Smokers gotta exercise too

First of all, hello again everyone! I know I've been absent from my blog for a while, but I'm back for now. A couple days this week I went down to our riverfront trail for some exercise. And it never seems to fail that someone comes down there who is a smoker. Of course, that doesn't seem surprising, many people smoke. But what I really, REALLY don't understand is the couple I saw there. They got out of the truck, put their roller blades on, then sat on the bed to have a cigarette before they took off on the trail. Then, when they got back, they did the same thing and smoked AGAIN! What?! What about this makes ANY sense? It's like eating a triple cheeseburger right before you go in for your liposuction. If you're that addicted to your cigarettes that you smoke right before and after you exercise, you might as well not even bother to exercise. I don't understand why anyone would smoke to begin with, obviously, but this incident was just beyond dumb. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. Another time when I was riding my bike there, there was a small group of people taking a break on a bench, having a smoke. That really bothered me. I'm sorry, smoke when you want to, but I do not want to inhale your smoke when my lungs are enjoying the happy air they're getting while I'm breathing in deeply and riding my bike. Maybe it was the same people.

Thoughts from mass

This morning I didn't go to my normal church but to the parish in Union. I really like my priest in my parish, Fr. Mike, but I really like the one in Union too. They are both different in their styles but still equally good: Father Mike is a little more modern, Father Mitas is a little more old-fashioned.

Anyways, Father Mitas said a few things this morning that really hit me and made the mass completely worth it. The overall theme was persistance in prayer yet also the words "Thy will be done." He was talking about Paul and how he was a prideful person. He prayed and prayed that God take away the things that he had to deal with but God never did. Finally, after asking three times for God to take it away, he realized why he didn't. God was testing him, in a way. By not having things go his way, God was teaching Paul humility.

And that one just really resonated with me. It is so easy for us to forget that when we don't always get what we pray for, God has a bigger plan and just might be teaching us something. And like Paul, it keeps us humble. It reminds us that we are not in control here, God is.

The overall point here is not to say that persistance in prayer is a waste of time either. Moreover, it brings us closer to God and can also bring peace and acceptance in our lives. Rather than being upset that it doesn't go our way, through prayer we can come to a better understanding that "Well, I guess it's just not meant to be" and move on in life, versus being hung up over it, you know? And the other point he made was that after praying for something for over a year, you might not even be in the same place or want it anymore. It is the same as being a parent on earth: when your child asks for something, do you always say yes? Chances are you say no more than just giving them everything they want. And most times it's just an impulse anyways, so a week may go by and the child doesn't even care about it any more. Well, he pointed out that God acts in a similar way. It makes so much sense, doesn't it!?

Thoughts: "Inception"

Last night we went to see Inception. I thought it was great. I really wish Netflix did half-star ratings because I would give it 4.5. So real quick, I'd like to offer a few thoughts without spoiling it for those that haven't seen it:

1. I thought the script was the most impressive thing about it. It wasn't based on anything, it was completely a creation from Christopher Nolan. And for a script that he wrote for almost 8 years, I would sure as heck hope it was good. I was never confused (very impressive considering the plot) and I could follow it, and it was just... mind-bending, in more ways than one.

2. I liked all the actors they pulled in too. Nolan is kind of reminding me of Terrintino because he tends to use the same people film to film. Michael Caine made another appearance in this and so did Cillian Murphy. Ellen Page was possibly mis-cast, but I didn't think she did too bad of a job.

3. I was on the edge of my seat for probably the last 45 minutes. That's definitly worth some credit.

4. I really appreciate that there was no sexual content in it. Truly. I get so annoyed with this because more and more it seems that it is just thrown in a movie for no reason. Do directors really think this draws more of an audience? Does it really draw an audience? Either way, I was glad that Nolan didn't go there. It wasn't needed and would have knocked off some brownie points in my view.

5. Lastly, see it. If you're a fan of action, thriller, and movies that make you think and pay attention than this is for you.

Time for a fresh start

I decided this morning that it is finally time for me to do a reinstall on my laptop. It's an older PowerBook G4 and it amazes me how out of date the software is.

