The Real Life of Brian

Awesome TV to be looking forward to

2010-09-01T15:54:00.002-04:00

Castle - Premieres Monday, September 20th

Castle follows the story of a World-Renowned Mystery/Murder writer who follows a NYPD Officer on her day to day cases for "research" for the new character centered in his books. Not only do they get themselves into some pretty interesting scenarios but Castle routinely proves himself to be more than just a writer with insight and ideas that would have otherwise gone overlooked. Airs on ABC

House, MD - Premieres Monday, September 20th

If you have never heard of House, well honestly I'm going to have to ask where you have been for the last 6 years. But for a quick wrap-up: House is an amazing diagnostician who takes on only the rarest of rare cases. He and his team are faced with crazy and sometimes outright jaw dropping scenarios. House is witty, sarcastic, charming(only sometimes), and can be the biggest ass you have ever seen but still manage to have you like him. Airs on FOX

Glee - Premieres Tuesday, September 21st

Glee has become one of those shows that I swore I would only watch for my wife's sake and ended up loving everything about it. The cast is incredible, the episodes always have amazing and awesome music, and the writers abilities are astounding. Glee follows the "not so cool kids" as they sing their way through high school. The Glee Club is made up of every type and label of student you can imagine: Jock, Cheerleaders, Young Mother, Outcast, Asian, Black, handicapped, seriously EVERY type of student you could imagine. Of course you have the everyday high school issues that they deal with and all of these things are made worse by the Athletics Director who is always out to get rid of the club. Airs on FOX

Bones - Premieres Thursday, September 23rd

Bones pretty much just rocks! Both the entire show and the character Bones are fantastic! Bones follows one FBI Special Agent who is teamed up with the best forensics anthropologist in the country to solve murders where the victims have been reduced to....well bones. Airs on FOX

Update: Micah's First Day

2010-09-01T13:58:00.000-04:00

So apparently my child is too cool for school and ditched his school today. He got there and was playing fine for about 15 minutes before deciding he wanted "che'see pez" and went to hang out with one of his normal babysitters at the studio/preschool. Thankfully today was actually just an orientation day and so it didn't really matter that he wanted to go somewhere else instead.

I feel like this is a look into the future, my son, the Fonze of his day.

Congrats Micah!!!

2010-09-01T12:57:00.000-04:00

So today Micah officially started Preschool today! That's right, my little man is going to have to stretch those unused sharing muscles and play nice with all the other kiddies. He has 8 kids in his class...7 boys and 1 girl...I pity that poor poor little girl. Have not heard yet from my wife how it went, but I'm sure there will be some post on either mine or her blog about it.

Stay tuned for an update on his day and a post about upcoming TV I'm looking forward to!

What to do, what to do

2010-08-31T16:00:00.000-04:00

So I have been playing Starcraft 2 as if it were vital to survival lately. Thankfully I am playing it from my laptop while laying in bed with my wife while she watches Veronica Mars so I am in the clear with her for spending time and hanging out. But I have been looking ahead for "that next big thing" to come and hit me in the face. Now I love XboX 360 and PC games so you would think I would be excited with the upcoming release of Halo:Reach, CoD:Black Ops, Fallout: New Vegas, or at the very least World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. But alas, I have been severely shut down to most of these games as time as gone by.

Halo reminds me of the wonderful LANs I used to have with a group of high schoolers and a few leaders on the weekends. Always fun, but unless you played Halo like crazy, you were nothing but easy points for those kids and select adults who devoted the training time.

CoD:MW(2) were awesome...for a while. For the same reason I sometimes would hate World of Warcraft i developed a hate for both games. That ability to have a 12-year-old boy with no life and parents who have no sense of what's probably not the best for their kid to be playing call you in their high squeaky voice a "f@g", "mother f@$%*ing noob", or tell you to "QQ mor" just gets old real quick.

Fallout seems to be the only potential hope on that short list I have of something I might be willing to shell out some money for. I loved Fallout 3 and the wonderful open world that was available for the saving...or slaughter as my mood changed. A high replay value made this game a good filler when I was between games because no matter what you choose or do, you can always watch the heads explode because of it.

Oh yeah, and then there's WoW:Cataclysm which unless the stars align and I am compelled by the act of my friends begging me to come back...that game is not gonna happen.

Career change in my future?

2010-08-30T14:02:00.000-04:00

I'm gonna take you back, back to a day when i worked for the Great Mouse of the West and had dreams of a different career than Graphic Design.

*Fades to March of 2007*
I was working at Disney selling their timeshare vacation program(which if I may add is still not a bad idea if you have the money for it), and was planning on leaving there to go become an Orange County Sheriff. I had the book on what I would need to do, what I would be tested on and all that stuff and was ready to make the change. Then got engaged, married, and moved across the country.

