Yes, Fallout: New Vegas is being released tomorrow.
It combines most of my favorite things into one game:
Time to set my 40″ TV up as a monitor.
Confident action instead of fearful reaction.
If I’ve learned anything in life, it is the following:
It is both a sad and exciting day for me. I bid adieu to my love. It wasn’t economically feasible or even practical to keep it around, so I had to sell my G35. Sadly, I loved that car more than I have loved a girlfriend.
Due to my isolationist lifestyle, it became a financial burden. Driving a car twice a month does not justify an extreme expense. Like the girlfriend who constantly professes her everlasting love yet barely shows up and takes considerably more than she gives, it was time to part ways with my car.
Whenever I was blue, I took that car for a drive around the block and everything was fine. Nothing has ever made me feel so alive and in the moment as that car. Redlining and doing 0-60 in 5.5 seconds. Going 120mph along a stretch of deserted highway at 2am and feeling completely in control of the savage yet refined beast of an engine. However, all good things must eventually come to an end. Like selling my house, there is a time and a place for things to happen. I am moving on to a lifestyle which is devoid of any material excess. Tools and only tools. My creativity and art takes precedence over all.
I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sell it for enough to pay off the loan. Luckily, I found CarMax online. I went by their location for their free appraisal. They offered me an incredibly generous amount and their car dealership experience that was surprisingly enjoyable. I finished the deal with a nice check in my pocket and large loan repaid. I highly recommend CarMax to anyone looking for a used car or wanting to sell their car. I was very impressed and that doesn’t happen very often.
So, farewell my love. I hope that your new owner treats you with the love and respect that I did.
The 1000HE is awesome.
I’ve been sitting on the couch watching the NBA finals with this netbook on my lap. It’s the second half and I still have 84% of the battery remaining. Ridiculous.
Working on putting a new blog together. It’s going to be a cross between Important Things and Grinds my Gears.
In the journey of life, there will always be forks in the road - milestones in which the direction of our lives is altered. Specifically in our relationships with others. So hard to move on sometimes, but it is like trimming a tree - it is necessary to promote new growth. I have had the opportunity to experience so much in so little time this year. I’ve experienced some hard times and some amazingly great times but what I have really found is myself. I can be me.
Specifically, I have learned so much about relationships. It is better to be alone than be with someone just to be with someone. That you should never change yourself just to be with someone. That there is a huge difference between compromise and sacrifice in a relationship especially early on - compromise makes relationships work, sacrifice break relationships. When you can find that person with a similar core and interests, that is where happiness in a relationship is.
It is amazing what is possible when you commit yourself to growing as a person and constantly redefining and reinventing yourself. Of course the essence of you - the core values and goals - remains the same, but the way you present yourself to, see, and interact with the world is constantly evolving.
Almost a year ago, I basically shaved my head and my face was clean shaven. Now, I have long hair and facial hair. Why? I do not know really. Just to try something different and I ended up liking it. As an added bonus, the people around me have responded in a surprisingly positive and supportive way to what is a drastic change for someone who is an adult. I don’t want to lose that ability that I had as a teenager to just chase things. To experience things. To be in the moment. To not be scared of looking foolish. To not be scared to laugh at myself when I do idiotic things because when it comes down to it, life is not a spectator sport… you have to get dirty sometimes to get anywhere.
My sister’s wedding is a good example of moving forward. Ten years ago, I would have basically hid in my corner and not talked to anyone. Five years ago, I would have sat and talked to those that I know or people who talked to me first. Present day, I got up in front of a ton of people without a prepared speech and gave the brother of the bride toast. I’ve actually never spoken to a group of people that large before, but it didn’t matter because I spoke from the heart and told my sister how happy I was for her. Why be nervous or scared? Follow your heart and you will find an amazing amount of strength.
There is something amazing about approaching life with an open heart and mind. You get to experience so much more because you do not get wrapped up in guilt or regret. The little things that cause most people to fester quickly cease to matter. Life is really about the people who you choose to spend time with and the experiences you share with them.
I think the best way is to approach life with a smile, laugh, and skip in your step. So what if the world is going to hell in a hand basket? Life is a matter of perspective. If you believe that nothing good will ever happen, it won’t. If you just focus on experiencing life to the fullest and see the good in everything everyday, you will always be content.
Embrace who and where you are and what you love. Grow. Learn. Live.
Every six months, I go through a period of time where I find it necessary to scrutinize everything in my life. The end result is usually a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and momentum towards a plan to move forward. Unfortunately, after six months things go right back to the same indifferent contemplative funk.
It always seems like my focus is on the big hurdles and how to properly overcome them. Despite my thinking as such, the actuality is that life’s hurdles are not linearly oriented and can be broken down such that overcoming them is rather simple. Too often, I spend considerable amounts of time trying to reason and rationalize when there is really no point to it.
Somewhere along the way most adults lose that ability to just be in the moment. Our attempts to understand and control the future through the present usually fail because we are never truly there. The act of analysis effectively kills the magic of being in that moment. This line of thought always reminds me of the “Flower’s for Algernon” argument - Perhaps it is best to feel rather than know. The sanitized mainstream culture dulls our inherent proclivity toward creative and unique thought.
