Words With Jeff

The Trouble with eBooks

2012-01-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

As you already know, I've been loving my Kindle Fire, despite its flaws. It may not be the best general-purpose tablet, but when it comes to reading, there are few devices that best it. Its just so damn convenient to have dozens of books available for reading in a device the size of The Great Gatsby. Like the iPod Touch before it, I find myself taking the Kindle everywhere, just in case I have some downtime for reading.

Earlier this month, however, I discovered a fatal chink in the eBook armor: sometimes your digital books stop working.

I'm not talking about having my purchased books revoked, which did happen once and still haunts Amazon; no, I'm talking about a software glitches that made some of my books completely unreadable. One night last week, I tapped on one of my kindle books and instead of jumping to the last page I had open, I instead saw the title page. Annoying, sure, but since I had stopped on a new chapter, it was no big deal. As I attempted to flip forward through the book, however, I found that I couldn't progress any further than that initial page.

I was obviously frustrated, especially since I was halfway through the novel, but I decided that instead of wallowing in my frustation I would instead start one of the other books I had downloaded. Butt that one had the exact same problem. And so did the next book I opened. I started to get worried that all my books were broken (thankfully they weren't), and I was hesitant to buy any more for the same reason. I tried everything I could think of to get my Kindle working as it should again, which included contacting Amazon customer support, but nothing seemed to fix it.

The happy ending to this story is that Amazon released a software update last night which finally solved the issue. It turns out I wasn't the only one who lost access to some of the Kindle books, and Amazon quickly tweaked the Kindle Fire's software to appease the many unhappy customers like myself. Although I'm unlikely to change my habits, this experience had me rethinking my recent love-affair with eBooks.

After all: paper books don't suddenly stop working because of a software bug.

Digital Detox Pt. Deux

2012-01-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember the last time I cleansed myself of a potential Internet addiction - my self-proclaimed Digital Detox - and much to my dismay it seems like I'm due for another one. I've been finding myself spending ridiculous amounts of time nonlinear and being generally unproductive as a result. I'm not even sure where all my time is going, but I know that Facebook and Twitter are at least partially to blame.

My goal this time around is to limit time on my computer severely, substituting those activities with either reading, watching movies, dancing, or playing the new Legend of Zelda Wii game (I'm still a geek, after all). I'm also limiting my Twitter and Facebook check-ins to once a day, which actually won't be too difficult since (1) both are blocked at my office and (2) I lack a smartphone to check them when not at my computer.

As an added bonus, when I told my girlfriend what I was doing, she said "you just got 100 times hotter."

2012: It's Resolution Time!!

2012-01-04T23:53:00.000-08:00

The year 2012 has officially arrived, and that means it's time for me to post my resolutions for this year. Rather than just list my goals for the year - as I've done in the past - I thought I'd give a little explanation on why I'm resolved to make these goals a reality. So without further ado...

Pay off my debt
I already went into this a few months back, but I've vowed that this year I'm finally gonna get my finances back in order. I definitely intend to completely eliminate my credit card debt, and I'd ideally like to start paying back my mom all the money she lent me in the past year. Part of the way I'll accomplish goal is by watching my spending, which has been a little looser than it should in months past (I admit that I went a bit gadget-crazy this Fall). The other part leads me to my next resolution...

Find a better job
If 2011 was the year I finally found a steady job, 2012 will be the year I transition into a GREAT one. Whether that means moving elsewhere in my current company or leaving them entirely for greener pastures remains to be seen. The bottom line though is that I've been sorting through mail for almost 7 months now, and I could definitely use some more fulfilling employment.

Invest in a smartphone
For many years, I've been pretty content with not owning a smartphone. Sure, it was somewhat annoying to always need open Wi-Fi to access Twitter, Facebook, or whathaveyou on my iPod Touch, but it worked fairly well. However, with my iPod Touch now retired, I'm realizing how much I "need" a smartphone and all its nifty whizbang features. I can't quickly take pictures, add cool filters to them, and easily post them to Twitter. I can't identify music using Shazam or Soundhound so I'll know what to download later. And perhaps worst of all: I can't read Twitter while I'm on the toilet. It's about time I leave the digital dark ages and finally join the 21st Century.

As for what kind of smartphone: I'm really looking forward to what Nokia will announce at CES next week. A Lumia 900 on AT&T perhaps?

Start going to the gym again
For once I can say that I don't need to lose weight. I lost over 20 pounds while I was unemployed last year, and in the 7 months since I left home, I've managed to keep most of it off (Christmas added a couple pounds, unfortunately). In that time, however, I've barely been to the gym, and my muscle tone is starting to suffer for it. Plus, I do sort of miss my weekly workouts; I always felt so accomplished when I finished them.

Improve my diet
I was pretty lazy when it came to food in the first few months after moving to Sacramento: I almost never cooked and sometimes I skipped meals altogether purely because I wasn't sure what to eat. My diet has improved recently, but there's still huge room for improvement. More fruits and veggies, better breakfasts, less fast food, and a lot more cooking is on the agenda for 2012.

Travel more
This past weekend, I flew down to Los Angeles for a New Years Eve Blues dancing event, and to be honest I had more fun during the travel portions of the trip than I did dancing (although that was still a blast, obviously). The plane ride was particularly thrilling because I almost never get to fly; my last flight was probably when I travelled to Vegas for my 21st birthday. And since I'm 24, employed, and reasonably unattached, there's really no reason why I shouldn't be travelling more. I'll be doing some travelling for dance conventions this year, but in addition to that, my goal is to visit Seattle and New York this year. Maybe if I start saving now, I'll be able to finally leave the country in 2013.

Get serious about West Coast Swing
I've been really neglecting my swing dancing lately, but if I ever hope to move up the ranks (and become a better teacher, of course), I need to start making it a priority again. My showing at this year's Chico Dance Sensation wasn't very good, which is part of why I didn't write about it this time. I've got a half dozen or so dance events on my calendar for this year, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to improve and redeem myself.

Get serious about writing/blogging
I know I always say I want to improve this blog in the coming year, but I do hope to actualize on these plans in the next year. I want to (at minimum) post 1-2 blogs a week this year, and I promise they won't all be focused on tech stuff. In fact, I'm gonna try to stay away from those subjects as best as I can. I'd also like to write a novella this year, maybe something I can sell on Amazon as a Kindle Single. I have a couple ideas rolling around in my head already.

Read all the books in my library (finally!)
This has been a goal of mine for many years, but this year I think it's finally gonna happen. What's different now? I own a Kindle, and I'm reading more than I have in years. And best of all is that most of my unread physical books are "classics", which means I can download many of them for free.

Eliminate the DVD portion of my Netflix account
This was something I'd hoped to do before the end of 2011, but it just didn't work out. My movie and TV watching time has been severely limited since I started working regularly, and most of the time I'm just using the streaming anyway. Why pay an extra $8 for something I'm barely using?

Stop buying physical media
Last, but not least, I want to try switch completely to buying digital goods like music, books, and videogames. Although I do enjoy the convenience of owning a CD, if I'm not carrying it around with me in my car, it's being stored in a box in my closet. After I copy the music from the CD to my iTunes, I rarely need to access it again, so why am I spending the extra money for a tangible disc. The same goes for books: I'm finding the process of reading on a Kindle way more convenient than reading paper books, and the prices are often markedly lower for the Kindle versions (plus I get to start reading them right away instead of waiting for a delivery). This is definitely the loftiest goal for 2012, but it's something I'd like to at least experiment with.

So that's my plans for self improvement in the new year. What have you resolved to do? (lengthy explanations not required)

I Feel Like a Christmas Movie Hipster

2011-12-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

I have been watching Die Hard on Christmas for years. It's a personal tradition. Not only is this Bruce Willis classic one of the greatest action movies ever made, but it's a damn good Christmas movie as well.

"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."

"What?! Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie!"

Die Hard takes place on Christmas Eve, which by default makes it a Christmas movie. See also: Lethal Weapon.

This year, however, it seems like I'm not the only one celebrating the season with John McClane and Hans Gruber. In fact, it seems like everyone is doing it! I've seen no less than a dozen tweets on the subject!

What the Hell?! I've been doing this for years and now suddenly it's cool? I almost want to skip watching the movie out of protest...

Die Hard is awesome though, so I won't. I'm not happy about this though! </rant>

The Trouble With Tablets (And Reviewing Them)

2011-12-22T00:51:00.000-08:00

Author's Note: This post was originally made on December 22, 2010, with substatial edits (see: an almost complete re-write) occurring on January 19, 2011.

As you've no doubt guessed, I've been spending copious hours with my brand new Kindle Fire since it was released last month. During this period, I've been gathering and organizing my thoughts about the device in the hopes of reviewing it. However, that turned out to be a much more difficult task than I originally imagined. Not only have my feeling about Amazon's tablet shifted drastically as I've been using it, but there are so many aspects of the device to discuss that I was quickly overwhelmed. I've written thousands of words about it, none of which you will ever see.

In all my frustration with writing this review, I found Paul Thurrott (who is quickly becoming my favorite tech journalist) had the opinions that most closely matched my own. So rather than spend another few hours trying to articulate my thoughts on the Kindle Fire, I'll direct to his articles on the device:

Amazon Kindle Fire Review

How Amazon Can Fix the Kindle in 2012

With regard to his second article, I 100% agree that two of the biggest shortcomings of the Fire are lack of storage space (which an SD card slot would have mitigated) and hardware buttons (although I don't think needs to be a dedicated "Back" button, personally). But he also fails to note a couple of other key aspects that - in my opinion - detract from the overall experience. Amazon's music service is great, but cloud player is still atrocious from a UI standpoint. It's cumbersome to use, the desktop software for uploading music does not work as well as it should, and from an design standpoint, the whole UI is just ugly. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have all developed mobile music players that not only work better, but - for lack of a better term - look a hell of a lot nicer aesthetically.

The app situation on the Kindle Fire is perhaps even more troubling. There are quite a few of the top-tier apps available on Amazon's store, such as Pandora, Evernote, Pulse, Netflix, and games like Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies (which all work great on the 7-inch screen). But there are also significant holes in the library, not just compared to Apple's selection for iOS but Google's Android Marketplace as well. I'd hoped that the app situation in particular would have improved in the month since launch, but it's still just as terrible; what's worse, it's always going to lack key Android apps like GMail and Google Maps, which is definitely to the Kindle's detriment. There aren't even proper apps for Twitter and Facebook!!

I really do love my Kindle Fire, but Amazon really needs to improve the device in the coming months. The device definitely fills the gap left by my iPod Touch, but when I buy a smartphone next year, much of its function and utility will become redundant. Perhaps then I'll be better off just buying an eInk Kindle, since most of what I'm using the Fire for is reading.

Which - as the title of this post says - is the trouble with tablets.

Presently, however, I'm very glad I have my Kindle Fire: next weekend I'm flying down to LA for Dance Dance ReSolution, and the only entertainment I plan to carry with me on the trip is the Kindle.

Steve Jobs

2011-11-25T20:33:00.001-08:00

I've been spending the last week pretty much glued to my new Kindle Fire, which is to be expected. It's shiny and new and therefore requires my attention for many hours of the day. However, I've been using it more for one activity than any other, which has been unexpected (though honestly it shouldn't have been). What activity? Well, it is a Kindle, so what do you think I've been doing?

Reading.

Specifically, I've been hooked on the Steve Jobs biography, which I finally finished yesterday. For all his flaws (and he had quite a few, as the book lays out), Jobs was a truly fascinating man, and reading about his life has been anything but a chore. The only thing difficult about reading this biography was getting through the last couple chapters. It's tough to observe someone, even secondhand, struggling through their last few months of life, especially because we as readers know exactly how much time he had left. I had to set the book down several times and take a break; it was more than I could handle at times.

It's definitely a worthwhile read though. What I found most striking about the book (and this is by no means a spoiler) is that Jobs is often described as having a binary outlook on people: in his mind, you were either a hero or a shithead. And throughout the novel, I found myself having this same binary outlook about Jobs himself. He was often a visionary, but he was just as often an asshole.

Technolust: The Nokia Lumia 800

2011-11-15T13:49:00.001-08:00

Every so often a device comes along which pushes my "WANT!" Meter to 11. Whether it's the hardware, the software, or that perfect combination of both, these are the gadgets that fill me with Technolust.

Although I may very well buy an iPhone 4S when I can finally afford a smartphone, I have to admit Nokia's Lumia 800 is a very sexy piece of hardware, made even more appealing by its affinity for Windows Phone 7. The device is a finely-crafted beauty, with the iPhone 4S as its only equal in terms of looks. In fact, if the iPhone hooked up with the pre-postage stamp iPod Nano after a drinking a nice bottle of red wine one evening, the child of that glorious evening would almost certainly be this phone.

We're starting to see the first succulent fruits of Nokia's partnership with Microsoft, which in addition to producing handsome phones like the Lumia 800 also promises to improve the underlying Windows Phone OS itself, courtesy of some Nokia-based enhancements. If the rest of Nokia's WP7 devices are as beautiful as this one, this probably won't be the last Technolust post you'll see on the subject.

How I Became The Doctor

2011-11-14T22:26:00.001-08:00

Many apologies for the delay. Halloween was two weeks ago, and I'm only now getting around to writing about it.

When I first wrote about my plans to be The 11th Doctor for Halloween, my costume was well on its was to completion. In fact, it turned out that the only item I had left to obtain was a button-up dress shirt that would fit with the rest of the attire (which I did find shortly ater that original post). Much to the dismay of my friends and fellow Who fans, I did not invest in a fez, despite their coolness. Even without it though, my costume was pretty effing legit!

And apparently I wasn't the only one who thought so, as I made finals in two of the three costume contests I entered that weekend. Reaching finals at Midtown Stomp the Friday before Halloween was probably my biggest triumph, since the costume contest - as usual - was jam-packed with contestants, including a few other Doctors. Although I didn't win this contest (or the one at Firehouse 5), I was pretty clearly the best Doctor Who at the party, and really isn't that the most important thing?

Is it bad that I'm already brainstorming for next year's costume? I'm in it to win it in 2012!

The Doctor and the TARDIS
@ Firehouse 5

You know who did win a costume contest though? My friend Tree*, who dressed up as the TARDIS. If you're picturing someone walking around in big blue cardboard box, I'm happy to report that her costume was much less cumbersome. Tree - in her typically adorable fashion - made her costume by painting a blue dress to look like the outside of a Police Box and also making a headband the lit up like the light on the real TARDIS. The result was pretty spectacular, and it's hardly surprising that she won the contest at Shades of Blues in San Francisco.

In fact, if she had arrived at Midtown Stomp in time for the contest, I have a sneaking suspicion that with our combined powers we could have taken First Place without a problem.

*Tree is just a nickname, btw. To my knowledge, her parents weren't a couple of crazy hippies.

My World Is About To Be Set On Fire

2011-11-14T21:58:00.001-08:00

It's been a long six weeks, but my wait is almost over. Today I got an email from Amazon telling me that my Kindle Fire has officially shipped. It should arrive in the next day or two, and I can almost guaranty that by the weekend I'll have an extensive, Scott Pilgrim-style review posted.

In related news, the iPod Touch the Kindle will be replacing feels like it's barely holding on to life these days. Besides the numerous software glitches I experience daily, I'm now noticing that the hardware itself (namely the Home button and the headphone jack) is starting to fail. I'll be happy to officially retire the device after three years of very heavy usage. The last year has been pretty rough, but honestly this 2G Touch has held up better than it probably had any right to.

The Saga of My Busted Laptop

2011-11-12T10:57:00.001-08:00

I know I'm still overdue for my Halloween blog post. That is coming today, I promise you.

On Monday, for those of you not connected to me on Twitter or Facebook, I did something really stupid and brought my laptop with me to a local pub. The logic behind this decision was that I thought I might do some blogging before Trivia Night with my friend Katherine. However, Murphy's Law being what it is, I instead managed to spill beer on my 2-month-old computer as I was trying to put it away. I quickly wiped it down and hoped for the best. You can probably see where this story is going.

After trivia, I opened up my laptop and tried to check our answers online. My computer froze in the middle of loading a page and then refused to start at all. I was beyond distraught! This computer isn't even close to paid off yet, and already it seemed like I had totally ruined it. My one comfort was that I knew the laptop was still under warranty, so I called up Dell hoping to get a repair solution underway, even if it meant sending back my computer for a week or so.

They had me run some diagnostics and it was determined that all the hardware in my laptop was technically okay, but that my copy of Windows had been corrupted somehow (I failed to mention the beer incident to them... oops) and needed to be repaired. The options they gave me were less than satisfying though: I could either (a) revert the computer to factory settings, thereby losing all my data since the last backup, or (b) give them ridiculous amounts of money to upgrade my warranty to include software issues, only afterwards being transferred to a technician who could help me repair my Windows installation without completely wiping the computer clean.

So I decided to take matters into my own hand. If my problems were entirely software related, then I felt pretty confident that - between my nerdiness and the vast collective knowledge we call The Internet - I could probably fix this computer without handing over my unborn child to Dell. And that's exactly what I did this morning.

I'm happy to report that my laptop is in working order again, and the whole process took me less than an hour! I (re)learned two valuable lessons from this whole saga, and you should too:

1. Backup your computer regularly. It'd been far too long since my last backup when all this happened.

2. If you have a secondary computer - like the netbook I own - bring THAT one to places like pubs. I guaranty you'll feel a lot better if something tragic happened to that computer instead of your primary machine. I know I would have.

Go forth with your new-found knowledge!

Not a Halloween Blog Post

2011-11-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

I know many of you are waiting patiently to hear about my epic Halloween weekend as The Doctor, and I promise I will give all the glorious details in good time (hopefully later today), but I have something really quick I wanted to talk about.

It's no big secret that I - unlike many of my peers - do not own a smartphone. It's not for lack of desire though; I crave a smartphone on a daily basis for things like mobile Twitter, maps, and picture taking. The problem has always been that I don't quite have the funds to afford the phone and associated data plan in addition to all my other expenses. Despite this, I closely follow the tech news and research almost every major smartphone that gets released, just so I'll be ready when I'm finally able to join the 21st Century.

I always figured my first smartphone would Android flavored because I'm a big GMail user and the integration on Android phones pretty much can't be beat. That all changed this week when Google released an actual GMail app for the iPhone. Now I'm seriously wondering whether I really want an Android phone now at all. I mean, I already have a ton of apps (many of them paid apps) from when I was an iPod Touch enthusiast, and there are a dizzying number of cool and geeky cases for the iPhone 4 & 4S that I'd love to have (like this amazing TARDIS case).

I think I see a 4S in my future.

