tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511048003837492862024-03-12T19:36:17.393-05:00Sometimes I Think...Just some thoughts I think might be worth sharing... Or not... Up to you I suppose.Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-87051807721481598332018-12-26T21:18:00.002-06:002019-01-01T21:33:35.442-06:00Please Hear Me Out... Well... It has certainly been awhile. If history has taught me anything about blogging, it is that I am really not very good at it. I am definitely not good at doing it consistently.<br />
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That said, I have been wanting to put these thoughts out there for a pretty long time now. There are probably other people who are saying the same thing, but I haven't heard them and maybe I can reach someone else who hasn't heard them. It's going to take a lot of words to get through this, so stick with me. Please. I really think this is important and I genuinely hope you will think it is important too once you hear me out.<br />
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Stop. Being. So. Damned. Combative.<br />
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Ok, that really didn't take a lot of words, but there is a whole lot more to the thought than just that. Here's how I see it.<br />
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The world today, and for the past couple/few years, is an absolute bloody madhouse. (probably a lot longer, really, but this feels different to me.) Everyone is pissed at everyone else. Everybody is shouting and none of it is actually making a damned bit of difference. We are surrounded by hateful rhetoric FROM BOTH SIDES.<br />
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Lest anyone think I am casting stones, I am definitely as guilty as anyone and probably more so than many. I have been angry. I've ranted and railed against things being as they are. I've tossed insults at people I don't know and judged those I do.<br />
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I know exactly how bloody HARD it is to pull on the reins. To take a step back. To own that I am part of the problem.<br />
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It is tremendously important, however, that I do. It's important that you do, too, regardless of what side of things you are one.<br />
<br />
I understand the allure of venting all your anger. I love that warm feeling inside when you give release to your passion; your pent up anger and frustration. I yearn for that embrace of others when they shout out in agreement with my words. I even tremble with anticipation at the thought of someone coming back at me, ready for a fight. Hell, I am SPOILING for a fight. I'm revved up. I am ready to take that punch and come back with a dozen of my own!<br />
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Problem is, we've already stopped listening to one another. We haven't even started yet and we are passing judgement; deciding there is no way we are going to find a common ground.<br />
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Where the hell is that getting us? Nowhere good, that's for damned sure.<br />
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In fact, lets just be honest here, it's likely to perpetuate this divide that is already present and ever widening. Pit brother against brother and all that jazz. Each of us growing continuously more self-righteous and, correspondingly, less willing to listen to the words being shouted at us by the other jackass.<br />
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I am pretty sure that if you step back and consider it honestly, you will find that this is exactly what you've been doing. I know I most certainly have. Our points of view are dissimilar enough that we fail to understand one another. We even tell ourselves that we CAN'T understand one another; that the difference is just too much. Too ingrained. (Betcha half a dollar we're wrong on that score.)<br />
<br />
From this dubious starting point, we usually devolve to name calling and accusations. "That's the problem with all you damned liberals..." is hurled from one side only to be met by, "Those ignorant-ass conservatives and Trumptards..." We drum up charges and accusations without regard to anything other than, "I'm right and you're wrong." We scream labels at one another like Republican, Democrat, Catholic, Jew, black, white, conservative, liberal... The list goes on and on. Every-hurtful-thing we can think of winds up being flung at one another in an actual attempt to wound.<br />
<br />
As if inflicting wounds is a way to win someone to our side...<br />
<br />
Let's be honest for a moment. One or the other of the examples I just used probably triggers you. If not one of those, certainly something else someone from the other side says. It isn't helpful and, frankly, it isn't healthy. It is sure as hell no way to have a productive conversation, never-mind attempting to run a government.<br />
<br />
We can do better.<br />
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We MUST do better.<br />
<br />
Maya Angelou said, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."<br />
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So how? How can we do better? What steps must we, as individuals and as a collective, take to do better?<br />
<br />
I don't have all the answers, but I think I can see the beginning.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>We need to stop name calling. Name calling invariably riles a base of like minded people and puts everyone else off or, worse, hardens the hearts and minds of the opposition. </li>
<li>We need to listen. ACTUALLY listen. Don't just sit there and fume and think about the next thing you want to say. Listen to what the person you are talking to is saying. Ask questions. You don't have to agree with them, but you do need to hear them out and try to understand their point of view. </li>
<li>Stop telling ourselves all these stories about how the other guy is bad. People are not, as a rule, bad. People have a different frame of reference and have different motivations, but not generally bad ones. Someone having a wider or narrower view of the world is generally based on their circumstances.</li>
<li>Stop assuming. You do not know where he came from. You don't know what she's been through. In a lot of cases, you probably can't even imagine. We all have our demons and we all have our blind spots. </li>
<li>Stop trying to win. Try to just understand. If we can start trying to understand, ON BOTH SIDES, maybe we can start to actually communicate again. Maybe we can have a conversation. </li>
<li>Cut the self-righteous bullshit. I know some of us are prone to spouting off, whether it be aloud or in our own heads. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that there are people reading this now thinking, "I don't want to understand those muckity-mucks on the other side. I ain't gonna. Nope. No way, no how." Hell, I am prone to going there first myself. Of course I think my views are right. If I didn't, they wouldn't be my views. But I am not such a self-righteous asshole as to choose to remain ignorant of the other side of the conversation. Not once I know that is what I am doing. Willful ignorance is just ignorance reinforced by pride. Knock it the fuck off.</li>
</ol>
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<div>
I mean, I am nobody, but I am pretty certain that's where we need to start. Of course it is not going to be easy. Very few things that are worthwhile ever are. It is, however, very simple. Just start. With yourself. With your friends. Stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution. Every damned one of us is capable of doing better once we know we can. </div>
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We can. </div>
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We must. </div>
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I will. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Will you help me? </div>
</div>
Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-37319520571399631782013-09-26T01:57:00.000-05:002013-09-26T14:09:29.820-05:00Agents of Shield... SPOILERS!... <div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Fair warning folks, I truly mean it about the spoilers thing.</b></span></div>
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So here are things as I see them... </div>
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Charles Gunn, having somehow survived the LA apocalypse, decided, "screw this shit, I am getting the hell out of this game." </div>
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Unbeknownst
to him, the PTB (Powers That Be) granted him with some super powers
since, as far as I can tell, both Angel and Spike had their asses handed
to them by a Dragon. </div>
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Anyway, being a city boy at heart,
he didn't really move on as far as he might have. More to the point, due to the
previously mentioned apocalypse, he knew he would need to to lie low so
he picked up the identity of Michael. (It isn't like getting a fake ID
is exactly hard. Ask any 16 year old.) </div>
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High Powered Lawyer at Evil
Incorporated gone turncoat and, so far, only known survivor of the
apocalypse. Demon Hunter. Vampire Hunter. It all sounds cool as
hell on paper but doesn't make for the best talking points in an interview. Failing to give notice at Worfram and Hart was probably a black
mark on his resume too, so having few to no employment prospects (despite
what he tells his son) he found work as a common laborer. He was probably
happy for a while. Settled down, got married (To Annie was my hope. Sadly, the flash of photograph later on would seem to indicate otherwise.), had a baby and all that... but once he started manifesting
super powers, old habits kicked in and he started working all kinds of
crazy hours which eventually led to his wife leaving him. Unless she was
killed by a vampire like his sister had been. That would be some shit,
wouldn't it?</div>
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Of course, he probably considered using the
Dark Avenger as a tag but that would have been disrespectful to Doyle
and I would have had to kick his ass. (I have super powers too but we
will get to that another time.)</div>
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Moving right along... </div>
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Of
course, Michael, formerly Gunn, gets spotted saving random chick "A"
because all his smarts have faded since leaving the firm and things are
about to get real for our old friend. </div>
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Enter Agent Coulson.
Coulson may or may not have been killed by Loki not too long ago. Right
now, there are a ton of theories being thrown about to explain how he
made it through that debacle. I have two favorites that I am going to
share. </div>
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First, the one originally put forth in the show, that
Fury faked his death to draw the Avengers together as a team. Now, this
seems reasonable enough and I would be willing to let it go at that were
it not for the lines following immediately afterward that seem to
indicate that this is complete bullshit but that Coulson cannot be privy
to the truth regarding his own demise and subsequent rebirth. </div>
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Enter theory number the second. </div>
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Coulson
is a clone, memories and all. Not only that but, (and this is my own
personal twist here,) he is probably not the first either. Remember that
hero worship he has for Captain America? Well, remember that kid who was thrown in the water and then told Captain Rogers to go chase the
other dude because he knew how to swim? My money is on that having been
Coulson as a lad. (The first one.) who later grew up to join Shield and
be just like his hero. We know there is something especially fun about Nick
Fury, why not his right hand man? But it couldn't be the same thing and
so I am going with perfect cloning. </div>
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Enough of theories for now... </div>
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Speaking of longevity, HOLY SHIT! I KNOW WHAT SHEPARD BOOK DID BEFORE BECOMING A SHEPARD!</div>
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That
is right boys and girls. Shepard book was around forEVAR! He has seen
the forming of the Alliance and the tera-forming of hundreds of new
worlds... And all of that is AFTER all of the background we are about to
learn watching Agents of Shield!</div>
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And let's face it. If he
has survived that long it makes perfect sense that the alliance is able
and willing to render medical aid on his say so alone. Hell, I would go
so far as to say it is likely he will somehow manage to pull through or
be revived in the DarkHorse Comics that are coming soon. Probably be
best if Captain Mal doesn't find out about that any too soon though. </div>
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For
that matter, I imagine that somehow Mr Universe's entire rig got it's
start with Rising Tide girl who is just plain hot in so very many ways. (I
can't help it. Smart/strong chicks are sexy as hell.) It is all about
the signal. From here to the eyes and the ears of the 'verse... Seems
like the family motto started way back when, doesn't it?</div>
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Anyway,
it turns out that it wasn't the Powers That Be that gave Michael Turner
his fancy schmancy new powers but, instead, some sort of tech that has
been grafted to his body. Turns out he got hurt and his wife bugged out
because, well, I honestly
don't have enough information to speculate. Suffice it to say that shit
took turns for the worse. You would think that with his experience
with this sort of thing he would have been ready for when he turned bad
but I suppose a run of bad luck can turn anyone a little hard. I blame the monotony of factory work. </div>
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Oh! You want to know who else is a badass? </div>
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Mulan.</div>
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It
is pretty evident that she always has and always will kick ass. I was,
however, slightly disappointed that she didn't have a chance to break
into song. Maybe the show will go on long enough for us to get a
musical episode. Or a puppet episode. Oh my gods! Singing puppets!
