"It's Saint Patty's Day. It's all in good fun"

This wonderful holiday of greenness instills in me fond thoughts of Boondock Saints.  NOT Boondock Saints 2 which instills in me great remorse and the desire to hit myself repeatedly in the head until the knowledge of that movie goes away.  I thought I would just throw out some partially edited quotes for my reading audience.

Enjoy.  And if it you haven’t seen this movie, go find a copy right now.  Get mentally prepared for all the swearing, and just enjoy a great movie.   

Rosengurtie: Wait, rule of thumb? In the early 1900s it was legal for men to beat their wives, as long as they used a stick no wider than their thumb. 
Connor: [Sarcastic] Can't do much damage with that then, can we? Perhaps it should have been a rule of wrist? 

Detective Greenly: [giving his theory about the two dead Russians in the alley] This guy takes a blunt object, freakin', waah! Hits the guy with the bandages around his head, right? Why? 'Cause he's smart. He knows the guy with the bandages around his back, he ain't goin' nowhere. He's goin' freakin' nowhere. 
[to dead body] 
Detective Greenly: Where you goin'? Nowhere! 

Detective Greenly: Then he comes over here, jumps on this guy's back and crushes him to death... I feel something big here.  I wouldn't be surprised if we see more these turning up.

Paul Smecker: Brilliant. So now we got a huge guy theory, and a serial crusher theory. Top notch

Murphy: Ahh, F you! I'm sweatin' my butt off draggin' your stupid rope around. Must weigh thirty pounds. 
Connor: Shhh. We are doing some serious stuff here, now get a hold of yourself! 
Murphy: Oh, *f**k you*! I'm not the rope-totin' Charlie Bronson wannabe that's getting us lost! 

Paul Smecker: [walking through the hotel room] How many bodies, Greenly? 
Detective Greenly: Eight. 
[Smecker gives him a look] 
Detective Greenly: Ah, crap! I forgot about that one! Nine! Nine? 
Paul Smecker: While Greenly's out gettin' coffee, anybody else want anything? 

Paul Smecker: Now, you Irish cops are perking up. That's two sound theories in one day, neither of which deal with abnormally sized men. Kind of makes me feel like Riverdancing. 

Detective Dolly: So what's the symbology there? 

Murphy: We're sorta like 7-Eleven. We're not always doing business, but we're always open. 
Connor: That is nicely put. 

Connor: We haven't really got a system of deciding who, Roc. It's, uh... 
Rocco: Me! *Me*! I'm the guy! I know everyone! Their habits, who they hang out with, who they talk to! I've got phone numbers, addresses… I know where they live!  We could kill *everyone.* 
Murphy: So what do you think? 
Connor: I'm strangely comfortable with it.

Man in the street: OK? I'm ready to get busy too. You know, I'm ready to get *busy*. 

Z is for Zack

Is there a better way to end the alphabet?  I assure you there is not.  I thought it would be fun to close off this series of posts with some very random facts about the author of this blog.  Not knowing what they are at this point it time, I can predict that most will not surprise you, but the majority will none the less be fairly odd.

