Christmas Non-Secular

With the holiday season upon us again, I have been nostalgic. I remember that we would be photographed surrounded by our gifts in a before and after setup. As a child, that was what Christmas was to me - a chance to get gifts and be with family.

I remember being disappointed when I found out it was a religious holiday. I have never been a religious person. Not back then. Not now. Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, et al were the major players of this holiday. Tree, lights, cartoons, singing, and decorating were the major activities. And I look back at that time with fondness.

Maybe I was just being a spoiled child. Maybe I wasn't. Life for a five year old is simple and wondrous. I didn't need anything to complicate something so wonderful. Wouldn't it be great to have that feeling back. Being a kid rocked. It rocked harder during the holidays. My toughest tasks back then was trying to figure out what was behind the wrapping paper. I became a master at working the corners and sneaking a peek inside. Sorry, Mom. I cheated and knew a good percentage of my gifts by using this technique.

But that was the fun. No midnight mass. No worrying about credit card bills or being laid off. Just the giddiness of getting gifts, singing carols, and watching the stop motion TV shows like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Who wouldn't want that?

Easy Resolutions

I usually don't do New Year's resolutions. I don't know why. I have many areas of me that I would like to improve. I think setting resolutions that change a person are very difficult to keep. So, I will set some resolutions that will be fun to keep and still improve my life. Here we go.

1. Finish my bachelor's degree. I am only 18 credit hours away. While this doesn't fit in the fun category, it will create more free time to have fun.
2. Workout more. Again, this may not sound like fun. But, I do like to lift weights. I think that is all I did in high school besides play football. Going to the gym to lift is fun. Going to the gym to run not so much.
3. Be a better husband. This will be fun. Queentuffy deserves better than the usual me. So, I will be stepping up in this area.
4. Be a better friend. I have met some great people, and some have become my friend. I am not the most attentive friend. I don't make the phone calls I should or share my true feelings. Logtar can attest to this fact. I promise to be better.
5. Go fishing more. I have a boat and all the equipment and time. I have no excuses. Queentuffy and I will be catching more fish this year.
6. Drums. I have made friends with musicians this year. And they have rekindled my desire to play the drums. It has been 5 or 6 years since I was in a band. Time to dust off the drums and get back into playing. Maybe I will find a band.
7. Find a career I love or at least tolerate. I have put a lot of effort and keeping employed in 2009. This was made significantly harder because I don't like my current career. I will continue with my soul search and item 1 of this list.

Well. That is all I can think of right now. These should be pretty easy to do with the exception of the last item on the list. Wish me luck.

Career Matched?

I recently read Career Match by Shoya Zichy. It was not what I was expecting, but in a good way. I knew it would deal with what career would work best with my personality. Of course, there would be a personality test. I have taken personality tests before. Including the Myers-Briggs when in college, but the results were less than accurate. So, I was skeptical.

The authors give you a 10 minute test called the Color Q Personality Style Self Assessment. After you finish the results are easy to garner. Your results are given to you in colors red, green, blue, and gold. You are assigned a primary color and a secondary color. I won't go into what each pairing means and just tell you that I am a Red/Green.

The test, also, determines if you are an introvert or an extrovert. I already knew before taking the test that I am an introvert, but I took the test in its entirety, and the result was the expected introvert. So, my final personality type result is Red/Green introvert.

After reading the description of the Red/Green introvert I discovered the authors were right. They nailed it. Their description of me matched my results of the personality test. I was surprised. As I mentioned before I had taken other tests and the results were iffy. Not this time. They were accurate.

Here are a few things the book mentions about Red/Green introverts that are me.

1. Like to initiate and implement change.
2. Excel in assignments that are nonrepetitious.
3. Most productive when left on my own.
4. Is relaxed and informal.
5. Unattractive surroundings will distract and irritate me.
6. Encourages rapport through a sense of humor.
7. Offers a high degree of trust.

After confiming that the description was right, I read on to see what was thought to be a good career path. The book lists many careers broken out by industry. The list is nowhere near being complete or is said to be as such, but it gives a pretty good starting point. Here are some examples for Red/Green introverts that I thought were interesting.

