Sometimes there are bonus days, where I’m awake (and by that I mean actually ready to be finished sleeping versus being reminded by the cat that “hey it’s been nearly twelve hours since I’ve had food and I thought maybe you’d forgotten to feed us even though never once has that ever happened.”) well before usual, and I find that’s a great time to accomplish things. There are always things to accomplish when the internet is involved.

This is awesome when it happens in the morning. On the other hand there are times when I wake up during what I would consider to be “the middle of the goddamn night” for no conceivable reason, where it’s simply too early not to try to go back to sleep because anything else borders on dysfunction. Then you get blog posts like this.

The conclusion I reached turned out to be relatively simple. Your working life is about projects, and the relative success of each affects your self-esteem and work ethic. In my case, those projects were websites, and my metric for success was “does this finished site make me happy?” While there are some I am distinctly proud of, they are decidedly the minority; beacons of light in an otherwise hazy ocean.

However, when you become a business, the business becomes your project, and what used to be projects become tasks to further the progress of that project. The previous metric of success for individual tasks is no longer the deciding factor in your happiness; instead, you’re happy when:

1. You have more work to do.
2. Your client is happy, because it begets #1.

For me, it’s as simple as that. When you can be proud of an individual project, that’s a bonus.

But you might be surprised to find that I didn’t join the masses today (or two weeks ago) considering my rabid enthusiasm for the newest iPhone. I toyed with the idea of preordering, but when the date jumped from July 2 to July 14, I figured that I’d be able to pick one up locally before then.

Yet this morning I got out of bed, did some work, ate a banana, went for a run, and came back here to write this. What I didn’t do was drive as fast as I could to Walmart (the only local reseller whose stock isn’t allocated to preorders) the minute I woke up, desperately hoping to get my hands on a shiny new toy. Don’t think that it wasn’t a major possibility.

In the last few days, though, I’ve been trying to pin down just why I so desperately wanted this phone that I felt compelled to inconvenience myself to acquire it. I couldn’t answer that question, beyond what I can only describe as a really strange sort of peer pressure, where by “peer” I mean “nerds and blogs”.

The only other explanation I can offer for this specific instance is that it’s the first time I’ve actually been eligible for a new iPhone at the time of its launch. AT&T didn’t even exist here when the first iPhone hit, and I was in the middle of my contracts for the 3G and 3GS.

But look! This is me, taking a stand.

I ordered one from the Apple Store while I was writing this.

Thankfully, I think my coping mechanism has finally caught up and kicked in, and I’m feeling substantially better than I have been for the past few weeks, and I’m able to look at April as a month of “silver linings” versus simply being bad.

The biggest news is that I’m now officially self-employed. {hire} became my full-time pursuit at the end of April, and has been going about as smoothly as you can expect a sudden transition to freelance work to go. I’m very excited about both existing and potential partnerships, and also for the freedom allowed by my new schedule. Suffice it to say, it’s both the most and least stressful job I’ve ever had.

As a result, my daily routine has changed dramatically, as have my priorities. The awesome weather has made running every morning a joy, as has the fact that I now have the time to run every morning (instead of afternoon or evening). I haven’t been on the bike nearly as much, mostly because my commute now consists of walking up the stairs, but I’m trying to fit a longer ride in here and there as a break (ha!) from running.

Maybe it’s because it’s summer, but I’m also not gaming much right now. The Saboteur and God of War II are both sitting, unfinished. The only console game I’ve really enjoyed lately is Borderlands, and that’s because it’s a social activity. Instead, I’ve been reading a lot more; something I hope continues even as I slowly run out of books around the house.

Finally, I’ve decided that it’s time to take a break from theatre. I’ve had a lot of great opportunities over the last few years, but more recently it’s been taking its toll on my mind, my self esteem, and my schedule. Now is a good time for a hiatus, especially considering the aforementioned career change.

As a result, I don’t tend to wear any given pair a lot, and so they all reach a point of looking somewhat worn but not completely broken before I move on to the next thing that catches my interest. And that’s why I’m confounded by a pair of Vans I bought 5 years ago.

When I first started wearing the Slip-Ons, I was somewhat skeptical. It’s not that they were uncomfortable by any means; more that I wasn’t sure if I liked how they looked on my feet. But I quickly acclimated to the sight of that solid white strip of sole, and the Vans became my go-to shoes. They’ve been with me to Chicago and Vegas (among other more local places), rehearsals and performances, work and play, and they’re one of the few pairs of shoes I have that remains consistently stylish (I believe the word is “classic”) regardless of what they’re paired with.

It soon became clear that I had found a staple to my wardrobe; I wore the Vans more frequently than any other shoes. Like a great pair of jeans, they got more comfortable and better-looking with age, each little rub and tear adding to a perfect patina. But, paranoid as I am, I knew they wouldn’t last forever, and I knew that I’d want to have a replacement on hand for when that time came. My first second pair of Slip-Ons were the vaunted checkerboard colorway, which were soon joined by a cappuccino pair (both on sale, so why not?).

The thing about Slip-Ons is that they get better with age – the blackened sole, worn down logo on the heel, the weathering of the seams. So when presented with a choice between unbroken new shoes or perfectly-worn not-new shoes, I almost inevitably choose the latter, which is why both of the other pairs are still relatively new-looking. I’ll be honest: I think brand new Vans look a little goofy; it’s only after they start to wear that they look like they should. The problem is convincing myself to push through that goofy phase (it’s kind of like when your hair is too long to be short but too short to be long) instead of just wearing the other pair of shoes that I already like.

But I’ve been feeling for awhile that my favorite pair has been close to critical mass. They’re not as bad as they could be, but it’s time to transition them to semi-retirement status. Fortunately, I think I’ve lined up a suitable replacement (for real this time), and so the cycle begins again.

The year started strong. January didn’t bring the same drama this year that it brought in 2008 (thankfully). Instead, I get to point out that that was the birth of the current iteration of this website.

February was relatively uneventful as well, aside from preparing for shows. But I did put together some awesome LEGO.

I spent a lot of time complaining about the weather this year, as I was already raring to get back on two wheels when March rolled around. That was only exacerbated by the new toy. The day trip to Minneapolis to pick it up was awfully fun too.

In April I put new wheels on my car. No, I mean I put them on. By myself.

May brought the first of a number of shows last year: The Last 5 Years, in which I was approximately 50% of the cast. It was a great experience and the theatrical accomplishment that I continue to be most proud of.

Then Godspell happened in June, and that was awesome too! Great cast, great technical staff, great venue, and a great show. Probably one of WCT‘s best, ever.

Things wound down a bit in July, but we had the official Godspell reunion / cast party up in Tomahawk. AKA Real World: Godspell. TEXT MESSAGES!

August was a quiet month, so I spent a lot of time on the bike, and did my first (and second!) 40-mile ride(s).

After years of planning and months of labor, Citizen Wausau 2.0 was finally launched in September, much to the excitement of those involved.

In October, I ran.

The only potentially negative item on the list happened in November, when I passed out on stage. Even then, it’s just something that happened, but I don’t think of it as being decidedly “bad”.

I had such a great vacation in December, you guys. Seriously, it was wonderful. Plus it was my birthday!

* gift card incentive
** shared purchase

It’s the games in the middle that get you. I knew I could hammer through MW2 well within the 72 hours that it was in my possession, but that’s not always the case. I had been toying with the idea of a GameFly subscription (like Netflix, but for video games), but never made the leap until a recent promotion came along.

The Honeymoon

My initial experience was extremely positive. The first game in my “Q” (ugh) was Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The game shipped on Monday and I had it on Thursday, just in time for a relatively uncluttered weekend. I plowed through it and had it back in the mail early the following Monday.

