tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15276012330827888722024-03-04T20:13:05.491-08:00Here's What I Have To Say About...J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-34473659480003816672011-08-15T12:20:00.000-07:002011-08-15T12:37:02.058-07:00"I'm Spartacus! I'm Spartacus! I'm... semi-fit."<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://criterion-production.s3.amazonaws.com/stills/4711/P.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://criterion-production.s3.amazonaws.com/stills/4711/P.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Old School Spartacus, because seeing a half-naked <br />
dude on your blog seems a little weird.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Okay, so summer is coming to a close and I've spent most of it being lazy. Though I can't take full responsibility for my laziness. Science has proven that extreme temperatures and probably lack of rain causes a certain feeling of laziness among people. So my desire to come home everyday and just crash on the couch is not entirely my fault. The mythical winged beast known as global warming is to blame. Not to mention living in Austin, Texas where one hundred plus degree days have been the norm. <br />
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So as I said, summer is coming to a close, back to school season is underway, and I have a vacation coming up in about twelve weeks. With all of that, I figure it was time to get back to business and start working out again... as well as writing. Might as well create some total life discipline.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wallpaperpimper.com/wallpaper/Landscape/Lake_and_Waterfall/Southern-California-coast-1-N8LK6V92NT-1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.wallpaperpimper.com/wallpaper/Landscape/Lake_and_Waterfall/Southern-California-coast-1-N8LK6V92NT-1024x768.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Southern California, where I'll be a beach bum <br />
for a week</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Initially the vacation was to be in the Florida keys, but has since changed to the opposite end of the US map with California. While I'm sure I won't be sporting much a shirtless look in early November in California, I thought it would still be a good time frame to work with to get in shape. With that, I went in search of something I could do for twelve weeks, what I found was a workout program from Men's Health, <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/spartacus/workouts/">The Spartacus Workout</a>. Apparently, it was inspired by the Starz television show, 'Spartacus', whose actors must constantly stay in shape with little time to workout.<br />
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Scouring the web, I tried to see if in fact the workout was legit. Unfortunately, all I found were Ad sites trying to promote themselves by piggybacking off the popularity of the workout or forum sites filled with meat-heads who diss the workout because it doesn't make you like a WWE wrestler. Realizing it couldn't hurt... much, I've decided to give it try, since I myself have no desire to look like a WWE wrestler, but just desire to be strong and fit.<br />
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So today is Day 1. The plan is to incorporate a couple of days of weight training in-between the workout as well as maintain a decent diet. No hardcore calorie counting or anything considering I generally know what I should be eating and my breakfasts and lunches are nearly the same everyday. The key will to just be disciplined at dinner and know what I eat then.<br />
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I'm also thinking of doing the stereotypical before and after, but since I'm a wuss and self-conscious I might at least take the pictures now, but post when it's all said and done. That way, if I fail miserably or nothing really happens, I don't look like an idiot. Though, if it does work, I can be the first real person to say "No, I'm not thinking of trying it out, I did try it out and it worked (great, well, okay, or who created this thing?!)" and provide real answers to anyone else wanting to know.<br />
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What I look forward to the most though is a workout routine that doesn't involve me buying expensive DVDs, workout machines, or going to the gym to attempt to use machines I would probably have to wait hours to use and not in order as part of a circuit. It's all either yourself or free weights. Not even a chin-up bar that would never fit or hold in my house (I worry about the walls now without my hanging from some bar attached to them).<br />
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So it may still be a one hundred plus for the next month and a half, but I'm saying farewell to summer laziness!J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-78049930784021037932011-08-09T13:13:00.000-07:002011-08-09T13:24:31.043-07:00Life on Pause and the Batteries are DeadSo I thought I would do a personal post as I've revived my writing website after some time away from it.<br />
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Check it out here: <a href="http://jrwoods.snappages.com/">http://jrwoods.snappages.com</a><br />
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In about one week, it will have been one year since my college graduation and like many college graduates over the past few years, I'm exactly where I started before I graduated. Thankfully, I have a job that pays the bills. While I know many out there are not as fortunate, it's still hard to sit idly by with no prospects of anything new. We go to school, study hard and make good grades to make it into college. From there we study some more and maybe party as well, all with the hope of graduating and getting a degree that is believed to "open doors". We bounce around a bit from job to job and hopefully find that career that makes us feel pretty good. Something we can at least tolerate for 40 plus hours a week. For me (and my wife), that's something that is still being sought after.<br />
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Unfortunately, with our modern economy it seems like we're all stuck on pause. This not to say that I haven't tried to dig myself out of the mud. As in my last post, I made an attempt at fire fighting with no luck. I was just a bit too much "Batman" and not enough "Superman" on paper for their liking. The next attempt was a couple of applications with no call backs. And the most recent attempt at a change was a complete tease. The job was listed as paying in a range less than what I make to more than what I make. As any logical person would conclude, had I gotten an interview and done well, you'd expect I'd be offered either my current pay or better. Well, as it turned out, I did get an interview and made the top of the list, yet the pay changed and not for the better. The offer was for less than my current salary. I had no choice, but to turn it down. Still on pause.<br />
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Changing gears, my wife and I have also gotten antsy feet in wanting to move out of our neighborhood and our state. With 100 degree plus days nearly every day this summer, we are wanting something different. Maybe even another country. What has happened to the world of adventure? It almost seems like the world is boxing us in more and more. It almost feels like a modern day '1984' (the book) where any sense of adventure, change or uniqueness is all out of reach or dead.<br />
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I won't lie, it's been hard... and yes, I realize how blessed I am in many things, but I find it hard to believe that this is it. A job with steady pay is nice, a home with superficial things are nice, but I care more about a life of joy rather than being a machine. My wife brings me joy and my dog makes me smile. I'm blessed for sure, but I want us to live a life that is fulfilling and not just routine.<br />
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*****<br />
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So while I wait for life and the economy to get back in gear, I'm doing the one thing I know I can do that maybe, just maybe, can help get us out of this slump... writing! Yes, I know it's a long shot, but I've played most of the cards I have (which aren't many).J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-61293942663890220972011-02-03T14:37:00.000-08:002011-02-03T14:38:41.743-08:00New Site, New Goals!<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPWBeLxMBu8jtQbIPapQW7bi_SpbuSwuTIBpClEl8gkldXN3blLKHNm7shZ69c5nQus0XlUcrTlgV8xDiH7NNk7tO28-AtdgsYrLhimncGZA993_6zE8WkUlYx30V6tU2kURRSXA1NXEr/s1600/writing.jpg"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpHltPgo-rrJCZqx6fEYASvajLY5FKyQF-09JJnuOd3VzquJm6sOCa5u9_InF5n4YM_puCtJuKP56-DKwz6mJkVNjN98xZeaVIXX89Jxfr-aluE8spwy_AbFFiADrEujgJMuP9VrNNmN2/s200/writing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
While unsurprising, I think I will be slowly phasing out this blog for a new one... or maybe I will keep this around as a personal blog. I'm not sure yet. I kind of feel bad abandoning the hard work I've put into tweaking this blog to look nice (at least to me). <br />
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Why leave you say? Well, over the last couple of months Amy and I have decided to pursue or goals and desires to write and after taking some necessary steps to make that happen, we both decided that we each need a solid web presence considering our 21st century world is all about social networking and other electronic media and a simple blog was just simply not gonna cut the mustard. By the way, why the phrase "cut the mustard"? While not a fan of the stuff personally, my experiences have only ever been with a pasty or powdery substance.<br />