Arts and entertainment

• artist, photographer, entertainment agent, film editor, and art director

Business

• lawyer, product designer, public relations specialist, and business coach

Health Science

• gynecologist, speech pathologist, nurse, and primary care physician

These were just a few careers and industries. Now I have to use the information I have and brain storm on what I want to do when I grow up. I'm still clueless, but I feel I'm getting closer. It will take some hard work and some hard thinking. I will have to do some soul searching. I am confident that I will figure this out.

If you are in the situation as me or just curious about your Color Q personality, I recommend reading this book. It may surprise you.

Where Have I Been

At the beginning of last month I thought it would be cool to post once a day for the month. In reality I posted once the entire month. I know. I'm a slacker.

So, what the hell have I been upto that has kept me away from my blog? The short answer is procrastination. I am the king of procrastination. I'll prove it to you later. :)

Other things have been happening besides avoiding posting here. I finally have two fully functioning knees. In this post I tell you about my knee pain. That was on October 7th. Holy shit! This went on longer than I realized.

After I went to my primary doctor and was told I strained a tendon, I decided to go see an Orthopedic Surgeon. I figured two months was enough time to be in pain. I made the appointment and saw the nurse practioner for the surgeon. She gave me the routine knee check and sent me to get x-rays. These x-rays revealed nothing. Surprise! So they said I needed to get a MRI.

After waiting 4 days for my insurance to approve the appointment, I had a MRI done on a Friday after work. I didn't hear about the results until the following Wednesday. As you can imagine I am getting tired of this thing dragging on. The results from my MRI were inconclusive. I have a little cartilage tearing and a little arthritis in the knee. Neither of which the doctor thought was bad enough to cause the pain I was having.

So, I have to make an appointment and go back to see the orthopedic surgeon for another exam. This exam will supposedly decide which form of treatment I will require. Surgery or a cortizone shot. I wait another week and a half before they can see me again. Yes, I am a happy camper at this point. This time I actually get to see the surgeon. He is a great guy, but a little hurried. He put my knee through the paces, again. Twist the knee and ask me if that hurts. Thankfully it didn't hurt on any of the twists he subjected me and my patient knee to.

After that he explains what he thinks is going on. Which is the exact same thing they told me the MRI results led them to believe. He then did something I didn't expect. He asked me which option I think I should go with - the shot or the surgery. Well, I have a pretty long no surgery streak going and would like to keep it. So, I opted for the shot. The surgeon agreed with my decision.

Okay I got the shot and my knee feels great. It is so nice not having pain or fear of the knee giving out on me. For the first time in a long time I can say my knee feels normal. Its just too bad it had to take from the end of August to the day before Thanksgiving to get it resolved.

Cars

I hope I don't have to think about this seriously for years to come, but what would I want as my next car. I would love to have a car that would keep me away from the gas pump. Nothing would be nicer in my auto universe than never having to pay for gas again.

So, would alternative fuels like hydrogen work for me? Nah. I would prefer to plug my shiny new ride into a wall socket and let it "refuel" while I sleep or while I work. I wouldn't miss stopping at QT once a week at all.

But.

I don't want a "traditional" looking electric car. I want something that looks like a powerful gas guzzler. Maybe something along the lines of a muscle car. You know a '69 Chevelle. I want it to look like it could burn the tires off while going 0-60 in 4 seconds.

Come on Ford, GM, Honda, Toyota, etc. Its time to step it up. Create something I would actually want to own. Otherwise, I have to hope my SUV lasts forever.

To recap.

This....

Not this.

Music That Stops the World

Eating lunch at my favorite sushi place with my favorite lunch partner Queentuffy, we started discussing the music playing over the restaurants speakers. The discussion centered around what music will make me stop what I'm doing to listen. If you looked at my music library, you would think that I only like one type of music. With a the complete catalogue of Metallica, Disturbed, Seether, and others of similiar ilk, I would agree it is slanted a certain way. However, my tastes bridge more gaps than expected. My list of music that stops my world proves this. No matter what I'm doing these songs make me stop and listen. They are listed below in no particular order.

1. The Fray - How to Save a Life.


2. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars.


3. Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone.


4. Metallica - For Whom the Bell Tolls.


5. Katy Perry - Hot N Cold.


6. Black Sabbath - Paranoid.


7. Flock of Seagulls - I Ran.


8. KISS - Detroit Rock City.


9. Offspring - Gone Away.


10. Papa Roach - She Loves Me Not.

These are the top ten of world stoppers for me. Some are because I learned to play these songs and others because they call to me. I have the radio on all day while at work and love it when any of these songs are played. Problem is more often than not a coworker will stop by right as one of these starts. How do you politely tell someone to go away so not to interrupt the song? So if I ignore you, chances are one of these songs are playing. I hope you understand.

