Productivity

I've gotten quite a bit more productive during the past few weeks. I'm not sure if it's excitement due to the weather or that my projects have all started to finally move along or that my wisdom teeth were removed or what, but I feel amazing.

Things I've noticed help me feel like I can accomplish anything:

1. Water - 32 oz. in the morning prior to lunch, 32 oz. between lunch and when I leave for home

2. Working out on a set schedule - 4 days per week (normally Sat., Sun., Tues., Wed. but this week I was extra tired on Sunday from a very active Saturday and a quasi-active Sunday prior to working out)

3. Fruit and protein

4. When I feel sort of out of it, take a minute and breath deeply a few times

5. Bengay (I recently developed "tennis elbow" from playing frisbee golf...stupid RHFH throws [Right Hand ForeHand], so I've had to switch to RHBH for most of the holes, which is ok since I do both equally well)

6. Talking to my wife right away if something is bothering us. This holds true for any miscommunication between two people, not just wife/husband.

7. My car will be paid off in September, it will be the first car with my name on the title (I think, I don't think my last car had me on there), so it will be my expensive piece of property I own outright

8. Blogging about random crap - I feel like I've been keeping this up fairly well. I decided to quit sweating people to come read this one rather than my myspace blog. I like the interface of blogger much better.

9. Google stuff (I'll post specifics in a few days, I already did on myspace)

10. Leaving the room if I don't feel like watching TV or turning it off if nobody else is there

11. Reading Kurt Vonnegut

That was kind of a pointless list...oh well.

Football

My previous post about the problems with football has been cross-posted at http://www.dabearsblog.com . How cool is that? Jeff is a good guy. There's always good banter about what the Bears ought to do. It's almost like being in Chicago...almost...

Here is the permalink.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

I drank a regular (i.e. non-diet) beverage yesterday for the first time in about 10 months. Regular Sierra Mist. They had $0.25 cans from the vending machine. I'm not sure if there was a celebration or what, but I thought, "Ok, I'll have one, it's only a quarter". I literally could only finish 2/3 of the can. I can't believe when I was a kid I used to drink this stuff like there was no tomorrow.

Ever since I started working out and doing cardio activity pretty much every day I pretty much only drink water, milk, and protein shakes. It's really amazing how much better I've been feeling. I even quit drinking coffee so I wasn't "on edge" as much.

All these stimulants that these fast few joints are serving just boggles my mind. Then, on occasion I'll see an ad for Advil PM or whatever other sleep aid they're pushing these days and think to myself, "Or you could just quit drinking so much caffeine late in the afternoon mixed with large amounts of sugar". I'm not going to deny that insomnia exists, but there are certainly people who have trouble sleeping because their diet sucks.

Do you know how difficult it is to find bread without high fructose corn syrup? You should check out the ingredients of the different types of bread at the grocery store. It's ridiculous.

On a slightly related topic, I've always wanted to start a healthy fast food restaurant. You know, a place that makes all their bread, has a garden out back or buys from local co-ops, and makes salads that aren't 1200 calories. Wouldn't that be something? I really need to look into doing this. It would sweep the nation. Hippies from every large city would swarm. Only problem is the place would smell like patchouli in about 2 weeks...

It's not that I'm shallow about having to see obese people eat, it's that I'm genuinely concerned for the health of the nation. Plus, I'm concerned about my health insurance premiums going through the roof due to it all.

AMC - Pop-up movie

On Sunday night, my wife and I caught the tail end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's one of my favorite movies, not only because it's filmed in Chicago, but because it brings back so many memories of my childhood (which may be a direct result of it being filmed in Chicago, but still). Plus, it's a damn good movie. I like movies where the actor talks to the camera. It feels more like a play at that point. Plus, we all have an inner monologue that we can relate to. Even when the character looks at the camera and doesn't say anything I get a kick out of it, because it's basically saying "Hey, what you saw just then was absurd or a good joke, you really ought to be laughing, if you're not, turn off the movie because you don't get it". I think that shows a certain amount of respect. It reinforces that the movie is all about the audience, not the actors.

So, the movie is just about over so we see what's on next. Low and behold, it's Ferris Bueller's Day Off again. I thought, gee, that's cool, we could catch the first part of the movie if we're really bored (and at that point we were, mostly because we were both exhausted from spending the day enjoying the gorgeous weather and doing yardwork/playing frisbee golf), but then saw that the movie was the "DVD" version. Well, turns out that it is just like pop-up video on VH-1 back in the day. Little blurbs come up every few seconds explaining this/that/the other about the movie. I'm pretty sure I've watched some other movie like this before, but totally forgot about that experience until watching it again. It's funny how the mind works. Memories are buried until a similar experience triggers a recollection.

