A Solution!

Good day to you readers. I know it has been a solid three weeks since my last post, but in my defense, I had a two week vacation in which I hardly looked at a computer. Now that I am back to my regular routine, I am inclined to tell you what I have been up to for the past few weeks…. But nay! I have a much more thought provoking subject on my mind.

Last night I was watching the movie Serendipity with my wife. I confess, I like that movie, and I’ve seen it a few times. I’m sorry if that upsets you, but it is funny, has a few good lines, and it is a general feel good kind of movie. That is beside the point. One of the supporting characters writes the obituaries for the NY Times and has a great line, “you know, the Greek’s didn’t write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died; did he have passion?” I did some research this morning and it seems that this Greek tradition is completely made up by Hollywood, however, it is still a thought provoking line. If I were to die today, people would gather around my coffin and ask if I had passion. The answer would be a simple no, and the attendees would just walk away.

Perhaps I made that a little too dramatic, but the idea behind it is both true and profound. Passion is the solution to the problem stated on the information pane of this website: how to stop surviving and start living. Allow me to add some support to this hypothesis. Here is a quote by Claude A. Helvetius, a French Philosopher from the 1700’s: “Every man without passion has within him no principle of action, nor motive of act.” And another from John Boorman, a British film maker popular in the 30’s.

What is passion? It is surely the becoming of a person. Are we not, for most of our lives, marking time? Most of our being is at rest, unlived. In passion, the body and the spirit seek expression outside of self. Passion is all that is other from self. Sex is only interesting when it releases passion. The more extreme and the more expressed that passion is, the more unbearable does life seem without it. It reminds us that if passion dies or is denied, we are partly dead and that soon, come what may, we will be wholly so.

In order to LIVE life, a person ought to have PASSION. It is as simple as that. A task done without passion has no “motive of act,” and enough of those tasks stacked on top of each other is a life of “marking time” where the person is “partly dead.” You need to have passion for what you are doing in life to make it enjoyable. Work or school without passion is boring and miserable. People need hobbies in their personal life so they have something to be passionate about. And love without passion leaves couples fighting over petty things and going through the motions. A life led by passion (for the right things) is exciting, often overflowing with joy, passes time quickly, and is attractive to others. Think of any famous person in the history of the world, if they are famous for something they have done and not done to them, I guarantee they all share the common bond of passion. Looking back on my closest friends from high school and still good friends today, most of them were very passionate people. That is why we had so much fun together. We were so intense and so alive that life was exciting and we enjoyed every moment together. I also think of my good friend Keith Becker who I think to be a very passionate person. Though he has seen some very challenging times, I can assuredly say that his life is a life of excitement. I am confident that the hard times he has experienced recently will be followed by extremely joyous times ahead due to his passion.

To wrap up, this necessary passion for life is not made up of passing moments, but consistent fervor for everything you invest your time into. Scripture even states God’s view of the importance of consistent passion in one of my favorite verses. “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11. Oh how I lack zeal in both by personal life and in my spiritual life. This is not merely a suggested means to enjoy life, it is a command by God. Lacking in zeal will not only harm your personal life, it will spoil your spiritual growth and will lead us to the lukewarm churches whose fate is discussed in Revelations. Readers, I beseech you; have passion.

Now that I know the solution to my problem, I must figure out the means to gain passion. Good luck to you as well.

Twenty Three Syndrome

Today is the eve of my twenty-third birthday. 23 appears to be one of those ages that really has no more meaning than another year of life. Nearly every other birthday I’ve experienced had some significance. Normally another year meant I was allowed to do something new, given more responsibility, or I was classified in a different age group. When I turned 21 I could drink, at 22 I was no longer classified as a 21 year old running around misusing alcohol. Have you ever noticed that people are generally considered an adult after 18 except the age of 21? When you are 21, you are a “twenty one year old.” At 23, you are simply older than you were before.