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...<br />
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Okay, after a brief Google search, Google doesn't really know either. Anyway, coming back to the subject at hand, like I mentioned above Amy and I felt the need to be more legit. This not to say that anyone with a blog is not legit, but we just wanted more.<br />
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So far we both have websites that we are working on to make presentable with real content, each of which have their blog and connections to our new Twitter accounts and Facebook Fan Pages. Yeah, we're kind of serious and want this to happen. With that said, once I launch my site and everything officially, most of my blogging content will be found there, but maybe I'll keep this blog around for my less than structured blog rants.<br />
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<a href="http://www.becomeafireman.org.uk/images/how%20to%20become%20a%20fireman.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgivRRmzW6RcfDn3YSnDff8MXtcscM8uaIeJ_H_q0j7zxvgNb14mD3N91C73yLS_Urkouzoq4FlgompETvpl7FAEpeGPlKXOQaAq9XBaXVkXD-VExXgAiq9hq6G3YdW0htz9415ZrFAtpC6/s200/fireman.jpg" width="200" /></a>On a separate unrelated note, I have begun the process of hoping to be hired by the city of Austin as a firefighter. So far it has been a long process that started with over 5,000 applicants that was slightly whittled down to about 4,600 (including myself) applicants who were eligible to take a basic written exam last week. According the reports, about 3,300 showed up and from there the Austin Fire Department plans of whittling that number down by about a third based on scored on a moral/personality test we took that same day. If they didn't deem me a crazy man and I passed the basic written assessment test (which I felt good about) I should move onto the next step which is a structured oral interview. From there, those who make it past that are then moved on the the physical test called the <a href="http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/fire/cpathome.htm">CPAT</a>. Then if I make it that far and pass that test and am among the top or remaining 100+ candidates I can then be hired to attend the Fire Academy to begin learning how to become a firefighter. It's a long process and some of the competition is fierce, but I hope I make it. <br />
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So far I've been trying to run and get into shape and get back into the swing of lifting weights and getting stronger... unfortunately ridiculously freezing temperatures lately don't provide too much motivation. More to come I hope.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-7346658409086134462010-12-06T11:56:00.000-08:002010-12-06T12:15:02.541-08:00Ridiculously Long Review/Rant of "The Last Airbender"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYmpVDpmdRYI3rKSAOh2Ujo6C_W5c0EeFYnVH7m55P7PY7E0PJM7i6K3v4suoH9pMtO4IH0rvDlx9awjLx4A6OI1zTkGkA6YBVyJMh5N3C2fC7ULWX3Rx8B1YOj3eBeTjoJNuIGzurX8b/s1600/ALA_movieposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjYmpVDpmdRYI3rKSAOh2Ujo6C_W5c0EeFYnVH7m55P7PY7E0PJM7i6K3v4suoH9pMtO4IH0rvDlx9awjLx4A6OI1zTkGkA6YBVyJMh5N3C2fC7ULWX3Rx8B1YOj3eBeTjoJNuIGzurX8b/s200/ALA_movieposter.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>So I see a lot of movies or try to, but often will limit my reviews to a star rating and usually a quick blurb on either Facebook's <a href="http://apps.facebook.com/flixster/home">Flickster</a> movie app or on Netflix, but given my love of the original <i><b>Avatar: The Last Airbender</b></i> series and my vast disappointment in this movie, I thought it needed a full review. Plus, it was a good excuse to get back on the blogging horse.<br />
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Like I mentioned, I'm a big fan of the animated series and even bought it on DVD after watching all three seasons through Netflix. I had seen advertised before in the past but generally dismissed it as another goofy anime for kids not nearly up to par of the classics I grew up with (Transformers, GI Joe, He-Man, etc.). It was actually one of my college professors who got me seeking it out after he referenced it in class one day, stating that he enjoyed watching it with his kids. While I'm no stranger to animated shows and liking them, I thought I'd give it a shot as a potential show to watch and embrace my inner boy, since after all, do any of us men ever fully grow up?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAyIzga9PZjOsU57AnNvqh3pIgQLbzReNiySQARVV4UnRZQy38T3IP8OMBNtnvo4IBnenP4FEXl-fVCmIS78EjkmlL_dRP-TO4iHONdDkYPXRVaLDzBnwLS_v8nXHRatBlFXGQl2GfbkG/s1600/Avatar+The+Last+Airbender+.+s01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAyIzga9PZjOsU57AnNvqh3pIgQLbzReNiySQARVV4UnRZQy38T3IP8OMBNtnvo4IBnenP4FEXl-fVCmIS78EjkmlL_dRP-TO4iHONdDkYPXRVaLDzBnwLS_v8nXHRatBlFXGQl2GfbkG/s200/Avatar+The+Last+Airbender+.+s01.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>Anyway, after seeing the series and hearing about the upcoming movie, I was excited like most anyone else who hears about a favorite book, comic, or TV series coming to the big screen, though I had my doubts knowing the task at hand of taking a season long story and shoving it into a less than two hour movie. <br />
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When it was all said and done, the results were not good. While many reviewers jumped on the anti-M.Night Shyamalan bandwagon, I dismissed those and focused on the actual movie reviews. Like most reviews, I try to take them with a grain of salt and rely on my past movie experiences and personal likes in movies to form my own opinions. Sadly, for this movie, I have to agree with many things already said.<br />
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Knowing the odds were stacked up against this movie, I went in or rather sat down hoping on hope that it would not be as bad as many had claimed, but after about five minutes I found myself telling myself in my head, "It'll get better. Just give it time. Just give it time." Sadly, I just found myself further disappointed and mostly sad. Not sad for the anything going on in the film, but sad that such a wonderful show had been translated so poorly to live action film. When it was all over, all I wanted to do was go crack open the animated series and watch the whole first season just to remember it properly... something I didn't do, but plan to soon.<br />
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So here's where I think it went wrong or at least the areas that I think went wrong that contributed to the overall "not goodness" that was this movie. Overall, the whole movie felt very 90's action/adventure/fantasy movie-like. Think Mortal Kombat 2 or something of that sort. Something that you kind of accepted as OK because it was what it was, but you knew ideally could have been better. Unfortunately, we are in the year 2010 and have come along way in regards to these kinds of movies and what we expect. There is no longer a need for a martial artist with bad acting skills or a good actor with a bad blurry stunt double. Actors are committed and are willing to learn martial arts or at least good choreography to pull off the look of good martial arts (The Matrix). We expect a good story or at least one that can keep our attention, even if we know exactly what will happen next (see formula for nearly every Romantic Comedy). Lastly, we want to be convinced the actors are portraying who they are supposed to be and are committed to the part, even if they are just the big strong man who only grunts and smashes things. Yes, phrases like "Hulk smash!" seem stupid, but wouldn't it be worse if it was "Hulk is mildly annoyed" and then he lifeless smacks his hand on a car merely denting the hood?<br />
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So here are those points in elaboration regarding <i><b>The Last Airbender</b></i>. Oh, and by the way. Was it really worth all the grief from James Cameron about not having this be called <i>"Avatar: The Last Airbender"</i> just because his "originally" titled movie <i><b>Avatar</b></i> had the same name? Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Avatar, but it's not like it's an original word he came up with and worries about confusion are dumb, because someone will inevitably create a knock off movie where the box cover looks similar and dumb people will think, "Isn't that that movie where they are blue and on some planet or something?" Just go to your local Blockbuster (if one still exists in your area) and look around at some of the familiar movie's you've never seen or heard of before. My mom used to be duped by these all the time. Anyways, moving on.<br />
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<b><u>Acting</u>: </b><br />
Other than Katara (Nicola Peltz), I don't think anyone provided a convincing character and even she had her moments. This is particularly sad as I generally feel that one of M. Night's talents is iliciting some depth and emotion from his actors and characters. The only other character I took to was Uncle Iroh played by Shaun Toub. Even though it was portrayed differently than the animated series, his general character of concern and love for his nephew, Zuko, was evident. All the rest seemed like they didn't care, didn't know who they were supposed to be, or were all wrong. Starting with Aang (Noah Ringer), I felt like he was this scared little boy who was about to cry the nearly the whole movie, not the playful and fun-loving boy who quietly struggles with his responsibility of being the Avatar.<br />
