Don't Kid Yourself

Moving on...to Wordpress

2010-08-22T13:41:00.000-04:00

I started this blog here on Blogspot/Blogger/whatever the site is called because I had no idea what I was doing and no idea where to start.

It was good here, but Wordpress has beckoned for me and so I have decided to move this blogs future posts to Don't Kid Yourself (on Wordpress).

So if there is anyone that actually reads my mush here, you will be able to find all new posts at the above link.

First post was put up yesterday, check it out here.

I wanna be a billionaire, so freakin’ bad

2010-08-09T11:03:00.005-04:00

Yep, that’s right- let the world know. I WANNA BE A BILLIONAIRE!! We are all guilty of having the “What would you do with $1 million” conversation. Will and I have seemed to make that a weekly conversation, which coincidentally ends up taking place on our way to work.

So what would I do with one million dollars? Well let me start out by saying for all you technical people, we are talking one million, cash…no taxes involved. In no particular order I would:

1. Pay off my debt- house, car, student loans. Can you imagine being DEBT FREE???

2. Buy a mansion?? Hell no fool! Do you not watch those shows about lottery winners going broke! This is why! I would still live in our house for a little bit, hiring people to fix it up. After a couple years I would move into a better school district, into a slightly bigger house (with a dishwasher- big dream, huh? Haha).

3. Get Prince a buddy! Even though he is a maniac at times, Prince is a great dog- I cannot ask for more. Once we move into a bigger house, with a bigger yard, I would definitely look into getting Prince a playmate. And yes, it would be another Boxer. And yes, I know we are crazy.

4. Quit my job!! Well….not really. Seeing that I have now acquired $1 million dollars, and have decided not to waste the money on a huge house I will have to clean or a super fast car that will never see the light of our 6 month long winters… I do have a little extra cash lying around. My family is definitely important to me- even more so after having Will Jr. I would LOVE to stay at home with Will Jr. Realizing how quick time flies, Will is not going to be little forever, and I want to be able to take advantage of the time I have. I’m thinking I’ll take a few years off, or maybe just work part time until he gets into kindergarten. Sounds like a plan, right? Which brings me to number 5…

5. MAKE BABIES!!!! Woohoo. It’s no secret that I would have 239048734958 kids if I could. With the million in the bank, I would definitely have another kid….or two ;) Come on guys, Will Jr is so cute…how could I go wrong!? *Although I have to admit, I may look into a house keeper once a week or so… god, I hate cleaning.

That’s pretty much it- nothing too exciting. The remaining money would be put into savings. Might think about a vacation after all the excitement of my million dollar winnings wears off..but I guess I have time to think about that.

So what are YOU going to do with your $1,000,000? Keep in mind, I do take donations!

It's Good to be Home!

2010-07-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

It's always nice to go on a vacation, even if it's just a few days.

Sometimes that's all anyone can get away with, but it's nice to get away. It's nice to not be home and having to deal with the normal chores that grown-up life brings (doing the dishes, laundry, yard work, etc).

I do enjoy a good vacation and everything that goes with it, it's relaxing and you get a chance to recharge a little and get yourself back to neutral.

This weekend for me was my lone vacation of the year (of the last two years actually) and it was spent in Watkins Glen, NY for the Wine Festival that occurs at the speedway there in Watkins Glen. I had a great time. Not a huge fan of wine, but $30 and you taste as much as you want? Sign me up!

My wife and I spent the weekend being wino's with some good friends. Wine tasting all day followed by drinks on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the lake at night.

All that being said?...I think coming home may be the best part of a vacation sometimes, not all the time, but definitely a lot of times.

Think about it. You spent X amount of time away from home and then that last day comes that you are away and you think, "that was a good time", but then you move right on to, "I can't wait to get home!"

I don't know, that's what goes through my head at least. Who doesn't like coming home to their own house or apartment (or whatever your living arrangement is)?

I love to come home after a good vacation because it's just that comfort level I guess. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed or sitting on your own front/back porch (if you have one or both of course).

To come home is just that, it's 'home', it's where you know everything and everyone (or in my case, no one!).

So in short, I like a good vacation, but there's nothing like coming home!

They're All Gone...

2010-06-25T16:57:00.000-04:00

Frederick H. Boettner, June 19, 1919 - November 5, 1998
Mary Joan King, July 27, 1930 - September 22, 2003
Dorothy Mae Boettner, October 26, 1925 - October 6, 2007
William H. King, October 28, 1926 - March 26, 2009

Those are my grandparents in order of the day that they died.

It's a little depressing for me, but the other day at work I thought of something that reminded me of my Grampa Boettner and that led me to think about my other grandparents.

Good memories, each and every last one of them, but then it hit me all of a sudden and I said out loud (to myself), "They're all gone..."

Obviously, it made me pretty sad and it seemed so surreal I can't explain it.

I had always had my grandparents and I loved them so much, it was just shocking that my brain had just realized they were all dead now. I was a pall bearer for each of them (among many others, my family likes to drop like flies from time to time).

It was hard to have that all hit me at once. I mean I knew they were all passed on, but I had never really thought about it as a whole like that before.

So for anyone out there that has lost a grandparent and they were a big part of your life and you miss them like I miss mine, I'll say a prayer for them because I know I would want one said for mine.

Never forget them.

Benedict Arnold?

2010-06-20T09:15:00.005-04:00

I am, admittedly, not a big soccer fan. I actually find soccer a little boring and my watching of soccer is relegated to huge matches (Olympics, World Cup, etc).

That being said, I believe the World Cup should be just like the Olympics and you should be rooting for your country or adopted country.

Like me? Born in the good ole United States of America. Guess who my rooting interest lies with? That's right, big surprise, the USA.

This little rant comes from noticing some people at work (among other places) and hearing about how they are openly rooting for other countries, even though they are born and raised AMERICAN.

This isn't like rooting for some NBA, MLB, etc team. This is your country.

I mean, say for example, you're back and high school, and just for the sake of argument, you attend a basketball game. You wouldn't sit on the opposing teams sideline and root for the school you didn't go to. It wouldn't make any sense.

My sisters boyfriend (and father of my nephew) Martin and his brothers? They could root for Puerto Rico if they were apart of this World Cup. Know why? They were BORN in Puerto Rico, they are Puerto Ricans and therefore can openly root for Puerto Rico.

So ladies and gentleman, if you were born here in this very country, that makes you an American.

You root for the USA.

If not, you are a traitor and will be shot. Kidding, but seriously, don't root for another country.

(As a side note: I can now be found blogging on timesunion.com for The Schenectady Blog! I'm ~~bigtime~~ ~~now~~ going to be a regular contributor! Check me out at http://blog.timesunion.com/schenectady/ and my first post here)

Now he's a little noise maker!

2010-06-11T19:23:00.001-04:00

He's a kicker!

2010-06-05T18:18:00.001-04:00

Guilty Pleasures

2010-06-03T18:12:00.001-04:00

Everyone does or likes something that they probably shouldn't, either because it's something that is universally panned or it's not deemed appropriate to your gender, race, or what have you.

I have thought about this and I have (in no particular order) compiled a little list of my own, personal guilty pleasures.

The list may be short to some, but trust me there's probably more!

1. The Real World (also, The Real World/Road Rules Challenge, now known simply as The Challenge)

I have watched most, or all of, every single season of The Real World.

Granted the first few seasons were actually much more 'real' than the rest, since I have always watched the show, I somehow feel compelled to watch every new season that comes along. Even when my wife and I tell ourselves, "I'm not watching this season, it's looks stupid", we inevitably end up watching!

Same goes for The Challenge and all of it's past incarnations.

2. Ke$ha

As my wife would say, "Kesha, with a dollar sign...", if you didn't read it in there, she is disgusted by this woman.

I know I shouldn't enjoy the 'music' she makes, but it's really catchy and damn it, I like catchy!

I, also, openly admit this woman can't sing and if she had to either sing well or Earth would be invaded and enslaved by aliens (sounds like a TV show doesn't it?) then, well, we would be screwed.

3. 'Professional' wrestling (WWF/WWE, WCW, ECW)

Yes I watch wrasslin'. I have since I was about five years old and guys like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and Randy Savage were in their primes.

I didn't just watch WWE (then WWF) though, I also watched WCW (Sting, Ric Flair, Big Van Vader) and the original ECW (Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, Sabu, Rob Van Dam).

My brother and I would regularly stay up until 11:30 to watch ECW on MSG.

And now you can count on me watching WWE Raw every Monday night and occasionally Smackdown on Friday nights.

Is that lame? Yes! Do I care? No!

4. Ease dropping

I admit, this is a bad one, but it's not as bad as you would think!

I don't listen into people's phone conversations and I don't do wire-tapping, yet (kidding...you hope!).

It's just that if I hear my neighbors talking/arguing or people are walking by my house, and I hear them talk, I have to listen. It's a compulsion.

And as I have said before, I am a bad neighbor!

My wife gets annoyed with me because I must mute the TV and shush her.

5. "Girlie" drinks (Smirnoff Ice, Mike's, Bacardi Silver, etc...)

Most everyone I know drinks beer (if it isn't a liquor kind of night), except for me.

It would be nice if I did drink beer because it would save me tons of money, but I just can't drink it. Beer has no flavor to me. It's bland and well if I am going to drink something alcoholic I want it to go down tasting good to me, so beer doesn't cut it.

I do take crap for this on occasion, but I don't care. I love my Smirnoff flavors (pineapple, blueberry lemonade, cranberry lime, etc...) and the other various flavors of Mike's and Bacardi, among others.

Also, my "girlie" drinks extend to hard liquor as well. I do enjoy Southern Comfort and Vodka, but I have a soft spot for fruity drinks as well.

For example, there is a drink at 99 Restaurant called Raspberry-Lime Rickey (Chambord, Raspberry Liqueur, Smirnoff Vodka, lime juice and Sierra Mist) and the mango-berry daiquiri at Friday's is ridiculous (just ask my wife).

So, the question is...

