Even my fake beards grow in funny

It’s no secret that I’m not the most hirsute of hombres. At the end of No Shave November & Decembeard, my face still looks like your regular dude after a long weekend. It’s cool, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll never grow a full-on Mario mustache, nor will I win the # BrosWithBeards contest. Then again, why would I want to hide a face like this? Hiding my lips from the women of the world would be just cruel, no?

Regardless, here’s a neat pic of me taken at Stonehenge last 12/26.

“What do you like to write about? “

Whenever I tell people that I have a blog, or that I want to be a writer, that’s usually the first question they ask. Well, that or “Really? You think you’re that good?”. Very supportive cast, I know.

Most recently, NaNoWriMo has everyone talking about their progress or ideas for novel writing, and it’s inspired me to take action as well. Instead of attempting a masterpiece of fiction that I was reasonably certain I would not complete, I put out an offer to guest-post on anyone’s blog, thinking it might be particularly helpful to those making their own NaNo attempts,

Right away I received responses asking me what I want to write about. So far I don’t have an answer.

I mean, I previously wrote about the blogs I read, and what that says about me. I’ve written about my interests, but that’s just my wanting to say something and hopefully you not beeing too awfully bored with it.

True, I have certain topics that I write about more frequently (movies, comic-books, dude stuff) or more passionately (urbanism, neighborhoods, sports), but given an entirely blank page, what would I choose to fill it with? Especially if I was given only one chance.

::yes, feel free to queue the Eminem music now::

See, the thing is, I usually write about whatever seems interesting to me in that moment. If something is irritating me, or inspiring me, or confusing me, I’ll write about it to figure it out. It’s not a math problem, I don’t have to know the answer, but I do like to show my work.

Back in January I made myself a list of things I wanted to improve with this site in 2010. The top of that list was items like:

more regular features (failed)
more community (nope, not making good progress there)
don’t be afraid of long posts
more relevant

Well, hopefully I’m doing pretty good on that last one, otherwise I need to go back and kick my own ass for being a slacker this year.

However, never once did I tell myself that I wanted to become a topical blog, mostly because I know that I like to talk about anything under the sun, and limiting myself here only seemed like it would lead to having to create separate blogs for each topic I wanted to contribute to.

I guess, a lot like this blog overall, my post today doesn’t really have a topic, other than to be a mea culpa. Yes, I ramble. Yes, I’m random. Yes, I tend to find an idea and work on it right away, then not go back to it. But hopefully at least I’ve entertained and maybe inspired people along the way as well.

Literary Exposure

Whenever chats about the greatest movies of all time strike up around the office or social scene, I am not loathe to admit that I usually end up referencing AFI’s list of 100 Greatest American Movies. Typically I do this when someone says they’ve never seen Citizen Kane or The Godfather. I think mentally mock them and imagine they spend their weekends watching Steven Segal marathons while eating KFC by the bucket and wearing sweatpants purchased at Wal-Mart. Yes, I jump to conclusions, but that’s neither here nor there.

Along these same lines, years ago, I tried to find a similar list for great books to read and make myself feel accomplished. Alas, most of the sources I found had a dramatically English slant and I ended up just buying whatever hardbacks were on clearance at the book store, or occasionally whatever I could remember having been mentioned in Esquire recently.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I found this list on Yuri’s blog

Then I realized that while I knew and could relate the store is the vast majority of these works, I’d only actually read 10 of them. Compared to Yuri’s 56, I seemed nearly illiterate.

Aaaargh! I swear, I’ve read more than 10 books in my life. I promise.

Then I took solace in the idea that since Yuri is foreign, maybe they indoctrinated him differently and he had an innate advantage over me. Additionally, I’ve probably read tons more Spider-Man and really anything written by Brian Michael Bendis or Frank Miller. Plus where’s my credit for the non-fiction works I read, like Machiavelli or Gladwell or Hawkings or Pollan? I’m totally at a disadvantage due to my habit of alternating between fiction and non-fiction everytime I finish something.

So I shared the list with fellow podcaster (and gaming blogger), Swabby, and he told me his total was only 22. Crap, that’s like double mine.

Ok folks, so it’s time for a plan for action. I need to come up with a number of these books and get to work on reading them.

(Sweet) New Ride

Several times over the last year I’ve talked about getting a bike.

I’ve looked into it

I’ve researched online

I’ve stared enviously at the cool kids gliding by on their fixies and cruisers and even the crews of Tour de France enthusiasts speeding around downtown like Spandex-ed flocks.

Every time the weather gets “nice” (you know, those 3-4 weeks during spring & fall that we aren’t melting or freezing solid) I tell myself that I should become a bike person.

Alas, for a long time I was a big talker only. Despite encouragement from transit aficionados like Light Rail Blogger, I was still a train or carpool kind of guy.

Then Europe kicked me in the butt and made me wonder why I was being so reluctant. When I went to visit Anie in London & Paris at the end of summer, I was amazed how many people I saw commuting by bike, and I mean seriously commuting, not just cruising a bike lane, but getting out there, taking the round-abouts, skirmishing with buses and cars and owning their share of the road.

The frequency of bike rental stands in both cities was surprising and inspiring. If these folks could casually stroll up, rent a bike for 30 minutes and drop it off one-way, why hadn’t I atleast bought my own for recreation? I mean, hell, we all know I could use the exercise and I love my neighborhood, so why not put the two together?

