Where I Am Now

Yep, it's been a while, alright. As you can see, I took a rather extended hiatus from blogging. Finishing grad school took up most of my time in late 2010, and I needed a break from writing for a while. I stayed away much longer than I intended to, though, due to various life and career developments, and thus this year I made a resolution to start blogging again in 2013 and to post every day if I can, even if it is something short. Thus far, I've been keeping that up, with only a couple of exceptions (and even then, I make up the posts later on).

My new blogging home is here. I moved over to Tumblr because I like what that platform has to offer, though in updating this blog, I remembered why I liked Blogger too. So for now, that's where you can find me.

I plan on keeping this blog up for archival purposes, at least for the time being. I did update the sidebars to reflect that this blog is no longer being updated and removed the links since I will not be maintaining them going forward.

I don't think very many people read this blog, but if you did, thanks for stopping by, as I always appreciate people reading what I have to say. I hope you will follow me over to my new blogging home. Have a good one!

Happy New Year!

It's me again. It's been just over a month since my last post, in which time I finished grad school and completed my Master's degree, celebrated Christmas with my family and friends, and, of course, worked.

I'm heading out soon to spend some more time with my immediate family and other relatives, but I wanted to pop in to wish you a Happy New Year and to thank you for reading this blog, if you by some chance happen to read it. I don't really do New Year's resolutions anymore, but I have three goals for blogging in 2011:

1) Blog more;

2) Not announce that I will write about something until I actually do it;

3) Figure out my long-term plans with my other neglected blog, Hired Minds.

We'll see which of these I actually stick to. :) Have a safe and fun NYE, and as the tired joke goes, see you next year!

Cobwebs

Just a quick note to wish anyone reading this a Happy Thanksgiving, and to let you know that I'm still here, just very busy. I have about two and a half weeks of class left until I have earned my Master's degree, so it's crunch time there along with work and my standard home and family obligations. As such I probably won't update this again until sometime in the second half of next month. I miss writing here, though, and am looking forward to getting the chance to do more. Not too much longer...

Oh, and this is the 50th post on this blog. So there's that milestone too.

Dusting Off the Blog

Apologies for the lack of posting in the past few weeks. I wouldn't say I've been particularly busy, just that I haven't thought to write anything here recently. I have class starting in a little over a week (my last semester of graduate school, assuming all goes according to plan), so I'm not sure how frequently I will be posting through the end of the year, but I will try to get something up at least once in a while.

The funny thing is, I often have good ideas for posts when I'm somewhere where writing one isn't possible (at work, on the bus, etc). I guess I need to do a better job of capturing those thoughts and expanding on them when I'm at home where I can write.

Back

My plane landed an hour ago, so I haven't been back too long yet, but I thought I should post anyway just to check in.

I had a great time in Vegas, and it's provided me with a lot of blog post fodder that will keep me occupied for a while (not just about what I did on the trip, but general observations and ruminations as well). Plus, I still want to write up a recap of the Minnesota Blogger Conference from a week ago, but that will be on my other blog. So, yeah, lots to do.

Hello New Visitors!

Just wanted to say hello quick to anyone visiting the blog for the first time, either because of the Minnesota Blogger Conference or for other reasons. I know this blog needs work, but I'm glad you stopped by, and I look forward to meeting you and reading your blogs as well.

(cross-posted at Hired Minds, my blog about contract and temporary work and life)

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted?

A week from Tuesday, assuming nothing changes between now and then, I will get on a plane and fly to Las Vegas for a few night's stay at the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino. I should be excited about this, but lately, I'm not.

I planned this trip much earlier this year, after wanting to go somewhere due to not having been out of town all of last year and only escaping for a couple of brief times (one or two nights) this year. I'd been to Vegas before, and knew I liked it and can have a good time there for cheap, so I booked the trip. However, due to a couple of different reasons, my enthusiasm has waned. For one, this isn't the best time to be going out of town, and for another, I would like to go someplace I haven't been before.

