Extended AIM Profile

November Monthly Goal Meet-Up

2009-11-05T11:58:00.005-05:00

Confession time. The only bloggers I despise more than mommy-bloggers are those GenY bloggers who think that they have all of the answers. "I did 'this' and now I have this fantastic job. You should follow my advice." "I quit my job after two weeks and now my life is awesome, you should too." "I up and moved across the continent and things have worked out perfectly after doing so, feel free to do the same."

"Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth."

Listen. I'm all for people being positive and sharing the wonderful parts of their lives, but I'm not up for listening to impractical advice. In the aforementioned scenarios and countless others in the blogosphere, there's so much about the writer that isn't disclosed. As such, it makes it hard for me as a reader to determine what is and what isn't applicable to my life. This unfortunate scenario plays out repeatedly across a lot of GenY blogs.

Fortunately, there are a few millenial bloggers out there who do give good, general, and most importantly, practical advice. Today I'm going to borrow an idea from my fellow blogging partner Akirah (who happened to borrow this idea from Rebecca over at Modite) and post my goals for the month of November. Historically, I've had a list of long-term SMART goals on hand or on mind at all times, but since watching the economy completely bottom out after finishing my MBA (taking any pipe dreams I had along with it), I've been kinda wandering around sorta aimlessly for the better part of a year. I'm hoping that this taking on of smaller goals one month at a time will help refocus me on what/wherever it is I'm trying to get to...

November 2009 Goals
(In no particular order of importance)

1) Start budging my money again.
- I've kinda fallen off the wagon with this lately, mostly because I haven't had any money. Now that I do, I need to start keeping track of where it all goes.

2) Make my job work for me.
- Long story short, I'm not happy with my current job. I don't like it and if I continue on my current track, I don't see me staying long. But instead of throwing in the towel and moving on, I want to try and make this work. I'm sure that completing this goal will involve at least one uncomfortable meeting or phone call with my company's owners discussing how I feel like I'm being used incorrectly, but hey -- a closed mouth doesn't get fed.

3) Complete at least one book that I've shelved.
- I've been in the middle of reading "The Goal," "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," and "The Historian" and have been for the last two months. For one reason or another, I've lost interest in each of these books. So in an effort to rid me of that nagging feeling, I'm going to work my way through them, little by little.

4) Blog at least three times a week.
- Every day is too much and once a week is two few. Blogging thrice a week gives me enough of a "release" to let new thoughts into my mind.

5) Exercise at least twice a week.
- I'd much rather do this three times a week, but my work and social schedule don't really allow for excessive amounts of time to get sweaty. Oh well, I've gotta start somewhere.

6) Work in time for my friends.
- Life has been full lately. New job, new lady, changing work schedules, football season, etc. As such I haven't had time for a lot of people that I wish I had an extra moment for. Here's to me making a conscious effort to "reconnect" with some of the friends that I haven't seen in a while.

Looks like the theme of the month for November is "finding a balance." Here's to hoping that in a month's time I will have managed to find life's "happy equilibrium."

40 Years of Sunny Days

2009-11-04T21:09:00.003-05:00

Like a lot of other people over the past 40 years, I grew up on Sesame Street. And as today is the celebration of Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary, I'd like to toss in my favorite Sesame Street moment. There's tons to pick from that have stood out to me over the years -- Waiter Grover, the blue headed man and the big hamburger; Telephone Rock, anything involving Cookie Monster -- but to this today this is still my favorite Sesame Street moment.

Enjoy.

What Is Love?

2009-11-03T01:51:00.001-05:00

Over the weekend I was asked to fill out a survey for a friend of friend's Sex and Society class. It was your standard fare, with questions about dating, expected time frames, etc., but one question stood out to me because it completely stumped me.

"What is love?"

It's such a simple question, but one I wound up having the hardest of times coming up with an answer. I wound up giving some lame, cop-out answer to wrap up the survey, but after doing so, I realized something...

Love is not only something that's hard to define, but something who's definition changes over time.

I've been in what I believed to be love twice. Once about 9 years ago and a second time a few years later. Other than the fact that I was involved, the two experiences couldn't have been any more different. Hell, even then, the fact that I was involved doesn't hold much water, because Terence at 17 was a completely different person from Terence at 20.

At 17, love was perfect and pure. I was completely innocent and purely naive, but it didn't matter. There was a girl I liked who liked me back and life couldn't have been any more grand. There wasn't a waking hour of the day that I wasn't thinking about her. I made her things and talked to her everyday on the phone and all that other sappy stuff. If you would have asked me what love was then, I would have written you the world's longest essay full of colorful adjectives and vibrant descriptions.

An essay that would have been promptly ripped to shreds the moment she broke my heart. Love was no longer bright and cheery as it now came with a dark, sad side to it. It wasn't ever going to be "perfect" again.

I held on to that ideal for a few years until a girl who was a close friend completely turned my definition of love around. Love no longer needed to be rooted in "perfection," as it did so much friendship. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which side of the fence I want to be on), that friendship kept me from moving toward anything more with her. Do I have any regrets about that decision? Definitely. Would I go back and change anything? Probably not. Things happen for a reason...

But unrequited love aside, that "experience" (for lack of a better term) changed my outlook on what being in love was supposed to be like. The thing is, some 6 years later, I don't think I have those same exact expectations that come with being in love as I did before.

Is that a bad thing? No. Not at all. Actually, it may be a good thing as it keeps my previous perceptions from clouding any future emotions. While I'll never forget my "lessons learned," I've got no desire to relive them. Every girl is different. Every situation is different.

And sure, this puts me back at square one of trying to figure out "what is love," but that's cool. Trying to figure it out is half the fun. I don't know when I'll figure it out next, or with who, or where, but I do know that when it's time for me to find the answer, I'll know.

Sunday Night Selections

2009-11-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a good Halloween weekend. Mine was OK, even though I spent a considerable amount of it working. No bother though, as I did find a decent amount of time to crawl my way to the bar on Friday and Saturday, so I got in my fun. Couple that with Saturday's Clemson Homecoming victory, a surprising upset by the Panthers over the Cardinals, and a quiet Sunday evening watching movies and the World Series with the lady, and I'm left with no complaints from the weekend -- other than the fact that it's over.

Oh well, there's always next weekend, which has all the makings of "epicness" with this Saturday's Florida State-Clemson game scheduled for 7:45pm. I'm licking my chops already...