I used it more heavily only three years ago; so three years have gone by, and we have advanced THAT much and my laptop barely works. That is the part that blows my mind. I mostly use this for online and email-checking, maybe a little bit of Word. Other than that, it's not too useful anymore. Even so, the browsing online is so limited. My email works but does not display correctly, I can only type in Courier, Facebook can't even load, Twitter works though, Craigslist works, and Wikipedia works. Outside of that, it is very hit and miss as to what will load properly (or even load at all, for that matter) and what is going to crash the browser. My main problem there is my browsers are out-of-date, but I can't UPdate them either. I am still running Mac OS 10.3.9 (was that Panther??) and nothing is available for that OS anymore. If I update to Leopard, that will be my last update and in three years more (probably less) I will again be obsolete. So now I need to make a choice as to whether to install the Mac OS or maybe try a little Linux. I have never used Linux but I am positive I would learn it quickly and have no problems with it.

It's time for a new start. It's still a really good machine, it's got 2 gigs 512MB of RAM. a 1.5 Ghrtz processor and 80GB hard drive space. It's over five years old too, and I definitely don't know of any Windows-based laptops that make it this long and still function without being clunky. Now I just need to back up all my files! And/or sell it and get something else. Like... an iPad.

Twitter love

Like almost all users of Twitter, I went though a long stage where I kept thinking "What am I doing here?"

Since Twitter was my third social network to sign up with, I was not exactly all about it in the beginning. At first, I tweeted meager thoughts I had that were fairly boring, like what I would post on facebook. After a little of that, I felt like posting other stuff on there that I usually wouldn't post on facebook. I can't tell you why, but Twitter just began to feel a bit different to me so I tailored my tweets to things I like and wanted to share with the world, creating a different batch of Jamie-ness than the facebook kind. Then I fell back into the "Why am I here?" stage.

And now, I gotta tell you that something clicked within the past two weeks. I finally love my Twitter account. I really enjoy the 60ish people I follow on there and I feel a lot more inclined to share something on Twitter now than I do on facebook. During a conversation last Saturday, I brought up something about one of the celebrities I follow. Prior to this, my group of friends present didn't know that I had a Twitter account. When I stated that I did, it was almost with regret. As someone said, it's almost like a confession to say 'Yes, I'm on Twitter.' I wish that wasn't so. I know that most people who know nothing about it will knock it and say 'Oh, Twitter is so dumb. It's just status updates. "I'm in the bathroom" Ha. Ha.' or something like that. I wish they knew more of what they're talking about because most people on Twitter will agree that... well, that's not really the case. I find more boring crap like that on facebook to be honest with you. That's not to say it never happens, but it is definitely more abundant on ole #fb.

Twitter is more, to me, about sharing information. You see a good article you like, a photograph, or an offer at a store and you Tweet about it. I cannot tell you how many cool things I have been introduced to by the few people I follow. Furthermore, I really like the celebrity/fan interaction that Twitter has created. I follow my favorite band, Muse, on there and what's cool about that is that it is actually being done my Muse, specifically Dom in most cases. It's not just some fan page set up by some company hired to do it, it is the real people.

Plus, it is so much more well-designed than facebook has ever been. This might not mean a whole lot to other people but it scores a point in my book. It's direct, it's clean, and not cluttered like facebook is. It's also kind of nice that there is the 140 character limit too. A friend commented how he liked this too: "Say what you need to say, get it done in 140 or less, and don't ramble on!"

So say what you want to people, but more and more I'd like to open up Twitter instead of facebook. Since I am a person who loves to consume media and information, I find it way more interesting than the boringness most of my 'friends' post on facebook. Anyone wanna follow me over there?

Point made

It's what I've thought all along:

Myth: If you can't figure out what you want to do, you can just go to grad school.

Fact: You go to grad school if you want to pursue a career that requires it. You do not go to grad school because you don't know what else you want to do or because the job market is bad and it's somewhere to hide out for a while.

Grad school is expensive. It's time-consuming. And it generally will not make you more marketable, unless you're going into a field that specifically requires a graduate degree. What it will do is keep you from getting work experience for that much longer, meaning that when you're done, your peers who have been working full-time while you were in school will be more competitive than you. It might also limit you by requiring you to find a higher-paying job than you might otherwise need, in order to pay back those loans (without actually increasing your earning power). And if you apply for jobs that have nothing to do with your graduate degree, employers will think you don't really want the job you're applying for, since it's not in "your field." Don't use grad school to prolong the day of reckoning.

For the four other myths/facts about job hunting, click here.

