The Great Hall

Lasting Impressions

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:55:00-0700

So I didn't go to Aikido on monday night, primarily due to having to do other things, but also to recover from what happened in class saturday morning. We did a technique called yon kuyo (I have no idea if that's how you spell it :-p) that really puts pressure on your forearm (see here at about the 44 second mark is a good example). As such, my wrist and elbow on my right hand is not in the best of shape. However it has given me the impetus to think about other things I do, or want to do, or how to spend one's free time. With the lack of high video game interest, I've been having some difficulty keeping my mind occupied. I started to learn how to juggle last night. Used a bounce and flick type of methodology to get started. Had a few four in a rows, not too bad for not really having tired. However I always have concern about learning something like this that I don't think I will be able to do for all that long. Essentially I would probably no longer be able to play when I'm 50 or so, so why devote so much time to it? Or maybe that's just my current mentality. That would still be about 15-20 years of enjoyment available, but for some reason that just makes it seem only barely worth the time. Perhaps I'm just really bored :-p Does anyone else have this issue? What to do with any and all spare time? Especially if it's broken up or limited. I often find myself with like 1/2 hour increments of time to do something with before I have to go do some scheduled activity. Too short to really get into a game or something that takes awhile to get setup and started. Too long to just play solitaire or fritter away without getting that useless feeling, but I just don't seem to get all that much time in larger chunks. So far what I have is to play guitar, learn soccer, and try to find short good games (which is incredibly harder than it sounds). I'd like to add messing with the martial arts weapons (sword, stick, and short staff) but it's kind of hard to do without a partner :-p So I search :-) Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but I think artillery shells filled with rose petals would send a mixed message.

Can you feel it?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:56:00-0700

Well, the last few classes we've been trying something a bit different. We've been doing chi exercises of a sort. Essentially a person grabs your wrist in a basic starting position, and you try to move it. The catch is that when you tense your arm at all, they clamp down and stop you. It forces you to just do it rather than force it. Kind of difficult to explain, even more difficult to do :-p Been looking for more mind blowing things recently, but have been having a bit more difficulty focusing in class than normal. Partially due to being tired, and partially to trying to think about those exercises. You focus so much on not focusing that you kind of loose it for the rest of the session. Have been watching the Olympics recently, like most of us I would guess. I always wonder exactly how much work goes into each medal, and if it would have been possible to do myself. Although, none of my preferred sports tend to be represented. Underwater basket weaving for 2012! I really kind of wish I had more to say, or more insight, but not much has shown up recently. Most things are going along well, no real issues. Which, I guess, in and of itself can be an issue, but I'm not having one with it now :-p Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but a yellow latex jumpsuit doesn't make you a banana.

What Makes a Memory?

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:37:00-0700

Well damnit, it's been too long, and now I forgot some of what I wanted to write about. I shouldn't have let it slip, and I had some good things. I still remember parts of them so I'll give you the blog bundle! Just a little to the left... ahhh, that's the spot! Was supposed to be the first post. In which I learn that if you want to have power, real control, then you keep your hands in front of you! It's really pretty simple, if you want an example go and lift something in one hand that's pretty heavy. Lift it up with your arm out about 45 degrees from your center line (where your belly button points). Now lift it up directly in front of you belly button. Which one is easier? Exactly. Martially, apply it here. See how his hand is always under center when he throws? All it takes is that little shift in placement, and something becomes tremendously easier. A change in perspective so to speak. How many times have we just needed to change our approach to have something work out far easier than it seemed initially. Damn that was preachy :-p You have to thrust just right... Was supposed to be the second in what was becoming a line of dirty post titles :-) I was doing a little experimenting with movement, and discovered how much more power you can have over a person's direction if you just start moving a little bit before you make contact. Not pushing against them, or blocking them with hard movement, but just a subtle guide before contact is made. Most of the basics in Aikido start with someone walking up and grabbing your hand. If you start your hand moving, not at them, but so that they have to reach just a little bit before they were ready, it made life so much easier. Anticipation of the game I guess. Theoretically this could also have some rather blatant philosophical interpretation, but I've already preached enough, and we're all intelligent people here right? ;-) I can't remember what the third thing was, although I think I had one. Brain stack can only hold so much before it pushes I guess :-p I'm still working quite a bit on focus. It's incredibly more difficult than it seems. If I do something 20 times, I'm happy to keep focus for 4 of them. Kinda crazy when you think about it, how much we just don't pay attention cause we think we know what's going on. On other notes, we got to see Rush on thursday night. Awesome concert. I'm always amazed how they can produce sooo much cohesive sound with just 3 people. Not quite as good as last time. It was the last show of the tour, and you could tell they were a bit tired (except on a few songs where they just fought through it and the energy level rose about 20 notches), and they had the Treble on the lead guitar turned up too high so it bled a bit. But the drum solo was of course phenominal, I'm amazed how they can play lead on a 12 string guitar, and how the singer can sing and play bass and play synthesizer... all at the same time. Makes me feel like a novice :-) Ok, this has gone on long enough, hopefuly I'll keep up with it better over this next week! Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but I don't think everyone in the world should fart at the same time, regardless of the implications.

