After Nearly a Decade

I'm retiring from fencing. No more fencing, no more coaching, no more refereeing starting August 1st, 2008.

Why? it's not because I'm burnt out in the sense that I've had too much fencing. It's more that this has always been my plan. To start something, raise it up, and then turn it over to the people who asked for it - the members. Now that RCF is incorporated, I only serve to stand in the way of preventing many people from doing the work that one man cannot. The tools are there, the armorers, the coaches, the refs, the facility, it is far from an impossible situation.

My hope is that people will take it upon themselves to do more demos, to bring in friends, to teach each other to do the things they have learned. In the mean time, I will be regaining my weekend, my evenings, and my opportunity to be a the kind of guy who is "a family man", or to do some side projects at work, like training other developers to use our software, or to take a business course, or learn more about electronics, or read, or any of those things that I've left in a pile on the side while I worked with fencing.

I know that many of you define me through my fencing, but it's the right move for the club, it's the right move for me too.

I have eaten

I have eaten no less than three delicious Cadbury Creme Eggs today. Mmmmm.

Oh yes, it will be mine

The keyboard I've always dreamed about, but I thought manufacturers were too dumb to make. Easy to hold, built in mouse in the form of a touch pad, and freakin' Bluetooth. Ships later this moth to a Will Read near you!

The Good Girl

So last night I watched The Good Girl with Jennifer Aniston. As soon as I sat down and got to the DVD menu I realized I had already seen it, and that it had left a bad taste in my mouth, but decided to watch it anyway, just to see why.

It's an independent film, so the transitions are weird, and it has a stale-lack-of-soundtrack feel to it, which works in this case. The movie focuses on this one woman who hates her life, because it is so bland. She meets a guy, a boy really, who gives her a chance to escape and in turn she'd be helping him escape the same plight. But she chickens out and people all around her get hurt because she's unwilling to own up to her actions and insecurities.

And then it ends. That's it. "People can't change", says the film writer. I get it, but I hate it.

My Next PC

I'm in the market for a new computer since my current one is showing it's age. I also plan to change the way I compute at home.

1. 
   
   I plan to get an LCD TV "soon" (within a year), 1080p, probably around 42". It'll sit in my living room, I'll hook the Wii up to it. It won't reflect. It'll be great.
   
   


2. 
   
   Said TV will have DVI or VGA input so I can hook my computer up to it. It'll also have USB hopefully so I can jack in my camera or whatever.
   
   


3. 
   
   I only use my computer to surf the web and watch movies. I'm not a PC gamer, I don't develop software at home really.
   
   

So my dilemma is that I just need a browser and movie player. I can get a crappy browser form my Wii, so if it just played movies, even ones I downloaded it'd be perfect, no PC needed at all (well I'd want a keyboard too, but I'm told some USB keyboards work with the Wii already). Any suggestions? I don't really want an Xbox 360.

I Knew It, I Just Couldn't Find It

After a conversation with Eric while at work, I realized the word I was looking for was "curiosity".

To Stand

This weekend, I was asked by the GD and The Lady Hizzle to stand in their wedding this Summer. I'm not certain that I was able to convey over the phone just how special that made me feel. I've always wanted to stand in someone's wedding, to be one of the selected few that a couple has chosen to represent the love and support they will need to help their marriage grow and remain healthy.

I like Matt and Lauren, and I like them together. I've known Matt since my freshman year in college. He was always my sounding board whether I wanted to sound off or not. He got me to talk about how I felt, understand my own value system through his constant, yet enjoyable questioning.

Lauren I've always liked. I remember talking to Matt back when I'd tease him about having "a woman in every port", and he told me that he'd cut the strings with all the others to be with this one girl. While Matt didn't say it, I knew she was very special to him. Driving home after that talk I thought about it, and in Matt-like fashion I said "I bet they get married." Like Matt, she's proven to be a good friend to me. I remember playing Monopoly with her one day when she was still going to Purdue and Matt was off in Chicago. She's great with introspection too, I know whenever I've got an issue that needs a woman's perspective that I can turn to her.

These two people have shaped my life more than most. I hope that one day I find what they have found in each other. I am proud, not just to stand in a wedding, but to stand in their wedding. They honor me more than they know.

Sweaters

I was driving in my car with Josh [for 12 hours] this past weekend when we went by the "Homelesss to Harvard" inspirational sign with that chick on it. I always note that she's a cute girl, and it got me thinking about how women can look good in knit sweaters. Josh didn't believe me. So tonight I went looking for proof. I found this, and let me just say that I've never been so happy it's cold outside in all my life. Not exactly what I set out to find, but wow, I didn't know they could do that with sweaters.

Anyway, it also reminds me that I was in Target the other day thinking that melanie would look good in a ladies zip-up hoodie. I meant to tell her as much, and now that I'm thinking about it, I'll go ahead and tell you all too, "Melanie would look good in a ladies zip-up hoodie." Now you know.

Insight FTW

Sure enough, my cable modem died late Thursday. It was giving flakey connections to instant messaging services and then failed altogether. The lone blinking Internet light being the only indication that it it was getting power. After a phone call last night, Insight sent a tech out to check my setup. He gave me a free brand new cable modem and we were back in business. They even called me to let me know he'd be by in 20 minutes so I could head home instead of just giving me a 5 hour window like other services do.

Good job Insight. Too bad you're selling out to Comcast, you will be missed.

It Tastes Like Tuna Sadness

Not like Tuna Helper. I didn't remember this stuff taking a half of stick of butter, but my memory is NFG anyway. But tonight I watched the worst movie (in my opinion) ever: Griffin and Phoenix. Only seeing it could fully make you appreciate it's awfulness, but I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

And so my dinner was bad, my movie was bad, and it makes me feel alone. Lonely. Empty. Hollow. Incomplete.