Dem. Senator Barack Obama Wins US Presidential Election

I am, to say the least, disappointed. I felt, and still do feel, that Republican Senator John McCain was/is the best choice to lead America through these very dark and very tough times. The rest of America, however, felt otherwise and in a very loud political voice, they chose Barack Obama to lead our nation. The masses have spoken. It shall be done. There's nothing more than I can do now but wait and see and hope and pray that somehow, we aren't lead even deeper into this hole that we have dug for ourselves. I watch anxiously, Pres. Obama. Do not fail the American people.

I watched the entire election coverage last night and had a very faint glimmer of hope at the very beginning when Sen. McCain led, briefly, Barack Obama in electoral votes. I thought that perhaps the American people would side with me and choose who I thought we would be the best. That faint glimmer of hope vanished quickly when Brian Williams began reading down the list of states that had just been awarded to Obama. Quite the lengthy list right off the bat. I realized then that he would win. I guess I knew he'd win from the start, but being a Republican, I held on to the small chance that McCain would overcome.

The disappointment of Pres. Obama winning the election will pass. I'll be upset for a few weeks, but I'll get over it and begin to watch him as he prepares to take over the nation. While no one I ever talked to could tell me what this "hope and change" was that Obama always talked about, I sincerely hope that Obama can somehow get it done. He claims it will help guide America away from the troubles we find ourself facing. Let us hope so. Let us hope he can.

What I will not get over, however, are the images of the crowd. The cheering, the yelling, the jumping up and down with pure ecstasy. In itself, not a bad thing. You are free to cheer for who you want to win. In sports, in politics, it makes no difference. Have at it. But why are they cheering? It's not because he's the first black president, it's not because he's Barack Obama, and it's not because he offers hope and change. It's because of what he's not. He's not a Republican, and perhaps most importantly to his followers, he's not George W. Bush. The American people, and especially the ignorant youth, have so much anger and hate toward Pres. Bush and his administration that they'd vote for a burrito if only it ran against a Republican. The youth are brain-washed by the views of their parents and those anti-war hippies that preach "love, not war." Guess what, hippies... you wouldn't be here if it weren't for war. In all of its terribleness, war serves a purpose.

You may disagree with the fact that the war was started, but tell me... honestly... if you were the president during 9/11, what would have been your course of action? Turn the other cheek? Allow these terrorists to continue to walk into our nation and kill thousands, if not millions, of American citizens? You may argue that they are getting into our country anyway. With this, I cannot argue. It's true. They are. But they are on the run. They are no where near as organized as they used to be. Every week we are killing another one of their top leaders, and even though they are replacing their dead comrades, the leadership experience is fading away quickly. Despite what you may think, our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is serving its purpose. Every day we are killing more and more of these sick, disgusting individuals. Every day we force them to pack their things and crawl into another hole where they belong. The more they move, the more we force them out, the less organization they have and the less likely they are to be effective in launching another attack on US soil.

War is necessary at times. Offensive and defensive. Don't direct your anger and hate toward Pres. Bush for declaring war on a terrorist nation when you yourselves would have done the exact same thing if given your options. Whether or not we should have gone into Iraq instead of going solely after Osama Bin Laden is a matter that will be debated for decades to come. The fact is, however, that we are there. We are in Iraq and in Afghanistan whether you like it or not. Pulling out en masse will only serve as a catalyst to bring about another wave of destruction at the hands of terrorists. The Middle East will fall into chaos. We cannot pull out. So deal with it. Our troops are there. So rather than sit here and whine and complain and spout your anti-war proganda and blame Bush for everything that's wrong with the world, how about you shut your mouths and support the troops themselves. You don't have to support Bush, you don't even have to like Pes. Bush, but ignoring the troops themselves is far more devastating than anything else you could do. Support their willingness to be there and to fight their enemy when ordered to. Support their loyalty to their nation.

If you want to whine about the economy and blame Pres. Bush for that, too. Why don't you look to see who the real culprit is? I'll pause for a moment to give you time to think about it... (pause)... nothing? I'll give you a clue. The real culprit is the American people and the banks they are associated to. It's not Bush's fault that you are taking out loans that you can't afford and it's not Bush's fault that the banks are stupid enough to give you the loans they know you can't afford. Stop spitting your venom at president when it's your own fault that the economy is in such shambles. Now should we have implemented this bank bail-out plan? Probably not. I can think of about 700 billion other things we could have done with that kind of money. But at least it was an attempt to fix the problems that you created. I don't see you offering any suggestions on how to fix it... aside from getting rid of the president. I hate to break it to you, but changing presidents is not going to fix our economy. Future plans may, but the change will not.

The point is, all the ignorant masses do is blame someone up top because it makes them feel better. They don't blame the real cause of the problem. It's not a good feeling to do that. Stay away from that. No, instead they bring someone else in, someone who wants to raise your taxes, talk with terrorists, and pull out American troops from a war-torn area that will fall into utter chaos the moment we do. That doesn't sound like a good plan to me. That doesn't sound like the right leader to me. But the American people seem to think it does and that he is. They cast their votes in hatred and spite, and they elected Obama. I truly hope you made the right choice. I truly hope I'll have to rescind this statement in 4 years. I really truly do. Because right now... I don't see us getting any better. And I blame the ignorant masses and their hate-filled ballots.

