bjciii: My twisted thoughts

Isn’t it just great to wake up to a message that makes you smile? What’s that? Too sappy? Screw you. It’s my BLOG and I’ll be sappy if I want to.

It’s really Friday isn’t it? My prayers have been answered! I didn’t miss it! It’s really truly here! Oh bless my stars and all of that other quaint stuff. I have stuff planned for the 2 days I’m blissfully away from the office, but nothing too stressful. Gonna meet up with Jackie & Dave for dinner tonight and then go home and play “Couch commando” for the rest of the night. Tomorrow Rick stops by to look at the front porch for painting because I hate painting! I gotta work tomorrow night, but Erin and I will be hanging out after work, so that’s definitely a good thing to look forward to. Sunday is PPV Sunday and the boys will be decending on my house for another WWE Pay Per View. Should be fun as it always is. Gotta fit a Lowe’s trip in there somewhere, but we’ll see.

My buddy Brian officially turns 30 tomorrow. Basically this means that I’ve known him for just shy of 19 years now and we’ve gone through a whole hell of a lot together. I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to get along with, but he stuck with it. Love the boy like a brother. Happy birthday bud.

Also got news that a friend of mine is pregnant, but she wants to keep it under wraps for the time being (don’t go reading into it… it’s nothing scandalous… she just wants to announce it when she finds out everything will be okay). So Happy “I Got Knocked Up” to her!

Finally I was going to put this up yesterday but forgot (see? I told you I would forget something). Turns out that a former flame of mine who broke up with me because she was “too happy being single” is now engaged to the guy she started seeing while she was seeing me. Ain’t life a kick in the butt? Don’t read that to be sour grapes though! I’m happy for her, really. I’m in a wonderful place right now myself so it’s not like there’s any underlying shit there, but I just didn’t like being dicked around there at the end Shit happens and then you flush right? All good.

Have a great weekend and I’ll catch y’all soon.

So many cannonballs flying this morning! The H.M.S. Bounty is barely afloat!

Still no real word on my buddy John. Apparently he’s getting a stress test done today to make sure it’s most definitely not cardiac-related. On a definite cardiac subject, however, my favorite heart surgeon is going back in for another look-see on her ticker. I don’t think that affects the warranty on mine, but I know she’ll be fine. She is one of the nicest people and, quite possibly, the most gifted surgeon in the country. I’ve been told that when she walks into the O.R., it’s all about perfection and there is no room for mistakes. That is the type of person I allow to crack my rib-cage and hold my heart in her hands… literally! Much love to my doc.

As you can see, this is another template. I downloaded one more this morning because it looked cool in theory but really was not me in practice. No offense to the author, but it just didn’t work for me personally. You won’t see that one nor will you hear me describe it because someone put a lot of effort into creating it. So let the comments roll in on THIS template (which is called Rampart by the way). Jal said that the white background with the gray links hurt her eyes. Dave said the black and white was boring. This is completely opposite. Ha! Take that one.

Yesterday was a looooooooooooooooooong day and I am glad I got through it. All I wanted to do last night was to relax and I did. Of course now I have like 97,000 hours of television to catch up on. Oh okay… I exaggerate. Gonna try a new place to eat tonight that my sister recommended. Of course I’m not telling YOU where it is… we don’t want to be stalked. You damn paparazzi suck. I love ya though.

That’s really all she wrote for right now. I’m sure I’ll think of a dozen things I should have mentioned while I was writing, but hey… I’m only human. God gave me a smokin’ ass and a shining personality! I can’t be perfect ya know.

So it’s cold and wet and dreary outside. I normally don’t mind cold OR wet and dreary, but the combination sucks. I think that it’s supposed to be like this for another few days too so I’d better get used to it huh?

I introduced Erin to the lovely world of web-cams last night. When I think about it, web-cams ARE a little freaky aren’t they? I mean the whole allure of being online is to hide yourself and your physicality from people, but then you install this camera that picks up every laugh, scratch, pick, and gesticulation you make. Suddenly you’re not hiding anymore… you’re advertising! Here I am, desperately happy to be lost in the crowd, and yet I have two web-cams! I blame Mongoose and his damned bargain-hunting abilities. It was fun though. We chatted and she refrained from typing “take it off,” which I’m not sure if that gains or loses points for her

I did manage to get my grass cut yesterday before it got dark and started to rain, so that’s definitely a plus. The shit was getting out of control! Since there was so much of it, I had to sweep up after I was done. I’m thinking about getting a cheap-o leaf-blower for this chore next time. I might actually go out and get one of those cheap-o electric mowers while I’m at it. I’m constantly borrowing Dad’s and it’s a bitch to have to stick that gas-powered thing in the trunk and then head through traffic to my place. Yeah… I think Saturday (after I sleep in of course) I’m going on a Lowe’s trip. Of course as soon as they finish the new Home Depot on Miller Road, I’m going there, but that’s a few months out.

