4-30-10

Road Trippin and Hangin With My Brother!

Chris is jumping at the Jesse Owens Classic tomorrow at Ohio State. Yay! Columbus is only three hours away from me so that saves me the time and money to fly to South Dakota.

I only worked half a day today. I left at noon. I had to make a pit stop at school because I got an e-mail saying someone found my jump drive. I didn't even know it was missing. I thought it was in my pants from yesterday. I have a tendency to wash jump drives too. I got all my clothes and hopped in my car.

I took Charley to the kennel yesterday so that wasn't a problem. I got on the highway and had all my windows rolled down with the radio up. It was a nice 80 degrees and partly cloudy. The map route I downloaded took me the scenic route. It was amazing. Everything is green. I drove along the Ohio river. I loved my trip to Columbus.

I got to the hotel and met Chris and some family friends that live in Columbus. We went out to eat and then back to the hotel to hang out. Chris gave me some pointers on how to deal with my shin splints. I'm still not sold on an ice bath. :-/

So now it's time to rest and get ready for the meet tomorrow. I'm pretty pumped. I hope Chris does well. In the past Ohio State hasn't been the best place for him. One meet he had food poisoning. Another meet he got the flu on the flight down. Another meet he got screwed by the judges because they didn't want their football standout athlete to be outdone. Like I said, he's had a bad stroke of luck at Ohio State. I'm sure the real reason he's jumping at Ohio State is to come down and visit. Of course he'd like to win but spending time with friends and family is really the bonus of the trip.

Chris leaves early Sunday morning so I'm leaving Saturday evening. It's supposed to rain all weekend so no windows down scenic trip back for me. A friend recommended a book for me. I downloaded it and plan on listening to it on the way back. That should keep me occupied.

Bright day tomorrow. Wish us luck.

4-29-10

Bob Mad! Bob Angry! BOB SMASH!!!!

So I went to track practice today. Things were going well until I started our agility drills. I began to notice some pain in shins. I ran one 300 and I thought I was going to cry. I have shin splints.

Coach Jim said it was probably from doing too much too soon. I'm not used to the pounding that takes a toll on a sprinter yet. He's right. I did jump right into it. There are things I can do to prevent or lessen the shin splints. I plan on doing all of it. I'm too into this.

Favre's disease strikes again!

My shins are killing me right now. I'm telling you it feels worse than being shot.

I'm so upset right now. This is not how I expected to return to track. It's more ego than anything though. 8 year old kids can run all day and I'm stuck hobbling on artificial turf. Last time I was upset about a physical activity I stuck to it and gained 25 pounds of muscle. I plan on doing the same thing with sprinting. I'll stop when they cut my legs off.

That's about it. Just needed to thump my chest.

4-28-10

Taking Donations to Combat Favre's Disease...

I'm sure I've blogged about this before. I'll post something again. With all the lifting and running I'm doing at my age I jokingly say that I suffer from "Favre's Disease." It's a condition that people 35 and over suffer from. It's when they continue to exercise and do strenuous activity that 18 year old's do without the understanding that their body doesn't recuperate as fast as an 18 year old.

With that said, I feel pretty darn good today. I am sore of course. I would be concerned if I wasn't. After practice yesterday I thought I was going to need a wheelchair today. Nope. I'm doing alright. I stretched and took a hot bath last night. I'm sure that had something to do with it.

More God Stuff

I had an interesting conversation at the gym with a friend the other day. Our conversation started with Sarah Palin. My friend brought up that Palin believes that dinosaurs were on Noah's ark and that the history of man is probably 4000 years. There are people who believe that but I am not among them. I began to tell my friend this. I brought up evidence of the fossil record and some other archeological tidbits and to make a long story short, I told him that in spite of all the evidence that seems contrary to the bible, it's really not.

I have my own view of scripture. I do believe that the bible is the inspired word of God but the bible isn't a science book. Does it have science in it? Yes. The bible also has history, poetry, prophecy and psalms. The bible has passionate letters between lovers and some humor spliced in from time to time. So I'm not one who takes a literal interpretation of Genesis, but I do believe there is truth behind the stories. That doesn't bother me in the slightest and it doesn't lessen my faith or increase doubt when it comes to God.

The final point of our conversation was profound. We shared our opinions and beliefs about the bible and God and without even thinking about it I brought up the point that matters most. That point being Jesus Christ.

I told my friend that humanity has been debating our existence for ages. There are people out there on both sides of the debate who have based their careers and lives on answering that question. I enjoy that debate but It's not something I delve too deep into. Why? Simple. Jesus Christ. For two thousand years man has had time to debunk the crucifixion. The best rebuttal skeptics can come up with is to change the meaning of the words instead of deal with the content. The skeptic will say Jesus was "resurrected" but in an allegorical sense. It wasn't literal. I had no idea Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were versed in post-modern literary prose.