What guilty pleasure do YOU have?

Yoga Flame!

2010-06-01T17:41:00.003-04:00

As much as I love me some Street Fighter, this post isn't about the game or Dhalsim (the character that says the title of this post as one of his patented lines). I just wanted a good title and that was the best I could come up with!!

This past weekend I was able to have my first fire of the summer. I suppose I could have had one before this weekend, but it just didn't happen for some reason.

To say I was excited was an understatement. I had talked with my wife the entire week leading up to that weekends events and the thing I was most anticipating was the fire. I told her repeatedly how excited I was to burn things (in the most non serial killer way possible).

On Sunday I ate, drank, and had a great time. It's always nice to spend the afternoon with friends and family talking over food and drink. It's relaxing and fun, I really did enjoy the day very much. I had told my wife that morning that I would not be drinking much during the day so that I could have my fire and not just set myself on fire. I chose to watch the fire and to not actually BE the fire.

When the sun started to show it's signs of setting? I noticed. Oh yes, I most definitely noticed.

When the clouds started to take on its well known pink, purple, and orange hues, I can't lie, I started to get very giddy inside. My time was approaching.

I was barely holding on at this point, fiending for my first fire since the beginning of October 2009. When the sun got even closer to the horizon and it's resting place until the next morning and the dark colors of night were creeping in from the opposite side of the sky I was ready.

That was all the waiting I could do. I had decided, "the time has come."

I gathered my kindling, my cardboard, paper, and small sticks. I got a little help setting up, but when the time to light it up came? That was all me.

I spend the first couple hours of the fire adding, moving, and poking at the fire. I am not a perfectionist in nearly any way, except for making and building my fire.

It's very calming to me. I could literally sit and have a fire all by myself. I really could.

Building the flames high, making them fiercely bright and incredibly hot.

After a while it gets to the point where the fire stays high and bright and I can finally sit.

Then comes my favorite part of having a fire. All the building and poking and prodding and just making the fire as perfect as I can.

When that time comes and I can sit, take my drink in my hand and just stare into the flames as they jump around, stealing the life of the wood.

I lose myself in them, it's my own personal form of therapy.

28 and counting

2010-05-26T15:30:00.042-04:00

That's how old I turned this past Monday (May 24). Hopefully it keeps on counting for a loooong time.

I've joked with people that know me that I am going to live until 2100 and be 118 years old.

My reasoning was that it would be fun to be one of the only people to live a whole century from start to finish (2000-2100). Although I seriously doubt I'll make it all the way until 2100, hey we all should have goals, right?

I know I'm not "old", I do actually know 28 is actually very young in the scheme of life, but this is my ten year anniversary of graduating from high school (Christian Brothers Academy class of 2000) and since I didn't go to college, that's a pretty big milestone to me.

It made me think of things. A lot of things.

When I was 18 I thought 28 was, well ancient. It's not obviously, but the difference in where I was when I was 18 and where I am now is remarkable.

Well, it's remarkable in the sense that in the ten years since I graduated I first moved out of my parents house and all by myself at 22, which didn't last long because I met my future wife after only living alone for not even a year.

That girlfriend situation got blasted into semi-permanent status when, after only 8 months, I asked her to marry me (December 16, 2005).

Then not long after that, about 8 months, we officially moved in with eachother (this is when my video game playing decreased by a dramatic number of hours...).

Then a year and a half after that (I think, my old man mind gets fuzzy sometimes, it probably wasn't and now that I re-read this I think my math is terribly off, oh well) we took huge leap number one and bought a house together. That could be a whole blog by itself. Buying a house is A LOT of work. Just ask my wife! (I'm sure she's not laughing as she reads this).

Yes, we bought a house before we actually got married. Is that wrong? or backwards? Maybe, but that's just how we roll.

Don't worry though, we took huge step number 2 and actually said, "I do" eleven months after we bought the house.

Funny thing happened not long after that though. Huge step number 3 came.

Look at him up there...cutest thing ever right? Don't even think about saying "no" or I'll train him to be an assasin and you'll never see it coming!

My point being that I have put myself in a position of eminent happiness.

In those ten years since I have graduated highschool I have had lows.

I've had hard times. I've had unhappy times.

I've had bad things happen, whether they were brought on by me or someone else.

I would not change one thing that has happened. Not. One. Thing.

I do believe that everything that has happened has made me who I am today and that each thing that happened, each emotion that was felt whether good or bad has led me to where I am today.

I'm 28 years old.

I bought my own house.

I married the woman of my dreams.

I have a new born son.

I'm happy with my life.

Now all I have to do is make it until 118 and I'll be golden!

Um...no.

2010-05-22T17:48:00.002-04:00

So I don't listen to the radio at all really, so I was checking billboard.com's Hot 100 charts and I came across the #82 song.

It was a new debut song on the chart by Lil Wayne called "I'm Single", which is all fine and dandy, except, um, just look....

Flashback!!

2010-05-11T23:17:00.001-04:00

OK so out of pure morbid curiosity I signed into my Myspace account (that I haven't logged into in roughly 8 months) to look back at some old blogs I wrote. Some are, obviously, ridiculous.

I did come across this gem though. It was December 26, 2006.

So read and enjoy in my pain.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Don't forget your keys.....

Current mood: sore

Category: Blogging

....cause when you do you can't get back into the house unless you break in. Kinda like I just did. I can't describe how fucking pissed off at myself I am. This is how my adventure transpired about roughly 20 minutes ago. I realize I have to get into the house and pray that it isn't wet all over because of the rain....but of course it's what? FUCKING WET EVERYWHERE! I figure I won't slide through the window and get all wet and muddy, so I go around back and try to break into the back door that is locked from the inside, and leads right into my back room. Well since everything is wet, that means the nice wooden steps are soaked. OK everyone take a guess at what happened to me? I fell right!?!?! RIGHT!!! My back and right forearm are now killing me. It was one of them pains where you can't just sit still and have to run around like a moron too. People driving by, a couple walking their dog staring at me like I'm a fucking escaped mental patient from the CDPC.

Alright, try number two coming up. This time I go slow as all living hell and make it down safe. I fiddle around and try to find something to slide the chain lock over with, but of course it doesn't matter because the door doesn't open enough for me to do that. I try anyway. It obviously doesn't work.

So now I have to walk back up the stairs...that are wet....that I already fell down. Honestly I kinda just reserved myself to the fact that I was going to fall again. Thank God I didn't because I probably would have punched something really close and that would have been either the thick wooden post or the concrete. Either of which I would have broken something in my hand on. But I did make it back up the stairs.

Now I have to go back around the house and slide in the window, which isn't so easy being that I live in a basement apartment. They are regular size windows, but when you slide in you are going straight down. Not fun. And just for kicks there is this nice prickley, piney, pointy plant right outside of the window and I have to lay down on it and put my hands on it and the god damn thing makes you ich like a mother. But I obviously made it in in one peice because I'm typing this blog informing anyone that reads it that I had a rough day getting into my apartment.

So I'm sitting here.....wet.....dirty......iching.....bruised.....but thankfully not broken, I don't think anyway.

This just again reminds me that I am slightly retarded without my trusty fiancee at my side. EVERY morning she asks me, "do you have your keys??" and I respond increduously with, "yeah like I'd forget my keys" like there was no way I would ever do any such thing. Well guess what? She's not here for a week and I forgot my keys. BIG SURPRISE!!! And after all this ranting I'm doing right now, you wanna know what? When she comes back and continues to ask me if I have my keys, I'm going to respond the say exact way, because Lord knows I wouldn't ever do that. Basically I'm just lacking in intelligence without Kim. She needs to not leave me for more than a few days at a time....I apparently can't function properly without her!

Mom! Mom! Mommy! Mommy! Momma! Momma! Ma! Ma! Ma! Mom!....WHAT???!!!

2010-05-08T21:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommy's out there! This greeting is not solely reserved for women with children, it's extended to pet mommy's as well. We all know that raising a pet is quite a job. I think you have alllll heard me complain about Prince from time to time. Damn dog is more work than an actual child, haha. Remember Will's previous post about the Reese's cups? Don't get me started...

Even though Mother's Day is one of the biggest "greeting card holidays", it is definitely a good time to think about your Mom- you know the woman that carried you around in her womb for nine months and then went through 920345759980 hours of labor to get you into this world. As an official mom now, I think it is in my job description to remind Will Jr of all the pain and agony I went through when he decides to disobey me or tell me how unfair I am being... you know during those fun teenage years to come!

When I think back over the short 24 years of my life, my mom is in the background of every scene. Always there for every dance recital, band concert, school play, award ceremony, etc...my mom has been my number one fan, cheering me on from the sidelines. (My dad too, but this is a Mother's Day post, right?)
My mom is really one of a kind. I think one of my favorite things about my mom is that she is not perfect. Yep, that's right folks... on a day solely devoted to honoring your mother, I am calling mine out for her faults! One classic story happened a few years ago...my mom got Will some nice baseball pajamas for Christmas. Very thoughtful of her, we all know Will is a huge baseball fan. One small glitch in the plan...my mom completely missed the huge "#1 Dad" logo blasted all over the front of the shirt. haha! Only my mom...

Or how about the time when she surprised me with homemade muffins when I came home from college. Very nice of her. Although after tasting these treats, Will noticed something was "weird". My mom is not big on directions and measuring, especially when it comes to cooking. Come to find out she did not read the directions, and only added water to the package mix...leaving out the pertinent oil and eggs. Only my mom.....

It is funny to look back on my mom's moments of 'imperfection', but ultimately she has taught me that is okay to make mistakes. I think this is something we can all be reminded of from time to time. (Especially a perfectionist like myself!). Faults and all I would not change anything about her!

As a mother celebrating my first Mother's Day, I am curious what Will Jr is going to say about me one day....what memories he will have to share. At seven weeks old, he is not much of a talker...so I guess we will have to wait a few years to find out ;) haha

Happy Mother's Day Mommy's. This is your time to shine!