There is, however, something significant about the age of 23. It appears to me that it is a challenging and messed up long year. This is an observation from my life and some popular songs. I’ve discoverd a number of songs where the character of the song is 23. Some are about love which I don’t feel the need to look into, but 4 songs stood out to me. The most obvious is Blink 182’s “What’s my Age Again?” Simply put, nobody likes it when you’re 23. People expect you to start taking responsibility, but you still want to be an adolescent making dumb decisions and having fun. Eminem wrote the song “Guilty Conscience” where the character of the song is fed up with his life and decides to hold up a liquor store. At 23, it seems that one will realize how boring and crappy life can be and want to make rash decisions to make a change or prevent life from becoming dull. Similarly, Coolio in “Gangster’s Paradise” took a “look at his life and realized there’s nothing left”… “I’m 23 now but will I live to see 24, the way things are going I don’t know.” Finally, Incubus has “Pardon Me.” This is my favorite of the four and I think it necessary to include the lyrics.

A decade ago,

I never thought I would be,

at twenty-three,

on the verge of spontaneous combustion. -Woe-is-me.-

But I guess that it comes with the territory,

An ominous landscape of never-ending calamity.

I need you to hear, I need you to see

that I have had all I can take

and exploding seems like a DEFINITE possibility... to me.

So pardon me while I burst

into flames.

I've had enough of the world

and its people's mindless games.

So pardon me while I burn

and rise above the flame.
Pardon me, pardon me...I'll never be the same!

I find those lyrics stunning! Though these songs have some major differences, they all have one central theme. The characters are at a major transition in life that they find unappealing and want to fight against it. Things are not what they hoped to be and they want to act like an idiot, do something radical and crazy, or simply combust and get away. What happens in our society that would cause a person at that age to feel this way? They have graduated college and have spent 8 months or so working. I feel that most people are generally excited about starting a career and contributing to society. The beginning of a new job can be a lot of fun. You are getting a pay check, you are learning and contributing and you are thinking about moving out on your own and looking toward the future. This is all very exciting until 5 or 6 months in when you hit a wall.

If you are like me, from middle school on you have had new transitions every 3-4 months. You start school, hit Christmas, and your classes change around. A few months of that and you hit the summer where you get to have some fun and possibly get a full time temporary job. About 3 months of that, and just when you are starting to get tired of it, you realize you have but a couple weeks left until you can quit and start some new classes at school. This is even more obvious when you hit college and change where you live every few months. It is an exciting life, but it causes some problems when you hit the real world. After a few months of 8 hours a day five days a week work, you start to get tired of it. Normally, that isn’t a big deal because you will be quitting soon and going back to school, but not now… It just keeps going. A couple months later, you start to feel the way the song writers are talking about. Crap! I’m an adult and I’m doing something that isn’t very fun and I’m going to be doing it day in and day out for the next 40 years. When this really hits you, you start reacting outwardly. You will try to be the person you used to be and act immaturely, but you never get that back and it annoys other people. That doesn’t work, so you try to change your life drastically by doing something crazy. You rob a store, you blow some stuff up, or you buy something extravagant that you shouldn’t buy. This temporarily helps, but soon you will feel the same way you did before. These things have failed and you start to get really sad and hate life. All you want to do is get away, possibly spontaneously combust, either way, you question if you will ever see 24.

Since tomorrow is my 23rd birthday, you may wonder how it is that I know these things. Do I expect these things to happen to me? No. In all reality, they already have. I have labeled the cause of this 23 syndrome to be college graduation and starting a career. I graduated a semester early in order to get a jump start on my career. The jump start caused me to experience the symptoms of 23 syndrome at the age of 22. Though I am turning 23 tomorrow, I feel that I am turning 24, which consequently happens to be my favorite number. Here is my simple advice for any of those out there experiencing the symptoms of 23 syndrome: Stop hating life and complaining about it, accept the person you are, where God has strategically placed you for His glory, and turn 24. I expect this next year of my life to be less rash and a bit happier.