2012: The Year I Get It Together

2011-10-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Image Stolen from Hunter Burgan

New Years - and the resolutions that come with it - is still a couple months off, but I've already started thinking about the goals I'll be setting for the coming year.
For 2011, most of my focus was put towards (1) finding steady employment and (2) moving back to Sacramento. With both of these goals accomplished, however, I've been struggling to find new goals to motivate me. It's too soon for me to start looking for my very own place sans roommates, and with the job market still in a rutt, I doubt I'll be able to move into a job in my field anytime soon. Overall, my life feels like it's finally back on track, so where do I go from here?

The more I ponder this question, the more I think that perhaps the answer is to get the peripheral parts of my life - things like finances, fitness, and some better habits - in order while I wait for the larger pieces of life to come together.

My financial situation, for instance, is a bit of a mess compared to a year ago. The thing about being (essentially) unemployed for nine months is that it wreaked havoc upon my pocketbook. When I left my old State job, I had a few thousand dollars saved up between my checking and savings accounts; by the time I finally did get hired this past June though, I had nearly emptied my checking account and was a couple hundred dollars from doing the same to my savings. Add to that the credit card debt I'd been building up (as well as the money I'd borrowed from my mom) during this same time, and I was finding myself in a less than ideal situation.

On the bright side, I have managed to make some sizeable dents in that debt since I started working, putting $100 or more towards paying it off each month. Unfortunately, I've also had to invest heavily in improving my wardrobe for work, replacing my laptop, and furnishing my apartment. I've started using Mint more to help manage my finances - including planning and *gasp* sticking to a budget - so hopefully in a few months I'll have my debt close to eliminated and I can start focusing on building up some rainy day funds.

My other big task for the coming 12+ months is to finally get serious about blogging and webdesign. Words w/ Jeff is going to be a huge part of my 2012. I've been much better about maintaining this blog than I have in recent years, but I want to take it to the next level. That'll mean leaving Blogger for my own self-hosted Wordpress, a brand new design, and maybe a few other ideas I've currently got kicking around inside my head. I'll also be devoting a lot more time to my client's website, which is functional but hardly up to my own high standards (I'm a bit of a perfectionist, if you hadn't realized).

There are a few other things I plan to take care of, but I'll leave those until proper resolution making time. I'm curious though: what's currently motivating you? Are you already making lofty goals for the coming year, or is that too far away to even think about?

Why I Bought a New iPod

2011-10-18T23:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I braved my local Apple Store - completely forgetting that the latest iPhone had just been released on Friday - with the singular goal of acquiring a new iPod. I didn't walk out with a replacement Touch though (I've already decided against that); instead I bought a 16GB iPod Nano. Whenever I tell my friends about my purchase though, I always get asked the same question:

"Why buy an iPod in this day and age?"

I know the second part of that question - the subtext, as it were - is "why wouldn't I just use my phone?" To that I say: "Have you *seen* my phone?!"

At a time when it seems like everybody and their grandmother owns a smartphone, I've been left in the Telecommucations Dark Ages. My phone is so dumb it doesn't even have a voicemail function. The thought of loading it with Gigs worth of MP3s is pure fantasy.

That's the simple answer though; the real answer is a bit more complex. I can't afford to upgrade my phone right now, but even if I could, I'd still prefer to have a dedicated music player. For purely practical reasons, I would never want to combine these two functions in a single device. I listen to a lot of music - especially at work - and I worry about how my listening habits would chew away at my phone's battery life. My friends have tried reassuring me that it doesn't affect it much at all, but I have my doubts. And what if my phone was stolen/lost/broken? I'd then be out not only my cellphone but my portable music player as well.

More than anything though, I feel like if you have a passion for something - as I do with music - having a device laser-focused on that one thing really pays off. this Nano does one thing and does it very, very well. For as much as I love(d) my iPod Touch, it has always had problems as a portable music player. Quickly pausing and skipping tracks on the Touch, especially when running at the gym or while driving, was anything but quick, mostly because (unlike the old Click Wheel iPods) it lacked much in the way of physical buttons. I can't claim that the current Nanos are perfect in this regard either, but the experience has definitely been optimized compared to its big brother. I've really been having a lot of fun using it, which is not something I really expected when I bought it.

Plus they're so shiny!

If I had one complaint at all, it's that I really wish Apple made a 32GB (or preferably 64GB) model on the Nano. I have a lot of music, and while 16GB can certainly accomodate most of what I'd want to carry with me, I'll always prefer having my entire music library with me on the go. Perhaps in a year or two, my dream will become reality and I can finally own a perfect device.

Becoming The Doctor

2011-10-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

Last January, I was unemployed, which meant that I spent much of my time sitting around watching Netflix. It was during this era of unemployed Netflix watching that I was introduced to The Doctor. If you read that last sentence and wondered "Who's the Doctor?", do yourself a favor: stop reading this blog, find Doctor Who on Netflix, and don't come back until you've watched all six season.

Have you done it yet? Ok awesome! Moving on...

As my Facebook friends and Twitter followers can no doubt atest, I am pretty much obsessed with Doctor Who. I quote the show incessantly, I have dreams (literally) about travelling through time in a TARDIS, and I've decided that I'm going to marry Amelia Pond (I'm sure she'll be okay with that). Besides all of this, though, I've spent months preparing for one day... a day that is now less than a month away.

That's right: Halloween is fast approaching, and this year I'm going as The Doctor.

Which one? Matt Smith, of course!

When it comes to Halloween, I always prefer to assemble my costume from a bunch of individual pieces rather than buying something pre-packaged, and this year is no different. For starters, I've spent the last three months growing out my hair to achieve a look similar the the current Doctor's coif. This past Friday, I went thrifting with my friend Katherine and found an amazing (and amazinly cheap) tweed jacket, which I thought was gonna be the hardest thing to locate. She also directed me to a website selling the perfect suspenders and bowtie combo, which I quickly ordered this morning. I was most excited, however, when my Sonic Screwdriver arrived this weekend. I ran around the house for a good 20 minutes, giggling like a little kid and sonicking everything in sight (e.g., doors, windows, even the cat!).

If I'm lucky, I should everything I'll need by this weekend, which of course means one thing: pictures! I have a feeling that these pictures of my as the 11th Doctor will probably become my Facebook profile image forever.

Creatively Frustrated

2011-10-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Perhaps against my better judgment, I need to vent a bit about about my current job. Don't get me wrong: I'm constantly thankful to have it. After all, if I hadn't gotten this job, I might still be living at home, broke and in debt, separated from my entire social circle, and with romantic prospects of exactly nil. But for all this job has given me, I often feel like a brain-dead zombie when I'm actually at work. I went to college for almost 5 years sharpening my mind into a finely-crafted instrument, and - God Dammit! - I'd like to use it!

So basically, I'm in desperate need of a creative outlet.

Few people probably know this about me, but I'm constantly soming up with projects to challenge me creatively. Sometimes it's as simple as learning to cook some basic dishes or installing Ubuntu Linux on my netbook, but often times they're much loftier, like rebuilding this blog from scratch in Wordpress or developing an App for Android, iOS, or even the Windows 8 Metro interface. I've also saved plenty of articles to Delicious over the years that detail projects like building a secret hollow book (which I may finally do when I get my Kindle next month).

The silver lining of my current situation is that I'm finally inspired to actually work on some of these projects. I find that I'm spending much of my time at work thinking about how to flesh out and realize many of these ideas, recording them in the notebook for later reference. I've also been buying quite a few books about entrepreneur's like Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com), Larry and Sergey (Google), and the late Steve Jobs. I guess I must be looking for inspiration.

I know I often say this, but you may see an increase in output from me in the immediate future. I've certainly been more active in the last month, and if this situation doesn't improve fairly soon, there's probably gonna be even bigger changes coming down the pike.

The Best Pick-Up Line Ever

2011-10-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

I've been single for just over a year at this point, and it's not something I'm particularly happy about. Being single again means dealing with the whole dating scene, and dating (as opposed to being in a relationship) has never been one of my strong suits. I can't say that it's all bad though, as my single status did earn me a pretty awesome story the other night.

On Tuesday, my friend Aly (who you may remember as my former dance partner) and I drove to Novato for a night a dancing at the WnY Warehouse. Being from out of town, I met lots of new people that night, but one of them was a girl named Ariel. We actually talked and danced several times before I learned her name. When she finally told me though, my mind instantly went to my friend Ana.

You see, Ana has noticed a pattern in my dating history: namely, I have a tendency to date girls whose names correspond with Disney heroines. This all started a couple years ago when I briefly dated a girl named Meg, which you might recall was also the name of the female lead in Hercules (Ana still calls me Herc to this day). Meg was followed closely by Bianca (The Rescuers Down Under), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), and most recently Jasmine (Aladdin).

So when this girl told me her name was Ariel, I was too amused to keep this information to myself. I proceeded to relate Ana's theory about my dating behavior to her, ending the story by saying:

"So according to Ana, we pretty much have to date because of your name!"

Apparently the story was far more amusing than I realized because Ariel nearly fell out of her seat from laughing so hard.

"That's got to be the best pick-up line ever!" she said in between fits of laughter.

For as much as I hate dating, I guess this means I can't be too terrible at it.

The Kindle Fire, or How Apple Probably Lost My $400

2011-10-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

(Note: I'm sorry if you find this blog a bit schitzophrenic at times. It often switches between personal news and technology stories. This is one of the latter. I hope you don't mind.)

Four years ago, I fell in love with the iPod Touch. I had been so envious of my few iPhone-toting friends that Summer, so my heart leapt when I saw that I could have that same experience without having to pay for a pricey data plan each month. Besides, I needed a new iPod. And I loved that iPod, despite the glitchy software, or having half the apps of the iPhone, or that it cost me over $400 for the 16GB model (which was still too small for me). I loved the iPod Touch so much that when a 32GB version came out a year later, I gladly shelled out another $400+ dollars just so I could have my entire music collection with me at all times. And for the last three years, the iPod was been a regular fixture in my pocket/palm/bedside table, to the point that I can hardly imagine my life without it.

But for the past six months, it's been I've desperately needed a replacement. The iOS4 software has once again made the device a glitchy mess, with apps crashing on a daily basis (some of them no longer run at all). To make matters worse, my iPod no longer syncs with iTunes, so all my music purchases since then are confined to my laptop. But with an iPod refresh imminent, I've waited patiently for Apple's latest and greatest PMP, even if it meant throwing down yet another $400 bucks.

I think Amazon may have just stolen my money from Apple though.

Amazon's new color Kindle - the Kindle Fire - is a very compelling device, especially as a iPod Touch alternative. It has less than half the hard drive space as my original Touch, but it makes up for this by providing access to Amazon Cloud Player, which has been hosting my entire library of songs for several months now. In addition, that 7-inch screen (which I've always thought was a good size for tablet computers) looks like it would be amazing for watching Netflix. browsing the web, reading a graphic novel, or playing a few rounds of Angry Birds or Plants vs. Zombies.

And the price is just right; at $200, I'll be spending half of what I would for another iPod Touch. It's definitely less portable than the Touch, but for what I'll be primarily using it for (i.e. media consumption), I think it'll be a better overall experience.

I'm also quite infatuated with the Kindle Fire's UI, but that might be partly because I'm so bored with the iOS interface. I really hope they give it a major facelift with iOS6; it definitely needs one.

I've already pre-ordered my Kindle, which is suppose to arrive on November 15. It's a month and a half a way, but after waiting so long for new iPods, this wait is pie levels of easy. You can definitely look forward to hearing me gush about the device when I get it.

An Update on my Plague

2011-09-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

So back in May I thought I had a sinus infection, then I started thinking I had a beer allergy, and then I wondered what terrible pestilence I might have contracted once my doctor ruled out the allergy theory.

Well thanks to some powerful antibiotics, I seem to be healthy once again, and I’m seriously thinking that my initial sinus infection theory was the correct one. In which case, I’m a complete fool for having put off treatment for the last four months.

I finally went to urgent care a couple weeks ago because my affliction had gotten so bad that I could barely speak anymore. My vocal chords were an absolute wreck from all the coughing, and I had the worst sore throat of my life. The doctor at urgent care, as I said, prescribed some antibiotics for me to take, and within a week I was feeling better than I had in months.

So let the be a lesson for you and me both in the future: Never let a simple trip to the doctor be the difference between feeling well and being miserable for months. I may not have quite ruined my summer, but I definitely think I would have enjoyed myself more if I had just taken the time to take care of myself.

A Moment of Reflection

2011-09-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

I kind of forgot what day it was. I don't really want to bore you with where I was or what I was thinking, but I do just have something quick (but important) to say:

Enjoy life!

We are so fortunate to be alive and to experience all that life has to offer. I'm barely 24 years old and my life is just getting started. I think about all the things I have and all the experiences I'm looking forward to having down the road, and I just feel so blessed.

Life is amazing, even when it doesn't seem like it's going your way. Enjoy it while you can!

The Joy of Teaching Dance

2011-09-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I took a major step forward in my "career" as a dancer: I started teaching.

It all started back in May. My old Ballroom Dancing club at Sac State had been wanting me to come back and teach West Coast Swing for some time - basically since I graduated in 2009 - but for one reason or another I was never able to make it out. At the end of the Spring semester, however, I finally had my chance, and I absolutely loved it. So much in fact that I soon found a way to start teaching regularly.

My partner in crime on the dancefloor is Kelly, a former Chico dancer with lots of teaching experience. The two of us have become quite a formidable team, each bringing our own perspective as a lead or follow, as well as our overall philosophies for West Coast Swing that - as luck would have it - are pretty complimentary. I've been extremely glad to have her with me when teaching, as she frequently brings up important points that I may have otherwise neglected.

She's also an amazing dancer (and fairly easy on the eyes), which is always a plus.

It feels so amazing to be introducing this dance - which I love so much - to new people, and hopefully inspiring them the way I was inspired when I first started. And actually, I'm learning quite a bit from each of our lessons as well. About a month ago, our semi-monthly lesson at the Firehouse 5 Dance Studio only had one student (a friend of mine, also named Jeff), but he was very enthusiastic. He already new the basic Sugar Push and Side Passes, but he had never learned the whip - a pretty fundamental move in the dance. So Kelly and I spent the whole hour taking Jeff from 0-to-60 on the basic whip pattern. Breaking down the dance in such fine detail taught me a lot about what I'm doing when I dance: the little pieces of technique that I simply figured out on my own over the last two years.

Kelly and I have big plans for our future as dance instructors. We both love this dance and - as I stated earlier - LOVE bringing it to dancers who'll hopefully fall in love as we have, and we're always looking for ways to help spread the dance and promote ourselves. We often dance in public when wandering around (see: bar hopping) Downtown Sacramento, and within the week we should receive some custom-made business cards promoting us and the Studio where we teach.

Our business cards should arrive any day now!

Scheduling issues have unfortunately prevented us from teaching West Coast Swing this month, but we did get asked to teach Blues dancing (another dance love of ours) at the end of month. I'm greatly looking forward to it.

The last couple months have been amazing. I hope I can continue my new teaching career for many months and years to come.

Beer Allergy? What Beer Allergy?

2011-08-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

I saw my doctor on Monday, hoping to get some allergy test done to determine whether or not I really was allergic to something in beer (or at least in certain kinds of beer). So they drew some blood, ran some tests, and on Thursday I finally got the results:

I am not, in fact, allergic to beer or anything in beer.

This is exciting news obviously. And to celebrate, I spent the last few nights doing what only seemed appropriate: drinking lots of beer with my friends. Hard alcohol is nice, but it's also pretty expensive (outside of Chico anyway; they have ridiculously cheap booze). I also don't want to get trashed every time I go out drinking, which is a lot more difficult if I'm ordering mixed drinks. It felt so good to walk into a bar and order a Newcastle again.

There's nothing like a Newcastle

Of course, being the hypochondriac that I am, now I'm just left wondering what exactly is wrong with me. Why have I become so seemingly prone to illness in the last year? As I write this, I'm violently coughing because of some ailment I picked up in Palm Springs (yeah, the sunburn and sleep deprivation weren't enough apparently). This is exactly why I hate going to the doctor! I always fear that I'm gonna go in for something seemingly innocuous and they'll end up finding something much worse wrong with me.

I liked this a lot more when I could just blame beer for all my health problems.

The Other Side of 160

2011-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

When I moved back to my hometown in August, one of the things I vowed to do was get back into shape. I vowed to do many other things during my months of unemployment, such as read through my huge backlog of books or learn to shave with a non-electric razor, but in this case I actually stuck to this goal. On my birthday last year, I was exactly 182lbs, which was frighteningly close to the heaviest I've ever (knowingly) weighed. In the months that followed, I joined a local gym, increased my weekly dancing regimen, and paid a fair amount of attention to what and how much I was eating.

Much to my delight, when I stepped on the bathroom scale this past Monday (in other words, one year later), I weighed 159.6 lbs. I cannot even remember the last time I weighed under 160 lbs, annd that's with an increase in muscle mass! What's more, I've been able to maintain this waistline since I moved back to Sacramento in June without setting foot inside a gym. Obviously I'm doing something right.

I do miss going to the gym, and I need to be better about meal-planning and eating healthier, but I can hardly complain with the results. My body still isn't quite in the shape I'd like it, but this last year I laid a strong foundation for my future fitness. This next year will be focused on building the edifice.

Swing Dancing, Sleep Deprivation, Sunburns, and Semi-Finals

2011-08-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

A lot can happen in three days in Palm Springs, as I learned this past weekend, but unlike Vegas, what happens there doesn't always stay there.

For starters, I got a nasty sunburn on my first day. I should have know better then to spend a lot of time at the pool; after all, I am very white and I was vacationing in the desert. I was having too much fun to care though, eating popsicles, playing twister, and generally making mischief at the pool (I swear I wasn't running though). I few hours later though, I was starting to regret my good times. I could feel heat eminating from my shoulders and (to a lesser extent) my face, and changing shirts - a frequent occurence at dance events - became more and more uncomfortable.

I bought some aloe vera lotion as soon as I could, but the damage was already done: my shoulders and nexk were burnt to a crisp. The rest of the weekend was filled with constant agony as a result. And if that weren't bad enough, my friends and fellow dancers kept unintentionally aggravating my burns. I only ended up taking two workshops while I was in Palm Springs because everytime we went into closed position the follows would lay their hand on my right shoulder (which, btw, they're not supposed to do anyway; the hand rests on the lead's upper arm). And my friends never seemed to remember about my sunburn, which meant lots of painful hugs, massages, and pats on the shoulder.

In addition to being sunburned, I also spent the majority of the weekend horribly sleep-deprived. I arrived in Palm Springs at 4am Friday morning and managed to get fours hours of sleep before my body went to autopilot and woke me up. That would have been fine if I had managed to take a nap later that day, but it seems life is never that convenient. I went up to my hotel room at 6pm to take a nap, hoping to get a few hours in so I could basically dance until the sun came up. Instead, I spent five hours restlessly tossing and turning and struggling to fall asleep. My body was exhausted, but my mind would not quiet down. I did eventually to sleep for a few hours, but not in time for the late night social dancing, and I spent the rest of the weekend somewhat listless.