The movie experience was highly enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised. It was even better than watching the commentary along with the DVD because you could actually hear all the dialogue and there wasn't any self-congratulations, or just plain asinine crap. I even learned that until "The Blues Brothers" Chicago didn't really allow many movies to be filmed there. I had no idea. I can't think of a more perfect movie to start allowing it though...

So, that's it, just a plug for a show. Here is the link to their "blog". Apparently I missed the showing of "The Blues Brothers" last week. Damn. Funny how there was a connection though. Serendipity. "Girl, Interrupted" is their next movie on May 13. Don't think I will be catching that one, perhaps my wife will though...

The problem with football

It's no secret, I'm an avid Chicago Bears fan. I have a Chicago Bears ski cap from 1986. The little orange ball on top is missing. It still "fits" though (I had a big head...I was six in 1986). There's even a hole in it. One of my first memories is watching the Super Bowl shuffle. I have a picture of Walter Payton on my dresser. I live in Evansville, IN which means everyone and their brother jumped onto the Colts bandwagon last year. After the Bears lost, I still wore my Bears ski cap proudly. I have no qualms with supporting my team after a big loss following 21 years of not quite getting there. Yes, I realize that most years should be described differently than "not quite getting there", but I hope you can forgive my positive spin.

I must say though, that at some point soon, if the league keeps screwing up a perfectly good thing (namely, getting paid large sums of money for the potential of getting killed/paralyzed/knocked out/given a concussion) I'm going to quit watching in the near future. What is my beef? Most personal foul penalties.

It probably all started with the advent of the place kicker, but I have no qualms with getting rid of plainly dirty actions that add no value to the play. Face slaps and the like were just plain dirty. What I've grown quite tired of the past few years are the countless penalties which are called which do nothing but help the offense in the NFL's quest for making the NFL more like the AFL. What I'm talking about specifically are the following:

Roughing the Passer

Everyone familiar with the pump fake? It's a great play, the quarterback is so great on the run that he scares the defender by pretending he's going to throw the ball. Well, you know what, if you're going to allow the pump fake, you're going to have to allow at least two steps by the defender before he tackles the quarterback. A defender should not be afraid of getting a penalty called on him if he actually tackles the quarterback right after seemingly getting rid of the football. I say "seemingly" because how is the defender supposed to know in that split second whether or not the quarterback actually let the ball go? If the quarterback is that afraid of getting hurt, he should know when to throw the football. Or perhaps he could hit the weightroom and put on a few pounds of muscle. Quarterbacks used to be tough. Manning is the only tough QB I can think of, which sucks because I hate the Colts.

Extension of Roughing the Passer - The QB Slide

If a QB goes past the line of scrimmage, defenders should not be trying to figure out if he's going to slide or if he's making a cut. You all know the play I'm thinking about specifically in which Urlacher did not tackle my least favorite player of all time, Tom Brady. That was a proverbial difference maker in the game. The best LB in the league should not have THAT in the back of his mind. If the QB is allowed past the line of scrimmage, he should have to pay the price. I don't care that McMahon always got hurt, it was damned fun to watch.

Unnecessary Roughness

I shouldn't even have to mention this one as we're talking about football, but I must. Ronnie Lott routinely lit up receivers coming into his area. If the receiver didn't know Lott was around he was creamed. I miss this type of play. If a guy is going up to try to catch the ball and you decide to play the body and the ball is just over the guy's head, it should not be a penalty. Put simply, a defensive player should never be penalized for executing a play where the offensive player puts HIMSELF into a bad position. If the ball is overthrown, you better look down and dodge the oncoming blow. I know Lott wasn't a Bear, but, needless to say, I wish he were...

Excessive Celebration (or whatever it is called)

Players should be allowed to do whatever the heck the crowd lets them get away with. If it is direct taunting of the other team, that is different. But if guys gather around and do a little dance, who gives a crap? Seriously. If you think the guy is an *sshole because of it, chances are, he probably is, and now that you know that, you won't feel so bad when the karmic retribution snaps their ACL in week 10. Of course, they could outlaw certain, just plain stupid celebrations like the NYG jump shot that the Bears inexplicably mocked them with, but then did the very same thing the following week. It was not a happy day for me.

