Experiment

I'm trying something new today called simplynoise.com. It's a web-based white noise generator. It also does pink noise and brown noise, but I haven't quite figured out the differences yet, other than they sound different. I'm listening to brown noise right now, and I have it cranked to the point that I don't hear anything else around me. I'm interested to see how it affects my focus and mood during the day.

clipped from www.simplynoise.com Instructions: Slide the orb Find comfort zone Enjoy auditory zen Uses of White Noise: Aid Sleep Enhance Privacy Block Distractions Mask Tinnitus Configure Audio Equipment Soothe Migraines and more...

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia at Comic-Con

My possible wedding gift to Jen and Dan

It'd be like their own private 7/11 in their backyard. Then on their 1st anniversary I can get them a slushee machine!

clipped from gizmodo.com Grill Hot Dogs the Gas Station Way

ow ow ow OW OW!

OW!

clipped from www.boingboing.net How to give yourself elf ears Here's an Instructable on how to give yourself elf ears. Body-Mod: Elf Ears (via Zoomdoggle)

It's Lovely! I'll Take It!

Found a new site today called It's Lovely! I'll Take It! It's a collection of bad pictures posted on actual real estate listings.

Mr. Rogers' Subcommittee

Kids today, and the world in general, need more people like Mr. Rogers. Not to be a babysitter, not to be a teacher, but just to be an advocate for a child. An advocate for someone who either can't speak for themselves, or can't find the words to express themselves.

Why America Is Fucked

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

This is one of the coolest things I've ever watched. It was done by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Angel). It stars Neil Patrick Harris (who's having quite the renaissance since his Doogie Houser M.D. days) as a wanna-be evil villain who's plans keep getting thwarted by Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) It's funny, it's got good music, good writing, and it's poignant to boot. And to think more people in this country are more interested in watching shitty reality vomit than watch something awesome like this.

w00t!

I'm in such a freakin fantastic mood tonight (editor's note: they really need to add a sarcasm tag) and this article really just made my night even better! :)

Awesome!

So not only am I failing by not being able to get myself to work out 30 minutes a day, even if I was able to, it's not really going to make a difference! sweet!

I'm gonna go have a drink now.

Cat Bite Fever

"It give her cat bite fever
Cat bite fever "

After work last night I stopped at Giant Eagle, picking up some groceries and prescriptions. I loaded up my car then went next door to the Hallmark store to pick up some birthday cards. My phone rings. I look at the caller id. "Restricted." I've had some recruiter calling me lately who has a "Restricted" number, and I also just don't appreciate people blocking their phone numbers when they call me, so I let it go to voice mail. I found a card I wanted to buy when the phone starts ringing again. "Restricted." I let it go to voice mail once again. I start down the card aisle when I start thinking. "That's kind of odd to get two 'Restricted' calls back to back like that, maybe I should listen to the voice mail" Turns out it's my mom. Calling from the hospital.

Time for a little back story. The winter after my dad passed away, a stray cat turned up at mom's house. We told ourselves at first that we were just going to let it go, but slowly over time we started to feed it, and put blankets out in the detached garage for him to sleep on. Then when the winter got really bad, we started letting him into the attached garage so he could be warm. He was a very loving cat, but he had a wild side to him and would nip at you if he got over excited. After I moved out of mom's house last august, she continued to feed and take care of the cat, as he was doing a fair job of keeping down the chipmunk population. He stayed outside during the day and mom would put out food for him and left the attached garage door open a crack so he could get in at night.

Flash back to present day. Mom was feeding the cat in the morning, like she always does, and he got over-excited and bit her, and she needed my help. I put the card back and ran out to my car, searched for the phone number to the hospital, and called the hospital. She got four decent puncture wounds and some scratches from his claws. Her arm was pretty swollen, red and sore. Since he was technically still a stray, they were going to keep her overnight for observation. I drove back home to the local hospital to check on her. We needed to catch the cat and get in touch with the Health Department, so I got a list of things mom needed from the house and headed over there. Luckily I found him in some bushes outside mom's house, and was able to coax him into the attached garage and close the door all the way on him. Since the Health Department was only open 8-4:30, I went back to the hospital with the things for mom and stayed with her until around 10 then drove back to the apartment.

This morning I went back to mom's. Took me a little while and a couple different pet carriers, but I was able to get the fella contained in a carrier. I talked to the Health Department who told me we could either quarantine him ourselves for 10 days or have him put down and sent down to Columbus for testing. After talking with mom, we decided the best course of action was just to put him down. After getting things coordinated with the Health Department and the Dog Warden, I loaded him in my car and headed off. He howled the majority of the way to the Dog Warden.