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Next are Zuko (Dev Patel) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone). To me, they seemed way too old for their parts. Sokka, who is the older brother is pretty much supposed to be the comic relief who later in the series comes into his own as a leader, but instead was more like the sad, pathetic way older brother stuck with babysitting his little sister and her "about to cry any minute now" little friend. Zuko on the other hand was not too bad, but I just felt he was too old for the part. At one point he is fighting Aang and it looks like some high school teenager trying to beat up a five year old for sticking his tongue out at him. I can only imagine the awkwardness of future movies where you have a quasi-love triangle between Aang, Katara, and Zuko. Something will be off and the cops may need to be involved and without going into further detail, overall the fire nation and it's leaders just seemed bland and almost bored.<br />
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<b><u>Story</u>:</b><br />
Way too rushed. Yes, I know a whole season needed to be crammed into a movie, but in my opinion this one would have been the second easiest of the three, yet I felt like nothing happened and what did happen, you didn't know why. Not sure it would've kept audiences coming back, but I think splitting the seasons in two to make six movies would've been best. Not to mention that seems to be popular lately (Twilight, Harry Potter). At least that way, you could properly tell the story and not rush through it leaving even the fans lost as to what is actually happening.<br />
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<b><u>Action</u>:</b><br />
In our post-<i><b>Matrix</b></i> movie era, I think there is a higher standard for action and martial arts in movies. It either needs to be believable or so unbelievable we wish it was or we doubt whether or not it is believable and submit it to be tested out on <i>Mythbusters</i>. Overall, I felt the action and fight scenes were not good at all. This more disappointing considering Noah Ringer was cast for his martial arts background. Unfortunately, they didn't take into consideration that he was coming from a taekwondo background to play a character whose style is based off a Shaolin kung fu style. For the general public, you say, "what's the difference?", but one is a more rigid style and the other a more free flowing circular style and Noah's rigid style was evident. You can really see this where Aang and Katara are practicing together and she looks a lot better in her movements (possible dance experience or just general feminine grace). Most of the other fighting and action was bland and very 90's/made for TV-ish.<br />
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My other beef is how "bending" was portrayed. Tying back to martial arts, it seemed like a lot of wasted and showy movement for little result. I felt like anyone with a bow and arrow would've bested them all given the length of time it took for characters to move and bend fire, water, or air. Ironically, Sokka seemed the most effective with his boomerang. For non-fans, the irony being that he struggles a lot throughout the show regarding being useful to the team as a fighter because he cannot "bend" and often finds himself as the goofy warrior who rushes into a overwhelming battle situation. Like I said, I expect more from action/martial arts movies. Gone are the days of using martial artists who can't act or using actors who can act, but can't fight and require the use of blurry stunt doubles and actor close-ups of them punching the camera.<br />
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<b><u>Suggestions</u>:</b><br />
Something tells me a continuation of the trilogy is not likely, but if so it will only get harder and require a lot of revamp or else I see it getting worse. Ideally if it did continue on, I would take the introduction from the TV series and incorporate that into the second movie just to help people understand what wasn't understood in this movie. Then I would split the movie as season two was the longest and most complex of the three seasons. Next, I would scrap the cast with maybe the exception of Nicola Peltz (Katara) who did alright, and really try and make this better all around. Oh, and I wouldn't fret over the race thing. If Caucasian actors work better, go for it. Ideally, they'd all be Asian or atleast Aang, the Fire Nation, and the Earth Tribes, with the Water Tribes being more Native American. Yet, seeing this go forward as is would not bode well for the original series or M. Night.<br />
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The best bet would be to forget about it for a couple of years and do a "reboot" since time is not a factor in Hollywood regarding renewing old movies and series (SpiderMan, Hulk, etc.). Who knows, it could work out like <i><b>Batman Begins</b></i>. Maybe someone like Sam Raimi who did well with keeping the cheesy nerdiness of Peter Parker/SpiderMan, while still making an interesting and exciting movie.<br />
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P.S. And yes, it was weird that everyone's name was pronounced differently from the TV series. I'd be like Shia Lebeouf calling Optimus Prime, Oapteemus Preemeh in the next Transformers movie. Say what you will about those movies, but that would just be weird!J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-13459140066298373182010-07-22T14:03:00.000-07:002010-07-22T14:03:40.196-07:00Finders Keepers?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATmvwVAs7n9bQStyVe-U4ht2qWgnuIvqj-i2M8jHdE2ff9TaJfHylDhC-Q3aok_PyHQJ_3aHYdvdcwRwrfhhSZUKrjpVHabBFCGigajYdkDxLjTnOjwgPJLuV1Zj1rW4Gg2mzENYWMtaC/s1600/broken_lock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATmvwVAs7n9bQStyVe-U4ht2qWgnuIvqj-i2M8jHdE2ff9TaJfHylDhC-Q3aok_PyHQJ_3aHYdvdcwRwrfhhSZUKrjpVHabBFCGigajYdkDxLjTnOjwgPJLuV1Zj1rW4Gg2mzENYWMtaC/s200/broken_lock.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>This is a short post, but was too long for a Facebook status. So here it is.<br />
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Ever since I started my job 2 years ago there has been a metal desk drawer that I have been unable to open due to being locked and having no key. The person who had the desk before me also did not have the key. So randomly over the last 2 years I've tried picking the lock whenever I had some free time, but considering we're moving to a new building soon I felt more compelled today to get it open and find out what was inside which would probably be nothing.<br />
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Anyway, today with the help of my friend Allen [wrench] I was able to pry it open just enough to get a hold of it and using what we'll go ahead and call brute force, rip it open the rest of the way. Success!<br />
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My find, aside from what I assume are tiny roach pellets: an unopened 256MB memory card, a digital camera with case, and some batteries. Finders Keepers?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW26xad8HmeZ4MvN3EKd4BdpdorOiPGKB24O-pwDbz-XgNUykK643Y_VZOM8dC2V3UmQUftkdW39b0P0iIbLIhRikdasCn7VVD-MvgV6OFReM1II8Xt9lzWJ1vtyG1B7_Y6bsktxEQWxsz/s1600/IncredibleHulkRip_gallery_primary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW26xad8HmeZ4MvN3EKd4BdpdorOiPGKB24O-pwDbz-XgNUykK643Y_VZOM8dC2V3UmQUftkdW39b0P0iIbLIhRikdasCn7VVD-MvgV6OFReM1II8Xt9lzWJ1vtyG1B7_Y6bsktxEQWxsz/s320/IncredibleHulkRip_gallery_primary.jpg" /></a></div>J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-52577917887156942252010-06-23T11:42:00.000-07:002010-06-23T11:49:16.006-07:00"The Laptop"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYFuefF3nK3bahRCcY4-N7_zhCT_IrXPO75mqHlX-TkfSzPel3rKBPxwpHxkSEBZDj-niHF9F0YAySWCXGnNsqA-4foHxmdUxXtoQWHdenDAHv9ZREATQ3Xsea8d_7_wavBUO0bi9eTtY/s1600/hdwr01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqYFuefF3nK3bahRCcY4-N7_zhCT_IrXPO75mqHlX-TkfSzPel3rKBPxwpHxkSEBZDj-niHF9F0YAySWCXGnNsqA-4foHxmdUxXtoQWHdenDAHv9ZREATQ3Xsea8d_7_wavBUO0bi9eTtY/s200/hdwr01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>So the Admin. Assistant in our office... who self titles herself the "Office Manager" (think Dwight from 'The Office' and his Assistant (to the) Regional Manager antics)... has been having computer trouble lately. Today, the tech guy took it away to work on and hopefully fix. My boss then came up to me and asked if I could set up the above mentioned "Office Manager" with THE laptop for her to be able to work today. Take note, we have many laptops, none of which are in sight range to be considered THE laptop, so using the phrase "THE laptop" meant nothing to me. "What laptop?... which one?!" I asked. After I clarified this with her she proceeded to tell me to use the laptop that was in my neighboring co-worker's cubicle. What you must know know now is that this co-worker offered this computer for use earlier because she has a new Mac laptop and has no use for this other computer. The real kicker is this. The "laptop" in question is in actuality a desktop tower. NOT a laptop.<br />
