Monday, January 26, 2009

Lazy Day Limerick

Been a while, time for a limerick!

A sailor who slept in the sun
Woke to find his fly-buttons undone.
He remarked with a smile
'By Jove, a sundial -
And now it's a quarter past one!'

Song lyric of the day "Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future" Steve Miller Band

Until next time.

Ace

Friday, January 23, 2009

Misnomer

Perhaps the title of my last post was a bit too ambitious. While I've been intent on "revving up", I've hit a bit of a stumbling block: My textbooks have not yet arrived! For each of my classes I ordered the books online the day after my first class. And that was nearly two weeks ago. In one case, I even selected expedited shipping. I hope they arrive today because I have a boatload of reading to catch up on!

I actually ducked out of class at the break earlier this week. For one, the class was boring as all get out. For another, having not read the materials, I was feeling a little naked. So, I quietly snuck out as everyone headed out for a break. I'm sure the person I was working with in small group work was happy since I was completely unprepared to provide any assistance whatsoever. Anyhow, that one looks like it's going to be a real snoozer.

I am hopeful that these classes turn out to be useful but I'm not very hopeful of that at the moment.

I also forgot to mention that I got the latest Guns N Roses CD for Christmas. Now Axl and me, we go way back, just like old pals, or at least pals that he didn't kick out of his band. (Seriously, I don't think being friends with this guy is a very good place to be). GNR is one of the first bands I really liked as a young tike. Armed with this information, you now know enough to never read this blog again. But anyhow, I just wanted to say that the CD is pretty good. Axl's voice still sounds good, the music has a rich, layered sound to it and there is some excellent guitar work. Of course, when you have 3 guitarists and 13 years put into an album, you'd kind of expect a lot to be going on in the music. There were a few songs that didn't do much for me but overall I thought it was a very solid effort. So there. And if you happen to be irrationally offended at the amount of time it took Axl to release this thing, just be glad it's hear and give it a spin. Not that I'm talking to anyone specific here. No Duch, no one specific at all. Carry on.

Song lyric of the day "You could be miyiyiyine / but you're waaaaay out of liyine" GNR

Until next time.

Ace



Song lyric of the day "

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Revving up

As I bask in the tropical warmth of 20 degree weather, I am finding it necessary to get things rolling on another semester of school. Dr. King's holiday spared me from class last night but we're back at it tonight. Unfortunately, I haven't received any of my textbooks yet that I ordered early last week. Nothing like starting out a week or two behind!

I'm very excited as a couple of close friends are getting ready to tie the knot in a couple weeks in Mexico. That decision (the Mexico part) is looking smarter every day. The other part of the decision was looking good from the get go! As near as I can tell, it is the last imminent nuptial among my close friends. While there are certainly some other possibilities, they don't look to be very immediate. It's sort of strange, there used to be a half dozen weddings every year to attend. Guess I'm getting old....

With every wedding comes the bachelor / bachelorette party. I partook in the bachelor half this past weekend. And while it's generally taboo to discuss what occurs in these uber-secret shows of ridiculousity, I'll just say that there were a LOT of legs.

Song lyric of the day "She's got legs / and she knows how to use them" ZZ Top

Until next time.

Ace

Thursday, January 15, 2009

'Nuff said



Song lyric of the day: "Driving around town with a soda between my legs / I've got numb nuts" Untitled Reptile House

Until next time.

Ace

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Mother flippin freezin!

Folks, I've finally thawed my numbed extremities and I'm done making out with my snow shovel. Is it spring yet? Sheesh, less than a month til pitchers and catchers report at least. I'm pleased to report that I have 3 trips in the next six weeks to warmer locales, Mexico, California and Texas. Maybe I can string them all together and not come back until April. I heard on the news yesterday that my area has already received the amount of snow it usually gets in an entire season. And that weather models show we've only received 40% of what we're going to get this season. Ugh! And tomorrow the temperature is not supposed to creep above 0. Unreal.

I haven't had much that's newsworthy to report on. But I did begin my new semester this week, with two classes fired up. One of them is similar to my class last semester in that a major portion of my grade is tied up in a research paper, this one required to be 18-20 pages. Man, I really don't like writing these things! The other one looks like a piece of cake, take home mid-term and final, and 6 reading responses. Sweet! So, not a ton of busy work in either. Both are pretty technical classes though, so I hope they become interesting. The first session of each was not promising!

And it looks like I will make my glorious return to soccer coaching this spring, doubling up once again for two teams. Sweetness! This time, I'm planning on incorporating corporal punishment into my coaching regimen, while teaching the kids how to chew tobacco and swear. Going to be great.

Big poker tourney coming up this Friday. Winner will payout north of $1k and it looks like a pretty small turnout is expected. Wish me luck!

Song lyric of the day "Back in school / we are the leaders of it all" Deftones

Until next time.

Ace

Friday, January 2, 2009

2008 in review

I'm sure as we all flip the calendar to 2009, we'll look back at this past year with an awareness of the many challenges we've faced personally and, if you are reading this in the US, nationally. God knows they've been chronicled endlessly, even here to some degree. But when I look back on 2008, I'm going to think back to the many blessings that came the way of me and loved ones. Much of this has been documented here previously but I want to take inventory.

Of course, the best thing is the fact that most of my family stayed in relatively good health. Not perfect, but definitely not too bad. And when you're dealing with 3 young monkeys, it's always good to go a calendar year without dramatic incident!

Our family also went back to a double income household, despite tremendous trepidation on our part. It has been a significant lifestyle change, and there has been a lot of sacrifice involved. But we're making the best of it. While I don't expect it to remain this way forever, we've gotten ourselves used to this way of life and I hope we can improve it in steps. The better half has been an absolute rock as this change came to be and I cannot be thankful enough for that. Beyond that, simply being employed qualifies as an accomplishment in this economic environment, and I remain glad for that.

On the school front, I have blasted my way through six classes. It hasn't been easy, but that hasn't stopped me from performing well and enjoying it to a degree. I've also traversed the treacherous trail of graduate application and gained admittance to the graduate program I wanted. Additionally, I've solidified my schedule as I remain focused on the ultimate goal of moving into a teacher role.

I have also strengthened some great friendships this year and made several new friends that I look forward to getting to know better. Not to mention the roughly 26,000 births that have occurred among my many friends, nearly all without a hitch, and no hitch too significant regardless.

And on a few trivial notes, I've been able to enjoy some great new music, both recorded and live from many of my favorite bands and have enjoyed making some new favorites. I can also add a silly fantasy baseball championship to my resume, woooohoooo!

All in all, 2008 was pretty good to me and my crew, and for that, I'll remember it as a good year. I hope you all can say the same. But if not, there's always another chance here in 2009.

Song lyric of the day "I'm scared of the future but I'm bored with the past" Local H, Halcyon Days

Until next time.

Ace