We ended our conversation with this point. No matter how much intellectual knowledge you may have, Jesus is a moral choice, not an intellectual one. To accept Christ means surrender. It means placing your life in the hands of someone else. It means accepting a love that you yourself aren't worthy to have. It means giving love that others won't accept. Jesus strips you naked of everything until there is nothing left but a place for Him to dwell. This is why the skeptic struggles with God, especially Jesus Christ. It's not about evidence. It's about getting over yourself.

It got quiet after that. We continued our workout and talked about a few other topics. Before I left my friend looked at me and said "I know what you mean about Jesus. I struggle with those questions every day."

Never stop asking the question. I pray that everyone will find the answer.

4-27-10

I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. - Eric Liddell

There are some things in life that prove to me that there is a God. I have no intellectual or philosophical reason behind it. It's just something that I know. Sprinting is that thing.

I ran track in high school and a little bit in college. It's a sport that I have always been passionate about. My brother still contributes by competing or coaching even today. Sadly, I've allowed life to get in the way and other priorities have kept me from something I truly enjoy doing.

This past Sunday I went to the local track to do some running. I have been running on my own for years. I don't like it. I never have the personal commitment to continue training. So again, I am at the track to continue my running futility. There are some kids there. It's looks like maybe a middle school track team. I'm doing agility drills and some stretching. While I was doing this I overhear a coach say that the sprint coach isn't there so they won't be doing block starts. That peeked my interest. I walked over to the the man and asked if I could work with the kids with block. See, I have mad skills when it comes to blocks. I was first leg on all my relays because I had the best block starts. The man said yes.

I spent the next hour working with kids and their block starts. I loved it. I found out that they are a track club. It's totally for kids. It's not olympic caliber and it's not supposed to be. The kids are there to learn and enjoy the sport. Being around them was energetic and contagious.

To make a longs story short, guess who became an assistant coach for this track club? You guessed it! ME!!!

What makes this great is that I have the time to devote to these kids. Today was practice and we ran 4 x 300's and 2 X 200's. We would have ran more 200's but it was very cold. The temperature was 55 degrees but the wind was so very cold. We couldn't feel our hands or ears. I ran with the kids. It has been forever since I have completed a real tough workout like this. I didn't complain between rest periods. I ran with the kids and encouraged them to keep form and concentrate on finishing the race.

I'm sure I will feel it tomorrow but after today I don't think the pain will matter. It is totally worth it. I have people to run with and help me get back into competition form. I am able to share my knowledge of track and field with these kids. I love it. It's been a long time since I've been so excited about something.

I'm not the fastest person in the world. I'm thirty five years old and towards the end of practice it started to show. I'm alright with that. Today it didn't matter.

I am reminded of Paul's words in scripture about running the race. I'm also reminded of how God says we should not be alone. We should fellowship with others. These teachings are a truth to me. It's so hard to run alone. With no motivation and encouragement from friends and teammates it's difficult to finish the race. If you don't finish the race then you become out of shape.

I have been alone for too long. I don't talk about it. I don't obsess about it like some people I know. I realize that I shouldn't be alone.

Today I sprinted. Today I came off the curve and hit the center of that straightaway. The wind at my back and a smile on my face. Before I crossed that finish line I couldn't help but look up and smile. I understand Eric Liddell. Because I too feel God's pleasure when I run.

Thank you God for this opportunity. Give me a heart to share and teach kids. Please place people in my life and someone in my life Lord. I know now it's not good to be alone.

4-26-10

Nine to Five Problems...

I don't think I'm a nine to five person. Even when I've had the opportunity to work nine to five it became something else. I sit in a cubicle in front of a computer. The day goes by slow. It makes me miss waiting tables. There is no lunch and dinner rush. There is no side work or other work to occupy the time. I just sit in front of a computer in a cubicle.

I got into multimedia design because I pictured myself sitting in coffee shops all across the U.S. doing internet stuff. Web design seems like a great gig to travel and really get out of the workplace. Sitting in an office is not what I had in mind. Does that mean I'm going to do something else? No. It gives me incentive to get to that wonderful zen place where I don't have to see a cubicle ever again.

