Music Monday’s #1

Welcome to the first edition of Music Monday’s.  It’s pretty basic, I take a playlist and put it on random, and post what comes up.

• Playlist – “Anything & Everything”
• Description – Anything from Christian to Rock, Rap to Country, Classical to 80’s.  Pretty much anything and everything that I like.
• Number of songs on the playlist – 1,202 songs

 

1. Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)
2. Johnny Fencerider – Fresh Fish (Say What?)
3. I Write the Songs (Barry Manilow)
4. People Get Ready (Rod Stewart)
5. Alive (Pearl Jam)
6. Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf)
7. Control (Puddle of Mudd)
8. The Best of My Love (Eagles)
9. This Love is Strong (Russ Taff)
10. Don’t Bring Me Down (Electric Light Orchestra)
11. Weathered (Creed)
12. Love in the First Degree (Alabama)
13. Mine (Taylor Swift)
14. Let’s Begin Again (Ray Boltz)
15. Feel Like Makin’ Love (Bad Company)
16. Undo It (Carrie Underwood)
17. Indian Outlaw (Tim McGraw)
18. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) (AC/DC)
19. Underneath the Blood (Petra)
20. No Se Tu (Luis Miguel)

Seems that this list is more classic than anything.  If you gave me an option to listen to a radio station, I would turn on the local rock station.  You wouldn’t know that by the above list.  Oh well, it is what it is.  We’ll see what comes up next Monday.

Flashback Friday–Driving Record

I recently applied for a different job at work and one of the qualifications was to have a clean driving record.  It got me thinking about my record.  If you remember, awhile back, I created this in reference to my oldest daughter who was now driving.

She’s had multiple things happen to her car, all while parked, according to her.  Maybe she’s not lying, but I remember my driving when I was her age.  My car was unlucky too, if it works for her, I’m using too.  Although now that I think about it, I recall getting rear ended in the high school parking lot (not my fault), I was the victim of road rage outside Indianapolis (not my fault), you also may remember this (not my fault.)  I even got rear ended at a stop light by work (not my fault) but I left the scene because I didn’t have insurance (my fault).

My BMV has a nice little feature online where you can actually view your record.  The bad news is, it only goes back to 1991.  I started driving in 1989, and those first few years were rough ones.  I know at one point I had 5 or 6 tickets, but I only got them half the time I got pulled over.  They were all for speeding (which was my one negative mark in driving school as well, go figure).

But let’s take a look from 1991 to current.

• Feb. 1991 – Speeding
• Sep. 1991 – Speeding (55 mph in a 30 mph)
• Dec. 1991 – Speeding (43 mph in a 25 mph)
• Nov. 1992 – Speeding (56 mph in a 30 mph)
• Sep. 1993 – Speeding (50 mph in a 30 mph)

I’m thinking if they would just raise all the speed limits over 30, I’d probably be ok.  30 is just too slow.  Now you’ll notice a 3 year gap between the last one above and the first one below.  That would be because of the 2nd violation listed below.

• Apr. 1996 – Speeding (58 mph in a 40 mph)
• Apr. 1996 – Failure to show insurance.
• Jul. 1996 – License suspended

Yeah, I didn’t have insurance for a lot of years.  It’s amazing how much better you drive when your driving illegally.  I certainly don’t condone what I did, it is what it is.

• Nov. 1996 – Driving while suspended.
• May 1997 – License suspended, failure to pay.
• Jan. 1999 – License suspended, failure to prove insurance.
• Jan. 2006 – Expired license plate.

You’ll notice a 7 year difference between the last 2, that’s because I pretty much drove without insurance most of that time.  The good news is, that 2006 pull over was the last time I’ve received a ticket.  Not because I don’t have insurance, I’ve grown up since then.  I’ve had insurance for quite awhile now.

Have I really become a better driver?  Yes.  Do I still speed a lot?  Oh yes.  Difference is, I pay a lot more attention to what is around me.  Not only watching for cops, but also, watching other drivers.  I tried to teach that to Skyler when I was teaching her how to drive.  The greatest thing you can do is drive defensively, always expect that car to pull out in front of you, always be aware of what is around you.  There has been multiple times when I was sitting at a light, it turns green, and I sit there while someone runs the red light.  I look both ways before crossing at a green light and it has prevented me from getting hit.