I didn't really read this before publishing. Sorry if there are any grammatical errors and missing words. I'm sure you can piece it together if there are.

Election Day, USA

It's November 4th, 2008. Election Day. The day that could be very joyous or very disappointing.

I hope the American people will realize who the best choice for America is. Republican Senator John McCain.

That is all.

It's November.

It's about time, too. I can't tell you how long I waited for this month to come. Well, 10 months. That's how long I waited. The point is... I'm thrilled that it's finally here. I've never been a fan of October or the fall months. I realize November is still a fall month, and home to the fall holiday, Thanksgiving, but it's just so much better. I don't much care for the brown, red, and orange of the fall leaves. Everything just emits an aura of death. Everything is dying and falling to the ground. A depressing way to look at it, I realize, but it's how I feel. Not my favorite month. not my favorite season or holiday time. Especially Halloween. I don't mind Thanksgiving so much.

The reason I like November so much as that it's finally close enough to start looking at the end of the year. On a lesser note, my birthday lies in November (this year it lies on Thanksgiving Day). I like November because winter is just over the horizon. While I don't care for fall, winter is, by far, my favorite season and I can't wait for it to come and rear it's chilly head. I love cold weather, and while Florida doesn't get cold per se, it's a blessing in comparison to the sweltering heat of the summer months. Even fall is terribly warm. I love the winter, I love the cooler weather, and I love the fact that the closer it gets to Christmas, the nicer people get. I don't know how it is in the rest of the world, but people are grumpy in the summer.

I love Christmas. I love the spirit of it. I love the people during Christmas time (save for the angry grandmother that stands in line, ready to strike with a curling iron if you grab the last Tickle Me Elmo). It's just a nice, enjoyable time. I'm much happier in the winter. I feed off the positive energy produced by everyone else and I just feel better. Okay, I don't feed off of energy. I'm not one of those wacko nutjobs that talk about karma and energy and whatnot.

Election Day is tomorrow. Here's hoping John McCain wins, even though I've got a terrible feeling that he won't. Barack Obama, while a nice man and a charismatic man, is not the right choice for this nation. He will lead us down a path of darkness and destruction and that is not where I want to go... though I suppose it will give an opportunity to leave the country for Sweden. It's nice in Sweden. Only 9 million people, spread out among a large country. And snow. Lots and lots of snow. Also, they the Ice Hotel. Fantastic place. I've never seen it, but I saw a TV show about it. Looks beautiful.

That's about it. That's plenty. I haven't written in a while, so this should hold you until I write something again.

Hockey's on. More importantly, it's the Devils.

Hej då.

Hmm.

I don't know what to say anymore, I guess. I've run out of things to say, I've run out of the desire to update. Perhaps something interesting will happen and I will become motivated to write again.

Perhaps.

Or perhaps I'll simply continue to update this blog with random facts.

Lyrics

Kent - Önskar Att Någon

(Probably really depressing like the rest, lol.)

Vad var det du såg igår natt
Du har nästan inga naglar kvar
Vad är det som tvingar dej att
Bita sönder dom du har spart

Och jag har ledsnat på att vänta
ärligt talat jag är trött
Du är TV-ögd, förändrad
du är gråtmild du ser rött

Jag har ledsnat på att vänta
på dom ständiga problemen med sömn
Behöver nån som behöver mej

Vad fick du se igår natt
Någonting du inte klarar av
Vad är det som tvingar dej att
tvinga mej att stanna kvar

Och jag har ledsnat på att vänta
ärligt talat jag är så trött
Du är TV-ögd, förändrad
du är gråtmild du ser rött

Jag har ledsnat på att vänta
på dom ständiga problemen med sömn
Behöver nån som behöver mej

See?

I keep my word. I said I'd post and I am. Tomorrow is Labor Day and that means one thing. NO WORK! It's about time! Even though I had a vacation a month ago, it seems like forever since I've had a day off and I plan to use it by... well, by doing nothing, as day off should consist of. I've spent the weekend thus far playing games on the computer, though I plan to move over to the PS3 shortly and play Metal Gear Solid 4 or Battlefield: Bad Company. Both games are awesome. I'll probably do BF: BC because I'm so close to making it to the final rank and I want to get it relatively soon.

That's all!

I'll post something tomorrow.

Really, I will.

Are titles really necessary? Come on!

So my computer is wonderful. Windows Vista. 500GB hard drive, 3GB RAM, 1GB NVidia GeForce 9800 GT (which is ironic, considering I've always been so anti-NVidia), and other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head. Oh, yes. 2.86 Intel Dual Core Processor + some fancy doo-dads and flashy lights that make it do other stuff. I'm a computer person, so I could go into detail about it, but I find the masses generally prefer short and simple.

I still need to see if I can salvage my hard drive from my old computer. I haven't done so yet because I wanted to get this one in order before I rip her open and start shoving things inside to see if it works.

That's about it.

New Computer

I have a new computer. I'll say something about it later.

D'oh!

My home computer dun gone n' died. I need a new one! So I bought one. :D I'll get it in a couple weeks, hopefully. It's pretty, too.

Post #100

Pity that it's taken this long. I was on a roll when I first started this blog. Look how many times I'd posted then!

Oh, well.

