Life Update, 3/23

Hey everyone (and by everyone I mean no one since nobody ever comes here anyways, but yet I still blog, I am truly an idiot, eh?). Another wonderful Monday morning here in Drop Dead Fred. Yesterday I went out and about (mostly to get a new book), and I went downtown and saw some people I have not seen in a while. It is nice to catch up with people sometimes.

I've been steadily working with the Fredericksburg City Schools (about 2-3 times a week), and I've been having more and more fun. I'm applying to UMW for the fall to work on getting my teaching license and my masters in Elementary Education. This summer I'm going to be attending NOVA Woodbridge taking two courses, Childhood Lit and Geology. It will be nice taking classes again.

That is pretty much all that has been going on in my life right now, I'll update more frequently as things become more interesting, but right now, my life has been pretty boring.

Link of the Day: Hanafuda Online: This game is uber addictive once you learn some of the rules. I've been playing it a ton lately...

My First Video Blog: Football

I am thinking of doing these from time to time, so here you go:



Link of the day: IraqGoals.com - This is a nice place to watch streams of the EPL and other soccer events.

Life Update 1/28

So here I am, just wanting to give an update and to tell you (you being the zero people who come to my little corner of the blogosphere) that I am here and still alive. I have not posted anything lately since I have not really done anything that was worth posting about and I have not thought of anything that I can think of to talk about.

I guess we can talk about the inauguration. It was a wild thing to watch on TV as I saw 2 million+ people standing around the mall, some there since 2AM that morning. Obama made a very good speech. The man has a gift for oration, that was one reason he became President was his amazing oratory skills. I hope his four years are good ones.

His first full week did not start so well as on Monday we saw a massive 68,000 people told they were no longer needed by their employers. I know how that feels being laid off before, it is a horrible feeling, kind of like a stomach punch. Then, after a time when you feel sorry for yourself (sometimes it lasts longer, sometimes it lasts shorter, for me, it lasted a few months,) you start over. In my case, I decided to go back to school full time. So I did and now I'm semi-employed (working when City Schools needs me), but I have a college degree.

I think I finally decided that I am going to try to find a job abroad. Where, I do not know. I would like to find a job in Europe somewhere, especially in Germany or Austria since I can read German relatively well (Speaking it however, is another question, but I digress), It would be cool to live outside the US for a year or two and to see another country's culture and way of life (plus living in Europe means plenty of footie to watch as well). We'll see how everything works out, if it does...

Link of the day: Top Gear - This is the website for the show Top Gear. It is one of my favorite shows, they do some awesome challenges like once they raced across Japan with a Nissan Skyline GTR vs. Japanese Public transportation. (You'll have to find the video on Youtube to find out who won the race.)

Happy (Yea right!) New Year

So happy new year to everyone. Well, I had my telephone interview for the logistics position, well, guess what, I guess I sucked since I did not get a call back. Oh well, it happens. Hopefully, I get something here soon, being broke really, really sucks. Earlier this week, I really felt like crap and I have never felt more defeated in my life, but I guess I feel better now, at least good enough to post this blog entry. Oh well, I just wanted to give the blog a quick update.

Oh, one more thing, this is good news, it looks like my sister and her fiance are going to buy a townhouse in Stafford. I'm happy for my sister, she had a rough time a few years ago but it seems now that times are changing and everything is looking good for her. I hope they get the place.

Link of the day: Watchmen trailer. If this movie is half as good as the graphic novel, then I'll be a happy camper.

Merry Christmas

Hello gang, another Christmas has come and pass, and it was good. My nephews got a Wii for their house which made my Mom sad since they now do not have a reason to come over here now (since their Wii has more games than ours, paraphrased from my nephew. My Mom got a Karaoke Machine (the nice professional one from Costco) from us kids, I think my Mom has never been more excited for a gift. My dad (as well as I) got Ipod Nanos, he also got a car adapter (I already have a car adapter.) My brother got a ton of shirts, a tool kit, a decal for his alma mater for his car (Radford University), and a briefcase for his new notebook computer (from me). My sister got the entire collection of Sex and the City, every season, I think she freaked when she saw it since she has been wanting that for a long time. I also got a Nike watch, the afformentioned Ipod, all three seasons of "How I Met Your Mother" (more for my Mom than for me), and the Mel Brooks movie collection (including Blazing Saddles, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and History of the World, part 1.

More update on gifts and such on Saturday when we go to Winnie and Bob's house.

On a side note, I got the best Christmas gift I could possibly get by having my super huge interview with Army Logistics on Dec 31st. I REALLY hope I get this position since this really seems like the type of career path I want to take. Plus the position is cool since it is a way to support the Men and Women of the Armed Forces by making sure their supplies reach point B from point A. Well, more on this after Wednesday.

Link of the Day: Nintendo8 - Website that allows one to play NES games online

Weird Dream

I had one of my weirder dreams last night. So in this dream I was a time traveler. But there was a reason I was able to bend time and space, the reason was this mouse that was my pet. This mouse was not the only one that could do it, he was part of a family of mice that had the power to bend the space/time continuum at its will. The problem was that we were near this shed (yes a normal, run of the mill shed). This shed represented absolute logic and would suspend the powers of the mice and my powers as well and thus we were both fading away. So anyways, we were stuck by the power of this shed until a girl saved us (do not remember what she looked like, just a random woman), and together we destroyed the shed, but the problem was that by destroying the shed, the shed was the center of all logic and order in the world and the world dipped into chaos..unfortunately, at this point I woke up, so I'll never know how my adventure as a bender of the space/time continuum will end...

Maybe someone out there can help to end it for me.

Link of the day: Dream Moods - This site is dedicated to interpreting dreams and what their meaning is.