A lot of it has that I’ve matured as well, I’ll wait till your done laughing.  I don’t gun it at red lights, or race others.  When someone is riding my ass, I just let go of the gas till they pass, even if I end up doing 10 mph.  I didn’t say I still wasn’t an asshole.

I try to remember all the stupid things I’ve done in a car (drove out on a highway with a friend on the hood, drove under the influence, steal my mom’s car when I was 15) when dealing with my daughter and her stupid driving.  I try, it doesn’t always work out.  I guess that makes me a hypocrite, but we all want our children to be better than we were.  You hope they would learn from their mistakes.  I have trouble remembering that they have to make their own mistakes in order for them to learn.

I just hope she learns A LOT quicker than I did.  I was a dumb ass.

Randomness #14

Last week I got all caught up on my Feedly, this week I have fallen way behind again.  I’ve gotten in the habit of skipping a lot of the card blogs, I have more or less stopped blogging on My Sports Obsession anyways so I haven’t been in the mood to read about other cards.  I still love cards, but since we are trying to buy a house, I haven’t been purchasing any, which leads to the lack of blogging there.

My stepdad and I went to see this, it was pretty bad ass.  I love these new Star Trek movies because they have reminded me of my love for the series.  If you’re a regular follower here then you know that I am currently watching the original series (TOS) on Netflix.  I really had forgotten how much I liked the characters until they released the new prequel Star Trek back in 2009.  Yeah, I get the timeline doesn’t always match up with the originals, and I’m not a huge fan of the whole Spock/Uhura relationship (just feels weird) but I think they do a pretty good job with the characterization of the characters and that’s what I love.  I also like all the action compared to the originals.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the originals but I certainly can’t complain about more action.  I will watch this again when it comes out on DVD, so my wife can see it, of course.

I’m thinking about doing a Music Mondays, that’ll give me something on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  That also leaves me 4 other days to post other stuff.  I think for the Music Monday’s it will be something like random songs off playlists or something.  I really should use my Track of the Day’s more often too, I still have some saved, I just always forget to post them.

Samantha’s team has been great to watch (except their last game).  They were undefeated but Samantha is growing up and really looking like a ball player.  I’ve been working with her on her swing and she’s been hitting the ball consistently and consistently hard.  She’s gradually starting to hit past the outfielders.  She’s gotten a few stand up double’s and has  had a few 3 RBI games.  Her name has been in the paper a couple of times as well.

Those are off the website for the paper since I hadn’t realized her name was in the actual paper so I didn’t get copies of it.  I asked for help from friends on Facebook but as usual, they aren’t any.  I have a feeling since I only post about once a week, that Facebook doesn’t actually show most of my friends my posts.

Regardless, I love watching her play and I hate it when I have to miss games for work.

I went and played basketball with my brother and some of his friends last Sunday.  I wasn’t great (it’s been years) but I wasn’t horrible either.  But I’ve been feeling it ever since.  I’m gradually feeling better but walking up stairs has been kicking my ass, which considering I live on the 2nd floor, has been rough.  But like I said, I’m getting better. 

It was really great to get out there and play again.  I used to play almost daily growing up in the neighborhood.  I used to be pretty good, I used to beat players who played for our high school all the time in gym class.  I used to love to play.  I would love to play again, but I need to get in better shape and it’s hard to get enough people together to play consistently.  It would help if I had some friends.

Oh yeah!  Today is my birthday.  The big 4-0.  I don’t do much for my birthday and that’s by my choice.  To me, it’s just another day.  I spend most of my day “liking” all the birthday wishes on my Facebook anymore.  I got a little cash from my mother-in-law, I spent it on taking the family out for lunch at IHOP and my mom and stepdad are coming over to have supper with us.  Cheri kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday dinner, I told her I didn’t care.  She is making my favorite dessert though, and it’s something I don’t get enough of.  CHEESECAKE!  That’s what I’m looking forward to.

How can you not look forward to some of that.

WWW Wednesday’s #16

To play along, I’m supposed to answer 3 easy questions.

What are you currently reading?

 

Yesterday’s Gone (Episode #1)

Yesterday’s Gone (Episode #2)

Yesterday’s Gone (Episode #3)

Yesterday’s Gone (Episode #4)

Yesterday’s Gone (Episode #5)

Yesterday’s Gone (Episode #6)

I read somewhere where the authors released these short books every 3 weeks until 6 were released.  Sort of like how Stephen King released the Green Mile if you remember that.  I purchased the first box set so I’ll wait and review all of them after I’ve finished the first set.  Each book was approximately 100 pages.  I believe there are 2 other sets of 6 books but I don’t have those yet.