The Boyfriend

I attended a technical college in Goodland, Kansas right out of high school. Goodland is about 90 minutes from Yuma, Colorado. Yuma is where I went to high school. I would return to Yuma on weekends to visit my parents, my friends, and my sister (Gina.) Partway through that first year my parents moved to Salt Lake City.

Luckily for me my sister still lived in Yuma. She rented a pretty big house with her three children and her best friend Tina. I would come back to Yuma and stay at Gina's and Tina's house. As part of the price to stay there I would baby sit Gina's kids from time to time so team Gina and Tina could go out and party.

Though Tina had a boyfriend (whom I hadn't met), the team would go manhunting for my sister. On one such occasion the team went out and I stayed home to watch the kids. About an hour after the team left Tina's boyfriend came up from the basement where Tina's bedroom was located.

He introduced himself as Jim. He snubbed my offer of a handshake. I let it go. Tina usually had weird taste in boyfriends and I thought he was a classic example. Jim was cool and laid back. He dressed in 70's retro and wore John Lennon type glasses.

We discussed music. He seemed interested in the fact that I was a drummer. Jim mentioned that we should jam sometime since he was a guitarist.

I offered him a beer which he took but never took a drink. He was interested in talking about the house. He seemed to know a lot about the history of the house. Jim told me that the location of the couch was in the wrong spot and that it is always supposed to be under the window. As he said, "where it has always been."

We talked for hours. Finally I saw the headlights of Gina's car coming up the drive. Jim said he had to go to the bathroom and left the room. Gina and Tina walked in the door. In their drunken yammering one of them asked what I had been doing. I told them that Jim and I had just been sitting here talking. Gina asked who Jim was and I told her Tina's boyfriend. Gina paused and said quite matter of factly that Tina's boyfriend's name is Ricky and he is in Denver this weekend picking up a load of brick. We checked the entire house. We found no one. Jim was gone including the beer I had given him.

Through the years Gina lived in the house they had not seen Jim. Gina would later tell me that she would have arguments with Tina about rearranging the furniture. Gina said Tina would move the couch all the time and Tina would deny these claims. I asked if the couch was moved under the window and she said yes and asked how I knew. I told her that Jim mentioned that is the rightful location for the couch.

I would love to go back to Yuma and talk to the current residents of the house. I would like to know if Jim is still there arranging furniture. Maybe one day Jim will find what he is looking for and finally rest in peace.

My Knee Hurts

As the title suggests my knee hurts. I went to the doctor and she said I strained a tendon in my knee. I looked it up on the webs and discovered that a strained tendon in the knee is also called Jumpers Knee.

I think I over used the knee. I started working out again about a month and a half ago. I don't recall a single incident in which I hurt said knee, but it started swelling and aching one night while bowling. I doubted bowling had anything to do with the injury, but I had to have it checked out.

I saw the doctor about three weeks ago and she prescribed less treadmill and more Aleve. I complied. The swelling has gone down and I no longer have a noticeable limp, but I don't feel anywhere near 100%. I haven't been back to the gym out of fear of making it worse. I didn't figure it was going to take this long to heal. Between the webs and friends experience it looks like it is going to take months not days to heal. Crap.

I plan on going back to the gym this weekend bad knee or not. If this seems like a bad idea, I can't help it. I have a history of rushing back after an injury. I fractured my elbow during the first quarter of the first game of my junior year football season. The doctor told me it would take 3 to 6 months before I could return to sports. 3 to 6 months hell. The season only had 7 games left not including post season. I wasn't going to miss this season. We had a good team and I figured we could go far.

So returning back to practice on Monday I told coach that the doctor said it was hyperextended and I should take it easy for a week. Yes, I lied. With some foam rubber and a lot of athletic tape, I played the entire season. That season was extended because we made it to state playoffs. So, in all I played 8 and a half games with a fractured elbow.

I know it was a pretty stupid risk to take, but I was young and bullet proof. It took close to 10 years before I could completely straighten my elbow. I'm still not sure that it straightens all the way, but it is close enough. Oh yeah, it pops a lot still, too. Still I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Now back to the knee. Yes, I'm going back to the gym. Yes, I'm rushing it and it will probably take longer to heal because of it. No, that isn't going to stop me. I still feel like that 16 year old kid with a fractured elbow. There is no way I'm going to sit on the sidelines.

