Home in TX: Day 3 of the 28.5 day stay.

So I'm at home in TX for several days -- OK, a full month. Anyway life is really busy. Here's a excerpt from an e-mail that I typed up describing the kids here. Maybe it'll be funny in a few years.

You may think I'm counting down the days. In a sense, yes. But in a sense, no. This is a good experience for me. Spending a month dealing with 5 kids all under 8 and all related to me is a good experience. It's not the most fun I've ever had, but it looks like it will become a lot more fun.

If I had to predict what these kids will be when they are grown up, here's what I'd say:

AJ will be some form of show off. Whether that means an actor, entertainer, lawyer, salesman, or some form of public speaker, I'm still trying to figure it out. He's very melodramatic and tells all sorts of stories with greeeeeeat big loooooooooooooooooooooong vowels and opennnnnnnnnnnnn connnnnnnnnnnsonents to reeeeeeeeally enhaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnce the story, all the while being JUST so exCITed (using the wrong inflection at times) AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnd being soooooooooo so so so soooooooooooooooo eager to tell you EVerythinggggggggggggg. Oh, and he's glad to be the oldest, too. He's in charge.

Anya will be the real leader. She's strong and determined, and she knows what she wants. AJ has asserted his authority so much that she's becoming a little bit of a follower, but she knows her place in the chain of command. She's not as dramatic as AJ (but she can be), but she can also be every bit as stubborn. She is a fantastic reader (better than AJ, I think), and she could very easily be the genius in the family. She will be the intellectual who will probably invent new methods of learning, all the while maintaining a business as an artist on the side.

Mary is little Miss Independence, now that she's got her braces on and she can walk flat-footed. She tried to run but it's more of a plod, but it's OK, because she's cute as anything. When she falls down (which she does often enough), she will cry and scream and demand attention (very much unlike Michael), and when you pick her up again, she usually runs off again. She is very protective of her things and if she thinks that someone shouldn't be playing with something, she'll take it away from them and hide it, much to their dismay. But she also expects no retaliation, so when they take away her toys, the hurricane of tears and the mother of all fits breaks loose upon the world. If you've heard random screams in VA, that's Mary. She's cute and she knows it and she's a flirt and she's spoiled rotten (or really tries to be, and thus only pulls of "brat" pretty well, and I don't mean the ind you throw on the grill that's made of piggy). She'll grow up to be a heartbreaker, and possibly a model as well.

Michael will be the powerhouse. He'll go for the sports. He bulls through everything and everyone -- unintentionally for now, because he's just so happy to see them that he runs right at them. He's also quite the chunk, so when he runs at you, he could probably knock you over. He's at least a solid 25 pounds and he's faster (and heavier) than Mary -- I think he's as heavy as Kenny, and would give him a run for his money for strength. Jimmy, Liz's husband and these kids' father, plays really rough with him, and Mikey loves every second of it and comes back for more. He loves being outside. He's a Daddy's boy bar-none. He's also a flirt, bar-none. He makes eyes at all the girls, and not just the pretty girls: all of them. They, in turn, eat it up, and flirt right back with him. Then when he sees that his charms have taken hold of them, he giggles and runs away, thus instituting a game of tag. Mom (and Liz and AJ) all refer to him as the Energizer Bunny on steriods (or the Energize Bunny times 10 or some form of extreme Energizer Bunny), and it's true. He just keeps going and going and going...

Timothy is the stoic one of the group. Granted, he's only 2 months old. But when I mean stoic, I really do mean stoic. He just looks at you with this face (well, there is no stoic google face expression, so this will have to do ), except he is trying to look down his nose at you. Again, though, he's only 2 months old, so he's still working on the whole neck-muscle/head-control thing, so it could be due to the fact that his head just kinda flops backwards, like Anthony Scrivener's did when he was a baby. He has a rather large double chin and looks like the kind of face you'd expect to see in the role of, "This court is now in session: Honorable Timothy Freiberg presiding". Well, he's stoic until he feels neglected. Then he has this mournful, "I'm so alone, and no one loves me..." kind of pitiful, pathetic cry. He usually breaks this out just to keep poor Mom (my Mom, his Grandmother) up until all hours of the night patting his bottom and holding him and telling him it's all right, etc.

Any questions class?

Laura Baron

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

No more Todd...

It turns out that one of my dogs passed away. Mom is on vacation so my brother-in-law was taking care of the dogs and cats. When he went outside to see the dogs, Todd (the beagle in a tuxedo) was lying on the ground and didn't get up. I don't really know the story, but he was at least 14 years old, so it was inevitable. I feel like a Requiem, but it would be useless. He was a (pretty) good dog. Unfortunately, this means that Loki will be alone, but she's probably too old to really accept a new companion.

Not that it really matters, but I hope he died peacefully.

Get Smart TV Series

I'm on season 4. Agent 86's jokes are getting really old. Agent 99 is getting really annoying. The Chief is about the only one not annoying. This might be a TV series that I just can't finish.

But I refuse to succumb. I will finish -- I just might be taking a loooong break...

I H8 PaulE

He didn't think the new Star Trek movie was all that great.  I think he needs new glasses.  Until he changes his opinion, I don't think I can ever talk to him again.

Of all the things to happen...

Yeah, so yesterday was fun -- in a most sarcastic way. I've been going jogging during the day recently. It's a great way to get some fresh air in the middle of the day, and I feel pretty good when I'm done. Also, when I get back to the computer to keep working, I'm refreshed and work doesn't seem nearly as tedious, because I've come back after thinking, so I've got some new ideas.

Anyway, so the day before yesterday, I jogged my 2.1mi circuit and made it about 1/3 of the way without stopping, then I slowed down from a jog 3-4 more times. Not bad, but I need to do better. On the way back, I checked Christine's and my cars: the Meadows has a bad habit of ticketing cars for not having a permit -- even when in unmarked visitor spots. I can understand ticketing them if they don't move, but these cars moved quite a bit. They were clean. I went back inside and went back to work.

Yesterday, I went to jog again and I noticed that Christine's car was gone. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that it had been towed. !!!! Normally, there's a 48-hour waiting period -- not this time. Sometime in the 24hr window, they had ticketed and towed her car, which is not their normal procedure. So that had to be rescued. My car had a ticket with a 48hr warning on it. I'm not sure what's up with why hers would have been towed...

Anyway, so I also joined AAA a couple weeks ago, when all this trouble started with my car. I got my papers in the mail yesterday, and called a locksmith out to unlock my car. (When all this trouble started with my car, it was towed, and the tow truck company or the driver lost my keys. I had a spare ignition key, but not a key to unlock my car. Nissan didn't have my car on file, so I had to work with a locksmith.) He came by in about an hour, and made quick work of unlocking my car and making a new key -- $150 later, I can now lock my car again.

So after this, he left, and I moved my car to the street. I went back inside my house -- or tried to. I had locked myself out of my house. Ironic, to say the least, that the locksmith had unlocked my car, but I had now locked myself out of my house. I searched for the spare key, but it was gone. I tried a couple things, but I was about fed up with my luck for the day.

I drove my newly-unlocked car out to Eric's workplace, just up the road. He drove back with me to our place. On the way back, my car died. I was hoping that wouldn't happen, but it did. So I was following Eric, and then I had to swerve out of the flow of traffic and park on a neighborhood street for about 45 minutes for my car to start again. By this point, I was actually mad. I was so steamed that I fell asleep -- which was better than staying awake at that point. I was already tired, so I just shut down for a few minutes. I'm not sure how long I was out total, but I drifted in and out of sleep for an hour or so, each time, trying my luck with the car. It wasn't more than an hour, at least I hope not. My patience for these games was wearing thin, and I still had to get back to my house. Jonathan said that he would drive me out to pick up Christine's car, and it's rude to keep people waiting (it's also hypocritical of me to say that, being the guy who is perpetually late).

Now, I should add that my cell phone has gone missing since last Thursday. I can't call people or receive calls. So I couldn't receive Eric's call when he noticed that I was no longer following him from the office, nor could I receive Jonathan's call when he called to make sure I was home. Alternately, I couldn't call AAA to send a tow truck to get my car back home.

I finally made it back home and I was so frustrated with the whole affair that I signed off work (I was late for my scheduled departure anyway) but I couldn't just put in half a day's work. I would have to come back later. I had a voice lesson with Julia at 6PM (which I called and cancelled for today: I wasn't in the mood to sing, and she understood), I had to go rescue Christine's car before they start charging me a bunch of daily holding fees, and I had to get to Tim's place to rehearse for the Collegium Cantorum concert in June.