Blog Archive Updates

I posted onto this blog all of my MySpace posts last night. I was up till 1am making spelling corrections. I didn't do any edits to any of my posts. I posted everything as is. I look back on some things I have posted and thought "what was I thinking?" That's alright. I also look back on posts and see growth. I'm definitely not the person I was when I started the blog. I've had moments of ups and downs and they are documented here. I hope everyone reads this blog in it's entirety. You will get a more well rounded idea of Bob. :-)

Bad Dreams

I didn't get much sleep last night. You know how they say that whatever you were doing or watching before you go to bed may give you weird dreams. Well, that happened to me last night. I guess some of my posts got to me. I had some strange and bad dreams.

The dream that woke me out of a sound sleep involved my parents. I don't know where we were but I knew they were in trouble. I had to find them. I can still feel the sense of urgency and the near panic I had from that dream. I desperately tried to find them. When I finally got close enough to see them in my dream, I woke up. I sat straight up in my bed and I swear it felt like I had just ran a marathon. I was sweating. I looked around the room and gathered myself. I remembered that I was in my room and I wasn't going to find them. I tried to go back to sleep but I just laid there and tried to calm myself. I stared at the ceiling till it was time to get up.

I don't think I've ever had anything like this happen to me.

Blog Archive Updates

BLOG ARCHIVE UPDATES!!!

I am going to delete My Myspace account soon. I have some pictures and other items to take off first. The most important item I needed to transfer was my blog. I was unable to post on this blog for almost a year. Because of the trial It was best that I didn't. So I posted on MySpace.

I transfered the blog posts from May 2006 to January 2007. You'll have to pardon some of the posts. They may not make sense. That's because for about three months after the shooting I was on pain killers and I have no idea how I wound up typing any of those posts. They were filled with grammatical errors and half thoughts. I cleaned some of them up.

Enjoy.

4-24-10

I miss my washer and dryer...

Today was a well needed laundry day. I try to do laundry once a week but that doesn't stay the plan. Clothes build up and then laundry becomes an all day event. I live in an apartment complex where I have to use their coin laundry machines. I have a card that I can put money on and that's how I pay for my laundry. The washing machine isn't that bad. I have the timing cycles down to a science and know when to put my liquid fabric softener in. It's the dryers that I hate. My pants never come out dry. I have dried them for an hour and a half once and they still were damp. My clothes come out with a burnt smell to them.

I have a washing machine and dryer in storage. I wish I would have found an apartment that I could have used them with when I moved here. They work really well and I never have any problems drying my clothes or a weird smell. I hope in the future that my next living area allows me to use these household appliances.

What's wrong with the upstairs apartment?

I have lived where I'm at for almost two years now. Since then the three bedroom apartment upstairs has not had anyone live there for more than three months. The first group was some girl and her verbally abusive boyfriend. They lived here the first three months I lived here. They thought it would be a good idea to argue and fight in front of my bedroom window every night at two in the morning. I called the police on them many times. The police would show up and arrest their friends for pot possession. Such a nice group of folks. They up and left without paying their rent.

The apartment was vacant for a few months and then a family with a large dog moved in. Their dog was named..."dog." I don't know what they were doing up there but they banged and clunked into the wee hours of the night. I swear they were building a space ship or something. Well, I may have been right. As quick as they moved in they left. I guess their space ship was done and it was time to take "dog" and go back to their planet.

The next group was a woman and her four kids. The woman was in the air force and she had a bad problem of leaving the kids alone for short periods of time. I knew they were alone because they would scream and cry for their mom when she left. She had an abusive boyfriend whose favorite word was the f-bomb. He used it every third word around the kids. Nothing better than hearing a man scream at a woman and her kids at 3am. They lived there for two months also. I must have been out of town because I came back one day and they were gone.

The last group to live in the apartment were an elderly couple. Their 18 year old daughter lived with them and she has two kids. Wow! 18 years old and already two kids. The one girl was incredibly obnoxious. If she were my kid I would have lit her up like a lightning bug. She wouldn't have been able to sit down for a week. Her mom wasn't home much. She was always going out with her friends and leaving her two kids with the grandparents. Well, they moved out this past weekend after only two months.

So I wonder what's up with that apartment. Everyone else in my complex is quiet and stable. It seems that only unstable and disgruntled people move into the upstairs apartment. I plan on moving out in July. I hope that no one else moves in there till I leave. I can only hope that if someone does they don't continue the trend of horrible tenants.

Flash Festival

I attended a seminar called "Flash Festival" on the West Liberty campus. I was under the impression it would be about Flash. It wasn't. It consisted mostly of Hollywood animation and video.
Despite there not being any real web information I did get a lot of insight into the creative process of how movies and other projects are developed. I was able to learn from that and incorporate it into my creative development for web. It's pretty much the same.
One of the animation designers from Disney and other projects came and talked. He showed the design process for the movie "9." After we were done I was mesmerized at how much detail and precision went into this movie. Truly amazing. I went out and bought "9" and I'm going to sit down and watch it. I saw it at the movies when it came out but now that I know what went into making it I have a new appreciation for it.

