Here's to RSS Readers at 9:27 AM

Been a while, hasn't it? Well, I kind of lost my motivation there for a while, but I'm hopping back on the blog here to try out the old digs again. It'd be pointless to go into all the happenings of the past year in detail (those who are reading here are probably Facebook friends, so you know about it anyway,) so we'll just dive back into the present.

First, the kids. Luke is five now, and he'll be starting kindergarten here in a few weeks, which will bring to an end the era of being able to plan trips at any time of year. Sad on one hand, but on the other hand, that kid is ready for some school. He's the most curious and observant little kid I've ever seen. Always with the questions like "how does this work? what's that made of?" And while I love that he's going to prove smart, answering questions that I really don't know the answer to can get tiresome. So school will be good for him. Ronin is three, and he is a monster in every sense of the word. He's almost the same size as Luke (they can wear the same size clothes,) and he's built like a linebacker. If he ends up with that size and my brother's athletic prowess, watch out. Unfortunately, however, he may end up about as coordinated as I was when I was a kid (which was not very.) Also since he's this age, he is a miserable person. I don't know if everyone has this experience with three-year-olds, but in short, mine have been awful people. Luke is better now, which gives me hope for Ronin, who a year ago was a gregarious, outgoing, fearless little boy and is presently bad-tempered, demanding, and scared of everyone and everything. But we still love him. As for little Renae, she's pretty much the cutest baby ever. There are only good things to say about five-month-olds, after all. She pretty much just sits there and smiles and makes cute baby noises. The boys love her to death, which is both good and dangerous. They don't quite realize the size difference between them and her (mostly the oafish Ronin,) so we have to keep a pretty close eye on their interactions.

As for personal stuff, I'm still pretty much a fat guy, but I'm getting on a program to make that different. This has happened a few times before with moderate success followed by reinflating, but this time I've got a pretty good feeling about it. The thing with me is that I have to have a routine that I can follow constantly, and it's good to have my food regulated to "you can eat the following things, and if you eat anything else, here's how to do it." So Jessica and I are on the Power 90 program right now (which is the precursor to the P90X, because we're just not in good enough shape to do that yet,) and it's feeling good. We get up at 6:00-6:30 every morning and work out for about 40 minutes. I haven't been able to stay up as late as I typically like to, which is a drawback for me, but at the same time I feel good all day long and I have energy like I didn't have before, even with the same amount of sleep. I'll get into results once we finish the program--we've only been doing it for a week and a half now, so I don't want to talk it up too much just yet. Hopefully the results will be dramatic enough to post some before and after pictures.

I think blogging feels good again. I won't get into a bunch of media recommendations or witty anecdotes just yet (namely because I don't have any at the moment,) but that will come later. I do have just a few recommendations, though:

*If you haven't seen Breaking Bad, the AMC series, watch all three seasons immediately.
*If you haven't seen Inception, run - do not walk - to your nearest movie theater and take care of that.
*If you want to hear some good music, check out the new Black Keys album, called "Brothers." It's fantastic. I had just about given up hope that this group would release an album that sounded a bit different from all their others, and this one did the trick. Great stuff.

We Interrupt This Vacation Story... at 10:18 PM

With a special announcement. As of a few days ago, my wife has joined the ranks of the bloggers. I can tell by her first post that she's going to be good at this, so check it out. I'm adding the feed to my list of blogs as well. Till next time.

Link

Shawn Ryan is the Man at 12:08 AM

Just finished watching the series finale of "The Shield." I won't spoil it for those who might see it later, but it was amazing. One of the most emotionally devastating pieces of fiction I've ever experienced. A dramatic statement to be sure, but trust me that I'm not overstating it. If you haven't seen this show, start from the beginning and do it. Once you watch the first two or three episodes, you're in for the long haul. That was a great ending to a way underexposed series. So if you're keeping track, "The Wire" and "The Shield" are both great. That's the last two cop series that I've watched in their entirety inside of a year. I'd almost like to watch all of "The Wire" again already. So good.

Hot Streak at 10:38 PM

You know, the good thing about not having time to watch a lot of movies for a while is that since I finally got to check out a bunch of movies, they've all been great. The first movie I saw this year was "Next", which was fine. I give it 3 stars out of 5, mostly for unintentional (or intentional) Nicholas Cage humor. Seriously, when he's in a goofy movie, he can be fun to watch. But anyway, let me just enumerate to you the movies I've seen since then, with their accompanying star ratings:

"Eastern Promises" (****)
"Shoot 'Em Up" (****)
"Glengarry Glen Ross" (****)
"Frenzy" (****)
"The Orphanage" (*****)
"3:10 to Yuma" (*****)
"Cloverfield" (****)

That, my friends, is seven straight movies that I have loved. Seriously though, "Cloverfield" is awesome. My wife saw it in Delaware today with her dad and brother, and I didn't want to wait, so I went and saw it myself. I want to watch it again right now, actually, to see stuff I missed before. Apparently the movie is getting some mixed reviews, though. It seems to be largely popular among critics, but it didn't get a great reaction at the theater where I saw it, or the theater where Jessica saw it. Also Jessica and her company disliked it. I don't know what there is to dislike, honestly. But I won't get into that right now, at least until a couple more people see it, and we can have a discussion.

In other news, my mom is the first to acknowledge that she has been tagged, so go check out her blog if you will. The rest of you, get to it, will you?

