep that fresh until after christmas and maintain it as a christmas present.

Well, the book of Psalms is next, and from what I have previewed, it looks every bit intimidating as a read. I suppose that the real challenge of reading the Bible is the willingness to come back to it and study more.

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the last one

Well today I took and passed my last objective exam for graduate school. Now all I have to do is write my research papers and get in my research plan. I am a bit apprehensive about the plan, I am not sure if the teacher I have in mind is willing to go along with the school principal and let me in like I would like. If all goes as plan, I will be doing the classroom stuff in either january or february and the schools around here don't really have consistent days with the snow and weather conditions. I am not really all that keen on having a graduate degree any more, its not really going to help me get a job and I really feel guilty about being away from the farm sometimes. Dad and grandpa depend on me plenty at times.

I also had another thought about why I am not as into drinking as much anymore. The only thing I have really accomplished in my life is that teaching certificate. One bad decision and that could be taken away from me and then I won't have anything like that to my name.

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Uh-oh

Uh-oh #1-yesterday I went to B-dubs out in beechmont and ate a bunch of spicy garlic wings. An hour later my stomach hated me. I must have been eating good lately, because that junk food made me sick. My stomach felt awful and I still have a bit of garlic breath. On the way home, my truck smelled like garlic farts. I barely made it home and to the toilet on time. I am going to have to learn to eat better.

Uh-oh #2-that 21 year old from pof used to date my cousin and knows who I am. She now thinks I should go to the bar in hillsboro with my brother. Its a good thing I can tell her I quit drinking and am not going to start because I am at a bar in hillsboro cruising the single ladies.

Uh-oh #3- I have been messaging a teacher over on pof and found out she works with my aunt. She doesn't know this as of yet, and I probably will tell her. For some reason I am worried about others knowing about my online persona. I don't think I behave differently online, but am worried about how it is perceived by others who aren't online. I will likely end up having a date with this one if things continue at the pace they are, but don't really think it will go much further than that. If she asks or it progresses to that, who am I to refuse her? Am I such a person that I can refuse people who would like a chance to meet me?

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best of the year

I saw a best of 2009 post over on the ex hot girl blog and thought "self, that would be a good blog for you to do." I was already planning on a year in review post closer to the end of the year, but this is going to have a different tone. Here it goes.

Best trip/vacation
I would have to award this to my only trip/vacation. I went to tennessee this summer for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. Any other free time I spent taking naps and being cooler online.

Best restaurant moment
I had to think hard about this one. I think the best restaurant moment was and is taking my H2A crew out to eat. We usually go to la cascada in hillsboro, and they enjoy it because they get to enjoy good mexican food without cooking it. Treating a group who works for me feels good and is rewarding. I have a meal coming up this weekend and might go to wings and rings, they also like the salitas, or chicken wings.

Best article
I do read newspapers as often as a I can, but nothing comes to mind right away. I may have to give this to the Joe Paterno article I read in SI this year.

Best book
While I don't want to omit the Bible, I am going to pick another book. I did read several books this year, and not only because subbing can be dull. I think the best book I read is the 50/50 book I am reading now about a guy who ran 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. The book is very encouraging for me as a person who is an aspiring marathoner.

Best Night Out
While I don't do very much socializing at all this year, the best night out I had was back in february. A friend of mine invited a bunch of her friends out to bar louie in cvegas out to celebrate her birthday. I got to see some old college pals, and then hung around my brothers place for a while. I also got good and drunk, but was into that at the time.

Best workshop or conference
I am not enough of a professional to attend workshop or conferences. I did attend an insurance meeting where I found out I was going to be getting a big check, then got to eat a free dinner afterwards. That was easily the best.

Blog find of the year
Hmmn. I could go with the easy choice and pick a blog I shouldn't have found. However, I will pick a blog that I found since starting my own blog and go with the ex hot girl blogger.com site. She is a photographer who is trying to lose weight after being a hot girl.

Moment of peace
I think my moment of peace may have been when I decided that I was going to drink a whole lot less. I feel healthier, spend less money, and think this may appeal more to girls. Time will tell if I should have just stayed a thirsty guy or not.

