Well-ordered, random thoughts.

Twenty Six point... wait how many?

2010-12-15T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well this just in, I've officially lost my mind. Or at least it appears to be that way. I've decided that I'm going to be running a marathon next year. 26.2 miles, 138,336 feet, 1,660,032 inches, or 64.24% of Brett Favre's career passing yardage (on 12/15/2010). Wow that's a lot of miles, feet, or inches. Pretty much no matter which metric you put it with, it's far... real far.

So a sane person may ask "Hey why you doing this?". Well I think it's a combination of things that have led me to the conclusion that I want to run a marathon.
- I had reached my current fitness goals about 2 months ago and I've just plateaued since then.
- My trainer has been forced to take a night class and won't be able to teach the wicked mean class I currently take twice a week.
- Since I've become hooked on NBC's 'Biggest Loser' show, I've seen several people go from morbidly obese to running a marathon in like 6 months, and they've half inspired me and half made me think why the hell can't I do that?
- But most importantly, I feel that I need a far off challenging goal in life right now.

Growing up I always had goals ahead of me, whether I liked it or not. It starts with do good in school (very general), then progresses to graduate high school, make the varsity soccer team, go to college, be the best SAE I could be, pass calculus (haha stupid class), graduate college, go to grad school, move to Dallas, make it on my own in Dallas, graduate from grad school, find a good job. Well all those things are done now (along with a few other things I guess I've accomplished along the way) so I need something else. I hate being stagnant, I want to continue to be better tomorrow than I was today. Lately I'm not sure that has been happening. I feel as if this will be a guiding force that helps me be better.

So what better challenge than the ultimate feat of athletic ability, something only 1% of people have done? I say this is perfect!

I've even decided on when and where I'll run my marathon. I'll be running 26.2 miles on December 4th, 2011 in the White Rock Lake Marathon here in Dallas.

Now I've been told by a couple people that I need to join a running group and use them for motivation and a good training plan, so that will be in the works. But first I think I need to get myself to a "training ready" point. My current 1 mile run 4-5 times a week is nice for me and Beau but won't cut it when training for a marathon. So today I bumped it up to 1.8 miles and over the next 3 months I'll get to running 3-4 miles a day several times a week. From the preliminary research I've done I think at that point I'll be able to start my official training. Coming off a year where I battled shin splints I want to make sure I do this right and in a smart way, I feel great physically now and I want to keep it that way.

So if any of you have ran one before please offer your words of wisdom and encouragement. If you haven't ran, words of encouragement will still be much appreciated as I go through a very interesting year in 2011.

You can also keep track of my training by using the link above this post, and I'll surely keep my faithful following posted on your favorite blog of all time (hint hint, this one).

WHITE ROCK HERE I COME!

To whomever sent her my way, Thank you.

2010-12-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

So I realized the other day that I hadn't posted anything in a long time. What I didn't realize until just now is that a long time meant nearly 7 months! So I know you've been sullied with the trash of Glee and Twilight and whatever else you crazy kids watch these days, here I come to save the day with a nice big giant soap box (and I ain't even gonna race it in a derby).

Why have I not written anything in almost 7 months what has been taking up all my time? Well the answer is not what but who, yes ladies and gentlemen I have me a lady friend. The last 8 and a half months have been awesome. I don't know why I'm so lucky, or what I did to deserve a girl like her, except beg for one in a post on 3/3/07 (go check it out, seriously I need the hits on the site and I can wait).

See I told you she has everything I thought I wanted 3 and a half years ago, and I am always right. Blonde hair, blue eyes, hardcore Mavs fan, strong educated woman, the list goes on but it goes on exactly like I wanted. So yes she takes up much of my time and I guess some of the time that I would sit and write to clear my mind and express myself, she now takes up (in a good way). As far as the clearing my mind and expressing myself part well just being with her clears my mind and puts me at ease, and I don't need to express myself around her she already knows who I am and what I'm about. It's nice. For those of you that have met her trust me I've heard you loud and clear.

Matt Morris "Dick don't fuck this up"
Moulton (he's like Madonna or Prince only needs one name) "Seriously Dick don't fuck this up"
Kevin Stevenson "little Ricky I don't know how you did this but don't fuck it up"
Bloch (he's like Jebediah or Ishmael only needs one name) "I'm happy for you brother, but seriously don't fuck this up"

Trust me boys, I'm trying my hardest to not "fuck this up".

How did I meet this little lady you may ask, well online of course. Isn't that where we get everything else we want these days? You can watch videos, buy clothes, get Christmas gifts, send flowers, find a job, tweet, tell your friends about your status, and yes you can even purchase a girlfriend. Okay, okay, I didn't "purchase" her, but I did use a popular Internet dating site to find her. It's kinda weird about 5-7 years ago the people who used the Internet got made fun of and were ridiculed for not "being able to find anyone". Now the sentiment is quite the opposite. I've become less and less - embarrassed - for lack of a better word because it seems nowadays everyone has either tried it or knows someone who has tried it. Maybe Internet dating is the bell bottom pants of the aughts.

Whatever the sentiment or feeling anyone else has, I'm falling hard, fast and hoping that I can keep her tricked that I'm good enough for her, long enough to where it's too late for her to turn back(fingers crossed).

So just as Beau got a proper introduction into the blogosphere, so shall she (I had to wait a little longer to introduce her, she was a higher flight risk). I present to you my wonderful, beautiful, amazing, above hyperbole, girlfriend Sarah...

That's it for tonight folks, but I've got some other ideas of things to write about so stay tuned. I may ramble off a few post in the next couple weeks. And as always how could I forget the most inspirational speech of all time. Today starts Jimmy V week and ESPN showed the Jimmy V speech in it's entirety today while I was at the gym. If you want and or need to be inspired... just youtube it.... GREATNESS.

Goodnight!

Home of the... brave?

2010-05-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

Ya miss me? Ya I didn't think so, oh well. Here's some reading to kick start your weekend and hopefully your thought process.

As many of you already know (if you have come out of your Dos XX and Corona daze yet) Cinco De Mayo was this week. So most of you drank for no real apparent reason... good for you, your an American and you have rights so you had the right to do so. That's interesting because apparently what you didn't have the right to do was to wear a T-shirt with an American flag on it to high school on that day. On the 5th of May, Cinco students were asked to remove their T-shirts which were either American colors or had American flags on them. The school's administration called the shirts "incendiary". Assuming that these kids weren't committing arson, Merriam Webster's dictionary online gives the definition of "a person who excites factions, quarrels, or sedition : agitator".

Here are my thoughts on the incident:

As I know it to be true these students were not in the face of any particular students or taunting them with their clothing choice. Unless I'm mistaken or have not heard all the details these students just wore these shirts (sure it was in a rebellious way, I'm not saying they didn't do it solely because it was Cinco De Mayo because I'm sure that's the only reason they did it) and went about their day at school in a normal matter. If these assumptions are wrong some of the following opinions may change.

These students did nothing wrong, period. In school we teach and even force patriotism upon students, making them stand up and say the pledge of allegiance every morning (I don't have a problem with it I'm just sayin...) so why is it a problem when they decide to show that patriotism on their own? We get so upset with the "youth of America" because they are so disconnected with politics or have no world view, but the second they decide to stand for something or take pride in something they are sent home from school? That doesn't seem right to me. In this clip (http://bit.ly/cIJpMh) there is an interview with a Hispanic girl who feels the students were wrong. I wonder if she even knows what the holiday is? It's NOT even a holiday in Mexico! It is only recognized in the Mexican state of Puebla. It is Mexico's equivalent of The Alamo, an event not celebrated by many in the United States outside of Texas. It's NOT Mexico's independence day that day is September 16th (doesn't sound as cool to surround a marketing campaign of drinking beer though so you don't know about it), and if it wasn't an excuse to drink Mexican beers, I'm about 95% confident nobody would celebrate it here either.

As in most cases, a larger picture is needed to really see what's going on here. In my opinion this isn't about these 5 students. This is just another case in the dumbing/watering down of America. Last week I read an article about the Boy Scouts of America. This organization has taken charge in molding a moral base and a sense of the great outdoors in young men for many years. But now as a Boy Scout you will be able to earn a (excuse the following language) Fucking Award for playing Video Games! That's right an organization known for the outdoors and teaching right from wrong is now promoting sitting in front of the TV and playing video games.

You wanna know why our economy sucks and people can't find jobs? It's not George Bush's fault it's not Barrack Obama's fault... IT OUR FAULT! Take some damn responsibility for yourself. We take dodgeball out of P.E. because it's too mean for kids, we give participation awards for everything (try just showing up and getting a raise at work), we sue each other because we spill coffee on ourselves.... AHHHHHH. Maybe the terrorists are right, maybe we do need to be killed. Cause we're acting like freakin' idiots. Other countries are blowing by us in education as we are busy leaving no child behind why don't we stop with fancy political slogans and do something about it? Other countries are catching us financially, as well as becoming our creditors while they collect interest on all our debt. And as our own political parties are busy telling everybody that the other side is soooo wrong most of the country is busy losing interest in politics. Many people in my age group and group of friends, including myself are becoming or already are disgusted with politics in this country. The youth movement was so inspired in this past election and I wouldn't be surprised if, that election may be the last to have an inspired youth movement. I was very interested in politics and now I just get sick when I hear about the left being liberal hippies or that the right hates people. They both suck and they've both lost me. Mickey Mouse for President!

Where is the American spirit that created modern day capitalism? Where is the winning attitude that turned a country of misfits into the most powerful country in the world? Why can't we tell kids, adults or the American people as a whole the truth anymore? Are we so dumb that we just need to have our ego's stroked so we don't get our pretty little feelings hurt?

STOP BEING A BUNCH OF PUSSIES AMERICA!

Geez in the real world you don't always win. In the real world sometimes you just flat out get screwed over. But we need to learn that at an early age so we don't fall apart when that happens as an adult. I love this country with all my heart but more and more often I'm so utterly embarrassed for us.

I was asked this week by my Dad and I forwarded the question on as well. What is greatness? As I tried to figure out the answer to that question (if there is a right answer) I came up blank. But what I do know is what greatness is not. Greatness is not sending home kids who wear the flag of their country on their shirts ON ANY DE MAYO.

96? C'mon let's not ruin this please...

2010-02-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

I love sports so much, I have a degree in the sports industry and the best month of the sports in this country is about to be upon us like the 12 and a half inches of snow that blanketed Dallas two weeks ago. For these reasons I bring to you my opinion on the recent rumors of an expansion to a 96 team field in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The current field is comprised of 64ish teams. It was 64 until the Mountain West Conference came into existence. This conference was a break up of the WAC which had grown too quickly to 16 teams and for whatever reasons (probably ego) the teams didn't get along and the teams that were originally in the WAC had to break off and leave to create the MWC. At this point college basketball was already at odds with figuring out how to limit the "snubs" or teams that didn't get into the tournament at the end of the season. Being that the MWC would soon (had to wait till their second season) earn an automatic bid to the tournament for their conference tournament champion, the NCAA had to get creative. Now instead of having 30 automatic bids there was now going to be 31, small change right? Wrong. This change also meant that there would now be 33 instead of 34 "at large" teams would get a bid to the tournament. This means there would be one more "snub" and the NCAA was already taking heat for letting teams like Liberty, Johnny Walker Northwest State southern community college, and Stony Brook into the tournament every year (I made one of those up... guess which one). So they added the "Play-in" game or as I like to call it "Hey we get to play in Dayton (who cares) for a chance to get our asses handed to us by a team with at least 3 future NBA players on it"... HOORAY!

So now we have a field of 65 or like I said 64ish.

Recent rumors and some legitimate reports have surfaced. The main legitimate source of information has come from Street and Smith's Sport Business Journal. In an article from February 1st they say that they have obtained an RFP (request for proposal) from the NCAA showing a request for bids on a new TV deal which would include and expansion to 96 teams. Yeah you read that correctly, freaking 96! Based on Current RPI rankings and assuming the current RPI theory of the top 40 teams get in with 65 teams, with no more automatic bids in a 96 team tournament, that would mean the 71st best RPI would get in. Everybody please welcome to the tournament From The University of Tulsa your completely average and on a 4 game losing streak Golden Hurricane! Yes in theory they'd make the dance.

College football has already sold their soul for money and considering the fact that the governing body for both football and basketball is the infamous NCAA, I guess basketball soon will too. College football now has 34 bowl games (including the world famous New Mexico bowl, the Little Ceasar's Pizza bowl, and I can't forget the uh oh... Better get Maaco bowl) that means that 68 out of the 120 college football teams in Division 1A make the post season, which is 57% (yeah, and the Lobos STILL weren't good enough). Although 96 out of the 347 NCAA Division 1 basketball teams isn't as ridiculous at 28% that number seems a little low but it's not when you consider the complete lack of talent or teams able to compete at the highest level, I mean after you get past about 181 they are all teams with losing records from schools with multiple directions in their name that you could pick out on a map in your life depended on it.

I understand that sports is a business, I better considering that whole degree in Sports Management thing right? I'm also aware that a large and substantial portion of the NCAA's income (not just basketball but the entire NCAA) comes directly from TV rights to their end of the season quest for a champion. As stated in the SJB article the NCAA is currently in an 11 year $6 billion contract with two years remaining. Due to the escalating nature of the contract a little more than a third of that money is still remaining in the contract ($2.131 billion). So increasing the tournament from a field with 64 games to a field with 95 games, would therefore increase the size of the rights deal due to increased exposure and advertising revenue, etc, etc. But at what cost does the NCAA risk in this possible change? I feel they could lose a large piece of their credibility. In doing research for this posting (yeah I haven't done that since school, it was a little weird) I found that a phrase most often uttered was something along the lines of "your ALREADY have it right". It is arguable that college basketball is the only American sport that has their method to crowning a champion correct, including the professional sports. So driven by greed and money (aren't we all) the NCAA will risk screwing up a good thing. The tournament has the perfect mixture of teams, has a great buzz around trying to get in, and lasts the perfect length, everyone is tuned in for the entire 3 weeks. It's what is talked about around the water cooler, shoot I even remember bringing a walkman and rigged head phones to class in high school so I could listen to broadcasts of games between two random schools (I love college basketball).

Possible poor outcomes of a 96 teams field:

-Are you really gonna want to fill out a 96 team bracket? You may think that's not a big deal but, every office, club, or group of friends currently fills one out and guess what... a lot of them then watch the tournament for the sole purpose of seeing how their bracket does. Which in turn relates to ratings which is translated into higher prices charged for advertising which means more money for everyone (well except the players... that's what the boosters are for haha).

-Lack of credibility. How many people outside of Albuquerque and the two crap teams that end up playing in the New Mexico bowl really tuned into that one? Exactly, NOBODY. That's what will happen to the first round of games with a 96 team field. That will then lead to less people watching the following rounds. Momentum and intrigue of watching George Mason all the way through as they make their run at the final four is one of the main reasons to watch.

So I make this plea. Please NCAA don't expand your tournament, you have it right. You are already the big winner don't get greedy. Tell coaches like Jim Boeheim whose Syracuse teams gets in every year already to stop championing the cause of this ridiculous endeavor. Sure if you're a coach "making the tournament" helps with job security but that could soon mean the same as being "bowl eligible"... absolutely nothing. This would also render the regular season meaningless. All you have to do is be so-so and you make post season play. PLEASE, PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU DON'T RUIN MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR.

Also please join the Facebook group I created.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=366002785210&ref=nf

It's all about the YOU baby!

2010-01-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

No Ernest not "The U", but "The YOU".

Today I stumbled across a very interesting article that caught my attention and possible will change the face of this blog. Here's the link if any of YOU are interested after reading this of course ;)

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/02/28/8-tips-for-building-community-on-your-blog/

So what did I get from this article YOU may ask, well I'll tell you. As some of YOU still continue to read this and some even tell me they enjoy reading (imagine that), I feel it is getting dry and boring. So I've been thinking for months for ways to making this a website that YOU like, YOU enjoy, YOU can't wait to read in the afternoon when YOU get off work. I want this to be a place that a close net group of friends and family and a few stragglers that wound up clicking their way here, can come to get information that is pertinent to their lives. Just hearing me talk and feed YOU my opinions my be entertaining and have some relation to YOUr current situations. But how do I get YOU to take ownership in this site? Well... Give YOU ownership. Yeah YOU'd think a guy that was in school for 20 years would have come up with that on his own - but no - it took a "tiny url" on twitter (what is this world coming to?).

So here is what will change on this site:

I would guess a large majority of YOU have Facebook accounts (follow this blog, you can do it by going to the upper right of this page and clicking follow, hard right?). I'm not going to stop sending out the email to the several readers that are informed of a new post by that method, but rather send out a monthly email reminder (eventually eliminating it). I sometimes feel like I'm spamming YOU when I send the email so I want to phase that out. Eventually I'd like this to be a site YOU just check on a daily or weekly basis.

I'm going to start posting interactive surveys, polls, quizzes on here as well. Yeah that's right YOU scrolled right over one just a second ago (go back and look at the top of this page). So every now and again there will be a new something at the top of the page for YOU to participate in.

As most of YOU know I'm in the process of accomplishing 100 goals in 1000 days. I've figured out a way to keep YOU involved with that as well. I've only been able to come up with 80 things anyway. So why not open the other 20 spots to YOU the viewers/readers? That's right I want to know what YOU have set for a goal for YOUrself in the next 1000 days. Or if YOU want to finish YOUr goal list with me my 1000 days is up on June 16th 2011. But either way please get me a goal that YOU have set for YOUrself and the community of this blog will cheer YOU on and help motivate YOU to YOUr goal. What YOU think? Get me those goals ASAP!

The most important and I think vital change to ensure that YOU feel like this is a site YOU want to visit on a regular basis is, guest bloggers! That's right I want YOU to write on here. There are several people I'm going to reach out to and see if they are willing to put something together. I want the topics to continue to be along the same lines of the stuff I talk about here but from other points of view and in a different tone. If you want to be a guest blogger please let me know (if YOU don't have my contact information, I probably don't want YOU to be a guest blogger anyway).

Other changes will come shortly but that is what WE will start off with. YOU might say, this is kinda weird or why is he trying to build a "community blog"? Yeah YOU're right this idea might not work. But think of it this way, this may just be a smaller more relevant to YOU, version of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn, tiddlywinks, basket-weaving or where ever else YOU are currently getting your information.

So frequent the site and enjoy the changes... It's now YOUrs!

3 months... and no me?

2010-01-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

This is easily the longest I've gone without posting something and I'm sorry or you're welcome depends on who are. I usually try to write when something happens in my life but in the last 3 months I've been pretty busy. Sure I had an hour here or there to write something but I didn't. So what the hell did I do the last 12 weeks?

Maybe it's the way our current culture has developed. Maybe that's the reason I don't have the drive or energy to post much lately. With twitter and Facebook (how come my computer thinks twitter is a word but not Facebook?) providing quick fixes for information, these blog posts seem longer and longer to me even though they may be getting shorter. I've noticed I am to the point where I know all of what's going on in the world but without any detail. It seems as I just read headlines and my thirst for information has been quenched (so if you're still reading this I applaud you).

So here's some twitter-like headlines of the past 12 weeks:

I played 4 full length outdoor soccer games in 36 hours and loved it. I miss playing SOO much.
Had my work holiday party at my old work... is that odd?
Cowboys win!
Cowboys lose :(
Disco dies in big D but is born again in the Burque! PA bro.
10 hours each way is WAY worth it to spend 9 days at home for Christmas.
Sister has a boyfriend!
Everyone's a LOBO! Finally a college bball season to be excited about! Coach Alford needs to be here to stay!
Just when I thought I was making some head way... her econ classes were over. Damn.
Jersey Shore is rotting the brains of America's youth
90999
Amazing Mexican wedding! Congrats Greg we all had a great time!
34 Bowl games is too many! If they let that % of teams in for bball there would be like 160 teams in the tournament.
Dirk 20K! Stop the haters

"The True Gentleman [is a man] whom honor is sacred and virtue safe." - John Walter Wayland

What a Nobel thought...

2009-10-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure most if not all of you have heard by now President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. That's what this post will be about.

But before I go any further I must enter the following disclaimer: I am NOT qualified or have done the necessary research to say which of the candidates who were nominated "deserved" the prize the most. I am sure that all the candidates that made it to the final selection phase had qualities or have done work that has helped make this world more peaceful. My job is to recruit IT people for IT jobs. The Nobel committee's job is to determine the winners of awards in several categories, one of which is the Nobel Peace Prize. They don't call me and tell me what candidates suck without talking to them so I'm not gonna tell them they are right or wrong.

What I can do is write a social commentary about the reactions of people over the award... so I will.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2009 was President Barack Obama. Immediately after his selection being announced many Americans were... outraged? Yes you got it our President was awarded one of the worlds most respected and honored awards but yet a large majority of his country was up in arms of the selection. According to Nobelprize.org the other candidates who were nominated will not be available to be released for another 50 years so even if you are upset that he won, it would be difficult to compare him to his competition. What we do know is that 205 candidates were nominated... wow and we get all a flutter in the voting both when the Green Party or an independent makes it a total of three people to choose from for President.

According to the Nobel committee he was selected "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". This committee that chose Obama as the winner for this years award was not American based (there aren't even any names that I feel comfortable pronouncing) this committee was made mainly, it seems from members of Scandinavian countries. Scandinavian countries are generally pretty neutral or European biased. They sat in a room with information on 205 nominees and decided that President Obama was the best candidate for the award. It is seldom and fairly rare that an American wins this award to begin with so a bias towards the United States does not seem in play here.

What is hard for me to comprehend is the complete hate that (and I don't want to make this a political discussion but I think I have to a bit here) the Republican party has for this award being given to the President. It is odd for me to see a party built on the backs of trust fund babies, old money, and a long lineage of wealth and power, having such trouble coming to terms with an award that could possibly be given to a recipient that "isn't worthy". Really? Why can't you be happy for the leader of your country being awarded this prestigious award? If it was the other way around Bill O'Rielly would be busy not spinning this into the Democrats not being patriotic, so I'll say it where's your patriotism BILL?

It is just disheartening that we have such a narrow view of world politics. Turn off CNN and FoxNews one day and try reading political articles from other countries on American issues. President Obama has given us credibility once again on a global scale. We are no longer a threat to attack countries that didn't attack us. For months (and shit this time years) before elections we focus on which party within our country is more fit to lead. But after that time period we need to shift our focus internationally. If we fail to notice how and what we look like from a global perspective we will continue to fall behind the rest of the world. Yes I said CONTINUE to fall behind. Our kids are dumber than most developed nations, our money is worth less and less everyday, countries like India and China are catching us in technology and science exponentially every single day... but we're still the greatest country on Earth right? Well we have big guns so I guess so.

I love this country more than anything. And YES I do think we are the greatest country on Earth. There aren't many countries that would even let me write such a public article online. I just want us to start acting like it. We don't have to act like 17 year old boys with issues over the size of our penis'. Going to Europe and Asia and Africa and the Middle East and wanting to be their equal, their partner, their global neighbor is not a sign of weakness. It is quite the opposite it is a sign of extreme confidence, strength and humility. You know who we are most of the time? We are Michael Jordan at his enshrinement speech as he was inducted to the basketball hall of fame a couple months ago. He knows he's the greatest player to ever touch a basketball, we knew he was, and most everyone thinks the hall of fame can shut its' doors now. But instead of taking the time to thank the people that helped him get there he thanked the people he ran over to get there, he pointed out the weak that he beat over and over again. He took his last chance to make sure we all knew it... BUT HE DIDN'T HAVE TO! And neither do we. There is a reason the world does business in English, and does their global transactions in the US Dollar... It's because we are the greatest country in the world. We don't need to go around acting like it.

President Obama can see that we are the greatest country on Earth and he wants everyone else to be a part of it. The rest of the world could see it... when will we? Congratulations Mr. President WE are proud of you!

