tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28251163327943848522024-03-14T05:00:36.652-04:00My Life as FictionT.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-30568808267794068882011-03-31T11:12:00.002-04:002011-03-31T11:36:09.138-04:00BirthdaysI'm hitting somewhat of a milestone tomorrow. I mean, I guess it's a milestone. I'm turning 30. From what I've heard it's not much different from 29, except you might be clicking a different radio button on the surveys you take. Then again, I've heard that's more often at 35 as well, so maybe I shouldn't worry about it too much. Surprisingly, being born on April Fool's day, I have experienced few, if any, memorable pranks on my birthday. It's to the point where I think of it as my birthday first, and a joke holiday second.<br />
<br />
I don't like getting older. I'm not sure anyone does. I had to get my car out of a ditch during the winter and did something to my back. It hurt horribly for two weeks and then was okay, but it gets sore a lot faster than it used to if I'm sitting for long periods of time, like at work. I've been getting grey hairs for several years now, and while I don't see any signs of baldness, I worry that it's going to start soon. More than anything when I look in the mirror, I see my dad. No offense dad, but it's a bit frightening.<br />
<br />
Speaking of my parents, one of the neater things about our ages is that we're just about 20 years apart. So they've just turned 50, which is a much bigger milestone than 30 in my opinion. And of course that brings up the fact that when they were my age, I was turning 10, and my sister would have been 5. I cannot imagine having a 10 year old and a 5 year old right now. Well, I guess I can, but it would make things so much different. I do want kids, and I had planned to have at least one before I was 30, but things don't always work out as you plan. Take my career for example.<br />
<br />
I finished college with an accounting and business admin degree. They're very lucrative degrees. Accounting is rarely not in demand. Every business on the planet needs an accountant, and money pretty much runs the world, so I'm pretty secure in my ability to find jobs. Even when times are tough. In fact, accountants are probably even more in demand when there's no money to manage, because the hardest thing to do is run a company with no money. I should know, I've been doing it for two years now. It's still just a job to me though. I suppose everyone fantasizes about finding a job doing something they love. Then it doesn't feel like a job. I don't think accounting can ever be like that for me. I'm trying to figure out what I could do that wouldn't feel like work, and that I have the skills to make money at.<br />
<br />
If I tell people older than me that I'm turning 30, they make joking comments about how that's still young. If I talk about being 30 with people younger than me, they jokingly comment about how old I'm getting. It's confusing being stuck in the middle.<br />
<br />
If this post makes it seem I'm depressed about turning 30, I'm not. I'm trying not to attach value to the age at all, other than to say I'm getting older and there are things I want to do with my life that I should either be doing or working towards doing. The last ten years have had a whole lot of changes. In just terms of places I've lived over the last ten years, I've been in Seattle, Alaska, Tennessee, North Carolina and Boston. I've gotten married, and I've changed jobs three times, which, actually is probably not that much for 10 years for some people. I think the good has outweighed the bad by quite a bit, and if it's any indication of what I have to look forward to in the next 10 years, it means that I have no idea what's going to happen in the next 10 years. I'm okay with that. I just don't want my back to hurt while I get there.T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-87650247718295665302010-11-17T14:42:00.002-05:002010-11-17T15:10:01.544-05:00Fantasy Football is Not a Game Played in Middle EarthIn August my brother-in-law got his dad to be in a Fantasy Football league with him. Then Dad decided he didn't have the time and asked me if I'd like to take his place in their league. I like football every now and then, but I've never been one to follow it closely. I played in a Fantasy Football league once before in college. I don't remember much about it. Regardless, I took the opportunity to do something new and hopefully fun. I figured it would at least make watching the games more interesting, and the <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy">CBS Sports</a> web site for the league looked like it would make it all pretty simple for a newbie such as myself.<br />
<br />
So the season started, we held our draft, I put a team together, and it's been a lot of fun. For the uninitiated, here's a brief summary of how fantasy football works. Everyone in the league picks players for their team from all of the players in the NFL. Each week you pit a team of miscellaneous players against another person's team and see who does better. How well you do is dependent on how well all of our chosen players do in their actual games each week. The idea is to get a team of elite players that will always perform well, giving you the best chance to win each week. So premier quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers are highly valued, where as second string players are often left on the bench.<br />
<br />
If you don't get it, don't worry about it. It's hard to really understand unless you get involved with it, but the basic idea is that your score is based on the real life statistics of the people you have in your team. If you play people that score touchdowns and run a lot of yards, you'll be doing well. <br />
<br />
Why am I talking about fantasy football though? Two reasons. The first is that I'm surprised how quickly I've gotten into it. I check reports on the players, and read articles on CBS Sports about who to play, who to not play, who is a sleeper pick that people may not know about. If you want to do well, you have to keep up on this stuff or else you'll end up playing people who may be injured or out of a game for some other reason giving you a big fat goose egg for your score that week. And because I've got some vested interest in how well these football players do, I've been watching more football on the weekends. Especially the games where I have someone on my team playing.<br />
<br />
The second reason is that growing up I wasn't really into sports that much. I did play little league baseball, though not very well. I was a gamer through and through, and I didn't even let the two mix by playing sports video games. Well, I did have a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Baseball_Simulator_1.000">baseball game</a>, but there was a fantasy element to it in that you could super jump and stuff. Anyway, not only was I a gamer, not a jock, but I played role playing games, or RPGs. Fantasy RPGs like Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Lufia, Secret of Mana, Zelda, etc. And you know what most of those games had in them? A roster of people you had to select to create a team. The team with the better stats would generally do better in the game. If you look to pen and paper RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons you can start to see an even greater correlation to fantasy football. I never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I understand all of the concepts involved from the games I did play.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sheldoncomics.com/strips/sd090911.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.sheldoncomics.com/strips/sd090911.gif" width="303" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The point I'm getting at is that even though I've never been much of a sports person, fantasy football may not be as big of a jump in hobbies as I might have suspected. Every week I'm looking at a roster of players and choosing those with the more desirable statistics. I'm analyzing their match ups against other teams like I might analyze which character class would be better against a certain boss. And just like in all RPGs, whether it's a computer or a dice roll, there's a large factor of what is known as the RNG, or Random Number Generator. In a video game you might have a really strong character, but the RNG comes up low and all you get are misses instead of hits. In fantasy football you might think your stud quarterback can't possibly let you down, but then <a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2008/09/07/patriots_win_but_injury_to_tom_brady_a_damaging_blow/">he breaks his knee in the first quarter of the first game of the season</a>, and suddenly you're scrounging for a replacement. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In fact, I would say it's worse in football. Capable players often have bad games, or they get double covered because of their value which makes them less likely to make plays. You pretty much just have to go with the averages and your best guesses and hope for the best. This makes it interesting, and frustrating. Probably more of the latter. Especially when someone who you have available to you, but you didn't play in particular week, decides to have a really great game. (I'm looking at you, <a href="http://mclovinff.football.cbssports.com/players/playerpage/406856/dwayne-bowe">Dwayne Bowe</a>.) Overall though, it's been a great experience. It gives me a lot to talk about with my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law. She's also in the league and actually was the winner from last year. When I hear people talk about football statistics and players, I don't feel so out of the loop now because, well, I'm actually in the loop. And because of the RPG connection, I don't necessarily feel like I have to give up any of my nerd or geek cred because I'm in a fantasy football league.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So how am I doing with my team? Glad you asked. It started off rough, but I'm currently up seven wins to three losses. Not bad for being relatively new to this whole fantasy football thing. But then again, I may not be as inexperienced at this as I first thought.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-28308998634097206162010-11-04T14:18:00.003-04:002010-11-04T15:34:46.083-04:00I Borrowed a Guitar, and I Intend to Use it<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/3000/nahled/1-12372996943owC.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 307.5px; height: 205px;" src="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/3000/nahled/1-12372996943owC.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Last weekend we were in Greensboro so Teresa could attend one of Catherine's bridal showers. I got to spend some time with the bro-in-law, David, and watched some college football, and our dog, Hannah. In one of our previous trips to Greensoboro I had noticed an acoustic guitar sitting in the corner of the downstairs family room looking sort of sad and lonely. I inquired to my in-laws about the ownership and purpose of the guitar, and I came to find out it was bought by my mother-in-law with the intent to learn it, but not the time. And thus it had been in that corner for quite awhile. Neglected. And did I mention sad and lonely?<div><br /></div><div>Being the caring person that I am, I asked my wife's parents if I could borrow the guitar and put it to good use. They obliged, and I now have it at home in my music room. When I say music room, I mean the spare room where my keyboard is. I like to think of it as my room, though it has elements of things that are not mine, well, mine by marriage I guess. But I'm getting off the subject.</div><div><br /></div><div>A short history of me and instruments. Growing up I took piano lessons. We had an upright piano in our home since before I can remember, and I practiced and took lessons for probably eight or so years off and on in between moving to central Oregon and then Alaska. I then played with the church worship team in high school, and with a ministry group in college, as well as my church during college. Needless to say, I put those years of piano lessons to good use I think. Where guitars come into this is that all that time playing piano, I was nearly always in the presence of a guitar as well, but never really learned to play one.</div><div><br /></div><div>My mother played guitar. From what I heard, she taught herself how to play by secluding herself in her bedroom and listening to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukUL_I14GPw&feature=related">John Denver</a> records. I haven't verified that, but I know I heard it from someone. Either my mom or her parents at one point. In worship bands the worship leader is almost always a guitar player. That was the case in both the youth group, and the college ministry team. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had numerous guitar playing roommates in college. There was J.P. the rocker, who played electric guitar and often liked to comment, in reference to watching guitarists in music videos, that, "Any newborn fetus could play that." Though technically a newborn is no longer a fetus, I never really felt the need to argue the point with him. And there was Justin, who was a phenomenal acoustic guitar player. We were roommates around the time <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmzDDzXBj9g">Shane and Shane</a> were becoming popular, and Justin would figure out all of their songs and play them on his guitar. Paul and Bud were both guitar players from that ministry group I keep mentioning. Pioneers for Christ in case you were curious. I was roommates with both of them, though not a the same time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I think you get the picture. I learned music, music theory, how to read it, how to play in a band, etc. all from my piano training. But being in the environment that I was in, I also picked up some guitar chords here and there, and a rudimentary understanding of strumming. Enough to where I could play a three or four chord song. As long as it didn't include an F chord. But having never owned a guitar, or spending any amount of time learning basic guitar techniques, I never really felt like I could call myself a guitar player.