Good luck to you and have a Merry Christmas.

Some Things You Ought to Know

Greetings my friends. My mind has been scattered today with a plethora of thoughts and I felt the need to express them. I have spent some time recently reviewing my life and my blog posts and decided there are some things that need to be said and some things that the reader may be quasi interested to find out. For instance, I enjoy using the word quasi whenever possible, which may be quasi weird, but I do not care.

Number 1: the majority of my blog has been rather dismal and I apologize for that. I never used to be a gloomy person, but after a year of being in the real world with “suck the life out of me” kind of job, my thoughts have become cheerless to say the least. That needs to stop. I’ve had the revelation that I’ve been taking life a bit too seriously lately and that is something I never used to do. Though my responsibilities force me to step up my seriousness, I took it to a level that no person took take their life. I’m going to try to cool down my outlook on my life and what is important. The most important way for me to do that is to have a more eternal focus, which leads me to my next item.

Number 2: I have hardly made any mention of the Lord and his role in my life. I am shameful for this fact. I’ve become so serious, so wrapped up in my job and corporate world, so focused on life that I haven’t taken a step back to realize that life here doesn’t matter very much. This world and my life are wasting away and it is merely a springboard to the perfect existence I am going to experience in the presence of my maker. First, that is gong to help me live life the way I should be living, and second, I need to be talking more about God on my blog since he should be my guide to everything I do. I fear that someone I don’t know may read parts of this page and feel bad for me for my misery which would not Glorify God. As John Piper claims, I must be satisfied with my life that God will be most glorified in me, this should shine through in my writing.

Number 3: My office decided to do a gift exchange where a Santa is assigned to each day of December to buy something small for everyone in the office. I’ve got some pretty sweet gifts thus far including today’s gift of a FREAKING HUGE Disney pencil. Part of this plan was to decorate our cubicles and hang a stocking to put all of the gifts in. Since I always have to be different, I decorated for Festivus. I have a 2.5 foot aluminum pole, and Happy Festivus sign with the tag line “A Festivus for the Rest of Us,” two 6 inch wrestling guys with a sign in front of them for the Feats of Strength, and a list on the front of my cube for the Airing of Grievances. I am quite proud of my work; however, nobody really got the joke. Even the people who quote Seinfeld on occasion didn’t get the joke. I am disappointed in them, but also feel very lame every time I have to explain it to someone that stops by and asks “what are the little fighter guys for?” The only real good that came out of it is that the wrestlers who are named Mitch and Johnny often end up in weird positions in the night for my discovery in the morning.

Number 4: Liz and I have found ourselves hooked on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” I downloaded (yes I download TV shows and Movies online, sorry) every episode and we have been watching at least 2 a night. Before proceeding, I must declare that this show is absolutely appalling. It is by far the most sinful and morally wrong show I have ever seen which is an immense statement considering I have seen every episode of Seinfeld and South Park. Honestly, combine those shows together and put them on crack, and you have “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Now that I have cleared myself of any liability since this show is so incredibly awful, it is absolutely hysterical. I love it! There are few people I would recommend it to and I mostly feel disgusting at myself for watching it, but in the end, it has been a great experience and I want more. I am just starting off the third season, and look forward to what is ahead, though I must say that the first season was better than the second. In case you decide to start watching it on your own, I must tag on an additional warning. This show has the possibility of affecting the way you speak to people you care about. Honestly, Liz and I have never spoken to each other with such rudeness, anger, and sarcasm in the history of our relationship. It is all fun and games between us and normally ends in wrestling and loving, but if we were ever to speak this way in public to each other, people would be lining up to give us marital counseling and pour holy water on us.

