Its Sunday.  The weather is cool and grey and thunderstormy.  My absolute favorite and a lot better than the oppressive heat of the past week.  Wanna know how hot it was on Thursday?  I left my book in the car.  Just an average paperback.  It melted the glue on the page binding and when I went to read it pages literally fell out.  Crazy eh?

We did not partake in any movies at the theatre this weekend because there were none that we wanted to see.  Personally I just wasn’t in the mood for Nazi’s and the rest of the fare was lackluster at best.   So instead we rented a movie that we have been wanting to watch for some time now.  American Psycho with Christian Bale.  Yes I know its old but niether of us had seen it and for some reason it was the most elusive movie on the planet.  Very difficult to find.  Out of the blue last night we remembered and thought you know let’s just see and to our delight blockbuster actually had it.

By the way is it me or does Blockbuster suck now that they made it into Blockbuster Media?  I almost hate the place now, it’s just not the same.  I know I know get with the program and get netflix right?  Nah, I’m not ready to embrace it yet.  I still like to go brick and mortar style, call me old fashioned I don’t want my entire life run from the internet.

Other than that I am nearing the completion of John Marco’s Eyes of God.  What a fantastic book.  What started out as completely different than what I had been reading previously (J.V. Jones) is actually starting to show some similiarities.  I am quite happy that I chose to read this one.  I have book two waiting in the wings.  Only 50 pages left.

So that’s whats up with me.  Just rock and rollin in the free world.  Hope all is well with everyone else.

Peace and love -

Great clip of Brian Tracy.  EvE ratio.  Entertainment vs Education

Today I present two completely unrelated items…so enjoy!

First, a question.  Would you take your child (under the age of 10 years old) to an R rated movie, and if so…why?

Today I went to a matinee showing of the film District 9, which for those of you who are interested is a very good movie.  Three-quarters of the way through something catches the corner of my eye, behind me to my left.  A little girl no more than 5 years old dancing and hopping around.  District 9 is an R rated movie and for good reason, it is loud, action packed, very violent, plenty of disturbing images and constant bad language throughout.  Certainly not a children’s movie, not in the least.  Now you may be wondering about the parents…they were sitting in the same row as the little girl who kept running back and forth across the theatre hopping and dancing…either bored or trying to block out the movie…and they were ignoring her completely.   Then with about 5 minutes left of the movie…well before the end credits, they scooped her up and left.   They let her sit through 2 hours of the movie and spared her the very last scene.  Doesn’t make much sense to me…maybe someone can explain it?  I suspect I will hear nothing but crickets, because it is ridiculous.

Topic #2 is on more of  a personal note.  As most of you know I have been working very hard on my writing for the past several months and have achieved the milestone of 100,000 words on my novel draft.  So of course I thought, wow, that’s really good (pat myself on the back) let’s go celebrate.  Well hmmm, this is where the quandry arises.  I feel as though I should celebrate in some way…but apparantly I don’t know how.  There is nothing that I want to buy…and nothing I wanted to do that was “special”   It feels a bit lackluster.  I went to the bookstore but in the end left without buying anything. (well thats a lie I did pick up book two of John Marco’s trilogy but I was going to buy that anyway)

When I think about it…I don’t want anything.  I basically have everything that I want and or need.  That doesn’t mean that I am rich or anything like that because I am not…it just means that my tastes are so simplified that I don’t need “things” and then on top of it apparantly I don’t have any clue how to celebrate or praise myself for my own accomplishments.  I am perfectly content to just sit and read a book all weekend long.  It’s a strange feeling…on one hand its great because it means that I am coming along as a person and moving away from materialism in an extremely materialistic society…but on the other hand I worry that not having a sufficient reward system will hamper my writing progress.  I also wonder if I am in someway being selfish, should I just be happy with the sense of pride and accomplishment that I recieve from doing my best?

Well that’s what’s on my mind.

Till next time – Veni, vidi, vici

Just a quick update to let you know that,

I achieved yet another writing milestone, see  http://awritingjourney.wordpress.com/ for details.

It’s Friday and all is well in my world.  So what’s on the agenda?  Not entirely sure for the rest of the weekend but there are a few movies that we want to check out.  No, not Bandslam…and nooooo not The Goods…seriously I am so over Jeremy Piven.  He was funny in PCU…anyone remember that movie?  But now he has become to cool for school, so I’m not havin it.  We are however going to go check out The Time Traveler’s Wife…and most likely hit a matinee of District 9.  I am pretty excited about that one, the CG looks amazing.

Other than that, we got workouts, maybe a cheat meal breakfast, then more reading and writing for me!  But who knows I am sure we will get ourselves tangled up in some sort of shenanigans.