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Oh wait, it gets better! Having known that "the laptop" being mentioned was not a laptop once the situation of THE was clarified, I proceeded to tell both my boss and the "Office Manager" that the laptop they were referring to was not a laptop, but a desktop machine... to which they proceeded to ignore me and talk over me with the "Office Manager" complaining about how she is not used to a laptop and has trouble using one. After I stated again that it was not a laptop, went ignored once again, and then mumbled something to the effect of "oh nevermind, I guess I don't know what I'm talking about" I proceeded to walk over to "the laptop" (desktop tower) and picked it up.<br />
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From there, I thought to myself "screw it, let's see how far this goes". So from there I proceeded to use the word "laptop" as many times as I could in front of them and with them (making statements, asking questions, talking to other co-workers about "the laptop", etc.) to see if maybe something would click between the two of them while trying to see if my co-workers would lose it and laugh at the obsurdity of it all. <br />
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Needless to say, no light-bulbs ever came on... probably because they've long since burned out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYr0tezFRfkHpnQnglqkbBOQhg-6GWyWQqUn32Ff1psz9Pt_uc4DS_n-hd9eSPQqI2j7YrXcWqJoPCQJo-TXe7HzUG0fZGuTQ1uGjfOkXcDrr9DDlRu-mJRNqVTx5lcjJjj9qiPTAeLxnL/s1600/brokenbulb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYr0tezFRfkHpnQnglqkbBOQhg-6GWyWQqUn32Ff1psz9Pt_uc4DS_n-hd9eSPQqI2j7YrXcWqJoPCQJo-TXe7HzUG0fZGuTQ1uGjfOkXcDrr9DDlRu-mJRNqVTx5lcjJjj9qiPTAeLxnL/s320/brokenbulb.jpg" /></a></div>J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-20940739685221921932010-06-09T09:20:00.000-07:002011-08-09T13:26:46.121-07:00Doggy Drama and Writing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixEwc3d6QvexuyiXYFDpwcsQI7sYN1lCp2ZVlNIp07ZE6zwUksCZbvQ5TEYKhAaz3QJVs3veK1Uhzn862BJ6Bd7TX016KyAJ4WW26rXLP_zKL04YNeEu6k24tmTA_QhlL-T3a8pfsPkiw/s1600/maggie1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixEwc3d6QvexuyiXYFDpwcsQI7sYN1lCp2ZVlNIp07ZE6zwUksCZbvQ5TEYKhAaz3QJVs3veK1Uhzn862BJ6Bd7TX016KyAJ4WW26rXLP_zKL04YNeEu6k24tmTA_QhlL-T3a8pfsPkiw/s200/maggie1.jpg" width="200" /></a>Last time I posted Molly was a puppy in training (and still is), but Amy and I hit a snag as "pack leaders" (been watching 'Dog Whisperer'). It turns out while Amy's allergies at first were slight in regard to Molly, the began to get worse. Long story short, Molly has turned from the time-share dog to full-time dog with my mother-in-law who lives around the corner. We're still like Aunt and Uncle to Molly, but she's not all ours anymore. Anyway, since we (mainly Amy, but I've warmed up to it) had caught dog fever the search was on for a dog that would not send Amy over the edge in allergies and be a little more chillaxed in relation to Amy and I's personas. Another long story short and an Austin-Houston dog transport we got to know Maggie (originally known as Valerie, but she's not a Valerie). After Amy spent significant time with Maggie, she realized her allergies would not go crazy and we both loved her discipline and demeanor. So next month, Maggie will be added to our "pack" where Molly once was and hopefully Molly will except a new older cousin.<br />
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Now onto writing... or rather more delays. Now that school is over I can finally relax and take it easy, but I'm also realizing that my book(s) need more attention if I ever plan on writing them for real and maybe (in a hail-mary pass) get them published. So far I've been content with jotting down notes and story outlines here and there as they come, but honestly I know I need to buckle down and do some hard, disciplined writing. A few posts ago I talked about testing out my writing chops with a short story that would connect to my story and a few weeks I mapped most of it out, but still had a few gaps. Realizing I needed to tackle it rather than retreating back to random notes and ideas here and there for my main story I am here... posting. Now, that this post is nearly done I'm doing my best to think of the next distraction. I need to buckle down.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-67233656781691136642010-05-24T13:50:00.000-07:002011-08-09T13:27:17.148-07:00Puppy, Parkour, and Post College<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd5mE6ISO2w8wSyWYTR3V-54cn0ucuSEWtwceV6d6cFGEuvz12QWdp93_h6gdX7gCP86n-5dNfuxiq5srXx6oCfMst6cV3sVzZWnExf95CmHLC4vryAutYrVc3bB4jWIVH0TvP_F_3pw9_/s1600/mollyblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd5mE6ISO2w8wSyWYTR3V-54cn0ucuSEWtwceV6d6cFGEuvz12QWdp93_h6gdX7gCP86n-5dNfuxiq5srXx6oCfMst6cV3sVzZWnExf95CmHLC4vryAutYrVc3bB4jWIVH0TvP_F_3pw9_/s200/mollyblog.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>So I've sort of had some time to process life post-college. Ideally, I'd like to say it has been relaxing and in some ways it has, but soon after for whatever reason Amy and I spontaneously got a dachshund puppy. In hindsight, not the best time or the brightest of ideas, but she's a cute pup and we love her to death (though some of her more recent antics have emphasized the "death" part of that phrase... just kidding folks, but she is a handful). Despite the frustrations, it has been a nice glimpse into parenthood and how easily free time and sleep turn into luxuries rather than everyday things. I'm still glad to not be in school, but looking forward to when Molly (the dog) is a little more mature (trained) and can do her own thing and allow for more free time for Amy and I. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIBJ0s1VllRuReD_MuMtHRJ50WYyv23WbnyDiWUI7Qqd_dtFJpPcIFKh-yFMp5k-dxKMQxFlc2fCrNh8uIAFi7nry8viBEU24rQxtmVgkQDnw9NZMt8pNPlj9KEkGzSe4QQ4hQrU-AFiz/s1600/Image-568x758-JPG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIBJ0s1VllRuReD_MuMtHRJ50WYyv23WbnyDiWUI7Qqd_dtFJpPcIFKh-yFMp5k-dxKMQxFlc2fCrNh8uIAFi7nry8viBEU24rQxtmVgkQDnw9NZMt8pNPlj9KEkGzSe4QQ4hQrU-AFiz/s200/Image-568x758-JPG.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>If a puppy is a glimpse into parenthood, then my next venture is a glimpse at my own lack of youth... or less youth than I once had. About a week ago I saw this really awesome YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNvJy0zoXOY&feature=player_embedded">video</a> via '<a href="http://epicwinftw.com/">Epic Win FTW</a>' and just because, I did a Google search on the guy, Damien Walters, just to see what he was all about and his background (martial arts, gymnastics, etc.) and ran across the term '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_running">free running</a>' which led to the term '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour">parkour</a>'. Like any good Googler, I followed the rabbit trail from there and learned about Parkour, what it was about, what it involved and even found an organization in Texas (<a href="http://www.texasparkour.com/">Texas Parkour</a>). Long story short, I got really excited and thought, "Heck, maybe I could do some of this stuff!". So after several YouTube videos (informative, insane, and disasterous), I looked more into the group here in Austin and found a group that meets a few times a week. Now, the debate was on. Could I do this? Was I too old --having seen many of the forums littered with young teens and pre-teens? Well, this past Saturday morning this old man of 26 gave it a shot and it was really fun. While I'm no where near what you might find on YouTube, I did learn some of the basics and only suffered a couple of cuts and bruises. The only down part is that even today most of my body is "holy crap" sore. So until I get better and more conditioned, I think I will just stick with Saturdays.<br />
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So yes, an "old dog" can learn new tricks, now I just need to get the new dog (Molly) to learn some tricks --like only using the restroom outside and not inside or in her crate and realizing she is not abandoned whenever we leave the room and thus does not need to whine her head off.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-9304765272380783372010-05-10T11:12:00.000-07:002010-05-10T11:12:58.608-07:00The End Has Come... And That's a Good ThingAs of yesterday, Sunday, I am done with college. No more classes, tests, projects, papers or anything like that. Done!<br />
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What a great feeling... though I'm not sure I feel it quite yet. I say, give me a week of not going home and logging into the online system to check my classes and maybe I'll feel it more.<br />
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A journey that started 8 year ago and briefly ended 6 years ago has finally come to an end. Like I said, I don't really feel different, though I will enjoy having my evenings back again and actually spending time with my wife (and today, our new pup).<br />
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I wanted to post about my thoughts post college, but I think I still need time to wind down and really process... probably why this post is a little scattered and unstructured. So for now I delight in the fact that I will now only read, write, and study what I want, when I want.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-85157917365887909172010-04-30T08:43:00.000-07:002010-04-30T09:10:27.029-07:00The Friendly TruthOver a series of events and information lately, I've been taking a deeper look into my world (the world as a whole, my country, my city, my neighborhood, my world of friends and people around me, and myself). As far as the world geographically and socially, long story short, it is broken tremendously. Just see my previous post for just one example. As a result of taking survey of these things my hope in things has been shaken. Though I know the end is supposed to be bad before Christ returns, I also know that He has given me this trait of hopefulness for a reason (though I'm not always sure why).<br />