"Late" Hit Out of Bounds

When a player gets near the out of bounds line, if his foot has not touched out of bounds, the play is still live. If there is a defender close enough to him to hit him while he is in the air, he should be punished for his transgression (as Walter Payton would put, for "dying easy"). The referee almost never spots the ball properly if someone jumps diagonally out of bounds. The ball should be placed where the ball is when the players foot touches out of bounds, not where the ball went out. This isn't golf. I really hope I'm not wrong in that remembrance of the rule, otherwise this whole section is pretty much a moot point. I can't really find a clarification to this, but I'm thinking this is correct. If not, let me know. In summary, if a runner has placed a foot on the ground out of bounds, he should not be hit, but if he's still in the air, he should be hit because the defender has a right to stop him from gaining yardage. Michael Vick and other players get near out of bounds and sometimes gain three extra yards because the defender is afraid of hitting them. This is complete crap. Michael Vick should be punished. Not for a transgression, just because.

Basically, penalties like this can change the outcome of the game and there is no reason for that, especially when the foul is marginal at best.

Zen and the Art of [insert anything you want here]

I guess you could say I'm into New Age thinking. I liked "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. I just started listening to some lectures he gave in Findhorn Scotland, "Eckhart Tolle's Findhorn retreat [sound recording]: stillness amongst the world" (ISBN - 1577315081, in case you're interested). It's pretty good. He talks about living in the now, just as before, but just a little different. You know, like most other New Age sorts (and most other [insert religion/occupation here]).

My uncle Bill mentioned him the last time I went home and I think he was surprised I knew who he was. Looks can be deceiving about people. That's one of the main points about his two day retreat. Each person develops a picture in their mind of other people that is almost necessarily untrue. He argues that one's picture of themself isn't really true either as it is constantly changing. There are similar concepts in Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, etc. It's not so much revolutionary as it is a way to speak spiritual thoughts without having to attach it to a dogmatic belief in everything that is taught (which is why I think I like "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse so much. That book should be required reading for every parent and kid when they enter college.)

The idea that living in the now is taken for granted is so powerful if you have in fact taken it for granted for so long you don't remember the last time you've enjoyed just simply being in the world. It's even more powerful when you come to the realization that you have NEVER experienced this or you develop a new understanding of what it means to actually say "I am experiencing the now and for that I am truly grateful". I would guess it isn't as powerful if you're already enlightened, but how would I know that?

I enjoy the idea that you can find profound statements pretty much anywhere you look if you look hard enough and I think that is one of the first steps in truly appreciating this existence.

Also: I added zenhabits to my list on the right. It's a fairly interesting productivity site. I might add a few more after I sift through the links he blogged about here.

My Generation

Why is it that my generation insists on putting the word "like" in sentences in which no simile is being constructed and nobody has the hots for somebody else? I used to do this quite frequently (as my dad would surely attest, as every time I said it he would correct me in this vein: "We had tennis practice for like 3 hours" and he would respond "so, was it 2 hours and 59 minutes or 3 hours and 1 minute" or some other such response to let me know "like" and "around" or "approximately" do not mean the same thing). Since I was corrected so much in my youth, I get very irritated upon hearing other people say it once every 4 or 5 seconds.

It's great that language can change. It's almost a living breathing organism in itself, but the outright bastardization and nonsensical crap that comes out of my generation's collective mouth just sickens me sometimes. Is education really that poor in America or do we just not give a flying shit? I'm guessing it's some of both.

Note: In case anyone is wondering, this evening at Pennylane, two people sitting behind me sucked my intellect into a void of nothingness that made me want to crawl into a ball and suck my thumb. Gosh, this isn't very humanistic of me. Oh well. Nobody is perfect.

Social Interaction

While last night's episode may not be a prime example, I'm continually amazed at the genuinely good points South Park makes. Yes, they're foul-mouthed, yes, Cartman is the anti-Christ, but you know, there are all sorts of pearls of wisdom throughout the show. The one I've been thinking about lately is a point that was made at the beginning of the Scientology episode where Stan wants to save up for a new bike so he doesn't want to spend money while having fun with his friends. They respond with "Stan, don't you know the first law of physics? Anything that is fun costs at least 8 dollars." Well, if your friends are not into playing sports, there isn't much you can do that allows you to hang out with your friends and shoot the shit for free. Even if you invite them to your house, the host generally provides snacks or dinner. If the host rotated, it would even out, but that requires a certain amount of coordination that most don't really seem to care for, plus things come up, etc.