What is your favorite thing about your mom? Or do you have a favorite memory to share? Post your comments!

My Son and His Ways...

2010-05-07T19:57:00.002-04:00

OK, I realize that my son is only seven weeks and one day old, but he already has some personality traits coming out.

I will go about listing some things that I have noticed about my little man (the Mini Me, if you will<---a play on words right there!).

* I love when he does, what we call, the "Whole Body Freak-out".

The "Whole Body Freak-out" is when for no apparent reason he throws his hands and feet out away from his body as fast as his little reflexes can make them go. We don't yet know why he does this. He could have a problem (hope not) or he could just be very dramatic (all mom right there, and I know you are reading this and disagreeing with me, I don't care what you say woman, it's from you!!!).

* There are times when I hold him and I talk to him in my little baby voice that everyone has apparently and he takes his lips and forms a tight "O" with them and then when I copy him he begins to laugh, A LOT.

It appears I am being trained by my son.

No wonder it's so easy for women to "train" us, seven week old babies can train us. Obviously we're easy to mold.

* This isn't the nicest thing to say about someone, but...he farts. He farts loud and a lot.

It might be a normal thing, but damn he farts sooooo loud. Long rolling farts that would make any dad proud.

* My wife breast feeds Will and he is a good eater (he gets that from the both of us, definitely), he just doesn't do it quietly.

He makes all sorts of noises. Sometimes loud, sometimes soft, but always makes noises, baby noises, but I swear if he could talk he'd be saying something like, "oh my God mommy, this is the best food EVER, I love it soooo much, please don't stop feeding me, I could eat FOREVER."

It seems breast milk is my sons heroin.

* Will has tons of expressions. He is a very VERY animated child.

My favorites are when he looks me dead in the face and then raises his eyebrows as high as he can, as if he is super surprised by something and makes his "O" face. It kills me every time.

* When Will doesn't want a blanket on him, he will get the blanket off of him.

I've wrapped him like a friggin burrito with the blanket when it's been cold and I would, I thought, make it so there would be no way that he could possibly get out of it. I mean he doesn't even have full control of his limbs yet, right?

Well...my son is gangsta at getting out of being basically tied up in a blanket.

I've watched him do it. He wriggles and writhes over and over again, kicking and pushing until the cover is off and on the floor. Maybe he is the next Houdini or something.

* Last thing I can think of right now, but he LOVES music.

If he is being fussy, I'll throw some music on my laptop and he gets immediately quiet.

He wants to eat and the tap isn't available for a little while (usually because she is towards the end of a nap and just needs a few more minutes, as a side, I don't know why she needs naps...I mean she isn't doing anything special or whatever...KIDDING...TOTALLY KIDDING, all mothers can put those shanks back down, k thanks) I throw some music on and totally quiet.

Any kind of music too. I've put on everything from Gene Wilder singing "Pure Imagination" to Papa Roach's "Last Resort" to Jay-Z's "Forever Young" and it all has the same effect, Will being quiet, I love it!

So music is our friend right now.

I know that this list will grow exponentially in the near future. That just means I'll have plenty of fodder for a blog. My sons life is likely to be chronicled on this blog so pay attention!

Who R U Picking?

2010-04-30T23:22:00.006-04:00

Mayweather.

That's the short answer.

The long answer is I am extremely doubtful, but I always trust my first instinct on a fight. My first thought was Mayweather on an easy decision victory solidifying his standing as a living Hall of Famer.

He's already a HOFer regardless, but this fight? This would literally put a stamp on his standing as an all-time, top five ever. Ever.

This is coming from someone (me) who despises Floyd "Money" Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs). I despise his mouth. I despise how he takes everything he has for granted and his belief that he is the best to ever fight.

Yes, he actually said that.

To quote his majesty...

"I got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I've got respect for Muhammad Ali," Mayweather said. "But I'm a man just like they're men. I put on my pants just like they put on their pants. What makes them any better than I am? Because they fought a thousand fights? In my era, it's totally different, you know? It's pay-per-view now, so things change. It's out with the old and in with the new. Things change.

"Like I said, Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best."

True story, he actually said that.

Yes, Floyd, you are a fantastic fighter. Simply a masterful tactician in the ring. Rolling his shoulder back to counter punch an unsuspecting opponent and as a tremendous defensive tool.

It's just when I see Floyd, when I hear him talk, when I hear that smug "I'm better than you" tone/talk coming out of his mouth...I instantly can't find a way to like him as a person.

Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) on the other hand, well Shane, at least seems to be, and according to everything that anyone has ever said about it, is a tremendous human being. One of the most generous and kind hearted people you'll ever meet.

Seems like he is sincerely a good down to earth person. At least from my point of view.

OK so onto the point of the blog...

Like I said above, I am taking Floyd Mayweather Jr. in this fight over "Sugar" Shane Mosley by just the slimmest of margins.

I think the scorecard should look something like this, 115-113.

I do think it will be that close, if for no other reason than Shane knows this could be his last gasp at solidifying his all-time standing amongst boxing fans.

Mosley really does seem to be fighting to make his mark on the people watching this fight. He may like the money he is making for the fight (6.7 mil & part of the PPV profits), but he, unlike Floyd, seems to want to cement his legacy.

He wants it to be 50 years from now and have boxing fans reminisce and say, "I remember this guy Shane Mosley, he was one of the greats..."

Shane did have a fantastic quote as well...

"I think there is too big a deal being made about the fact that Floyd is undefeated," he said. "Before my first loss, I was 38-0 with 35 KOs. That's a hell of a record, but that didn't mean I couldn't be beat, and it doesn't mean Floyd can't, either."

All that being said, I do believe Shane has what it takes to keep it close and I think he will win the first 3-4 rounds before Floyd settles into his flow and takes over with his abundance of speed, defensive skills, and ring generalship.

My Pick

Floyd Mayweather Jr. over "Sugar" Shane Mosley, D12

As a side note, I sent a note to Amir Khan (who faces Paulie Malignaggi on May 15 for Khan's WBA Championship) via Twitter asking...

kingsrandomness<----ME! @PaulMalignaggi @AmirKingKhan I value fighters opinions on fights very much, who do you two have in the Mosley-Mayweather mega fight 2morrow?

To which he responded...

AmirKingKhan @kingsrandomness I think maywether by points. Floyd wil n to quick and sharp and he's young and fresher, unless shanes catch's him early

I agree totally Amir. Me and Amir are now friends.

That last statement was a lie, although I was ridiculously excited, and ever rather giddy, if you will, that a famous person actually responded to an inquiry of mine.

I'm Confused

2010-04-28T19:35:00.001-04:00

I get that people ride bikes. Hell I even get it that they ride then in the road when there are no sidewalks.

But, with that caveat. No sidewalks? Ride your bike in the road all day with no sidewalks. Have a great time, throw a party if it makes you happy.

I may be in the minority here, I don't know, but aren't roads for big boy vehicles? Cars, trucks, buses, etc.?

I think they are or at least they should be.

It boggles my mind whenever I see a person on a bike riding in traffic on Central Ave. or Western Ave. or Washington Ave. or any other street that is slammed with traffic more times than not.

Doesn't it seem a bit, unsafe?

I used to ride my bike ALL the time....on the sidewalk (unless there wasn't one, obviously). Know why I rode my bike on the sidewalk? That's where the cars/trucks/buses AREN'T!!

I'm just flabbergasted at the amount of people I see riding their bikes in the road. THE ROAD!!

It's even more boggling of my mind is when I see them riding their bikes in the road and they aren't following the rules they are supposed to follow like every other vehicle on the road (i.e. not hand signaling, not stopping for red lights, stop signs, etc...).

Half of the time I am so annoyed with them I feel like I want to open my door real quick just to remind them that the roads aren't for bikes.

This is 2010 for Christ sake. Smarten up!

There aren't any horse drawn buggies out there anymore. There is seriously tonnage of automobiles out there. Automobiles that could smash the life out of your body.

It just doesn't seem like the smart, intelligent thing to do.

Like I said, I may be in the minority on this, but, call me crazy, it just seems like common sense.

Smiley!!

2010-04-27T23:11:00.000-04:00

This is my son Will.

I'm sure this will be one of the MANY videos my wife and I will be shoving down peoples throats featuring our son.

He's obviously perfect and at this point all he can do is poop, sleep, and apparently, now, smile.

Betrayal

2010-04-25T13:30:00.003-04:00

This could be long, depends on how angry I get recounting this story.

I will start by saying this story is true and it involves my house being broken into. By a family member no less.

The backstory goes like this....

My cousin Cody has had problems with drugs of all kinds for years now. I'm not sure when it started, I just know it was something that continued to get worse and worse over time, as these things do.

He robbed, cheated, and stole from his own immediate family and friends over the years.

Eventually he was persuaded to go live with his mother down in Georgia, I believe it was Georgia (not 100% sure). He suposedly got into rehab and was in the process of cleaning himself up so he headed back north to the area.

OK so now we move forward just a little bit to the point where he is now back hanging out with our cousins and my brother and even my wife and I.

Everything really was fine, I actually was having a great time with him.

He seemed fine, he seemed like he was on that long road back to being 'good' again.

I was happy for him. I was happy that I gave him a chance and was there to help him back onto his feet. It was hard to have any trust for him whatsoever, but there was a moment we had one night.

No, it wasn't anything weird, get your mind out of the gutter!

I had a fire in the firepit in my backyard and it got late and everyone either went to bed or left to do whatever it is they were going to do. So it was just me and Cody sitting out by the fire, sipping on a couple cocktails and talking man-to-man.

It got fairly serious as I talked with him about how I can't have him stay at my house ever because of his past and how he hasn't been the most trustworthy person ever.

He sounded like he understood and expressed to me how much he had changed and how he knew he burned a lot of bridges, but that he was a changed man.

I believed him. I really and truthfully believed him.

I still wouldn't let him stay at my house though. Someone with the history of theft that he had? of stealing from his own father to feed his drug habit? No...way...in hell.