Rap
Drake ft Kanye West, Lil Wayne, & Eminem - "Forever"
My jury is still out on Drake. His flow isn't bad, his beats are solid, and he rolls with a legit crew, but I'm having a hard time taking him seriously. Probably because it's hard to believe that someone who spent most of their time in a wheelchair on a teen-soap opera is now trying to go about a starting a rap career. Did I mention that he's from Canada? Moving along, this is probably one of Drake's better tracks, even though there's a lot of "going through the motions" here. Drake gives it a good go, but his verse is lacking and it's obvious that Kanye and Weezy are cameoing only for the paycheck. The only person who sends in a solid performance is Em, who dug into the vault and found his long-lost Slim Shady persona. With Eminem still able to flow like we all thought he could, one has to wonder why his recent "Relapse" album was so bad.
Watch The Video

Reggaton/House
Pitbull ft LMFAO & Fergie - "Back to the Future"
If you didn't like "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas, then this song probably isn't for you. For that matter, if you don't like Fergie, then you also might want to pass on this track. For the three of you guys still left, I suggest that you give this club banger a spin. Pitbull recruited electronica-house DJs LMFAO to produce this track and they didn't disappoint...minus the heavy sampling of Fergie's "I'm so three-thousand and eight" line. Otherwise, the beats are thick and heavy -- a solid compliment to Pitbull's surprisingly decent (for a change) vocals. You won't be listening to this one at 2pm on a Wednesday, but I could see it fitting cleanly into a Friday night playlist.
Watch A Video

Rock/Rap
Weezer ft Lil Wayne - "Can't Stop Partying"
Yes, you read that correctly -- Weezer featuring Lil Wayne. It's an interesting combination that, contrary to what Pitchfork will have you believe, works well. Is it the world's greatest track? No, but it's definitely worth more than the 3 that the Pitchfork guys gave it. While it's not the Run-DMC/Aerosmith mix of rap and rock that you would expect from these two entities (it's more techno than anything), it's a great step in expanding the current state of music. It would be safe to assume that there's not a lot of overlap between the fanbases of these two artists. That needs to change, and hopefully soon...
Watch A Video

R&B/Rock
Rihanna vs. The Killers - "Disturbia/Somebody Told Me" DJ Hero Mash-Up
Speaking of expanding the reach of music, I think that the success of Activision's recently released DJ Hero may have a small hand in helping out. It's common knowledge that games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have gone far in introducing an entire generation of people to rock music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but there hasn't been much done in introducing other genres to the mix. With DJ Hero's release, there's a good chance that acts like Daft Punk, NOISIA, the Jurassic 5, and Eric Prydz will get a little time to shine.
As far as this track goes, it's solid in-house mix of the aforementioned songs by FreeStyle Games. They definitely blended two songs together that would seemingly go together like fire and ice, but damn if it doesn't work. Come on Activision, offer up a soundtrack!
Watch A Video
Bonus: Vanilla Ice vs MC Hammer - "Ice, Ice, Baby/U Can't Touch This" Listen

Show & Tell: The Heart & Soul of the Ghostbusters

2009-10-30T11:51:00.000-04:00

I feel like I'm in preschool.

a) Because I'm using Friday to show off my new toy.
b) Because that new toy is a Ray Stantz figure. One of which I clearly remember bringing in for show and tell as a kid.

The only thing stopping me from ripping this baby open is the fact that I know I'm too old to "play" with toys. Damn if it's not a pretty figure though. Hats off to Mattel for grabbing the Ghostbusters license and making what looks to be a pretty solid line of figures. The build of both the figure itself and the packaging has me looking forward to not only the rest of the "classic" Ghostbusters line, but also the Real Ghostbusters line coming out afterwards. The latter of which I'm super stoked about as I missed collecting the original set as a child. Probably because I was all of 3 years old when they were released. Toddlers don't have much in the way of disposable income.

But I can't look too far down the road just yet. I still need to get my hands on a reasonably priced Egon Spengler figure and be queued up and ready when the Winston Zeddemore figure goes on sale in December...

Man. It's been a good year to be a Ghostbusters fan.

Who The Hell Is Oswald?

2009-10-30T02:27:00.004-04:00

Even though I don't watch much TV, I'm a big fan of cartoons. While I can enjoy the new stuff like Spongebob Squarepants, I prefer cartoons made between the 1920s and 1960s. That's a wide time frame, but it includes all of my favorites -- Tom & Jerry, the Looney Tunes gang, Yogi Bear, etc. But that time period also includes the "golden era" of Disney shorts.

The Walt Disney Company doesn't make many shorts these days, leaving that task up to studios like Pixar, but back in the day Disney put out some of the most entertaining featurettes around. To this day, if there's a cartoon on involving Mickey, Donald, or Goofy, or so help me, all three, I'm going to drop what I'm doing and give it my full attention. But while Mickey and the gang were being made into stars that would shine for generations, one of Walt Disney's earlier creations was quietly rotting away in the mothballs...

In 1927, Walt Disney created a series of animated shorts featuring a character known as Oswald The Lucky Rabbit to be distributed by Universal Pictures. Life would be good for Disney as Universal had a hit on their hands with Oswald. A year later, Disney would go to one of the big wigs at Universal asking for an increase in the budget for the production of Oswald cartoons. Somewhat surprisingly, Universal said no and actually slashed the budget for the Oswald shorts. To make a long story short, that move didn't sit well with Disney and a few other animators, who decided to create their own company along with another character -- you may know him as Mickey Mouse. The rest, they say, is history.

But what happened to Oswald? Not much. After the last Oswald cartoon was produced in 1943, Oswald was -- very similar to Bosko and his successors -- "locked away in the tower" never to be heard from again. It wouldn't be until 2006 to where Oswald would be heard from again. As part of the deal that sent Al Michaels to NBC (which is part of the GE-Universal conglomerate) from ABC (which is owned by Disney), Disney was able to acquire the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, bringing him back into the Disney fold.

So here we are in 2009, three years after the "trade" and still, most of the world has no clue who Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is. What gives? More after a short cartoon break...

Disney has been waiting for the "right moment" to reintroduce Oswald as part of the Disney family. While he hasn't appeared in life size form at a Disney park or on a t-shirt recently, Oswald is scheduled to make his first appearance under the Disney banner as one of the main characters in the upcoming "Epic Mickey" game for the Nintendo Wii.

In the game's fiction Yen Sid, the sorcerer first seen in 1940's Fantasia during The Sorcerer's Apprentice, creates a Cartoon Wasteland for Disney's forgotten and retired creations. The first inhabitant of this wasteland is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney's first cartoon star created in 1927.
As the years pass Oswald starts to resent Mickey's growing fame. When Disney's mouse accidentally warps Oswald's Cartoon Wasteland by spilling paint thinner on it, Mickey is drawn into the warped world.

Sounds like a role Oswald was born to play. Even if he's playing the role of the bad guy, it's good to see that the little rabbit is finally getting his time in the limelight.

Seven Week Itch

2009-10-27T10:41:00.003-04:00

"But if you really cared for her, you wouldn't have never hit the airport to follow your dreams."
- Kanye West

Taken out of context, one would assume that quote is referencing my new lady friend, but it's not. I'm talking about my home state of South Carolina. She's been good to me, but I can't stay here and she knows that. Workwise, there's nothing here for me and barring a stroke of brilliance on my or someone close to me's part, there won't be in the near future.