Number 5: Since I am on a streak of confessions, I feel the need to discuss this. Michael Vick was just sentence to a jail term for his dog fighting fiasco. I’ve heard many people discussing how terrible of a person he is and they can not comprehend a human can be so cruel. In fact, just today my office was discussing this horrible person and how he should be locked up for a long long time and how he must have some serious psychological issues. *GASP* …. I don’t think it is that bad. I know, for shame, for shame. I am such a monster! Chase me to the tower with your pitch forks and burn me alive. But in all honesty, if presented with the opportunity to watch, I would not turn my head. I had a friend with a Parana in college and I always wanted to watch it feed, I like movies where there is a one on one battle, and I have always been fascinated with cock fights and wanted to witness one, and since the moment I found out that a beta fish would kill another beta fish when put in the same tank, I’ve wanted to rush out and get me 2 beta fish. I am curious to see an animal fight another animal. I know it is wrong and I certainly look down on the way the animals are treated when not fighting, but I would probably watch Mike Vick’s terrorizing event and cheer for the winner. I apologize if I have offended you in any way, but it is the truth.

Thank you for reading.

Where I can I Sign?

I had a rough day the day after my last blog post. I was in a bad mood which was contrary to the feelings I had expressed in my blog post causing the “Nevermind” post. I’ve rebounded from that day, so nevermind the nevermind, well… at least most of the nevermind.

This post is not to discuss the meaning of the nevermind, because out of the nevermind, a comment was born. This specific commenter whom apparently does not speak our native tongue has a very tempting offer for me. After translating the Portuguese comment into English I began reading with great delight as I discovered this “person” really likes my blog. I must say, it means a lot to me that others are reading it and finding it interesting. Immediately following this wonderful statement of blog enjoyment, the commenter got down to business. As I can interpret from the broken translation, there is an internet service that will give me lightning speeds over dial up. I began to loose interest at this point since I have upgraded to the ever faster broadband internet access, but alas! This offer is also profitable for those with Broadband. Well then sign me up! The expense in addition to a telephone is apparently quite small while the benefit is very great. I could not be happier about this possibility! Thank you commenter. Furthermore, this offer is good in over 2100 Brazilian cities, which I can tell you is a relief for low cost internet access for my many vacation homes in Brazil. I could not be happier about this opportunity. Where can I sign good commenter? Where?

...

Nevermind.

Where Have I Been?

Alright blog world, it is time you and me have a show down. I know that my many devoted readers are starting to go through serious mental ailments over my lack of posting, and for that, I apologize. I have been a bit busy lately, but that is no excuse. This here post is going to entail an update to my life in case the reader is interested in what is going on.

I’ll start with the least fun topic: work. My job has been rather interesting for the last few weeks. As I have not enjoyed my job in the past, I have been focused on the goal of applying for 2 jobs a week. I kept that up for 4 weeks, but died in weeks 5 and 6. In total, I have applied for 9 jobs in the last 6 weeks, and haven’t really heard back from any of them. All but one of the jobs is the type of position I would love to have and I think I would be really good at, the problem is, I have very little experience in that field. I know I should make a few phone calls to follow up on the jobs, but I haven’t found the time or the guts to actually follow through with that thought. The one position that I wouldn’t necessarily love to have is in the same field I work in now, but pays more and would be working privately for a company instead of consulting. It would be an improvement, but I would still be doing financial analysis and staring at a computer all day. About 2 weeks ago in my current job I had a goals and performance meeting with 2 of the managers in the office. This meeting did not go very well. They are impressed to no end at my Excel skills, but they feel I am not engaging myself well enough into the business. Part of this is their fault because they keep giving me crappy assignments and passing me around, and part is my fault because I am not seeking out better work and stronger work relationships. We laid out a plan to improve this problem and they tagged the plan with a line of expectations of engagement improvement over the next few months or else the next conversation with them will not go as well… i.e. time to hit the road. Before discussing a plan to move forward, I was asked the very challenging question of “where do you see yourself in the future, not in the next 5 years, but by the end of next year.” YIKES! This was followed by a much harder question of whether or not I want to be doing this kind of work with these people. These questions were asked of me 4 weeks into my “apply for 2 jobs a week” goal! I couldn’t lie to them and say “I really want to be doing this and want to dedicate myself to improve,” but I certainly couldn’t tell them “I see myself living in Maryland with a recreation management job far removed from healthcare consulting.” I gave them a really lame answer of “I have good days and bad days,” and moved on with the conversation. Following this meeting, they have greatly improved their efforts of getting me good work and keeping me involved. They even assigned a mentor to me that I am talking to on a daily basis to get through projects and she has set apart specific time to teach me about the industry and how things function. I am now in a touchy situation: I really like the woman I am working with and her projects and tutoring make this job much better, but at the same time I still feel like I should move on and find a job I truly enjoy. I’m not sure what exactly I’m going to do, but in the meantime, I have been working much harder and showing them I want to do this work, while still taking some time to apply for other jobs.