Since this is the case, it is very difficult to establish and cultivate friendships. Another reason this seems so difficult to me is because I don't go to church. That is one of the most fundamental places people establish friendships and just meet people. There is no such place for atheist/agnostic/secular people to do this. The possible exception to this is a coffeeshop/bar, but, at these places, there is no guarantee that you have anything in common with the other people there (i.e. you both don't believe Jesus Christ died for your sins). So you have to search for things in common based on superficial dialogue. If you talk to someone once or twice you may never realize there is a topic you haven't explored that you totally agree on. I'm sure the same problem exists at church and there are times where one could feel like an outsider there as well, but I can't help but think perhaps it's more difficult for non-believers (or non-church-goers).

The summary of the above discussion really amounts to, "I am a socially awkward person", but I continually try to find a way out. When I went to college I thought joining a fraternity would help. Well, that didn't really work out as I deactivated after about three months as I realized I had no desire to be friends with 100 people simply because they wore the same letters, of which maybe 4 or 5 of them actually understood the meaning. After that, I began my current addiction to going to coffeeshops to find people to talk to. It's been 8 years and I'm getting burnt out on it. I can't stand going to bars because of the smoke and the fact that I quit drinking.

Are there any other places to go hang out that cost no money? The park? I suppose a cookout is always nice, but the coordination of such an event always seems to lead to 4 people showing up that don't really want to be there. I think the library should be open late so you could go hang out and read but there should also be a discussion room, where you could hang out, and perhaps they could sell booze even. I suppose tax payer dollars paying for that might not be the best thing though...

P.S. Please don't answer "the mall" as I will throw up.

Evansville (Modern) Living

I recently purchased some rollerblades in order to get to the point where I could play roller hockey with an adequate amount of staying upright long enough to control the puck for more than five or six strides, but I've come to find out that Evansville sort of sucks for those who rollerblade. It seems there is a lack of certain equipment necessary to play roller hockey. And by "certain" I mean "most".

"Dick's" (whose name ought to tell you something about the help they employ and it certainly does) is quite possibly my least favorite store at the moment. I'm not sure I'll ever shop there again. One time I went in there looking for pedals, you know, for a bicycle, and they didn't have any! Well, it turns out, they don't have any roller hockey equipment. "Dunham's", a local-ish sports store recently went out of business so I have no idea what to do now. I think I'll have to order from online, but that is always a crap shoot.

Actually, I take it back, Circuit City is my least favorite store in Evansville, because at least Dick's actually has some frisbee golf discs (what can I say, I had a fix, so to speak, and HAD to buy a Valkyrie). I don't think I've ever been talked to in there by anyone other than someone I've deliberately sought out. I think at one point I said very loudly "I have cash money and would like to purchase something". It's a shame it's come to that. I guess that's what happens when you have these mega-stores who have seem to have 50-100 people working in them at any given point. I think I would have liked it better 40 years ago when people owned stores and lived on top of them. Although, that's not to say I want "Dick's" or "Target" to build condos on top of their buildings for their employees, but that might actually be kind of cool...

Anyone else have least favorite places to shop?

Nowhere is safe

With the latest school shooting claiming the lives of 33? victims (still not sure if it's 31+2 or not) I am reminded that there is not one place on the planet where one is truly safe. At least, you are never truly safe if there are other people around. Also, apparently there is a video of the shooting on cnn.com who I suppose some kid took using his cell phone? I personally don't care to watch it, so can not describe it. I suppose that type of thing is worthwhile to the extent that you can learn from it, but it strikes me as kind of sick that it's online for mass consumption.

Actually, while sitting here thinking about it, I decided to see exactly what it was. Fortunately it's just someone outside the building taking video and audio of the gunfire. Of course the headline is "Student captures video of shooting". It really ought to be "Student captures audio of shooting". Whatever though.

I am also reminded of my freshmen at Rose-Hulman. Apparently, a couple of "America's Best and Brightest" decided it would be a great idea to detonate their home-made bomb on campus. The weird thing is, I not only didn't hear it, but I didn't hear ABOUT it until my mom called me freaking out. My parents were living in Phoenix at the time, so news traveled from Terre Haute, IN to Phoenix, AZ faster than it traveled across campus to me. Which sounds to be the case in this instance since they didn't send out the email of the first shooting until the second shooting took place. Knowing very little about this, it certainly sounds like their security playbook needs to be revamped, which also gives the same opportunity to other institutions throughout the nation.

