District

Mandy and I have been in Washington D.C. since Saturday (day after Christmas). We got in that afternoon after a rather pleasant airline experience, which is surprising considering the circumstances. We had very little hassle through security, no delays, and we had a prompt take-off after boarding.

Sunday was spent touring the Smithsonian. We hit a total of six museums which, thankfully, were in close proximity to each other. That took the entire day, and wore us slap out. Room service that night which watching The Invention of Lying. Pretty good movie, but could have been better.

Monday was our planned visit to the capitol, which was cool. All of the politicians were off so there wasn't much going on there. Still cool to see the rotunda. Also frequented the Washington memorial and the white house (free viewing from the road), both cool. Went to Georgetown that afternoon/evening to shop and see Up in the Air. Awesome movie IMO.

Today, slept pretty late and spent some time in the gym. Made it to the US Postal Museum, which was cool, and then to Union Station; for a train station, it was pretty cool. We then went to the National Archives which had a line a block down the street to get into the building. Didn't really know what was going on, but it was too cold to stick around to find out. But that really didn't seem to deter us much since we then got off at the Smithsonian metro station and walked all the way down to the Lincoln memorial, which is actually just a mile, but when your walking against chilling wind...it's soooo cold. Worth it? Yes.

That's all for now.

Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope it's a great one for you. Off to DC tomorrow then to Charleston next weekend for new years.

In other news, the healthcare bill passed the senate yesterday, which means we're one step closer to everything that Obama promissed wouldn't happen, which is namely keeping our country free...

Personal Journal - 12-18-09

I got my grade for database systems and analysis today. An abnormal B. Obviously shocked at this I became rather perturbed with my instructor and I realize that this attitude was one of pride rather than humility. This (pride) is an attitude that I've had throughout my time at PTC. I realize that this wrong attitude puts me in the wrong mindset for success.

Shortly after receiving my grade, I went to continue my readings through Romans. Romans 12:3 particularly stood out to me, "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you."

Now, I feel this spoke directly to me in my current situation. Obviously my attitude needs to change about school and achievement in general if I'm ever going to be satisfied with myself.

Qualm

A recent one-way conversation I had with someone who was questioning my dedication to a project that I never promised anyone but merely hinted at the fact that I might one day produce such an object that was being discussed.

"[22:01] z3px: poop
[22:01] z3px: all over the place
[22:01] z3px: i mean seriously
[22:01] z3px: lets be real
[22:01] z3px: you and i
[22:01] z3px: frank about this whole situtation
[22:02] z3px: you put a wennie in a bun
[22:02] z3px: you put relish, mustard, ketchup, and chillie on top
[22:02] z3px: then you shovel it into your mouth
[22:02] z3px: chew
[22:02] z3px: swollow
[22:02] z3px: poop
[22:02] z3px: repeat
[22:03] z3px: do you catch my drift?
[22:03] z3px: my tokyo drift?"

In other news, I finished school tonight for this semester and my final class at PTC. Good riddance.

christmas

How did christmas become a gift giving holiday? Is it because of the three wise men bringing gifts from their homeland.

Baccarat

I'm watching Golden Eye, which is about one of the best movie made in the late 90s.

Linux @ work

I installed ubuntu on my work laptop to dual boot Linux and Windows.

I really wish I could use Linux at work more. I feel distinguished while using it.

Sup

Mandy and I got our floors in the house refinished this week. Believe me, something that can potentially require work will end up making you work. After returning from our two night stay in the Jameson Inn, we find that the floors in our hose were clean, shiny, exerted a piercing smell. When then spent our entire Friday night painting and cleaning fine particles of sawdust.

After we finished cleaning and putting the furniture back in to the living (the only room that we got refinished besides the hallway) we went promptly to find a Christmas Tree. We found one to our liking at the Sertoma tree place less than a mile from our hose. We bought the tree, took it home, mounted it, and decorated. Looks really good, especially in front of our main window.

-bd

Sudafed and cat litter

I'm taking claritin d today. It has sudafed (sp?) in it. Its making me feel really wierd and making me think do really odd things. For instance, I just opened the browser on my phone and clicked on the drudge bookmark. I then put the phone to my ear. What am I thinking?
Penny is using her cat door a lot now and spent most of the day outside. Its been a really nice day today compared to the past week. I suppose cats can appreciate nice days as well as anyone else. Her litter box has been moved into the laundry room from Mandy's craft room. Now we can finally be in there without being suffocated by the stench that is a cat toilet. They really are like porta potties for cats. No one really likes them, but no one complains about them when they need them.