4-22-10

Vacation and the NFL Draft...

I haven't posted in a few days because I have been on vacation. I just needed some time to do nothing. I made a trip to Ohio to visit some friends. Other than that I just went to the gym and spent time relaxing. I needed it.

I took the last few days of my break to do a personal evaluation. I have a teacher who suggests after every project we do to ask the question "What would you have done differently?" I asked that question about the entire quarter, not just my projects.

My conclusion is that I shot myself in the foot this past quarter. I put myself in positions of pressure that I didn't necessarily have to. I realized that studying for multimedia is different than studying for other college courses. See, I'm the guy that people hate because I can write a 20 page paper in less than a day and get a better grade than someone who works their butt off for weeks. To be honest, I found college to be easier than high school and I don't feel that I have ever been challenged on the college level. I'll go even further and say that there have been classes where other students have commented that I should be teaching the class. So, after many years of developing a pretty comfortable and high self impression of my college abilities I hit a wall last quarter. I have finally found something that challenges my critical thinking skills and creativity.

I've spent my break renewing my mindset and my goals. I've been humbled by last quarter and I'm embracing a challenging field that keeps me on my toes. I need this. Hopefully it will keep me out of trouble.

I started my internship Wednesday. I think I'm going to enjoy it. I like the people I work with. I'm not too keen on the hardware though. I'm used to using my laptop and I use a track ball mouse. I plan on bringing my mouse to work. I so can't use the mouse they have. I'll keep my laptop in my car for safe keeping too. I don't plan on blogging about my internship much because it's not good blogging etiquette to post explicit details about where you work.

The NFL Draft was tonight. It was anti-climactic. There weren't any surprises. I guess the shocker of the night was that Tim Tebow was taken by the Broncos at 25. Tebow was projected to go in the second round. There were some big trades but nothing exciting.

The Browns took Florida Cornerback Joe Haden. It's a safe pick. I'm sure he'll start. If Haden can keep from making the ignorant and incredibly stupid mistakes that previous Browns corners have made in the past, he will be a high value pick in my book. Too many unnecessary pass interference calls and missed tackles. I just hope he can tackle. Is that too much to ask?

Quarterbacks Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy are still undrafted. The Browns may wind up with one of them tomorrow. We'll see.

Time to go to bed. Long day tomorrow.

4-16-10

Enjoying My Break...

I'm having an eventful uneventful break. I'm filling up my time with a lot of nothing that is something but not much of anything.

Lots of Star Trek Online

I haven't played this game in weeks. I've been way too busy. My goal has been to become Captain. I would like to say that I have made my goal and I'm quite happy about that. I play games in moderation as I do have responsibilities. It is still nice to have a break where I don't have to think about anything except killing Romulans.

Tea Party Rallies

I've taken a vacation from the Tea Party stuff too. I just don't feel like being around large groups of people right now. I just want to relax. So, I became part of the silent majority that supports the movement but doesn't go to the events. I've been looking at the polling data that is out there and the movement is now mainstream. More people support the Tea Party platform than Obama's platform. What's even more interesting is that the more claims are made that these folks are the fringe or racist, homophobes, the larger it grows. I think this happens for two reasons. The first reason is curiosity. People want to know what this is all about. The second reason is there is a major attempt by the opposition to paint these people as something they're not. Like me, there are people who have relatives and friends that are part of this movement and they know they are not what the media portrays them to be. In response they support the movement to support their friends and family. OK. A third reason is that people are concerned with all the spending. I would think that no matter what political leaning you are that would be a concern.

I've also noticed that Republicans are losing donors. I started researching this when Michael Steele got flack for a L.A. voyeur club scandal. The donors are leaving the party and putting their money into Tea Party affiliated groups and 527's. I find this fascinating and I plan on continuing to watch this. This may be huge come November.

NFL Draft and News

I live in Pittsburgh and the past few weeks has been all about Big Ben. I have heard a lot of stories about him and what I've noticed are a few main themes in every story. The first theme is that he has a sense of entitlement. He does expect to be pampered and treated like a rock star. The second theme is that he has a violent aversion to signing autographs. You can pull out a camera and get a pic with him. You can drink and party with him. Just don't ask for his signature. He goes buck nutty! What a weirdo!

