Hail and well met
Well as you can see I haven't posted in awhile. It has been quite hectic around the Matt-cave lately. Mostly it has been working. With the passing of one of the regulars and recent sickness and family troubles around the office I have had to step up. Specifically I have had to learn another route. That is the route mentioned in the title, route 9.
It is roughly the same size as route 7, maybe a smidge bigger. The driving is a bit longer in my opinion but that probably just me. None of which is a big deal, the problem was/is that I got blind sided with it. When I came into work Tuesday I was supposed to work on 10(the baby route)but as I was walking in Laura (my supervisor) stopped me first of all to inform me that route 10 starts at 9:00 not 7:00 like the rest of the routes. This was the first annoyance since I don't feel like waiting around the house for 2 more hours and trying to sleep the extra won't happen. Not to mention that I still don't have the route mastered so the extra time helps me get out and back at a decent time. But I digress from the subject.
Then she tells me to start casing on 9, no explanation other then I will be taking some of it out. So over I go and start working the mail. Well of course I am hunting and pecking since I don't have a clue of the layout for the cases. Then after an hour or two I learn I am taking the whole thing out, this after seeing the 7 trays of mail for the route. I freaked just a little.
So after working my self into a basket weaving class (meaning crazed frenzy and thus needing time at the house of white coats) I hit the road, around 1ish. Of course I am sweating it cause the truck comes at 5 o'clock and if it leave I am making the trip up to Bedford Park with the mail.
Now I have been rather humble of my skills but I cannot avoid the truth that I ran the route in good time, just over 3 and a half hours. So I made it back before the deadline. I was so relieved.
Today I ran it again and with a little help from Laura (that supervisor person again) I was on the road by 11:45 and back in the office by 3:00 (that is 3 hours and 15 minutes for those the don't want to do the math). Now I have not looked to see what the evaluated time on the road is but I know that I am not that far off. I am getting good at this. YEAH for me!
So again I run route 9 tomorrow. I hope to beat my time from today but breaking even will be fine as well.
Ok enough of that and on to other things. I am not sure which day was the last that I posted but it doesn't matter. This Friday Iron Kingdoms is happening at Val's. He is running Mel to Michigan and back so it won't happen until he gets back but it is happening.
Also I am sending out the call. MATT-FRIENDS ASSEMBLE! That band that Terri knows (Khaos Theory is playing at Ye Old Town Inn on March 10th. Everyone is invited albeit they will need to provide their own transportation cause I am going up to her place after the show. The details are on the Khaos Theory My Space page as well as here.
Khaos Theory
March, 10 2007 at Ye Olde Town Inn
18 W. Busse Ave, Mount Prospect, Illinois
Cost : (no price is listed so I don't know if it is free or they didn't post the cost but don't let that stop you from coming cause I am willing to cover anyone that wants to come)
Also it is good to note that this is located literally across the tracks from Games Plus, a kick ass game store. So I was thinking of heading out a little earlier and stop on in and pa ruse the goods. Again anyone that is interested is welcome to come along for that as well.
Just leave me a note letting me know what is up and we and communicate from their. Well I have to get up so...
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Matt-Man? Who is Matt-Man?
Hail and well met
That is the question that seems to be floating around in my head as of late. Finding my fingers nearly raw from my chewing and my stomach on perpetual spin cycle. My dreams are far and few between when I used to do it every night.
Things are going good...ish. I keep working but the hours are starting to fall off, greatly. I know that if I went in and learned more routes I would get more hours but that is a double edged sword cause it won't be with any regularity or consistency. It is kind of hard to do anything when you could be called in at any moment or any day. Not what I had planned for when this all started. I thought I would be able to schedule a little better which days I work. So now I find a majority of my life is on hold every day until 6 when I know that there is no chance of getting called.
But even that is not the root of the problem. I can deal with that cause besides wanting to visit Terri and stay till Monday or Tuesday and visiting friends out of town for weekends I don't do much in the day time.
I think I just need to get out and game. I mean really game. Not just a little bit here or there but seriously sit down and play a couple of games of Warmachine or several hours of serious RPGing (well as serious as we can be).
I guess I never really understood how much gaming meant to my life. I know that I have not been doing much of that for over a month, about the same time all this started. Well sort of I mean I haven't gamed with any regularity for close to six months.
That is it! I am gaming again and I am going to drag people with me.
Iron Kingdoms next Friday. Period. Write it in the calender and set your watch by it.
Wednesday I am going to be up at GO and I am going to play Warmachine.
Be there or be somewhere else where Matt-Man is not, doing different stuff then Matt-Man is doing with other people which are not Matt-Man. At least I hope they are not me, cause that would mean breaking some laws of physics or some such. If I am there remind me that I need to game and make sure to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home.
I do feel better I guess. Won't really know if I am on the right track until I actually game and see how I do after.
Ok enough of this and that. It is time to make circles with mints. I will haste no longer!
I really do love that fortune it is so off the wall.
Well I am off to GO and maybe Stand Up Comics and from there who knows. Later I am heading up to see Terri. I love you baby!
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
That is the question that seems to be floating around in my head as of late. Finding my fingers nearly raw from my chewing and my stomach on perpetual spin cycle. My dreams are far and few between when I used to do it every night.
Things are going good...ish. I keep working but the hours are starting to fall off, greatly. I know that if I went in and learned more routes I would get more hours but that is a double edged sword cause it won't be with any regularity or consistency. It is kind of hard to do anything when you could be called in at any moment or any day. Not what I had planned for when this all started. I thought I would be able to schedule a little better which days I work. So now I find a majority of my life is on hold every day until 6 when I know that there is no chance of getting called.