Iaido, The Way Of The Sword

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:32:00-0700

I always love weapons class. And not just because you get to wave sticks that are generally sword shaped at each other with impunity :-p Weapons, at least melee weapons, are always interesting. Mostly because they drive. When you don't know what you're doing, you are pushing really hard at simple physics, have to think really hard about what you are doing, and generally feel like an idiot. The ultimate humbling experience :-p However, once you have a base understanding of how they work, and how they should move, an entierly new world opens itself up. The cool part being that it isn't one you walk into willingly. A good understanding and familiarity will cause the weapon to drive itself. I was doing sword kata yesterday and finding myself breaking the movement by doing blocks and strikes that just basic movement said I should be doing. I didn't think about it, I just went to move, and the sword said go here. Pretty damn cool, and underlyingly disturbing all at the same time :-p As Mona was stating on my previous post that it was nice to have an expectation of something mind blowing every time, but difficult to attain. I will freely admit that I don't always find something (although I think trying to think of something to write about them has helped a bit... I seem to pay more attention :-p). However, the weapons class always alerts me to how easy it is to just get into autopilot on something you are familiar with. You are so into it that you just do the motions you know to be right (even if it wasn't what was requested of you, which is a whole other philosophical bent :-p) that you don't pay attention to subtle details or things that may be trying to tell you something. There was a really cool scene in a fantasy book that I think illustrates my point (or maybe I just love the analogy, I'm not sure which...). There was a religious sect (read: D and D clerics) that was militant when necessary. They were only allowed to use blunt weapons (traditionally hammers). When the new guy was ready for his "initiation", so had gone through all the necessary training and whatnot, he asked why they didn't use swords. He figured they were much easier, didn't require as much training (to use well anyway), and could do more damage. Plus, he already knew how to use one of those. So the elder in the group challenged him to a duel where the younger guy could use swords. After cutting the elder several times, he realized that the sword was guiding itself, and ended up slashing his own leg to regain control. This wound resulted in a silver scar which they all bore. It was an interesting analogy of how drastic some measures must be to break that pattern of familiarity. Although I don't advise cutting yourself unless you have a deity that will heal you in seconds and you memorized that spell this morning ;-) Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but why wouldn't you want to drive upside down while eating cheetos?

Cliched, I Know

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:13:00-0700

So I've been to Aikido a few times without posting. Bad me, I know, but this is getting to be like a record of posts for me! The reason for the absence is pretty much that I haven't gathered anything mind blowing recently. Although, I guess you could say that that would be something in and of itself, that it's not stimulating my brain. The only real thing I have noticed recently is the old cliche that the more you put in, the more you get out. In the case of Aikido, this is actually an Axiom. It requires the energy of the attacker to actually perform the technique. If you half ass it, your partner does half assed technique. If your partner tries to make it right by adding their own energy, then you generally get dumped on your ass in a far more unpleasant fashion, because they were too busy adding energy to direct it properly. Maybe that's the thing to see. You have to put in a bunch of energy, then take the time to stop and apply it in the correct direction. If you attempt to do both at the same time, you may end up getting it done, but the grace is gone. I dunno, it seems difficult to create energy or motivation or whatever, then apply it. It would seem to be a chicken and egg problem, but then again, anything that simple would be apparent, and everyone would be doing it wouldn't they? :-p Also, on an unrelated note, I found some awesome guitar music last night. Pretty much anything here http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=rpoland is freaking amazing. I'm particularly fond of Andy McKee, and Andrew White. I have Andy McKee's middle album and it's pretty damn good. It also makes me sad to think that I will never be that good at guitar, but happy to know that it's possible. Directed energies I guess ;-) Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but flinging the poo first is just asking for it.

