Set the date to “Up.”

April 7, 2008 at 2:41 pm (Money, Progress, Socializing)

So, no real stream of thought conjoined to form a whole complete idea in this post. No this is more or less just a catch-up or a documentation of my cavalcade of adventures this weekend.

Friday evening was jolly good, as me and several of my mates decided upon catching up over a few pints at a local pub in downtown Columbia. Pretty uneventful, but nevertheless overdue. We had to get pissed earlier than we are used to as the season premiere of BSG was due to come on @ 10PM that evening and seeing as how we are all quite the “geekiest” of lads, is was not to be missed under any circumstances.

Seeing as how I was still getting my girlfriend caught up on it all by re-watching the prior 3 seasons on DVD throughout the month we have the new episode baiting us on the DVR. My lady and I couldn’t have anything keeping us up too late because we were supposed to have a big weekend out of the state.

I was supposed to go to New York City but in lieu of a lost cat, we were forced to opt out of that idea. Instead I spent most of the day Saturday schlepping around some of the finer ravines and forests the inner-city of Baltimore has to offer in hopes of finding a cat that wishes for nothing less to remain hidden.

After woeful partial condolences of a lost cat from friends who rushed to our aide to locate the absent animal, my girlfriend and I decided to call it an eve and get some shut-eye. I told her that I would sleep down in the living room by the front door so that if the cat came back in the night, I would hear him and let him in. Her, being the great gal she is decided to do the same so there we were. Nestled up on the couch and love seat, listening to the sound of the rain coming down, trying to filter out sounds of muffled “meows” all the while trying to rest our weary eyes and tired bones.

Then, at quarter of 5 in the morning, my girlfriend jumps off the loveseat to find her cat and a local neiborhood kitty engaged in feline conversation, nonchelantly lying about on the damp concret of our porch.

HE HAD RETURNED! The Prodigal Cat had come back, making for a happy sat of humans as no further stress or worry needed to be displaced by the thought of a “Street-Pizza-Kitten.”

We all headed upstairs and allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping in and gently rolling into a Lazy Sunday.

After catching up on a few more back episodes of BSG (we are knee-deep in Season 2.5) I headed off to the shops to pick up a few things that I wanted to get for my toys. A new Apple keyboard and Xbox rechargeable batteries and a charging unit would assuage my woes of missed road-tripping and lost kitty syndrome.

Since I was going to be back in the area, I rang one of my mates to see if we could meet for lunch after all of my running around. He said it sounded like a great idea, after he had hit the gym, so we made plans for a late lunch and drinks in his neck of the woods.

I seem to always forget why I hate the people of Columbia so much, that is, until I get laced-up in the traffic there. Columbia is the home of the Non-Driver. You can also forget about getting parking near anything that you want to get to.

While I was mildly daunted with dealing with the doldrums of Cloumbia for the better part of the afternoon, a cold pint of ale and a nice hearty deep-dish pizza were in order for me. Two things have never gone together better on a cool, spring day.

After filling myself way more than I should on pizza and beer, I decided that it was time to go grocery shopping. I decided in-store that it was time for me to shopper more health-conscious, and start treating myself better.

Both of these ideas seemed to be quite popular and highly capitalized upon, as my trip to the market took quite a considerable chunk of change from my wallet.

One of my better purchases were Breathe Right nasal strips, as I tend to have a hard time breathing through my nose at night, which forces me to toss and turn regularly, thus pissing off the sleeping girlfriend who lies next to me. Last night was one of the better nights of sleep that I had, and being able to breath properly come morning time was quite a refreshing experience.

All-in-all, I had a pretty good weekend and am hoping with what I have done to set myself up for the next two or more weeks will allow things to get only better.

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Where did this tunnel come from?

April 1, 2008 at 5:43 pm (Life Lessons, Money)

So, I am trying to figure out where exactly the debt I seem to have accrued quite rapidly came from, seeing as how I promised myself that I was never going to go back into debt again once I had paid off the last round of debt that I had.

Granted, this debt that I have now and far less substantial than the last, but still; Debt is Debt.

I am making fairly good money now, so this debt should be decreasing at a steady pace, but somehow, I seem to just keeping it at even keel, as I seem to be spending as much as I am making now.

I live my live comfortably, by my standards, and can honestly say that I generally want for nothing, save for the occasional “Must Have” Techno-Bauble that promises to keep me on the Bleeding Edge of Gadgetry Envy amongst my peers. (I’m looking at you, iPhone!)