But even that is not the root of the problem. I can deal with that cause besides wanting to visit Terri and stay till Monday or Tuesday and visiting friends out of town for weekends I don't do much in the day time.
I think I just need to get out and game. I mean really game. Not just a little bit here or there but seriously sit down and play a couple of games of Warmachine or several hours of serious RPGing (well as serious as we can be).
I guess I never really understood how much gaming meant to my life. I know that I have not been doing much of that for over a month, about the same time all this started. Well sort of I mean I haven't gamed with any regularity for close to six months.
That is it! I am gaming again and I am going to drag people with me.
Iron Kingdoms next Friday. Period. Write it in the calender and set your watch by it.
Wednesday I am going to be up at GO and I am going to play Warmachine.
Be there or be somewhere else where Matt-Man is not, doing different stuff then Matt-Man is doing with other people which are not Matt-Man. At least I hope they are not me, cause that would mean breaking some laws of physics or some such. If I am there remind me that I need to game and make sure to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home.
I do feel better I guess. Won't really know if I am on the right track until I actually game and see how I do after.
Ok enough of this and that. It is time to make circles with mints. I will haste no longer!
I really do love that fortune it is so off the wall.
Well I am off to GO and maybe Stand Up Comics and from there who knows. Later I am heading up to see Terri. I love you baby!
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
If Matt-Man Can Dodge A Wrench, Matt-Man Can Dodge A Ball
Hail and well met
It has been awhile since I posted. I originally was going to apologize for this but realized that was wrong. As I sat here pondering what to post and forming a script in my head I found this line troubling
"I am sorry for not posting sooner"
Why should I apologize for being busy? Since when was it polite to take on guilt for living and being busy? As I thought about it I realized an analogy that made sense and fit the feeling I was sensing.
Such foolishness is like running a race and doing really well. Then stopping and thinking that it is too easy for you and to hard for the other racers or the audience and taking a rock and putting it into your shoe to make it seem more fair or OK. Now if anyone here has ever done any running (Hi Ace) I am sure that you know that having a rock into your shoe is not fun nor does it improve your running style. So to make our perception of how others see us feel better we lessen ourselves, how can that be better then being a leaf on the wind?
More over it seems we are trained by society and the "polite" people to apologize for all of our success and as such we are placing more rocks into our shoes. In the end all we do is find ourselves unable to wear our shoes at all and walking down the track of life going far slower then we could while others are passing us by and all we get to say is how "rude" they are.
Now to make this analogy fully understood I should explain that I went to Rich East High School (or Bitch East as I knew it) and we had a track like most schools. Our track was made of crushed lava rock. If any of you have had to walk barefoot over lava rock at all you know it is not fun (um yes there is a bit of personal experience in what I say here but lets just leave that for another time). That is what I imagine in this analogy.
Well fellow runners take up hope and follow my lead. For I am taking off my shoes and dumping all the rocks out, lacing them back up and becoming like the wind.
OK well now that is out of the way let me update everyone on what I have been up to.
The weekend of the 10Th I went up to see Terri. We went out and saw Khaos Theory, a bad that started out as a Godsmack cover band and has evolved into their own entity. It was at Penny Road Pub and was a blast. I like their music and the guys are nice and friendly. Terri has known their drummer for a long time and knows all the band members. I myself am just blown away at the acceptance I get from them for just being there. If you are interested in learning more about them (yes a shameless plug but that is what I do, creativity and all) you should check out their Myspace page.
Khaos Theroy MySpace page
Well then I stayed there until Monday when I returned so I could prepare...
For Valentines Day!!!!
Now of course the forces of the universe decided to test my resolve but I showed them. I mean I worked that morning at Matteson and then through the snow made the drive up to see my lady. Now I had to adapt and could not meet her for lunch but that did not matter. I made it up to her house and immediately started fixing dinner. Oh man I was so good. I made chicken breasts marinated in some orange juice with rosemary, ginger, basil and ...um...crap I cannot remember what the last seasoning was. Oh well it doesn't matter cause they were awesome. I then set about pan frying some vegetables. I had zucchini, protobella mushrooms and asparagus. For the last part I made, or more truthfully tried to make gnocchi. I had the recipe and followed it but they never turned out just quite as they described them in the recipe. I made it work and she seemed to like them but she is not big on dumplings. For beginners I made salad with little shrimp. Oh it was great and she loved it. It was the best Valentines day I had ever had. Of course it was truly the first one I had ever had so I have already began planning next year so I can make it bigger and better.
I stayed until Friday and when I left I headed up to Kenosha to pick up Neal. Why would I do that? Well you see we had plans to go over and visit Miles in Monmouth for the weekend and with me already at Terri's it was only a 30 minute drive to pick him up and then we both headed back down here. So his campus is small and really is right off the lake. I mean you can throw rocks at it and if you have the arm you could probably hit the beach if not the lake.
SIDE NOTE - I have to say that I really like the feel of small campuses over big ones, although I do like Carbondale. What a dichotomy.
Well finding the place was not a problem so after a slight delay cause I could not be found by Neal we packed up and left. On the way back we stopped by Chipotle for lunch were Neal got a free meal for some reason. When he went up to pay the cashier told him she was told to pay for his meal and would not say by whom or why. So I was ticked cause she had asked if we were together and if I had said yes I would have had free Chipotle as well. Oh well it was good anyway.
Then we headed out for home. But we found another delay. Game Plus. I couldn't help but tease Neal that we would be passing near it and he asked if we could stop in. I was in no hurry so we did.
I like that store cause they have a lot of everything. I mean if you cannot find it there then it probably is long gone, but they may know where to find it. It is a cornucopia of gaming stuff. I managed to refrain from spending anything (yeah what a feat of control and will power) while Neal walked away with only spending 10 dollars. Yeah for Neal!