Better late than never

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:35:00-0700

So I went to Aikido class on Monday. Not a lot happened to think about, except reminding myself that focus can determine a hell of a lot of result in what you are doing. It doesn't even have to be complete focus on everything, but just doing something simple (in this case, looking the opponent in the eye, which was interesting while trying to grab a sword mid cut :-p). Which makes me wonder if we need to be focused on everything or just a portion of what we are doing. Does just the simple act of having focus on one thing allow you to more easily transfer it to whatever else comes along. An interesting supposition I suppose, but I haven't had much time to try it out. Has anyone else recognized something like this from general life experiences? Driving, or presenting or something of that nature? Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but a Duck Billed Platypus doesn't fly.

New Idear!

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:54:00-0700

So I know I'm obviously not the best at posting, mainly because I don't have all that much to say. Well all that much that I think people would like to read anyway. I have been told to ignore that and post anyway, but most of the time if I have something to say I tell Beth early on, then just move on with whatever shiny object distracts me at the time :-p So now I have an idea that came to me on Wednesday night. I can blog about Aikido and martial arts things that I do and find interesting. I have always tried to look at one thing during a class that I find new, or neat, or different. I'm generally pretty good at finding something, but generally pretty bad at remembering it. So maybe if I write it down here, I'll have a running review, and you all can read the philosophy I'll attach, or get a take on the physical aspect. Whatever floats your boat. I'll start out this one with one of the coolest workout ideas (even if it's not martial arts oriented) that I've ever heard. It's one that my teacher here in Indy said shortly after I started. Take a period of time, a few months, between belt tests, something, and focus on just one thing during that period. Don't stop doing anything else, but whenever that one thing comes up in class, pay extra special attention, and give it extra effort. I tried this with a technique called Iriminage (pretty good example seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PVqgTNmIzQ) first, cause it was a common technique in Aikido, and second, because I completely sucked at it. I was amazed after 3 months at the progress I made. I have since concentrated on falling (and I now have far fewer painful falls, perhaps one per month, rather than 2 per class), and on focus (this one's not going so well, but I have noticed clarity in general movement... probably should have saved it for later :-p). It's really quite cool. I would imagine that this idea would work with just about anything, and while you may not get better after you stop the focus period, you generally don't regress. I started doing it (albeit less regularly) with my guitar playing, and have been generally pleased with the results. So given that this one was philosophy in general, I don't have all that much to add to it at this point. But maybe this can keep me in the blogs twice a week or so. Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but why would you want a metric ton of pine cones?

Two In A Month

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:08:00-0700

I'm blogging again! Twice in one month, I'm on a roll :-p We got guitar hero 3 for the Wii, and have been enjoying it's rock goodness. We played a bit with Bretto last night, and my skills were demonstrated... mostly that I can only get through about 1/2 the setlist on hard :-p But I'm working on it. It's actually kind of interesting how it helps with playing the real guitar. It doesn't improve your skills mind you (the differences are just too great), but it does provide a good mechanism for keeping up your chops. Your ability has a tendency to fade over time, and this can keep you up. You won't get better, but it keeps you from getting worse, and you can play it without tuning, waking the neighbors, and with a friend, which makes it a great alternative. I also saw a gameplay video for Pro Evolution Soccer 8 on the Wii today, and it looks pretty dang cool. They are doing lots with the controller to help with off the ball movement, which is about the only thing that game lacks (save for a release on the friggin PC here in the US). The house stuff is coming along, but I'd really just like it all to be done, and to get on with making the adjustments/improvements that I want to mess with. It feels kind of weird thinking of having a house, but there you go. I'm still having the constant battle with myself over time. I have a tendency to overestimate how long it takes to do things, whether for pleasure or work, and so have a hard time settling down. For instance, unless it's something fairly rigidly defined (like a 25 minute game of PES 7, wonder why I play that so much hmmm?) I tend to think that if I don't have 2 hours to do it, it's not worth getting started. Problem being that I don't have 2 solid hours to do something but once or twice a week, and playing is not the only thing I want to do. I also know that this is silly, and it would probably be better do to 1/2 of something even if I do run out of time than to not do it at all, but every ounce of my mind tells me that leaving stuff undone is bad, but leaving stuff half-assed is far far worse. I would like to work on my weapons in Aikido and Escrima, to work out a bit more (simple isometric stuff), review and integrate smaller movements into my Tai Chi, play soccer and the other games I have yet to beat on my list, read the book for the second half of my CCNA test (of which I passed the first... while sick even... suck it routers! :-p), do some light carpentry work (especially with the new house), spend quality time with friends, my wife and others, learn a song to play and sing on my guitar, learn more songs/skills on the guitar, among other things! It all seems so overwhelming sometimes that you just don't end up doing any of it, and feel bad. Or you do it and it feels like work, so you don't get what you want out of it. Yay for Catch 22 situations. Joy joy joy. I guess there are worse things that could be going on in life, but my schizophrenic nature of interest is really screwing with my mojo :-p I guess the hardest part of all of this is soo much of it is down to when inspiration strikes, and it rarely strikes at a time when you can take advantage of it. Without the inspiration, I tend to feel like messing with it is a waste of time, as doing anything is soo much more productive when you want it. So does anyone know of any good ways to strike inspiration at will? It would be a nice trick... Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but I don't think that a tree AND a hippo will make good superheros.