I have goals and aspirations of getting back out of debt, and being one of those fabled adults who actually has money in their savings account. Lord knows, rainy day money always puts me at ease…

I just don’t see the light at the end of this Tunnel of Debt. I mean I have a cruise that i need to pay for, as well as a passport and spending money. Not to mention house things and pet care things that are going to pop up in the near future. Thank god for tax returns and Economic Stimulus Incentives.

Now, if can just stay focused, and not look at new in-dash GPS units…

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Time Keeps on Slippin’…

March 26, 2008 at 2:51 pm (Life, Organization)

Being in the IT field, you never run short of people asking you for a favor or two pertaining to computers. Seeing as how they are becoming more prevalent today’s society, I only expect this act of asking for favors only to multiply, thus causing conflict with my natural tendency to want to help people, and a little thing I like to call “free time.”

As it stands now, I am currently in possession of two laptops that need to be completely redone, a web page that a family member would like me to tweak (read: completely redesign), not to mention my own PC that I would like to completely reformat and set up to dual boot Linux and Windows.

Heap on to all of this, video gaming that I would like to get done, house work that has been passively tackled when initiative can be mustered up, and an exercise regime that needs modification. You start to see my quality free time start to slip away, like sand through an hour glass…

I know that organization is key, and adherence to schedule is a must, but when do I get to find time to do all of this organization and scheduling?

*sigh*

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Being Carefree has a Shelf Life.

March 25, 2008 at 3:01 pm (Life Lessons, Relationships, Uncertainty)

So I figure that I have been away long enough.

There is no shame in journaling my thoughts and feelings when times are rough, as this blog usually stand to be my sounding board. No, I am not depressed all of the time, nor am I so confused or scared. It’s the things I don’t know how to deal with that I need to flesh out for clarification. Much like sounding out a word never read before.

Much has changed since last post, as I have moved out of my shite living situation, been branded a bastard by my previous roommate, and done what I told myself I’d never do again: Move in with a girlfriend.

While explanations for all of those really have no place in this post, they all may have had a butterflies wing flap of influence into my my current chaotic situation. Before you begin thinking things are completely horrible when I use the term “chaotic” let me remind you that it merely stands for a situations that is lacking visible order or organization. That is what I am trying to do here – gain organization and understanding of it all.

So everything has been rolling along quite well as of recently with my lady, but we seem to have minor disagreements in several areas as of late. I don’t know if it’s just the fact that we are both so comfortable with each other, or the current state of affairs in America with Politics, Religion, and Right to Choose being major issues due to the election, not to mention, race and sexism issues intertwining with our current candidates.

I am 30 now, and can no longer seem to shrug off these important issues with my peers, as my opinion and swiftness in weighing in on these issues seems to be all anyone ever wants to do these days. What ever happened to making mixed tapes, or watching sunsets, or trying to see who could come up with the funnier “word-mashup?”

Needless to say, a debate broke out during a dinner date with my girlfriend between us as to how society should treat these two social nasties, sexism and racism, and I seemed to go for the unconventional idea that if it was ignored and treated as nothing, then those inciting it would no longer get their desired response and eventually would die off. This all coming from a religious upbringing of “turning the other cheek.” My argument was of course met with contention from my girlfriend who is currently trying to further ingrain herself in the role of a feminine activist, or feminist.

Don’t get the wrong idea about me, as I am completely for anyone wanting equal treatment, as I feel that as humans we are all the same and deserve to be treated as such, but I feel that isolation and stereotyping those who feel otherwise, only further perpetuates the problems. Call me “hokey” if you will, but I truly do find merit in the question “Why can’t we all get along?”

All in all, I have come pretty far in this journey called life, and still feel as those it’s kind of disorientating finding the right path, but I do know one thing, that I need to work on my listening skills, redefine my definition of masculinity, and above all recognize that it is wonderful we are able to debate in this fashion,  that we’re good together because of our ability to do so, and willingness to recognize the underlying strength of our bond in spite of the contrasting views.

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Almost 30, and girls still confuse me…

November 22, 2006 at 5:43 am (Lonliness, love, Relationships, Socializing, Uncertainty)

I am in the weird predicament where I have the opportunity to talk to three very attractive women right now, but due to the fact that I won’t do anything until I have absolute positive verification as to whether they fancy me as much as I fancy them, I will continue to sit on my arse and do nothing now, and most likely whine about it later.

Girl #1 is actually my main interest. We actually used to date…kind of.

