A Few Things Learned...

Being Poor 
 By John Scalzi

Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs. 

Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV. 

Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they’re what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there’s not an $800 car in America that’s worth a damn. 

Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away. 

Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends’ houses but never has friends over to yours. 

Being poor is going to the restroom before you get in the school lunch line so your friends will be ahead of you and won’t hear you say “I get free lunch” when you get to the cashier. 

Being poor is living next to the freeway. 

Being poor is coming back to the car with your children in the back seat, clutching that box of Raisin Bran you just bought and trying to think of a way to make the kids understand that the box has to last. 

Being poor is wondering if your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn’t mind when you ask for help. 

Being poor is off-brand toys. 

Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house. 

Being poor is knowing you can’t leave $5 on the coffee table when your friends are around. 

Being poor is hoping your kids don’t have a growth spurt. 

Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn’t have make dinner tonight because you’re not hungry anyway. 

Being poor is Goodwill underwear. 

Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you. 

Being poor is feeling the glued soles tear off your supermarket shoes when you run around the playground. 

Being poor is your kid’s school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks and no air conditioning. 

Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal. 

Being poor is relying on people who don’t give a damn about you. 

Being poor is an overnight shift under florescent lights. 

Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support. 

Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet. 

Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger’s trash. 

Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw. 

Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a goddamned difference. 

Being poor is people angry at you just for walking around in the mall. 

Being poor is not taking the job because you can’t find someone you trust to watch your kids. 

Being poor is the police busting into the apartment right next to yours. 

Being poor is not talking to that girl because she’ll probably just laugh at your clothes. 

Being poor is hoping you’ll be invited for dinner. 

Being poor is a sidewalk with lots of brown glass on it. 

Being poor is people thinking they know something about you by the way you talk. 

Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise. 

Being poor is your kid’s teacher assuming you don’t have any books in your home. 

Being poor is six dollars short on the utility bill and no way to close the gap. 

Being poor is crying when you drop the mac and cheese on the floor. 

Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere. 

Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually stupid. 

Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually lazy. 

Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap. 

Being poor is never buying anything someone else hasn’t bought first. 

Being poor is picking the 10 cent ramen instead of the 12 cent ramen because that’s two extra packages for every dollar. 

Being poor is having to live with choices you didn’t know you made when you were 14 years old. 

Being poor is getting tired of people wanting you to be grateful. 

Being poor is knowing you’re being judged. 

Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa. 

Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by. 

Being poor is deciding that it’s all right to base a relationship on shelter. 

Being poor is knowing you really shouldn’t spend that buck on a Lotto ticket. 

Being poor is hoping the register lady will spot you the dime. 

Being poor is feeling helpless when your child makes the same mistakes you did, and won’t listen to you beg them against doing so. 

Being poor is a cough that doesn’t go away. 

Being poor is making sure you don’t spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up. 

Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in. 

Being poor is four years of night classes for an Associates of Art degree. 

Being poor is a lumpy futon bed. 

Being poor is knowing where the shelter is. 

Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so. 

Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor. 

Being poor is seeing how few options you have. 

Being poor is running in place. 

Being poor is people wondering why you didn’t leave. 

                                                                                                         -September 3, 2005 By John Scalzi 

Click here for the Addicting Info webpage article.

I can relate to some of the things listed here. I have learned the value of a dollar and I have learned how to stretch it, and what resources are available when the dollars run out. I am not poor, but I am not rich. I have seen paychecks disappear into paying bills quicker than you could blink. I have seen items tossed aside that I have stopped and picked up and brought home. I have gone to the grocery store with only enough money to buy ramen noodles. I have been homeless. I have, in the past, contemplated committing a crime to help my family.

There are people who are in worse situations than those which I described in regards to myself. Not everyone is in these situations because of poor choices they made, some are there because the opportunity is not there. The opportunity being something that can help that person be in a better situation than the one they find themselves in. This life experience has taught me that I am better than no man, and if possible, help out your fellow man/woman, either because you've been there, or because you never know when you will be the one who needs help.

I believe that disliking a certain people or lifestyle because "the Bible says..." makes no sense, especially when people who commit acts of aggression because apparently the Quran "says so" you call evil. I believe that there are people who are homosexual who have a better shot at getting into heaven than some people who claim to be "in to the church".

I think that abortion is a choice that the woman has the right to make. The consequences of that choice are for the responsible parties to bear, but it is still a choice. And since God created man with free will, then we are allowed to make these choices.