"The True Gentleman... who is himself humbled when necessity compels him to humble another" - John Walter Wayland

I'll go ahead and take a fresh start please?

2009-09-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

So it's been about 6 weeks since I've posted last and I must apologize if you were eagerly awaiting the next brilliant thing to come from my mouth or laptop or whatever this is considered. Not gonna lie this has been a rough last few weeks and I'll tell you why...

The worst thing and the one that has hurt me the worst is on Friday the 18th of this month someone broke into my house. Cisco called me at work to tell me. It was sometime between 7:40am and 2:40pm. I'm not sure how they got in but I have a pretty good idea. Either an extreme coincidence or what I heard and saw was real. That thursday night/Friday morning at around 2:30am Beau woke me up whining and trying to get me up out of bed. He jumped on my bed and turned around immediately and stared at the bedroom door. I picked my head up and looked and could've sworn that I saw someone backing up, maybe I saw their arm or elbow or something like that. But I was half asleep and of course at that point I still hadn't been robbed so I didn't think too much of it. Beau wouldn't quit whining so I got up and gave the house a look over and turned on lights to see if I could see anything. I didn't so I went back to bed. Now I remember that about 2 months ago the neighbor across the street said she caught someone in her attic but they took off once they knew they'd been seen. How creepy is it that, that person who went through my things could have been hiding out in the attic all night just waiting for me and Cisco to leave? They took my flat screen TV, Cicso's laptop, Cisco's digital camera and some head phones. But like my Dad said "that's just stuff" and the only irreplaceable thing in the house, Beau, was not hurt, because he was outside, I don't think they would have dared come in if he was inside that day.

At work I was doing great all quarter then came the last three weeks. I was very close to getting my personal bonus which comes with a pay raise as well as money immediately in my pocket. Then Friday was here (the last day of the quarter) and I had made absolutely no progress on it. FUCK. Really?

Indoor soccer team hasn't won a game.

I still can't figure out girls.

Softball team started off with another quality loss.

The Cowboys lost the home opener.

And that's on top of the other stuff that I have to normally deal with. I don't get stressed out, and I try to stay even keel about most things in my life, but this has been an extra ordinarily hard week, month, and quarter.

So if all that negative stuff happened how can I learn from it, correct it, or prevent it from happening again? I mean after all, that's what life is about right? Well as far as my house goes a lot of what I'm doing may be considered 'hindsight is 20/20', but I'm getting a security system, motion lights, I'm now currently in the market for a shotgun or gun of some kind that can be used in home defense, and fixing some other items that will make the home more secure. When it comes to work I just need to stay positive and work my butt off. I know I'm better than what I did last quarter, but just like Bill Parcells said when he was the coach of the Cowboys "you're only as good as your record says". So let me change that record and make sure everyone knows how good I am.

Then I look at all I have in my life and sure I feel more vulnerable now and have a little less faith in humanity, but I still have the people in my life that care for me, me and Cisco weren't hurt when the house got broken into, and my amazing dog Beau is better than ever.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week, a new month, and a new quarter. So VH1 may not have done their "Best week ever" show on my life lately but I'm going to do everything in my power to change that.

Live life everyday and love as much as possible.

As always your favorite blogger

Ricky or Dick or whatever the hell you call me

"The True Gentleman... whose self control is equal to all emergencies"-John Walter Wayland

Life is good today, Life is good today.

2009-08-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've done a musical "shout out" at the beginning of one of my blogs but on the way home from my softball game I heard a song that was a good fit so here it is.

Go check out Toes by the Zach Brown Band. http://www.myspace.com/zacbrownband

pretty much everything else they sing is good too.

Well like the song my plane touched down this weekend. I flew back home to the 5 OH 5, I was able to hang out with 3 very different groups of people this weekend and it was a fantastic trip. Rio Rancho High School, where I played soccer and coached the freshman team for two years opened a soccer complex at the school this last weekend. By complex I mean it is huge, full size fields with a practice field, it's beautiful. It has some fancy watering technology that requires no sprinklers, which is amazing for a soccer field. Guys from the 12 years the soccer program has been around came back to participate in an alumni tournament and although my body hates me and I'm paying for it I was able to play in to games with the same guys I played with in high school and it was a blast. But the best part of the trip was not the fields (although they're impressive) it was seeing and being able to get back on the field with the guys that I went to high school with. It was great to see how different and actually how very similar everyone is from 9 years ago. Aside from the occasional "fattened" up person, most of the 60 or so guys that came back for the alumni tournament looked the same. It seemed like we picked up right where we left off 9 years ago. The same joking around, the same style of play and when we were schooling the younger kids it seemed like we remembered exactly how each other used to play. Some of the best friends I've ever made were guys on that team my senior year and because of life and my moving to Dallas, I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to... but it meant a lot to be able to see them this weekend.

That was just Friday night and Saturday.

Then Saturday afternoon and night was the group of friends (and brothers) I made while in college. Yes I said brothers, sure it may sound a little corny to some people that I still refer to my fraternity brothers that way but we are so close that they truly are like family to me. Kevin and Amy had a BBQ at their new place and we ate, drank, told stories, made fun of each other, played some washers, watched Forrest Griffin throw the fight (he had to have no way he got knocked out by that punch) and had an overall good time. It's interesting to see the difference in how we all hang out together now as opposed to when we were 19 and 20 years old. Either just being young or being in the atmosphere of college it did at times seem like all we were concerned with was the party or chicks, or whatever was the cool thing that week. But Saturday we were all interested in what the other guys were doing in their lives, their successes, their struggles, their careers, who they still talk to and everything else in between. There was a genuine sense of family that night and that is why SAE and the relationships I made while I was there will always mean so much to me.

The last group but not least (actually most important) was of course the family. Even though the main purpose of my trip was to play in the alumni tournament and enjoy the reunion of sorts, I still enjoy just being at home. Dorothy may have never spoken words more true when she said "There's no place like home". It will never get old to come home and give my Mom a hug, watch a game with my Dad or just hang out with my sister.

So after three full days of activities I declare this the best trip back home that I've had since I've lived in Dallas. What a great trip.

Life is good today, Life is good today.

Rowdy Proud and... cutting back?

2009-07-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

In life I've come to learn that I'm not an expert at much of anything but know a little about a lot of things. It seems I'm like a 'knowledge jack of all trades'... but my name isn't Jack. But I did realize that I have actually mastered this topic... the sports industry. That's right a shameless MBA plug there.

There are a few things that have happened lately in the sports world that have conjured up some thoughts in this scribe's mind. I have learned through my studies and real life experiences with the Mavericks that the sports industry is a very unique one. There are highly educated and creative people that make just enough to cut down their Ramen noodle dinners to 3-4 per week. All the while there are the inter-connected, less-educated, and totally less creative people that make more than they ever would in any other industry (and I'm not talking about the players... yet).

The sports industry has an odd dilemma on it's hands. Sports are cool, sports are fun, therefore sports teams and all the vendors that associate with the sports teams have no shortage of eager fresh faced 22 year olds coming out of college to take entry level jobs and "work their way up". This huge pool of talent provides teams the ability to decrease their pay rates because, "hey we'll just give their job to someone else". Now it seems as though this is a good business decision right? Keep your costs low and lose only an incremental amount of experience in the process, great let's do it!

Unfortunately there are some flaws to the process that creates only upper class and lower class incomes. Take a nations economy for example (other topic I know something about -- I'm an Economist), look at the top economies or the most stable economies in the world and you will quickly discover a trend. You will notice that those countries have stronger middle classes than the rest of the less stable economies in the world. When you create a workplace with low paid people who are intelligent and then hire only a handful of high paid people who have acquired their jobs due only to tenure, and have them oversee the operation, there are corporate mutinies, mental looting, and mind riots that take place in the battlegrounds known as Cube Farm USA. I decided (as have many other people who I have a lot of respect for their abilities) to leave the sports industry --hopefully to come back at a later date - for an industry that pays it's people for their direct worth to the company.

Now that you have a basic knowledge of how a sports franchise operates I will finally get to my point. Two weeks ago 9 people whom I call friends and several who I call close friends, were laid off by those same Mavericks that I worked for for 2 and a half years. Working in the staffing industry I know all to well that companies are cutting back, so I can understand the need to cut back on budget and all that good stuff. But yesterday the Mavericks decided to sign a 37 year old (ancient in professional sports years) Jason Kidd to a 3 year 25 million dollar contract. He will be 40 years old at the end of his contract. To put that in perspective the players drafted in his last year will probably have been born during his NBA career.

Three points of note on the signing of Jason Kidd:

1. Okay I understand that we don't want JJ Barea running the point 48 minutes a night, so keeping Kidd on the roster in light of not acquiring a point guard is not too bad of a move.

2. The Mavs have put themselves in this position due to waiting too long to break up a unit that hasn't and probably never will win a championship. They've done this with the outrageous contract of Erick Dampier and the buddy buddy relationships Mark Cuban creates with players preventing him from making basketball decisions and throwing emotion into the mix (only speculating on the later accusation).

3. Even with all this said why couldn't they have signed Kidd to a 3 year 24.5 million dollar contract and kept the front office staff they depend on so much to put on "the show" as Cuban calls it? Remember how I said that sports industry job didn't pay too well? Well I would bet a whole bunch on the fact that the $500,000 savings from that slight contract adjustment would be MORE than enough to cover the 9 salaries "saved" on two weeks ago.

It is a shame that in times of trouble and economic turmoil that we turn not to growing our business and finding ways to increase value to everyone around us but rather cut people who worked their hearts out, and give more money to someone who has more money than those 9 may ever see. I would hope that when and if I am in a position with a company as successful and popular as the Dallas Mavericks that I can call to my employees and fill them with a mission that they feel passionately about and in return offer them my loyalty as an employer. A loyalty not based on straight dollars but in value added to the lives that surround me and my organization.

Disclaimer: I am not fully aware of the contract negotiations with Jason Kidd nor the rules the Mavericks had to follow to make that contract. I know the Mavericks are over the alloted salary cap and they may have had to sign him for a certain dollar value to not violate any collective bargaining rules. If $25 million is the lowest they could have signed him for (and I'm not joking here, that's a possibility) I will come slightly closer to understanding the signing.

Aloha... or something

2009-06-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

Aloha ladies and gentlemen! I guess I need to tell you about the major thing that has happened since I posted last... Hawaii!

That's right I got to go to Hawaii for the first time and it was amazing. It was a family vacation and it was so much fun. We stayed right on Waikiki beach, the views are amazing just about wherever you are on the island though. We spent a lot of time on the beach doing a whole lot of nothing, so that was perfect. I needed some time to get away from the internet and phones and all that stuff to just lie on the beach and lather on the SPF 50... that's how I roll! I also got to try surfing for the first time and I really enjoyed it. It was hard to stand up at first but it is a lot like snowboarding in the sense that once you figure out where your balance point is, it's actually not too hard. Of course I wasn't riding any waves that curled over my head or anything but none the less it was a blast.

Oh yeah, AND I got a tattoo! Me and my sister have been wanting to get tattoos for a while now and since we were both gonna be in the same place at the same time for a week we figured what better place than to do it in Hawaii. So she put me to the task to come up with a tattoo idea. After throwing around some ideas and several pages of paper I came up with a design that intertwines our two astrological symbols (aries and libra). When we took the design to the tattoo artist she was able to make two versions of it so Carolyn could have a design that was more feminine and mine is big and manly. So it's the same design just altered for each of us.

It was a great trip and now I guess I'm getting "dragged" into a vegas trip. Hopefully this one will include both my best friends from Dallas and Albuquerque and should be fun. It hopefully turns out something like The Hangover, because that is an instant classic and will go down as one of my favorite movies of all time. It is pure greatness and if you haven't seen it yet you must.

And like The Hangover, I will end this post with a bunch of pictures... Enjoy!

Snorkel!

Carolyn's tattoo

My tattoo

Surfin' USA

USS Arizona Memorial

Byodo Temple

View of Waikiki Beach from Diamond Head

Some lighthouse... I guess this one didn't need a caption... oh well

Kick off your shoes and relax your feet

Sunset from Waikiki

Hmmmm...

Yeah... that's how cool I am!

We're on a boat!

Hand carved Tiki and the guy who made it.

Banyan tree... the branches reach down to the ground and become roots again

Waikiki from the plane

Hanuama bay, where we went snorkeling

Good bye paradise. I'll be back.

Wow... what happened to me?

2009-04-27T18:11:00.001-07:00

Apparently I haven't made a post in like 9 weeks! I think that's the longest I've gone since I started this site over three years ago. I was inspired to write something but I'll save that for later, I'm sure I have some things to mention since I've been out for such a long time.

I'm also making some updates to the 100 in 1000 list so check it out!

*Uh oh Greg, this may be a long one so I know you're my boy and all but go ahead and flip back to your spanish lessons on tape*

So I'm 27 now... wow late 20's. I don't feel old at all. Sometimes I feel like I'm 19 still but when I think back even 4 or 5 years ago and remember what I thought 27 was gonna be like, boy was I wrong!

I went home for my birthday too. It was great to go home and be able to go out and see everyone. When I was home for xmas, I got sick and then did the family thing so I never had the chance to hang out with my peoples (Congrats Kevin and Amy! Congrats Cassandra and Scott!). It's interesting to see the different paths that we are all taking now. Knowing what I know about some of these people it's amazing they're able to dress themselves in the mornings, let alone be productive members of society.

As for stuff around here, I'm doing lots of yard work trying to get the house the way I want it to be, and I'm slowly getting there, but for some reason the list doesn't get any smaller. And Beau is basically the best dog ever, we are able to run a mile around the neighborhood now and he is completely off the leash and stays by my side (well except for today when he came from nowhere to tackle a cat in a puddle in the street... wow)

Now on to the topic that motivated me to start writing again. A couple nights ago I watched Michael Clayton a very interesting movie that came out awhile back but being that I'm not too big of a movie buff I just now got around to watching it. To me, it was a movie about deceit, greed, delusions and illusions brought on by humans. So I got to thinking, we are a pretty pathetic species aren't we? I mean we do things in our everyday lives just to ruin someone else's day or to make sure that we have everything and they (whoever that may be at the time) has nothing. As an economist -like to throw that in there every now and again- I was taught that "more is always better". Mathematically and graphically... yes more is definitely better. But is it better in everyday life? Can't we just be happy with what we have? What is it about how we are wired that makes us try to have more of everything. For example, you can argue that athletes get paid too much, well stop going to the games then. Because you want to watch more football, they get more money... and they should. If you're willing to pay the price to watch them play then they deserve a piece of that... I digress. I just seems like it is so hard for people to be genuinely happy in life. And that's a shame.

For the first time in my life I have been able to take my foot off the accelerator of life and, damn it feels good. I just go to work and go to the gym (I'm doing Ab Ripper X, youtube it and do part 1 and 2... it's dirty!) then come home walk my dog and eat dinner and then relax. And I'm the happiest I've been in a long time, if not ever. I don't have a project or test to get done, I don't have another semester of school to worry about, I don't have the pressure of buying a home to worry about, I'm not searching for a job (even in this economy). So I can just relax. Now this doesn't mean that I don't push myself to be the best recruiter at work or that I don't push myself to have huge bulging muscles in the gym, one can hope right? But in the overall scheme of life, I'm kind've content. I hope that this doesn't lead to me limiting my progress or my future by this level of contentment, but for now I think it is quite refreshing. I have some big events coming up in the near future and maybe that will spark some fire under me but until then, I'm chillin!

I leave you with these lyrics that popped into my head without hearing the song in years... must be a sign. I'm just adding the chorus because that's the only part I knew anyway haha.

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

Lyrically challenged

2009-02-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

I've updated some of the '100 in 1000' so take a look.

For today's post I think I'm just gonna throw in some of my favorite lyrics. I've been thinking about writing that song lately so I've had a lot of lyrics on my mind.

Enjoy...

"Empty parking lot half a cigarette, I got it off the ground so it's a little wet, I'm on the south side walking sideways, and I still miss someone, this is the last last time I beg the sun to shine"

"And if I am truly crazy, don't you know I like my life that way, and if I am goin' on out of my mind, won't you hop on board and make your get away"

"Don't you think life would be awfully boring, if the good times were all that we had"

"It's sitting by the overcoat, the second shelf, the note she wrote, that I can't bring myself to throw away, reach she said for no one else but you, cuz you won't turn away, when someone else is gone"

"I had a bag of shit I threw it in the sky when it came down it spelled out sigma chi!"

"There's a squeak down on the back gate, lets' us know if he comes around, I don't sleep that good anyway, If you've never heard the silence it's a god awful sound"

"Have you ever walked through a room, but it was more like a room passed around you, like there was a leash around your neck that pulled you through"

"Lord forgive he got those dark forces in him, but he also got a righteous cause for sinning"

"I've been riding all day long, through the wall of rain, in the shadow of the mountains, on the barren plains, to my angel in the village, where a lamplight glows, if the dogs there don't betray me, no one will know"

"God show me the way cause the devil's tryin' to break me down, the only thing that I pray is my feet don't fail me now, and I don't think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs, I want to talk to god but I'm afraid cause we ain't spoke in so long"

"There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard no song that I could sing but I could try for your heart"

"flatter than a table top, makes you wonder why they stopped here, wagon must have lost a wheel or lacked ambition one, on the great migration west, separated from the rest though they might have tried their best, they never caught the sun"

"I've got the streets memorized, I see the faces embedded in my mind, I can't keep fighting the urge to go, I've got nothing in common with this town I've come to know...I've got that truck all loaded down, I should have known how hard it'd be to leave this town"

"I can't sleep, I'm dreaming way too loud"

And of course...

"The road goes on forever, and the party never ends"

I didn't add the artists names to their particular lyric because I wanted you to try and guess. But since I'm not one to partake in the hobby of copyright infringement here they are in no particular order; Kayne West, Robert Earl Keen Jr., Eli Young Band, Jack Johnson, Matchbox Twenty, Pat Green, Bleu Edmondson, Kyle Park, Jay-Z, The Offspring, and one good ole SAE song.

I'm sure I left some quality lyrics out. I'd love so see what your favorite lyrics are, leave me a comment with your favorites!

How free are you?

2009-02-05T17:54:00.000-08:00

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" -The 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights

For most people this amendment is known and followed and for some it is a way by which they live their lives. From civil rights movements, Roe v. Wade, KKK rallies all the way to your local city council and your child’s PTA meetings, this amendment is a part of every minute of every day in this country. Freedom of Speech, it's a noble concept. To not be prosecuted for the things you say or the ideals you preach to others, is a luxury that most of the 6 billion...ish people alive don't have. It is something that has turned 13 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed colonies into the most powerful nation on the planet and the largest democracy this world has ever seen.

Why then is it that the more people that I meet, the more groups I come in contact with, the more people who read this blog...the less and less free I feel I am to say whatever I want? In recent days I've had a few ideas of a posting for this site, but then I soon realized that person X or person Y reads this and I can't post that. Is it ironic or just fucked up that in the land of the free, on the information super highway, on my website, written on my computer, I can't type what I want? Now I don't have any real breaking news story or something that would put me in too bad of a place if I said it...but still. Now I am by no means claiming I’m famous (only about 100 people visit this site each time I post) but this must be what it feels like to be famous. The more you’re in the spotlight, the more influence you have, the more you are able to speak and possibly make a difference…the less you’re able to say. I feel like I have to be careful of what I say because I don’t know who reads this anymore, and I don’t want to offend anyone. Or actually I just want to avoid the drama (if it’s an opinion I have I really don’t care if I offend you) my life is fairly simple now and I just don’t want to complicate it with drama and having to defend myself anymore than I already do.

'Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me'...well at least until I'm an adult and I learn how to sue your ass for the things you said. That's how that childhood saying should really go. I'm pretty sure I don't have anything to say that would get me sued, but I have a lot to say that might piss off a person or two. Think of the groups of people that read this blog; my family, my best friends, people I've worked with in the past, people I currently work with, any of my "friends" on Facebook or MySpace, girls (ones I may like or have liked or maybe in the future would want to like). Now think of all the opinions you have about those same groups in your everyday life...go ahead I'll wait...now think what would happen if you started a blog and wrote COMPLETELY openly about anything and everything in your life. Chaos right? Yeah, total and incomprehensible chaos would ensue.

But my restrictions on what I can and can't say don't stop here on this site. In recent days, weeks and months, I've noticed that I can't say, text, or email things to people because of what might happen. If I'm so free to say what I want and "words will never hurt me" then why is it such a big deal if I drop an F bomb (see I'm even censoring myself) every now and again, or speak openly about something I feel? Or one of my favorite examples is the games we play when we're dating. For example well I called her last so she has to be the one to call me now...WTF?! If you want to talk to someone call them. If they don't like it or you didn't play the game the right way, guess what? It's probably not going to work anyway. Or how bout being censored by things that you MUST say. What would happen tomorrow if President Obama didn't end one of his speeches with "God bless you, and God bless America"? What if he just said "Thank you"? The media would come unglued talking about how he is a terrorist or that he doesn't have family values.

**Side note** What happened to the separation of church and state?

I don't know if this blog was spurred on by my actual frustration with censorship or the fact that I may just have a mild case of writers block. But tomorrow when you go to work or in your everyday dealings with people, take a second to think what if you just said what you thought. Yeah scary right? So how free are you? Yes you CAN say anything you want, but WILL you say anything you want...probably not. I sometimes wonder if it would be better in the end if we all just said everything without that mental filter. Sure it might send the planet spinning off on some crazy axis, but after we got all our minds cleared of the cluttered of lies and deceit...wouldn't it just be easier?

But until then, watch what you say.

p.s. I completely understand that I was able to post this blog about a topic that in some peoples mind may question things our government does or has done. For my ability to do that (freedom of speech) I am very thankful.

This post doesn't deserve a title

2009-01-04T21:08:00.000-08:00

Happy second week of the New Year! Ya, Ya, Ya so I'm a little late...deal with it. I'm not too big on resolutions, I don't understand the concept of waiting for a certain day to better yourself (see the list on the right).

I just have some random thoughts for today...

If the world is going to end in 2012 like Nostradamus predicted, should I either get lots of credit cards and run them all up or become a fugitive of the law and run around like Billy the Kid? Cause it's one or the other people!

If you're on the equator you are actually moving 1038 MPH

It was 80 degrees yesterday...ain't global warming grand?

My dog eats tennis balls, not the whole ball just the fuzz, then spits out the rubber part. Apparently that part doesn't taste as good.

I'm excited to get back to work, but dreading answering the following questions 1 million times. "How was your Christmas?" "What did you do for New Years?" I mean if you're that nice of a person and really want to know, and you truly care about the people around you, then ask away. But if you're just asking me because you're supposed to, don't bother...I won't be offended I promise!

Myspace is starting to suck and Facebook is now way better.

I hate the following phrases. "To a man" What the hell does that even mean and when did we start saying that? "At the end of the day" Because apparently the beginning and middle of your day doesn't mean shit.

Sometimes dating seems tough...and sometimes, it's soo worth it!

New Mexico didn't even make it to their own bowl game...hahaha we suck at football.

I wish I would have taken bets on the Sugar Bowl...damn!

I hate doing laundry.

"5 dollar foot long"

I think this post may have wasted my time as well as yours. I could have probably used this time to work on that whole 100 in 1000 thing huh? Oh well.

Have a good week

Santa vs. Jimmy V

2008-12-08T18:27:00.001-08:00

Isn't it weird how sometimes you have no new ideas then --WHAM-- two good ideas at once? Well that happened today. I haven't posted since the election and I couldn't think of what to talk about next, well I have two things so I'm gonna kind've combine them into this post.