I made the mistake of falling for her and it was quite obvious without me ever having to let those three dreaded words part my lips. She still corresponds with me due to the fact that I will always be Mr. Nice Guy with her, and my unconditional love of her allows me to remain her possible “contingency plan” if her plans don’t work out if she fails to meet certain life goals.

She’s my plan A, and I’m her Plan B…

Girl #2 is a new girl. A girl I met from the dreaded return to MySpace. She’s a nice girls who enjoys my rambling and finds my ridiculous drivel endearing. We have yet to meet face to face, but essentially talk almost every night for hours on end via Instant messenger. She’s got great brains, and I admire that about her, but I am 5 years her senior…

She has stated that she finds me attractive and I her, but she has also expressed her feelings about my work schedule making me “not readily available” when it comes to dating. I may have been placed into the “Friend Zone” as for now, with evidence being as how she has already openly talked to me about a guy that she slept with shortly after we started corresponding.

Girl #3 didn’t really develop until this evening. She actually works at my gym, and the vibe I get from her may all just be in my head, but she has stated on several occasions that she really likes my hair, or my shoes, or something else about me, when I walk past her. And she always smiles at me and makes it a point to tell me to have a nice evening when I leave, even if she is talking to someone else. 

As it stands now, I don’t think I really have a chance with Girl #1 right now, per se, but I tell myself everyday that she is worth the wait. I only pray that I am right.

Girl #2 is someone I wouldn’t mind having something develop with, as she is really smart and quite interesting.

Girl #3, I believe, is just a fun flirty thing, but I get the feeling like I really should flirt back, if for no other reason than to just brush up on my flirtation skills. Who knows where it could lead? 

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Too drunk to send, not drunk enough to dull…

September 24, 2006 at 7:12 am (Her..., Lonliness, love)

I LOVE oyu i love oyu i love oy oi love you ilobve oyou i love yopu ii love you i love you il oevy ou i lo ve you ki love you il ov e you iiv lo e you

(She’ll never know…)

:(

Stupid emoticons….

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Guess who’s back?…

September 11, 2006 at 11:56 pm (Lonliness, Socializing)

It’s official. 

I’m back on MySpace. 

*sigh* 

I don’t really know why I keep doing it to myself. I have a yearning to reach out to someone, anyone, so long as they match what my drill-down selections are. 

I have friends, but I don’t I always seem to forget about what it’s like to be single until I’m in it for a good long time. Well, I guess you can count almost a year as when it becomes a “good long time” to my heart. 

I want female companionship, but am always afraid of meeting the wrong person at the right time. I have already lived through the right person at the wrong time and I must say, that for as great as it was, it still hurts. 

My initial fear of being “bad at love” has been conquered, as now I just want someone to be “in the foxhole with.” A kindred spirit, so to speak.. the insurmountable obstacle of my own shyness keeps me from happiness, but then there is the fact that when I do loosen up (read: drink) I can be quite the charmer. I’m witty and bright. I have great taste in clothes and electronics, and have worked very hard at polishing my social skills, for that one fateful day when they are used for the forces of good. 

So back to the real reason I signed back on for another tour of the “Nets,” I have to admit that I’m batting 1.000 when it comes down to meeting someone and it not be a total freak-fest. 

The whole thing went from being a toyed with fantasy to a reality when my “game” came under question by my roommates girlfriend. She wanted to send me on all of these blind dates with girls that she works with, but then my roommate chimed in and  told her “[he’s] more likely to want to get to know them first on-line or through email before he meets them, that’s just how he is…” 

Great, I just got stereotyped…by my best friend… 

Don’t get me wrong, stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. I do thrive in an on-line environment better then on the spot in reality unless I have a pre-established base in which to default back to when conversation or situations get “dicey” at best. 

I figure I’ll give this whole MySpace thing a little while before I get fully sick of it again and try to submerse myself in humanity once again.

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Insulted Intelligence

August 28, 2006 at 5:42 pm (inferiority, Life Lessons, Relationships)

Why does it seem to keep happening? Mr. Know-It-All

Do I bruise too easily?

I recently had a discussion with a close friend in which I revealed a pet peeve of mine. One that has me in quite a quandary of it’s existence to begin with. I absolutely detest it when my intelligence is insulted; when I am treated as if I should have known something when I don’t. Is it that I am not as smart as I should be or is it just the fact that I come off in such a manner that people naturally assume one thing about me and are at ease with me to just bring it out in the open that one thing that I found to be particularly funny is actually just quite dumb.