30 Rock

I've never watched it during its regularly scheduled time, but I love 30 Rock on DVD. It is much better watching episodes one after the other and not waiting a week between. Naturally I have the same crush on Tina Fey that all other TV geeks have. Outside of that the show is brilliantly written and acted. Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy is priceless. I love the whisper growly voice he uses.

If you have never seen the show, I highly recommend you do. It is on a comedic par with Arrested Development, Sports Night, and 20/20. Why are you still reading this? Go to Blockbuster, the library or Netflix website and get yourself a copy. You won't regret it.

Careers

I'm always curious about other people's careers. How did you come into this job? Do you like your job? If not, what would you prefer to do? These are just a few questions I would ask you if you were standing right here right now. I'm always curious because I have met people who have a college degree that is not related to their current position. This fascinates me.

Humans Win

I love to play board games. You could say I'm a board game geek. Its okay. I don't mind. When I was a kid growing up in Las Vegas, the older kids in the neighborhood introduced me to Risk. I love that game. It brings back some great memories.

We own enough board games that the closet can't hold them all. I purchased a few more this last week. Now we have to find a bigger hiding place or a bigger house. Either way, I'm not going to stop acquiring games I like. My next purchase may be Battlestar Galactica.

My friend Banky introduce me to the game. The first couple of times I played I didn't think the game was all that fun. The Cylons kept kicking our butts early into the game. Banky kept telling me the game takes about 3 to 4 hours to play, but up to this point we averaged about an hour.

The game play is simple. At the beginning each person is given a loyalty card. Only you can see your card. This card tells you whether you are a cylon or human. If you are a cylon, you get to keep your identity secret as long as you desire and sabotage the humans efforts.

At the end of each player's turn a Crisis card is drawn. These cards live up to their name - Crisis. To pass a crisis each player plays skill cards that have numerical value. The skill cards are color coded and the cards that count must be of the correct color. This is where the Cylons can interfere. They can play cards of the wrong color and that subtracts from the total. If you don't get at least the numerical value required, you fail the crisis and some penalties will be incurred.

For the humans to win, they need to complete enough "jumps" to total 8 plus one final "jump." The Cylons have a few ways to win. They can inflict too much damage to the Galactica, run the humans out of either population, morale, fuel, or fuel, or have a boarding party reach the end of their trek.

With so many ways for a Cylon victory it is tough for the humans to win. In fact, I have never played when the humans win until last night. The humans finally pulled off the upset. It was touch and go for a bit. We humans were down to the minimum fuel supply. We drew the card that increased the fuel and we went about kicking Cylon bootie. The trick is to extend this into a winning streak. The odds are against us humans, but I think we are up to the challenge.

Need to Get It Together

There are many things that I need to improve about my life. Don't get me wrong. There a lot of things about my life that I love, but there are the areas I would like to improve.

Like anyone else I would love to get into shape (other than round) and lose some weight. I started going back to the gym thanks to my BFF. We were getting into a grove and then I strained a tendon in my knee. Ouch! The knee is getting closer to normal. I look forward to getting back to the gym.

I have some house projects that need attention. I'm sure Queentuffy would like me to finish those. I think the only way I'm going to finish them is to create a list and start checking off the projects as I get them done.

My career is a whole other problem. In fact it will take another blog post to cover that. The overall theme is it is time to take the steps. They may be baby steps, but steps none the less.

Loyalty

When is loyalty one-sided in life? I can't count how many times I've been asked to show loyalty to this and that. I've never asked for loyalty to be shown towards me. I guess I always figured that my loyalty will be paid back with your loyalty. Was I wrong?

Nothing will let you know about others loyalty to you like hard times. Is your loyalty contigent on times being good? As soon as the chips are down are all loyalty bets off? It seems that this is the case.

When I'm loyal to you, I will do what I can to improve your situation, make you look good, do what it takes for you to be successful. What do you do for me? Make sure we have status quo? I will go above and beyond. I have and will continue to do so for those I'm loyal. I guess you will continue to take advantage of that. Expecting more and giving less.