After that it was a straight shot home. I stopped off at home and dropped off my stuff then headed out and took Neal home. From their I spoke to Todd and learned of the plan to go and see Ghost Rider with the guys from Stand Up Comics. WOOT!
Now I have to stop here and say that I was disappointed with the weekend in one way. I had hoped to pull off the trick of being able to see Nicky as well before I left. Well she didn't get in till after we were off to see the flick. I am sorry for missing you and your Wing man/copilot Ace but that is the way of things. I will see you when I am down for E-con. So Matt-Man has spoken so it shall it be done!
Now onto the film. I don't feel like giving it a full review cause there are more talented people out there who get paid for this kind of thing. So in a Matt-shell here it is. I liked the film. Nothing screamed "SUCK" but at the same time nothing screamed "AWESOME" either. In many ways I think that it was a lot like Fantastic Four. A good foundation to build from and as such make better and better sequels.
Speaking of the Fantastic Four...The next movie looks AMAZING!!!!!
OK well not to lose sight of this post I will leave it at that. After the movie we left and said goodnight. I was glad cause I had to work the next day. So off to beddie bie land I went.
Now things took a turn for the annoying. I went into work and learned that they had been trying to reach me since Wednesday (Valentines day for reference). They wanted me to come in and start training on a new route and then my regular Sue needed the day off on Friday since her daughter was sick. Well I didn't get a single phone call all week. No messages nothing was on my phone. I was pissed and upset. I mean I know that it was because of my phone but I still knew that it caused problems and I hate that. I take my job seriously. I am the relief for Sue and am supposed to be available when she needs me. I don't know but in the end I spent a lot of time apologizing to everyone over the whole thing. But I didn't hold onto it and left it when I went out on the route. Which I did in good order even with the SNOW!!!!! I promise I won't go into my usual rant on snow but I don't ever think I will ever really like living with it.
Well with the route done and everything ready for Sue on Tuesday I left, only to be told that I was going to be doing a new route on Tuesday. I was not upset in the least I was already planning on being home so it was no big deal. Besides it was the Aux route (which means it is small and does not warrant a full time carrier. I was off and packing (quite literally my clothes). In the end I picked up Neal and we were on the road by 6ish. So we rolled into Monmouth around 9ish (yes I was flying). Miles met us and we parked. Then we visited Kristan and saw her realm of "Hello Kitty". We stayed for only a moment and then off to Miles room. His roommate was gone for the weekend and wouldn't be back until Sunday so we camped out in his room Saturday night . But not before playing Arkham Horror.
I LOVE THAT GAME! IT WAS AMAZING, PHENOMENAL AND AWESOME!
It is set in the Mythos of HP Lovecraft's wittings. You play an investigator trying to stop the old one from winning. Oh it was so much fun. I will own it soon and all of its expansions as well. So 37 inch games be ware!
We got to bed around 3ish, it was so much fun. Morning came at around 11:15 for me. Roused myself into his private bath...Yes you heard me right he has a private bath in a dorm. After the shower we went out to lunch at a place called The Maple City Candy Company/Coconuts. I have to say it was one of the coolest places I have been in in a long time. It feels like an old home with lots of rooms and stairs and cubbyholes packed with different themes of merchandise not all of witch is hokey. Not to mention the fact that they had wired the rooms for sound and each one had different music to got with the theme. I wondered for a long time and then I found something, they had a tigger stuffed animal wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses. Terri loves Tigger and as such I could not resist getting it for her. Lunch was good as well. Coconuts is a Mediterranean style restaurant.
Lunch finished we headed back to campus and got a full on tour of the buildings. It was cool wandering around seeing everything in the different rooms and floors. After that we headed over to Kristan's room with our stuff as we were staying there for the night. After a slight hiatus in her room we went over to the building in which the anime club meets and watched three episodes of "Fruit Basket" a story about a young girl who gets involved with a family that is cursed. Whenever they come into close contact with a member of the opposite sex they transform into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. It had a blast watching it and want to see the rest of the episodes.
We then went off to see a movie. Miles and Kristan went to see Ghost Rider while Neal and myself went and saw Bridge to Teribinthia. I liked the movie which is not what is portrayed in the trailers. I won't go into detail as this is long enough as it is but if you think it is a LOTR/Narnia kind of movie as I did, think again. A good movie and I like it alot. Good acting and a good story made for a good night.
Well then it was off to Steak and Shake for some grub and conversation with three of Miles and Kristan's friends. Good times ensued and I remembered all the times we had done the same thing in one form or another. I could wax sentimental but I will simply say I have many good memories of those times and am glad for them.
So after that we went back and sleep found us. The morning came and Neal and myself entrained ourself for a short time as Miles had class. Then lunch at Mac Donald's and the long trip back to Kenosha began. I dropped off Neal and headed back to Terri's for a few hours then home so I could sleep and go to work.
I did find out one more bit of information Tuesday that troubled me. One of the women that worked at the Crete Post Office passed away the week prior, while I was up at Terri's. Her name was Jan and she was 51. A nice lady that always had a smile and a hello for me when I came in. Now I am not depressed but it is just a little sad since she was a bright light there. May she find her place in the after and the peace that she deserves.
Well that brings everything up to speed. I don't have much more to say so I will bid all a fond farewell. Until next time...
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
It has been awhile since I posted. I originally was going to apologize for this but realized that was wrong. As I sat here pondering what to post and forming a script in my head I found this line troubling
"I am sorry for not posting sooner"
Why should I apologize for being busy? Since when was it polite to take on guilt for living and being busy? As I thought about it I realized an analogy that made sense and fit the feeling I was sensing.