However, at the same time, there are reasons why I should still go. For one, I paid for the bulk of the trip long ago and can't recoup the costs at this point, due to it being a package, and don't expect to spend a lot of money once I'm there -- I'm not a gambler and I don't have expensive tastes. For another, I'm not sure when I will have another chance to go on a vacation (I have tentative plans for next year, but they require the chips to fall right, pardon the metaphor), so I want to take advantage of this when I can. Finally, I don't do a good enough job of doing things for myself and just letting go and relaxing. I really think the trip will do me some good and give me a much-needed chance to clear my head.

No, the timing isn't great, but you can't live your life always waiting for the perfect time to do something. There's times when you just need to plow ahead and do it, and deal with whatever comes of it.

Why I Like Fall

In my last post, I mentioned that fall was my favorite season. Here's why:

-- My birthday is at the end of October. Reason enough right there, really.
-- Cooler weather. I don't mind warm weather as much as I used to, but my tolerance for it is limited, so I welcome the days where I can turn off the AC and open the windows, especially in my bedroom at night.
-- The leaves changing color. I love the reds, golds, and even the browns of the fall leaves, whether on trees or on the ground.
-- Football. I'm watching a Vikings preseason game as I write this. Skol Vikings!
-- Apples. Plus everything made using them.
-- Halloween. I've started to get back into it after not really caring about it for a long time. It's one of the best holidays.
-- Going back to school. That was more when I was younger (though I am taking classes later this fall), but I still get excited about school supplies for some reason.

If there was someplace on Earth that had an eternal fall, I would move there.

Hello, September

September is only a few hours away, which means Summer is just about over too. Technically, I know that the season has a few more weeks until the Equinox, but I never consider that to be the true end of Summer. For me, that's always Labor Day. Growing up, school always started on the day after Labor Day, since in Minnesota schools cannot legally start before then because the tourism industry wants families to still take vacations in late August (that really is the reason). Plus, it is the last day of the State Fair, which is another psychological end point.

I can already see some signs of the changing season. A few trees are in the early stages of changing color from green to red and gold, and there are grasshoppers jumping around when I go hiking on the weekends. Plus, it gets dark much earlier at night then it seemed it did only a couple of weeks ago. Not much in the way of cooler weather yet -- it hit ninety outside today -- but hopefully that will be here soon as well. It is one reason of many why Fall is my favorite season.

Actually, that would make for a good post, so you can expect to see that in the near future.

Procrastination

Well, the concert was awesome, first of all. I may post about it later on, since it will be a longer one if I do. But I'm putting it off for the time being, just like I unfortunately put off way too many things.

Really, I was even putting off writing this post. I knew though that I should probably get it out while I could, though, especially since I was tired from a long hike in the Minnesota River Valley this morning and wasn't sure how much energy I would have tonight. And just now, between the last sentence and this one, I took a ten minute break to start dinner and get something to drink.

Procrastination obviously affects a lot of people, and it seems to be worse for people who -- like me -- are also prone to being distracted unless we're really, really into whatever it is that we are doing. Fortunately, I find that there are ways to compensate for this. Deadlines are one good way, of course, as I discussed about a week ago on my other blog, but I don't want to retread that ground here too much.

The best way for me is just to figure out the most important task at any given time, and work on that exclusively until it is done, then the next task, then the next one. Even big projects can be tackled in this way, since a project is nothing but a bunch of small tasks put together. You don't have to build the whole house at once. If focusing on putting up a shelf -- or even just pounding in one nail -- is what it takes to get it built, then that's what it takes.

Now if you'll excuse me, there is a really cool website I have to look at before I hit "publish"...

Rushing Into The Weekend

Today was the first day of the Minnesota State Fair, which runs through Labor Day. If you live in Minnesota, you are legally required to attend. No, not really; I'm joking. But sometimes it does seem that way, considering the enthusiasm so many people have for it.

Normally I probably wouldn't go this year, since I went last year and it's more of an every two to three year thing for me. But this year Rush is playing at the Grandstand, and I decided, oh, why not? I was really into them when I was younger and I still like their music despite not being as obsessive of a fan as I once was. Plus, I always wanted to see them back then, but never had the chance, so this is a way of paying back my teenage self for being patient.