I believe that the modern Republican party is being controlled by the Tea Party, whose main agenda is to remove the black man from office and ensure that another one of his kind never again takes that position. To some this may appear as "pulling the race card", but when have you ever seen this type of backlash towards a president to the point of a party trying to alter the voting process to prevent certain peoples from voting.

Supporting the Republican party right now is a wrong move. If you are not one of the wealthy few then you are the other group of Republican supporters known as the "undereducated". Meaning that you have been provided with only enough information to make it appear as if Pres. Obama is bad and the reason for all of your woes. They know that you are sure on two things: 1.) Your religious beliefs 2.) That you must literally take up arms to defend your family from an evil world. So what they do is play this to their advantage saying that Pres. Obama "is a Muslim", and he's trying to take away your 2nd Amendment rights, knowing that you will take their word for it without seeing for yourself. They throw around the word "patriot" to make you feel like you are fighting a war for your country and they want to convince you that Pres. Obama is anything other than an American. They want you angry so that you cannot think rationally. They want you to just do as they say and not think for yourself. Look at the facts, think for yourself.

Kappa Rants at Republicans Ignorance

Republicans, the reason Mitt Romney will not win the presidential election is simple. You Republicans are NOT right! It's as simple as that. Even your OWN party members know this! You can do all the Pres. Obama smearing with your baseless lies, bumper stickers, and little comics/pictures, but when the time comes and those electoral votes are being counted up, it will not come as a surprise to Democrats who the winner will be.

The Republicans b*tch over money, and guns, and Christian this and Christian that, and "our" America. To whom are you referring to with "OUR" America? You CANNOT peacefully run a diverse nation by basing it's government on "YOUR" religion. No one is trying to take "YOUR" guns. A lot of you guys probably have nothing above a hunting rifle and/or false bravado. And, it appears that you worship the almighty dollar just as much as you worship God.

I think all the common sense Republicans have either gone Democratic or Independent. The rest have joined ranks with the Tea Party. There's a common joke about Democrats "drinking the Kool-Aid", which is Pres. Obama's administration. If you are siding with those far right extremists known as the Tea Party and actually believing the lies you're being told; you are "SMOKING CRACK"! When Pres. Obama wins re-election in November one of the hardest things for me to do is to not get on Facebook and RAGE TAUNT people who thought that Mitt Romney even stood a chance. And what will Republicans do at this time? NOTHING! As history shows, you guys will b*tch and whine about the end of times, make threats assassination, riots, succession, and when you see that all the things you were against actually improve America, you will feel absolutely stupid.

I'll probably never understand how people can be for the person that blatantly lies to, and is against them and their interest. Maybe there are people that need to be lied to in order to feel safer and sleep better at night. The Democrats are saying "There is a monster under the bed, let's work together to get rid of it!" The Republicans are saying "There's no monster under the bed, the monster under the bed told me so!"

I'll keep trying to get through to you guys, maybe one day it will sink in, maybe you will understand why the Democratic Party is so diverse while the Republican Party is not. I'm not talking religious views, but ideals that help the greater good, not just one people, not scare tactics that have seniors thinking that the end is near! The Democratic Party does not invoke the name of God as a technique, like the Republicans, believing that people are either too brainwashed by their religion to think otherwise, or too uneducated to know of anything else. The Democrats do not say that the other side is going to take away their guns, like the Republicans, in an effort to make people who have been misinformed feel unsafe. The Democrats, THESE Democrats, because things may change over time, as they have done in the past (look it up), ARE AMERICA, the America of now, the America of millions of different people working together. THESE REPUBLICANS, the Republicans of now, are an America of the past where segregation of all peoples is the norm; where the belief that the Bible should dictate EVERYONE'S lives, even those persons of different religion is right. Basically, the Republicans "are" the Bible Belt States, the Democrats are the rest of the common thinking, rational, all-inclusive, progressive thinking society. Vote Obama/Biden 2012!

Kappa Caught Slippin'