It is so easy to lose sight of personal enrichment amidst the daily grind of life unless it becomes an integral part. Unfortunately, we seem to make that integration much harder than it needs to be. Television, video games, the internet, and consumerism have a way of sneaking up on us with their limitless time sapping abilities.
Right now, my only goal is to do something every day to make myself better. When there is momentum, things always fall into place. Doing things just for the sake of doing them is reason enough to get excited. I have no idea where I am going, but when I get there, I want the journey to have been an enriching and enjoyable experience.
Do something you enjoy that will allow you to see your progress. Take pictures, write, just create something. The first wall of self-doubt and defeatism is the hardest one to overcome, but once you clear it, everything flows.
A shovelful of dirt a day and eventually you have a mountain. Break down the big stuff, prioritize, and you will be moving forward. Our abilities are only limited by time, so make it count.
The latest hysteria regarding the US economy failing is vaguely reminiscent of the Y2K scare but the contributing factors are much more diverse, serious, and real.
It is hard to ignore the facts, but it is also difficult to not succumb to self-fulfilling prophecies. The current housing crisis became one once the morons at the mainstream media outlets decided that their celebrity news and related soft journalism was much more fun when it included fear mongering. Tipping points as such only end up with a deluge of panic.
Report a money shortage and there will be runs on banks.
Report a big weather event coming and people clean out retailers like it were Christmas Eve prior to the expansive and efficient shipping supply networks of the new millennium.
Report a food shortage and there will be one due to the sharp increase in demand.
Even rational people have to partake in the mob mentality because the ‘ostrich head in the sand’ approach does no good. Self-preservation and self-interest has always been motto of humanity. We, as a species, almost always value our own lives and those of blood relatives above those of others. Derivation from such innate instincts is often regarded by society as heroism and sacrifice.
The storm clouds of economic collapse seem to be gathering. The question on my mind right now - are there any silver linings anymore? With these seemingly insurmountable forces closing in, most everyday things seem almost pointless. Not meaning to be morose or defeatist - just realistic.
Well, I purged most of the paper in my house. My overall cleaning process is going well, but still a long way from completion. The quantity of junk I have managed to hoard over the years is just mind boggling.
Some hard decisions about what I am going to end up keeping. In past purges, I have always kept all of my electronics, tools, books, and memorabilia. This time around, everything is fair game.
In this day and age, almost everything is cheap and replaceable. I have so much stuff that I do not even use. Stuff that I bought for projects that I never completed. Tools that I will no longer need once I get rid of my stupid house.
In the coming weeks, I will probably be parting with some of the electronics which have served me well through the years:
That will leave me with three computers (main, mythtv system, and auxiliary), one monitor, and my shelf audio system.
Also on my list of stuff to sell is Bowflex, kitchen table/chairs, shelving units, and a bunch of other random stuff. Still considering if I am going to keep or sell my furniture set. (Sofa, Loveseat, and Chair)
Parting with all of this junk is actually a really fun process. My house feels less crowded already. Going to put most of that stuff up on craigslist shortly. With the proceeds, I should be able to buy a DSLR camera. Also, considering buying an LCD TV, but not quite sure if I want to take that plunge yet.
My goal is to have my house on the market April 1st.
I wrote an amazing post about “Optimism vs. Pessimism” earlier today. Unfortunately my amazing mouse skills caused the browser to go back while I was looking for a quote citation. Trust me, the article was incredibly riveting.
Karma decided to kill it though because I was speaking ill of people who do not even deserve being mentioned. Like my fourth grade teacher. What a bitch. Damn it, now karma is going to spank me again.
Speaking of which, Karma has been in my way all day. I am not quite sure what I have done to upset Senor Karma, but this day was filled with a bunch of tiny irritating things including but not limited to my inability to properly place commas and the contents of my garage bitch slapping my Maxima’s side view mirror. Perhaps deleting most of my MySpace was the cause? Well Mister Karma, none of my former friends wrote me to complain, so I must assume the feelings were mutual.
Perhaps you are just setting me up for some awesomeness. Like I am going to win the Powerball. Yes, I took Engineering Probability and Statistics and I understand playing the lottery is the equivalent of driving a hybrid car to save the environment. Unless, of course, you consider the 482% increase in smugness and superiority complex as being environmentally friendly.
While I am on the subject of cars. Men with large trucks/SUVs, try those penis enhancement pills. I am sure that those will make you feel much better about your tiny penises than driving a big ass vehicle. (Yes, I cited urban dictionary as a credible source).
While I am on the subject of small things - Midgets crack me up. I know that makes me an evil bastard, but midgets are like natures inherently funny clowns - unlike real clowns which are disconcerting to say the least. Hey, children do not like clowns either. When I become supreme ruler of Drewopia, I will have an army comprised completely of midgets and squirrels. It is a combination that cannot be beaten and storing them will not be a problem. I will just get a very large box with holes poked in it and call it a day.
Oh, and Dane Cook is not funny. I was so happy when Keven Costner killed him in Mr. Brooks. On the other hand, Mitch Hedberg was genuinely funny.
Anyways, Senor Karma bring on the awesomeness. Or just smite me some more. Makes things more interesting.
This nonsensical post was sponsored by a neat glass of Macallan 10 year and yo’ momma.