The only thing one can do from an event like this is try to learn from it. Learn about yourself. Learn about your fellow man. Learn about the second amendment (no, I'm not a gun nut, but it's good to know the history). The issue of what gun this kid was using is a moot point, in my opinion. But, I'm sure there will be many-a-hippie that uses this tragedy as a tool to further their political agenda. I just wish the discussion could be an honest one and void of emotion when making the final decision. If you argue that emotion needs to be involved in decision making to some extent, that's all well and good about personal decisions, but for decisions that face the public at large, I'll argue to my last breath that emotion ought to left at the door, doing so as dispassionately as I can so as not to appear hypocritical...

In any event, it's a sad day, and I hope all of those which this has injured in some way can overcome their personal demons and newly acquired fears by whatever means they can find. I'm sure there will be a fund set up to help the families at some point in the near future and possibly some sort of other services offered where a volunteer who is close can help out in some way, so if you have a few extra dollars or know someone in the neighborhood, you can be a part of that healing process very soon.

Productivity

I love the feeling I get when I'm hard at work and I lose track of time to the point where it's almost time to go home. It is one of the most wonderful feelings I can imagine. Of course, that is mostly due to the fact that when the famine hits at work I'm bored out of my mind and keep looking for more work which just isn't there. I could literally do the job of most of my department at this point. I really ought to finish putting my resume together so I can shop myself around a bit. See what's out there.

I guess I should count my blessings when I can though. Why should I lament the fact that I'm so not busy that I have time to blog about the fact that I'm not busy while I'm at work? Is that not everyone's dream job? I guess not. I need to find out what my dream job is before I'm too old to be able to retire off the money I earn from it. The prospect of finding an interesting mechanical engineering position in Evansville doesn't seem that great. Movement to another state will probably be necessary. Can anyone recommened any particular job search site?

Recently purchased/gifted albums

With the advent of servies of like finetune and pandora, I have been purchasing fewer and fewer albums of late. However, I recentely purchased This is Me Smiling's self-titled album, Thelonious Monk's "Brilliant Corners", and Kings of Leon's new one "Because Of The Times" (they're going to be at Bonnaroo this year, which means I might be at Bonnaroo this year). My Easter present from Rebecca's folks was Bob Dylan's latest "Modern Times". They're all very good and make driving around Evansville with my window's down (at least, when it's warm enough to do so) a much more soothing experience.

Anybody else looking forward to seeing 70°+ weather again? Although, today was quite perfect for frisbee golf and rollerblading, with the possible exception of the wind. Personally, I think it adds a challenge to both activities, which in theory should make you better at them. Of course, it could also make you curse or just want to quit...

Here's a site that might help you calm down when you have that feeling though...

k bye

Why Secular Humanism?

In truth, I have no idea, but if you think this wikipedia article on it is a trusted source, then it's because I agree with the basic tenets. It pretty well summarizes the way I try to live my life, even though sometimes I fail to live up to the main ideals. From the looks of it I probably switch from "Humanism" to "secular humanism", but my general skepticism in a higher being usually makes me lean toward the latter.

In case you're wondering, I don't think "secular humanism" ought to be taught in public schools as "the" ethos everyone should learn about, but I think it ought to be taught right alongside any other religious doctrine. Which is to say, yes, I think all religions should be taught in schools, or at least a wide variety of them. It ought to be a requirement. Yes, I think kids ought to be able to pray in school, as long as it doesn't distract other kids and kids are not encouraged actively to participate. I feel torn about outlawing prayer in schools because I know it is customary to pray a certain number of times per day for various sects of certain religious organizations, so outlawing prayer in schools effectively outlaws you from practicing your religion, but there is certainly some line to be drawn as I could develop a religion that requires adherents to pray 12 times per hour (or some ludicrous number that would definitely prevent a subject from being taught effectively). I'm not sure what the answer is, but the best part about secular humanism is that regardless, it doesn't really affect me one way or the other.

I'm going to try to post to this blog daily, so we'll see how that goes. The intent will be to spur an lively discussion. In fact, sometimes I'll post specific questions I would like to know the answers to and have no idea how to go about doing the research, or will pose the question for other people to research and this will be a repository for the answer to said question once it is confirmed via multiple sources.

k bye

Testing

I can officially say I have a blog that isn't a myspace blog. So there it is.

Since the election of 2004 I have pretty much been addicted to political blogs. So, I've often thought of starting a good blog. Well, I've started a blog, now I'll be on a quest to make it a good one.

Wish me luck!

k bye