As far as the draft is concerned I think this year will be interesting. The draft is over three days. Round one will be in the evening Thursday the 22nd. Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday and 4 through 7 on Saturday. I expect a lot of trades this year. With the second round on Friday it becomes the first round again minus 32 players. That gives teams all night to make calls and set up trades. That's awesome! I love the NFL Draft. I'm totally geeked out over it this year.

New Gym Stuff

I'm loving the new gym I'm going to. It has so many things to get into. It's almost overkill. I did back yesterday and I'm totally sore today. I love it. I lost weight while I was sick last week. I'm pretty sure that a few weeks at the new gym I should be able to get the weight back and then some.

Interwebs

I'm heading to Ohio today to work on a website for a friend. I want to use the site as a portfolio piece. I'm going to spend my weekend on this project. I know it's my break but I'm viewing this as more a pleasure than an assignment.

Yay Friday!

4-14-10

Spring Cleaning...

Today is a great day. It's in the low 60's with a nice breeze. I opened all the windows in my apartment. I'm on break from classes to I'm taking the opportunity to pack up some winter clothes and get ready for the spring season. I hope we have more days like this. I love having the windows open. I think I'll get some patio furniture out of my storage shed and sit outside on my porch. I'll do laundry tomorrow. I'm not really in the mood to fold clothes. Maybe a run later. Who knows.

Yesterday I went to a new gym. I totally love it. This gym has machines I've never seen before. They are ergonomically structured to get the most out of the range of motion and focus on the muscle being pushed. Yesterday I worked out my chest. I started with the bench and then used the rest of the time to work hitting each secondary muscle group used when you bench. I woke up the morning and every muscle in my chest, and upper arms is sore. Normally when I do chest I am sore the next in certain areas but never all over. This is nice.

I like the gym I have been going to but I feel like I've plateaued. I think I need an extra push to get better results. I think the machines in this gym will do that. I'm getting a good deal to join this new gym and I think I'm going to take it. I look forward to sharing my results.

Time to get off the computer and have some dinner. Yay!

4-13-10

So What Do You Call It?

I've been thinking about some of my political posts that I have written since the whole health care thing. A lot of those posts were me flowing with the keyboard with no rough draft or revisions. Since the health care vote I surf the TV and web to see what others are writing and thinking. I do enjoy my punditry and it can get a bit charged. So with that said I feel the need to clarify a few things.

I don't particularly care for hippies. Now, I'm not talking about the cool hippies that attend Grateful Dead concerts and grow pot in their spare bedroom. I'm talking about the whack jobs from the 60's that rebelled against everything, read Ginsburg, dropped acid with Leary and then by 1974 cut their hair and got a job working for the man. I know a few and all I can say is that they did way too much drugs. The ones that scare me are the ones that are playing a major role in the direction of this country right now. They have learned that not bathing and chanting with a large sign is ineffective. Teaching on college campuses and working for the government is. If Obama's presidency was a Star Wars movie it would be called "Revenge of the Hippies."

So, are hippies liberals? I don't think so. I have a lot of liberal friends. Many of them have good hearts who honestly want to see our country a better place. We just disagree on how large a role government should play in that. Hippies are violently post-modern in their thinking and radical in their view of the world. They have an allergic reaction to any traditional organization or institution. I don't care if they want to live in a commune, share partners and drive a broken down bus. Just don't think the rest of us want to.

Every time I think the word hippie I think of Cartman on South Park.

I don't have a problem with socialists. I just have a problem with socialists being dishonest about being socialists. If you came up to me and said you are a socialist and you believe that socialism is the best way for America, I would have no problems with you. To be honest, I would like to have lunch with you sometime so we can have a spirited debate. See, I like people who are honest with themselves and what they believe in. I see that as common ground and a willingness to trust me that I won't view you as some anti-American monster.

I see a lot of socialists today who aren't willing to come out. They call themselves progressives or liberals. President Obama is a die hard socialist. Yet, he won't admit it. He hides his socialism by throwing around business and economic terms like "choice and competition." He has even gone as far as quoting Reagan from time to time. I don't blame him. If a politician uses the "S" word it's pretty much the political equivalent of putting a gun in your mouth and pulling the trigger.

Now, I know someone will read this and say, "Obama is NOT a socialist." My response is if he's not, then what do you call what he is doing to our economy? See, we have certain various models of economic and political theory that countries model themselves after. There is capitalism, communism, fascism, socialism etc. Which category best fits what Obama is doing?

Most responses I get are, "He's just fixing what Bush did!" That's justification. How is he "fixing" it? What model is he using?

Anther response is, "What he's doing is being fair." So let me get this strait. We have capitalism, socialism, communism, fascism, ......fair? I didn't know "fair" was a theory. I must have missed the "fair" chapter during my poli-sci courses.