So, that's where I will be tomorrow night. Hopefully by my Sunday entry, I'll have my hearing back.

Special Appearance

Got distracted last night, so unfortunately I missed posting. Regular posting will resume tomorrow, but until then here's a link to a discussion on Girl Meets Geek about transit in the Twin Cities suburbs in which she quotes a Twitter comment of mine from earlier today (I'm @moerketim, who she quotes in her first point). It's a great post and I may discuss my thoughts on the issue here sometime as well.

What I'm Watching

Since I periodically do a post about stuff I'm reading, it seemed a given that I should talk about stuff I've watched recently once in a while too. So, here we go. Note that I didn't include links for these, because the Wikipedia entries would likely have spoilers and IMDB is just kind of a pain.

The Expendables: I saw this in the theater on opening night, so according to the hilarious fan-made trailer (NSFW, by the way, and that goes triple for the comments) I deserve to be a man. This movie is exactly what it says on the package, nothing more and nothing less. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you, but as a fan of old-school action movies and much of the cast, for me it was a very good thing indeed.

Factotum: In a completely different direction, we have this movie, based on the life of author Charles Bukowski. For some reason, the movie was filmed in Minneapolis, because I guess filming the movie where the book it is based on took place (L.A.) was just too hard or something. I mean, I can't imagine filiming a movie in L.A., can you? Nevertheless, it was interesting to see places I recognized and have been to, even if the setting wasn't really used in the story. However, I ended up not really caring about pretty much anyone in the movie, as they just weren't likable and in some cases actually repellent. There really isn't any message or meaning to what happens, it just sort of occurs. I guess that's realistic, but it wasn't what I was looking for. However, a Bukowski fan (I knew who he was before this, but that's all) might see it differently.

Control: You would probably assume that a movie about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division, would be rather bleak and grim. You would, in fact, be totally correct. However, I still enjoyed the movie, being a fan of the band and of others from that time and place. The actors all gave really convincing performances, especially the ones playing the members of Joy Division themselves, and the recreated concert and television footage is amazing due to the actors actually performing the songs (and doing a very convincing job doing it). I'd probably only recommend it to people with an interest in the subject matter, but if you have that, you'll like it.

Mad Men Season One: This is a strange one, since I've already seen seasons two and three when they first aired on AMC. Seeing as how I started watching the show partway through, though, it seemed like I should go back and see it from the beginning despite already knowing the season's main spoilers. Because the show is so well done, it's still rewarding to watch even though I'm aware of what happens. That said, the pace is definitely slower in the first season and it doesn't feel as lively, although it improves towards the end.

The Wire Season Five: I've finished the first disc of the last season of this show, and have three more to go. I can tell it's the last season since ongoing storylines are being wound up, it moves along more quickly, and characters from past seasons are being brought back to show what happens to them. It definitely has a different feel to it than previous seasons, but it's still an amazing show. Of all of the TV shows that were originally on pay networks but later brought to basic cable or broadcast channels (like The Sopranos or Sex and the City), I'm not sure why it was never done with The Wire. Not that much content would need to be removed, and it is a great show that more people need to see.

Heroism

You want to see heroism?

This here is true heroism at its greatest.

(Link courtesy of @ebertchicago's twitterstream)

Interesting Statistic

Technically, I crossed this threshold several entries back, but I was pleased to see that I now have more posts for 2010 so far than all of 2008 and 2009 combined. Though admittedly, 2009 only had one entry, since last year I was focusing on my other blog to the detriment of this one.

If I can keep up my current posting rate, I should be able to double this in only a couple more months, even if I don't write when I'm gone on vacation next month (more on that in a later post). Go me!

I Write Like Who, Again?

The answer to the question from my last post was The Expendables, by the way. Highly entertaining movie if it's the sort of thing you like (which I do), and whatever you thought of the trailer and ads is almost definitely what you'll think of the movie.