Muppet Show! Fraggle Rock! Holy shit! Can David Bowie do a guest spot? </div>
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... </div>
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Alright, I have it together. Lets sum matters up here...<br />
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There
are a few other characters... A couple of braniacs collectively called
FitzSimmons (nice play, by the way) and a pretty boy who I hope gets
interesting later. All in all, it has a good bit of potential so we will
have to see what happens. </div>
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Oh, and as a parting thought, where the hell is my hover car? It is 2013 already. Why aren't these in mainstream production yet?Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-13812013355153655492013-01-04T21:30:00.000-06:002013-01-04T21:30:39.464-06:00Welcome to 2013...Alright, I admit it... Making myself write and post here regularly has been difficult. I have things I want to say but I have trouble finding ways to articulate the thoughts I wish to share in a fun, yet meaningful manner. I am going to try again but I need to ask for some help...<br />
<br />
Let me begin by offering a quick summation on what I am doing here right now...<br />
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2012 was a hell of a year. There were a lot of ups followed by a lot of downs. 2013 is going to be better if only by act of will alone.<br />
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I have made a lot of changes in the past few years and I have a lot more planned for the upcoming one. Including, I hope, a more successful return to writing and sharing on a regular basis. How can you help, you ask? I need encouragement. I need to know that I have an audience who are seeing what I am choosing to share. Whether you agree or not, say a few words. Conversation is good. Sharing thoughts are good.<br />
<br />
What I really mean is that I need to know that there are living, breathing people with more than half a brain out there.<br />
<br />
Now onto the message I wish to impart as my new year's greeting... <br />
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As I am writing this, I have Hulu playing in the background. There is a commercial playing during each break in the programming that makes me despair for the human race. It is for a show on MTV called "Snooki and JWOWW". I'm not positive but I think I may be having a fucking aneurism. <br />
<br />
Now, first of all, I want someone to round up the people who came up with the idea of Jersey Shore and put them to a very public and very painful death. Once they are gone, I want someone to find me everyone involved in deciding there should be a spin-off following this useless whore. These people, I don't want killed. I want them propped in front of a television set and forced to watch video of this bitch twenty-four hours a day. In this way, I expect one of two things to happen:<br />
<br />
A.) Their brains will liquefy and dribble out their ears and down their neck. When this happens, we strap them to a table and administer electroshock therapy until they fucking well apologize. I mean it. They suffer until they apologize for subjecting anyone and everyone to their particular brand of stupid. Then, and only then, are they allowed to leave the building to be trotted out into the public where I expect them to be pelted by rotten fruit and vegetables every day, for the remainder of their miserable fucking lives. <br />
<br />
B.) Their brains may already be liquified or moldy and rotten or something. (Thus explaining the fact that they were ever able to have this fucking idea in the first place.) In that case I suspect they will will begin convulsing in some sort of bizarre cult-like ritual. At this point, we use them to film a new commercial along the lines of the old, "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs." commercials popularized back in the 80's. The main difference will be that we crack their skulls open with a frying pan and televise the resulting sewage. This commercial is to be shown three times in a row, every ten minutes, each and every time the fucking Snooki hour is on television.<br />
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Once we have gotten rid of them, (and I should stress that the MTV executives that Okay-ed the show in the first place are every bit as culpable and were therefore were included with the shows originators), we round up the show's fans. Every-single-gods-damned-one of them is to be sterilized without regard to age, sex, race, creed, or sexual preference. None of these fuckers are allowed to procreate. There will be no second chances. Their worth has been weighed, measured, and found wanting. There shall be no next generation of these useless pieces of shit. <br />
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Now, astute readers may note that I was referring to these people as individuals apart from my readership. I assume that since you are here, you are able to read and that you have better things to do than spend your time on the previously mentioned shows. In the event that you are a fan, I need a few things from you.<br />
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First, and most importantly, please don't tell me. It will change my opinion of you and I think we are probably both happier with me not knowing this particular secret of yours. If I found out, I would be forced to dole out grievous bodily harm and nobody really wants that. <br />
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Secondly, take a step back and have a good hard look at yourself. Really examine your life and your friends and the choices you have made to become who and what you are. If you are the type of person I am ranting about you should probably leave and, if you can find a sharp enough implement, cleanse yourself from the ranks of humanity. If you do not think you are the type of person I am referring to, STOP! For fucks sake, have some respect for yourself and find better programming!<br />
<br />
Seriously, please. PLEASE. Somebody shoot these fuckers before they do another season. <br />
<br />
Now, lest I give the opinion that I am just an asshole biased against one particular show, allow me to clarify...<br />
<br />
These are not the only people who need to be forcibly sterilized. I think we should also include anyone who thinks "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Idiocracy</a>" is a comedy rather than the mind freezing, terrifyingly possible, horrific commentary on the direction our world is heading that it is. I often jerk awake in a tearful cold sweat when I dream of the world prophesied in that film. If you don't, you should. <br />
<br />
There are plenty of other warning signs that you might be part of the problem. Far too many for me to include them all here. If you are uncertain, look around yourself at your closest confidants. If you see them and think to yourself, "Wow, all my friends are fucking morons!" then chances are you are made of the same mold. Off your friends then off yourself so that you can herd them into the next life. Please do not continue from previous saved points. <br />
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It is 2013 ladies and gentlemen. It is about time some ignorant mother fuckers be cleansed from the planet. If we can't cleanse them because of some sort of law or sense of civic responsibility, please, do the responsible thing. Hit them on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. If that isn't enough to snap your friends and family out of this shit, try a baseball bat or a 2x4. The world is going to pot and the country is growing more and more terrifying each day. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4I9BOD7gyTzR_BG1AJPlpcvC8q8oZPbm5TZbnRb56o080dMl5ArGpsWeYzmR2hBGKJ_vQ2OGTieYqSK8ppOOoPsCg2zF5rswh0ptY67ewiUrIfpXUuAUoNAYZrAOpQGifrYbzcPt6uknC/s1600/388369_579210878762993_333386952_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4I9BOD7gyTzR_BG1AJPlpcvC8q8oZPbm5TZbnRb56o080dMl5ArGpsWeYzmR2hBGKJ_vQ2OGTieYqSK8ppOOoPsCg2zF5rswh0ptY67ewiUrIfpXUuAUoNAYZrAOpQGifrYbzcPt6uknC/s320/388369_579210878762993_333386952_n.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Do your part. Smarten up a stupid mother fucker.<br />
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If you are afraid or unwilling, leave their name in the comments and I was bitch slap the stupid out of them for you. It is time to do our part!<br />
<br />Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-55688234284235484612012-10-15T19:30:00.000-05:002012-10-15T19:57:59.715-05:00On the Quality of My Friends... Welcome, again, to another edition of whatever the fuck I want. I have given things some thought and decided that this post is going to be about the quality and caliber of those individuals I am privileged to call friends.<br />
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I have spent the past sixteen or seventeen years collecting the group of friends I have now. I have people from all walks of life, as well as, more than a few of the way stations of my journey. <br />
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There are terribly few things held in common by all of these people. The first and most obvious one, of course, is that they are friends with me. The second - and this is probably why they are friends with me in the first place - is that they are each highly opinionated and tend to spend time and energy learning about those things that they feel strongly enough about to have an opinion on. (First person to give me shit about ending a sentence with a preposition gets a kick in the face. Just sayin'.) They are generally well educated - or at least well informed - and if I ask them for an opinion, they will usually be willing to share their thoughts on whatever topic is up for discussion.<br />
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With this in mind, I boldly returned to my blog (which you are reading now, in case you were confused or had forgotten where you were), and immediately set out to initiate a discussion that I thought had merit and that I hoped would spark plenty of comments and thought provoking anecdotes from these opinionated and occasionally brilliant friends of mine.<br />
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Sadly, I had forgotten to take into account the third thing held in common by most of my friends which is that most of them are also obstinate assholes.<br />
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To be clear, I wouldn't have them any other way and I do not mean that as a necessarily negative thing. Their obstinance has led to many wonderful conversations, devious arguments, and a host of wonderful memories that I wouldn't trade for anything. <br />
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However, it does mean that my recent post flopped in a fairly spectacular and genuinely disappointing way. By no means is this their fault. Truthfully, I probably shot myself in the foot when I asked the question of several friends a week or so earlier, when the idea had first occurred to me. Having already shared their opinions with me privately, they no doubt thought they had nothing more to add to the conversation. <br />
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No, the fault was mine and I will try to avoid similar pitfalls going forward. At some point I will revisit that post once I have a more involved audience in the hopes of succeeding in my original goal. Hell, I will probably just brush it up and re-post pretty much the same thing. Chances are, by then, I will have a different set of readers anyway. Actually, if all goes well I will have the same, but expanded, set of readers.<br />
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At this point, I am going to take a short break to share something that is painfully inappropriate and unrelated that just wants to rattle around in my brainpan a little bit. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Please note that I do not condone, practi<span style="font-size: x-small;">ce, or in any other way approve of abusive <span style="font-size: x-small;">behavior in relationships. Something about the very inappropriateness of this overreaction and situation <span style="font-size: x-small;">tickles something I can<span style="font-size: x-small;">'t quite put my fin<span style="font-size: x-small;">ger on.</span></span></span></span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Also, I would <span style="font-size: x-small;">credit the pict<span style="font-size: x-small;">ure <span style="font-size: x-small;">to it's creator but I haven't got a fucking clue who it <span style="font-size: x-small;">is so if <span style="font-size: x-small;">it is someone you know, please thank them for me an<span style="font-size: x-small;">d give me their nam<span style="font-size: x-small;">e so I can update this. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So here we are, at the end of what I had intended to say. I will sum up here simply by repeating that the strange<span style="font-size: small;"> and</span> wonderful<span style="font-size: small;"> qualit<span style="font-size: small;">ies</span> shared by my friends are things I cherish deeply, and I want to thank each and every one of you assholes for supporting me in this <span style="font-size: small;">endeavor</span>. </span></span>Talk at you soon!</div>
Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-63830377989561923802012-09-27T11:32:00.000-05:002012-09-27T11:32:01.813-05:00We're All Gonna Get in a Fight!... So, the main reason I came back here is because I sometimes have things to say that I think are worth sharing. Hopefully you think so too or you would probably not be here. I try to keep things entertaining and engaging but I haven't seen nearly enough folks commenting so we are going to try something different.<br />
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The other day I was listening to the radio and a song said something along the lines of "I'll die for you..." and I got to thinking a little bit. What if that doesn't mean everything we think it does? What if that was the absolute worst possible option? Personally, I am not sure I would like the idea of someone else dying for me.<br />
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And so I sent out some messages to various friends asking this question and now I shall pose it to you...<br />
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Would you contribute more value to someone willing to die for you, or to someone willing to kill for you?<br />
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And even more importantly, why?<br />
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Now, there are a few thoughts and thinking points I want to bring up here before I ask for everyone to share their thoughts.<br />
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First, does the nature of the individual weigh into the value? For instance, is it worth more for an obsessively moral person to be willing to kill for you as opposed to someone who might feel less remorse over the act? Is there more weight to a self-important egotist willing to lay down their lives for you as opposed to someone more self sacrificing? Is there a sliding scale where the answer varies depending on who the person is?<br />
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Secondly, I want to be clear that I am referring to someone who is actively putting themselves in harms way, not someone who is killing themselves on an alter to prove their love. We aren't talking about suicide pacts or anything.<br />
<br />
Finally, do circumstances matter? Does it matter if someone is taking out a threat or just generally putting themselves or others at risk?<br />
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Now to the rules...<br />
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(I told you in my last post there would be rules. I am a man of my word.)<br />
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1. "Just because," is not an answer. If you are of the opinion that there is a correct answer to our quandary, share your justification. Explain why you believe as you do.<br />
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2. There is no correct or incorrect answer. I encourage you to debate various answers but nobody is allowed to attack someone else for their opinion or for their reasoning. <br />
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3. No repeating yourself. If you feel the same way as someone else, you are welcome to voice your agreement but if you have come to the final point in your argument, you are not allowed to repeat yourself in a louder, firmer voice in the hopes of persuasion through repetition.<br />
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4. Circumstances are allowed to change perception. If someone points out a different circumstance where you feel like your answer would change, that is fine. Please explain what it is about the circumstance that is influencing the swap and whether the swap is for that instance only or if you are recanting your previous opinion .<br />
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I think that more or less covers it. If something else comes up that requires additional rules or moderation, I will let you know. In the meantime, weigh in people! I am hardily curious how this one will turn out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01wZKPma2owjK5gMfYwg3bJIzcEO8YSeNUFYJpilHcKWXCJgqnuRBotvAs-73jPza0n7CXAp8h9Y3-wWUgUlOtZJH7A6ZU76o-1UimPVniddlMNddEmhV3nh-0ty1g8sIGmC7GkTBGsgi/s1600/220px-Marvin_Gaye_in_1973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01wZKPma2owjK5gMfYwg3bJIzcEO8YSeNUFYJpilHcKWXCJgqnuRBotvAs-73jPza0n7CXAp8h9Y3-wWUgUlOtZJH7A6ZU76o-1UimPVniddlMNddEmhV3nh-0ty1g8sIGmC7GkTBGsgi/s1600/220px-Marvin_Gaye_in_1973.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">For those who may not recognize him, this is a picture of Marvin Gaye back in 1973. For those of you who may not understand the reference or why in the world I would choose to include his picture here, "Let's get it on!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">One additional note: I want to see as many thoughts and opinions as possible so invite your friends to join in! It may be only a theoretical question but I somehow think it may have more meaning than, "How do you like your eggs?" It may only be a start but I think most of us could benefit from getting to know a little more about our friends and neighbors. </span></div>
Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-74479229993988176532012-09-23T21:21:00.001-05:002012-09-23T21:21:37.422-05:00And So Things Take a Turn... Alright, I had decided a while ago to abandon this blog in favor of starting up a new one.<br />
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Away I went to begin a new series of long winded commentaries, this time focusing on positivity and growth!<br />
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Fuck. <br />That.<br />
Shit.<br />
<br />
As it turns out, for all that my attitude has improved to where I try to maintain a positive outlook, my demeanor is still dour and, frankly, I have more fun speaking in this voice. If I am not having fun with the writing, how can I expect you to have fun with the reading?<br />
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And so I return to the wild tundras of my youth and, more importantly, I return to "Sometimes I Think..."<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This picture has nothing to do with anything other than my wanting to have some sort of icon to flash about when I announced having a new post up. </i></span></div>
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I think the goal this time around is to be thought provoking, engaging and, above all, entertaining. I <br />
still want this to be a forum of sorts so please, share your thoughts and comments. Pretty much anything goes and on the posts where I decide there are rules, I will let you know what they are. (You will see what I mean when I post the next one. Hopefully it will garner some manner of reaction.) <br />
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Just a reminder for any returning readers, and a warning for any late comers: My blog, my opinions. I don't represent any other individuals or organizations. I am here as a means of performance so if you don't care for something I have to say, feel free to get the fuck out. Or better yet, say so. Use reason to persuade me. Call me a douchebag and go off and pout in a corner somewhere. I don't give a shit. Just do something!<br />
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When it comes right down to it, I do have thoughts and opinions and if I have chosen to share them here, it is because I think they have merit and are worth sharing. If you disagree with me, by all means, attempt to sway me to your point of view. I am not a fickle man but if I am wrong or misinformed, you have a duty to bring it to my attention and the attention of everyone else who may be here nodding their heads in agreement with me. For fuck's sake, do something, say something... Just get off your ass and have a bloody damned thought.<br />
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Initially, I had intended this post to be a simple announcement of my intention to return to posting on this blog. As it turns out I actually have a few things to say so if you are still here, keep reading.<br />
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I am tired of this bullshit, passive aggressive nonsense. Facebook, (which I secretly loathe and use primarily as a means to announce when I am making a post here in an effort to gather an audience,) is full of people posting about their favorite political candidate and why the opposing personality is the wrong choice. (And I don't give a fuck if that last sentence was a run-on or that this one began with a conjunction. (School House Rocks FTW!)) More to the point, it is full of idiots following along without checking for themselves and without doing the research to make an informed decision of their own. people just swallowing whatever they are told and parroting it back. It is as if whoever has the loudest voice is the one who will be believed!<br />
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Actually, maybe there is something to that after all... <br />
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What I mean is, remember when I said before that anything goes? I lied. keep your political views to yourself and off my comments unless they are expressly invited. That shit makes me angry and I have put a lot of work into not being angry all the time. <br />
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I don't give a shit if you are a democrat or a republican. I don' think there has been a good choice in my lifetime and I despair of there ever being one. Of course I think one evil is the lesser of the choices available to me but that is my lookout and if I have to leave the country because shit has gone just too damned far, that is my concern as well. There will be NO politics on this blog. Unless I change my mind and then, may whatever gods you pray to have mercy on your soul. There will, however, be plenty of discussion on philosophy and possibly even spiritualism or religion. <br />
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If I misspell something, let me know so I can correct it. If my grammar is off, blow it out your ass. I will speak here the way I damned well want to speak to make my voice show as I intend for it to. Deal with it. <br />
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/sigh<br />
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I don't want to say anymore here right now so I am not going to. I will be back soon with an attempt to breath some thought into some of you. Watch for it!<br />
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(Traditionally I have ended these posts with some kind of a quote. I haven't decided yet whether to resume that practice so for now, we can consider this a place holder.) Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-39121571502664107772012-01-10T19:36:00.007-06:002012-01-31T19:09:30.877-06:00A Tearful Goodbye...Probably this isn't really a terrible surprise to to most of you but I have fallen out of the habit of making blog posts.<br /><br />Well, with a grand whopping total of one (1) blog posted in the entirety of 2011, I am afraid it is time to pronounce the last rights and declare this blog of mine well and truly dead. I will invite each of you to take a moment of silence or say a short prayer or do whatever else it may be that will allow you to put your poor bereaved heart to rest before I carry on.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Here is an lovely and </span><span style="font-size:85%;">entertaining </span><span style="font-size:85%;">video my roommate shared with me recently. Lets all quietly enjoy the beauty and joy it contains as we wait for everyone to pull themselves back together.</span><br /></div><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JaAWdljhD5o" allowfullscreen="" width="560" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe><br /><br />Alright. Now that we've all gotten that out of our systems...<br /><br />I want everyone to know that writing for you all was a wonderful experience and I learned a good deal about how to write with my very own voice. Such a lesson is good and necessary and I plan to carry it with me into the future.<br /><br />With all of that having been said, I am starting a new blog! (Had you going for a minute there, didn't I?)<br /><br />What it really comes down to is that I have grown and changed enough over the past year and change that I feel funny continuing here. I will be keeping some of the things I have picked up here and altering others to better fit my current frame of mind.<br /><br />And so, without further ado, I invite each and every one of you to join me at "<a href="http://how-do-i-think.blogspot.com/">I Was Just Thinking...