Such foolishness is like running a race and doing really well. Then stopping and thinking that it is too easy for you and to hard for the other racers or the audience and taking a rock and putting it into your shoe to make it seem more fair or OK. Now if anyone here has ever done any running (Hi Ace) I am sure that you know that having a rock into your shoe is not fun nor does it improve your running style. So to make our perception of how others see us feel better we lessen ourselves, how can that be better then being a leaf on the wind?
More over it seems we are trained by society and the "polite" people to apologize for all of our success and as such we are placing more rocks into our shoes. In the end all we do is find ourselves unable to wear our shoes at all and walking down the track of life going far slower then we could while others are passing us by and all we get to say is how "rude" they are.
Now to make this analogy fully understood I should explain that I went to Rich East High School (or Bitch East as I knew it) and we had a track like most schools. Our track was made of crushed lava rock. If any of you have had to walk barefoot over lava rock at all you know it is not fun (um yes there is a bit of personal experience in what I say here but lets just leave that for another time). That is what I imagine in this analogy.
Well fellow runners take up hope and follow my lead. For I am taking off my shoes and dumping all the rocks out, lacing them back up and becoming like the wind.
OK well now that is out of the way let me update everyone on what I have been up to.
The weekend of the 10Th I went up to see Terri. We went out and saw Khaos Theory, a bad that started out as a Godsmack cover band and has evolved into their own entity. It was at Penny Road Pub and was a blast. I like their music and the guys are nice and friendly. Terri has known their drummer for a long time and knows all the band members. I myself am just blown away at the acceptance I get from them for just being there. If you are interested in learning more about them (yes a shameless plug but that is what I do, creativity and all) you should check out their Myspace page.
Khaos Theroy MySpace page
Well then I stayed there until Monday when I returned so I could prepare...
For Valentines Day!!!!
Now of course the forces of the universe decided to test my resolve but I showed them. I mean I worked that morning at Matteson and then through the snow made the drive up to see my lady. Now I had to adapt and could not meet her for lunch but that did not matter. I made it up to her house and immediately started fixing dinner. Oh man I was so good. I made chicken breasts marinated in some orange juice with rosemary, ginger, basil and ...um...crap I cannot remember what the last seasoning was. Oh well it doesn't matter cause they were awesome. I then set about pan frying some vegetables. I had zucchini, protobella mushrooms and asparagus. For the last part I made, or more truthfully tried to make gnocchi. I had the recipe and followed it but they never turned out just quite as they described them in the recipe. I made it work and she seemed to like them but she is not big on dumplings. For beginners I made salad with little shrimp. Oh it was great and she loved it. It was the best Valentines day I had ever had. Of course it was truly the first one I had ever had so I have already began planning next year so I can make it bigger and better.
I stayed until Friday and when I left I headed up to Kenosha to pick up Neal. Why would I do that? Well you see we had plans to go over and visit Miles in Monmouth for the weekend and with me already at Terri's it was only a 30 minute drive to pick him up and then we both headed back down here. So his campus is small and really is right off the lake. I mean you can throw rocks at it and if you have the arm you could probably hit the beach if not the lake.
SIDE NOTE - I have to say that I really like the feel of small campuses over big ones, although I do like Carbondale. What a dichotomy.
Well finding the place was not a problem so after a slight delay cause I could not be found by Neal we packed up and left. On the way back we stopped by Chipotle for lunch were Neal got a free meal for some reason. When he went up to pay the cashier told him she was told to pay for his meal and would not say by whom or why. So I was ticked cause she had asked if we were together and if I had said yes I would have had free Chipotle as well. Oh well it was good anyway.
Then we headed out for home. But we found another delay. Game Plus. I couldn't help but tease Neal that we would be passing near it and he asked if we could stop in. I was in no hurry so we did.
I like that store cause they have a lot of everything. I mean if you cannot find it there then it probably is long gone, but they may know where to find it. It is a cornucopia of gaming stuff. I managed to refrain from spending anything (yeah what a feat of control and will power) while Neal walked away with only spending 10 dollars. Yeah for Neal!
After that it was a straight shot home. I stopped off at home and dropped off my stuff then headed out and took Neal home. From their I spoke to Todd and learned of the plan to go and see Ghost Rider with the guys from Stand Up Comics. WOOT!
Now I have to stop here and say that I was disappointed with the weekend in one way. I had hoped to pull off the trick of being able to see Nicky as well before I left. Well she didn't get in till after we were off to see the flick. I am sorry for missing you and your Wing man/copilot Ace but that is the way of things. I will see you when I am down for E-con. So Matt-Man has spoken so it shall it be done!
Now onto the film. I don't feel like giving it a full review cause there are more talented people out there who get paid for this kind of thing. So in a Matt-shell here it is. I liked the film. Nothing screamed "SUCK" but at the same time nothing screamed "AWESOME" either. In many ways I think that it was a lot like Fantastic Four. A good foundation to build from and as such make better and better sequels.
Speaking of the Fantastic Four...The next movie looks AMAZING!!!!!
OK well not to lose sight of this post I will leave it at that. After the movie we left and said goodnight. I was glad cause I had to work the next day. So off to beddie bie land I went.
Now things took a turn for the annoying. I went into work and learned that they had been trying to reach me since Wednesday (Valentines day for reference). They wanted me to come in and start training on a new route and then my regular Sue needed the day off on Friday since her daughter was sick. Well I didn't get a single phone call all week. No messages nothing was on my phone. I was pissed and upset. I mean I know that it was because of my phone but I still knew that it caused problems and I hate that. I take my job seriously. I am the relief for Sue and am supposed to be available when she needs me. I don't know but in the end I spent a lot of time apologizing to everyone over the whole thing. But I didn't hold onto it and left it when I went out on the route. Which I did in good order even with the SNOW!!!!! I promise I won't go into my usual rant on snow but I don't ever think I will ever really like living with it.