1. I’ve spent entirely too much time already thinking about Man Weekend 2010.  Despite the fact that I am going to be in China in less than two weeks, I’m already getting excited about the prospects of this year’s festival of manhood filled with fire, guns, competition, meat, and booze. 
2. I know exactly what I would ask for if I found a magic lamp with a genie granting me 3 wishes
1. Monetary:  I don’t want an abundance of wealth that I would have to worry about being taken or running out, or even tax implications.  I would simply like to be able to reach into my pocket and pull out the exact amount of money I want in any situation.  How awesome would that be?  Never having to worry about carrying money or balances.  “Hi, I would like to purchase that car.  How much will that be?... ok, here you go.”  I would like a hot dog please.  BAM. $1.50.  It would also be very convenient for traveling internationally as the power would clearly work for any currency.  “Here’s 800 yen… Here’s 50 Euros…. Here’s a goat.
2. Super Powers:  All of the powers of superman with the ability to turn them off and copy them to another person.  The powers of superman would clearly be awesome, but I feel like sometimes, you would just want to be normal.  I also think you would want to share your abilities with others, especially flying.  What good would it be if I can fly anywhere in the world and beyond if Liz and Wes couldn’t go with me?  Of course I would have to be very careful about who found out about my powers and almost no one could know my powers could be copied.  I’ll just have to deal with that problem as it comes up.
3. Set the genie free:  If genies exist, I can only assume that the Aladdin principles apply. 
3. In any social occasion, at almost any point, I would rather us play a competitive sport / activity than do what we are currently doing.  Sure I like sitting around and talking, or a good meal, or watching a movie, or a board game, but if any one in the room is up for a game of tennis, ping pong, football, ultimate Frisbee, basketball, etc.  Let’s go.
4. I’m George Costanza when it comes to public restrooms.  I’m not really exaggerating here.  The decisions I have made in past situations would probably shock you, but I’m not going into those stories here.  I will say that China is going to be an issue.  With some exaggeration, I’m thinking about just holding it.  Like George when he was in India. 
5.  I think I’m a darn good driver and would like so much to be a part of a car chase.  It doesn’t matter if I’m being chased or chasing someone else.
6. One thing I would love to do, but will most likely never get the opportunity, is get chased by some cops in an urban setting.
7. I spend more time than you could possibly imagine daydreaming about terrorists charging my current location with guns.  I know the exact plan that would execute to put myself in a position to counter-attack.  Though I am screwed in my office with high walls 3 stories up and my back to the door, I think I have a PK route from the front door of the office to the bottom floor if the elevators are out of service.  Clearly the stairs are a bad idea.  At the same time, I am always ready to flip some pews at church for cover.    
8. I can’t wait until I have my own place where I can build a workshop to forge.
9. From time to time I think to myself that I could build an alternate energy fueled rocket pack in my spare time.  I have to force myself to the reality that I would inevitably fail.
10. Enough people have commented me on my writing to make me want to write a book.  Though completely ludicrous to think I could get published, it’s fun to dream.  I am, however, strongly considering writing a short story to put on my blog.  How could I even begin to think about success in a book if my short story is crap?   
11. I am way too trusting of people.
12. I want to engage in a fist fight for noble reasons.
13. I am completely convinced that I am in no way meeting my potential in life.

Thank you all for reading along through the alphabet. I thought number 13 was a good number to end on cause well…. 14.  I’m not superstitious.   

Y is for Yearn

KRAMER: Do you ever yearn?
GEORGE: Yearn? Do I yearn?
KRAMER: I yearn.
GEORGE: You yearn.
KRAMER: Oh, yes. Yes, I yearn. Often, I...I sit...and yearn. Have you yearned?

GEORGE: Well, not recently. I craved. I crave all the time, constant craving...but I haven't yearned.

-Seinfeld

I had no idea what I wanted to blog about when I starting writing today.  Having nothing significant, I just typed a few random thoughts.  They seemed to blend well together into some sort of a poem.  Perhaps it is deep, but it is most likely crap.  Either way, I shall share it with the world. 

Just a blank canvas awaiting greatness.

Merely a decent quote amongst a sea of formless drivel.

I want to do better, I could do better, but I fail to be better.

If actions speak louder than words, to what volume can I assign hopes and dreams?

Perhaps I am muted.

Pff... X

Forget X!!

I was going to post X for XKCD since that comic is awesome.  I started making a list of my favorite posts when I realized...  

I don't want to give X the satisfaction.

