Punday, June 28th

We have a dairy farm close to us. The cows are udderly amazing.

Man in the Mirror

The dreaded song demons are at it again. With the death of Michael Jackson, I have been listening to some of his songs the last few days. Man in the Mirror really speaks to the journey I started a couple of weeks ago. Yes, any change I want to make must start with me.

For the record, I love his music–particularly 80s and early 90s. I just want to enjoy his music for what it is. I refuse to watch the tabloid stuff about the problems in his life and ultimately his death.

Enjoy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbzMsIcp6fI

A Shiny, New Bryan

For my regular readers (was kind of surprised that there were any left given how little I have posted lately), you have probably been wondering what’s going on. First off, my posting has dropped to almost nil. Then I posted 3 relatively profound songs and vague details on something percolating in my life. I have always been a very private person by nature (so I have a blog why again?), but I do want to provide a thumbnail sketch of what is going on.

Several week ago, I had what I like to call an awakening. It was a realization that I was not the person that I want to be and deciding that now is the time to make the changes I want to transition to the person that I do want to be. Mid-life crises, maybe; becoming the person I want to be, absolutely.

Don’t panic too much. We’re not talking about radical changes–at least from an outward standpoint. You might not have even noticed any real changes if I didn’t talk about them in my blog. I’m not going to get 12 tattoos (hmmm, 1? maybe), not going to start skydiving (hmmm once? maybe), not going to buy sports car or a motorcycle, no torrid affairs.

So here are some of the things I want the new me to be:

• Self-confident
• Comfortable with myself
• Not willing to always put myself last–and not feel guilty
• Accepting of compliments without feeling unworthy or guilty
• Accepting of help without feeling unworthy or guilty
• Willing to try new things
• Willing to be out of my comfort zone

Basically, I will no longer to be the painfully shy, angst-filled person that I have been since I was a teenager–if not earlier.

I also want to care more about those around me. With my family and friends, I want to speak kinder, be more patient, be more loving, compliment more often, and show how very much I care for and love them. For the next circle of people I interact with, anywhere from co-workers to the convenience store clerk, I want to always give a smile and genuinely take an interest in their lives.

Really, most of these changes are internal in how I look at myself and how I choose to interact with others in a more positive way. I have already started transitioning to the new me (1 week and counting) and I seriously already “feel” it. I am happier, more relaxed, more confident, and feel more control of my life than perhaps ever.

Well, I think that’s quite enough for now. If you made it this far, congratulations!

Cool Car on I-84

I think I smell a new regular feature to get me posting regularly again. Maybe I’ll entitle it “Seen on I-84″ or something like that.

Anyway, this is a picture of a cool old car that I took while driving riding on I-84 at the Flying Wye interchange. However, I really need to get a phone with a better camera if this is to be a new feature.

Danger on I-84?

Okay, I took this picture while driving riding on I-84 between Nampa and Caldwell. I mean, is this something I should be concerned about at all? Something doesn’t look quite right, but I can’t put my finger on it.

Punday, June 21st

What’s my favorite dressing you ask? Topless

 

Thanks to my friend Todd for this one.

One Step at a Time

Okay, the song demons are at it again. Here’s the song speaking to me today: One Step at a Time by Jordin Sparks. I had just always thought it was fun to listen. But now the lyrics are hitting home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzyys6kW8yg

The Beginning of a Journey

Okay, this is the song that is speaking to me today. Wish these songs would stopping talking so much. 

No, I don’t have cancer and I’m not dying. Ignore that part of the song. Lyrics here if you want.

Things Can Only Get Better

It’s been quite a sucky week, month, year, etc. I was listening to this 80s classic by Howard Jones and it seems to really speak to me today. The video is pretty wacky. Maybe watch the video and then go back and play it a second time with your eyes closed to take in the words.

Treasure Valley Weight Loss Challenge: Month 2 Weigh-In

As you may recall, I’m participating in the Treasure Valley Weight Loss Challenge. I did my month 2 weigh-in today. Here are the results:

Initial weigh-in: 242

Month 2 weigh-in: 234

Loss this month: 8 pounds

This second weigh-in was a longer period at 7 weeks (the rest will be at 4 weeks). So I lost 1 pound per week. This is short of my 2 pound per week goal. However, I’m still proud of the achievement and look forward to the next weigh-in.

Is Facebook Killing My Blog?

Anyone out there still? Helloooo…

About a year-and-a-half ago, I finally found something productive to do with my late-night computer addition. Yup, that would be this blog. I found it to be a great outlet for my thoughts, for doing some creative and humorous writing, and just sharing cools things with my readers.

That was until a critical mass of friends finally joined Facebook and I finally “got” why it was so (evil but) cool. My blogs stats show it. Just 2 posts in the last month if you count this one. My hit stats actually started declining even before that and I blame it Facebook also.