Well with the route done and everything ready for Sue on Tuesday I left, only to be told that I was going to be doing a new route on Tuesday. I was not upset in the least I was already planning on being home so it was no big deal. Besides it was the Aux route (which means it is small and does not warrant a full time carrier. I was off and packing (quite literally my clothes). In the end I picked up Neal and we were on the road by 6ish. So we rolled into Monmouth around 9ish (yes I was flying). Miles met us and we parked. Then we visited Kristan and saw her realm of "Hello Kitty". We stayed for only a moment and then off to Miles room. His roommate was gone for the weekend and wouldn't be back until Sunday so we camped out in his room Saturday night . But not before playing Arkham Horror.
I LOVE THAT GAME! IT WAS AMAZING, PHENOMENAL AND AWESOME!
It is set in the Mythos of HP Lovecraft's wittings. You play an investigator trying to stop the old one from winning. Oh it was so much fun. I will own it soon and all of its expansions as well. So 37 inch games be ware!
We got to bed around 3ish, it was so much fun. Morning came at around 11:15 for me. Roused myself into his private bath...Yes you heard me right he has a private bath in a dorm. After the shower we went out to lunch at a place called The Maple City Candy Company/Coconuts. I have to say it was one of the coolest places I have been in in a long time. It feels like an old home with lots of rooms and stairs and cubbyholes packed with different themes of merchandise not all of witch is hokey. Not to mention the fact that they had wired the rooms for sound and each one had different music to got with the theme. I wondered for a long time and then I found something, they had a tigger stuffed animal wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses. Terri loves Tigger and as such I could not resist getting it for her. Lunch was good as well. Coconuts is a Mediterranean style restaurant.
Lunch finished we headed back to campus and got a full on tour of the buildings. It was cool wandering around seeing everything in the different rooms and floors. After that we headed over to Kristan's room with our stuff as we were staying there for the night. After a slight hiatus in her room we went over to the building in which the anime club meets and watched three episodes of "Fruit Basket" a story about a young girl who gets involved with a family that is cursed. Whenever they come into close contact with a member of the opposite sex they transform into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. It had a blast watching it and want to see the rest of the episodes.
We then went off to see a movie. Miles and Kristan went to see Ghost Rider while Neal and myself went and saw Bridge to Teribinthia. I liked the movie which is not what is portrayed in the trailers. I won't go into detail as this is long enough as it is but if you think it is a LOTR/Narnia kind of movie as I did, think again. A good movie and I like it alot. Good acting and a good story made for a good night.
Well then it was off to Steak and Shake for some grub and conversation with three of Miles and Kristan's friends. Good times ensued and I remembered all the times we had done the same thing in one form or another. I could wax sentimental but I will simply say I have many good memories of those times and am glad for them.
So after that we went back and sleep found us. The morning came and Neal and myself entrained ourself for a short time as Miles had class. Then lunch at Mac Donald's and the long trip back to Kenosha began. I dropped off Neal and headed back to Terri's for a few hours then home so I could sleep and go to work.
I did find out one more bit of information Tuesday that troubled me. One of the women that worked at the Crete Post Office passed away the week prior, while I was up at Terri's. Her name was Jan and she was 51. A nice lady that always had a smile and a hello for me when I came in. Now I am not depressed but it is just a little sad since she was a bright light there. May she find her place in the after and the peace that she deserves.
Well that brings everything up to speed. I don't have much more to say so I will bid all a fond farewell. Until next time...
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Matt-Man Sets HIs Sights
Hail and well met
Yes I have decided to test my ability to make what I want a reality. Before now it has mostly been achieving goals that were needs not wants. May not make sense to anyone but it makes sense to me. Sometimes we all need to set our sights on a goal that may not be practical or relevant to our day to day existence. Something that is purely a thing that we want for not other reason then we want it. If asked we couldn't really provide a rational that makes sense to anyone but ourselves.
Well I have done that by deciding that I want and am going to work towards buying myself a Wacom board. For those (like myself only a few weeks ago) a wacom board is a device that allows you to draw on the pad and it make it appear on the computer. I have some research to do on what exactly I want in one but rest assured that I am going to save up and acquire one.
WHY? You had to ask didn't you. Well to be blunt and to the point, I want to draw again. As of late I have been trying to draw and keep having the same problem every time I do. I see the picture in my head and as I try and draw it it doesn't come out right. I try and redraw it only to have to erase again. With the Wacom board I can do that a billion times and not have any damage to the paper or other such shit. I believe that it will give me what my brain wants and paper and pencils cannot. So that is why I am going to get one.
Now yes I have responsibilities to look to. Believe me I cannot forget them but I can save for this and take care of them as well. It all comes down to budgeting and discipline, something that I do believe I lack.
So that is the sum total of what I have to say. Not a great earth shattering post but just something I wanted to say.
Oh and thanks Joe I appreciate your stopping by and commenting.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Yes I have decided to test my ability to make what I want a reality. Before now it has mostly been achieving goals that were needs not wants. May not make sense to anyone but it makes sense to me. Sometimes we all need to set our sights on a goal that may not be practical or relevant to our day to day existence. Something that is purely a thing that we want for not other reason then we want it. If asked we couldn't really provide a rational that makes sense to anyone but ourselves.
Well I have done that by deciding that I want and am going to work towards buying myself a Wacom board. For those (like myself only a few weeks ago) a wacom board is a device that allows you to draw on the pad and it make it appear on the computer. I have some research to do on what exactly I want in one but rest assured that I am going to save up and acquire one.