Sometimes he would even come over during the week and Kim and I would fix him something up to eat and he could stay until we were ready for bed if he wanted, but then he had to go. I told him that was how it was going to be and he understood where I was coming from.

All that (the talk by the fire, the feedings, etc...) happened from April through June and everything was good.

Or so I thought.

The last week of June, my wife (Kimmy) and I decided we wanted to watch some TV and just veg out for the afternoon/evening. Don't you know, nothing on TV, summer TV is terrible.

So we decide to just pick a DVD that we had and haven't seen in a while. So I move the french door over to get to the case with the DVD's on it and I notice gaps in the stacks of DVD's.

I explore more to find that there are tons of DVD's missing. Then I notice that not only are about half of my total collection of DVD's missing, but most of my video games are as well.

I was in shock. I had no idea where in the hell they could have gone.

It didn't strike me at first, but then I thought, "Cody..."

Immediately after this thought I snatch my cell phone and call my brother (Kell) up to explain the situation to him and inquire if anything was missing from his apartment (Kell had been letting Cody stay there from time to time).

He sighed and told me that he just noticed the day before that he was missing DVD's too and Cody being the culprit had crossed his mind as well.

We came to the conclusion that it had to be Cody that swiped our movies/video games.

We came to this conclusion the day before my brother was moving into his new apartment. Cody was supposed to help him move and since he didn't know we found him out he was going to show up as expected to help Kell move.

And show up he did.

Kell let him in and acted normal at first, but then he told him what we had suspected him of doing. He denied it at first, as most people would, but Kell kept grilling him, telling him that he was the ONLY person in both of our houses that had access and oppurtunity like that.

He finally gave in and according to my brother started crying and apolgizing, telling him how sorry he was and so on and so forth.

Kell told him that it was unacceptable and that he didn't want to see him around anymore and that he probably wouldn't want to come around me for a good long while (I was beside myself in anger), but that an apology was definitely needed at some point.

I haven't seen Cody since.

After reading that you'd think that was the end right? RIGHT?!? WRONG!!!

Skip ahead about two weeks or so.

I have a normal day at work, same old same old, and I get out, jump on the bus and on my way home I go.

Got off the bus and walked the block down to my house, take my keys out, unlock the door.

But wait, something was out of place.

The door, the french door in the living room was in a spot that it shouldn't have been. It was half open and I immediately was suspicious.

I quickly walked into the living room, with my heart already beating into my throat knowing that something is not right.

I looked down and it wasn't what I saw, it was what I didn't see.

My Playstation 3, Playstation 2, more DVD's and video games where gone. They had been pilfered from house.

I knew almost instantaneously who had done it.

Cody.

To explain to you in words my anger at that point and time would be pointless. There are no words for how blindingly angry I was.

It was at this point that I acted like someone with Tourette's and started to shout obsenities that I probably shouldn't repeat here. As I type this write now I can feel my blood pressure rising and my heart rate increasing dramatically.

I called Kimmy, I called my brother Kell, my mother, my cousin Eric, some friends that know Cody, and the Schenectady Police.

To my friends and family I expressed how Cody is now marked forever as a dead man walking (no, I had no desire to actually KILL him, it was just a figure of speech meaning when I did see him the next time, he was going to have some damage done to his face).

To the police I did as was expected reported the crime and told them that I knew who did it.

The whole reason for my anger though wasn't that I was robbed, that would make me and anyone else angry, no doubt about it, but my blind seeing red anger was that I had actually put some trust into him.

I had welcomed him into my house. Fed him. Gave him some shelter on a rainy day and a place where he could come and unwind for even a little while.

He was my own family, my own blood and he stabbed me in the back.

It hurt me inside. It hurt me to my core. I can't lie, it made me sad. Very sad.

He has now made it infinitely more hard for me to give someone, anyone, a second chance.

We (my wife, brother, and myself) helped him when no one else was willing to touch him with a ten food poll and look what he did.

We went out of our way to help him because he really needed it and no one else was willing to give it to him.

He was my family and he betrayed me. He betrayed all of us.

Mudroom Madness!

2010-04-24T09:09:00.000-04:00

Ever since we bought our house almost two years ago, it has been an endless list of DIY projects. We can officially check one more item off of our list- the mudroom! The mudroom has ended up being a neglected space, housing random stuff, an extra fridge and garbage...what a waste of perfectly good space! My goal in this budget friendly makeover was to put more use to the room, making it feel like part of the house instead of a dumping ground for junk.

....and now what your all anxiously waiting for...PICTURES!

Before:

After:

Great improvement right?! Well here is a breakdown of our budget makeover:

Curtains $15

Paint $35

Carpet $20

Storage Bench $96

Grand Total........$166!!!!

Next project...yardwork. booooooo. Volunteers are encouraged to join us! Don't be shy!

Something You Shouldn't Have to Think...

2010-04-18T21:48:00.003-04:00

...as you walk into the bathroom at work, "Why is the floor sticky?"

True story.

Another thing you shouldn't have to think is, "Why can't people flush the toilet?"

You'd think I worked in a building with a bunch of 4-year-olds.

Yeah, so that's about all I have on this, just hoping for a flushed toilet and a non-sticky floor surface on my next daily trip to the bathroom at work!

Bye Belly, Helloooooo Baby!

2010-04-17T22:54:00.011-04:00

150 hours of breastfeeding, 300 diaper changes, and thousands of kisses later ... Will Jr. is one month old!!

Everyone says it, but it really is crazy how quick time goes. I feel like it was just yesterday I found out I was pregnant! It wasnt quite the picture perfect scene they show in movies... there was no jumping up and down rejoicing, no calls to relatives or friends. The whirlwind of emotion left me in tears; I was scared. Scared of growing up. Scared of having a miscarriage. But more than anything, scared of not being good enough as a mom.

Jump ahead nine SUPER QUICK months, 5 hours of labor and a c-section later, I saw my son for the first time. No words can really explain this...

Although a little loopy from the anesthesia, the moment was so surreal. He was so innocent, so perfect. Right then I knew my life was finally beginning...and I was ready for the ride.

Having been a mom for one month, I am definitely still "in training". The first thing I learned about my son is that he is very patient (one quality he definitely doesnt get from me!). I'm going to quickly skim over how his first nail trimming turned into a blood bath, and how his head may or may not have gotten bumped on a couple doorways. Like I said guys...IN TRAINING- no need to call CPS just yet! I could go on and complain about the late nights or lack of sleep, but I'm so grateful for the gift I have been given. Motherhood is not a right, its a privilege. I realize all the sacrifices are worth it when I get to wake up everyday to this face...

Some of my favorite moments with Will are often the most understated. I feel like I could lay with him on my chest forever... if I could just freeze that moment in time.

There is also something to be said about seeing your husband transform into a father. Watching Will interact with the baby makes my heart melt. Ever so nurturing, with nothing but pride in his eyes, Will has taken on the role of 'Dad' with such ease. He is often the voice of reason reminding me to relax as I worry about every little noise the baby makes.

So Happy One Month Will Jr! One month may not be much time, but you are already growing and changing everyday. You are no longer my little 7 pound baby, as you now are a solid ten pounds and growing strong. (Did I mention he LOVES to eat??). I can't wait to learn more about you, watch you grow, and be by your side on this journey known as life :)

Justified

2010-04-06T21:31:00.001-04:00

How do you judge if something you purchased is justified?

I wondered this after I heard someone at work telling another co-worker that they bought a pair of Jordan's for $110.

When I hear that it immediately makes me think how I could possibly justify buying a pair of sneakers for over 100 dollars.

I, personally, couldn't.

I actually couldn't understand how this person could considering they have children and an apartment and obviously other bills that need to be paid. That isn't any of my business why he bought them or how he justified it to himself, it really has nothing to do with me.

It's not like I don't like this man either. I consider him a friend and he can spend his money how he choose, I'm no one to judge, trust me.

I tend to hear how other people spend their own money and wondering how they could possibly spend their money on certain things (cruises, sneakers, vacations, multiple fantasy sports leagues [yes I actually just said that cause I know people who actually participate in MANY pay-in fantasy leagues] etc...) when they obviously have other things that should be taken care of first (house fixing, bills, having no money in the first place).

Again, it's no of my business how other people spend their money. I mean God forbid someone had the nerve to question me personally on why I bought a certain thing or whatever the case may be.

I guess this type of spending all comes down to how people prioritize their lives.

I have been known to buy a video games here and there and they are typically 50-60 bucks a pop, but I literally buy only 3-4 games a year (note: this is how I justify this to myself!, my wife would disagree with my justification, but she gets her hair done, so we call it even!).

But, like I said before, it's not my business.

I just hear about how other people spend their money (which, again, is none of my business) and I tend to think about other ways I could put that money to use.

Although I know people have to look at me and say, "He spent how much on that?" when I make a purchase, of my own, on occasion.

Kind of like when my wife comes home with highlights and a cut or a thinning or whatever it is these people get done with their hair now.

I honestly don't know how she can justify it!

Like this Chi crap? Can't justify it!

MLB 2K10: The Predictions

2010-04-05T18:08:00.003-04:00

AL East

New York Yankees* 100-62

Boston Red Sox* 95-67

Tamp Bay Rays 82-80

Baltimore Orioles 76-86

Toronto Blue Jays 62-100

AL Central
Chicago White Sox* 89-73
Minnesota Twins 88-74
Detroit Tigers 85-77
Cleveland Indians 74-88
Kansas City Royals 69-93

AL West
Seattle Mariners* 88-74
Los Angeles Angels 85-77
Texas Rangers 76-86
Oakland Athletics 70-92

NL East
Philadelphia Phillies* 97-65
Atlanta Braves 90-72
New York Mets 82-80
Florida Marlins 80-82
Washington Nationals 67-95

NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals* 101-61
Milwaukee Brewers 84-78
Chicago Cubs 84-78
Cincinnati Reds 77-85
Houston Astros 70-92
Pittsburgh Pirates 55-107

NL West
Colorado Rockies* 92-70
Los Angeles Dodgers* 91-71
San Francisco Giants 82-80
Arizona Diamondbacks 79-83
San Diego Padres 69-93

ALDS New York Yankees over Seattle Mariners, 3-1
ALDS Boston Red Sox over Chicago White Sox, 3-0

NLDS St. Louis Cardinals over Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0
NLDS Colorado Rockies over Atlanta Braves, 3-2

ALCS New York Yankees over Boston Red Sox, 4-3

NLCS St. Louis Cardinals over Colorado Rockies, 4-2

World Series: New York Yankees over St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3

The Yankees won last year and look to make it a repeat, delivering their 28th championship.