This last week on ESPN it was Jimmy V week. For those of you that don't know who Jimmy V is, his name is actually Jim Valvano. He is a basketball coach that died of cancer...but to end his story there doesn't do him and his legacy any justice. He is most notably known for two moments in sports history; 1) he took a 6 seeded NC State basketball team that wasn't supposed to do anything to win a national championship over top seeded Houston at the buzzer. *Important side note* This happened in the greatest college basketball arena in the country...THE PIT. His player caught a pass and dunked the ball as time ran out, but the image that some of you may know very well is of Valvano running around the court with his arms wide open looking for someone...anyone to hug. 2) The second moment is less a sports moment and more a life moment. On March 4th, 1993 ( 10 years and 2 days after the tournament that won him a national championship started...he likes March huh?) he was awarded the Arthur Ashe award for courage (the inaugural issue of the award). He proceeded to give an incredibly funny, inspiring, real and moving speech. Whether by coincidence or not the past two years I've heard the speech played in it's entirety, last year it was on the radio as I drove to work and this year ESPN had it on all of their networks to kick off Jimmy V week (I think I may make it a tradition). Here's the link in case you would like to see it for yourself...or renew your memory of it.

http://www.jimmyv.org/remembering-jim/espy-awards-speech.html

Now if you don't watch it, I'd like to leave you with a few quotes from the speech that I think are the most fitting for everyday life.

"I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going"

"I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever."

Alright now that I've taken care of that...

Dear Santa, I think I've been a pretty good boy this year. I did ALL my school work, I made new friends, and I even adopted...a pet. So here is my list of things I want:

A healthy family

A winning lottery ticket

One of your reindeer...but I'll settle for Rudolph's nose

For the people that read this post to do something for someone who isn't expecting it that will put a wonderful end to their year.

**Side not to above item** If you send me an email and tell me what you did I'd love to post them on here and I'll keep you anonymous.

A Cowboys playoff berth

Great success for my friends

A frisbee dog...but I'll settle for Beau being able to play frisbee

For everyone to; laugh, think and let their emotions go. Everyday...just like Jimmy V said

For Obama to be as good of a President, as I think he can be.

To be healthy enough to play soccer again...damn shins!

For Emmitt Smith to be a better broadcaster...or to stop broadcasting. I love you Emmitt but c'mon dog

A lady friend

A kiss from Danny Granger

For deck shoes to go out of style

My student loans to go play and go @#$% yourself

And last...to be just as happy next time I have to make this list.

Happy Holidays friends!

A night to cry over...

2008-11-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

I must worn you I may ramble in this post.

Tonight I cried. I usually show my emotion in my posts and in the opinionated voice I give my friends. But tonight I showed my emotion in a way that is not as common to me. I am a 26 year old man and it is my stereotype that I cannot show emotion and that I should be this strong muscular rock of a man. Well I must apologize to you tonight. I am less a man than the stereotype allows me to be. I cried on three separate occasions tonight. I cried just a little bit when CNN(HD cause my TV is legit) announced that Obama had won the presidency. It was a moment that I knew was going to come. I've know that Obama was going to be the President of The United States of America in 2004 when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. A lot of people said that a black man would never be President, but I knew in my heart, that man would be the next great leader of our country.

The next time I cried tonight was when John McCain gave his concession speech. Now you may think that I like this moment because I'm a democrat, wrong. I cried at this moment because I was so proud of John McCain, a man that against almost any other candidate I would have been behind. He gave the speech he needed to give, he gave a speech that I hope will begin the healing of our country.

At approximately 10:45pm central time I witnessed an event that will go down in American history as an event that will live in the annuals of "I have a dream", "this day will live forever in infamy", and "four score and seven years ago". I witnessed in my lifetime a man who brought a dream and a hope to this country that we hadn't seen in a long time. I witnessed the first black president in American history tonight. As he gave his acceptance speech I felt a pride I've never felt before, I felt emotions about my country that I didn't know were possible. Tonight I cried, I cried because the pride I felt exuded from my soul-my pours-more than it ever had before. I stood in a room with 2 other people of my age group and we openly let our tears run down our cheeks with heavy hearts and prideful minds. Tonight we elected a man that will change our country for the better, in a way that we haven't seen since FDR.

I'm sorry at this point I'm a little bit delirious, but I felt I needed to write. Tonight I'm proud to be in a country where this could happen, tonight I'm proud to be a democrat, but most importantly I'm proud to be an American!

Politics is neat!

2008-10-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

100 in 1000 update:
Ummm...crap I gotta get on that stuff. Especially that whole book a month thing...only a few days left.

Not too much has changed since the last time I posted so felt I would finally resort to the post that all of you knew was coming...a political post! {insert scary horror music...just in time for Halloween}

On Tuesday November 4th, 2008 this country will have an election that will change us forever. This is at least the most important election in a generation, and dare I say the most important or at the very least, the most significant election in this nations history. Barack Obama (please don't let me jinx this) looks like he will beat John McCain in the general election. At the age of 26 and growing up in a neutral state like New Mexico I never really experienced any outright racism. I was pretty sheltered to the racism that surrounded me although it probably wasn't too blatant in sleepy Rio Rancho. Going back only a few decades racial tensions and civil rights issues were at a peak. The middle of the 20th century was filled with civil rights issues and battles between races that we (well most of us sane individuals) see now as ridiculous. On April 7th, 2007 I posted a story about The Little Rock 9, it's a story about a school that was forcefully segregated. The reason I bring that post up is to look how far we've come as a nation. We've come from a country that discriminated against people because they had a different skin color. Now I'm not saying that racism is dead, by all means I am fully aware (especially since living in Texas) that racism is not dead. But the strides we've made to accept people of all walks of life, is what this country was founded on.

We are a diverse nation and we need to be represented in that way. So no matter who you vote for on Tuesday remember to take a second and admire the progress we've made as a country (unless your a racist bastard...well then your opinion doesn't really mean much to me anyhow). I will be watching the votes come in on Tuesday night and I'll be a proud American. I be watching a moment that this country is fundamentally founded upon. That moment will show us all that no matter what hand you're dealt, or the odds you're up against you truly can be whoever you want to be.
If you are a McCain supporter, please don't write to me and try to change my mind by telling me I'm a terrorist or socialist, or that Obama will let other countries take us over or whatever else. People who offer up those suggestions, make themselves and other republicans look like idiots. I am not completely to the left I'm actually more towards the center (I just truly believe in Obama). I welcome any comments about either candidate, but please for your own sake at least have sources or statistics that come from reputable places. You're not going to change my mind...but it's a free country speak your mind if it moves you to do so!

P.S. if you think Palin would be a great president hold your breath till I say when...

Virginia is NOT for lovers.

2008-10-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

100 in 1000 update:
I have added a few new items to the list and have actually completed, or began to complete others, so check out how I'm doing. I still need more so keep the suggestions coming!

As some of you may know I spent the last week in Glen Allen, Virgina (suburb of Richmond). I was out there for a week of training with my new company Apex Systems. As with most travels I had some frustrating experiences, some great times and now need a good weekend of rest. So I had to leave on Sunday morning (company made the flights) and I missed the Cowboy game, so you can blame me for the Cowboys loss since they're undefeated with me in attendance this season. I go to check my bags and quickly learned that US Air charges for bags. Now think about this for a second...I'm traveling for a 5 day trip...I'm probably gonna need to bring some stuff with me right? I just don't understand why you would charge someone for something that is essential for their flight. Okay so once I pay for my checked bag I still have a carry on, but the plane we are flying on is apparently too small for carry on luggage so they make me leave it on the jet way and they go put it with all the other checked luggage. WTF! So I need to pay to check luggage but then you're going to end up checking my carry on anyway?! Seriously, what the hell? In addition to that, if I wanted something to drink on the plane-even water- I had to pay $2. That seems ridiculous to me. Just more reasons why Southwest is still the best airline.

Once in Virginia, I had a great time. Like my Dad said most training sessions are filled with non-sense and stuff that you already knew. This training session on the other had was great. I feel as though I learned a lot about the company, and how to do my job better. Although the days were long they were jam packed with necessary information. What made the days a bit longer were the nights...

Our group of 14 was made up of people from across the country. We all got along had a really great time doing it. We went out each night, and like my manager told me before I went, I didn't ever get too boozed up. On the other hand one girl did! She had too much to drink the night before and was throwing up at work the next day. If you want to be an adult, you should probably act like one. She didn't act like one so she didn't get treated like one, she had to call her manager and tell her why she was going to miss a day of training. Apparently she was too hung over to even stay at work...idiot.

So now I'm back and man am I tired. I get a couple days to rest and then back to work (in Dallas). But now the training wheels are off and I gotta start makin' that money! If you know any IT people in Dallas holla at ya boy!

100 in 1000

2008-09-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Alright check out this concept. Since Shaq can put a timeline on when he is going to retire, down to the day, I figured I'd do something similar. I've seen someone do this and I thought it was a good idea. On the right side of this page there will be a list of 100 things I want to accomplish in the next 1000 days. Right now there is only about 30 or so things, but I'll continually add to the list. There are so many things I want to do, so I figured why not make that part of the content on this blog? I'll notate when a task gets accomplished so you can keep up with my progress or motivate me to get other items done.

So what's going to be on this list?

I will put things that I want to do before 6/16/2011 (at would be 1000 days from 9/20/2008). I'll be 29 years old and nearing the end of my twenties. Wow kinda scary. There are things on this list that may be out of my control (depending on how superstitious you are) such as; watching the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, or watching the Mavs win a championship. For the obvious reason that if I suited up for either the Cowboys or the Mavs I'd be thoroughly embarrassed, I can only root on my teams and hope they do well. So all 100 items may not get accomplished but it will be a fun 3 plus years if they do. There will be things on the list that I may never know if I accomplished as well as I think such as; inspiring someone, or keeping touch with old friends. So not all of the items will be events or obvious milestones but more a goal for living my daily life.

What you can do:
You can suggest items for me to put on the list...I need 70ish more people!
You can have a part in helping me accomplish one of them, anyone want to go sky diving?
You can get on me when I stray from the list.
You can enjoy watching me knock these down-and hey maybe the person I inspire will be you...

Introducing Beau!

2008-09-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Apparently I drove by the animal humane society in Irivng one too many times and yesterda I finally cracked. I stopped just to look at the dogs...well that didn't work. I found one that caught my eye and now I have myself a dog. His name is Beau, he is a shepard mix and he is about 1 year old. Here's some pictures enjoy!

Dick's Mavs departure

2008-08-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

Alright well it happened I sent a call out to the masses to pen the next chapter of my life. "someone out there needs to hurry up and get to writing, write the next chapter of my book dammit! I have an MBA you have to listen to me now! Write...oh yah and throw in a cute blonde girl somewhere...", this is a direct quotation from a post on Cinco de Mayo (really I was blogging on Cinco de Mayo? Man, I'm getting old). So yeah I wrote that about 4 and a half months ago. Guess what?! Someone picked up the damn pen!

That's right folks someone has decided to start freakin' writing. Last Tuesday I was offered and accepted a job as an IT (information technologies) Recruiter for a staffing firm right here in Irving. So what do I know about IT? Not a damn thing. But what do I know about kickin' ass and taking names? Well not much of that either. But I'm a good employee, and a hard worker. This job is a great opportunity with no cap on how much I can make and where this can take me. I have never done a job that has a commission, but I thought I'd give it a try because I've always busted my butt at work (plus it has a base salary so I'm not screwed if I suck) and I think it's about time I get paid as such. So sure I've never done anything in the staffing industry or with IT before but that doesn't matter. A friend from one of my classes at UD is the one who refereed me to the position. He came in with the same experience or lack thereof and now 3 years later he is running his own branch. I'm not saying I'm going to take the staffing world by storm but I'm very confident in the fact that I will have success at whatever I'm doing.

So now for the cute blonde girl part, seriously people if you're gonna write a story doesn't there always have to be a hot fling in there somewhere? Don't you know anything about writing? I guess not...

Olympic fever

2008-08-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Alright let's be real here...before last weekend when was the last time you watched, cared for, or even gave a second thought to competitive swimming? Now Since last weekend have you either watched, talked about, or discussed swimming strategy? Why is it that once the Olympics start we instantly become attached to sports that we would normally not care for? We even become temporary experts.

I love the Olympics. I've been drawn in by the Michael Phelps craze just like I'm sure most you, most of the country and most of the planet. Even with the advancements of technology and training facilities, it still took someone 30 some odd years to beat Spitz's record for gold medals in a single Olympic games. But after next weekends closing ceremonies I will forget all about swimming, I'll forget about the men's water polo team, I'll forget all about synchronized diving, and I'll definitely forget all about women's handball (seriously how is that an Olympic sport?). But in 4 years I'll once again be glued to my TV watching the London games.

So what is it about the Olympics that draws us in and takes a hold of us for 2 weeks? I'm not sure what it is, it could be the patriotism in us, it could be the drama of high level sporting events, it could be us watching and waiting for that moment that sends chills down your spine and makes your eyes well up. Or it could be a little bit of all of that all mixed together, at least that's why I watch. As a sports fan I love seeing athletes at the top of their game compete and push themselves to the limit...even if it is just diving. Then every now and again you get a moment like the relay comeback last week where the USA beat the trash talking french team in an event they weren't supposed to win.

So for now let's enjoy the Olympic games and get ready for the Michael Phelps Wheaties box.

Put me on a cool river...

2008-08-06T20:54:00.001-07:00

...take my worries from me, fly me high into the big blue sky well there's no one here but me.

Oh how wise of Mr. Pat Green.

This last weekend I took a road trip down to New Braunfels, TX to 'float the river'. Ryan spoke of this event like it was the coolest thing he'd ever done. My sister was in town for the weekend and it seemed like an easy way to have an action packed weekend. So I packed up all my stuff (1 pair of underwear, tooth brush, cargo shorts, an extra t shirt, and as much SPF 60 as I could carry out the door) and we headed out for the weekend. This whole floatin' the river business is just that it is A BUSINESS, I was amazed that putting tubes in water seemed to be a very successful industry. We were supposed to meet some people at one of the many tube rental places but of course Stanny (Adam Stanford's new nickname) missed the turn for the right parking lot. Well that ended up being one of the best mistakes ever, we had to go down the road and turn around in the next parking lot. While we were in that parking lot there was a sign saying that Pat Green was going to be there that night (I'm not gonna lie a little bit of pee came out of me). But we had to go get our float on so we concerned ourselves with the tube rental process.

It was a surely a sight to see. When you stand on the bridge above the river you can look down and all you see is tubes and people slowly moving down the river with the speed of a fat guy climbing stadium stairs. It was an amazing sight to see. This picture is just a google image (not from our trip) but is of the same place we were at.
Once in the river, it was completely relaxing. From the hustle and bustle of city life, it just felt nice to not have to do anything for 5 hours. I didn't have my cell phone, I didn't have email, I just sat in a tube and floated...that's it. Now I know that some of you might think that, that sounds boring but it was actually quite nice. So nice in fact that apparently I ended up falling asleep for about 30 minutes of the float.

So for me the pinnacle of the trip was yet to occur. We went to check out the Pat Green concert to see if I was dreaming or if it was real. IT WAS REAL. Yes that's right folks we pretty much stumbled upon my favorite artist, I was super pumped. We got there right before he started and he put on a great show. One of the best things about the show is that Pat came out on stage in a blue t shirt, basketball shorts and barefoot. How many Nashville guys can put on a great show dressed like that? It's show like that, that add to my love for his music, he truly is just a "regular" guy. The reason he was dressed like that? It's cause he too was out on the river just floatin' with the rest of the people.

A great show, a great weekend, I got to see my sister, and Pat F!#$ing Green. My only complaint is he didn't sing the perfect river song...A Guy Like Me

Hearts and flowers, forget love letters

Pain and anger, forget forgiveness

Love ain't waiting for a guy like me

Debutantes and champagne, diamonds and cocaine

I ain't the son of outrageous fortune

Cash ain't status for a guy like me

Put me on a cool river

Take my worries from me

Fly me high into the big blue sky

Well, there's no one here but me, just me

Long black limousine, pictures in magazines

All night parties, beautiful people

No super model for a guy like me

I'm just a good man, I work with my hands

I get the picture, I heard the message

Hell ain't waiting for a guy like me

Put me on a cool river

Take my sins from me

Fly me high into the big blue sky

Well, there's no one here but me

Your move Burt!

2008-07-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Let's play a game called Guess What This Is

64 Squares, 32 players, many directions being pulled, thousands of possible moves, black and white, slow and strategic, and definitely with a time limit.

If you said a game of chess you are correct but boring...c'mon be more creative than that. Okay well how bout this?

Life!

Yes, that's right I think life or at least mine of late is like a big game of chess. A novice chess player, I know a bit about the game and last night started thinking that all these decisions and moves I have to make are so similar to those a game of chess would contain. I'm not too sure at what point in the game I am (part of the problem), but what I do know and fully understand is that it is my move.

You've heard of master chess players that will play like a hundred people at one time and just go up and down the line moving their pieces, you've heard of that right? Well imagine you're that chess player.

The whistle blows and you start with your first game, easy right? You move a pawn forward or a knight up and in, something basic. You probably do a similar move in the next 99 games. Now you're back at the first game and the opponent has countered your opening move, like you, they probably just moved a pawn or something like that. These simple moves continue for oh, maybe like the first 4, 5, 6 moves. In life this equates to the simple decisions; when to eat, when to sleep, going to grade school, you know the stuff everyone does.

Then the time comes when you need to start deciding which pieces to attack. In chess it's simple taking their rook when they're going to kill one of your pawns no big deal right? Making an aggressive attack up the middle, while your opponent just moves his knight in funny 'L' shapes along the sides. Who cares if that crazy 'L' shape ends up taking your queen or worse...(insert scary music here) THE KING! It's chess they are just pieces, so what. Unfortunately in life who knows you may need that pawn later on down the line.

Alright now you're at move 20, the room is smokey, your brain is throbbing at the intense focus needed to maintain these 100 separate games at the same time. The clocks are ticking the seconds away waiting for your move, the man across the table from you has the most ridiculous Burt Reynolds mustache you've ever seen (didn't see that one coming did you?). Your hand grabs the piece, you've got your move, the perfect one, wham you set the piece down and grin confidently at the Reynolds impersonator. As you turn your back and head to the next table to make your move there, you see the guy at the last table immediately counter your move and take a key piece. You go back to look--of course why didn't you think of that? You're supposed to think a few moves ahead of the current one right? So you continue on, but now you second guess your decisions, the clock's tick seems to echo in your ears, when at a particular table you are constantly thinking back five, or six tables ago...was the move the right one, has he already countered? Now the boards are getting confused in your head and it all begins to unravel. Luckily enough you are a skilled chessmen (I assume that's what a chess player is called) so as you may have lost some of the games you still have plenty left, and plenty that you've already won.

Now I think this is the point I'm at. I've won several games, lost several, but the majority of them are laid out in this big ominous line that seems to give me tunnel vision every time I look down it. As the rounds progress each move is riskier, each thought is more complicated, and each mustache is bigger and darker than the last (I'm in tears making myself laugh about these mustaches). So what's my next move, the pawn, the rook, the knight, ooohh how bout a castle with my rook and king? Who knows all I know is that I'm up and this damn clock keeps ticking in my ear, so I gotta make my move before my timer runs out.

It's not all bad though right? I mean how complex can my life be if I make mustache jokes in my blog? So I guess I'll continue to grab the pieces and make moves, not knowing if they're the right ones or not. Who knows maybe next year you can call me a chessmen!

I will leave you with a song I made up while making my sandwich for dinner tonight.

My bologna has a first name,
it's K-R-O-G-E-R
My bologna has a second name,
it's V-A-L-U-E
Oh I love to eat it everyday,
And if you ask me why I'll say,
Cause Kroger Value has a way with C-H-E-A-PEEEE!

A book really?

2008-06-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

So last time I was asking for the writing of a new chapter. Well little did I know I'd be not only wanting one but reading one! Yeah for those of you who know me, I'm not that big of a reader...okay well I haven't read a book since Christopher Robin was the star of the show. But I went to Chicago this weekend and I had some long lay overs and flights ahead of me in the following days. So I figured I'd try to do something to keep my mind occupied. Lately I've been doing a lot of things to keep my mind occupied but a book...never! I couldn't believe it but as I trolled through the bookstore at Love Field looking for something to wet my whistle, I didn't find any magazines that did it for me. The crosswords weren't moving me at the time. It was actually a book! So I did it, I bought A Post American World. I'm not a terrorist or anything like that now, trust me. I may be that bad word New Gingrich loves "liberal" but I'm by no means, not a patriotic person. I thought the premise of the book was quite interesting. I saw the author talk about the book on The Daily Show with John Stewart, and it sounded interesting. It is less a book about the fall of the United States and more about the rise of the rest of the world. For decades we've been preaching democracy and free trade and the like to the entire world...the author thinks it finally set in. You know like when you tell your teenager that school is important and then they don't do their homework but then in 10 years they're flipping burgers...well the rest of the world just got tired of flipping burgers. Now I'm only 80 some odd pages in but I'm actually excited to finish this book. I will keep the masses updated and...give (look of pain on my face) a book report or something later.

Oh yeah and I learned this song in the bleachers at Wrigley and you didn't HAHA!
Go Cubs Go, Go Cubs Go, Hey Chicago what do ya say? Cubs are gonna win today!

Can someone write the next chapter please?

2008-05-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

Told you I did some neat stuff, check this link
http://www.udallas.edu/advancement/pr.cfm?NewsArticleID=3374&Cat=FA

So umm, what am I supposed to talk about now? Uh geez. So I came out here I bought a house and now I'm done with school , yeah what else am I supposed to do again?

I'm sure I've talked about "the next chapter" type stuff (if I haven't just humor me). I'm always like all "yea I get to turn the page to a new chapter of my life...it's gonna be so exciting, hooray!" What the F$CK was I thinking?

[He raises his hand emphatically] "ooh ooh call on me!"
[The blogger looks confused that someone has a questions for him] "Yes Ricky what would you like to say?"
"Um yeah I take back this whole 'getting my own life stuff', lol, I want to be 14 years old and only have soccer tryouts and geometry (the math class way way way before calculus)"
"Sorry Ricky you're --well for lack of a better word -- you're screwed!"

Sorry for the dialogue that was really just an internal monologue...confused yet? Good cause I am too. Sure all that writing a new chapter in your life stuff is true I'd love to see what my book of life has in store for me, but I just wish I was a faster reader, haha. I think I wanted a few blank pages in between school and whatever else there was in store for me. Well once again I've proved myself wrong. That whole 'nothing to do is awesome' bit was nice for a week or two, but I'm like "Shit there's nothing to do!"

It's not that I'm bored it's more like I feel stagnant. When I told my parents in late 2005 that I was going to go to Dallas "to get an education, buy a house, and work for a professional sports team" My parents seemed taken back, but in only two years I did just that. Okay great but what am I supposed to do now! Now I'm not talking about putting up rain gutters at my house (which look great, good job Ricky), or painting a room, I'm talking about big stuff. What's my next big goal?

So how bout this...I'll just sit here blogging and realizing even though I watch sports center 3 to 4 times a day I don't know anything about sports (Direct Ricky quote from a few weeks ago "It doesn't matter what seed you are this year in the playoffs everyone is so close that it's gonna be a crap shoot" -- What actually happened? 1-4 seeds advance to second round in both conferences...Screw Chris Paul). While that happens someone out there needs to hurry up and get to writing, write the next chapter of my book dammit! I have an MBA you have to listen to me now! Write...oh yah and throw in a cute blonde girl somewhere...

p.s. When did they make the weights heavier at the gym? Damn those guys!

The next 10

2008-04-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well just to let any of you know that haven't been able to physically see me since the last post...I chickened out and never got a haircut. Oh well I look much faster now.

The next week and a half are gonna get pretty crazy, loose itinerary to follow:

Thursday April 10th: My last class I will ever have to attend. No tests or papers or anything like that just a group meeting to prepare for our raffle drawing on Saturday.

Friday April 11th: It's opening day at Lone Star park (horse track). Run ponies, run!