Why do I find humor and solace in the details?

I am not ashamed of being different but why do I feel so upset when someone points out my differences to others?

I love to learn and am in no way suggesting I know everything.

I just don’t feel comfortable with someone thinking that they know me or that I can be pigeonholed into a stereotype.

I do, however, long to be understood. In this, “understanding” and “knowing” take on two completely different definitions. I am amazed that the English language has taken care of the fact that there are so many different words for varying degrees of action.

It’s funny, because I can look back know and hear the words of a close friend of mine resound in my mind. Words that, at that time, I didn’t quite understand what he meant, but know I know.

When I was younger, I was told by him, in response to a question posed by me as to why certain people don’t like me; that I come off as a “know-it-all.”

My immediate response was, “What do you mean? If I know how something should be done, then shouldn’t I let them know?”

It has taken me 7 years to figure it out, and actually it wasn’t something I really thought about up until late. My roommate’s girlfriend, the one I mentioned in a previous post, is an awful lot like I was at her age. She automatically knows the answer to everything.

She seems to suffer from a feeling of wanting to fit it in a more “grown-up” world. It’s not that she’s wrong, it’s just she doesn’t really sit back and listen to suggestions and seems to just regurgitate everything she has read about as opposed to going off of life’s lessons.

A recent example was in adjusting the audio levels on her car stereo. It’s not the most high end in-dash CD player on the market, but she went at the whole situation as though it was like a 300 line mixing board found in a multi-million dollar recording studio.

We were told that the “loudness” option was not preferably in any ideal listening situation in an automobile because it only boosted low levels at low volumes. She was allowed to dispense this information as an “authority” because it was something she read in a college she received an Associate’s Degree from for something completely unrelated to her current field of work.

When I chimed in with my input after she ranted and raved over all of the minute details of adjusting the Treble and the Bass of “if it sounds good with the Loudness turned on then I say leave it on.” It was then we both received the “Loudness argument” and my roommate kind of set her off when he agreed with me.

It’s not like I had any idea of what I was talking about, having only 8 years of audio installation experience or anything. It’s not like I don’t have a great sounding setup in my bedroom, living room, and car. It’s not like I can’t spot distortion at an almost microscopic level in just about anything I hear.

It’s not like music is a huge part of my life.

The major change in my life has come from just sitting back and not saying anything. I let others get their opinions out all the while some small part of me believes they are just digging their own graves.

And yet, I never get to tell them, “HA! You were WRONG! I told you so!!!”

Well, a little bit of her seems to be rubbing off on my roommate (let me tell you how weird it feels to realize that I am referring to him more and more as of late as that and not as my Best Friend…) as he has seemed to instantly jump over my input and completely tear it down.

I don’t like to be made to feel like I am under attack, because my reaction to such actions generally isn’t the best, and the irreversible often happens.

There has been a tumultuous volcano eruption brewing just beneath my surface for a while now, and I am in fear of what is going to happen when it finally explodes.

Sometimes I pray for ignorance, or at least the ability to feign it…

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It’s been too long…

August 20, 2006 at 6:25 am (Lonliness, love, Relationships, Uncertainty)

I miss being in love.

I miss all of the comfort that it comes with. I miss the small nuances and epic emotions that flood my being. I miss having the certainty that being in love with someone provides. I have grown to fear love and those fishing with it’s utterance. I am afraid that I don’t know what being in love is truly like. Maybe nobody ever really does; or maybe it’s just that love is so different from one person to the next.

I am always interested to spend lots of time with someone, possible overnight in a different location just to see how they react to the surrounding and what tiny habit and customs that they have acquired or been taught as they progress through life. I love the individuality of people. I long to be just like them one day.

I want to be an individual.

I caught myself thinking about what I look like to others at work today as I calmly fall into what can only be described as my “work self.” It’s not so much that I have multiple personalities, just different areas of expression of the same personality. I am heavily influenced by whom I’m around. I guess it makes me a “well-rounded” person, but I would still like to stand out as just Myself.

I find myself, often times, being quite taken by others that seem to question and approach life similarly to myself but have a much more outgoing approach to it.

In fact, I have what I can only describe as “very strong feelings” still for someone who, no matter how many times she stumbles or has life toss bad luck in here direction, continues to carry on ever forward, scared as she is, but inquisitive. She knows the future could be bad or it could be good, but it has to be one way or another, so there is no use in delaying it. She comes off as flakey, yes, but she has an “air” about here that makes me comfortable, but at the same time makes me want to prove my all to her. I want her to know I know how she feels and that she’s not alone as long as she has me and I have her.

