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29 August, 2008

So little time

Thought I'd put in a brief appearance on my own blog to say that I'm still alive, just haven't found the time/inspiration/effort to put in a decent post for a while! Hopefully I can be back on it soon but from now until Christmas will be uber crazy for me. I'm hoping the time will pass quickly but at the same time feel guilty for wishing away the next 4 months of my life. Sometimes I get out of blogging because I feel like I haven't anything that I wish to share on my blog. Sure, I have plenty of opinions I could throw out but sometimes the effort of articulating your thought just right is a heavy burden. So, for now I'll just keep to reading other blogs and leaving sarcastic comments! Yay!

19 August, 2008

The things people do

I visited one of my favourite places yesterday. The Chinese buffet. A fantastic invention if you ask me. It really opened my world to Chinese food, the first time I tried it, as I could go up and try a little of everything (well most things) and then see what I liked. It's far too easy to eat way too much though. At one buffet I saw that they weigh the food if you are taking it out from the buffet to eat at home. They should weigh everyone on the weigh (haha - way) in and then charge them depending on how much food they ate.

Anyway, isn't it annoying when you are settling down to eat a nice meal and you just want peace and quiet when someone decides to start and continue an argument at another table? I mean she was really mad about something. I would be surprised if she even took time to ea her food in between breathing and arguing. I say "arguing" but it was more of an angry monologue than anything. I am old fashioned or is it just best to keep that kinda thing behind closed doors? At least for the sake of the other diners if not yourself? Perhaps she was frustrated at the lack of MSG's.

13 August, 2008

Friendship


Isn't friendship a difficult thing to manage? After playing "The Sims" video game I often wish that I had a way of finding out how close I was to someone and how close they were to me, simply by reading a bar with a number on it. It would be really easy to tell when someone didn't like you. "Oh, I see I met Dave the other week and he seemed like a pretty nice bloke *checks relationship number* crap. I like Dave 45 out of 100 and he feels -10 towards me." Much, much simpler.


When I was at school I tended to have a lot of acquaintances and people who I liked and who liked me but never really had a close group of "friends". I could tolerate being in a group of people and was accepted but I could only ever feel close to one person at a time. Today I still have a great friend from my High school days and he is able the only person I wanted to stay in touch with. He has always been there for me, we have a lot in common, a similar sense of humour. He even wants to travel over here to visit.


When I went to University for my undergrad, I didn't know anyone and no one knew me. It was like a fresh start. I ended up meeting and gaining a large group of people I considered my "friends". They cared about me, looked out for me, respected me and importantly made an effort in our relationship to spend time with me and want to spend time with me. One of my closest male friends would always ask me to join him no matter what he was doing, he would listen to my stories and crazy ideas and support me when I needed it. I hope I did the same for him.


I lived with three guys. It was actually a surprisingly clean house and we didn't allow parties...mainly because we didn't want to clean up anyone else's crap. I lived with them for three years and so we were able to get pretty close. One night about 6 years ago now I was out clubbing with my friends and housemates. I was on an upper balcony and was gesturing with my bottle of beer over the rail. Turns out the security guard under me wasn't too impressed and raced up to quickly escort me out of the building. I wasn't too happy about that at all and felt pretty alone and embarrassed out in front of the club. I started the long walk home. I was maybe 40 feet away from the building and I hear my name being called out behind me. It was one of my housemates. We walked home together, grabbed some food and chilled out at home. It was totally unexpected and still means a lot to me today, that someone would give up their evening (and it about 9pm or so) to keep me company, not desert me and cheer me up.


For the last couple of years I've struggled with friendships. Being miles away from my old friends makes it difficult to keep a good relationship going. Thankfully we now have emails and text messaging and skype (and yes I do remember a time before these inventions) but still that human presence can mean and do more than 100 emails or texts or phone calls. When I meet new people now it's almost like I'm starting off at a disadvantage. Investing in a new friendship is something which I feel I have to do so I can have that sense of trusting someone (who isn't Ms. AllClick, my best friend) and knowing that when I'm sick someone cares, or when I have a happy moment I have someone to share it with. So I feel I'm at a disadvantage because the people I meet already have friends and best friends and well established relationships. They don't need to put the effort into a friendship with me as if it doesn't work out it's no big deal to them. They have "Bob" they have known for 15 years from high school or "Dave" they used to work with 20 years ago.


What I liked about going to University for my undergrad was that everyone I met was in the same situation as me. On their own. So there was that desire and need for relationships. I haven't seen that near as much with my grad degree.


So to finish I recommend getting in touch with an old friend. Maybe their "Sims"-esque friendship bar is still 100 with you even though you think it's a 50.