My current gig isn't bad, but it's just that -- a gig. In the tour that is life, this job will be nothing more than a 3 night engagement. Based on the initial conversations with the owners, I was hoping that it would be a little more, but looking down the road a bit, I don't see where or how anything we talked about could possibly come to fruition. Shame too, because while I never planned on staying more than a year or two tops, I was hoping that I could at least gain some good [new] experience there. Notsomuch. But on the brightside, I am steadily employed with a nice paycheck, so I can't bitch too much.

Even so, I know that it's time to leave. To go where? California or the Pacific Northwest are the most likely options, but maybe I could luck up and wind up in the Northeast. Do I want to leave SC? Not really. Life is going smashingly good right now and I'd hate to interrupt that, but sometimes a few waves in a calm ocean can be a good thing.

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Sunday Night Selections

2009-10-26T11:47:00.003-04:00

I have two unspoken rules when it comes to my blog. 1 - Try to post at least four times a week. Sometimes I come close, sometimes I don't, but most of the time I at least make the effort. 2 - If I post a Sunday Night Selections post, then fail at completing the rest of the Rule #1, the next post can't be a Sunday Night Selections post. Well, you astute readers out there will realize that my last post was over a full week ago and it was a SnS post.

Yes, I've been a bad blogger. Which is a shame, because life has been so good lately. In an effort to dig my blog out of the mothballs and as a tribute to my soon to be fallen Extended AIM Profile (geocities version) I'm going to try and blog every day this week. Now the chances of that happening are slim at best, but dammit -- I'm gonna give it ago.

Adult Contemporary
Angie Aparo - "She's Alright By Me"
Putting on my honesty hat for a second, there's two reasons I haven't been blogging/tweeting as usual for the past month or so. One of those is work. I don't have Internet access at all at work, so the outside world is foreign to me for 9 hours a day. Put that's only a minor excuse as I've had jobs before where I didn't have Internet access and still found time to blog. A larger reason would be because there's a new lady in my life. Well, she's not really "new" as I've known her for a while, but you guys know what I mean. The way things have shaken out, she's been getting the majority of the time that I normally allocate for things like blogging and videogames, but I'm cool with that. She's a great girl and I when I get a chance to spend time with her, I do. She's the first girl in a long while to give me butterflies, so if my blogging continues to be sporadic for the next few weeks, forgive me. Apparently a month hasn't been enough time for me to figure out how to "properly" balance my time.
Oh, about the song? I wrote about it a year and a half ago. The write up is still there. :)

YouTube
Eric vs. The Ironing Board
Over the weekend I went to a wedding and got a chance to reconnect with an old friend, Kate. Kate's a long time reader and subscriber of my blog, so that means she's not only good people, but great people. Well, somehow she missed the video of Eric vs. The Ironing Board -- and considering how that post was structured, I wasn't completely surprised. So as a favor to Kate who's a fan of the blog, I'm reposting what has quickly become one of my favorite Eric Youtube videos.

Rap
Chop Dezol - "Death Valley"
My Tigers went down to Miami, took on the #10 ranked Hurricanes, and left Landshark Stadium with an overtime W...

Forget "The 7th Floor." Death Valley is the real house of horrors. As far an an ACC Championship goes, we control our own destiny. Here's to my Tigers handling business from here on out.
Watch The Video

As all of these videos/songs have been featured here previously, I promise that next week I'll have a set of completely brand new selections... :)

Sunday Night Selections

2009-10-18T22:36:00.000-04:00

Life is good. Clemson won handily, the Panthers went down to Tampa Bay and came back with a victory, I got to see lots of friends, both old and new this weekend, and I got to spend a fair amount of time with the girl I spoke about a few posts back. I enjoy her and her company a lot, so getting in a little QT with her is always swell. Speaking of which, beware of seeing "Where The Wild Things Are." I know that it was based off of children's book and has been marketed as such, but it's any but a kid's movie. It's not a bad movie by any means, but don't expect to be leaving feeling all-happy-go-lucky afterwards.

OK, enough of me jaw-jacking. There's music to be listened to.

Rap
Big Boi ft Gucci Mane - "Shine Blockas"
From Pitchfork.com

Just as it's big cousin "Int'l Players Anthem" did so well not but two years ago, Big Boi's Hail Mary, fourth-quarter whopper "Shine Blockas" has arrived not a moment too soon, hell-bent on royally fucking up your 2009 best-of list. Review the components and it's easy to comprehend the potential on this one: Carried by an uncompromisingly smooth, Cutlass Supreme-ready flip of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "I Miss You" and boasting an assist from one of the most enigmatic rappers in recent memory, it seems near impossible to imagine Sir Lucious Leftfoot still so helplessly entangled in label-lobbied red tape. And despite the strength of leaks like the now-dusty "Royal Flush" to the recent "Fo Yo Sorrows", neither of those cuts possessed the audacity of "Shine Blockas", a tune that instantly rallies support for an album that has been so grossly mishandled.

Listen to the MP3 Here

Rock
Slade - "Cum On Feel The Noize"
The version done by Twisted Sister is one of my all time favorite hair metal songs. Even so, I never knew that it was a cover until a few months ago. Even better, I had never bothered to listen to the original version until getting things together for this post. After giving it a listen, it's not that bad. Vocally, it's very similar to the Twisted Sister version. The only major difference is in the guitars and drums. Considering that one song was released during the peak of disco and the other during the rise of glam rock, that's not surprising.
Watch A Live Performance

Indie
City Wolf - "Where Is My Mind?"
Since I'm on the topic of covers, how about this fantastic Pixies cover by City Wolf? Maybe it was just the mindset I happened to be in the first time I hear it, but I found this version simply amazing.
Watch A Video

Gaming
Captain Lou Albano - "Do The Mario"
Godspeed Captain Lou.

Fear Of The Dark

2009-10-16T12:20:00.004-04:00

So this is what it feels like to be on the other side.

The company I work for recently just opened another location. As such, we've been flooded with resumes and job applications every day. Now it's not my job to look through them, but I wind up doing so every so often. Just to see who we would be potentially hiring. In skimming through resumes, I've noticed something...

Times are still hard.

My company doesn't need highly skilled labor. Even so, we get applications from people who are way overqualified and know that they're way overqualified. They just need the money.

We get applications from people who have retired already, but due to cuts in pensions or decreases in their savings, have to go back to work. They just need the money.

Then on the flipside, we get applications from people who are obviously unfit to work anywhere. But, like everyone else, they need the money.

It's tough out there. And every day, the stack of resumes that sits by my workstation gets bigger and bigger. It took a minute, but now I can understand why it took recruiters so long to find my resume.

The black hole is deeper, darker, and vaster than I imagined.

Failure To Launch?

2009-10-15T20:17:00.000-04:00

Recently I was interviewed for a piece in The Denver Post about my experiences and thoughts about what its like to "return to the nest" after receiving my college degree. Having returned to my parent's house both times I received a piece of sheepskin, it's obvious that I have no qualms with the idea. However most of society, especially the members of the "unloved generation," tend to look down on this practice. Why? For all of the stigmas that come with it, moving back in with your parents has so many perks to it. While living in a place where the fridge is open 24/7 and the washing machine doesn't take quarters are obvious benefits, having an in-house support system may be the biggest and most important one.