</a>". (See how it kinda just alters the theme a little? I hope everyone enjoys it!) I am planning on getting to work on it right away so join me for fun times and leave comments to your heart's contents!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;" class="body">Could we see when and where we are to meet again, we would be more tender when we bid our friends goodbye.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">-Ouida-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-72780732070765413512011-07-28T01:36:00.002-05:002011-07-28T02:26:15.168-05:00It's Been a Long Time...I haven't posted here in quite a while. (I know. Captain Obvious. That's me. Whenever I am not busy moonlighting as Lieutenant Oblivious.)<br /><br />Well, I have had my reasons. Admittedly the most prevalent of these is that I didn't bloody want to but, well, what are you going to do?<br /><br />Am I back now? I am honestly not sure yet. You will likely know when I do.<br /><br />I miss writing and I miss performing. Those two combined is more or less why I am here; you know? I like to do both and, more importantly, I like to do them each for an audience. What does that mean to you? It means that I am a bloody comment whore and I am infinitely more likely to post here regularly if I am getting comments. In other words, say something. Invite your friends and tell them to say something too! I hate feeling like I am talking to myself.<br /><br />Anyway! I wrote myself that fancy schmancy disclaimer up at the top so that, hopefully, anything I say here won't spill over and effect my employment. I really like the job I have these days and I would prefer not to lose it over some sort of smart-assery comment I make here in a public forum. To go with that I am going to say that I will not be talking about where I work or anything like that here. If you are a friend of mine in real life and you happen to know where I spend my days, please keep it to yourself. If you want to talk or comment about it, send me an email or shoot me a text or something. Just keep it off this page. Break this one rule and I will find you. Then I will probably hurt you. Then I will delete your comment.<br /><br />A lot has happened in my life since I was last here. I am not going to waste my time or yours with a full, long winded run-down of everything. I will say this: I am enjoying my life and I am still working at bringing about more and more positive change in it.<br /><br />Apparently I still come across as a cranky yankee bastard. To those who believe that is who I am, bite me. Also, hah! Joke is on you!... Chances are you will never see the punchline.<br /><br />I am having fun. I am here to entertain and, if I do my job well enough, hopefully I will even inform. Most importantly, I think, maybe I will make you think. Maybe you will make me think. Maybe we can become a huge thinky forum and start raising the national intelligence quotient a little bit. Gods know we need it desperately.<br /><br />/sigh<br /><br />I think I have rambled enough for now. I suppose I could have summed all this up by saying, "I've missed you. I hope you've missed me," but that wouldn't have been nearly as fun. Don't worry. I promise I will be more irreverent and less droning next time.<br /><br />And so, as is my custom, I shall leave you with a quote to consider:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;" class="body">Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-William Shakespeare-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-44271507854115443032010-10-05T03:19:00.002-05:002010-10-05T03:28:49.130-05:00Just up thinking...<span style="font-style: italic;">Oh.<br />It's you.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />It's been a long time. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />How have you been?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />I've been really busy being dead. You know... After you murdered me?</span>*<br /><br />Wait... That isn't what happened at all is it?<br /><br />Well, in that case, allow me to apologize for my extended absence. Things have been more than a little bit hectic in my world over the past several months. And while I am sorry not to have had more time to share with the imaginary world, I would like to believe that the changes and growth that have taken place outside of the blogosphere makes up for some of that.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYCY9lBPpe42ikA69dhTLNdr9jAeScrE83BONmyf66QSdaYFoThyphenhyphenNHmS7o8TS3_T_sdnKNXYW4tnnweD3SlhAX4A6ZvOLuexWwnN_dpOmQL3U3fJ946ejqurn1U8esYAoNVB-UKQ8VYmZ/s1600/transformation-and-change.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYCY9lBPpe42ikA69dhTLNdr9jAeScrE83BONmyf66QSdaYFoThyphenhyphenNHmS7o8TS3_T_sdnKNXYW4tnnweD3SlhAX4A6ZvOLuexWwnN_dpOmQL3U3fJ946ejqurn1U8esYAoNVB-UKQ8VYmZ/s320/transformation-and-change.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524475706693682162" border="0" /></a><br />What has been taking up so much of my attention that I haven't had any to spare for keeping you all updated? Well, I think I am going to go with real life and leave it at that. Suffice it to say that almost everything that has happened has been positive and those few things that weren't were growing experiences and, therefore, led to positive results.<br /><br />I will probably update you all on a good bit of it as time goes on. I have every intention (road to hell and all) of posting more regularly again but I make no promises regarding just how regular it is going to be. Perhaps it would be safer for me to say I am planning to post more often.<br /><br />And so, I thought that I would just start by a simple little post to reorient myself. Mostly I just thought I would write something for the sheer joy of writing it and so, here I am.<br /><br />For those who have missed my scathing wit commenting on your own blogs, I am going to be working on catching up over the next little while and will likely return to sharing my two cents after I know all the juicy details you have shared without me.<br /><br />In closing, let me put it to you thusly, "Never fear! <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">I</span> is here!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />-Nelson Mandela-<br /><br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">*(The quote at the beginning of this post is from one of the promo videos for Portal 2, a video game set to release in February that has me moderately excited.)</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-1544505120366803432010-04-16T11:30:00.002-05:002010-04-16T11:36:07.903-05:00OMFG! Projects!Sorry for the absence guys. I have been working on projects and other projects and just when I think I am all caught up I fond myself caught up in more projects!<br /><br />I am not gone forever by any means. I have a ton of stuff I want to share and, I suspect a million or so posts from the rest of you to catch up on. I will be getting to it as soon as possible.<br /><br />For now, I am going to keep this short and sweet and let you all know that I JUST GOT A NEW JOB OFFER!<br /><br />Oh... Shit... Sorry for screaming there. Let me try that in a more calm tone of voice.<br /><br />I JUST GOT AN OFFER FOR A NEW JOB!!!!<br /><br />Wow. Sorry. Apparently I am too excited not to scream it right now. I am sure I will calm down soon.<br /><br />In the meantime, wish me luck and all that. I will be back to give more updates as soon as I find myself free enough to focus and write something more.<br /><br />Be good!<br /><br />-Me-Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-35716307354251831002010-03-27T22:10:00.005-05:002010-03-31T11:28:21.535-05:00Thank You Mister Postman!...Postman, the author of <a href="http://thejournal-postman.blogspot.com/">the Sententious Vaunter</a>, has seen fit to pass on to me the "From Me to You" award.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDe6pPdDQyz9yV7L_JlDJSBT-wTOHakpkc2F_n5l94PaThThuPFnDMi4xtSsYDjY8xXzxayHZN8XaiPlBQRVWErGGpFyeBzT0SY5b84eJlZZOIhKAKGJ2wJXsNPHQr0w_bV3g8ROF5FRes/s1600/Seven+Truths.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 164px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDe6pPdDQyz9yV7L_JlDJSBT-wTOHakpkc2F_n5l94PaThThuPFnDMi4xtSsYDjY8xXzxayHZN8XaiPlBQRVWErGGpFyeBzT0SY5b84eJlZZOIhKAKGJ2wJXsNPHQr0w_bV3g8ROF5FRes/s320/Seven+Truths.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454155517749062658" border="0" /></a><br />The way this one works is that you, as the recipient, are to share seven truths about yourself and then pass it on to seven more bloggers so that they may wash, rinse, repeat.<br /><br />Kinda fun.<br /><br />I thought that I would try to dream up some self truths to send out that I think many of you may not know about me. let's see how this goes...<br /><br />1. I have four cats. Granted, the first three came with a free roommate as a sort of package deal but, well, there you have it. Four cats and a roommate, all female. Yeah... Sometimes that is scary.<br /><br />2. I am an intensely spiritual person. Most of the time. Well... Quite often anyway... Alright, it has been a few years but I am working on it damnit! Let's call this one a truth in progress.<br /><br />3. Terry Pratchett is one of my all time favorite authors. I sincerely doubt that is a surprise to many of you. The truth I am getting at here is that I have always had trouble deciding whether I prefer the Witches books or the Vimes books. They both appeal to so many (and such different!) parts of my mind.<br /><br />4. I look good in orange. I have no idea why this should be so and, frankly, I refuse to actually wear it regardless. Nonetheless I am told that it is really quite fetching on me. Go figure.<br /><br />5. As a child, I was apparently incredibly social and happy-go-lucky. Just goes to show that the person you knew as a child is not necessarily the person you will meet as a man. Just sayin'.<br /><br />6. I follow two comics online... Questionable Content and Looking for Group. I have tried getting into others and I just can't do it. If anyone can work out what the two have in common, please let me know. If you know of another that has the same element involved, shoot that one my way as well.<br /><br />7. I have two brothers and a sister. The brothers are roughly two and five years younger than I am. The sister is seventeen years younger than me. Let me tell you something. When, at 17, your mother tells you that she is pregnant there is only one possible reaction that you can have.... "You are WHAT!??? What the... Wait! You have SEX!!!???? ::vomit::"<br /><br />And there you have it. Seven truths from me to you.<br /><br />Now to pass it along...<br /><br />Let's see... Seven worthy bloggers share this joy with.<br /><br />1. Nik - I have to admit, I am somewhat curious as to what she will come out with for this so onto the list she goes. If you haven't yet, you can find her at <a href="http://nikcubed.blogspot.com/">Nik Cubed</a>.<br /><br />2. Tracy Lucas at <a href="http://the-wandering-brain.blogspot.com/">The Wandering Brain</a>. I haven't seen much from her lately and what I have seen has been far too serious. She needs to loosen up so hopefully she will have some fun with this one.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://mymisfitisland.blogspot.com/">Pirates dig Chicks who Blog</a> author, Jenn because I think she will have fun with it and I am all about the fun.<br /><br />4. Melanie deserves the hell out of this so I am going to hand it off to her at <a href="http://thedyingartofkeepinghouse.blogspot.com/">The Dying Art of Keeping House</a>.<br /><br />5. Since I don't think I have seen her get this one yet (or at least I haven't noticed her doing her post for it), Joan Crawford from <a href="http://thingsiyellatyou.blogspot.com/">Things I Yell at You</a> needs to be heard more. I miss her yells when she goes away for a while.<br /><br />6. Because he is someone else I hope to hear more from, Nathan, my friend from <a href="http://alongthepathway.blogspot.com/">Along the Pathway</a> should write one of these. He invariably has good things to say so hopefully he will find time to do this post.<br /><br />7. Finally, because I do indeed have a masochistic side (and trust me, I <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span> be getting punched for this), I am going to use this to poke Manda. Her blog at <a href="http://mcapan.blogspot.com/">About the Journey</a> has been slow in taking off and is meant to be somewhat professional but, maybe, she can spin this into telling some professional truths. We will see.<br /><br />Once again I want to say thank you to Postman and bid those mentioned to have fun with their own versions of this.<br /><br />Woot! Finished! Next time I only get to tell one truth. Heheheh (insert shifty grin here) Now to close with a quote!... Hrmm...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The truth is rarely pure and never simple.