1/27/2009 4:04am EST

I haven't done any blog entries in a while. I haven't really done much of anything recently. I don't know what is wrong with me, but sometimes I get moody and I distance myself from everyone and everything. Sometimes I just feel so angry, sad, and frustrated for no apparent reason. I just want to stay home and sleep or just be by myself. I don't answer my phone, casual conversations lead to arguments, and I'm just no fun to be around. I don't know if this has anything to do with me growing up alone but when I get like this I don't like being around anyone. There is no timetable for how long this mood lasts or how often this happens but it randomly comes an goes and I can't control it. What is wrong with me??? Well at least I have identified that it is me with the problem and not the world, so hopefully I can learn to control this behavior and fix it for good. I think I feel a little better now that I have written about it but I'm not sure yet.

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

It's Official...

Barack Obama is officially the 44th President of the United States. I don't even know what to say. I will make an another post when it sinks in but for now... I will just enjoy the moment.

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Today is the day we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He of course is the Nobel Piece Prize winner who led the civil rights movement, focusing on ending racial segregation and discrimination. He was such an eloquent speaker who was able to spread and convey his message without using violence, which at the time was unheard of. His leadership and sacrifices changed the consciousness of an entire nation, no matter the race or gender. His efforts have enabled my generation to take full advantage of all the opportunities he could only dream about. We should never take for granted the freedoms we have today, and pay homage to the ones who paved the way for us. There is no coincidence my daughter has the initials M.L.K. Thank you Dr. King for dedicating your life for the prosperity of your people, and I will continue to spread your message and honor your memory.

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

Text message etiquette...

So I received a text message from one of my friends today(I will not be naming names), and it said... "R u goin to da gym 2day." Now one of my pet peeves are these meaningless abbreviations and "alternatives" for words that are being used. So looking at this message I am asking myself, why is this how some people choose to text message? Does this save them time? Do they not respect me enough that they think it is ok to send me an informal message of sorts? Am I just being petty? I mean if you look at what they are saying, it would only take a few more letters for them to spell the whole original word. It seems to me that it would be more difficult to come up with different ways of spelling words than using the original word. Thinking about it for the rest of the day and night, I have come to the conclusion that with text messaging it is anything goes. I will try not to be as anal as I am about it now. I was being petty, but I still hate it. /end rant

Ok thats all for now.. thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

6 years...

Today is my 6 year anniversary at work. I feel privileged to be able to have a job and have been able to keep it, especially since how things are going with the economy. I am not rich nor am I well off, but I am able to take care of my family which is what is most important to me. I have benefits, a 401k, and a savings. I am very thankful.

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

Power...

So the other day, me and my daughter were watching the movie Monsters INC. This one my all time favorite movies. The film is colorful, vibrant, and exciting. The storyline is just as good. With all children's films there is always an underlying message, which is what I eventually want to talk about.
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The story takes place in a city full of monsters. The city is powered by children's screams, which were manufactured at the local scream factory. The monsters work on an assembly line of doors which lead to children's bedrooms. It is the monsters job to go in the rooms, scare the children, and bottle up the energy given off by the screams. These screams were the energy source of the entire city. Over time, the supply of screams could not meet the demand that was needed to power the city. There weren't enough screams to power cars, homes, and pretty much everything else. The quality of life in the city was severely affected.
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The main part of the plot focuses on a little girl who accidentally enters the monsters world by walking through one of the doors in the assembly line. One of the good monsters finds the girl, and vows to protect her until he can find her door and send her back home. One of the not so nice monsters finds out about her, and makes it his mission to capture her and put her into a machine that manufactures screams.
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The rest of movie includes exciting chase scenes, which are both funny and suspenseful. Ultimately, the good monster gets the girl back through her door and into her room where she is safe. While in the room the monster trips and falls over some of the little girls toys. She sees this and she starts laughing hysterically. All of a sudden, there is an amazing amount of energy that comes over the room. The monster notices this, and makes the child laugh again. There again is a massive amount of energy in the room. The monster figures out that the child's laughs are much more powerful, and much easier to obtain than the child's screams. They eventually turn the scream factory into a laugh factory, resources become abundant, and the city is saved.
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Now I know on the surface this seems like just another cartoon movie for children, but the overall message is one that everyone can benefit from. The power of being positive is so much more beneficial, and so much more resourceful than the power of negativity. I see people every single day who have a negative outlook on life, making things that much harder for themselves. If we as people remain optimistic and look at things from a positive perspective, we can individually and collectively overcome and achieve so much more.

Don't just take it from me... take it from the monsters.