WHY? You had to ask didn't you. Well to be blunt and to the point, I want to draw again. As of late I have been trying to draw and keep having the same problem every time I do. I see the picture in my head and as I try and draw it it doesn't come out right. I try and redraw it only to have to erase again. With the Wacom board I can do that a billion times and not have any damage to the paper or other such shit. I believe that it will give me what my brain wants and paper and pencils cannot. So that is why I am going to get one.
Now yes I have responsibilities to look to. Believe me I cannot forget them but I can save for this and take care of them as well. It all comes down to budgeting and discipline, something that I do believe I lack.
So that is the sum total of what I have to say. Not a great earth shattering post but just something I wanted to say.
Oh and thanks Joe I appreciate your stopping by and commenting.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Matt-Man Can't Find Them So He Grinds Them
Hail and well met
Well just sitting here at 12:30ish in the evening and to be honest I don't have any idea what I am going to put here.
To put into words I am sitting in neutral and just spinning my wheels. Cannot seem to go forward and no way in hell I am going back. So here I sit, slowly going insane.
As I figure it no one still reads this thing so why do I bother? Well for one thing I ain't doing this for you. Sorry if that seems crass or blunt but it is the truth. This is a way for me to vent what is going on in my life and get it out of my head. I do appreciate those that do stop by and read. Thanks for the consideration.
How can I go forward, every time I try something seems to crop up and SMACK I hit the new wall. All I can figure is that I am missing something that needs to be dealt with in the here and now so I cannot go forward until it is put to rest.
Of course that being said I don't have a God blessed idea what that would be. But then again nobody ever does. Just have to back up and inspect the world around me (thanks Mikey for that advice cause it always seems to help).
I sat down today and really looked at what I had on my games...Yeah I lost a hell of a lot of work when the hard drive crashed. To be honest it almost got me depressed cause I don't know if I can get all of it back. That was kind of the point of putting it in the computer so I didn't have to remember it. Well now it is gone and I have to start from scratch. Well that ain't going to happen again cause I am going to take steps. Probably have to just hard copy all of it so that I have it on hand.
That was probably the worst I had felt all day...well except for reading something that brought up real sad memories.
Wish I hadn't already talked to Terri cause I really wanted to call her and talk about it. Not that she needs me dumping my emotional baggage on her door step. She has enough trouble right now, don't need to add to it. I would go into it but don't know if she is cool with me telling tales here so suffice it to say her life is getting real hectic.
At least I have two things...no three. First I have Terri in my life and that counts for a lot right now. Two I have all my friends and what she doesn't count for they do. and I have Iron Kingdoms.
Listen guys lets get this going again soon. I have tried to put my foot down before and it didn't go far. So I am going to take a more laid back approach. I would like to play next Friday unless this Friday will work (although I am not nearly prepared enough for this Friday) lets just play. I really need it and I know that everyone has fun. Of course the Loft is a freezer right now so I am going to talk to Val and see if the Possum Lodge is available. If not then maybe we should find another place cause I don't want to lose any extremities.
Ok well that is almost all I have to say. I am also preparing a survey of sorts for you all to look at for the upcoming BMM (beyond mere mortals) game this summer. It is a series of question for you character that may help in formulating his/her creation, well their personality that is.
There that is all of it. I will be posting the survey on the 37 inchers forum so look for it in the next couple of days.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Well just sitting here at 12:30ish in the evening and to be honest I don't have any idea what I am going to put here.
To put into words I am sitting in neutral and just spinning my wheels. Cannot seem to go forward and no way in hell I am going back. So here I sit, slowly going insane.
As I figure it no one still reads this thing so why do I bother? Well for one thing I ain't doing this for you. Sorry if that seems crass or blunt but it is the truth. This is a way for me to vent what is going on in my life and get it out of my head. I do appreciate those that do stop by and read. Thanks for the consideration.
How can I go forward, every time I try something seems to crop up and SMACK I hit the new wall. All I can figure is that I am missing something that needs to be dealt with in the here and now so I cannot go forward until it is put to rest.
Of course that being said I don't have a God blessed idea what that would be. But then again nobody ever does. Just have to back up and inspect the world around me (thanks Mikey for that advice cause it always seems to help).
I sat down today and really looked at what I had on my games...Yeah I lost a hell of a lot of work when the hard drive crashed. To be honest it almost got me depressed cause I don't know if I can get all of it back. That was kind of the point of putting it in the computer so I didn't have to remember it. Well now it is gone and I have to start from scratch. Well that ain't going to happen again cause I am going to take steps. Probably have to just hard copy all of it so that I have it on hand.
That was probably the worst I had felt all day...well except for reading something that brought up real sad memories.
Wish I hadn't already talked to Terri cause I really wanted to call her and talk about it. Not that she needs me dumping my emotional baggage on her door step. She has enough trouble right now, don't need to add to it. I would go into it but don't know if she is cool with me telling tales here so suffice it to say her life is getting real hectic.
At least I have two things...no three. First I have Terri in my life and that counts for a lot right now. Two I have all my friends and what she doesn't count for they do. and I have Iron Kingdoms.
Listen guys lets get this going again soon. I have tried to put my foot down before and it didn't go far. So I am going to take a more laid back approach. I would like to play next Friday unless this Friday will work (although I am not nearly prepared enough for this Friday) lets just play. I really need it and I know that everyone has fun. Of course the Loft is a freezer right now so I am going to talk to Val and see if the Possum Lodge is available. If not then maybe we should find another place cause I don't want to lose any extremities.
Ok well that is almost all I have to say. I am also preparing a survey of sorts for you all to look at for the upcoming BMM (beyond mere mortals) game this summer. It is a series of question for you character that may help in formulating his/her creation, well their personality that is.