*Back to the Present*
I have completed my schooling for Graphic Design and am currently looking for work. The search has been long, and each time I think I've found a good match it turns out it was just me thinking it was a good match and the employer thinking I need more experience.

So our teaching this Sunday at church was on moments of clarity and cloudiness with what the Lord has for you. This meaning that sometimes you have times of great clarity where you can see everything God has done and why he's done it, in other words everything clicks right into place and you have that "light bulb over the head" moment. Then you have the times where life seems so clouded and blinding that you couldn't see God or his plan if he literally put it on a sign and waved it in front of your face with flashing lights on it. I had one of these moments last night and here's what I've come up with:

I want to become a Police Officer/Sheriff in North Carolina. I still have the same drive and last night something inside of me kept pulling my mind to the idea and telling me to go for it. I absolutely love graphic design and if things go well, plan to do graphic design as freelance in my spare time, but the sign to be in Law Enforcement has never been more brightly lit in front of my face than it is now.

So here's to hoping that God's willing to give me a moment or two of that clarity to see that I'm doing the right thing.

Micah's sleeping patterns must go!

2010-08-30T13:49:00.000-04:00

So for the weekend Micah decided it was time to test out a new sleep pattern. For those who don't know, my little boy has upgraded himself to a big boy bed and no longer has the confines of bars to hold him in. Instead, he can roam wherever his will desires at any time his will desires. Which leads to the lack of naps in the afternoon, because who would want to nap when you can play with your white noise machine and bounce around on dressers?

But he's newest trick was waking up at 3:45AM on both Friday and Saturday night to join my wife and me in our bed. Now I would not be so against this if he...you know...slept when he came in. But the constant hourly wake-up to the tune of "Nuggle Mama...*swoosh swoosh swoosh*...Nuggle Dada". <- That right there is the dance and song of Micah snuggling mom and then a few seconds later changing sides of the bed and coming over and snuggling me. Which again, would be fine if he just did this once, twice even...but not 6 times per hour.I do have a happy ending to this little story though, and that is THANK GOD he did not do this to us last night before I had to be at work at 7:30 =)

Weekend Fun

2010-08-30T13:39:00.001-04:00

So this last weekend my parents came to visit us from California. It was a great weekend of just spending time and being able to chat/hang out in a way we normally can't. Spent Saturday morning at the farmers market followed by lunch at the restaurant there. Spent the afternoon at the house with Micah non-stop fussing and not napping which is OF COURSE giant fun. Chili's via 919dine.com was great.

Sunday was church in the morning followed by a babysitter for Micah while we had "adult time". We went and saw The Switch and I have to admit, for a chic-flick i was pretty darn good. Jason Bateman has really established himself as a capable and funny lead man as opposed to his normal side-car riding support roles. When had dinner after at Firebirds and if you ever have the chance to eat there I advise to only eat the Filet & Shirmp...because quite honestly, nothing else on the menu can compare to the amazingness that is this meal. And a side of your choice to complement this wonderful combo (I would suggest the pecan seasoned green beans).

After that it was goodbyes and goodnights to Micah and the grandparents, but again, a great weekend all in all.

Current video game loves

2010-08-26T11:32:00.001-04:00

So recently I have hit a point in my video gaming where I had to decide what I wanted to play and what seemed like the best use of money for the time available. I have been playing World of Warcraft on and off for quite a few years and again decided it was time to hang up the keyboard reigns and see if it's something I want to come back to at a later date. Biggest problems with WoW were too much time needed to be spent to attain almost nothing in the game, plus fellow players decided that unless you spend all your time getting the best of everything. . .you're not worth the time to join them on adventures.

I picked up Starcraft II on release night thinking it would be a game I play "when I don't have enough time to get on WoW, and when's that gonna happen?". Well, it happened fairly quickly and now I am very thankful for picking up the game that allows both single player play and multiplayer play for free along with the ability to talk to all my friends who still play World of Warcraft.

My future of gaming is pretty well set in my eyes. I could always go play the new expansion to WoW, but at this point why bother since once I get back to the same point I'm at now with higher levels and new looks. . .seems pretty pointless. Plus the minute they announce and drop the release date on Star Wars: The Old Republic I am gone from WoW until further notice. . .which as far as I can tell will be forever.

Bioware and Lucas Arts have teamed up to make what looks like one of the most extensive and in depth MMO's of all time and I am ready to dive in (hint hint Bioware...send me that beta invite pls!!!!). If you like MMO's, Star Wars, or anything of the like go check out the SWTOR website and see the awesomeness that is coming out way.