So I made it to Battlefield Towing, and paid another $150 to get Christine's car away from them. Talk about an expensive day. If I were a dishonest man, I'm sure I could have gotten the car for nothing, but I don't think that dishonestly.

On a side note, I've discovered one of the least-liked services rendered by one man to another: the enforced towing of another man's car by one man at the other man's expense. It's a racket. I didn't ask for a tow truck. The place I live at decided to set me up with some extra bills this month. So nice and thoughtful of them. Good thing I have those piles of money just waiting to be spent.

So I signed back into work at about 11PM, and I'm still working -- I'm just taking a break to rant. I need to get this off my chest.

Obama's speech

So I was listening to the radio yesterday, and I heard a speech given by our current president, Barack Obama. It was his speech on what to expect for the next 100 days in office. While I appreciate a good joke, his speech was absolutely full of jokes, most of which were as predictable as they come. The quality of his speech (as an action, not as a thing) was amazing. He is very charismatic, and when he's just talking and telling jokes, he's fun to hear. It's no wonder that people like him. He's articulate (when he's on the cue cards), he is able to make fun of himself and those working for him without being offensive, and he generally puts a positive spin on everything. People like positivity and charisma, and he's definitely got it. (Click the title of this post or click here for a transcript of the speech.)

That's all I'll say, because as far as everything else goes, I don't think he's remotely qualified to be our president, and his telling jokes won't change that. Neither he nor his team know what they are doing, and their agenda is killing the United States of America. Of course, it's also just as likely that they know exactly what they are doing, and they continue to do it anyway because they finally have power and are trying to "prove" that their "system" can work better than anything else the world has ever seen.

My day so far, with car troubles

I had my written final today. The oral/aural half was on Tuesday. On the way back home from the test, my car stopped running again as I was about to exit onto I-66 from 50. After I let the car sit for about 30 minutes, I drove home without incident.

Bacon Vodka

I just put this alcoholic delight into the freezer. It should be ready for tasting either this evening or tomorrow. Anyone interested in joining me for a sampling?

Recent life

So my Nissan is in the shop again. On Thursday, as I was driving on highway 50, and traffic around me was doing between 60-70mph, my engine just turned off. The car kept moving, and I only noticed it when I applied the gas pedal and got no response. I shifted the car into neutral, and turned the key, but it didn't start. I put my hazards on and attempted to coast into a parking lot. No worries, really, as I was still doing about 50, and I was nearing my destination. I slowed and entered the parking lot, and attempted to start my car again. It fired up, fortunately. I was doing about 10mph, so had I needed to accelerate again, I would have been in trouble.

I drove it the rest of the evening without incident.

Friday morning, bright and early, I drive to the office. I have some errands to run in Tyson's Corner, so I got there at about 7AM, so that I could have my work done in plenty of time to run my errands. Noon rolls around, and I take off to run my errands and then get back home, as I'm supposed to ride with Michael C out to Front Royal to sing at the Tridentine Latin Mass for the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. After running the errands, I'm leaving the parking lot to get onto highway 7, and my car doesn't move when I apply the gas. It's not running. I turn the key, hoping it will start up. Nothing. Of course, there's a line of cars behind me...

After signaling the 5 cars behind me that they need to go around, I push my car out of the way, and make some phone calls. No one really knows exactly what it is, but the primary question is, "Do you have gas?" Of course, I have gas. I have half a tank. I just filled it up the day before...

So, I look around, and as luck would have it, there's a service center in the same parking lot. It's a Mr. Tire/Goodyear, so I'm not sure if they do diagnostics. I leave the hazard lights on and walk over. As it turns out, they do diagnostics, so they help me push my car from one end of the parking lot to their building, and we put it in the shop.

After a couple hours, they can't find anything wrong with the vehicle. Their first inclination is that it's water in the gas tank, so I should fill it up the rest of the way and hope that's enough to dilute the gas/water ratio. So I take it back and fill it up. I get onto 495 and as I'm exiting 495 to get onto 66 (see location), the car dies again. So I call a tow truck, and they tow the car back to the shop. Again, they can't find anything wrong, except that the tow truck driver didn't give them the keys, so they are good as lost, because I don't have them anymore.

That evening, Michael and I sang at St. John's for the Mass as planned. After Mass, we went to dinner with Fr. C, who said Mass, and then out to Christendom. I had a small role in the latest Mirandum Pictures film, and Michael had a dance to attend. We left about midnight.

Saturday rolls around, and Michael and I head over to Tyson's Corner to talk to the mechanics. No keys have shown up, so Michael drives me to the Nissan dealership and we find that we can get new keys made for $8. I just need a copy of my insurance card. I had a spare key for the ignition, so I brought it to them and asked them to not lock the car. They began working on it, and the car performed just fine for them. They took it for a 45-minute drive and it never had any problems. They said that they would keep it through Sunday and drive it around, trying to get it to stall.

On the way back home, I asked Michael to drop me off at St. Andrew's so I can catch confession. He reminded me that I'd have to walk home, but that didn't bug me too much. He drops me at home first so I could drop off my laptop and pick up the umbrella (and a pipe -- it's a long walk), as it was overcast. After confession, I fired up the pipe and walked back home (about 4.5 miles), which took me about 1.5 hours, walking at good pace. I stopped a couple times for pipe maintenance, and once to check my voice mail on my cell phone, but aside from that, I made pretty good time, overall. I'm sure I was quite the sight: my corncob pipe in my left hand, my long walking umbrella in my right, but pointed up and resting on my shoulder as though it was a rifle. I was walking at a decent clip, so I'm sure people were thinking that I was either a former army boy or just a wierdo looking for attention. Of course, the latter was true...

So I made it back home and then went to the gym where I killed my arms. They are still a little sore, but it's a good kind of sore...

Anyway, so on Sunday, after Mass, Michael and I went to Paul E's Easter Season Party. After a while, I went outside to smoke a pipe, and Michael came with me. Earlier in the day, I had filled the Zippo lighter with fuel, and closed it, but it had been slightly overfilled, so a little bit spilled out onto my hand, so when I tested the lighter, the lighter lit up, and my hand also torched. It didn't hurt at all -- I just felt the warmth of fire and then shook my hand off, and it extinguished itself. Last time I had overfilled the lighter, the entire lighter (outside as well) had gone up in flames and I had dropped the lighter pretty quickly. I didn't fill it that full this time, so the lighter behaved normally -- well, aside from lighting my hand on fire...

So at Paul's place, I wanted to do that trick again. So Michael (who took the picture), Bridget, Jonathan and Draper were watching as I poured a little lighter fluid onto my hand, and attempted to light it on fire. I waited a little too long, because the fluid had all evaporated, and there was nothing left. So I doused my hand a little heavier and spread it around, and this time it caught. I waved my hand around for a quick second, and then shook off the fire. Except that I didn't shake off the fire -- it kept burning, and the harder I shook my hand, the more it burned, because I was feeding it oxygen, so it burned hotter. After a second shake of the hand, I realized that it wasn't going out as easy as it had before, so I ended up having to essentially wipe it off on my pants. Fortunately, they were made of heavy flame-resistant material.

For the first 2 seconds or so, it didn't hurt. For the last 3 seconds or so, it did. But my hand is fine, with only some minor blistering and a lesson learned. Wanna know that lesson? Next time I do that trick, have a bucket of water handy. Alternately, use less oil and spread it around instead of keeping it focused in the palm of my hand (so that it burns quickly and is done). Better yet, use rubbing alcohol, which burns cooler (blue) and doesn't stick to your hand like oil.

So now it's Monday, and the guys at the shop still can't find out what's wrong with the car, because it's not acting up for them. I piked it up and it runs fine.

I've spent nearly $1000 since last Monday. Last Monday, I dropped about $700 into a total fluid flush. Friday, I spent $120 on a system diagnostic and today, I spent another $120 on an hour of miscellaneous labor (dropping the tank so they could test the gas). So much for paying off that credit card this month...

D&D Character

There's been a lot of D&D discussion here. I decided to see what was what...