The Warbler

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:55:00-0700

All this talk of writing makes me consider something I haven't tried in quite a while. Has anyone ever come up with a good way to write songs? I can take care of the music fine, picking out a melody tends to come pretty easy to me. However up to this point I haven't been able to write lyrics for anything. I was sitting in the shower a few days ago, and came up with a method that has potential (although I haven't really tried it yet). What if we took it like one would write a book? Grab a topic phrase or word. Then write 2-7 sentences about that word/phrase, either describing it or attributing it to something, or going through a who what when where how type of methodology. Then take each of those and expand it into a far more descriptive 2-6 sentences in a more paragraph form. So something with a definite beginning, middle, and end from each description sentence. From there change the sub sentences to more typical lyrics. Make it rhyme if you like, put in more adjectives, simile, metaphor and what not. Also adjust the cadence to fit each other (as music hasn't been written yet). Finally set it to music. I know a lot of musicians tend to do the music part first, then find the words that fit, but I've never been able to get that to work, and theoretically this way, you could talor any set of words to fit most any set of music. Is just my idea, questions, concerns, comments, experiences? Of course... It would probably help if I could sing with any range at all... Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but where are you going to find a pot big enough to boil that much vasoline?

And That's Why Torture Is Funny

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:09:00-0700

To avoid the bloody insurrection that will no doubt follow my missing 2 full months of blogging, I come to you in blog form (which is much nicer than say jello form, and we don't even want to discuss the poo flinging monkey form... I've been told not to mention it). As I still really have nothing to say of any consequence I will go about filling this blog with random snippets of things that interest me, we have done, or random thoughts I have had recently. I got new weapons for Aikido on saturday, which was nice. A good jo, and bokken, which I now need to lightly sand down, and soak in linseed oil... a process I have no idea how to accomplish in the limited space we have that could support an aluminum foil tray of oil, and would not have kids or animals in it within seconds of me putting it down. Something I'm going to have to figure out. New music has arrived, in the form of Rush (Snakes and Arrows which are great live btw), Oasis (Be Here Now), The Streets (Original Pirate Material), The Arctic Monkeys (Everything you say I am, that's what I'm not), and oh yea, more Rush (2112, and Grace under Pressure). Oasis continues to amaze me in the capacity to have a great rock soundtrack to the background of anything. I only realize how generally nonsensical (about 1/2 the songs make no real sense) when I go to play them (which is also nice, they aren't too damn complicated) and realize what exactly the lyrics are. But it's a damn fine rock album, none the less. I would actually recommend all the albums there, although I believe the Arctic Monkeys have a better offering in favorite worst nightmare. In other news, I have really been enjoying Aikido. I just recently got my first real taste of something called yonkiho. It's a form of wrist lock, which I got on saturday, and is still kind of smarting yet today. Pretty friggin cool given that it is practically effortless. That's the part I love though, being able to learn so much about the mechanics and movement of the body combined with the intent of the mind. Very cool. I love my wife too. Yea, I know, blech ick yuck sappiness, but it's pretty cool to work though life with someone else. I can see the appeal of going it alone, in terms of just picking up and doing whatever, and the adventures to be had, but once you figure it out, I think there's plenty of adventure out there for two, just different stakes. Been doing lots of thinking about houses recently, and what should be a requirement. I want to build a secret door, and that will happen (maybe not in the first house, but eventually). I also want to do all kinds of building projects on the thing, and am wondering how it will all pan out. I've never tried to build a deck... I'll give it a shot though! I think I need to exercise more during the day. I have a small routine I like to do 3-4 times a day, but I keep having issues to remember to do it. I would set a schedule, but it's hard to follow at work... or perhaps I'm just lazy :-p I'm really close to taking the first part of my networking cert test. While not nearly as fun, it's worth some money, and allows lots of flexibility. We shall see what comes of that. Also been thinking alot about leaders recently. I find the Chris Rock analogy of all we have are substitute teachers to be quite accurate for most of the leaders I seem to be subject to recently. Of course that makes me compare myself, but I don't really want to be one. Just a sargent or something similar. I facilitate leadership, and take it when no one else will do so. I don't really like dictating to others, but I'd like to think that stuck in that position, I would at least throw my balls up on the table and be decisive dammit! :-p So I think that's long enough for now, yay for more than 4000 characters in the blogs! Are you pondering what I'm pondering? I think so Brain, but I don't think it burns that long no matter how you light it! Oh yes, the title comes from a statement I made after not enough sleep, and whilst engaging in aggressive tickle torture.

