I haven't blogged in awhile as you've probably noticed. I just haven't been that motivated to do it. I actually haven't been that motivated to do much of anything lately. I'm not sure why. But today, I woke up and I just felt like getting things done that I've been putting off.
Nothing much has been going on with me. I had a job interview last Wednesday but I guess I didn't get it because I haven't heard from them. It's okay though. It was a crappy job anyway that I was just going to take just to have something. Stace-Ghost and I spend most of our days hanging out together. We eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together and we usually watch TV shows that we have on DVD while we do it (watched 5 seasons of the Office, 3 seasons of Arrested Development and now the 2nd and 3rd seasons of Scrubs). Two of my closest friends are back now. It's good to have them back although it's kind of a trade because they come back and now I'm going to lose another friend in September because he's moving to Chicago for law school. But it's good to have them all here for now.
The house is pretty much finished now and it looks really good. I'm just glad to not have construction workers at my house all the dang time. I'm really so tired of living in construction zones and yet my wife tells me that when we buy our own house (which could be in the near future) she would like to buy a fixer-upper and have us fix everything ourselves. UGGGHHHH!
I got to jam with my friend (one of the ones who recently returned) who is also my drummer on Saturday and it was a lot of fun but man was I rusty. It kind of irks me too because I really had been practicing a lot in the past few months. Oh well. We went to see some of our friends get married afterwards and it was a lot of fun. In a former life of mine, I used to love to go to dances. I used to love going with my friends and just being totally crazy for a couple of hours until one day, it just wasn't that fun anymore. Well, at the wedding, I did some dancing and it brought all those memories back. It was great. I also got to see a lot of old friends from high school who I hadn't seen in years and it was really great to see all of them. They did a honeymoon dance where you pay a dollar if you want to dance with either the bride or groom. I paid two dollars so I could dance with both. I told a friend, "It's the only way we get to talk to them!"
Well, thats it for me but I'll try to not go M.I.A. for such a long period of time again.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Ohhhhh I Am Going Back
I've recently decided that I need to go back to school. There are a number of reasons, most of them being money. I haven't decided what to go back to school for, however, I know that when I get out of school this time, I want to have a job right off the bat that makes a good amount of money. I've recently been thinking about doing the following things that each have pros and cons and I want to get everyone's opinion.
1. Pharmacy:
Pros: 1. Once I graduated, I would make a lot of money, probably a higher starting salary than the other two jobs.
2. I would be in a job where I am constantly helping people, which is good.
3. There is a huge need for pharmacists, so I wouldn't have a problem finding a job.
4. Though medicine and technology are constantly evolving, my job would for the most part, stay the same, which is good.
5. My work days would be fairly normal, with most weeks requiring no more than 40 hours, and some no more than 50, which I don't mind.
Cons: 1. The program is very long, and it might be 5-6 years before I graduated.
2. The program is the most intensive of the three, and I would have 18 hour semesters for probably the entire program, all while trying to work part-time as well.
3. There is a possibility I might not even be accepted into the program if I applied, because they receive so many applicants that do not have the qualities they're looking for.
2. Law/Business
Pros: 1. If I were to do this program, I would gain not only a law degree (J.D.) but a business degree (M.B.A.) as well. And it would only be four years.
2. I'm sure lots of positions would be open to me by having both degrees.
3. Since I love to write, I think a law degree would carry over well with my ability to write and analyze documents, especially if I specialized in contract writing or something of the sort.
4. I'd have a very nice starting salary, probably somewhere around $65,000.
5. I'd have the ability to help people by protecting their rights within the law.
Cons: 1. It'd be at least four years before I graduated, maybe longer.
2. I might be wrong, but I can see this profession having the most intensive work week of the three, with many weeks of over 50 hours of work or more, which I don't like.
3. Finance
Pros: 1. It'd be the shortest program of them all, and if I hurried, I might could finish within 2 and half years.
2. I'd start out at probably the lowest starting salary of them all, but probably no less than $50,000.
3. This would be the easiest work week of them all, working mostly banker's hours, and very few weeks requiring more than 40 hours of work.