Most of you know that I'm from South Carolina. And from what the media portrays, you probably know that my state's education system is lacking, unemployment numbers are climbing, and leaders are less than competent. Living here is kinda like being in Ohio, but without the snow and darkness. But even with all that stacked against me, I think I've done very well for myself. And so have a fair amount of my friends. Why? Well, I'm not sure, but I like to think that one reason is because our parents took time with us - before, during, and after we stopped being children.

My folks happily welcomed me back home both times I moved back in. They've told me more times than I can count, "if you can't go anywhere else, you can always come back home." That statement is a far cry from what I've heard from countless friends, who were kicked out of their home the second they turned 18 or graduated high school. I'm all for teaching personal responsibility, but I've always seen the move of forcing your kids out before they're ready to leave as inadvertently setting them up for failure. Life's already hard. Why make it harder?

So sure, us Millenials may be looked at as being soft for not being able to suck it up and fend for ourselves, but most of us look at it as making the smartest move possible. The thing is, most of our boomer parents look it the same way. If moving home for a few months provides the flexibility to job search in peace, apply for graduate school, or just save up some money, then why not do it? When done correctly, those few months back in the nest can provide a solid foundation to build a great future upon.

Hopefully, I remember these thoughts when my kids move back in with me then have the gall to ask for $1,000 to move out.

Sunday Night Selections

2009-10-12T02:47:00.005-04:00

Where'd the weekend go? It seems like just yesterday it was Friday, now here we are back at Monday morning. I guess the old saying is true -- "time flies when you're having fun." And while I was constantly busy and didn't get too much free time to myself, you won't hear a complaint from me about it. My weekend was more than swell.

Here's to making it through the next five days...

Country
The Zac Brown Band - "Toes"
One task that I've been working on in my spare time is trying to find some country music that a friend of mine would like. She's not a big fan of the genre, which isn't surprising considering where she's from, but I'm still pretty determined to find something that she'll dig. I've thrown some of the big guns at her -- Skynyrd, Garth, Alabama -- but they didn't really do anything for her. So far, the only song that she's (begrudgingly) liked was this track by The Zac Brown Band. Probably because I cheated a little bit. She's a Jimmy Buffet fan and this song bares more than just a passing resemblance to the style of music performed by the parroted one.
Watch The Video

Boobs
Lene Alexandra - "My Boobs Are OK"
October 9th through the 16th is National Feel Your Boobies Week. Seriously. Are your boobs OK? If you need help checking, let me know. I'd be more than happy to offer my services.
Watch The Video

Rap
Jay-Z ft Mr. Hudson - "Young Forever"
I haven't been a fan of most of Jay-Z's work for years, but this track has become a recent favorite of mine. Probably because I'm a fan of the piece that he sampled here, "Forever Young" by Alphaville. Much like Alphaville's work, Jay's song talks about eternal youth, but with an expected rap/urban slant to it. Considering the subject matter, it's a fitting finale to his most recent album, "The Blueprint III." It's not his best piece of work, but it gets 3 1/2 stars from me, if for no reason other than he sampled Alphaville. Random much?
Watch A Video

Pop
Michael Jackson ft The Jacksons - "This Is It"
The first and only single from Michael Jackson's posthumous album This Is It. I've listened to it a few times, and I've gotta say -- it ain't bad. It's got a smooth sound and has that classic Michael Jackson feel to it. I likes.
Watch A Video

Well This Is New

2009-10-10T20:14:00.005-04:00

I've been trying to put this post together in my head since last Sunday. Here I sit almost a week later still unsure how I want to say what I want to say, so I'm just going to start typing and deal with what comes out later.

"Even your emotions have an echo in so much space." - Gnarls Barkley
In the past few weeks, I learned something. Like every other guy, I'll joke around and say that all women are crazy, but I don't really believe that. What I have found to be true is that [most of] the women I've been involved with were crazy. Now there's been varying levels of crazy, ranging from very mild to "batshit insane," but the crazy has always been there. With that being said, imagine the thoughts going through my mind once I started hanging out with a girl who's not clinically insane. While I am absolutely enthralled at the fact that there are women who exist that don't make me "physically and mentally exhausted" to talk to, I feel like there's been a lot of "what do I do now?" moments lately. Whether I like it or not, I can do crazy. I know crazy. I don't know what to do with "normal." But you know what -- I'm more than happy to figure it out along the way. It's a very welcome change of pace.

There's other [good] things I want to touch on in this space, but I think I'll save them for later. Or just ignore them completely. Not everything needs to be blogged.

...As one who's been blogging for the better part of the last 8 years, that last sentence is echoing a bit in my head right now. Probably because I know that the only reason it's there is because a lot of my friends read my blog. Hey guys. ;-)

Two Games for the Price of None

2009-10-06T21:44:00.004-04:00

Due to obvious financial reasons, I didn't get the chance to pick up a lot of new games during the course of this year. That kinda happens when you're unemployed for nine months and trying to live off of very slim resources. I did manage to scrounge up enough cash to pick up Ghostbusters: The Video Game on day one, but was only because I decided that I didn't need to send Wachovia the full balance for my car payment. Hey, true fans do what they have to do to get their fix.

Thankfully, the gaming gods felt that I had suffered enough and felt the need to send some good fortune my way. At two different points during the summer, I received two full games (as in not demos) free of charge. In early August, I received the Game & Watch Collection for the Nintendo DS from Nintendo and in latter part of that month I received Guitar Hero: Smash Hits from Activision. Since I haven't said much about games here lately, I figured I'd quickly toss in my two cents about both games. A two-pack of mini reviews if you will.

Game & Watch Collection
For what it is, the Game & Watch Collection is a nice collectible. As a Club Nintendo exclusive, it's offered only to members after they have accumulated at least 800 points. Points can be redeemed from Nintendo hardware and software alike, but unlike the requirements for the annual gifts, members have as long as they need to accumulate these points. So while the G&W Collection isn't as rare of a present, it still requires a great deal of effort to obtain. Having used points from my sister's DS and Wii collection in addition to my own, I originally offered the game to her as a gift. It only seemed fair -- she would get a free DS game for her portion the points, I would get the free Mario Hat for mine. However, I forgot about one thing in my moment of generosity. My sister is four years younger than I am.

The Game & Watch Collection is a title that mostly only older gamers will enjoy. Why? Because it's a game that's made up completely of reproductions of classic Game & Watch games. The dual screen versions of Oil Panic, Green House, and Donkey Kong have been faithfully ported to the DS, but they weren't given a makeover in the process. All of their rudimentary bleeps and bloops and simple graphics are present and accounted for. For gamers like myself who grew up with simple LCD games like Tropical Fish and Mario's Cement Factory, this is fine. Any shortcomings the games may have are covered by nostalgia. However for gamers who didn't join the hobby until after the PlayStation came onto the scene, the Game & Watch Collection comes off as a simple, dated game with little replay value -- one that would definitely cause a severe case of "buyer's remorse" based on the amount of points needed to obtain the game.