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I had a lot of interest in learning more because guitars are premier instruments. It's hard to find bands out there with lead pianists, though they exist. The simple truth is that almost all modern bands have guitar leads. The primary instrument for the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games is the guitar, though, side note, Rock Band 3 is out now with a keyboard instrument. Do want. And guitar players are cool people. At least, all of the guitar players I knew were. And guitars are so easy to take with you to play anywhere. After several years of lugging an 88 key KORG keyboard around, you start to look at the guitar players and get a little jealous. </div><div><br /></div><div>So now I find myself in the possession of an actual guitar. It's not mine, but I have it on loan for as long as I need it. And now that I have one, I want to learn how to use it. More than just the few chords I already know. This week I've been thinking about the best way to do that. I don't really have the time, or money, to take private lessons like I did when I learned the piano, and I feel like I at least have a leg up on the the music theory part. I can read chords and stuff like that. What I don't have is the dexterity, or the familiarity with the guitar to really play it well. Even if I know how to play a G chord and a C chord, moving between them is a pain. I don't strum well because I have the habit of wanting to hit all six strings, even for chords where you're only supposed to play the bottom four or five. How do you not hit all the strings? They're so close together!</div><div><br /></div><div>Last night I did a search on you tube and Google for beginner guitar lessons. Lo and behold there are quite a few free resources out there for learning the guitar, complete with instructional videos, chord charts, and step by step instructions on how to strum correctly. I just learned how to hold a guitar pick for the first time. So the only thing I need to do now is be consistent about practicing. And patient. I have a tendency to gloss over stuff if I feel like I already know it, like scales. But I've been reading that doing scales is important to training your fingers correctly, stretching them out and building the flexibility to play all those guitar chords. Even that dreaded F chord. This is starting to remind me a lot about learning to play the piano. Scales were always boring, but you have to know those by heart before you can play the fun stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div>So hopefully, with some time and patience, I'll be able to teach myself to play guitar like my mom did, only instead of listening to John Denver, I'll be trying to play <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8S7QxpjeY">Jonathan</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjcH2UmK1uo">Coulton</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxNmeMklFk8&feature=related">songs</a>.</div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-49772879927989607332010-10-06T11:19:00.003-04:002010-10-06T17:03:36.074-04:00So Much for SummerI don't know where it went. I really don't, but now it's Autumn, and that's my favorite season, so I guess I have that to be excited about. The air is cooler. I get to wear a jacket again, which, aside from the warmth factor is also like a security blanket. A security blanket with extra pockets for me to put things in. Like my keys. So I don't have them in my pants pocket which is highly uncomfortable when sitting down, and also limits where I can put my cell phone.<br /><br />I can't say a whole lot has happened since last June. Teresa's brother got engaged, so Teresa and I will be in the wedding party for their wedding in January. I've been stressed out of my mind at work. Being the controller for a failing company, and not being able to do much to help it has not been fun. The company is still here though, and I still have my job, so I guess it's not all bad. I'd rather not dwell on it here though. Suffice it to say, work has sapped a lot of my energy that used to go into writing things like this blog. Most days I get home and we watch television shows on Netflix, or play Xbox, or anything else that requires little movement and thought.<br /><br />Another awesome thing about the coming colder weather is the grass isn't growing as much anymore. I mowed the lawn last weekend, but I'll probably have to do it at least once more time before the winter sets in and yard work becomes a memory. Which is good, because then we can work on the inside jobs that never seem to get done. Although I did get a chance to organize the attic storage last weekend. I think I did a pretty good job myself. I impressed Teresa, and that's not an easy thing to accomplish.<br /><br />We're looking forward to my family visiting in a couple weeks. It's been quite awhile since I've seen my parents and grandparents, so it should be a lot of fun. Also working on a trip to Oregon in December. So the next few months should be pretty busy. Hopefully I can find time to write in between all of that, and hopefully more than just an update every now and then.<br /><br />Addendum: I failed to express the coolness of the person that my brother-in-law is getting married to, and will soon be part of my family. Her name is Catherine and she is the coolest nerd I know. I knew she was special when I first found out she liked to play Xbox with David, and that she was totally in to Mac computers. And along with her great fashion sense, she also is a tremendously fun person to hang out with and has some very lovable dogs at home. My apologies to Catherine for short selling her earlier in the blog post. I truly did her a disservice and I hope she can forgive me.T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-67707512619861493862010-06-11T10:01:00.002-04:002010-06-11T10:54:44.822-04:00Summer UpdateTeresa and I are doing well. As is Hannah. I've been busy with work, Teresa has been doing odd jobs for a friend in Black Mountain and recently had an interview for work in Black Mountain., so we're crossing our fingers for that. We've made a couple trips to Greensboro and Raleigh on account of David, Teresa's brother. One for a college graduation, and the other for a going away party. He went to Alaska to fish for the Summer. More on that below. It's been day to day for the rest of it. Where to start?<div><br /></div><div>I've probably mentioned it before, but I'm currently working for a small business as their Controller. I control the money. Or rather, the lack thereof. The company wasn't in good shape when I started, but it was supposed to get better. We're still waiting for it to get better. I can't go into all the details, but it's plain enough to say that work is a major source of stress for me right now, which leads to a lack of motivation to write, or to do anything exciting around the house or around the town. </div><div><br /></div><div>What I have been doing is playing video games, but that's not a shock to anyone I'm sure. I've started blogging about games specifically over at <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/users/WhiteSaber/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Gamespot</span></a>. A website I've been a member of for years, but have now decided to fully utilize. This way, those of you that like that sort of thing can read about it there, and those of you that don't will be spared from long boring posts about World of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Warcraft</span> or the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Xbox</span> 360 on this blog. Most of the time. I reserve the right to gush about Rock Band 3 and the introduction of keyboards to the game. But I'll save that for later.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last weekend we had a good time with Teresa's family in Greensboro sending off David to fish in Alaska. He's set net fishing in the Cook Inlet with a family friend of mine who we know from our church up in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Soldotna</span>. He'll be in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Kasilof</span>. He took his friend Jackson with him, and they're already having an amazing time up there. I know this because I read their <a href="http://sockeyesummer.blogspot.com/">blog</a>. And you should too. Even if you don't know them, it should be a good insight into fishing in Alaska from the perspective of two outsiders. Of course, all of their talking about it makes me miss it. But it just gives me more resolve to go back there again, even if Mom and Dad have moved back to Oregon now. </div><div><br /></div><div>The house we're in now is the first house we've lived in that requires any amount of yard work maintenance. I can mow the lawn easily enough, but when it comes to pulling weeds or thinking about planting things, I just sort of get overwhelmed. Our back yard is big. It takes about an hour and half to mow, and yet we don't use it for anything, so sometimes I wonder what the point of it is, other than just for it to look nice. It still isn't fenced and that's something I really need to do. Money kind of plays into that though. So it still might be awhile. Sorry, Hannah.</div><div><br /></div><div>Teresa and I have been burning through our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Netflix</span> queue as well as catching quite a few good shows over the instant streaming options. We recently watched the first three Karate Kid movies. The first one was great. The second one was okay, redeemed mostly by the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAj-Y6uUA_k">theme song</a>. The third one was painful to watch. It's clear that Daniel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Larusso</span> learned nothing from his first two movies. And no matter how much Karate he learns, he always gets his butt kicked until the final show down. Interest in these was sparked by the new Karate Kid movie in theaters soon. I've heard it's pretty good. We also watched The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Goonies</span>. Teresa had never seen it. Now that missing spot of iconic 80s culture has been filled for her. We also watched the first season of Castle, and we're currently watching Leverage, which has turned out to be hilarious and awesome at the same time. Especially for geeky people like us.</div><div><br /></div><div>We'll be heading to South Carolina for Independence day, and then it's the wide open Summer. Hopefully we'll be heading to Maryland for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Renn</span> Fair again, but that won't be until <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Ocotober</span>. 2010 is flying by. Time to make something of it. </div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-80414092228794733722010-05-25T15:49:00.003-04:002010-05-25T16:27:05.945-04:00A LOST PostIf you have not watched the season finale of LOST, or if you have not even watched the series, then you may be spoiled by the topic discussed below. Because the topic is LOST. If you have been completely under a rock for the last 6 years, LOST is, err... was an hour long drama on ABC. And now, from this point on, I will assume you know about the show and have watched the end of the series.<div><br /></div><div>When I was just out of college in 2004, I was working for a small web developer doing Flash animations for websites and interactive business cards. My first post-college job. Not glamorous, but it paid the rent, and I enjoyed it. I usually worked in the evenings after normal business hours because I had a second job at a book store, and eventually doing actual accounting work, but that's a tangent I don't want to get into. The point of all this is that I watched the very first episode of LOST while I was at work. I had seen promotions for it, and if I was honest, I wanted to watch it for two reasons.</div><div><br /></div><div>1) Merry Brandybuck was going to be in it. Or rather, Dominic Monaghan, and I was a big fan of Lord of the Rings.</div><div><br /></div><div>2) J.J. Abrams was producing it, and I had just recently started watching and loving his other show, Alias. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I found myself at work on the night it premiered as there was a TV in the office, so I turned it on to watch while I worked. I ended up not working at all, and was instead glued to the screen. Don't worry, I didn't bill my employer for the time I watched. The Pilot was incredible. I watched the whole season from the office. I didn't get TV at my house, so I watched it at work. And because I was at work, I never thought to tell Teresa about the show. Or maybe I did, but it didn't really interest her at the time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, soon after the first season was over, Teresa and I got married and moved to Boston, so now we have TV and we live together and I'm not working weeknights. If I'm going to watch this show, she probably needs to be on board so we can watch it together. After watching the first season with her, she was hooked, and the rest is history.</div><div><br /></div><div>And now it all really is history. Sunday night, the last episode aired and LOST is officially no more. The joy of LOST was that it was a mystery, and a journey, and a character drama all wrapped up into one. There was fantasy, science fiction, romance, action, and then crazy stuff that you can't really categorize. It was a great show. Like any show it had its up and downs, but it kept bringing us back for more each and every year.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think it was in Season 3 where it was announced that they would end the show after six seasons on purpose, regardless of ratings in order to make sure the writing was purposeful and that it didn't just dwindle and get canceled without a solid ending. I'm glad they decided that, but it's still funny to think I don't have anything to watch tonight at nine o'clock.