4. By majoring in finance, I could potentially (if I showed a lot of promise) move all the way up the corporate ladder, even all the way to being the CFO (chief financial officer) of a company. It is very unlikely, but it'd be nice to know that there is so much potential ahead.
Cons: 1. I'd be mostly crunching numbers and sitting in meetings. Really, really boring in my opinion.
2. While there are a lot of finance positions (because every business needs a finance person), I think there are less opportunities than the other two careers.
3. I'm still thinking about the mind-numbingness of number one.
4. Something else.
I'm open to the possibility that although I've looked into these three careers, that none of them is what I should do. I really feel like I need to go back to school. I've felt like that ever since I graduated, but I just thought I'd eventually get with a company and go back for something they wanted me to go back for so they'd pay for it and I'd have a job when I graduated. Since that hasn't happened, I'm tired of waiting and I just want to go. The end result of all of this is I want to be able to provide for myself and my family. I want to make enough money to not have to worry about it anymore. I want to make enough money so that I can send all of my kids to college. I want to make enough money so I can travel and see the world, and live a comfortable life and not be afraid to go see a movie, or go to Chili's for dinner because we don't have the money. Money isn't everything, but there is nothing wrong for wanting that security and comfort. Anyway, I'd like to hear everyone's opinions about this. Thanks.
1. Pharmacy:
Pros: 1. Once I graduated, I would make a lot of money, probably a higher starting salary than the other two jobs.
2. I would be in a job where I am constantly helping people, which is good.
3. There is a huge need for pharmacists, so I wouldn't have a problem finding a job.
4. Though medicine and technology are constantly evolving, my job would for the most part, stay the same, which is good.
5. My work days would be fairly normal, with most weeks requiring no more than 40 hours, and some no more than 50, which I don't mind.
Cons: 1. The program is very long, and it might be 5-6 years before I graduated.
2. The program is the most intensive of the three, and I would have 18 hour semesters for probably the entire program, all while trying to work part-time as well.
3. There is a possibility I might not even be accepted into the program if I applied, because they receive so many applicants that do not have the qualities they're looking for.
2. Law/Business
Pros: 1. If I were to do this program, I would gain not only a law degree (J.D.) but a business degree (M.B.A.) as well. And it would only be four years.
2. I'm sure lots of positions would be open to me by having both degrees.
3. Since I love to write, I think a law degree would carry over well with my ability to write and analyze documents, especially if I specialized in contract writing or something of the sort.
4. I'd have a very nice starting salary, probably somewhere around $65,000.
5. I'd have the ability to help people by protecting their rights within the law.
Cons: 1. It'd be at least four years before I graduated, maybe longer.
2. I might be wrong, but I can see this profession having the most intensive work week of the three, with many weeks of over 50 hours of work or more, which I don't like.
3. Finance
Pros: 1. It'd be the shortest program of them all, and if I hurried, I might could finish within 2 and half years.
2. I'd start out at probably the lowest starting salary of them all, but probably no less than $50,000.
3. This would be the easiest work week of them all, working mostly banker's hours, and very few weeks requiring more than 40 hours of work.
4. By majoring in finance, I could potentially (if I showed a lot of promise) move all the way up the corporate ladder, even all the way to being the CFO (chief financial officer) of a company. It is very unlikely, but it'd be nice to know that there is so much potential ahead.
Cons: 1. I'd be mostly crunching numbers and sitting in meetings. Really, really boring in my opinion.
2. While there are a lot of finance positions (because every business needs a finance person), I think there are less opportunities than the other two careers.
