SXSW

SXSW is a giant music festival that happens yearly in Austin, TX. If it were most anywhere else in the US, I would consider going sometime. Alas, my dislike of TX has kept me away. This hasn't stopped me from listening to a lot of the music. Someone puts a torrent up online of a song by a lot of the artists that played at the festival, and for the past two years, I've downloaded it and listened through it. These aren't little files of a few songs. There normally range around 800 songs, and I may be guessing low on that. Anyways, it took me almost all year last year to get through it, rating what I liked and deleting what I didn't. As soon as I finish, I add the new one. Its tough to want to do this again cause last year, I only kept 1/5 of the songs. Why would I want to go through 800 songs to find 160 that I actually keep, maybe 20 of those that I REALLY enjoy? I guess it is those few gems I find that keep me coming back. Even though I hear a lot of songs that I can't stand at all, there are those that I listen to over and over and occasionally go on to find other music by that artist cause I liked a song so much. I guess it's like a lot of things in life, you have to put the work in and shift through everything to find the things that are worth it.

Nice Weather for Ducks

Since I was talking about my rubberduckies last note, I thought it would be nice to share some videos. I dare you not to smile during these.



And a Classic one.



And I can't add the last one without this one. A little Jazz.

A Gift of Ducks

A few weeks ago, I got a little box set from my parents. Inside was a bunch of Wintergreen Lifesaver Mints, Spaghetti-Os, Wegmans Tuna, a Bionic Commando lunch box, and some little rubber ducks. The last part was probably the coolest. These ducks are dressed as if they were hockey players. Yes, I have had them pretended they were playing games against each other.

Here is what they look like.



Cool, right?

A Bible Thought

I know that I have a few readers who aren't too religious, so I am going to preface this posting by saying that I am talking about the Bible in this one. I don't want to throw too much stuff like this in here, but if its what's on my mind, I will share it. I will just be nice enough to preface it with something like this, so if you want to skip it, feel free.

I have been thinking a lot recently about 1 Corinthians 13. As most of you know, this is known as the love chapter. In this chapter, Paul is talking about what love is. I like to think I show love to all people I meet. I know that I don't do it 100% of the time, which I do feel bad about and know I need to work on, but I do try. The part of this chapter that I recently thought about is verse 5. "It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." (Thanks biblegateway.com for access the verse.) For years, I took this to mean, 'Don't be angry.' I would try to always hold my temper and not get mad at people. I don't really think that is what it is saying. Don't be EASILY angered. Love can get angry. It shouldn't fly off the handle or anything, but Love can be angry. This really was just a revelation to me. I thought about it, and the Bible does say GOD is Love and that GOD was angry. I guess its sort of like how a parent can get angry with a child. Being angry with them doesn't change the love they have for their child. In fact, its usually because they love the child that they are angry. The child was being disobedient and the parent is upset for the child's own good. I guess just multiply that by like a billion and you can get a small idea of what GOD is like when HE is angry. HE doesn't fly off the handle, but is always looking out for those HE loves, us. Since a Christian is supposed to be like Christ, we need to make sure to emulate GOD's love in the small way we can.

Seeing What I Can Be

I often think about what I want to do when/if I grow up. Recently, my idea is to become a Math professor or some other college teacher. I have told a few of my classmates and friends this and the normal reaction is, 'Yeah, I can totally see that.' I'm sort of glad that people see that as a fitting career for me, not that it really matters. I think I would eventually fit into whatever career I wanted to pursue. My only issue with it is that, yes I would like to teach, but am not going to kid myself into thinking it is really any type of glamorous job. I really wish people would say that they could see me doing something much more exciting, like alligator wrestling, world traveler, or professional spy.

Somewhat sadly, I couldn't find classes for any of those careers. Guess I'll just have to stick with my current plan.

My AZ Friends

I know I have said this before, but I am so thankful for the path my life has taken. I have had to deal with a few small annoyances with my jobs and money, but in the end, I have always had enough to get by.