</div><div><br /></div><div>So for those of you that have watched it. What did you think? Did the ending satisfy you? Did you see it coming? Did it make you mad? The narrative of the story has always been about character development both on and off the island. For this last season we've seen a strange parallel world. Now it turns out that parallel world was a fantasy. A place where the spirits of those have passed on figure out that they're dead and remember the people and things that were important to them. It's not explained exactly how this world came to be, except that it was willed into being so they could see each other again before "moving on." I've seen some people say it was Hurley, as the new protector of the island, who created this place for everyone. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm okay with it. It's a nice safe way to show everyone being happy and remembering the best times of their lives. But it's also not enough for me. While lots of people posited that the passengers were dead and in purgatory on the island, the show was never about the afterlife for me. It was about the island, and why they were brought there, and how it affected them when they were there. Now that it's over, I want to know more about the Light on the island, the people who have protected it, and how they chose to do so. I want to know what the island needs protecting from now that the Man in Black is dead. Honestly, I'd be thrilled to see some episodes dealing with the misadventures of Hurley and Ben on the island. Though at this point, a comedic spin off to LOST seems kind of silly.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's also a lot of Dharma mysteries to be expounded on. What they discovered, what they did with it, how they found about it, and what Jacob's response was to it. In the end, the writer's decided these weren't important things for us to know. The important things were the character's journeys, and how their times on the island were some of the best times and relationships they had ever experienced. </div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe sometime in the next year or two we'll go back and watch it from the beginning. I'd really like to see if watching it with the knowledge of how it ends highlights anything that we may have missed before. I think LOST was a unique experience that will be some time before it's reproduced on television. In the mean time, I'll have to find some other programs to fill my entertainment needs. </div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-79234731144647933212010-03-25T10:34:00.002-04:002010-03-25T10:55:07.010-04:00Published on the Internet Still Counts, Doesn't it?It's not a huge deal, really. It's a paragraph on a Warcraft related website. But it's mine!<div><br /></div><div>WoW Insider asked people to submit 100 words on what we want to see at Blizzcon 2010. A convention run by the makers of Warcraft, Starcraft and the Diablo series. You know what a convention is. This one is just centered on the franchises of one game company. I've never been to one. I doubt I ever will, but the news and information stemming from this convention relevant to my interests. So I submitted my 100 words, and hoped for the best.</div><div><br /></div><div>The email came that they would be using mine (and several other people's) submissions in their article on the website. WoW.com is essentially a blog reader for World of Warcraft news and articles. They stay up to date on things so I don't have to. Kind of like reading a LOST blog, only with many contributing editors and articles on every aspect game. Not only were they using my submission, they were paying me for it. Awesome.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, here's the <a href="http://www.wow.com/2010/03/11/what-the-fans-want-from-blizzcon-2010/">link</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>I like to write. I've always written for myself. I write a sporadic blog, so obviously it's not hard to get your words on the internet. But submitting something to a news article site and having it accepted and published with my name on it and getting paid for it makes it all seem so much more validated. Take something you enjoy, like a hobby, or a TV show, and imagine writing something about that and then someone paying you to share what they thought was a cool written work with a lot of people. That's pretty neat, right? Right. </div><div><br /></div><div>The way they took the submission was pretty interesting too. WoW.com is part of the AOL network which has a program called <a href="http://www.seed.com/">seed</a>. You sign up on the seed website and you can browse postings for submissions on various topics. That's how I send in the submission for WoW.com and got accepted. I sent in another submission on another topic recently. I'm waiting to see if they like that one too. If they don't, I can always post it on my own blog.</div><div><br /></div><div>In other news, I should be getting the Xbox and FF13 on Easter weekend. Yay! Easter weekend will be in South Carolina with Teresa's family. Yay again! No, I mean that. And I'm currently engrossed in <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553573403">A Game of Thrones</a></i> by George R.R. Martin. It took me awhile to start it, but now that I have, I have a hard time putting it down. I'll post more on that when I finish it. Work has been kicking my butt, which may or may not have been a contributer to the lack of posting on this blog. It appears it will continue to kick my butt well into next month before it (hopefully) starts to get better. It's not all in my control either. Most of it is a wait and see and hope and scratch and scrape to keep things going until that time. I took on a lot of responsibility when I took this job a year ago. I'm starting to feel the full weight of that now.<br /><br /></div><div>Spring is trying to break through. The weather has been a mix of cold and not cold. No snow, some rain, and I broke my windshield wipers a few weeks ago so that's not a good thing. But at times we've been able to have the windows open in the house and let the breeze in. Something Hannah does not like. Actually, she might like it, but it gives her ample opportunity to stare out the window and bark and the slightest sound of anything. </div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-844115456462721092010-03-09T14:26:00.005-05:002010-03-09T14:33:49.786-05:00Final Fantasy XIII Out Today<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/final-fantasy-xiii.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="http://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/final-fantasy-xiii.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(161, 156, 134); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; font-family:'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"></span><span><span>Alas, I do not yet have it...<br /><br />I have never had a burning desire to own a Playstation 3 or an Xbox 360. That's in part due to only really playing one game over the last 3 years, and with nothing coming out on the PS3 or 360 that really would drive me to buy it when funds are tight, you tend to pick and choose your entertainment options. I'm sure I'd own two or three of them if I had money to spare, but I digress... for the time has come.<br /><br />With the release of Final Fantasy XIII, I finally have a reason that I MUST own a PS3 or 360, and lucky for me, my brother-in-law is selling me his old 360 for less than half what I'd pay in a store, so I'm excited. Excited that I'll have it soon, sad that that is not yet the case. I think it may be as early as this weekend that I'll have it. We'll see.<br /><br />This is par for the course for me. I grew up a Nintendo fanboy. Sega was the devil, (well, Sonic was fun) and everything Nintendo did was amazing. My first taste of Final Fantasy was FF2 on the SNES. I nearly beat it over a weekend of renting it, so I had to buy it. I eventually went back and played the original on the NES too. Then FF3 came out. Best. Game. Ever. I played the crap out of that game. I probably put hundreds of hours into it. Not lying. No, I don't regret that. Well, okay, maybe a little, but it was still awesome.<br /><br />Then Squaresoft, the publisher, had the nerve to put the next Final Fantasy on the Sony Playstation and not the new Nintendo system. We also learned that Japan got a lot more Final Fantasies than we did, so the numbering system was messed up. My loyalties divided, Square proved the winner, and when FF7 was released, I bought a Playstation and the game. I'm trying to remember how I had all this disposable income as a kid. I distinctly remember saving and purchasing with my own money my SNES, N64, and the PS1, but that was all before my first real job. Huh.<br /><br />Another fun fact on Final Fantasy 7. After having the game for a week, I distinctly remember my mother seeing the game timer at 30 hours of play time. Aghast at how I had spent 30 hours, nearly a full time job and during a school week no less, playing it, she made me turn it off for awhile.<br /><br />Playstation 2? Bought it when Final Fantasy X came out, which oddly, I think was shortly after the launch of the system itself, so I paid a lot for it. The graphics were beautiful though. Then XI was released as an online MMO. I have never played it. You think I would have, but MMOs were not a possibility for me during college.<br /><br />And thus we come to today, where I have evaded the urge to buy a "current generation" gaming console because my gaming has been almost entirely on the computer for the last few years. But today is not just any day. Today, Final Fantasy XIII is out, and I have stayed true to tradition. Soon I hope to be happily seated in front of the TV, enjoying a game I've been waiting for for nearly 4 years. I hope it was worth the wait.</span></span><div><span><span><br />Oh who am I kidding, it's Final Fantasy! Of course I'll love it.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(161, 156, 134); line-height: 18px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; font-family:'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"></span></div></div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-11059949117455615242010-02-25T09:41:00.005-05:002010-02-25T10:42:18.868-05:00The House You Grew Up In<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzYm2ju35-19NYdLzYOXUdjGrACJff1UmILK19vGf77-HI3QGkya20q-eIMVBmS9lPEGPM4tFj9cosQIvpgFIVPn9oPgG1lLdYVglc0EEDTum2SaFYt7kqhC4pTqey3-VzE37NIBzD2Nk/s1600-h/Main+Street,+Albany.bmp"></a><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtOB1QZ4pwTzttiU3K0R-3S1yGqL6MYmjnxQ7HYOaLzyavzmCdsR7mOQj6XIlEcI2ZvqY_crZZkCATTn_mXJmlUjcHnFBsdnY0F36jvxmUi0QAxf2pCv_RNcNS9xwMPRhBsrNzEGtP0gZ/s400/Kobuk+street.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442205559686204242" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 98px; " /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzYm2ju35-19NYdLzYOXUdjGrACJff1UmILK19vGf77-HI3QGkya20q-eIMVBmS9lPEGPM4tFj9cosQIvpgFIVPn9oPgG1lLdYVglc0EEDTum2SaFYt7kqhC4pTqey3-VzE37NIBzD2Nk/s1600-h/Main+Street,+Albany.bmp"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzYm2ju35-19NYdLzYOXUdjGrACJff1UmILK19vGf77-HI3QGkya20q-eIMVBmS9lPEGPM4tFj9cosQIvpgFIVPn9oPgG1lLdYVglc0EEDTum2SaFYt7kqhC4pTqey3-VzE37NIBzD2Nk/s1600-h/Main+Street,+Albany.bmp"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzYm2ju35-19NYdLzYOXUdjGrACJff1UmILK19vGf77-HI3QGkya20q-eIMVBmS9lPEGPM4tFj9cosQIvpgFIVPn9oPgG1lLdYVglc0EEDTum2SaFYt7kqhC4pTqey3-VzE37NIBzD2Nk/s1600-h/Main+Street,+Albany.bmp"></a><div>My parents recently moved out of Alaska and back down to Oregon where I was born. The reasons were many, but I think they had lived out the adventure in Alaska enough and were ready to return to a place close to home. That was a few months ago, and now Dad is about to start a new job in Salem, where I have never lived, but is relatively close to other family. That means that mom and dad will be getting a house in Salem and moving there, probably very quickly.<br /><br />Well, this got me thinking. They'll be living in a house I've never been to, have no memories of and is new to them as well. While growing up, we moved several times. First we lived in apartments, then more apartments, then a duplex, then a move over the mountain to a house, then a mobile home on the farm, then an apartment in Alaska, and then a house where I spent my High School days until I moved out to live on a college campus, only returning for Summers. That's a lot of different buildings. All of which I grew up in.<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzYm2ju35-19NYdLzYOXUdjGrACJff1UmILK19vGf77-HI3QGkya20q-eIMVBmS9lPEGPM4tFj9cosQIvpgFIVPn9oPgG1lLdYVglc0EEDTum2SaFYt7kqhC4pTqey3-VzE37NIBzD2Nk/s1600-h/Main+Street,+Albany.bmp"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzYm2ju35-19NYdLzYOXUdjGrACJff1UmILK19vGf77-HI3QGkya20q-eIMVBmS9lPEGPM4tFj9cosQIvpgFIVPn9oPgG1lLdYVglc0EEDTum2SaFYt7kqhC4pTqey3-VzE37NIBzD2Nk/s400/Main+Street,+Albany.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442205566326410386" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px; " /></a><div>Compare that with my mom's parents, who have lived in their house for as long as I remember. I think mom spent most of her childhood in that house. If she didn't, I've never heard of the place she did. Dad's parents lived in a house in the same town as mom's parents that dad's brother is living in now, so his family is still growing up in that house. Teresa and I live about a 10 minute drive away from the house her dad grew up in, and the family still owns and uses. We visit her grandparents in South Carolina often enough in the house Teresa's mom grew up in. Even Teresa's parents house is where she spent most of her childhood.