And yes, it is my goal to see how many posts in a row I can use the word shenanigans.

Till next time – keep on rockin in the freeworld!

Many things are percolating within my mind today.  First off personally I cannot stand “water-cooler” conversations, that being said however I was caught in one with a couple of co-workers this morning and it made me want to rant/opine.

I am 27 years old, almost 28.  Often people say the same things to me/ask me similiar questions, such as:  What are my plans for the future?  Are you going to get married soon?  Why aren’t you and Val living together at least?  Why don’t you get a car?  When are you going to settle down/have kids?  You have to buy a house!  It’s a great investment!  What, you don’t have credit? you NEED credit!  I could go on but I think you get the point.

People are often shocked and surprised at my philosphy of life and my opinions.  They just can’t understand it…the idea that I am going against the norm, the idea that I reject many common ideas that are out there in society.

Apparantly I don’t know what I am doing (tongue firmly implanted in cheek).  Well because I am a bit cranky today I figured I might answer a few of these questions…

What are my plans for the future?  My plan is simple.  Be more and do more.

Are you going to get married soon?  Marriage is a possibility, but not a priorty.  There are just as many reasons to run to the nearest chapel as there are to avoid it like the plague.  Wait I can hear it now…but don’t you love Val…don’t you want to settle down?  Shame on you if those were your thoughts.  What about not being married means that I love Val any less?  My problem with settling down is the word “settle”  no thanks I am not going to settle in my life ever!  And my last comment on this one is…what is the rush?

Why aren’t you and Val living together?  To answer a question with a question (I’m horrible I know) Why move in together before getting married?  I think that a lot of times people ask this question because they “moved in” with their significant other and some part of them feels guilty and/or they can’t understand that some people actually have standards and values.  I am in no way a “conservative” and my reasoning for not moving in together has nothing to do with religion or any of that.  My reason is simple.  I see absolutely zero benefit to it.  So if it doesnt enhance the quality of my life I really don’t see the need to rush out and do it because “society” says that I should.  No offense to anyone out there but “society” doesn’t have all the answers.

Another of my favorites is…what about kids, don’t you want to have kids?  Honestly…no I don’t at least not right now.

What how can you not want kids?  You don’t like kids, what’s wrong with you?  The answer is simple.  I have the guts to stand up and say that I am far too irresponsible to have children at this point in time.  I have far too many other “selfish” things that occupy my mind and I will not under any circumstances bring a child into this world until and or unless I am capable of being an effective parent.  Having kids is expensive and it limits a lot of what you can do in your life.  Personally I have too many ambitions and things that I want to achieve and having children would slow my progress.  There are benefits to kids, and every single person I know loves their kids and says tells me that they are treasures…and I have absolutely no reason to doubt that or to disagree, it’s just not for me right now.  Again I ask…what’s the rush.

Okay now to my biggest pet peeve!   You need to buy a house!   Let me be perfectly clear about this.  No!  The most common misconception in the world today is that a house is a great investment and that it is an asset.  I’m sorry folks but it is not an asset unless you paid cash and actually “own” it.  Even then…I’m not too sure if it could be considered an asset because of the upkeep, the taxes and the devaluation.  The way I look at it is, if a house costs lets say 175,000…well then since I don’t have 175k in my pocket (or in a shiny silver briefcase) I would then have “finance” it.  Yikes, that is a scary word.  Finance.  So a bank is going to give me $175k to purchase the house and then guess what…I owe the bank.  Because they know you didn’t have 175k to start out with they offer you a handy dandy payment plan that lasts what…30 years…and includes how much interest?  So how much will the house actually cost me in the end?  And how long until I actually own it?  How much profit and or earnings have I made from my “asset”

Oh I am sure there are many people who think that I am naive or don’t understand the process.  To them I say,  alright well that may be but I am happy renting and here are just a few reasons why.  I can move anytime I want.  If something breaks, I call maintenance. I spend almost zero on upkeep/building costs.  Some of my utilities are paid, and because the space is smaller the utilities I do pay for are a fraction of the cost of a homeowner.  So am I really throwing my money away?

But don’t you want a home? A place to call your own?  With no noisy neighbors.  My answer is:  Home is what you make of it.