There are other teams that could very well win it all, namely the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and obviously last years runner-up the Philadelphia Phillies. All of these teams did things to make themselves better, though I don't think they did enough to leap-frog the Yanks.

The Yankees took a championship team and actually made it better with additions Curtis Granderson (CF), Nick Johnson (DH), and Javier Vazquez (SP) and filling reserve roles with very experienced players such as Randy Winn and Marcus Thames (should Brett Gardner or Nick Swisher faulter in the
outfield).

AL MVP
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees
If he stays healty for the entire year? Should have monster numbers hitting behind Derek Jeter, Nick Johnson, and Mark Teixeira and in front of Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada.

30 HR's & 100 RBI while missing a month last season, if he stays healthy this should be his to lose.

AL Cy Young
Felix Hernandez, SP, Seattle Mariners
Look for King Felix to build slightly upon his numbers from last season (19-5, 2.49 ERA, 238 2/3 IP, 217 SO) and end up with a line that should somewhat resemble this, 21-7, 2.60 ERA, 240 IP, 220 SO.

NL MVP
Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
The best player in baseball, hands down, IMO.

NL Cy Young
Roy Halladay, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
I do believe the Phillies are going to have a couple issues SP-wise, but Doc won't be one of them. He pretty much dominated the Big Boy League (American League) the last several years, it stands to think he is going to out and out slaughter the National League.

Fatty McButterpants

2010-03-31T21:56:00.000-04:00

OK So I realize I'm not "fat", but I'm definitely overweight.

I blame it all on my wife, Kim. I, also, blame my grey hairs and bad back on her too, but that's a different blog altogether.

See before I met Kimmy, I worked out four days a week with my brother, played basketball several days a week and was just athletic in general.

The day I met Kimmy I weighed 182lbs. I remember this because it was the last time I saw the southern side of 180lbs. Actually it's been about four years now that I have weighed in at over 200lbs.

I now stand at a robust 220lbs. Unacceptable.

This is the first time in my life that I have weighed 220lbs (my previous high coming a couple years ago when I weighed 217lbs!).

I don't have a particular plan, per se, but I do have some things I am going to change right off the bat.

Let me preface my currently short list of changes by saying I am not going to be some freak and cut out everything I find yummy (cheese, ice cream, etc.). I am just going to reduce the amount of completely empty calories, soda, and alcohol that I shove into my mouth or be smarter about it at least.

Note: Although I said alcohol above, it is the one thing I am going to try the least at. So be forewarned, I will be drinking plenty of Svedka and Capt Morgan this summer, just maybe with diet soda or 100% juice instead of the regular sugar/calorie laden liquids.

So I don't have much of a list or any real plan, like I already said, but there are some things I am going to just try my hardest to resist altogether and/or extremely limit myself.

Soda - I'm not going to drink NO soda, but I am going to severely limit myself (i.e. if I go out and have a rum & coke)

Cheese - again, definitely not going to stop eating cheese, but at this point I believe my BCL (blood cheese level) is at about .5%...so that can be drastically reduced.

Snacks - this is pretty self explanatory, less cookies and ice cream and delicious chocolate treats of all kinds!

Portion control - this is a HUGE problem for me, I tend to gorge myself a little bit sometimes when presented with a really good meal, like a large steak dinner or chicken parm or baked ziti...

There are more things I could list, but it would become depressing at that point, but the point is I just need to eat less and exercise more.

Who of thunk it? It's like I just came up the idea myself just now or something.

My goal, nothing crazy, is to lose 20lbs by Labor Day.

I'm giving myself this weekend to kind of indulge for the last time.

Just adding another challenge to my life, but I'm ready to take it on.

Fatherhood and now my health, it's going to be a LOONNGGG summer!

How My Son Joined Us

2010-03-27T23:29:00.001-04:00

This is late for me to blog about this, but I've been busy, as you can imagine.

I mean I do have a baby now, they tend to take up a tad of your time.

Anyway, his trip to join us here was mostly calm, but a hurricane did disturb the waters there for a little while.

My sons due date was March 20th, but Kimmy (my wife) ended up having her blood pressure rise up to borderline high and since she was so late in the game the doctors figured they should just take him out. Why play with fire, right?

So the induction was scheduled for March 18th (why couldn't it of been March 17th?...oh well, can't win em all!) which was only two days before the original due date.

My wife and I had to arrive at Bellevue Women's Hospital at the buttcrack of dawn almost, 5:45am, to fill out a little bit of paperwork and we were into our room at 6:00.

Then came all the hooking up that had to be done to my wife. The IV to pump fluids into her and a little later the Pitocin. Kimmy was not a fan of said Pitocin.

Everything was going quite smoothly.

Until the weird, annoying, english isn't my first name South American anesthesiologist became part of the picture. Kimmy wanted to be numb for the oncoming explosion of pain she was just starting to feel through the intensifying contractions she was starting to feel.

I can't remember the doctor's name because, I'll be honest, I couldn't understand 90% of the words coming out of his mouth. He wasn't very good at what he does, I know that much.

His job was to come in and get Kimmy hooked up to the epideral and ease the pain.

Guess what he didn't do? Yeah, not good at his job.

From the moment he started I knew there was something wrong with however he was trying to fix her up.

He kept making faces and mumbling and when he did say something I could understand he commented on how she wasn't sitting up straight (when she was) and kept making it sound like she had scoliosis or something. If they would have taken my blood pressure at this point they probably would have told me to calm down before I had a stroke.

So, only fourty-five minutes later and this idiot gives up.

He says he is going to go get a Dr. Kim.

So in comes Dr. Kim.

This. Guy. Was. Awesome!

Dr. Kim is a little asian man standing about 5'3" or so. He was hysterically funny.

As soon as he came into the room he started getting on the nurse, asking why he wasn't invited to the party she had and he felt left out and carried on with his jokes through the whole epidural process.

It took him all of TWO minutes to find a spot and in it went.

Two minutes. TWO!

Now the epidural is in and everything should progress nice and smooth. Or so you would think.

The first five minutes or so of the epidural went fine, she was giggling and laughing because, as she said with a laugh, "I don't feel anything".

The doctor came in almost right after the epidural. Dr. Nicholas Kulbida (the husband of WTEN news anchor Lydia Kulbida, small world right?) was our doctor.

Then, after feeling up my wife and checking her out, doing what doctors do, he realizes that there is a problem picking up the babys heartbeat through her stomach. So Dr. Kulbida takes these suction cup thingys and reaches into my wifes hoo-ha and sticks them on my sons head to get a read on his heart rate.

They found his heart beat just fine with the device they used, but while they were busy getting that all taken care of I was keeping an eye on my wifes blood pressure.

It was going down.

And down.

Down further.

And more.

Until it finally crashed from about 150/90 all the way down to 70/27. Incase you were wondering, that's REALLY bad and far lower than it should be.

In addition to Kimmy's blood pressure crashing, the babys heart beat was becoming erratic as a result of Kimmy's crashing blood pressure. His heart rate was ranging between 130-150 bpm (beats per minute) when she wasn't contracting, but when she did have a contraction his heart rate dropped to between 50-60 bpm.

Not good.

When all the machines were beeping because my wife and child were in danger of dying (at least in my head) and Kimmy looked at me to see what was going on, I just nodded and smiled.

For anyone that knows me at all, I'm an emotional person and I tend to wear my emotions on my sleave as they say. So for me to look at her with an un-crying face and smile and nod was an incredible thing. It took every ounce of strength in my body to keep the tears inside.

So after seeing her monitor beeping like mad for about 4-5 minutes, the doctor looked at the nurse and with urgency in his voice said, "Go and prep the OR NOW, we need to prep the OR NOW, we have to get this baby out".

I was petrified. That moment was most likely the most scared I've ever been in my entire life.

So they got her all ready and I was holding her hand, rubbing her arm and her hair telling her everything is going to be alright.

They took her away to the operating room and I had to stay back for about ten minutes while they got her all prepped for surgery.

I was stuck in that room. Pacing back and forth it friggin seemed like I was in there for HOURS instead of about ten minutes. I had to calm myself so I didn't make myself hyperventilate.

Finally the nurse came and got me. Thank God she finally came and got me, I was going crazy in that room. I had my monkey suit on and I was ready to get in there.

I can't really tell much about being in the OR with her because I could only see from her chest up. They had to cloth shield up because they were operating on her. So those details are lost on me.

I do know when Dr. Kulbida finally got my son out though. It seemed like it took forever, when it was really a very short time.

At 1:52pm on March 18, 2010 I heard my son, William Frederick King Jr., scream himself into the real world for the first time. I stood up so that I could see him.

It was the deepest most calming sigh I've ever released in my entire life.

It was at 1:52pm on March 18, 2010 that I became the happiest person on the face of the earth.

Now it's time to be a father.

I'm ready to teach.

It's Will...NOT BILL!

2010-03-08T18:56:00.001-05:00

I don't get it. I really don't.

Where does one derive Bill, from William?

Today at work I recieved an email about actual work (that does actually happen from time to time, believe it or not) and I worked it, finished it and then emailed the woman back to let her know it was all taken care of.

A couple minutes later the woman emails me back saying, "Thanks Bill....".

I want to email back "WHERE DOES IT SAY MY NAME IS BILL?!?!?!?", but that would be rude and honestly she doesn't know how I feel about it, so it would be really uncalled for and make me look like an asshole (which I am not!).