Saturday April 12th: Raffle drawing at UD and the last academic obligation I will probably ever have! Post raffle party with group. Post party party with friends.

Sunday April 13th: Hanging my TV on the wall, moving my prehistoric stove that came with the new house, and other various domesticated chores...home depot, bed bath and beyond, I don't know if there will be time!

Tuesday April 15th: Mom comes back into Dallas for some much needed help to finish off some projects around the house.

Wednesday April 16th: Work and final regular season Mavs game with Mom

Thursday April 17th: Dad and Sister get in.

Friday April 17th: Chris, Greg, Kevin, Tyler, Preston, and Cassandra get in. Holy shit...It's actually gonna happen. On this day at 7:30pm I will walk across the stage at the University of Dallas, they will proceed to give me a Masters degree and the rest of my life will soon follow.

Saturday April 18th: 4pm-Party-my house.

Sunday April 19th: a deep breath...

Wow what a ride my time in Dallas has been! 26 months ago I came here with nothing, only wanting to acquire this MBA thing I'd heard so much about. Now in 9 days I'll have that. Not only will I have the degree I came here for, but I have a home, great friends and a sense of my own fresh start. I'm sure I'll tear up a bit (that's what guys call crying) when I get my diploma or soon thereafter, but I don't think it's because I'll be sad, happy or any of the normal "crying emotions" I think I'll be exhausted. I've been on such a crash course pace for the last two years that I wouldn't be surprised if my body just gave way and I collapsed from exhaustion the second after they hand me my diploma. The feeling of relief will be overwhelming and I'm not sure how I'll handle it...but just remember I won't cry...my eyes be a bit watery or I may "tear up" but cry-NEVER! (me man, me tough)

To cut or not to cut?

2008-03-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a little over a month and a lot has happened...but I'll fill you in at the end of this post. There is a more pressing issue at hand.

I am in dire need of a good hair cut and need some help with this situation. It has been roughly a month since my last dome shave and I have been presented with a "situation". Matt has also gone a long while between clippings and thinks we should have a competition to see who can go the longest without cutting their hair. I think it would be highly entertaining, and aren't chicks into the whole long hair thing now anyway?

So what do I need from you the faithful rickysroost reader? I need suggestions. If there is gonna be a bet there needs to be a loser and if there is gonna be a loser that loser needs to do something ridiculous so that everyone knows they lost. Some of the preliminary suggestions I've recieved are all something along the lines of the loser taking on a ridiculous hairstyle. Well you must realize that by "losing" me or Matt will have already cut their hair (that's how we lose) so I need something else.

Email me or post on here your suggestions and I'll take the top 3 and let the masses vote. If there aren't any worth "playing" for by Saturday, I'm off to get a haircut...so make em' good!

So what have I done in the last month...oh boy!
I just moved into my new house and I love it, this week both my bathrooms are being remodled, thanks to my very generous father.
I only have 38 more days till I graduate and I'm, for better or worse, on cruise control in school.
There is however something else you could help me with. As part of my last class at UD, my group must develop and implement an actual project for a real client. Our client is the University of Dallas' Athletic department. We are doing a fundraiser to raise money for the various things an athletic department needs. We are raffling off an ATV and a street legal scooter. I would really appreicate it if you could spare a measly $10 and help me out by buying one of our raffle tickets. If you live out of the Dallas area, the manufacturer will actually ship the merchandise to you for FREE! You can buy your tickets online at www.crusadeofdreams.org (you will need a password to access the site. Username: UD Password UD...simple but we need it that way for legal purposes). If you can however, buy the tickets from me because that makes me look a little bit better:) . If you have any other questions please call me or email me...if you don't know my cell phone number or email address, you're probably not buying a ticket anyway so I'm not posting those on here.

Love you guys, Peace!

729...730!

2008-01-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

You seem to like pictures...

Happy New Year everyone! No I'm not late, this is my New Years' Holiday. I moved to Irving Texas, on January 28th, 2006, so Monday marks the beginning of my third year! Wow a lot has happened in two years. I just went back and read through a couple of my posts from the last two years (I've been blogging for two years now? Does that make me a blogger? Damn, I'm a dork!) and I had to laugh at some of the stuff I've written over that time period. Surprise, surprise I don't usually hold back what I'm thinking or feeling and I guess I can get pretty emotional, whether it's being, sad, excited, tired, or angry whatever it was it has seemed to come out quite clearly in my writing.

I think I've learned a lot in the last couple years, but I guess only time - or two more years of posts' - will tell if I have or not.

I've learned a lot in school, I'll be done in 82 days, and have done some great projects and learned from some great professors as well as my peers.
I've learned a lot about myself.
I've learned that you can win 67 games or be the best team in the NFC and neither means a damn thing.
I've learned what things I can do and what things I didn't think I could do.
I've learned that I am a NM TAU alumni magnet, where were you guys when I was all alone out here?
I've learned that I can rely on myself quite a bit, but also that there are times when I need to lean upon others.
I've reaffirmed that I can lead, but learned that I can be just as influential from other roles in a group or team.
I've learned that it's great to be independent and by myself, but I learned that I can get so much more when I share myself with someone else.
I've learned that a futon is not "big boy" furniture, but it's hard to get big boy furniture.
I've learned that Venezuela is in the Northern Hemisphere, but is still pretty far south!
I've learned that I like chocolate mints (like the ones at Olive Garden) and comfortable socks, but don't by either on a regular basis, but I have not learned why.
I've learned that heartache is bound to happen, and that when it does I'll wake up the next day and still have a life to live (Nobody else stopped just because I wanted to).
I've learned that when you have the best hand and go "all-in" in the WSOP, you can still lose
I've learned that everyday can't be a good one, but I learned to stop and remember those good ones.
I've learned about the bulls...and the bears of the street.
That's a lot of freakin' learning isn't it? Maybe someday I'll have learned enough to start giving wisdom instead of just being a vacuum.

Oh yeah and how could I forget one of the most memorable quotes from my departure. The last night I went out in Albuquerque before moving Bloch told me "Man I can't believe you're leaving, it's kinda like an end of an era". Well that era might have ended but I started a new one..."Hey Antwan! I can't believe you're moving to Dallas, it's kinda like the end of an era".

A holiday trilogy. Version 3.0

2008-01-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

You may or may not have noticed but just about everyone has a cell phone, and if they don't they're probably not important anyway! So I figured the best way to find out how my last year has been was to pull out the best photographic gems- all taken with my phone- and post them on here. So yeah...

"It will be a visual wonderland" I declared in my last post. Well tonight folks, here it is your very own visual wonderland. I tried to put them in chronological order, but then I got too anxious and just started putting the pictures in random order.

Doesn't he look so cute when he's passed out?
Me and my sister at the Taking Back Sunday concert.

Please keep this image of super skinny Spike in your mind till the end of the presentation.

Ah HA! Real New Mexican food in Texas...yahtzee!

The wall of champions inside Binions Casino. Maybe someday?

Why Ben what beautiful red lips you have.
I don't know what to say, I'm just that bad ass.
I love Chicago.
Mikhail Gorbachev at the University of Dallas. A great experience.
Big Ern is always given people the shaft...that's why they call him the elevator

Honestly how else would you keep the cancer in?
The view of the strip from Ghost Bar at the top of the Palms.
Who has been to a press conference when the NBA MVP gets announced? I have!
My sister getting the keys to her new car. The salesman was diggin' you...
Three words: Double Fish Filet. Nuf' said

At Arielle's birthday party from Tom Hicks' owners suite.
Oh the jokes...
So what if I only lasted - well it's not important how long I lasted.
Spring break in 2007 my first one away from a beach. Wanna talk about skiing?
David + Opening day + Cotton Candy = Joy

Hey look it's champ. A blue horse?
If this doesn't look like Spike, well that's not necesscary cause it does.

Why? Because, that's why.

Umm hospital food ummm. If that ain't a reason to put a tube in your chest I don't know what is.
I told you I met Pat Green. So there!

A holiday trilogy. Version 2.0

2007-12-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

Yes ladies and gentlemen the highly anticipated second version of 'A holiday trilogy' is now upon you...buckle up!

Well I had several things I wanted to talk about in this post so I thought and thought and then I thought some more and then I finally found a way to tie them together. With colors, not just any colors but two colors that seem to dominate the following subjects.

Red or Green?
If you're from New Mexico or have spent any period of time there you probably already have an answer for this question but considering that some of you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll explain. I knew I was home when someone asked me "Red or Green?" They of course are talking about what kind of chile I wanted on/in my enchiladas. It is a great phrase cause when I hear it I know I'm home, cause it's the only place I've ever heard it (screw that texmex crap!).

So if you are a half evolved primate and haven't figure it out by now I was lucky enough to go home for the holiday weekend. It couldn't have come at a better time, as you could tell from previous posts I was getting worn down and a little frustrated but the break that the 5 oh 5 provided was much needed. Now I'm back to "full strength" and ready for 2008.

Another awesome thing that happened to me was two weekends ago I met Pat Green (keeping with the color theme). Some of you may know I am a huge Pat Green fan, probably due to the influence of one Ronald Bowron. I got to see him at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth and it was a great show, he probably played for an hour and 45 minutes...awesome. Afterward he went to sign autographs and take pictures and so I ran over to stand in line but to my dismay about 200 people had the same idea. So I waited but I finally met him and took a picture with him. By the way his favorite song is Carry On.

And last but not least a good friend of a lot of people ended up in the hospital this weekend. We went to see him and he is doing fine but he did have a lot of blood (RED, see I kept the color theme) on his hospital bed sheets. I'll spare the details, but he'll be fine. We love you Spike! Get well soon!

Color Recap:
Red or Green?: Which type of chile you want on your NEW Mexican food.
Red and Green: The colors of xmas
Green: Pat Fuckin' Green! (go ahead chant it over and over again...you know you want to!)
Red: Blood...ewwww

Stay tuned for Version 3.0...it will be a visual wonderland...maybe. Oh yeah in the airport on the way back to Dallas I got a breakfast burrito and once again I was asked "Red or Green?". I was feeling crazy, I told her "christmas".

A holiday trilogy. Version 1.0

2007-12-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

I have quite a bit to write about but in an effort to not bore the hell out of you in one post, I'll spread my written form of torment over three post in the next few days.

So you say I'm on a break right now huh? Well it is the most intensive break I've ever been a part of. In the last 2 weeks I've worked nearly 100 hours and unfortunately my job in retail is making me begin to dislike Christmas (at least I don't have to deal with customers).

At the pinnacle of thebusy season at work, I feel tired in the time where I should be recharging from school and preparing for my final trimester. I can work a lot of hours that doesn't bother me at all and I can deal with any task you put in front of me, but what is getting to me lately is I'm tired of doing all the thinking. I guess this is the burden a leader takes on. I've always been in leadership roles, whether it's being a captain on one of my many soccer teams, being a manager at work (ever since my first job), or being put in several leadership roles with SAE. For once I would like to not have to do all the thinking in a given situation. I would like it so much if someone could think on their own without me having to spoon feed them direction. Is it so much to ask for a person to care about the tasks they are doing, and feel a sense of self worth when they have completed their task in an exceptional manner?

Now at the same time I understand that part of this is very possibly my fault. When something isn't going right I always try to look at myself first, after all it's usually easier to fix your own faults. What is it that I'm doing as a leader that may be causing my own distress? What practices need to change? Am I too focused? Am I asking for too much? Well you see if I knew the exact answer this blog post probably wouldn't have even existed so, sir I'm fucking clueless sir.

Everyone seems to do the minimal amount of work necessary to get by. Well guess what? In my short work experiences I've noticed that doing the minimal doesn't get you by, it gets you passed by. I don't think I will ever be able to just "exist" in the environments I'm in, be it at work or sports, I just don't work that way. I'm too competitive, I'm too stubborn, I'm...well shit I'm too damn good for that! (and a little arrogant) So I guess I'll keep leading and hopefully I can stumble into a couple free thinkers that can make my days in those leadership roles just a bit easier. And hopefully I'll be able to fine tune my own abilities at the same time. I'll live and I'll be alright, but for now I'm just a bit frustrated.

And I'm back...

2007-11-18T11:01:00.000-08:00

Wow I just looked and I realize it's been 6 and a half weeks since I've blessed you with my outstanding wisdom (and modesty). So I figured I better update you on what's happened in the past 6 weeks
Here's 6 weeks in a nut shell:
I finished two classes this last week with a 4.0.
I graduate in April and only have two classes left.
Work is super busy with the horrible xmas shopping season about to kick off
The Mavs are doing well on the court but need to fix some things.
The Cowboys are dominating and need to keep dominating.
I am extremely happy and in a really good place right now.

So now that you have the nut shell how bout some actual content?

Last weekend my Mom came to see me, and it was so great to see her. It is the only time she has come to see my by herself and it was nice to have some one-on-one time with my Mom. Then this weekend my Dad is here to go to the Cowboys game. Then on Wednesday the whole troop is coming (Mom, Dad, Sister). So this month is a great one, I get the pleasure of finishing up a very rewarding trimester at UD. I think unfortunately this has been the only semester that I can say I got a whole lot from each class I took. Then my family comes to visit me...perfect! But I want to talk about two events that have just recently (within 24 hours) happened.

I have been to Deeley plaza before - the site of Kennedy's death - but this time I thought of how important Kennedy was to not only his generation but to many people to follow. He laid ground work for many of the ideals and standards that we now have in this country. He was such a ground breaking president and yet his impact was cut short by that one act.

The next thing event is something that happens more than just in the past 24 hours but, I was thinking how proud I am of my friends and how successful we have all become or are becoming. When my family sits down and talks to one of my friends I almost feel like a parent myself, so proud of the people I associate myself with. So how has it come to the point where I have collected such an amazing group of friends? I don't know. I may be lucky or I may have a good judge of character...we may never know.

So what does Deeley plaza and my friends have to do with each other? Good question...here's your answer. As I was sitting a top the infamous grassy knoll, I thought of my friends and how we all have the ability to make such a difference, probably not on the scale Kennedy did, but a difference none the less. We need to seize the opportunities we have now because we never know when we may lose our chance. We are all educated, intelligent, INCREDIBLY good looking (come one I have to be a little arrogant), and are in the prime of our lives. It's a feeling I have right now that I can do anything I want, I or we can accomplish so much in the next 30-40 years and we don't even know what that accomplishment is yet. Sure the face of not knowing is a little uneasy, but I think it is even more exciting.

So watch out for me and my posse when we role into your city (and we leave no corner unmarked, we're all over the country right now...kinda like fight club) because we will change something, accomplish something, make better the lives of some people. The only question I still need to answer is who what and where will that be?

I say Tony, you Say Romo...

2007-10-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Tony Romo has played in every Super Bowl...and won.
Tony Romo doesn't shower after games, showers take a Tony Romo.
Tony Romo doesn't throw passes he tells the ball what to do and it does what it's told.
Tony Romo has 422 TD in his career, and has been a starter for the Green Bay Packers for the last 12 years.
Tony Romo gave birth to Troy Aikman.
Tony Romo is your father.
Tony Romo has dated at least three girls way hotter than you will ever date (no really).
Tony Romo doesn't play in the NFL, he's just REALLY good at Madden on the XBOX.
Tony Romo's diet consists of cotton swabs of Brett Favre's DNA and actual pig skins
Tony Romo once played for both teams in one game...and both teams got victories
Tony Romo makes poops bigger than Tom Brady...no but seriously he does.
Tony Romo once wore flavor flav as a time piece
Tony Romo doesn't need a refrigerator, his food stays fresh out of respect for him (credit to Budda for this one)
Tony Romo isn't one four letter word...it's TWO!
Tony Romo was once a cherry tree and George Washington chopped down his friend. Good ole George didn't confess to chopping the tree down cause of his conscious...it's cause he was afraid of Tony Romo.
Tony Romo once attending a cock fight in Chile , and both chickens fought harder when they saw him in the crowd (another Budda gem).
Tony Romo thought 'Around the World in 80 Days' was a comedy...he once stepped foot in all seven continents, AT ONCE!

I say Tony, you say Romo
Tony!...

Be Better!

2007-09-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

What did you do today? Did you make yourself better? Did you stay stagnate? I found some words of wisdom on TV, but isn't that where most of my wisdom comes from? Believe it or not I found this wisdom nugget from an ex NFL player, on a reality TV show. Flip This House had a guy who owns a company that "flips" homes and does it all in the dramatic face of the camera lens. This jock turned real estate investor is pretty pompous and arrogant but he did produce an eye widening moment for me. He was arguing with one of his employees, trying to get him to get a task accomplished and the employee was just making excuses for why he couldn't get the job done. This jock (a Yale graduate) told his subordinate "What did you do today? What are you dong to make yourself better today?" After an awkward silence (ten points worth) the employee swiftly ended the conversation and...you guess it, he got the job done.

Did Egor the real estate athlete motivate his employee or did a phrase make that employee think like it did to me?

So I asked myself "What DID I do to make myself better today?" I had no answer, I couldn't come up with anything significant enough that I felt I improved as a friend, employee, family member or any other 'title' I hold. Think how powerful it could be if we tried to make ourselves better everyday of our lives. [Insert Wayne's World dream sequence here]I'm not talking about this general "I'm a good person" type of lifestyle, but a genuine effort that is refocused EVERY SINGLE DAY. When you wake up in the morning and look yourself in the eyes while you're brushing your teeth or shaving or getting that nasty zit that crept up overnight (sorry had to break the seriousness up with a zit joke) say goodbye to that person...leave that person behind. Not because they were bad, in actuality they were probably a very good person. Leave them behind because the next time you look in that mirror when you get off of work, back from school, or just need to pee really bad, you'll be better. You will have done everything in your power to become a better person. Think how awesome that would be! [end Wayne's World dream sequence...Dude!...Excellent!...Shwing!]

I doubt that it is possible to be successful in accomplishing this goal, everyday. I'm sure on some days you may take a step backward. I also unfortunately don't know what will make you, me or anyone else a better person tomorrow or the next day. But just as tomorrow isn't set in stone for the outcomes it will bring, your outlook should represent the outlook of a person looking to become better, yet not knowing exactly how or when that moment will arrive.

"So, Ricky how do I find that moment that makes me a better person?"
I'm so glad you asked!

I'm no Dr. Phil or anything but here are my suggestions:

Be positive
Work hard
Do or try something new

and most importantly

Have fun!

I bet if you at least try to utilize these four things in your daily happenings...if you don't get better...you will have at least given it the ole' college try (and for some of us that takes 5 and a half years).

BE BETTER!

Vacation, Vacation, Vacation

2007-09-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Okay so I didn't get to really go anywhere for the beginning of my break from school - that all changed this past 9 days. Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to go home for a couple days. Then this for labor day weekend I went to Maine. In the last 9 days I have been in the following airports; Albuquerque, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Manchester, and Baltimore.

I've talked about many a Albuquerque trips so I'll just skip to my trip to Maine. The weekend was Greg's birthday and it just so happened that Chris was going to be up there, and then we called Spano to make four of us. Somehow that poor little sleepy town off the rocky cliffs of coastal Maine was able to not burn to the ground when the four of us entered and exited the city in a weekend. Greg was pretty excited that we were all able to make it up to see him. It was great to see those three again but we were still missing a couple people in "the crew" so we weren't complete but we were pretty darn close.

It is a pretty exciting time in all of our lives. I don't want to publicize the lives of people without their express written consent but we are all in great places. We all are in careers that we want to be in, we all are beginning to be successful, and self sufficient members of society. It's a little weird to think that when we met in college only a few years back we were all eating off the dollar menu and scrounging for change just so we could go out on the weekends. Now we can afford to go across the country just to hang out and have a good time.

As for me, I have 4 classes left till my degree (I'm sure most of you know that by now) and I can't be more excited for the next 8 months of my life. The Cowboys are about to start their season, and for the first time I'll be at the season opening game...and many others. The NBA season is about to start and now work is finally getting exciting after our Baron "asshole" Davis induced long summer. Classes are starting for the fall, and I have been rejuvenated by my friends and family this last week and a half. So I have a lot to be excited for, a lot to be thankful for, and a lot that is up in the air and as long as I have a positive attitude the (sorry about to get cliche) sky is the limit.

...who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own...

2007-08-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

The last month and a half was pretty ridiculous for me but I made it out alive and better than ever. As most of you know, I just finished quite possibly the hardest semester of school in my life, combine that with a 40 hour work week and well I was a touch busy. The good news is I only have 4 classes left now and I should be done in April.

And now on with the show...

When I moved out to Dallas one of the first pieces of mail I received was a plaque with a very important creed on it. A couple people sent it to me so I wouldn't forget what was important in life and how to go about living it. They told me I taught them a lot about how to live by it and it was their house warming gift for me (or I guess apartment warming?). Well sorry gentlemen but I forgot about that creed recently. I have so much in my life to be thankful for and I am doing so well right now, why would I ever want to make life even the smallest bit more difficult or harder for someone? I wouldn't. In the grand scheme of life it wasn't a big issue but I still feel bad about it. More than bad I think I'm more embarrassed than anything else. But don't cry for me Argentina! At least I know I've made a mistake, and guess what? I now have the chance to make it better. I don't know exactly what I'll do, but going through life without righting your wrongs is like swimming frontwards doing the backstroke (go ahead picture that...kinda funny huh?). So I'll make it better, I'll learn, I'll be better for it, and I'll move one.

Aside from this blemish, I'm doing well. Today it was ridiculously hot and humid, tomorrow looks like it will bring much of the same. Oh how lucky you Albuquerque cats are.

Lucky number 13?

2007-07-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhh....

So apparently taking 3 graduate classes and working at the same time is a poor decision. You would have thought I would have learned that after the last time I did it. But nope I didn't. I was at school till midnight tonight, and tonight was my night "off". It's almost 1am and I'm wide awake now...damn. There is 13 days left in the trimester (not like I'm counting or anything) and it's getting a little hectic. There is a bit of excitement in the air for me though, after these 13 days are up I'll only have 4 classes left. The light is at the end of the tunnel...I hope.

I wouldn't hold your breath for another post till after school's out, but hey you never know.

**Alert**
This educational update is brought to you by Ricky Herrera and (insert school supply brand name here) keeping the youth of tomorrow educated till freaking midnight.

post date this...

2007-07-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back from Vegas and I didn't do amazing at the WSOP but the experience was amazing and I made a few dollars playing cash games. The following is the prequal...

I don’t know when I’ll post this but it was written at 10:00pm CST 6/29/07

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to a rickysroost first, I am coming to you live (well not actually live but when I find an internet connection to post this) from 35,000 feet up in the pitch black skies over Texas/New Mexico/Arizona or Nevada wherever I may be at the moment. As most of you may know I am on my way to the most fabulous (and no it’s not gay to refer to Las Vegas as fabulous) city on the planet…Las Vegas! I love Vegas, and Vegas loves the hell out of me, well they love my money but we can pretend can’t we? I am a little bored on this 2 hour and 45 minute flight so this may be a longer post than usual, but for the most part they are short enough to keep the attention span of a 13 year old with dyslexia, so deal with it.

This mid summer trip to Vegas brings about a couple topics of interests’ for me. First off, I will be playing in the World Series of Poker within 24 hours. Next I have found another couple things the “human” does that amuses the hell out of me, and last…IT’S VEGAS BABY!