I Am A: Lawful Good Human Ranger (4th Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-19

Dexterity-19

Constitution-13

Intelligence-14

Wisdom-12

Charisma-15


Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Class:
Rangers are skilled stalkers and hunters who make their home in the woods. Their martial skill is nearly the equal of the fighter, but they lack the latter's dedication to the craft of fighting. Instead, the ranger focuses his skills and training on a specific enemy a type of creature he bears a vengeful grudge against and hunts above all others. Rangers often accept the role of protector, aiding those who live in or travel through the woods. His skills allow him to move quietly and stick to the shadows, especially in natural settings, and he also has special knowledge of certain types of creatures. Finally, an experienced ranger has such a tie to nature that he can actually draw on natural power to cast divine spells, much as a druid does, and like a druid he is often accompanied by animal companions. A ranger's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Have you ever...

...Q-tipped the inside of your ears and felt it at the back of your throat? That tickles! I could have sworn that it had gone through everything and was poking into my larynx...

Why can't I think of anything to say?

I even sat down to just write for a while and get the creative juices flowing. I've got nothing for you. Sorry...

"Running all the way around the winery"

So I was telling Christine that I had kept pretty busy today and this came out. After about 5 tries, I actually got it.

Well, we laughed at it.

Music Theory 111

Dr. N was giving us musical references to help us remember intervals. He played selections from West Side Story, Star Wars, and really popular classical pieces that I can't remember off the top of my head. One of the pieces that he played was Mary Had A Little Lamb. And I started grinning. He asked us if anyone knew what it was, and I piped right up, "That's Mary Had A Little Lamb! I sing it to myself every day!" And I looked around, wondering what the reaction would be, and just as I had hoped, people were just staring, not really sure if I was serious. So I brought on the blush and said, "I shouldn't have said that, huh? Yeah, shutting up." So, I shrunk into my seat as best as I could, and the whole place, even Dr. N, laughed. It was quite fun.

I love being a ham.

Eye Heart...

...Windows 7 Ultimate Beta. Eye heart it so much more than Windows Vista Ultimate.

Apples

No, seriously, this post is about apples. I went to the store today to get food, and this is what I saw. I saw the McIntosh apple for $1.29/lb and the Honey Crisp for $2.99/lb. Naturally, my curiosity got the best of me.

So this first picture is a picture of two apples, a McIntosh on the right of the picture (the redder of the two), and a Honey Crisp on the left. To me, they both look good. I like apples -- red, green, yellow, I like them all. So why is it that the redder of the two is less than half the price of the other?

Seriously, I'm all about buying the expensive stuff if it really does taste better. I've moved from whole milk to "organic" whole milk (which we all know isn't the real stuff, but it's as close to it as you can get these days without owning a cow, goat, or sheep). It's about $1-$1.50 more per gallon, but it tastes a lot better. I even made the mistake of buying "organic" skim milk (can it even be organic when it's skim?) and it's sooooooooooo much better than regular skim milk, but I wouldn't buy it again, because it's skim and skim is blasphemy.

Back to the apples: Perhaps if I cut into it, there'll be something awesome, like honeycomb inside the Honey Crisp! But I did, and there's no honeycomb. It's a friggin' apple. I will say that the Honey Crisp felt a little firmer than the McIntosh, so that's bonus points for the Honey Crisp. I love a crisp apple. But that's not nearly enough bonus points to warrant +$1.70/lb.

All sliced up, the Honey Crisp looks better. It's all purdy 'n' stuff. But who cares about looks when you're going to put it in your mouth, chew it up, swallow it, and let the inner workings of your digestive system work on it? Was that a little too much? It probably was. Anyway. So I added an naval orange and a banana to the mix and this is breakfast.

Upon eating the McIntosh, it's what I would expect a red apple to be. It's softer than a green apple (one of my favorites) but sweeter -- still tart, but not over the top. Quite good. I ate a slice of the Honey Crisp. It was not as sweet as the McIntosh, but it was still good. On the crispness level, it was up there with the green apples, but it wasn't as sweet as the McIntosh, definitely tart. In a sense, there was actually less taste in it than in the McIntosh, but it was good.

So, in a game of comparing apples to apples, your tastes will be different than mine. But in my opinion, McIntosh wins in the price category and the edibility category. It's not as good looking as the Honey Crisp apple, so if you're making a dish that's designed to be a feast for the eyes as well, then the Honey Crisp is the better of the two. But this bachelor thinks that the less expensive apple is just dandy.

Bush Farewell Speech

Mr. Bush, I salute you. I can only hope that our new president isn't as bad as I believe him to be.

Dr. Pepper Pot Luck

Hah! It's delicious! I really like it!!! :)

Dr. Pepper Pot Roast

So, after yesterday's post, I absolutely had to try it. But I switched from Pepsi to Dr. Pepper. It smells great. I'll let you know how it tastes in about an hour...

So, I got a slow cooker for Christmas (thank you, Ken and Alaina!) and a book of recipes (thank you, Alex and Ashley!), and I'm flipping through the book today, thinking, "Now, what should I cook for dinner?  Or possibly lunch tomorrow?"

Get this...

Pepsi Pot Roast

Mrs. D-- M------

Fairbank, IA

---

Makes 12 servings
(Ideal for slow-cooker size: 5- or 6-quart)

3-lb pot roast
2 10³/₄-oz. cans of fat-free, low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 16-oz. bottles diet cola

1. Place meat in slow cooker.
2. In large bowl mix together mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix, and cola. Pour over roast in cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on high for 6 hours

---

Per Serving: 170 calories (60 calories from fat), 7g total fat (2g saturated, 0.5g trans), 70mg cholesterol, 430mg sodium, 4g total carbohydrate (0g fiber, 0g sugar), 23g protein, 0%DV vitamin A, 0%DV vitamin C, 2%DV calcium, 15%DV iron.

Appetizing?

Actually now that I've typed it all up, I'm all hungry...

Breakfast

So, after the gym this morning, I was pretty hungry. I had four eggs, then I also wanted pancakes. So I made some. The box said to use 2 cups of the mix and 1.5 cups of water for 9-10 pancakes. They lied. It only makes two.

I mean, seriously. I might need a refund...

I did learn two things, though:

1. Use a tad more water next time.
   
2. Butter up the pan.

Aside from that, I'd call this a success! Speaking of pancakes, Woot.com is having a Woot-Off today. Some fun deals, some not so good...

The Ultimate Stress Relief

Saint (Padre) Pio of Pietrelcina

"Pray, hope, and don’t worry! Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact, on certain occasions, you should speak to Him only with your heart."

Pray for us and for the whole world!

Check out my more-serious blog

On Crazy About Truth, I am beginning a series of challenges to Catholics. Take a gander...

Jumper

This was the movie I chose as a followup to get me back into my normal spirits. This was fun, but certainly not a great movie. It was well made and well produced, but the story is just kind of silly. There is no real character redemption, and there's also no explanation of the ability. You are just supposed to believe that a guy who happens to be a Jumper just discovers it at a certain point through the right mood / mindset / intention / etc. It was fun -- but suspend your disbelief and don't expect answers. There is a special feature on the disc ("Making an Actor Jump") in which they admit to purposely not explaining everything, and treating the movie as though it was the second in a series, and the first had already explained everything.

In my opinion? Whatever! Bring on the assumptions! That's the beauty of imagination! If your imagination doesn't have room in its corners for superheroes (if not entire worlds dedicated to the fantastic), then it needs work.

I Am Legend

This was a very good movie, as far a movies go. I will say that I'm not into what is essentially a zombie flick, or most apocalyptic movies, so I didn't end with this movie. I had to put in another one to kill the creepy scared-of-the-dark feeling that causes adrenaline rushes as I walk around corners, whether I know what's on the other side or not, all the while preparing to do battle with the devil himself.

The Bachelor Sandwich

I've been making these sandwiches for lunch that are simply awesome. And you use bachelor ingredients, and bachelor-priced ingredients.

You'll need bread, lunch meat, and cheese.

Oh, and bacon. Of course, bacon. :)

The ingredients that I use are all the inexpensive brands that I find at the store that I think would be interesting. I use the Giant-brand Honey Wheat Bread (24 ounce/20 slice loaf), Buddig Deli Cuts lunch meat (16 oz package), Giant Cheese (16 oz block, for variety -- otherwise, if you go for the larger, more economical block, you'll be stuck to variations of Cheddar), and Oscar Mayer bacon (16 oz package).

A couple notes -- I usually end up using 6 slices of lunch meat, 3 slices of cheese (just wide enough to go across the bread), and 2 slices of bacon per sandwich.