KC

Over the weekend, Jarrod and I took a trip to Kansas City for a concert. We left on Friday to set out and check in to our hotel semi-early. We arrived in Kansas City around 2:30 something and headed for the Plaza. Well, as it turned out we weren't ON the Plaza but right at the edge of it, so to say. Next time I am back there, I think it would be awesome to spend the extra to stay down near all the shops and such.

Anyways, we went to dinner early so we could get to the concert when doors opened and get good seats (general admission, you know.) I had picked out a BBQ place for us called Fiorella's JackStack BBQ. Boy was it awesome. We ordered a sampling of food for two, with beef, ham, and half a chicken and baked beans, potato salad, and fries. Jarrod also had a Boulevard Wheat and I had a Tropical Paradise martini. He liked his beer, and I thought it was good too; it has an odd flavor on the finish that I couldn't quite pin down. My martini was good at first but by the end of it I didn't care for it much (this seems to happen a lot with me and martinis, I guess they're not for me.) Anyways, our food was amazing. The beef was sliced thinly like a piece of bacon and it was so tender you could just tug and pull it apart. The ham was good and smoky, and the chicken was tender with a good flavor too. Jarrod ate the potato salad, which he liked, the fries weren't
anything special, but the beans were THE best baked beans I have ever tasted. Seriously. Busch's Baked Beans you make at home ain't got nothin' on these. They had pulled pieces of pork which added a nice texture to them and the flavor was as smoky and good as the rest of the food. I read that they hickory smoke all their meats, then cook them in a brick oven, and they [obviously] have their own BBQ sauces, of which we stuck to the Original. All in all, I can understand why it was award-winning and I highly recommend the place to anyone heading to KC.

After that it was back to the hotel to chill out for a bit. We then left, had to run back by the restaurant because Jarrod left his hat there, and were off to the Starlight Theater for the O.A.R. concert. It was raining at that point, go figure, and we hit construction traffic too. However, we got there about 5-10 minutes after the doors opened. And we got close parking, which was nice. We were given wrist-bands that allowed us to get closer seats too, since we were some of the early birds. We got to our seats and ended up in the center on row 12. We could have been in a closer row, but we would have been way off to the side. Luckily the rain stopped, but we still got our shorts wet when we sat down. The Starlight Theater was a neat place it's very similar to the Muny here but a bit nicer. They have concerts there and Broadway shows. I've never thought of it, but the Muny should open up their venue to concerts too. It would be a good alternative to
Riverport/Verizon Wireless Ampitheater/whatever the hell it's called these days for outdoor concerts.

The opener was Citizen Cope. I realized I knew one of their songs, "Let the Drummer Kick." It's a catchy song, if nothing else and I had heard it somewhere, though I'm still not sure from where and it's driving me nuts. Neither Jarrod or I was overly impressed with them, though. Three things: 1, I am not totally convinced that the singing wasn't dubbed. He was barely, I mean BARELY, opening his mouth when he sang and even though he was on top of the mic, I just don't know that a person could possibly produce that much sound with such a small opening of their mouth. 2, A lot of their songs were repition, and I'm just not too hot on a song that repeats the refrain over and over and over and over and has (maybe) one verse; it seems like a cop-out and they're not trying very hard. 3, I am also pretty sure he was stoned out of his mind because they were so disconnected from the audience. They (well mostly 'he' the main singer, the creator of the band) didn't
seeme excited to be there one bit, they didn't connect with the audience (as in something like "You guys all having a good time tonight?"), and they were just TOO laid back. They stood still, weren't into their own music, and gave the impression like they were tired of playing it.

In short: not too impressed, don't ever need to see them again, might buy "Let the Drummer Kick" from iTunes.

A half hour went buy as they tore down the set and put on O.A.R.'s. They opened with "City on Down" one of Jarrod's favorites by them. We ended up standing the whole time, which sucked only because I was in flip flops. They played an awesome show. To me, they were a complete opposite to Cope. They were excited to be there, you could tell that they really love their music, and they really interracted with the crowd. At one point, Jerry, the saxophonist, came down and walked through the aisles while playing that sax (now THAT is some talent there.) He went down the house right side and came back up on the left and was right next to us, so that was cool. I was lucky to change over the camera to the "Continuous" setting so I didn't have to worry about missing him.