The sole reason for my trip out to the bright lights and swirling booby tassels of Las Vegas, Nevada is the World Series of Poker (WSOP). I guess I must first start off by saying that it is not the main event where I can win 12 million dollars or something ridiculous like that, but of course that is what you thought of first right? The WSOP is actually made up of 55 events this year with a myriad of games you can choose from; Omaha, Hold em’, 7 card stud, razz then you have the types of games within those styles; no limit, pot limit, limit (you saw that one coming didn’t you?). I am playing in event number 49, a No-limit hold em’ event to be held tomorrow (6/30/2007). This will be the first time I lay down more than $500 dollars to play poker and I can’t wait. I must admit I am a little; either nervous or anxious depends on how you look at it. I have been practicing in big money cash games for the past several months in Oklahoma, and doing quite well I might add. But the WSOP brings on a whole new beast of poker player, I very well may sit down right next to one of the players you see on ESPN everyday such as; Mike Matusow, Daniel Negraneu, or Phil Hellmuth (who won his record breaking 11th bracelet two weeks ago). I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow when the cards start flying and I’m actually playing in “the big game”. I may be awe stuck of the players I see around me, I may be so nervous I can’t stand it or I may feel right at home and sit down ready to play. Even though I don’t know how I’ll react to the conditions I’ll be in for the first time, I do know that I will not be scared. The last several years of my life I have learned a lot about myself (I’m sure a lot of 25 year olds could say that). I’ve learned that there aren’t many things I cannot do in life. This event is more than poker for me it is another challenge in life that has been presented to me, fore which I must learn to conquer. Take for example soccer, I was never the fastest or the tallest player on my team but there is a reason that I started every game my senior year at the most importatnt defensive position, and rarely came off the field…I refused to lose. Tomorrow when I’m looking in the face of an all in bet I may call or I may fold but one thing I will not do is accept losing, it’s not me.

Now that I have gotten my self help speech out of the way (It was a necesscary motivator so I apoligize if you had to drag your way through it). I will switch to the more humorous side of this blog post…people. Since I’ve moved I have become quite the airport junky. I know use the side luggage scan at Love Field that nobody knows about, I pass all the idiots waiting outside in the Texas heat to check their bags and go straight to the e-ticket counter, etc. But more than anything else there is one thing that sticks with me every time I fly. I think it is absolutely absurd the way humans fight for position in a line that intends on getting you to the same place in the same amount of time as the person ten places in front of and behind you. The main problem is probably that Southwest Airlines uses the boarding group system that puts people in one of three categories; A, B, or C. Although I love SW they must fix this problem. It causes pandemonium at the gate with people making sure they are in the right line. Oh and if you’re not, don’t worry it won’t be long till a weary traveler reminds you that they were in the “A” group before you were. I guess it’s the whole “hurry up to wait” theory we dumb ass humans utilize on a daily basis. Okay we do this, and may never stop, but why? Is there a need to be FIRST in line? I wonder if it is just the American way of life that makes us believe that we must be the first one or the one in charge so on and so on. I wonder if Canada Air (the airline of a much more laid back country) had the same system as SW airlines if the passengers would be just as inclined to make sure they held their precious territory in line. I usually fly by myself so I really could care less where I sit and I usually just take the first seat available to me. But I do enjoy my time in the terminal while the mongoloids of human kind argue about whether or not they can be the 45th or 46th person in the “A” group…and god forbid you end up all the way in the “C” group, I actually don’t even think those passengers are human…maybe THOSE are the monsters and I’ve misdirected my hate this whole time….hmmmm?

Damn I love VEGAS!
(just thought I’d throw that in there)

I don’t know what your weekend plans bring to you on this warm end of June. Whatever those plans may be, try to enjoy the opportunities in life that are afforded to you. Who knows if I’ll ever be able to play in a WSOP event ever again, who knows if I’ll ever be able to laugh at my fellow homo erectus and their silly antics in the airport again? All we can do as inhabitants of this Earth is try to enjoy the time we have, because as Kayne says “nothings ever promised tomorrow, today”.

I’m just livin’ the dream baby!!

Changing for the better

2007-06-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since you've received a quality post that has not only my incredibly intelligent comments, but has some good funnies, I'm gonna hit you with a whole comedy troupe. I promise...try these guys out and you will find something you like.

www.derrickcomedy.com

The last time I posted was at the end of May, a lot has happened in the last three weeks and I haven't had the time to get on here and share with the public. The first thing I want to talk about is the transformation I've gone through recently, and the next will be my trip home and all that went with that last weekend.

For those of you who know me well I've always been a "meat and potatoes" guy, I never ate vegetables or fruits or anything like that...well I'm all grown up now and believe it or not I eat completely different. For some reason I had a change of heart about 3-4 weeks ago when I went to the grocery store and I bought a bunch of vegetables and a bunch of fruit, stuff for salads, lean meats, fish and stuff like that. I don't know why but I suddenly had this urge to begin eating healthy...I guess after 25 years of treating my body like a piece of shit I decided it was time to change. So today you may find me eating a salad for lunch, a banana for breakfast, an apple for snack and who knows maybe some tilapia for dinner (yes ladies I can cook...just so you know). With this sudden change in diet I have accomplished two things; I feel better everyday and would recommend it to anybody, and second - but maybe most important- I shocked the hell out of my parents when I went home. It's not important that I mess with the folks but, I did enjoy the look on Moms' face when I ordered a salad and was content at lunch. The other symptom of my recent diet is I set a unique fitness goal, I don't want to run a mile in a certain time or bench press a ridiculous amount of weight...I want to have a six pack. Even when I wrestled and was pushing 119lbs. in high school with 3% body fat I never had a six pack...those days are soon to be over. I do sit ups every night until my stomach wants to kill me. It may be an odd goal but I figure if my abs are tight I'm sure I've done alright with the rest of my body to get to that point.

Now for my trip home. I went home for one of my favorite brothers weddings and it was great. I saw lots of SAE's there that I haven't seen in a long time like Copple, Faiz, Nate, Les and so on. I forget how much those guys meant to me while I was still discovering who I was at the "ripe" college ages. At one point I told Billy "it's going to be weird being 25 and getting hazed by Faiz and Jackson again" (they didn't mess with me too much) but those guys were who I looked up to when I was 18 and 19 years old, and I still do. They taught me a lot about SAE and about being an adult. I never had older 'blood' siblings so I didn't have a peer to teach me growing up but they filled those roles for me very adequately. I owe a lot of my success to them and I hope they know that.

Another group of people of whom I owe a lot to is my parents. I was amazed at the operation my dad had going on when I was home. He has grown from a guy in his truck making deals to just get some business to a man with a huge company, more employees than I could count, and much success. Parents are supposed to tell their children they are proud of them, but I was really proud of what my parents have become. Coming from modest beginnings to realizing the "American Dream" of owning their own businesses and being able to do what they want and when they want to do it...a son could not be more proud. They talk about the day I graduate from my MBA program and how proud they will be, well I'm already proud of you two! They may think it's because I'm dedicated to what I do, or because my sister has a good head on her shoulders that we are both going to be "somebody" in life...it's not, it is because of them. This last weekend when I was home it was fathers day, I didn't get him a gift or anything like that, and it wasn't because I didn't want to but because I didn't think there was something out there that would show him how incredibly proud I was of him and the life he has created for his family.

Change is hard sometimes, I will be going through a big change at work in the next month or two and a great friend will be moving away in the process. So whether it is the change in your personal life, or the progress you make in your career...DON'T be afraid of it. Change is good, necessary and will lead you in the right direction.

Help me help you.

2007-05-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

First thing's first...I only got 4 hours of sleep last night and I'm still up taking a study "break" to do this--Why am I in school again? Oh yeah! The bigger picture (remember the last post?) anyway, I digress.

I was just trolling around the internet trying to do something mindless before I went back into school mode for another hour or two before I go to bed (its 1:03am right now). As I was doing this I went to my "bosses" blog, and now I shall steal an idea which I think is quite good. Mark Cuban is asking his readers to give him ideas for his television network HDnet. Although I am but a young, meek lad, I still wish to keep the things I do in my life fresh and entertaining. On this site I've tried giving you songs I enjoy, and funny clips I stumble across on the internet. As for the content I try to mix it up with stuff like; the mustache, political or societal commentary, things that piss me off, and of course my "adventures" here in Texas.

So here's is what I want from you my incredibly intelligent and always beautiful (beautiful only if "you" refers to a person who has two X chromosomes...go ahead Google it and figure out if that's you, I'll wait--okay proceed), morally and ethically bound, followers. I want YOU to tell me what YOU want to see on this site. Other than a handful of people who told me they read this stuff, I have no idea who you are or what you want. Of course I'll continue to be myself but if I can entertain and inform at the same time that would be fantastic. So either email me, if you are privileged enough to know my email address, call me and tell me, text me and tell me or hey why don't you just post it on here for everyone to see...DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS?

I'm kinda excited about the feedback I may get from this so don't let me down minions...or very smart people whom I love. A little flattery never hurts right?

To post on this site just click on the underlined link that has a numerical value and the word comments after it...then make the magic happen.

How big is your picture?

2007-05-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm let's see what funny thing should y'all check out today?
Oh how bout this...
http://www.nothingtoxic.com/media/1173094701/Horny_Dog_Gets_Denied_and_Pleases_Itself
*Note that this may not be office appropriate...but definitely worth a good quality viewing.

People are always saying "take a look at the bigger picture". Really? I'm having a hard time learning how to paint (figuratively speaking) how the hell am I supposed to look at a picture I haven't even drawn yet? Well today I believe I had two "bigger picture" moments.

As I still learn how to properly hold the paint brush and maybe learn which colors accent the others in the best way, I've began to have a vision of what my painting is going to look like. You know - the painting that is this "bigger picture". I was thinking about dropping the last class I just added because I really don't like it but I need the credits to graduate in April. I came to the conclusion today that after all the classes I've had and all the shitty lectures I've had to sit through what does it matter if there's one more of those? In the bigger picture that I'm painting I don't even think this class will be a brush stroke in the far corners of the painting. It's only 10 more weeks and the project isn't that hard, I thought ".JUST DO IT!". So I am, I'll tough it out and just do the work because in the end it will all be worth it.

Also today I had an important issue weighing heavy on my mind and I had to figure it out. So I called someone who I could trust to give me the advice I was looking for. We talked and they showed me the bigger picture. I think I already knew what to do but, I think I had to hear it from that person because their opinion is so important to me. So thank you ...once again... to them, it's not the first time and won't be the last I call for advice.

So when someone tells you to "look at the bigger picture", don't just take it as a pop culture phrase. Maybe like me you are still learning to draw, or shoot maybe you haven't even been to the store to buy your paint brush yet. But I'm sure you have at least the smallest idea of what you want to paint. Close your eyes, imagine how great your painting can be, and make your decisions today based on how your vision for tomorrows looks.

Summertime in Big D

2007-05-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

I enjoy this clip I hope you do too...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPdFrW076R0

So what am I up to you ask? I have recently been given a full time position with the Mavs. You know that team that was supposed to win it all this year but went out in the first round. So I sit around and play computer games all day. I am quite lucky though it seems the part time positions may not have much time left, well unless we can keep coming up with things for them to do, so I must be thankful that I still have a job. School is starting up for the summer and I will be taking 3 classes now that I will have some free time this summer. And now the exciting news. I have made my plane reservations for Vegas. I will be playing in the World Series of Poker this summer, not in the main event but in one of the other 50 some odd events they have going on there. I will be there from June 29th to July 3rd and hopefully playing poker that whole time. But if not I'm gonna need some friends to get crazy with. So if you're reading this come on out to VEGAS and let's have some fun.

I was also looking back at some of the previous posts and noticed that I was supposed to keep you up to date with any Texas slang I've heard. Well how bout "Big Time". Used in the following manner..."Last night was a big time".

4/16/2007

2007-04-17T22:02:00.001-07:00

Here's your funny haha for the day...
*http://bahb.net/index.php?page=playvideo&id=457*

Okay hopefully you have wiped the tears of laughter out of your eyes from the previous video, now on to the mooshy stuff.

As everyone by now knows April 16th will go down as one of the worst days in American history. This was a horrific event that is hard to understand. This being said I don't want to waste your time talking about the same stuff you've heard on CNN and Foxnews for the last 48 hours straight...so I'll take this on from a different angle.

33 people lost their lives yesterday (way to set the mood I know...sorry). Through all the "breaking news" and repetitive reporting one thought had been continually running through my head the past two days, "what if I lost 33 people in my life". I understand this maybe a selfish point of view considering the recent events but stay with me now. I had no immediate ties with anyone at VT, but what if that happened at UNM? Wow. What a thought huh? What if that did hit closer to home? What if it happened at SAE and I lost 33 brothers? I am not in anyway trying to lessen the events that took place, rather put them in prospective for me.

It makes you wonder what's the point of holding grudges against your closest friends and family. Sure you're allowed to be mad at people or upset with them every now and again, it's natural that someone is going to do something to piss you off sometimes. But what if tomorrow morning you woke up and that person was gone and you could never talk (or argue) with them again...would you feel guilty? What if when you woke up tomorrow morning you knew that your last memory of that person was going to be of a fight, disagreement, shit talking...whatever. Someone once told me that the people you are nearest to are the ones who can make you angry the easiest. I think that's true, but you need to also remember why they are close to you. True friends and family may be able to upset you, but what would your life be like without them?

So before you go to bed tonight, let's hope that you don't have any outstanding feuds with those closest to you, and if you do...resolve them, because in the grand scheme of things it's probably not that important. Make sure those around you know that you care for them, and surround yourself with people who care for you. We can only hope that something this tragic doesn't happen to us...

Define this!

2007-04-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

I believe the music section of this blog is slowly becoming stale. To put an end to all stale activity I declare a change! From here on out...or till this gets stale as well, I will add a link to a website with a high "fun factor". These websites I have compiled over the years and believe them to be humorous.

The first submission to the humor file is...
**http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2006/03/gatorade-conspiracy.html**

Okay so I was trying to come up with a unique way to deliver today (or tonight...or this mornings) message when I came up with this, hope you likey.

I will offer words for you in a dictionary form and then define them as they so effect my life.

Boots- noun, plural:
The shoes I wore today to the horse track. The shoes that make me look at least an inch an a half taller than I really am. The shoes that make girls think I'm at least an inch and a half taller than I really am. The shoes that turn my jeans into a designer 'outfit'.

Eli Young Band- noun, persons:
As in the band that was amazing today live. The band that sings one of my favorite songs "So Close Now". A band with an amazing drummer who is amazingly interesting to watch live. A band I can now add to my "I've seen them live" list.

Quinella- a type of bet, esp. on horse races, in which the bettor, in order to win, must select the first- and second-place finishers without specifying their order of finishing. A way to make me think that I know what I'm talking about when in fact I am just some dumb kid with spending money that enjoys drinking beers and watching ponies run in circles.

Ponies- the reason I've had a great night 2 of the last 3 nights. Sure I may not have won every time I've bet but damn I still love them ponies. Okay well most of them were thoroughbreds, but that's besides the point...it's way more fun to call them ponies.

Imus- noun, currently an adjective, describing a person of high stature that believes he can say whatever the hell he wants but in reality he can't. A person who shouldn't have been fired but should have been punished. A person that makes Adam think I hate him but we're brothers so he'll have to do a lot more than enjoy Don Imus to shake me.

Scissors- Damn that was a funny south park episode!

1920s Reporter guy- to speak in a 1920s voice to describe sporting events that are taking place. A moniker I took on in full while at hooters, and couldn't stop. I took on this moniker so much that I called the entire 2006 hot dog eating championship at Hooters and had people high fiven' me and shaking my hand cause I did so well. "Kobeashi has 49 dogs down, he goes back to the water, back to his mouth, Chestnut has 48 dogs and his on Kobeashi's heels, it's Chestnut it's Kobeashi, its chestnut, neck and neck they are coming down to the bun Kobeashi is first to the half century mark and, but Chestnut is chewing with the will of a wildebeest"...if you want more you should have been there.

Saturday 4/14/2007 - A fun filled day with my buddies; Big Earn!, C. Fox, Budda, Baby Moog, and the BOs. A day filled with horse racing, beers, hot dogs, Eli Young Band, Robert Earl Keen, hooters chicken wings, Kobeashi eating way too many hot dogs, and an overall great time.

The Little Rock 9

2007-04-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

**I didn't feel a song was appropriate for this post so here is the story that this post refers to, it is a long story so prepare but it will be worth your time, I promise.**
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/the_bonus/04/05/little.rock0409/index.html

Sometimes the ignorance of the human race scares the hell out of me. This ignorance was not recently seen or witnessed by myself, but read about in Sports Illustrated. I don't read much more than what's in my textbooks or about sports, so I feel lucky when I have completed a story such as this with so much meaning.

Blindsided by History by Gary Smith, was about Little Rock Central High School, the years of segregation from 1957-1959, and the transformation the school has endured in the last 50 years. This story was told from the vantage point of the schools football team, who in 1957 was the best team in the country and had a history of being so. When the orders from the supreme court came down that the school must allow black students to enroll, the town's people were outraged. It took tanks, helicopters and fully armed military personal escorts to get these kids to classes. The schools football team was dismembered as white players went to other schools, many of the kids never graduated white or black because the school closed its doors for a year in 1958.

In September at the 50th "anniversary" of that date, the old timers will be in attendance, but they won't be there to gloat about how they have a great job, or about that great season they had as seniors. No, they will be there to tell the story that needs to be told of a time that needs not to be forgotten. These now 65 year old men, have taken a tragic turn mainly due to their unfortunate timing on this Earth. Many of them never received a high school diploma, even the ones from affluent white families, the article tells of a man who worked in a cardboard box factory for the last 37 years (and that pretty much tells the story for most of the players). When quoted in the article the 65 year old men repeatedly showed remorse for the actions they took (or didn't take) in that era. "I was a kid just trying to fit in. If I saw her [Elizabeth Eckford one of the black students] now, I'd say I'm sorry I didn't hug you and hold your hand. If I could do it over, I'd be a friend."

The thing that impacted me from this article is how their ignorance and acceptance of the mistreatment of other human beings ended up being the essence and simultaneously the shame of their existence. Most of these men didn't feel any ill feelings toward their new black peers, it was the community and their parents and the cultural environment that told them what to think about the situation. One man even said that he now makes sure to say hello and make small talk when he sees a black man or woman, and that he makes sure to buy from the black salesman. Its over the top he knows, but he wants to make sure that his child doesn't feel the eternal grief that he now feels for standing by the wayside and letting horrible things happen.

So what can we learn from Sports Illustrated this week? I'll tell you. We can learn that throughout time whether it be: a person of a different color, a person of a different gender, a person of a different religion...WE ARE ALL THE SAME. It seems so simple doesn't it. If I were born 60 years ago, a white male in the south I would hate to admit it but I would have probably been a racist. I can only hope in my heart that I would have the courage to stand up against these injustices, but odds have it that I wouldn't and neither would you. So now that we have shown that women are equals and that minorities are equals let us not turn to another group of people and persecute them for what we feel are inferior qualities. Let us please learn from our mistakes (this time) and treat all with the respect that the men of the 1957 Little Rock Central High School football team wish they could have treated those 9 black students that year.

Wanna talk about skiing?

2007-03-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

*Musical Selection*
*Corey Smith*
*http://www.coreysmith.org/music.cfm*

*I would recommend downloading them all but if you are going to pick one pick 'If I could do it again*

On Sunday morning at 3:30 am I did something I don't think I normally would have done. Okay before I tell you what that something is you can try and guess...go ahead...done yet? Okay here it is, I went on a ski trip to two states away with 18 other people and I only knew 1 of them. Sorry to disappoint, if you had guessed I got drunk and did something dumb and/or funny.

I went with the brothers from Phi Sigma Alpha, a local fraternity at Austin College in Sherman, TX and a few of their friends. I understand the closeness a group of guys can have and especially a group of fraternity brothers. I was the guy nobody knew, I was the guy that everyone was whispering about when I sat in their living room on Saturday night/Sunday morning. I have always been a confident individual but I don't know if I would have wanted to go on a ski trip for 4 days with people I don't know (the one guy I did know I only knew because he worked part time with the Mavs during the playoffs) if it hadn't been for my recent experiences.

Moving to a place where I knew nobody has probably widened my social horizons a bit. Being the new guy in the group, in almost every situation I've been in for the last year, has been a great learning experience for me. I've always thought that real life learning will beat anything you do in a text book any day. For example I will never EVER home school my child because, the things he/she may not learn because its a public education will never out weight the knowledge they gain, and increase in both maturity and communication skills they get from interacting with their peers. Sure I am getting my MBA and that knowledge is supposed to help me in the "real world", but I believe that will only get me interviews and get my foot in the door. It will be the times like this week that will make me an attractive candidate for any job, one of the older guys in the group told me "If I was the guy nobody knew in a group this big I'd probably be sitting in a corner and keeping quite". He told this because I was hanging out with everyone, laughing and joking and having a great time...GREAT TIME.

It would be completely unacceptable for me to not thank these people for having me. I had so much fun and they were great to me. Like I've said I was "the outsider", but they took me in and treated me like they had known me for much longer that 24 hours. I believe some of these people could end up being friends for a long time to come. I completely appreciate their welcoming me to their group and must say, Thank you.

So these last four days I went from the guy "that everyone was whispering about when I sat in their living room on Saturday night/Sunday morning" to the guy "who was shaking hands and giving hugs, promising to keep hanging out"...what a trip.

62-54

2007-03-06T21:35:00.000-08:00

Your musical selection will follow the post.

March is the best sports month because of March Madness. But tonight the inevitable happened, the Lobos season ended before the madness could start. I sat listening to the entire game on the internet and for the last two minutes of game play I just listened as my heart slowly tore apart, I think I was so upset I might have even squeezed out a tear or two. You would think I would be prepared for this moment, I mean we have sucked ever since we had to start playing teams with less than one direction in their name. But it felt like a relative dying of old age, you know they are close to dying and you have prepared yourself for the moment, but it still hurts oh so bad when it happens.

*your musical selection*
So on that note, let's all sing the fight song together now...

Hail to New Mexico
Thy loyal sons are we,
Marching down the field we go
Fighting for thee.

GO FIGHT WIN

Now we pledge our faith to thee
Never shall we fail.
Fighting ever, yielding never.

HAIL HAIL HAIL

Don't worry Lobos I still love you...there's always next year.

Oh yah....FUCK YOU RITCHIE MCKAY
and while I'm at it...FUCK YOU FRAN FRASCHILLA

She...

2007-03-03T01:58:00.000-08:00

I decided to go straight to a song recommendation instead of giving the whole band.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=16452630
On the page click on "Oklahoma Breakdown"
It's my song of the week, I'm lovin' it.

I'm looking for someone, you may have seen her. So if that is the case I figured I should tell you a little about her so you can send her my way when you track her down for me.

She is about 5'7", cute blonde girl with blue (or was it green?) eyes.
She enjoys sports, especially cowboys football.
She is a strong woman who won't back down from a challenge.
She is educated and has a bright future ahead of her.
She can talk intelligently about anything...or fake it really well.
She looks just as amazing in sweat pants and a hoody as she does in a fancy dress.
She thinks it's funny how I know all the lines to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
She has an affinity for short red-heads...with a great personality.
She doesn't feel like I'm "too dedicated" if I call her just to tell her how beautiful she is.
She likes drama and controversy, like I like cancer.
She is laid back
She gets up early during the week, but on the weekend might sleep till the clock strikes PM.
She loves me...or so I hope.

I'm looking for this girl. If you or anyone you know fit this description please contact your local authorities ASAP...I got a hot date with her planned.

You are not alone!

2007-02-27T18:43:00.000-08:00

Four weeks exactly since I've posted, I've had a several requests for some new reading material since then, so I apologize. I'll try to make this one a good one.

I usually write when I'm inspired or feel the need to share something with the world. Today and for the last several weeks I've felt an extreme hate for a certain group of people, and I have finally had it. I wish I could take them to Antarctica, strip them down to the nude and sail away in my sweet ass boat as I laugh and point at their certain demise...ya I hate them that much!

So by now you are probably wondering..."Wow! He has hate in his heart. I wonder who this group of people is."

Well to tell you the truth, unfortunately there are probably some 'rickysroost' readers that are part of this group. I like to call this group....drum roll please....the "I think I'm the only damn person on the planet and my actions don't effect or bother or impair the living of any other human being on Earth" group.