3. I'm still thinking about the mind-numbingness of number one.
4. Something else.
I'm open to the possibility that although I've looked into these three careers, that none of them is what I should do. I really feel like I need to go back to school. I've felt like that ever since I graduated, but I just thought I'd eventually get with a company and go back for something they wanted me to go back for so they'd pay for it and I'd have a job when I graduated. Since that hasn't happened, I'm tired of waiting and I just want to go. The end result of all of this is I want to be able to provide for myself and my family. I want to make enough money to not have to worry about it anymore. I want to make enough money so that I can send all of my kids to college. I want to make enough money so I can travel and see the world, and live a comfortable life and not be afraid to go see a movie, or go to Chili's for dinner because we don't have the money. Money isn't everything, but there is nothing wrong for wanting that security and comfort. Anyway, I'd like to hear everyone's opinions about this. Thanks.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Socail Networking: Your Best Weapon During The Revolution
I've been watching the news closely over the past few days for news about Iran. For those of you who might be out of the loop, basically President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (as I will hereto refer to as Crazy Ahmad) has suspiciously won an election in his country in a landslide. Naturally, after hundreds of thousands of Iranians turned out for the election to vote him OUT of office, they have started protesting. And it's about time.
This has caused Crazy Ahmad and company to fire back by not guaranteeing the safety of his opponent in the election, Hussain Mousavi. The protests against Crazy Ahmad have been going on for days now and basically Iran is staring a revolution in the face. But, as the old saying goes, the revolution will indeed not be televised.
The reason is not because Crazy Ahmad has shut down the media in his country (even though he has) but the word of these protests did not get out through CNN or any other major news company, but from normal everyday bloggers and social networkers in Iran. As one blogger wrote, "Iran is going to crap and CNN is showing a program about dogs." (I misquoted that but it was something to that effect).
As the Iranian government has shut down all media stations and ousted foreign journalists, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are the only ways for the Iranian people to get news out to the world about whats going on. It's even gotten to the point that the US State Department has recently asked Twitter to delay an update to their site that would put the site offline to the Iranian people for most of the day. Twitter has since complied with the request stating that they realized how important of a role their site was playing in the grand scheme.
As I heard about this, I was elated. Iran has needed a revolution for quite some time and it was so amazing to know that social networking sites were protesters best weapon against Big Brother. The Iranian government has continued their efforts to silence the protestors but with current technology, they are fighting an uphill battle. Finally, we can be assured that the people, the regular everyday people of the world, have the power.
At least until this escalates towards violence. Real weapons are always the ultimate silencers but the truth about the events that are happening now will stand as a witness against those who will use real violence to silence their people. This government might try to squash the truth, to hide it but the world will know. I hope this protest can end peacefully with real change and freedom coming to the Iranian people. But if that is not possible, we will know. And we will know through tweets and status updates. Welcome to the 21st century. Power to the people.
This has caused Crazy Ahmad and company to fire back by not guaranteeing the safety of his opponent in the election, Hussain Mousavi. The protests against Crazy Ahmad have been going on for days now and basically Iran is staring a revolution in the face. But, as the old saying goes, the revolution will indeed not be televised.
The reason is not because Crazy Ahmad has shut down the media in his country (even though he has) but the word of these protests did not get out through CNN or any other major news company, but from normal everyday bloggers and social networkers in Iran. As one blogger wrote, "Iran is going to crap and CNN is showing a program about dogs." (I misquoted that but it was something to that effect).
As the Iranian government has shut down all media stations and ousted foreign journalists, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are the only ways for the Iranian people to get news out to the world about whats going on. It's even gotten to the point that the US State Department has recently asked Twitter to delay an update to their site that would put the site offline to the Iranian people for most of the day. Twitter has since complied with the request stating that they realized how important of a role their site was playing in the grand scheme.
As I heard about this, I was elated. Iran has needed a revolution for quite some time and it was so amazing to know that social networking sites were protesters best weapon against Big Brother. The Iranian government has continued their efforts to silence the protestors but with current technology, they are fighting an uphill battle. Finally, we can be assured that the people, the regular everyday people of the world, have the power.