The Graphic Design World

2010-08-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

So now that I have completed school and am a certified Graphic Designer. . .well a certified Digital Media and Designs Designer, I have been looking for work in the field. Things are slow, jobs are there but all wanting people who have years and years of experience and want to pay them as if they work for McDonalds. Thankfully I have been given a few chances to work on some decent size projects and have been able to add some legit work to my website.

You can check out my website here to see some of the work I've done. There are still a few school projects posted up there but most of the work is from actual clients.

If anyone out there knows of any Graphic Designer/Web Designer positions in the Raleigh NC, Austin TX, or Orange County CA area please pass along the info or give them my name and website! Shoot even if you know someone who works in these areas who is already in the field pass my info a long. . . networking is the key to success.

Ok, this time is for reals!

2010-08-26T10:58:00.001-04:00

Alright, so after helping my wife "re-brand" herself and her blog I decided it might be a good idea if I did the same. I made myself a checklist and got to it...

1. Take out out posts that i cannot have anymore [x]
2. Redesign and update my blog site [x]

I promise to the readers out there to begin posting on a consistent basis about life, games, and my Graphic Design work that's going on.

3. Promise to start posting again on a consistent basis [x]

I think that covers everything. Be ready for some posts today to catch up on time lost!

New Way to Blog

2009-05-28T11:15:00.000-04:00

So my office instated a bunch of new rules and conducts for the internet at work. I now will have to blog from my phone while at work. So bare with me with the bad spelling that may occur. But i will be doing entries mainly on my lunch break. So i need a good patient for PotD today!

Could My Kid(s) See the New Night at the Museum?

2009-05-27T08:19:00.003-04:00

Parents of younger children often wonder if a movie is alright for their little ones to see. Well at Wired Online they have a section just for those parents. Check it out, it gives some good insight as to weather or not the new Night at the Museum is a film your children might enjoy and be able to watch.

Here's their review

A Nice Long Weekend

2009-05-26T08:30:00.003-04:00

So no posts this weekend. . why? Because I spent the last 3 1/2 days in Goochland Virginia. That's right, Goochland. We visited my wife's mom and brother and hung out all weekend and just enjoyed ourselves. We saw Angels and Demons(which even though I read the book, I actually enjoyed the movie as well), BBQ'd up some steak kabobs, watched my son play with the dogs, and even got a rocking chair that belonged to my wife's great great grandmother.

All in all, it was an awesome trip. Able to sleep in, not have to worry about our son waking up at 7, and if he did someone else took him for us, had a great time with her family, listened to a good book on tape on the way up and down, just a great weekend with family.

Just enough time to get well rested and then jump back into the swing of life and work. Here's to hoping I have a great Patient of the Day for you all.

Half the Day's Down

2009-05-21T12:38:00.002-04:00

Alright, first half of the day is done, and was able to keep the doctor on time! Last appointment was set for 12:15 and he was done with her at 12:30. All in all, I'd say that's a point for me. Considering the morning had 15 appointments in 3 hours.

The afternoon will be a joke, only 5 patients from 1:45 to 4:45. I think I can handle that. And the doctor hasn't told me I suck or should go back to the front yet. So again, I think that's a point for me.

Hope the 5 are easy to room.

No Recent Video Game Posts?

2009-05-21T11:07:00.002-04:00

So I have not had a video game post in a while and I felt it my responsibility to explain why that changed. When I first started writing this blog, I was able to read all of the great sites for gaming at any time. But with my office having a computer that was infected and destroyed causing us to have to shell out the $1500 in attempted repairs and then another $500 on the new computer. . . things changed.

All of my favorite sites(ign, escapist magazine, and team xbox to name a few) were added to the block list for the reason:Games.

That's all fine and dandy if by games, they meant they are sites about games. But as anyone who reads those sites knows, they are not "gaming sites" themselves. They are the gateway to learn about what games are coming out and what might be or not be worth your time to spend the money on. I love reading about games and giving my thoughts, I love to have the demos downloaded so I can test them out and then get back to you all with how it really plays out.

Now I could do all this from home, couldn't I? Yes, of course I can but that means at the same time of trying to read a review or start the download of a demo I most likely will have some form of a screaming child who either wants my attention, or wants the attention back from his mother. So instead when I get home, I spend that time with the wife, the boy who cries wolves, and the fun of Rock Band 2/Fallout 3.

So I'm thinking I should start swapping every other night between just playing games, and writing about games. Any thoughts?

The Difference Between a Job and a Career

2009-05-19T11:51:00.003-04:00

There is always the talk about the difference between having a job and having a career. For a long time I never understood what the difference might be. For me, I would always see both as the very same thing. But as I gain more life experience and work in different places, some things have become clear for me.