</div><div><br /></div><div>So what I'm getting at is that I don't have that "one house you grew up in." I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It's just something that a lot of other people experienced that I didn't. I have memories of each place we lived. Good ones. But I can't really think of going back to any one of those places and calling it home. The house in Alaska probably is the closest thing to that, but that's probably because I have more recent and vivid memories of that one. It's not even the house I lived in the longest, though it may have been for my parents. I would say it's the same for my sister, but she lived in the Alaska house longer than I did, so she might think of that place as where she grew up. Even so, that house isn't around anymore for us to go back to, like the other examples above. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80xdTor7bOyxShEILSYktI1OxrdX3b3QbuaFfnsd3ioT8cx2VxAq3IaIomduM-9wE9B1gyweymy3ESl64M3nBfB8-1ShJS8aYgW1YGUdQAk33TI_JEd6To465FZrVOLnaXIlUZq7cNq7H/s400/Alfalfa+Market+Road.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442205551953567890" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 391px; height: 290px; " /></span></div><div>Even after college, I've been moving around a quite a bit. I lived in a townhouse after college, moved to NC for a few weeks and got married, then trucked it up to Boston to live in an apartment for awhile and then a two family home. Then back to North Carolina for a few months and then finally rented a house all to ourselves. One thing I am sure of, we're tired of moving. Another thing I'm sure of, is that we'll probably move again before we're really settled. And even then, I wonder, will we really settle? It seems I may have inherited some sort of nomadic tendencies from my parents, who still haven't settled to my knowledge.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtOB1QZ4pwTzttiU3K0R-3S1yGqL6MYmjnxQ7HYOaLzyavzmCdsR7mOQj6XIlEcI2ZvqY_crZZkCATTn_mXJmlUjcHnFBsdnY0F36jvxmUi0QAxf2pCv_RNcNS9xwMPRhBsrNzEGtP0gZ/s1600-h/Kobuk+street.bmp"></a><div><br /></div><div>So if you're reading this, I'm curious. Do you have a house you grew up in? Or do you have several houses? Which one feels the most like home? And can you still go back there if you want to? Out of all of the places we have lived, I think I would most like to go back to the farm. Being young and stupid, I wasted a lot of time living on the farm staying indoors. Now my fondest memories are of playing in the barn, the smell of the hay, and the things I did that were out of the ordinary like training a llama to walk over a bridge. So I'm a bit sad that I didn't do more of that when I had the chance. I wish I could do some of that over, but that being impossible, I might like to find a similar place to settle and finally live in a house I can grow up in.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-82020593123204037222010-02-18T13:19:00.006-05:002010-02-18T13:39:29.247-05:00Mythbusters<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mythbusters.otavo.tv/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/mythbusters-episodes.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 165px;" src="http://mythbusters.otavo.tv/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/mythbusters-episodes.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Have you heard about <a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/mythbusters.html">Mythbusters</a>?<div><br /></div><div>It's been on the Discovery channel for several years now. I had heard about it awhile back, but we don't get those fancy cable stations, so I had never seen it. That was until we got Netflix and I started watching streaming episodes of Mythbusters online. The show is a blast. Sometimes literally.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you can tell by the name, the premise of the show is that they take "myths" or sayings, or stories, or historical things and they put to the test whether it could actually be done, or if it was just a tall tale, or a lie. Some of the myths are fairly well known, others more obscure. Some of the ways they come up with to prove or disprove the myths are pretty cool too. The two main mythbusters are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Savage">Adam Savage</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Hyneman">Jamie Hyneman</a>. Their backgrounds are in special effects and props for movies, so they have the ability to create very inventive contraptions and things to test all of these myths.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not sure what season of the show I'm watching. It's called the 4th collection. I think in the first few seasons it was just Adam and Jamie, but now they've got another three mythbusters, the build team, that tackles myths separately, sometimes together with, the main two guys. I've watched a few of the episodes where it was just the two main guys and I have to say that I enjoy watching the ones with both teams more. They get to tackle more myths in each episode that way, the personalities and interactions of the different mythbusters is very entertaining.</div><div><br /></div><div>Adam is the goofy, fun, try anything guy. Jamie is the straight man, rarely laughing and just being very practical about it. But both of them are fairly ingenious at testing all of the myths they come up with. They often start with models and small scale tests before ramping it up to a full scale test. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some examples of the things they test:</div><div><ul><li>Can an airplane achieve lift off from a conveyor belt?</li><li>Can you really build an airplane out of bamboo like MacGuyver did?</li><li>Are the gadgets that Batman uses actually possible?</li><li>Some of the viral videos on the internet are pretty crazy, but are they true?</li><li>Could cockroaches actually survive a nuclear blast?</li><li>Can you really drive a car up in to a semi trailer while both of you are driving 55mph?</li></ul></div><div>And that's just stuff from the 4th collection. There are three other collections to go through, plus some specials. I saw one episode where they went to Arcatraz and reenacted the escape of the only three prisoners ever to escape from the prison. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, if you're a geek like me, and into science at all, you might like Mythbusters. Check it out on Netflix or watch it on the Discovery channel. You'll be glad you did.</div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-31649780625502072962010-02-16T09:29:00.005-05:002010-02-16T10:17:10.389-05:00Are You Watching the Olympics?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.wmo.int/pages/publications/meteoworld/archive/april09/images/vancouver-olympics-2010-language-test-online.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 380px;" src="http://www.wmo.int/pages/publications/meteoworld/archive/april09/images/vancouver-olympics-2010-language-test-online.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><br /></div>Last night we watched pairs figure skating at the Vancouver Olympic games. If you didn't watch it yet, and you have it recorded or something, I'm going to spoil it for you so you might want to stop reading this post and come back after you've watched it. Go ahead, you really should. <div><br /></div><div>Sunday night they did the short program, and Monday night they did the free skate, the medal standings determined by the skaters' combined scores. We missed watching the live short program because we were traveling, but we got to see some of it while eating dinner Monday. The story of this Olympics is of the Chinese couple, Shen and Zhao, who have won numerous competitions, but never the Olympic gold medal. They even came out of retirement to compete in Vancouver. Their last chance. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=74e0cada-bf1c-4bef-9aa5-f9c4dde553a3.html">Shen and Zhao Short Program</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know much about how they score these things. It doesn't really matter to me either. Teresa and I both were pulling for Shen and Zhao because just watching them skate was a joy. It was noticeably better, more refined, more elegant, than many of the other skaters. Their short program (from Sunday night) was flawless, and it put them at the top of the rankings going into the free skate on Monday. Monday night they skated last, and they had some hiccups, but most of the other competitors were falling all over the place, paving the way for China to win it's first gold in pairs figure skating in a long while. But what was even more exciting was the other Chinese pair, Pang and Tong, who skated a beautiful, error free, program last night and vaulted them to second place. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=29f97853-f0fc-4af5-aaca-13418828c940.html">Pang and Tong Free Skate</a></div><div><br /></div><div>So China ended up with the top two places, and they earned it too. Even though I don't really get the scoring system, it appears to work because these two couples did skate the best in my opinion. Of course, I'm probably somewhat influenced by NBC playing up the story of the skaters who were giving it their all for their last shot at Olympic gold, but that's okay. That seems to be what the Olympics are about. It's not just about the competition. It's about the story of the competitors. Sometimes it's frustrating though. They kept mentioning how one of the American skaters was struggling to make ends meet financially in his home life, but came to compete in the Olympics anyway. I'm sure he appreciates them broadcasting his financial situation to the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm watching the Olympics and I'm enjoying them. It's also fun to watch them with Teresa, who holds her breath every time the skaters do a jump, or the man throws the woman across the ice. You always think they're going to fall, until they do, or they don't. And then you exhale.</div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-42728204719301517602010-02-01T11:05:00.008-05:002010-02-01T12:05:58.242-05:00My Thoughts on Time Travel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa106/thechameleon_rls/time_travel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa106/thechameleon_rls/time_travel.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Last night we watched the new Star Trek movie on DVD. We had seen it in the theater, loved it, and I got the DVD for Christmas. We finally had a chance to watch it and so we did. The movie involves time travel a bit, and I had a short discussion Teresa and her parents on how it worked. It got me thinking. I have some pretty strong feelings when it comes to time travel in my science fiction. Sometimes it's done well, and sometimes it's done very poorly. When it's done poorly, it grates on me and takes a lot of the enjoyment out of whatever I'm watching or reading. Since it seems to be something I have such a strong opinion on, I felt it was worth putting on my blog. Before I get into this, be forewarned I'm probably going to talk about books, TV, and movies I've seen that involve time travel, in which case there may be spoilers for those things.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We'll start with the movie. In this case, I think it was done very well, and the plot device itself lends itself to a new franchise of Star Trek that doesn't interfere at all with the previous iterations of Star Trek. Here's how it works. In the movie, people from the future travel through a black hole into the past. At the moment they enter the past, they essentially change history. But they don't change their own history. They have created an alternate reality. Think of it like this. If I go back in time and prevent my parents from meeting. I won't be born. But I was born, since I went back in time to prevent my parents from meeting. So rather that have this paradox, we go with an alternate reality. In the reality I came from, my parents met, I was born, and so forth. In this new reality that I created by prevent my parents from meeting, I will never exist. In this manner, I could travel through time creating any number of realities through my actions without interfering with my own. And when I was tired of messing with things, I could return to my own reality where nothing was different. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The reason this works so well for Trek is because now the crew of the Enterprise can have their own adventures without having to explain why it's different from the adventures of the original series TV show and movies. The moment Nero entered the past, nothing would be the same for the people in that reality. Kirk's life was changed immediately because his father died that day that the timeline was affected, and by proxy so was everyone on the Enterprise. It also explains why the old Spock can't predict the future for the other Spock and Kirk. Because in this reality, things could turn out very differently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another good way to do time travel is how they've done it on the TV show, Lost. In Lost, there is no alternate reality (that we know of...). It's all on one time line. But they stick to the mantra that whatever happened, happened. Essentially what this means is that even if I could go back in time on my same timeline, I couldn't change anything in the past because it's already happened. I may not go back to 1970 until I'm 30, 2 years from now, but my future self has already existed in 1970. If I went back on my same time line to prevent my parents from meeting, I wouldn't be able to. The evidence is that I exist. In Lost, everything that the main characters did in the past had already happened when they first showed up on the island. They didn't know it because they hadn't done it yet, but it had happened. My own personal theory, in keeping in line with what ever happened, happened, is that the end of last season has no effect on what will happen to the main characters. The same thing that happened before they went to the past will still happen. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I think one of the episodes involved a character saying that he was wrong about whatever happened, happened. But I think they used that episode to prove him wrong in his assumption. I read series of books that involved warp portals that led to the past. The premise in the book was that the universe would not allow a paradox, so if you went back in time to shoot someone before their time, the gun would misfire, or the bullet would miss, or something of that nature. You could not change the past, even though you could travel to it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Essentially all of this is an effort to avoid a paradox. I can't go back in time and kill myself because then I wouldn't be able to grow up, go back in time and kill myself. (Note: Alternate realities allow for this, but I wouldn't be killing me, I'd be killing an alternate me.) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So those are my favored time travel applications. Let's look at some bad ones. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Back to the Future. I love these movies. They're fun, and they're geek movies. But the way they do time travel isn't very well done. Marty fails to get his parents together and he starts to disappear. What the heck? And then when he changes things, he can remember how it used to be, but his parents and friends can't. They have instantly changed to reflect the things that Marty changed in the past. This happened recently on Heroes too when Hiro got Ando and Hiro's sister to fall in love at the carnival. When he got back to the present, it's like Ando and his sister were different people. But Hiro remembered what the old timeline used to be. The reason I don't like this way of time travel is because it's confusing. If Hiro changes the past, then there's nothing to go back and change when he gets to the future. Time lines are being created and destroyed. What happens to the past that was erased? If it didn't happen, then why did it need to be changed? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Star Trek actually uses time travel a lot in the other TV shows and movies. Probably the most frustrating thing with this is that they aren't consistent with the theory of time travel they use. Sometimes they're going to alternate universes. Sometimes they're changing their own past Think Tasha Yar as a Romulan, or the crew of DS9 having dopplegangers in a parallel universe. And then just recently, Teresa and I watched the episodes where they discover Data's head and then go back in time. This time, they follow the whatever happened, happened idea. It's also interesting to note that what caused them to travel back in time, was the discovery of something that they left back in the past. Think about it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For me, it all stems from how believable it is. Star Trek is fiction, but it's supposed to be believable. We're supposed to think that this stuff could actually happen in the future, even if it is a lot of techno babble and untested theories and out and out fiction. When a show or movie does something that just doesn't even make sense, even in the context of it's own universe, it takes a lot out of the enjoyment for me, and I think it's more confusing for much of the audience. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lost's final season starts tomorrow, and I'm eager to find out if they stick with the same theory of time travel. If they don't, I'll be disappointed, but I'm fairly certain they well. The producers of Lost also directed and produced Star Trek. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">I should note a couple extra things. Nearly all of these examples involve traveling in time to the past. Traveling to the past has the hardest implications for paradoxes and manipulating things. Traveling to the future is less exciting. It's more about seeing what people are like a given number of years from now. If you change something in the future, that doesn't affect anything about the course of the future. It just means a person from the past did the affecting instead of a person from the future-present. Also, as much as I hope we someday have star ships and travel in space, I don't actually think time travel is possible. There are two many complications and chances for paradox. Alternate reality is probably the most likely, and it's still a hard thing to grasp and prove today. Time will tell.</div></div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-17341119929821425992010-01-15T13:42:00.004-05:002010-01-15T14:11:06.291-05:00Of Avatar and Movie Theaters<div>If you haven't seen the movie Avatar, I might mention things that could be considered spoilers. I'm not going to give away the plot or the ending or anything, but I do talk about stuff from the film. Don't say I didn't warn you.</div><div><br /></div>Last weekend we went and saw Avatar. We saw it in 2D. Some people have looked down on us because of that, but that doesn't bother me. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, the special effects, and the story. Teresa did too, so it was good all around. We had our reasons for seeing it in the boring mundane way we've been watching movies all of our lives. Teresa was concerned that she would get a headache. I was concerned that 3D ticket prices were 150% higher than normal prices. In the end, I'm happy we made the decision we did. We may decide that we want to go back and see it in 3D eventually, and if it gives us headaches, we at least don't have to be worried about closing our eyes and missing some of the story or something.<div><br /></div><div>We went to a new movie theater. We don't go to the movies that often, but up until now we'd been going to a theater near the mall in Asheville. It's an older theater I think, with just the regular seating that is on a ramp from the front to the back of the theater. On our trip back from South Carolina for Christmas we passed through Hendersonville on I-26 which is just south of Asheville. They have a large theater there called the Regal Biltmore Cinema 15. We decided that would be where we saw Avatar and that's what we did. This place was very big, very nice, and had very large screens and stadium style seating. In fact, the place is so nice that their small popcorn costs a whole six dollars. I didn't bother to see what the large cost. We used a Fandango gift card to get the tickets (thanks mom!) and when we got there, we saw there was a Coldstone ice cream place in the same place the theater was. So we're determined to go back for a movie and for ice cream when the weather gets warmer. </div><div><br /></div><div>I liked Avatar because the world was amazing, and the story was easy to follow. We watched Transformers 2 at home the other night, and after a while I gave up trying to follow the plot and just tried to enjoy the robot battles. I have a feeling that's what the writers and director did too. Haha, I know, Transformers was out like a bazillion years ago and I'm behind the times. But you should already know that because I said we watched Avatar in 2D. </div><div><br /></div><div>Right, back to the more recent movie. It was great. The crazy cool world of Pandora where everything has an outlet for you to plug your hair into. Animals who you can share a brain with. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where they brought an imaginary world to life as well as they did in this movie. Lord of the Rings is close, but this was slightly different because it was not from a book. In fact, it's so real to some people, that it causes them to be depressed because they realize they can never actually go there. If you don't believe me, check out <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html">this article</a> from CNN that a friend on Facebook shared with me.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I said before, the story was very easy to follow. I've heard some say that the simple story has played a part in how this movie has appealed so well to a world wide audience. I've also heard that the plot of this movie is eerily similar to the plot of Disney's Pocahontas. Granted, Disney's story isn't necessarily original either. I saw this on Failblog. I got a chuckle out of it.<br /><br /><a href="http://failblog.org/2010/01/10/avatar-plot-fail/"><img class="mine_3034350592" title="epic-fail-avatar-plot-fail" src="http://failblog.wordpress.com/files/2010/01/epic-fail-avatar-plot-fail.jpg" alt="epic fail pictures" /></a><br />see more <a href="http://failblog.org/">Epic Fails</a><br /><br />One thing about the movie that had me wondering a little bit was why the only human presences on Pandora were a money hungry corporation, and a bunch of scientists. I feel like there should have been some form of political organization there doing more diplomatic work. We didn't get a whole lot of background on what the state of Earth is in 2154. At one point they mention that it's devoid of life or something due to the ravages of the human race, but it wasn't really explained if anyone was still living there, or if humans were just spread out across the universe now. Teresa and I are also trying to figure out the timeline of things. How long had it been between the time that the main character's brother had died and when he got to Pandora? He had been in cryo for over five years just to get there, so have they been waiting for someone to pilot his avatar for over five years? And if that's the case, why are they in such a hurry to bulldoze the planet once he does get there? Seems like something doesn't line up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe if I see it in 3D, I'll get it.<br /><div><br /></div></div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-15458016517900091712010-01-01T14:41:00.003-05:002010-01-01T15:35:50.157-05:00Oh TenHappy New Year everyone!<div><br /></div><div>In 2010 I hope to do everything I wanted to do but didn't do in 2009. Is that a good one? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Meh</span>. I'm not really one for new years resolutions. Being active and losing weight would be nice. I consistently tell myself to get back to the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIaQ_iPIY20"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Forza</span></a> routine that Teresa bought for me years ago. It's exercise with a sword. I mean if you're going to do exercise, getting to exercise with a sword is pretty awesome. It for sure beats exercise with a mat, or a ball, or weights. Am I right? Yes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Resolutions aside, I am looking forward to a lot of stuff in 2010. I turn 29 this year, which means that 2010 will be where I spend the majority of the last year of my own personal third decade. Exciting! And also a little scary. I'm don't feel old, but I don't feel like I'm a kid anymore. Some of you who are aware of my gaming hobbies might beg to differ. </div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of gaming, there are a few awesome titles coming out in 2010. Top of the list is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAFyFCqCEW0&feature=channel">Final Fantasy XIII</a>. Number 12 came out in late 2006, so it's been a long wait for this one. Also, 12 was on the PS2, so 13 will be the first Final Fantasy on the latest edition of consoles. Namely the PS3 and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Xbox</span> 360. Which of course means that in order to play it, I will have to acquire one of the aforementioned systems. My brother-in-law might sell me his old 360 at a bargain price which would be great. There are a few games already out on the 360 that I'd like to try as well. I've sort of debated between PS3 and 360, but the only real advantage of the PS3 is theya include <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">blu</span>-ray player, and I don't think my current TV even handles the resolution a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">blu</span>-ray would put out, which makes it kind of pointless now. I figure by the time I get a TV that's good for it, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">blu</span>-ray players will be even cheaper than they are now, and they aren't that bad now.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCT_0v7zHvQ">Cataclysm</a>, the next expansion to World of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Warcraft</span> will be released sometime this year. No one knows when for certain, but my guess is somewhere between August and November. Teresa and I are both excited for this one, though we're a bit worried that the new game may require an upgrade in computers. Sigh. I must be really behind the times if all the games I want to play require me to get new hardware just to play them. I'd say more about the game, but I'll save that for my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">WoW</span> related blog, so I won't bore you if it's not your thing. You're welcome.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh! Chuck comes back on TV this year. And LOST! That will be exciting. Last season of the show. All our questions will be answered! Actually, probably not. But hopefully the big ones will be. I look forward to exchanging goofy theories with my mother over what the heck is going on on that island. Wait, the island's gone? Blown up? Disappeared? Well, shoot. Hopefully Teresa and I can finish our viewing of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8aEhtJ-sgg&feature=related">Star Trek: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">TNG</span></a>. We finally decided to settle down and watch season 6 after having the first 3 discs for a couple months... only to discover that two of the discs were broken before we opened them. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Grr</span>. To make matters worse, when we requested replacements, they put them at a low spot on our movie queue, and we got some other replacement movies instead. Oh well. At least Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an awesome movie. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">That last sentence was sarcasm, you know, in case you didn't get that.