What a Great Quote...

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:45:00-0700

"Fueled by Cannon Films, the '80s was the decade when the ninja entered the homes of most Americans under 12. The GI Joe character and popular toy Snake Eyes was originally a commando but was quickly rebranded as a ninja when Hasbro realized that this would increase his awesomeness by 40 percent. Batman's origin suddenly included ninja training. There were even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who made an awful lot of money for reasons that no one can quite remember anymore." -http://www.slate.com/id/2168936/ Ninja, now with 40% more awesome! On a side note I'm starting up Aikido next monday. Although it's more a Samurai oriented art (please forgive me, unless you like Feudal Knights, then I'm doing Japan's equivalent... I can't do the Medieval version, people generally don't like you carrying swords in public, and I have no serfs to tell they aren't part of the autonomous collective... though both do wear white quite a bit...). Scott... now with 40% more awesome! I get to play with swords! (albeit wooden ones) Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but how do you go sledding with a car hood when there's so much hot molten magma around?

Just a thought inspired by an article on iht...

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:54:00-0700

In a time of uncertainty, and fear, people will resort back to what they know... or think they know. If they cannot resort back to what they know, they will attempt to get the entire world around them to resort back to a time they perceive as understood. Trouble being that, as with most things, no one can ever agree on what was better, what was worse, and when they understood the world. Ironically, I believe if you ever understood the world at any time... you wouldn't need (or want) for it to stay the same ;-) Article here... http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/01/news/profile.php Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but if you had that much butter, the giraffe would never make it off the ground!

A Monkey By Any Other Name

Wed, 23 May 2007 15:34:00-0700

wouldn't smell like poo! Or something like that. It's bloggin time! I don't really have all that much to talk about, as you were all present at the major event of recent times. Prior to that, we were preparing for said event, so not much was going on then either :-p I would like to thank everyone for all their help in the setup, execution, and sanity preservation exercises undergone over the course of last weekend. It was a great help to pulling of what seems to be universally considered a successful event! Other than that, I'm just going to work and thinking about the honeymoon, and how nice it will be after the craziness that was these past few weeks. Oh yea, and playing punch out on the virtual console. Nothing like getting your ass kicked by someone named Soda Popinski... who is purple... from drinking soda pop... and can knock you out with two hits... aside from being an obvious Russian stereotype :-p Sometimes 80's games really rule! On a geeky note, when we got back I discovered that my chipset fan (not the one on the processor, but the one that controls the motherboard... mainly video bus) had died on my computer. That means no computer until I get it fixed. Very sad. I have a fix request in to the company, as it has a 3 year warranty, but haven't heard back yet. Either way, I won't have my computer working before we leave. So I guess that's about all I have to say at the moment. I'm still keeping up with the one blog per month, which seems to be about my limit. Maybe I'll increase if I start doing some more exciting things or something. So for now we'll just sit here and wait for all of you all to get married, to do a group dance to "Drink and Fight" again, and have a ginormous party :-) Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but won't the dolphins rupture your internal organs?

Not to be Outdone...