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[DETOUR] Yes, I'm what some would call a Christian, though I try not to be what you might think of as "Christian". What does that mean? That means I don't hate you and do my best (which is sometimes not great) to love you... either directly or indirectly. Is it because I'm trying to get you to "drink the kool-aid"? No. Whether you believe it or not, God is real and He really did send Himself in the form of man in Jesus. It's true and I don't mean that arrogantly, but just cut and dry fact. As a redeemed and adopted son of God, Jesus really only gave me one job. That's to love. Not collect money from you, tell you you're gonna burn in hell, not give you a bunch of rules to live by because my flawed self thinks their good, judge you or force anything else on you. Yes, I may honestly not like some of your actions or lifestyle choices, but I still care about you the person. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but how many of your friends, family or loved ones have a favorite movie, band, song, or food you just don't like, but you still love that person. Anyway... detour over. [pulls back onto the highway]<br />
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The funny thing is that God sees these times when my hope is fading and usually presents something to me to restore my hope and it's usually the most obscure of things. It's usually not some worship song, bible verse, or sermon but just some instance of life that just stirs me up. In this case it was just a friendly wall-to-wall exchange between two Facebook friends. Two people, honestly, I could not tell you what is going on in their life outside what I could discover from a profile page. <br />
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In our recent world of social networking, our world is becoming more connected and disconnected at the same time. Just focusing on Facebook, one can be "friends" with tons of people; actual friends, acquaintances, co-workers, strangers, companies, etc. Through that and actual human interactions I've been able to look around and look back assessing the idea of friendship. It's been eye-opening to say the least. Those who I would think would be my closest friends either have fallen away, never were, or I've done poorly at keeping up with... though there are a few exceptions. To be honest, most of them are Christian, people I call brothers and sisters. People I've prayed with, spent large amounts of time with, and shared life stories with. What better bond or common interest than the creator of all things, God. On the other side, I have the people I barely know, went to school with, work(ed) with or for, or only know what I know about them from their profile page. What's strange and stirring is that between these two (minus of course my few close friends, a few exceptions, my wife and family), it is the latter that I have felt the most encouraged by and cared for... or at the very least recognized. It's crazy really, but not extremely shocking when I think about it.<br />
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We as Christians (whatever that may look like to you) tend to be the harshest critics and judges of each other. I know I'm guilty as well and it breaks my heart to know that I've done it. Instead of forming amazing bonds through Christ, we compete and put on shows. We're either too afraid to share our opinions for fear of judgment and not being "Christian-enough" or spend so much time squashing others' views. We're not raw and real because maybe if a church member were to see us curse, drink, listen to or watch something secular, maybe we're not really Christian. Now, yes there are limits and moderation with those but add in the human judgmental nature of whose more attractive, has more money, or kisses your butt more and one begins to wonder what friendship actually looks like. Now, I'm not bashing everyone I've ever known who is Christian or painting myself as the be all end all of friends, but just sharing an observation of the last several years. If anything, social networking has shown me the people I missed way back when and their beautiful humanity, the people I've lost along the way, the handful that never were, the people I wish were back in or more in the picture, and the potential friendships ahead--both Christian and not. <br />
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So to the two Facebook friends mentioned above. Thanks. Our paths have not crossed for some time, but I was encouraged by your public exchange and sorry that I've missed out on some awesome people that I apparently seem to share a lot with.<br />
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The goal now is to do more beyond clicking "Like" next to your status and living life outside the box. Raw, real and in person (when possible).J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-26418678382161941162010-04-27T10:07:00.000-07:002010-04-27T10:09:09.841-07:00What Keeps Us Alive Is Probably Killing Us!So I've always had my reservations about big business and those with lots of money and power. I've also, over the last several year, been a little leery about food products, trying to find organic when I could, but not sweating it too much. I always figured I was just trying to prevent myself from eating extra preservatives my body didn't need.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALkFc2zEpWHoz76eZWqnrPSZsjwhJwCKrzb9cDHndp_CiiS6DD8HcKk3LIX2HNgMgpGh_-y_xGFCfxWPNMITLadlsLPl4y3jcIENK7c156-mxKBOOGTa7q-CsS2DfOKg7q3wWcCgEZLNa/s1600/JOFR-badgeLg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALkFc2zEpWHoz76eZWqnrPSZsjwhJwCKrzb9cDHndp_CiiS6DD8HcKk3LIX2HNgMgpGh_-y_xGFCfxWPNMITLadlsLPl4y3jcIENK7c156-mxKBOOGTa7q-CsS2DfOKg7q3wWcCgEZLNa/s320/JOFR-badgeLg.gif" /></a>Over the past several weeks my wife has been really getting into gardening and growing our own vegetables. Something that has been a progression from our joint plan of eating better and healthier foods. A few weeks ago, to compliment our growing observation of food, we started watching '<a href="http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition">Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution</a>' on ABC. While I've always known cafeteria food for students was crappy, it was amazing to see how much worse it has gotten and how the school systems and "powers that be" continue to force it on students. It didn't help that parents contribute by setting examples of poor food choices at home. Long story short, Amy and I were surprised how little people knew about healthy foods, eating right, and what food was what. One classroom of kids could not identify a potato! <br />
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Last weekend, Amy and I went to a Green Living Expo here in Austin, more out of recreation than learning new things. Before I begin, let me just tell you. Yes, I live in Austin, but have never considered myself some sort of Austin hippie especially having grown up in Houston. My pants are full length, my hair color is natural, I have no tattoos, no piercings, and most days am clean shaven. Now you know I'm not someone who is gonna go tell you to make out with a tree, let's proceed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5mrhVn0J-aPNjlyBNCYmaR8OHNFlJUVmbP98ol0GclEdQZ_HbvQa3DU_TvZ1t26YciOaerwWxurhj40ZOKFughG-aJdtD8nrwQBo28Ah25AwJ1MC_pkzyASYeK6Hz9WMBRX9QyNfAjYp/s1600/freshmovie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5mrhVn0J-aPNjlyBNCYmaR8OHNFlJUVmbP98ol0GclEdQZ_HbvQa3DU_TvZ1t26YciOaerwWxurhj40ZOKFughG-aJdtD8nrwQBo28Ah25AwJ1MC_pkzyASYeK6Hz9WMBRX9QyNfAjYp/s200/freshmovie.jpg" width="154" /></a></div>During the expo, we got the privilege to screen an independent film called, '<a href="http://www.freshthemovie.com/">Fresh</a>'. Later that day we rented '<a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/">Food Inc.</a>' having heard about through various sources. I won't go into the details of the films, but I will recommend going to each film's site and reading up about it and watching them for yourselves. Needless to say I always kind of knew what modern day farms looked like and generally accepted it, but after these two movies I realized just how bad and criminal our food system really is. This isn't just call PETA and save the animals type of stuff. No, this is form a militia (because the government knows about it), call on God to rain fire from the sky type criminal. Forget terrorism, our own country (government and big business) is almost literally killing and abusing us (and others) and making the most profit they can in the process.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDydIqRjNNj5rCCsp3zqvfwU8nQnGc9QEiH8dhNxcWcHZVtQmE3qUvnvYS-_qe_NvwbfzV4o2nF1kKynCd2J4sVI5PF_HyVIGgDbHzStq65T8gioHLQYQt3gFCJ67XCZbfO2teA9WPGFZ/s1600/FoodInc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGDydIqRjNNj5rCCsp3zqvfwU8nQnGc9QEiH8dhNxcWcHZVtQmE3qUvnvYS-_qe_NvwbfzV4o2nF1kKynCd2J4sVI5PF_HyVIGgDbHzStq65T8gioHLQYQt3gFCJ67XCZbfO2teA9WPGFZ/s200/FoodInc.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>If you are new to this, I would recommend 'Fresh' first as it is a little lighter and more positive about supporting local farmers and seeking out local, organic foods while providing some of the truths I've alluded to. If you are ready for raw truth and a gut check to how you look at food, then proceed with 'Food Inc.' This is our food and the food of future generations. Unacceptable!J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-86631511728360429162010-04-23T11:06:00.000-07:002010-04-23T11:07:05.874-07:00The Emptiness of the American "Dream"When I was a young boy I used to dream of being something or somebody special that made lots of money and had all sorts of cool stuff. I even remember promising to buy fancy sports cars for my family members. Not completely selfish right? Categorically and socio-economically I grew up and am still within the borders of the American lower middle-class. Just looking at the words "lower" and "middle" don't exactly scream "special". In fact, the only good things I think of in terms of low being good are golf scores, debt, risk of injury, death or disease, and calories. Middle. Well, middle is just average, not great and not horrible.<br />