It just makes me wonder where Bill really comes from. I mean I don't begrudge people who like to be called 'Bill', but it's not for me. Never has been, never will be.

I just don't understand how that would be the first thought when someone hears the name William. When I see the name William my first thought is to call that person Will, not Bill.

I mean it's like someone being named Michael and your first thought would be to call them Fike instead of Mike. That's fucking retarded, right? Exactly my point.

It's stupid and annoying.

It, also, doesn't help that when I hear the name Bill I think of someone wearing overalls with no shirt on underneath, playing a banjo, with a piece of hay sticking out of their mouth.

Basically a local inbred right out of Deliverance.

Just for me to hear someone call me Bill makes me visibly cringe. It's pretty bad.

So, let's stop butching my name. Please? I need it to stop for my own sanity!

Devon Alexander-Juan Urango 140lb unification

2010-03-06T22:32:00.001-05:00

This is my round-by-round blog on the fight as I saw it live.

DA = Devon Alexander
JU = Juan Urango

Is that self explanitory? Yes. But people never cease to amaze me!

Round 1: DA good right. Uppercut shortly after for DA. Another good uppercut for DA. JU is doing nothing. JU great right hand, jelly legged DA.

10-9 Alexander

Round 2: JU rushing DA to start round, good shots to the body. DA working jab, not too many land, but they are keeping JU out of range. JU with several good body shots. Very good right cross by DA. Another good overhand right for DA. Cut was opened up on JU at some point in the round.

10-9 Alexander

Round 3: JU rushing at the start again. DA is working in many more combinations. Great right for DA. JU’s cut now bleeding down the left side of his face. JU is imposing his style more, DA falling into trading instead of using the jab and movement.

10-9 Alexander

Round 4: More trading now. JU is drawing DA into a small slugfest now. Some beautiful counters for DA. More great countering by DA. JU doing a lot of bullrushing in with his head down and flailing. JU getting frustrated.

10-9 Alexander

Round 5: DA re-establishing his jab at start of round. Good body work against the ropes for JU. Good short right for DA. JU starting to run in on DA again. DA blocks most of the barrage. DA is dodging most of JU’s punches now.

10-9 Alexander

Round 6: DA very active. JU landing some hard body shots. Great right by JU. Now good uppercut for JU. JU becoming a bit wild. JU working the body very good this round. Two good combinations during last 10 seconds for JU.

10-9 Urango

Round 7: Great right by JU jelly legged DA. JU landing more and more power punches. DA not moving much defensively, looking a little winded. Good three punch combo inside 10 seconds for JU.

10-9 Urango

Round 8: FABULOUS uppercut by DA floors JU. Blood pouring out of JU’s nose. Two punch combo by DA floors JU again. Ref gives 8 count and then waives off the fight at 1:12.

The first knockdown looks even more fabulous during the replays. Simply fantastic uppercut by Alexander.

TKO victory for Devon Alexander, now the Unified 140lb champion!

After the fight in the interview with Max Kellerman, Alexander says he would most definitely beat Timothy Bradley. I like you kid, but let's not get too crazy. Take another fight before Bradley if you know what's good for you.

That's just my personal opinion.

Dumb Dog

2010-03-01T21:33:00.002-05:00

So Prince is a good dog.

He really is.

So it was a little bit of a shocker to come home over the last week and a half or so to see what Prince has destroyed this time.

Mostly it was a plastic bag or napkins that were left on the end table or the coffee table. It wasn't a big deal, just really...REALLY annoying.

So this past Friday I took everything he could eat (a large bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, a roll of paper towels and a few other things) and moved them onto the kitchen counter.

You would think everything was fine then, right? Wrong. Not with my lovely wife in the house!

I went to work and Kimmy was home on her off day from work and (unknown to me at the time was just hanging around until the baby shower for us at my job, which was supposed to be a surprise, but as you can imagine I am smarter than everyone) as you can imagine, her being extremely pregnant, she wanted those Reese's Eggs.

She ate however many she ate and left the bag on the coffee table (the place I previously moved them from, knowing Prince has been bad about that lately) and off she went to my job for the baby shower with my work people.

Prince then went on a murderous rampage in an effort to rid our house of all Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs!

He ate, roughly, 20 of these peanut butter eggs.

He must have been in peanut butter heaven. They probably tasted better than anything he ever ate in his almost two-year-old life.

One...minor...detail though.

In addition to eating almost 20 peanut butter eggs, he also ate, 20 peanut butter egg plastic wrappers.

Yeah. He ate the eggs AND the wrappers they were wrapped in.

Like the title says...Dumb Dog.

Story doesn't end there though. Kimmy called our vet and they said he should be fine, but just to look out for tremors or anything out of the ordinary.

That's fine, we kept an eye out and everything was fine that night.

The whole next day (Saturday).

And then most of Saturday night. Most of.

Very early Sunday morning, around 3am, I awoke to my wonderful dog throwing up.

I felt bad, because I mean no one likes to throw up, I assume it isn't pleasant for him either.

I dragged myself out of bed and got the clean up materials and entered the room.

Gross. Really really gross.

There were three solid piles of throw up, the two smaller piles were mostly liquid and a little food and they were right there as soon as I opened the door.

The biggest pile was right in front of the bed. It was huge. And it contained, as you can imagine, roughly 20 Reese's Peanut Butter Egg wrappers.

It was basically just a huge pile of undigested plastic (or whatever those wrappers are made of).

Anyway, he's fine if you wondering. No side effects or weird reactions.

Just Prince being Prince.

Dumb dog.

To My Unborn Son...

2010-02-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

Yeah, this is all rather surreal for me. I'll just be upfront and get that out there.

It's so strange you are going to be here so soon now. Roughly five weeks (March 20th is your mothers due date). Could be less, could be more.

To say I'm anxious to see you would be a ridiculous understatement. I've wanted to be a father for a little while now, but I was willing to wait it out because your mother wanted to be 'ready' to which I would tell her, "you can't ever fully prepare for kids" but I was willing to wait regardless.

Then fate, or God, or some other force decided it was time now.

I didn't complain, trust me, I wanted to be a father.

I can't explain the feeling that was inside of me about wanting to be a father. It was something I can't say it words. It was just this primal, to my core feeling.

Your mother was told during a doctors appointment last year, or maybe it was the year before, that she would need help to get pregnant and that it couldn't happen naturally.

I can't lie, that news hurt me inside. I felt like there would be problems. I felt pain at the fact that I could possibly never have a child of my own.

Adoption would be an option, of course, but no matter what anyone tells you, it wouldn't of been the same. You wouldn't of had my King/Boettner blood flowing through you veins.

That's something you will come to find out is I am very much a family orientated person, and as such you most likely will be too.

For the things my father lacked, teaching me how to stand up for myself and my family wasn't one of them. He taught me family is EVERYTHING. When people come and go in your life, it will be your family that will always be there for you.

My father and mother (your grandparents) will always be there for you. No matter what happens in your life, you will ALWAYS have someone there at your back.

Your family is your army and we mobilize if we are threatened in any way. Remember that, don't use it as a weapon, only as defense.

I know this is a little scatter-brained, but thinking of everything I want to teach you, like my parents taught me, is just running through my head at once and with so many thoughts I forget where I'm going with certain things.

Too many head injuries! You're mother will tell you, I'm sure, many times how forgetful I am. Count on that.

Onto your mother, she is going to probably be the most loving and caring person you will ever in your life know. I'm biased in that fact, but to me, she is everything. She's not blood family, but she married into my family and so she is just as good as blood.

Your mother is my best friend, I have other best friends though. My brother, your Uncle Kelly (no matter what anyone tells you it's also a boys name!) is another one. Hopefully your mother and I can help you out and do for you what my parents blessed me with and that's a brother, otherwise known as a best friend born into the family for you.

Your Uncle Kelly is quirky and he will do and say strange things, but trust me you won't want anyone else to have you back. He is someone you can trust your life with as I have many times. I've never second guessed him when he said he had my back and you won't have to either.

You Aunts (Heather & Erin) aren't to be messed with either. They will, also, both have your back and always be there for you, take my word on it. Aunt Erin will be there to verbally abuse whoever messes with you and Aunt Heather...well lets put it this way, I shutter thinking what is going to happen to any girl who breaks your heart.

Be careful who you choose as friends and who you choose to let watch your back because you never know when you could get stabbed (not literally, but figuratively). It sounds harsh, but the only way to learn this rule is to live and learn, no other way around it.

You are going to find that there are some people in your life that you couldn't do without and truely do love. There are also going to be people with which you could do without. If you are anything like me you will be fairly good at choosing who to have around and who to not have around.

I would like to think I am going to be to you what my father was to me and that's a guide and someone that will always be there to tell you how to be a man.

I have faults, but so does everyone. I can only help you the same way my father helped me and that's by my own life experiences.

I didn't go to college, I don't have a high class job, and I don't have a lot of money, but I'm happy and I know how to treat people and defend myself against others and how to defend my family.

I can only hope I do as good a job teaching you the ropes of life as my father did with me. He wasn't perfect, and neither am I, but he knew certain things that no one else could teach me about growing up and being a strong person, working hard, and doing whatever you have to do to make things easier for your kids.

I hope to do the same thing.

I can't wait for you to get here so I can begin our journey together, you already make me the happiest person on the earth and you aren't even born yet.

I just wrote this off the top of my head on a whim, so I know there are things I've forgotten, but one last thing is brace yourself for a wild time, our family is a little crazy, but you'll love them, because I do.

Another quick hitter

2010-02-09T20:47:00.003-05:00

The cat in this animation is the cartoon version of my cat Puffy. He's a big dumb animal that one.

Also, I don't know where I got the video from, I found it in my email and so I can't attribute it to the right person/website.

Cool website, worth a look!

2010-02-09T20:16:00.000-05:00

Quick hit of a blog here, but this website was passed onto me at work by my friend Terry D.