Here are some descriptions of the people in this group: The guy downstairs from me that believes that turning his TV up so loud that my floor vibrates (like frickin' right now!!) doesn't bother anyone in an apartment complex. Or how about the chick on the cell phone who disregards any traffic signals (chicks are bad enough drivers they don't need cell phones). Or the car that drives through my parking lot and honks their horn for 30 seconds till their friend comes outside (how bout you walk your fat ass up the stairs, it may do you some good). Or Ben's favorite, the person who sits at a red light in the right lane and then turns right when it turns green. There are so many of these people around us everyday that it blows my mind. And it just serves further evidence that you should have to pass an IQ test to be able to produce a child (of course I don't really believe that but, what if?).

In order to not make this a complete hate fest, I end with this. Wake up tomorrow and try to be aware of the people around you. Try and not just sit on this planet and be an oxygen bandit. Try to make something easier for just one person, whether that is holding open a door or teaching someone something...CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY! Just think if everyone did just one small something for someone everyday, how great would that be?

P.S. I feel there are more of "these" people out there, if you know of one you should leave a comment at the bottom of this post, in hopes that we can eventually track them all down and send the to Antarctica!

Look mama I made it!

2007-01-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

**Musical Selection**
**Pat Green**
**http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=30902701**
**The music should start playing when you click on the link.**

I've been waiting a long time for a special post to put Pat Green as the musical selection, I figured this was that special post. Today is a special day for me; 987 hits to rickysroost, 48 posts', and more imporantly 365 days since my residence was in New Mexico.

Yes that's right, you heard correctly, it's already been one whole year that I've been a Texas resident. Looking back on my past 12 months I've had a myriad of experiences.
I remember the day I left with my uhaul towing my truck behind it, like it was yesterday. I don't think I will every forget that day for as long as I live. I was excited to get "my" life started, nervous that I was starting something that I knew nothing about, and sad that I had to leave my family behind.
The next portion of my year was the hardest part, and quite possibly the hardest several months of my life. I'm a very social person and moving here without knowing anyone was incredibly more difficult than I could have ever imagined. I just went to school two nights a week with people who were 2o years older than me and then...THAT WAS IT. That's all I did. If it wasn't for me going to the gym 5 days a week I'm sure I would have went insane. I would go to sleep at 4 or 5am, and wake up in the afternoons. I played xbox and watched too much tv. As I wrote on the website on March 10th, 2006, describing the hardest things I've ever done were/are... "So what's left?...You guessed it, moving to Irving. This has been a rough six weeks, I got nobody to play with, I got no job, and I got no dogs to wrestle with. I moved out here with only my determination, enthusiasm, and my perseverance. This is the hardest thing I've ever done.In retrospect, I can tie my shoes, I'm pretty proficient at walking, I was a late bloomer athletically, I became a member of the greatest fraternity in the world, I PASSED CALCULUS, and I graduated. So I guess this too will pass...didn't someone famous say that? I'll beat this too like everything else, but F$%K this is the hardest thing I've ever done."

After the initial shock and events that came with moving to a place where I didn't know anyone the next portion of my year may have been the most exciting. I met a girl, I got a job, and I finished my first trimester in graduate school. In March I met a girl that I thought was pretty awesome but, as most relationships it didn't work out. Although it wasn't as good as it could have been dating her was a great relief in my life because I was finally able to socialize with someone and get out of my 700 sq. ft. prison cell I had created for myself (my apartment). After volunteering with a professor at UD I was able to get him to recommend me to the Dallas Mavericks and low and behold I finally got myself a job. The playoffs started and evertyhing got exciting, I met some awesome people and was able to finally begin to feel like I could stay in Dallas.

The next portion of my year was a touch stressful. I had classes that I had to finish up and the NBA season was getting ready to start so work was ramping up. My eyelid started twitching uncontrollably - apparently a sign of stress - and I was on the end tip of three consecutive trimesters without a break. I got through that with some quality library time and the help of the great friends I have in Dallas.

So today...my new years eve...I sit and reflect on how far I have come in the past 365 days. I went from wanting to go back home everyday to shopping for houses in Dallas. My goal is to own a home out here by May. I guess you could say I've made a bit of progress in one of the largest cities in the country. As Jay-Z said "look mama I made it!"

Love you all.

Dick goes on Vacation 33 and 1/3

2007-01-17T20:26:00.002-08:00

**Musical Selection**
**Pretty Ricky**...no really that's their name!
**http://atlanticrecords.liquidbuilder.com/prettyricky_lns/**

First off I feel the need to clarify my musical selection tonight. No I do not enjoy the musical stylings of Pretty Ricky but shit they do have a sweet ass name. when you go to their website listen the the beginning of the song that starts up. Once they actually start singing it basically turns to crap. But it's oh so good to start with.

Now back to the trilogy (I hope at least some of you got the Naked Gun reference in the title). I know you have read the book and know how this trilogy ends but trust me the blog is much better...better graphics (?). Well I have talked about the NYC and the 5 oh 5, so it is only obvious that I talk about the big D, right? But you might say "hey Pretty Ricky, I thought you were talking about your vacation?" Well young lad I'm glad you brought that up --and thank you for the compliment--but you see after spending two and a half weeks away from Dallas, it felt like a vacation getting back here.

So I get back to Dallas on New Years day and Ben is there to pick me up, I think he would have been there no matter what. Every time I called him with a new plane reservation he didn't even hesitate to let me know he'd be there. Once I landed in Texas and my friends were dying to tell me stories of the weeks past and the times they had while I was gone, not to rub it in but more of a wish you were here tone.

I get in my truck, drive home, turn the key, open the door, and then finally felt relaxed. It was an odd feeling. I had the same feeling on December 15th when I turned and locked that same door knowing I wouldn't be back for a long while. Sure I did a lot of just relaxing and sleeping in on my vacation but for some reason I felt exhausted. Maybe too long of a break from the norm or not having a sense of being established in the places I was...who knows. What I do know is that I definitely needed a vacation from my vacation.

Now I'm back, school has started, I'm back at work, I got a fresh dome shave, took down the 8 week old beard and now time to start a new year. As for resolutions, they're all great and everything but I don't believe in them. I'd rather attempt to make myself better every single day...why wait for a certain day on a calendar to make yourself better?

p.s. 9 days till my 1 year Dallas anniversary.

Dick goes on Vacation (part duex)

2007-01-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

**Musical Selection**
**Swollen Members**
http://www.swollenmembers.com/06/
**Check out 'Deep End' and 'Fuel Injected' Right on the home page.**
In my last post I spoke of the incredible ride of a trilogy you may choose to take a ride on and not to disappoint (or maybe it's disappointing who knows) here is part duex.
After my action packed trip to the NYC, I figured my time in the ABQ would be the opposite. I thought I'd be able to hang out and just relax to finish off my 2006...oh boy was I wrong. I got home and it seemed as if all the little socialites that had spread across the country were back in the 5 oh 5 for the big weekend filled with Judeo-Christian celebrations a plenty (how's that for politically correct?). Friend I hadn't seen since I left for Dallas last January were back and of course there were the friends that never left...even the ones who are "too smart to be here". I ended up going out every night I was back home except the "eve's" both Christmas and New Years. It is so much fun to go out with different people every night, this is the first trip back home that I think I got to see almost everyone (sorry if I didn't hang out with you...I promise next time). It actually got to the point where my dad would ask me "where's the party at tonight?", I think he actually found it a little entertaining that I came home at 3-4am every morning. So if you bought me a drink, shot, cocktail, hooker, or late night hot dog...thank you and in most cases phi alpha.
So that was the fun...now for the RIDICULOUSNESS! So it's December 29th and I'm sitting on my plane ready to leave on my way back to big ole freakin' D and the following were the events that occurred as I believe them to be true: {it has been snowing for an hour but doesn't look that bad} plane gets de-iced and ready for take off, we taxi out to the run way, we make a U-turn (not good), I see the terminal (really not good), after sitting on the plane for an hour and at the gate I call southwest and tell them I want to fly out the next day, wish granted, my bags are still checked but it will be alright I'll get them tomorrow when I get to Dallas right? Wrong! Not only did I have my Friday morning flight cancelled, I also had my Saturday morning and new Saturday afternoon flight cancelled. So I go to stay and play in the snow...and play we did. Since we are desert kids and not used to this amount of snow we went crazy; snowball fights a plenty, a 9' snowman...that's right 9 FLIPPIN FEET TALL, and full contact football in 18" of powder FUN. So I wasn't able to get out of Albuquerque till New Years Day and was finally able to acquire my luggage which missed me dearly after 4 days on its own.
So as chapter duex came to a close it was such a relief to get on that plane and head "home" to Dallas on New Years morning. How fitting after the year I had and the turbulent ending to 2006 that I was able to get the first flight to Dallas in 2007, a fresh start for me and a new year to learn and grow. And what did I learn in part duex? It can best be summed up in this lyric..."friends, friends, friends, you and I will be, whether in fair or in dark stormy weather, we'll stand or we'll fall together

Dick goes on Vacation (part I)

2007-01-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

**Musical Selection**

**Eli Young Band**

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=8237588&MyToken=db2c9c7b-6115-44a0-9821-27409985f342

So I just spent the last 17 days in every time zone except the pacific and oh boy do I have some stories. I figured to be able to deliver all the stories I have, I needed to break them up. Here enters the Dick goes on Vacation trilogy. Yes that's right folks a freakin' trilogy, that's how action packed the last 17 days of my life were. So sit back, stay glued to your computer, and wait for the next two installments, but for now here is part I.
To begin my vacation I spent 5 days in New York City. Our hotel was located right in the heart of midtown Manhattan. When we got there the hotel had screwed up our reservation and they only had one room left...the freakin' penthouse! No not the kind with dirty pictures but the kind with several rooms and a wrap around balcony with amazing views of the entire city...it was amazing.
We did all the major "tourist" things you should do while in NYC; Statue of Liberty, ground zero, the top of the empire state building, central park, two broadway plays, times square (during the day and night), Rockafeller plaza (you know the place with the big ass tree), the UN building, Grand Central Station, and pretty much wore ourselves out.
It was a trip that every American should make in their lifetime. So many great sites and sounds (apparently honking your horn is like a language out there). So much to do and just an amazing place. Everywhere you look it feels as if you are about to be swallowed up by a monster with buildings for teeth.
I guess if I were to take one thing from that trip it would have to be the pace of life. People are in such an amazing hurry to get things done. I guess when you live with 9 million other people you can kinda get left behind if you don't make yourself known. A lot of those people know no other way to live, but that lifestyle is definetly not for me, an amazing city, yes...but a place for me to live, no. I enjoy having downtime, I enjoy friends and family and not needing to always be in your face or on the go and that seemed to be the NYC way. So adios east coast, and hello again southwest.

I want a funny car!

2006-12-12T20:47:00.000-08:00

**Musical Selection**

**Cross Canadian Ragweed**

**www.crosscanadianragweed.com**

**On the home page go to the 4th track at the top**

Considering that I am a business student, I figured I should use the most over used and over emphasized word in the history of over used and over emphasized business words...today's post will be a...are you ready for this?...SYNERGY!

Yes that's right folks I will be creating a SYNERGY between my musical selection of the day and my blog posting. Cross Canadian Ragweed was one of the first country bands that I started to follow and they have some amazing stuff. Today I want to create a SYNERGISM from one of their songs (Carney Man) with my experiences at work. I will be using the lyrics of the song and then describing the activity at work, as to add a sense of SYNERGY.

*Lyric: I want a big red nose I want some floppy shoes, I want a squirty flower squirt it on you. Like all the bad clowns do

*Work: I want to work in sports I want some fancy job I want to have a title and impress you with it like all the managers do.

*Lyric: I want to juggle bowling pins in the sun I want to join the circus, the circus looks like fun

*Work: I want to multi-task simple jobs I want to be in sports, sports teams look like fun

*Lyric: I'll sit and work the gate or I can guess your weight. I'll even sell the corn dogs I don't care, as long as I am there.

*Work: I stand and place price tags, or I can guess why you have a better job than me, I'll even sell the merchandise, I don't care as long as I work there.

*Lyric: I'll hand out baseballs at the dunk tank I'll ride my funny car laughing... all the way to the bank

*Work: I'll give our VP his wardrobe even though he sucks. I'll ride the mavs van laughing...all the way to the, the, the bank?

*Lyric: Cause I'm a carney man I'm a carney man, I'm a carney man, I'm a carney man, carney man, carney man

*Work: Cause I'm a sports fan, I'm a sports fan, I'm a sports fan, I'm a sports fan, sports fan, sports fan

*Lyrics: The human cannonball I'll rise above it all. Up higher than the trapeze I can fly, oh god I'm gonna die

*Work: The part time worker who works 50 hours a week, I'll still work harder than your employees. Oh god I better get OT

*Lyrics: I am a carney worker I make two bucks, every hour come to find out ... this job it really sucks

*Work: I'm a part timer I make not nearly enough come to find out for some damn reason I still love my job

*Lyric: Cause I'm a carney man I'm a carney man I'm a carney man I'm a carney man carney man carney man
*Work: Cause I'm a sports fan, I'm a sports fan, I'm a sports fan, I'm a sports fan, sports fan, sports fan

*Lyrics: You need a corn dog I can tell You need a corn dog I can tell I'm a carney man

*Work: You need a Dirk Nowitzki Jersey T-shirt I can tell you need a Dirk Nowitzki Jersey T-shirt, I tell I'm finally a Sports team employee!

Well from the beginning of the "song" you might have thought that I hate my job or the crappy things I have to do every now and again. But a wise man (my father) once told me that I have the ability to make any situation a bad one or a good one. The outlook I take everyday at my job is that I will work as hard as I possibly can everyday, no matter how mundane the tasks presented to me are. And one day someone will notice that they are wasting money by having me do the things I do and then, and just then, I WILL get to ride in my funny car all the way to the bank!

you might be a bachelor if...

2006-12-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

**Musical Suggestion: Reckless Kelly. http://www.recklesskelly.com/tunes.htm**

My favorite Reckless Kelly songs are; Vancouver, I still do,

Wild Western Wind Blown Band, and Break my Heart Tonight.

I have lived on my own for 10 months now. You may say I live in "bachelorville". Since Jeff Foxworthy has the 'you might be a redneck if' stuff, so I figured I could do some you might be a bachelor if, and all from my experiences.

You might be a bachelor if...

...your energy saving strategy while in your apartment, involves less clothes in the summer and more clothes in the winter.

...there are multiple bags of trash on your balcony because you are too lazy to take them to the dumpster.

...you wash dishes not cause the sink is full of them but because the "good" knife is dirty.

...you make your bed only before you go out on the weekends.

..."de-smelling" the apartment involves lighting a candle and pouring some bleach down the sink.

...there's that thing in the fridge that you don't want to touch cause you forgot what it is.

If any of these apply to you (they definitely apply to me) then you might be a bachelor. If you are not a bachelor tell your wife or girlfriend, I'm sorry for you and I admire their compassion.

Oh by the way apparently J.R. Giddens isn't made of gold...theLobos lost...I'm sad.

Go Cowboys...I'm happy!

Thankful

2006-11-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

**Musical Suggestion: Kyle Park. http://www.kyleparkmusic.com/**

In the grand scheme of life 37 days is but a flash of light in an otherwise colorful lifetime. Maybe just maybe you felt a little off the last 37 days, maybe you felt like something just wasn't right in your lives. Maybe you felt this way because you were wondering when I was going to post again, well 37 days after the "kidney" post here you go...

For anyone who actually reads this I apologize for my absence. Something new I am going to start as well is a musical suggestion line to start all my posts'. I enjoy so many different artists' that I feel you should have the opportunity to check out, so check out this posts' artist. My trimester at UD just finished last week and I'm finally getting the chance to write again. I would like to talk about Thanksgiving tonight, but first here are some things that have happened in the last 37 days.

The family came to Big D last weekend...great to see them.
School finished...3.5 semester gpa
My eye started and stopped twitching...apparently stress from school.
The Lobos are 3-0...J.R. Giddens is awesome!
The Mavs are on a 7 game win streak
I went to the Cowboys win over the Colts...I think I love Tony Romo.

Today is Thanksgiving, so I feel compelled to tell you what I am thankful for. Today was my second holiday alone (Easter was the first) but this is really the first major holiday that I've missed that is normally spent with family. Sure I would have loved to spend the day with the family but they were here last weekend and it was great to see them. So I just had a great day all to myself; I woke up late, I watched football all day (GO COWBOYS!), I went to Boston Market and got me a turkey dinner that was delicious, I took a great nap, and played poker online...the perfect day.

So my day was great but what am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? (I know this is probably the most cliche post I could have made today but bare with me) I've had the day to consider what in my life I am thankful for and there are the usual suspects that I am thankful for every year but some new entries have made the list as well.

Always thankful for:
My incredible family. The support they give me while I'm out here trying something new with my education and my life is amazing. I know I wouldn't be able to do what I am doing without all three of them and for that I am thankful.

My health. Even though I spent a night in the emergency room and have been stuck with a sore throat for the past month, I'm generally pretty healthy. I've never broken a bone or needed any serious medical procedure performed on me so for that I am thankful.

New entries to the thankful for list:
My Dallas friends. Maybe it was the 2 months without any socialization when I first moved out here that made me appreciate good friendships, but I believe it is more the people whom I've been lucky enough to associate with. Knowing that I would be without family this weekend I received several invitations to attend their Thanksgiving. It means a lot to me that these people would welcome me into their homes and open up their families to me on this day. I have thanked all of them repeatedly but I do not believe they understand the value those invitations had to me. Now I didn't take any of them up on their invitations because I really did just want to do nothing today (and it was everything I could have ever hoped it would be) but the fact that they would welcome me if need be was enough for me, and I for that I am thankful. Thank you again; Ben, Dave, Arielle, and Alyssa.

My smarts. As most of you know I was never extremely studious and don't claim to be able to out 'Trivial Pursuit' anyone but everyday I encounter people who have no concept of how to function in our society. I will never be book smart, because I just don't care enough about school, I feel most of it is just task management anyway. But I do feel as if I am lucky enough to know how to be a productive member of our society. I can succeed in any situation, whether I am forced to lead, follow, be part of a group, or even when there are no guidelines set and everyone is just thrown into the fire. From what I see around me everyday I know that I will be very successful in life and this quality I have is attributed to several factors; my parents, my sports involvement, and SAE. Without them I would not be the person I am or the success I am about to be, and for that I am thankful.

Who wants to give me a kidney?

2006-10-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

As I always do on Tuesday nights, I tuned into the most incredibly shocking show on television, Nip/Tuck. And as it always is, it was shocking. Usually it is Dr. Christian Troy who says something in the episode that sticks with me. He tends to say the most ridiculous, pompous, hilarious things you could ever think a filthy rich doctor would say, and I love it. The show continues to top itself with jaw dropping, "oh my god they actually did that", type of scenes. Here are some examples for those of you who have never scene the show; they showed a girl get hit by a bus last week, a character suffocated her burn victim mom...but it wasn't her mom, various sexual acts that make you wonder how the show hasn't been fined by the FCC yet, and the list could go on forever but I'll stop there.

Tonight's episode didn't stick with me like it usually does. Yes, there were some "oh my god" moments on the show, but the most interesting line in the show wasn't delivered by Dr. Christian Troy but by his much less arrogant partner Dr. Sean McNamara. The show was about their anistigiologist and trying to find her a kidney donor. McNamara was tested and lied about being a match for the operation, but in the end came around and when asked why he came around his response was "I made a list of people I would give a kidney to and it was pretty short, then I made a list of people that would give me a kidney and that list was even shorter".

I thought what if I made those respective lists and who would be on them. It's a very interesting exercise, try it...Go ahead...I'll wait...[elevator music]...Ok ready to continue? I wonder what your list looks like but I feel mine look similar to the lists' of Dr. McNamara. They look similar in the way that I believe that many people who I would give a kidney to wouldn't give one to me. If this conclusion of mine is true (and we'll hopefully never need to know if it is or not) there are several conclusions I can make about who I am now and who I have been in the past. These conclusions can either stand alone or be combined in any way; I am too generous of a person, I have lots of friends but not a lot of great friends, I haven't made the impacts on peoples lives I would have hoped I could have to this point, I value friendship more than others, I think of the rights and feelings of others rather than my own, I'm not that great of a friend, I need to be a better person.

I don't know what the proper order of the previous descriptions of my list is, but what I do know is the concept of donating kidney to a loved one or a close friend is intriguing. So I present the following questions to you, as I will ask myself as well.

Who would you give a kidney to?
Who would give you a kidney?
Is either one of these numbers too low or too high?
Is there a change in your life you can make to put more names on the list of people who would give a kidney to you? (It is more a list of who considers you a true friend or loved one...And isn't that what were all here for anyway?)

The greatest game ever...

2006-10-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Currently on the UNM Lobos website you can post a story of the greatest moment you have witnessed in "The Pit". As a die hard Lobo fan my greatest moment was easy to think of. I submitted my story and here it is:

I'm only 24 years old, and a recent UNM graduate, but I've been a Lobo fan since I was old enough to go to the games with my dad. I bleed cherry and silver and live for the Lobo basketball season every year. I know there have been many great moments in "The Pit" that I haven't seen due to my age but this moment I will remember forever...
During the 1995-96 season the Lobos, after hovering right around the edge of the top 25 polls all year had put together a nine game win streak to end the season, including a triple overtime win against Fresno State in the semi-finals of the WAC tournament. On the night of March 9th, 1996 the despised Lobo rival Utah Ute’s, rolled into "The Pit" with a team that had been ranked in the top 10 all year and beaten the Lobos twice that season. The capacity crowd that filled the hallowed seats of the greatest college sporting venue in history was ready to jump all over the Ute’s. The crowd erupted with boo's and screams as the opposing team, referees and even the Utah cheerleaders came down the infamous ramp. I remember standing and cheering with my fellow Lobo fans throughout the warm-ups before the game even started. It was an atmosphere like I had never witnessed before.
Lobo fans are the greatest fans in the world and for that game my dad and I sat near the best collection of fans we could have ever hoped for. There were the guys behind us in their mid 20s, who probably had been out before the game. There was the guy in his 40s that had his head phones on and was dedicated to listening to every word the great Mike Roberts had to say…then relaying it to us (it was actually pretty cool, we got some good stats info). There was a family of four in front of us who were die hard Lobo fans. Then there were your usual “PIT” suspects; the face paint guy, the Lobo mask guy (and his Lobo masked girlfriend), the screamers, the boo birds, the doubters, but we were all fanatics and about to witness the greatest of all the Keith Van Horn vs. Kenny Thomas battles.
The game, as most great Utah, New Mexico games usually are went down to the wire. The stars for their respective teams took over and each team went to them every possession. Van Horn scores, Thomas scores, back and forth they went like a heavy weight title bout. With the Lobos up by 2 points and little time on the clock, Utah called a timeout. I don’t know how they got anything accomplished in that huddle considering I was in row 8 (that’s 8 from the top) and had to cover my ears (while screaming) it was so loud. We all knew what they were going to do, the Lobos knew what they were going to do, they were going to Van Horn…again. Then right before the ball came in play the twenty something’s behind us started yelling “I’m gonna hug Kenny, I’m gonna hug Kenny when we win!” Being sports superstitious I was pretty upset with them, but as it turned out that was only temporary. The crowd came to a deafening roar, the level of sound that shakes your stomach if you haven’t had enough to eat that day, or seems to vibrate so much through your veins that it feels as if the other 18,017 Lobo fans are making your heart pulsate in rhythm with one of the many Lobo chants. Utah throws the ball in and they find a way to get the ball to Van Horn at the top of the key…seconds seem like hours…a ball fake…crossover…he takes his defender to the rim. Unfortunately for Keith Van Horn, that defender was Roland Hannah a defensive specialist who offered smothering defense on the future NBA player. Hannah was in his face but stumbled at the top of the lane…keeping a hand in Van Horn’s face he was able to throw off his shot (he may have had a handful of jersey, but that’s neither here nor there). Kenny Thomas got the rebound and the victory was all but sealed with only a couple seconds left. Thomas hit his free throws…Utah threw a 94 foot prayer…and the Lobos has just beaten the 10th ranked team in the nation in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. The crowd seemed to jump in unison in jubilation. The students, and what seemed to be everyone in the pit (myself included) stormed the court, before it was the cliché it is now.
That night will forever live in my mind and my heart as the best moment I have ever witnessed in the world famous PIT. I tell people that don’t know about “The Pit”, of its greatness, and of the spine shuttering, bone chilling feeling I get every time I walk in the doors of that great arena. Although I tell people about “The Pit”, every chance I get, it takes a game like that or a lifetime of Lobo basketball fanaticism to truly know what “The Pit” is all about.
Oh yeah, that guy DID hug Kenny!