This leads me to credit in general.  For years I thought oh man if I only had credit.  Then I could buy this or that.  I could get a fancy new car, buy a house, get a powerhouse computer etc etc etc.  The problem I have found with this mentality is that it feeds into our natural greediness as humans.  I share a car with Val.  We paid $800 for it, cash.  We own it.  There are no car payments.  I know several people who have $800 a month car payment.  A month!  I am typing this blog post on my laptop.  I purchased it for $325 cash at walmart.  Walked in, handed them the $ and walked out.  No payments, I own it, its mine.  The end.  I owe no one.  I honestly believe that we would be better off as a “people” if we could move away from this idea of “things”  If I can’t afford something, then one of two things is true: either I don’t need it or two, if I do need/want it then I should save up until I can own it.  Odds are that if the gratification of the purchase is delayed by the time it comes around time to buy it and I have saved up enough money I might not even want it anymore.  Now imagine if I had bought it on day one via “credit” before I had “earned” it.  Well then I wouldn’t even own something that I don’t really want.  So I am not a big fan.  I don’t need credit.  I just don’t.

If I work hard and spend less than I earn I can amass a fortune.  And what is a fortune to me?  Less than you could possibly imagine.  But I will save that for a future post, I’ve been far to0 longwinded.

Hope you enjoyed my rant and I am sure that I have at least partially incensed you…if not well then I am not doing my job now am I?

Till next time – rock and/or roll!

Note:  To avoid any confusion, I did not say that I will “never” get married, or “never” have kids.  And also just for further clarification let me say that this posting is in no way intended to offend anyone who has differing views or life experiences. Not in the least.  The way I look at it is…if you are happy, then that’s all that matters.  And you know what? I am happy!  People often judge far too quickly…and everyday I do my best to accept other people and their opinions…

I am not perfect and it is one of the hardest things to do in life but non-judgement is something to aspire to.  Something noble.

Another day another dollar.  The weekend was fantastic, I stayed away from Hot August Nights – which for those of you who aren’t from the Reno area, is our yearly classic car show extravaganza it pretty much takes over the whole darn city.  I don’t mind checking out the cars, its the people I don’t like so I avoid the crowds.  So what did I do instead?

Ahh so glad you asked.  Wait you did ask didn’t you?  Ahem, anyway I read about 250 pages, finished one book and started another.  We watched G.I. Joe on Friday night…it was the most action packed movie I think I’ve ever seen there wasn’t much down time…the acting wasn’t great, the story wasn’t great, there was no character development but it was fun as heck…so it gets a thumbs up from me simply for entertainment factor.  Also this past weekend, we worked out at the gym 4 times, hit the library and I picked up a couple of cool new research/reference books and Val bought a pair of new goldfish since one of ours died last week from fin rot.   I enjoyed the rest relaxation and reading it was tranquil and rejuvinating.

Things are moving along smoothly for a Monday.  I am getting back on the GTD wagon…aka David Allen’s productivity system, “Getting things done”  This is something that I have been playing with for a while, but haven’t been consistent…I figured that since the rest of my personal development has been going so swimmingly that I would give it another go.  Thus far it’s looking good, I organized the ol’ cube and have things rockin and rollin

Thats all for today I am off to whatever shenanigans may await me (and Val)

“Hey Farva…what’s the name of that resturant you like so well?”

Check it out! http://awritingjourney.wordpress.com/

So in about an hour I am off to celebrate.  Good times, good times!

What a great way to cap off the week.  Hope everyone else is doing well.

Till next time – never give up!

And the winner of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD from now on cause its easier to type) is…

Jeanine.

Huh?  Excuse me.  Oh America…land of the free, home of the brave, purple mountains majesty and all that jazz…I’m sorry but it’s citizens are incapable of judging talent.  Either that or the definition of talent has evolved into a catchall phrase that includes mediocrity.

It’s sad.  It really is.  Brandon, Ade and Jeanette were 1000 times better than Jeanine and Evan.  I say this having watched every single routine from every single episode of SYTYCD from not just this season but the last 3 seasons (prior to that I still watched it but missed a few episodes here and there, aka didn’t follow it as closely.)

The american public is determined to turn SYTYCD into American Idol.  People love shows like “Dancing with the stars” not because of the great dancing but because they get to watch “celebrities” make fools of themselves.  They are waiting for someone to fall or to screw up.  Come on you know I’m right.  Personally I am disgusted by that thought.  The sad truth is this:  Television as a medium doesn’t have much to offer anymore.  Originality is rare and reality is cheap.  There are a few people out there (Nigel Lythgoe) who actually want to bring “talent” to the forefront, but because money is the name of the game and there is some unwritten rule that says that America should vote for their “favorite” we end up with unsatisfactory results.  I just hate that this is what we have become.  Someone like Brandon on SYTYCD, who has a chiseled body that comes strictly from dancing, who’s movement an skill was breathtaking, was better than 2nd place.  America just doesn’t get it.

Jeanine was okay…just okay…she wasn’t amazing, she didn’t make me say wow, my eye was not drawn to her I can’t recall a single performance of hers that I wanted to see a second time etc.