I honestly think it was the beds.

For all my complaints about how miserable I was, the weekend wasn't all bad. In fact, I made a couple of very important steps forward in my dance career. I'm not sure how I managed it, but during my Novice Jack and Jill competition I apparently did well enough to advance beyond prelims into the semi-finals. This is the first time I've ever made prelims at a dance convention, and I'm still pretty ecstatic. In the Strictly Swing competition, my dance partner Aly and I did even better, making it all the way to finals (also a first). We didn't end up placing, but just making it to that final round is reward enough for me. And it happened on my birthday no less.

Did you forget? I turned 24 on Sunday.

Don't feel too bad: almost everyone there also forgot unless I happened to mention it or they went on Facebook.

Overall, spending my birthday weekend in Palm Springs was pretty great. Although it wasn't quite the celebratory event I was hoping for, I still can't think of anything I'd rather do on my birthday than dance until my feet are falling off.

We're officially in Year 24, and it's feeling like a good one!

Birthday Dance Party in Palm Springs

2011-08-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday is my 24th birthday, and while that's not necessarily a milestone, I'm planning to celebrate in style! You may recall that back in May I won free tickets to the Palm Springs Summer Dance Camp, and it just so happens that the convention is also this weekend.

In fact, I'm leaving in less than two hours.

I don't have a whole lot else to say on the subject yet, considering I haven't even left, but I'll be sure to report all the exciting details when I return on Monday.

Actually, my next post will probably be on Tuesday. I anticipate crashing pretty hard once I'm home again. Late nights of dancing and an 8 hour drive is sure to sap my energy something fierce.

Allergic to Beer?! Oh the Humanity!!

2011-08-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, my roommates threw a big party in my honor as a way of welcoming me to the apartment. Of course, being the conscientious 20-somethings we are, there was alcohol involved in the festivities. It was an absolute blast, but sadly the next morning wasn't so much fun. I'm not just talking about the inevitable hangover though (which would be bad enough); no, in addition to my headache and generally lethargic disposition, I felt like I was coming down with a cold. My throat was sore and head was completely clogged by congestion.

"Terrific," I thought to myself. "I've got another cold or sinus infection because I was drinking." I've heard many times that alcohol lowers your immune system, so whenever I develop these cold-like symptoms, I always just attribute them to a latent bacteria I allowed to fester as a result of my imbibition.

The last time this happened - back in early May - I developed what I thought was a sinus infection that lasted for almost 2 months. That's two months of sniffling, coughing, and mild misery. Of course, being a guy I never consulted my doctor about it; I'm always worried that he'll end up finding something much with me while I'm there.

So you're probably wondering: "Where the Hell is he going with this?!" Well yesterday, I was telling one of my roommates about my symptoms, and she casually suggested that I might be allergic to something in the beer I drank on Friday night, like the hops. It stunned me. I'd never even considered the possibility that something in the beer I was drinking was causing these symptoms. However, the more I considered the idea, the more it made sense. I've been drinking for almost three years now, but it's only been within the last year that I've developed a taste for beer; previously, I'd been drinking things like Smirnoff, Mike's Hard Lemonade, or a variety of mixed drinks. And before I started drinking beer more frequently, I never had any problems with sudden colds/sinus infections/etc. as a result of my social drinking.

Suddenly, the last year was beginning to make a lot more sense.

My weekend at Chico Dance Sensation back in December is the first time I can remember suddenly getting "sick" after drinking beer (I even wrote about it). The only drinks I had that weekend were beer - no hard alcohol - and I came away from that convention convinced that I'd caught a cold from one of the other dancers. Now I'm realizing the error in my logic.
Similarly, my "sinus infection" that lasted for two months was more than likely one prolonged allergic reaction. Not realizing the cause of my symptoms, I never stopped drinking beer, having at least one a week during that time period.

So until I consult my doctor in two weeks (I made the appointment today), I am completely swearing off beer. I'm really hoping that I'm not allergic to all beers (I REALLY love Newcastle Brown Ale), but I suppose if I am I'll be forced to either drink only hard alcohol or just stop drinking altogether. Neither one is particularly appealing.

I'll update when I know more.

More Than a Netflix Box

2011-07-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

This evening I booted up my Nintendo Wii intending to spend yet another evening basking in the crimson-tinted glow of Netflix. I recently discovered that the old 90s era X-Men cartoon from my youth was available for streaming in its entirety, so I've spent the last few days reliving those halcyon days. But after a couple episodes, I grew restless. I didn't want to sit passively on my bed watching TV; I wanted interaction!

So instead I did something I haven't done in many months: I used my videogame console the actually play some videogames.

This is an incredibly novel concept, I realize.

Since I just recently moved into a new apartment, my library of Wii games isn't incredibly well-stocked at the moment. What I have in spades though are retro games from the NES, SNES, Genesis, and more, courtesy of the Wii's Virtual Console. These include games I grew up with as a kid - like Super Mario Bros, Mega Man V, and Star Fox 64 - as well as titles I missed for one reason or another - particularly JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 3. And since I've been listening to lots of old Retronauts episodes at work, these classic videogames were exactly what I wanted to dive into.

To be honest, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing videogames. My gaming habits have declined since I moved to Sacramento for college a few years ago, but the last year in particular saw a sharp drop. Despite being basically unemployed for nine months, I spent very little of my leisure time with a controller in my hand. Netflix devoured much of the time I might have devote towards gaming, and additionally, I simply didn't have much money to invest in new games that might have reignited my passion. The same can be said of reading, but that's another blog entirely.

I think I'm going to make this a habit though. One evening a week, I'm going to immerse myself in some interactive entertainment, and hopefully start finishing my sizeable backlog of Wii, DS, and even PS2 games. Sometimes it feels good to be part of an epic journey to save the world, or collect enough coins to earn an extra life, or just slice bad guys in half with an effing sweet laser sword.

Speaking of which, I should grab my copy of No More Heroes next times I visit my hometown.

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One final note, you may or may not have noticed that I have a new URL: www.wordswithjeff.com. I'm sorry to keep changing things up on you guys, but this should be the last time. Also, I'm gonna try to make blogging a more frequent habit as well. Hope you guys haven't abandoned me yet.

The Boy is Back in Town

2011-06-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning of a new age!

After nine long months, the slacker days are officially over. Oh sure, I flirted with substitute teaching in the last few months, but I always knew that what I really needed was to find a stable job back in the city I love. And found one I have! Although it may not be a glamorous position, I'm now an Administrative Assistant for a worker's comp organization (which will remain nameless).

Although it's great to be working full-time again, the particulars of my employment matters far less than what it actually means: I'm moving back to Sacramento! Living rent-free is nice and all, but I miss my independence. I miss being able to meet up with friends or going dancing at a moment's notice, rather than driving an hour to do anything of interest (there's not a lot going on in my hometown). I've got a place all lined up with a friend of mine, and I'm starting to puruse the IKEA catalogues to furnish my bedroom-to-be.

Look at all those bookshelves!!

For once it seems like everything is falling into place...

Well, except for The Girl. That fell apart shortly after my last post.

Besides that one setback though, I feel invigorated by these new developments. I'm not quite 24, I have a stable job with a decent wage, I'm in the best shape of my life, and very soon I'll be settled into my new home.

Yep, I think this is the start of something amazing!

I Wish Dating Had An 'Easy' Setting

2011-06-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was having an absolutely incredible week. I'm talking about the kind of week where everything just seems to go your way. I got called in for a job interview that I had written off months ago. I won a free pass to a big dance convention in Palm Springs, which happens to coincide nicely with my birthday. I had several incredible nights of dancing: I met new people, saw old friends, and my personal dancing was the best it'd been since Reno Dance Sensation (better actually).

Oh, and to top it all off, I met and had my first date with an absolutely incredible girl.

It's very rare that I meet someone and just click with them so well and on so many levels; in fact, I'm not sure I've ever connected this well with someone on a first date. That weekend was truly amazing, and I came away feeling like I had found someone I would be with for a long time to come.

But, as it turns out, my life wasn't destined to be so easy. Without going into a ton of detail, this girl is still recovering from a breakup. Her previous boyfriend dumped her after being together for 2.5 years, and I can't imagine that's an easy thing to deal with. So since that first date, things have been pretty slow going; frustratingly slow, in fact. I'm weathering it as best I can, but it's really hard when I'm absolutely crazy for this girl.

And my current employment and living situation certainly doesn't help matters. I want to see her any chance I get, but since I'm only in town a few nights a week, the time I get the spend with her alone is rather limited. In fact, we haven't been able to go on a real 2nd date yet. This seems destined to change soon, as the job I interviewed for during that glorious week should be coming through next week; but in the meantime, I'm hanging out in relationship limbo. I'm optimistic that it will all work out in the end though.

Online Dating: A Fun Sociological Experiment

2011-03-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

Although I've never had a very good track record when it comes to dating, I'm not someone who is very keen on using the interwebs to find a girlfriend or just someone to have dinner with on a Friday night. I may be a geek, but I'm also pretty sociable, and there's certainly no shortage of women in the dance scene. So when a couple of my friends - let's call them Pepper and Lindy - started using a dating site and talking about the results on their Twitter and blogs, I was pretty skeptical. These are very attractive girls with active social lives: why should they need a website to find a date?

The results have been quite intriguing though! Lindy, who was only looking for casual dating until she left to teach abroad, ended up meeting a guy she's absolutely crazy about. And while Pepper hasn't found her dream date yet, she's seems to be having some moderate success so far. With my current romantic prospects being fairly slim, I'm starting to think that maybe I should give it a whirl.

"Slim prospects?" you say. "Didn't you just say that there were no shortage of women in the dance scene?"

This is true; there are a lot of ladies who are dancers. The trouble is that, well, I'm kind of picky. Not really in the looks department; my tastes vary pretty wildly in that respect. My real problem is that it's rare someone really catches my attention with their personality. The few in the dance scene that have are either taken or not interested, which has basically killed any chance for a relationship in the foreseeable future. Even if that weren't the case though, a relationship would be difficult because the dancers I know either live in Sacramento, Chico, or in the Bay area. I'm sure there are great girls in my current city, but between dancing and substitute teaching, my social life doesn't really allow me to conveniently meet them.

So why not join a dating site? As my friend Lisa said, "It could be a fun sociological experiment!" Maybe I'll meet someone who really blows my mind, or maybe I'll just meet some girls to spend an evening or two with when I'm not out dancing. Either way, I'll get good practice dating, which will certainly be useful once I get out of this town and back where I belong: Sacramento.

Figuring Out Where I'm Going

2011-03-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been think about what I want to do and where I want to be in the next year. I've been substitute teaching, which has been great for earning money and generally getting me more productive during the week. However, I'm still no closer to finding a "big kid" job back in Sacramento. Come summertime, I won't be able to teach for several months, which means finding a temporary position in retail or some place like Starbucks. This is far from where I want to be going in my post-collegiate life.

Several of my friends are teaching English abroad for a year, in countries like Thailand and South Korea, and others have suggested that I should do the same. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it holds some appeal to me. I've never been outside the US, for one thing, and it really isn't looking like there will be any jobs available in my field for the immediate future. Plus, I HAVE been enjoying my brief time in front of the class room. I know it's not something I want to do long-term, but in the interim, it's phenomenal experience!

Plus, as I've noted, it pays my bills.

Traveling and living abroad for a year is a really scary prospect though, especially for someone who hasn't lived more than an hour away from the house he grew up in. My whole life is here, and I'd be leaving that all behind.

What would you do? This is definitely something I'll be thinking on for the next few months.

Dance Practice

2011-03-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

On Monday night, I had my first dance practice with my new partner, Aly. We went to our friend Dan's place - the Warehouse - because he has a decent size dance floor in his livingroom for us to use. We ended up practicing there for almost 3 hours, and every minute was hugely beneficial. We didn't so much work on creating new moves, but were more focused on cleaning up the repertoire we already have. We also worked a bit on musicality, which will only get better the more we dance and get comfortable with each other.

The two of us actually make a really good combo when it comes to dancing. She has a lot of style and musicality - due in large part to a more extensive dance background - where as I feel somewhat lacking in that department (although it is improving). I, on the other hand, have more technical skill because I've been dancing WCS longer than she has and have taken many classes focused on technique. Part of our time last night was spent working to transfer our respective skillsets to the other. If we hope to do well in competition next month, our dance will need to be as clean as possible, so strong technique and musicality on both sides is a must.

Aly and I are planning to make our practice sessions a weekly event if possible. My personal opinion is that we should have one more practice before we sign up for a private lesson. I'd like to clean up and improve as much as we can on our own, so that our instructor can help us more with new moves and technique, rather than just improving our basics.

New Dancing Adventures

2011-03-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

It's only about a month until I'll be dancing my butt off at Reno Dance Sensation, but between now and then (and even beyond) my dance life is gonna explode with activity. I'm already excited for what will be my 3rd-ever dance convention, and all the other dancing-related trips and activities are like the delicious fondant and buttercream frosting upon this already delicious cake.

I'm sorry. It's Lent, and I gave up sweets again. I'm a little fixated...

Anyway, I'm probably most excited because I officially have a new steady dance partner: my friend Alysa. She's a recent Lindy Hop-to-West Coast Swing convert and in the last couple months has really picked up the dance quickly. What's more, Alysa is as enthusiastic about improving and climbing up the West Coast Swing rankings as I am. We both have a healthy competitive streak, which will be good to motivate us. The two of us have lots of practicing and private lessons (from local instructors like Ben McHenry and Jason Wayne) planned for the next few months, and with any luck, we'll soon be rocking competitions and (hopefully) making our way into the Intermediate division by year's end.

That's probably a bit ambitious though. I'd settle for just making finals.

The other big thing I've been doing is trying to expand my dance radius. It's hard to go to these big conventions when you only know maybe a dozen people in attendance, and although they're a great place to meet other dancers, I think I'll feel more comfortable if I had some more connections in other dance scenes besides Sacramento. With this in mind, I've been trying to frequent other venues in places like Chico and Novato. My current home in Marysville is pretty much equidistant between Sacramento and Chico, so I've been regularly attending the Thursday night dance at Studio 1 in Chico. A few friends and I also made the trek out to Novato last week for Jason and Yvonne Wayne's dance at the WnY Warehouse, and we're hoping to drive out to Danville sometime soon for 2 Left Feet (aka the WCS Mecca).

So far, these excursions have been pretty incredible. The dancers in these towns kind of spoil me for when I go back to dancing in Sacramento. I have a little rant about my local WCS dance scene, but I think I'll save that for another blog.

I have a feeling that I might be writing about my dance life more frequently in the months to come.

iOS 5: An Update

2011-03-02T11:23:00.000-08:00

In case you weren't watching this morning, Apple's Press Event exclusively dealt with the iPad 2 (which, in this writer's opinion, was pretty underwhelming). No mention whatsoever of iOS 5. Disappointed pretty much sums up my feelings right now.

In related news, my iPod Touch 2G is getting worse by the day. Yesterday I discovered that I could no longer launch Plants vs. Zombies, and today it crashed multiple times while I was simply trying to send a tweet. I'm gonna reset the software this afternoon and see whether that improves the situation. I really don't want to run out and buy a new Touch right now. Fingers crossed!

iOS 5: Imagining the Possibilities

2011-02-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

Apple has an event planned for this Wednesday, with much of the buzz being around the inevitable announcement of the iPad 2. Although that reveal is sure to be exciting to people who aren't me (I still can't understand the appeal of tablets), I'm much more interested to see what the company has in store for iOS5: the next version of their mobile OS, which will almost certainly be discussed on Wednesday.

I've been a fairly satisfied iOS user for going on four years now - I bought my iPod Touch at launch in September of 2007 - but I've increasingly become aware of the system's flaws. So here's what I'm hoping to see "fixed" in iOS5. A lot of these suggestions are mostly about giving users a little more choice about how they want their device to behave. You won't find anything too radical below (save maybe a couple ideas).

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Hiding Default Apps
The addition of folders in iOS 4 created a nice way to sequester the default iOS applications I never used (e.g., Stocks, Voice Notes, YouTube), but I'd still like a way to hide these apps altogether. Create a section in the Setting.app with on/off switches for each app. Users can always turn them back on if they discover they need them.

Background Downloads for Apps
Why does the App Store always kick me out so it can download/update an app? The iTunes Store doesn't. I'd love to be able to start downloading an app and get back to browsing the store.

Brightness Slider in the Multitasking Pane
I recently learned that there's now a volume control slider in the multitasking pane (to the left of the iPod controls). While I appreciate the added utility, do I really need another way to adjust the volume? All current iOS devices have physical volume buttons, so why not use this area for something a little more useful - like brightness control? I'm constantly adjusting the brightness of my iPod, turning it up during the day and down at night, so I'd personally appreciate a method to quickly access this setting. There are jailbreak apps that do this already. It doesn't need to be the default, but at least allow the option.

Brightness Switcher set up on my iPod

Mail Improvements
I don't know whether this next one is Apple's problem, Google's, or my own user error. Like many Gmail users, I've hooked up my personal account into the Mail.app using IMAP. However, whenever I try to "delete" an email in the app, Gmail interprets the action as "archive". As a result, I never manage my mail with the default app, instead opting for the mobile Gmail interface. I shouldn't have to do this.

Tabs in Video.app
The Video.app has at least five different types of video that it handles, but the current system for navigating said videos is ridiculous. The Music.app provides buttons to various kinds of content (playlists, podcasts, audiobooks) as well as sorting options (sort by Artist, Album, Song Title, etc.), which makes getting to the content I want a breeze. The Video.app works completely different though. There's only one list, and the different content types have a predefined order that makes finding what you want a pain. Want to watch a Video Podcast? Those are at the very bottom of the list. Rented a movie? That's located somewhere in the middle, and you'll probably miss it the first time as you scrool through all the other videos you've loaded onto the device.

I wanted this in iOS4, and I'm gonna ask for it again: organize the Video.app like the Music.app, with buttons/tabs for each content type. The current system is cumbersome to say the least.

Disable Coverflow
I loved Coverflow when it first came out. But now that the novelty has worn off, it's more an annoyance than anything else. All I ask is for the option to turn it off.

Selective Multitasking
Okay, here's the first really radical change. Having the ability to multitask between apps like Mail, Safari, Twitter, and Facebook is great; however, I do sort of miss the days when apps shut down completely when I pressed the Home button. Especially when it comes to games! I obviously don't want multitasking to go away, but I would like a method (probably in the Settings.app) to turn off multitasking on an app-by-app basis. Maybe I want Facebook to remember what I was doing before I closed, but I probably want Angry Birds shut down until I launch it later. I don't have much faith on this happening though.

Revamp of Push Notifications
This is at the top of many people's wishlist. Push Notifications have been very useful since their introduction in iOS3 (I believe), but between then and now it's become apparent that there are quite a few flaws in the system. There's not central hub for managing your notifications for one, which is especially needed when several are recieved in a row or don't check you device for several hours. The current notification system also is also pretty intrusive, popping up in the middle of the screen and preventing you from continuing your current task until you deal with the pop-up.