So the first thing to do is cook the bacon. I usually have at least 2 (if not 4) of these sandwiches, and use 2 slices of bacon per sandwich, so I'll cook 4-8 slices of bacon (handy, for a 16oz, 1oz/slice pack). Then, put the bacon on the bottom of the sandwich, 3 slices of lunch meat, your cheese, another 3 slices of lunch meat, and the final slice of bread. Put it in the oven to melt the cheese -- I use 200 degrees for 10 minutes. You're done.

There is one extra step for bacon lovers. :) Do not read the next paragraph if you are one of the people who count calories and fat like piggies on your children's toes. Don't say I didn't warn you.

If you want the extra flavor, and don't mind the extra fat, while the bacon grease is hot, toss the bread into the pan where the bacon was. Fry one side of the bread in the bacon grease for anywhere from 5-30 seconds, depending on your taste and how toasty you like your bread. The fried side of the bread slices face the inside of the sandwich. But for the fat-conscious among us, this will introduce a lot of fat into your system, so don't do this if it goes against your conscience, or alternately, if you are already "treated-out" for the day. People trying to put on weight of any kind might be interested in this little delicious tidbit. People trying to lose weight should probably avoid this step. People who are just trying to maintain weight might be interested, assuming that they are of the "treats are OK" mentality...

In case you're wondering, I paired oven-roasted turkey with muenster cheese, and I'm now doing sugar-cured ham with mild cheddar. Both combinations worked quite well with the bacon.

Failure

To all of you who said that I shouldn't get a motorcycle because motorcycles are dangerous, rejoice: I still can't get one.

I signed up to take a riding class. It was Monday, August 25, 2008 through today: three days. I signed up for the class at the Northern Virginia Community College Alexandria campus. I bought a helmet and riding gloves, the only two things that I didn't already have to participate in the class. I did my time and got up early every day (between 4 and 5AM) on the class days and went to bed early (usually around 8PM) to get plenty of sleep. I had my days off completely, so nothing would distract me from my goal of attaining a license.

There was a class on Monday which talked about the joys and the dangers of riding a bike, proper safety, where accidents are likely to occur and how to avoid them, etc. After this, on Tuesday morning, bright and early, there was a written test. I aced it: 100%. Great start.

After the test, they sat us on some bikes (smaller than I'd get) and got us accustomed to them -- how they felt, how they ran, how the gadgets worked, how to inspect them and start them up. Then they showed us how to ride them. While I was nervous at first, it was a lot like riding a bicycle, except that I had to deal with an engine, a clutch, transmission, etc. I learned all the motions pretty quickly, although some of the actions took a lot of repetition.

I asked the instructors how I was doing today -- they told me that I'm doing all right. I was hoping for a better answer, but I've not been doing perfectly. There's a lot of stuff that I have to pay attention to: in a car, it's second nature -- on a bike, I had to think about it.

Anyway, today was the evaluation. Keep in mind that I'd ridden everything in the evaluation before. I'd not made a mistake so bad as to warrant more than, "Do it again." My bike had only fallen once because I misjudged what gear I was in, and I was moving too quickly, but it fell on grass, and no one really noticed except one instructor. Yesterday and today, I was zigging and zagging, turning, swerving, weaving, U-turns, shifting, accelerating in curves, stopping, stopping in curves, etc. all without any major incident. At 95% of the time, the bike was completely under my control, and I was getting significantly better, especially considering that I have never driven a motorcycle before.

Right, so the evaluation. Points will be deducted for mistakes (like putting your foot down, or incorrect braking). You fail automatically if you do one of two things: 1) blatantly disobey the instructors' orders, or 2) drop/fall off the bike. No retries. I knew that I wouldn't disobey the instructors' orders, and I certainly didn't plan on dropping the bike, much less falling off it.

Now we had all just run the U-Turn and swerve exercise. I had made a couple mistakes the first couple of times, but I was really concentrating on doing a good job and doing everything exactly as the instructor told us. By the end of the practice run, both instructors were waving me on, and had no comments or instructions for me. I was good to go.

Out of a class of twelve, there were eight of us left. The first took too long in a break and was dismissed; the second couldn't control his bike and opted to leave (I guess -- I didn't hear it); the third was a no-show this morning; and the fourth was dismissed after falling off her bike one-too-many times. Needless to say, the pressure was on for no one else to fail out.

The very first evaluation comes along, and, naturally, I'm nervous. I want to do it perfectly. I just practiced this same exercise several times. I knew shift my bike into second gear, and how fast I need to be going to perform the U-Turns. I knew how fast I needed to go to execute the swerve well, and how to stop properly without skidding. And then it was my turn.

2 U-turns, and then accelerate to the swerve and brake.

1 U-turn: no problem. Things looked just great. I slowed down, looked into the second U-turn, pushed and accelerated.

The bike slipped out from underneath me quicker than basically anything I've ever experienced. It slipped out so quickly that it threw me and I just had to roll with it. I was completely unhurt. But I'd also completely failed.

Afterwards, I went over to my fellow classmates, most of whom also seemed to be very surprised by this turn of events. The few that I talked to all agreed that there had to have been some mechanical failure on the bike or something on the track. Gary, a long-time rider, told me that it looked like the front tire pressure was low, and when I went into the turn, my rim hit the ground: it's entirely possible, I don't know. They all agreed, though, that I would pass the test easily, and that I should borrow a friend's bike and go to the DMV to get licensed. While I'm fine with that, it is not going to help me at all: I doubt that I can get approved through the VA DMV when my license is from TX.

I'm still in shock (to say the very least) at what happened. I don't know. I ran the exercise several times -- I'd never slipped or experienced any indication of the sort. It was as though I had hit an oil patch or some sand: my traction just went up in smoke. It was too fast for me to react to and catch myself. Had I caught myself, there would have been points deducted, but I would have passed with a few points deducted, but there wasn't time to think. One second, I'm looking through the U-Turn and am accelerating, and the next, I've lost everything. I've lost my money, I've lost any chance of getting a motorcycle license before the summer is over, and, most importantly, I've lost my confidence. According to my version of my life's script, I'm supposed to have a motorcycle license now. I'm not supposed to have a bike yet -- I may not ever get a bike according to my version of life's script; that's still being written. But now I've lost it all. And in losing my self-confidence, I've also lost my self-respect. And that is going to take me a while to get back.

Follow up on the car

Well, Bryan, Ben and I went to check out the 1993 Mustang. It was a beautiful car in the pictures, but when we went to go check it out, there were little imperfections all over it. The top looked like the canvas was coming off the frame. The seals around the windows weren't all that great. The trunk was clean but tiny. The engine was wide open but full of old parts. I fired it up, and fell in love with roar of the V8, but putting it in gear was scary. There was a rattling that came straight from the transmission when it was in gear. The top was slow in moving, slow enough that Ben offered to help move it along. The most that the car was worth was $4000. They were asking $5900.

Needless to say, I didn't end up getting it. But it sounded beeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooootiful.

Cars

Well, I think the Nissan has about had it. I tried replacing the alternator, but I'd need to get underneath the car to take off the exhaust manifold (I think that's what it's called), and looking at the front of the engine, it's got a pretty bad oil leak, too. It's probably inexpensive to fix myself -- it looks like all I need to do is replace the seals on the top of the engine. I think the parts cost for that would be around $50, and then I'd spend maybe 2 hours fixing it. But even if I do that, the mechanic had said that I'd need a valve job done on the car. I don't know what that is, but he quoted me $1200. And I know that after I do that, I'll need to redo the suspension on the car, as well as fix up the body damage. If I had a garage, I'd be working on it now. The problem is that I have neither a garage, nor the right tools to do half of the work that it needs. With all this in mind, I'm going to go look at some new-to-me cars today. Hopefully, I can get something not too expensive ($10K or less -- preferably $5K). Needless to say, I think that this puts a motorcycle on hold, unless I can get a replacement car for less than $5K.

In any case, that's all that's been going on for me. Thanks to Alex and Ashley S., I've been able to get into the office a three times this week, and I worked from home Thursday and Friday. I'm getting used to that. It's actually far less distracting, as long as I have music on. It's good to be in the office for social reasons, but on days when I need to focus and get a lot done, I can sometimes actually work better at home. I just set up everything to keep me motivated and the music changes as I'm working. I tend to make a lot of progress when I've got choral or classical playing, but on my tired days, that will knock me right out, so I'll throw on something a little more upbeat. And thanks to the XM radio I got for Christmas, if my CDs no longer cut it, I've got about 70 stations of "ad free" radio from which to choose.