Challenge of the year
This is a tough call. Quitting drinking wasn't really that tough and I still occasionally drink. Getting back into running was tough, and P90X is supposed to be tough. I am going to go with my return to running. P90X is not as hard as I thought it would be, but I should be following the diet much more closely.

Album of the year
Only by The Night by The Kings of Leon.

Movie of the year
Well, I didn't see many movies in the theater, but did see several via netflix. I am going to say "The Machinist." I really liked the story and plot and thought it was well done. Others were kind of a waste of time compared to my viewing of that movie.

Concert of the year
I only went to two concerts this year, but the KoL concert at rupp arena was by far my favorite. I should have gone and seen incubus when I had the chance, and really want to see the silversun pickups the next time they are within driving distance.

Post of the year
Well I started in the late spring and now have over 200 of my own posts to pick from. I think either the "perspicacity" post or the "here goes nothing" post were the most thought out posts I did. I ultimately have to go with "here goes nothing," since it got some attention and I now have more conversations with the subject of the post.

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LOLCOPTER

It has now become apparent that BK is now leaving or trading up his coaching status. The thing I don't get is how is ND a better job? A coach there has more scrutiny. ND doesn't have a conference affiliation that guarantees a bowl game. The big east does. ND plays a weird mix of teams in made for TV/money games. It is all very weird to me that ND has this mystique that they are better or more important in todays football game. I don't think that is the case. How is moving to a school with a losing record and no bowl games a move up from two consecutive bowl games and an undefeated season? BK must know that Tebow is gonna whup his old team all over the field in their bowl game. I actually feel sorry for BK now. The talking heads at ND are gonna expect much out of him and he likely won't deliver. Looking at the facts, BK hasn't won a national championship. Thats what ND is going to expect. His teams have made two bowl games, but haven't one either yet. Like foxsports said, ND aimed too low.

The man JT got it right. He started out as an assistant coach, then moved on to a head coaching job at a division II school. There he learned how to run a program and prepared himself for the big times. Todays coaching carosuel doesn't provide that. Look at ND's last coach. They plucked him from the NFL with no experience running a program. He was able to fake it out for a while, then got paid millions of dollars to be fired.

In another case of hilarity, the steel curtain has now lost to the browns. While I would like to laugh at the browns for being such a laughable team, I think it is funnier that the steelers are now below .500.

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haircuts

I generally like to let my hair go a little bit and have some on the top of my head. Ultimately I decided to get a haircut today. My barber is going on vacation until february, so it was now or until then. I usually go at least a month or more between haircuts.

I did get into a little bit of an argument once with the last girlfriend about my hair. She thought that I should get a fresh haircut at every special event, or holiday. I thought I should get my haircut at my leisure. She finally revealed this to me after some protest and the holiday had gone by. She also liked me better with short hair anyways.

My grandma/barber has come to the conclusion that I am starting to get a receding hairline. I have ascertained this also by now and that is one of the reason I like to have a bit of hair on my head. The extra volume disguises the loss somewhat. I also have a weird shaped head to go along with my weird shaped face, so a bit of hair helps that front also. I have pretty much moved out of afro growing territory with my age and hairline now anyways though.

I am also at a bit of a crossroads. I caught a 21 year old girl from hillsboro looking at my pof profile. I messaged her and she is now certain of who I am. Six years younger and my youngest brothers age is a novel territory to be in. However, the last girlfriend I had was six years older than me and that wasn't terribly odd either.

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in oder aus

I first watched the ali g show after picking up the season 1 dvd at a blockbuster. I had heard some good things about it, and it turned out to be a good buy. Sacha Baron Cohen mockery of societys ignorance and intolerance is very good good comedy. I would have to say that the borat character and scenes are my favorite. I watched the bruno movie tonight, and was a bit disappointed by it. Most of the scenarios I had already seen done on the main show and the plot was pretty weak. The borat movie was done much better and had more original material. Sacha has turned out to be a pretty reliable actor, playing the french guy in talledega nights and doing the voice work of the meerkat in madagascar as well.

