I have those random parts of the day when something just pops into my head. For example, this afternoon, almost finished with work and the song 'I kissed a girl (and I liked it)' by Katy Perry popped into my head. Why did it? I haven't the slightest idea. I (or my wife) do not own that song. I don't listen to the radio, so it wasn't heard by my ears. Ever really. There is no real reason for this song to come into my mind. This has really nothing to do with what I am going to focus on, this is just an example.
I thought about fate and free will last night. I woke up around three in the morning with it kicking around my mind. Yeah, what were you thinking about at three in the morning? Not fate and free will. I woke up thinking about whether or not I believe in fate, free will, or if there is a nice little middle ground for us to believe in and/or live in. I took a philosophy class in college and it was interesting, but it focused more on the beginnings of philosophy, the different schools of thinking, and the important people about it.
Fate. Destiny. Karma. Whatever you want to call it, it's out of your hands. Your life has been scripted and there is nothing you can do about it. There is something scary about that. No matter what you think you are doing because you want to do it, you are doing it because you are suppose to. There is no ability to do anything you aren't suppose to be doing. I do not like that idea. I would like to think that what I am doing I am doing it because I want to and not because it's has been chosen for me to do.
Free will. Choice. Say so. Every thought, every action, every inaction is all up to you. It is a free for all. It's just the world and we are the ones that are making it spin. Being able to make any decision you want allows for some comfort in knowing that what you are do is because you want to do it and not because you are suppose to be doing it. Free will gives you the opportunity to look at a situation and weigh the pros and cons. With fate, it has been decided for you. You will (or will not) push the proverbial big red button when the time comes not because you want to, but because you were meant (or meant not to) push it. That is some scary stuff to think about. Wouldn't you want to be able to look at that button and think about not pushing it? Wouldn't you want to be able to think of the outcome of pushing that button? Free will. It gives everyone a chance to think about and act on your thoughts and feelings. But to what means?
The middle ground. Can both free will and fate exist and not just because there are people that believe in either? Can someone live their life having part of it being predetermined for them and also be able to make decisions of their own making? That is the life I believe we have. Somewhere in the middle of it all. Here's an example of how fate and free will can coexist. When I was applying to colleges, I applied to three separate schools (fate). I believe that it was chosen for me to pick those three specific schools. I was accepted to all three (it's nothing major, they were not private schools or big schools), and I was able to choose one of them (free will). When I got the packets in the mail, I sat down and looked at all three of them and weighed to pros and cons of each one. It was eventually up to me to pick which school I went to. Thinking back at it now, I know I made the right decision but there can be those days when I think, 'What if I went to one of those other schools?' What would my life be like? Would it be better or would it be worse? That's how I know there is free will in this world. If this world was meant to be predetermined for everyone, I would not think about the other schools that I could have possibly went to.
We obviously cannot determine when we are born, that is slated for us. We can control when we are no longer on this earth. Living a dangerous life leads to a shorter time here. Living a happy, healthy, safe life let's us be here with our family and friends a little bit longer. Everything in between? That's up to us.
26 February 2011
22 February 2011
Spring fever
If I could get paid to write about the sport of baseball year round, I would. Granted I would go crazy between the months of Novembeard and February, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel. February brings Spring Training and Spring Training brings on the hopes and dreams of every baseball fan that this is their teams year (excluding fans living in places like Pittsburgh, Arizona, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Baltimore [I kid because I have been there for dark days of a sports organization]).
Opening day is just over a month away and I cannot wait. I have always enjoyed watching baseball whether it is in person or on the television. It's the only time you can sit around for two to three hours watching the television and feel like you are there thanks to technology that picks up even the quietest conversations. You can hear the crack of the bat, the thump of the ball hitting the catcher's mitt, the excited crowd rise to it's collective feet when the ball hits the sweet spot of a bat and goes flying three hundred fifty feet the opposite way. The only thing that is really missing is the smell of spilled overpriced beer and crushed peanut shells.
Think about opening up the windows to the living room the next time you watch a baseball game and let the fresh air creep into the room. It adds to the experience. It smells like fresh cut grass and if you hear a bird chirp here or there, it makes it that much better. Come on, it beats going and watching a game in a crowded and dark bar with recycled air (but that too is great). What I'm talking about is making it feel like you are there without being there.
Some may look at this post as over exaggeration, but it's a true statement. It's fine to watch a game in a bar with friends and beer, but every once in a while I just like sitting at home with the windows open in the middle of the afternoon and a huge glass of beer and soaking it all up. Throughout my four years of college, I skipped classes if Opening Day was in the middle of the week. Each year all I did was open the windows and got lost in the game. I didn't care about class that day.
And it was glorious.
