20 August
2008
Caved In
My losing battle against social networking technologies
I use Facebook.
Feels good to be able to admit that. For a long time I had a circle of friends that were into Facebook. They would keep asking me to join up so that I could do all the cool stuff that they were doing. Eventually I signed up to see what the big deal was. It was exactly what I thought it was: a glorified message board. I lost interest in it quickly. Those same friends kept using it though, and kept asking me to come back. What I then learned is that your Facebook experience is what you make of it. You get out of it what you put into it.
I then started to take it bit more seriously. I installed all the silly applications, which in hindsight were...well...silly. I got rid of those quickly. I kept finding people to become my Facebook friends. High school classmates, college drinking buddies, former co-workers. Many of which I would never have connected with any other way. My list of friends quickly grew. But the real clincher was keeping track of their day to day activities. Yeah, I know that this is following the mundane, but I could not discount its value to me. I caught myself going back, over and over again. Now I consider it a worthy networking medium for me. I think I have figured out how to use it in moderation and now I can recommend it to others.
28 July
2008
Birthday
I have a 2 year old now
MG turned 2 recently. Not quite the monumental birthday of turning 10 (double digits), 13 (teenager), 16 (driving), 18 (adult) or 21 (drinking) but I thought it was eventful none the less. Oddly enough, I think I have changed more as a result of my daughter getting older than she has. In honor of my daughter's 2nd birthday, I decided to make a list of things I have learned from watching her.
- If its worth walking to, its worth running to. No matter how mundane the task, if she makes up her mind to move her body to a new location, she will be running at full speed. I'm considering doing this throughout my day.
- Communication comes in many forms. My daughter hasn't quite mastered the English language, but she has picked up some sign language to compensate. Pretty cool, actually, but it brings on an entirely new set of challenges. For example, something as simple as talking to her about farm animals could initiate different responses. If you mention a dog, you might get her to say "dog". She might decide imitation is the proper communication method by saying either "bow wow" or "ruff ruff". She might even give you the sign for dog. Be ready for any and all responses.
- Schedules and routines equal happiness. Her entire day, whether at home or at daycare is heavily scheduled. It has to be or else there is chaos. Besides, she loves the routines and knows them well. On school days, she knows that Hi5 comes on at 7:08AM (how's that for a specific start time?).
- Doing things you want to do usually come after things you have to do. There's a lot of bargaining in our house now. The promise of play time can typically get her to eat a couple more bites at the dinner table. The potential of computer time or a viewing of Curious George can get her into the bathtub. She has come to terms with it.
-Sometimes you just need some alone time. One of the most mature actions I have seen from her. MG spends her days either with a classroom of other 2 year olds or with her brother. I have seen her grab a book or a toy and spend some quality time by herself. I know I need some alone time on occasion, why shouldn't a toddler?
14 July
2008
Glory Hallelujah!
Packer is dead, long live.....Kellogg?
I will do my best to hold back my tears....of joy. But long time target of my hatred, Billy Packer, is reportedly on his way out at CBS. Please, oh please, USA Today, don't toy with my emotions like this. "Reportedly" will not cut it here. I have to know for certain. We can't treat this like a lackadaisical James Bond supervillian by assuming everything will go to plan and turn our back, allowing an escape to occur. For this extraction, I imagine we will need a young priest and an old priest.
Despite my elation for the fall of Packer, according to the article Packer will be replaced by Clark Kellogg. Not sure how I feel about this, especially since Kellogg has spent more time in the studio than on the sidelines. However, he does know his stuff, for the most part. He needs to keep playing up his best quality though....not being Billy Packer. If he can maintain that, he'll be fine.
UPDATE:
Not only is it now official, but Packer won't be doing any more games. Hopefully ever.
27 June
2008
100 Pushups by August
Sometimes you gotta set some goals
Recently, I discovered a web site that claims that anyone can do 100 pushups by following their aggressive program. I have decided to give it a try. So based on their 6 week schedule, I should be able to do 100 pushups by August 2008 if I follow their program.
I was already in "fair" to "decent" shape. Before starting this regimen, I could crank out 30 to 40 pushups in an ideal environment (rested, motivated, awake, sober) I'm a fairly active guy, but I don't have a lot of disposable time to work out. I have some time in the evenings after I get the kids to bed, but I rarely have enough energy at night to go work out or go on a run. However, I was looking for a way to stay in shape, get stronger and so forth without going to the gym, buying equipment or most importantly requiring a lot of time. This program seems to fit the bill.
Knowing that sticking to an exercise program would be difficult, despite being only 6 weeks and only requiring 30 minutes a week, I had to insure I would stick with it. My first step was telling people at my office that I was starting this program. Some co-workers were interested and some even claimed to start it themselves. But that just didn't seem like enough. So I decided tell as many people I can through my blog (all 3 of you). Finally, I decided to track my progress. The final motivation is making this progress publicly available, which makes me accountable for my progress.
Track my progress
Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood
