Guest Post: My Old Fashioned Dad

Feb 15 2012 1 comment Uncategorized

The Author of this post is Cheryl Martinez

My dad is really old fashioned, so trying to get him to learn anything is difficult. He is very smart, but unwilling to move forward with technology. We got him a cell phone, but he rarely uses it, and sometimes doesn’t even pick up the phone when we call because he says he doesn’t know how to answer. How hard can it be to push on the green button? He lives so far out in the country that I didn’t know we could even get him internet service until I came across http://www.satellitestarinternet.com/. I tried to talk him into getting a computer with internet, and he was completely against it until I showed him on my computer how he could read new websites and end his subscription to the newspaper and magazines. I am so glad I sold him on something new! I think he is finally making progress! Before I know it he’ll be a pro at writing emails and navigating the web. I’m going over his house tomorrow to give him a basic computer tutorial and give him some books. I’m sure he’ll do fine and start to get comfortable as soon as he spends some time playing around.

Loveage:

• Charles Green

Ridiculous.

Feb 11 2012 2 comments Uncategorized

I’m honestly finding it harder and harder to find things to write about. I’m seriously thinking about taking classes to learn brainstorming techniques. Ezrik now has his DS, and we haven’t actually been able to get him a game for it, so it’s mostly just a fancy paper weight, and also I have this ridiculous craving for Pizza. That’s my big posts so far, how sad is that? We’re moving sometime soon, but that’s not exactly big news as its been in the works for a while now. Sometime mid-April we will be out of this hell hole and into the new, possible hell hole, of Texas. I’m holding out hope that things actually work out because I’m tired of being miserable and living in a house with no insulation, a shitty AC unit, and generally just crap all over the place. Whatever, we’ll see I guess.

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• Lindset
• Yasmine

Multi-layered

Feb 11 2012 no comments Uncategorized

It’s funny how often you overlook the little things when going through to report data, like having access to a report designer, or something that helps you provide several levels of different data from which to make your decisions. As much as most people will be fine with the same old graphs and what have you, there’s a point where a multi-layered report might serve you better in the long run and it’s hard to find a place where people are willing to go out of their way to design that for you. That being said, these are things you can do on your own, but it’s not always best to do them that way.

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Guitars and Music

Jan 23 2012 2 comments Uncategorized

There are few things as beautiful as a guitar, as far as I’m concerned.  When I was in High School, I was petulant and stupid, and when I wanted to play guitar I wanted an actual electric guitar, like an Ibanez, though now I feel I’d gravitate more towards something like the andy summers telecaster , but I digress.  My parents said I should learn on an acoustic, and if I recall I got a rather nice, cheap one… but I never actually managed to learn because I have the attention span of a gnat most of the time.  It’s kind of depressing, because I honestly wish I knew how to play now.  Maybe it’s something I can take up and get on board with even at my age, though. I love music enough to incorporate actual playing into my adoration, so here’s hoping!

Loveage:

• Germaine
• Gabrielle

Television Shows I’ve Watched to Completion…

Jan 17 2012 no comments Internet Lists Television

I know, I’m kind of crazy with the lists lately, but this one should at least be amusing, as it’s a random, unnumbered list of Television Shows I’ve watched to completion… at least twice. It’s a low quantifier, but still, it allows a bit more range of freedom with new shows I’ve fallen in love with and all that jazz.

It might help give some insight into what I enjoy, or even give someone an idea for a new show to watch if it comes down to it. The list might range from incredibly long and detailed, to short and miserable– I really have no idea how far I’ll end up going with this in the end, and I feel like throwing this out there to begin with. Some things might be described in detail, and others might just have a name and a short paragraph, we’ll see how things go.

Anyone who didn’t see this one coming obviously hasn’t paid nearly enough attention to me or my ramblings. Buffy is one of the shows I regularly watch in marathon as I get a craving–and to be honest, my boyfriend and I are watching through it right now, but slower than usual because we’re also watching other things– and sometimes even just because there’s nothing better on.

I seek out Buffy on random syndication channels. I go crazy when I see it’s on, figuratively, because it’s something on TV that isn’t complete crap or redundancy. It is, after all, the show that dragged me into the love and adoration of one Joss Whedon, and I haven’t looked back since.