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So throughout my life I struggled with this idea of attaining some status that I was not born into nor groomed for. Seeing that sometimes attaining this required much sacrifice of self and many times, moral beliefs, I began to abandon this goal for bitterness towards it. As someone who is somewhat an introverted observer I have a strange ability to understand people and "see" them beyond the surface person they express. In my observations I've seen how the attainment of the American Dream and things like it yield little or temporary satisfaction. Knowing this and knowing that my richness is found in God and my wife, why do I still get sucked in by this false believe that I need to attain more or be better according to the world? Knowing that I am a son of God, I know that I'm taken care of and given exactly what I need, but I let the enemy deceive me and tell me that what I have is not good enough.<br />
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For Pete's sake (sorry Pete) I am like Bill Gates compared to so many in this world! That's not a boast, but a sobering fact I need to beat into my head. It's amazing how at our lowest with nothing, we consider ourselves rich in the Lord and praise Him with abandon... but give us just a little bit and we instantly want more. Sadly, not only does the enemy play this game with us, but we play it with each other. As a new home owner, I'm already feeling the draw of the mighty Yard Wars. Rather than be satisfied in my own mind, I have to compare. Is my yard better than that neighbors? Where else do we do this?<br />
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Is he a better husband than me? Is she a better wife? Is he or she better looking? Is their house bigger or better? Does their car have more features? Are their kids smarter, more athletic, or more popular? Are they a better friend? Are they better, faster, stronger, smarter, or more [insert anything] than me?<br />
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This is the cycle we often times find ourselves in. Not only losing focus on God, but making enemies of each other.<br />
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I look around my life and see a ton of blessings God has sent my way, but I have let myself and others taint that by creating doubt. Not doubt in God, but doubt in myself and what I have. Am I enough? Is this enough?<br />
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As a son of God, one of my many weaknesses is being diligent in studying the Bible. I tend to go out for a full sprint and burn out quickly, leaving it behind for long periods of time. In a recent attempt to reconnect, I decided to take a different approach. A long while ago, someone turned me on the convenience and structure of studying Proverbs daily. There are 31 chapters--1 for each day of the month-- and generally Proverbs is pretty straight-forward. I will say this though, being straight-forward doesn't make it any easier to live by.<br />
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So in this time of frustration, mostly at myself, for being led astray I decided I need to go into Proverbs. This was yesterday (the 22nd) and so I opened up to Proverbs 22.<br />
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<i>Proverbs 22:1 -- A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, </i><br />
<i>Favor is better than silver and gold.</i><br />
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Bam! Verse one and God is right there. Now, some might read that and say, well isn't that what you just spoke against? "A good name", "Favor"? Is that like being a celebrity or public icon? I would say no. Why? The contrast to these is wealth, silver and gold... characteristics of many if not all celebrities and icons. Back then a good name and favor was not soley determined by your wealth, prestige, looks, or what kinds of friends you had. A good name and favor were based on the fact that you were someone of good rapor. You were respected for your character. Could you be trusted? Were you someone who was faithful to the Lord? Just, merciful, loving, kind, and dependable? Reading that verse and the rest of the chapter I stopped to think about my heart's desire. My longing is for me to be a man of good name and favor in the eyes of the Lord and my family. The square-footage of my house, my yard, the kind of car I drive, the capabilities of myself and my future kids, my bank account balance, and the superficial favor from others is all garbage and an unsatisfying race compared to what is true in the eyes of God.<br />
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I just pray that next time I let anyone or anything question myself, what I have, or who I am that I go and rest in the riches (both physical and spiritual) that the Lord has provided and praise Him without want... asking only that my name and favor are good in His eyes and ways I can make them better. For my goal is not to find favor with you, but with God and in turn my wife and family as that man of God.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-62711315985774335372010-04-23T08:52:00.000-07:002010-04-23T08:52:10.629-07:00GraduationJust 3 more weeks, 1 assignment, 3 chapters of notes, and 1 exam until I am officially done with college.<br />
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It's been a long time coming, but I am ready to be done. The best part is that I have no pressure, because if I completely bomb my assignment and my exam, I still pass all my classes.<br />
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I can't express how ready I am to be a normal adult who just works and comes home. I can have hobbies. I can spend time with my wife. I can develop friendships and all other sorts of things one can do outside the 40hr. work week.<br />
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I think when it's all said and done I will post a "What I've Learned" post from this long journey. Stay tuned.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-51582469047286255002010-04-22T14:13:00.000-07:002010-04-22T14:13:30.233-07:00Revisiting This ThingSo after unsuccess and neglect (mainly for reasons of the prior), 'Around the News' has been cancelled like a great TV show that never really got it's legs and had too few viewers. It's all good though, I didn't need two blogs... and I probably don't need this one either, but I sometimes feel the need to share things or vent in a semi-private area. You might say, why don't you Twitter or write Facebook statuses? I would, but sometimes I have rants or vents that not everyone is a fan of. At least if you come here, it probably means you give a slight flip and it's up to you to read. It doesn't bombard you once you open up your favorite networking site. Plus, you are limited in text and sometimes I get long winded.<br />
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Anyway, I've come to revisit this blog. It's almost quitting time, but I think I have a few things coming soon.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-88067859302771862242010-01-13T07:36:00.000-08:002010-01-13T12:44:27.297-08:00New Spin Off Blog - Around the NewsCheck out my new blog "Around the News". It's a spin-off of sorts from this blog. I wanted to keep this one for me and my random thoughts and decided to give this new "Around the News" series its own little place to hang out. Enjoy!<br />
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<a href="http://whospilledcoffeeonmy.blogspot.com/">http://whospilledcoffeeonmy.blogspot.com</a><br />