Panoramic views of places in Utah. Utah? Yeah Utah, and it's very cool to look at.

My favorites are the Atrium and Cathedral of the Madeleine.

So here's the website, enjoy!

http://www.utah3d.net/index.html

Super Bowl XLIV Prediction

2010-02-06T21:17:00.004-05:00

New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts

Keys for the Saints on offense: Control the line of scrimmage and try to establish some sort of running game. If Dwight Freeney ends up being ruled out of the game because of his injury, they should double down on DE Robert Mathis as needed and try to ram the ball down their throats with Pierre Thomas between the tackles.

Reggie Bush is going to be a key figure in this game. If New Orleans can get big plays out of him on tosses, sweeps, screens, and as a reciever he will play a major role.

Last, but not least, Drew Brees needs to make smart decisions against this Indy defense. The Colts defense is a 'bend but don't break' defense and as such should be taken seriously.

Also, look for a huge game from TE Jeremy Shockey as he goes across the middle and picks up huge chunks of yards against the Colts Cover 2 zone coverage.

Keys for the Saints on defense: First on the list is, obviously, to try and control Peyton Manning. He picks apart any defense. Throw zone at him and he just bides his time and completes a pass. Man coverage and he just will dismantle you.

New Orleans HAS to get into Peyton's face and try to disrupt his flow somewhat. Get knockdowns and hurries in a effort to limit his read to one, two checks at the most. If he is allowed to check down through his options he will destroy the Saints defense.

The Saints do have one thing going for them though, the Colts have ZERO running game. But every other team has known the Colts have no running game as well and they lost anyway.

Timed and disguised blitz packages are a must for the Saints.

Key for the Colts on offense: As I said above, Peyton is the Colts main weapon. He doesn't need a premier reciever (i.e. his own Reggie Wayne) to have a good game. The J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS put Darrelle Revis on him and basically closed him out of the game and all that accomplished with career days from recievers Pierre Garcon (11 cat, 151 yds, 1 td) & Austin Collie (7 cat, 123 yds, 1 td).

The Saints certainly don't have anyone matching the Jets' Revis on their defense.

It's simple for the Colts offense, protect Manning and you will have plenty of points on the board.

Keys for the Colts on defense: Stop New Orleans from establishing any running game. It's hard to do because Drew Brees poses such a threat in throwing the ball that you can't put 7, 8, or 9 in the box, Brees would pick apart the secondary.

The key is to have the defensive line be as distruptive as possible. Try to throw in mixed packages of blitzes, nickle blitzes, MLB dropping back as a saftey rushes in, etc...

The Colts have historically been a very porous defense, but don't allow as many points as you would think. They have an uncanny ability to stop teams on their side of the field, holding them to FG's and short punts.

If Indy can stop New Orleans' running game, it will make it considerably easier on their defense. They would be able to then drop into max cover with 6 or 7 dropped back to protect against the pass.

Special Teams for both teams:
The Colts must keep the ball out of Reggie Bush's hands at all costs. Kick the ball out of bounds any chance you can. Make the Saints beat you on offense and not let Bush give their offense good field position or possibly run one back on you.

The Saints have it a little easier as the Colts special teams aren't very remarkable. If they can play it straight and limit return yards they can keep the Colts to a long field.

Final Prediction
I'm rooting for New Orleans, but I believe that experience is gold in a game like this. The Super Bowl is a huge stage and most of the Colts have been here before and know what it takes to pull through.

Indianapolis Colts 33
New Orleans Saints 27

Upstate Baby Beater

2010-02-02T18:56:00.001-05:00

This guy should burn.

George Carter Thompson, 31, of White Birch Estates was watching his 5-month-old stepdaughter when apparently it struck him that this child needed to be punished. The little girls mother took her baby to Glens Falls Hospital where doctors said she was suffering from bruises, a broken leg, and a fractured skull.

How does this 'man' justify what he did? He can't. There is no justification for this.

The act of doing what he did was heinous enough, but to see that he was arrested and charged with assault in the second degree, a felony? You have got to be kidding me right? I mean there has to be something more serious to charge him with than 2nd degree assault...right?

Apparently not.

I was arrested about five years ago (with my brother) and to make a long story short, we were defending ourselves against a drunken idiot that wanted nothing more than to fight someone and he chose us.

Hell, I wasn't even involved except to try and break it up and what did I get for my efforts? Two scars on my upper forearm where he BIT me so hard that he broke my skin through two layers of clothing.

We (my brother and I) got charged with 2nd degree assault, a felony (plead down to disorderly conduct) and we were defending ourselves from a lunatic.

So what you are telling me is a fight between grown men is the same as me going outside, finding a little baby, and throwing it around like a nerf football and that is the same thing?

The law is telling me that it is.

Common sense is telling me that it isn't.

Raging Vegetarians

2010-01-18T17:36:00.000-05:00

So sometimes I make myself read this blog on timesunion.com called Animal Rights by Patrick Battuello.

I "make" myself because he kinda pisses me off. I don't know why I do it to myself. I read it to anger myself basically for unknown reasons.

It's not the fact that he is a vegan/vegetarian or that he stands up for animal rights. It's the fact that he makes me and everyone like me who eats meat sound like we are the worst people on the planet and the worst thing we could possibly every do is eat meat or products that come from animals (i.e. milk, eggs and the rest).

I don't disagree with people who are a vegan/vegetarian. If that is your choice then more power to you and I don't really care. Don't eat meat if that's what makes you happy.

To make me feel like I am less of a human or to feel like I am some dirtbag asshole because I eat turkey on Thanksgiving? or a ham on Christmas or Easter?

Again, let me say, I have no problems with people who have that lifestyle, it's all fine and good and I respect it.

I just can't stand people like this guy Patrick here who says that animals should be treated the same as humans and if I don't also think that way I am primitive or lower on the civilized plane than he and the rest of the people like him are.

I can’t wait to have my turkey on Thanksgiving. Every year I look forward to it and I actually do give thanks for the good things that happen in my life and that fact that I am not like that bird on my table.

I don’t tell vegetarians that they are doing something wrong because they aren’t, so vegetarians shouldn’t tell me I am doing something wrong because I am not. It's just a choice that we each have individually made and should be respected by the other side.

I mean humans are dying all over the world in hellish ways every day and to point out that a turkey is mistreated before becoming my dinner sickens me. Time to get priorities in order.

HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimers, all happen constantly and I have experienced all of these things in my own family and for someone to berate me because I eat a turkey on Thanksgiving? REALLY?

I don't think it's right for Mr. Battuello or people of his ilk to berate me or put me down and make me feel like I am no where near there plane of existence and that I am below them and there intellect.

The ferver that he and his kind have taken on in defense of their beliefs are no different than the religious zealot that wishes to force his respective religion upon you.

It's not right. Respect me and I will respect you.

Things I am sick of and wish would go away for 2010 (E! News edition)

2010-01-05T20:22:00.002-05:00

My wife makes me watch E! News and occasionally The Daily 10.

I don't know how this happened exactly, but we now suddenly watch these shows.

I think she (my wife) secretly loves to torture my brain. I'm being serious.

There are some things that just need to go away on E!, including the TV station itself.

They have such winning programming as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Guiliana & Bill, Bank of Hollywood, Kendra, Leave it to Lamas, and there are many more terrific programs from which to choose from this enlitening channel.

In watching E! News & The Daily 10 I find there are some things that I always find myself saying "that is so fucking stupid!" to.

For example, hybrid names of celebrities who are boyfriend/girlfriend or married.

Brangelina (Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie)
Robsten (Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart)
Speidi (Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag)<---these two should be gone for ever incidentally

Those are just three of the many examples of couples with mish-mashed names.

How about when these tabloid papers and TV shows shorten a celebrities name. It's annoying in addition to being stupid.

Examples of this stunningly moronic practice are winners like....

LiLo (Lindsey Lohan)
K-Stew (Kristen Stewart)<---look her second appearance!
J-Hud (Jennifer Hudson)

It's not like these people have incredibly long names.

Another obvservation that I've made is the word "deets"...are you fucking kidding me?

You mean you can't say "details"? No...really...you've got to be fucking kidding me right?

This channel and everything on it are worthless.

At least Ryan Seacrest has Americal Idol.

Actually I take that "everything on it are worthless" comment back, everything on this channel is worthless with the one and only exception of The Soup.

Joel McHale is friggin hilarious.

Sister Killer?

2009-12-23T23:34:00.001-05:00

These are the stories that make me chuckle.

Apparently, in Niskayuna on December 16th, an 89-year-old man named Frank Parisi took a bunch of pills in an attempt to end his life.

That's not funny, I know.

After Mr. Parisi took his pills trying to overdose and end his life, for no reason, he then took a pillow and tried, in vain, to smother his 87-year-old sister in an attempted murder-suicide.

Don't worry, no one died, the two farts are still alive and kicking!

Apparently the old man called a family friend, who then called the police (good call, by the way), after he tried to cut short his already rapidly ending life.

This makes me wonder, what the hell was so bad that you would kill yourself and your sister at such an advanced age.

Were you not dying quick enough? I mean, shit, you're 89 and 87 respectively, I think you didn't have much longer left to be honest.

I mean you're 89-years-old, you probably couldn't fully smother your own sister because in mid-smother you, literally, forgot what you were doing.

You, also, have to pee 592 times a day and you go to sleep at 7pm only to wake up at 4:30am.

I mean this guy probably has those guards on his bed to keep him from falling out like some 7-year-olds had on the upper bunk of their bunk bed (yes, I was on the top bunk, ya got me!).

I'm just struggling in my mind to figure out what the fuck this old fart was thinking.

Seriously, you're one tick shy of NINETY FUCKING YEARS OLD!

Mr. Parisi will be arraigned sometime in 2010 according to the article, if you bothered to read it.

I'll be honest, this bastard will probably die before then.

Common Courtesy at work? Please.....