Final Verdict: If you're an old-school gamer, save up your Club Nintendo points and pick this up. It's the best thing in the marketplace. If you're willing to part with a little bit of money, scour ebay as there's plenty of sealed copies up for auction there as well. If you're a newer gamer, you may want to avoid this one. To quote my sister, "Thanks and all, but next time get the carrying case."

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
I won this title via some random Twitter contest and after spending some time with it, I'm glad that I didn't part with my money to pick this one up at retail.

Upon announcement, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits had my interest. It was a game built on the songlists of the first five Guitar Hero games, but reworked to take advantage of the drums and microphone support found in games like Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Metallica. And while that concept sounds great on paper, somehow, someway Activision found a way to make this game represent the best as well as the worst of the series.

Smash Hits isn't a bad game, but it doesn't do much to make itself a good game either. The songslist and notecharts are fine, but could be better. The graphics are good, but could be better. And the online play is fine but (you guessed it), could be better. As a result, the game as a whole has a soulless feel to it -- something can't be said for any of the other Guitar Hero (and by extension, Rock Band) games. And as if the game couldn't have any more things NOT going for it, Smash Hits does not support any Guitar Hero World Tour downloadable content. That's sort of surprising considering that Smash Hits and World Tour are almost identical sans setlists and venues. Lazy production on Activision/Beenox's part.

Final Verdict: As a free game, I can't complain about it too much. It's fun for what it is, but as an owner of Guitar Hero 1, 3, 80s, and Aerosmith -- games which all have a song or more featured on the Guitar Hero Smash Hits setlist -- it's a pretty pointless addition to my collection. Now to be fair, I haven't spent much time with it as I have previous Guitar Hero games, but it doesn't look like I will be doing so in the near future either. If you're new to the Guitar Hero series or just missed some of these songs the first time around, give it a spin. With the ability to import most of Smash Hits' setlist into the newly released Guitar Hero 5, it may be worth your time to look for it for on the cheap at a Gamestop near you.

Sunday Night Selections

2009-10-04T17:36:00.000-04:00

A SnS on an actual Sunday. Today is a joyous day! Let us rejoice! OK, maybe not, but it makes me feel good to actually live up to this column's name.

Comedy
Adam Sandler - "The Lonesome Kicker"
This song is dedicated to Clemson field goal kicker Richard Jackson. Never have I seen feelings toward a person shift so much over the course of the game. Jackson entered Clemson's game against Maryland as the best kicker in the country and lived up to that billing as he banged out a 51 yard field goal early on in the game. "Big Dick Jackson" was on fire and was doing his part for the Tigers. Unfortunately, his luck would turn as he missed two field goals (47, 48) within the last four minutes of the game and the Tigers fell to Maryland, 24-21. Now I don't want to say that Jackson was the sole factor our loss against the Terps, but damn if he wasn't a major part in it. Something tells me that he's having a rough Sunday morning...
Watch A Video

Rap
The Skinny Boys - "JockBox"
Proof that good beatboxing never goes out of style. Released in 1986, this track from the Bridgeport, CT based trio The Skinny Boys still holds up well today. The sound is very representative of the time period, but that's not a bad thing. In the late 80s, rap and hip-hop was all about having fun - no matter if you were a DJ, a b-boy, or a beatboxer. As such, it's hard not to smile a little bit as you groove in rhythm to this track.

Indie Rock
Miniature Tigers - "The Wolf"
I'll be honest, I've got nothing cool to say about this band or song. Their Wikipedia page doesn't provide a lot of information, neither does their MySpace page. I'm not even sure how this song wound up on my computer. Part of a sampler pack? A free download from Pitchfork? Who knows? Either way, it's managed to pop up in my Winamp player more than once lately, and I think it's kinda cool. Give it a listen.

(Also, am I the only one who things the music flows a bit like "Particle Man" by They Might Be Giants?)

PS Reflections III: From The Vault

2009-10-01T11:29:00.001-04:00

Today was supposed to be a great day. I was going to work in the morning, come home, then head out to hear Frank Warren of PostSecret fame speak at Greenville's Peace Center of the Performing Arts. I even got a great deal on the tickets. Life was good.

Then I got a text from my boss telling me that he wanted me to work from 1:30 to 10 tonight. I attempted to see if I could get that assignment moved to Friday night, but no dice. Not wanting to push the issue any further for fear of having to give up this coming Saturday, I begrudgingly accepted. I'm a little PO'ed about having to eat the $20 cost of that ticket, but if working tonight opens up my Friday and Saturday to where I can proceed with the plans I already have made, then so be it.

So, in a move to make me feel a little better about missing tonight's event, I figured I'd share some of my favorite PostSecret secrets. Over the past few months, I've developed a habit of sharing the posts that strike close to home with me. It makes me feel good to know that I'm not the only one out there keeping things close to their chest.

I like to think that when I'm supposed to find out, I will. Doesn't stop the wondering though.

Happiness.

There was always something "completely incomplete" there.

It's been a few years, but honestly speaking, there's still a small, tiny piece of my heart that still aches...

Ditto.

Why should I be sorry for trying to live up to my potential?

I miss staying up all night for no reason at all.

I couldn't work for minimum wage, but I can empathize here. Money does not equal happiness.

"And honestly speaking, between the peaks of awesomeness and valleys of despair, all of us are just trying to maintain a consistent level of "OK" -- whatever that may be for each of us."

Roll The Dice 24: Message In A Bottle

2009-09-28T23:51:00.000-04:00

Go-Go Stream of Consciousness! Please excuse the typos and grammatical errors. :)

My first gig out of undergrad had me managing 20-50 people -- 98% of which spoke Spanish and very little to no English. Now I'm in a role where I'll "overseeing" a handful of people, at most, 2 to 3 people at a time. I'm only a few weeks into this position, but I'm fairly certain that this group of people won't be as fun to work with as my former team of "little Guatemalan people." Partly because they feel that they know everything, mostly because I can actually understand them when they start their bitching.Otherwise, I somewhat enjoy my new job. There's not a whole lot wrong with it, but at the same time there's nothing really good with it either. At the moment, it's nothing more than a job. Hopefully it gets better (read: more "mentally stimulating") but in the meantime I'll try to keep my complaints to a minimum.

By the way, the sub-title of this post has nothing to do with anything. Or maybe it does.

True story - the other day someone asked who would I choose to be my sidekick if I was a Disney character? I found this question to be interesting as it was one I had honestly never thought about. I mean, I know what my favorite Disney movie ("Aladdin"), Princess (Jasmine), and song ("Be Prepared" from The Lion King) are off the top of my head, but I never bothered to think of who was my favorite 2nd banana. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Sebastian. Why? Because looking back over my life, there's been more than one time where I would have loved to have a little Jamaican crab encouraging me to move in for a kiss. How could I say no to that voice?