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Oscar Wilde on the pure and simple truth-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-49737421847053463412010-03-20T19:14:00.006-05:002010-03-26T14:10:11.367-05:00Awards! Ten things...Okay. I am a little bit late in getting this one posted but I wasn't happy about how it came out the first time so I had to step away and try again. Let's see if it comes out better the second time around.<br /><br />Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen a number of people win blog awards from their fellow bloggers. In the comment section of one of these blogs, I asked how one would go about getting their blog entered into the running for one of these awards.<br /><br />Little did I know that anyone would take me seriously...<br /><br />Long story short, Jenn over at <a href="http://mymisfitisland.blogspot.com/">Pirates dig Chicks who Blog</a> saw fit to grace me with the Creative Writer Award (Thanks Jenn, you made me giddy! Or at least you made me what passes for giddy in my world.) which, as I understand it, means that I get to tell you all about ten things that make me happy then pass the award on to the next person so that they can do the same.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkQaRiOaUXV0oYQc5LhJd02bc5GfNJ-igKWaIr148Ehq7Y3Tlx2kuqqexIRfjAaKBlDne8rChatFH7YpvXYCpS7Jeh1mIDW14qwDNkIvuD2yymjSEU75TRl1Ko2qe3k_Nf3y3oI3GgrK7/s1600-h/Creative+Writer+Blog+Award.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkQaRiOaUXV0oYQc5LhJd02bc5GfNJ-igKWaIr148Ehq7Y3Tlx2kuqqexIRfjAaKBlDne8rChatFH7YpvXYCpS7Jeh1mIDW14qwDNkIvuD2yymjSEU75TRl1Ko2qe3k_Nf3y3oI3GgrK7/s320/Creative+Writer+Blog+Award.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450873941664997330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I think that this is a neat little graphic for this whole business. Kudos to whoever put it together and started this out!<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;">So anyway, on to listing things that make me happy. I am going to list these in no particular order so number one may very well be number five and so on. (Hey, I have to keep up some of the mystery or I may lose my indefinable* mystique.)<br /><br />(*For those of you who are scoffing at the word indefinable you can all bite me. :p We can talk later to discuss where and how hard.)<br /><br />1. RPGs or (for the uninitiated**) Role Playing Games. In this category I am grouping things like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Shadowrun, Vampire the Masquerade and of course, the classic, Dungeons and Dragons. The genre is virtually endless and stretches from tabletop to computer; console to Live-Action. It is a wonderful escape from reality and a great time to be had with friends or by yourself. I mean let's face it; sometimes you just want to pretend the world doesn't exist. This beats trying to replace reality with a small trout.<br /><br />(**You poor bastards)<br /><br />2. Music! Just about any genre stemming from just about any era, I love it. Admittedly, I have more like for some than others but there is something to appreciate in just about all of it. Seriously. You ought to check some of them out. Hell, you may even want to sing along!<br /><br />3. Friends. I don't have very many and the ones I do have are spread out and, mostly, far away but they are the stuff that makes getting through the days possible. I figure that there isn't much more for me to say on this particular topic.<br /><br />4. Theater. Now, what I am referring to here is not exactly going to see shows but, rather, being involved in them. I have done musicals, plays, improv, tech, design and once (after a very long and vaguely terrifying night) writing. I have been absent from the theater world for a number of years now but it really is only a matter of time before the bug comes calling again and I am forced to dive back in with little to no regard for the consequences.<br /><br />5. Believe it or not, cooking is going to make this list as well. I am not the best cook by any means and I will never be considered a chef but the things I make, I like to think I make pretty damned well. I enjoy puttering around with spices and believe recipes are meant to be loose guidelines. With that in mind, if you ever find yourself faced with the opportunity to taste something I have made, I recommend that you jump at it. If it sucks it will suck a LOT but if it is good, it just might be something you will try to duplicate.<br /><br />6. Oh gods, books. I love books. Books books books books books. I can't sleep in a bedroom without at least some books nearby. My home is filled with books... Every room has it's own selection there to be perused or devoured. (Yes, every room.) Did I mention that books make me happy? And, oh yeah, books!<br /><br />7. Projects. I like taking things on and conquering them. I try to learn new things all the time and explore what they are about and, eventually, become competent with them. I find that as a rule I do pretty well and reach competency fairly quickly. The two notable exceptions to this have been gardening and painting. Do not, under any circumstances, ask me to help with your plants or your painting. It will go horribly wrong. There are no exceptions to this rule.<br /><br />8. Philosophy. I like to think and I like to talk with other people who think. Can't help it. It is the very definition of good times to me. Many are the times when conversations that were meant to be casual have carried on well into the next day. I love (and miss) those times.<br /><br />9. Religion. Very similar to philosophy but on much less broad of a scope. I am what you might consider a theological philosopher. I like to learn about beliefs, rituals and histories and how the three are (or oftentimes are not) related. I have my own belief system, thank you very much, so I have no need or desire to be converted to yours. If, however, you find yourself open to a lengthy discussion on the merits of rituals or truthfulness of history, give me a call and we will find time to sit down when I don't have to be at work for a couple days.<br /><br />10. For the final thing that I like and makes me happy I am going to be somewhat vague but I will site specific examples. I like community. I take joy in the sense of community I get when I am socializing with my friends. I enjoy the community I am privileged to take part in when I am around my apartment complex. I love (and occasionally long for) the sense of community that comes when a group of performers works together over any measurable length of time.<br /><br />::Deep breath::<br /><br />Phew! There it is! Ten things that make me happy without regard to order or preference. Gosh, listing things off like that is harder than it has any right to be.<br /><br />What's next?... Oh yeah! I have to pass this little award on to someone else... Oh boy! there are so many deserving folks to choose from! I think I am going to tag Jerry, who has just started posting on his own blog over at <a href="http://doesthislooknormal.blogspot.com/">Does This Look Normal</a>. Have fun Jerry and for fuck's sake, allow comments already, would ya? Just go to settings, click on comments, click "show" and then figure out the rest. You are a big boy. I am sure you can do it.<br /><br />Anyway, I will chat some more at you all sometime soon. I just found out I got another of of these to go through so that will be coming soon and I have another old movie review in the works that I think you will all enjoy.<br /><br />Be good!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Frederick Keonig-</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span></span></div></div>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-64825133300510167552010-03-16T19:02:00.003-05:002010-03-16T19:31:49.769-05:00Seasons...I am going to spend just a moment talking to you about seasons.<br /><br />I live in Austin Texas which means, basically, that the seasons consist of Spring, Summer, Cedar and Crickets.<br /><br />Before now I have spent a year in Tennessee where the seasons are something more along the lines of Spring, Summer, Post-Summer and Grey. (Grey only lasts for around a month in case you were wondering.)<br /><br />And before that I spent twenty-odd years in Connecticut which has the more traditional Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.<br /><br />Allow me to slowly induct you into today's rant. (I will keep this as brief as possible.)<br /><br />This last week has been pretty nice here in Austin. Saturday and Sunday were both in the seventies (which happens to be my prime comfort zone) and Cedar was fading into an unpleasant memory.<br /><br />Now this shit!<br /><br />We have just plunged from gorgeous spring weather into mid-Autumn, a season that doesn't even belong in Texas let alone during March!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEvSVtoPGAtjZpfvJN7lzKuQ_b3NWpFGh2ThtTqaLIM3OjckALL-K90jRmPD9oM7R1dQf3wukA4LuV0cl7QnN81OE6RHP-7pu-Ecyh28jZeuM0ZYR5TVm3xEuenjSQC4DwJKNlffYDB0/s1600-h/autumn-9486.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFEvSVtoPGAtjZpfvJN7lzKuQ_b3NWpFGh2ThtTqaLIM3OjckALL-K90jRmPD9oM7R1dQf3wukA4LuV0cl7QnN81OE6RHP-7pu-Ecyh28jZeuM0ZYR5TVm3xEuenjSQC4DwJKNlffYDB0/s320/autumn-9486.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449392818797106002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Sights like this are one of the few things I miss about living in New England. I may have to look into taking a leisurely trip up there to play tourist some day.</span></span><br /></div><br />Seriously folks, Complete with leaves falling off the freaking trees!<br /><br />This is not okay.<br /><br />I mean, I miss having an Autumn. I miss the crisp air and colorful leaves. I miss the piles of fallen leaves and watching kids jump into them. I miss the smell of Fall blending with pumpkin pie and hayrides.<br /><br />But this is March in Texas! It needs to not happen now and it needs to never happen after a Spring tease like the one we just had!<br /><br />I have a porch that needs to be planted here Universe! Knock it off with the bullshit games and give us back Spring already!<br /><br />Okay. I am done. I feel better now.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Henry David Thoreau-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-58817303030925940552010-03-14T00:14:00.003-06:002010-03-14T00:43:39.993-06:00Hey, check it out!Guess what I did today/tonight.? (What <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> the proper punctuation when you are telling someone to ask a question in response?)<br /><br />...<br /><br />I went out with my roommate and was actually social!<br /><br />I left the house for reasons other than work (which is something I have been avoiding lately due to being just plain freakin' tired) and went to a friends house where there was visiting and eating and making of clay pots and sharing of knowledge and, in the case of my roommate, cutting of plants.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikAFsWBl0hFHkIbTMD6hdNvLM6ETSrPJaYLe-_ivlFEN_ueFnqwbwOE9f_G527JvTOIGqC9JRNzAGOJEPg0lCbSnpagmAvUe6qIvLUd73OXQUDSFDUlBCa5YF8OG9yBY7t78ugb8MPlaTS/s1600-h/clay-pot.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikAFsWBl0hFHkIbTMD6hdNvLM6ETSrPJaYLe-_ivlFEN_ueFnqwbwOE9f_G527JvTOIGqC9JRNzAGOJEPg0lCbSnpagmAvUe6qIvLUd73OXQUDSFDUlBCa5YF8OG9yBY7t78ugb8MPlaTS/s320/clay-pot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448374685233284418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I must remember to tell Nate that he can make a clay casserole dish. Also, I think that I may be significantly more excited about it than I have any right or reason to be.</span></span><br /></div><br />To be honest, it was moderately exciting. (Alright, it is also a little bit sad that something so simple is a source of excitement in my life these days, but so what?)<br /><br />What is more, is that the night didn't end there! When we got home we actually sat outside on our porch and visited with one of our neighbors for a couple of hours!<br /><br />How cool is that?<br /><br />We are trying (with a modicum of success I might add) to forge a community here in our little world and being outside visiting seems like a damned good time and a very definite step in the right direction.<br /><br />Since I simply can't get through a day without my computer, (Trust me, I know exactly how sick and sad that is. Cope.) I also spent a few minutes on the intarwubs surfing the blog-o-sphere and made a new friend here too!<br /><br />Since she is the only one with a viable web presence, I would like to go ahead and introduce you all to <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/11994380364321336824">Sonshine</a> (whom I shall be referring to as Sonny, henceforth) from <a href="http://sonshinemusic.blogspot.com/">Sonshine Thoughts</a>. She seems pretty cool so far and I want to go ahead and publicly congratulate her for reaching her one-hundredth blog posting! To commemorate the occasion she is having a contest of sorts wherein she will be giving away a handcrafted owl to the lucky winner.<br /><br />Phew! That was a lot to spit out after a busy day!<br /><br />I think I shall go now into the Land of Lullaby for a few hours. Have a great night/day/evening or whatever other part if the day in which you fond yourself reading my ramblings!