In my personal life, things are moving along decently. I was really starting to get down on myself for a couple of weeks over being tired all the time and not liking my job, but that was interrupted by playing hooky for a day in the middle of the week to spend some quality time with Liz. We had such a great day and I realized that life can be pretty sweet sometimes when you take a break and just enjoy everything around you. I really feel that this day was a turning point in my year to get me back on track. Since then, things are going fairly well. I can’t say that I haven’t had bad moments, but I know things are better. Thanksgiving went well staying home with my family. I know it was hard on Liz not to spend the holiday with her family, but I was thankful to just be home and not have to travel. Liz didn’t complain too much about being with my family and I think she mostly had a good time. The day after Thanksgiving, we went out and got our first Bogaczyk Family Christmas Tree and bought a bunch of decorations for the house. We had a great time cutting down the tree and getting everything set up, and our house simply looks like a cozy happy house. Additionally, Liz and I bought a bunch of candy and built ourselves some gingerbread houses while watching a Christmas movie. Our house looks nice and smells like frosting everyday when I get home.

To summarize, life has been interesting the past few weeks. I’m not sure what lies ahead, but for now I’ll be working a little harder and counting the remaining 2.5 weeks of work I have left before a full 2 week Christmas Vacation. I’ll try to get some pictures up here soon of our beautifully decorated house. Until next time my friends.

A Heated Quarrel Among Friends

Greetings readers. I felt the need to lighten the aura of this blog, and therefore decided to post this story. The following story is completely true. The names have not been changed because no participants are innocent. As a brief introduction, you should know that the college I attended often had game nights and activities where “sexual paraphernalia” was given away as prizes. I personally think it is terrible to do so, they are not promoting safe sex, they are only promoting lots of sex. Anyway, the dorm I was staying in had a casino night and gave away such prizes, but I chose to play a bit because I like casinos. It is also important to note that at the end of the events described below, my good friend Bill Reese was fake crying to our RA and asked to have the events written up to teach the other participants a lesson. The RA was too lazy and said Bill could write it up himself. Bill, Matt Anspach, and I wrote the following citation and it went through the same process any other citation would go through. The Resident Director had to sign off on it, and it was even discussed at a Director’s meeting with all the RA’s on campus. Enjoy:

The dilemma at hand involves resident Matt Anspach, resident William Reese, and resident Zack Bogaczyk. Upon returning from a rousing session of “Condom Casino” resident Bogaczyk took it upon himself to apply some of the sexual lubricant he had won to resident Anspach’s door knob. Resident Bogaczyk left for some time, meanwhile, resident Anspach returned to find his recently lubricated door knob. In a fit of rage, he banged on resident Reese’s door in suspicion that he was the guilty party, then discovered the truth and decided to make his dreadful revenge on resident Bogaczyk’s door with some of the sexual lubricant he won while playing condom casino. When resident Bogaczyk returned to his dormitory, he was less than pleased to soon find his hand dripping with tropical punch flavored sexual lubricant. Despite the mild discomfort of his lubed hand, he skipped washing his hand and walked down to resident Anspach’s dormitory to confront him in an unpleasant conversation. The two engaged in a distasteful quarrel that lasted for quite some time. The quarrel consisted of many threats involving the notion of resident Bogaczyk rigging a Dixie cup filled with sexual lubricant over resident Anspach’s door. As the quarrel heated up into an all out squabble, many other residents came into the hallway to find out what was going on. Among these residents was resident Reese who had some of his own words to add to the conversation. The argument reached catastrophic heights as Residents Bogaczyk and Reese threatened the life of resident Anspach by way of drowning in sexual lubricant.