The Marriage

Then I waited. GameFly claims that they work with the postal service to scan games as soon as they’re put in the mail. When a game gets scanned, GameFly treats it as a return, and immediately prepares your next game. However, I didn’t experience this. Uncharted didn’t process as a return until Thursday.

In the meantime, I eagerly awaited my opportunity to play The Saboteur. Unfortunately, being a brand-new game, it must have been in short supply, as they skipped it and moved on to the next game on my list: Prototype. When I read the shipping confirmation email, my heart sank.

Which is odd. I was really excited for Prototype when it first came out, and then I gradually lost interest in it as time wore on. By the time it reached my door (this past Monday), I had little interest in actually playing it (admittedly, this is all my own fault) but I persevered.

The Divorce

Whether the game itself is good or not is irrelevant here. But in playing it I’m finding the achilles heel of GameFly membership: you feel forced to play whatever game is in front of you at the expense of doing anything else you may have preferred to do; only by moving through games and returning them as quickly as possible are you getting the most value out of the membership. Even then, you’re handicapped by the shipping speed.

Netflix somehow manages to avoid these issues, at least in my mind, for two reasons:

1. The time spent “experiencing” a movie is not the unknown that it would be with a game.
2. Netflix’s digital distribution methods offer instant gratification.

it would be interesting to see GameFly (or a similar service) explore methods of digital distribution, but I don’t know how it would work. In the meantime, this trial membership has been effective in determining that GameFly just isn’t my thing.

However, I feel that there are a few things that went awry in this situation that could have easily led to a catastrophe. I would begin by suggesting that, when you inevitably need to cross a street, you choose a location other than a few yards around what is essentially a blind corner for traffic. You could’ve begun at the corner itself, where I would’ve been able to see you before I turned, or you could’ve walked the extra block to the next intersection where there are crosswalks and crossed there, or even waited until you were a few yards further down the block so my experience wasn’t just “turning-BOOM-pedestrian” (fortunately not literally).

I am happy you were at least as far from the corner as you were, as when I rounded the corner (with no stop sign, mind you) there was a fair gap between the right side of the street (where you had come from) and where you presently were (nearly in the middle of the road). As such, I altered my course appropriately, veering slightly more toward the right to give extra space between you and my vehicle. I chose this approach as it represented a clear path for me without inhibiting your progress, since it’s preferable for me as a pedestrian to, well, get my ass out of the street as soon as possible since that’s where cars go.

Imagine my surprise, then, when instead of continuing on your way (or even stopping in the middle of the street, similar to a deer!), you decided the best course of action was to jump backwards into the path of my car. You got me good here – I definitely was NOT expecting that move! As I steered to the left in an attempt to avoid your maneuver, I was already sensing futility in this exercise, and was not disappointed when you jumped back the left, and in front of me a second time.

At this point I must ask if you’ve ever been walking down a hallway and encountered someone going the opposite way? If so, you’ll be familiar with that awkward little dance that happens when right of way is being determined. Between two (relatively) slow-moving people, it’s little more than an annoyance. However, I would not recommend playing this game with a car, or really anything larger than yourself. I’ll just say that I’m glad I stopped and did not hit you, but only because of the hassle it saved me in the end. I’d highly recommend that next time this happens to you (and given your self-righteous tirade afterwards, I’m sure it will), you act in a more predictable manner instead of like some sort of wild animal.

As the show began, I felt awfully tired. I wrote it off to the heat, and after the first scene took the opportunity to rest a bit backstage as I had a long while before I need to return. I was still feeling a little sluggish afterward, and digestively something just felt… off. My next scene came and went, and while the tiredness went away, the nausea did not. I opted to miss my next entrance and spend some time in the bathroom (fill in the blanks), which seemed to help, and felt cool and rejuvenated for a short period after that. The feeling was short-lived, and the final few scenes left me feeling beat from every direction. I was still nauseous, and the tiredness from before became a full-on exhaustion.

It’s fortunate for me that 1776 is based around congress, and as such there’s a lot of sitting, because there’s not a lot else I was able to do at that point. It was a struggle just to keep my eyes open, and the lightheadedness I felt was becoming worse every time I had to stand for any reason. There was a point where I experienced what seemed to be a total disconnect between my brain and the rest of me, as I could not make my hands function.

As the show neared its end and we all approached center stage to sign the Declaration of Independence (spoiler alert!), I was struggling to keep it together for just a few more minutes. All I had to do was stand for a few moments, and then make it through bows, and then I was done. I failed.

My first thought: SHIT. I awoke to the curtain call music and the face of Edward Rutledge, one of a group of my fellow congressmen to carry me to the wing. If you’ve ever fallen asleep slightly while in a lecture or meeting or any other place where it’s inappropriate to do so, you may be familiar with the state where you start to dream and then you kind of wake yourself up. I think that’s what happened to me, except while I was standing up, and on stage. I’m fortunate that I was surrounded by others so I never even made it to the ground.

The next few minutes were… interesting. I only opened my eyes briefly after waking up, but I was so exhausted that I couldn’t keep them open. They sat me in a chair offstage, and I felt like I could’ve sat there basically forever and been happy. I can’t describe how relieved I felt (physically – how I felt mentally is an entirely different story) to just finally stop. I can certainly understand the cause for concern, as while I was totally lucid, that’s probably not what it looks like when somebody collapses and then just sits there with their eyes shut for ten minutes.

Eventually we went down to the orchestra lounge, where there are couches, and I rested a bit more. Abe brought me a Subway-brand cookie and that was delicious (did I mention he was in the audience for this show and this show alone? I was thankful for that). I was still feeling a little off when I stood, but I had some delicious pizza with the rest of the cast and felt a lot better. Fortunately the brother of a fellow cast member was able to step in for the Saturday evening performance (and did so with aplomb!), which left me free to go home and rest.

So it could’ve been a lot worse. Some people thought the collapse was part of the show (because that apparently happened when it was hot in congress back then), so I guess I can consider it my body’s own personal ad-lib. Fortunately I was able to return for the closing matinee on Sunday and celebrate the end of yet another fantastic WCT production with the rest of the cast and crew. I also owe them my thanks for their concern and help both before and after the incident.

(PS: I’m pretty sure it wasn’t actually the flu.)

Weather

It’s October, and apparently it’s been decided that good weather is done for the year. It’s cool at best; windy and rainy at worst. I feel bad for not riding to work, but I don’t miss the hassles that it brings in terms of clothing and preparation. I’ll admit it – when you’re used to getting places under your own power, driving becomes one of those guilty pleasures.

Reliability

I’ve been constantly afflicted by a flat rear tire in the past two months. I couldn’t figure out what was causing it, but I was going through a tube every few rides or so. For that reason biking was no longer a reliable mode of transportation for me. I couldn’t justify trying to squeeze in 15 or 20 miles if I knew I’d have to spend a portion of it on foot, hoofing it to a gas station.

Time

I was trying to average 20-25 miles a day when I was riding during the summer. It wasn’t terribly difficult when I was going to and from work twice a day, but no matter how you slice it that ends up being nearly 90 minutes of riding, which is a time commitment that I’m just not interested in making when reason number one comes into play.

Disinterest

When all the reasons above combine it makes for an experience that’s just not enjoyable anymore. One alternative is to train indoors (I picked up a set of rollers earlier this year), but it is seriously boring, and not something I want to do everyday (if at all).

A Solution

With all this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to start running.

Here’s the funny thing about that. I suck at running… or at least, I did. I couldn’t run a mile to save my life, and if by some miracle I did manage, my lungs would be on the verge of exploding so it may have been a self-defeating act. My very first run (in recent history, at least) consisted of a distance of about 1.5 miles, half of which were walked.