TRIVIA UPDATE: I’ve gotten 1 person who got the right call sign, 1 person who got the right actor, and 1 person who got them both. The rest have failed miserably! I’m really hoping this takes off because I love stupid factoids. Alex Trebeck better watch his back!

Anyway… that’s all she wrote for me today. I’ve got a LOOOOONG day ahead and I’ll probably collapse as soon as I get home at 9pm tonight. Leave messages and I’ll get back to you. Beep.

Go to my main page by clicking here and see that I am starting a weekly trivia thing. No prizes and all that, but I will mention names and such. I figured it was a fun thing to try. So far I’ve only gotten 1 correct response and 2 half-right responses.

This one is called “Zen Minimalist” and I rather think it’s soothing. There’s another one I got called “Rampart” and it’s definitely technological (green text, black background, computer-chip background under the side menu) but I wanted to try this first. I liked both, but since I write ‘em and you read ‘em, I figured I’ll be like Burger King (“Have it your way”) ya know?

Hopefully everyone is doing well. Prayers for my buddy JK who had an interesting morning coming to work in a mini-van and leaving in an ambulance.

To close, I added a new link to the list; Karen is writing now.

I’m not really mad, so don’t sweat it. I’m still oddly happy. It’s like people have been slipping me “uppers” in my drinks lately! Weird. Don’t worry… I’m sure I’ll find SOMETHING to bitch about soon. I was poking around my site on Friday and realized that I haven’t added anyone to my Jackass page in a long time! I’ll have to start doing that more frequently. Lord knows there are a lot of deserving people in this world for that title.

Weekend was really good. Besides the fact I didn’t get much sleep, I don’t think I’ve had a better weekend in a long time. It was capped off last night by Steve & Anna joining me for a viewing of House of Flying Daggers, an incredible Chinese epic of deceit, swordsmanship, and a decent love story (even though that usually ruins the movie). I tell ya, the Chinese do movies right! So they’re Communist, so what? If they make good movies, then go for it comrade! Scary that my political views are based upon camera-work isn’t it? Just kidding folks… you know I’m a staunch middle-of-the-road type guy: I hate everyone equally!

A quick note to all you BLOGgers out there who read this site: Don’t ever be discouraged or ashamed that your site doesn’t look “as professional” as other people’s sites. If you remember, I used to have a text-page in Courier font before I transferred everything to this domain and had a professional BLOGger software installed on the site to use! Chances are that hardly anyone uses the tried-and-true text method anymore. Everyone uses a Journal Program of some sort. The point is, these pages (BLOGs or Journals) are for YOU to write in. Screw what anyone else thinks! This is YOUR catharsis. These are YOUR hopes and dreams. These are YOUR daily ramblings. You just choose to share them with other people. It happens. Don’t get down because it doesn’t look like someone else’s! There are MILLIONS of pages on the web (probably Billions, but meh) and you have to dare to be different! I guarantee you at least a hundred other people have this very design (probably much more than that). I do have some suggestions for people who BLOG however. Ready?

1. If you choose to bitch about work, check your company’s BLOGging policy first! Every day stories come out about so and so being fired for derogatory comments made on their personal website about their company. I’ve gotten into hot water because of it so I actually did one better: I removed all references to my company from my website. I even dumped my Resume off here! Now, if I’m having a bad day and I need to vent, I can… as long as I don’t mention any specifics. It’s a fun exercise really… try to explain your problem without anything written that could give away places, people, or companies. I’m sure my 6th Grade English teacher, Mrs. LoBosco, would be proud of me!
2. Remember that this thing you connect to when you open up a browser is called a World Wide Web! Anything you choose to type and share can be seen in Shanghai as well as Akron. Unless you choose to password-protect your ideas, you’re leaving yourself open to an entire world’s worth of criticism and derision.
3. Have a thick skin. Just because you feel a certain way about McDonald’s hambugers doesn’t mean that someone else is going to agree with you. Be prepared for some jackass to leave comments or e-mail you directly saying “U suk! Burger King ROOLES!” Lesson to be learned? Too many kids have access to e-mail.
4. Last thing, and probably the most important thing, realize what it is you’re typing. If you have read my BLOG over the last 3 years, you’ll think that I pretty much put my entire life up here. That’s not even close. I share with you what I’d share with people over a beer. This is just a really big bar with no beer! If you start dating a fantastic girl and you guys get really close, don’t detail every bit of your relationship with her or you might find yourself on the computer a LOT more because she left your ass! If your family isn’t talking to you and won’t tell you why, go back over some old entries and see who you pissed off. If a friend walks up to you in a bar and decks you, chances are they read your entry about how drunk they got and all the transvestite hookers they slept with that night. You get the point. This (the BLOG or Journal) is the ultimate bathroom-stall wall. Anything you wrote there went around your school awful fast. Anything you write HERE is ALREADY around the world and people may not want that notoriety!!