At least until this escalates towards violence. Real weapons are always the ultimate silencers but the truth about the events that are happening now will stand as a witness against those who will use real violence to silence their people. This government might try to squash the truth, to hide it but the world will know. I hope this protest can end peacefully with real change and freedom coming to the Iranian people. But if that is not possible, we will know. And we will know through tweets and status updates. Welcome to the 21st century. Power to the people.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Elephant In The Room
I've been out of work for quite awhile now. I don't like talking about it mostly because I feel so ashamed of myself and I like to give people the impression that I'm fine. To be honest, I AM fine. But I really do wish that I had a job. I really do like working. There is something that is really unconscious about work, a feeling that you're being useful and contributing that you never notice until it's gone. I've recently been trying to break into a writing career, writing for local newspapers and magazines around Albuquerque but nothing has really happened even though I emailed all of them that I could find. I did get the okay to do freelance work for the Alibi but when I emailed the editors about any assignments they had, they said they didn't have any and that they almost never use freelancers, which is not good for me. I've emailed so many freakin' people about jobs I just want to scream. I keep thinking of giving Accounting Principals another call, which is my temp agency, and telling them I'll do anything they want but it feels like I'd be giving up and raising the white flag if I did that. When I was doing all of those crappy jobs for them, there was not a single day that went by where I didn't feel like I was wasting my time and abilities and that I really needed to leave and find something better. But, I just don't know what to do anymore. I really want to get a career in line so that Stacy and I can start a family and I could support us all. I've fasted and prayed and so has my wife, and many other family and friends. I feel grateful that I've had so much support but I'm sad that I haven't helped that support come to fruition. Anyway, I just thought I should update everybody on what's going on and thank you for all your support.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Milo
This is a video of the aforementioned Milo (see post "E3"). It is both fascinating and frightening. Enjoy.
Monday, June 1, 2009
E3
E3 kicks off today and for those of you who don't know what that is, its the biggest video game conference of the year. E3 stands for the Electronic Entertainment Expo and the biggest video game news of the year is announced here. And after watching Microsoft's press conference, I can say the future is here and its frightening.
Microsoft, after announcing a number of triple-A video games coming to the 360, completely floored me with their announcement of motion-sensing technology. I know what you're thinking, "I liked it better when it was called the Wii" which was exactly what I thought at first. Microsoft's motion-sensing technology differs from the Wii in that you don't even use a controller, and the camera (which you would set on top of your TV) is capable of capturing your full body movements. They showed a demo of a girl frantically trying to kick balls that were flying at her onscreen avatar and it appeared that the camera captured every single movement even down to her little flinches.
The demo continued with the announcement that not only does this technology have motion-sensing, but voice recognition as well. Then ensued a guy who was painting an onscreen canvas with his avatar and simply by speaking which colors he wanted to use, the game recognized it and would change as he painted a picture of a palm tree on a beach.
Then the next part got really creepy. They showed this technology going even further to science fiction level escapades as they introduced a character called Milo. Milo is an actual video game character that a real person can interact with. Using the voice recognition technology, a real person talked to Milo and asked how he was doing and he would even ask questions back. The real person went and played with Milo and fished with him and drew pictures and there was point where the real person drew a picture on a piece of paper and held it up to the camera and immediately Milo had a white piece of paper in his hand as if she had just handed it to him in real life. He looked at the drawing and actually commented on it. I don't know how I felt about this. It was strange and kind of frightening to see a real person interact with a video game character in this way but at the same time, it was fascinating that things like this were possible. Microsoft made no announcements about the price of this technology at this time but I don't see it being very cheap.
It was a hell of a way to kick off E3 and I'm interested to see what the next three days of the conference holds.
Microsoft, after announcing a number of triple-A video games coming to the 360, completely floored me with their announcement of motion-sensing technology. I know what you're thinking, "I liked it better when it was called the Wii" which was exactly what I thought at first. Microsoft's motion-sensing technology differs from the Wii in that you don't even use a controller, and the camera (which you would set on top of your TV) is capable of capturing your full body movements. They showed a demo of a girl frantically trying to kick balls that were flying at her onscreen avatar and it appeared that the camera captured every single movement even down to her little flinches.