I paid for it dearly. My major mistake was opting to wear the Nike Free’s that I used for Wii Fit. While they were fine for a more aerobic use, they were terribly unsuccessful at dealing with the foot-to-pavement interaction, and my hips were out of whack for two days afterwards.

When I finally did recover (read: when I could walk without being in pain), I decided to give it another go, this time in a pair of borrowed Nike Shox. While I didn’t much care for the feel of them (Shox in general seem relatively heavy) they did a much better job of absorbing the impact and left me feeling much less damaged the second time around.

The fact that I committed to a second run at all is something of a miracle, as I don’t think I’ve ever reached that phase before. Apparently, that’s all it took. I lucked out and found a pair of Nike Zoom Start +, and the deal was sealed.

Nike +

It was no accident that I ended up with a pair of shoes that are Nike + compatible; that was basically one of my only requirements when searching. When it comes to exercise, stats have worked in my favor in the past, so I had no doubt they would work their magic again.

I was right. When base your distance on landmarks instead of hard data, it’s easy convince yourself you’ve gone farther than you actually have, and to feel more entitled to a break. The little voice in my ear told me otherwise, which made the little voice in my brain say “Keep going! You can do it!”

As it turns out, I can do it. In spite of the extremely temperamental weather (which fades to the background once warmed up) and the sporadic pain (which is assuaged by time on the rollers) I’ve found that I actually do love to run. It’s such a simple activity, and that’s why I was always frustrated that it always seemed to escape me before. It carries a lot of the same traits that I enjoy about cycling without the drawbacks. I’ll openly acknowledge that it’s harder on the body, but I’m getting more done in less time (in terms of exercise) and I don’t have to worry about random equipment failures.

And I can listen to music while exercising, which is basically a deathwish on a bike when you’re on public roads.

Tale #1

It was about 9:00 on Friday night when we were sitting in the media room. I was messing around in Little Big Planet while Abe was doing… whatever he does. We heard a noise, but didn’t think much of it, as we live in a house where noises are practically de rigeur. Honestly, I’m not even sure I heard the noise at all. I don’t really pay attention well.

So ten or fifteen minutes later, we go to the basement bedroom to find that the screen in the window has been pushed outward, leaving a much-larger-than-cat-sized opening and reducing the number of active cats in the household by one. From what we can deduce, Marshie (shown in anger mode), saw something (most likely a cat) outside that caused him to lunge at the screen. Imagine the surprise of both parties when the screen gave way and Marshie was suddenly outdoors.

By the time we got out there, he was frantic and desperate to return to the safety of the house, but so confused and upset that he ran past us several times. He finally showed up at the back door, where we were able to let him back in. He was still pretty upset, but a few minutes and some Party Mix brought back the Marshie we know and love.

Tale #2

We were driving and saw a raccoon. That was pretty neat.

Tale #3

So, it’s now 4:00 on Sunday morning. Sleep is happening, because that’s what I like to do at that time of the day, when I awake to banging on the same basement window as before. Inspection reveals two subjects: Subject A is a white cat sitting on the ledge of the window well (at ground level) – it’s the neighbors’ cat, and very likely the one that riled up Marshie the other night. Subject B is a rabbit that the cat has chased into the window well, and is now trying to escape.

This particular window well was added to the house when the previous owner started to finish off the basement. The window is probably 4′ x 3′ or so, and this well is sized to accommodate a human who would be climbing out of that window in the event of an emergency, so it’s of similar dimensions. That would be why the rabbit is having so much trouble. They are pretty impressive jumpers, but aren’t exactly practiced in the vertical leap; he’s manages to get about six inches from the edge, but then falls back down.

Let’s finish this story. I grabbed a towel and a pair of gloves and went outside. I managed not to step on the rabbit when I jumped down into the window well, and that’s pretty good considering I was only half awake. It was when he continued to run in circles that I realized getting the towel on him might be more challenging than I had originally thought, but he finally paused for a second so I went for it. Unlike birds, mammals just freak out more when you cover them with stuff, but fortunately he just kind of bumped into the window and stopped long enough for me to pick him up.

I set him down next to the ledge and uncovered him, and I think he was dazed for a minute because he just stared at me. Then he hissed (I swear!). Then, finally, he ran away, where he was probably eaten by that cat. I went back to bed.

How was your weekend?

I’m pretty much smitten with the LeMond in spite of the combined efforts of the weather and mechanical gremlins trying to make me hate riding. I mentioned after picking it up that my goal was to reach 1100 miles on it this season – equal to the cost of the bike. I figured it was doable, but what I didn’t know was how quickly that milestone would be reached.

Not quite three months later, I had my answer – I reached that goal on June 11th. Then came 1500 miles, and yesterday I hit 2000. I’m finding that 500 miles or more a month is pretty easily attained, especially now that I don’t have constant after-work commitments.

Furthermore, weather this year has been awfully strange; it seriously feels like everything is delayed by 1-2 months. If this trend keeps up, the great biking weather could continue well into November. In the meantime, I’ll ride outside as much as I can until the snow falls, and then I have to figure out what kind of routine I want to use to keep the exercise up – Wii Fit again? Rollers? Some other ridiculous Wii game?

Time will tell. For now, I bike.

Well, the show ran at the end of April/beginning of May and went absolutely great. We got so many compliments, and the Jefferson Street Inn totally delivered as a venue – seriously some of the nicest staff ever (thanks for the cookies). Shortly thereafter… actually, that’s not accurate; while L5Y rehearsals were going on, auditions and rehearsals for Godspell also started. I’m not going to go into details here with regards to the story of the show (uh – the bible, basically), but I will say that there were a couple weeks in April in May where I found myself totally overwhelmed with the prospect of a) working on two shows at once and b) catching up on the second show after the first show wrapped. There were some rough nights as I struggled to pick up choreography that I was absent for, and to experience that bond that actors get after they’ve been seeing eachother on a daily basis for 3 weeks in a row.

As June rolled around I was still stressed but starting to feel better about things. As though I didn’t have enough going on, I also was trying to squeeze in a daily bike ride and manage the graphic design for the show, which required not only materials for Godspell “the show” but also the imaginary band we created – but I digress.

Because both shows are so great, Abe jumped at the opportunity to direct both of them, leaving him in basically the same boat as me. His vision for Godspell (an interesting attribute of this show in particular is that it can really be set where ever you want, as long as it involves people coming together and forming a friendship) was that it would take place after a massive rock show at the Grand Theater. Thus, the setting for the show could remain as it had been during the concert, and the actors are “fans” of the band that have hidden away in the theater and snuck back on stage after the crowd departs.

So if you’re going to have a rock show, and fans, you need a band. Thus, The Almighty was born. And with the Almighty came posters, CD covers, and T-shirts, plus a generic graphic that could be easily applied to other items.

End digression. Anyway, so yeah, as if being stressed about acting weren’t enough, I was also stressed about the identity for this imaginary band. But in the end, everything clicked.

It would not be a lie to say that this is the most amazing show I’ve ever been apart of. I’ve enjoyed pretty much all of my stage experiences, but this one in particular stood out as the perfect storm of really great material, a strong and original vision, and a cast and crew who came together to produce what we’ve been told over and over is one of the best theatrical experiences they’ve had in a very long time. I really want to thank everyone who had a part in it, because everybody gave it their all and it shows.

I think everyone has their own way of deciding whether a particular performance was strong – I definitely reflect on my own contributions and try to determine what needs to be adjusted. But I also really enjoy trying to read the audience. I suspected we had a winner when there was screaming (of joy, obviously) after the first big song. I knew we had a winner when the standing ovations were immediate, every time. If you’ve ever been to a play, you know what I mean. Sometimes the audience won’t stand at all, or will stand reluctantly and gradually because a couple overly enthusiastic people jumped up right away. That was not the case here. As we lined up on stage, before we even got a chance to bow, butts were out of seats.