I've changed my blog theme. Change is good. I like to keep you all guessing. Make you wonder what sort of antics I'll be up to next time.

Got my new computer monitor on Friday. It's beautiful. I played all of my games on it and they all look fantastic. I even picked up Battlefield 2 and played it with some of my old gaming buddies back when I played Battlefield: Vietnam. Good times. I, of course, rocked the server with my awesomeness, prompting the begging of my return to their team. Okay, well, not the last part, but I did rock the server.

That's all! I'm in a particularly good mood.

As I said...

...Metal Gear Solid 4 rocks. I played 4 times in a row. It is/was definitely worth the wait of 3 years and countless release delays.

I think I'll play it again sometime soon. A game that good is hard to put down.

I bought a new computer monitor Friday afternoon. My old one doesn't work anymore. My new one is an HP w2207, 22" Hi-Def capable monitor. Very awesome stuff.

Anyway, that's all!

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

After 3 years of anticipation and 6 months of pre-order, I picked up my copy of MGS4:GotP yesterday afternoon.

It. Is. Awesome.

No, that's not nearly a good enough word. In fact, mere words cannot express the sheer exhilaration I have gotten through playing for a couple hours last night. The graphics, the sounds, the music, the gameplay, the story, Johnny! The references to the MGS (the first of the series on the PlayStation). It's all simply awe-inspiring and worth the wait. I'm glad they continued to push back the release date. Releasing this game too early could have been devastating to the franchise. It is better to wait and work out the kinks. I'm glad they did.

I'll be pretty much useless for the next few days while I play and re-play this game 24 hours a day. I thought about calling in sick to work today, but... once again, that work ethic and morals thing get in the way. Blasted morals.

Anyway, back to work. I shall see you all in a few days. :D

Hello!

So I'm still alive! How about that? I meant to write up something a while back, but I got sidetracked. TV, internet, video games... those things will do that. It's Tuesday and I'm at work. I'm on lunch, though. I suppose I could type this during work hours, but you know, I have that thing called a work ethic (at least when I'm being paid to do it). Morals and whatnot. You understand, I hope. If you don't, you're probably a rich business man.

Work is uneventful, save for another dreadful project we've been roped into. Why us? Our supervisors seem to think that we have far more "down" time than what we really have and they like to make sure we stay busy. Trust me. We're busy enough. This just complicates things even further. We have people on one side, yelling at us, wondering where there stuff is, and people on the other side yelling and wonder why their project hasn't been completed yet. We're sorry, lieges. We will do better. (Note the bitter sarcasm.)

That is all I have time to write at the moment. Lunch is over.

Hej då.

I hate titles!

So, from May 22 to May 27, my girlfriend was down in Florida, visiting me! Woo! Great times. She always makes everything down here so much better. She makes me happy. We did lots of cool stuff. Went out to eat (Japanese, mmm), played miniature golf, played badminton, went swimming, and a random assortment of other amusing activities! It was great, great fun.

Yikes

18 days without a post!

I'll post something later. Mini-vacations and visits from my girlfriend. Happy times!

Busy!

Busy, busy, busy! I don't have time! I'm working hard. I'm posting from work in the brief free moment I have... and it's not even 7:30am!

I'll try to post something later. I need a vacation!

Huh?

This is a placeholder.

I'll edit this post with something more meaningful later.

Or not.

Haven't decided yet.

Earth Day

It's Earth Day. You know, the day when all the peace-loving, tree-hugging hippies of the world go outside and plant a tree or two. In honor of the day, I am wearing a shirt that reads "Save Energy, Wear a Dirty Shirt." Quite amusing if I do say so myself. I shall even forgo doing my laundry until Sunday. I'm doing my part. Are you? Hm?

Hm... that's all. Happy Earth Day!

Let's see... do I have a picture for this? Let's see... *checks*.... I do! A tree. Enjoy.

It's Sunday!

Just thought I'd let you know that. Quite considerate of me, I know.

Once again, I have nothing much to say. I survived the layoffs at work and still have my job. I can't say the same for the 60 or so people (17% of the total corporate staff) who saw their positions eliminated. I know the feeling. I was laid off, along with 600 other people, when I worked for the US Postal Service. It's irritating.

I got a new picture for my driver's license on Friday. I should have had it done years ago, but always put it off. The original picture was more than 9 ears old and didn't look anything like me anymore. I even got grief at the airport when the person who checks tickets and ID's didn't believe it was me.

I also got stung by a bee. On my hand. And it hurts. Badly. The original sting doesn't hurt. That was only slightly annoying for about 10 seconds when it first happened. When I woke up Saturday morning, though, I could bend my index finger and the area between my index finger and thumb was red. Apparently I didn't suck the stinger out. Thought I had. It still hurts a bit, but should be fine in the morning.

My mother bought a new laptop. It's awesome. It's Windows Vista and is a better system overall (save for the graphics card) than my desktop. Bigger harddrive, faster, same amout of RAM, but everything is so new and pretty and it works faster. It's wonderful.

Apparently I did have stuff to say. That's all, though.

Hej då.

Number 90

Here. A random picture. (It's funny the stuff one finds on one's harddrive.)

I was stuck at 89 posts. Obviously I had to post again. I can't just leave it at 89. It's just such an... odd number. I like things to be nice and even, though I'd prefer 100 posts. For the moment, though, I shall be content with 90.

