It's all about the YOU baby!

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?

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...

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?

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.

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?

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

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?

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

Somewhere we live inside

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

Lyrically challenged

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?

"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

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

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...

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!

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.

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

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!

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

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

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...

...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