And now I’m thinking about it and feeling a little sad. I’m so proud of what we were able to put together. I mean, I’m really proud of my work in Last 5 Years, especially the singing that high, that much for 6 shows and not losing my voice part. But like I said, Godspell was a perfect storm. Of awesome.

And that’s why I felt so guilty when I bought my Bianchi in 2007 – a bike I chose to buy over the interweb even though it was available locally. As is often the case, the bike as it was online was still hundreds of dollars less than RMC’s price, even after shipping and tuning. And being as the Bianchi was a niche bike, and one I didn’t particularly need, my reasoning was this: it wasn’t a tossup between buying the bike online and buying it locally; it was between buying it online or not buying it at all.

As a penance I resolved (again) that my next bike would be a local purchase, and assuming I won the lottery, it would say “Specialized” on it – a brand I’ve always liked sold by a shop I’ve always liked.

Well, I lied. All of the joy that accompanies getting a new bike turns to sheepishness when you walk it through the door of the shop you didn’t buy it from. At least with the LeMond it’s an easy excuse: RMC doesn’t sell the brand; RMC doesn’t sell a cross bike with disc brakes at all, much less one that I could afford. They even complimented it (that still makes me smile, even nearly two weeks later)!

I feel singled out in this experience, but it’s unrealistic to assume that the crew there doesn’t deal with this sort of thing on a daily basis. Cyclists are a finicky bunch, and a single shop can’t reasonably hope to be everything to everyone. So instead, Rib Mountain Cycles finds success in being a bike shop that is fun to go to; one where the staff is so nice and helpful that I want to spend my money there. And considering it’s biking that we’re talking about, there’s always an excuse.

But I woke up this morning to a comment on a post I wrote months ago about video games, in which the commentor basically just called me biased and said I was a fanboy. While the bias accusation just leaves me stupefied (in terms of bias, that particular article ranked pretty low – you may be more interested in this one or this one or this one) but as a whole I’m not sure how I’m even supposed to react to a comment like this. I could write a real rebuttal or offer a slightly less mature response (the PS3 sucks and so does your face), but both of those would be based on the assumption the commentor is going to show up again, which seems unlikely – they took their shots, why would they come back?

So the only option left is to ignore it, which just irritates me. I just can’t figure out what compels someone to Google “MS NXE vs PS3 XMB” and leave a half-baked comment on the first site they find about how M$ sucks and Sony r000lz. It’s sad, because I love discussing this sort of thing and would be totally willing to have this conversation with a total stranger regardless of bias, yet these are the sort of people who share this hobby.

Oh look – option four is whine about it. I can do that!

With that said, here are some things about me you may not have known:

1. I like a good conversation, but I have a hard time telling people about myself when they say “tell me about yourself.” And I’m awful at small talk.
2. I prefer multiples of 5. I always have – for some reason, that seemed like the ideal number to me. I’m pretty consistent in my work about following this compulsion, as a number like 625 or 630 just makes more sense to me than a number like 627.
3. I never finished college, even though I was there for four years. It would’ve taken another year or so for me to get a degree, and instead I started a full-time job doing the thing that I was originally getting the degree for. Even so, I remember looking at the calendar occasionally and thinking “If I was still in school, I’d be almost graduated, etc”. That feeling has slowly gone away over the years, because…
4. …I’m not convinced having a BFA would put me any further along in my life than I already am.
5. I own a lot of stuff but I feel guilty about it, especially given the current economic situation.
6. I somehow manage to be both hard-of-hearing when somebody is talking to me, and hypersensitive to ambient noise.
7. I am not totally sure how I should be spelling my middle name. For the longest time I thought there was only one T, but there may be two. I continue to use one.
8. It wasn’t until I got to around fifth or sixth grade that everybody started to call me Andy instead of Andrew.
9. I don’t think I know anybody in my family all that well, and while this makes me kind of sad, I also feel as though it’s too late to change that, partially because…
10. …I don’t think anybody in my family knows me all that well either, and I’m not convinced they are that concerned about it.
11. A project as it ends up on paper very rarely lives up to the standard I’ve set in my head.
12. I’ve had a blog since 2002, more for my own sake than anyone else’s. I’m not deluded into thinking anyone else cares that much about what I have to say.
13. I’ve cut my own hair since I got out of high school.
14. I’ve never broken a bone.
15. I didn’t take any serious art classes until college. My electives in high school were geared toward drafting and engineering. I originally wanted to be an architect – sometimes I still do.
16. I would like to live in a house of my own design someday.
17. I feel that there is no such thing as “too much” garage space.
18. I worked at a library in high school – it was my first job. As such, it only supported what was already a pretty voracious appetite for books. However, when I left that job, there was a sort of stigma placed on libraries in general and I while I would happily still read a ton of books, I don’t go to the library to get them and so I end up not reading very much at all.
19. I generally prefer remakes of movies to the originals (sorry). On that subject, I have not seen very many of the movies that people consider to be “the classics.”
20. I rarely prefer movies that were based on stage productions – for all the added budget they seem to lose an awful lot of personality and creativity.
21. I like seeing myself in the mirror but I rarely like photos or videos of me – what I look like in my head is nearly always different than what I actually look like.
22. I am trying to be less of an asshole this year.
23. My favorite musical instrument is the piano. I think it’s one that can contribute something of value to any type of music, and the acoustics of a grand or baby grand are just amazing to me. Close runner up is drums, because I like rhythm. I wouldn’t mind a piano + drums band.
24. I go through spurts of really needing to hang out with people, and then some of wanting to just spend some time alone. It’s not your fault.
25. I have a million grey shirts, I prefer my electronics in black, and I want a white car.

Then Urinetown came along and the perfect storm of factors (awesome show + familiar setting + “the itch”) led me to a few solos and some actual lines.

I was hooked.

Connections from that show led me to Wausau Community Theatre, where I eagerly anticipate my eighth new role in the last two years. Again, it’s a show that I’m incredibly fond of, and again it pushes me into a new and strange environment. This is the first time I’ll be working with Abe as a director, and the first time that I make up exactly 50% of the cast.

The Last 5 Years is a story about a man (Jamie) and a woman (Cathy) and their relationship as it develops and ends over five years. The twist, if you want to call it that, is that Jamie tells his side of the story from the beginning to the end, while Cathy starts at the end and rewinds to the beginning. It’s quite interesting, because you’ll hear songs where Jamie is excited and enthusiastic about his life with Cathy, while she is frustrated and unhappy, and vice versa. If it sounds kind of convoluted, that’s because it is; but when you hear the music, it all clicks together and works really well.

Auditions for the show were quite early because of another WCT show happening first, and so rehearsal for this hasn’t kicked in yet and probably won’t for another month or so. Still, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this is the most excited and nervous I’ve ever been for a show: excited because it’s a role I’ve often admired, and nervous because I pray that I’m able to pull it off.

If I had to guess I’d say that boredom, stress, and stale/gross air are all factors. Every so often, the perfect storm of these elements comes together my eyes start to hurt. Then the nausea sets in, I plod through the rest of the workday and head to bed when I get home, hoping to wake up headache-free the next morning.

I was resigned to this routine for years. None of the pain relievers I tried made much of a difference, to the point where I no longer even bothered with them.

But I haven’t had a debilitating migraine since September, and I blame it on exercise. Maybe that’s not entirely the case; after all, it was also around that time that I started using Target’s version of Excedrin. Taking one pill any time a headache seemed imminent has actually been effective, but I’m not willing to give medicine all the credit.

For me, headaches have always been caused as much by mental factors as physical. As soon as I feel a headache I begin to obsess about it, which only makes it worse because it’s all I can focus on. Even when taking some kind of relief, I’m more than halfway convinced it won’t do any good – and I am often proven right.