 

What did you recently finish reading?

Into The Woods by Kim Harrison

You can read my review here for this.

 

What do you think you’ll read next?

Gehenna (West of Hell #1)

A zombie book, set in the old west.  Sounds very interesting if you ask me.  I’m looking forward to this one, hope it doesn’t disappoint.

If you want to join on WWW Wednesdays, click the logo on top or go to http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ and leave a comment.

Flashback Fridays–the 80’s

My brother sent me a link the other day to one of those, if you remember these, you were an 80’s kid, I didn’t think of it much, as a matter of fact, I didn’t click the link for a few hours when I remembered that he sent it.  So I went back to my phone and clicked it.  It was from the World Observer Online site and it was called “50 Things Only 80’s Kids Can Understand”.  It was pretty awesome because it had all kinds of things that you don’t usually see on those 80’s lists.  I won’t go through all 50 here (NES, the Cosby show, the Breakfast Club), you can click on the link to the original article if you want that, but I grabbed a bunch of stuff that I hadn’t seen or heard of in a long time.

The Muppet Babies – I used to watch this every Saturday morning (yes, I was a kid in the 80’s).

He-man – I also watched this every Saturday.  You know, because Saturdays were the only day you got to see a bunch of cartoons.

NASA’s Challenger explosion – I was in Junior High home economics class and they brought in a TV to watch the launch.  I remember how shocked I was when it happened.  It was kind of a disbelief, did I really just see that?

Garbage Pail Kids – I don’t remember ever really being into these but my brother was.  I do remember laughing at all of them though.

  

Hands Across America & We Are The World - I thought these were the coolest things and they got talked about forever.  I loved the We Are the World song, anybody who was anybody sang on it.

Neon Biker Shorts – While the neon has come back, the biker shorts haven’t.  I walked into a Justice store to get some clothes for my daughter awhile back and it was like the 80’s threw up in there with all the freaking neon.

The Oregon Trail – I used to play this all the time.  Although I don’t remember if it was at school or at home.  This is the Sims before the Sims.  I’m curious how many people remember this.  I also remember Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?

New York Seltzer – I loved this stuff, I drank the peach flavored whenever I can.  It was basically flavored carbonated water.

ET Vinyl Doll – I totally had one of these, I think everybody did.  I loved the ET movie when it came out, I got addicted to Reese’s pieces after that too.

Scratch ‘n Sniff stickers – I was a big time sticker collector and loved the scratch ‘n sniff stickers.  Although some of these above, I’m wondering what they are supposed to smell like.

Trapper Keeper – These were so cool back in the day.  I used these for years, everyone had them and it was a challenge to get the coolest one in your class.

WWW Wednesdays #15

To play along, I’m supposed to answer 3 easy questions.

What are you currently reading?

Yesterday’s Gone (Yesterday’s Gone #3)

I read somewhere where the authors released these short books every 3 weeks until 6 were released.  Sort of like how Stephen King released the Green Mile if you remember that.  This is the 3rd book, I just finished the first 2.

What did you recently finish reading?

Into The Woods by Kim Harrison

You can read my review here for this.

Yesterday’s Gone (Yesterday’s Gone #1)

This short book grabs you right at the beginning with the majority of people disappearing from the earth.  Each chapter is a character and what they are doing while they are gradually trying to find out what is really going on.  Then at the very end, it leaves you hanging.  Lucky for me, I already have the first 6 books so no cliffhanger for me.

Yesterday’s Gone (Yesterday’s Gone #2)

The characters are still trying to figure out what’s going on only now we are starting to see what is taking the people and what has happened to some of them.  Of course, we have no idea why or how it’s happening yet, but with each turn of the page, you get closer to closer to finding it out.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Yesterday’s Gone (Yesterday’s Gone #4)

If you’ve read above, then I don’t need to explain this decision.

If you want to join on WWW Wednesdays, click the logo on top or go to http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ and leave a comment.

Quarterly Stats–volume 3, issue 1

I totally spaced on my quarterly stats posts.  It should have been in April but I was in the midst of the A to Z Challenge so I had planned on doing it at the beginning of May.  Now here we are on the 28th and I still haven’t done it.  Oops.