My daughter got into the baby oil in the bathroom and spilled... I'm thinking more like POURED some on the floor. My first thought, check for hidden cameras, cause if I slip, bust my @$$ and fall through the floor I GUARANTEE that shyt's gonna go viral. No cameras. Second thought, say nothing and watch my wife slip, bust her @$$ and fall through the floor. Nope, then I would have to watch these little minions alone. Tell the wife about baby oil on the floor, she cleans it up, I go outside to cut grass. Later that night going to bathroom, hit a slick spot and hydroplaned for two feet before catching myself. A movie of my life flashed before my eyes. I wanted my money back. Damn, there's still some baby oil on the floor. It's a light sheen though, so... no need to cut into my video game time, besides, I probably fish-tailed through the worst of it so the rest should be safe. Later, going to the bathroom, ice capades. I yell "Aw damn!" to myself as I snatch my life back from the jaws of death. Yelling "Aw damn!" is a way to save yourself from the ridicule of others by acknowledging that you are aware that you are in the throws of a trip, stumble, victim of a prank or some other type of humorous mishap. That way you take some of the sting out of the insults and laughter being hurled in your direction. You say it to yourself when you're alone, so that you don't feel like an idiot. Remind myself to next time go around that spot. Later (Yeah, I know, I know! I drink a lot of tea!), half asleep, stumble to the bathroom, forgot about the oil slick. I look like Tom when he's stepped on a banana peel that Jerry so intricately placed in exactly the right spot, and goes sliding across the room. Thank goodness there wasn't an inexplicably placed ironing board to smash me in the gut and have my tongue shoot out of my mouth like one of those birthday blow out toys. I check for cameras, there are none. I think to myself... It's been three times already. Has Death skipped over me and gone after someone else? I'd better warn all the people who were on that form of mass transit with me earlier. You know, the weird guy, the jock, his girlfriend, the badass, the token racial stereotype, and the hot chick that becomes the weird guy's girlfriend. Better let them know to "Watch Out!" Or, maybe I'm a cat and I have six lives left. I wish I could see them in the top left hand corner of my vision. That would be cool, but no countdown timer though. I'd have to run fast as hell when the numbers get to less than 100. But, what I would do is purchase a bunch of turtles and through them at people.

"Aw damn!"

Kappa Watches the Last Hour of the Final Night of the Republican National Convention

Aight, check it. It's hot in the CP, my allergies are actin' up, and I really need to get some video game time in before I go to sleep. Let's do a quick rundown on the convention in layman's terms.
 I arrived tardy to the party, but just in time to see Dirty Harry get wheeled out there like Hannibal Lecter sans the facemask. Mind you that I have much respect for Clint Eastwood, he's an iconic actor, he makes and directs great movies, has a nice looking wife, and some cute kids, even though the one girl's eyes are damn near on the sides of her head. Anyway this cat is up there talking shyt to a damn CHAIR. There's laughter in the air, but it's a nervous laughter. You know, the kind you when you don't want to be singled out by the comedian on stage. Mr. Eastwood was up there rambling on, and the Romney team put out a comment distancing themselves from him so damn quick... I mean dude was still on stage and the Romney team was like "Who the f**k let the drunk uncle take the mic?!" Msnbc's Rev. Al Sharpton said that they needed to snatch him up like they did failing acts at the Apollo Theater. Rachel Maddow had me rolling though; she said she got up from the stage and when and had a cookie when Clint Eastwood was up there because she thought that her blood sugar was low and that his speech was a hallucination. Immediately after the Eastwood speech Rachel had a face like "W-T-F?!" At the end his speech garnered the same reaction as the first sighting of Lady Gaga's meat dress. Mr. Eastwood, you did an OUTSTANDING job representing Republicans! Thank you very much for coming out sir, and please, Mrs. Eastwood see that he takes his meds before going to bed..

Ok, Marco Rubio... Did you know that an anagram of his name is "C U Mario Bro"? F**k it, I don't know where that came from. Anyway this dude gets up there and starts telling stories about Cuba, immigrants, and his upbringing and what-not, but this dude ended the story like, "...and you know who that little boy was? It was Mitt Romney." I was like what the hell?! How you gonna tell a story and make it seem like it is about you, and then at the end say that it's someone else?! If I was up there I would have shoe'd him in the behind and said "Get your story-tellin ass off the stage!" I saw a little of terror on his face though when he stated that they were "for" government and "against" freedom, or at least that is what it sounded like he said.

So, Mitt Romney comes out there like he's on his way to the ring. "Romney the Robot" could really have used that little boy from the Real Steel movie to give him some more life, and a couple of dance moves. He gets on stage and it's straight teleprompter time with emotional cues: *smile, *get teary eyed, *pivot .73 degrees... It was like watching those robotic mannequins that move and talk. I swear that there must have been some guy backstage with a big remote control! How is this Romney gonna get up on stage and just start pandering... Let me talk about my parents, my father struggled and "convinced my mother, a Hollywood actress, to marry him and move to Michigan.", he brought her a rose every day, (explaining his father's death) one day when there was no rose she went looking for him. A woman in the audience had her hands over her mouth in a gasp, as if it was the most moving thing she had ever heard.