W is for Weston

How could W not be for Weston?  Our baby boy is growing up.  I can’t believe I am the father of a 14 month old.  Time has gone by so fast, but at the same time, it is weird to remember him not being able to hold his head up, or just lying on the floor like a lump.  I decided to pick one of my favorite pictures of him from each month of his life, leaving out the present month due to my last post.  It has been wonderful to look back at the pictures and remember the different stages.  I tried to pick pictures that were really good, but at the same time, not on our walls or sent out to many other people.  You will most likely recognize some of the pictures because they were just too cute not to put on this post.  It was incredibly hard to narrow down each month to one picture since we have well over 6000 pictures of Wes so far, but I just picked one and went with it before I drove myself mad.  I think Liz took most of these, but Becky contributed quite a few, as well as a couple lucky shots I happened on.  It’s possible there is another photographer in there as well, so I apologize if I didn’t give you mention.  

Enjoy.

V is for Vindicated

You may remember this post from January of last year where I went on for a significant period of time complaining about the crappy weather and lack of snow.  Now that we got 2 back to back large snow storms I look back at that post and realize….. I was completely right!!  This snow is FANTASTIC!! 

Look at it in all of its glory!

This was the biggest snow event that I have ever experienced.  There was so much wonderful snow that I felt I owed it to my childhood self to build a snow tunnel to play in. 

I even tried to coax Weston into going in. 

He was reluctant at first, but I finally got him to join me.  I’m sure he will look back at this picture when he is older and dream about such levels of snow.

Thanks for reading.  

U is for Utterly Unimportant

Do you find the word “utterly” weird?  I immediately picture a cow and think “oh yes, completely.”  But perhaps that is just me.  I have been sitting at my desk for the past couple work days occasionally thinking about what my U post should be.  I haven’t really had very much to write about and therefore decided to write about the reason I have nothing much to write about.  I have been unfortunately slipping back to that guy that started this blog.  That fraction of a man that for lack of a better term, sleep walks through life. 

There are a multitude of factors that add up to a state such as this, but the biggest is of course the job.  I have enjoyed this job for the most part.  I worked hard and my company really took care of me for the good work that I did.  But times have sadly changed.  With our restructuring and new management, I’m not nearly as involved as I used to be.  There were times where I would spend 60% of my day in meetings having meaningful discussion.  Now I just spend the vast majority of my day staring at my computer with little human contact.  I’m not saying all of this to complain at the world for my job.  I am very thankful that I have a job, but deep within me is a yearning for something more.  Something that greatly challenges me, and something that I care about.  I want this company to be successful and fight for it not to be taken advantage of by insurance companies, but I ultimately do not care for the product that we make or the long term goals of the company.  I don't feel that that work I am doing here is valuable or important.  I have therefore determined that I need to find something more suited for me.  I just have no idea what that is. 

I would appreciate feedback from my readers for any suggestions.  The bottom line is that I’m very good in finance.  That is where my experience lies, and I have a good financial mind and the capacity to build powerful models to forecast the financial future of a company.  I can’t totally change careers and expect to find a good job.  I have interests in recreation, but will doubtfully be hired for a recreation management position with no experience.  My primary thought is to find a job where my skills can be used for something that matches my interests.  That is proving to be somewhat challenging as I ultimately do not want a position where the majority of my time is spent crunching numbers on a computer.  I also really enjoy discussion, making decisions, and activities.  I recently applied for a director of finance position for a resort.  That is certainly along the right track, but I’m still a little under qualified for that position.  What else can I do? When I look back over the recent years and the things I get passionate about, the list is not very big.  I enjoy religious discussion where I have to do a lot of research and write a position paper with many references.  I thrive on activities where I organize a great weekend or play a sport or game.  I’ve also got addicted to many weird hobbies such as forging, building a cannon, parkour, and many other very sad ones that shouldn’t be mentioned.  I don’t know how that can be applicable to a job, but if it is, sign me up.

There have been a couple people recently suggest going to seminary and being a pastor.  There is a part of me interested, but I honestly do not know if that is where God is calling me.  I plan to spend the next 2 months thinking and praying about what I should do next, then going application crazy right after our China trip.  At this point in time I am fairly open to anywhere in the country that isn’t central PA or a major city.  If you have any thoughts, please share. 

Thank you.