The Jailbreak app MobileNotifier has some really good ideas for dealing with this issue, and I'd hoping to see a similar implementation demonstrated on Wednesday.

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Will any of these actually make it into iOS5? Maybe one or two, but I have a feeling most of them probably won't for one reason or another. For as much as certain people complain about Apple's mobile OS, it's actually become very useful over the past four years. I plan on (finally) upgrading my iPod Touch in September - if I can wait that long - and some much improved software for my device would make the prospect all the better.

Counting Unhatched Money... er, I Mean Chickens

2011-02-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned last time, I've started working again: I'm officially a substitute teacher for the local school district. I've only been registered for two weeks and I've already had three days of work, along with plenty of additional calls that I've turned down (for various reasons). That means come March 10th, I'll have an extra $300 sitting in my bank account.

In addition, I filed my taxes this weekend and I am very pleased with the refund I'll be getting. I won't tell you the amount, but needless to say it's more than what I made working in February.

I feels like almost overnight I've gone from teetering on the edge of flat broke to having my coffers flush with moolah. It's very exciting, even if I don't technically possess any of said greenbacks yet.

The hardest part though? Stopping myself from mentally spending this money before it's even mine. Certainly I'll be glad to rid myself of the modest credit card debt I've accumulated since December, but I'd also like to enjoy myself a bit. You have to understand: since I left my old job in August, I haven't had much in the way of disposable income. Most of the money I had saved has gone to supporting my dancing habit (primarily in the form of gas for my car), leaving very little left for things like music, videogames, books, clothes, or even trips with friends. Not all of these are purely wants either.

My unemployment, though relaxing, was pretty ill-timed. I realized fairly quickly that some of my possessions were starting to show their age. My iPod's battery is getting worse by the day, forcing me to recharge it at least twice a day now. My laptop has a multitude of problems, including a broken hinge, troublesome powercord, and ever-dwindling hard drive space. Finally, most of my jeans no longer fit my new slimmer frame, and I need new dress pants and shirts for work / dancing.

Of course, I have some wants too (like a DSi XL), but mostly I'd just like to reach a point where I don't feel like all my stuff is old and/or falling apart. I don't know when exactly that may be, but perhaps with a couple more months of substitute teaching (or maybe even a full-time job *fingers-crossed*) I can come a little closer.

The Epic Dance Weekend That Almost Wasn't

2011-02-22T22:37:00.000-08:00

The last week has been pretty hectic, between attending a job fair in Sacramento on Wednesday, substitute teaching on Friday (more on that another time), heading back down to Sac for the Capital Swing Dancers Convention. To be honest, my President's Day Weekend was actually supposed to be pretty chill, but a last minute change of plans got my butt down to the convention and subsequently dancing it off three nights in a row.

I was totally planning to skip this year's convention because of budget constraints. It's hard to attend these events if you don't have an income to support it, after all. Late Monday night, however, I received an email from the Capital Swing Dancers Board President telling me that - if I was willing to work as a volunteer - I had a ticket waiting for me at the convention.

But you may be wondering: why would I have a ticket offered to me by the Board President? Well, I just happen to be the Capital Swing Dancers webmaster. Remember that website gig I mentioned oh so many moons ago? Well, this is it: I completely rebuilt their website using Wordpress and have been regularly updating it ever since.

Needless to say, I accepted the offer and got myself down there as soon as I could on Friday. I had an absolute blast, but it was certainly a different experience than my trip to Chico in December. For one thing, I didn't attend any of the workshops (few though they were) offered over the weekend, nor did I compete in the Strictly Swing or Jack & Jill events. Capital Swing, as an event, is nearly three times the size of Chico Dance Sensation, so I figured if I couldn't pass prelims back then, I certainly stood no chance this time.

Yes, I'm a pessimist, but I also know what the competition looks like after attend Chico. I still have a while to go before I'm ready to win.

The other big difference is that I spent most of my time staying up late just social dancing. I'm talking 5 a.m. late. I woke up at 3 p.m. on Sunday ready to do it all again. It really was amazing. The calibur of dancers at these events is on a whole other level compared to what I'm used to. They spoil me, to be quite honest, an make me even more of a dance snob when I go back to my regular dance venues. They also, however, really kick up my dancing ability. I feel more free to experiment with new moves or with developing my own dance style (or persona, perhaps, is a better term).

I developed a bit of a crush on one of these amazing WCS dancers, but just my luck, she has a ring on her finger. I put many of my friends to work yesterday to help me learn her identity (and potential availability) on Facebook, mainly because I am dumb and never learned her age, hometown, or even her name during the convention. It was quite the saga! I even briefly entertained the idea of posting a Craigslist Missed Connection ("To the Dancer in the Green Vest and Glasses..."), although mostly for my own amusement.

Can I just say that I love dancing? Nothing else has ever brightened my social life quite like it. I'm so glad I got to spend my weekend with so many great friends, new and old, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next dance excursion. Next stop: Reno!

Announcing: A New Blogging Adventure!

2011-02-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

If you've been paying attention to my cryptic posts on Twitter, you already know that I've been up to something. Well, now the time has come to finally reveal what I've been working on...

It's THIS!

What is that, you ask? It's my new blog - Jefflix - focused entirely on movie reviews and related musings. As many of you know, I've watched a lot of movies over the last year, especially since I've been unemployed. But every time I watch a movie, I increasingly want to share my reaction with people who share my passion, and since I don't have many people like that on speed-dial, I often resort to posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Status updates, however, are too small for any real depth of analysis or prolonged musings, so I decided a dedicated blog is the next best thing. It's even got some content up already! Most of it is old and pulled from this blog, but I have posted a new review. Please check it out and tell me what you think. I plan to make rapid improvements and content additions over the next week or so to get everything up to speed; this is still very much a work-in-progress.

As always, I don't plan on abandoning this blog. Jefflix is purely a passion project, as well as an outlet that will (hopefully) get me to write more frequently. After all, Netflix is constantly supplying me with more movies to watch and review.

On Job Hunting and Why It Sucks

2011-02-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

I know I've been pretty quiet lately about how the job hunting has been going, and the short answer is quite simply that it hasn't been going well. At all.

The longer answer is this: I've been looking for new employment for about a year, and have been unemployed for closing in on six months, and for all the jobs I've applied for, I've only managed to nab maybe three interviews. That's it! I have a college degree and a job history that includes three years working for a high-profile State agency, and there doesn't seem to be any place willing to even meet me face-to-face. I cannot tell you how frustrating that is.

Even more frustrating is that in late November I learned about some job openings with the State, including a couple with my old team. I was ecstatic! I took the necessary State exam, qualified, and sent off my application as soon as the jobs were posted online. And then I waited.

A month passed with nary a word about if or when I might receive an interview. In the mean time, I started recieving job inquiries for other State positions based on my high exam scores, so I sent off applications for those jobs as well. But then a letter of a different sort arrived in my mailbox: it was a rejection letter from my old employer, saying that I was not qualified for the positions I applied for and therefore would not receive an interview. I was shocked! I contacted HR and plead my case: how could I not be qualified when I had done the same job before as a Student Assistant and - in fact - trained the person whom I would be replacing?

In the end, my rejection was due to a technicality.

So, as they say, it is back to the drawing board for me. I'm still looking for full-time office positions down in Sacramento, but those are so hard to come by it seems, so I've expanded my search to more local part-time work, like retail. I so desperately want to move back to Sacramento, but at this point I have no idea when that might happen. I just need work - not just for money but for my own sanity - and any job is better than no job.

Recent Acquisitions

2011-02-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't been buying many fancy trinkets during my unemployment, but every so often I do feel like treating myself to something awesome. And very recently, I acquired three very awesome somethings that I just have to share. I will warn you though: the likelihood of jealousy is very high. Proceed at your own risk.

It's a Trap! Oh wait...

Actually it's pretty much the most epic keychain a person could own. I found this beauty in the bargin bin of the local Lego Store. I didn't even know Sacramento HAD a Lego Store!

Don't Mess With the Daleks, or this T-shirt!

Exterminate!

After Christmas, I discovered that Netflix had 4 of the 5 seasons of Doctor Who available to stream, and I quickly devoured all of them. I am now a converted and very devoted DW fan, and the Daleks are by far my favorite recurring characters. Is it any surprise that I instantly bought this shirt when I found it?

What's more, not only is it my new favorite shirt, but the favorite of everyone I know. I better keep close watch on this shirt, lest someone plans to steal it from my wardrobe.

And, of course, HARUHI!!!

Didn't you just know this last one was gonna be a figure? I haven't bought any in over a year, but the prospect of a new chibi Haruhi was too awesome to pass up. And even though she's new, she's already getting along terrifically with her sisters. Don't they look like the happiest of families?

Rawr! Don't Bother Me!!

2011-01-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

We're on Day 2 of me just feeling incredibly ornery and out-of-sorts. People, for one reason or another, just continue to piss me off, oftentimes for the most inane of reasons. This is all happening on my social networking sites of choice - Twitter and Facebook - so either I need some more face-to-face (i.e. "old school") socializing, or I just need to take a few days away from these sites and just detox.

To be honest, I have a pretty good idea about what's causing this mood as of late, but it isn't something I can't talk about explicitly on this blog. People do read this, after all, and even a few details could get me into trouble.

On the plus side, I guess if I want to share some of my thoughts I'll be forced to *gasp* blog into of using Twitter and Facebook. No promises though.

My Great Travel Shame

2011-01-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

Lately it seems like all of my friends are out exploring the World. Gina just left on a trip to Paris. Blythe is currently teaching English in South Korea, and Hunter just came back from visiting her. Lisa spent six months studying abroad in Australia, and her new awesome Aussie friend Rachel is currently gallivanting around Europe.

And where am I? Sitting at home, trying my best to live vicariously through their adventures in places I've only read about or seen on TV.

My great shame as a young person is that I've never really traveled extensively, and not at all outside the continental United States. That means no Hawaii, no Europe, no Japan, no anything that involves crossing the American border or flying over large bodies of water. For a long time, this didn't really bother me, but in the last year, I've been developing a bit of wanderlust. Especially when so many people I know are out exploring.

Right now, I unfortunately can't make many plans - being unemployed tends to limit your travelling - but as soon as I do find work, I'm going to start setting money aside so I can finally explore this great big world myself. Here's my current wishlist:

Japan
Ireland
Germany, Austria, and the Low Countries
Italy
New York

I'm sure you've probably noticed two conspicuous omissions: France and the UK. Although I know many people who dream of travelling there, these places have never held much interest for me. In fact, my only motivation to visit these places is (1) the Doctor Who museum in England, and (2) the women in France and Scotland. Yeah, you can see where my priorities are.

My Top 10 Movies of 2010 (With a Twist!)

2011-01-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

The past year has been incredible for me personally. I know I saw more movies in 2010 then in any year previously, between the many nights I spent over the summer at the drive-in or the multitude of DVDs Netflix sent me (I got my subscription last January). Of course, not everything I watched this year has been great, but the great has more than made up for the mediocre and downright bad.

My friend Kyle recently compiled a list of his personal best movies of 2010, and I was inspired to do the same. However, I’m going to write mine a little differently. Although I certainly saw enough great 2010 movies to make a similar list, I also saw tons of great older movies that really deserve mentioning. With this in mind, I present to you the Top 10 Movies I Saw in 2010:

10. Easy A
A dark horse of a movie if ever there was one. I was all ready to place "Shall We Dance?" - a Japanese movie that shares its name and plot with the Richard Gere remake - in the coveted 10th spot. And although I still HIGHLY recommend you watch that movie, I have to give honors to Easy A’s loose adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. Judging by the response I got on Facebook, most of my friends really didn’t enjoy this movie, and I honestly don’t know why. It’s easily the funniest movie from last year, not that Grown Ups and The Other Guys are much competition. What’s more, the comedy comes from sharp dialogue and pitch-perfect delivery instead of the crude and vulgar humor I’m so used to seeing these days. Maybe it’s not as good as Clueless or 10 Things I Hate About You (although I think it is), but if you like smart humor, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend a better movie than Easy A.

I need more Emma Stone in my life

On a side note, I’m definitely noticing a trend in Romantic-Comedies lately: they’re starting to reference the movies of the 80s more and more, as Easy A demonstrated. How long before 10 Things I Hate About You becomes the go-to reference for Rom-Coms?

9. The Seven Year Itch
Memo to self: films from the 40s and 50s can really surprise you. That was certainly the case with the Marilyn Monroe classic, The Seven Year Itch. I don’t expect a movie from the 50s to make a veiled joke about the upstairs neighbors being gay (“I think they’re interior decorators”). I also finally understand the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. Va-Va-Voom, indeed! I could watch that woman walk up stairs all day!

But really, just do yourself a favor and watch this movie. It’s a classic for a reason!

8. Inception
Inception was a movie I had absolutely no interest in watching at first. In fact, this is a case where the trailers actually lowered my desire to see a movie; they just showed a lot of weird, nonsensical images and didn’t really given a true sense of what the movie was about. And then the hype train started. Twitter, Facebook, the watercooler: everywhere people were gushing about how amazing Inception was, and there I was still the skeptic. So I waited. I waited for it to leave theaters, come out on DVD, and finally be available for me to watch on Netflix.

And you know what: everyone was right.

Inception didn’t change my life or leave me philosophising about “what it all means” for days, but it did keep me riveted for more than two hours without wanting to stop and check Twitter or Facebook (I’m not ADD, I swear!), and for an at-home movie experience that’s pretty damn good. The pacing is just superb, which is something I’ve really grown to appreciate this year. Plus, the move does make you think without getting caught up in its own BS (like the Matrix sequels). At its core though, Inception is just a smart and entertaining action movie, and it was definitely worth the wait.

7. Kick Ass
Kick Ass is just a fun movie! Conceptually, it has a lot in common with 2009’s The Watchmen, another movie I saw this year. You’ll notice, however, that Watchmen didn’t make my “best of” list (it didn’t even come close). Whereas Watchmen took the subject of real-life superheroes very seriously and - in my opinion - failed to really resonate, Kick Ass revels in the ridiculousness of it all. It’s totally the Kill Bill of superhero movies, complete with expertly-choreographed fight scenes and a swearing ten year old. There’s not much more I could ask for.

6. Rocky
The original Rocky is the kind of movie I should have seen years ago, along with Dirty Harry and The French Connection (which I also watched this year). It’s just one of those classic movies everyone has seen and references. Except for me, that is. Well, I still referenced it, but it was always the lying kind of referencing where you simply repeat the lines you’ve heard everyone else quote.

But yeah, Rocky is a really really good movie, and not just compared to other pugilistic films.

5. Gran Torino
Even as an old man, Clint Eastwood is still the man. Only he could make the phrase “get off my lawn” sound menacing. But Eastwood’s eternal bad ass status aside, Gran Torino is just a really good drama. I wish I could be more extemporaneous and articulate, but unfortunately I watched it 10 months ago, so my exact feelings on why it’s so good have escaped me.

4. (500) Days of Summer
I can thank my best friend Lisa for introducing me to this film. After she “live-tweeted” her own viewing experience from Australia, I decided to add it to the top of my Netflix Queue. (500) Days of Summer is definitely what I’d call a modern love story. It’s not a Rom-Com by any means, and the movie tells you right away that there is no happy ending for this story. The protagonist isn’t a very reliable narrator either, remembering events differently than they actually occurred (which becomes clear as the movie progresses).

Overall, I really like the message the movie sends, even if it’s not particularly cheery: relationships don’t always work out. This year, I had to end a long-running relationship with someone I really cared about because we just did not work together. And that sucks! But it’s also life. I love Rom-Coms for their feel-good “love will find a way” philosophy, but it’s worth mentioning that love does not always find a way, and what’s more, sometimes that’s a very good thing.

3. A Fistful of Dollars / Yojimbo
Yes, you read correctly: I have two movies listed for #3. However, that’s not because it’s a tie; it because they’re the same movie! For that matter, I could throw Sukiyaki Western Django up there with them. That’s right, I watched three versions of the same movie this year, but it’s a good effing movie!! It doesn’t really matter which one you see, but I suppose I prefer A Fistful of Dollar because Clint Eastwood is - as we’ve established - the man. Aside from this, I watched a lot of Westerns this Fall, finally exposing myself to the genre; and of all the movies I watched during that binge, A Fistful of Dollars was definitely the best.

2. Toy Story 3
There were plenty of people skeptical of the third Toy Story film. But really, when has Pixar really made a bad movie. Monster’s Inc. and Ratatouille aren’t my personal favorites, but they’re still good and very much loved by others. Up and Wall-e, on the other hand, were just phenomenal films, and TS3 has only served to raise the bar even higher for Pixar. This movie could easily have been phoned in and still have put millions of butts in the theater seats, but instead we got a sequel that takes the franchise in bold new directions while still being true to the spirit of the first two.

Finally, Pixar has to be given credit for their ability to provoke emotional reactions from the audience. The first 10 minutes of Up are pretty brutal, and the last 15 of Toy Story 3 make me cry consistently for three separate reasons. The ending in particular is touching and heart-wrenching all at the same time, and it’s the perfect way to close such a beloved series. It’s the kind of movie that makes you want to forget your responsibilities, pull out your favorite childhood toy, and be a kid again for a while.

And really, I can’t find anything wrong with that.

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
After my writing my review, I’m not sure what else I can say about Scott Pilgrim. It’s easily one of my favorite movies ever, and owning it on DVD has only solidified its place in my heart. Go read my review again if you need more justification; I’ve annoyed enough friends already with my incessant quoting of the film.

Honorable Mention: The Heartbreaker
Earlier I said that Easy A was the funniest movie of 2010. That was before I remembered this French gem, which is also pretty damn funny. The Heartbreaker is the kind of movie I know will eventually get an American remake (probably starring someone obnoxious like Cameron Diaz), but the original will always be superior (see also: Shall We Dance). The premise is that the three primary characters break up unhappy relationships as their business; think of it as Hitch in reverse. Romantic-Comedies have been a bit stagnant lately, but The Heartbreaker shows that their are still good ideas out there.

Worst Movie of the Year: The Last Airbender
Full disclosure: I’ve never seen more than an episode of the cartoon this movie was based on. Honestly though, not having that background really exposed just how terrible The Last Airbender was. In stark contrast to Inception, the pacing in Airbender was horrendous. I know they were trying to cover 20+ episodes worth of plot into a couple of hours, but the story moved so quickly that I could hardly catch my breath. There are never any “travelling” scenes with the characters: short interludes where I could get to know the characters, their motivations, what the world is like, or at least what their GD names are! The film is just a series of departures, arrivals, action sequences, and the occasional narration to move the plot along even faster. It’s hard to really say enough bad things about this movie.