Opening day is just over a month away and I cannot wait. I have always enjoyed watching baseball whether it is in person or on the television. It's the only time you can sit around for two to three hours watching the television and feel like you are there thanks to technology that picks up even the quietest conversations. You can hear the crack of the bat, the thump of the ball hitting the catcher's mitt, the excited crowd rise to it's collective feet when the ball hits the sweet spot of a bat and goes flying three hundred fifty feet the opposite way. The only thing that is really missing is the smell of spilled overpriced beer and crushed peanut shells.
Think about opening up the windows to the living room the next time you watch a baseball game and let the fresh air creep into the room. It adds to the experience. It smells like fresh cut grass and if you hear a bird chirp here or there, it makes it that much better. Come on, it beats going and watching a game in a crowded and dark bar with recycled air (but that too is great). What I'm talking about is making it feel like you are there without being there.
Some may look at this post as over exaggeration, but it's a true statement. It's fine to watch a game in a bar with friends and beer, but every once in a while I just like sitting at home with the windows open in the middle of the afternoon and a huge glass of beer and soaking it all up. Throughout my four years of college, I skipped classes if Opening Day was in the middle of the week. Each year all I did was open the windows and got lost in the game. I didn't care about class that day.
And it was glorious.
20 February 2011
I want a house.
We're stuck in a little bit of a rut in our lives right now. After Andrea got laid off from her job, we had to put a hold on our lives. We started to think about giving up the life in apartments and moving into a house and a few months later she lost her job (thanks economy and George W. Bush). Thankfully, we didn't look too hard because we would be SCREWED if we had to deal with mortgage payments and more bills than we have now. To be able to paint the walls is something that you wouldn't think would be a big deal, but you can only look at white walls for so long before you get sick of them. Painting the walls adds character to a room. White walls are just sterile. The biggest drawback to apartments is not being able to change anything. With a house, you can do that.
Getting back on our feet financially is the goal to moving on with our lives. The job market is turning around so it is only a matter of time before we can catch a break. Get a job, get a house. The ultimate goal in life? I think so.
Getting back on our feet financially is the goal to moving on with our lives. The job market is turning around so it is only a matter of time before we can catch a break. Get a job, get a house. The ultimate goal in life? I think so.
18 February 2011
How to slow the boozing
Last year, I slowed the amount of alcohol that came into the house by only buying a case a month. It went well. The thought process behind has flown out the window the minute the calendar rolled over to 2011. I've gone through a couple of thirty packs so far this year and with 'good' reason. The reason is the fact that it's cheap stuff. It's good. It's cold. It goes well with any sport that is on the television. The problem is the fact that it is all of that. Knowing that it is cheap let's me think that if I drink through a thirty pack in a week or two I can not feel bad about it because it was only fifteen dollars.
For my birthday, my parents and parent in-laws both sent money. It's easier than spending more money to send something in a box through UPS or the post office. So, with the money, I thought about combining the presents and buy myself some nice expensive alcohol that I won't want to drink through in a week. Draw it out, make it last. I bought a nice bottle of scotch and a nice bottle of whiskey. Not exactly something you drink three or four of in one sitting. Unless it's St. Patrick's Day. This will last me quite a long time. The bottle of scotch I got for Christmas is barely a quarter of the way gone just because it's something you drink five and six ounces at a time.
I'm still going to go out and buy beer. That fact isn't changing. I will just not buy as much of it because I know that I have some bottles of expensive, drink a little bit at a time, booze sitting here. And why would I drink some shitty watered down beer (other than for the fact that tastes great) when I can class it up with six ounces of twelve year old scotch?
For my birthday, my parents and parent in-laws both sent money. It's easier than spending more money to send something in a box through UPS or the post office. So, with the money, I thought about combining the presents and buy myself some nice expensive alcohol that I won't want to drink through in a week. Draw it out, make it last. I bought a nice bottle of scotch and a nice bottle of whiskey. Not exactly something you drink three or four of in one sitting. Unless it's St. Patrick's Day. This will last me quite a long time. The bottle of scotch I got for Christmas is barely a quarter of the way gone just because it's something you drink five and six ounces at a time.
I'm still going to go out and buy beer. That fact isn't changing. I will just not buy as much of it because I know that I have some bottles of expensive, drink a little bit at a time, booze sitting here. And why would I drink some shitty watered down beer (other than for the fact that tastes great) when I can class it up with six ounces of twelve year old scotch?
12 February 2011
More fights!
Have you ever heard the phrase 'I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.'? It was a great way to encompass the game in the seventies and eighties. It has always been a part of the game, and it is what has distinguished it amongst the four major sports. There are the occasional fights in baseball, football, and basketball. Well, not basketball. A couple of guys swinging at each other and backing up at the same time does not constitute a fight. It is the only sport that allows a fight and the player to return during the same game. It's what makes the game great, primal, and neanderthalic.