The NHL playoffs are in full swing and some of the teams I want to win are winning! Glorious day!

There is nothing else for me to say. Why don't you people do something interesting and worthwhile? It's because of all of you that I have nothing to say. For shame.

Slooooooow

Fridays are slow. Once again, I'm at work. There's very little to do. I just spent the last half hour doing a crossword puzzle on Yahoo!. I've also read the local comics on the internet and tuned into the radio show that I normally listen to. Now I'm taking a few minutes to write all of this. Busy, busy, busy stuff. I think now I'm going to clean the dirt from under my fingernails.

I'm at work...

... but there's a lull in the work right now, so I'm taking the time, company time, mind you, to post something. I'm listening to the MJ Morning Show on 93.3 WFLZ, a local radio station. Good stuff. I listen to it every morning. It makes the day go by a little more quickly. It ends at 10, though, but that's okay because my first break of the day comes at 10. Come noon, the NHL radio show comes on, so I can an additional two hours of wonderfulness! I just log on to NHL.com and tune in to the radio show from there. It's awesome. It breaks up the monotony of the day. On Thursday, there are two NHL radio shows, which is great because Thursdays are my long (10 hour) days and I get to listen to them both. Good stuff there.

Um... that's about it.

Whoa!

...and just like that, I've abandoned you all again! What the..? How can I be so rude? I feel ever so ashamed. I truly do.



Okay, I lied. I don't feel that bad about it, but I do admit to feeling the tiniest, little pang of guilt way down in the pit of my stomach. That might be gas, though. No... no, it's guilt. Sorry!

What can I say, though? There's nothing much to write about. Nothing worthwhile anyway. The Devils are going to playoffs for the 11th straight year and will hopefully raise Lord Stanley's Cup for the fourth time since the '94-'95 season. The San Jose Sharks are undefeated in their 20 (yes, twenty) games. The Pittburgh Penguins dominate the East and Alex Ovechkin and Co. in Washington give the Carolina Hurricanes a run for their money in the Southeast Division.

Life is good.

The weekend is upon us

We are at the threshhold of a three day weekend!

That's it. That's all you get. Just the excitement of a three day weekend. A long, deserved three day weekend.

Chop, chop.

Apparently the men decided our tree in the front needed trimming. Not there's much left of it anyway. That tree has been there since we moved here, but I'm not really attached to it. It could go, I guess. It's a huge tree, as you can see, but it's dead or dying. Most of it anyway. Spring leaves mask the mostly bare limbs. Come fall, though, it looks like it does in the picture. Not pretty. Just kind... blah.

Um...

Does anyone see the irony in holding a 3 hour meeting about Time Management?

Or that the section about procrastination was held last?

Ugh....

I woke up this morning dead tired, with a nasty headache, with only one functioning nostril, and an upset stomach. This is not how I want to my weekend. No, thank you. I went to church, sat down, struck up an awkward conversation with some old lady, then got up and went home before the service even started. No, thanks. Not sticking around for that when I'm feeling ready to revisit the half a slice of pizza I took in last night. I'll pass on that.

I feel better now. I just needed to rest, I suppose. There's a hockey game on and that always gets your mind off of your troubles. It's such a wonderful sport. The only real sport. Right now, Pittsburgh is leading Philadelphia 2-0 in the 1st period. That makes me feel even better! Words cannot express how much I loathe Philadelphia. It gives me so much pleasure and joy to see them having to fight for their playoff spot and lose all of these extremely important games. Here's to Washington to try to wrestle away that 8th and final playoff spot from Philly. I'm pulling for you, Ovechkin.

I cleaned my room. I did my laundry. I even fixed myself a light lunch, consisting of toast and a handful of potato chips. Hey, I don't feel well. What do you expect? I probably could have done without the chips, though.... but they did taste good.

I'm off for now as, like most days, I have nothing of any real importance to say.

Hej då.

Do you...

...ever feel completely out of place at social events? I do. Every time. This is why I avoid them most of the time. I generally don't know the people that are going and I don't have anything to say. Tonight, I attended a social event at a pizza place. All of the people sit around me, talking it up, and I sit there staring at a half empty glass of water. The highlight of the evening is when the waiter/waitress comes by and asks if I want more water. Then and only then is something said or asked that I can relate to and respond to. This is why I don't get out much.

I guess I could attempt to make conversation, but I've never been very good at it. I'm not the type of person that demands to know every little detail about every little thing. I just don't have to know, and often times I don't think to ask someone to elaborate. I ask a question, they answer, and it ends. I'm told quite often that I'm extremely difficult to talk to. I realize this. I try, but it's just not in my nature. There's also the fact that I don't know the person and most likely won't be able to relate to anything they have to say. How do you deal with that?

I made a random comment here and there and someone would respond, but that was the extent of my involvement in the conversations at hand. For an hour after we ate, we stood outside the restaurant and everyone talked. I stood there. Silently. Everyone knows everyone else and went on and on about things I hadn't a clue about. I, being relatively new to the church where these people came from, didn't know anyone. I was introduced to a guy that my brother was talking to, but I forgot his name seconds later. That's not because I wasn't paying attention, but it's because I have a terrible short term memory. I leaned up against a wall for most of the hour and watched people.