I have also got back into listening to my one of my favorite songs ever, "wind" from akeboshi. I came to know this song since it played on the ending credits on the naruto cartoons. iTunes doesn't have it, so when I want to listen I have to search it out on you tube. Best lyrics? Here they are.

don't try to live so wise,
don't cry cause your so right,
don't dry with fakes or fears,
cause you will hate yourself in the end

back to neutral

Well it would seem that the girl I went out on a date with has given up on me. I didn't call her on the schedule that I thought I would, which may be the main problem there. The last time I called her, I left a message saying she could call me back. She hasn't called back and its been about two weeks since we last talked on the phone. I can take a hint and give up on a person that I got to meet and had my chance with. Being back in neutral, I am going to sign up for another dating site, I saw a catholic based site on pof site.

It has also become apparent to me that some of my blog opinions have been made more public. While I haven't imagined keeping this site a secret forever, I was a bit surprised by what I heard today. At any rate, I meant what I typed and have to maintain a high standard of dress for myself. This isn't much of a problem as I was doing that anyways. I don't think I am making attacks when I describe something on this blog. If anything I am jealous of people who have full time work, even more so if they have found someone and are married. I really don't do anything that stands up to those achievements.

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then don't draw one

Today I did go and see the new moon movie. I actually liked the book better but did really enjoy some parts of the movie. The fight scenes with the werewolves were pretty cool as well as the vampire action scenes also. I am still not impressed with the vampire attitude. All the moping around and longing to be a vampire is a bit much for me. The vampires are just very keen on themselves and its too much for me. The Jacob character was much better and more interesting. The movie skipped out on several parts, but the ending was better than what happened in the book.

Today at church we got a special homily. The homily was special in that Father Mike didn't deliver it. Instead we got to hear a synopsis on the church's financial strain. Essentially, they took out a loan to develop a school and don't quite have enough funds to pay it back in a timely fashion. The message or advice they are getting from the diocese is that they need to focus more on their mission than the debt they owe. It has come down to providing a good quality christian education for the young people of our parish. I like the goal well enough, I am an educator myself. Well, maybe only an educator in my own mind, but a willing educator when the job ever comes along. The thing that struck my interest at the end was a fundraiser Father Mike was promoting. The fundraiser was to raise money for the mission work of the students. How can we be expected to give money to the church that won't go towards their apparent mission? Any money that doesn't go towards the church itself or the school they have in place shouldn't be asked for. I don't want to get lectured about money woes only to give more money to something that won't help the money woes. I did put 60 in the collection this week. I do think that 20 might not accurately represent 10% of my income, so I should be putting more in anyways.

I did go to the bengals game today. I also finished reading the book of Job for the first time through. My recap will have to wait until my second read for that to happen as promised.

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The Vest's Birthday

Today I received the unexpected news that it was JT's birthday. I found this out at halftime of the basketball game that I went to. The football team came out and was presented with their big ten championship trophy, and we got to hear some from the captains of the football team. They said they are working hard and coming back from the rose bowl with a win this year.

The basketball game was pretty cool. The buckeyes won by 51 and my favorite player Jon Diebler was the high point man for the buckeyes. The worst possible news and event was that the villian hurt his back and is going to miss the next 8 weeks. The team may get along without him for a while, but he is going to be needed during big ten play. I did get to see mark "club trillion" titus play and almost record another trillion. He had to shoot and miss, but that is part of the excitement of being a trillionaire.

I did got out and see some friends from columbus today. The two are engaged, but I think I have annoyed the girl for some reason. The last time I seen them, I drank some of her stoli vodka after she said that I could have a drink from whatever they had. It was cool to see them again, but much like me they don't drink as much anymore partly because they are buying a house and are saving a bit of money.

I also went to my brothers fraternity function and hung around for a while.

I also caught up with an old friend from college. I am really beginning to wonder why I never asked her out for a date or anything of the sort. Well wonder might not be the right word, I was a drunk and didn't really deserve anything of that sort. She is a nice girl and I really should give her a chance now that we have caught up some.