My last post on January 3rd showed 15,599 pageviews, 271 posts and 20 followers.  So everything is definitely moving up, a lot of that was before the A to Z Challenge.  I should have screen capped the above pic on April 1st instead of today because the numbers aren’t right for the time frame referenced in this post.  Oh well, pageviews will be wrong but I can figure the posts (270) and followers (20).  I had 56 more posts in the last 3 months for a 19 post a month average.  Let’s break down the last 3 months of 2012.

January tied October of last year for the most posts in a month with 24.    Only one Randomness post which says I took the time to sit down in front of my computer to write.  Randomness posts either mean I had a lot of small stuff to say (not enough for a post of its own) or I hadn’t gotten around to posting in a few days.  Considering I posted the 5 days before it, I probably just had a few things to say.  Out of the 24 posts, 4 of them were WWW Wednesdays and 4 of them were Weekly Catch-ups.  I guess if I want to keep my posts up, I need to designate something for every day.

January 2013 – 24 posts – 16,437 words

• average of 685 words per post.

It ended up being my most words in a month, first time over 16,000 words.  Only 7 of the 24 had less than 500 words and 3 of those were WWW Wednesdays where I don’t generally say much other than what I’m reading.  Then one week I didn’t do a WWW Wednesdays post, I posted about my new book page, so it was more of an announcement and that had less than 200 words.  I did have 3 posts over 1,000 words helped those out though.

February wasn’t nearly as productive as last month.  Only 1 weekly meme contributed to that.  Only 11 posts total for the month.  Part of that also was I spent a weekend away from home and I think I only posted once while I was gone.

February – 11 posts – 6,285 words

• average of 571 words per post.

It’s not a horrible words per post average so at least I wasn’t just throwing stuff up there just to get a post out.  3 posts over 900 words but none over 1,000.  One thing that did happen this month was I crossed 160,000 words and 300 posts on this blog.  Plus celebrated 2 years since it was started.

March came in and only 1 post the first week of the month, then I got better.  3 WWW Wednesdays and 2 My Kind of Humor posts, which will probably make it a low word count month as well.  I posted at least half the month with 15 posts which is what I would like to at least average per month.  I did get another Flashback Friday in, maybe I really need to get something up every Friday.  It would give me something to write about at least one day of the week

March – 15 posts – 6,803 words

• average of 454 words per post

I posted more this month but my words per post is way down.  I’m not sure what to make of that.  Only 1 post over 900 had a lot of reason for it I guess.

I already know in the next stat page that I will break my most posts in a month since I participated in the A to Z Challenge in April and posted every day.

Book Review–Into the Woods by Kim Harrison

Book Review

Into the Woods by Kim Harrison

Saying I loved this book doesn’t really say much because a lot of the stories (7) are Hollows related which is one of my all-time favorite series so if your not familiar with Kim Harrisons the Hollows series, I’m not sure how much you’ll like this book.  I would assume you would still like it, just probably not as much as I did.

When I say stories from the Hollows, they are kind of side stories.  They happen around the books.  Stories such as how Ivy started out, the mission that Trent and Jenks went on that was mentioned in Pale Demon, how Ceri became Al’s familiar, and a young Rachel raises Pierce the first time.  Then there are a few others with Hollows characters, a job Jenks and Bis take, Rachel helps Kisten protect some of his family, the story of Mia the Banshee, and some backstory on Jenks and his wife.  Like I said before, if you’re familiar with her works you’ll love these short stories.

On top of those 7 stories, you also get 4 more stories unrelated to her previous works.  One with vampires, a couple with dryads and the best of the 4, one that takes place in this world where some people have a kinetic energy where you either control it or they take it from you.  It’s a good story about a couple of people with the energy are tracking a kid who has been found to have it.  They must either determine if he can use the power for good, or if they need to capture him and take it away.

I gave this 5 stars but like I said above, if your not familiar with the Hollows series, you probably won’t enjoy it nearly as much.

My Kind of Humor #10

Time for another edition of My Kind of Humor.  These were all posted on my Random Thoughts Facebook page at one time or another.

I wonder how long it took the audience to get the joke?

Bahahahaha!

People who don’t know how to wear a hat are morons anyways, this guy is even worse.

Daddy was dishing out the medicine that night.

I posted this one a long time ago, back when it was still cold.

That is a great wife.

That would be most of my family, we are not a skinny family.

I used to love Blockbuster, I even did the online streaming from them before I did Netflix until their customer service department treated me like I was an idiot.

Paul Konerko is a lucky guy.

This is what my kids would do if I sent them outside.