Just thought you might enjoy that little helpful list of things. It all came about because I read a buddy of mine’s journal entry and he was saying how my site looks “professional” but that is simply not true! Never be down on your creative juices friends! Besides… Chris actually has a STREAMING web-cam! I still haven’t gotten to that point yet!

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough. Hopefully everything is perfect in your world. I’m going through with another week and hopefully it will be just as good as last weekend! Life kinda throws you curveballs sometimes, but not all of them are strikes!!

Okay… it’s not THAT early, but it’s before noon so I think it qualifies okay? Jeez you people are picky.

Well the mystery has finally been solved. Yesterday was my buddy Brian’s Surprise 30th birthday party and we had a blast. His wife rented out a hall and we had a party there. My job was to get him to the hall and provide the push inside… thank God it worked! I was happy how it turned out. Shanna was psyched everything came off wonderfully and I was happy for her too. It was kind of crowded at their house after the party, but with 2 dogs, 3 cats, and a number of people… what do you expect?

I had a fantastic evening on Friday with Erin and, even though I had to reheat the dinner, it was a great time. Of course now that my sister knows I’m seeing someone all of the phone calls I get from her are all about information; I love Coll, but she is a nudge sometimes

Off to The Wilmington Wine Company for a while and you should stop by and spend gobs of money if you can! Why? The pleasure of seeing me of course!

Last Journal Entry… of the week Got ya didn’t I? Where would your lives be without my witty recaps of my mundane days?

Sorry it’s not earlier, but I’ve been working on a lot of customer calls today. Actually only 3 calls, but they were fairly involved. I am out of here in about 5 minutes, so I’ll keep it short and sweet!

I figure that I’m never gonna win with Dave and his quest for the perfect template, so I think I’m going to dedicate some time to writing my own. I have enough installed that I can pick and choose to learn how to write one correctly, so that should be fun.

Tonight I get to cook a little Asian delight and sit with a beautiful woman while I’m at it! I am pretty happy… I know! It’s frightening isn’t it? It’s like watching an alligator smile. Anyway, I wish I could say more about this weekend, but I’ll be late if I do. I’ll check back on Sunday or Monday.

Oh yes… Jal? My little crouching thai girl… I will have new pictures on Monday. I promise.

So this is another theme I chose. It looks easy on the eyes (Dave & Jal) and I actually like how it deals with the archived posts much better than the other template. Tell me what you think.

I had a shower last night. Not that it’s a big surprise for all of you, but I shower every day. Unfortunately THIS shower took place in front of the wine store where I was trying to “de-tap” a keg of warm, stale beer. Yup… damn pressure doused me with rancid Samuel Adams Lager. I’ve smelled a variety of bad smells in my life (Wade for one), and NOTHING smells worse than warm, stale, rancid beer. I walked inside, washed my hands, grabbed my keys, and went home to change. Of course I showered (the real way) when I got home, but man did my shirt and jeans reek! Lesson to be learned from this? Always release the pressure before taking the tap out of a keg. Just a little tip from me to you.

So my plans this Saturday might be flummoxed by Mother Nature. We’ve not had a drop of rain in 2-3 weeks and she decides to douse us on Saturday. How pissed am I? Pretty. It’s gonna screw me over, but I’ll have to make the best of it. No choice actually

My God… I just looked at my schedule for tonight. It’s blank. Can it be? Am I REALLY free this evening? Holy Shit Batman! It’s like an eclipse: It doesn’t happen often, but it’s really shocking when it does! I will probably finish up some laundry and try to rake the hell out of the backyard. Maybe lug those bricks to my trunk so I can use the office dumpster to rid myself of them. Shhh… don’t tell. By the time Saturday rolls around, I’ll have a few 2x4s in the back and that should be it! I can’t wait to get this project finished. I love sitting outside and this will be killer. I’ve already found a hammock partner, so I need to find a good hammock now!

Things are definitely looking good in my life.