I just wish someone would be honest and call it what it is. Come out and say it. If you honestly believe that government control of our economy is the best way to spur economic growth, then call it what it is.

Stop lying to yourself and to me.

One last thing. Medicare and Social Security are forms of socialism. They are government run programs that distribute wealth from the federal level. I know a lot of people who don't like socialism that don't have a problem with these two programs.

So what is the question? Is all socialism bad?

I try not to be one of those evening pundits that throws around the bumper sticker catch phrases that get everyone riled up. I like when people honestly think about what is going on and how we can solve our problems. I have no wish to get caught up on whatever Palin phrase is cool right now or mindless slogan from our president. America's problems are more complex than that. It works well during campaigns and TV interviews but it doesn't put people back to work.

I feel better now.

My Story: Prologue

Where To Begin...

Have you ever looked at your life and realized that everything you know, everything you have been through, even the people you have met has led you to one singular moment? All the experience, wisdom and knowledge that you have accumulated through life comes together in one conscious decision.

My moment is May 16th, 2006. No matter how hard I try to dismiss it, this day is the most pivotal moment in my life. It's a day that I learned who I am and who my parents raised me to be.

I've racked my brain on how I would start to tell my story. Where do I begin? How do I begin? Who are the characters? After weeks and countless hours of notes and outlines I think I have it figured out.

I have a number or reasons to tell my story. At first it was to right wrongs. To give a response to negative and false witness about me and my parents. As time passed and I looked at events that led up to May 16th and saw that something wonderful happened. Rebuttal and clarification became secondary. The real story is that for a brief period of time I experienced life in a whole different way. I also came to have a relationship with my parents that I never thought was possible. I have always been close to them but I must admit that we went beyond the bonds of parent and child. They had become more than my parents. They became my closest friends. We developed a trust and a bond that could not be broken.

The farm was a place that my parents and I were able to rediscover ourselves. For too many years we moved around from state to state and place to place. We left a bit ourselves in each place we went until finally we couldn't recognize ourselves. It took returning to our simple roots on a farm in West Virginia for us to collect ourselves and resemble the people we had been in the past.

We had help. People had entered our lives who opened doors to emotions and feelings long dormant. Our eyes were opened to true community and love for God and each other. Through trials and hard times these people shared and prayed for our safety and peace. We could not have dealt with what we went through without them. This is their story as much as it is ours.

Finally, this is not entirely my story. The main reason I write this is to tell my Mom and Dad's story. It's about Bob and Tanna Slatt. It's about the love they shared for each other and how towards the end of their lives they rediscovered each other. They were always in love but I had never seen them so in love as during this time.

My brother and I have been fortunate and blessed to have such wonderful parents. It is for them I tell this story. I want to share their faith, love and friendship with everyone who is willing to read this blog.

When I was maybe 6 or 7 years old I was told to clean my room. As I was cleaning my room I took stock on my toys. I could look at each toy and tell you when I got it and from whom. I received all my toys from relatives on birthdays and holidays. All toys except for one. I couldn't organize it or remember which holiday I received it. Off to Dad I went. I told him that I had this one toy that he had bought me and I couldn't remember when I received it. He said he just bought it for me. Perplexed by this I asked him, why?

He said "Because I love you."

This is for you Mom and Dad.

Because I love you.

4-9-10

My Neo Moment...

The last week of the quarter is always the hardest. In all my school history I do believe this one to be the hardest ever. That's saying a lot considering that I've been going to some type of school for almost my entire life. I got hit with a physically crippling stomach virus on Monday. I had three projects to work on all quarter. I got the first one mostly done in 4 weeks. The second one just wouldn't stop. It took the other 7 weeks to do. Project three I didn't start until Wednesday afternoon. All projects were to be completed by 5pm today. I also had another class where I had a Flash video game to complete. That game didn't go so well.

So what is my Neo moment?

Remember in the first(and only good) Matrix film when Mr. Smith had killed Keanu in the train station and then suddenly he get's up and stops the bullets? He's no longer Mr. Anderson. He's Neo!

He can see the code!

He can see the Matrix!!!

Yeah! That happened to me Thursday night. Well, I wasn't shot in a train station by computer generated police enforcers, but I did start to see the wonderful tapestry of code that is the interwebs.

I don't know what clicked. I just started to notice things, patterns, pathways. My entire time at PTI I've allowed the code to restrict me. Not anymore.

Long story short...I got everything done by 5pm today. With time to spare I might add. Plus the third project I didn't start till this week got the best grade out of the three. Ha!

So now I'm going on break. What's in the future for me on break?

I dunno. Maybe I'll wage war against some machines.