Books or Covers?

2006-10-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

I'm am sure that all of you have heard the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover". Well this weekend I was told the same thing about a young man I was about to meet. This person was important to someone else in my life so I agreed to meet him. When someone tells you that prefacing the meeting of an individual...That can't be good right?

Well I've sat on the decision of what is more important in this world and today after 4 days of thought I have come to my conclusion. I base this conclusion not on what I feel is more important, but what in reality is more important. The "cover" I have decided is more important than the "book". Now I know some of you may say this is a very narrow minded and stereotypical view for myself to hold...Well it's not my opinion but the opinion of the world we live in. If it were up to me color, nor creed, nor outward appearance would mean anything but an expression of ones self or some other detail of a human life.

Unfortunately I am not the word or the way (wouldn't that be scary?). So this young man who I met, I believe is a good person and definitely falls under the book and cover analogy. He's very respectful, looked me in the eyes when he talked (very odd these days), shook my hand (also unfortunately odd), and was well spoken...BUT. His "cover" needs some work. To me it's fine, I could care less the way someone looks, even though I too am a culprit of stereotyping people, it's hard not to. For that reason and the way of the world this young man will yield his success to society until he conforms or creates a niche of conformity for himself and his image. It is a shame that a person must look like everyone else to succeed, but that's just the way it is. He has aspirations of being an architect...Let me ask you this...When is the last time you saw an architect with multiple facial piercing and a Mohawk? I'm sure he is talented and I'm sure his work is fine but a firm will not send someone to represent them with a client who looks like a candy bar for a metal detector.

In this free society we live in, every now and again we find ourselves in places without or lacking freedom. We say we have the freedom to dress, pierce or say what we want..."IT'S A FREE COUNTRY". Well that it is, and for the most part I agree (I saw a man holding a sign protesting the current government on the street the other day...Wow...We don't realize how important acts like that are) but in this free society we live in we have decided on norms that shape the way we do business and proceed with the basic functions of commerce. So live your life, express yourself, but pick your battles, maybe a clean cut image isn't the end of expression if you have sky scrapers littering the skies in the land of the free and the home of the....BRAVE!

Logic Police

2006-09-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Alright we're gonna tap the breaks on the previous post. I do enjoy writting but seriously. I'll continue to write for fun...maybe someday down the line I'll give the song writting thing shot.

The hills are alive...

2006-09-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

So today I helped a great friend set up a vendors booth at a local "Octoberfest"...Yes I know it's September...don't ask questions! He started a t-shirt company from scratch only a year ago and is about to start showing profits, Amazing! (by the way his link is on the right side of this page)

I got to thinking, "why can't I start something of my own like that?" There are so many things I'm interested in, but I decided on something so far fetched I'm gonna have to really try to make it work. I want to be a Texas Country Song writer. I know, I know, don't quit your day job. But I really do love writing in a casual diction, and I stopped doing poetry like I used to do. Why not write songs for a living?

I completely understand I will have to do lots of research on how to get "in" with the artists' or labels who produce the music. And I also completely understand that I may never sell a song to anyone...but why not try? My goal is to have 4 or 5 songs completed by the new year. That should give me plenty of time to work through the lyrics, come up with a good hook, and see if I can really do this.

"If we live our lives wondering if we can do something we will never know if we could have actually done it"- I'm sure some famous person said it...but if not I'll take credit for it.

So from now on the Texas hills will attempt to be filled with the sound of my music!

Bossier City BABY Bossier City!

2006-09-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

In an effort to not go more than two or three posts' without some light- heartedness, I present you with this...

Timeline for Friday 9/1/2006 - 9/2/2006
5:30pm...Ricky and friends go to Chuys for happy hour and 'green chili fest' (yea that's right they are roasting green chili and everything...I love it)

6:30pm...Ricky and friends decided to go to Lousianna for gambling and fun

6:31pm...Ben realizes that he wants to go, but needs to be at a wedding in Austin, TX by 3pm Saturday.

6:33pm...Ben realizes he's not a bitch and decideds to come with to Lousianna.

7:30pm...Team Lousianna breaks for showers and second thoughts

10:45pm...After showers and nobody bailing out on the idea (amazingly) Team Lousianna leaves Dallas

11:56pm...Earnest turns the music down in his car looks at Ben and I and says in an authoritativly upset voice "This is f'in stupid, are we actually doing this?!"

11:57pm...Ricky and Ben laugh at how stupid this event is but continue eastward

1:12am...Team Lousianna arrives at "the boats" (all the gambling is done on river boats).

4:00am...Ben is down and sad, Earnest is even and okay, Ricky is up and dominating the poker table.

5:00am...I LOVE WAFFLE HOUSE

8:30am...Holy crap I made it back to Dallas without dying.

9:14am...Ricky finally gets to go to sleep after being awake for 26 straight hours

5:25pm...Good morning sunshine!!

Sometimes you just have to love poor decisions

Take control

2006-08-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Who is in control? The religous tend to think god is in control. The dreamers think fate may be the one with the answer. A gambling man may waiver from the cards to their skill being in control. To an addict the addiction is surely in control in that situation. So which one are you? Do the actions or reactions of someone or something control what you do on a daily basis? Does fate, god, the cards or anyone else dictate your life for you?

I maintain a pretty level persona and don't tend to get too excited or too upset about much...it'll even out won't it? I am very much in control of myself (or at least I think I am). But at certain times I like to release that control and become a follower not to a person or philosophy but to the world. Just wake up and let stuff happen to me, it's more interesting that way...but only if you do it every now and again. This weekend I just let the world take me around by the hand, it was wonderful, miserable, disgusting, and beautiful all within 36 hours. I didn't really have a plan, I had no restrictions, no weekend aspirations, I just went on the wings of the world.

I had a great time.

The more interesting point is why did I do that? Why do people give up control of their lives, be it for a weekend, a month, or a lifetime. In retrospect it wasn't all it could be. Maybe it's the alpha male in me or maybe just my control freak attitude but, not being in control scares the shit out of me. One of the definitions of insanity is "extreme folly; senselessness; foolhardiness". I got a little insane this weekend, I knew it was going to happen and I let another thing make decisions for me.

I'm a grown man...or trying to be...why can't I be in charge all the time? I'm an independent thinker (just like everyone else) I try to follow no one or no thing without careful decision making, but on the weekends, less often now as I grow older I tend to 'give up' that control. That's done, I'm better than that.

Take control, before control is taken of you.

The Holy Trinity of Tuesday Rants

2006-08-15T00:21:00.000-07:00

I have three things of varying importance for ya'll on this early Tuesday morning, they deal with; baseball, snakes and myspace...Does it get better than that? I think not.

Baseball:
It entertains the hell out of me that when referring to the pitches a pitcher has the ability to throw it is common place to call it "his stuff". Does nobody else just find this to be completely ridiculous? America's pastime, the great ball game, more than a hundred years of play and the best term we have is "his stuff", you've gotta be kidding me. The best is when some well respected guy like Peter Gammons goes on ESPN and talks about another man (who wears tight pants and ALWAYS wears his glove before he gets any action) by commenting on how good "his stuff" is...but if they keep doing it I'll keep laughing so..."His stuff" is great!

Snakes:
Yes folks, as if I need to remind you but, Snakes on a Plane makes its long awaited debut Friday. Myself and a couple of buddies have come up with a genius way to enjoy this otherwise ridiculous movie. What do you know about 'Snakes on a Plane Bingo'? We already know Samuel L. Jackson will call a snake a mother fuc%$#, and hopefully he uses a racial slur...that will only leave me with 3 empty squares on my bingo card. If you want a bingo card hit me with your email on the comments and I'll send you one.

Myspace:
I HATE MYSPACE! But like the rest of America I sign on everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, to check my account. I have a theory that the gov't put crack in the ghetto to bring down the black man, and as revenge the NAACP put Myspace on the internet to "level the playing field". It thrives on the need for people to feel a connection with their fellow man --the most sensational social being of them all. Myspace connects old friends, I'll admit I've found several old friends that I had lost touch with thanks to Myspace. The site gives youth their first attempt at their 'own' (I tried not to use My there) space in this world. So why, why then Dick are you so against this site that seems to do no harm.

Let me tell you.

I would like to see the amount of time people spend on Myspace doing mindless bullshit, like filling out the same damn survey they filled out last week and sending it to the same freaking people, and telling me what kind of Laguna Beach character they are most like...I could care less. As I write this I am a victim of the later (I'm donatello, and the French guard from Monty Python) but that's not the point. The point is what could I have been doing instead of this? I got an email today with a survey in it, and the subject line said "for those of you who don't have myspace here's a survey"....AAAHHHH! Are the children we are raising and the young adults of this country so bored with their daily lives that they must create this false world of 'friendship' around them? And if they are so bored where is their, basketball, instrument, PARENTS, or real friends? Another downfall of myspace is the "top 8" which can now turn into a "top 24" cause apparently too many people had so many cyber friends they couldn't choose only 8. This section requires you to choose your favorite 8 friends and put them on display for the world to see. Whatever not a big deal right? Wrong. "Why am I not on your top 8?" "Why is that person ahead of me?" The answer to the previous questions is probably that you are annoying and ask questions like this. So today I changed my top 8 to contain only my sister, my best friend, an entity, a tv show, and my favorite songwritters. So if you're not on my top 8...get a record deal!

The ideas behind sites like; friendster, facebook and myspace are great, afterall communication is the most important survival tool (in my opinion). But get off your damn computer, go for a run, read a book, think, live, love, learn. And I'm out..to the 5 oh 5!

The facade

2006-07-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

I like to talk about those moments in life that you don't expect, but that hit you like a handful of extra strength gold bond right out of the shower(refreshing yet a little too intense at the same time). You never know when one of those moments will happen, but when it does you know.

This weekend I was at the Pat Green concert, oh ya Kenny Chesney was there too, and I had one of those moments. It's amazing what the power of song, and the medium of music in general can do to people. It wasn't any special concert, a good one, but nothing spectacular. It was held at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco Texas, one of the first stadiums built just for soccer I might add, and there were 30,000 people packed into this place. I was there for Pat Green but a majority of the crowd was there to see this Chesney cat. He put on a good show and the crowd loved it.

But the thing I'll remember most about this concert was not the artists' who played it nor the music they played but the semblance of perfection that a sold out concert can give to a massive group of blended humanity. Granted this group of people were probably all pretty close demographically, they are still all so different. And in this period of time they (I say they like I wasn't one of them...but of course I was); sang the songs together in unison, cried together at a well orchestrated moving slide show, waived their hands in the air (like they just didn't care--I couldn't resist), swayed back and forth to the music, and they did all these things without anyone telling them to.

At one point of the concert (when it hit me) I just kinda stopped, did a 360 and was in awe of how one man can get 30,000 people to run the gauntlet of emotions within a two hour concert. Music connected these people to events, persons, or memories in their lives so much, that the song didn't have to be about them or their particular situation for them to feel this intense connection sounds...That's really all they are.

So what if we all are that simple, all week we put on this tough guy facade but come Saturday night a 5'6" redneck can bring a large majority of 30,000 to tears? What if we showed this human element throughout the week? What if it was okay to feel so passionate about something, that emotion spewed from your pours? I felt myself choked up at one point, but not because I was sad, but because I felt so united with these complete strangers that I was overwhelmed.

So go out tomorrow, and feel. Feel for something so strongly that it makes your heart beat faster, your blood boil, your eyes glaze over, your fists clinch tight, and your lungs fill with more air than ever before. Live your life not for yourself, but for a reason greater than you. Take that sense of humanity, that 30,000 people felt last weekend, and help bring it to the weekdays...WOW what great things could happen then?

Are you kidding me?

2006-07-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

Right now it is 1:15am and it is 90 degrees! What I want to know is hundreds of years ago when there was no industry to keep settlers here as opposed to any other place, why did they stay here? They couldn't have possibly thought..."oh this isn't bad". WTF!

A home, house or here?

2006-07-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a study break to bring up a subject I've been thinking about since I went back to Albuquerque last weekend.

On Tuesday afternoon my mom was taking me to the airport so I could catch my plane to Dallas. She said something that really got me thinking. I said "well it's time to go back home" and I was quickly told that "this is your home". It wasn't angry or anything like that, it was in a very loving tone.

So I got to thinking, truly where is my home? Is my home in my apartment in Irving where I lay my head to sleep at night? Is my home in my parents new house, that I only lived in for a year? Is my home a building that just got decimated by the renters that were in it, that I had lived in for my first 18 years of life? Or is it somewhere else? Is there a point in ones life ,where that intangible place we call home changes? Is it a turning point, a year, a promotion, a wife, a death, a birth or does it just happen over time? All these questions and I really don't have an answer yet, even though I've been thinking about it for the last week almost non-stop.

I know my Mom is going to say that my home is there with them, but is it? I don't ever hear her refering to Milwaukee as home (my Dad is a military brat so he's kinda outta the discussion). I guess I just feel that I really don't know where my home is right now (don't get all sad, not in a bad way). I just think that I'm in a sorta limbo. A point I keep going back to in my mind is that when I got back to my apartment Tuesday night my first thought was "ahhh home". I feel comfortable here, not that I didn't anywhere else, I feel like this is a place of my own and who says this can't be home?

Then you have the age old addige of "home is where the heart is". So where is my heart? Right now I am too busy trying to get my MBA and trying to prove my worth at work ,that I don't think my heart rests' anywhere right now. Maybe it's back in Albuquerque or Rio Rancho, or at a particular address, maybe it's with my family, or maybe it's wherever I feel at home. After all home, like I said before, is an intangible place...the unicorn of buildings if you will. So I think I'll continue to contemplate this obscure question (or series of questions), and continue to look for the answer to where exactly my home is...or maybe I'll stop looking...isn't that when you find things anyway??

I

fading into the friendship

2006-06-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

When I first moved out here Ryan Horn told me "you really get to know who your true friends are when you leave". He moved from Albuquerque to go to school at Texas Tech. He said this because it seemed to him that a lot of his friends became disinterested in him once they were unable to go out drinking with him on the weekends. I too notice the difference in who my true friends are and who my drinking buddies were. There are only a handful of people that I still communicate with on a regular basis from back home, they'll call just to see what's going on or talk some shit about the Mavs, but it becomes apparent that they weren't just drinking buddies, but true friends (or brothers).

Since I was in the ER this week I was able to find out who my true fiends were out here in Texas. I have been astonished at the amazing friendships I've made while being out here. There were several people who were willing to leave the comfort of their homes and spend the night in the ER with a guy they just met a couple months ago. Now I know I'm not that awesome of a guy, so it must be that I have a great ability to find amazing friends. I can't count the amount of "if you need anything at anytime let me know" text messages and phone calls I got this week. I'm trying to say thank you to everyone but it is hard because fortunately there are so many people to thank. From my mom who had her bags packed by the time I hung up the phone, to Rachel who called cause she "sensed something was wrong with one of her friends". I didn't need anyone with me cause as it turns out it wasn't as serious as it could have been but...the people that mean the most to me were there if needed, and that's important.

I've been feeling a little home sick of late, but the friends I've made out here are easing that sickness. So as I recover from my physical sickness, the home sickness is fading into the friendship.

Can we fix Emergency Rooms?

2006-06-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

So as I promised I did much thinking and much observing while in the ER on Monday night. {I'm a little high on hydrocodone right now so excuse and nonsensical statements}. The thing that got my attention the most was the complete lack of attention I received while in the emergency room. From start to finish I probably only had about 40 minutes of patient to hospital employee contact...That's in 10.5 hours! So being the aspiring manager that I am I thought how could this be better? What could I do as a hospital manager to make the experience better? Can it be made better? And here's what I came up with...

This first thing I would like to do is ask who ever is reading this to try to think of an industry that provides a service to its customers yet thrives without any attention to customer service.

Well I've thought about that for the last 48 hours and the only answer I can come up with is a hospital. As an economist, I am very interested in the fact that the demand remains high for hospitals that provide little to no customer service. It has become the norm for a hospital to sit you in a waiting room for hours on end, upset patients at the ridiculously high prices ($20 for an aspirin), and yet their waiting rooms are always full. So have they just found the greatest industry to be a part of? One which requires no focus on your end consumer. Or is it that we can't give ourselves the medical attention we require so we must sit through their maze of paperwork and then ask for more?

I truly believe that we as consumers have the ability to change things we don't like...Even in the medical sector. So why haven't we done so? I will never go back to Baylor Medical Center of Irving. I know I won't individually change their balance sheet but if everyone who was dissatisfied changed the hospital they would go to...It would change.

So you ask "alright Ricky enough complaining already what do you think you could possibly do to make the situation in emergency rooms better?" Here's what I'd do, in a dream world if I ran a hospital.

The first thing I would do is make the waiting room a more welcoming place. Since it seems this is were most of my anger grew (and I'm sure most everyone else's), I would attempt to make it a place you wouldn't mind waiting. I would take out all those boring rows of uncomfortable chairs and replace them with a lounge or cafe atmosphere. I would begin with putting tables, ranging in seating capacity from 2-8 people, in the waiting room. These tables would be attended by nurses/waiters. I was told I couldn't have anything for my pain until I saw a doctor...What if a doctor saw you in the waiting room (all I wanted was some tylenol or something)? They could also bring you something to eat if it was feasible for your ailment/situation. Throw in some couches, better selection of reading materials, coffee on the house, and some soft music and the experience would be much better.

Unfortunately I don't have enough medicinal knowledge to explain how to fix the rest of the process, but it seems as if there was way too much waiting. For being highly educated, doctors seem to be highly disorganized and unconcerned with their patients needs. At one point I went up to the nurses desk and 8 of them noticed me but did nothing. I just stood there until someone asked me how they could help me...It took 5 minutes. One was having coffee, one was eating, and the 6 others didn't seem to be doing much of anything.

Maybe I'm just frustrated with my recent experience but I truly feel that we as end consumers of emergency room care can fix their problems for them with a reduction in demand at slow ER's. What do you think?

What an experience

2006-06-20T02:11:00.000-07:00

If anyone needs to do a bit of thinking about; life, humanity, inefficency, or any other matter...GO to the ER! I just spent the last 10.5 hours of my life in the ER and if I wasn't so freaking tired I'd expand on this. But good for you I did so much thinking while at the hospital...there is MUCH to discuss.

p.s. I'm okay

I need bigger boobs

2006-06-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Mavericks employees are getting flown out to the game on Sunday night and getting free tickets from the team. I knew that I wasn't gonna be able to go because I am classified as a 'part-time employee'. It's kinda crap anyway since I worked 100 hours last two weeks, but it's the classification of my position and I was over it. Until today. I was getting all the shirts that the employees were gonna wear to the game on Sunday together and noticed that 2 interns were on the list of people who needed shirts. I have been with the organization longer than both of them, work more than them, and since I get a paycheck and they don't I believe I get paid more than them...but apparently my boobs aren't big enough. They are two attractive 20 year old females and get to go on this free trip but poor little ole me gets to stay at home and watch it on tv. Either I need bigger boobs or we need some horny female VP's so I can hit on them! but I guess that's just the way the world works...just have to prove my worth the old fashion way.

sorry...

2006-06-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

And we were singing
bye bye mr. mustache guy
took the razor to your face
now the stache is replaced
them good ole boys were laughing and cryin
singing this'll be the day that it died.

Yes everyone I'm sorry to upset the masses...but I shaved the stache. Two days ago I looked in the mirror and realized it wasn't funny anymore, but begining to get creepy. It was so creepy I almost signed myself up for the local sex offenders list in my city. An intelligent and fun to look at young lady said something very appropriate for the situation "A mustache has never added to the look of anyone...can you picture someone who you can say, you know that guy would look better with a mustache?"

So there it is my experiment and therefore the laughs are over. I'll try to keep the masses entertained but using a less...sex offenderish route.

World cup rant

2006-06-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

In the 6th minute!!?? So you're the 5th ranked team in the world and you get your freaking medicine in the most important game of your lives? I can't believe how horrible the United States national team played today. In their 3-0 loss they seemed as if they had never played a game together before in their lives.

Here's what needs to happen before the USA can be a soccer power:

1. Play real competition. You can't win 30 games against 3rd world countries and then come into a world cup and expect to be ready for competition. Go play in Europe, go play Brazil...so what if you lose, you will learn the standard.

2. Have a clue what to do with the ball. The US didn't know what to do with the ball once they recieved it. The Czechs were moving passing and being so creative...it was a clinic for the midfield.

3. Teach the beauty of the game and not the arrogant US image of "you need to score for people to want to watch/play the game". Soccer is a beautiful game and we need to play it as if it is so.

I'm pissed.

Chics might not dig the stache

2006-06-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

I don't grow facial too fast so it is taking some time but it is still looking pretty funny. I don't know how much longer I can take it but...it's funny so I'll let it slide.

Day 10

Chicks dig the stache

2006-06-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well I've decided that it is time to grow a mustache. Not for the reasons you might think; it looks cool, some girl wants me to do it, I think I'm burt reynolds. I'm not doing it for any of those reasons, but because it will look hilarious! Yes folks I am putting myself at the hands of comedy. If you're mad that you won't be able to see the humor...WAIT! I will photo-document the process. Enjoy!!

Day 1

Day 3

Hump day

2006-05-31T18:29:00.000-07:00

wow what a finish to a boring ass day...So I get to work today and we called in extra help for an average amount of work to get done. I decided I was gonna leave early and since I was sitting on the table playing with the tape guns...the man incharge felt that was okay. I thought (remember this is just a thought) hey it's 4 o'clock and I got nothing left to do today, gonna go fix myself some food watch a little tv, hit up a little myspace action, then knock out a good hour or two at the gym...WRONG!

On the way home I realized that my truck was very near overheating and when I turned on the heater to cool off the engine (yes it does work try it, it could save you thousands) it only blew out cold air...problem number 1.

So I figured that was a priority for the evening. I went to the bank to deposit my checks and get a money order for rent tomorrow (the damn bank hasn't sent me my checks yet) they were only open through drive-thru and guess what...they only give money orders inside (but that was closed AT FREAKIN 4:30PM!!!...problem number 2

Well at least I got the money in the bank I can use my lunch break to get the rent money, not that bad. I then proceed to find someone to check out my vehicle. Turns out my radiator was cracked and i was probably about a day or two from a blown head gasket ($3000 to fix). A cracked radiator sux but at least it aint three grand...problem number 3

I make an unsufficient amount of money to have "hey someday my radiator might crack and I could be (for lack of a better word) thunderfucked (yes it is one word)" funds available...problem number 4

Gotta rent a car cause one of the busiest days of the year at work will be tomorrow before game 5, and need to be there. So I got a car reserved but need a car to get there...doesn't make much sense does it? Apparently the airport enterprise doesn't abide by the famous advertising slogan of "We'll pick you up"...problem number 5

The crazy ass chinaman that drove me to the airport knows about 7 english words so hand signals were very valuable...but apparently road signs weren't on the test to aquire his visa! I was about 2 seconds from losing my right leg and most likely breathing from a tube for the rest of my life. Oh how I love anit lock breaks!...problem number 6

I get to the rental car place...and they don't take debit cards from local renters. Why? I don't know they don't like money or something...problem number 7

Well if you've been following along (you like how I pretend like have all sorts of readers who are following along with my life? Even though I know I don't, the last post was only checked 8 times) I was just presented with 7 problems here are their solutions in the appropriate order; called dad he said not good so i stopped driving asap, i get to spend my lunch break tomorrow at a bank of america, at least I caught it in time, dad does make enough money to have "hey my son's vehicle might have a radiator crack some day, crazy chinaman drove me there, seriously I almost died, i have primetiime negotiating skills. So it is now almost 9 and I'm beat...WTF just happened to my sweet ass evening? Good thing today was hump day!