The demo continued with the announcement that not only does this technology have motion-sensing, but voice recognition as well. Then ensued a guy who was painting an onscreen canvas with his avatar and simply by speaking which colors he wanted to use, the game recognized it and would change as he painted a picture of a palm tree on a beach.
Then the next part got really creepy. They showed this technology going even further to science fiction level escapades as they introduced a character called Milo. Milo is an actual video game character that a real person can interact with. Using the voice recognition technology, a real person talked to Milo and asked how he was doing and he would even ask questions back. The real person went and played with Milo and fished with him and drew pictures and there was point where the real person drew a picture on a piece of paper and held it up to the camera and immediately Milo had a white piece of paper in his hand as if she had just handed it to him in real life. He looked at the drawing and actually commented on it. I don't know how I felt about this. It was strange and kind of frightening to see a real person interact with a video game character in this way but at the same time, it was fascinating that things like this were possible. Microsoft made no announcements about the price of this technology at this time but I don't see it being very cheap.
It was a hell of a way to kick off E3 and I'm interested to see what the next three days of the conference holds.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
TV On The Radio
This is a concert review I wrote for Randomville. I also included some videos of the band if you're interested. The first is a live version of "Golden Age" on the British show Later...With Jools Holland. The second is a live version of "Dancing Choose" on Letterman. Enjoy.
5/18/09- It’s amazing that with all the success TV On The Radio has had over the past few years that I would find them in a place like the Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City on Monday night. It’s not that the venue is bad or too small but after being hailed as one of the best bands of this generation by everyone from Rolling Stone to Spin magazine, I expected to find the band in much different circumstances.
The Diamond Ballroom is on the outskirts of Oklahoma City, down the street from a Budweiser factory, and has a dirt parking lot. The inside looks like it was once used as a country-western bar where people would square dance and the stage at the north end of the venue was added as an afterthought. I was highly excited. It’s not that often that a person catches a great band in such a strange and intimate setting.
The opening band was, “Little Dragon”, and though the vocals from lead singer Yukimi Nagano immediately reminded me of Bjork, their music was much more upbeat and danceable-a perfect opening band for TV On The Radio. Their set was heavily driven by the keyboards of Hakan Wirenstrand that always seemed to add that little extra-something to the mix to make them not only fun but interesting as well. Their songs would often devolve into percussion-driven and ambient interludes that always threatened to lose the interest of the crowd before vocalist Nagano would grab their attention with an ear-catching melody. The crowd was very warm to the band, which is always nice to see.
It was close to 40 minutes before TV On The Radio took the stage after Little Dragon closed their set and by that time, the Diamond Ballroom was packed and stifling. Without any air-conditioning and only three exits that were open to the night air, it was damn hot in there. It was interesting to see that the band had no great stage setup, no smoke machines or even great lights. But none of that mattered when they opened their set with “Dirtywhirl” because the crowd immediately began to dance and move and sing along, totally forgetting their previous predicament of being hot and of the band not having a big production for them to see. I was surprised that though the crowd was somewhat small, they were completely dedicated to the band, singing along to all of the songs and clapping when prompted to do so by lead singer Tunde Adebimpe. I loved watching him dance around the stage with so much charisma and passion.
The band played a tight set, playing 10 of the 11 tracks (I don’t count “Silence” because…well, it’s nothing but silence) from Dear Science. Towards the middle of the set, they played fan favorite “Golden Age” and a rousing version of “Wolf Like Me” back-to-back and it was great to hear the crowd sing “We’re howlin’ forever!” at the end of the song. Other great live songs were “Dancing Choose” and “Red Dress” with rhythm guitar player Kyp Malone taking the lead vocals on the latter song and declaring, “I’m scared to death I’m living a life not worth dying for”. It seemed like the night could go on forever,
For the encore, they played a beautiful version of “Family Tree” which is heavily-driven by a string section on the album but was instead driven here by a delay-effect on the guitar of lead guitarist and producer Dave Sitek. The song was intimate and emotional and really calmed the crowd down after all the rabble-rousing of the evening. They closed the show by inviting members from opening band, Little Dragon, and a few other friends of the band to play, “A Method” from their album, Return To Cookie Mountain. The song features nothing but various percussion instruments and a bass and as a stage spectacle, one of the friends of the band poured a full bottle of water onto his giant drum so that water would spray in all directions as he hit it. It was a great closer.