I guess that despite being so uncomfortable at these things, I would probably go again if asked. I've been a bit more social lately. I guess this is just something you go through, especially being some that's so shy. It's inevitable to feel weird. Maybe the mor eI do these things, the better I'll be able to talk to these people. They seemed nice enough, I suppose. Meh. I don't know. They're all married off with kids of their own. I can't relate to that. I don't even have a girlfriend. Hm.

There's a hockey game on. I'm going to watch that.

Hej då.

And...

...And yet I keep coming back to this blog. Despite the fact that I really have nothing to say. Despite the fact that today, like all the rest, contained nothing of any real importance. It is, however, a Friday. That, my friends, is a good thing. This has been a very long week and I am glad the weekend is now finally upon us. It is time to rest and relax. It is time to think about everything that doesn't pertain to work and be happy while doing it.

I got off early on Fridays (I'm home by 2:15pm-2:30pm), which is great, but I've come to the realization that there is NOTHING good on TV during the day time. I'm sorry, but who gives a flip about all of these old shows they show re-runs of? Who cares about talk shows? Who cares about Dr. Freaking Phil, the fat, bald blowhole? I want something with action! I want something to explode in the first 20 seconds of watching it. Otherwise, it's not worth watching. The good news is that there's pizza. Even though there's nothing worth watching on TV, my stomach and taste buds are happy.

That's all you get today. Hej då.

Insert Title Here

You see, the problem with writing a blog is that everyone expects you to keep it updated. This can be an issue when you really have nothing to say or when the life you lead is uneventful. It could be argued that one could make their life eventful for the sake of amusing the blogging masses, but that would require more effort than that person is willing to put forth. Then again, I guess it would depend on what it is that can be more eventful. I might have to get off my rear end.

I wrote a lot when I first made this blog. Look at that. 67 entries in 2007. It's hardly what some of those veteran bloggers do, but I have to work on occasion, so that cuts down on my sit down and type time. Those people are also usually so concerned with politics or movie stars that they lose the personal touches a blog can have. Who cares what Jessica Alba for for lunch today. I don't want to read that. I do, however, want to know that little Johnny down the road from you shot himself in the foot with a nail gun after falling off the roof. It's those little local and personal things that attract me. Not Hollywood. Or Washington DC.

It's a shame that people that of the 4 people that read my blog, only one of them can actually respond to my hockey comments with an real knowledge. Maybe two. Janne, being Swedish, is naturally knowledgeable about Peter Forsberg and the sort, but how much he actually follows hockey is beyond me. I have no clue. This statistic hinders what I can write about. I only know so much and eventually, I will run out of original things to say. Then again, I'm sure this very blog has been written by someone else, somewhere in the world. I've lost originality and I haven't even finished writing.

Tomorrow is Friday. Rejoice! This is a happy time. Weekends, though short, are quite welcome in this corner of the world. There's nothing like getting up at 7am on Saturday morning and flipping on the morning cartoons while you munch down on a bowl of Lucky Charms. I don't do either, mind you, but the point remains. Weekends are fun.

My music of choice at the moment is actually something out of the norm for me. The noise blasting through my headphones and into my ears is actually something that could only be described as heavy metal/rock. Shocking, I know, especially given my utter dislike for rock-ish style music. (Or any music for that reason, I suppose. My palate of tolerable music is quite bland, I assure you.)

There's a hockey game on. That takes precedence over this. Hej då.

Ja, ja, I'm here.

So it has come to my attention that I need to update this thing. It turns out, much to my surprise, that people actually take the time to read what I have to say. Apparently, though, no one gives a flip about Foppa, his flop, or his return the National Hockey League and the Colorado Avalanche. This is depressing as I have had nothing to say aside from that for the last long while.

I am, however, back for now. What I shall write, I have no clue. I don't plan these things. I start with a blank page and make things up as I go along. That's why some posts are 12 and a half pages long and someone are a sentence long. If you're lucky, I'll even post a picture. I haven't done that in quite a while. Today is your lucky day, however, because I am going to post a picture.

There. A picture. A picture of my back yard no less. A picture of a beautiful day in my back yard. Look at that. Bright blue sky, a few fluffy, white clouds floating by. Not a drop of rain any where in sight. Bright green trees sway in the gentle breeze. Sometimes Florida isn't that bad. Most of the time it is. That's all you get for the pictures.

What am I supposed to write now? Nothing has happened that is worth noting. Nothing has happened that is worth noting that the people who read this don't already know. For you folk that actually read this and aren't part of my personal visible group of people, speak up. I know you're out there. Lurking. I don't like spies. SPAIS!!! OH NOEZ!!1one! Show yourself. Okay, that was random and I apologize for that. I spend too much time on internet forums, watching 15 year olds make posts.

I'm currently listening to: Socker, by Kent. What? You shouldn't be surprised. What else do I listen to? This song, however, is a little blasphemous. I did refuse to listen to it for a while because of the English translation to the song, but then I started listening to it again, using the justification that I'm enjoying the music, not the lyrics. As the song is in Swedish, that is a valid excuse. Then again, I know what is being said. May not work.

Work is slow. It's always slow. Thursdays are particularly painful as I sit in my little cubicle from 4pm-6pm and twiddle my thumbs. Why I'm required to work for 10 hours on Thursdays is beyond me. I guess I shouldn't complain because I get out early on Fridays, but... gah. Give me a break.