4-7-10

Something Worse Than Death...

I recently acquired a stomach virus. You know the kind. The kind that makes you curl up in the fetal position and wish someone would put you out of your misery. You want to sleep but every 5 minutes you're running to the bathroom wondering which end bodily fluids are going to come out of next.

It started Monday evening. I was in the computer lab working on some projects and I started to get a really bad stomach ache. I left around 8:30pm and by 10pm I was in full blown sick mode. I thought it was maybe food poisoning because I ate some food in the cafeteria. I checked that off my list when I talked to a friend who for the past two days was dealing with the same ailment. Apparently something is going around.

I didn't do anything all day yesterday. I tried not to move because moving hurt. I felt really weak and I couldn't keep food down. I did eat some jello and that seemed to do the trick. By yesterday night I was feeling better. I still feel like a truck ran me over though.

The major bummer is that I had Penguins tickets for the game last night. I was in no shape to go. I gave them to a friend who loves the Penguins. I hope she had a great time.

Yeah. I was that sick.

4-4-10

A Wonderful Easter!

I decided to spend Easter Sunday with friends in West Virginia. I thought about going to Ohio or heading over to my Uncle's for Easter or even staying home and going to the church I am currently attending. I had a lot of options. The decision for me was made when I went to the South Ridge Church website and watched the video they have. I saw old friends and a great message. My mind was made up when I saw Pastor Seth get emotional towards the end of the video. His eyes started welling up. My eyes started welling up. I realized how much I miss everyone. It was a given. I must worship with my church family in Fairmont.

It was a great service. Lots of music and a wonderful Easter message. I sat where I used to sit. My parents and I would sit in the second pew, center right. Before I moved I used to have problems sitting there. There is something about going to church with your parents that I don't think a lot of people appreciate. We would hold hands when we prayed. I would see my dad with his pen in hand taking notes and listening intently to Seth's words. My mom used to sing with the worship team. I used to dread sitting in that pew by myself. They weren't there.

This Sunday was different. For the first time since the shooting I was at peace sitting in that pew. Easter reminded me that the day isn't about what we have lost, but what has been given. I was among friends. People who are my spiritual family. They have prayed for me, gave me space when I needed it and been there when I needed it. There is no way that I would be where I am right now if it was not for them. Fairmont is blessed to have South Ridge Church in their city. My parents may be gone physically but Sunday I felt them. They were with me. I felt them through the love of Christ that emcompassed that church.

I feel bad for people who haven't experienced what I have. Trust me, I know a lot of churches that just don't get it. People all over this country are turned off from God because of a bad experience in a church. All I can say is to keep searching. The right church family is out there for you. Don't give up. Remember, people are sinners. You don't stop being one just because you had confirmation or bapstism. Churches are full of fallable people. When you put a large group of fallable people in one place, especially when they think they know what God wants, negative things tend to happen. So what! It's whether or not the negativity is dealt with in a Christ-like way that matters. If not, then get the heck out of there.

There is a difference between a church full of people who believe the same thing and a church of people who love God and just want to do the right thing. I would say the difference is that one church puts the emphasis on the obedience over love and the other on the love that leads to obedience.

I had to cut my visit short and head back to Pittsburgh. I left Charley in his kennel and I was sure he wasn't happy. I left Fairmont with a glad heart.

It's funny. I was tired and went to bed around 8:30. I slept all night. A nice comfortable sleep.

4-3-10

Here Comes Hannity!!!

Fox News commentator and conservative radio personality Sean Hannity was at my local Wal-Mart this morning. Of course I had to go. He just released his new book last week and this was the second stop on his book tour.

On Hannity's website it said that the book signing started at 11am. The flyers at Wal-Mart said 9am. I had gone to the Sarah Palin book signing and that was a huge crowd. I decided to make it a point to get there really early and get a good spot.

That didn't happen.

I woke up late and had to rush to get ready. I got to the Wal-Mart around 8am. I was surprised to see that there weren't that many people in line. I read the first 100 pages of his book while I waited. More people showed up the closer it got to 9am. By the time we starting getting books signed, security said it was an hour and a half wait for new arrivals.