"Ad free", huh? It's roughly $10/month, and by "ad free" they mean no non-XM-sponsored commercials. There are still commercials on a few channels. Eric W. and I were both working from home one day, and he pointed out how many commercials there were on one channel. I forget which station it was, but as I listened to it, I began to notice them. It was the same ten commercials over and over again. We made fun of one of them. It was a commercial for a guy telling parents that with his simple tactics, you can get your children to respect you again. We both chimed in about the benefits of spanking or other forms of discipline. :)

Anywho, on that note, I'm out. Bryan S. is coming by today to take a look at a car with me today. It's a 1993 Ford Mustang, and since this is a series of car with which he is very familiar, he was very gracious in agreeing to drive an hour out to my place to help me out. There is another Mustang that I'm considering, but I prefer the 1993, as there is less computer operation and therefore more work that I can do on it myself. Whether I actually get either car is still up in the air, but there's another guy out at Leesburg Toyota who is looking through his inventory to see if he can find anything in my price range, too. In any case, we'll see what happens. There are a couple others that I'm considering, but these are newer-to-new cars -- and I really don't think want to spend that much (about $15K)...

There are days...

You know, there are days when I wonder why I even have a blog. I hardly ever post to it. Few people read it. Then I realize why: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." --Al Franken, Stuart Smalley in Saturday Night Live, catchphrase

So anyway, it's been a while again, and a lot has happened since. Most recently, my car had a bit of a heart attack, but after undergoing surgery, I think it'll be OK. The distributor and the alternator both went out, and that may not be all. The mechanic fixed the distributor, but charged me so much that I couldn't afford anything else. Thus, I had to pull it out of the shop. I will fix the alternator myself, and hopefully be able to diagnose whatever else is wrong with the car.

With the beginning of Lent, I've decided to take up Holy Transfiguration again as my weekday religious destination. Unfortunately, with the loss of my car, I am stuck at home, with nowhere else to go until it is fixed. So, to all of you whom I would be singing with at any point in the near future, I've not abandoned you -- I'm just stuck.

Aside from that, work has been very busy. 10 hour days are not uncommon, nor is spending the night at the office (although that's far less common than 10 hour days). I'm hoping that comes to a stop soon, as that's a recipe for fried Anthony, and a fried Anthony is a cranky Anthony that no one wants to be around. Heck, I don't even want to be around me when I'm cranky. I'm awful! Plus, I smell awful when I'm fried. Baked in a confection oven, now that's a different story!

OK, that wasn't even remotely amusing.

Previously, I had mentioned an interest in music and composition. That interest is still there, but at best, it's only an interest. I'm too busy now to actually pursue it regularly, no matter how much I want to.

Girls -- who can fathom them? I sure as heck can't. With that said, the priesthood is becoming an ever more tempting option. Don't get me wrong: I love women, and I would probably enjoy being married to one. I just don't really remember why anymore.

And speaking of girls and Lent, a certain young man set me up. The jerk knows me well enough to know that I can't actually turn down a real challenge, even if my first reaction is to say no. Knowing this, he suggested mildly that I give up flirting for Lent. You can imagine my initial reaction of, "What? Give up flirting? You've GOT to be kidding me! No way!" He suggested that if I have to flirt, then I should flirt with only one person. I made a few suggestions, but he said no, I wasn't allowed to flirt with any of them. I could only flirt with Christine. "Why Christine?" I asked, thinking that I already knew the reason. Turns out I was right, I did know the reason: she wouldn't flirt back, and constantly puts me down. His reasoning was this: "When you're married, you can't just flirt all the time." "True," I reasoned back, "but when I'm married I'll be able to focus all my flirting on one lady, and I do intend to flirt with her daily." He couldn't really argue too much with that, but he still stood by what he said: that I should give up flirting for Lent. Naturally, I refused.

The next day, Christine was online, and I told her what this young man had told me. She lauded him on such a wonderful idea, and insisted that it would only be of good use to me. According to her, I flirt to hide who I really am. According to me, who I really am is a superficial flirt, so I'm not really hiding anything. But the more I thought about Lent and my refusal to give up something, the more it bugged me. So I eventually broke and gave it up. And now it's a daily struggle to not flirt. Do you have any idea how much of a problem this is? This is awful! I can't just go around flirting with girls anymore. I have to have serious conversations. This is truly the low point of my life.

And now for something a bit more rebellious (actually, is it really?). I want a motorcycle. And I'm not just dreaming this time. I actually really want a motorcycle. I went to a shop not to long ago to look at them. I sized up a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic, and a Honda Shadow Sabre. I also ogled a Suzuki, but the only one that they had to show me was the Boulevard M109R in red. It was a stunning bike, but it looked to be designed for one person. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but having the extra seat would be convenient.

Of course, anyone in their right mind would argue to death with me about the dangers of riding a motorcycle, how I can kill myself on one, how I can't afford it, how I don't need it, how it will make me even more of a social outcast than I currently make myself, etc. But you know what? I'm getting older, and the three of the most dangerous things I've ever done all involve work: 1. slipped and fell under a mower -- I still have my toes thanks to steel-toed boots; 2. worked for 36 hours straight in front of a computer, nearly going insane and contemplating quitting; 3. worked at an asphalt plant where the danger of me falling off the shaker and getting run over by a Cat front-end-loader was about as likely as my going deaf or getting killed by my co-workers, some of whom had jail experience. I've ridden roller coasters, the Dive Bomber Alley at Six Flags Over Texas, and I just feel like I'm reaching the end of my prime. Call it an early mid-life crisis. Call it stupidity of youth. Call it whatever you will, but don't deny an old man his dreams.

Oh yeah, and I also want a tattoo. Perhaps 1, perhaps 2. I haven't decided for sure how I want them. But, if I ever get a tattoo, I want a traditional Sacred Heart of Jesus and a traditional Immaculate Heart of Mary. And when I say traditional, I mean just that. I don't want a freaky new-age design. It had better be Michelangelo himself putting that into my skin, or I will freak out and punch the artist and not pay him. That's one of the main reasons why I will probably never get a tattoo -- I want them to be perfect. I don't want to have them ruined by some punk who thinks he's doing me a favor and making me look all bad and like a tough guy by adding a dragon's head around the hearts or something. And, since most tattoo artists are known for experiencing trips and highs, I'll probably not be getting a tattoo any time soon. But you never know. There could be a good Traditional-Latin-Mass Catholic priest available who just happens to be proficient with a needle and ink...

So anyway, yeah. That's about it. I'm hanging in there. If you're reading this blog, you know how to contact me if you so desire. And if you don't desire, that's cool, too. You know who you are, and if I get a messed up tattoo on my body, think about how you might have been the voice that could have stopped me. {wink}

Ciao for now! God Bless!

Oh, and check out my new blog on the side there: "Ramblings of a Crazy Person". It's a different category than this one...

Quotable quotes

I'm on the phone with Lizzie. Her quotable quote this time:

"I've forgotten how much fun history is. It's like reading a racy novel, sometimes."

It's been awhile again, huh?

Well, dear readers, if there are any of you left (which I doubt), a lot has happened in the past three months. Don't even bother asking me everything. Here's a brief summary of the highlights.

October continued on pretty well. I told you that I went home right? Of course, I did. Then Halloween came and went. I spent about $25 on Halloween candy, and gave about half of it away. I was as generous as I could be, but there came a point when I decided that I actually did want some of it -- Butterfinger, Mounds, Almond Joy, you get my drift? ;)

November was pretty good. Work was really busy, but I can't remember why. Sometime that month, my gym schedule, which had already slacked off from 6 days a week down to 3 went to 1, if I was lucky. Oh, and my twin sister brought #4 into the world -- Zachary Michael.

Oh, and sometime in either October or November, I decided that I want to take classes in acting and music theory & composition. Over the past couple of months, I've decided that I want to pursue music as a side profession, although I still have the most fun when I'm acting.

Two major work-related things happened in December: #1, I messed up my own data, and it was quite a fire drill over about 30 hours straight to rebuild all of the affected data. #2, the following weekend, we had our company party at the Kennedy Center. It was great -- except that I was really tired (still recovering from the week), so I didn't really get into it until about half-way through.

I didn't go to the gym at all in December. I was too busy with work and Christmas choir practices. But the latter was for naught, because JD and I drive down to Texas to visit our respective families for Christmas, and spent three full days there. I arrived at home in Dallas at 9PM on Sunday, and JD picked me up again at about noon on Thursday. It was a lot of fun, although very short -- I got to visit with Emma and Sarah, Kelly P. went Christmas shopping with me on Monday, and Jenny D. and I went to lunch on Wednesday.