But factor exercise into the equation and that’s where the magic happens. Take today for example – I was feeling the beginnings of a pretty wicked headache by the time I got home from work. I popped a couple of Fakecedrin and ran for half an hour, and just like that, it was gone. Yes, I’m sure the pills did their job, but they were enabled by my complete preoccupation with something else (which is why sleeping it off usually worked).

It’s because of this that exercise for me has now become something even more than just fitness – it’s pain relief. People have asked me if I feel different after losing weight; the answer is yes and no. I don’t feel particularly light on my feet or anything like that, but it’s little things like this that have made life so much easier.

BMI: 22.18 / Weight 167.3 for a total loss of 6.51 BMI percentage points and 48.7 lbs.

Not bad, but it’s slight increase from my all-time low of 21.83 / 164.7 lbs. And the numbers aren’t nearly as impressive as they had been the previous three months. But that’s because I stopped worrying about it.

Two weeks ago, something in me snapped. I had reached the point where I was sitting just around BMI 22, and not losing any more weight. By anyone’s standard, this is a healthy number, but I had become addicted to the process, to the thrill of seeing those numbers drop.

I realized it was keeping me from enjoying food, making me skip the occasional breakfast, pushing me to work 20 more minutes on top of what I was already doing. I decided it was time to let it go, and just enjoy eating again. So I did. I kept working out, but I stopped measuring for a week. And I ate horribly and indiscriminately: Pizza Hut, pasta, cookies (I missed them so), muffins – you name it.

When the next week rolled around, I stepped on the proverbial scale again, dreading the inevitable increase. I figured it was going to be big, regardless of how much exercise I had been doing in the meantime.

I was very wrong. It was two pounds. Two. It was then I realized that I don’t need to worry about this anymore. I’m going to enjoy eating again, and I will keep working out. But to lose nearly fifty pounds (with a video game!) during the middle of winter is a pretty fantastic victory for me.

So with that, consider this my wrap-up review of Wii Fit. It works.

Achievements & Landmarks

What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Lost weight on purpose. Went into debt for a car that I fell in love with.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I guess so, and probably not. They were always a half-hearted promise to eat better and take better care of myself. Also I’m pretty sure I was resolving about a Mac Pro heavily at this time last year.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Uh, our neighbors? Or did you mean emotionally close? Then no.

Did anyone close to you die?

Sort of close. It would be wrong to say we weren’t close at some point.

What countries did you visit?

This one.

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Patience.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I don’t think there’s one big thing that stands out, but I’m really proud of the work I did on Over the River and Through the Woods and Sweeney Todd. And losing weight counts as a major thing for me.

What was your biggest failure?

I let things fall by the wayside that shouldn’t have, and got angry way more than I should have.

What was the best thing you bought?

The Mac was the most practical best thing, and the Miata was the least practical best thing.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

What? Not mine, that’s for sure.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

People I thought I could trust. Myself included.

Where did most of your money go?

Toys. Lots of toys.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Grand Theft Auto IV. Driving stick. Singing in public.

What song will always remind you of 2008?

Monsters, by Matchbook Romance. Lame, I know, but it got me stoked for rides at Nine Mile.

Compared to this time last year, are you:

Happier or sadder?

Sadder, but I shouldn’t be.

Thinner or fatter?

Way, way thinner.

Richer or poorer?

Richer.

Miscellany

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Enjoying myself. Letting things go.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worrying. Spending money.

How did you be spend Christmas?

With people whose company I enjoy.

Did you fall in love in 2008?

Only on stage.

How many one-night stands?

None.

What was your favorite TV program?

I enjoyed SNL, as usual. Surprise second goes to Prison Break for no reason whatsoever.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Yeah.

What was the best book you read?

I don’t know – something that was on the bookshelf.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Stephen Sondheim. The man is a genius.

What did you want and get?

Dollars, which enabled me to get many other things that I wanted.

What did you want and not get?

Resolution. Recognition.

What were your favorite films of this year?

Iron Man, easily. Dark Knight was also enjoyable.

What did you do on your birthday?

Complain. It was a tough day for me this year. That’s what I get for being born on Christmas Eve.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

“Hey, this fits me now!”

What kept you sane?

The internerd. Driving. Acting.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Obama would be a logical answer.

What political issue stirred you the most?

Obvious also starts with an “O”.

Who did you miss?

People I could only talk to online.

Who was the best new person you met?

Somebody who helps keep me sane.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

Let. It. Go.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I don’t think I can. That’s pretty lame, even for this.

I find the concept fascinating, and it hits close to home for me. When I reached a point where I became self-sustaining, I started to adopt the philosophy that if I’m going to buy something, I might as well do it right the first time. Otherwise I know that I’ll just regret it down the line, and eventually buy it again. Since then I’ve still found myself burnt on occasion, but that’s not what this post is about. Nope – I think it’s time for a good old-fashioned meme:

• I love my iPhone. I am convinced it is the best phone in existence for me. I realize this is not the case for everyone, but regardless, something you use every day should be something that works with you, not against.
• Intel Macs are phenomenal. I can’t see a reason to go with any other brand for day-to-day computing.
• Get the biggest, nicest, highest-resolution LCD you can afford. There’s no such thing as too much screen.
• High-speed internet should be obvious.
• One year I spent my tax return on a really nice office chair. It’s a Herman Miller Mirra, and it’s awesome. I can’t say that it’s the chair for everybody, but everybody should have a chair that is equally awesome for them.
• Dyson vacuums suck so hard. In a good way, though. Especially the ones with The Ball™.
• The filtered water from our GE Profile refrigerator is the best water I have ever tasted.
• If you’re into TV, then you should have some sort of DVR. We went with TiVo, and will probably be shopping for a TiVo HD shortly. But it’s so nice not to be chained to your TV (or worse, a VCR).
• On that note, Hulu and friends are awesome, but they’re even better when you can watch them on your TV. There are a ton of approaches to this, so whatever works for you. But the ability to lay on the couch and watch the internet go by is key.
• Finally, one of the best things about no longer living in an apartment is a garage. Especially in snow country – I think I cleaned my car off a total of 5 times last season, and I can live with that.

Those are a few that came to mind as I was vacuuming this evening (ha!). What do all y’all think?

You may be surprised to learn that I was not among the desperate (this time). My 2 years is up come December, and I didn’t feel like arguing this with a Sprint rep, something I’ve tried before to no avail. But the article did pique my curiosity – when would my contract lapse, exactly?

So I logged on to Sprint’s customer service chat to find out:

Andy: I need to know when my contract expires.
[Rep]: I am showing your contract will expire on 12/17/08.
Andy: Okay – so is 12/17 the earliest I can close my account (I am planning on moving to a different carrier)
Andy: (without an ETF, I mean)
[Rep]:I am showing you will not have an ETF from this day forward.

Wait, what?

Andy: From 12/17?
Andy: Or from today?
[Rep]: From today on, you will not have an early termination fee.

So for whatever reason, my contract expired a month early. Which is why, since last Monday, I’ve been glued to my new iPhone 3G.

My final Sprint bill was for $4.04.

I’ve tried my share of remedies – eating a little less, biking a lot more, situps here, pushups there… heck, I was even going to the gym for awhile. But there was no discernible difference, no matter what I did.

So I’ve approached Nintendo’s Wii Fit with cautious optimism. I’d seen lackluster reviews from some of the gaming sites but also some positive real life experiences. I figured I’d keep an eye out for it and maybe pick it up if I got the chance, but I didn’t approach it with the same tenacity that I did when looking for the Wii or other hard-to-find items.

But the time finally came at Best Buy last month, and as I walked out with Wii Fit in hand, trying not to let too many people see it, I found myself wondering if this was really a good idea.

If I could call myself back then, the answer would be a resounding yes.