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:57:00-0700

Although I think I already was :-p I don't wanna be last anymore!!! Don't have all that much to write about. There was some crazy work shit that went down, not sure what the final outcome will be, that could still take 6-12 months. Nothing overall bad for anything but my, by most accounts, already fragile mental state :-p Not too much else going on. I'm trying to pick back up with FreeBSD, and am getting a book to sell my soul, I mean get a Cisco certification. Beth and I have been taking dancing classes recently, which has been mega fun. Samba is a hell of a workout, and I like being able to turn her without stepping on her or me or falling over into the punch bowl and flailing around like even more of an idiot... or was that just a dream/disney movie or something... Yay for inconherency! This is what happens when I blog with no direction! Ooh yea, I almost lost my big toenail after getting stepped/slid on by a cleat during soccer, but I think it may actually pull through! Speaking of which I probably plan to par down the soccer playing in the near future (especially after the wedding), to switch to dancing, Aikido (if I can find it) and yoga (if I can fit it in). I miss controlling my body on that higher level, and manipulating the physical motion of yourself and others is just a sweet sweet high. So... um... yea, I think that's all I got! Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but where would all the coat hangers go... the fish isn't that big!

All quiet on the blogging front

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:28:00-0700

So I'm apparently really bad at this keeping up with everyone... I tend to like to say more about things and go through them with people, rather than talk about myself. However, recently I been doing some thinking about various aspects of life, and have something that may get some interesting feedback (or at least fulfills the blog quota :-) I was thinking about (and Dana and Beth have heard this, but I'm going to write it anyway) people view themselves. How do you define you? I came to the realization that a vast majority of people in the world define themselves by what they do. Not a bad thing overall, except for one thing. People tend to define what they do as their job. There are some people that are very lucky in this life to find a job they love, or to have a great interest that translates into a meaningful and productive means of gainful employment. For the rest of us (and unfortunately for some of those mentioned above) we are stuck in jobs we don't necessarily hate, but are mired in silly red tape, power struggles, lazy bastards (and bastardettes, can't be sexist :-p), and a general large group of people that conspire to make each and every day they can way more painful than it needs to be. There is no way in hell I want to define myself by that. I don't want to sit down and say that's who I am. I'm not Scott, Network Engineer. Ick. So I started thinking about it, I do take pride in my work (a whole lot actually, which is what makes people shitting on it so much fun some days), as I take pride in everything I do, but given the environment and mitigating circumstances, I thought I'd best have a go at being something else. So I started looking at what I do with me when not at work. I determined that (at least according to me, your mileage may vary) a person is capable of doing about 3 and 1/2 things per day. 3 major things that they can be learning or advancing, and one thing that they can maintain, or learn slowly/half-assed (which isn't as bad as it sounds, as some things don't need great insight or time). The 1/2 thing was easy. Generally it falls into cooking or general place maintenance. Fixing things, or cooking something, not something that needs to progress all that fast, but is pretty required for basic living. Perfectly fine with that. One of the major things I believe is an interpersonal relationship. One of my friends in college used to joke that his girlfriend was a 3 credit course (with a lab if he was lucky :-p). That's pretty accurate. A close interpersonal relationship takes time and effort most every day. So any parent/child, person/significant other, similar type relationship is one of those blocks. I've got one of those! :-) It's certainly not work, can have it's ups and downs, but it's something I do. I imagine that another one of these blocks will be filled with children once they enter the picture, but for now, just one. Another of the major things I do is generally video games. I enjoy them, they are fun. I like trying to figure out how stuff works (programatically speaking) and try and beat the product of the coder, or appreciate what they were thinking. May not be all that productive in the grand scheme of things, however it is something I do that takes up another block, but not something that I will do to the exclusivity of something more useful (unless I really need a break). Which brings us to the third. I realized at this point that I don't have a third any more. And this was the one that really needs to be had. This is the opportunity to improve yourself, to make yourself better. This is the opportunity to learn a new skill or trade. In the past I had done this, I learned to play the guitar, I learned a martial art. Since graduation, this has been filled with more video games, or something equally useless to fill the time until bed. This must change! But how? That is the question. My current thought is carpentry, I would like to learn how to mold and shape wood. Maybe make a statue or piece of furniture. I forsee making cabinets once we get a house. However this is not the easiest thing to learn, especially in an apartment environment. I also considered learning classical guitar (the picking, reading music kind) and picking back up with the martial arts. All of which I find as good and useful things to know. More importantly they would allow me to say: "My name is Scott, and I can build you a chair, am a musician, and a martial artist/teacher. What do I do for a living? Does it really matter?" Which gives me power, or at least contentment at my current situation. So what do you all think? Does this seem like a fairly accurate assessment? Do you have any suggestions? Does your chewing gum loose its flavor on the bedpost overnight? Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but what exactly would you do with 800 yards of silly string and 3 elephants?