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Words not only affect us temporarily; they change us. They socialize or unsocialize us.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-David Riesman-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-7595014146327281682010-03-12T19:30:00.003-06:002010-03-12T20:01:50.389-06:00Positivity...Being positive is not necessarily something that comes easily to me.<br /><br />I find that it takes a good deal of work for me to maintain a positive outlook on life. Quite often, it seems, this fact makes it appear that I am a pessimistic individual who finds no joy in life.<br /><br />I want to make it absolutely clear just how far that is from the truth.<br /><br />Certainly, it is true that I don't go around singing about sunshine and roses. Likewise, it has to be said that my outlook does not lend itself to expecting the best out of situations. Life and the Universe have made it abundantly clear that such expectations and attitudes are unwelcome and will be punished severely.<br /><br />However...<br /><br />I take a great deal of joy out of the world. I laugh often and whether you see it or not, the happiness that I feel is real and present.<br /><br />I hope for the best. Despite the repeated attempts of the Universe to smack me back down into the pits of despair, (Don't even think about trying to escape.) I go through life day by day hoping for good things to come. Rather than spend my time dwelling on the worst possible outcome to a situation, I choose to be prepared for either eventuality but to maintain a cautious optimism that the best case scenario may turn out to be true this time.<br /><br />Disappointment is no bar to progress. Each time I fail to be surprised by wonderful outcomes it reaffirms for me that, one day, the tables will turn and I will come out on top.<br /><br />I strive to improve my life and my situation and hold on to an unwavering resolve that one day I shall persevere.<br /><br />Coincidentally, I also work at building up the attitudes and perceptions of those around me. (Albeit with varying degrees of success.) I offer support to those in my life who need it while tempering it with occasional and poignant doses of reality. (Just to keep them in check. As I said before, cautious optimism is the way to go here. Blind optimism only leads to deep and disturbing mental cracks.)<br /><br />Anyway!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I guess I just wanted to say that those people who don't know this about me would do well to learn and those who do, well, I suspect that you are in the minority and would appreciate your help in straightening out the rest of the thick buggers around who are still in the dark.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4rKl4_whRzwQ4ceZTTrONIaLqbLphYtoHq0TPZ4Rx87UYRXBylJrzQ4k0DV1DVka8ypz_yaMDEA4N77FnedgRzGONUWXUOBA91SEezcF8fwwSBQcX0bgbBt6W0nGe3QjcikdyuwfIoqU/s1600-h/happiness-jpg.jpeg.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4rKl4_whRzwQ4ceZTTrONIaLqbLphYtoHq0TPZ4Rx87UYRXBylJrzQ4k0DV1DVka8ypz_yaMDEA4N77FnedgRzGONUWXUOBA91SEezcF8fwwSBQcX0bgbBt6W0nGe3QjcikdyuwfIoqU/s320/happiness-jpg.jpeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447930475012213858" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">What? I can end with two quotes if I choose to. I think both of these deserve some thought from each of us from time to time.<br /></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Edith Wharton-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-68603202177546426972010-03-05T15:25:00.003-06:002010-03-05T16:12:33.902-06:00Don't Panic!...A while ago it was suggested that I do reviews for books and movies and the like in an effort to bring people's attention to some older titles that deserve to be looked at.<br /><br />Well, it's that time again... Time to focus my attention (and therefore yours as well) on a book that should be (and often is) considered a classic.<br /><br />The increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhikers Trilogy which, when all is said and done, consists of five books and a short story.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkeBrL8tufD-ovPFJAV8WSfK1n4KrAJHyTCzg95L6jkMl9bfvD7I-guy9ISpr7hzL5Up2MHs24MKquOE5ZotTDvRtWsWPCLK1MFdUyRGb7l7TATffA0q6mJhHxBMQeOXU58mMe7viXQ-Q/s1600-h/dontpanic_1024.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkeBrL8tufD-ovPFJAV8WSfK1n4KrAJHyTCzg95L6jkMl9bfvD7I-guy9ISpr7hzL5Up2MHs24MKquOE5ZotTDvRtWsWPCLK1MFdUyRGb7l7TATffA0q6mJhHxBMQeOXU58mMe7viXQ-Q/s320/dontpanic_1024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445274675673217618" border="0" /></a><br />But Frank! If there are five books (and a short story I remind you) how can it be considered a trilogy?<br /><br />In answer I can only say the following; Trust me.<br /><br />How can I describe to you the majesty of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?<br /><br />The Hitchhiker's Guide tells the story of Arthur Dent, an Earthman turned hitchhiker when the earth is destroyed in order to make way for an interstellar space byway.<br /><br />It also tells the story of Ford Prefect, a friend of Arthur's hailing from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Beetleguise and not from Guildford as he had previously claimed.<br /><br />It follows along in the footsteps of Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed three-armed former President of the Galaxy who has abdicated his position in favor of stealing the Heart of Gold, a spaceship equipped with the most powerful propulsion system ever devised; The Improbability Drive.<br /><br />The book tells the story of Tricia McMillan or Trillian, an astrophysicist who became a Hitchhiker after hooking up with Zaphod at a party and realizing that the Earth had nothing more to offer her.<br /><br />Oh yeah... There is an android named Marvin too but he is sort of depressing so I'm not going to tell you too much about him. Don't worry, he completely understands and will probably just stand in front of the engines when we fire them up so that he doesn't have to think about himself anymore either.<br /><br />Most importantly, however, it is the story of that singularly outstanding book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the most important reference for any interstellar hitchhiker and the masterpiece of the great publishing houses of Ursa Minor. The book that reminds us in large, bold print right on its cover; Don't Panic!<br /><br />So slip in your babel fish, grab your towel and sit back to enjoy a hilarious and sometimes senseless trip to the stars in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams- </span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-50696307752695188132010-02-26T20:32:00.004-06:002010-02-26T20:59:27.751-06:00I broke it!...I broke my intrawubbies!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NQZL2C5L_N0hjve9UhdMUaywvscns0XnvNdiHSo7MPV-1tLUicr2kHBvV6r9CMmwPloMB_md3yzxpLqckhOqHAGrvAkmDjAZBywT2TLgbpCDVKoyNr-2GioGXErWq_qI0NQAZJsYG2Nh/s1600-h/140-our-internet-is-broken.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NQZL2C5L_N0hjve9UhdMUaywvscns0XnvNdiHSo7MPV-1tLUicr2kHBvV6r9CMmwPloMB_md3yzxpLqckhOqHAGrvAkmDjAZBywT2TLgbpCDVKoyNr-2GioGXErWq_qI0NQAZJsYG2Nh/s320/140-our-internet-is-broken.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442749976582753314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">It is funny because it's true. My hand to god.</span><br /></div><br />I know, I know... It makes me cry too.<br /><br />As it is now, I am sitting at Scooters Coffee House writing this on my laptop. Yay coffee, anyway.<br /><br />I don't know how I did it but, as it turns out, there is nothing I can do without a tech coming to the house. He is supposed to be there sometime tomorrow but, (my luck being what it is) I am not holding my breath over it.<br /><br />In the mean time, I have a half dozen different topics in mind to tackle when I get back so you might want to brace yourself for a slurry of postings.<br /><br />And to those of you who have been missing my smart-assed comments on your postings, I will catch up as soon as I am able.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonweal, our governance will emerge.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow-</span><strong style="font-style: italic;"></strong>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-12563942249822046172010-02-20T10:04:00.005-06:002010-02-20T10:34:44.876-06:00Alright, I'm back... Again...So, as it turns out, I haven't so much hit a block in writing as I have hit a block in what I am willing to share. I have some thoughts and opinions, it seems, that I have to think a good bit more about before I will be willing to share them.<br /><br />What I am saying is: I haven't forgotten about you all. I just have a good deal more rewriting and editing to do before I will be able to share what I have written over the past week and change.<br /><br />That being said, I want to take an opportunity to share something positive with everyone.<br /><br />I learned a couple weeks ago that a couple of friends of mine have decided to buy a house. Yay them! I hope they realize that this means I will be crashing at their place whenever I am in trouble at home.<br /><br />Then, just the other day I got a text from the afore mentioned friends letting me know that they had received word that construction on the place they are buying has commenced! Once again I say yay them! Oh yeah, he also mentioned that a building down the road had been blown up by a plane but since it was the IRS, who cares?<br /><br />Back to the topic at hand...<br /><br />Because I am a good friend, I will likely make myself available to help them move. Because I can carry a couch by myself, they will most likely take me up on it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">These truths are good and correct... Provided they butter me up on the big day with beer and pizza. (One of the very few instances when I truly enjoy beer is with pizza on moving day.)<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSraOQatSNlDwZdOrA0r8pf9GKO3uGki-gCgD5nidwuEc-0wwAXJeesTP6zxWHNnnMeUMWXdaxORAIb_oOK-CFkY5IPa0I3FoD-S75SU0_yhhYQ7ZSqVbnm1cx2rK9pzmgzGjvHq0_O6Ti/s1600-h/beer+glass.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSraOQatSNlDwZdOrA0r8pf9GKO3uGki-gCgD5nidwuEc-0wwAXJeesTP6zxWHNnnMeUMWXdaxORAIb_oOK-CFkY5IPa0I3FoD-S75SU0_yhhYQ7ZSqVbnm1cx2rK9pzmgzGjvHq0_O6Ti/s320/beer+glass.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440360282803388898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Beer! They come in pints!?!</span><br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0clBxC9RD2y_EwFJbccTqHM5QCTlmylg8QliA5SI5btuLlbtI1kWRUO6yzZpr-VEDMYNQ4VnuqRwXTujyGbQciOY4iWHurW_0EDqekCgvv7gXhzpoeCFzQBUWxaATdP_vmrcX9TX1UZS6/s1600-h/3_pan_pizzas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0clBxC9RD2y_EwFJbccTqHM5QCTlmylg8QliA5SI5btuLlbtI1kWRUO6yzZpr-VEDMYNQ4VnuqRwXTujyGbQciOY4iWHurW_0EDqekCgvv7gXhzpoeCFzQBUWxaATdP_vmrcX9TX1UZS6/s320/3_pan_pizzas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440360178052105794" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Plus pizza... mmmm...<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMGfLenpeqH_O6c3_JK1pNOdseFFcbt0qFDwi-JEpsZ4dvF8awksyIytGPwM0id8aQ-jYu9A9XggJ9Fl5z3zBgFZl6trJj9NuHNY5I4AGWgY967DfgSZ5DEHLMSMj_8AIKswRJOvNMPvT/s1600-h/moving.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMGfLenpeqH_O6c3_JK1pNOdseFFcbt0qFDwi-JEpsZ4dvF8awksyIytGPwM0id8aQ-jYu9A9XggJ9Fl5z3zBgFZl6trJj9NuHNY5I4AGWgY967DfgSZ5DEHLMSMj_8AIKswRJOvNMPvT/s320/moving.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440360100854741554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Equals a damned fun time on moving day. Now, I didn't load this car... But give me enough beer and I am sure I can duplicate the feat!</span></span><br /></div><br />May-haps one fine day, I will once again own a home of my very own. When that day comes, I want it known that those closest to me will always have a place to crash should they have need. Home grown food will abound and great home cookin' will fill the air with it's sweet perfume.<br /><br />Hopefully, by then, I will have found the woman who can keep me in the fashion to which I have not yet become accustomed.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fin invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Dave Barry-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-20168173029235867422010-02-09T10:13:00.004-06:002010-02-11T18:55:24.401-06:00Movies You Need to See: GI Joe...<object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ogEtfIdgjpY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ogEtfIdgjpY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><br />Alright, I get it. This movie was a box office flop. It got some of the worst reviews I have read and even my friends strongly recommend that you stay away from watching it.<br /><br />I am here to tell you why they are wrong.<br /><br />Let's start with some of the key elements of the film.