A Job:
A job is merely a place you work to gain money. You work there, do your job, are respectful and courteous to those you work with, and that's about it. Maybe you meet a few good people during your time and become friends, but really that's not what you're there for. In any work place you will have drama, you will have people you don't get along with, and you will have arguments with people. That's part of life and part of being human. But at least for me, when drama and fights happen, you are less affected by the outcome of them on a personal level since at a job you tend to not have that personal bonding. HUGE difference for me to see the lines between the two.

A Career:
A career is what you went to school for. You not only learned about it, but gained experience, took tests, made projects, and pretty much sweat blood to be able to be good enough to have that career. I feel that for me when those same fights and drama happen at your career, you will go to much further lengths to ensure the balance and common well being of those around you. . . but why?

It's because you're invested in a career. Maybe not at that exact office that you're at, but as a whole. Because you not only had to prove that you're good enough to have it, but you pour out your money, time, and life into being able to do that trade/career. I am also more likely to invest myself into those I work with due to the fact that our well being directly contributes to my ability to succeed in the field. You want to be at your career, because you chose it, you looked at your options in school and chose to do this one. Yes there is still the same factor that a job has of making money, but that becomes second to the fact that you are there because you LOVE what you're doing.

Alright, now that I've shared that. . .Have a guess at what I'm working at right now.

A Job or a Career?
(Oh yeah, got a fellow co-worker in some trouble today. . and don't give a damn since I felt and saw they we're putting themselves before the well being of the patient)

Swimming Lessons

2009-05-18T16:00:00.003-04:00

So I think he's ready to have a go at the pool

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Undercover Cop?

2009-05-18T15:08:00.003-04:00

So apparently all of the doctors and a few of the staff were having a discussion about what male employee in the office would make a good undercover cop. Now there may only be a total of 6(7 if you include the guy who helps sometimes) possible choices, but they all chose me. I found that interesting, and funny. I found it even more interesting when it was the doctor I'm working for this week who said he really thought I could and should do it.

Half Way Through. . .

2009-05-18T13:19:00.002-04:00

I'm half way through my Monday and things are going alright. No dismembering of patient arms, only 1 failed BP taking attempt(forgot to face the cuff the right way), and only made the doctor run about 10 minutes behind then he would have been with his regular staff. So I'm doing ok I think.

Here's to hoping the afternoon goes faster now that I know what I'm doing a bit more.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I get to do this ALL WEEK! So there should be a new/interesting style to Patient of the Day

Starting the week off right

2009-05-18T08:39:00.002-04:00

Alright, so I didn't get around to making any posts about anything this weekend like I wanted to. Which i guess is a good and bad thing. I plan on updating myself on what's going on in the world of video games, maybe throw a review up or something when I get home from work today.

Work should be interesting for me today. Normally I am in charge of the front of the office and checking in patients and the like, but today I get to actually live up to my offical title and room patients for a doctor. Should be good, unless I put the BP cuff on too tight and force someone to have an arm removed. But I've been testing the cuff out on the arm of a chair, so as long as everyone's arms are about 3 inches wide. . .I'll be great.

I will for sure have some updates throughout the day of patients who say crazy crap and end up doing stupid things. Should be a good and fun filled day for all of us.

I gotta say, I'm impressed with myself

2009-05-15T10:19:00.002-04:00

So my wife and I started what I am calling our "Year of Improvements". There are projects around the house that I want to have done within a year. Here's what I've got so far:

1. ~~Get a ceiling fan and hang it downstairs.~~
(See my success here)
2. Sod the upper half of the back yard.
3. Build a fence with a gate for the upper half of the back yard.
4. Build a patio for the lower half of the back yard.
5. Re-seed the front yard and if need be sod it.
6. Get some nice flowers/plants and replant the front yard.

So overall, not a horrible list, but definately some work and money involved. And I just say I am super proud of my work with the fan considering when it comes to doing electrical work. . .I know about as much as a janitor knows about brain surgery.

So wish me luck on all the projects to come. . .it's weird that I'm actually looking forward to doing manual labor.

Hooray Canes!

2009-05-15T08:15:00.003-04:00

Lets just get this out there, damn good job Canes. I am not a hockey follower myself, but my ENTIRE office has been talking about it non-stop since I walked in at 7:45 this morning. Now I will say this: Scott Walker proved to be the biggest winner out of anyone. Being able to not only punch a guy in the face and break some bones(in a previous game), but then to deliver the winning goal in OT of game 7. . . That's like a huge F-You to Boston's face.