The other night, I realized a certain path life had taken me on where I got to meet two of the most amazing people ever, my friend Brad and his sister Christin. Brad and I met while working for Siren, a decent job that didn't work out in the end. After leaving the job, I went through some pretty unsteady months but I can always look back on my time there as a blessing cause I got to meet Brad, who is probably my best friend I've made since moving out of Buffalo. Since I have been hanging out at his place, I have gotten to meet his wonderful sister, Christin. Both of them have made me feel very welcome whenever we have spent time hanging out. Brad is always inviting me over to eat dinner, go to a party or church, or just to hang. Recently, we were hanging out and I overheard Christin say that she had a blog. Of course I went home and followed her blog. Next time I saw her, I mentioned this and she was really happy to hear it. In my mind, it wasn't a big thing but I am glad she was pleased.

So, thinking back to my time with Siren, yeah, it wasn't cool what happened at the time, but if it didn't happen, I wouldn't be living on this side of town and probably wouldn't have made these friends. In the end, the small annoyance was worth it.

By the way, both Brad and Christin write blogs. You can read Brad's here and Christin's here.

Thinking in Color

I was recently having a conversation with a friend about favorite colors. It ended up evolving into a conversation about the meanings/thoughts we associate with different colors. Here are my thoughts.

Purple - This reminds me of my Aunt. She loves purple and the whole family definitely knew it. When I think of purple I think of a more mature, romantic affection. As opposed to ....

Pink - Of course, I think of this as the most girl-y color. I think of it as a young affection. Also, remind me of those Sweetheart candies. I think I am one of the few people in the world who actually likes those.

Blue - My second favorite color. Makes me think of water and the ocean. I associate it with adaptability, ease, and peace.

Green - This is my favorite color. I think of plants when I think of green. I think of life and growth with this color.

Yellow - Yellow-bellied, need I say more? Well, I probably should. The sun is actually what I think of when I think of yellow. Which might be why I think of something that's attention grabbing. Like a ray of sunshine.

Orange - Probably my least favorite color. I do not like this color much. Though I do like GoldFish crackers, (Easter Egg: Know what the first ingredient of GoldFish? If not, look it up.) when I think of orange, I, like most people, think of the fruit that shares the name. I think of confusion when thinking of this color but that probably comes from my time working for the big orange, The Home Depot.

Red - Anger. Embarrassment. Apples. I only like thinking of the last one, but I associate all three words with red.

White - I think of white as clean and pure. Like a white shirt. Which seems to attract dirt.

Black - Emptiness. I think its probably a very cool (in heat terms) color. I think it also really represents the unknown.

Well, those are my thoughts. Feel free to share yours.

Pratical Cars

Since I drive so much, I get to see a lot of other cars on the road. Not really to many when I'm driving but since I drive so much, they tend to add up. I recently realized that it bothers me when someone has a car and doesn't use it for the purpose it should be. Here are some examples.

1) Driving a sports car slowly - Since you decided to buy a sports car, you should always be going faster than me. It is a shame to have bought an engine like you have and not use it.

2) Having a pristine pickup truck - I understand, you care about your car. But, it has the bed, you paid to have the bed, you should you it. Luxury Pickup Trucks might be the stupidest thing ever. Why worry about it getting a ding in it? They are meant to get them. Pickup trucks are meant to pick up things and carry them from point A to point B, That is why they are called PICKUP TRUCKS! If you have one and don't want to help your friend move, you are just a jerk.

3) SUVs with 3 or few passengers - You bought that big vehicle to move a lot. Why not get a car, which would be cheaper and better for the environment? Oh, cause you just want to be a soccer mom? LAME!

It's funny, all these little things that bother me. But really, what sense do any of those things make?

Video Link

Sorry, don't feel like writing but do feel like sharing a video with you guys. I find this clip from the Daily Show really funny, hope you guys do too.

Maybe I'll post later too. For now, just enjoy the clip.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mass. Hysteria
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

St. Patty's Day!

Today is St. Patty's Day. A very special day for any Irish people. I think it's as special to the Irish as Cinco De Mayo is for Hispanic people. I could be wrong on that one though. I have never been much into politics but thinking about St. Patty's Day got me thinking.

One of the few things I have been taught about St. Patrick is that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. Pretty impressive if it isn't just a legend. I wonder if Ireland still has any snakes. I wish he hadn't gone to Ireland, cause Washington D.C. might be able to use the chasing of snakes out of town a little more than Ireland did. I am not talking about the literal snakes, mostly the politicians. Like I said, I never have been big into politics, but I really think I would be if I felt that there were people in government that I could trust. Can we get a modern day political St. Patrick?