Day 1

Setup is relatively straightforward, as expected. You register one of your Miis to your account, put in your height, and when it weighs you it scales your poor avatar accordingly. I prepared for the worst, stepped on, and…

BMI: 28.69 / Weight: 216.5 lbs

Well, that’s kind of depressing, but not as bad as I had worried. You see, I have actively avoided weighing myself for the better part of five years. Maybe that had something to do with the motivation.

At the same time, the BMI (Body Mass Index) numbers provided by Wii Fit have been the cause for some contention throughout the internets, and the reason for this lies entirely in the hardware: the balance board is just a scale with some extra sensors. All it can do is measure your weight and determine what quadrants your weight is being placed on. It does not have the body composition sensors that some of the nicer body monitoring scales have, which means that it has to use a fixed table (similar to this one) by cross referencing your weight with your height. The problem here is that people with greater than average muscle mass may still be labeled as “overweight”, when they are in fact quite healthy.

But I digress. Wii Fit has four different types of activities: yoga, strength, aerobic, and balance. Yoga is pretty self-explanatory, strength consists of exercises like pushups or jackknifes, aerobics included running and boxing, and the balance category is home to some games that get old fast.

My major problem with the game (if you want to call it that) was that they really don’t tell you what to do. It’s helpful in that it will tell you what the results of each activity will be, but there isn’t any kind of recommended regimen for weight loss, or for strength training. Quite honestly that’s the one feature I feel they really omitted.

Routine

Over the next week or so I gradually unlocked all of the activities and started to establish a routine that I felt was working. In the last 31 days I’ve spent just over 27 hours on the various activities, which averages out to about 54 minutes per day (I missed a day when I was out of town). That 54 minutes generally consisted of:

• Free Run – 10 minutes
  Run in place for a set number of minutes. I can do a little over 2 miles (according to the game, so take that with a grain of salt) in that time, which should give an idea of my pace.
• Advanced Step
  Some step aerobics. A nice cooldown after the run.
• Super Hula Hoop – 6 minutes
  Easily my least favorite activity. Swing your hips around until you die!
• Pushup / Side Plank – 10 reps OR Arm & Leg Lift – 20 reps
  Just some generic arm/core exercises.
• Jackknifes – 30 reps
  Abs. Actually I find this really relaxing.
• Tricep Extension – 20 reps
  Lift a thing up and down, up and down.
• Basic Run – Long
  Instead of being timed, this has you run for a set distance. “Long” is actually quite short – about 4 minutes.
• Rhythm Boxing – 10 minutes
  I was really bored by this one, actually. I wanted to like it but it’s so slow and feels like I’m not accomplishing anything so I started doing more step aerobics instead. However, it seemed to be getting results so I’ll probably start doing it again.
• Free Step – 10 minutes
  Like Free Run, it’s timed and you step on and off the balance board for that amount of time. I do about 1300 steps in that time.

Overall though, it seems to be going pretty well. I’ve felt better about myself even if I don’t find the results particularly noticeable. Speaking of which…

Day 31

When I weighed in today it made me wish I hadn’t eaten the fried chicken from Texas Roadhouse but WOW it was so good this time. That reminds me of another point – weighing every day has a way of making you much more aware of what you’re eating. I still eat mostly the same stuff, but I’ve been trying very hard to eat less of it. I’ve also cut out some of the unnecessary trimmings (mayo, syrup, etc) and I don’t really miss them. Also no more full packages of cookies (this makes me saddest of all).

But it has its benefits, as my final numbers after a month were…

BMI 26.27 / Weight 198.2 lbs

That adds up to 18.3 pounds and 2.42 BMI lost! I am pretty proud of that – it’s been a long time since my weight started with a one, and I intend to keep it that way. I’m still not at ideal BMI (that would be sub-25) but I am well on my way and it’s suddenly become a very achievable goal.

• A road bike
• A PS3
• A motorcycle
• A convertible
• A digital SLR
• A piano or keyboard
• Acoustic drums
• An iPhone
• A television
• Peace & quiet

That is all.

So I toughed it out, and I’ve been riding to work. Forty degrees is not as bad as you think. Fifty is gorgeous. It’s supposed to be 55 today and that makes me happy. Spring makes me happy. It apparently also makes me write in sentence fragments.

But what I’m trying to say is: biking is awesome and I love it. Spring is awesome, and I love that too. I saw a robin this morning, and that was a sign that today is a good day.

My most recent one: with the advent of the Mac Pro, I’ve been spending a fair amount of time in XP playing The Sims 2. I admit, I like to build houses. But a transcendental moment of nerdery was reached when I started scouring back issues of Met Home for inspiration.

It may have also been when I thought that this would be an ideal tool for mocking up a house before taking it to an architect.

But when I sit down and start to write a post here, I just don’t feel like being serious anymore. I tried. For a long time. And that worries me, because this blog reflects who I am as a person, and somebody wondering if I’m “hire-able” is likely to be turned off by ridiculous content. Or will they? Honestly, blogs websites that take themselves to seriously are generally boring. That’s fine if you’re a bank or the gooberment but not if you want your site to be enjoyable.

I don’t really know or remember where this was meant to go. I saved a line as a draft yesterday as a reminder, but apparently that was not enough to inspire anything vaguely coherent.

I’m part of a podcast now, The Insophisticate. It’s about technology, but really it’s just my friend Dino and me talking for a random amount of time about the stuff we’d talk about anyway. You might find it interesting if you dig that sort of thing.

Wausau Community Theatre is presenting Gypsy at the end of February. I’m fortunate enough to be a member of the cast, which means I get to hone my acting skills and be with people whose company I enjoy. There’s no dancing or singing for me in this one, which I was kind of bummed about at first but has actually been a blessing in disguise since it leaves me with more open evenings.

Mass Effect was pretty darn good once I figured out how to play it; Orange Box is a game no 360/PS3/PC owner should be without. I’m probably 5% into Mario Galaxy but I haven’t picked it up since last month.

But seriously. Good things are coming (I think). There’s not one big thing that I’m looking forward to, but rather a bunch of small things that, when combined, make me happy.

But not for me.

My big hangup was that I already have a not insignificant sum invested in my current display. I like my display, and so the iMac would have to function as an addition and not as a replacement. While it’s more than feasible technically, it leaves many things to be desired aesthetically. And the more I thought about it, I started to long for more RAM slots, room for more hard drives, and a design that I fell in love with the day it was introduced in 2003.

I will own a Mac Pro.

When I started doing design work, I was very much about the opportunity to start fresh and create something from nothing. I still enjoy that occasionally, but I’ve really come to relish the chances I get to take an existing design and freshen it and push it to become better than it was.

A great example is a site we at D2 just relaunched for WXPR. It’s not particularly flashy, but the consensus is that it’s a huge improvement over the old site. The key here is that while the graphics received a substantial update, the general layout of the site was strong, and so we could focus on only improving what needed it.

Of course, some sites need more love than others, but my favorite projects are the ones where we have a solid base to work from. For me, having that one constant helps in grounding the rest of the design, which makes for a smoother process with less second-guessing.

This approach finds its way into from-scratch projects as well; Citizen Wausau’s design was the result of a wireframe that was sketched out and approved before anything moved further along. There were a number of failed attempts to capture the desired “feel”, to the point where I was tempted to throw the wireframe out and start over again. I’m glad I didn’t, because the result of all this work is – you guessed it – a solid base from which the next iteration of Citizen Wausau (still in my head at this point) will be born.

This same philosophy applies to writing. I enjoy writing the occasional post when inspired, but I appreciate that CW has Dino willing to contribute his writing talent so I can sit back and move things around after he’s done.