Puzzled

Mandy and I had a great Thanksgiving with family. We accomplished the main Thanksgiving goals that most Americans strive for, which are:

1. Eat as much as possible
2. Do as little as possible (outside the scope of item 1 and cooking).
3. Be thankful as much as possible.

About item 3. Isn't it sad that the busiest shopping day of the year (at least universally accepted) is the day after Thanksgiving? I know I am not one to say anything on the matter, as I am historically one who partakes in this "event" with great enthusiasm. I did not participate in any of the frivolity this Black Friday though, more only because I don't want/need anything nor do I feel like I need to do all of my Christmas shopping on the same day that most people on the planet do.

However, I do plan to tone down the material mindedness of the holiday season down a few notches, but that could be just because I'm getting older...

I helped JR move into his new house, which is awesome. Mandy and I watched 4 Christmases, which we both found entertaining, and we started (and finished today) the 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle pictured below.

Consider yourself updated.

11/28/2009

I'm transitioning my written journal to Wordpress so I can record my life and get ideas written easier and faster. I might even transition everything I've written here. We'll see.

Currently I'm reading C.S. Lewis'es "Mere Christianity". I've been reading it off and on for the past several months but only now have I really committed to it. It's harder to read non-fiction, especially something that requires deep thought, than it is to read fiction. At least with fiction you're not forced to think about what the author is trying to convey, most of the time...

At the moment Lewis is talking about Morality, generally describing it as a set of rules. He makes the point that many people take morality as a set of "ideals" and following them as "idealism", which basically makes the statement that an idea is something that someone has "created" and is not completely fact and has not been "proven". Although I'm not sure how someone could prove something is good or bad outside the scope of what Christ has describe as being so. Which brings the point of absolutes. How can anyone say anything is absolute when their own opinion of absolute is not absolute in and of itself. When someone says something is not an absolute, they themselves are stating that it is, one way or another.

I think this is going to turn into an endless rambling, but I think it will  be good practice to think critically to myself to flesh out ideas, especially if I'm ever going to talk to someone about these sorts of things. I find that I don't talk much when around these conversations.

Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

This day is marked by not having to work, playing MW2, and eating. Also, be sure to exercise before and after eating.

Crush It! a Gary Vaynerchuk book

I finished reading Gary Vaynerchuck's "Crush IT!" today. This is another web-centered, anti-traditionalist, you-can-do-it-too book that has been pretty popular recently. It guides those who have something they're really passionate about (the word "passion" is used more times than I can count in this book) into creating an online presence focused solely on communicating and sharing that passion with others. The purpose of all this, obviously, is to some day earn money sharing this passion. However, one thing I like about Gary's approach is that it's not meant as a get rich and forget- it-all scheme, or at least, not as self-centered as some other similar books (those focused on working as little as possible). His focus is family first and foremost, then your passion, then creating a legacy with that passion.

Overall it was a really good read and I would recommend it to anyone who has something they want to share with the world.

Crush It! a Gary Vaynerchuk book

BLDGBLOG: The City and its Flooded Double

Very interesting post from BLDGBLOG (which is also an interesting blog itself).

via BLDGBLOG: The City and its Flooded Double.

Purpose...

One of the side reasons for starting this blog again is to get at the top of the Google search "Brian Dean". I can do it...

Cranberry Bliss and ammunitions

So this past weekend Mandy and I had a short trip to columbia. She was able to procure a free room on account of our on going constituency. The Hyatt Place is among my favorite hotels. Very nice rooms with 42" tvs and free breakfast that's usually decent. We watched Public Enemy, which I liked a lot.

Next day we went to the gun show at the jamil temple. Bought a bunch of .223 for my AR-15 and Russian ammo for my mosen nagant. Sweet.
More shopping of various sorts...and that was about it....

The next day mandy woke me up with a cranberry bliss bar from Starbucks. Which is without a doubt the best thing you can eat that's from a major coffee house chain.

I've also been reading a lot recently. Currently reading Brandon's copy of "Crush It!" by Gary Vaynerchuck. So far I like it pretty good.
Last week I read The Catcher in the Rye which very good (IMO) if you can get past the profanity and the overly negative attitude.
That's all for now.

Brian

Cranberry Bliss

I've put this off for far too long...

I broke down today and installed Wordpress. More to come. But as a quick update on a few major events.

Mandy and I bought a house in May.

Mandy's Pregnant.

If you're reading this, you probably already knew that.

More to come...