I bring it up because the past two games involving Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders there have been a rash of fights. I'm talking hundreds of minutes of fighting majors and game misconducts. Last night, there were three hundred and sixty plus minutes of penalty minutes because of all the fights and other penalties, but mostly fighting majors and game misconducts (which are five and ten minutes respectively). At the end of the game, there were barely enough people for full line changes. This isn't the only instance of major fighting taking place during a game recently and there are some sports reporters that are calling this a bit of a publicity stunt by the NHL. And if it is, the job is getting done because people are talking about it. Right? Personally, I think it is not a publicity stunt and it is just some bad blood that is flowing from one person to the next on each team. That's the way it goes. Each person has his teammates back. The glory of a team.
It's a throwback to some old school hockey, or it's like watching Slap Shot (watch it if you have no idea what it is). It slows the game down, but it also brings more tension to the games. Not every team is throwing down every three periods though so it isn't a league wide thing. The game is faster now and has more finesse, which is great, but I feel that it has gotten away from it's roots. True enforcers aren't needed anymore and are relegated to minor league or independent teams. There is a difference between a goon and an enforcer. An enforcer protects the assets of the team. Someone takes a run at a franchise player and the enforcer comes out and beats the holy hell out of them (see: Probert, Bob; Williams, Tiger; McSorley, Marty). A goon is someone that takes a run at a franchise player or a defenseless player (see: Lemieux, Claude; Avery, Sean; McSorley, Marty). Although there is a fine line between enforcer and goon, know the difference. The players sometimes cross that line.
It's good for the sport that fights are breaking out. It adds a dimension to the sport which has been a little absent the past five years or so. I enjoy the new, quicker game, but it is good to see players dropping the gloves. More importantly, I'm happy to see the refs letting them fight.
I bring it up because the past two games involving Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders there have been a rash of fights. I'm talking hundreds of minutes of fighting majors and game misconducts. Last night, there were three hundred and sixty plus minutes of penalty minutes because of all the fights and other penalties, but mostly fighting majors and game misconducts (which are five and ten minutes respectively). At the end of the game, there were barely enough people for full line changes. This isn't the only instance of major fighting taking place during a game recently and there are some sports reporters that are calling this a bit of a publicity stunt by the NHL. And if it is, the job is getting done because people are talking about it. Right? Personally, I think it is not a publicity stunt and it is just some bad blood that is flowing from one person to the next on each team. That's the way it goes. Each person has his teammates back. The glory of a team.
It's a throwback to some old school hockey, or it's like watching Slap Shot (watch it if you have no idea what it is). It slows the game down, but it also brings more tension to the games. Not every team is throwing down every three periods though so it isn't a league wide thing. The game is faster now and has more finesse, which is great, but I feel that it has gotten away from it's roots. True enforcers aren't needed anymore and are relegated to minor league or independent teams. There is a difference between a goon and an enforcer. An enforcer protects the assets of the team. Someone takes a run at a franchise player and the enforcer comes out and beats the holy hell out of them (see: Probert, Bob; Williams, Tiger; McSorley, Marty). A goon is someone that takes a run at a franchise player or a defenseless player (see: Lemieux, Claude; Avery, Sean; McSorley, Marty). Although there is a fine line between enforcer and goon, know the difference. The players sometimes cross that line.
It's good for the sport that fights are breaking out. It adds a dimension to the sport which has been a little absent the past five years or so. I enjoy the new, quicker game, but it is good to see players dropping the gloves. More importantly, I'm happy to see the refs letting them fight.
07 February 2011
Work. Just work
Last week, I had my work anniversary. Five years. It's funny to think about because when I was in school, I never really thought I would have a job like this. It's not a bad thing, unless you talk to some people, but for me, I enjoy my job. It's stressful from time to time, but at the end of the day I can say I like doing what I do.
From an outsiders prospective, it's not what I should be doing. I went to school to work in a museum, but when we moved to Wichita, there were no jobs to be had. It's not that I settled, I just went out and got a job because that's what I needed to do. You gots to pay the bills. It just so happen to turn into a five year career. Five years from now I have no idea where I'll be. Same job, different job, just as long as I'm happy.
From an outsiders prospective, it's not what I should be doing. I went to school to work in a museum, but when we moved to Wichita, there were no jobs to be had. It's not that I settled, I just went out and got a job because that's what I needed to do. You gots to pay the bills. It just so happen to turn into a five year career. Five years from now I have no idea where I'll be. Same job, different job, just as long as I'm happy.
04 February 2011
New slogan
I bought some Hamm's this week. Because I can. On the can, the following is printed: 'America's classic premium beer. Born in the land of sky blue waters.'