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>I got a new job in 2009, back in April after we moved to NC. It has been a real challenge and a lot different from any job I've had. I think overall it's a bit more stressful, but more rewarding in the job experience I'm getting. I like the shop, I like the people, and I don't mind the work. Now that I've got eight months under my belt, I'm looking forward to actually making some changes and being a bit more assertive. It's a management position, so I think it's time I lead instead of just worked. Mike Hayes, if you're reading this, I'm thinking about everything we learned in that class, as well as the organizational behavior private study we did. +1 for using my education. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Woot</span>!</div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't asked Hannah what she expects from the new year yet. I'm not sure if she knows it's a new year though. She slept through the ball drop last night. She probably resolves to steal more food of the counters and table, and to bark more when she hears mysterious noises outside. Good resolutions for a three year old dog. But if I see her on the counter, I'm going to yell at her. It's just how it works.</div><div><br /></div><div>Teresa is still looking for work, and I hope she finds something she really likes. We're still enjoying the new house, and hopefully this year we'll get a fence put up in the back yard so we can go out there and play with Hannah. Which, come to think of it, might be another resolution of Hannah's. Get humans to play with me in the backyard more. </div><div><br /></div><div>Okay, so that's what I know about, but I'm sure 2010 will bring a lot of things that I don't yet know about. Hopefully more good things than bad. And hopefully flying cars. </div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-89544785003314763892009-12-19T12:57:00.008-05:002009-12-19T17:20:34.088-05:00In the MountainsFriday, it started to snow.<br /><br />I left for work because I had a lot to do, and I didn't really think I would have much trouble getting home. I could always leave early if I got my stuff done. Got there just fine and then the reports started coming in.<br /><br />For those of you that don't have an idea of where I live and work, let me paint a picture. We live in Swannanoa, which is between Asheville (the "big" city) and Black Mountain, which is not a mountain, nor is there a mountain nearby called Black Mountain that I am aware of. It's just the name of the town. All of these towns are situated in a mountain range, such that you have to take the interstate up the side of the mountain to get to them. We're about 2200 feet above sea level.<br /><br />At the bottom of the Mountain, East of us, is Old Fort. And beyond that a few more miles is Marion, where I work, about 1000 feet above seal level, so from home to work and back every day I have a bit of a hill to climb. The interstate has a 55mph speed limit for cars and a 35mph limit for trucks because there's quite a bit of semi traffic up and down the mountain. There are areas on the East bound side for trucks to run into if their breaks go out. So this gives you an idea that even in good weather it's a somewhat dangerous stretch of 5 miles or so that goes up the mountain side. Now imagine it covered with snow.<br /><br />I do not have any issues with snowy weather and driving. I learned to drive in Alaska, where it was fairly common to drive in the snow for a good portion of the year. I've driven in Boston, though I prefer not to, in bad weather. I wasn't worried about my ability to drive home. What I should have been more concerned about was everyone else's ability.<br /><br />So I get to the point at work where I think I'm ready to leave, about 2:30 PM. Then we get a phone call and surprise surprise I have to cut a last minute check to move some product. I get out the door about 2:45 PM, and on the road. It's been snowing fairly steadily since eight that morning. The roads are covered in snow, so I'm driving pretty slow and make it to the interstate just fine. Interstate traffic is about 40mph in a 70mph zone, which I'm okay with because that's about how fast I can go and still feel like I have control over the car. In fact, let me share with you my snow driving tips.<br /><br />Do everything you normally do, but slower and in smaller increments. Accelerate slower. Brake slower, and pump the breaks when you do. Give yourself a lot of room between you and the next car and think ahead a lot more than you normally would, such as putting on the breaks a long way before you actually reach the intersection. Keep the wheel straight and when you need to turn, or change lanes, do so by turning the wheel slowly until the car responds. The key is no sudden movements. No sudden braking, no sudden turning, no sudden accelerating. If you can do all that, you should be in good shape.<br /><br />I get to Old Fort, which is where the interstate starts to head up the mountain. Traffic came to a stop. I couldn't see ahead of me to see what the hold up was. I should mention I had already seen several cars and a few trucks slid off the side of the road by this point. After about 30 minutes of going no where, I sort of get the idea I might be here awhile. I wish I knew if it was an accident, or just slow traffic or what, but I never did find out. Eventually we inched forward bit by bit. I started to see police cars and it looked like the police may have been directing traffic. I went about a mile in the span of a couple hours. A lot of trucks and cars were pulled over.<br /><br />By this point it was dark, but I was finally moving. I went about another mile up the mountain... and hit another wall of traffic. I still don't know what's keeping us from moving, other than cars and trucks just not moving. Another hour or so goes by, and at long lost a snow plow chugs up the mountain on my right with a long trail of cars behind him. A nice man from the car in front of me advises me to back into the plowed lane instead of trying to pull forward over the snow, which I do, and it gets me in the lane just fine. I follow the snow plow at about 5mph up the mountain for the next 5 miles. So I guess it took me an hour.<br /><br />I made one stupid driving mistake that night, and it's when I tried to pull into my driveway and got stuck. With the help of my Brother-in-law and his friend, we got the car back into the road, and finally just parked it on the side of the road in front of the house. Finally, at 8:45, I was home. A six hour drive to go 30 miles.<br /><br />Anyway, that's my sad story. I think what I take from that is that there should be a law. A law that if you don't know how to drive in the snow, you are required to stay home. Then, the people that do know how can get where they need to go, and those that don't know how will be safe at home instead of strewn along the sides of the interstate up the mountain.<br /><br />Now it's Saturday. We have probably a good 12 inches or so of snow on the ground. It's very pretty. But I hope you understand if I choose not to go out in it today. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment, as well as some long awaited ones of our Christmas Tree.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWWRxazVe09BiizQuaMow-OkPC0DjGfBTrXjahjNZvXft6B0G1eueQxJNUP1aeZjQyfK5Jo4c8KNp-leZoPhjGCPCGdzfBCQc9UhC7KOj1H9ReqIYDj1mjyRMSQCQ4Gy-czj0Lodh2Ev6/s1600-h/P1030123.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWWRxazVe09BiizQuaMow-OkPC0DjGfBTrXjahjNZvXft6B0G1eueQxJNUP1aeZjQyfK5Jo4c8KNp-leZoPhjGCPCGdzfBCQc9UhC7KOj1H9ReqIYDj1mjyRMSQCQ4Gy-czj0Lodh2Ev6/s400/P1030123.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417023373422924802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswF-rPr4sn_h1GQ4XKywAqcGUpi_tjH9OFrDByvkIwwzn3VFQTTpCc4LtjT6fmtfVT2kryXempFKELMC9nM_KWHEhb2otLO2cxkMgB_ERlg9HxNMspSNWxGm9mhix-My1WpO2mDRb3hUh/s1600-h/P1030118.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswF-rPr4sn_h1GQ4XKywAqcGUpi_tjH9OFrDByvkIwwzn3VFQTTpCc4LtjT6fmtfVT2kryXempFKELMC9nM_KWHEhb2otLO2cxkMgB_ERlg9HxNMspSNWxGm9mhix-My1WpO2mDRb3hUh/s400/P1030118.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417023367115535106" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FMPmnIUCcogrj2XfRlu6ds9PnggihVf2t73fd66U2wphTPdITM5OrK2xvfejU0B15zN15hPiCXLmcnVXV5IdlaufiC6PmT4DFiVE3QNZL8D6Cf9LTXEvNONE-Eo8YYXY7eQmLJTP9Twm/s1600-h/P1030116.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FMPmnIUCcogrj2XfRlu6ds9PnggihVf2t73fd66U2wphTPdITM5OrK2xvfejU0B15zN15hPiCXLmcnVXV5IdlaufiC6PmT4DFiVE3QNZL8D6Cf9LTXEvNONE-Eo8YYXY7eQmLJTP9Twm/s400/P1030116.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417023358751665650" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBVY110aZw9j6A7icqIWp6ttaU120KTtYjk6-lQBr-xBZfCWNa82O8wgAq15PQW1AkDp4UjNI3768Lt2p9sYhe0qaun00LpD_Vhv5GNMPUrrpJSQ3q7VGM7zgxLVUjZlgzF0aGOLOIgry/s1600-h/P1030113.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBVY110aZw9j6A7icqIWp6ttaU120KTtYjk6-lQBr-xBZfCWNa82O8wgAq15PQW1AkDp4UjNI3768Lt2p9sYhe0qaun00LpD_Vhv5GNMPUrrpJSQ3q7VGM7zgxLVUjZlgzF0aGOLOIgry/s400/P1030113.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417074627414058194" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJYzhHCHMc-0nussJywES-ulXKFLZrAnZI6v_goZOau24z9qdxUgc7Zf31Z51BkEQiap8ZVDQIknHKnGtMIT9ivZC44MFSL1UO9Rfm55J7_EnLYpSS5MXThiGqpLnNMDCErmtkDdpuBo9/s1600-h/P1030109.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJYzhHCHMc-0nussJywES-ulXKFLZrAnZI6v_goZOau24z9qdxUgc7Zf31Z51BkEQiap8ZVDQIknHKnGtMIT9ivZC44MFSL1UO9Rfm55J7_EnLYpSS5MXThiGqpLnNMDCErmtkDdpuBo9/s400/P1030109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417023346090747282" border="0" /></a>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-60423151779331033732009-12-08T11:33:00.002-05:002009-12-08T12:03:58.168-05:00Holly Jolly in Black MountainI never did post last weekend about what Holly Jolly was. I put pictures up at my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30885311&id=1267467112"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Facebook</span></a> page though for those that are interested.<div><br /></div><div>Essentially, the downtown area of Black Mountain is made for Tourists. There are about two blocks of stores and restaurants designed for people traveling through, visiting, and picking up the odd hand crafted item, antique, or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">doo</span> dad. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Pooky</span> Bead shops as my Grandpa would call them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last Friday, Holly Jolly, consisted of the stores staying open later than usual and having various candies, appetizers, and drinks for the people browsing the stores. There was also a parade, and several places had live music. It was all pretty neat, and we had our fair share of cookies and candy. </div><div><br /></div><div>So that's what Holly Jolly is. If you take a look at the pictures, you'll see there was a nice pottery exhibit, some of which you could buy. In the bottom of that building was a mosaic of tiles on a wall. The tiles were each done by different people, mostly children circa 1997-1998. What was significant about these tile mosaic was that one of the tiles had been painted by Teresa and her brother David. Teresa only vaguely remembered it, and one of the people that were visiting with her mom and dad found it. A quilted tile with the initials TE and DE in the corners. I had never known this existed, so it was really neat. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you're ever in Black Mountain after Thanksgiving, be sure to stay up for Holly Jolly as you're sure to find something you'll want. Some of the pottery was very cool, and for sale, but in the end we decided on buying two art pieces at a local gallery. Small pictures to put up in the house. An early Christmas present for us, I suppose. </div><div><br /></div><div>In other news, I'm still working on getting pictures up of the tree. There are some at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Facebook</span>, but I still need to get a better one with a real camera and put it up here. Maybe I'll get one of our family (Teresa, me, and Hannah) and put it here too. Then instead of a Christmas card, you can all have a Christmas blog. </div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-23259014164000642002009-11-30T09:30:00.002-05:002009-11-30T09:50:42.951-05:00ThanksgivingTeresa and I stayed put in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Swannanoa</span> this year while her parents and her dad's family came to visit. It's the first Thanksgiving since we have been married that we've gotten to spend with her family. We only left Boston for one Thanksgiving while we lived there, and that was to go to Oregon to spend it with my family. So it was a nice change of pace.<div><br /></div><div>What was even a further change if pace is that no one cooked while we were there. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel, and it was very good. I'd like to thank the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Andersons</span>. I don't know why your party of six didn't show up when called, but because of you, we only had to wait five minutes for a table instead the thirty-five we were told we would wait. Thank you, and I hope you got to eat eventually. They were having a special with turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. It was yummy. It was served quick and hot and we didn't have to do any of the clean up!