There that is all of it. I will be posting the survey on the 37 inchers forum so look for it in the next couple of days.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Matt-Man Scrubs the Cortex
Hail and well met
Yup giant frogs. Nothing else to say. Back to you. -big smile-
So it appears that we are finally geting all that snow that we have been avoiding for the last few months. WOOOPIE! Personally we could have avoided it until...oh say the year 1000000000000.
It is not a big secret but I hate snow. It is the most annoying of precipitation in my opinion. It gets in the way and has to be shoveled or cleaned off your car. Instead of rain which just gets absorbed into the ground. It gets you wetter cause it don't just run off, no it just sits there and slowly melts into your clothes and then you. Plus it is cold out and then what does it do? Oh it freezes! Yeah right it FREEZES, WHY DIDN'T JUST STAY SNOW IN THE FIRST PLACE? Cause it sucks ass that is why. Oh yes and the other thing is that not only does the temperature fall but so does the average driving IQ. I swear people are half as cautious as they should be in snow and three times as careful as they should be in rain. Oh that makes perfect sense.
Ok enough of my rant.
So this weekend I am going up to see Terri again. We are going to see a band that she knows some of the members at a place called Penny Road Pub. The band is Khaos Theory,they started out as a Godsmack cover band but have evolved into their own stuff. ANYONE AND EVERYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO COME OUT IS INVITED. So just give me a call on my cel or home phone and we can arrange from there.
Next weekend I am heading out to see Miles at Monmouth with Neal. Then I am (I think that is) running Neal back to Carthage and then back to Terri's on the return trip. After that I am taking a break for a couple of weeks and hopfully getting Iron Kingdoms back up and running. The time thing just got easier as I am no longer working on Friday so starting earlier is possible, I still can't go late but it is better then not playing at all.
Other then that I am fine and dandy. I sent out an email earlier that I got from Nicky and hope that you all find it worth at least a good giggle or guffaw. And if anyone decides to respond all the better.
Not much more I can put here.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Yup giant frogs. Nothing else to say. Back to you. -big smile-
So it appears that we are finally geting all that snow that we have been avoiding for the last few months. WOOOPIE! Personally we could have avoided it until...oh say the year 1000000000000.
It is not a big secret but I hate snow. It is the most annoying of precipitation in my opinion. It gets in the way and has to be shoveled or cleaned off your car. Instead of rain which just gets absorbed into the ground. It gets you wetter cause it don't just run off, no it just sits there and slowly melts into your clothes and then you. Plus it is cold out and then what does it do? Oh it freezes! Yeah right it FREEZES, WHY DIDN'T JUST STAY SNOW IN THE FIRST PLACE? Cause it sucks ass that is why. Oh yes and the other thing is that not only does the temperature fall but so does the average driving IQ. I swear people are half as cautious as they should be in snow and three times as careful as they should be in rain. Oh that makes perfect sense.
Ok enough of my rant.
So this weekend I am going up to see Terri again. We are going to see a band that she knows some of the members at a place called Penny Road Pub. The band is Khaos Theory,they started out as a Godsmack cover band but have evolved into their own stuff. ANYONE AND EVERYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO COME OUT IS INVITED. So just give me a call on my cel or home phone and we can arrange from there.
Next weekend I am heading out to see Miles at Monmouth with Neal. Then I am (I think that is) running Neal back to Carthage and then back to Terri's on the return trip. After that I am taking a break for a couple of weeks and hopfully getting Iron Kingdoms back up and running. The time thing just got easier as I am no longer working on Friday so starting earlier is possible, I still can't go late but it is better then not playing at all.
Other then that I am fine and dandy. I sent out an email earlier that I got from Nicky and hope that you all find it worth at least a good giggle or guffaw. And if anyone decides to respond all the better.
Not much more I can put here.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Friday, February 02, 2007
Matt-Man is not the Glue that holds the world together!!!
Hail and well met
Ok so here is all that I have to say. I am sorry for not making sure that everyone knew about Ben's surprise birthday party. I have mentioned it several times over the last couple of months though and every time I got the same MEH response. So Todd I am sorry but I was informed that you were out of town and that is why I did not call you. Nigel I figure you were being somewhat joking but even so you were up at collage and that is why I didn't call you. Ok that is done and over.
I have to say that trying to talk to people about this party was difficult cause we usually hang out together and with school it was difficult to keep in touch. Be mad at me if you wish but I don't care. I did the best I could and that is all I can do. I may be a superhero but I ain't perfect.
So as of late I have been having some trouble. At first I thought it was due to the situation with work and how it is somewhat unreliable and random. But that has proven to be a red herring.
It came to a head yesterday whilst I sat right here and tried to do stuff only to discover that I couldn't concentrate. Then I would decide to go out and do something but no matter how hard I struggled I just sat here. All time my insides were in turmoil over it. It came to a head when I had a dream.
Now I have had some real nasty dreams in my past (Yes Joe I know you can beat me but this is not a pissing contest) and they were pretty bad. Zombies eating me alive adn the like were the flavor of the year last couple of years running. Before that was a trend that for some reason really scared me instead of sickening my. They all involved something that I thought was long out of my life.
HIGH SCHOOL
Yup I would dream that I was late to class or unprepared for class or would get to class and no one would be in class. Often I would be all ready and in the halls when I would realize that I didn't know my schedule and have to run around trying to find someone who could give it to me.
Well I had one of those dreams Wednesday night. Only this one was way different. I had all my stuff and all expenses were covered. I had my schedule and was ready to go. The hang up was that I didn't have my locker assignment and locker inspections were going on. Now I wasn't scared or creeped out I didn't wake up sweating beads as I normally would have. In fact although I remember the dream rather vividly I don't get the same sense of foreboding that usually comes with this type of dream.