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cattle wrangler

Today we had the chance to move our cattle around. During the winter we isolate and group off some of the cattle. We put the bull in a pen by himself. We put the baby calves away from their mothers and by themselves in a barn. We put some of the expecting heifers by themselves so we can watch them and see when they might have a calf and move up to the cow rank. The rest of the cows are in pasture for the rest of the winter, grazing in the fields with no real protection from the elements.

Cows really are pretty tame and fun to watch and try to pet sometimes. Some of them do have some personality and are especially friendly. Usually all you have to do is give them a head rub and they are happy as can be. With that being said, I don't really like having cows around. Because of them we have to bale hay in the summer. We have to feed them everyday in the winter. We have to grind feed for them almost twice a week. They really are a bunch of work for the small return I see. Especially when they find a bad spot in the fence and get loose. Then we have to go out with flashlights and whatever else and get them back in. My opinion is that we should get rid of the cows, grow more tobacco and have more money from that. I really don't like having livestock on the farm. I would much prefer to grow crops. We can always get more mexicans and be able to grow more tobacco. Especially if we don't have cattle inthe barns we already have.

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Mush mouth

I have gotten two calls the past two night where the callers have had to wonder what I am on. I have been hitting the sack by about 9:30 or so lately, and the calls come right before 11. I barely wake up during the calls and mumble my way through them. The first time I thought my alarm went off at 5 am and wondered why I was being called that early. It took me some time to realize that my phone woke me up and not my alarm. Last night was nearly the same case, but I had to have been just as incoherent on the other end. My brother might quit calling me that late if that keeps happening.

I have also been invited to be a known reader of a blog now. I am not sure how much I should read into the invite, but I better be sure to not wear out my welcome. I am probably on the wrong side of interested party/stalker as it is. I need to stay in the neutral, but still interesting side of things. I did do some catching up and must say that some things that I read are a bit disheartening. I would never make a girl drive to see me outside of her town on a first date. I would also welcome the chance to spend money on others and myself, especially if it gets me out of the house for an evening. Pretty much it is a bit hard to read the blog and not see myself being able to do the things that she is wanting and deliberating on. I think I chose my words carefully here, though I have misspoke before.

I also finally found an out of town friend that is willing to say yes to me. I have found someone that is willing to go to the buckeyes game with me on saturday. We are meeting in a neutral location and we both have things to do after the game, so I can't say that this lady friend and I are going on a date. But it is gonna be pretty cool to get to see her and take in a basketball game. I just need to find a grey #33 Diebler jersey that I have been wanting for a while now. That way I will have something to wear for all the buckeye sports that are cool to watch. I also want to make a poster board that says something about club trillion and the villian, but don't think i will have enough time.

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let there be heat

I have finally upgraded the heating system in my house. The two winters that I have lived here, I have had all electric heat. This keep the house reasonable, but my electric bill was as high as 500 dollars once or twice. I have now installed and am operating a propane heater in my house. It is mounted to the wall and is keeping the room it is in nice and warm. I now have to determine how to change the setting so that the electric furnace still runs and heats the entire house. I don't think the electric furnace has been on since I ignited the propane heater. I also have to see how much propane and how much it is going to cost me to run propane is going to bee. Ideally I would get an outdoor woodburning furnace, but have decided to hold off on that until I get some other debts paid off.

I also bought my first pair of asics running shoes tonight. Should be fun to see what all the hype is about. I looked at some of the results for the turkey trot I ran and wasn't all that far off from the front of the pack. The first place runner was only about 6 minutes ahead of me, and no one went under the 20 minute mark.

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day 1

Well today was day 1 of my p90x experiment. It took me some time to decide to call it an experiment. I'll see how it turns out in 90 days. I plan on not talking about this much, the next updates will be at 30, 60, and 90 days. I was going to put my before pictures up along with this post, but my internet has been haphazard all day long so I think I am going to knock off early and get to my bible reading.

I didn't think the workout I did today was terribly difficult. There were times that I couldn't keep up and my technique was not up to par. Some of the exercises were new to me, so I had to watch for a bit also. I still have enough energy for a treadmill run, but am going to put that off for a while.