The Words Are Coming Out All Weird

A perfect example of why NOT to have a blog

Ahh yes the whole internet revolution has been whith us for a good 10 years now. In my unofficial account of things, we'll trace it back to the release of good 'ol Windows 95. That really set forth for where we are today. The internet started out as this cool new-fangled way that was going to revolutionize the way we lived. In some regards that is true. I don't think any of us could imagine a life without the internet. On the otherhand, I'm convinced that at least 95% of the internet is useless information designed to make us a less-productive society. Ask any college kid with a high-speed internet connection. It comes time to study and its like "Oh man, I don't wanna do my work...lets check out the score of the game, or lets play another game of poker, or lets see who's on IM."

Ahh yes, IM, that wonderful tool of communication. Or is it? The internet, and IM particularly, has elicited a whole new way of speaking. Or writing. Whatever you want to call it. People (notably teenagers) use such appreviations as 2day for "today" and u for "you." And it just goes downhill from there folks. One abbreviation (if you even want to call it that) is kewl for "cool." It's the same number of keystrokes folks! It's not gonna save you anytime! This IMspeak is one of my biggest pet peeves. I find it disturbingly hard to read things where people write like this. Miss Anduthinkuhaveitbad's blog literally gave me a headache. I read only a few sentences before I wanted to take a gun and shoot the webpage.

One thing that I feel is overlooked in this whole IMspeak is the generation of kids who are growing up using improper English. I'm not a teacher and I'm by no means an expert in the English language. I'm willing to be t though, that there are kids out there who try to pass this so-called language off when they write papers and homework for class. It sets a bad precedence for these kids. I honestly worry about the future for these kids and our country if they don't learn the proper spelling & usage of our language.

They Say Its Your Birthday, Part Deux

Here we are last august on John's wedding day.

Today is also my good friend John's birthday. You have now officially joined the ranks of the 26+ crowd and are now closer to 30 then 20. Hope you have a great day man.

They Say Its Your Birthday

My Big Sis & I

Happy birthday Emily! She turns 30 today. I just want to say that I've got two of the best sister's a guy could ask for. They truly rock. But today, Emily, you rock most hard. This picture was taken a couple weeks ago while we were on vacation. As she so astutely pointed out to her kids, but her and I have the same haircut. Can't argue with that.

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt

Now Playing: Bob Dylan -- Blood on the Tracks.

As I do on a regular basis, I was checking myself out in the mirror yesterday. That should come as no surprise to those that know me. I will admit I can be a bit vain at times. So there I was primping & flexing my strapping bronzed body. Then I noticed something. Or really, it was the lack of something. My chest/pecs are nowhere to be found! It's been about a year since I was last weight training, but this is ridiculous. I mean, even when I have been lifting, I've never been that guy. You know the type. The no-neck meat-head who jumps at any opportunity to describe in full detail about their workouts and point out what you, Mr. Weakling, are doing wrong. I've always used weights to give a little more tone to my body. So I can fill out my clothes a bit better. Well that's gone too. Let's look at the polo issue. I've started to prefer the "fitted/stretch" polos versus the all-cotton pique polos. Last year I could fit into an Express fitted polo size large. The sleeves fitted nicely around my upper arms while giving some shape to my chest. Now these are not skin-tight like you see on a lot of guys, but for me, it's what I liked. Fast-forward a year later and here I am buying medium polos which fit loosely on me! For the sake of myself I'm not buying size small just so I can show-off my non-existant upper body.

So this has motivated me. I am now on a mission to regain my chest. Yes, it may take awhile, but gosh darn-it, I need it back. I'm not a total superficial guy. Looks are important when both looking at and attracting the opposite sex, but they are not the end-all of qualities I look for. But I'm no fool. I realize that looks get you somewhere and having any resemblance of tone in my upper body will help that. Due to my dire economic situation, I am unable to purchase a gym membership at one of the MSU facilities. So I started doing pushups. Wow, it's been awhile since I did those. I just did 3 sets of 15 today and that's probably about all I can do. I'll do that 3 times a week and then up the number next week. We'll try that out for the summer and see where I am come september. Hopefully by then I'll be able to pay for a membership and I'll be able to work on the arms and shoulders.

On The Road Again

Well its been a whirlwind of the past 4 weeks or so. I put 3700 miles on my van the past 3 weekends. Two trips from Michigan to North Carolina and back will do that to you. It was fun, that's for sure. I'll try to keep this as brief as possible.

The first week was great. My sister graduated and we got what was probably one of the worst commencement speakers ever. It was some old lady who had had no speaking skills and spoke way too long. If she had kept it shorter or was able to captivate the audience then I would have appreciated it more. To boot, the woman didn't even graduate from college and was receiving an honorary diploma. Where is the justice in that? Anyway after that we went to Corolla for a week of R & R. I'd like to tell you that I did a lot of stuff, but no. It was a relaxing, lazy, easy week. The most fun was playing with my niece and nephew. They are just the greatest.

Last weekend I traveled down to Raleigh for the wedding of two college friends. My van (the immortal 1995 maroon Mercury Villager) was packed full of 7 people and luggage on the way down. It was a bit cramped, but I think we all had fun. Of course people had fun ripping on my van. Hey, it ain't perfect, but its got character folks. Here's a list of things wrong with it:

It takes multiple turns of ignition to get started
It needs a new muffler/exhaust system
There are 2 cracks in the windshield
The left blinker doesn't work
The CD player is very tempermental (Wilco anyone?)
The wiper fluid pump doesn't work
The rear wiper doesn't work
Above 75 mph the van starts shaking
The right passenger window is off its track
Going uphill in the mountains with a packed van is quite a chore

So yeah, you get the idea. Although in the past year the van has survived a trip to Bonnaroo, 4 weddings, a trip to DC and back in the middle of a snowstorm, and the aforementioned 3 weeks of action. So yeah, me and it has had fun and its been my baby.

Anyway the wedding was great. It was fantastic seeing all my Case Swimming Alums. Yes I did drink a bit much saturday night and was feeling the effects sunday morning/afternoon. Of course that didn't stop me from going on a run and playing ultimate frisbee prior to the wedding. Considering the shape I was in, I surprised myself that I was able to participate. I've been getting hungover a lot lately. I think its because I hardly drink anymore. When I do, however, I think I can drink as much as I could a year or two ago. This is not the case and I end up paying for it the next morning. The wedding was very well done. I wish Jon & Kelly the best. They have such different personalities, but for them it works. Its a great example of Yin and Yang. We all rocked the dance floor to a playlist that was dominanted by classic 80s tunes and songs that were prominant during our time on the swim team. And for the 2nd consecutive Case Swimming wedding, someone passed out on the pavement. Quite a good time.