On Christmas Eve, Mom and I went to Our Lady of Lebanon in Lewisville for Liturgy. It was quite nice. Emma and Sarah asked me to join them in the choir loft for a couple hymns, and I was more than happy to oblige. My voice wasn't quite up to the task, though. Quite sad. Be sad. Are you sad? If you are, thank you.

On Christmas Day, Mom and I met with Elizabeth and her four chillun's (yes, the new one is as cute as a button). I was in my morning coat (most normal people would wear it to weddings -- I would wear it to weddings and the birthday of the Savior, and most likely His Resurrection, too). Anyway, we went to Mass together, then Mom and I went to her house where we had breakfast and opened round 1 of presents. Later in the evening, Jane and Gilbert came over with Kathy and the two babies. Then we all opened round 2 of presents.

On Wednesday, Mom and I watched Batman Begins. During the rest of my short stay there, we also watched Yours, Mine, and Ours and Evan Almighty.

Thursday came, and Mom and I went to Mass early in the morning. I was expecting Jonathan around 8AM. He was running a few hours late -- this was good thing. Had he been on time, he would have been driving from about 3AM, plus we would also have to contend with Dallas traffic -- even though we're not in Dallas officially, we are near enough. So he actually showed up about noon and we had smooth sailing out of Dallas, and we were both able to stay awake for a while and talk.

The day I got back to VA, I felt like I was beginning to adjust to the TX weather differences, and my asthma (or whatever it is in my lungs) was beginning to open up a little. So, Jonathan and I drove straight back to VA without stopping, arriving at 6:30-7:00 AM. We got back to his place, and I crashed on the couch until about 10AM, when I drove back to my place. I was cold, tired, and my chest was rather congested, although not too badly. I went to the gym after unpacking. I worked out very hard, considering that I hadn't been to the gym in almost 2 months due to life being very busy, and I exhausted my lungs. My body felt like it could keep going, but my congested lungs were screaming for more space to store oxygen, so I was done.

After my shower, I put on a lot of warm clothes, and drive back to my place. I began shivering while getting dressed and didn't stop until I was more than half-way back to my place. As soon as I got out of the car, I began shivering again, and this didn't stop until about ten minutes after I went inside, put my sweaty clothes into the basket, put on my sweats/PJ's, and crawled into bed. It was about 3:30 PM. About 4:30, Eric W. came back to the townhouse, and chit-chatted with me for a bit, then got recalled to work, so he had to take off. I went back to sleep until about 7:30, when he got back. By this point, I was feeling a lot better, although not 100%. I ate some chicken soup and took some Nyquil, and then Eric and I went to the Chipmunks movie. That was really funny. Plus, the music is AWESOME! I love the Chipmunks. :)

Saturday, about noon, Jonathan came by again, but this time, we were going to the English's house in Lancaster, PA. On the way, we picked up Meghan and Mary Beth at Meghan's house in MD. We were all going up there to sing Christmas carols at a Christmas party that the English's were hosting. We arrived at about 4PM, and began practicing about 4:30. We stopped for dinner at 5:30, then continued again after dinner until about 8PM. I was singing bass for almost everything except for 2 pieces where I sang tenor. After we were done singing, I was freezing, so I got my coat and looked like I was in a cassock for the rest of the evening. My voice was pretty much OK, but I was still quite tired, but I couldn't crash yet. About 10:00 PM, I began fading, but I managed to stay half-awake until 11:30, when I went to bed.

Early the next morning, we went to the church early to practice for Mass. I discovered much to my chagrin that my high voice was 95% gone. The only voice I had left was a scratchy low voice -- and I was supposed to sing tenor all through Mass. Well, Paul helped me as much as he could, but I was practically useless. We sang 3 pieces, and my voice got progressively better (it wet from about 5% at the beginning of Mass to 10% for the final piece), and right after the final piece, I lost it entirely. It wasn't even at 5% -- it was at 0%. I had no voice for the next couple hours, and since then I've been gaining a little bit back every day. Today, I'm almost 100%, but my lungs are still interfering -- when I start to sing in my high range, I feel the very strong urge to break into a coughing fit.

On the way back from the English's, Jonathan, Mary Beth and I were talked into staying for a bit at Meghan's house to participate in a Christmas open house/party. I was happy to stay, but with my voice the way it was, I couldn't really talk to people well until much later in the evening when it was a variation on the low voice of the Preview Guy.

And speaking of coughing fits, I've been having them every night. Usually from 3-4PM, anywhere from 30 minutes to a full hour. Last night, I think I coughed twice -- no fits. It was nice to be able to sleep again. Although, I feel another one coming on now, so I question my ability to sleep tonight. Wish me luck. I'm going to try now...

Hello. Did you miss me?

To all of the people who ever got a kick out of reading my blog, I need to apologize for not writing in here for ... well, several months, now. I've been a bad boy, and, in the words of a good friend of mine, Patrick (only a couple of you actually know him), "I deserve to be punished." At this point, Pat would go over to the liquor cabinet and grab the pisco, which is a rather strong brandy that is very popular in Chili and Peru, and made of Moscatel grapes. Yes, I just looked that up, because I forgot what it was.

"How's life been, my old friend?" you may inquire. I may then reply to such a query with, "Well, old chap, it's been right miserable," and then proceed to bore you with a three-hour tragedy of woes. If you're a lady, I'd never tell you tales of my adventures on the high seas and how I lost my leg to a minnow. I may instead say, "My dear lady, it's been simply marvellous," and then proceed to tell you tales of gallantry, and then, as you're wondering to yourself, "Did he really do all this?" out would walk a magnificent white horse the size of a Shire Horse with the speed of an Arabian, but every bit as wild as a Mustang, with the strength of a Shelby Mustang. I would then done my feathered helmet, hop on this magnificent beast and do battle with a dragon.

"And how's work?" you may then ask. Well, work has been busy. Times are going well, although times are also very busy. I've spent several nights at work one week, simply because I couldn't concentrate during the day -- too much pent-up energy, I guess. In any case, I had to be there during the day, but since I couldn't get much work done, I had to work at night, when the bright sunshine and the wonderful weather wasn't beckoning me with its siren call. Aside from that, work has been going well.

"Do you have a personal life at all anymore?" Well, that all depends upon what you mean when you say "personal life." If you mean to ask me if I do all the things I want to do ... well, frankly, no, I don't. I don't have the time. (Oh, do you mind if I call you frankly? Yes? OK, I'll stop.) What with two jobs, my workout routine and my choral commitments, all of my time outside of work is spent doing these things or sleeping. I don't have much time for the pleasantries of life anymore, aside from listening to music and keeping up with Facebook.

On the plus side, you know how people give up things for Lent this year, things that would be a sacrifice? Well, I used to think that giving up video games would be a sacrifice. I haven't played them in so long that it wouldn't be a sacrifice for me to do it anymore. There are only two things I could really give up for Lent (aside form the usual fasting): Facebook and music. Music is the only thing that keeps me going at times, so that leaves me with only one option.

And now for something completely different. Have you ever wondered if this would be fun? No? Seriously? Man, I must be weird or something. I saw this picture and I began looking for opportunities. It's not the same suspended under my car, because my car is kind of little (it's a Nissan Sentra -- I can't really fit comfortably under it). So, I'm a little weird, huh? That's OK. I've been told worse things. I'll take that as a compliment.

I'm in Texas again visiting family and friends. The last time I was here, I worked about 60 hours per week, and didn't get much visitation time. I felt kind of bad, because I was on the computer all day while Mom did her usual routine. I'd get up every once in while, but overall, it wasn't much of a vacation. This time, however, I've got several days off -- today being one of them. Sweet freedom. :)

In any case, I think that's it for me for today. I'll try to keep up with you all, but you are all very quick movers, and I'm just one shy lil' man.

Population Research Institute

Population Research Institute is a pro-life educational organization dedicated to protecting and defending human life, ending human rights abuses committed in the name of family planning, and dispelling the myth of overpopulation.

A buddy of mine who I went to college with works there and is the producer of these videos.

Life

Normally, I'd had things broken up by week, but since the beginning of August, I haven't had much time to think, much less to blog. So what else is new? Silly question, but here goes.