Anyway, there's a website people have been talking about lately called I Write Like, which supposedly analyzes a writing sample from you and tells you which well-known author your writing resembles. I don't know the technical details behind it, but just for fun I ran four of my posts from this blog through it.

Three of them came back as David Foster Wallace, while the outlier was Cory Doctorow. I've never read any of Wallace's works, and though I recognized the name, I only really knew that he was a writer and had committed suicide a couple of years ago. But reading about him in Wikipedia makes me definitely want to read his stuff for myself. As for Doctorow, I've read some of his essays online and articles in Wired, so I'm familiar with him. I guess I don't see the comparison, but I have a lot of respect for Doctorow, so I certainly don't mind.

Of course, you can't read too much into things like this. But they're fun to play around with, and the temporary ego boost is nice.

The Question Of The Day Is...

...do I go see The Expendables or Scott Pilgrim vs. the World this weekend?

Sew It Goes

On Sunday I did something I've never done before: I sewed a button on a shirt.

Yes, it's pretty mundane, but in a weird way it was a big deal for me: I successfully did something that was both practical and had intimidated me for a long time. For some reason, I never learned it back in Home Ec in junior high (or if I did, I had long since forgotten it). And it wasn't something I learned in Boy Scouts either -- you'd think we'd have learned at least basic sewing, considering it could potentially have useful application in both the outdoors and day-to-day life, but I guess obscure knots you'll never use are more important.

Anyway, I had a dress shirt that was missing a button on the front, and since I have to wear dress shirts most days for work, I wanted it to be back in the rotation, so to speak. I thought about taking it to a tailor and having it fixed, but then I thought "This isn't something major like having a suit taken in; I should be able to do this rather than pay someone to do it." Plus, I already had the necessary materials in a storage box in the closet. With a button, black thread, a needle, and a helpful tutorial from eHow, I was set to go. It took a little while, and it wasn't the most elegant sewing in the world, but it got the job done.

I think it's a good metaphor for a lot of things in life: it's something that seems hard at first, and maybe even impossible. But a little bit of preparation and research go a really long way, and before you know it, you'll wonder why something like this ever intimidated you. And the nice thing about confidence is that it builds on itself -- if you can manage to do one thing, you can do the next, and so on and so on (or is that sew on)?

Bonus Post: Scheduling

I've decided on a posting frequency schedule for my two blogs in order to establish some regularity and encourage myself to post consistently. As of today, this blog will be updated on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Hired Minds, my other blog (there's a link over there on the right; this is a fast post and I'm being lazy) will get new content on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. There may be occasional "bonus posts" like this one where I post on a non-scheduled day or multiple times in one day for a special reason. But otherwise, I will do my very best to keep to that schedule, and to that end I've already written the next post for both this blog and HM. So now I just need to think of something for Wednesday and Thursday...

Con-templation

Today is the last day of GenCon in Indianapolis, which is the largest convention dedicated to gaming in the country ("gaming", in this case, referring to board games, card games, RPGs, miniatures, etc). I went each year from 2000 through 2005, went to Otakon instead in 2006, and then back to GenCon in 2007, but haven't returned since then.

There's a few reasons for why I haven't been back yet -- we didn't have the best experience in 2007, so we weren't much interested in returning in 2008, plus we had taken a two-week trip to Japan earlier in the year anyway so we weren't itching for a vacation. In 2009, we still weren't quite up for it, plus our employment situations around the time when we would have needed to decide if we were going pretty much precluded any possibility of attending anyway. This year, I actually considered going back in late April, but the need to make the logistical arrangements so far in advance (due to the massive attendance and limited number of hotel rooms) meant that I had waited too long to be able to do it.

But now I am very seriously considering going back in 2011, even if I end up deciding (again) that it's the last time I go. I have a lot of great memories of GenCon, as it's where I've not only discovered games that I love to play and have introduced to other people (such as Apples to Apples), but it's also where I've met a lot of cool people and made new friends. As such, I feel I need to see if it is something I want to keep doing, or something I want to leave behind, but on a good note.