Sorry for the random thoughts, but hey, if that's what I have in my head, that's what I'll be sharing with you. But if you were curious if I was into the holiday spirit, I am going for a Shamrock Shake later, I am wearing green, drinking a Guinness, and made a pizza. Not that the last part is Irish at all, but it was very delicious, so I don't think the Irish in me will mind.

Taxes

Sadly, I am about to start working on my taxes today. I am not sure how long this will take since I believe I have to file a 1099 and a 1040 cause I have spent time as both an official employee (1040) and an independent contractor (1099). After I finish, I will post whether I am happy or not with the return (at least I hope there is a return) and the time it took. Might not be as bad as all that. Just really need to get down to it. Either way, I am glad I just added a few new albums that I need to rate.

EDIT: So, 1 hour 16 minutes later I will be paying 268 to the state but getting 1563 from the fed. Something like that. I know I'll be getting a lot more from the fed than I am paying to the state. And of course I e-filed the federal return so I should be getting that soon. When I do, I submit the state. I know how to work it!

Part of the Family?

So, the other day I went to hang with a classmate at her house. I wanted to celebrate Pi Day with someone, so I bought a pie and went over. Her parents were grocery shopping so her and I ate a slice of pie and watched some video on SeaWorld, Julia is a big fan of SeaWorld. While just chilling there, her mom called and they talked for a bit. We hung out for a bit longer and her parents eventually came home. They brought with them groceries. For me. Yeah, I was a bit shocked to have the parents of a friend just randomly buy me groceries. It was really nice, but this was definitely new for me. My friends' parents have bought me pizza when I'm hanging with my friends but I can't recall ever getting groceries or anything like that. It was nice. Might swing by next time I need groceries.

Small Thoughts

I have been having some trouble thinking of what to write on this blog. The problem is that most of my thoughts are long thoughts and can be covered in 140 characters or less. For this reason, I tweet most of my random thoughts. It ends up being much easier to just send a short random thought there instead of putting it on here and trying to drag it out. I do like my blog to send my rants out but it has become difficult to find time to post on here. Luckily, I have been working on a few ideas and, when I have time and the will to sit and write, they will be shared. For now, if you would like to get inside my head and know my random thoughts, check out my twitter profile.

On to Next Week Now Please.

So, this is my last week before spring break. I can not tell you how excited I am to have a small break next week, even though I will still be working. This week has been very stressful, with a few papers being due that I put off till last minute, work being busy, and personal stuff going on. I feel this break will be a chance to just catch up on a lot of things I haven't been able to do, like getting more than 4 hours of consecutive sleep. Might take a night off from work just to enjoy life. Besides relaxing, and doing the stupid assignments my teachers gave me for break, I have the big plans of doing my taxes. I know you're all jealous of my amazing life.

It's nice to just have a break and be able to breathe for a mintue.

Favorite TV show? Chuck it up to Chuck

Today, I was watching Chuck with my buddy Brad when I realized, this is by far my favorite TV show. I do love LOST too, but I do think that Chuck would beat out LOST if I actually had to make a decision of which one to watch. (Thank goodness I don't have to choose between the two!) I enjoy LOST for the story but a few times I have thought, if I hadn't been watching this whole time and didn't know when it was going to end, I would have dropped the show. I have never felt that way with Chuck, partly because I am always wondering if there is going to be another season or not. I also think Chuck is just a very well done, fun show. I enjoy the acting by all the characters. They have enough humor to balance out all the drama, never really going to far to one side or the other. I always feel very pleased after watching an episode.

Plus, a smoking hot blond doesn't hurt either.

Think About Your Problem

Last week or so, I was walking with a classmate out of our Anthropology class. We had both just given short presentations on some assigned anthropology words. I hadn't been excited about mine at all, but she had been terribly excited to give the presentation since she got it. While walking out of class she complained about how it seemed that her topic made everyone uncomfortable. Her phrase was 'Gender roles' and she had shown a video from YouTube. Even I found it to be an uncomfortable presentation. I don't really want to share what it was about, but the word Taboo was in the title of the video. I pointed this out to her and how you can't expect people to be comfortable around stuff like that, there is a reason its called taboo. She agreed but just went on complaining and bringing in the stares she gets for some of her reading choices. Again, for most people, the subject matter that she is reading is taboo. I can't believe someone would understand this and still complain.

If you want people's approval, then you have to conform. If you don't want to, then you have to not give a care what other people think! To me, this isn't a difficult idea.