The book is called "Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama's Radical Agenda." As I said earlier I only read the first 100 pages and so far I enjoyed what I read. The book is written into three themes. The first theme gives a detailed history of Obama's association with radicals and extremists that shaped his life. It also gives detailed biographies about the radicals he has appointed in his administration. Some of these people are scary. Some I wouldn't let around children. All of them have one thing in common. They're all intellectual ivy league pin heads whose ideas only make sense in a college classroom. Real life and common sense tend to render their ideas moot. Sadly they run the country now. I don't think anyone wants to see pets have the same rights in court as humans, gay sex taught to kindergartners or sterilization drugs put in fast food. Actually, I kinda like the last idea. :-)

I find myself agreeing with most of what Hannity has written so far. Obama is no moderate. He's lived a life surrounded by far left, Marxist, hippie radicals who traded in their bra burning, violent protesting ways for a tenured professor job at a university or leadership position for a social justice organization. A hippie will always be a hippie. Just because a hippie puts on a suit doesn't mean the hippie stopped hating this country and everything it stands for. They just found that becoming part of the system is most effective in destroying the system.

I got my book signed and Mr. Hannity got a kick out of my t-shirt. I have a black t-shirt and in white letters it says "Think! It's not illegal yet." He liked that. I shook his hand and said he was a great American. He returned the gesture.

The crowd at this signing was different than Palin's in many ways. Palin brought a more diverse group of people to hers. There were people from all different walks of life, ages, and race that came to see Sarah Palin. Hannity's crowd was pretty much middle aged white folk, mainly war veterans and their families. I thought this was interesting. I've seen the polling on Palin. She tends to poll low. So how is it that she can bring such a diverse crowd and still poll as low as she does? I would think her demographic numbers would be higher over a broader range. Who knows. Maybe it's just my area.

I was pretty pumped after the signing. I called some relatives and told them about my experience and then went home. I went to the gym to work off some of my extra energy. The rest of the day I spent working on projects and sleeping. I needed some rest today.

It's a good day. I'm thinking tomorrow is going to be better. :-0

4-2-10

Summer Movie Season Comes Early...

Clash of the Titans came out today. I've been interested in seeing this movie for a few months now. I loved the original as a kid. If you look at the pic I posted it says March 26th as the opening date. It was moved to today because the movie studio wanted to make a 3-D version. The director of the movie advised against it and he was right. Critics are panning the 3-D version. I just read an article where the directors says to go see the 2-D version. So, who am I to go against the wishes of the director?

This is a great popcorn movie. It's a bunch of action and an easy plot. It should be an easy plot considering it's based on Greek mythology. It's not Othello so if you read a review that rips this movie for lacking substance, then they are missing the point. This movie isn't supposed to have substance. It's an epic mythology tale. Makes you wonder if there were people in villages that criticized Homer's Iliad and Odyssey for plot holes.

I recommend this movie for anyone who just wants to escape for two hours and watch a good action movie. Don't think too hard about it. Just enjoy the visuals and have some fun. It's a great matinee movie.

Good Friday?

It's Easter weekend and today is Good Friday. I always thought that calling it this was weird. If you read the bible you'll know that Friday was anything but good. Betrayal, denial, torture, crucifixion. I don't really consider these things good. It would be like saying "Happy 9/11 day!" or "Merry Pearl Harbor!" I dunno. I think we should call it something other than Good Friday.

On a more serious note. It is Easter weekend. I don't have a lot to say except that it should be a time for reflection. Take a moment to look in the mirror.

It's Time

I've been in deep thought about this lately.

This May it will be four years.

Four years since that horrible day.

I think about it.

I don't speak about it.

What comments I do make are vague and abstract.

I've though of telling my story before but I didn't feel ready.

I am now.

I am ready to tell my story.

I'm ready to tell what happened.

4-1-10

April Fool's Day or National Atheist's Day!!!

I'm not kidding. It is National Atheist's Day.

Play Time

Performances went well last night. The first play is supposed to be funny. No one laughed. I played an outrageous motivational speaker. We even hammed up the scene. Not one giggle. Don't know what to say about that.

The second play was a campy horror. I don't think the audience knew it was supposed to be funny and campy until they saw the "plant man!" Yeah. A guy dressed as a plant that devours humans. I think that broke the ice. What put it over the top was the final scene. We had sound effects that went berserk and it became so campy that even the actors couldn't keep a straight face. I would compare it to a Saturday Night Live skit. It worked though. A cast member called it a "beautiful disaster."

Lights, Camera....Action!

Today I will be filming another part of Bob Show. It involves mud, frolicking through a cemetery, goldfish in a bathtub, a chick in lingerie and me in my undies. Ah yeah. Can't wait for this one to be done. Most people who know me well know that I am constantly finding excuses to run around in my underwear. I hate clothes.

Agenda

Not much going on this weekend. Tying up loose ends on project two and starting project 3. I'm working on a Flash video game too. I'm not doing well with it but I don't mind. When something doesn't work it makes the bad guys do funny things and I'm amused by it. This is the first time in Flash that I've been amused by my mistakes.

Well, time to go do my Michael Bay impression...