Great job Canes, you just made my Friday better than I could ever imagine.(Thanks to having a boss who is a hardcore Canes fan)

Bioshock 2 Video

2009-05-14T19:03:00.008-04:00

Holy crap! The 9 minute video showing you some gameplay looks freaking amazing!

*Graphics=Great
*Sound/Soundtrack=Still scares the daylights out of you when splicers are around, so Great!
*Gameplay Design=Looks good, everything he said about making it more challanging than Bioshock 1 makes this one a "reserve it" on my list.

The concept with the Little Sisters looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. And lets face it, a Big Daddy with plasmids. . .YES PLEASE!

Here's the video if anyone has not seen it yet:

What happens when...

2009-05-14T18:46:00.001-04:00

you spin a 1-year- old in an office chair?

Think he's dizzy yet?

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Invention

2009-05-14T18:21:00.001-04:00

Now if i could only make a baby gate for this

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Freaking Iphone Email

2009-05-14T11:29:00.004-04:00

So I've been trying to check my email on my iphone all morning, and so far every time I try it keeps telling me that no connection with the stmp.gmail server is possible. That's great, but if I can get onto gmail using safari why can't I just have my lazy way of hitting the mail button!!!

/rant

No good games coming out

2009-05-13T09:28:00.000-04:00

So I know there are some "blockbuster" titles coming out this summer for consoles, but really when you look past the glame of movies-to-games there really are not any big titles coming that send me to my local shop to reserve them.

There are a couple that look interesting to me, but again, I have yet to really been thrown aback with amazement over them.

Prototype seems like it could be pretty fun, the concept is there, from what I've seen the graphics are there, most hands-on reviews claim the gameplay is there, but I'm just not as drawn to the story as I hoped I would be. I thought it was an amazing concept at first glance, but then as I delved deeper I found it to be a little more cliche than I had hoped. I feel like they took something from other titles that worked and added it to the mix.
--"Do we have mysterious main character? Check. He doesn't seem mysterious enough, lets give him memory loss like Wolverine and make him have to figure out everything. OH OH OH and we can let the designers have some fun and throw in a few of those crazy flash back type things that were in Halo 3 that pissed everyone off. . .a few of those would be good too."
--"Do we have zombies? Check. What's a video game these days without zombies"
--"Should we do stages or open world? Open world seems to be working the best, lets do that. Oh lets also make it a 'post-apocalyptic world of death and mayhem'. . . done."

All in all, I think it could be fun, but I'll wait until someone returns it at gamestop before I go out and buy it.

And to top it all off, most of the titles I am interested in are all due to come out in September or later. . .freaking jerks making me wait for a game worth playing.

2009-04-03T19:34:00.001-04:00

Posted via Pixelpipe.

2009-02-14T17:23:00.001-05:00

Here is the video I tried to make for my wife for V-Day. For some reason Photo Booth didn't want to ever record more than 45 seconds. . . out of 10 attempts. To say the least, playing the song through 10 times each time to find that only the first 45 were saved. . . kinda sucked. But oh well, it was worth it.

In The Beginning. . .

2009-02-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

There comes a moment when you realize you are no longer a kid anymore. It comes in many shapes and forms. It can be something as small as making your first car payment, or something as huge has the birth of your first child.

Some people think that once this happens, everything "fun" you've been doing has to stop. . .not true.

Now in some respects and aspects of life, things do need to cease to exsist. But things like playing that game you've loved, collecting those cards you've had since you were 8, or those silly stuffed bears are all perfectaly acceptable to continue as an adult. . . in moderation.

I myself am constantly under the preverbial microscope when it comes to my previous statement. I play a video game called World of Warcraft, where in this game I and my trusted companions(Guild) take on the evils that plague the virtual world. Sometimes I fall victum to enthralling myself into the virtual world more so than the real one. Now we all have something that we will tend to put before more important matters. So how do you actually moderate yourself when you happen to fall a little too deep?

I am thankful that I have a wife and son who want attention on a consistant basis(not needy, just love me so want to spend time with me). They are able to keep me in decent check, but there are still times that I will spend more time then I need to playing games. A few good things to do for any other guys/gals who tend to do this are:
- Be sure to save some time before you to go bed to talk with your significant other. Shows them you do actually care
- Play less or cut out days that you don't play at all(or very little with easy stopping points)
- Surprise them every now and then on a day they are used to you playing, and just dont, it's great to see the reaction.
- Bring something special home, or cook something special(unless you can cook, then allow them to cook the special something but you get it all from the store)

Most of my posts will be fun and funny, but felt like starting off with a little deeper content. I'll have a new post in a few minutes of an amazing incident that just happened in the office