2009-12-14T20:01:00.001-05:00

I think in most aspects of life common courtesy is basically non-existent, but it's especially non-existent at the workplace.
Like when I get to work this morning and opening a door and holding it for this guy walking down the hall. No big deal, he walks through and doesn't even look at me. Not even a smile or nod of the head acknowledging my having held the door for him.

So I said, "You're welcome."

To which he responded,"Excuse me?!?"

And it isn't like he said it like he actually didn't hear me. He said it with a jerkoff face and attitude.

It was at that point that I wished it was possible for me to put my hand through his throat and literally rip his esophagus out and rip his vocal cords from his body.

That, of course, is unfortunately not allowed.

I just shook my head and walked away.

Another favorite of mine is when I am the one walking towards the door and someone else opens up the door and all they have to do is wait all of three seconds and I'd be there at the door and they can then go on their way.

For some reason that isn't what some people do. Some ~~assholes~~ people open the door, turn and look right at you, KNOWING it would only take two seconds of their meaningless life to hold the door and yet they look away and let the door close.

Makes my head feel like it's gonna explode. I typically start to mumble under my breath at that point.

How about this one. You are walking through the hall to where ever and someone bumps into you and they don't say excuse me. Really? It's just friggin rude. Say excuse me, act like your mother and/or father actually taught you something.

I just don't understand. It boggles my mind.

Why is it that people find it necessary to be complete douche bags?

It really is easy to just say "thank you" or "excuse me" or to even give a nod of the head or a smile.

Don't get me wrong, there are people (like me!) who have manners, but I'd say the majority or people don't.

It Snows in the Northeast?

2009-12-09T20:59:00.000-05:00

You wouldn't think so by the way you see people drive.

There are three types of drivers in the snow.

1. The "I don't care if it's snowing out, I can still go 50 in my Corolla!"

This person is highly annoying and is more likely than not going to cause as accident.

2. The "it's snowing so I am going to drive like a 90 year old woman"

Also highly annoying and they too will cause a crash if for no other reason than they are going to annoy people so much that they are going to make a rash decision and try to go around them or ride said persons ass.

3. The "it's snowing so I should think and be careful"

This is the person who does everything right and still gets into an accident as a result of the idiot I described in #1 or the moron in #2.

There is no way that you can tell me that they don't know how do drive in the snow.

Unless they just moved here or just got their drivers license they should know how to drive in the snow. Or at least know enough to be careful at the least.

You live in Upstate New York. It's going to snow. You KNOW it's going to snow.

This morning our area got anywhere from 3-10 inches depending on where you lived. More in the higher elevations. This storm has been predicted to happen since this passed weekend.

Yet there, there had to be, about 50% of the drivers driving as if this had all taken them by surprise.

Listening on the radio and getting the traffic report sounded like a triage listing at a hospital.

It's not that I am saying it's easy to drive in the snow, I'm more than sure that it isn't, but come on. At least act like you have a clue out there!

I can understand a slide here or there, but I-787 was like a friggin M.A.S.H. unit this morning.

It took my immediate supervisor three hours to get to work, from Halfmoon (basically the same as coming from Clifton Park) to downtown Albany.

That sounds a tad excessive, don't you think?

And that was in the measly 4-5 inches that were on the ground. This was a baby storm, could you imagine when the real big boys coming rolling into town?

Movies I've Seen in 2009

2009-12-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

OK to be clear these aren't just movies I have seen in general this year, it's movies that I've seen that have been released this year in theaters.

I am not going to give a synopsys or a preview. Just the name the stars, my grade, and a quick thought.. I'll go in order from worst rated to best rated.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Kevin James) – C-
Quick Thought (QT): Definitely a disappointment. I think Kevin James is very funny, but this movie failed miserably in my eyes.

Management (Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn) – C+
QT: This movie had it's moments, but they were few and far between and there were times in the movie where it moved so f'n slow you could have taken a quick 20 minute nap and you would have missed NOTHING.

The Proposal (Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds) – B-
QT: It was much better that I thought it was going to be going in. Ryan Reynolds is one of my all-time favorite comedic actors and Sandra Bullock did a believeable job.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah) – B-
QT: Don't get me wrong, this movie was funny, but I couldn't help but to compare it to the first two and it isn't nearly as good as them. Funniest parts are again featuring the prehistoric squirrel.

Bride Wars (Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson) - B-
QT: It was alright, another movie that had it's moments, but at other times I thought it was trying to hard to be funny, instead of just letting it happen. I personally don't think Anne Hathaway or Kate Hudson are all that great in the comedic role.

The Last House on the Left (Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Sarah Paxton) – B
QT: Tony Goldwyn was fantastic and after the first half hour the pace of the movie was very good. Definitely worth a watch at Halloween time.

The Hangover (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Heather Graham) – B
QT: Considering the backing and push this movie had it wasn't as funny as they wanted you to think, but it was still VERY funny. The Mike Tyson cameo and tiger in the bathroom were classics.

17 Again (Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon) – B+
QT: I hate giving credit to any of these Disney graduates, but Zac Efron was very good and as always Leslie Mann, Matthew Perry, and Thomas Lennon were all hysterical. This movie was leaps and bounds better that I thought it was going to be.

Push (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou) – B+
QT: I heard not so many good things about this movie. I also couldn't disagree more with who said this was not a good movie. If you like the super hero/person with powers/fantasy type of movies this movie is perfect for you. Djimon Hounsou stole most of the scenes he was in, extremely good performance.

Terminator Salvation (Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin) – B+
QT: I didn't expect this movie to be anything more than a money grab off of the Terminator franchise name. I was wrong. Christian Bale did at times seem to over-act, but he was good and Anton Yelchin was better. Young Anton Yelchin has an extremely bright future ahead of him.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds) – B+
QT: Very solid movie. Action scenes were awesome and the interaction/chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber is something to see.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson) – B+
QT: Picked right up where the first movie left off. Solid acting and action during the whole movie. Also, Shia LaBeouf is turning into an actor that can dominate the screen with his fast talking smart ass personality.

The Ugly Truth (Gerard Butler, Katherine Heigl) – B+
QT: Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl were fantastic. This is a must see comedy.

Taken (Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen) – A-
QT: Taken had my attention and held it for the entire 91 minutes that it ran. Liam Neeson was unbelieveably good and I am very curious what is going to happen with Taken 2 (current working title).

My Sister's Keeper (Abigail Breslin, Cameron Diaz, Thomas Dekker, Alec Baldwin) – A
QT: Good God this movie is a tear-jerker. I'm an emotional movie watcher and so this movie had me just sobbing at points. Abigail Breslin was at her best.

The Time-Traveler's Wife (Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams) – A
QT: Another one that will definitely make you shed a tear or two. The chemistry between Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams was spectacular.

He's Just Not That Into You (Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymoore, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Kevin Connolly – A
QT: Very funny, very believeable. It was a comedy, but there was a lot of truth in it. Very good ensemble movie.

And now to my two favorite movies I've seen from 2009:

I Love You, Man (Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Jamie Pressly) - A+
QT: You HAVE to see this movie. Saying this movie is just funny would do a disservice to it. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel will have you laughing throughout the entire movie. Watch this movie, you won't regret it.

Star Trek (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, John Cho, Leonard Nimoy, Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin) – A+
QT: J. J. Abrams is a genius. I was extremely skeptical of Chris Pine being chosen to be Captain James T. Kirk. I was wrong to be skeptical. He was tremendous and I couldn't see anyone else playing this part as well as he did.

I'm a Bad Neighbor...

2009-12-02T22:28:00.001-05:00

Me and my wife (she was my fiance at the time) Kim moved into our first house in May of 2008.

You would think we would know at least some of the neighbors on a first name basis. Not only do we not know their names, we've barely spoken to any of them.

We do know a few, but only in the very brief, "Hey how ya doin?" and in the house/car you go kinda way.

To the left of us there is a young married couple, I assume only a couple years older than I am (I'm 27 FYI). I should know them right? But I don't. I know the wife is Julie and the husband I can't for the life remember his name. It could be Brian. I'm not really sure. I should pay way more attention to people than I actually do.

They seem nice though. They really do. I actually said hello to the wife, Julie, three times last week as she was smoking her cigarette in anticipation of her workout walk she takes with her friend.

One guy across the street came all over all huffy and was all adamant that one of our cats had taken a piss in his trunk.

Our cats were actually inside all night and all that day, but hey, he knew what he was talking about.

There are some REALLY old people that live kitty corner to us. I paid them a visit, after my own cousin broke into my house and robbed me (that's it's only stand alone story), to see if they had seen anyone around my house, but of course they hadn't, they are old remember.

The guy directly across the street is nice, even though I can't remember his name either. He's also a little on the old side. Not quite as ancient as the kitty corner old people, but he's I say "hi" once in a while and he askes how Prince (our year old boxer dog) is doing while he is standing outside with a pair of pajama bottoms on and no shirt, flashing the wonderfulness that are his old man gut and moobies (man boobies) while yelling at his cockapoo lookin dog to come back inside.

To the right, and on the other side of the street is this lady. Don't know her name. Never even said a word to her before. But she has this wonderful miniature pinscher that just LOVES to bark incessantly at 5 in the morning. I don't wish harm on defenseless animals, but I've come real close to stringing this one up myself.

And last, but certainly not least, is Joe. You don't just hear about Joe and understand what we mean, you need to actually meet him to get the full, real experience.

He's old, he's retired, he's been alone for a long time, and he lives in the same house he lived in when he was a kid. How do I know this? Not because I asked him, but because this man just talks. A lot. A LOT a lot.

Joe is creepy. Most everyone who meets him thinks he's creepy and wishes to avoid him, including my wife, who we left outside alone with him for a good half hour one time. She wasn't pleased.

Bottomline is if there are any missing children in the neighborhood, I'm not saying he's responsible, but he should at least be on the 'to be questioned' list. Harsh? Yes, but also true.

So as you can see I am a pretty bad neighbor.

I'd like to say I'm going to show more effort to trying to meet these people and know more than just their names, or even just their names in some cases, but who would I be kidding?