Well those days are over. My loyalty will now match yours. You can blame outside factors, but we both know its all on you. Thanks for taking advantage of my loyalty. My eyes are open. It won't happen again. I will find someone else who will return my loyalty and they will benefit. And you? You better hope you never need a favor from me.

Its Not My Fantasy

I just finished drafting my team for the second fantasy football team I own. Though I did an okay job, I did not feel all that excited about drafting. I think that perhaps fantasy football has run its course with me. I didn't do any research. In fact, I used spreadsheets created by the IT guy out our office. I think the fun is spending time researching, drafting and juggling the lineup. Right now I don't feel like doing any of those things. If my feelings about this does not change by next year, I will not be join any fantasy leagues. I will retire in the two leagues I'm in currently.

I have been participating in fantasy football since the early 90's. Back then there weren't any websites designed for fantasy football. The rules were simpler because the commissioner had to use the KC Star or the USA Today newspapers to figure the scoring by hand.

Now days there are websites and television shows telling you who to draft and in what order. We have wesites to set the lineups, check for free agents, and calculate the scoring. I miss the simple days of buying a magazine and figuring it out myself.

So, I think this will be my final year of fantasy football. I look forward to watching the games with nothing on the line for me personally. I will be watching for the pure joy of watching. Nothing more. Besides I prefer college football. My sundays will be free next year. Lets go fishing.

Been Busy

Tonight is the first night this week that I have spent in front of the TV with the wife. It is nice. Though it didn't start off this care free. I went to the gym with my best friend. He has been keeping me motivated. Lord knows I need all the motivation I can get. I should be concentrating on some school work, but I am enjoying the nothingness of it all.

I wouldn't be enjoying nothing so much if it wasn't for the busy week. I'll start my explanation with Monday. Monday started like any other work day. First I didn't want to get up. Secondly I made it through the soul crushing day. Lastly I played tennis with said best friend. Boy it felt good to play some tennis. Tennis has a way of exposing how out of shape I am. After some good tennis fun, I got some pointers on punching. I wasn't allowed to hit anyone, but I did get some good shots on the heavy bag. All done with activity I went home just in time to have a small dinner and do some homework. When finished it was way past my bedtime.

Step 1 and 2 were the same for Tuesday as for Monday. The cherry on top of this day was bowling. Somehow I ended up on a team in a bowling league. I bowled surprisingly well considering I haven't bowled for a while. My scores were 168, 128 and 133. I was happy. Again I ended up getting home late. The wife was already in bed. She was the smart one.

Oh, I almost forgot step 2a of Tuesday. We had a new refrigerator delivered from Nebraska Furniture Mart. I had to spend time unloading the old fridge and loading the new one. It's amazing how much you can fit into a 22 cubic foot fridge. By the way, my NFM experience was great. The delivery drivers were professional and courteous. The fridge is still slightly larger than the space calls for. The dish washer door doesn't open all the way, but far enough to still be useful.

Today repeated steps 1 and 2. I got to miss lunch because of training. It wasn't so bad. Going to the gym was good, and now I'm here watching Glee and blogging. Ahhhh! Tomorrow I will rest even more and I have Friday off for the ultimate relaxing day. Yay me.

For the record. I'm not complaining. I enjoy having a busy social life. I need to have fun time. Life is too short and serious to not have fun on a daily basis. If you believe me, buy an Xbox 360 and friend me (Kipkillagin1). We can play some Halo 3.

My Wife's Heart is Bigger than our House

We live in a 1400 s.f. house. It is even smaller than that sounds. The wife and I love to entertain. There are times when I wish our house was bigger. We have a lot of great friends. We want to invite them all to our game nights. The problem is we have room for 8 to 10 people and we would like to invite 20.

My wife would feed and entertain the world if they could fit into our house. She loves have a large circle of friends and would do about anything for them. I hope they realize how lucky they are to have her as a friend.

If it were up to me, we would keep the circle smaller. I like knowing and liking a lot of people, but I believe in only having a small group of Best Friends. I like to have one or two guy buddies that I can call on to play tennis, go workout, play a game, or just hang. My wife would say they same thing, but the exception would be the number of buddies.

I'm lucky she likes and cares for so many people. I get to meet a lot of great people that way. I get to have a lot of great times entertaining and playing games. Just remember if I get a hold of you alone to do something, you are considered a best friend. And that is an exclusive club. Hopefully, you feel the same about me.