</div><div><br /></div><div>Poor Hannah had to stay at home most of the day in the bedroom. We got her out for walks on occasion. I think she got some ham and turkey bits to make up for it. Speaking of, thank you to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Earleys</span> who brought turkey and ham. It was delicious. </div><div><br /></div><div>By Friday night everyone was gone. There was a whirlwind of activity at the Black Mountain house as it was decided that the 45 year old living room rug had to go, and it was ripped up, revealing the hardwood floor beneath. Furniture was arranged and an oval rug placed in the center of the room. Then everyone went home to attend to whatever weekend plans they had. Teresa and I, not being sure of what we'd be doing that weekend had not made plans, so we settled in for a relaxing couple of days. </div><div><br /></div><div>We went out and got a Christmas tree at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ingles</span>, the grocery store. They only had a few, but they were all pretty good quality. I think this is the biggest tree we have ever gotten. It's almost 8 ft tall, and fairly bushy. Sunday night we decorated it, so now the house feels all festive for the holidays, which is a good thing. The tree is in the living room, right behind the front door, so if you're coming to our house, be sure not to open the door too wide. I'll get a picture up soon. I took some with my phone for my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Facebook</span> page, but they aren't great pictures. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now it's back to work for three weeks, and then a week off for Christmas! </div>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-66793967492478979482009-11-08T13:29:00.009-05:002009-11-09T10:25:19.289-05:00Carolina Renaissance FestivalWell, I said we'd do it and we did! Saturday, Teresa and I took off to Charlotte for the <a href="http://www.royalfaires.com/carolina/">Carolina Renaissance Festival</a>. We had the joy of meeting up with Beth and Jonathan, friends from college, and their two year old son, Julian, who we had never met and were thrilled to get the chance to see. We arrived at the fair grounds a little ahead of them, and went inside.<br /><br />First of all, it was remarkably similar to the fair in Maryland. The buildings were the same, and the signs all looked familiar. Many of the souvenirs and other things were identical to ones found at the other fair. It makes sense when I think about it, that people who make and sell these things would find similar venues for them. The scale of the Carolina festival was a little smaller. There was still plenty to see and do, but you didn't have to walk quite as far to see and do it. We got there shortly after it opened so there weren't too many people at the festival yet.<br /><br />Our friends showed up soon after we got there and we took our time going from place to place. It was really wonderful to see Julian rushing from place to place, and Jonathan following closely behind as they took in all the sights. We somehow ended up near a stage where they were doing a falconry show, which turned out to be really cool. The birds would fly out over the audience, really low, from perch to perch.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_n_6rCVg0qYNM3rjGnhd9qdB9jtwwgVXwXbDXAlU09LBAgR9j1xeojC3o-JUbBgfAqd-JKDAGYY6mdJPYCbRNu4NOeldimx1s1FlmdHGFe4lQrWX8pehzPYp__aPSM-25f0VaFRLLuHSs/s1600-h/CRF_Falconry.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_n_6rCVg0qYNM3rjGnhd9qdB9jtwwgVXwXbDXAlU09LBAgR9j1xeojC3o-JUbBgfAqd-JKDAGYY6mdJPYCbRNu4NOeldimx1s1FlmdHGFe4lQrWX8pehzPYp__aPSM-25f0VaFRLLuHSs/s400/CRF_Falconry.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401804093907649810" border="0" /></a>Teresa and I did not wear any renaissance clothing this time, but there were plenty of people that did. Sometimes it's hard to tell if they work at the festival or if they're just attending! After taking this next picture, the group of people started to do a dance. The formal kind you see in things like Pride and Prejudice.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61xfoIeKuqXkGIynlZnu7NHXe_hM_TlRa2d7n_lAE-RYx3nZFW05kw_2DkrKhdP0ckUbeZrp2ffw4L_B9Qm2ZIkcl7bCMWnNSQQXLWs0tx_jL1-opFSVJQQ4phMFc0G-ZNGo7kEKfg9nm/s1600-h/CRF_Dancing.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61xfoIeKuqXkGIynlZnu7NHXe_hM_TlRa2d7n_lAE-RYx3nZFW05kw_2DkrKhdP0ckUbeZrp2ffw4L_B9Qm2ZIkcl7bCMWnNSQQXLWs0tx_jL1-opFSVJQQ4phMFc0G-ZNGo7kEKfg9nm/s400/CRF_Dancing.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401804802861190674" border="0" /></a><br />Further on was a place where there were several Greyhounds just lounging about for people to come up and pet. I can't remember the name of the place now, nor what the dogs were there for, or where they came from, if they were rescued racers or what, but they were sweet dogs, and Teresa loved them.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfTbBUFill_PXbV_hxLegZuTTgsN6QFnbvTBnIsMsWNRHJ2BgWDTzehNqEcZmwhL1bRjaeluNQPrRIm9_xKLrnTKQ1u33bocvXg1at23i7zGxzHXVTjAINgFhyphenhyphenPyxno_HlbURu67RN0Tw/s1600-h/CRF_Greyhound.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfTbBUFill_PXbV_hxLegZuTTgsN6QFnbvTBnIsMsWNRHJ2BgWDTzehNqEcZmwhL1bRjaeluNQPrRIm9_xKLrnTKQ1u33bocvXg1at23i7zGxzHXVTjAINgFhyphenhyphenPyxno_HlbURu67RN0Tw/s400/CRF_Greyhound.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401806568618279762" border="0" /></a>We continued to take a look at everything as we made our way to the food area. I ended up with another turkey leg, and man, was that thing huge and tasty. Better than the one from Maryland for sure. I don't know what the difference was, but I know I liked it better. We found a play ground for the kids where we ate, and Julian played. After lunch we continued on down to the petting zoo where there were goats, a highland cow, and elephant and camel rides. Then it came time for the joust.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijvQtUt2ywPYqZ7FkpYDwjpeOcr1TE-p_Eu_hQibkvlrzys3vJEHYlV1n-dpCjhF9fV-Jsgge5jI8IxsrM1K7Ux-JFCuu4gP-SCsDOjVujv9LKjiIHnl12S20i1e7SHpEqvG3sN7x8lC_/s1600-h/CRF_OurKnight.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijvQtUt2ywPYqZ7FkpYDwjpeOcr1TE-p_Eu_hQibkvlrzys3vJEHYlV1n-dpCjhF9fV-Jsgge5jI8IxsrM1K7Ux-JFCuu4gP-SCsDOjVujv9LKjiIHnl12S20i1e7SHpEqvG3sN7x8lC_/s400/CRF_OurKnight.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401807304542375826" border="0" /></a>This was our knight. There were three in total, and two of them were heralded as being evil, and this one, ours, was the good one. He also looked very young. At a point in the show where our knight had won a skill trial, he was given a crown of flowers to give out to someone as princess of the joust, and he gave it to a little girl. One of the evil knights commended him... for picking a princess older than he was.<br /><br />This joust was a bit different from the one Maryland. At that one, they competed for points and in the end, a winner was selected. At this joust, they did more play acting, falling off their horses and culminating in a challenge to a Joust to the Death, which was to happen at the next joust that day. It was entertaining, and I would have liked to see the next joust, but it was getting too late at that point. All the more reason to return!<br /><br />On the way out of the park, we took the obligatory heads on picture, picture. Look at us! We're King and Queen!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLVws8VGk3Gfnc3NHAnwEPJjf4QdSa1L2IjDvA1M2d7hdY3q_LwBUVykyqCaknfOWit0PPThe9OPmVE0WSoBkXsBT0Mh3jcD7ooedCiK8UyC01f74FfNdjiuN7HBwuzS-WZWtC4HxDtiU/s1600-h/CRF_King+and+Queen.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLVws8VGk3Gfnc3NHAnwEPJjf4QdSa1L2IjDvA1M2d7hdY3q_LwBUVykyqCaknfOWit0PPThe9OPmVE0WSoBkXsBT0Mh3jcD7ooedCiK8UyC01f74FfNdjiuN7HBwuzS-WZWtC4HxDtiU/s400/CRF_King+and+Queen.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401807088840082338" border="0" /></a>But then there was one other thing near the exit to the park . The goose holding booth. For some reason, this was very cool. And all it is are some very well trained geese. And what they're trained to do is sit in your lap. I did it earlier in the day, and Teresa was a little bit timid. But by the end of the day, she was ready to hold a goose. This is Teresa and Mimi.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM0DC_uspyCUxkXkLbP0R9HMg2gI8tQJ1vPNHkUnI8vhBZuJm89qYZY8-QvxQFKvBNdxIGurrK_rYRT4M2t36SKtPDIm5NlBVkpFZvHZOS-DBuU97qNUSDXxR3VnsEynYQ7-PDT6yYNuW/s1600-h/CRF_Mimi.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEM0DC_uspyCUxkXkLbP0R9HMg2gI8tQJ1vPNHkUnI8vhBZuJm89qYZY8-QvxQFKvBNdxIGurrK_rYRT4M2t36SKtPDIm5NlBVkpFZvHZOS-DBuU97qNUSDXxR3VnsEynYQ7-PDT6yYNuW/s400/CRF_Mimi.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401807098906635282" border="0" /></a>It was a great day, and I'd definitely do it again. It wasn't just the fair either, but the chance to see our friends again. Our friends who, it turns out, only live a couple hours a way, so we have no excuse for waiting another five years to see them again. The next festival in North Carolina is in April, but there may be one in Georgia before that. I'll have to start doing some more research!T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-89693581247809023452009-11-08T13:20:00.007-05:002009-11-08T13:29:31.666-05:00Howl-a-Ween<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrRdaZ9GDPYniHyucuJxd-n9TtR1od6E3nIfVobFxa5Q5K89DQYTfqraxh7DvkrWqjZIto14cEHYlY-FMDzf_3nv3c8iBS7kETrltKLdfz7ahZmBrv-mmvMMsyolgIdUA-s-ECmIzbIzf/s1600-h/Hannah+Lobster.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrRdaZ9GDPYniHyucuJxd-n9TtR1od6E3nIfVobFxa5Q5K89DQYTfqraxh7DvkrWqjZIto14cEHYlY-FMDzf_3nv3c8iBS7kETrltKLdfz7ahZmBrv-mmvMMsyolgIdUA-s-ECmIzbIzf/s320/Hannah+Lobster.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401800552635323154" border="0" /></a>I failed to post last week when we went to Howl-a-Ween in Black Mountain, so here's a quick post. Every year they do a dog costume contest and parade in Black Mountain where people dress up their dogs, or with their dogs and just have some fun. We tried to get Hannah into a Lobster costume... but she didn't want any part of that.<br /><br />We still went, just to see all of the other dogs in their costumes. There were quite a few people, including a couple dressed as Batman and Batgirl, and their two dogs were Robin and Wonder Woman. There was a whippet or something dressed up like a giraffe, and one in a pink jacket of some sort. I'm not sure what it was. Below are a couple of our favorites.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiHxQloGk0NCnEDRlZ3jdAQXZak8gwjgyK7HmuVxou3lPLQ8itaRMCWWCEAdX3l3E1fpKTEq0Do2QIbJGvm1ubZW4UKVfUa0bkD39FBd3VssISEEG-jlxQPpavnADttfYW0rSf2Dm44It/s1600-h/HoW_Zorro.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiHxQloGk0NCnEDRlZ3jdAQXZak8gwjgyK7HmuVxou3lPLQ8itaRMCWWCEAdX3l3E1fpKTEq0Do2QIbJGvm1ubZW4UKVfUa0bkD39FBd3VssISEEG-jlxQPpavnADttfYW0rSf2Dm44It/s400/HoW_Zorro.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401801012655455058" border="0" /></a> Zorro!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsMJTg83rHTah5wB3QyK3xwCo78517EDYkjaTki9QeUa8zdgh1ePTLT8TZtKQrNAAwKtVYJymRhSBRp6pqczCcPEl3P2R_UfhV-lRuIod_zVwugKm6ayedmKAUfAucwWYGM4TCbJiZWjS/s1600-h/HoW_Snow+White.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsMJTg83rHTah5wB3QyK3xwCo78517EDYkjaTki9QeUa8zdgh1ePTLT8TZtKQrNAAwKtVYJymRhSBRp6pqczCcPEl3P2R_UfhV-lRuIod_zVwugKm6ayedmKAUfAucwWYGM4TCbJiZWjS/s400/HoW_Snow+White.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401800857898467442" border="0" /></a> Snow White<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEXuU1B3eh1YmC9oAiiBKZnBgeNWsvbgVccOCSFdGOLRUlKTBfV42Cbeh-7iP9EGReo5WIfgBTz6YHez394SD5LTecQ1oROeZZh9LnJU8HjqfUHcQ4rPyFWfl0H7qvwaPoepJ-qZgYcu4/s1600-h/HoW_Holmes.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEXuU1B3eh1YmC9oAiiBKZnBgeNWsvbgVccOCSFdGOLRUlKTBfV42Cbeh-7iP9EGReo5WIfgBTz6YHez394SD5LTecQ1oROeZZh9LnJU8HjqfUHcQ4rPyFWfl0H7qvwaPoepJ-qZgYcu4/s400/HoW_Holmes.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401800720334467522" border="0" /></a> Sherlock Holmes, searching for clues...T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-65928508358484097132009-10-24T15:26:00.010-04:002009-10-24T17:41:35.033-04:00Our New Couch, and The Onset of Fall<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgn9NW2h7pBwknrm7wecAQu9jKLqLqgZVkHNh8PQi63MM2asOCcaAD3iH8rKbGR-z82qB_ZO9JD-ciyr1drV2PWnJA1A-mS_yxp9rHuk6I2eh3ADc7HO6umQcLbkTIAE4Wa-1fQPu_D5s/s1600-h/P1020805.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgn9NW2h7pBwknrm7wecAQu9jKLqLqgZVkHNh8PQi63MM2asOCcaAD3iH8rKbGR-z82qB_ZO9JD-ciyr1drV2PWnJA1A-mS_yxp9rHuk6I2eh3ADc7HO6umQcLbkTIAE4Wa-1fQPu_D5s/s400/P1020805.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396250322149074642" border="0" /></a><br />There it is. Our new couch, all comfy and inviting. Teresa likes to the lamp side of the couch most I think. At least that's where she always sits. We've been using if for the last week and a half and I think it's working out pretty well. And yes, Mom, we are gradually getting our Homer Simpson butt prints settled in.<br /><br />Our house is looking pretty good. We've got pictures on the wall, furniture in the living room, and just recently we finished setting up my keyboard, stereo, and the large book shelf in the small bed room. We threw the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Papasan</span> chair in there and it makes a passable reading and music room!<br /><br />Just one bedroom is unfinished. We need a desk/keyboard chair, and a futon mattress so we can make it a true guest bedroom. Then all that's left is the mess of old boxes and paraphernalia that's in the attic, but it's okay to take some time on that.<br /><br />Fall is here. I LOVE the fall. Favorite season by far. I can tell when I go outside and the air is cold with a slight breeze, but the sun is up, and leaves are everywhere that my favorite season has arrived. Here is a shot of the hillside from our front porch.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT__U9CAbyR0-Iu7KxSMDbCszkHSq74oOU9ZbNoShxBe8WrZVRewcgA2lO3VrcZ27qUJOsc-E3O7SbHgkfUaWRMHUbUbo9XwSJ6HuqjggR2U_q53VZ8IhXr-Qdsd2m6EVexcGxo0CwV6vn/s1600-h/P1020808.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT__U9CAbyR0-Iu7KxSMDbCszkHSq74oOU9ZbNoShxBe8WrZVRewcgA2lO3VrcZ27qUJOsc-E3O7SbHgkfUaWRMHUbUbo9XwSJ6HuqjggR2U_q53VZ8IhXr-Qdsd2m6EVexcGxo0CwV6vn/s400/P1020808.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396251570990489490" border="0" /></a>I've got some other shots from this week where it's a lot more pronounced. This was when they first started to turn. The picture doesn't do it justice, but you can start to see it.