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Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

2009

Thankfully I was lucky enough to make it to another year. I spent New Year's Eve in church with my family. Everyone always asks me, "why church, you don't even believe in the church?" Well I don't... but my family is there, the people at the church are really good people, and I like being in a calm, controlled environment at the turn of the year. The drinking and the party thing doesn't do it for me. I feel the turning of the year is a time to be relaxed and just reflect on life, and to appreciate the things I have been able to get through. It is really a humbling time for me. I don't do the whole resolution thing either, but the new year does bring a renewed focus on all of the things I need to improve on. Hopefully everyone had a good time however you chose to celebrate, and may 2009 be a prosperous and healthy year for you.

OK that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

Christmas...

Let me start this by saying Merry Christmas to everyone. Me personally, I have mixed feelings about Christmas. I am not Christian and I do not believe in the Christian part of the holiday. To all of my Christian people out there, I love you and keep doing your thing. I celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday focusing on spending time with family, as well as gift giving. But as mentioned I have mixed feelings about how the holiday is perceived and conducted, especially here in America. We have been conditioned to think we have to "break the bank" in order to make our Christmas's happy and successful. Television, advertising, and retailers put a lot of pressure on consumers, all while raising expectations of children. These expectations are hard to meet by your average, hard working person. Children lose touch with the true meaning of the holiday. As parents and consumers we cannot succumb to the to these pressures. We have to educate our children that it is the thought and the intent of the gift giving that counts, and not the quantity and price of the items received. Too many people stress themselves out at this time of year, and never really get a chance to fully enjoy the entire season. Hopefully we all can keep things in perspective and focus on what is really important this time of year. Merry Christmas!

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

Appreciated...

Anyone who is over the age of 25 and is currently employed at McDonalds or any other fast food restaurant for that matter, I have the ultimate respect for you.

Me and Koi were doing some Christmas shopping on Sunday, and we decided to go to McDonalds. We get in line and a man who was about 30 or so took our order. I was impressed with his professionalism, politeness, and courtesy. He double checked our order to make sure everything was there, and he told us to have a good day and a happy holiday.

Who knows what has happened in that man's life that led him to an entry level position at McDonalds at the age of 30. All I know is while everyone else is out shopping with their families or watching football, this 30 year old man wearing a McDonalds hat and a bow tie is making sure my son's PLAIN double cheeseburger, fries, and chicken nuggets were just right... all for probably little over minimum wage.

Now I know everyone has gotten that same old speech when they were younger that went kind of like this:

"You better do well in school and not get into any trouble, or you are going to end up working at McDonalds!!!"

Public perception has always associated working at McDonalds when you get older with failure. Well I don't. Now I am sure working at McDonalds was not this man's career choice as a child, but him not meeting his expectations in life up until now does not make him a failure. Every single day I look in the newspaper and I see multiple articles about people committing home invasions, burglaries, and robberies. Those people are failures in my eyes. Anyone can rob and steal from others, but it takes a real man with real character to show up for work at McDonalds to earn an honest living.

I salute that man, and the many others men who are in similar situations. Hopefully the situation is temporary, and they will all find higher paying jobs soon. For right now, I hope they can keep their heads up and understand their efforts are really appreciated. Thank you.

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...

When was the last time you rasterbated?

I know the term "rasterbate" sounds funny, but it is a really cool activity that some people may enjoy. Basically what you do is take any picture you have saved to your computer, upload it to the rasterbator program, and it breaks the picture down into dots on individual pieces of paper that collectively make one big picture of your original image.

Here is an example of a rasterbation I did...

As you can see, the final collective image is made up of 12 pieces of 8x10 paper, which makes a nice sized picture that can be put on a wall (You can see my foot in the bottom of the picture which will give you an idea of how big the picture is). You can select I think up to 100 pages and as little as 2. You can change the quality of the picture by making the size of the dots smaller(It is an option in the program). The smaller the size of the dot's, the better quality of the picture. There are two versions of the program. One that is web based, and one that you can download to your pc. I recommend the one you download to your pc because you can make the dots smaller than on the web based version. The program is very easy to use and is very user friendly, and the whole process takes no more than five minutes. The best part about it... IT"S FREE! The only thing you have to pay for is printing the paper. I recommend saving the images to like a memory stick and taking them to a Kinko's or any printing shop. You can have the pictures printed on regular paper, glossy paper, or whatever other kind of paper you are willing to pay for. You can mount just the paper on the wall but for better results people put the paper on thin foam and then mount that to the wall. Since it is around Christmas maybe someone will want to take advantage of this and make one of these for someone as a gift.

The program can be found at...

http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/

There is a tutorial, FAQ, a forum on how to mount the pictures on a wall, as well as a collection of other rasterbations. Here are a few that I like...

Ok that's all for now... thank you for visiting and stay tuned...