Post Holiday Brain Dump

Time to brain dump a number of my thoughts and experiences from the past few days.

Well, the big news is that I got engaged. I proposed to my girlfriend of almost three years at Frankenmuth, Michigan. We told our families on Christmas. Everyone seemed surprised but happy. Not sure when the wedding is going to be yet but it is going to be ahellofalotta work. Any honeymoon suggestions?

I think we played Rock Band 2 almost every day over break. I recommend downloading the free track “Dreaming of Love” by Lights Resolve. I think more bands should promote themselves by giving away free tracks on video games.

I screened Avatar for my cousin’s birthday in 2D. It sucked. Story was totally unoriginal. I think the Hangover and Zombieland were the best movies I saw this past year, but I still need to rent a few that I missed to be sure.

We went to the Columbus Zoo for Wild Lights. I’ll have a complete review along with pictures and videos over on my Zoo Tails blog.

I got two new books for Christmas. I haven’t done a whole lot of book reading lately, I mostly just consume random stuff on the internets. The last book I read, The Berlin Warning by Nicholas Guild, took me almost three months to read, I guess due to lack of interest and commitment. I got Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton, a three-hundred page novel about a daring raid on a fortress to seize a Spanish treasure. I finished the book in less than a week. Not only was it extremely easy to read but it was also very interesting and thoroughly engaging. I highly recommend it (or you could wait for the movie). Last night I started The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley. The book itself doesn’t sound that interesting but Bradley’s other novels were very good so I asked for this one based on the strength of the other two. After that I want to read Super Freakonomics.

Ohio State finally won a big game, and what a game it was. My dad is an usher at all the OSU home games so he put on all of his apparel and came into the living room where my family and friends were gathered around the TV and started doing his usher gig, asking to see our “tickets,” directing O-H-I-O cheers and leading the marching band around the room to the music for script Ohio. Good times!

My goal for the new year is to try and make some money off of the internet, which right now would either be from winning a contest, rewards from MyView surveys, or from all of my blogs.

One of my co-workers passed away over break. He was the closest in age to me at the office at 26. Such a shocking surprise and a real shame. I shared an apartment with him for eight while training in Ohio. For those eight weeks that was the best food I have ate consistently since I think I went to college. It’s just a sad reminder that life is precious and can be taken away, unexpectedly, at any moment.

The Holiday High is awesome but the hangover and crash afterwards is hard and horrible. It really sucks going from a sleeping in a house with ten people to an empty apartment all by yourself. That’s the worst part about the holidays, when they end and you have to return to reality and go back to work, pay bills, clean up, put Christmas decorations away, etc. I hate that whole process. For over a week I was surrounded by friends and family having a great time and then suddenly it’s all over. Everyone feels so far away. I think Jesus needs a sibling ( a couple thousand years younger sibling) so we can have more than one Christmas celebration a year.