Upon the conclusion of the squabble, resident Bogaczyk decided to take a shower to cool down his fury. Meanwhile resident Anspach, fueled by his resentment, decided to “get even” with resident Bogaczyk for his senseless threats. He then filled a bucket with cold water and Gatorade powder and entered the shower section of the bathroom to throw it on to resident Bogaczyk. He actually pitched the Gatorade concoction on resident Bogaczyk twice, nay, thrice times. Not only did this make resident Bogaczyk’s blood boil with rage, he was taking a very warm shower, and was suddenly consumed by cold liquid. This caused resident Bogaczyk to be very concerned with his health. Though the simpleminded prank may have caused some good laughs on the throwers mind, it was at the expense of resident Bogaczyk who now stood exposed in a shower stall as other residents gazed and cackled at his naked blue Smurf-like body. Resident Reese stood only as a witness to this malicious act, though he wanted to stop resident Anspach, he was too controlled by the peer pressure to do anything about it. The residents had a little more than 25 minutes to cool their anger as resident Bogaczyk was rigorously trying to wash his skin back to its normal color. Resident Bogaczyk then returned to his dormitory to put on some shorts and take some time to reflect on the happenings of the evening.

Resident Reese then entered to comfort resident Bogaczyk after his public mortification. Meanwhile, resident Anspach deviously conspired with resident Austin Kerstetter to enter the dormitories of residents Bogaczyk and Reese to steal their winnings from Condom Casino in order to prevent the residents from getting their revenge the next morning with the vast supply of remaining sexual lubricant. Residents Bogaczyk and Reese were startled by the ruckus of resident Anspach sprinting down the hallway with the contraband consisting of 36 condoms of various flavors, a multitude of sexual lubricants and an assortment of delectable candy. Resident Bogaczyk was now exasperated after the squabble, the public mortification, and the pilfering of the contraband. Resident Reese returned to his dormitory, while resident Bogaczyk tried to devise a plan to get even with the schemers.

Resident Bogaczyk decided to take immediate action, and made a sign that pronounced “a plague on both your houses” to hang on resident Anspach’s door. He also dangled a condom by some dental floss in front of the door. Resident Anspach heard the activities going on in the outer surface his dormitory, and exited to confront resident Bogaczyk. Resident Reese also sauntered down the hall to partake in the newly developing skirmish. During this skirmish (which took place at 10:03 pm) resident Anspach threatened the lives of residents Reese and Bogaczyk. He claimed that he would “murder” them and “throw them out the window.” This distressed residents Reese and Bogaczyk to the point of looking for chancellors to aid in the matter. It was at that time that resident assistant David Daku entered the hall and took control of the situation. He suggested that the residents go into his dormitory to discuss the matter. He calmed the situation, and suggested that violence and revenge is not the answer to their troubles, and that the residents just sleep it off.

Though it is uncertain that this is the first time a situation such as this has occurred from a mindless session of Condom Casino, it is assured that this will not be the last. It’s undoubtedly apparent that the repercussions of this evening will echo through William North Hall for years to come. It is important, nay, essential that Lock Haven University revises its dormitory rules to include the banning of the senseless distribution of elicit sexual paraphernalia such as condoms and flavored sexual lubricants. Residents Reese, Anspach, and Bogaczyk believe that the implication of this rule is imperative for the prevention of such an outlandish situation from occurring again.