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So that was my 2010 in movies. I saw so many films this year, but I still feel like I missed so many that came out. I wish I’d been able to see movies like Tangled, True Grit, Black Swan, The King’s Speech, and The Social Network before I wrote this list, and hopefully I’ll be able to see most of those very soon. My list would probably look a lot different if I had. Regardless, my earnest hope is that something on this list will pique your interest and you’ll go see it. Maybe it’s a movie you passed over when it was in theaters, or something you’ve been meaning to watch for ages, or even a movie you’ve never even heard of! 2010 was there year I fell in love with movies, and I’ve enjoyed sharing a little bit of that love today.

Fitness Report - 4 Months

2011-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

So as I mentioned last time, I've been going to the gym regularly for a while; four months, to be precise. When I stopped working back in August (and subsequently fell into a lot more free time), I knew that one of the ways I wanted to fill said time was to join a local gym and finally get in "shape". Part of that naturally meant shedding the 20 extra pounds I've been carrying around (the same twenty I worked so hard to lose a couple years ago). However, it also meant building the muscle I've desperately lacked my entire life. Moving heavy objects has never been a strong suit of mine, and I was determined to change this.

So after four months, how have things improved?

On the positive side, I've dropped 10 pounds and can visually see some muscle tone improvement in my arms and shoulders. I actually have some muscle bulges that don't require flexing really hard to see!

On the less than positive side, my midsection is still a disaster and my left shoulder has been aching for the last week.

So with this in mind, I'm planning to shake up my workout regimen a bit. For the next couple weeks, I'm going to be focusing more on cardio and ridding myself of those ugly love-handles and less on muscle building. I'm hoping the latter will give my shoulder a chance to recover. There are still some muscle exercises I can do that don't really strain my shoulders, but by and large I'll be keeping it to a minimum. And I'll try not to go too crazy with the cardio; I'm just sick of how terrible I look without a shirt on (and Summer will be here before you know it!).

On one final positive note though, all this weight loss means that I'll need to buy better-fitting pants soon, and that's never a bad thing!

New Year, New Resolutions

2011-01-07T12:17:00.000-08:00

January 1st brings that ages old tradition of making resolutions for positive change in the new year. I know a lot of people are soured on the idea of "New Year Resolutions" because, they say, why should you wait until the first day of a new year of start changing your life for the better. Although I can agree logically with their argument, I still like the idea of making New Years Resolutions. It give me a day to reflect upon my life and the ways I'd like to make it better, and then codify them into a list I can carry with me all year.

So without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2011:

Stop biting my fingernails
Blog once a week (minimum)
Develop a healthy personal diet
Continue losing weight and toning my upper body
Make finals in a Novice West Coast Swing competition
Learn to shave with a (non-electric) razor
Enjoy being single for a while
Get a job
Move back to Sacramento
Travel outside of the country for the first time
Watch 1-2 new movies per week
Read through my backlog of books

With a couple exceptions, I feel like these are all reasonably achievable goals. On the job front, I have a few good leads and I'm very hopeful that one of them will pan out. Once I start working, moving back down to Sacramento is a foregone conclusion. Like everyone else, I'm always striving to be healthier and lose weight, but unlike some people, I started a gym habit back in September, so maintaining the momentum should be hard. And finally, I have tons of friends who are going traveling this year to places like Japan, France, South Korea, Italy, etc., and my friend Lisa just got back from six months in Australia. I've never been outside on the continental United States, and I feel like now is the time to go!

Perhaps the strangest item on my list is to "enjoy being single". I'm not one to define myself by the person I'm dating, but after more than a year of being in a serious relationship, it's been hard to transition back. Love is like a drug for me, and I've been going through some serious withdrawls. So unless someone truly spectacular walks into my life (or a certain girl starts showing signs of interest again), I'm going to kick back and enjoy my commitment-free life.

What are your resolutions? Are there any that are on your list year after year without progress? I'm convinced that I'll never stop biting my fingernails, which has been on my resolution lists for over a decade.

Young Love is Often Foolish

2010-12-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

My friend Belle recently started writing a series of fake letters as a writing exercise on her blog. After telling her that I thought her first letter was too sad, she challenged me to write a happy letter for my own blog. I hope you enjoy this brief (and hopefully not unwelcome) departure from the normal posts.

My Dear Friend -----,

Your last letter was well received and carefully read. I wrote to you expressing the deepest concerns with my current romantic affairs - my victories, my defeats, and the frustrating unknown - and I know your response was composed with only my best interests at heart. Your guidance is and always has been greatly appreciated. More often than not, your words have led me towards great opportunities and away from disastrous paths.

However, this time I simply cannot follow your advice. I poured over your letter for hours - days even - hoping to find a flaw in your logic. You say that I should forget this woman; I should move on and find someone else to give my affection. You’re absolutely right. I’ve spent many days and nights thinking about this girl. It took me days to finally call her and ask her out to dinner, and even that small gesture nearly gave me a stroke. After all that, nearly two months later, I have almost nothing to show for it except a phone number in my address book.

My head keeps telling me that, as you said, she’s just not that into me. But my heart won’t accept it. Every time I see her, every time I hear her voice, any time her name comes up in conversation, my heart goes all a flutter and I forget all the bad stuff. The other girls in the room pale in comparison to her. Tired cliches even seem new and original when they’re said about her.

You’ll probably curse me and call me an idiot - a masochist even - but to be honest I’d rather live my life as an idiot and suffer the heartbreak if it means I can spend a minute or two more with her.

I hope you’ll wish me luck with tonight’s foolish endeavor and will still listen sympathetically when it inevitably goes awry.

Your Stubborn Friend,
-----

Solitaire: Destroyer of Productivity

2010-12-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

As you already know, I’m currently unemployed. When I left my job almost four months ago, I envisioned my time off as being full of accomplishments. I’d do things like finally read all the books in my personal library or start going to the gym and build some much needed muscle tone. I thought I’d be blogging every day, not (maybe) once a week! And though I have been pretty consistent about going to the gym, my days are otherwise unproductive. It bothers the hell out of me.

Of course, there are many reasons why I’ve been so unproductive, but I came to the conclusion that one thing is responsible for more lost hour than anything else: Spider Solitaire.

When I say that I have lost days to playing Spider Solitaire, I’m not exaggerating. I probably spent 3-4 hours playing the game today alone. I’m on my computer most of the day and I get bored, so I open up the program and fritter away an afternoon or evening moving digital playing cards around. It’s ridiculous!

So I did the only rational thing: I disabled the game on my computer. I am now completely unable to play the game, which will hopefully mean more time spent on more worthwhile pursuits like watching Doctor Who.

Boy & Girl Movies

2010-12-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

I'm going to see Tron Legacy today. In 3D. At IMAX. It's going to be pretty effing incredible.

But then, I'm a guy, and therefore pretty incined to enjoy epic, action-packed, special effects-driven flicks like Tron, Iron Man, Transformers, or any number of other movies in that vein. These are Guy Movies, and if testosterone courses through your bloostream, you're probably gonna love them. Ladies: you're probably gonna hate them, but your boyfriends will force you to sit through them anyway.

In my opinion, there are really only two types of movies: boy movies and girl movies (ok, maybe three if you separate "kids" movies). And let's face it, you already knew this this, whether or not you admitted it. Who would be more inclined to enjoy movies like The Notebook, Twilight, and Bridget Jones' Diary, a man or a woman? Who would revel in films like Kill Bill, Clash of the Titans, Demolition Man, and Kick-Ass? You should already know the answers.

What can I say: guys just like certain elements in all of our movies. It's a formula.

A hero who is out for justice/revenge
Multiple action set-pieces full of guns, swords, martial arts, super powers, explosions, or (ideally) a little bit of everything
Eye-candy (SEE: hot girl (who may also be the hero))
Awesomely quotable one-liners
Maybe a car chase
Did I mention explosions?

Tron Legacy's Eye-Candy: Olivia Wilde

Of course, there are women out there who also enjoy our movies. We even have a name for them: Perfect. But for every girl like that, there are ten others who will force you to sit through Charlie St. Cloud. It's a sad truth of the world, but it's better that you heard it from me.

Oh, and a word to the wise if you do happen to find a perfect woman: try not to ogle the eye-candy too much. Scarlett Johansson from Iron Man 2 got me in A LOT of trouble.

The Chico Dance Party

2010-12-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the much delayed posting. I spent the first part of my week convalescing from an illness (more on that in a minute) and the latter half working to finish that website I've been building. And also catching up with Glee, which was obviously of dire importance.

So I'm sure many of you are wondering: how was Chico Dance Sensation? In a word: effing phenomenal. Okay, so that's two words, but my enthusiasm from last weekend cannot be contained with a single word. If you did happen to follow me on Twitter last weekend, you likely noticed that I didn't actually tweet much those four days; maybe a dozen tweets total. Obviously this is because I was spending all my time on the dance floor with very little downtime to check Twitter and the like.

For starters, I attended a ton of workshops taught by many of the All Star and Champion level dancers. We're talking Myles and Tessa, Jordan and Tatianna, Jason and Yvonne, Ben Morris, Arjay and Melissa, and of course Chuck Brown (just to name a few). What I found most surprising about these workshops was that I actually preferred the technique workshops to those that were simply teaching moves and patterns. Although I really do need to expand my WCS moveset, I could feel my dance as a whole improve dramatically as I incorporated the technique I was learning in these workshops. I'm gonna have to remember that when I go to Capital Swing Dancers in February.

I did learn some pretty slick moves though. I'll definitely be incorporating them into my social dancing tonight.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, I didn't fair so well in the competition portion on the convention. I didn't aadvance past prelims in either the Jack & Jill or Strictly Swing competitions. Now, I didn't actually expect to win first place this time, but to at least move beyond the first round would have been nice. I'm sure crashing into Ben Morris during one of my dances didn't help matters. I can't be too disappointed though. After all, I had an absolute blast. And come February, I'll be dancing on my home turf in Sacramento, and that gives me two months to kick my dancing into high-gear.

That's me dancing! I'm #595 ^_^

Chico Dance Sensation was an absolute blast. I'm definitely glad I made it my first weekend dance convention, and I plan to make it a fixture on my dance calendar. The only bad thing about the convention was that I came back with what I dubbed the “Chico Dance Flu” (it was actually a cold though). I expected as much though: you don’t spend four days in close proximity with 300 other dancers without picking up something. It was a small price to pay though for such an unforgettable weekend.

Dancing Extravaganza!!!

2010-12-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

So last week I got all Emo and wrote about my melancholic predispositions, and honestly, things weren’t all that great at the time. I was genuinely feeling down, and writing about it helped sort things out a bit. But this last week has exponentially raised my spirits, between Thanksgiving spent with family and many, many evenings spent in Sacramento dancing with friends (and a few other things I’ll keep close to my chest for now).

But for a good as I’m feeling right now, this weekend my spirits are gonna be through the roof! Why? Because starting tomorrow I’ll be in Chico dancing my lily white butt off at Chico Dance Sensation!!

You may recall that last May I went to a small event in Petaluma, but this one in Chico is a bonafide convention, filled with tons of workshops, competitions, and social dancing late into the night. And drinking, of course (this is Chico after all). It’s funny looking back on my experience in Petaluma, mostly because of how good I thought I was going in. The last six months have taught me so much; I can hardly believe how cocky I was back then.

Of course, I’m still cocky as hell, and I intend to win both the Novice Strictly Swing and Jack & Jill competitions this weekend. Think I can actually do it this time?

I’ll be updating my Twitter (and probably Facebook) all weekend if you want to stay up to the minute with my dancing escapades. Otherwise, I’ll give a full rundown when I return on Monday. Wish me luck!!

The Epic Tea Saga

2010-11-24T15:24:00.000-08:00

I learned two very important things yesterday, both of which were related to the making of hot tea. It is not every day that one acquires so much knowledge on such a subject.

The first thing I learned is that I cannot make a cup of tea to save my life.

Many of my friends have attributed this lack of ability to my inherent American-ness, and of that I guess I should take pride. Unlike our former colonial masters - the tea-drinking surrender monkeys commonly known as the British - we Americans are not big into drinking tea. In fact, we dislike the leafy beverage so much that ancient Bostonians hurled many tons of it into the ocean when Britain tried to foist their "pinky out" ways upon them. But I digress.

Against my best American judgement, yesterday morning I decided that I wanted a cup of hot tea with my breakfast (mostly for lack of coffee). I went to the pantry and found a box of Lipton Green Tea, accented with Orange, Passion Fruit, and Jasmine. Fruity though it may have been, my desire for tea had to be quenched, and so I grabbed a tea bag from the box, heated up some water, and attempted to make my cup of tea.

Attempt #1 proved most unsuccessful. I might as well have been drinking hot water for all the flavor the tea bag added. I knew something must be amiss, so I did the only logical thing: I turned to Facebook for help.

This is when I learned the second thing about tea: people are effing serious about their tea!

The response I got was phenomenal... and perhaps a bit frightening. I received a lot of suggestions for what I might be doing wrong / how I could improve.

I don't actually own a tea kettle, so I was heating up my water in the microwave. This is, apparently, a big problem. I'll have to ask for one for Christmas.
I wasn't "steeping" the tea long enough. Now mind you, I had never heard the term "steep" used in that context before in my life. I'm told it roughly translates to American English as "the amount of time you leave the tea bag in the hot water."
I need to ditch the bagged tea I start buying expensive loose-leaf tea. There's also something called a "tea ball," which acts as the bag for this highbrow tea.

There were other suggestions, but I'm just waiting for someone to suggest growing my own tea leaves. I'm sure that's the best way to go.

After three more attempts, I finally was able to brew a decent cup of tea... or at least, I think it was decent. My green tea was actually green this morning, so I assume that's a good sign. Regardless, I learned a lot yesterday: about tea, about my friends, and about why I go to Starbucks when I want a hot tea-based beverage.

Feeling Not-Awesome

2010-11-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

Whenever I have trouble writing, I know that there's something else weighing on my mind that I want to get out. Recently, that something has been a fit of melancholy.

It's getting to be winter-time, so I could very easily just attribute these feelings to SAD (or Seasonal Affective Disorder). However, I think the real issue is that I feel very disconnected from the people I care about.

That seems very odd for me to say considering we live in a very connected society. Facebook, Twitter, and the like give me more info on my friends and what they're doing than ever before. But these daily connections hardly feel worthwhile. If I post a status about watching "The Walking Dead," I may get a few responses and "likes," but nothing close to resembling a conversation. It doesn't make for very fulfilling socializing, to say the least.

Part of my problem is my lack of school and/or employment. I never realized how much the "mandatory" social interaction had a positive effect on my disposition. Even just a quick "how's your day been?" between casual acquaintances could lift my spirits right now. I do get some socializing in when I travel down to Sacramento for dancing, but those trips feel more like a tease than anything: hang out with some friends for a couple hours and then head back home to spend the next few days in relative solitude.

The other problem is that calling people on the phone seems to be out-of-vogue anymore. I long for a phone conversation! Texting gets the job done, sure, but the interaction is hardly comparable.

Now here's the part where I reveal my mental dificiencies: Whenever I get in this mood, I instinctually withdraw even more. On what planet does that effing make sense?! I'm just exacerbating the issue. Just this morning - for instance - I withdrew from Facebook and told all my friends that if they needed/wanted to contact me, they should call or text my phone. None of them are going to do that, and when I realize this my mood is only going to worsen.

So to sum up: I'm far from feeling like my typical awesome self, I miss all my friends and coworkers, and I desperately need to move back to Sacramento. Being a slacker is not everything I thought it would be.

Dating in the Digital Age

2010-11-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

This post is part of Geek Week: Five days of tech, gaming, and geek-related posts on Ninjasaur.us

I'll totally admit that I'm pretty terrible at dating. I like to think I'm pretty good at being a boyfriend, but actually getting there has always been a hard journey for me.

And it's only gotten harder with technology.

Back in the day (i.e. high school), if I was dating a girl, I usually had to call her. And since I was a geeky, awkward teenager, I hated doing that. I was always afraid that one of the girl's parents might answer the phone instead, and I'd get grilled about who I was and why I was calling their daughter. This never actually happened, but to my 16 year old mind this was a very real and potentially fatal risk. Thankfully, cellphones started reaching critical mass around this time, so I had less to worry about.

The only exception to this "I had to call her" rule was instant messenging. Yahoo, AIM, and MSN were all pretty popular during my time in high school, so chances were good that I didn't have to necessarily have to call a girl to talk to her. My crush could be a mere dial-up signal away!

It's been less than a decade since then, and the entire landscape has changed. The rules are different, and in some cases haven't even been written yet. For someone who has never been good at playing the dating game, I feel a bit lost at times. I've pretty much just resigned myself to making it up as we go along.

For instance, what's the appropriate policy about "researching" a romantic interest on Facebook? (Don't give me that look! You all do it!!) How many of their News Feed posts can you like and/or comment on before it's too much? Or even asking a girl out in a private Facebook message? I did that once and it worked out in my favor, but I doubt it's something one should make a habit of. Are there exceptions though, such as for someone you met once at a party but aren't likely to casually run into again?

And then, of course, there's text messenging. If a girl gives you her number and follows it by saying "text me," does that mean I shouldn't call her? And if so, how do I know when it's okay to start calling the girl?

These are all things that I've had to think about since my return to the dating world (yes, my long-time girlfriend B and I have split). As I said earlier, I'm pretty much making things up as I go along, but it's a brave new world out there. I'd love to hear how others are coping with dating in the digital age.

Some Thoughts on Facebook & FB Mail

2010-11-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

This post is part of Geek Week: Five days of tech, gaming, and geek-related posts on Ninjasaur.us

I've professed my love for email before, and I lament that my generation seems to have moved primarily towards Facebook for its communication needs. What happens if Facebook becomes passe, and we all move on to the "next big thing"? Although it seems unlikely right now, it could happen one day, and then all our correspondence would be lost forever within Facebook's walled garden. Maybe not all of it is worth saving, but the sentamentalist in me likes to believe a love note from a former girlfriend or a missive from an old friend is something worth holding on to.

That being said, I totally understand why I and so many others use Facebook as a primary mode of correspondence: it's simple.

I remember graduating from high school (or having my older friends graduate before me), and trying to get email addresses and IM screen names from all my closest friends. MySpace was around, but hadn't quite hit critical mass, and I wanted some way to stay in contact with these friends that meant so much to me back then. But it was a pain, and ultimately fruitless. No one kept in touch with email. Those who used instant messenging were never online. We all lost touch with another, and even when MySpace (and Facebook) came along, some of those connections were gone for good.

So I can't be too upset that Facebook has "killed" email for my generation; after all, without it I would lose contact with important people in my life -- friends, coworkers, dance partners -- that I don't necessarily see on a regular basis anymore. So when I heard about today's announcement regarding Facebook Email, I was curious about how they planned to improve the current method of communication.