<br /><br />Today, I went to a golf tournament with my company. We did Captain's Choice, or Best Ball, where we played in teams of four and hit from where whoever hit the best. I actually got put in a team of three and we just rotated a 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> hitter. I was worried at first. I haven't golfed since before Teresa and I got married. I never managed to find a time to go golfing in Boston. But I am so glad I went today. My first shot off the tee was beautiful, and I continued to do well throughout the day. On the second hole, I think we played from my ball for every shot and parred the hole. On hole 17, I birdied the putt for our group, (That's one less than par for the golfing uninitiated, par being the amount of shots it's supposed to take you.)<br /><br />We ended 18 holes at 72, just 2 over par and won second place in the tournament which equals fifty bucks for me. After the green fees, the longest drive pot, and lunch, I came out a little ahead for the day. Nothing better than free golf! And even if it had been bad golf, the weather was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">absofreakinglutely</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">beautiful</span>. This was the view from the tee on hole 18.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVtBLhNiM6KakWBCRTEhgdG1LsfH-G5QK47MtM65ajcTZV5icdbBjKakj3ZvJ8np9O-ZR87hPowYfdwtcoX0jKkl_XJPEJbVI_t-9TMaF1XzBGr39UhTnnkGuX9wsCNDfRKvecXvyrhfp/s1600-h/Golf+Scene+-+Hole+18.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVtBLhNiM6KakWBCRTEhgdG1LsfH-G5QK47MtM65ajcTZV5icdbBjKakj3ZvJ8np9O-ZR87hPowYfdwtcoX0jKkl_XJPEJbVI_t-9TMaF1XzBGr39UhTnnkGuX9wsCNDfRKvecXvyrhfp/s400/Golf+Scene+-+Hole+18.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396254339519101122" border="0" /></a><br />Teresa's parents are visiting this weekend. They took off to chimney rock while I was golfing. Hopefully Teresa took some pictures and I'll post those later on today or this week. I'll have to post again just to show off the fall colors before they disappear!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQVT0x8agzJ-TD9dUbP6hfFHkbEk8Vd3E57e9M-uNABVOVxZMQOZIgWLczJm-q9aNRhIIyxuL2wboyIHxHCaB0XDlANjEWR157AkPQx0SclTX1r0oQDxQtPNOAWl8FrX4scDGv0vI_XeC/s1600-h/TJ+GOLF.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQVT0x8agzJ-TD9dUbP6hfFHkbEk8Vd3E57e9M-uNABVOVxZMQOZIgWLczJm-q9aNRhIIyxuL2wboyIHxHCaB0XDlANjEWR157AkPQx0SclTX1r0oQDxQtPNOAWl8FrX4scDGv0vI_XeC/s400/TJ+GOLF.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396255252726240098" border="0" /></a>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-63795287453194281622009-10-07T14:07:00.007-04:002009-10-07T15:36:04.690-04:00Renn Fair RecapI've posted pictures of last weekend's Maryland Renaissance Fair to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Facebook</span> already, but if you haven't seen them, take a look <a href="http://s149.photobucket.com/albums/s80/whitesaber7/Veritas%20Fair%202009/?albumview=grid">here</a>.<br /><br />It was a lot of fun. Would do again. Will do again. In fact, I may even do it soon since I found out there is a <a href="http://www.royalfaires.com/carolina/">fair </a>only a couple hours away from here near Charlotte, NC. Teresa had fun too, at least she tells me she had fun. Our hostess made us outfits, so Teresa got a medieval style dress, and I wore a black tunic. Teresa said it reminded her of dressing up for dance performances. She even had an awesome tiara to go with her outfit. I wore my Red <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Sox</span> hat. Go 16<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> century <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Sox</span>!<br /><br />We stayed with friends in Arlington, Virginia. Friends who we had never met before. Wait.. what? Yeah, let me expand on that. Teresa and I spend a lot of our entertainment and free time playing an online video game. You may have heard of it. It's called <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml">World of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Warcraft</span></a>. I'm pretty sure that's not a secret, so I have no problems talking about it, but I won't bore all of you, my friends and family, with the details because I'm smart enough to know that you don't want me to ramble on about the game, and why I play it. Besides, I have another <a href="http://goodmorningazeroth.blogspot.com/">blog </a>for that.<br /><br />Well as you might imagine, a lot of people that we play this game with are into the whole Fantasy, Sci-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">fi</span>, comics sub culture and would enjoy things like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Renn</span> fairs. Over the last couple of years of playing, we've gotten to know some of the people pretty well in the game. We're part of a guild, which is just a collection of players in an official group. The guild's name is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Veritas</span>. So the people we met up with in VA, are people from our guild. After more than a year of talking and playing together online, we finally met face to face. And it was great. Everyone was just as nice as they are online and very gracious hosts. We even had a guy come all the way from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Puerto</span> Rico with his wife just to visit and go to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Renn</span> Fair. Whoa!<br /><br />Okay, so we all got matching <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">tabards</span>, again made by our hostess. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">tabards</span> mirror similar <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">tabards</span> that our characters in game wear, so it's a nice little homage to the game. That's the red thing with the flame on it that you see in all the pictures.<br /><br />Enough about the guild, more about the fair! The first thing I wanted to do when we got there was watch them joust, but that wasn't happening for another hour, so we made our way to where they were selling turkey legs and got ourselves lunch. Teresa wasn't so much into the turkey legs so she had baked potato. The turkey was good. We looked around for a bit more before making our way to the joust. The knights wore actual plate armor and were assisted by squires as they performed feats of skill such as hooking a ring off a post on their swords without touching the post. Then they had some mock battles where they beat on each other with wooden swords. Finally, at the end, they did full on jousting. They didn't knock anyone off their horse, but they broke a lot of lances. Very cool to see up close.<br /><br />From there we saw the sights. Lots of artisans selling hand made clothing and weapons and cups and pouches and trinkets. I wanted to buy a handcrafted <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">wooden</span> cup but they were pretty expensive. Maybe next year. There were quite a few people very elaborately dressed from different time periods. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Ther</span>e were pirates, and wenches, and Robin Hoods, and faeries, and all manor of different medieval style dress. There was also a fair number of pot bellied men walking around in kilts with no shirts, and women with really tight corsets. I'll leave it at that.<br /><br />We tried Meade, which is a honey wine. It was okay to try, but I don't like wine all that much, so I don't think it's something I would have regularly. Still, I can say I've had <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">mead</span>, and that's worth it. We visited with our friends, saw some more booths and watched part of a stage show where they were calling people up on stage to act out the story of the three little pigs. It was pretty humorous. I think it was mostly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">improv</span> by the stage actors, so that's always fun.<br /><br />Several people asked us about the matching <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">tabards</span>, and a lot of them were familiar with the game if the didn't outright play it. We met an older couple right before we left the fair who had all sorts of stories to tell of the game and what they play in it once they found out we were in a guild. They were a riot. We think the man may have had a bit too much <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">mead</span>...<br /><br />Towards the end of the day when everyone was getting tired, we congregated around a table and just visited. I tried ye <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">olde</span> milk and cookies. They were good. They sell just about everything you can imagine on a stick. Chocolate cheesecake on a stick. Fried Macaroni and Cheese on a stick. Steak on a stake. Lots more I can't remember right now, and a lot I wanted to try but didn't have the stomach to. It was all fairly pricey, but that comes with the territory.<br /><br />I think I could easily go to these things often if I had the time and the money. It would be fun to build a nice outfit piece by piece until you had something really cool. I think I'd go for a more rustic, robin hood type thing than a royal Renaissance look, with leather pouches and a sword and bow. Oh, weapons weren't allowed in the fair, not even play weapons, unless they were bought there, so I didn't bother bringing the sword I actually owned, but it would be cool to include that somehow.<br /><br />The fair I mentioned that's in Charlotte runs through November. I'm thinking we might be able to get out for a day and go with Teresa's family or friends in the area. We'll see. Oh yes, we'll see.T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-28671566700211064682009-10-03T14:17:00.001-04:002009-10-03T14:17:34.558-04:00The Joust<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlO85gfZCaBnqWmYxlSjFcuCNZsZsk_K8F1NUe_MGkxs3-c13A39RaKVCsv1Q9GFVV6LNf1t3uCZNFVg8OCfOfW7OmSJQxs4tZusicYWNDG4Wp4j4d-Qrg4Kn_Prv6Ma3_nWIFfCQPJdR/s1600-h/IMG00030-20091003-1420-754560.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlO85gfZCaBnqWmYxlSjFcuCNZsZsk_K8F1NUe_MGkxs3-c13A39RaKVCsv1Q9GFVV6LNf1t3uCZNFVg8OCfOfW7OmSJQxs4tZusicYWNDG4Wp4j4d-Qrg4Kn_Prv6Ma3_nWIFfCQPJdR/s320/IMG00030-20091003-1420-754560.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388439574282721522" /></a></p>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-27467990174415517222009-10-03T13:15:00.001-04:002009-10-03T13:15:47.445-04:00Prepare thyself for merriment.<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijDTeLNeYxvIzsuD2qRfDdMDRaFKBoCp92U_6SK2T3IW-d4BOC5vUgmdtOy85fxKt1CRb-vlj-2iHmFkRfNV336KC7KwXko-6mDZ1vYVThPWsxVyB_RwN8wpGzQ1XRxoD_hWFS5es4Frq/s1600-h/IMG00028-20091003-1318-747446.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijDTeLNeYxvIzsuD2qRfDdMDRaFKBoCp92U_6SK2T3IW-d4BOC5vUgmdtOy85fxKt1CRb-vlj-2iHmFkRfNV336KC7KwXko-6mDZ1vYVThPWsxVyB_RwN8wpGzQ1XRxoD_hWFS5es4Frq/s320/IMG00028-20091003-1318-747446.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388423651688807634" /></a></p>T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-31139674222348594072009-10-03T10:35:00.001-04:002009-10-03T10:47:03.538-04:00Teresa Stencils<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMUi2J8LGZMGp63XMhhb39CaEZq0L1a066v6o9L1J26R0r_fDyiWTDjguvmZDX88Pn1uIG8ToGRRYfB-sMIszcPJJXFcOBUuIPP-ScPlyw0BxkYWEHtqYx1obYYOgWVDSEL8AKhL6cobf/s1600-h/=%3Futf-8%3FB%3FVGVyZXNhIHN0ZW5jaWwuanBn%3F=-733631"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMUi2J8LGZMGp63XMhhb39CaEZq0L1a066v6o9L1J26R0r_fDyiWTDjguvmZDX88Pn1uIG8ToGRRYfB-sMIszcPJJXFcOBUuIPP-ScPlyw0BxkYWEHtqYx1obYYOgWVDSEL8AKhL6cobf/s320/=%3Futf-8%3FB%3FVGVyZXNhIHN0ZW5jaWwuanBn%3F=-733631" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388381935924284850" border="0" /></a></p>Teresa is painting the guild symbol on a tabard to be worn at the Renn Fair. The name of the guild is Veritas, and the guild symbol is a gold flame.T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825116332794384852.post-58026772865976736102009-10-01T15:17:00.003-04:002009-10-01T15:30:12.012-04:00Off to Rennfest!Teresa and I are (soon to be) on our way to the <a href="http://www.rennfest.com/">Maryland Renaissance Festival</a>! We're going to stay with some friends who live near Washington D.C. and enjoy a weekend of eating Turkey Legs and seeing people dressed up in fancy medieval gear and stuff. I'm pretty excited. Our hosts may even be putting together some costumes for us, since they do this more often and have extra stuff on hand. That sounds silly at first, but where we're going, it won't be silly. At least I hope so.<br /><br />I've always enjoyed fantasy. From books to video games to the fascination with swords and knights. But I've never actually made it to a Renaissance Fair. There was one called King Richard's Fair that was held near Boston, but we never went because we didn't have anyone to go with, and it was more my kind of thing than Teresa's. Well now we have someone to go with, friends of both of ours, and even Teresa is a little excited about it which makes me happier about it all too.<br /><br />The trip is about 7 or 8 hours up, but I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow so we can spend two whole days there. We'll spend tonight in Greensboro and then drive the rest of the way in the morning. It's been a long time since we made a trip just for fun and not just to see family, or to move. Some of our best memories are of traveling places during college, and seeing new things. We've been cooped up too long. Time to get out.<br /><br />Speaking of getting out, the weather turned all Autumn like this week. After the rain cleared up on Sunday it's been nothing but chill breezes and lazy sunny days. I love it. It's my favorite season. And my hope is that soon it will frost, and then the grass will stop growing. And then I can have two to three hours of my life back on weekends. Wait, I mean, darn, I won't get to be outside with that awesome lawn mower of mine I talked about. Shucks.T.J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09970686658906824612noreply@blogger.com1