<br /><br />The Concept:<br /><br />Let's make a full length feature live action film based on a children's cartoon that was, in essence, a half hour long commercial for action figures.<br /><br />How much can you actually expect from this?... Go into this movie with your expectations set for what it is. It's a nostalgia trip and a commercial. Don't set yourself up for disappointment by going into this expecting cinematic greatness.<br /><br />The Characters:<br /><br />Once again... These are based on children's <span style="font-style: italic;">toys</span>. I don't know who the hell people are kidding thinking that they are going to be some kind of deeply three dimensional characterizations. Seriously folks, bear this in mind... GI Joe is a pose-able action figure that didn't even have workable opposable thumbs.<br /><br />The Cast:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02vjwUsAeK_0B993TjVsrAa3uYLXg2v0VUewzBwSHGV_ZiotdmOK92axJFRvHcGbPzCX527wMAq74KXHHWmu3-KZUMJA6jvadwaZwdHoSgbJTqhH6mRLwl_xNDbC-nZWO37uOHpZDtb_4/s1600-h/gi_joe.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 131px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02vjwUsAeK_0B993TjVsrAa3uYLXg2v0VUewzBwSHGV_ZiotdmOK92axJFRvHcGbPzCX527wMAq74KXHHWmu3-KZUMJA6jvadwaZwdHoSgbJTqhH6mRLwl_xNDbC-nZWO37uOHpZDtb_4/s320/gi_joe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436735615004139314" border="0" /></a><br />There were only three folks in this movie whom I had ever seen before. Dennis Quiad, who happens to be a wonderful acter who tend to play the worst roles he can find. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun. Enough said. And Christopher Eccleston, the guy who did season one of Doctor Who and had a briefly recurring role on Heroes a while back.<br /><br />Bearing this in mind, I once again remind you to set your expectations accordingly.<br /><br />In fairness, there were other faces in there that you will probably recognize but they all add up to the same thing.<br /><br />The Story:<br /><br />They are rehashing a franchise here so they have to take characters many of us remember fondly and breathe new life into them by reintroducing them as it they were new. This movie isn't meant to be a terrific story. It is meant to introduce these characters and set the background for the stories that are meant to come after it!<br /><br />I guess that what I am saying is that this is the best worst movie of all time. Full of cheesy nostalgia and cruddy two dimensional characters with no plot to speak of. It was amazing. Watch it. And if you have already seen it and were disappointed, adjust your expectation and watch it again.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Scarlett: [About Snake Eyes] He doesn't talk.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Duke: Why?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Breaker: He doesn't say.<br />-GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra-<br /></span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-8831145047071555922010-02-08T11:55:00.006-06:002010-02-08T12:31:16.065-06:00By way of further introduction...This past weekend, I turned 31 years old. Not exactly a milestone but still, I'm amazed I have made it this far. I thought that it might not hurt to ramble on a bit and let all you lovely folks know a bit more about me.<br /><br />Over the course of the weekend that I realized that I am more anti-social than ever.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">My birthday was spent working all morning and then coming home and playing video games and doing some writing. I thought it was a great way to spend a day.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnAapAT9xpFdxVB0wQO0v5Z-RAM3bcB7hWlf2Wy_PPhG2o6KplqNewh_7XAy_0BVzQHTeGoqP7FYqqbYxzqp-6RR5y851N3XvjBfACHh_U9z88gin67z92weW6ddKtGOfleBIYyChGj54/s1600-h/wow2001ir1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnAapAT9xpFdxVB0wQO0v5Z-RAM3bcB7hWlf2Wy_PPhG2o6KplqNewh_7XAy_0BVzQHTeGoqP7FYqqbYxzqp-6RR5y851N3XvjBfACHh_U9z88gin67z92weW6ddKtGOfleBIYyChGj54/s320/wow2001ir1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435940166886336290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">These guys need to hurry up and call me so I can go to work for them. Just sayin'.</span></span><br /></div></div><br />I don't particularly like people. (Which makes it bloody hysterical whenever there are customer comments about what great service and connections people receive from me.) As a rule, I would prefer to interact with folks through the computer so that I don't have to worry about whether my facial expressions and inflection match what I am trying to say.<br /><br />I laugh my ass off about death and, as a rule, find it funny when people fall down or hit their heads. I'm not saying that I can't sympathize about all of that. I do. Only that I prefer my own warped take on things as opposed to forcing myself to conform to what other people think I should think.<br /><br />I am a dork, geek, nerd and anything else that seems to fit into that category of people. I used to run my very own ghost-hunting group and anyone who thinks that is weird or sick is, clearly, never going to get me.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-XoU21MtwUjKp5r_22S1kqC830wEU5xRX9ljNg7ItRYwsb_TjhCFX4D45Vr6DDQt8Ikf2pt-YiDt7DMgymwSEyXbcS5VGgpx1ysm35XEUsY3bf0IDH1sc2C8jcm9nGdGGPlxqyq_in-I/s1600-h/ghosthunters-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-XoU21MtwUjKp5r_22S1kqC830wEU5xRX9ljNg7ItRYwsb_TjhCFX4D45Vr6DDQt8Ikf2pt-YiDt7DMgymwSEyXbcS5VGgpx1ysm35XEUsY3bf0IDH1sc2C8jcm9nGdGGPlxqyq_in-I/s320/ghosthunters-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435939206231439202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">We were so very much cooler than these guys.</span></span><br /></div><br />I find things funny. I mean most things. No matter what the situation is, I almost always see humor in it. That seems to make people uncomfortable around me. Remember folks... It isn't that I am laughing inappropriately. It is just that you haven't been exposed to the punchline yet.<br /><br />My roommate and I share a wonderful and, somewhat, unique relationship. She likes to remind me that I smell funny, dress weird and that nobody likes me. (Owing, in large part, to the facts that I smell funny and dress weird.) I love her dearly and verse-visa and think our relationship is generally more respectful and accepting than most others I have had. And no, for those who are wondering, we do not share any kind of romantic or sexual relationship between ourselves. (So all of you smart, sexy, single girls out there ought to call me! :D )<br /><br />I prefer the company of a good book (or oftentimes even a bad book) to the company of strangers. I would always prefer the company of my friends but most of them live far away from me. More's the pity.<br /><br />My friends are the dearest people in the world to me and when Armageddon hits, I expect them all to hide behind me and let me take the brunt of the blast. I love each and every one of them more than life itself and if they don't know that, they should.<br /><br />Also, just because I don't talk to you every day, don't think you don't still qualify as my friends.<br /><br />I am a lazy bastard. I work my ass off and get a lot of shit done, primarily, so that I don't have to do it again later.<br /><br />Anyway...<br /><br />There you go... Just a little bit off the surface of me for you all to chew on and think over. Hope you all had a great weekend and I will talk at you more as the week progresses.<br /><br />-Me-<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Personality has the power to open many doors, but character must keep them open.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Elmer G Letterman-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-26129202095333502442010-02-04T20:15:00.005-06:002010-02-04T21:00:50.231-06:00Oh my god!... No seriously... Oh my god!So there I was, sitting around a table with a group of friends. We are getting ready to play a game that shall remain nameless primarily due to it's name being meaningless to most of those reading this.<br /><br />The kids have been kicked out of the room. We are all finished with our pre-gaming snack (mmmm pasghetti) and we are ready to go. Suddenly, the new guy (on whom I am reserving judgment until more time has passed) asks the question, "Do you prefer Laurel and Hardy or the Three Stooges?"<br /><br />Everyone took a deep breath as they prepared to blurt out their answers. For my part, I was still considering because I really think that Abbott and Costello ought to be among the choices.<br /><br />I never did find out what anyone would have chosen.<br /><br />"Why not?" you ask, sure now that the purpose for this entry is right around the corner.<br /><br />Because the little one in the corner suddenly piped up with the question, "Who are Laurel and Hardy?"<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDkXg-l_8MLTX3P-zFw1ReqnjK82-rvHIjfU3zeQWg4l4vKtWswunaEECnWEPICkiJha7UGwnooFkp2SOoj_PR5mri_B_2ioC7GI3cJ8wm2ANzgmw0rZdIqUJFRH3ZE7dThXr4t6HQr1a/s1600-h/laurel-stan-oliver-hardy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDkXg-l_8MLTX3P-zFw1ReqnjK82-rvHIjfU3zeQWg4l4vKtWswunaEECnWEPICkiJha7UGwnooFkp2SOoj_PR5mri_B_2ioC7GI3cJ8wm2ANzgmw0rZdIqUJFRH3ZE7dThXr4t6HQr1a/s320/laurel-stan-oliver-hardy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434584178377045426" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">This is a picture of Laurel and Hardy. If you didn't recognize them, smack yourself.</span><br /></div><br />Then my brain stopped working. It just shut down! I couldn't even believe the question had been asked, let alone by someone I consider a friend.<br /><br />An hour or two later, when my brain drive finally kicked in, the first thing I did was immediately turn to her husband and berate him for allowing such a state to persist through their dating. (Never mind however long into their marriage we are now!)<br /><br />I could go on about this for hours but, instead, I am going to bottom line this for you.<br /><br />Folks, if you know someone whose knowledge of classics is lacking, fix it. I don't care if it is classic comedy, movies, television, books, comics or anything else that has been around and endured long enough to earn the title of classic. Sit them down and educate them about things. Do it for them. Do it for yourself.<br /><br />But most of all, do it because, if you don't... I will hurt you. Seriously!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: Look, look, look, you got a pitcher?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Abbott: Sure.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: The pitcher's name?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Abbott: Tomorrow.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: You don't want to tell me today?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Abbott: I'm telling you then.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: Well go ahead.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Abbott: Tomorrow.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: What time?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Abbott: What time what?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: At what time tomorrow are you going to tell me who's pitching?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Abbott: Now listen, Who is not pitching. Who is on...<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: I'll break your arm you say who's on first! I want to know, what's the pitcher's name?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Abbott: What's on second!<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Costello: I don't know!<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Both: Third base!<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Who's on First by Abbott and Costello-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-14467350307585657732010-02-02T16:17:00.002-06:002010-02-02T16:36:49.893-06:00I really do think this is important...I put this up here for everybody a while ago but I think it deserves to be reiterated. Since I forgot what day it was yesterday (I swear it didn't even occur to me until about halfway through today that I was supposed to have posted something.) and since I have nothing particularly pressing to share with everyone, I thought this would be a good time to post this as a reminder.<br /><br />For those of you who were with me then, watch and listen to this video again. For those of you who have more recently come to follow along with me, please, check this out and really give it your attention.<br /><br />Since you are here, I am fairly certain you can read so follow along and see where this takes you.<br /><br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hds3jvjZY-Y&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hds3jvjZY-Y&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><br />It touches me every time I watch and listen to it. I find myself sitting up straighter as I listen to the second half and wanting to find a way to change the world for the better. I am doing what I can in my little corner. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to see what you can do in yours.<br /><br />What do you think?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world?<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Anne Frank-<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-William James-<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to </span>matter<span style="font-style: italic;">, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Leo Rosten-</span><br /><br />As it has become my custom, I wanted to leave you with a quote to think on. Since I couldn't decide on one in particular, I had to narrow it down to three choices. Which one do you think I should have gone with? Or do you have an even better one you would have chosen?Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-91875860999491337432010-01-29T18:52:00.004-06:002010-01-29T19:50:31.545-06:00I'd like to tell you about Spiders...That's right. Spiders.<br /><br />Let me start off by saying that, if this were to ever happen to me, the world as a whole would be likely to face my wrath and I am certain I would find a way to make it hurt for more people than not.<br /><br />Thankfully, it is not my story I am going to unfold for you but, rather, a plague that haunts altogether too many brave souls out there in the world. (Of course, with the way I feel about things with more than four legs, one person is too many but apparently this happens to a lot of people!)<br /><br />As I understand this epidemic, it is a type of waking dream or hallucination with a healthy and frightening dose of realism thrown in just to fuck with folks.<br /><br />Upon waking, those people suffering from this malady see a large spider hanging over their beds. In each and every one of the cases I have read about, the person suffering from the hallucination has just come out of sleep and is vividly aware of their surroundings. With the unwelcome and unwanted addition of a large spider hovering above them or climbing on a nearby wall or ceiling.<br /><br />Holy shit. That alone would be enough to cause me to bring the walls of the world crashing down around all of us.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvP2mzorRWHE2-lA1uIbicFfFP299cIaen-YofAz4aExP8jvA0PR6TXAk8EVgiKZUnHis6fHHgOtRhBW-rA_HAxTPC5GGqgV2R1_AXPPQRGRz6uyZXzQ34_cA-tiySIpaI8RxLOGiY3D0D/s1600-h/tarantula_scream_ls.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvP2mzorRWHE2-lA1uIbicFfFP299cIaen-YofAz4aExP8jvA0PR6TXAk8EVgiKZUnHis6fHHgOtRhBW-rA_HAxTPC5GGqgV2R1_AXPPQRGRz6uyZXzQ34_cA-tiySIpaI8RxLOGiY3D0D/s320/tarantula_scream_ls.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432335812457627154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">That's right kid! Scream and run as if your life depended on it! That fucker is scary and never let anyone tell you any different!</span></span><br /></div><br />They are able to clearly see and distinguish the spider with an unnerving level of description. Even to the point of being able to make out individual hairs on the spider's legs. (Excuse me while I shiver violently for just a moment.)<br /><br />Some of these people don't even have any kind arachnid related fear! (Fools!) I know one person who this is actually happening to (hence the fact that research into the topic has taken place) and, my hand to whatever god you believe in, I have watched her stare in beauty and amazement at living spiders and their web-like creations. (In case I haven't made it abundantly clear, I think they damned things are hell-spawn and stare at her in morbidly fascinated fear when I have seen her looking at it in such a way. For my part, I keep my distance and to hell with anyone who thinks me less of a man for that fact.)<br /><br />Anyway, a few moments or minutes later the spider just... goes away...<br /><br />The moment it occurs to them that, "this can't possibly be real," it isn't!<br /><br />Sometimes, they watch it fade from view. In other instances, it just isn't there any more, logically, prompting the person to get out of bed and look for the fallen spider.<br /><br />I swear to god guys. This is freaky shit!<br /><br />Once the person becomes aware enough to realize that the spider wasn't real, they are able to return to sleep easily or even just get up and cheerfully go about their day.<br /><br />I can honestly say that, in no way, is this condition made better by the fact that it fades in such a manner.<br /><br />If I were to find myself in the shoes of one of these poor, poor souls, my dread of waking up would stop me from ever going to sleep at all!<br /><br />Now, I should let you know that there are apparently some other specific things that are often associated with these awakening hallucinations. I can't for the life of me remember what they all are but, apparently, one woman has come to be used to having to reach between a stranger's legs to turn off her alarm clock each morning.<br /><br />Throughout my life, I have suffered from a number of different sleep disorders and I have known people who suffered from most of the other ones out there. There are clinics in the world dedicated to studying, understanding and (hopefully) finding cures for all of these ailments. Yet this one in particular doesn't even have a name!<br /><br />It seems that the symptoms have been explained away as belonging to a number of other disorders but nobody has looked into whether or not this could be an entirely new disorder in it's own right.<br /><br />Come on Docs! We owe it to these people to find them a solution! Nobody should ever have to wake up to a gigantic monstrous spider danging over their heads!<br /><br />Somebody needs to get on top of this now, before it happens to me because no place is safe from an enraged irishman being chased by bugs that only he can see. There is no calming someone like that. Trust me. I know of what I speak!<br /><br />Personally, I think we ought to name the disease "There-is-a-big-hairy-multi-legged-fucking-boogie-man-hovering-above-me but-he-can't-possibly-be-real-so-that's-alright-then Syndrome". We can call it "Fuck That Shit Disorder" for short.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Spider venom comes in many forms. It can take a long while to discover the full effects of a bite. Naturalists have pondered this for years: there are spiders whose bite can cause the place bitten to rot and die, sometimes more than I year after it was bitten. As to why spiders do this, the answer is simple. It's because they think this is funny, and they don't want you to ever forget them.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-42654640754220720032010-01-28T19:53:00.004-06:002010-01-28T20:18:16.819-06:00Oh Noes!!Alright. So I missed yesterday's blog. Sue me. I will get better at this keeping a schedule thing as time goes on.<br /><br />In the meantime, I will at least make sure I get my three blogs a week up so I am posting this one as a sort of make-up exam.<br /><br />Let me tell you a thing about Austin...<br /><br />Austin is a great place to live most of the time. It's 65 degrees outside right now as opposed to the negative 10 I used to have to put up with at this time of year. I just came inside from sitting on my front porch enjoying the lovely, misty weather and, I have to say, I am rather pleased about that.<br /><br />The trouble with Austin, however, is the trade off.<br /><br />I don't have to deal with winter but I do have to deal with Cedar.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Cedar sucks my friends.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFluP4BCOCtrFIveO5PGlTdpeOfh_yduDgBdSK89PjcA-3jF1FUct8wVv3CMPaaoAnjAjTRqQ3u5ZS2rVcyUCi1DH_RzRgCxr_HsXG8VOYSAuBPqSOUCH2ulbHB8LQfvU3eoiFgqIArWkx/s1600-h/Cedar+Background.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFluP4BCOCtrFIveO5PGlTdpeOfh_yduDgBdSK89PjcA-3jF1FUct8wVv3CMPaaoAnjAjTRqQ3u5ZS2rVcyUCi1DH_RzRgCxr_HsXG8VOYSAuBPqSOUCH2ulbHB8LQfvU3eoiFgqIArWkx/s320/Cedar+Background.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431979314324500274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">This is a Cedar tree. If you see one, I strongly encourage you to burn it to the ground and salt the earth! You can do a little ritual dance on the spot for years to come and, hey, who doesn't enjoy a good bonfire?</span></span><br /></div><br />I am an asthmatic smoker (read: fucking moron) and my allergies, without fail, go straight to affecting my breathing.<br /><br />Holy shit, do I miss oxygen sometimes.<br /><br />The other night I woke up having an asthma attack so bad that I was panicking about how in the nine hells I was going to make it clear to my lovely and wonderful roommate that I needed her to get up and take me to the hospital.<br /><br />Seriously!<br /><br />I was trying to work out, through my sleep addled, panic induced fog of a brain, how to get my point across to her when I couldn't draw enough air to form words!<br /><br />Don't worry. I got my shit under control before dying and all that. But you bet your ass that I explained to her that me standing over her in bed pounding my chest translates to "Woman! Get some clothes on your ass and drive me to an emergency room!"<br /><br />No way in hell that I am going to risk not being able to get that point across to her in the future!<br /><br />Anyway! I suppose that what I am saying here is that, while I am slightly apologetic for deviating from my schedule, I will get there in time. It will get easier once nature stops trying to murder me in my sleep.<br /><br />In the meantime, sweet readers, I bid you ado. I will talk at you all again soon and in the meantime I leave you with these words...<br /><br />Foible.<br /><br />Shindig.<br /><br />Gabardine.<br /><br />Hullabaloo!<br /><br />Enjoy them and try to find a way to work them into conversation over the next couple days. It could be fun for all of us!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;" class="body">I used to wake up at 4am and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness.<br />-James Thurber-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1151104800383749286.post-5162090986221877152010-01-25T19:59:00.004-06:002010-01-25T21:20:30.772-06:00Escapades...So, I am sure I have mentioned this before but just in case, I will say it again. I am a gamer.<br /><br />I have played tabletop RPGs since i was around 8 and have played computer games for as long as I have owned a computer. For the past 5 years or so, I have primarily played World of Warcraft.<br /><br />Through WoW, I have met some great people and formed some lasting friendships. In fact, for those who dont already know, my roommate and I met in the game and have lived wonderfully together for the past 3 years or so.<br /><br />Not that gaming is all we do. We have jobs and hobbies and friends and all that. In fact, we recently decided to take a sabbatical from the world of Azeroth and have only recently returned there.<br /><br />Now to the meat of my topic for the day...<br /><br />We recently decided to recreate the toons we met on and return them to their home server. To do so, we rolled the toons as Death Knights and worked their storylines to encompass the change as well as their absence from the server.<br /><br />Oh boy, what a trip it is!<br /><br />This is the first time these characters have ventured, in game, onto the continent of Northrend. Thankfully, with the WotLK expansion things have improved quite a bit. Blizzard went back to its lore and brought it into game to grow and be lived by our characters. We have been following in the footsteps of Arthas and watching as this true hero falls from grace.<br /><br />It's pretty damned cool.<br /><br />Now, granted, my roommate is a lore junky and knows more about whats going on than, is suspect, some of the games developers. It is both amazing and entertaining to watch her get so excited when, only moments after telling me some bit of lore, we get to see it unfold in game. The squeals of glee are enough to keep me interested in what comes next for quite some time.<br /><br />Anyway!<br /><br />I supopse that the whole point of this entry is to continue what I started Friday and let you all know that quality entertainment is right around the corner. Come play WoW with us... Fifteen dollars a month gets you one movie and half a bucket of popcorn -OR- you get unlimited play time in a rich imaginary world where you get to run around with me and my avatar!<br /><br />Come and play!<br /><br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MfwUqBxL1Ls&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MfwUqBxL1Ls&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">As the terrible war against the Lich King continues, the proud defenders of Azeroth fight to secure a lasting peace...<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">But there can be, <span style="font-weight: bold;">no peace!</span><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">-World of Warcraft Cataclysm Trailer-</span>Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16479922102182096621noreply@blogger.com0