An easier goodbye

2006-05-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend my parents came up to see me, and it was great. I tried hard to be a good host and take em' to do stuff but it's hard when all you do is go to school and work (don't really know any 'tourist' stuff to do). But more importantly than having things to do it was just important to be around family. I spend all my time with the people at work or the computer, and while I really like my friends at work, it's not home. They are the friends I've grown up with or more importantly they are my brothers, whom I also miss dearly. My parents provide me a piece of home away from home...green chile can only do so much. And really they gave me a chance to see them, I can't believe I've already been out here 4 months and the thing I miss most is the family, from the parents to the sister, and yes even all the way down to the puppies (are they even puppies anymore?). It was instilled in me early that family is more important than anything else in life and I completely understand why, now that I am away from home (if you don't know...you need to find out).

The weekend was great, relaxing and all I could ask for (even all the sweet left overs). But the thing that was odd for me and I think will stick with me the most from this trip was how easy the goodbye was. I've had to say goodbye now 4 times to my parents either leaving home or them leaving here. The goodbye wasn't easy cause we were tired of eachother or we don't care. It seemed the goodbye was so easy cause we have slowly become desensitized to it. Is that a good thing? Does it matter? I kinda liked that the goodbyes were so sad, it made the time seem more important. I'm not saying I would like a tear jerking goodbye 'session' everytime there is a goodbye because it just doesn't work that way. I think we has humans have the ability to let things that we do more often not effect us; a doctor who has a paitent die, a star athlete who lets his team down, a family that says goodbye a lot. I know the goodbyes will continually get easier...it's just a fact of life and our ability to cope. I do think that it is important to realize how important moments in our lives are and not let them slip by the wayside just cause..."ya we've seen that before". So for now I guess I will just have to deal with an easier goodbye.

More Funny pictures

2006-05-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here's more pictoral goodies for my humor loving fans...sorry this is all I got. I figured the last picture in this set was a fitting "finish".

2006-05-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

Well you know what they say...A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is 5,000 of the funniest words I've ever written...I'm gonna add more too (they only let me download 5 at a time).

A different perspective

2006-05-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

A different perspective...is what I've been given here in 'big D'. I was yanked, by my own accord, but yanked none the less from the friendly confines of the 5o5. Now at the 3 month mark I have had the opportunity to see and experience several new things.

For those of you who don't know I was just hired on with the Dallas Mavericks. I am thankful I've been given an opportunity in the industry I want to be in, to show how great I really am. I know that if I work, like I have my whole life I will be successful with the Mavericks and the sports industry.

Now, being that I am from a relatively small city, when compared to Dallas, there are few things I have noticed in the past month or so. Along with my new job comes a drive into the heart of downtown Dallas every morning...a great site. The view is very dramatic and for those of you who take for granted the skylines in big cities look again. It seems so powerful, so grand and unforgiving, but it is everything American, what we preach to the world. Its great. Also I get to drive by Texas Stadium everymorning...not the prettiest stadium in the country, but Gods favorite team plays there so it can't be all that bad right?

Summer trimesters started today; work, school, sleep, that's about it for 12 weeks. At least for the weekdays. With this job comes new friends and a new "life", I get to go out, go to basketball games, do stuff, meet people, live from a different perspective.

on the friendship market

2006-04-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

Well hello everybody! So what's new in Texas? Well a few things are new actually. I just had a job interview with the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. I think it went pretty well, they said they are going to call next week (I feel like a school girl waiting for her crush to call here cause he said he would). So I'll wait by that phone all day Monday, wondering...they like me, they like me not, they like me, they like me not, they like me.

As for school I'm finishing up this semester and I'm actually quite impressed with myself. I will finish this semester with a 3.5 most likely, so that's good.

I did see a TV show that almost mirrored my "no friend" situation. On the show 'Yes, Dear', the lead character is a mid to late 30 year old guy who hasn't done much socializing since getting married. In this episode he realizes he doesn't have any friends anymore. He explains how weird it is for guys to just "make friends". That being said he is completly right, but I think I made a friend. It was a little weird. During the break from my class tonight we were talking outside and it was almost like trying to get a date with a girl (get all your stupid homo jokes out of your head right now). It must have looked and sounded pretty ridiculous, but we started talking about stuff we do for fun, and well I don't do anything cause I don't know anyone...he wants to be my friend LOL! I wanted to laugh so bad but I held back, so were gonna go to a strip club or a bar next weekend after our final, hey at least I got something to do. The funniest part was when he asked for my number...seriously guys should not have to make friends after the age of 22 it's just plain weird.

Shame on you!

2006-04-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry to keep my fans waiting (if anyone even reads this), I took a little break from blogging to, like study and stuff...but I'm back bitches!

So after a short hiadeous what should I talk about...how about misconceptions? So what do I mean about misconceptions? The Duke Mens' Lacrosse team, the guys who raped that girl, right? Wrong! Isn't this the land of the free, the home of the brave and the place where you are innocent until proven guilty? Today as I was watching Sports Center I saw something that made me laugh hysterically, not cause it was funny, but becuase it finally shuts up all of the uninformed persecuters. Of the 46 men who gave DNA samples to the North Carolina district attorneys office ZERO matches were found. That's right ladies and gentlemen...ZERO! So for all of you who were part of the jury that already convicted them in the court of publich opinion, and especially those of you who protested on the Duke campus, apoligize. Don't apoligize to me or the lacrosse team, apoligize to your country for going against all that we stand for. Sure it's your right to protest, and I respect that 100%, but wait till you know what the hell you're talking about first (not too much to ask for right?). So what happens to these young mens lives? Guess what they're rapists not because they are but because someone said so...the near future for these young men is ruined. All 46 of them will be rapists in that community until...I dunno...another J.J. Reddick comes along. It's unfair and not what, we Americans, are supposed to be about, so to those of you who had them already guilty...SHAME ON YOU.

friends

2006-03-31T01:00:00.000-08:00

the chairs all are empty the last guest has gone
the candles burn lower and lower
and sputter on and on
but after the last guest departed
haunting the smoke laden air
remaineth a lingering presence
the ghose of good fellowship rare
Friends, friends, friends
You and I will be
whether in fair or in dark stormy weather
we'll stand or we'll fall together.

That's about the best way I can describe it. Nothing like a good ole SAE song to define something for ya. Like I said it was nice to be back home and here is my blog on my buddies.

I didn't even seem like I was gone but a day or two. It is odd how nothing ever changes when you're with true friends. Seeing everybody was great. Love you guys. PA.

the 5 o 5.

2006-03-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

So as some of you may know I went back home this weekend for my birthday. I have a ton of stuff to talk about, but I know this probably won't be read unless I break it up into small parts. So this post will be about the family, the next about the friends, and then the last will be about V for Vendetta...it was great, then I might throw down with a post just about the 5 o 5 in general.

It felt so good to be home again. It had been two months and boy was I home sick. I didn't think I would miss everything so much. Seeing my Mom at the airport was great, nothing like the first thing you do back home, being giving your mom a hug. Seeing my sister was also great, you don't realize how close you are to a sibling till you don't see them everyday. And seeing Dad was of course great as well, we got to go to a game in the best basketball arena and one of my favorite places in the world, the PIT (unfortunately the lobos didn't make it to that round).

Just sitting around and watching TV was very relaxing for me, I was surrounded by the people I love and it is a better feeling then you realize. So without getting too mushy, sit back and think of how important your family is to you cause when you're gone for a prolonged period of time, you come to realize they're importance.

So kids stay tuned for details on my adventure in the 5o5, cause there's more to come.

house keeping issues...

2006-03-23T22:57:00.000-08:00

So I get to go home tomorrow and I'm so excited you have no idea, but there are some other things I got to get out there:

Does anybody know who Mr. Bean is? Well I found him, that's right, he bags my groceries at Tom Thumb in Irving. I will never change grocery stores cause it's too damn funny I want to go shopping everyday....damn he's funny.

The whole pay it forward thing...I had a response from an older wiser SAE on that, he said he leaves his change in the vending machines when he gets something...cause seriously how cool is it when you find change! So I did it today I had to make copies for a presentation I had today and I left $.50 in the copy machine at the library...the equivelent to 5 copies, it's not a big deal but just think how awesome that will be for a stressed out coed when they find it!

Now for the deep stuff (you know you can't go that long on here without me getting all deep on ya). Be HAPPY, don't be what others want you to be. Why are we all here anyway...[insert answer here] no matter what you put, nobody really knows. So in our short time here on Earth be happy, if that means getting an MBA, do it! If it means dropping out of school and writing songs, do it! If it means....whatever you get the point, do it and do it now cause that's all you have that you can reallly count on--the now.

pay it forward

2006-03-21T22:36:00.000-08:00

Ya I know it was a movie, with a novel idea, but try it. Do something for someone, something they aren't expecting, something they aren't asking for, something nice. Do it not for them, nor for yourself, do it in hopes that it will make their day better and maybe encourage them to do something for someone else.

There is so much that people have to be miserable about, I'd mention the stuff but uh...it's not that kinda posting. Sometimes all they need is a little piece of humanity that tells or shows them how awesome life really is.

So if someone has done something nice for you recently, pay it forward. Or be the one that starts that chain of pleasantness, it'll make your day too.

"don't you think life would be awfully boring if the good times were all that we had?"-Pat Green.

uh it's wet

2006-03-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

Ok...un...I'm from New Mexico and have never seen rain like this. I was just wondering, can I drown out here. Ya, ya I can. It seriously has been raining for like 30 straight hours, I don't think it rains any 30 hours in NM. Last night I got up at like 5am and looked out side to see what was so loud and I thought I was inside a tornado (never seen one before). I couldn't see across the parking lot and there was rain going sideways...frickin' sideways! The thunder was so loud that all the cars owned by my idiot neighboors, had their alarms going off every 15 seconds. I may be a sweetie pie, but good thing I'm not made of sugar...I'd be screwed.

NW st, UW-mil...I love it!

2006-03-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

We are currently in the midst of the greatest 4 sports days of the year! Currently Kansas is down by 10 to Bradley, Texas (my national champion pick) is down at the half to Penn, UConn had to make a 35-9 run to squeeze out a victory against Albany. It just doesn't get any better than this.

College football needs to take note of the growing popularity of college basketball (the new American pastime) and do a tournament. Just think USC gets upset in the first round by some po dunk, ass backwards, team with more than one direction in their name, how awesome would that be? Now of course USC would probably win. But that's not what sport is all about. Sport is the ultimate reality show, these young men--I'm actually older than all of them now--must compete on the grandest of stages, at the highest level and leave their hearts and souls on the field.

March Madness, simply the greatest thing in the world for a sports fan, besides for the early games I missed on Thursday (I went to beautiful San Antonio and hung out on the river walk...quite possibly the most genious attraction a city has ever come up with) I have seen all of the games. Oh shit...school, I wonder if the University of Dallas gives "hey I was watching Northwestern state make their dreams come true at the buzzer" passes. Cause damn I need one!

So to recap...The first weekend of the mens college basketball tournament is by far the best 4 consecutive days of the year, EVERY YEAR!

the hardest thing I've ever done.

2006-03-10T00:37:00.000-08:00

I got to thinking today about how difficult it is being on your own. So I began to ponder what was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, here are my thoughts, as I know them to be true, in chronological order: Well I would assume that the day I was born had to be pretty rough. I'm sure being born was definitely the hardest thing I had ever done. Well it was my first day of life so I guess any activity would have to be the hardest thing I've ever done. So what's next?...I guess we can clump together things like; learning to communicate (talk), learning to walk, learning to tie my shoes and all of that stuff when you're a little kid. Even though I don't remember any of those moments I'm sure at that point they were the hardest things I'd ever done. Now we're getting into the stuff I remember. My first crappy memory is when I found out my grandma died, I was like 6 or 7. I didn't understand all that stuff yet, and getting over that was definitely the hardest thing I'd ever done. Well I was never really peer pressured that much, and didn't have much trouble fitting in, so I guess I get to luckily skip those times that most people have. For the sake of time and humility I will just clump all the sports teams that said I was a step to slow or just a needed a little more skill. Taking those disappointments were the hardest things I'd ever done. [Just a side note: I started every game my senior year in soccer for a top ranked team...GET IT!] High School was a breeze...I didn't even read a book and graduated in the top 10% of my class. Seriously, what the hell are we doing in America that shouldn't be possible? Finishing my pledge ship at SAE, ya that was hard, boy was that hard. I don't think I can even count the number of times I was close to quitting. But I didn't. That semester was the hardest thing I'd ever done. Calculus...I HATE CALCULUS. NO, REALLY. I HATE CALCULUS!!!!! Heart break, yes ladies, guys go through it too. That night seemed like the longest day ever. I didn't think I could ever feel that way and didn't think I'd ever be better. That was the hardest thing I'd ever done. I'm going to group the next two together; graduating and my alumni ceremony. My alumni ceremony was one of those moments that you need to sit back and take everything in. It was a hard night for me, to leave my boys. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done.

So what's left?...You guessed it, moving to Irving. This has been a rough six weeks, I got nobody to play with, I got no job, and I got no dogs to wrestle with. I moved out here with only my determination, enthusiasm, and my perseverance. This is the hardest thing I've ever done.

In retrospect, I can tie my shoes, I'm pretty proficient at walking, I was a late bloomer athletically, I became a member of the greatest fraternity in the world, I PASSED CALCULUS, and I graduated. So I guess this too will pass...didn't someone famous say that? I'll beat this too like everything else, but F$%K this is the hardest thing I've ever done.

let me see what I can see

2006-03-03T15:02:00.000-08:00

{transitioning from one guitar to the next, the lighting changes, the crowd sways from side to side in anticipation...following the slow guitar melody to start the song...}

Set me free
Set me free
I need a little more room to breath
And the freedom to do what I please
mama set me free
set me free
set me free
let me see what I can see
have mercy on a boy like me mama set me free

And at that point in the concert I was free. I moved out here to start my life and "see what I can see". I moved out here with the intention of doing things on my own with out the ease of Albuquerque and the help of anyone else. I enjoy the fact that if I fail or succeed it will be due to me and only me.
On Thursday night I skipped class, and the rathskeller, for a better opportunity. Reckless Kelly was playing at a bar in Denton (about 40 mins north of Irving) and I had to go see em' play. I figured finally the chance to see a Texas country band in Texas, I'm there. They played for quite some time maybe close to 2 hours and it was a great show. They played lots of songs I knew at an intimate venue of about 200 people.
You would think that moving only 10 hours away and staying, generally in the same region there wouldn't be much of a culture change...wrong. I was in culture shock for the first part of the evening. Honestly who told Texans that huge ass belt buckles your name carved in your belt was 'in style', I smell an episode of Queer eye for the Texan guy (although I'm pretty sure gay guys aren't allowed in Texas). It was acutally quite amusing to watch all of the 'cowboys' at this place. They would have definetly been made fun of back home, but here they were the norm. I didn't stick out, I don't think, but I definetly was not in "Texan" attire.
But the treat for me at the 'Rockin' Rodeo' (actual name of the place) was not the music nor the experience although, both were pretty great, but the girl. Yes ladies and gentleman Uncle Dick found himself a date last night. By the time 'set me free' came on I was already free, it was a poetic moment for me. I was here on my own with this amazing girl and ya I'm free. Free in the sense that life on my own has begun. Now it's only been one date so I'm not thinking all serious or anything but being there with her was a begining that I won't soon forget.
As I sit here and listening to music, kinda studying and watching the planes take-off outside my balcony...set me free!

...and not a moment too soon

2006-02-26T19:19:00.000-08:00

So today I thought my Mom and my sister were going to come up and see me, I was wrong. It was even better everyone came...well them and my Dad, which makes everyone. It was great to see all three of them this weekend. I have been bored out of my mind lately and they were a good refersher for me. Now we didn't do much but we hung out together and that was great. It's funny cause I couldn't wait to leave Albuquerque a month ago. I wanted to get away and see if I could make it but I also was tired of living at home. No offense to my parents because they were great this last year, but it was different going from living at SAE for 3 and a half years to moving back home at 22yrs old. They never pushed me or hassled me but I needed my own space. Now that I have it I couldn't wait to see them and be around them. Don't get me wrong I'm glad I'm out on my own but I needed to see them and they came...not a moment too soon. I was able to recharge my batteries and now I only have a month till I go home for my birthday.
So for now, I'm out, I have a job fair to attend tomorrow and a huge test on Tuesday...woo hoo go Finance!

2006-02-19T17:02:00.001-08:00

It's a little blurry cause I took it with my phone. But it's me and Bigelow at graduation

2006-02-19T17:02:00.000-08:00

Tyler, Preston, Jeremy, and me before I left for Texas

The Rathskeller

2006-02-09T22:04:00.000-08:00

So today I didn't have much to do, like always, so I decided to go to campus a few hours before my class to check stuff out. I found a nice place I could get on the internet and check out the girls that were passing by at the same time. As I began to do some of the reading for my upcoming class I was amazed by the amount of beer signs and lights that were in my view. So I decided to ask somebody about the area I was in. Apparently The University of Dallas has a BAR on CAMPUS! Ya, I was just as shocked as you. The guy said that if I were to come back after my class there would be a bunch of people there for TGIT (thank god it's thursday) ya it's pretty cleaver uh?
So considering that I didn't have anything worth while to do until 8am Saturday morning, I decided to stop by after class. Holy crap they have a bar on campus! And I know I've talked about the lack of little cute blonde girls in Texas, well that problem has been fixed, they are apparently everywhere. This place was crawling with them. Did I mention this campus has a bar?
I got my beer and watched a pretty good guitar player do covers like everyone else. The interesting part was that I was in the cool place to be on a Thursday night and I didn't know a soul there. I could have pretty much been the guy that stood infront of me the whole time. You know the guy...dorky kid, glasses, khaki pants that have wrinkled pockets, wearing the white on white tennis shoes (basically freshman greg, sorry buddy). At first I thought well this is pretty shitty, but then I figured hey nobody knows me...pretty cool. I watched this guy...did I mention this campus has a bar?...play his music, but mostly looked at all of the hot Texas girls that were parading around like it was New Years Day and they were covered in roses. I think I may have found a new spot to hang out, at least on Thursday nights. No I didn't meet anyone or really socialize, it's kinda hard when you don't know anyone...but I will.
So tonight I hung out at the Rathskeller, and it was pretty neato.

Grettings from Texas

2006-02-03T17:25:00.000-08:00

Well I've been here 6 days now and all is well. I've had three job interviews up to this point and all of them have asked me back for a second interview. I have one 'second' interview left and the position seems to be what I want. So Monday morning I need to be ready to earn my spot at the company I want to be a part of.
These six days have given me the chance to realize and discover a few things here in Texas. One of the more obvious things and probably my first observation of my new living quarters, was that I live directly under a flight path. I live approx. a half mile from DFW airport and from my observations their landing strip is in line with my apartment. At first it was really annoying and bugged the hell out of me, then I went outside on my balcony to check it out and it was amazing. At around 7:00pm if you go out and look in the opposite direction you can see the light of as many as 12 planes in the air waiting to land. When they do make their approach it is awesome, they come with about 200 feet of the roof of my building...so close you can read the logos on the planes. I don't know why but I think it is really cool now. Another observation is that I haven't found nearly as many beautiful little blonde girls as I had imagined, but then again I haven't really been in any "younger" areas of the Dallas area yet...so stay tuned on that topic for now. The crapiest (is that how you spell it?) observation I have made so far is that the water here SUCKS. I went without water for the first 3 days here (I now have 5 gallons from the store in my fridge) and apparently that was a very poor decision. I went to the gym yesterday for my first time back to the gym in maybe 6 months and had a trainer session. Good thing I had a trainer with me becuase I started getting dizzy and seeing stars...apparently I was dehydrated. So I'm going back tomorrow and have been drinking water like a champ.
I'll leave you with one of the funny things I've heard on the radio (there have been quite a few funny things). A helicopter traffic guy was giving the traffic report and said "We've got a three car insurance seminar down there".

Peace out...Ya'll!

54 hours...

2006-01-25T01:12:00.000-08:00

So here I am only 54 hours from leaving the only place I've ever known. Have you ever been at a time in your life where you feel you need to just stop and soak everything in? Well that's how I feel right now. I felt this way in my last high school soccer game, at both my graduations, when I was initiated into the greatest fraternity in the world, and now that feeling comes upon me again. A turning point, I guess would be the best way to describe the point that I have arrived at in my life. I get to "start over", nobody knows me, nobody cares, nobody is going to feel sorry for me in Texas if I fail. So why then am I going? I enjoy being who I am here, I love the life I have created for myself here in the 'Land of Enchantment'.
I leave behind so much it is hard to image that a better life is awaiting me in the land of cattle and oil. Tonight I went out for possibly the last time with 4 really good friends (Greg, Matt, Sam and Adam) but they are only a small fraction of the amazing friendships I've made here. There are so many more people who have helped create, stabilize and encourage the person I am.
If you were an SAE between 2000 and present you probably had a part in that. A lot of people don't realize how important SAE is to me and will always be. I feel forever indebted to the fraternity and the bonds within that I have made. I watched over my 5 and a 1/2 years as an undergrad and saw many people use the fraternity for the right and many for the wrong reasons. I hope in my heart that I used SAE for the right reasons. It is not for the people who want chicks and beer, you're in college if you can't get those two things without SAE you're pretty much a chump anyway. The people who used SAE for those reasons didn't end up doing to well; they transfered, dropped out, or disappeared. But then there are people who saw SAE for what it truley was, an amazing opportunity to make the most out of the little time in our lives we have between high school dipolma and career. Those days, although sometimes not the most graceful were the greatest days of my life and I thank many important brothers (you know who you are) for that.
For any of you who know me well enough, you understand how important my family is to my life as well. Without those 3 I don't know what or who I would be today. My dad is pretty much my best friend, my mom is...well a mom...the loving, caring, amazing person everyone wants their mother to be and then I have my sister, to whom I wish I could have taught and molded more. I made many mistakes in the last 5-6 years and I have been too busy to sit and guide her along a different path so she doesn't make my mistakes again. I feel as if I have let her down in a way. But fortunately, I feel there isn't much to worry about, she has a solid head on her shoulders and doesn't let the 'unmentionable' side of college life catch up with her.
So tonight I sit in my computer chair with an amazing past, a past I don't think anyone would like to undo, but what lies ahead? I don't know, you don't know, nobody does. But honestly how much better can this day get? I have the love and friendships of those behind me and the opportunity and freedom of my future. Wow! 54 hours...and a turning point.

"One who advances confidently in the directions of his dreams and endeavours to achieve the life in which he has imagined, will achieve success unexpected in common hours" - Henry David Thoreau

What's this?

2006-01-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

So on this site you can check in on me from wherever you are in the world. That's an odd concept. Although you can find out what I'm doing anytime you want I think this might be more for me than any of you. I'm 15 days away from being in a place where I know nobody, and have no idea what to do. I will be attending the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. I will persuing my Master's degree in Sports and Entertainment Management and hopefully will be finding a job out there.
Some things you can expect from this site are updates on what I'm doing, where I'm working, what I think of Texas, any Texan slang I tend to pick up on the way and of course a little humor.
This is a new concept to me and I'm sure I'll get better at this as time goes by but for now this is all you get...stay tuned.