Random TOPolk Trivia: My favorite Nirvana song - "Rape Me." I love the amount of energy given off by Kurt Cobain in the latter parts of the song. Speaking of Nirvana, I always wonder if I'm the only one immediately thinks of a shitty deodorant when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" comes on the radio.

I don't like talking politics here, but I'm really confused with the anger surrounding the health care debate. I'm not one who's all for paying for the well-being of others, but at the end of the day, that few dollars missing from my paycheck won't be a big deal. I'm certain that it won't be enough for me to get violently upset over. Unfortunately, everyone doesn't feel that way. To the people that do feel this way, where were you the last 8 years? Where were your protests against the pointless wars and careless spending? Where were you then?

I'm also confused at the people who didn't want their children listening to Obama's speech promoting education. Hide behind your claims of "he'll spread socialist propaganda" all you want, it's very obvious as to why you didn't want your kids listening to President Obama.

In other, less inflammatory thoughts, I've only got two more days to decide if I want to take up Activision on their "Buy Guitar Hero 5, get Guitar Hero Van Halen FREE" offer. The Guitar Hero 5 setlist isn't anything to get excited over and the only Van Halen song I truly like is "Right Now" -- which isn't in the game. Still, that freebie GH: Van Halen could possibly make a good stocking stuffer for someone.

In an effort to be a better manager, I've started reading "The Goal." It's a book that tells the story of a manager who's struggling to balance his personal life with the demands of his professional life. It's an easy read and every manager and MBA should read this book at least once. Oh wait, what's that you say? This was assigned reading for the MBA program from two years ago? Ha, well I'll be damned. "Better late than never" I say.

My apartment is the epitome of the simple, single lifestyle. I purchase only the things I need and my wants are kept to a minimum. As such, I'm amazed that my friends even bother to come visit. I don't have cable, my fridge and pantry are pretty much bare, and I never have any of the lights on. I should have just moved into a studio.

In the past few months, six of my friends are either pregnant, got their wife pregnant, or just had a kid. While I'm very happy for them, unlike most of my fellow bloggers, there's no sense of jealousy or "baby envy" here. I do good to keep myself clothed and fed. At this point in my life, I couldn't imagine having to be responsible for someone else too. I just got done with school forever, I think I'll take this time to enjoy my only responsibility being work. Talk to me in about 3 to 4 years. Maybe I'll have changed my tune by then.

I first heard "Everybody's Free" (aka "The Sunscreen Song") by Baz Luhrmann one dreary morning back in 1999. I listened to the song, but being a junior in high school, I wasn't able to fully appreciate it. I was a few life experiences away from full comprehension at the time. Now some ten years later, not only does the song make perfect sense, but it's kinda become a "quiet motto" for me. Life is meant to be lived. There's no perfect way to do it, there's no right way to do it -- just do it. If you're good to people along the way and love everyone as much as you love yourself, in the end everything will be "OK."

And honestly speaking, between the peaks of awesomeness and valleys of despair, all of us are just trying to maintain a consistent level of "OK" -- whatever that may be for each of us.

The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows

2009-09-23T02:58:00.004-04:00

Right now I've got two things on my mind.

One I would like to blog about, just to share a story, but won't because I said I wouldn't just yet.

The other I would like to blog about, just to clear my head, but can't really find the proper words to do so.

Phooey.

Sunday Night Selections

2009-09-21T00:53:00.004-04:00

Having not worked a normal, 8 hours a day type of job since January 2008, I forgot just how special weekends can be. Well after putting in a full week of work last week, I made it a point to not only make up for lost playtime, but for all of those "insignificant weekends" from months past as well. I enjoyed a soggy football game, spent a lot of money, hung out with good women who got me into trouble, and shook ol' Jim Beam's hand more times than I probably should have, but you know what? I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Rap
Birdman ft Lil Wayne - "Always Strapped"
This song is credited to Birdman, but it's Wayne who pulls all of the weight on this track. Wayne's signature flow and wordplay are on display front and center over a fairly solid backbeat and guitar riff. Birdman backs him up with a verse that isn't the best in the world, but manages to get the job done. Like almost every other track that Wayne makes a cameo on, it's a solid banger that'll probably have a moderately long shelf life. If you're looking for something to get you hyped up before hitting the bars, throw this track on. Just make sure that you've got your swagga in check before start buying rounds for the bar.

Rock
Bear In Heaven - "Lovesick Teenagers"
"Lovesick Teenagers is one of those rare songs that feels fully formed even when you're absorbing it for the first time" - Stereogum. I agree with that statement wholeheartedly. I came across this track a few days ago over at Fluxblog and its been in my daily rotation ever since. It's a beautiful song that feels familiar but new at the same time. Musically, the song opens with an "explosion" and slowly builds up to a dramatic ending. Lovesick Teenagers is also fairly strong lyrically, as it holds up a "metaphoric mirror" that many of us would do good to look into. I'm not certain what other songs are going to make this week's SnS, but I'm pretty certain that this is going to be my favorite of them all. Carve 3:15 out of your busy schedule and give this one a spin.

Classic Rock
Toto - "Hold the Line"
I'm digging into vault a bit for this pick. Not only was this song the first single by the band Toto (best known for "Africa"), but it was also featured in the first ever Sunday Night Selections (one of those facts is important, the other, notsomuch). So if it was showcased in the first SnS, why is it getting a 2nd run 3 years later? Well, for one thing, the song is awesome. The guitar solo at the 2 minute mark touches my heart and the keyboard work makes my soul dance. Secondly, this song was inadvertently the theme song for that random trip to Tennessee I took last weekend. Sure, I may have played it the first time to remind me to "cool my jets" a bit on a young lady that I happen to be quite smitten with at the moment, but the next four times I heard it were not my fault. I like to think that destiny played a hand in making that happen.

OK, maybe that third time was my fault.
Watch The Video

Indie Rock
Polaris - "Hey Sandy"
Recently, I've been part of more than one discussion arguing what the best Nickelodeon show ever was. There's been love for recent programs like "iCarly" and "Spongebob Squarepants," and support for older favorites like "All That" and "Kenan and Kel." Voices have been raised in support of the original SNICK lineup which included "Clarissa Explains It All" while others have placed their name beside original NickToons like "Doug" and "Ren & Stimpy." But even with the width and depth of the memories of everyone I've had this discussion with, at the end of the day, the mention of one show is enough to end the discussion everytime - "The Adventures of Pete and Pete."
Watch A Video / Watch The Intro

Catching Up

2009-09-16T01:33:00.007-04:00

September hasn't been a good month for me blogging-wise. There was this big initial surge at the beginning of the month, then I just kinda disappeared for two weeks. Believe me, it wasn't planned that way -- it just sorta happened.

A lot of that came from moving (again) and the troubles associated with it but most of that problem came from not having Internet for a week after I moved into my apartment. Longest. Week. Ever. But I'm all settled in now, so I should be getting back into a normal rhythm of blogging, facebooking, and Twittering again -- all of which I'm very excited about. Mostly because I missed my online friends just as much as they missed me, but that's a different post for a different time. But since I'm here, I will briefly touch what I've been up to. I know that's not my usual MO, but I've been mostly MIA for 2 weeks - I'm allowed a post about "me."