 He continues on methodically... I like women, my wife is a woman, I've actually HIRED women to work for me. I'm surprised he didn't get into something about their high-heeled shoes being the right height. He goes on to talk about President Obama and how it was Seal Team Six that actually killed Osama bin Laden and not the president himself. Okay, that's true, but what about George W., and him on the ship in his flight suit with a "Mission Accomplished" banner, like he himself won the war?! Halfway in to Romney's speech I noticed that the crowd starting to glaze over. When the cameras weren't playing "Where's Waldo" with the five black people there (gotta try and rectify that 0% vote with African-Americans thing), they showed a crowd that really didn't seem to pay attention. They applauded as is there was a flashing sign telling them to do so, and I think that at one point they had to be directed by a "hypeman" of the sorts to "boo" instead of applaud when talking about President Obama. It was like  "Yaaay...uh...oh on... I mean, "boooooo!" It even appeared that Newt Gingrich had nodded off and had to be poked by his  "Stepford Wife" whenever a camera was pointed in their direction.
He sprinkled the tank with flakes of lies and half-truths. Medicare, he makes it sound like President Obama is taking away benefits from seniors when the truth is that Pres. Obama is making it more affordable for seniors. He talked about it being possible for students to go to better schools, yet his side is against teachers' unions, or any union in general. He talked about energy independence utilizing limited strategies, failing to mention solar and wind. How is this dude gonna talk about getting people back to work when he has sent thousands of jobs overseas himself?! How are you going to blame gas prices on the president. The president does NOT regulate gas prices!
Mitt Romney then asked if "we" felt the same way about the president and we did on the day we voted for him. My answer is no, I feel BETTER about him now than when I voted for him. President Obama is "bustin' his ass" trying to get this country on the right track. We ARE in better shape than we were four years ago. Back then the sky was falling and G.W. was packing his bags while being pushed to the limit by Cheney to do as much destruction to the country as possible before their time was up.
So, I felt great about President Obama then, I feel greater about him now, I will feel great when I go to vote for him in November, and I will be ecstatic when he WINS re-election.

Once Romney was done with his speech his henchman Paul Ryan comes on stage, then their wives, then all these Romney clones with their wives, and what to me looked like multiple copies of the same little boy. 
On a final note you KNOW that the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, is turning over in his grave because those cats played a cover of "Living in America". Why is it that the Republican party always has someone saying "Don't play my music at your convention!"
I heard persons on msnbc say that Romney did a really good job with his speech; not in my opinion. For me the real winner of the night was Clint Eastwood. Nothing like the perfect example of the Republican party getting out there and talking to an empty chair to "...make my day!"

If I missed stuff then, f**k it. This wasn't supposed to be this long anyway.

The Ignorance of Elephants: A Facebook Rant

And somehow you cats think this is the RIGHT side to be on?! Tell me then, WHY are republicans trying to suppress voters if they have all the "ideas"? WHY is it that republicans not only trying to control votes, but control what women do with their bodies as well?! WHY is it that YOUR presidential candidate can't even give a straight answer, and no one in the party will whole heartedly endorse him?! How can you be ignorant enough to sit there and think that "getting rid" of Pres. Obama will make you better off?! 

I've been trying to hold off on posting silly little smart-ass political pictures and photos, and just putting up facts; to which it seems that there is barely, if any researched and/or factual response response from the right. I want to add an analogy here, but I'm so fired up that I can't think of any! It is difficult to fathom how people can be so blinded by (name your poison: money, ignorance, religion, hate, fear) that they fail to see the truth that is right in front of them! 

I come with the furor of a die hard sports fan when it comes to politics; except, unlike sports, politics ACTUALLY MATTER! These people control our lives and livelihood. Too many people have FOUGHT and DIED for the rights we have and now there are republicans that are trying to take that from us. If republicans are willing to allow Americans to suffer in order for them to retake the White House what makes you think that they will take care of you once they are able to regain power?! 

For real people, take your blinders off and do some fact checking. Fact check the people you listen to, think for yourself, and actually READ the Constitution so that your conversations are not limited to shouting "2nd Amendment Rights!" I am no wise man, I can assure you that, but I am no fool. If you are NOT a millionaire and you actually ARE planning on voting Romney/Ryan then YOU my friend are the fool.

Data Source: The ED Show -msnbc

 

Kappa Watches the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony

Watched the Olympics opening ceremony last night... Now, I've got love for the British peoples, and mad props to them for pulling together such a feat,... but,... the opening ceremony was...ehhh...