Despite the band having a few sound problems (which I blame more on the venue than the band), the show was absolutely amazing as the songs of the band were really meant to be played live. If this band is coming your way anytime soon, do yourself a favor and go see them. If you’re lucky, you might catch them in an intimate setting like I saw them because it is only time before this band is playing stadiums.
5/18/09- It’s amazing that with all the success TV On The Radio has had over the past few years that I would find them in a place like the Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City on Monday night. It’s not that the venue is bad or too small but after being hailed as one of the best bands of this generation by everyone from Rolling Stone to Spin magazine, I expected to find the band in much different circumstances.
The Diamond Ballroom is on the outskirts of Oklahoma City, down the street from a Budweiser factory, and has a dirt parking lot. The inside looks like it was once used as a country-western bar where people would square dance and the stage at the north end of the venue was added as an afterthought. I was highly excited. It’s not that often that a person catches a great band in such a strange and intimate setting.
The opening band was, “Little Dragon”, and though the vocals from lead singer Yukimi Nagano immediately reminded me of Bjork, their music was much more upbeat and danceable-a perfect opening band for TV On The Radio. Their set was heavily driven by the keyboards of Hakan Wirenstrand that always seemed to add that little extra-something to the mix to make them not only fun but interesting as well. Their songs would often devolve into percussion-driven and ambient interludes that always threatened to lose the interest of the crowd before vocalist Nagano would grab their attention with an ear-catching melody. The crowd was very warm to the band, which is always nice to see.
It was close to 40 minutes before TV On The Radio took the stage after Little Dragon closed their set and by that time, the Diamond Ballroom was packed and stifling. Without any air-conditioning and only three exits that were open to the night air, it was damn hot in there. It was interesting to see that the band had no great stage setup, no smoke machines or even great lights. But none of that mattered when they opened their set with “Dirtywhirl” because the crowd immediately began to dance and move and sing along, totally forgetting their previous predicament of being hot and of the band not having a big production for them to see. I was surprised that though the crowd was somewhat small, they were completely dedicated to the band, singing along to all of the songs and clapping when prompted to do so by lead singer Tunde Adebimpe. I loved watching him dance around the stage with so much charisma and passion.
The band played a tight set, playing 10 of the 11 tracks (I don’t count “Silence” because…well, it’s nothing but silence) from Dear Science. Towards the middle of the set, they played fan favorite “Golden Age” and a rousing version of “Wolf Like Me” back-to-back and it was great to hear the crowd sing “We’re howlin’ forever!” at the end of the song. Other great live songs were “Dancing Choose” and “Red Dress” with rhythm guitar player Kyp Malone taking the lead vocals on the latter song and declaring, “I’m scared to death I’m living a life not worth dying for”. It seemed like the night could go on forever,
For the encore, they played a beautiful version of “Family Tree” which is heavily-driven by a string section on the album but was instead driven here by a delay-effect on the guitar of lead guitarist and producer Dave Sitek. The song was intimate and emotional and really calmed the crowd down after all the rabble-rousing of the evening. They closed the show by inviting members from opening band, Little Dragon, and a few other friends of the band to play, “A Method” from their album, Return To Cookie Mountain. The song features nothing but various percussion instruments and a bass and as a stage spectacle, one of the friends of the band poured a full bottle of water onto his giant drum so that water would spray in all directions as he hit it. It was a great closer.
Despite the band having a few sound problems (which I blame more on the venue than the band), the show was absolutely amazing as the songs of the band were really meant to be played live. If this band is coming your way anytime soon, do yourself a favor and go see them. If you’re lucky, you might catch them in an intimate setting like I saw them because it is only time before this band is playing stadiums.
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