I went out for pizza last Saturday with a little party for my brother's birthday. We went to a movie afterward, even though my brother didn't go to that. It was too late and he had to go get his kids. I went with his brother in law and his wife, a friend of his from school and his wife, and a girl that goes that goes to his church. Good company. We were cracking jokes throughout the movie. There were only, including us, about a dozen people in the entire theater (it was late at night), so no one seemed to mind that we were laughing.

I am going out to the same pizza place this coming Saturday for a church thing. Hm. I don't know any of the people that are going (because it is my brother's church), but I felt like being slightly more social, so I accepted the invite to go. I should point out the pizza was not wonderful the first time I went and I don't hold much hope that it will be any beter this time around. I'm surprisingly pessimistic for someone trying to be positive for once and be social.

My brother just purchased his very own 50" Hi-Def Plasma TV. I'm proud. It's identical to the one that I have. His other TV was on the fritz and it was time for a new one. It's so pretty. If I didn't have one of my own, I'd be at his house every tim a hockey game was being shown.

I bought new pants recently. Khakis. Nifty. That's all I have to say about that, though. No. I'm not going to provide pictures of myself wearing them. That would take far too much time and effort and since most of the people that read this know me personally and see me often, you've already seen them.

I still play CyberNations. If you don't, you should. Then you should join the Viridian Entente alliance. I was recently promoted to the Academy Staff of the alliance. That means I get to grade your entrance exam. Don't fail. I have a big red marker now and I'm not afraid to declare proudly that you failed with a giant F on your forehead.

Hm... that's it, I think. What else? Nothing else, I guess.

Hej då.

Foppa flops.

"Agent: Forsberg Not Returning To NHL

Peter Forsberg has apparently made his decision, just not the one many NHL teams were hoping for. Forsberg's agent, Don Baizley, said the forward isn't confident he's healthy enough and advised teams Monday it's unlikely he will return to the NHL this season."


I grow very tired of Forsberg's antics. Play or don't. Stop screwing with everybody. If you say no now, don't come back. If you say yes, come back and play the game. You're a good player and a good person for being concerned with your health and how it might affect the TEAM, but... there comes a point when it just becomes too much.

More Lyrics

"Elefanter - Kent"

Album: Tillbaka Till Samtiden

De pratade om dig via kortvåg

så mycket kommer jag ihåg

Du log mot mig när du

betalade för min tystnad

och jag glömde vad jag såg

Du var en fadersgestalt i en taxi

med järngrep om mitt hår

du log mot mig och suckade

Föraren det är din tur snart

Jag såg min kropp ovanifrån

I hela mitt liv har jag väntat

på någon som liknade dig

hur kunde du lämna mig ensam

i en värld som har blivit så hård

I hela mitt liv har jag längtat

långt, längre bort härifrån

Nu står du först på min lista

över folk som förtjänar ett

öde värre än döden...

I hela mitt liv har jag väntat

på någon som liknade dig

hur kunde du lämna mig ensam

i en värld som blivit så hård

I hela mitt liv har jag längtat

långt, längre bort härifrån

Nu är du struken från listan

jag har lärt mig av dig

alla öden är värre än döden

Lyrics

"LSD, Någon?" - Kent

Album: Tillbaka Till Samtiden

Ingen kommer hit för

att återvända

Man tänker på sig själv först

Ingen annan

En enkel regel

Cirkeln sluts igen

Vid ringen på centralen

I den stora stygga stan åh

Ingen annanstans

kan man vara ensam som just här

Isen på riddarfjärden

smäller som gevär

Blåljus vid tegelbacken

Våren är här

Du står i spegelsalen med

Ett brännbollsträ

Där ute väntar natten på

På att stan ska implodera

Jag finns här för dig

Jag finns här för dig

Alla kommer hem

Som spöken återvänder

Man lär sig leva med sig

Själv först

Inget annat

Det är det som gäller

Ingen på vägarna

Bara döda grävlingar

I en sömnig liten stad, åh

Ingen annanstand

Kan man vara ensam som just här

En sista buss i regnet

Sen får man gå

Som pest bland ungdomsgängen

Slår acnen till

Folk börjar slåss i trängseln

Och helgen exploderar

Jag finns här för dig

Jag finns här för dig

Jag finns här för dig

Jag finns här för dig

What?

Um. McCain's winning. Yay!

What? That's all I have to say! You're all boring! If you did something even remotely entertaining, I would write about it! You're all failing me. For shame. You should all be ashamed.

I had Japanese last night. Mmm, squid....

Bah.

I'll post something later.

Football and me

My problem with football has always been this: It's boring. It's the same thing over and over again (kind of like baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf..... etc). It's always 20 people running into each other and someone trying to catch a ball. This is exciting... why? I understand the concept of the sport and I even understand a lot of the rules, but in the end, it's repetetive and boring. This can be said about most sports, though; even hockey at times. My other problem with football is that there are only 16 games played in a regular season... and there is a week off (or more) in between every game! Now explain to me why the team who wins the Super Bowl at the end of the whole ordeal is deserving of such an honor? They play 19 games (?) in total. Whoopdy-frick. They get all the time in the world to rest and relax in between every single game. This is not a battle for supremacy, this is a holiday resort in Tahiti.