If I remember correctly, it began with British actor Daniel Craig (as secret agent 007, James Bond) on his way to Buckingham Palace in order to escort Queen Elizabeth to the opening ceremony. There were two little dogs running around, I didn't get the point of that, and she seemed to ignore his presence the entire time. Upon arriving to Olympic stadium by helicopter the pair then proceeded to parachute to (around the backside) of the stadium, where the queen suddenly appeared INSIDE the stadium and was escorted to her seat. She did not seem to be excited to be there. Where did James Bond go? Back to MI6 I suppose. What happened next seems to me like an LSD fueled nightmare of the sorts.

Don't Spoil the Fun

I come home and my wife has our daughter in one of those battery powered rocking seats, but she has the thing cranked all the way up. I bet that lil' baby was terrified in that thing. It was moving like that one ride that's a viking ship or something. The one that when it gains enough momentum it will do a full loop. I'm glad that didn't happen with the baby seat. She turned the dial down to a lower setting. I wasn't so much concerned with the baby's safety as I was of spoiling a future event. It may make her TOO hard. She may one day be at Carowinds (Six Flags, Magic Mountain, where-the-f**k-ever) and be sitting there on one of their crazy roller coaster rides saying "This ain't shyt, this ride ain't shyt! My rocker when I was a baby was scarier than this?" She'd be a party pooper and no one would want to hang out with her. That means she would be home with us. Shyyyyyyyyyt, I'm trying to get they lil a$$es outta here when they get old enough, not keep 'em around!!!

Frog Ride

It was hot today. I had a couple of errands to run so I go outside to start up the vehicle to get the a/c going before I load up the kids. I happen to take notice as I get the vehicle running that there was a little frog in the part where the door hinges onto the frame. It saw me, pissed itself and scrambled to get to cover. It was a little frog, but big enough to where if it jumped on me I'd do those jerky movements you do to get something like a spider or a creepy insect off of you. I don't know where it was going, but I was not going to try and catch it! I slowly closed the door leaving it slightly ajar in hopes that the frog would make it's escape. I also didn't want to crush it and have to look at frog guts every time I open my door.

Hot Bathroom

The bathroom was so hot. The kids had just taken a bath so it was a mix of steam and summertime heat. I really had to go, so I walked in felt the heat, walked back out. Couldn't hold it anymore so I had to suffer. I felt like that lady in The Help when she was out there using that outside bathroom in that 100 degree weather.

"yuck"

The other day my daughter comes to me covered in some type of brown viscous liquid, and says just one word; "yuck." As any parent would in this situation, I told her to "STOP!", "YOU STAY RIGHT THERE!" "DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!" I went to go recon the area praying in my head, "Please don't let it be poo or something poo-related." In the kids' room..., I mean, Omaha Beach. I notice a blanket and pillow also covered in the mystery goo.

The Kids' Room...

Just a couple of thoughts I've had in regards to my kids' room.

1. "Omaha Beach"

I had to fight my way through there twice today. Once to find a matching pair of socks for my son, and again to match an outfit for my daughter. Both times I felt like the guy searching for his missing arm during the beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan. I should be receiving hazard pay.

2. Post a sign at the entrance that reads "Abandon hope all ye who enter here"

In reference to Dante's Divine Comedy, the phrase is posted on a sign at the entrance to hell. I go into that room with the same level of expectation at locating an object or seeing it clean as do the republican party in placing their full confidence and support behind Mitt Romney.

3. Lockup: Extended Stay

Most kids would fall out if anything other than junk food is offered as a snack, so I was very pleased to see my children happily accept apples as a snack choice. Little did I know that these young minds had been plotting. Right underneath our noses was what I believed to be plannings of an underground "hooch empire". Like inmates in a correctional facility, they were making their own alcohol from fermented apples. Apples that I thought were being consumed as both a healthy snack and a doctor repellent. In addition to the homemade wine scene I see they were also curing meats to make jerky, as well as other grains, cereals, and dehydrated foods in a fiendish plan to corner the trail-mix market. The proper authorities have been notified.

4. The Fly-Over
I don't believe that there is any safe way to navigate that minefield, but somewhere, under that rubble, is a room, or the remnants of what was once considered to be a room. I'm surprised that there are no roving bands of mercenaries or a post-apocalyptic black ninja blindly traveling west across the wastelands with an extremely  hot, but sadly, gluteus maximus minimus- or, dare I say, gluteus minimus maximus- on a mission to deliver a religious text that for some reason was able to survive over 1,000 years prior to the fall of civilization, yet vanished almost yet completely while Oprah's magazine and KFC "wet naps" seem to have taken the necessary  precautions to avoid total annihilation. Instead of rubbing elbows with those that take up residence there I will just do a fly-over and have the unwashed masses relocated to a local sports arena ill suited to handle them.