Fry Daddy

I am frying some chicken to serve to our guests at game night. The theme is a picnic. We are having cold fried chicken, potato salad, chips, and watermelon. The recipe I'm following is from this website http://gregbeckchicken.blogspot.com/

Chicken marinating in a bowl. Waiting for their turn in the fryer. Patience my pretties.

It's frying time. Everyone in the pool! The sound of something frying makes me salivate. Don't worry I kept it contained.

The first batch all done. Of course we sampled one. It was surprisingly good. Only five or six more batches left. It is going to be a late night.

Back At It

Tonight I started working on my assignments for my class this fall. I'm giving an online class a try this semester. I picked this format because I didn't feel like driving to classes. I know this format creates more work than the traditional classroom, but I am up for the challenge.

The class I'm taking is Political Science. I haven't taken a US government class since high school. The prof sent out the syllabus today. As expected, this class will require hours of reading. I'm not opposed to that. There is a lot of busy work as well. You can't get away from busy work in college. Luckily, this is the only class I'm taking this semester. I can sink some time into it. An added bonus is my father in-law has a degree in Political Science. That will give me another resource. Wish me luck.

Correction

In a post earlier I said that my wife likes light and fluffy, feel good movies. That wasn't a totally accurate assessment. Truth be told she has a better understanding of movies than I. In truth I am easily entertained. She has introduced some great movies and we have had a lot of interesting discussions on these movies. So don't think her taste in movies is chick flicks. It isn't. In fact she does not like romantic comedies. For this I am grateful. I never have to sit through on at the theatre. It will be just large explosions for us.

Who am I?

When I was four my parents divorced. My biological father made the decision to let mom and my stepdad raise my sister and myself without inteference from him. Don't feel too bad for me. My stepdad (who will be refered to as dad) is great. He is the only dad I know. He helped make me what I am today.

I knew that my biological father lived in Texas, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. My sister had contacted him and actually went to live with him. I really never thought about contacting him. It wasn't that I had any bad feelings. I just didn't care to engage someone I don't remember.

A few years ago my sister tells my wife that my biological father has expressed his desire to get to know me. The wife sent a letter to him to make sure his intentions were just. We received a letter back from him and that got us started on a relationship. It started as letter writing and it progressed to phone calls.

Then one day on my way to work, he called me to say that he and some family were coming up and wanted to know if I wanted met him. So, we set up a meeting. I was curious to meet the man. Mainly because I am not like anyone in my family. I mean completely different. I was hoping that this meeting would shed some light on who I am.

After meeting him and his family, it was obvious that I am NOT like any of them either. I will discuss the meeting in another post. I was a little disappointed, but not terribly that I didn't see any of my traits on display by another person. So, I'm not like my mother, father, biological father, brother, or sister. Somewhere there may be a milkman that acts just like me or I'm one of a kind.

I am very analytical, quiet, and easy going. Everyone in my nuclear family is boisterous, out going, and always has some drama. My biological father is quiet like me, but has a different value system and is very southern. I guess I would be a combination of the two families. Yup. That sounds right. I'm going with that.

Saturday night live music

Last night we watched live music at a bbq joint. It was nice. The drummer is a friend's husband. It was nice to support a local band. It was better to know one of the musicians. To make a great night even better the band played the song "Rubber Ducky." Yup, it was that kind of fun.

Since it was a bbq joint, we had food to go along with the entertainment. Being a resident of the KC area I know bbq. This place was pretty good. It was enhanced by Dave the night's bartendar and another friend.

All in all the night was enhanced by friends. Not only the friends at the two tables we filled, but as well as in the band and bringing drinks. Where would we be without friends? I don't know for sure, but I'm sure last night would not have been nearly as fun. And I'm lucky I have really great and interesting friends.

Mad Men

Watching Mad Men is interesting. I wonder if the corporate world was really like this. I can't imagine working at a place in which everyone smoked and drinks at the office. Offenses that would get you fired on the spot today.

The advertising game in the TV show seems very interesting. Hard work with creativity sprinkled in. Does today's advertising firm operate that way? One thing have gathered from working in the corporate world is that creativity takes a back seat to hard line production. Creativity takes time and time is money. Hard line production is effecient. Is being creative allowed in corporate America or is it just not allowed in Engineering?

District 9

So, saw District 9 today. I liked it a lot, but the better half hated it. Her hatred of the film has nothing to do with the quality of the film. It has more to do with the content. She likes light and fluffy, feel good movies. These things cannot be said about District 9.