What they announced -- a unified inbox for email, IMs, and text messages -- is certainly impressive, and having all of these bits of correspondence tied to a single thread per person (rather than individual conversation threads) is actually kind of inspired. If you're using Facebook for communication to the exclusion of other platforms, that's going to be a powerful tool. I could, for instance, look back at the progression of a relationship from acquaintance to friend to even girlfriend or wife. That's pretty incredible, if you ask me!

However, I do not use Facebook to the exclusion of other services, and so this ultimately won't be very powerful in my hands.

Take, for instance, my friendship with Lisa, who is currently studying abroad in Australia. We met in college and were both Facebook users, so some of our earliest communication could theoretically be on Facebook's servers. But we're also both GMail users, and have frequently exchanged emails back and forth while she's been abroad. We've also used GChat and Skype for but instant messenging and video calls. We even talk on Twitter. This is all in addition to phone and in-person conversations we frequently have.

How's Facebook going to track that relationship?

I really do think that the people at Facebook have come up with an amazing idea, and I'd love to see something like it built into GMail (where my personal communication is a bit more worthwhile). However, being locked into the Facebook paradigm really limits its utility for people who are not completely dedicated to using Facebook for all communication among friends.

Announcing "Geek Week"

2010-11-15T20:21:00.000-08:00

What's "Geek Week," you ask? What an excellent question!

On my list of blog topics, I'm finding that there's a growing number of them that are tech and gaming and generally geek-related. And since I need to get back to blogging regularly once more, I've decided to spend the next five days (and maybe the weekend) writing about exactly those topics.

If these topics don't interest you at all, you've been warned in advance. Feel free to completely tune out my blog for the next few days and resume once more once I stop being so self-indulgent. However, I would suggest you stick around (especially for today's blog) because some of the topics I plan to cover might be of interest or even affect you personally. They may be "tech-related," but in our increasingly tech-focused world they're pretty relevant to the average person.

Plus, two of them involve Facebook, so you there's about 500 million people (at least) who can relate.

Today's post should be up shortly. I look forward to reading your comments.

So about that novel I was writing...

2010-11-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

I haven't touched it in almost two weeks. And I'm not likely to finish it anytime soon.

I started out strong. I spent the first couple days developing plot and hitting my daily writing quota. I was feeling really good: this was the most creative writing I'd done in probably 3 years, and it was wonderful to finally be getting back into the habit.

Unfortunately, the life of a NaNoWriMo novelist is not the life for me. At the end of the day, even though I had written almost 2,000 words and was well on my way to having a completed novel, I never really felt like I had been productive. I wasn't cleaning the house. I wasn't out job hunting. I couldn't find the time to workout at the gym. And to be completely honest, the daily word quota was stressing me the hell out, especially when I thought about the days I wouldn't be able to write much at all (like at my niece's wedding).

So yeah, after two days I gave up / reverted back to just an "aspiring" author. I will write my novel one day soon (I actually have a much better one brewing in my head right now), but it won't part of NaNoWriMo. I - surprisingly - have too much going on in my life to just throw away for a month.

Mainly girls. And copious viewings of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This is seriously pressing stuff!

I'm Writing a Novel!

2010-10-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to it's friends). What's more, I'm actually participating this year. That's right: this aspiring author with aspire no more! Come November 30th, I'll be a certified novelist!

... Or at least, that's the idea.

In order to "win," you have to write a novel of at least 50,000 words.

That's approximately 175 pages.

And spread out over 30 days, I'll have to write at least 1,667 words per day just to stay on track.

To be honest, my enthusiasm is starting to falter and panic setting in. Can I really do this? Am I cut out for a marathon of writing incomparable to anything I've done before? Looking at my recent track record on this blog (and my penchant for procrastination), my odds aren't looking so good.

But that's where you guys come in.

For better or for worse, over the next month I'm going to be talking about my novel A LOT. That means if you read this blog or follow me on Facebook or Twitter, most of my output is gonna be related to my progress. What I need everyone to do is offer as much encouragement and guilt as you can. If I post a status about watching a movie, ask me how many words I've written that day. If I need a change of scenery, please tell me about some nice coffee shop where I can furiously type out the day's chapter. And if you're also participating in NaNoWriMo, let me know. We'll be writing buddies and keep each other on track.

The noveling begins tomorrow, so I'm gonna finish my story outline. I know I can count on you guys!

For Your Consideration

2010-10-27T01:03:00.000-07:00

Ladies: Halloween is almost upon us. Have you picked out your costume yet? If you answered "Yes" and are going as Slave Leia, you can stop reading this blog right now. If you answered "No" or are not dressing up as Slave Leia this year, perhaps you should consider (or reconsider) making golden metal bikini a part - but preferably the whole - of your costume.

With Halloween so close though, there's a chance you may not be able to find the requisit attire. In that case, allow me to suggest a few alternative costumes.

Jennifer Beals from Flash Dance

Need I say more?

Sigourney Weaver from Alien

The hardest part about this costume is finding a big effing gun to carry around all night. But with a little diligence, you should be able to find something serviceable at a costume shop. Once you've found that, all you'll need is a white tanktop and panties. Voila! You've now got an Ellen Ripley costume.

Kelly McGillis from Top Gun

I'll be honest, I can't even remember the name of character Kelly McGillis played in Top Gun, but she was hot, and that's all that really matters. For this costume to work, my first suggestion is be blonde. Next, convince your date to dress up as Maverick. That shouldn't too hard; Maverick is awesome! You now should have all the elements you'll need to pull off this costume.

If you want to get really fancy, bring a boombox to the party and have "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins on a loop. Who cares if it annoys the other party-goers?! You'll be rocking one of the collest couples costume ever!

Addicted to Weeds

2010-10-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

I do not do drugs. Let that be a matter of public record.

Having said that, I am absolutely addicted to the TV show Weeds. I've been hearing people talk about it over the years, and I recently discovered that Netflix has almost all of it available to Watch Instantly. So yesterday I was going through my queue and thought "Why not? I'll watch an episode or two." Well that became a season and a half real quick. One hit and they had me for the whole bag.

As it turns out, the exploits of a drug-dealing suburban mom is pretty compelling television. It's like Desperate Housewives... with dope!

Do any of you watch Weeds? What else is part of your weekly viewing schedule?

I've been pretty disappointed with television in the last few years, with Burn Notice, Glee, and How I Met Your Mother being the bright spots in an otherwise dreary landscape. And as much as I love watching reruns of The Wonder Years and Doogie Howser, I like having a few TV shows to look forward to watching each week. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Ode to a Golden Bikini

2010-10-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

Star Wars is not just my favorite movie of all time, it's basically the greatest movie in the history of ever. Imagine what the world would be like without Han Solo, Darth Vader, and lightsabers. Actually, I take that back: don't imagine it. That's much too depressing.

But for all the awesomeness that Star Wars has given us, it's Return of the Jedi that gave the World perhaps the greatest gift of all: Slave Leia.

Thank You, George Lucas! Thank You!!

Halloween is mere weeks away, and so I ask you: is there anything hotter than a girl dressed as Slave Leia? No. No there isn't. All the Sexy Nurses and Slutty Hermiones in the World can't compete with that slinky gold bikini. It's a de-facto win in any costume contest. Believe me: I've seen it happen.

Everyday can't be Halloween though, and your significant other very probably won't want to wear that metal bikini all the time either. For those dark days, perhaps you should consider getting her one of these fine aprons. I plan on making this a staple piece of my future wife's wardrobe.

As an added bonus, she may just make you a sandwich.

Not Enough Awesome!!!

2010-09-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

“Haven’t you heard? I’m awesome!”

That was my closing argument last Monday during a job interview. The interviewers wanted to know why I should be chosen over the other candidates, and although I could have listed my many qualifications, being awesome should be reason enough. I walked away from that interview certain that I got the job.

But awesome though I may be, apparently I wasn’t awesome enough.

Let’s be honest, my life is kind of a mess right now. I’ve gone from living on my own in Sacramento to living back in my hometown with my mom. I’m unemployed with few prospects. And my once bustling social life filled with late nights of dancing has been replaced with nights spent at home watching How I Met Your Mother. That last part isn’t actually bad - in fact, it’s awesome too - but Barney and the gang are no substitute for my own posse. Much like the economy, I’m suffering from an awesomeness recession.

That’s why I’ve decided to make a pact with myself: a pact to not simply renew my awesomeness, but take it to new heights. Although I’m enjoying my slacker life, all the slacking off is having a detrimental effect on my awesomeness. What would NPH think? Or John Stamos? I don’t wear suits, I’ve never married a supermodel, and my Laser Tag skills are pathetic!

But no more! I’m putting together a list of all the things I need to accomplish before I can truly consider myself awesome with a capital “A”. So far it includes things like “Learn to play Bass Guitar,” “Buy more suits,” “Bench-press an elephant,” and “learn to speak Spanish fluently (or maybe Sanskrit - Bitches LOVE Sanskrit).” So look out, World: this geeky caterpillar is going into his cocoon and will emerge a butterfly!

Except, less girly and more awesome... maybe with, like, flames instead of wings... yeah!

This is why I sometimes hate writing.

2010-09-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

I spent my entire morning working on a single blog post over on my videogame blog, Save the Colossi. I probably wrote and rewrote that post three or four times, trying multiple angles and approaches. The final result isn't at all satisfying; I just threw it online because I was tired I writing it. Maybe I'll revise it in a few days, but for now I'm just hoping it's at least coherent.

What do you do when a blog post doesn't turn out the way you envisioned? Do you scrap it altogether or just post what you've written? I feel like I've been throwing away a lot of writing in the last month or so.

Also, sorry for the lack of updates recently. Despite having a surplus of leisure time, I'm having difficulty finding the time to write with all the other activities on my agenda. I also have a terrible time trying to write at home, which is why I spent this morning at a coffee shop. I have a few things I want to write on, so I'm hoping to get some more writing done tonight and this weekend.

I'm almost as old as Mario

2010-09-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

Turns out today is the 25th Anniversary of the NES classic, Super Mario Bros.

Like many my age, I grew up playing the myriad Mario Bros. games. In fact, I'm pretty sure Super Mario Bros. just might be the first videogame I ever played. Almost 20 years later, I'm not only still playing videogames but Mario games as well. New Super Mario Bros for the Wii was even my favorite game of last year.

But I've also got my girlfriend hooked. Although she loves to watch me play other games like Metroid Prime (or "the bug game," as she calls it), the Mario games are special because they get us playing together. Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros., and more recently Mario Kart are all staples in our gaming diet.

So Happy Anniversary, Mario! I hope to be playing the latest Mario game 25 years from now!

More Cooking Adventures: Fresh Salsa

2010-09-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

I recently learned that my next-door neighbors have their own garden of tomatoes and peppers. I learned this because they were nice enough to bring over a bag full yesterday.

Looking at this bag o' ingredients, I was possessed with the need to make some fresh salsa. Besides an onion and some tortilla chips, I basically had everything I needed. I even had a food chopper designed specifically for the task! Chop a few ingredients and season to taste; "how hard could it be?" I thought.

An hour later, however, I vowed never to do it again.

The salsa chopper, which was supposed to cut down on time and make the whole process simpler, was actually the worst part of the whole experience. I had just gone to the gym this morning, so when I started turning the crank on that chopper, my arm muscles were on fire. I eventually got through it, but then I was presented with a new problem: my salsa, such that it was, didn't have much in the way of taste.

I scoured the internet, as well as my kitchen, for anything that might help. I squeezed in lime, cursed myself for not buying cilantro, and dumped in a can of tomatoes soaked in jalepeno juice. The final result is, well, mediocre. But it is salsa, and it is edible. For a first (and perhaps only) attempt, I suppose that's all I can ask.

P.S. Sorry for stealing your blog post headline, Lisa. ;-)

The Little Recipe That Could

2010-09-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

I am a firm believer that men should be able to cook for themselves as well as there future significant. Although I am not particularly skilled in the kitchen myself, I do occasionally create something delicious. This is the story about one such dish.

Last night I took over dinner duties at my mom's house. Of course, she appreciated not having to cook in the evening, but I had somewhat selfish reasons for offering: I wanted to perfect a dish. Back when I was living in Sacramento and first starting to cook for myself, I borrowed one of my mom's cookbooks and made a dish called an Italian Chicken Pasta Toss. The picture in the book was very appetizing, and as it turned out, the meal was pretty good. It was a little bland the first time, but I had a feeling if I used more spices and changed a couple things, it would be better.

So I made it again. And again. And again. Not in a row obviously, but every couple weeks I would gather up the ingredients and get to work. The dish got better each time, but I always had one more idea to test the next time I prepared it: remove this ingredient; add this one; simplify this step; use a different spices. Last night, I finally completed the recipe.

For your enjoyment:

Italian Chicken Pasta Toss
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes

2 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 onion, chopped
14.5oz can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1.5-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
6 ounces uncooked bow tie (or similar) pasta (about 3 cups)
1 Good Seasons Italian Seasoning Packet
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons canola oil

Start by preparing your ingredients: chop onions, slice zucchini, and cut chicken into bite-size chunks.
Cook pasta according to the package directions in medium saucepan. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken. Stir-fry 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, zucchini, yellow squash, peas, tomatoes, seasoning mix, and salt; stir-fry 2 minutes.
Cover skillet and let simmer for 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in warm pasta. Serve immediately with garlic bread (optional).

The Finished Product

Although I'd love to keep this little gem of a recipe to myself, I also want to share it with the world. It's a great recipe for a learning cook (like myself) because the ingredients and preparation is super simple. Plus, it's basically an all-in-one meal, so all you really need is some bread to serve it with. So far, it’s been a hit with everyone I’ve made it for.

If you do happen to make my dish, please leave a comment or a tweet and let me know what you think. I'd love any feedback you could give (especially from experienced cooks).

A Slacker’s Life For Me

2010-09-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

slacker - noun \ˈsla-kər\

a person who shirks work or obligation
a person and especially a young person who is perceived to be disaffected, apathetic, cynical, or lacking ambition(Source: Merriam-Webster)

I've been unemployed for almost two weeks now, and although I am actively job-hunting, I'm also not in that big of a hurry to rejoin to workforce. Basically, I'm living the slacker life now. I won't lie: it's been pretty sweet. I love waking up at eight or nine in the morning without having "Oh shit! I'm late for work!" as my first thought. I don't miss the intravenous-drip of coffee I needed just to get through my morning somedays. And the crazies on Light Rail... well, I do kind of miss them. They made the morning commute pretty interesting.

On the other hand, I do miss having a reason to put on pants each day.

But the slacker lifestyle, although glamourous, is not without its faults. It can get pretty monotonous if all you do is spend the day watching television in your underwear. That's why I've been compiling a hefty to-do list of projects and otherwise find activities to keep me busy. I have 25 books in my personal library that are as of yet unread, so I've been spending a good amount of time reading at the local coffee shop (see: not Starbucks), as well as blogging. I also joined a gym this week, but I'll talk more about that later. And of course, there's always my sizable queue of movies on Netflix to watch. Some of these projects have been on my to-do list for years (reading my backlog of books would certainly fall into that category), so even though I'm not working for a paycheck, I don't feel like I'm wasting my life in unemployment.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some Jane Austen to read.

Coming Soon: The Jeff Staple Public Library

2010-09-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

When it comes to my books, movies, and videogames, I'm pretty protective; I really don't like lending my things out to people, even if I absolutely trust them. Sharing, needless to say, was not my strong suit in preschool.

My girlfriend, however, recently sent me something that might make loaning my books out a little more palatable: a Do-It-Yourself Personal Library Kit from ThinkGeek (purveyors all things nerdy). It comes with everything the aspiring librarian could need: a date stamp, checkout cards, and even the little sleeves for holding said checkout cards.

The only downside is that I'd technically be defacing the books I care for so dearly. Maybe it'd be worth it for the pure geek-factor?

On a related note, I kind of wish I had studied Library Science in college. Librarian is right up there with Lexicographer on my list of dream jobs.

High Kicks and Karate Flicks

2010-09-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day! Im sure most of you are out barbequeing or enjoying the last long weekend of Summer at the beach. I, on the otherhand, spent the weekend in a rather unorthodox manner: watching martial arts movies.

Action movies are easily my favorite genre, but I think that the martial arts subgenre might be my favorite kind of action movie. Maybe it's because I grew up watching the Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on TV, or maybe it's that hand-to-hand combat is just more visceral than explosions. Whatever the reason, watching an old Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee film just feels great (especially when they have cheesy dubs like Drunken Master).

On the other hand, they also remind me that my biggest childhood regret is never learning any martial arts.

Like many kids, I was bullied in elementary school, and the karate-kicking action stars of my youth gave me hope. And who knew, maybe if I got good enough I could grow up to become the next Red Ranger (I later learned this was impossible). Maybe I would have hated all the practice and getting kicked in the head, but I always envious of my friends growing up who took Karate or Judo.

Even now, I long for this training. Unless I stumble upon my own personal Mr. Miyagi though, I guess I'll have to content myself with just watching the old Karate Kid movies on Netflix.

As If I Needed Any More Books

2010-09-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect example of why you should never give me a Barnes & Noble gift card.

I recently took stock of my personal library and found that I have 25-30 books that I have bought over the years but never read. Now I could make excuses about how most of those were Christmas or birthday gifts or that I haven't been reading my books because I was reading so much for school, but realistically I just like buying books that I want to read.

Needless to say, I have enough books to keep me busy while I'm not working this Fall. Does that mean I didn't buy three new books this afternoon (courtesy of a birthday gift card)? Of course not!

And in case you're curious, I bought "Lightning" by Dean Koontz, "The Kitchen God's Wife" by Amy Tan, and "Lady Chatterly's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence. Odd combo maybe, but I then have eccletic tastes.

Apple, iPods, and Apathy

2010-09-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

For iPod users, this time of year is akin the Christmas. September is always New iPod Season, with music and gadget geeks alike waiting, wallets open and ready, for Apple to reveal the latest and greatest iPods.

In case you didn't know, today was that day.

I was able to watch the event live thanks to Apple's video stream, and in you happen to follow my Twitter account, you were likely inundated with my reactions in real-time. To put it simply, was pretty disappointed. I'm an avid iPod Touch user, as you probably know, so I've been eagerly anticipating the new revisions. My biggest hope was for the Touch to finally get a camera so I can take pictures and video without having to invest in a dedicated point-and-shoot. Unfortunately, it looks like we Touch users are only getting the latter, which is nice feature, but ultimately disappointing. I know I've talked about the down-side of convergence devices before, but a built-in camera would have easily made this upgrade a must.

Why am I so fixated on having a camera in my Touch? Because I have my iPod on hand everywhere I go. It's the same reason why people want cameras in their phones. It's small enough and light enough that I could easily take it with me on a trip to, say, San Francisco and not feel like my pants were falling down because of the weight. I also know that any cheap camera Apple could throw into the Touch would be infinitely better than the Kodak point-and-shoot I'm currently using.