Apt. 437 (My Vehicle is Parked Here)

A note left on my windshield:


My vehicle is parked here. I don't want to take two parking spaces for my car and bike. You don't see me parking... (illegible).

Thanks in advance,
Apt# 437

-------------------------------

Dear Resident of Apt 437,

Thank you for your note on my vehicles windshield explaining your situation of having multiple means of transportation and my obvious mistake of parking in your parking space.  Thinking that it may be an oversight on my part I spent the better part of an hour examining the surrounding curb and asphalt for any sign, stencil, or placard stating the specific ownership of the parking space. Finding no such identification I then checked each and every parking space in the complex in an attempt to see if said identification had been removed and placed elsewhere. I was only able to find some handicapped parking spaces, a few visitor parking spaces, and a hidden stash of stair steps near one of those storage buildings.

A New Year's Resolution...

I have never been one to be excited about, even less participate in the old "New Year's Resolution" tradition. When someone would ask me "What's your new year's resolution?", I would often reply with "To not have any resolutions." It would be a typical response from my trusty bag of douchery. Why take the time to set yourself up for failure? Just keep on keepin' on. That way you can save yourself from awkward overcrowded gyms, sore feet and legs from your attempt at jogging a mile or two, or passing up that dessert that look oh... so... GOOD! At the end of the year you can be disappointed at what you did do instead of what you did not.

This year I'm gonna give it a whirl, I'm going to throw caution to the wind, I'm going to go balls to the wall, and any other appropriate phrase with the last word beginning with "w". I plan on setting achievements for myself. I say "achievements" and not goals, or resolutions. Why so you may ask? Everyone likes to receive achievements when playing their favorite games. How cool is it when you're chugging along at your game, farming, fighting, or whatever, and suddenly that "ACHIEVEMENT banner" pops up. It makes you feel all good inside. Which makes me think... aren't we all looking for that banner of achievement in our lives... or... whatever? How about this, whenever I get an achievement of sorts I will blog about it. Of course, I will still blog on other issues, this will just give me more stuff to talk about.

So, ladies and gentlemen, here is a list of some of the things in which I wish to receive achievements.

1.) 100% VA. Been working on this one for a few years now. I won't go into details in this blog, that's what EchoFiveEcho is for.

2.) Get rid of the gut. I've been saying this one for years, putting it off, and finding every excuse in the book as to why it's still there. There was a time when I pinched my belly and there was ZERO fat. Now I can grip a handful = things that suck. I'm fine with my weight, just that gut.

3.) Blog more. If I spent as much time blogging as I do thinking about blogging this page would be overflowing. How often am I just driving, playing Bejeweled, drifting off to sleep (Not at the same time though, you should NEVER play Bejeweled when tired.) when I have this incredible or just stupid thought that I feel MUST be conveyed to wonderful people in the world wide web community.

4.) Just dammit DO IT! Whatever this may be. I have not yet determined  whether or not this is the drawing board of something good or the beginning sketches of a blueprint of evil. Hopefully not the latter. I'm thinking it may be more so the in regards to procrastination when it comes to many things. "Should'a, would'a, could'a", and hindsight being 20/20, and all that good stuff. Maybe I'm saying to myself "Be proactive not reactive." Yeah, that makes more sense, so let's go with that.

5.) Get involved with more a' book learnin'. You know, school and all. Might as well, I've got the time.

6.) Continue to say to cancer sticks, "Get thee behind me!" It's been six years since I quit smoking (cold turkey I might add), and it feels good every November when I can celebrate another year. To anyone out there trying to put down the cigarettes I wish you the best of luck. It was extremely difficult for me and took several attempts before I was able to put down the pack for good. I then proceeded to gain about 50lbs (Hand to mouth thing. You need something to fill the void that was once filled with smoking, usually food.), but I was still inside the weight class for my height, so it kinda worked out for me there.

7.) Get my finances in order. It's as simple as that. The fewer bills that I have the more money in my pocket.

8.) ...?

Can't think of anymore at the moment. Maybe one of you fine readers out there that come across this blog by accident can give me some ideas. Until then, here we go! Happy New Year folks!

Regards,
Kappa              (I don't know! I just felt like adding that.)