Work, for one, is new. I remember back in the day when I began at my current company. It seemed like there weren't enough hours in the day to handle my small workload. Now, I handle data on two of the biggest competitors in the telecom industry. Their data is top priority for me every day. No matter what happens, it is all high priority. Why? Because these two competitors are just that important. Our clients want to see their data accurate to the day, which means that if one of them changes everything, I've got my work cut out for me for the day. The problem with this is that I am not the most efficient worker known to exist. When I start experimenting with efficiency, I start taking short cuts. Short cuts are not efficient in my work -- they will only cause more problems later on, leading to a greater inefficiency.

It sounds fairly stressful, and at times, it is. This past few months have been one big fight to stay on top of things. Of these two high-priority competitors that I manage, I have owned the data for one in the past, and I've owned the data for the other since I began at the company. Thus, when I had to take on the one that I used to own, the learning curve was much less steep than it could have been.

In any case, outside of work, I've been busy with my workout routine -- well, that is, until I got home to Texas. After that, it fell apart. I work so much during the day that it's hard to take 30 minutes to go jogging. The most exercise I get is throwing my nephew and niece around every so often. No, not literally "throwing", but lifting them in the air to do things like walk on ceilings. Oh, I did push ups with each of them on my back, too.

I've also been busy with weddings. Ryan and Maria O. got married several weeks ago, as did Pat and Niki a couple weekends ago. Alex and Ashley are about to get married, and after them, Corey and Maria, and then MikeE and Carissa. I always have a lot of fun at people's weddings, whether I'm DJ'ing or not.

So, yeah, speaking of Texas, I'm there now, and it's more than half-way through my stay. I've been so busy with work and trying to visit people that I haven't had a chance to work on this blog yet either. For your entertainment value, though, here is a picture of three little buggers whom some of you are probably interested in seeing...

The weather is actually fairly nice here. I went up to visit Emma and her family last week, and this week, I saw Kelly. I fly out on Tuesday of next week, and I still haven't seen Jenny yet, so we'll see what happens there. I hope to be able to get a picture of everyone before leaving, but I don't think that will happen, either. I need to be more proactive in this little matter of taking pictures...

This is Mary Claire. She's cutting her teeth on religion. It's usually a choice between these or my medal around my neck if I'm holding her. She's just too cute. Seriously. I just look at her and say, "Hey, little girl! Why are you crying?" and all tears disappear and she is bright and sunshiny. If I ever have kids, I hope that they are like her when they are babies. She is so happy. The only reason she is looking less than thrilled in the camera is that chewing on a Rosary is hard work. If you have Facebook, I'll be posting more pictures there soon enough. Just keep your pants on. Unless you don't wear pants, in which case, keep your kilt on. Unless you don't wear a kilt, in which case, keep your skirt on. Unless you don't wear a skirt, in which case, keep your clothes on. Unless you don't wear clothes, in which case, I'll need either A) the name and number of your doctor to let him (or her) know that you're in need of mental care, or B) your exact address and what times of day you prefer to be in the buff so that I know to never come around then...

Transformers

Crazy crazy fun! Not much of a plot, but the special effects are simply fantastic! I'd definitely watch this movie again!

Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4.0)

I watched this last night with MikeE, Carissa, Eric W, Alex S, Ashley F, Pat MacD, Niki C, and Michael C. Holy mackerel, this was an awesome movie!!! I've not seen the other three Die Hard movies, but it was still awesome! There were references to the previous movies, but you didn't need to see the first three to enjoy this one. There was enough action to satisfy pretty much anyone. My jaw hit the floor several times with the scenes. Wow! Watch this movie!

The Pursuit of Happyness

This is a new movie featuring the father/son combo of Will and Jaden Smith as a father and son in the early 80's. This story is about their struggle together to survive and get somewhere in the world when it seems like the everything has turned against them, even the world itself. It's a good movie. I'd recommend it to viewers who like Will Smith and who like a good story. It's got a very heavy feel for most of the movie. For the bulk of it, I felt very badly for Will Smith, because even his wife had no faith in him and walked out on him. The only person who stayed with him was his son, and even that relationship needed to be worked at.

It's a great movie in particular, because it demonstrates that all relationships need work, love and trust to last. It also shows the inherent weakness of just walking away from problems instead of trying to fix them.

Weekend

This was a great weekend. I slept in on Saturday until about 11:00 AM, worked on my blog, watched Desperado, and called Emma later on in the day. I wrapped up the day watching Returners, and went to bed about midnight.

On Sunday, Eric P. and I went to Old St. Mary's for the Tridentine High Mass at 9:00 AM, and then went to breakfast at Amphora's. After that, I changed into my regular clothes and took it easy all day.

Returner

This is a weird movie, and it's all in Japanese with subtitles. It's not a bad movie, it's just weird. About half-way through, I began to enjoy it. Until then, though, it was a very hard movie to make myself continue watching. The action sequences are beautifully done, the bad guy is so over-the-top that you just want to hate him, and the girl is ... well, really girly. Like 16-year-old really girly. Not a great combination with a bad guy who portrays the basest of men, and a good guy that you can only tell is the good guy because he's opposed to the bad guy. Anyway, so yeah. It finished up wonderfully. I predicted a good chuck of it, but the ending I did not predict. It finished strong, but began horribly...

Desperado

This was the second in the El Mariachi Trilogy, and a great movie. I recommend it as it is a fun movie, but it is not exactly a family movie...

Kiss Me Kate

This is a really fun movie! I very much recommend it for any fan of classic musical! My absolute favorite characters in the movie are the mobsters. They are hilarious!!

"Brush up your Shakespeare!
Start quoting him now!
Brush up your Shakespeare
and the women you will wow!"

...And speaking of this song, I found lyrics and chords for it here. I think that this is the original stage version, because the two middle verses aren't in the movie...

Although I love the costumes in the play, I'm so glad that they are not standard fare anymore.

I'm also really impressed by the dancing in the classic musicals. The pure talent and the hours of practicing -- wow...

Graduation Weekend

This was a bittersweet weekend, as graduation always is. I made plans to get down there early on Friday, circa 1:00 PM, but it didn't work out that way. I didn't manage to leave the office until 3:00 PM. Fortunately, it actually did work out, because Sylvia called me to ask for directions, and since I was still in the office at the time she called, I was able to pull up Google Maps and give her directions.

Anyway, so yeah, traffic was fun. I got to sit in "rush" hour traffic for about two hours. I made it to Christendom with only a few minutes to spare. The Mass was very nicely done, with several priests concelebrating. It was kind of odd seeing Emma, Lizzie, Laurel, Angela, Katherine, Emily, and Michael (I'm missing someone, aren't I?) all in graduation gowns. The reality of the situation came to smack me in the head. Soon, I would not see half of these people for a very long time, if not ever again...

That evening, I went to Sarah's apartment at Guardian Angel with Eric P., Draper, John E., Breanna, Chrissie, JD, Sarah (obviously), Freddo, Kyle, AJ (and I know I'm missing people in this list), and we all had dinner (thank you, Sarah!) and a general good time.

The next day, I saw many people (among whom I would classify several as my best friends) walk across the stage, receive their diplomas, and essentially cross over into a new life. They were no longer students. There was no more fun times to be had after Sunday brunch, singing, or beating out strange rhythms on tables (much to the chagrin of those surrounding us), or anything with these people. Some would indeed be around during the summer, but seeing them again as alumni is entirely different then seeing them as fellow students, even though we were only students together for two years.

After the graduation ceremony on Saturday, Emma F. and Claire O. held a music recital for their families. They both sang a few pieces that meant a lot to them and their families. It was a very nice thought -- very moving.

The next day, after Mass, there was a tearful goodbye with Lizzie, and then she was gone shortly after that. I went to brunch with Emma, her family, John E., and Breanna. That was a very interesting time. It was fun, but I had never met a few of the people present, so I was quiet -- well, quiet in comparison to how I usually am.

After this, I helped Emma pack up her stuff and load up her family's suburban. i was reluctant to let her go also the same day as my other close friends, so since we were both going to Ken's house for a bonfire, we rode together. After leaving Ken's place, I said goodbye and dropped her off at Blessed Margaret's. I then went to St. Theresa's and hung out at their bonfire for about fifteen minutes, chatted lightly, sang a couple songs, and then drove back to the apartment.

There is something to be said about juniors and freshmen. When I was a junior and I saw this class come in, I wanted to be there for them since they were the newest underdogs, and I wasn't worried about establishing myself in the heirarchy. I got to know this class very well, and I will miss them.