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P.S. I'll still keep up with this one as my random personal blogJ.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-32010443803829985642009-11-17T09:33:00.000-08:002009-11-17T10:50:48.557-08:00Various Things On My MindSo if you've come here, you've come here on your own. You are not forced to see my opinions and views when you log onto a site, unless you so choose. So before you go on, let me share some truths and then you can decide whether you wish to continue or whether or not you like me... and I say that with the gentlest of voices.<br /><br />First, I'm a male human being. I was born that way and wish to remain that way. I am a half Mexican and Caucasian born of unwed parents. A bastard by certain people's standards. I was born with a cleft lip and pallet and thus not a perfectly symmetrically faced person. I have brown hair and brown eyes. No, this is not my dating profile, I'm married... and to a beautiful woman who is type 1 diabetic. Have I scared you away yet? No? Then let's continue.<br /><br />I've made mistakes in my past, I've hurt people (emotionally), and have thought bad things about people. I've been selfish. I was born and still live in Texas, but I do not consider myself a Republican or a Democrat. I prefer no affiliation, but hope those in power are doing their best for the good of humanity and not themselves. I live in Austin, the city some would say is the liberal hippie town of Texas. The black sheep. I'm 25 and currently do not have a college degree, but I am close. I screwed up the first time and the University of Texas sent me packing. Have you written me off yet? Let's see if this will do it. <br /><br />I love God and I love Jesus. Maybe not the God or Jesus you think of when you hear those names, but the true nature of who They really are. The God and Jesus that cannot be packaged, marketed, or warped to fit one's way of life. Or maybe you think They are just made up to begin with and They don't exist at all. A made up system to keep humanity in line or explain the unknown. In all honesty, I can't truly convince you otherwise, but the truth can be revealed to you and I stand by that wholeheartedly. Maybe you don't disagree with me. How about this?<br /><br />I've failed God in so many ways. I've let Him down and I've acted in ways that are opposite of His character. I'm sure I've even given people a reason to have a bad taste in their mouth about God or Jesus through my words or actions that display the opposite of who He is. Like I said before, I've thought bad things about people, this includes those Christ calls my brothers and sisters. I doubt, worry and fear. I'm my toughest critic, but my laziest disciplinarian. Do you hate me now?<br /><br />I like music, movies, meat and friends I can be myself around. I drive a car, but do my best to recycle and be green in various ways I can be. I have my favorite sports teams and those I don't like which are probably different than yours. I believe we were all made in God's image and all share uniqueness with Him... whether we're tall, short, white, brown, red, purple or anything else. I believe there is beauty in the cultures of this world, even if they don't all point directly to God or Jesus or if I don't agree with their specific beliefs or methods. If you love Him, look for Him... He's in there... how can He not be. Surely by now, you've decided you don't like me for some reason right?<br /><br />I try to eat healthy, but not always. I'm not fat and I'm not thin, but my goal is to be fit and not ripped, shredded or swole. I like to be goofy and sometimes wish I could spend the day outside instead of at work. My boss sometimes frustrates me and so does her assistant. I get frustrated at things sometimes. I try my best to hope and see the good in people, but sometimes fail at that. I once lived in a trailer park, and I feel sad when my harmless family sometimes will say racist things having grown up in the South. I'm thankful to God for showing me what was wrong with that even before I really knew. I love many of the aspects of Asian culture such as honor, respect, family bonds, being in tune with your body and respecting the earth and the artistry. Have I offended you yet? Am I the guy you thought I was?<br /><br />I'm not very manly... at least not in worldly terms. Most of what I know about "man" things have come from Google and not my father. This sometimes makes me insecure. Both of my parents are broken people who've failed me in a lot of ways, but they are certainly not the worst and I know in their own messed up way, they care about me. One of my sisters lists me and my wife as her heroes alongside Jesus. Not sure if that's a title I live up to, especially considering the company I'm listed with. Have you quit reading yet?<br /><br />I long to speak my heart and not my mind because my mind has failed me many times, but my heart has always done pretty good. Probably because I do my best to listen to the Holy Spirit inside me. When I think of heaven, I begin to cry not because of the indescribable beauty that it will be, but because I know I don't belong there but will still be welcomed because of Jesus. Yes, I'm a man and sometimes cry even at the little stuff like the movie "Up" (the good and the sad parts). Surely, by now you've found sometime you dislike about me. Even if it's just the fact that I've gone on for this long.<br /><br />I'm sure I could have a ton of people post replies saying how much they do in fact dislike or hate me or wish to not be my friend or maybe no one will post. Maybe I'll get a bunch of nice, fluffy posts from people who think I'm sad and need encouragement or friendship. But this is not about any of that.<br /><br />Despite all the sadness of this world, all the sadness that is created by this world and the sadness it brings me when I'm not successfully trying to drown it out, I can only lean on God. I believe in the illogical and hope for the impossible.<br /><br />Whether you hate me or not does not matter. My desire is for God to speak through me and in me as the person He created me to be and for all my worldly thoughts and opinions to be put to the side.J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-12113125520396491142009-10-19T07:39:00.000-07:002009-10-19T09:48:21.258-07:00The Box I Built for God...How did the Creator of the universe, the Architect of humanity, my Savior, the great I AM, and all the other countless names and descriptions associated with God, become this whimsical ghost, friendly helper, and limited God? I have "defined" God within my terms and do or do not do according to the God I've made Him to be rather than the God He is.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Box I Built for God as my Father</span>:<br />I have become convinced that fathers play an important and vital role in any child's life. This in no way to diminish the role of mothers or to start a debate of gender responsibility, child bearing, and the like. In marriage, men are called to be the head, just as Christ is the head of the church. A terrifying and humbling idea when you stop and think about what that means. Leadership, strength, obedience, service, humility, faith, discipline, and all the rest of the traits that one can use to describe Christ. Naturally, this leadership and service would extend beyond the confines of husband and wife, but to children of that family. Parents provide warmth, comfort, protection, food and direction. The first characteristics of God that a child sees when they enter this world. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. We live in a fallen and broken world where our own selfish desires take priority. Why? Because it's too much, more than we can handle on our own and that's why we need Him.<br /><br />But who is He? What can He do? How much does He love us? Does He even love us? Maybe He just doesn't love me... and if He does, what if He decides not to anymore? Or maybe you're outlook is not that grim and He's just that magic genie who will grant your every wish and if He does not... then maybe He's not as powerful as He seems or maybe you don't believe enough for your wishes to be granted.<br /><br />I don't know if this applies for all, but I feel that maybe it does. I'm no theologian, I have no seminary education (in fact, I'm still shy of my regular bachelor's), I wouldn't be in any preferred Christian clubs if they existed (real or unspoken), so all I have is what little wisdom I have from growing up in church and what God has placed on my heart and this has weighed on me as of late. Who I've made God out to be is a blend of what I've been taught, what has been revealed to me in church, my time with God... and who I am as a son of my earthly father.<br /><br />Like I mentioned, I feel that parents, especially fathers, are to be an earthly representation of who God is... how we are to be loved, valued, cared for, protected, disciplined, guided, and shown how to love and honor God. With that said, I've realized how I interact with God and how that so strongly reflects how I relate with my flawed earthly father. I won't go into my father and his flaws because we are all flawed, but I have seen where God is not him and how I need to separate God from that.<br /><br />The reason I write this is because I know I'm not the only one. I've seen it in my wife and in others as they worship and pray. It's not always bad though, and this isn't a father bashing session, but a realization of what "father" means and who God needs to be in our lives as the Father. I've seen people view God as friend, King, unmerciful ruler, strong, weak, lover, unloving, non-present, always there, not powerful enough, all powerful, Daddy, acquaintance, scholar, simple man,Mr. Fix-it, disappointed and unsatisfied, backup, last resort, protector, gentle strength, manly, womanly, laid back, strict, killer, Savior, prankster, non-responsive, childish, stuffy, hippie, judging, accepting, Republican, Democrat, Liberal, peacemaker, warmonger, lucky, unlucky, selfish, selfless, present, non-existent, lazy, hardworking, unconditional, conditional, bound to fail, unfailing, and so many more. So many times these views are created by the earthly fathers we have.<br /><br />For me... I torture myself to please God, not to glorify Him, but for His "acceptance", though I am already His. I fear and hate failure, yet tear myself down the moment it happens. I wait to be made "perfect" so I can be worth something to Him. I leave Him to do my own thing, because I'm used to learning and figuring things out on my own. Because of this I leave Him at church and in my bible and isolate myself. I find comfort in solitude, but long for His companionship and discipleship. I long for Him to hold me in His arms and hug me, not metaphorically like a warm breeze, but physically. I want Him walking next to me and I actually want to look over and actually see Him.