Note: Most of the links from here on out go to various Twitpics. I've discovered that Twitpic is not only an easier way to share my life in photos, but a helluva lot faster one too. Sure, the quality isn't always that great, but the message gets across.

Picking up almost exactly where I left off, my time away from the Internet began at Clemson's home opener. It was a good time as always as I spent the day tailgating with friends both old and new and enjoying the pomp and circumstance that comes with every Clemson football game. I missed the "Running Down the Hill" but I did get to there in time to see C.J. Spiller take the opening kickoff back 96 yards for a touchdown. Not a bad way to start off the season.

Fast forwarding a bit, my Labor Day was spent inside of a classroom. Yes, a classroom. My original plan for the day was to pick up a moving truck and get a jump on getting my stuff back up here, but the moving company had other plans...like closing for the holiday. So since I had some free time I took @bobbyrettew up on his offer to drop by his English 304 class to listen to @thebrandbuilder speak about the use of blogs in business. Now the majority of the lecture content was made up of things I already knew, but I wanted to take the opportunity to meet Bobby and Olivier in person. I had been following their tweets for a while and knew that they were intelligent people, but they were also very personable as well. A definite pleasure to meet. [#97]

In more boring news, last Tuesday and Wednesday were spent moving. I left Clemson at noon on Tuesday, went to my parent's house, emptied out my storage unit, loaded the truck and was back in Clemson by midnight on Wednesday. @ebigness helped with the move and @jahtmf and her roomie kept me well fed. Shoutouts and much love to all of them.

Thursday night was the big Clemson/Georgia Tech matchup -- the first in 6 years in which I was not in attendance for -- and a group of us headed down to Clemson's famous Esso Club to watch the game. The normal crew was in attendance plus a few other people I hadn't seen in weeks (or in some cases, months...Sallie). It wound up being a great night, even if the game didn't work out in Clemson's favor. If I could have more evenings like that, I'd consider myself a lucky man.

Friday is where things start to get interesting. The day started off normal enough with a lunch date with @_emily_rose at a local cafe. Sometime after that I got a text from a friend of mine asking if I wanted to go to a local high school game that his sister happened to be cheering at. In this case, "local" consisted of a trip to Hartwell, GA, a town about 45 minutes away from Clemson. Always game for some action under the Friday night lights, I tagged along to take in the game. After the game we headed back to Clemson to catch up with the girls who were already downtown...and more than a few sheets to the wind. We never caught up to them (drinkwise), but it was all good. If any more liquor was involved people would have went home with more bruises than they already have...

After leaving the girls I caught back up with @_emily_rose who was at our favorite watering hole with a friend of hers. Some things were said and some jokes were made, next thing we know we were on a random road trip to Tennessee [#41]. At 4:00am. To this day, none of us are really sure as to why we went, but it was a good time. I got to meet a new friend, go to a new place (I'd never been to Chattanooga before), and just get in a nice change of scenery. My favorite part of the Tennessee trip was probably our stop on Lookout Mountain. It's not so much a mountain as it is a really big plateau, but the view from the top of it is breathtakingly pretty. If you're ever in the area, you have to go.

Once we got done with the mountain, we decided that our random trip wasn't done just yet. After a quick fuel-up, we were on the road to Athens, GA check out the Picture Me Free show, which just happened to be the same night of the South Carolina-Georgia game. Now let me say something here -- the Picture Me Free show was great. I had a good time and the band sounded pretty good, but the real show was in the streets. I've been to Athens plenty of times. Actually, those of you who follow my tweets know that I was just there two weeks ago. But never have I ever, ever, e-e-e-ever seen so many SHITFACED people in one location. Between the Georgia alum who came in for the game, the UGA students who drink heavily on days ending in "Y," and the South Carolina fans who made the four hour ride, there had to be at least 500,000 people there who were there with the sole purpose of getting as drunk as possible. That's not even counting the local townfolk. Believe me, it was an amazingly fun sight to see.

After Athens, the weekend digressed to a sense of normalcy. Elaborating on anything between Sunday at 4am and right now would just be me covering minutia, so I'll spare you guys the boring details (Though for those you who are wondering, my first two days of work went swimmingly well). Just know that during my time away from the Internet, life was pretty good for the most part.

Now that I'm back, hopefully I can get reacquainted with those of you who have fallen off my radar in the last month or so. I'm looking forward to digging through your respective vaults to find out what you guys have been up to as well...

"ALL IN"

2009-09-04T07:00:00.007-04:00

I created this post over a month ago and at the time, I was happy with it. Looking at it today, I feel like it needs something extra...

Much better.

The New Beginning's Beginning

2009-09-03T12:51:00.005-04:00

I've been waiting a long time for this post...

I've been been sitting on the sidelines for a while, but after a handful of in-person interviews, countless phone interviews, hundreds of applications, and nine months of frustration I've been offered and accepted a position. Praise. Jesus.

Now, I'll be the first to say, this position isn't what I was originally shooting for, nor is it where I was originally shooting for -- but it does have other redeeming features that "turn me on," so to speak.

First off, I'll be working at a company that is very young -- both in corporate age (they were founded in 2006) and in the age of the employees. The oldest person in "upper management" maaaay be 32. I see this as a positive. While there may not be the decades of experience found in other companies, there isn't the same sense of risk aversion either. Hopefully that translates into "We do it this way for a reason, but we're willing to listen to suggestions for improvement," not "We do it this way because that's how we've always done it."

Also, the company is fairly small. I do good work when I can see the fruits of my labor, but I do my best work when I feel like I'm important, like I actually have a voice. Also, I've found out that the smaller a unit, the higher the level of teamwork. After meeting everyone, I think it's safe to think that theory would hold true here too.

But while the size and age of the company were big selling points, the part that made me sign on the dotted line was the culture. The firm I'll be working for isn't a tech or new media firm by any means, but its definitely got a start up vibe to it. Everyone works hard at what they do, but there's definitely a very laid back atmosphere about the place. There's no also corporate bullshit to deal with - no glass ceilings, no "stuffyness," etc. If you want "it," you go out out and get "it." It is very much an environment conducive to success. If I don't do well, I'll have no one to blame but myself.

Also, they don't give a damn about what I do in my spare time as long as I keep it completely independent from work. So that means less moments like this and more moments like this.

"Terence, get to the good stuff."

I know, I know... I've been ranting and raving for the last few paragraphs about why I took the job, but I haven't answered the three questions you clicked on this post to find out.

1) What will you be doing?
Taken verbatim from the offer letter...
"Secondly, you will be responsible for project management in any area of process improvement that is needed. Your projects will likely focus on improvements in information systems, data analysis, operations, etc*..."
I don't have an official title as they're not big on them, so feel free to make one up for me. I've had friends call me everything from an Industrial Engineer to a Process Improvement Manager. Call me whatever you want, I'm calling myself "employed."