Some people have iffy feelings about the show. It seems like you either love it, hate it, or find it ‘overrated’ even though you enjoyed it. Something like hipsters and their “it’s not underground enough.” comes to mind, oddly. I understand some people might find it slightly overrated, especially considering the plethora of shows out there, but as I find myself watching it over and over again, I can’t say that I agree.

Even if there are some episodes I find I can pass over, in the end, Buffy the Vampire Slayer will always be a show I come back to, ‘overrated’ or not, because it makes me giddy to watch it and hear my Buffyisms.

Favourite Episode(s): The Body (Season 5), Surprise & Innocence (Season 2), Consequences (Season 3).
Least Favourite Episode(s): Teacher’s Pet (Season 1), I Was Made To Love You (Season 5), The Real Me (Season 5), Inca Mummy Girl (Season 1).

Science Fiction related productions are usually reserved for my mother, as it is more her bag than mine– that isn’t to say that I dislike Sci-Fi, I love a lot of it, I’m just not as huge a fan as some people would assume– but somehow Firefly managed to worm its way into my heart within moments. It might have something to do with the fact that it is a Joss Whedon show, or the fact that Nathan Fillion is so amazing he could make anything good, but honestly I think it’s just because the writing and story were so compelling, and the characters were so amazingly well written than I can’t really hate on it. (Though some people apparently can… I laugh every time I read it.)

There’s something completely lovable about the cast and their characters alike that makes you kind of want to be in their world an experience their own little slice of the black, and its inspired many a Browncoat to stand up and rage at its unfortunate dismissal by Fox– but someday, perhaps, we’ll all get to fly back into the black with Serenity again and explore some of the things that were left undone, even with the movie.

It’s a series I can continuously come back to and watch over and over, given its short run and single season.

Favourite Episode(s): Our Mrs. Reynolds, Trash, Shindig, Heart of Gold.
Least Favourite Episode(s): N/A

Row Row, Fight the Power. It’s impossible to think that an anime can walk into someone’s life and kind of wiggle itself in a place where it can become a favourite show, and not just a favourite anime, but everyone I know that has watched Gurren Lagann agrees that the magnitude of the story is far beyond that of just the idea of a mecha anime. It has themes and story line plots that people would be hard pressed to find it anything live action, and does enough of the old switcharoo that your first time through is a completely ‘life altering’ (figuratively speaking) experience. It’s just that good.

While I’ve only watched it twice through, and I know what happens and the plot twists are now capable of being predictable (considering I know they’re coming, right?) it’s an amazing show in its own right. Even without the twists to tug you along and blow your mind, you’ve got a story that stands up to the test of time about the good men can do if they just try to further themselves and be nice to each other, as well as fight the man, so to speak.

Definitely worth a watch or two.

Favourite Episode(s): Later, Buddy.
Least Favourite Episode(s): N/A

It’s hard to remember when I first saw Slayers, or what it was as a whole that dragged me into the anime– maybe it was the ‘magic’ or the fact that the characters were quirky yet still compelling, all I know is I never looked back once I’d watched through the first ‘season’, and from then on I’d devour anything I could get my hands on that was remotely Slayers related. It’s weird how much I enjoy it to this day, even though I can see the flaws in the animation and the plot holes, but hey, you can’t forget one of your first loves, can you?
Favourite Episode(s): The entirety of Try
Least Favourite Episode(s): N/A

Okay, I still watch Friends at least once a day, to this day. It’s weird, because I never seem to get tired of repeating the same storylines over and over– it’s not something I planned to do, when Friends first started I was actually pretty much not good at keeping up with it, and I’m not sure I even watched it all that much in the beginning, but somewhere in the middle I caught on and started watching lots of episodes. Honestly, I find myself kind of compelled by the characters and how a pretty much ‘nothing’ cast ended up being one of the best sitcoms in the history of television without being condescending. Do want.
Favourite Episode(s): All– honestly, I don’t think there’s one I couldn’t watch again.
Least Favourite Episode(s): N/A

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