More Difficult Than I Thought at 11:10 PM

I'm starting to think that this whole "30 straight days of blogging" thing might be a little more difficult than I thought it was going to be. Not because I forget to post or anything like that. The problem is either that I don't have anything to say, or that I have too much to say, but I need to get a post up and don't want to split something into two posts.

Take today. It's 11:15 pm again, and I don't want to sit and bang out the rest of my basement story, or my knee story, or talk about a few things I've been saving, because all of that would take too long. Not to mention that typing on this laptop is a little goofy with my spacebar the way it is. You saw the picture in my post from New Year's Day, and the spacebar needs some extra force in order for the space to "take". So I'm here like a bass player slapping the fret with my thumb after every word. Kind of annoying. At the same time, I don't want to throw up too many cop-out posts, or the kind where all I say is, "This post counts. Good night."

At the same time, I'm definitely getting more comfortable. I had forgotten how you have to get into the habit of writing before it feels natural. I'm way too used to business (which is to say "bland") writing, and it shows when you read my first few posts of the year. I've been struggling mightily to string a few sentences together. Now, though, I can start to feel the juices going.

I'm not going to get into too much tonight, other than to say that I beat Bioshock on the 360 today, which is one of the most beautiful and horrifying games I've ever played. I enjoyed every minute of it. I'd say my top games of 2007 (off the top of my head) are Halo 3, Crackdown, and Bioshock. Loved them all. Next up, I've got the Orange Box, and also I will officially begin petitioning for Guitar Hero III for my birthday in this space.

As a final note, I just saw a commercial for a show called "Lipstick Jungle", which will fit into a category that I'll probably talk about this month: "Things I've never seen, but am almost positive I would hate." And goodnight.

I Give You My Thoughts So You May Get More From Life at 8:56 PM

Ah, intentions. I've intended to post pretty much every week since the last time I did so (in June). You can see how far that's gotten me. But all that aside, I wanted to get on here and give an update of sorts to those of you who remain in the wasteland that this blog has become.
Our newest addition, Ronin, is doing really well. We've been lucky with babies so far. Luke was really mellow as a baby, and Ronin is the same way. The difference is that Ronin is a lot more actively happy. Every time he sees someone, he gets a big grin on his face. It's hilarious. He almost never cries, and he sleeps through most of the night, waking up only once to eat. So things are great on that front.

Luke is still a mess. There is no mistaking him for anything but a two-year-old, but I must say that his two-year-oldness has gotten a lot better over the last couple of months. Whereas he used to throw himself on the ground and have a fit when we asked him to do something (go to bed, take a bath, etc.), now he just says, "no". That is, of course, unless we're in public. If we're out, he feels it necessary to make a scene. But such is life, right?

I won't bore you with work stories, because it bores me just to type them. It's enough to say that work is keeping me way more busy than I'd like. My next trip is to Bloomington next week. Good times.

Mainly, I wanted to get on here and throw a couple of things your way that are worth checking out. Let's start with TV, and we'll go from there.

Dexter: I saw that this show got an Emmy nomination, and while I usually don't put much stock in those, this one deserves it. It's about a serial killer who is also a blood spatter expert for the police. I thought the premise was intriguing, but had the potential to be hokey. Luckily, they managed to pull it off. The series is excellent, the storylines are great, the acting (with one or two exceptions) is superb, and it's definitely worth checking out.

The Wire: I know you've heard it before, and I'm telling you again. This show is amazing. I watched all four seasons last year, and it was riveting the entire time. I know you've grown weary of the Law and Order-type procedural drama, and I promise this doesn't even come close to fitting that mold. It's so realistic it feels like a documentary at times. Take it from a guy who watches a lot of TV. This is a show you need to watch if you like good television.

The Harry Potter Series: This is directed at Zimm. Read these books. Seriously. I know you may have forgotten that novels can be enjoyable by this point, but I will lend you all the books in the series. You'll finish them in less than a month. Also, to anyone else who hasn't read them, or who makes fun of people who read kids' books, I'm not wrong about this. These books are stupendous.

Crackdown: If you have an XBOX 360, play this game. You won't regret it. Also, Zimm, get a 360. Also, Johnny, get a 360 when you return to your native land. I have missed shooting you all in the face, and the face-shooting must shortly resume.

Black Snake Moan: Great movie. Samuel L. Jackson as an old blues man. Do you really need to know anything else? Okay, the movie opens with a Black Keys song. That should tell you enough about the soundtrack. Also, if you watch this and Alpha Dog, you will agree with me that Justin Timberlake has a future as an actor.

300: This one isn't for everyone, and you probably know if it's for you by watching the trailer, meaning you probably don't need my recommendation, but still. This movie rules and it's on DVD, so I figured I'd say something.

This Link: Here's what happens when you microwave things. Do I need to say more? (Watch the eggs.)

And there is your random list of cool things. Check them out. Also, you have my standing recommendation to start watching mixed martial arts, if you have not already done so. I spend a lot of my time watching, writing, and podcasting about the sport, and it's tremendously enjoyable. I'm thinking about putting together a list of fights that people should check out if they're curious about the sport but haven't seen anything. I'll post that here if I do it. And until next time, enjoy your song of the day.

Song of the Day: "Future Baby Mama", by Prince. This song isn't even that great, but I thought you should know that Prince has a song called "Future Baby Mama", and that only Prince could make a ballad out of a song with that title. I'm just sayin'.