Sports like hockey, however, is a battle. That's what makes it fun to watch and follow. They play 82 games throughout their regular season, play games in back to back days, rarely get more than a few days off, let alone a week or even two. They work so much harder than football players, too. In football, players much focus their energy and give their all in a short, 30-second burst. Big whoop. Every time a hockey players steps onto the ice, it's an entire shift of pure 110% effort. It's giving your all the entire time you're on the ice. It's hard. It's fast. People are checked through sheets of plexiglass. Football players can hit hard, but wouldn't last a minute in the NHL after getting slammed into the boards by a 6'4, 220lb defensemen while traveling at 10mph on skates.

I suppose all that was just to say... it's rare... VERY rare that I ever even let my TV land on a channel showing another sport.

I watched a football game last night... almost in its entirety. This is a first for me. The only reason I watched it was because it was in hi def and looked quite pretty on my TV, but the point remains, I watched it. It wasn't entirely unentertaining either. I'm not a football fan in the least, but it was not unpleasant to watch a bunch of fat and angry men run around in -2 degree (F) weather. I'm only entertained if someone gets their head taken off by a bone crunching check (hm... no, that's not right. That's hockey. This is football... what do you call those things?.. ah, right. Tackles.) or if someone runs the length of the football field for a touchdown and proceeds to do an endzone dance. While I did the see the former, I did see the latter (to an extent) and was adequately entertained for a few moments. After the effect wore off, I went back to watching the yellow piece of trash that was tumbling across the field (a yellow piece of paper that I thought was a flag at one point). It looked pretty in hi def.

While I may not have directly paid attention to the game itself, I was on the channel and looking at the TV. That's a plus in my book, I think.

So now there's this thing called the Super Bowl. Have I ever watched one? No. I watched the commercials, though. Funny stuff. Do I have any real desire to watch the Super Bowl? No, not really. In light, however, of my recent and not terrible experience with the National Football League, (and provided nothing better is showing on the Discovery Channel, G4 Network, or the Cartoon Network) I might watch a minute or two (but only if it's in hi def). If that time is not awful, I might watch more of it. I give you no promises I'll be paying attention, though. Should a bird fly into view of the camera, I assure you my focus will change to that quite quickly. Birds amuse me. Field goals don't. Still, though, there's that chance I might watch it. This is an exciting and new chapter to my life. The beginning of toleration. That doesn't happen often either. Exciting time, my friends.

I guess the whole point of what I'm trying to say is... hockey's better.

Cyber Nations

You should all sign up and play Cyber Nations. It's fun and free.

www.cybernations.net

You make a country, build it up, trade with other nations, join alliances, and war with people. It's quite a lot of fun.

Here is my nation: http://cybernations.net/nation_drill_display.asp?Nation_ID=170094

Don't...

Don't pick your nose in the car. We can all see you.

As I drove home from work the other day, the girl in the car behind me proceeded to pick her nose, look at it, then grin. Fortunately, I didn't see what she did with it.

If you're sitting at a stop light, just look ahead. Don't make yourself look foolish.

A great day for the Capitals

Ovechkin, Capitals Agree To Deal

Alexander Ovechkin agreed to a 13-year, $124 million contract extension with the Capitals on Thursday. The former Calder Trophy winner was in the final year of a three-year, entry-level deal.

(Thanks to espn.com/nhl for this.)

Washington Capital fans, rejoice. Alex Ovechkin isn't going anywhere for a long, long time.

This spells disaster for the Southeast Division who, under the current scheduling system (which should change next season), sees the mighty AO 32 times in an 82 game season. Ovechkin has torched every single team in the Southeast and will continue to do so for years to come. This is a great deal for Washington and its fans...

...in the short term. What happens when in 4 or 5 years Ovechkin gets injured and sits for half a season? What happens when, as some stars do, AO cools down and he becomes just another name in a long list of scoring stats?

The problem with these super long term deals, as I see it anyway, is that there are so many variables that can happen at any point down the road. Rick DiPietro's 15-year contract with the New York Islanders, Mike Richards 12-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, and now Ovechkin's 13-year deal with the Capitals. (I'm not sure that when people sign these contracts that they truly acknowledge just how long they are. DiPietro will be in his 40's when his contract runs out and Richards and Ovechkin will be in their mid to late 30's.) While all three players are truly wonderful athletes and (currently) assets to their teams, it cannot be healthy to anyone to sign players to such long contracts. If Ovechkin gets hurt or simply doesn't play as well, the Capitals will be stuck paying him an outrageous amount of money for a long, long time. In fact, because of that, these superstar players suddenly have no more motivation to give their game their all. Why bother when in the end, you're still getting paid insane amounts of money?

Deals like this hurt the team. Selfish players can break the team and your wallet. So can injuries. The same situation applies to injuries. DiPietro has been hurt quite a bit this season already and has missed a number of games. The team's owners are still paying him countless millions anyway. This hurts the team because whether or not he plays, he counts against the salary cap. These long term deals, which most often include no-trade clauses for the players, make it impossible to keep core players around long enough to make a legitimate run for the playoffs or for Lord Stanley's Cup. Players demand millions more than they currently make after having good seasons. If they don't get that from their native team, they go elsewhere.

