...Money?

I was going to start writing a short story series this week. There has been a declining interest in the blog and I’m looking to go in a different direction with my writing. This past week I’ve been cultivating potential paths to take with regards to my first works of fiction. Something happened recently that distracted me from the brainstorming process. My Facebook news feed was littered with people voicing their protest of the SOPA and PIPA bills being discussed in Washington.

...How to Beat That Monkey?

Pandora is assaulting my ear drums with the uptempo madness that is the Party Rock Anthem station. I’ve got on my compression shorts and sweat-wicking shirt to prevent chaffing. I’ve got my bandana on to keep sweat form trickling into my eyes. I’m ready to go. Superior equipment, iPods, and a gym membership won’t do the trick by themselves, though. You need something more than those material things to create a successful session at the gym. You have it all planned out in your head. You are going to work out every day, and in no time you’ll have a body you can be proud of.

...About The Glass?

“The human race is so puny compared to the universe that being disabled is not of much cosmic significance.”

- Stephen Hawking

I envision myself as a cynical optimist. Bad things have, can, and will happen to me, you, and everyone on the planet. This is simply a fact of our existence as it stands. Some of those things may be avoidable; some will be hopelessly out of any person’s control. I believe that one of the most important traits of one’s character is how one responds to the various “bad things” as they occur.

...This is My First Review?

I’m going to begin by stating that I do not claim to be a film critic. I love movies. I try to see everything interesting as it comes out in theaters. I’m not thinking about scene transitions, lighting, and set design. Unless, of course, the scene transitions, lighting, and set design really stand out to me. I’ll endorse a movie because I love the story, or because the characters were interesting, or because I like the cinematography. I enjoy human creation and I believe movies to be one of the greater accomplishments of our race. Thinking about all of the time that goes into set creation, makeup, hiring, financing, writing, and the promoting of movies can be overwhelming. All of the things that have to go right and come together to make a movie happen makes the whole experience that much more significant.

...About My Pink Slip Collection

I’ve alluded to it in previous blog posts. My job history is quite varied. In the period between my first job and stumbling blindly into a career path, I have worked at about ten different places. In our first blog post of 2012, a metric that is very obviously of utmost importance, I thought it might be fun to detail the hijinks I was able to get into during that time in my life.

...About Scum?

It sounded like firecrackers. I didn’t really consider the first two pops. It wasn’t July, but there were several young children who lived at the motel; I figured there was just some adolescent mischief going on outside of the office. It was about 6:30 pm. By the time my brain realized that the sounds were louder than any normal M-80 or cherry bomb, two more pops accompanied by the screams of several adults reached my ears.

...About My Kids?

I have hundreds of them. Since the spring of 2005, I have worked for the YMCA at an elementary school CEP program. I look after several kids who need a place to go before school starts as well as after the final bell has rung for the day. Far beyond being a great job, it has been a completely transformative experience for me.