So when I landed back in town, I set to scouring craigslist daily, looking for a bike that fit my build and intentions and seemed like it wouldn’t kick my ass. After a couple days, I found this guy, I call him Theodore:

(Free glimpse of the foyer at Casa Awesomesauce, too. Lucky you)

Thus far I’ve taken the bike:
to work (17 min commute)
to the grocery store (12 min commute)
out to lunch (made it to Verde & back in <10 min) and on a leisurely stroll around my 'hood. That last one is how I found Jobot Coffee the day after the opened, and took some cool street art pics; does it get any better on a lazy day? So now I've got a platform to build on, and it's time to get to work on making improvements. A new paint job, a tune up, switch out the seat and figure out some kind of rack-option to put my pack on when going to the grocery store. Either way, it's good to finally hop on and move forward with a new chapter in my own urbanism.

My New Headshot

this is likely to be the greatest photo ever taken

…with me in it

Five Things: Habits I Wish I Didn't Have

I saw a Venn Diagram that indicated that Habit is where Skill, Knowledge & Desire overlap.  Well, that doesn’t explain these habits that I wish I could get rid of.

In no particular order:

1.) Nail-biting:  As near as I can tell, this is a combination of stress and perfectionism that leads my mind to wander off of whatever I’m watching/thinking of and finds some menial task that must be done before I forget about it.  Forget the financial situation or huge work project on my mind, when the hell did this damn nail get extra long? It’s not clean, I wish I had stopped years ago when my mother threatened to put Tabasco on my nails. (I knew it was a bluff because she never bought hot sauce)

2.) Always having to be Right: Various reports have told me this is one of my most annoying traits.  Supposedly, people don’t like to you to remind them that you have the right answer.  I’m not quite sure why this is, but I am willing to accept the theory.  I have yet, however, to come up with a way to keep my mouth shut when I hear someone saying/doing something #FAIL.

3.) Eating Junk Food:  I know how to cook.  I enjoy cooking. I know what healthy food looks like, and I enjoy the taste of loads of healthy food.  So then why do I eat so many cheeseburgers and tacos and pizzas and fatty fat shit?  Don’t give me the whole “culture of obesity” bit, this is my failed life choice and it’s time to turn the ship around, damn it!  Right after I finish the left over pizza in the fridge…

4.) Awkward First Impressions:  (See here)

5.) Procrastination:  Prime example, I was supposed to write this blog, along with 6 others, last night.  Instead, I put it off and now I’m jamming it out before work while my shirt & pants are in the dryer (because the dryer is how you de-wrinkle clothes when you’ve put-off hanging them up nicely).  How much more could I get done if I just hopped to it?  Years ago, when I was first living alone, I intentionally did not have any television signal, and got load of stuff done.  Bills paid on-time and filed away, books & magazines read faster than I could acquire more, took random trips exploring places in the city just to see what was there.  It’s miraculous what we can get done when I just unplug and go live.

How you see yourself

I stumbled across this great picture on one of the design blogs I subscribe to, and it got me thinking…

How do you see yourself?

– in the morning
– when you need to get psyched up
– when nobody’s looking

For me, Monday’s post is pretty true.  I look at myself and I either witness or enforce Awesomeness.

Yes, I know that probably sounds douchey, but I haven’t really come up with a better term for it.

I used to be a shy kid, and still don’t entirely open up around folks I’m first meeting (as discussed here).

Then one day when I was about 16 or 17, during the days when you’re a young boy and you have a “crush” on like a dozen girls at a time and you’re just hoping ANY of them will give you the time of day; I decided to stop being the way I was, and just start being awesome.

Well, actually I decided to start being confident.

Instead of having weaknesses, I figured they were actually strengths in disguise.

Instead of being dorky (think Gifted Program & Monthy Python Holy Grail), I switched it to intelligent, insightful, clever.

Instead of being an outsider, I became the new guy.  Having different groups of friends meant I didn’t have the typical “close, best friends” scenario, but it also meant when I ticked people off I didn’t have to be alone.  I could just pick up and go elsewhere without losing much.

Instead of being not this race and not that nationality enough to fit in with one group or the other, I became Ryan. “the guy with the tan skin and slanty eyes and, oh damn, you see his lips?”.

When I decided that I wanted to move into management at work, I stopped being frustrated and feeling oppressed and started proving that I was the guy who could get things done; because that guy got to make his own rules.

After-all, Caesar said, “it’s only hubris if you’re wrong”.

This is me, in a nutshell

XKCD: Choices

It’s true.

I have this same quandry all the time. I am continuously baffled by the limitless existance of Choice.

I have equal issues with the idea of Individuality.

It is rooted in the foundation that “wow, I could do all these things”, and the “whoa, so could anyone else“, and finally “wait, you mean that every moron I encounter has the same faculties I do, and this is what they do with them?“.

I also like this comic-strip because in the last couple of years I’ve consistently peppered my speech at work with options of violence, and met pretty good/envious results.

Awake already.

Played an away game last night and now I’m awake before anyone else. This is usually an awkward time for me because I seem to sleep less than everyone else, and yet, it would be rude to just wake up and start moving about while people are sleeping. Damn sun, hitting my eyes, making me to want to get up and get some coffee! So, to pass the time I thought I’d upload a couple pictures from last weekend. There are many more pics for me to go through, but I really like these two.

Your’s Truely, geared up and ready to go. As you can see, I brought the guns, in case there was any trouble.

I really like this picture. You can almost see my eyeballs.

First Try, Second Guess?