2) How much money will you be making?
Enough. I know that in the past I've been very straight forward with you guys about my salary at previous employers, but due to the small size of the company, I'm going to keep this under wraps. Just know that I'll be happy with my paycheck.

3) Where will you be living and working?
Haha, this the fun question. I'll be living Clemson. Yeah, the same place I moved from a little over a month ago. Funny how that worked out. As far as work goes, I'll do most of my initial work in Greenville and Clemson, but there will be times I'll have to travel to other parts of the Upstate. This is cool by me as I've always said that if I had to stay in South Carolina for a job, I'd prefer to stay in the Upstate. Looks like I got my wish.

There's still about another week and a half before I start, so I still have a little more play time left before I get back to business. Hopefully it goes by fast as I'm excited for this new beginning and I feel like my new employers are excited just as excited as well. Here's to good [successful] times**.

*There's a lot more stuff where that "etc." is, but I conveniently left them out for privacy reasons.
**Yes, that picture is a week old. I've been sitting on this news for a while. I'm also surprised at how many people asked why the can was orange as opposed to what I was celebrating.
***The title of this post is a reference to this post

¡Hola! [NSFW]

2009-09-02T22:51:00.001-04:00

May was the last time I posted an Hola! post. It is now the 2nd of September. I know, that long of a wait is simply inexcusable, but due to the job search I've had to cool it a little bit.

But since I'm in a good mood, I'm going to run one. I'm pretty certain that it won't be a problem.

This month's leading lady: Raquel Reign

Ethnicity: Puerto Rican and Dominican

Best known for: Your normal pseudo-skin mags: KING, Smooth, etc. She got her start on MySpace and is relatively new to the modeling game. Is it likely that she'll become a household name? *shrugs* I dunno, but I wouldn't mind holding her around my house. *rimshot*

If I had boobs that nice, I'd hold them too.

Life Happens

2009-09-01T15:29:00.000-04:00

Looking back at my recent post count, I'm really surprised that I've written 15 or more posts in each of the last two months. I've been busy.

In the time between July 1st and 7:15 am on September 1st, I've moved, helped Eric move, helped countless other friends move, sent out a gazillion resumes, went on a few interviews -- one of which required me to drive to the far east side of North Carolina with a car full of my personal belongings, played ring announcer at an independent wrestling show, gave my mom's side of family a tour of South Carolina, and helped with the building of a sunroom. I grew a beard somewhere in all of that mess too. And while that list covers a lot of stuff, it doesn't even touch on the random late night shenanigans I've gotten into.

There's been a lot of "living" between blog posts lately (those of you who follow me on Twitter know this), but I've also learned a few life lessons along the way as well:

1) Under the right circumstances, there's nothing wrong with being over 21 and living with your parents. A good family supports each other in times of need and inconvenience. Believe me, I had no desire to move back in with my folks. I'm a 26 year old with an MBA. According to the fairy tale created by the media, I should be living in some swanky townhouse in Van Nuys doing blow* off of some ~~porn star~~ aspiring actress -- not sleeping in my sister's old bedroom. But life doesn't always work out as planned and when my lease ran out I moved back in with the folks.

Sure it's been killer on my social life, but financially and logistically it was the smartest move to make. Besides, it's not like I'm planning on staying here forever. My parent's house will always be home -- but this is only a temporary living arrangement.

2) Towards the end of July I had a surge of interviews. In the span of a week's time I had about five or six different ones for various positions with a hodge podge of companies. Unfortunately, no job offers have come from any of them (at least not yet) but I think I gained something something even more valuable. I learned just how important the culture of a company is.

On one particular day, I had an interview with two different companies. One, a large banking institution (some may call them the best bank in town) had a very clear and well defined set of values. Everyone I interacted with (about 12 people in total) not only knew these values, but acted them out as well. It was interesting to see such a large company act as one cohesive unit. Everyone was definitely on the same page. From the representatives in Greenville, to the recruiters somewhere in cyberspace, to the corporate big-wigs in Winston-Salem, there was little to no change in what was being said or done. I walked away from the interviews not only very impressed, but also very aware of what it would be like to work there. I could see myself fitting in and being happy there, which in all honesty is the biggest thing I want from an employer -- a good fit.

The other company I interviewed with was a large big box retailer. They're not a bad company by any means, but I just didn't get a good sense of what they were about -- culture wise. I interviewed with four different people and each time it was a completely different experience. Some pleasant, some not. By the time I got to what wound up being the last of the initial interviews, I had lost all enthusiasm for the position** -- even if it did come with a very healthy paycheck. Knowing that going any farther in the process would create a "relationship" based solely on convenience, I elected to withdraw myself from consideration. An odd move to make in this economy, but one I felt was for the best.

I'm a firm believer that outside of rocket science and brain surgery I can do almost any job, but from previous experiences I've learned that taking a position at a company that's not a good fit is a similar experience to dating a girl I don't like. I wind up spending all of my time trying to convince myself that things will be OK when I know that it won't. Sometimes it's best just to call it a quits early in the game and go your separate ways...

There were other things I learned and did during the past two months, but they weren't as important. At least I don't think so. Besides, this post is long enough already.

Anyways, for now life has slowed down a bit and things are back to normal, for better or worse. But this reprieve will be short lived as business will be picking up a few days' time.

Details to come later...

*In no way do I condone drug use. I've never even as much smoked a cigarette, let alone snorted anything.
** It probably didn't help that said interview would have occurred 3 days after being "wowed" by the 1st company.

Sunday Night Selections

2009-08-24T20:44:00.004-04:00

After falling off the wagon for a little bit, I've restarted my food tracking at Livestrong.com. As a result, I'm super tired from a serious calorie reduction, so don't go into this post expecting a whole lot. I'm already a day late anyways. Short and sweet is the name of the game this week.

Rock
Aerosmith - "Kings and Queens"
The Aerosmith song that time forgot. Released as the 2nd single from the band's 1978 album, Draw the Line, "Kings and Queens" didn't enjoy the success that the 1st single (which happened to be the title track) did, only reaching #70 on the Billboard charts. While not as popular as songs like "Dream On," "Mama Kin," and "Walk This Way," "Kings and Queens" has remained a favorite amongst Aerosmith fans. The song is often part of their setlist during concerts and is the last unlockable song in "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith."
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Pop
Stacy Q - "Two of Hearts"
Normally I'd say something interesting about the song here. Usually a brief history lesson or some sort of anecdotal story justifying why I'm profiling the song. I've got nothing here. It kinda just popped into my head. With that said, listen to this at your own risk. I'm not claiming responsibility for this song getting stuck in anyone's head.
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Merengue
Fulanito ft Guary & Cleyton - "Wiggle, Wiggle" (Remix)
I feel like this is a song that needs to be heard live to appreciate it. Or at least in a nightclub/salsa bar type setting. It's fun enough on its own, but without pretty women in dancing about, something's missing.

Rap
Jurassic 5 - "Jurass Finish First"
This just happened to be the first song I came across on my tumblr Dashboard. An oldie but a goodie.
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