All in all I knew that something was not quite right in me. No I ain't going down the "I am all screwed up" path but something is defiantly not firing in my iginition system. So I began to do some searching and something jumped out at me.
Since I was young I have been equated to a Bear. I liked Bears and collected a number of bear themed items, not many but a few. I also had a love of Unicorns, Dragons, Lions and Eagles. Funny I have never met a Dog or Cat that didn't like me, really and often they act different around me then the they do around most people. Of course I have also had a facination with Spiders, sort of a love hate relationship.
Well I got the idea to look up what these animals meant in the totem world and see if maybe it was a matter of sliping out of one realm of influence and gravitating towards another.
My research is still proceeding but it appears that I may be stepping away from my close walk with the Bear and next to another animal. I will keep all informed as I discover what is going on.
Yeah ok so now I get the hackles rising as I know someone out there is going to read this and have a hissy fit over me talking about animal totems. Listen up God created EVERYTHING so the animals are here for a reason. Even the Bible says that "All of creation is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed". I see this not as a religion in front or in place but along side. It was a talking donkey that saved Balaam from the sword of the angel. It was not Gods will that Balaam be saved it was the action of the donkey that saved him. So it seems that the precedent for animals being messengers and teachers as well as guides is there in the bible. I know that I could find more if I looked but I don't need to validate what I know by Faith is right.
Anyway I have things to do and information to digest. If anyone knows of a good resource on Animal totem information and meaning let me know cause I find the internet a little questionable at times.
Hope all is well with everyone. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks as I will be visiting Miles up in Monmoth and...I know there is something else but I cannot think of it.
OH YEAH VALENTINES DAY! It is the first year I have a sweetie I get to dote over.
Speaking of which I have to get off line so I can talk to her. No offense but affairs of state take prescient over affairs of state.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
Ok so here is all that I have to say. I am sorry for not making sure that everyone knew about Ben's surprise birthday party. I have mentioned it several times over the last couple of months though and every time I got the same MEH response. So Todd I am sorry but I was informed that you were out of town and that is why I did not call you. Nigel I figure you were being somewhat joking but even so you were up at collage and that is why I didn't call you. Ok that is done and over.
I have to say that trying to talk to people about this party was difficult cause we usually hang out together and with school it was difficult to keep in touch. Be mad at me if you wish but I don't care. I did the best I could and that is all I can do. I may be a superhero but I ain't perfect.
So as of late I have been having some trouble. At first I thought it was due to the situation with work and how it is somewhat unreliable and random. But that has proven to be a red herring.
It came to a head yesterday whilst I sat right here and tried to do stuff only to discover that I couldn't concentrate. Then I would decide to go out and do something but no matter how hard I struggled I just sat here. All time my insides were in turmoil over it. It came to a head when I had a dream.
Now I have had some real nasty dreams in my past (Yes Joe I know you can beat me but this is not a pissing contest) and they were pretty bad. Zombies eating me alive adn the like were the flavor of the year last couple of years running. Before that was a trend that for some reason really scared me instead of sickening my. They all involved something that I thought was long out of my life.
HIGH SCHOOL
Yup I would dream that I was late to class or unprepared for class or would get to class and no one would be in class. Often I would be all ready and in the halls when I would realize that I didn't know my schedule and have to run around trying to find someone who could give it to me.
Well I had one of those dreams Wednesday night. Only this one was way different. I had all my stuff and all expenses were covered. I had my schedule and was ready to go. The hang up was that I didn't have my locker assignment and locker inspections were going on. Now I wasn't scared or creeped out I didn't wake up sweating beads as I normally would have. In fact although I remember the dream rather vividly I don't get the same sense of foreboding that usually comes with this type of dream.
All in all I knew that something was not quite right in me. No I ain't going down the "I am all screwed up" path but something is defiantly not firing in my iginition system. So I began to do some searching and something jumped out at me.
Since I was young I have been equated to a Bear. I liked Bears and collected a number of bear themed items, not many but a few. I also had a love of Unicorns, Dragons, Lions and Eagles. Funny I have never met a Dog or Cat that didn't like me, really and often they act different around me then the they do around most people. Of course I have also had a facination with Spiders, sort of a love hate relationship.
Well I got the idea to look up what these animals meant in the totem world and see if maybe it was a matter of sliping out of one realm of influence and gravitating towards another.
My research is still proceeding but it appears that I may be stepping away from my close walk with the Bear and next to another animal. I will keep all informed as I discover what is going on.
Yeah ok so now I get the hackles rising as I know someone out there is going to read this and have a hissy fit over me talking about animal totems. Listen up God created EVERYTHING so the animals are here for a reason. Even the Bible says that "All of creation is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed". I see this not as a religion in front or in place but along side. It was a talking donkey that saved Balaam from the sword of the angel. It was not Gods will that Balaam be saved it was the action of the donkey that saved him. So it seems that the precedent for animals being messengers and teachers as well as guides is there in the bible. I know that I could find more if I looked but I don't need to validate what I know by Faith is right.
Anyway I have things to do and information to digest. If anyone knows of a good resource on Animal totem information and meaning let me know cause I find the internet a little questionable at times.
Hope all is well with everyone. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks as I will be visiting Miles up in Monmoth and...I know there is something else but I cannot think of it.
OH YEAH VALENTINES DAY! It is the first year I have a sweetie I get to dote over.
Speaking of which I have to get off line so I can talk to her. No offense but affairs of state take prescient over affairs of state.
May the Force be with you
Excelsior!!!
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