These players aren't worth this much money either. DiPietro with a 15yr/$67 million deal, Richards with a 12yr/$62 million (?) deal, and Ovechkin with a 13yr/$124 million deal. Are athletes... or really anyone... really worth this much money? No. It's obscene. It does nothing but hurt you in the long run.

Not wasting any time!

Boy, event planners of 2008 aren't wasting any time getting things moving, are they? Right off the bat, we have state caucuses for the US Presidential race, then we have Iranian speedboats foolishly (nay, idiotically) harassing US warships, and then here in Florida we have a 70 car pileup due to a combination of fog and smoke (the smoke coming from a "controlled" burn that suddenly went out of control).

Now, only one of these items isn't bad. Well, I suppose that depends on how you look at it, lol, but only two of them could have (or in the case of #3, DID) taken lives. Still, though, despite the bleak outlook at the start of a fresh new year, this year looks to be quite eventful. Eventful = Great! Life gets boring. World news is fun. I know it could be better world news, but it's still news and it's new. New is exciting. Good or bad.

Honestly, I've never voted, but I'm an unnofficial republican. Why? I like the name better than democrat... and I'd rather be an elephant than a jacka... er... Well, a donkey. I don't know who I'd vote for, though. I suppose if I had to pick right now, I'd vote for either John McCain or Rudy Guiliani (though the latter will probably not make it to the final race). If neither one winds up on the final ballot, I hope it's Mike Huckabee. Despite his tax issues, I have no real issue with him.

Despite who wins, though, I hope it's not Hillary. I have no problem whatsoever about a female being president. Men and women are equal. I just don't want that woman to be Hillary. I don't want her running the country for another 8 years (do you really think it was Bill for 8 years before? If so, pass the weed, bro.). I'm not sure how I feel about Obama. My biggest issue with him is that he's a Muslim. I'm sorry, but I don't want a Muslim running this nation. The fact that he's black has no bearing on my feelings. Like with women, black people are equal to everyone else and have just as much right to be a president as anyone else, but the fact that Mr. Obama is a Muslim deep down worries me. The United States was founded on Christian principles... I don't want to start seeing Qurans being sold at the local book store.

Before I get myself into more trouble for that entire paragraph, I'll move on the idiots that run Iran. I'm sorry, but do you really think harassing US warships is a good idea? I italicize the word warships for emphasis. They are WARships. These destroyers could have obliterated those Iranian speed boats at the dock before anyone had a chance to throw on a life jacket. They chose not to. In fact, Iran is only still around because we don't feel like taking the time to blast them into oblivion. The Iranian president, whose name I can't be bothered to remember or even spell for that matter, once said that he would wipe Israel from the face of the planet. Well, paco, we can wipe YOU from the face of the planet. It would be much less stressful for the rest of the world, too. It's one less scumbag wreaking havoc for everyone else unfortunate enough to be in the neighborhood of the Middle East.

Iran is obviously a terrorist country. It always has been. It just doesn't have the balls to step up and challenge the United States outright. So it resorts to petty little threats and speedboats. Come on, you pansies. If you have a problem with the US, come out and say it, step up, and do something about it, or sit down and shut yer yaps before we decide you're annoying enough to remove you from power. It can and would be done.

Iran is not a big enough threat to the world that we couldn't simply squeeze them to death with no more effort than it takes to pop a zit. They should realize that.

Anyway, that's enough about world events. It did give me something to write about, though, so that's a good thing. I've been rather quiet lately as a result of nothing interesting going on.

There was a 70 (though reports currently say 50) car pileup here in Florida this morning. Nasty stuff. 8 people confirmed dead and I'm sure there are still people trapped in their vehicles. Yuck. I'm glad I didn't have to take that road to work. I'd still be trying to get to work!

That's all for now.

It's a new year!

It's 2008! Time flies when you're having fun. I like new years. It's a fresh new year. It's a fresh new start. Time to make things different and better than years past.

Well, let's see. I bought myself a PlayStation 3. Pricey, yes, but well worth the money I spent. I got three games to go along with it: Resistance: Fall of Man, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Assassin's Creed. All three simply blow my mind. Graphics-wise, gameplay, everything. They are simply amazing. They all run in Hi-Def on my 50" plasma. It's so beautiful. I weep tears of happyness whenever I fire up a game and play.

Assassin's Creed, my brother told me, was very irritating and boring because you have to do the same thing for every mission you get, but he was sadly mistaken (and so are those who wrote the review on it). AC is an amazing game. The graphics are top notch, the fighting system is second to none, and just the gamplay in general is fantastic. The only qualm I have about it is the storyline and the rather religious (or rather anti-Christian) aspect of the game. That's just my personal feeing, though. I still enjoy the game immensely.

CoD4 is very short, but still very fun. Once again, the graphics blew my mind and it was a ton of fun. The online play, which I've dabbled in a few times (though my internet likes to cut out in the middle of playing...), takes a lot of getting used to, but that's because you start out with cruddy weapons and have to earn your ranks to get better things.

Resistance was amazing, graphics-wise, and it was a great game for me to play first and test out the capabilities of the PS3. It set the standard for all the other games (which, wonderfully, met the bar and sometimes exceeded). I always love a good FPS, and Resistance delivered.

Anyway, that's all for now. Happy New Year!