I am only one voice out here in the sea of information but I hope that the true fans of dance, the people who understand what it takes to be a great dancer will overpower the people who are clueless.  This might be too much to ask, I hoped for that same thing this season and was sorely disappointed.

Till next time – (I got nothin…I’m bummed…tommorow is another day)

Well its Tuesday, nothing much happening, just working away.  Writing is coming along…nothing major there.  I finally got through the arduous process of “fixing” those few chapters that were out of alignment, cleaning up the timeline etc.  I see 300 pages on the horizon, just have to get there.  BIC (Butt in chair) is the only method that works seriously folks…thats the secret.

Other than that pretty quiet.  I am enjoying the cooler temperatures and the possibilit of rain.  I absolutely love cloudy grey weather, I hope it sticks around.

Tonight is Hell’s Kitchen should be excellent as usual I am looking forward to it.  Gotta have my weekly does of Gordon Ramsay!  Also I’ve got my 2nd session of weights tonight at about 7:30pm  I decided to split up my tuesday routine do half in the morning and half in the evening because in weeks past I have been rushing it a bit in the morning.  Sure I finish but my last few reps/excercises weren’t quite cuttin it.  This turned out to be a good plan because I was able to do extra weight and extra reps this morning on my superset.  Usually its 8×8 but I ramped it up by 10lbs all around and made it 10×10.

One last little note is that I am nearing the completion of Book 3 in J.V. Jones series.  Only about 200 pages to go.  So many questions yet to answer we shall see how she deals with it.  While I am sad to come to the end, I am super excited to start something new, I’ve been stuck in her world for far too long I think her writing style is rubbing off on me.  Not a bad thing, not at all but I am all about diversity, I’ve got to branch out.  I’ve got plenty of awesome stuff stacked up awating my gaze.

Well until next time  remember that…

I am a nobody and nobody is perfect so therefore I must be perfect.

Saturday night.  Cool breeze, sheet lightning, rain, thunder.  Fantastic.

I watched a few movies this weekend.  Last night Val and I had pizza (cheat meal) quite tasty indeed and we rented movies, something we haven’t done in a while.   So here are my quick reviews:

“Confessions of a Shopaholic” – girly movie?  Maybe, but it wasn’t half bad.  The premise was a bit silly but I actually found my self laughing.  Plus John Sally made a cameo appearance so you can’t beat that!  The movie is based on a series of novels by Sophie Kinsella and is about a young woman who has a serious addiction to shopping that she hopes to turn into a career as a fashion columnist but when she is turned down for her dream job she gets an “in” at a sister magazine which just so happens to be a finance publication.  Her over spending/shopaholism leads to huge debt and chaos ensues.  Of course the movie wouldn’t complete without the romantic comedy element, aka the girl falls for her new editor at the finance mag.  The plot was weak in spots but overall it was an amusing film.   3 stars out of five.

Today we caught a matinee of “The Ugly Truth” yet another girl flick/romantic comedy.  There was  bit more for the male taste here in this one.  Gerard Butler gave a good performance as the stereotypical male pig.  Again I found myself laughing more than I thought I would and for matinee price it was plenty entertaining.  One of the few negatives to this movie was that it was supposedly set in Sacramento…that’s a bit too close to home for me.  Would have been a better film if it was set in San Diego, or Los Angeles or New York.  Because it was rated R there was plenty of vulgarity which I felt added to the humor without going over the top.  3.5 stars out of 5

The Outlander – a blockbuster exclusive straight to DVD file starring Jim Caveziel.  Remember him?  He was Jesus in Passion of the Christ and also was in Frequency (great movie if you haven’t seen it by the way).  Outlander was an interesting film, it was slated as “Predator meets Beowulf” which actually is a pretty good tag line.  Basically a human-like/futuristic alien (Jim Caveziel) crashes down on earth in the year 702 A.D. in Norway and ends up in the midst of viking clans.  He brings a “dragon” with him.  The dragon of course is an alien that accidentally brought with him.  So he becomes one with the clan as they fight off the monster that is killing all of the vikings.  For being a totally under the radar film, it really was pretty good.  I liked it quite a bit it was very original and while the CG and special effects weren’t ILM quality they were pretty darn good being a low budget affair.  I actually thought it looked really good.  One really cool element in the film was when the took a piece of Jim Caveziel’s spaceship and forged “super” swords out of the metal to fight the monster.  The other bonus to this movie is that it co-starred Ron Perlman (aka Hellboy)  My rating: 3.75 stars out of 5.

Now the only question is what are we going to watch tommorow?  Only time will tell.

Till next time – live long and prosper