But alas, I guess a dedicated camera is in this blogger's future. Any suggestions?

The other announcements today were also a mixed bag, in my opinion. I love the revised iPod Shuffle and the return of physical buttons. I'm not really the target audience for that device, but maybe I'll pick one up once I start going to the gym (it is only $50, after all). The new Nanos, on the other hand, are a misstep in terms of design. With each revision, Apple seems to move further and further away from having physical buttons on their devices, and I really think that's a mistake. Before I owned the iPod Touch, I had an iPod Mini (I still have it, in fact), and one of the advantages it has over the Touch is that I could operate it without looking a the screen (which is especially useful in the car). Without physical buttons though it's nearly impossible.

I've actually been considering an iPod Nano purchase just so I could have that same tactile experience again, but I guess now I'll have to buy one of last year's models before they're gone. On the bright side, they'll be heavily discounted.

Finally, we have the new iTunes 10 and Apple TV. The new iTunes logo is atrocious, but the actual meat of the software looks tender and juicy. I think Apple is smart to build a new social network - dubbed "Ping" - into the program itself. iTunes is already ubiquitous, so I can't imagine Ping won't succeed to some extent. The new Apple TV, likewise, has piqued my interest. If it were $50, I'd definitely buy one just for Netflix (as if I need another Netflic-capable device). At $99, it's a harder sell for me personally. I'd much rather put that money towards a Kindle or Nook.

Honestly, I'll probably end up buying a new iPod Touch. I'm already deeply invested in the App platform, and I've yet to see a better portable music player. I just wish I were more excited about it.

The End of an Era

2010-08-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

They say all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, that was true for me today. After three years that felt much shorter than they probably were, I've officially left my Student Assistant job with the State.

It was a pretty tough day for everyone involved, especially since they weren't just losing me but my coworker (and fellow Student Assistant) Sarah as well. A general malaise hung throughout the office today, with my coworker's expressions constantly in flux between well-wishing smiles and forlorn frowns. Our boss succumbed to tears as she tried desparately to deliver a farewell speech. I can tell that my short tenure in that office has left a lasting impression on the people in it, and the reverse is likewise true. These people have been more than just my coworkers; they've been my friends, my confidants, and a million other things that have made my life richer and more enjoyable.

Tomorrow marks a new stage in my life, but I can't quite let go of the last one. I already miss the old gang!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

2010-08-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

As you already know, Bee and I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for my birthday last week. Since then, I’ve been getting lots of requests for my thoughts on the film, and as much as I love Twitter, microblogging seems to be inadequate for this purpose. I don’t typically review movies (nor do I intend to make it a habit), but I feel like this movie warrants an exception.

Scott Pilgrim is without a doubt a unique movie - I can almost guarantee you’re never seen anything like it before - but that’s likely to be its most divisive quality.

The story follows the titular Scott Pilgrim: a Canadian gamer/slacker/bass player who is completely infatuated with an American girl named Ramona Flowers. Unfortunately, Ramona comes with her own set of relationship baggage in the form of seven evil exes, all of whom wish to foil Scott’s budding romance. One-by-one, they arrive in Toronto and Scott must defeat them all before he and Ramona can live “happily ever after.” The film is based on a series of comic books that heavily reference videogames both superficially and structurally (or so I’ve been told; I have not read them myself). And like a videogame, each of Ramona’s exes represents a challenge - a boss battle - that Scott must overcome. And in true videogame fashion, each of these exes is more ridiculous and over-the-top than the last: a World-famous actor/skateboarder; a goth ninja; and a vegan bass player with psychic powers.

Ramona's 7 Evil Exes

In a world where most movies - even those based on comic books - strive for realism, Scott Pilgrim revels in its unbelievability. It never tries to explain away fantastic events or characters - as is so often the case in Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Superhero movies - but simply moves on as if nothing extraordinary has happened. This can be disconcerting at times, but there’s also something refreshing about it. I’ve been struggling to find the reason for the last week, and I’m only now figuring it out.

My friend Kyle recently described Scott Pilgrim as the best genre-mashup “this side of a Tarantino flick,“ and it’s hard to find a more apt description. The film apologetically wears its myriad influences on its sleeve, which range from action movies, quirky comedies, and coming of age stories to videogames and the comic book medium that spawned Scott Pilgrim. When our hero receives a hard hit from one of Ramona’s exes, a comic book-style “POW” or “BAM” appears on screen. Ten years ago, this would have been considered cheesy - as it was in the Adam West Batman TV show and movie - but somehow Scott Pilgrim pulls off these effects in a way that feels natural. There are similar videogame-style overlays interspersed throughout the movie, including pixelized objects, high scores, and even a 1up. At no time could I believe that the world Scott Pilgrim inhabited was real because I was constantly faced with these unrealistic visual elements.

However, these elements are so consistent, and so far from being just superficial trappings, that I couldn’t help but be drawn into Scott Pilgrim’s world: to believe that his unbelievable world could exist.

Scott Pilgrim rejects the traditional notion that movies are supposed to be an imitation of life, and instead blazes a new trail for conveying meaning through film. The genre mashup, the visual, comic-style sound effects, and copious videogame allusions are the tools director Edgar Wright uses, much as a traditional artist might use impressionism, watercolors, or graffiti art. If James Cameron’s Avatar is the epitome of a “modern” movie, then Scott Pilgrim is decidedly post-modern.

Almost guaranteed to be a cult-classic, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is easily one of the best movies I’ve seen this summer (and heaven knows I’ve seen most of them), along with Iron Man 2 and Toy Story 3. I know that Summer is drawing to a close and most of us have serious blockbuster fatigue, but if you’ve got one more movie left in you, then run out and see Scott Pilgrim before it’s gone.

Besting the CBEST

2010-08-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

Two weeks after my grueling Saturday morning spent with the CBEST exam, my results are in:

I passed with flying colors!

If you recall, I was less than enthusiastic with my performance following the ordeal. Looking at my results, I definitely started the test stronger than I finished. The reading section, which tripped me up numerous times, was actually my best score, followed closely by the math portion.My forte is words, not numerals, so this latter score is surprising to say the least. This leaves only the writing section, which was left pulling up the rear in a distant third.

“But,” I hear you say, “ aren’t you a writer? Shouldn’t you have completed those essays with absolute finesse?”

Although I do consider myself reasonably skilled with a pen, I’ve never been particularly adept at writing essays for an exam. Every so often I eek out something adequate, but typically, answering these essay questions is a minor Hell for me (especially since there’s no way to study or prep for them).

Now that I’ve passed and the CBEST is behind me, the real work begins.

The new school year is about to begin, and in some places it already has, which means I need to be ready to start teaching as soon as possible. In the next week or so, I’ll be registering with my local school districts and contacting some of my old teachers. With any luck, they’ll start requesting me to sub for their classes when the need arises.

I’m about to enter a whole new phase of my life, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited.

Guess What I'm Seeing Tomorrow

2010-08-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow's my 23rd birthday, and I'll be celebrating it in style!

It's okay if you're jealous; I won't judge you.

Geekiness

2010-08-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

I think it’s pretty safe to assume that most of us here are geeks. You probably wouldn’t be reading this blog if there wasn’t a little bit a geekiness written into your genetic code. The real question is whether you display it loud and proud.

For instance, if you were a big Star Wars fan (as I am), would you rock the upcoming R2-D2 Droid phone? Although I’m rather partial to the HTC Aria, my inner Star Wars geek would be very tempted. I’ve already got a Stormtrooper case for my iPod Touch, and I think the two devices would compliment each other nicely.

As a rule, I never apologize for my geekiness; I’m a geek and proud of it! At the same time though, I don’t let that one facet control my life. I occasionally wear videogame-related t-shirts, but my closet is hardly filled with them. I have many of my Anime figures on display in my office cubicle, but I almost never talk about them or their respective shows at work. When I was younger, I referred to my behavior as being a “stealth geek,” but more accurately I’d say it’s just about balancing your lifestyle. There’s a time and a place for everything, and - let’s be honest - your coworkers probably don’t care about your mint-in-box Han Solo action figure.

Liquid Pencils

2010-08-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Do you remember “erasable” pens? I sure do: I remember how terrible they were. The ink never really erased quite as well as was promised, and the whole process required a special pen and eraser, both of which cost more than your standard pen or pencil.

For better or worse, Sharpie seems keen on reviving the concept, although this time they’re calling the new writing implement a “liquid pencil.” Supposedly, the liquid graphite in the pen is erasable for up to three days, after which it becomes permanent like ink. If it works as well as Sharpie’s blog claims, I’ll be very impressed. I’ll very likely pick one up when they’re released next month.

Impulse Control

2010-08-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

I’m a little curious: do any of you have a problem with impulse buying?

For me, it’s one of my many personality flaws. When I get a notion that I want to own a book, CD, videogame, or anything else for that matter, I feel compelled to go on Amazon or to a physical store and buy it right away. Services like iTunes and Steam, where gratification is nigh-instant, have only exacerbated this problem.

I was thinking about this because of my recent fascination with the Kindle and Nook eBook readers. Although these devices carry huge benefits for avid readers, especially those who travel or commute regularly, they come with one major drawback for the impulse buyer: you can buy and download books whenever you want.

Although I am reading more frequently now that I’ve finished college, I can easily imagine this feature getting me in trouble. I’m constantly hearing about books from friends, colleagues, and podcasts that pique my interest, and usually my solution is to place them on an Amazon wishlist for later purchase. However, with a Kindle or a Nook I could simply hop onto a digital bookstore and purchase them immediately. That would not be good given my looming unemployment.

And of course, there’s no way to sell your eBooks once your done reading them (especially if you didn’t like them). That’s been my biggest complaint about Steam, where I’ve sometimes purchased PC games I didn’t enjoy. Buyer's remorse comes at a premium in this digital world.

I Thought I Was Done With School

2010-08-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was CBEST Exam Day, and I’m happy to report that it’s officially behind me. I’ve been stressing about this exam for the last month, worrying (primarily) that I would completely flunk it because I’m so terrible at math. As it turned out, neither the test nor my mathematical aptitude were as bad as I imagined.

The questions on the math portion were all fairly basic, and I think I only guessed on one or two of the problems. Surprisingly, I had substantially more difficulty with the reading section. Crazy, I know! I’m also terrible at Scrabble, so I’m hardly the pinnacle of English majorness. In my defense though, English isn't as cut and dry as math. That little bit of wiggle room makes answering multiple choice questions definitively much harder. n the whole though, the CBEST was more grueling than it was difficult. Spending four hours taking a test on a Saturday morning is incredibly draining. I pretty much collapsed on my bed and took a nap as soon as I got home.

Now it's just a waiting game. In a couple weeks, I’ll get an email with my results. A passing score will mean a potential substitute teaching gig come Fall.

Fingers crossed!

Smelling Like a Man

2010-08-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Although most of the guys I know use Axe or Tag deodorant, I think they both smell horrible. And lets not even mention their ads, which are just insulting. Am I really supposed to believe that a deodorant will cause women to rip their clothes off and throw themselves at me?

So what do I use? Old Spice.

Perhaps you think I’m some Johnny-Come-Lately to the Old Spice world because of the Super Bowl commercial, but I’ve actually been using it for years. I’ve always enjoyed the smell of Old Spice, especially compared to Axe and Tag. I just picked up a stick of their new Fiji scent today, and it smells amazing. I’ve been compulsively putting more on all afternoon just so I can keep smelling it. My girlfriend is gonna love it!

Digital Bookshelves

2010-08-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve officially moved out of my old apartment and pack to my hometown. The last three days have been filled with lots of boxes and the possessions I somehow managed to squeeze into them. It been really surprising just how much “stuff” I’ve acquired in the last couple years, but the bright side to all this unpacking is that it’s given me an opportunity to weed out all of the books, clothes, and miscellaneous objects that I just don’t need or use anymore.

Today, I spent the morning organizing my bookshelf, which had increasingly become home for stacks of books (many of them unread) acquired as birthday or Christmas gifts or as required reading for school. Even after reorganizing and eliminating some of my books, the shelves are far from full, but the whole process got me thinking about the Amazon Kindle.

First of all, I’m a big fan of physical media, be it DVDs, CDs, videogames, or - yes - books. I like the sense of owning a physical object, placing it on a shelf, and being able to look at it and say “yes, that is mine.” I know some people find this weird, especially with services like iTunes and Steam (both of which I use) being so prolific, but I just prefer to have something tangible.

Comic via Penny Arcade

That being said, I’m starting to come around to the idea of the Kindle. I’ve been a commuter - either by bus or light rail - for the last three years, and I’ve often literally felt weighed down by the small assortment of books I carry with me. I’ve also felt it when I occasionally travel: I once took half a dozen books with me on a week-long trip to Virginia. It would have been so much more convenient to simply have a small collection of reading material synced to my Kindle.

In a perfect world, I could buy a physical book and get a digital copy for free (or for a couple dollars more). A small premium would be worth the convenience. Much like my netbook, I’m starting to see the niche in my life that an e-reader like the Kindle or the Nook could fill. And at $140, they’re quickly approaching “impulse buy” status.

And who knows! Maybe I’ll actually start reading more if I get one. I know this much though: if Manga ever starts getting published in Kindle editions, my wallet is in big trouble.

Do you use a Kindle or another eBook reader? What do you think of it?

Who Loves Orange Soda?

2010-07-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Do you have a favorite kind of soda? Like cola or lemon-lime or Dr. What's-his-name? I certainly do: I love orange soda.

If you're around my age, you might be familiar with another person who loved orange soda: the character of Kel, from the 90s sitcom Kenan and Kel. In the show, Kel would recite the following words each time came into contact with the orange ambrosia: "Who loves orange soda? Kel loves orange soda! Is it true? Mm-hmm! I do, I do, I do, I do-oo!" The long-running gag left an impression on me, and to this day I often quote Kel's orange soda monologue when I'm buying some, usually to the annoyance and perplexity of my friends. A few days ago, I was buying some Drive-In movie snacks at the grocery store, and when my girlfriend and I reached the soda aisle, I naturally picked up a bottle of orange soda and began the ritual.

"Who loves orange soda?" I sang. Before I could recite the next line, someone else called out.

"Kel loves orange soda!"

My girlfriend and I both looked to our left: another customer in the soda aisle had finished the line. No one had ever done that before! For a brief moment, I finally felt that my silly allusion was appreciated.

My girlfriend, however, still just thinks I'm silly.

Ninjas and Dinosaurs

2010-07-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed anything different about this blog lately?

That's right: the new name (and URL!) are both live. Irish Ninjutsu has officially been renamed Ninjasaurus. As I mentioned before, this wasn't a change I embarked on half-heartedly. I spent many hours brainstorming and deliberating a multitude of names. I'm hoping you like the new name as much as I do.

I'm still sketching out design ideas for when I eventually move to Wordpress, which isn't likely to be soon unfortunately. I'll try to post some of these sketches in the coming weeks, but until then you infer some of my current thinking from the new header image.

As always, I'd appreciate any feedback. Feel free to leave me a comment or a tweet.

Dragons, Quests, and Seth Green

2010-07-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of content lately, but I've been deeply engrossed in Dragon Quest IX for the last few weeks. After years of waiting and anticipating, it's finally out in the States, and it was definitely worth the wait. It's truly a marvelous game.

You know what else is marvelous? The commercials for it!

 

 

They're a little unorthodox, sure, but I find them really appealing. I think it's how the ads try to meld the real world with that of videogames, and the result reminds me a lot of the old Ratchet & Clank ads. What do you think?

Moving: Part Deux

2010-07-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

It’s just ten more days before I’m officially pulling up stakes and leaving Sacramento. I’ve been packing and moving boxes regularly since I last reported, and even though I’ve stated eating off paper plates, I’m not feeling the impact of this move yet. I’m leaving a job, my friends, dancing, and a girlfriend behind, and though I plan to come back regularly, it won’t be the same.

The hardest part about moving so far: deciding what not to pack. Some things are just easier to pack than others, and I’d hate to be without something I need/want during these last few weeks. I certainly don’t need my DVD collection, for instance, but Bee and I watch Netflix all the time, so the Wii has to stay. I still have one more trip planned before the final move, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m still gonna have a lot to move on that last day.

If there’s any silver-lining in this ordeal, it’s that I might have an employment opportunity in my hometown. No, I didn’t get a job offer (I actually got yet another rejection notice last week). I’m taking the CBEST exam early next month, and if I pass, I’ll be able to do some substitute teaching. It’s intermittent work to be sure, but the income will be very welcome while I’m essentially unemployed.

I Write Like...

2010-07-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

I Write Like is a neat website tells you which famous writer you write like by analyzing word choice and writing style. You can have old essays, short stories, or even blog posts (as I did) analyzed

So who do I write like? According to the website, I write like a lot of famous authors. I tested multiple blog entries, and each time a different result popped up. My two favorites though were JD Salinger and Stephen King.

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Stephen King gets a lot of flack because he writes horror novels, but the man really is a phenomenal writer. Long-winded maybe, but good nonetheless. And if you ever wanted advice on how to be a writer, I can think of few books better than his memoir On Writing. It’s been a constant inspiration to me, and I may just reread it in the coming months.

And JD Salinger is just brilliant, so any comparison to him is a plus.

Thanks to Geek in Heels for sharing!

It Slices! It Dices! It Makes Julienne Fries!!

2010-07-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

After my post about shopping for a new digital camera, I had several people ask me why I wanted a stand-alone device when camera phones are getting so good. This is a dilemma with buying technology: do you buy a one-hit wonder or a jack-of-all-trades device?

I often bounce back and forth on the subject. Certainly, I love the idea of carrying fewer devices with me when I travel. Women can carry their iPod, cellphone, digital camera, keys, and wallet all in their purse, but as a man I'm expected to carry these items in my pants pockets. This can be really uncomfortable and inconvenient, especially when my pants are so laden with objects that I need to wear a belt.

On the other side, these convergence devices aren't always good at everything they do. I buy plenty of games for my iPod Touch, for instance, but few of the experiences compare to something I'd buy for my Nintendo DS. Likewise, my Playstation 2 isn't a very good DVD player, being cumbersome to control with the standard controller. The only reason I wish the Wii could play DVDs is because the controller is a damn remote control (and the Netflix interface proves that it's well-suited to the purpose). One of my favorite articles in "Convergence: A Great Word to Hate." It's a little long, but it's a really good read on the subject of convergence devices.

I'm sure cellphone cameras are much improved compared to a few years ago, and would likely put my current point-and-shoot to shame. The real question is whether it would be good enough?

What's your thoughts on the subject? Do you prefer devices that do one thing really well, or multi-purpose devices like the iPhone 4?