This wasn't the movie I was expecting. I knew it was a social commentary style movie, but I didn't see the main plot line coming. Even though the movie was not what I thought it was going to be, I still dug it.

I'm not a movie critic. So, I won't be going into the critic blathering. I will just say the movie was intense, graphic, and poignant. Things happen in the movie that have you thinking this is exactly what would happen in the real world given these circumstances. I guess it feeds my general distrust in the world's governments.

Go see the movie if you like sci fi that makes you think. It makes you think while putting you through some intense action and graphic content. Don't cover your eyes. Take it all in. You will be glad you did.

Pre-District 9

Meeting friends at the theatre to see District 9. I haven't been this pumped to see a movie in a while. Probably since Lord of the Rings. I've read the reviews, read the tweets, and listened to friends. Enough already. I have to see it for myself.

We saw two movies yesterday: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe was a dumb movie. In fact, I think the script was written in crayon, but it was entertaining. The biggest issue I had with the movie was the overuse of CGI. The parts I liked best were stuffed into tight outfits worn by Scarlet. I recommend watching the movie if you want mindless entertainment. Otherwise, avoid at all costs.

Harry Potter was a good film. As with the whole series, the latest was the best. The "kids" have improved with each offering. I enjoyed the movie to the point I didn't want it to end without wrapping up the story line. Alas, we have to wait a couple of years to see the end. I can wait. Probably. I have NOT read the books. So, I clueless how it all ends. I'll let the movies tell me. I have too many other books I'd rather read.

Vick to the Eagles

So, Michael Vick signs with the Eagles. I was hoping that no team would want him for at least a year. Maybe I'm not being fair. In America, serving your sentence should balance the books on your crime, but I'm having a hard time with this because it deals with innocent animals.

I hope Vick is truly sorry for what happened on his land. The public persona he put out during the ordeal was one of a person sorry for being caught not for abusing dogs. I could be wrong. I think the whole scene must have been overwhelming.

Vick and the Eagles will endure booing for the whole of preseason and when Vick steps on the field during regular season games for a while. When the season is in full swing and playoff positions are being formed, fans will forget to boo Vick. The NFL puts a product on the field that is electric. The charge should drown out the boos in December. Michael Vick will not suffer much this year, and the NFL will suffer even less.

Movie Wish List

The five things I want to see at the movies.

1. District 9
2. A Robot Chicken version of GI Joe
3. Movie adaptation of the book "Ender's Game"
4. Free popcorn!
5. A money back guarantee

I don't think these are unreasonable.

Fable II

I am not at work today because I don't feel well. If I start to feel better later, I will play my all time favorite game - Fable II. I can easily spend hours playing this game. I have never seen a game with such a rich environment. Though have already beaten the game, I love to keep playing. There are plenty of quests to complete, gargoyles to kill, and gold to find to keep me entertained for a while.

I played the game as a good guy this time. It may be hard to tell if you saw my character. He is overweight, wears Elvis sunglasses, and has some scaring on his face. When I'm done with this game, I will play again as a bad guy. That should be fun. It should create a whole new experience. What game can claim that.

That is enough of that. Nyquill is kicking in. Time to take a nap.

College Football EA Sports Style

I am loving NCAA 2010 from EA Sports. I got my first when at 3:20 this am. Yup. I wouldn't go to bed until I had a win under my belt. Thanks to Mizzou for being gracious enough to fall to my Huskers 30-0. I hope that happens in real life. Go Big Red!!

True it shouldn't have taken me so long to get a win, but I was confusing Xbox 360 buttons with their competitors. The X button is in a different location than what I'm used to. The poor X receiver never got the ball when he was wide open. Don't worry I'll get it worked out.

I turned on the Xbox and started the game. It proceeded to tell me that an update was available. I pushed the "go for it" button and was delighted to see the rankings update to match the newly released Coaches poll. Excellent.

I love this game because I couldn't beat the game 70 -0 on my first try. In fact it took a few games to get the first win. The NFL version should learn something from this. The only thing I don't like is the lack of a speed burst. If it is there and I haven't found it, help me out.

I'm new to the Xbox 360 experience. I just got the console in June for my birthday. Man. I shouldn't have waited so long. I love the Live add-ons, the ability to play on-line (I know. Nothing new), and the current ESPN feeds.