They played for two hours, and I know Jarrod liked it a lot. They are his favorite band and since he didn't get to go when they were in St. Louis two years ago, we decided we wouldn't miss this one. I like them, but they are not my favorite (that spot belongs to Muse; Jarrod: O.A.R. Jamie: Muse.) We got out of there pretty nicely too since we had a good parking spot.

Saturday we got up at a decent time and went down to breakfast, which was just so so. Soon after, there was a fasle fire alarm. Yay for that. It sucked that we weren't packed up and ready to leave, or we could have just drove away! We checked out around 10:30 to head down to the shops on the Plaza. We mostly wandered around. We picked up some caramel drinks from Starbucks. There was an old man there reading a book on an iPad, which prompted the idea to drop in the Apple store. We went in there and played with the iPads for a while. I was quite impressed and yes, it is pretty much a big iPod, but it is so darn neat. The experience of the user is so much better on a bigger screen versus playing games on an iPod. Plus, if you don't need it as your sole computer, it really isn't a bad alternative to a laptop. It's a lot cheaper, more versatile, and lighter. And more fun. After that, we decided to head out of the Plaza because it was a very hot day.

We originally planned to go to an art museum but I really wasn't feeling like museums that day. Jarrod was fine with that so we decided to just head back home, even if it was just 11:30. But before we left, we grabbed a light lunch. We stopped in Tomfooleries and split some chicken nachos. I liked the name of the place, and the nachos were fine, but our service was terrible. We were the only people at a table upstairs (which is no excuse) but our waitress didn't refill Jarrod's water till we were ready to leave, never checked on us after she brought us our food, never brought us silverware, and never brought us napkins. We had to use our little drink napkins! Obviously, she didn't get a good tip. She was terrible.

We came home and are back safe and sound. It was a great, great weekend. I know Jarrod really enjoyed the concert, and I'm sure we'll see tham again.

Caution: Astray letters and punctuation

This is the first time I've ever encountered this in my books. In my imagination, it looks like the 're is hanging on for dear life while A and a few commas have already lost their lives.

A funny little story

I have a small story to share.

For a long time now, I have been Jarrod's primary person who reminds him to do things, call whoever, etcetera. I used to always say that I was his PDA but since those have gone out of style, now I say smartphone. So here is our dorky exchange the other day:

Me: "I'm your smartphone."
Him: "You're my Palm."
Me: "......um... I prefer iPhone."

Haha. We are such dorks. Mac geeks, I guess.

A letter of farewell

Last night I said goodbye to an old friend. Well, we haven't been friends for that long but it has been a wonderful time. It started about three or four years ago when on a whim I decided to switch my radio over to listen to something different. And that was the beginning to my love of classical music.
Now this obviously wasn't the first time I had ever heard classical music, but it was the start to my love for it. As I listened to it more I began to notice all the different elements, the chords, the harmonious ways each section would mesh together to create this complex, beautiful sound. And noticing all of these elements and taking them in just got better over time.
See, that's the thing about classical music: unless you grew up with it or have a deep emotional connection (as in, your mom plays with the symphony or something like that) it takes a little bit to get used to it. It isn't an immediate thing, or at least it wasn't for me. And I wish more people would give it a chance. The music is a pure expression of emotions translated into an audio format. And some of the pieces are downright beautiful; there is no other way to describe it. I don't find many pop songs that I feel I could call beautiful.
At ten o'clock last night, Classic99 played their final piece, Beethoven's 9th. I sheepishly admit that I did not know it that well (see, I'm still a baby in getting to hear all of these great pieces) but it was wonderful. It was a great piece to go out with. After it was over, there was just… silence. And I gotta tell you, that felt almost like the death of a friend. I was expecting someone to come on and say goodbye for the last time, but they didn't and now I'm glad they didn't. Because at that point, there was no need for words. The piece was finished, the broadcast was finished, and those moments of silence, to me, meant that it was truly over. It really hit me then that this was final.
This morning, since my car radio was left on the station, I caught a few seconds of the new station that bought Classic99 which is a contemporary Christian station called JoyFM. I can't stand JoyFM, which does not make this any easier. I immediately started to find another station to program in its place and settled on 88.1, an independent station that plays an eclectic mix of genres of music. It might turn out to be an okay replacement.
So goodbye Classic99. I don't think anyone I know will quite understand what you meant for me. It was a great time while it lasted and I will truly miss you.