I have a new statement for Hamm's (it'll be at the end of the post, skip ahead if you don't care about the rest of this). Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy Hamm's. I have discovered a cheap beer that not a lot of people know about or care enough about. A few years ago (and I mean five years ago), it was Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now, PBR is popular and the price is on the rise. Always on the search for cheap, I was happy to see Hamm's appearing in local businesses a couple of years ago and although I will admit to not knowing much about it. Upon further 'investigation' I found out a little bit about the brand, company, etc. It's owned by the Miller brewing company now if anyone is interested.
It makes me a little sad seeing these older beers that have just been enveloped by larger corporations, but that is just business. You look at beers like Hamm's, Stroh's, Schlitz, PBR, they all started out as independent beer companies only to be taken in (as it were) by larger companies just because it was the only way to stay around. And that is part of business. You can't remain a small business. You won't be able to make money. It is just easier to make a name for yourself, gain a reliable and faithful fan base and sell out. That sounds horrible, but that is the way of the world. Part of the economic world. In the end, it is the great big dollar that rotates the world.
On a side note, this was just meant to be a funny, quick, I'm a little drunk, let's write about beer kind of post. Apparently, there is a little more on my mind. After all of this, I will leave you with what I thought should be the new slogan for Hamm's beer. I thought of this because a thirty pack of Hamm's is a few dollars cheaper than Busch, I noticed when I bought it. Enjoy.
Hamm's: So cheap, it makes Busch Light look expensive.
I have a new statement for Hamm's (it'll be at the end of the post, skip ahead if you don't care about the rest of this). Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy Hamm's. I have discovered a cheap beer that not a lot of people know about or care enough about. A few years ago (and I mean five years ago), it was Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now, PBR is popular and the price is on the rise. Always on the search for cheap, I was happy to see Hamm's appearing in local businesses a couple of years ago and although I will admit to not knowing much about it. Upon further 'investigation' I found out a little bit about the brand, company, etc. It's owned by the Miller brewing company now if anyone is interested.
It makes me a little sad seeing these older beers that have just been enveloped by larger corporations, but that is just business. You look at beers like Hamm's, Stroh's, Schlitz, PBR, they all started out as independent beer companies only to be taken in (as it were) by larger companies just because it was the only way to stay around. And that is part of business. You can't remain a small business. You won't be able to make money. It is just easier to make a name for yourself, gain a reliable and faithful fan base and sell out. That sounds horrible, but that is the way of the world. Part of the economic world. In the end, it is the great big dollar that rotates the world.
On a side note, this was just meant to be a funny, quick, I'm a little drunk, let's write about beer kind of post. Apparently, there is a little more on my mind. After all of this, I will leave you with what I thought should be the new slogan for Hamm's beer. I thought of this because a thirty pack of Hamm's is a few dollars cheaper than Busch, I noticed when I bought it. Enjoy.
Hamm's: So cheap, it makes Busch Light look expensive.
02 February 2011
Das Bowl
Sunday is an unofficial holiday for this country. It will also bring about a debate onto whether or not the Monday after the super bowl should be a day off for everyone. If it were up to me, the super bowl would be on a Saturday and people would have the day after to recover, but this is just a stupid debate, so let's move on.
Both teams playing are equally good on defense, but Green Bay has a better offense. It'll be a close game, it will depend on one or two defensive plays and that'll be the turning point of the game. Aaron Rodgers has been on target the past month and a half on the football field and he'll continue to do so this weekend. Ben Roethlisberger has a knack for winning games and clutches up during the playoffs. Both quarterbacks will carry their teams on the offensive side of the game.
I don't put too much thought into the game this year. I would like to see Green Bay win for several reasons. 1.) Green Bay plays in the NFC North with the Detroit Lions. It would be nice to see a team from the division win. 2.) Charles Woodson played at Michigan during his college days, so that's nice. 3.) Greg Jennings played at Western Michigan so despite the fact that he played at my college's rival team, I'll be happy if he wins.
Final score:
Green Bay: 22
Pittsburgh: 17
Both teams playing are equally good on defense, but Green Bay has a better offense. It'll be a close game, it will depend on one or two defensive plays and that'll be the turning point of the game. Aaron Rodgers has been on target the past month and a half on the football field and he'll continue to do so this weekend. Ben Roethlisberger has a knack for winning games and clutches up during the playoffs. Both quarterbacks will carry their teams on the offensive side of the game.
I don't put too much thought into the game this year. I would like to see Green Bay win for several reasons. 1.) Green Bay plays in the NFC North with the Detroit Lions. It would be nice to see a team from the division win. 2.) Charles Woodson played at Michigan during his college days, so that's nice. 3.) Greg Jennings played at Western Michigan so despite the fact that he played at my college's rival team, I'll be happy if he wins.
Final score:
Green Bay: 22
Pittsburgh: 17
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)