It was hard, because we really tried to give him a chance and came close to moving him into the house while I was still living with mom. I spent a lot of time sitting down in the garage with him, holding him in my lap, with a full winter coat and gloves on to "protect" myself in case he got too excited. And he would just sleep and purr in my lap. I doubt he ever got much in the way of love before he met us. I used to talk to him about Dad and just kind of vent a little, since I was still trying to cope with Dad's loss.

He stopped howling once I pulled up to the dog warden's, and he didn't make a sound when I took him inside and handed him over. I don't know if he knew what was going on or not. A couple minutes and $10 later, they came back out and gave me the empty pet carrier. I'm assuming he was gone before I left the parking lot.

I went back to the hospital and spent some time with mom. With only a handful of cable channels and not much else in the way of entertainment, I could tell she's already getting stir crazy. Her arm's still fairly swollen and red. Hopefully, if there is any infection, it doesn't get down into the muscles. Just a matter of wait and see and continued IV drugs for now.

So here I am, back at work now. Two "critical" issues on my desk when I came in, plus a phone call as soon as I sat down.


Such is life :)

New tv shows I've become hooked on

I've gotten myself hooked on two new tv shows lately.



The first one is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This show is like Seinfeld: The Next Generation, or Seinfeld: On Crack. It's about a group of 4 people, Mac, Charlie, Dennis and Dee. They own a shithole bar in Philly. Dennis and Dee are brother and sister. Beyond that it's just alot of random craziness, as described in the wikipedia article, "including abortion, gun control, physical disabilities, racism, sexism, religion, the Israeli/Palestinian situation, terrorism, transsexuality, slavery, incest, sexual harassment in education, the homeless, statutory rape, drug addiction, pedophilia, child abuse, mental illness, gay rights, prostitution and Nazis." It is so wrong, and politically incorrect. You can watch it here on Hulu




The second show I got hooked on was Dexter. Dexter is a blood splatter analyst for the police but he's also a vigilante serial killer. Just from watching the first episode, Dexter's just such a unique character. He's a real anti-hero. You can watch clips here at Showtime's website

My Problems

This is an experiment.

• Loneliness




• Trouble meeting new people (see: Fear of Failure)


• Trouble getting myself to go to new places (see: Boredom, Fear of Failure)




• Weight/Health




• Trouble consistently working out




• Concerns about exercising in the evening (Past issues with insomnia and possible apnea. Resolved with CPAP now?)


• Trouble consistently waking up early enough to workout before leaving for work




• Trouble giving up unhealthy foods




• Lack of Control - Giving up what I like to eat, being told my efforts are wrong/not of value


• Fairness - Why do I have to work so hard when others don't? (see: Entitlement)






• Entitlement




• Feeling that I'm due a "good" life because I do/did what I'm "supposed" to do




• Lack of Inner Peace




• Cause of other items or Effect of other items?


• Need other people around/involved to be happy. (see: Loneliness)




• Boredom




• Trouble getting myself to go to new places/do new things (see: Loneliness, Fear of Failure)




• Fear of Failure




• Makes trying new things difficult (see: Boredom, Loneliness)

will update as more comes to mind. After this, my next step is to identify rational vs. irrational items (majority should be irrational). After that, I'll identify what things I'm currently doing that are positives towards changing these problems. Along with the positives, I'll list what things I'm doing that are undermining my progress. Don't know where this is going, but it was something that came to mind and made sense. Putting it here on the blog, is just kind of a way for me to own up to them and admit what's going on.

anybody got a spare 800 bucks laying around?

I've got a camcorder, and I've used it a fair amount, but I've never been happy with the video quality. I hate how it looks like it clearly comes from a camcorder. I stumbled across this puppy one day though...

Canon VIXIA HV30

This little puppy records in High-Def which is a big plus, but the main selling point for me is it has something called 24p Cinema Mode, which records at 24 frames per second, which gives it more of a film-like characteristic. If my videos came out looking like this, I think I'd do much more "filming"


Long Walk Home from frankko on Vimeo.

woohoo! wonder if I have a shot?

She would be my number 2 choice behind Tina Fey on the "Hot Hollywood Women I Want To Date"

Moment of Zen

Rare Behind-the-scenes footage of Jacks of War

Have you ever wondered how new games are created? Have you ever pondered what kind of thought processes go one during it's infancy? Well, wonder no more. I present to you rare, never-before-seen footage on the creation of a new game. The footage is raw, and real-time, so you can get a better understanding of how the brainstorming process works.

Moment of Zen

Pretending to care about jennifer working

Moment of Zen

Squaw Rock

Squaw Rock
Originally uploaded by chrisohio0122

I came up to Squaw Rock falls in the South Chagrin Reservation to read one of my Tao books and relax. It turned out to be a popular spot.