It’s quite possible the closest thing to love I have felt in a really long time.

I just can’t tell her in fear of scaring her away. She feels imperfect. She looks down upon herself sometimes, and it rough, but she knows she’s not worthless, just human. She is quite independent and headstrong. She’s not the shyest person I’ve met either, but unless you try, you are only going to get so much from her.

I know from experience as we were seeing each other briefly two years ago. She was like a sunny day in my “gloomy season.” She came along after a long period of loneliness and self doubting from a prior failed relationship that almost got me married.

I don’t know if she saw me as a sympathy case or not, but I approached her very cautiously. After slowly letting down my walls we really seemed to be hitting it off and enjoying each other’s time. In fact we had lots of fun together. We had fun all of the time, in bed out running around town or just chillin’ at home.

I finally introduced her to one of my really good friends at a family picnic that he was hosting and she could’ve really clammed up, but she took it all in stride, had a blast and thoroughly impressed me.

We ended up sharing what can only be described as a “moment” on the car ride back to my place after the picnic. She didn’t have too much to drink and she seemed to just fall into to it naturally. It was as if at that moment on the ride home, contentment was tangible…

The feeling lingered for a while and we had a blast and then, your hero had the bright idea about doing what I thought came naturally and tried to discuss her and I, and our relationship to one another.

In retrospect, I am sad to have had to call “progress” a mistake.

So, it’s been two years and we still talk and she has opened up more and is apologetic about the whole awkwardness of her sudden lack of interest and wants to spend time with me. It was apparently a really “bad” time in her life. I don’t press the issue because I know I probably wasn’t in the best of places emotionally as well, but we have moved on and still remain friends.

The more I talk to her, the more I realize how much I admire her and how I seem to be happy to make her smile and laugh. Those feelings seem to come racing back, no matter how I try to keep them at bay. I’ve lost her once to my heart, I don’t know if I can keep doing it and still be able to live with myself. Somehow I just need to train my heart to realize “good things come to those who wait.”

Either that, or figure out what I’m waiting for…

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Solitary Confinement

July 21, 2006 at 4:34 am (Lonliness, Socializing, theories)

My week alone is almost at a close, and I must say that I feel a little split between it being a waste and it feeling like what my soul needed; moments to sit back and take a mental inventory. Time to reflect on my life and bounce ideas off of myself.

What I’m doing.

Where I’m going.

It’s not that these thoughts aren’t constantly brewing in my head as much as it’s the fact that I put them out there to be dissected and examined before I truly get a chance to analyze and polish them; to have them become complete thought that fully voice my opinion and feelings.

Most times, I just say what’s on my mind to my friends, spur of the moment, because my A.D.D. runs away with my thought stream. I get frustrated when someone else brings up a valid point that makes my thoughts seem infantile at best because the rest of the idea was right in front of me the whole time.

With this happening with such frequency, due to the fact that I am rarely ever alone, and my opinion is seemingly always asked for, it’s not hard to see why I have a view that everyone around me is much smarter and wiser than I.

Is this the case? Is this what wisdom is; the ability to formulate complete, rational thoughts quickly?

I do have friends, that I consider much smarter than I, that admit with great frequency that I am smart. I am told to take it as fact and not just a compliment. My self-esteem seems to be keeping me from doing their bidding, but I wake up every morning with a plan to try to change and to become that person that everyone believes me to be.

It’s quite unnerving to look back at the end of the day and see my successes and my failure and see a rift in my personality. On one hand I can come off completely in control of a situation and the life of the party to people I interact with on a daily basis, but take that same person and place him in a social situation where I actually want to fit in, where I want to belong, and I clam up.

After a few expensive drinks, I tend to unwind a bit, but that’s always after I have already given off the impression of being distant, uninterested, or shy to those who don’t know me. The only times that I can recall where this isn’t as much the case is where there is someone there that is newer to this scenario than I in the crowd I run with on such an occasion.

I do my best to make people feel comfortable, but when people are already are comfortable, then I just feel unnecessary and expected to perform or something. To instantly become a focal point of attention because the few people that are in the groups I run with know me as such most of the time when we are in more familiar environments.

I wish one day to become the type of person that can express how I feel and be seen as a valued contributing member of society, but for now, it’s just me and this lonely cell.

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