Another week

Well, I survived another week and I am moving on to enjoy a weekend with friends and family. I am very excited about some job prospects but I am also trying not to get my hopes up. I have applied for close to 30 positions in the past few months and most of those positions start reviewing applicants the first week of March. I am optimistic about my chances of having a new career my the time April shows up.

I had a great after noon cleaning my home with my beautiful wife. That and grocery shopping are probably my favorite chores. Especially when they can be completely while sharing the company of my wife.

I am excited to be attending a wedding this weekend. I have been so blessed in my marriage to Kim and I get really happy when I believe my friends and family will find the same joy I have found. Good stuff.

I guess that's all for today. I have some shopping to do with the wife. Today is a GOOD day.

My Most sincere appologies...

It has been far too long since I last updated, and for that I am sorry. During the past few weeks my life took a turn for the crazy side of town. It was a whirlwind of stressful conspiracy theories at work, traveling to and from a family funeral, job searching, and finally...just trying to relax and catch my breath. Mission accomplished. I am now back to feeling like myself, save a few a small changes. Let me tell you somethings that I have learned or thought about in the past few weeks.

Death: it is very sad, and no matter how it comes, those left in it's wake will need time and support to over come the natural course of grief. I have also learned that while I would appreciate it if it wasn't spread over three days, I appreciate the way in which Catholics celebrate the life of the dearly departed. I would like something that resembles a wake when I fly away.

Snow: I just love that stuff! I know that like anything else too much of a good thing...but I don't see it enough to get tired of it.

Work: is what I do...not who I am. I am very unhappy in my current job, but thankful to be employed. I pray that in the VERY near future I am able to take a position that better suits my needs and one that allows me to feel appreciated.

Bloody Marries: are great every now and then, but be forewarned...if you purchase one at the O'Hare Bar and grill in Chicago...they are $13 a piece. Take it easy.

The Library: I love this place. I have spent a lot of time there over the past few weeks and have felt better because of it. I finally finished "After All", the biography of Mary Tyler Moore and loved it. She had a fairly tragic life and pulled through. Whoda thunk it. I have now purchased and started reading "Lake Woebegone Days" by Mr. Garrison Keillor. I love his work on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion and his comedy is intelligent. I think I'll like this book.

I have a lot of other stuff going on right now, but I'll just sum that up real quick.
I'm Painting again.
I am determined to reach my weight goal
I am making plans to outfit my backyard for great Summer Parties...you are invited.

I love you all. Seriously.

The Career Change (Part 4)

Well...after close to three weeks of silence and un-returned phone calls and e-mails, my career advisor called last night...and I missed the call! He was trying to get our schedules together so that we can have a constructive conference call and discuss my immediate options and long-term growth goals. It is encouraging that progress is being made, even if it is at the pace of an autistic snail with a broken shell and a slime deficiency. Progress none the less! My goal is to be in a new career by April. I think I may have previously said March, but the lack of communication lead to an unforeseen delay in the plans.

This weekend my brother and his wife will be in town and I always love seeing them. My brother and I and one of our friends are going to spend tomorrow morning and afternoon playing disc-golf and maybe having a little lunch. It'll be sweet.

In general I am not a fan of cinema. I feel like spending two hours of my life watching the story of some one's fictional life is a waste. I also feel like there are very few original ideas out there right now. It seems like every major blockbuster I have seen advertised lately is either book adapted to screen play, based on a comic book or super hero, a remake of an old movie, or some other old story attempting to be made new. To me, I have always loved the idea of creative writing and I just don't see much of it anymore.

I guess that's all I have to say today.

Things you should know about

So I am not exactly a trend setter or anything, but sometimes I stumble across something awesome I think people should know about. Today, I give to you a list of things I think you should know about. I hope you enjoy and appreciate.

Music:
Brett Dennen - I saw him at a music festival a few years ago and I instantly loved his super laid back, but very intelligent style. Great lyrics and a vibe that just puts me in a great mood. Check out his myspace and listen to my favorite track "Ain't No Reason". Amazing.

Amy Ivey - She is a local Austin artist who has a cool jazz style to her. She is real low key but she has this real classy style to her voice. I dig it. Oh yeah, she is also the voice on the Reid's Cleaners Commercial.

Movies:
Standing Silent Nation - this is a documentary I have been telling people about for a few years now. It shows the current tragedy going on in North Dakota to the Lakota Sioux Nation. You will see how our government is misrepresenting us and breaking their own treaties with a sovereign nation. Not cool!

Comedy:
Steven Wright - this guy has been around for ages, but he is still hilarious. He is relatively clean in his humor as well. A very dry but witty delivery that leaves me needing a change of pants.

Brian Guttman - I went to college with this guy and then he went on to win awards like "Funniest Person in Austin" and some Comedy Central awards. His stuff is observational, but not boring like Seinfeld's stuff. It's actually funny.

Outdoors:
Disc Golf - I always thought this was kind of a lame sport...until I tried it. I love Frisbee and I love competitive sports. BAM! Disc Golf! It is a ton of fun and after you buy the discs...it's pretty much free to play...so that's awesome. Also, according to a website I found that tells you how many calories you burn in all sorts of activities...it's really good for you,too.

Hiking - If you live in Texas you have at your disposal one of the most extensive parks services out there. Lake Georgetown has tons of really great trails and it is really nice to get outside and away from all the noises of traffic and the city. Very calming...and also good for you. I like things that are good for me.

I guess that's all for this installment. Join me next time as we work towards making you life less lame!

Don't sweat the small stuff - edited

I just wrote a giant blog about how so many Christians push people away from God by pretending that every hard time that comes along is God's will or that it is to build character, but I decided not to rant on and on about it. I will sum it up with this state:

I believe that God wants us to trust him in hard time. That does not mean we have to pretend everything is ok and that it doesn't totally suck right now. And we as believers need to remember that when we are trying to comfort our friends and family as they go through hard times. Crappy days are crappy days whether you have faith or not.

Moving right along. Are all women space heaters? It is amazing to me how so many of the women I know seem always to be cold, but if you sit to close to them they radiate such July on the surface of the sun type heat that you will either have to move, or soak through your clothes. So my serious question is this: Is this something that all women have and why? Is there science behind this? It's crazy!

Two comments about the super bowl. Santonio Holmes displaying excessive celebration after the final touchdown of the game. By using the football as a prop he broke the rule and a 15 yard penalty should have been added on to the kick off on the final drive of the game. I am not sure how this got missed. It was blatant and obvious to anybody watching the game. Also, James Harrison should have been ejected from the game in the early part of the 4th quarter. He blocked a player to the ground and once the player was on the ground he held him there by his head and shoulders. Once the player got up, he pushed him to the ground again and then punched him in the side. How did he not got ejected?!