12 August, 2008

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game


After finally completing "Resident Evil" with Chris and Jill, I had a chance to crack open my Lego Star Wars video game on the pc. Two words. Awe. Some. It's easy to get started, the controls are simple, the game play is incredibly fun and it's challenging but doable! The two player drop in action means that you can play alongside your spouse, son, daughter, grandma and they can take a break while you still light saber your way through the levels. There are plenty of hidden items and bonuses so that even after you complete the game in one weekend and a Monday you will still want to go back and find the other 20 characters you missed when you played it through the first time. It sticks pretty close to the main storyline of the movies and is actually more enjoyable in Lego that it was on the silver screen. Heaps of fun.

07 August, 2008

Did you know...

Did you know that according to recent statistics a 5th of America's population is a direct descendant of Brangelina?

06 August, 2008

304blogs.com

Can you say 304blogs.com three times, quickly? Yer, me too. It's pretty easy. I just wanted to give a big shoutout to the site. It kinda pools together all of the best blogs in West Virginia into one handy-dandy place! Thanks for the add, guys.

05 August, 2008

Where's my rights?

For some reason the title of my post has me singing "Where is my mind?" by the Pixies. Weird. Anywho, people who know me know that I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke. So generally i'm pleased when I hear about smoking bans because it means I can go places and not have to smell the smoke or breathe any in. I have nothing against the smokers in general and would be quite happy if smoking only affected the one with the cigarette. It seems that it's a pretty prickly issue over in Kanawha county, however, in that bar owners feel they are losing business. Smokers feel like it's their right to smoke where they please and non-smokers feel like it's their right to breathe in fresh air. What a pickle. I read through some of the comments on the news article and wanted to reprint this one which I thought was particully articulate:

Smokers choose to participate in a lifestyle that shortens their life expectancy as well as the life expectancy of those around them. As a human being it is my right and the right of every other patron to be able to go into a bar or restaurant without the fear of being bombarded by a hazardous environment. The minute smokers enter a bar they immediately "own" the air inside the bar simply because there is no way to contain cigarette smoke. Since this smoke has been proven hazardous, and the bar owner has given up his/her rights to the air inside the establishment, it is the duty of the government to stand for the basic human rights of the non-smokers. Don't like it? Stop smoking. It won't kill you if you do.

Thanks to "Allen" whoever you may be.

04 August, 2008

The first to be last

I was disappointed to hear about the latest statistics for business in West Virginia. Apparently WV is the worst state in the country for business. How can that be so? We told everyone we were "Open for Business" right? Even worse than being 50th this year is the fact that we have held this title for two years running. Add to this trophy another; WV is ranked last in the U.S. for it's legal system by Institute for Legal Reform and considered a "Judicial Hellhole" by The American Tort Reform Foundation.

This kinda thing is way out of my usual zone of reading but when you want the best for the state it's kinda important to me to know the facts. I can't really give an analysis of the problem or a solution. So, instead here is a lawyer joke:

The devil visited a lawyer's office and made him an offer. "I can arrange some things for you, " the devil said. "I'll increase your income five-fold. Your partners will love you; your clients will respect you; you'll have four months of vacation each year and live to be a hundred. All I require in return is that your wife's soul, your children's souls, and their children's souls rot in hell for eternity."The lawyer thought for a moment. "What's the catch?" he asked.

01 August, 2008

Just 'cause it's Friday


"Cheers!"

10 things never to say to a West Virginian (ish)

Some things I've learned never to say to a West Virginian through trial and error:

1. "I can't wait until they get rid of those Mountains. More coal the better if you ask me."
2. "So, do you live near Lynchburg, or Roanoke?"
3. "I hear owning a gun and/or hunting is a way of hiding homosexual feelings."
4. "Those Ohioans sure know how to drive!"
5. "Why do you all talk funny?"
6. Do not mention "Deliverance". Or say "Georgia, my ass" after mentioning it.
7. "That Senator Byrd is full of himself, isn't he? What has that old codger ever done for the state?"
8. "Open for Business".
9. "Coleslaw? On a Hot Dog?!?"
10. " 'Course we need higher gas taxes. Joe Manchin's gotta pay for that new east wing on the mansion somehow!"
10.2. "So, this is West Virginia, huh? Where do I pick up my free degree?"

Low-tech meets High-tech

Isn't it great when the world turns full circle. A bit like buying flares and skinny ties in the 70's and then being able to dig them out and still look semi cool and fashionable 30 years later. It's especially great when you can use some old discarded technology and meld it into a solution to a modern problem. Simply take your low-tech cassette CD converter tape from the 90's (pick one up on ebay for about $3 if you foolishly tossed yours out with the Discman):

Aka "Old and Busted"


And insert into your car's cassette player (unless of course you bought one of those fancy modern automobiles and upgraded to a CD player - like a fool, Mr La-de-da). Then insert the prongy end into your MP3 player of choice and start playing the hits. Problem solved.