The thing here is, as soon as I start to break out of my average posting time (say, every three days), the harder it is to come back. And when I do come back, the tendency is to start out with a “boy, it’s been awhile” sort of post instead of diving into real content, assuming there was any in the first place.

My problem lately is that my creative “pie chart” is currently overtaken by three things:

1. Design
2. Coding
3. Acting

The first two are pretty standard considering the recent freelance decision, but the third is unexpected. As much as I enjoyed West Side Story, it took a lot out of me and with freelance calling my name, I was looking forward to a lack of rehearsals. Suffice it to say, the lull didn’t last as long as I would’ve liked.

Obviously, both writing and photography are excluded from the list, which means this blog suffers. But here’s me, blogging more.

Right now Facebook doesn’t seem to be quite as widespread within the general populace as Myspace, or at least their circles don’t overlap completely. That said, Facebook wins out for me for a few reasons:

• Most people use real names, and real photos
• Widget-oriented customization means you can have all sorts of junk on your page but it still doesn’t end up being completely ugly
• A lot of functions are handled with AJAX, so like Flickr, you’re jumping around a lot less, which in turn feels faster.
• Seriously, not ugly.
• I have yet to see spam.

On a related note, those in the Wausau area may have noticed the recent shuttering of WausauBlog, something that struck me as rather depressing. It’s fortunate then, that I’ve gotten together with somebody interested in “continuing the legacy” and so we’ve started to work on a spiritual successor to WausauBlog. We’re calling it Citizen Wausau, and while there will be similar content (it will have some of the same contributors), we’re hoping to work in some new features as well.

I think something snapped in me when I started to collaborate on Citizen Wausau. Part of it was a desire to collaborate on more projects with more people, and part of it was being able to work on a project that I was excited about. With that said, I am now officially for hire. Please keep me in mind of you know of anyone who needs a website, or if you want to work together. For now I’m still working at Digital Dialogue, and I’m sure I’ll continue to work with them, just not necessarily for them.

But then I was bitten by the single speed bug. Hard. So I bought one. And except for 2 outings at the local singletrack, It’s all I’ve been riding. I estimate that I’ve put about 250 miles on it in the past two months, and while it hasn’t all been fun and games (like the times I smacked my knees against the top tube or last Friday when my crankarm fell off), I love it.

It started off being a bit painful, considering my normal riding style. I’m used to riding in the largest chainring and one of the smaller cogs and only downshifting when I need to. This is fantastic for my efficiency and I can haul ass relatively easily, but it’s not getting me any exercise, and my bike’s drivetrain made all kinds of noise. So trading efficiency for simplicity has been a win-win in my opinion. I’m able to maintain a higher cadence than I would’ve on my other bike, because I’m spinning a lot more to go the same speed and I’m getting used to it.

Yesterday was a prime example of the type of ride I love; a nice ride around town, punctuated by some moderately technical off-road tomfoolery. My other bike sits neglected and I’m not getting the technical workout that I would at a place like 9 Mile, but I’m having fun and that’s the important thing.

First of all, my Xbox: still dead. Well, maybe not. It’s somewhere in Louisville, Kentucky according to UPS, but get this: it’s on the return trip. I sent it to them last Friday, they got it Wednesday and it was reshipped on Thursday. So I should be seeing it Tuesday and we’ll find out if it’s really fixed.

In the meantime, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (not the new one) continues to entertain. In fact, you’re lucky I’m here writing this at all, since I’d much rather be playing that.

We are all moved in, pretty much, mostly. There are some still-packed boxes, but who cares? The garage is clean.

Last year I mentioned a niggling desire to own a single speed bike, and so instead of spending billions of money to buy some kind of deathtrap car or motorcycle, I decided instead to make good on that. Oddly enough, the bike I chose is the one mentioned in that post: a 2006 Bianchi M.U.S.S. that was stupid cheap. It too is going to be here soon, as I ordered it online instead of going through the local shop, a decision I’ll elaborate on later.

Speaking of biking, the ride to work is obviously farther than it used to be, but I can still make it in about 10 minutes. So suck it, Grand Ave.

Finally, this site looks like crap, I know. I’m working on a new one, which may be what you’re seeing right now or it may not. It looks bad regardless because one site is decaying and the other isn’t done.

At the top of the list is a Honda Civic Del Sol. I have loved this car ever since its debut when I was still in middle school. I really like Honda’s practical approach to open motoring; rather than offer a traditional ragtop, they use a panel that unlatches and stores in the trunk. Combine this with the Honda drivability that I love so much, and it’s a definite winner. Why don’t I have one? Because a) there’s still nowhere to store it and b) I can’t freaking find one.

Both of those problems are solved with option #2: a motorcycle. I really, really like the Suzuki SV650. It’s got the looks, the powerplant (not too crazy) and most importantly, it’s almost ridiculously easy to find a great deal on a lightly used one from a dealer. I’ve seen last year’s models going for under $5K which is a steal for a basically new bike. Why don’t I have one? Because I still can’t convince myself that a motorcycle is a good idea. I had one (non-serious) mishap on the scooter when I owned it that kind of turned me off of the whole 2-wheels thing. I was into it last year when I got my motorcycle license, but the interest and novelty faded and left me glad that I didn’t buy anything.

I might be swayed if I found an old Honda Nighthawk or similar bike for cheap in the area, but I don’t see myself going any other route. I really do enjoy cars more than bikes, but it’s just so impractical to have more than one and I can’t justify ditching my car for something less practical either. For now I’ll just have to settle for windows down, sunroof-open, shift-free cruising.

Except for moving… I guess we should finish doing that.

1. Take a number
2. Fill out a form
3. Wait for your number to be called

I always liked #2 the best, as though as long as you were filling out some sort of form, you were fine. But my problem is that I’m completely helpless in situations like this, and so I wasn’t sure what form to fill out to change my address (answer: new license application).

But I think much of the stigma comes from the gruff-ish attitude of the staff there, as though they don’t need your business. Truth is, they’re just trying to get stuff done, same as everybody. They want to continue to proceed in an orderly fashion, so if that means you have to leave the window to fill out another form, deal with it.

Fortunately, I made sure to fill out the forms I thought I might need just in case, which put me on the fast track to new license-ism. Hotness.

The most important thing to remember when visiting the DMV is the thing that causes most people to stress out: don’t be in a hurry. The nicer you are, the nicer everybody else is. I had to laugh (internally) at the huffy girl after me in the line to get a new license, acting as though having to wait in line or write things was super-hard.

But it’s not just any musical, oh no. This is Urinetown (The Musical). It’s a story about love, corruption, rebellion, and so much more. Also it’s funny. And the music is the best. The basic idea is that water has become extremely sparse, to the point where one huge company oversees public restrooms (the only kind available anymore) that people must pay to use. Those who refuse to pay are carted off to the mythical Urinetown (the place). So naturally, this… arrangement… doesn’t last more than a couple scenes, as the young hero finds himself leading a rebellion against bathrooms that you have to pay for.

Normally, I’d guess there’d be only a moderate amount of interest in the show before it opened and people actually saw it. But not this time. As this production was already in its planning stages, Stevens Point Area High School (SPASH) kicked around the idea of doing it but it got canned by the higher-ups. Thankfully, media, being what it is, smelled some sort of story, and so now we’re doing “The show banned in Stevens Point!” Hot damn.

Obviously, it’s still too early for reviews, but we did get a preview in the City Pages yesterday. While I admit I read them sparingly, there was one bit that was just too good:

Originally scheduled to be performed in Stevens Point Area High School in November of 2006, the SPASH superintendent and high school’s principal canceled it for what they deemed “inappropriate content” — specifically irony, a concept not dealt with in the school’s curriculum until 12th grade apparently.

Burn!

So anyway, if you’re in the area, come see it, because it’s awesome.