Some of my favorite things, part I: Pro Wrestling

As many of you know (well all none of you), if Tom has one guilty pleasure that he watches religiously, that would be the wonderful world of Pro Wrestling. Now I know what some people say, it is not real, it is a fake sport, blah blah blah. I know it is not real, as in it is scripted, but the risks these guys and gals take every night to entertain fans like me is VERY REAL. If you do not believe me on that, just look up Owen Hart or Darren Drozdov, okay, I did it for you. Both of these guys were in the prime or just getting into the prime of their careers in wrestling, when one tragically died (I remember that night well, it was a PPV that my brother and I ordered, one of the worst moments I've ever seen on television) and the other had a freak accident with a botched move and is now a quadriplegic.

What these wrestlers can do to contort their bodies, jump from insane heights, and in some cases, both. But the wrestling itself is only half of what they do. They are also have to act. I mean the acting level on these guys is basically the same as a soap opera, but essentially, wrestling is like a soap opera for guys.

I've been watching wrestling since I was a young kid and seeing Hulk Hogan battling Andre the Giant and teaming up the Mr. T. I've seen some great moments in wrestling history and I'd like to give you some of my favorite moments/angles/matches for me in no particular order:

1. The forming of NWO - Maybe the most groundbreaking move in wrestling history. Up until this time, Hogan was a good guy and the most popular wrestler of all time, but to turn him into a bad guy and then align him with some of the best of the business (at that time) like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and others, well, that was one I'll never forget.

2. Steamboat vs. Macho Man - A match that was basically 15 years ahead of itself. It was an aerial show that really no one outside of Mexico and Japan had seen before and the greatest match in Wrestlemania History.

3. The Four Horsemen - Flair, the Andersons, and Tully Blanchard, those four are a MAJOR reason why I am a wrestling fan today, the first real stable in wrestling and one of the best groups ever formed

4. CM Punk winning the WWE World Title - This was a great moment for me since I did not even see it coming, and it was a nice surprise, plus, CM Punk is awesome!

5. Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (Ladder Matches) - These matches were two of the best matches I've ever seen, especially at the time, since no one had really ever done this kind of match before

6. TLC I and II - Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, OH MY! Those matches that involved the Dudley Boys (Tables) vs. The Hardys (Ladders) vs. Edge and Christian (Chairs) were some of the most brutal matches I've seen outside of ECW. I really think all six teams that were involved in these matches lost at least months if not years on their lives

7. Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle - These two fought back and forth for the TNA World title for months and every match between these two were awesome

8. Mankind vs. The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) - This was one of the most brutal matches I've ever seen, the punishment that Mick Foley took was pretty much something that no normal human should be able to take.

9. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - Greatest match ever! Nothing else needs to be said, just watch and enjoy two of the greatest wrestlers in their absolute primes

10. Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon - Probably the greatest angle of all time and the biggest reason WWE won the ratings war in the 90s

First day of Subbing

I completed my first day of substitute teaching and I have to say it was a blast. I worked in PE class and the kids played mat ball, which is an indoor version of kickball, only instead of bases there are mats. I am glad for all but the last class I had Mr. Coghill there with me to help direct traffic but the last class I got to deal with the class solo (we split the class and he took half of them to the other gym and they did jump rope and hula hooping and halfway through class we switched). Man, I cannot wait to get my next substitution assignment, it was SO much fun.

Link of the Day: Right Stuf - this is the best place I know to buy anime cheap...

Fredericksburg

I wish I knew where I will be in the next five years. I am hoping out of Fredericksburg and on with my life. But alas, we never know what the future lays out for us. Not that I do not like Fredericksburg, on the contrary, it is a wonderful city that has the comforts of Small Town America with the conveniences of a city bigger than what it really is. I've never really talked much about Fred before but I'm going to talk about her now. I've lived in Fredericksburg now for 24 years, and in the Fredericksburg Area for 28. In this time I've seen her grow up right along side me. When I moved into the city when I was 6 years old, Route 3 was not the big commercial trap that it is now. In fact there was nothing but farms, the "brand new" Spotsy Mall, and Shannon Greene Golf Course. People actually shopped downtown. The hospital was across from the high school, The old high school was there and was just finished with its final expansion. Walker-Grant was still the old school near Hazel Hill and Mayfield.

But this city has grown. We've seen three schools built, New Walker-Grant, Lafeyette Upper Elementary, and the Brand new James Monroe High School. Shannon Greene was bought underneath trustee's noses and in came the thing that city residents complain the most about and yet is the one thing that has kept our city afloat, and that is Central Park. We've seen Mary Washington Hospital go from being this old, worn down, beat up looking medical facility into a world-class medical campus with multiple clinics and offices surrounding the aesticically pleasing, technologically-advanced main facility. We've seen Route 3 go from being just another rural road in Fredericksburg into the commercial and residential nerve center of our city and area.

I love this city and if I can stay in the area, I probably will. But if turns out that I am to move on to other areas of the country or world for that matter, I'm ready, but I will always hold a special place in my mind and in my heart for my adopted home and the place I've lived in for the majority of my life.

Link of the day: Fredericksburg.com is a site created and maintained by the local newspaper here, The Free Lance Star. I figured it is a good site given the theme for this post :)

It is Turkey Day

Hello blogosphere, it is I once again to talk about probably not much. So today is Turkey day and in a few hours I'll be making my way to my cousin Karen's and her husband Mark's house to have the Thanksgiving meal. It should be a good time, hanging out with the family, watching (dreadful) football, and eating more food than a human should be able to intake. I dont really have much else to say other than I'm thankful for all of my family and friends that I have and hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and I also hope everyone gets what they want to get for Black Friday.

Link of the Day: Video of a guide to the 10 most gluttonous video game characters.