<br /><br />I know for a fact that I will be a flawed father one day, but I hope and pray that I can exemplify enough of God for my family to see Him and to seek Him to know who He is and how much greater He is than me and that my flaws do not reflect who He is.<br /><br />"God I need to believe that you love me and accept me for who I am now. You love me in sin and in failure. You lead me when there is total darkness and I feel alone and all I have is the light at my feet... not knowing what the next step will hold. I don't want to just touch your cloak, but to run and hug you tightly... and if I am unable to run to know that you will run after me. I pray that you will not let me close my mind to who You are and all that You are. Let me see Your truth and not what has been presented before me. I want the Holy Spirit to be my guide and not question where we are going and when we'll get there. I want to live more than a pop culture trend, the American dream, a social networking status, a "good life", or recognition of the world. Let me have faith to close my eyes, open wide my arms. Give me strength in You and in You alone. Let me please You and not the world. Let me see the facets of Your Fatherhood. Thank you for your forgiveness. Show me the way. Amen"J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-60218756566236205442009-09-11T08:43:00.000-07:002009-09-11T09:22:21.630-07:00Writing CrazyOver the last couple of years I have been slowly and gradually working on a book series. When I step away and look at it, it's a massive beast that I have barely scratched the surface on, but I feel confident that it can come to be. My wife tells me that planning it out, coming up with characters and story is just the beginning. Sitting down and writing it is the hard part, she says. I think I agree, but I can't be for certain seeing as that the extent of the series so far is a series of notebooks filled with notes, stories, character profiles, drawings, and various other ideas. I have a few references chaotically thrown in and I have just recently expanded to a flash drive to better organize it all in Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. One of my big hiccups right now is character naming (as well as being in school and not being able to devote a lot of time to it). I have a ton of characters and have no idea what to name them. Do they have generic Americanized names, culturally relevant names, symbolic names, or make up some random gibberish/new language and go all Tolkien on them (not something I really want to tackle by the way)? Or maybe I create some sort of hybrid of those ideas without the new language creation seeing as normal English grammar still makes my head hurt.<br /><br />OK, so you're thinking, "Shouldn't you be writing or working on your book rather than posting about it?" Yes, I should and taking a little advice from my wife, the English major and bookaholic, I'm trying to exercise my brain through a little normal writing. Also, I was thinking I might also throw in a few short stories that connect to or scenes from the book online to kind of get a feel for it and maybe get some feedback. Of course I still need to name a few people first. I don't think anyone would be interested in reading a story that starts out with "After a long journey through Land #4, Main Guy walks into a pub and after glancing around the room, spots his arch nemesis, Main Guy's Nemesis..." That's just no fun and yes, I would have a better start than that, but you get the idea.<br /><br />So my hope here is to make strides with this thing and at the very least end up on the random paperback shelf at Wal-Mart... that or go crazy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQsqTMcX2ID6itzCR3dwx2ioxhyPtQHZODiLXURRz3J9_JR-YSr5GthVNPoDYuCP6-lMhzV5TMNGmqI_XaGNKIkPS_K-yLO0XuX2i_j6Moa5NsJH-pNwG5ROFzwUKT6DiakthuFANxKMjy/s1600-h/jack-ths-shining.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQsqTMcX2ID6itzCR3dwx2ioxhyPtQHZODiLXURRz3J9_JR-YSr5GthVNPoDYuCP6-lMhzV5TMNGmqI_XaGNKIkPS_K-yLO0XuX2i_j6Moa5NsJH-pNwG5ROFzwUKT6DiakthuFANxKMjy/s320/jack-ths-shining.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380245144023267634" border="0" /></a>J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-29984589186795067232009-07-24T12:47:00.000-07:002010-04-30T09:09:05.236-07:00Jesus, Love & BBQ!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq78wgaGGn4RKiXQluBnyamYP2CLRM1tdEstQRkB-xWkX_32NmNoR2Z66coUGHBZ3MEynvt_NOeZiUBQjFxmnraupRcOV0jIwwtrs-eX4JC8xqzSMcOJztxOdpV2H4BkfAcdk3g2j5gXXI/s1600/vaderhelmet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq78wgaGGn4RKiXQluBnyamYP2CLRM1tdEstQRkB-xWkX_32NmNoR2Z66coUGHBZ3MEynvt_NOeZiUBQjFxmnraupRcOV0jIwwtrs-eX4JC8xqzSMcOJztxOdpV2H4BkfAcdk3g2j5gXXI/s200/vaderhelmet1.jpg" width="176" /></a></div>"You underestimate the power of the weird side!" says the booming voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader.<br />
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No, the original dark lord never said that, but I thought it inside my head as I quickly reflected on my life and the last 7 years in Austin after a few email exchanges with my wife discussing medicine and healthy living. For those of you familiar with Austin or have heard "stories", no, I'm not a starving musician/ filmmaker who hopes for that big break (now or 20 years from now), I'm relatively well-groomed, and I have no plans of naming any of my children Sunshine, Lilac, or Pine Tree but I have adopted many "Austinish" ways and mindsets. [Side note: My wife and I will soon be moving to South Austin after having been Northees for a while.]<br />
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I blame my wife mostly seeing as she is one of few native Austinites. No, her name is not Sunshine either, but since meeting her and being married I've discovered things my conservative, "Christian" southern upbringing would not have allowed me to such as the tastiness of tofu (when cooked right), challenging the status quo even if it's religious, and thinking for myself. While I'm no conspiracy theorist, vegetarian, eccentric governor hopeful or some indie band aficionado, I do feel like I have learned to view the world in my own way rather than adopting someone else's. I think things like this were always in me in some way, but growing up in Houston, you either go with the flow or just get looked at funny... and growing up as me, I didn't need the help.<br />
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I still and will forever enjoy some down home country fried cookin' (yes, I said cookin' and not cooking), the occasional country song, living for Jesus and not some cosmic energy that holds us all together no matter what we believe, and at least one meal if not more than one that centers around something that once had a face... after all, I still live in Texas.<br />
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So while I will never be a full convert and I seemingly knock my humble upbringing (pun intended if you know me), I do appreciate the unique blend of life from both worlds I've lived in. What that said, "Jesus, Love, and BBQ to ya!"J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527601233082788872.post-19894784230729761922009-07-20T12:31:00.001-07:002009-07-20T12:36:36.733-07:00WelcomeSo I've done a few of these before, mostly using them as an outlet for venting any frustration, cryptically discussing my foolish "woes" with women or generally questioning things of life. With that said, I'm not entirely sure what I'm shooting for with this blog. I feel that is going to be very abstract, but thanks to features like "categories" it can be somewhat organized and people can pick and choose what they want to see and read.<br /><br />I will say I do hope for this blog to have some relevance or substance rather than just random banter from me (this first post not included). Given that I am married, there's no need for any rants concerning any woes with women and with things like Twitter and Facebook statuses, there's no real need to use this to vent anything. Simple things like "I can't believe....", "The stupid copier just...", and "Just had an awesome weekend..." can easily be summed up in and posted in one of the two above mentioned social networking sites, though I don't really use Twitter because if you cared that much about all of the happenings of my day you need to either be my wife or I should probably have a restraining order against you.<br /><br />Also, I won't go into the lengthy process of doing any kind of introduction of myself. For many reasons: (1) They are time consuming and exhausting, (2) You may not actually care that much, (3) If you already know me you don't need to read about me and if you knew me at one time, but we've lost touch I might have been someone positive or negative in your life and I'd rather get a fresh start, (4) I'd like to see what of me comes out with this blog, but I'm open to questions and clarifications in comments and such, and (5) if you do know me or don't and want to know more, should I make it that easy?! Plus, how many of us have similar stories with different outcomes or different stories with similar outcomes.<br /><br />Enjoy!J.R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11990810237665623166noreply@blogger.com0