One of my thoughts on graduation is something that Deacon David B. (shares the same last name as my good friend Lizzie) from Holy Transfiguration recently told me. He actually told me this in the context of Pascha, and how good things must end. Many years ago, he and his family were visiting a friend's house, as friends are often found doing. When it was time to leave, his wife told his children to get ready to go. His children asked, "Why do we have to go? Can't we stay here forever?" Mrs. B. replied, "But if we don't leave, we can never come back." The children responded well to this, and prepared to leave.

My thought on the matter is that graduation is a very joyful time, and yet a very hard time for everyone. It involves parting ways with your best friends -- in some cases, forever. But, Deacon David's story plays its part now: "If we don't leave, we can never come back." In the original context, he meant that unless you stop celebrating, you can never again celebrate. Unless there is a parting of ways between friends, there can never be the joy of reunion. With that in mind, I will definitely be offering up my prayers for the class of 2007, that they may quickly find comfort in their graduation and new lives, and that both the good and the bad times that they had together in Christendom will prepare them for an incredible joy upon their eventual reunion. May God bless each and every one of them, and may Our Lady hold them each individually as her favorite son or daughter.

The Tuxedo

Jackie Chan's movie is a lot of fun, like most of his movies are. I actually really like it, but I know there are others that would disagree with me. I recommend watching it for yourself and making your own opinion.

Weird Al Yankovic, Live in concert!!!

 

Eric told me about this some time ago, and I had completely forgotten, but hey, I wouldn't miss Weird Al in concert if ... I dunno. I just wouldn't intentionally miss him in concert.

This concert was loads of fun. It was at the Rams Head Tavern in Baltimore. For the record, the acoustics there are absolutely horrible. I've been to a few concerts, but none of them have ever been this bad. When you can't understand a word that Weird Al is saying but you know the song because you've heard it so much, it's OK, but you still want to hear the song. And you couldn't, because the acoustics were simply atrocious. Now that my rant is over, I'll tell you why the concert was so much fun.

Weird Al Yankovic. What isn't fun about that? He parodies everything, and when he's not parodying something he's making fun of people, ideas or trends. It's awesome!

He opened with a few songs from his new album, Straight Outta Lynwood, beginning first with Polkarama!, and then going into You're Pitiful, Close But No Cigar, and I'll Sue Ya. He did more from his new album, but I can't recall what they were off the top of my head. He left the stage and came back on in his music video costumes for several of his music videos, such as the aforementioned You're Pitiful, It's All About The Pentiums, Fat, Couch Potato, White & Nerdy, Smells Like Nirvana and Amish Paradise. He did two long medleys of some of his older songs, mixing them with some of his new ones, including Headline News (which was redone for the concert, making fun of Britney Spears' recent episodes of life), Pretty Fly For A Rabbi, A Complicated Song, Eat It, Trapped In The Drive-Thru, Confessions Part III, and Ebay -- among others. He also sang White & Nerdy, Canadian Idiot, Weasel Stomping Day, Do I Creep You Out, and Wanna B Ur Lovr. Between sessions, there were short breaks where he showed his Weird Al TV interviews (which is basically him "interviewing" stars, and by "interviewing", I mean replacing the interviewer's questions with his own, and placing their answers after his random questions to make them look funny -- an instant classic one is him with Jessica Simpson, or him with Eminem, but he also reworked a number of others), and a few other videos that he modified. He also showed the opening of the music video to Fat before coming out to perform it in his fat suit. Meanwhile, the audience was going nuts, and singing along with everything and dancing appropriately to whatever song was being played. I was singing so loud and so much that I practically shouted my voice out, so towards the end of the concert, I quieted down to help save my voice.

He wrapped up the concert to thunderous applause, and he came back out and did a song about cell phones (which was awesome), and finished with Albuquerque. Yes, Pat S., I completely sang my voice out for you on that one, buddy!

Anyway, so at the end of the concert, I had no voice left. I was extremely hoarse, but it was so worth it. Today, I have my voice back -- kind of. It's not all the way there. My speaking range is there, but don't ask me to sing. That's gone. I'll be giving that a rest for the next couple of days. Hopefully, it'll be better by Friday for my voice lesson.

 

A rather long weekend -- kind of...

This weekend wasn't really all that long, it just felt it...

On Saturday, morning, I woke up bright and early to help one of Sarah H's sisters and her family unload a moving van. I got to Front Royal around 10:00 AM, just in time for some big stuff. Anyway, I worked with them until about noon, and then I went to Front Royal. I was scheduled to meet up with Dan D. to give him a haircut, but I didn't see him at brunch.

Alexandria C. was in town, so we went to breakfast in town and got caught up on life. I'm sure that there was more that could have been said, considering that it had been about two years since we'd seen each other, but a lot of stuff happens in two years, and it's hard to remember it all... :)

After that, I went back to Dan's room to see if he was there. Since he wasn't, I decided to go to Manassas. MikeE had invited me to go see Spider-Man 3 for Carissa's birthday. Originally, I didn't think that I could be there on time, but considering that I was done with everything early, I called them and let them know that I was on the way. However, they were in the theater, and the movie was about to start in 15 minutes, so I was going to miss it anyway. Since I missed part 1 of this 2-part get-together, I made tentative plans to meet up with them after the movie for dinner. I also made tentative plans to meet up with Emma in the evening. She had a Student Activities Council dinner to attend, so it probably wouldn't be until much later.

I went back to the apartment and worked for a little while. I had some classic cartoons going on in the background, mostly Popeye. At about 5:00 PM, I called MikeE back to see what the dinner plans were, but they were canceled. With this new change of plans, I went to Vespers at Holy Transfiguration, since I hadn't been there in a few weeks.

After Vespers, I came back to the apartment and watched Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Emma called me to let me know that she was on her way back from the dinner, but since I was still at the apartment, and it was nearing 10:30 PM, we decided to get together on Sunday.

Anyway, so on Sunday morning, bright and early, I drove to Front Royal, rather unlike what I had wanted to do (I was going to go there the day before so that I wouldn't have to make the drive in the morning). But I made it there. Emma's cold was getting better, and she sang with the choir at the Mass at Christendom.

Today was a big day for the Christendom College Choir because they were scheduled to sing at St. John's in town as well for the Tridentine Latin Mass at 12:30 PM. A couple choir members couldn't make it because of the cold that was going around, several choir members couldn't make it because of studying or other stuff that came up, so we had smaller numbers, but I think we did all right. After that, we went to Dean's Steak House in Front Royal for the choir dinner. Emma and I arm-wrestled. It's embarrassing to say that I won, because it's not cool for a guy to beat a girl in things of the sort, but it would still be embarrassing had I lost. In short, I'm a bad person... :-P

After the choir dinner, we all went back to campus, and I chatted with Emma, Lizzie, Laurel, M.C., Paul, and several other people for a little while. Emma said that she had some pictures for me, so before I left, I drove her back to her dorm and she showed me the pictures, and I got to pick a few. My favorite one is the last one on this post. Oh, and if you want to see bigger versions of the pictures, just click on them.

I went to Christine's house for a party that she was throwing for Josh and Leslie, to celebrate Josh's new beard and their new Corgi puppy, Sweat Pea. I'm fairly certain that she is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi -- I'm just guessing of course, because her tail was docked. All I know is that she was a Corgi and she was cute as a button, and she knew it...

So, after Christine's party, I went back to Christendom and met up with Emma again. We chatted for a little while -- I think until 12:30? I'm not sure, but Emma had a final in about 8 hours, and I was being rude keeping her, so I said my farewells and drove back to the apartment. And now, it's time for a very long and busy week at work...

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

This is the first time that I've seen this movie all the way through. The first time I saw it, I fell asleep in the beginning, and woke up about 75% of the way through it.

This is a really excellent film. I love the music and the action in it! It's violent, and perhaps a bit over-the-top in a couple places for some people, but I think it is well worth watching. :)

Casino Royale

The latest in the Bond films has left me stunned. It was an excellent film. At first, I didn't think that I would enjoy it too much, mostly because the actor had changed, but when I saw the first chase of the movie (perhaps 10 minutes into it), I realized that I would enjoy it thoroughly.

As is standard for James Bond movies, there are some things which would scandalize the more innocent people of the world, but James Bond is well-known for seduction. Overall, though, this movie is, I think, the cleanest one yet.

It's also one of the sweetest ones. The action scenes in here are simply amazing. All the people involved put a lot of work into making the movie well, and I'd say that they succeeded quite nicely. It was a great film!