Once you get on there, they just have so many things to keep you glued to the site, clicking different applications, chatting with friends. These guys are geniuses even if they are also evil.

We’ll see what the future holds. I really hope to get back into more regular posting.

Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some potatoes to harvest in Farm Town, some drinks to pass out to friends, a good karma request to return…

Mixed Messages

We seem to get a lot of people hunting or riding ATVs on our property without permission. So I decided to put a few no trespassing signs. Check out the placement of the one below. I’m not sending mixed messages am I?

A Nice Trip to Mexico

So you’ve settled in at your hotel in Acapulco and are ready for an afternoon at the beach. Time to grab all those items you need:

Swimsuit: check
Sunscreen: check
Towel: check
Sunglasses: check
Flu mask: ???

It’s kind of funny, yet sad, to sit back and watch paranoia grip the planet.

Punday, April 26th

Hey look! A fork in the road.

Treasure Valley Weight Loss Challenge: Initial Weigh-In

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am participating in the $10,000 Treasure Valley Weight Loss Challenge being held by the Humphrey’s Diabetes Center in Boise. We had our initial weigh-in today. The damage: 242 pounds…ugh. Well, it’s all downhill from here. We have monthly weigh-ins starting in June and continuing through October. I’ll post updates.

I Want to be a Loser

I have known for years that I needed to lose some (or even a lot of) weight. For some reason though, pesky things like better health simply were not enough to motivate me to give it a serious run. However, I have now found my motivation: cold, hard, cash.

That’s right, the Treasure Valley is having it’s own version of The Biggest Loser. The fee is $50 to enter. The first weigh-in will be this weekend. Then there will be monthly weigh-ins for the next 6 months. The biggest loser (by percentage) will take home the grand prize of $3,000. I really want to win the big prize, but even if I “just” lose weight, it is well worth the $50 entry fee.

I’ll keep you posted with my progress here with each weigh-in.

Four Corners? Not So Much

Four Corners is the only place in the United Status where four state boundaries (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah) come together. It was originally surveyed in 1868 and the first marker was placed there in 1912. The problem is, the survey was wrong. It turns out that the correct intersection is about 2.5 miles east of the marker.

I don’t know why, but I find it strangely humorous that millions of people have visited this monument over nearly 100 years and have taken pictures doing various goofy stunts to cover all 4 states–all to no avail. It was all a lie. (evil laughter)

Punday, April 19th

An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.

Let Me Get This Straight

Let me get this straight…

Obama is committing to stem the tide of illegal weapons crossing the boarder from the US to Mexico…yet does nothing to get a commitment from Mexico to stem the tide of illegal immigrants to the US?

Let me get this straight…

Obama promised that those making under $250K per year “will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime.”…yet steeply raised the tobacco tax (a regressive tax on the poor), is letting the 2001 tax cuts lapse (that’s a tax increase folks), and is proposing increasing the capital gains tax from 15% to 20% (ummm…people making under $250K per year invest too).

Let me get this staight…

Obama is closing Guantanamo Bay and releasing terrorists back on to the streets…in some cases in the US…while demonizing the dissenting voices of the peaceful Tax Day Tea Protests and in so many words calling them terrorists?

What the hell is wrong with this country? Things are so upside down. We’ve got to take our country back and restore the Constitution.

Passport Fiasco

The Older Daughter has been invited by her grandma to take a 15-day European cruise this summer. (I am very jealous, but that’s another story.) Her passport expired a few weeks back, so we needed to get it renewed. We went to the State Department’s website to find the requirements. It said that we needed to bring her old passport or her birth certificate, and that we could pay by cash or check. Knowing how the government operates, I asked The Wife to call the local office to make sure the details from the website were correct. She did and they confirmed everything. Great, right? Not so much.
 
When they got to the office, they were told that she needed her old passport and her birth certificate. Well that sucks. My worst fears were realized in that no matter how hard you try to make dealings with the government easier, they always go awry. Anyway, they headed back  home to pick up the birth certificate. They made it back to the office, got all the paperwork filled out and processed. Then it was time to pay. The Wife forked over the $100 fee in cash. That’s when they told her that they don’t accept cash. You’re kidding me right? This after they said that was an acceptable form of payment on their website and The Wife double-checked over the phone? Not to mention that every Federal Reserve Note says “THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE”.
 
I just wanted to rant about this to you and I hate to turn this political, but think about this for a moment. Think about this experience at the passport office; think about what a nightmare the DMV is; think about the IRS. You may have had other experiences interacting with the government. It’s nearly always a nightmare. The crush of massive bureaucracy and rampant incompetency is staggering.
 
How can anyone out there really think that the federal government can do a better job with health care? Universal health care would be an unmitigated disaster. Think of your DMV experience…that’s what going to the doctor or hospital will be like. We’ve got to stand against this.