An American Down Under

2010-07-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Lisa left for her big trip to Australia last night. I spent most of yesterday with her even saw her off at the airport along with the rest of Lisa's family, since she won't be back until December. It's going to be strange to having her around, since the two of us hung out pretty regularly. I'm also a little jealous that I never made the effort to try studying abroad. Spending a semester in Ireland learning about their writers, meeting new people, and spending lots of time in pubs sounds like a blast.

Be sure to follow her blog to learn about all her misadventures Down Under.

Shall We Dance?

2010-07-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

“What? You haven’t seen Swing Kids?!”

“You don’t watch So You Think You Can Dance? Shouldn’t that be your favorite TV show?”

“How can you call yourself a dancer if you haven’t seen Strictly Ballroom?”

Being a dancer is more than just knowing the steps. There are certain expectations other dancers have regarding the dancing culture: namely that you have to watch all of the great dance-related movies.

It’s similar to how college students are expected to watch Animal House, or how teachers have all seen Stand and Deliver.

For my part, I’ve been rather lax about acculturating myself into the dance scene. I asked my dancing friends for an essential movies list, this week, and the response was enormous. I guess I never realized how few movies I’d watched. The only dance-related movies I’d seen up until recently were Dirty Dancing and Take the Lead. It was clear this hardly sufficed, so I tossed Strictly Ballroom and Shall We Dance? (the Japanese original) into my Netflix queue.

As I watched these movies, I wondered whether I would have enjoyed them as much a couple years ago - before I was a dancer. They’re certainly good movies, but suspect part of their appeal is the familiarity of the subject. I can relate to the characters who struggle to get the steps right, and I rejoice in their eventual successes. I’ve been in their dance shoes; I know what it feels like. And in a sense I guess I’m reliving those moments while I watch.

Moving

2010-07-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning of July, which means moving day is fast approaching. Unfortunately, this isn't the fun "I'm trading up to a bigger and better place" kind of move; no deluxe apartment in the sky for me. No this is the "I couldn't find a job so I have to live with my parents" kind of move. My job search has been less than fruitful, and I'm at a point where I can no longer afford to live on my own. And so I'm forced to move back to my hometown and continue the job search from there. I'm hopeful it'll only be temporary.

In the meantime, I have to pack up my life. I know I don't have a lot of possessions compared to some people, but I know I've accumulated a fair amount after three years away from home. Furniture, dishware, bedding: all of this needs to be boxed up and hauled up to my mom's house. I just picked up a bunch of boxes from Bee's aunt (who just recently moved herself), and I'll probably start packing up the non-essential items like books, movies, and videogames in the next few days.

The hardest part is going to be finding someone to help me move my bed. I have a twin at my mom's house, but I got Full-sized matress when I moved into this apartment. It'll be a pain, but I'd like to store it for when I eventually move back out. I'm kind of lucky that the only furniture I'll be storing is my IKEA nightstand, since my roommate has graciously offered to buy my (incredibly heavy) IKEA dresser. That thing was hard enough to transport in pieces!

The one final part of moving I was reminded of this weekend was sorting through my fridge. I don't have much food currently, but I have enough that I don't really care to transport it all. The majority of it is either boxed food like Hamburger Helper or alcohol. I can easily eat through my pantry, but drinking through my half-dozen bottles of wine is another matter. My coworker has suggested I through a small party before I move out, and it's sounding like a good idea.

My girlfriend has already started cleaning out her stuff. I'll be taking my first carload of belongings home this weekend, and I have a feeling the apartment is going to feel very empty afterwards. What do you do when you move? Does it ever feel sad to leave the old house/apartment?

Camera Shopping

2010-07-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know whether you've seen Canon's "Wonder Camera" concept, but it's pretty slick. They say we won't see one for another 20 years, but I think I might buy one if they were available today (assuming it didn't cost $1 Bajillion).

I'm actually in the market for a new point-and-shoot camera. Although my current camera gets the job done, it's performance doesn't often meet my expectations, especially when I'm trying to take personal photos for a blog post instead of just searching Google Images. I've never been much of a shutterbug, but I've often wondered whether a better camera would inspire me to take more photos. I'd certainly like a reason to use my Flickr account.

The problem: I have no idea which camera to buy. My knowledge of camera technology is pretty close to nil. And the few shutterbug friends I do have use SLR cameras, which are very different (and usually bigger, in my experience) than the point-and-shoots I'm interested in. And my call for recommendations on Twitter was left unanswered. What's a geek to do?

The Blogs They Are A-Changin’

2010-07-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

The last few months have been hectic! Not only have I been on the hunt for a new job (still no luck) and building a website for a local dance club, but as you’re no doubt aware I’ve been blogging pretty regularly. I’m not sure I’ve ever maintained a writing schedule this rigorous before. It’s been quite a learning experience: developing a voice, trying out different blog topics, and just simply making a habit of writing. I’m actually developing a nice routine. I still have some areas where I need to improve, but I’m pretty happy with the progress I’ve made so far.

With that said, I’m happy to announce that some big and exciting changes are coming soon. For starters, this blog is getting a new name in the coming weeks. For a while, I’ve felt that Irish Ninjutsu not only represents a different person than I am today, but no longer represents the direction I’m heading in. I have lots of ideas for new content opportunities, and I needed a name that was more appropriate. And after many weeks of brainstorming (and much frustration vented on Twitter), I’ve finally found a new name I was searching for!

I don’t know when I’ll be able to reveal this new name, but I’m starting work now to the new logo as well as reserving the URL. I’m hoping to launch both before the end of July, but it’ll all depend on my schedule.

In addition, this blog will eventually transition from its current form on Blogger so something entirely new built upon Wordpress. Although I’ve been very satisfied with Google’s blogging platform over the years, it’s not capable enough for the ambitions I have. My recent work with Wordpress has been very positive. I wasn’t sure how well the “blogging” software would perform when building a full website, but I’ve been incredibly impressed. For a long time, I have wanted to “relaunch” the personal website I built in high school, and using Wordpress I may just accomplish that goal.

If you like me, and you like what I’ve been writing about, than perhaps this won’t mean much to you. I’m not planning any changes to what I’m already writing. There may be a few new things, but I really like the rapport and routine I have right now, and I ony hope to strengthen them. This isn’t a charter for change, this is a promise of new and better things in the future.

Happy Birthday, America!

2010-07-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

I'll be spending this 4th of July with my girlfriend. We don't really have any plans, although I have a feeling large, neon-colored explosions will somehow play a part. We spent yesterday afternoon at Folsom Lake, spending time with some of our dancing friends and enjoying barbecued meat and veggies. And our friend Dennis brought his famous chocolate chip cookies, so you know it was a good day.

Honestly, Bee and I will probably celebrate America’s birthday like we do with any occasion: dancing. One of our favorite dance venues is open tonight, so we'll likely head there for some Blues and West Coast Swing dancing after dinner. For those of you lighting fireworks tonight: stay safe and have fun.

Oh, and America: stay classy!

Hulu Hesitations

2010-07-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago, Hulu announced their new subscription service, which has many people pretty excited. For $10 a month, you get access to a larger catalog of TV shows than what’s currently available for free, including entire seasons. I’m left pretty lukewarm by the news though.

I don’t currently pay for cable television. as it’s an expense my roommate and I decided we could do without. As a result, I’m a regular Hulu user, since it’s the only way I can personally watch Burn Notice and Glee. Besides these two shows, however, I basically have no interest in watching television. I used to watch a great deal when I lived at home, but since leaving for college, I’ve found I don’t miss it. Sure I occasionally I have an urge to watch Law & Order, Mythbusters, or something else, but for the most part I’ve just lost interest in the boob tube. The only reason I have one in my room is to watch movies and play videogames.

And that’s really the problem I have personally with this announcement: there’s little if anything of value or interest that Hulu Plus can provide. What few shows I watch I can already see for free on Hulu, and if I have an interest in watching in older series like How I Met Your Mother or the original Star Trek, I can just as easily add those to my Netflix queue (or even use Watch Instantly). Being able to stream shows on my iPod Touch would be nice, but is it worth $10 for the privilege? Probably not.

I may end up giving it a try for a month, but I honestly can’t see myself becoming a regular subscriber.

And yes, I am a Gleek. I totally love the show! I still have yet to watch the finale though. Guess I better hop on Hulu soon and watch it before it expires.

I < 3 the 90s!

2010-06-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

My friend Lisa was in town last night, which under normal circumstances wouldn’t be that big of a deal. In less than two weeks though, she’ll be leaving for a semester of study in Australia, which means that I’m gonna have to cherish any time we get to hang out before then. So the two of us headed to Brew It Up (a local watering hole) for some dinner and drinks. We ended up staying for nearly three hours, not because we were getting trashed but because we happened to stumble in for trivia night. 90s trivia to be precise.

At almost 23 years old (you do the math!), I was totally in my element!!

We didn’t win, but with 30 out of 40 correct answers, I feel we did pretty well for ourselves, especially since it was just the two of us. Most tables had six or more people! This brain of mine appears to have a reservoir of 90s trivia inside that is nigh-untapped, and last night I basically opened the floodgates. I was easily able to call forth knowledge like which Friends alum starred in the craptastic Lost in Space movie (Matt LeBlanc aka Joey), as well as name the MTV dating show featuring Jenny McCarthy (Singled Out). I can only assume that some combination of growing up in the 90s and watching lots of VH1 is to blame.

On a somewhat related note, I saw Lost in Space in theaters! Even as a kid I knew it was terrible.

The night wasn’t a total lose though. I did walk away with a couple of “fabulous” prizes thanks to some bonus questions: I won two free passes to see Sex and the City 2 and - if that weren’t enough - a complete season of Will & Grace as well. I think if I were a gay man I might be more enthused by these prizes. As of this moment, I’m just trying to be rid of them as soon as possible.

Could these prizes get any better? *sigh*

However, all good things must come to an end, and so too did the evening with my best friend. Between the margaritas, the pizza, and the trivia-related hi-jinks, it was an awesome night. When she returns in December, we’ll definitely need to go back.

Summers at the Drive-In

2010-06-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

Unless you’re a really big fan of the beach, Summertime is all about one thing: blockbuster movies!

My girlfriend and I are both big movie watchers, so obviously we’ve been spending lots of time at the local multiplex. And why not? There is a metric ton’s worth of good movies either out already or coming soon this season. I came into the Summer dying to see movies like Iron Man 2, The A-Team, Prince of Persia, and Toy Story 3. With Summer half-over, I’ve still got a handful high-priority movies to see, such as The Sorceror’s Apprentice and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. With movie prices on the rise, this is hardly a wallet-friendly habit.

Thankfully, I live really close to a drive-in movie theater, which offers a double-feature for less than the average traditional theater ticket. I had actually forgotten about the drive-in, to be honest. It was my girlfriend who pointed it out one evening while we wear returning home from yet another dance excursion. She told me that she had never been to a drive-in movie, which I immediately said must be rectified. We set a date, and a few days later were seated in our car ready for a Prince of Persia/Toy Story 3 double-header.

Both movies, by the way, were very enjoyable, although Pixar’s latest was particularly excellent (I swear they get better with each film). But what made them even better was the drive-in experience.

Have any of you ever been to a drive-in movie? If not, you should do yourself a favor a go sometime. As movie theater experiences go, it’s pretty hard to beat. Aside from the price-per-movie ratio (which is pretty sweet), there is one thing I love most about seeing drive-in movies: bringing your own food.

Buying food at a regular theater sucks! It’s not hard to spend more than the price of admission on food. And sneaking in food isn’t that much better: although you get better selection and pricing, there’s always the fear of getting caught. At the drive-in, however, bringing your own food is almost expected. When we went, my girlfriend and I literally brought our dinner; we had some salad, a bowl of grapes, some Chinese food, and whatever drinks we wanted. We probably could have even brought some wine if we wanted to.

Besides this, it’s also nice to (1) be able to talk over the movie whenever you want, and (2) have complete control over the volume. I hate when movies can’t decide whether they want to be loud or quiet. “Sorry, you just blew out my eardrums with that explosion. Could you repeat those whispers a little louder?”

All told, the two of us had a blast the other night, and we’re planning to make the drive-in a regular fixture of our week. And with all the movies coming down the pike, we certainly won’t be without something to see.

As an aside, the Totoro cameo in Toy Story 3 was one of my favorite moments. Kudos to Pixar for paying tribute to one of the world’s great animators.

Weak Ankles

2010-06-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

I currently have my ankle bandaged, elevated, and loaded down with ice. Why? Because on Monday I took a tumble down some stairs.

Fortunately, I didn’t have far to fall, but I got a sprained ankle out of the whole ordeal.

This isn’t the first time I’ve sprained my ankle; a year ago I twisted up my ankle during a dance class and had to keep it wrapped up for several weeks. It was incredibly painful, especially when I had to take off my shoes. Thankfully, this recent sprain isn’t nearly as bad, although I’m still being extra cautious not to strain the muscles further.

Have you ever sprained an ankle? What was the cause?

Music to my Ears

2010-06-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I said I’d pretty much decided to get the new iPhone 4. My Android predilections, however, have gotten the better of me, thanks in part to Engadget’s lengthy review of the HTC Aria. I believe my future phone has been found!

Although it’s certainly not a cutting-edge phone like the EVO of iPhone 4, I’m not really sure I need or even want that much technology. I have no need for a front-facing camera or the ability to record HD video. All I really want is mobile access to Gmail, Twitter, and Google Maps, a camera, and a device that fits nicely in my hand. In these ways, the Aria fits me rather well (although I do wish the camera had an LED flash).

I especially like how compact the phone is. After seeing the beast they’re calling the Droid X, I’m pretty conscious of phone size. I don’t want a phone that’s going to be uncomfortable to carry around in my pockets.

I’m still a few months away from getting a new phone, but I’m pretty excited by the prospect of owning an Aria. I think I may head to an AT&T store in the next week or so to get some hands-on time.

Blogging Fail

2010-06-17T23:23:00.000-07:00

As a writer, nothing is more frustrating than having ideas that end up going nowhere. I’ve been experiencing this a lot more recently, probably because this blog has led me to write more frequently than I have in the last three years.

I keep a whole list of blog post ideas on my iPod Touch as well as in a Google Docs file, mostly because my brain doesn’t have enough RAM to hold onto these ideas for longer than a few minutes. However, I think the problem might be that I lose motivation or enthusiasm (or whatever you want to call it) for that particular post when I try to write them out. Today, for instance, I tried to write about the magazine table at my office. My boss recently left a bunch of Wired magazines on said table, and reading them all over the course of a weekend really has me considering a subscription. On paper, this seemed like a fairly interesting thing to blog about, but no matter how many ways I tried to approach to topic, it always ended up being pretty boring. Perhaps in this case, the subject simply didn’t have much meat.

Or else I’m just a terrible writer. That seems fairly likely as well.

So what’s a frustrated writer like me to do? Isn’t it obvious? Write a completely different blog post bitching about the whole thing.

How’s that for turning lemons into lemonade?

Playing with Power

2010-06-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend and I have been playing a lot of Wii games this year, and judging from today’s announcements at E3, the next year looks to have even more for us to play.

Mostly, the two of us have been playing any Mario game we can get our hands on. We’ve completely eviscerated New Super Mario Bros. and are currently well on our way to collecting all 120 stars in both Mario Galaxy games. My girlfriend never grew up playing games, but she sure has taken to Nintendo games, especially Mario. The girl just loves these games, and I can’t really fault her: the Super Mario games on Wii have all been phenomenal. In fact I’m not sure I’ve ever had as much fun playing Mario games as I’ve had in the last year.

And although I know Nintendo is really good at making inherently fun videogames, I think the real reason I’m enjoying them so much is because of the multiplayer. I grew up as an only child, and so most of my game playing was solitary. Occasionally I’d meet some friends at their house and play some Super Smash Bros. or Counter-Strike, but primarily I was playing games like The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, or Dragon Quest by myself. Having a constant companion to enjoy and participate in these games with me completely changes the experience though. When I’m exploring a new world in Super Mario Galaxy, I feel like my girlfriend and I are creating memories similar to those made while on a day trip to San Francisco or elsewhere. Sure we share in gaming’s frustrations sometimes, but more often we revel in our victories or laugh at our mistakes. Whether she’s my copilot in Super Mario Galaxy or just an active observer in Majora’s Mask, multiplayer gaming with the significant is where it’s at!

And that’s why I’m so excited for the coming year. Besides the great single-player games coming soon (the new Zelda and Metroid look slick!), there are lots of potentially great games on the way that we can play together. I’m especially excited for the new Donkey Kong Country and Kirby games, which will hopefully channel some New Super Mario Bros. Wii co-op goodness.

Although I sometimes wish I had a PS3 so I could play Super Street Fighter IV or even just finish my copy of Metal Gear Solid 4, I’m pretty content with being a Wii-only gamer.

Not The Droids I’m Looking For

2010-06-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

My boss told me today that she’s getting a Droid Incredible soon. I have to say I’m incredibly jealous (no pun intended).

As I mentioned a few months ago, I’ve been trying to decide what smartphone to get soon. I’ve pretty much resigned myself to buying an iPhone 4, but I’m still very drawn to the Android side of things. An iPhone probably makes the most sense for a couple of reasons. First of all, I’m pretty deeply invested in the iOS ecosystem thanks to my iPod Touch; I have lots of games and other useful apps don’t even exist for Android, and if they did I’d have to buy them all over again. The real problem though is that the Android platform just moves too fast. The week isn’t even half over, and two new Android phones have been announced: the HTC Aria on AT&T and the Droid X on Verizon. It’s impossible to keep up! Although this speedy cycle breeds innovation, there is something to be said for Apple’s annual iPhone refresh.

I don’t plan on making my final decision anytime in the immediate future, but I am leaning strongly towards an iPhone 4. Who knows though; perhaps in the next few months an Android phone will come out that’s perfect for me.

If I do end up getting an iPhone, which color do you think I should get? I don’t know about you, but that white looks really slick!

Um-ba-rella-ella-ella

2010-06-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

I had a good idea for an iPhone app the other day. I mean really good. It was so good, in fact, that I was ready to call off the job search and just wait for the iTunes Store profits to start rolling in. So long day job, dress shirts, and morning commute! Hello early retirement!

The idea was simple: build an app that mimics the Umbrella Today website. Especially with the schizophrenic weather we've been having, this app could be really useful. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to work in the morning without a jacket or umbrella because the sky was blue and cloud-free only to end up walking home in the rain. I even thought of using push notifications to notify users about the need for an umbrella with even opening the app. This app was poised to be a hit!

Sadly, I was beaten to the punch: an Umbrella Today app with all the features you could ever want already exists. I bought it myself too, since the clever people who built it deserve the support. I sure wish I was the one collecting all the iPhone app loot though.

Umbrella Overkill!

Since we're on the subject, how do you decide which apps to buy for your iPhone or similar devices? I tend to use friend recommendations on Twitter and Facebook, but I will occasionally buy a random game or app on a whim. I'll also buy apps if I already know the brand, like Plants vs. Zombies.

What's your method?