Urinetown (The Musical)
UWMC Theater

• March 9, 10 at 7:30
• March 11 at 2:30 2:00
• March 14, 15, 16 at 7:30

Reserved seating; for tickets call 715.261.6230

• $12 Adults
• $10 Seniors & non-UWMC Students

Saturday was a whopper, requiring the transportation of two desks, two beds, an enormous bed frame, a heavy but delicate (horrible combination) mirror, and other things that I’d rather not lift again for another 5 to 10 years.

Additionally, the first floor is pretty much arranged save for some random boxes and as-yet-unpurchased furniture, while the basement is on hold until the carpet is installed, so no Xbox 360 for me for a couple of weeks.

On the plus side, ethernet connections mean no more dropped wireless on my laptop, and we can use USB for the printers so the Airport Express becomes available for music streaming duties in the living room.

Also, we have a garage (yay) and a driveway (yay) and it has snowed every day since Saturday (boo). At this part I would say look for photos soon, but seriously, don’t. I’ll get to them when I get to them.

My eye doctor called for a yearly checkup and I figured it was time to resolve this. The prescription has been updated and I’m trying out the (beware: creative spelling ahead) Acuvue Oasys, aka the Acuvue 4. But I guess they felt Oasys was more awe-inspiring, apparently because compared to my old contacts’ breathability rating of 16, these are in the 100′s. Also you can sleep in them, which is… great.

So I’ve got these wicked new contacts that give me night vision and also laser eyes, but I was still a little let down. They fit better, as the diameter is smaller, but they don’t feel revolutionary, and with a name like Oasys that’s kind of too bad.

I’m still deciding whether to spend the extra $10 a box on these or not. I could also just go with the smaller diameter of my old contacts, but then I’d be giving up the laser eyes, which I’ve really grown attached to.

• Offer made? Check.
• Offer accepted? Check.
• Inspection passed? Check.
• Appraisal done? Check.
• Financing approved? Check.

Yeah! Time to own a house!

1. Anyone who’s looking can find me
2. It’s another way to get people here

Once they’re here, great. They can do whatever; read posts, go to Flickr, etc. But I don’t link back to Myspace; to me it’s just a means to an end.

Which is why, on the rare occasions I go on there to check messages, I find myself tempted to push the “delete” button and just kill it. I strongly dislike Myspace. The problem is, I like the people that I know there, and for some of them I think sites like that are their only social link to the internerd.

And so then I end up doing nothing, and I forget about it until the next time I log into Myspace.

I’d also like to play Gears of War. Shouldn’t be a problem; I own the game. But I can’t.

I’m still playing Call of Duty 3, a game I bought in November and didn’t start playing a couple weeks ago. I’m probably halfway through it. I’d like to finish it so I can move on to other games. But I can’t.

Because I took the COD disc out and have been slacking around in Project Gotham Racing instead. Mmmm, cars. Nazis can wait.

Even worse, tonight I seriously considered popping in Saints Row. That would be a mistake. I really should finish – or at least play – these other games.

It’s a nice problem to have, I guess.

There was an issue with the archive page; turns out that the way I had written it told it to display monthly archives differently depending on whether a real post or a mini-post was last posted in that month. So I fixed it.

Not really an exciting story, I’m afraid, but still, the motivation just wasn’t there until I woke up at 7:30 this morning. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that it’s probably because I know that if I start a project on Saturday morning, especially if it’s before everybody is awake or active, then I know I’ll be able to finish it.

This is going to be my mantra for the new year. It doesn’t make much sense out of context, so here goes:

My last two real posts have dealt with my trials and tribulations of finding and choosing a new phone to go with my two-year contract renewal with Sprint. At the outset, this really shouldn’t be that big of a deal. It’s only a phone.

And yet, I’ve written no less than six times about it over the past year. This event has achieved monumental status, my excitement and anxiety growing as The Day drew ever closer.

I’ve had battles of historic proportions raging in my head between the Samsung A900/M and potential contenders, and each time the Samsung had managed to overtake its opponents. Then Motorola had to step into the ring and open my eyes to the magic of media card slots. Well gosh… maybe 50 megs of storage isn’t enough? Was the RAZR a better candidate?

Then I was wooed by the Samsung M610, promising to be all sleek and cool. And expensive; let’s not forget expensive. But it just *had* to be unattainable.

Salvation came, or so I thought, in the form of the Sunday Best Buy flyer. $79.99 KRZR’s for everybody! Get ‘em while they’re hot. Temptation took its hold, and I caved. I became… a Motorola owner. It’s not such a bad deal. Choosing the KRZR (terrible name; I prefer K1m) over the M610 saved me $100 (at least). And now I have a phone that I can actually sync contacts and calendar entries to without having to call in some sort of voodoo, uh, person.

I thought I was done, and then the phone started to irk me. Was it too heavy? Were the side buttons too hard to press? Would it damage too easily? Was I happy?

Hi, my name is Andy, and I have gadget-induced neurosis.

I ended up at Best Buy again tonight, seriously considering trading the KRZR in for a SLVR (similarly equipped but in the candy bar form factor). But I resisted. I went out there to look, and that’s all I did. I left with my phone still in hand, feeling a little better. Either phone is a winner, but there is nothing wrong with the one I already bought. It’s only a phone.

My previous logo was a result of about five minutes of Illustrator work slapped inside of a box back in summer of 2004. In spite of this, it worked surprisingly well. Still, it suffered from a couple issues. Most importantly the A could get mistaken for an F, leading one to wonder why there was an icon for Florida. But the trait that bothered me the most was the utter lack of artistic quality. With that, I set out to fix that:

These marked an acceptable start, but didn’t quite get where I wanted to go. I still like the slab serif one, but it still struck me as too straight-edged. The one the right reminds me of RocaWear. I knew that I wanted the A and L to be paired up again, so I continued:

A little closer. The far left doesn’t convey AL so much as AI, but at the end of the row you can see it starting to look familiar. Onward:

I was happy enough with the first one that I started working it out in Illustrator, but as I finished I realized it just wasn’t there. Furthermore, it just didn’t seem quite tight enough, and I can’t believe I liked it that much now that I look at it again. The next two show definite progress toward the final, with a return to the more italicized serifs of the previous row without feeling like a Jon Hicks ripoff.

With that settled, the logo was redone in Illustrator, and finally stylized for icon applications. The one with the stars is used for Flickr, Technorati, iStockPhoto, etc, and the other two find themselves in use on Yahoo! and AOL messengers.

I really like what this new logo has evolved into. It retains the good qualities of the old logo – clean lines and a nearly square proportion – while adding that dash of extra interest that I was looking for.

• Saab 9-3 5-door
• Ford Focus sedan
• Mazda 626 coupe

Using that as an example (because that’s exactly what I happened to be focused on today as I was leaving work), I can say that the Saab and the Ford both have 4 passenger doors; the Saab and the Mazda both have tail lights that extend onto the trunk/hatch, and the Mazda and Ford both have separate trunks. Basic? Of course, but it’s fun and simple, and expandable to as many items as you can focus on.

Noone said we were going to her party.

Obviously there’s not much wrong with that sentence; picture one with more errors. However, I just went ahead and glossed over the word “Noone” because I thought it was a girl’s name. To me she sounded kind of pushy and not like someone I’d want to be friends with, but whatevs. I had a whole back story in my head for her, how her parents were both hippies who choose the name Noone because that’s what time it was when they met while naked at Woodstock (the original Woodstock). To each his (or her) own.

Turns out it was no one. Yeah.

Anyway, wizard on a bike:

Enjoy.

• I’ll hopefully see my car again.
• I should have the new stuff for my bike.
• Abe will get his new toy registered.
• I maybe get to drive Abe’s new toy some more (hee!).

Good stuff, and it’s all vehicle-related (my favorite kind of stuff!).