After a Year of College

College life, when pushing forty, is something quite amazing.  Especially going into it married while taking all your classes with your spouse.  I have to admit, my situation is quite a bit more unique than I had planned for.  There are obvious upsides, always having a study partner, getting to spend time with my wife, knowing all the same people….  But the other things, are quite amazing.

First off, my wife and I almost have a cult following at school.  From out councilor holding our relationship as a model for what she wants her future to be, to those that just think we are entirely too cute to being doing it all together.  I mean, sure, it’s one thing to be a cute couple, but we’ve even joke about starting up a Facebook page for those who are fans….  After our first year, we get noticed all over campus, and even off campus.  When we went to the Muskogee Ren Faire, we got noticed more than once out in public.  It was a bit crazy.

How Reading and Writing Showed Me How to Live

As part of my time in college, I took English Composition I and had to write a few essays.  Three of them were a major part of my grade.  The first essay was the Personal Narrative Essay which was turned in on Sept. 10th. 2014.

I ended up getting a 98 out of 100 on it.  The final comment said, "Your essay provides ample everyday imagery and detail to fully address the prompt.  Your ideas are complete and engaging.  Watch out for sentence fragments and grammar."

Anyways, many people wanted to read it for themselves, so here it is, I hope you enjoy it!

The end of 2014, and the beginning of 2015

Another year, come and gone.  Doesn’t seem like its been so many, but I’ve almost witness forty of them.  So many ups and downs; rights, lefts, and wrongs; and everything in between.  The year of 2014 is hard to sum up in words.  It was a roller coaster to say the least.  I took a break from the blog, landed a job, and Lisa and I started working.

But the job never truly panned out.  We could never get enough hours to truly make it worth it, and when we did work, it was completely nuts.  We had a horrible boss and iffy coworkers.  There were many times we both almost quit, but we stuck through it.  Sometime towards summer though, two things changed....

(poem) - Black Friday 2013

Shop shop shop
Shop until you drop
Then shop even more
For the items you want to adore

Black Friday
Cyber Monday
Call it what you will
You will keep shopping until

You’ve spent all your money
Ain’t it so funny?
That you nabbed that deal
Because you thought the deals were real?

Some camped out all night
Hoping not to get a fright
Because its scary not getting that TV
Can you even believe?

The day after giving thanks
People empty their banks
Fighting to get new stuff
Because no one can ever have enough

They will fight and claw
Even punch you in the jaw
To get that item they want
Capitalism at its most blunt

This is what people think
Christmas is all about
Fighting over a small toy
Instead of sharing in all the joy

Every year I grow
To hate this season more and more
Because of all the greed
That I see in every deed

Happiness and Goodwill towards men be damned
Screw you all
And screw you well
For I got my deepfryer on sale

I only had to sit for hours
On a sidewalk in the snow
Wrestle some woman to the ground
And kick a man in the groin

But I saved a dollar ninety-nine
Suck on that, you Black Friday noob!
I saw you standing in that Toys-R-Us line
Watching a catfight, hoping to see a boob.

A sad day indeed
When we all agree we need
Something more than family
To celebrate such a wonderful holiday....

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

Halloween 2013

I love Halloween.  I always have, even though I was always more or less disappointed by it in my youth.  Its truly something special, now that its far beyond its roots of scaring away the dead, and is all about dressing up as something, or someone you aren’t.

Sure, most women chose to dress up sexy, but in the end, who doesn’t WANT to feel alittle sexy?  Especially when its all just in fun.

(poem) - All Hallows Eve Approaches

My dreams are haunted as of late
I have needs I need to satiate

The thirty first of October comes
Looming across many horizons

The drums of the day, beat within my head
Telling me of who shall return from the dead


To haunt the waking world outside
And who it is with which I will ride

The sands of time fall through the hole
And pile up like dunes in the bowl

Everything around us will eventually turn to dust
Scattered by the wind which forgets our petty lust

Ghosts from the future along with those from the past
Will come on All Hallows Eve to make it our last

But we will dress up as demons and freaks
To scare them away from that which they seek

Ultimate destruction will in no way be theirs
For even the dead have hysterical fears

At the end of the night, as dawn breaks in the East
We raise our glass and prepare for Thanksgiving’s feast

But only if the Great Pumpkin doesn’t arise and devour....
Hopefully Linus van Pelt will keep that covered


So my friends, as I awaken
I can look at these haunted dreams of mine

And realize the greatest truth of all
That Halloween is the greatest holiday of them all

For it’s the only one that we have to struggle to survive
The rest are all gifts, love, and lies

But All Hallows Eve is a test to the living
And makes you appreciate life without the gift giving

Because if you make it to the Day of All Saints
Then you shall have a bucket of Candy and nary a single complaint

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

My Nightmare

Ever have one of those dreams after hearing a song or watching a movie.  Yeah, Nightmare on My Street by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince has been a favorite of mine for decades.  But sometimes, after maybe watching a Freddy film and listening to that song...you drift off into sleep and....

--

Explaining Nerdy Things

The hardest part about explaining anything to anyone is getting past their own preconceived notions on the topic.  Some people will always see the thing you are trying to explain as silly, and your attempts at explaining it only make it more silly.

You really get into a bind when something is preconceived as ‘nerdy.’  Once it has that connotation, you might as well just give up trying to explain anything.  LARPing is the best example I can come up with right now.

The Challenge of a Video Game

Is there anything more frustrating as trying to beat a simple game 100%?  Many of the least challenging video games I’ve played in my life have some specific ‘extra’ stuff you can do to get something ‘extra.’  And frankly I enjoy a challenge, but sometimes...wow those things are hard.

I know they had them way before this, but the Xbox started a Gamer Score way back when.  It was the first time we, as gamers, could point at something and say, “Yeah, I beat that.”  It turned those little challenges into something truly fun to try to accomplish.

(poem) - What is That Smell?

There’s nothing like a smell in the house
One that you just can’t find.
It smells like a giant dead mouse
Or a moose’s putrid behind.

It lingers in every room
No matter how many candles you burn
You try to spray perfume
But your nose does nothing but yearn


For a time when there is no smell
A room that does not make you gag
Damn this place smells like hell
Or a discarded wash rag

We’ve emptied the trash cans
And searched every cranny
We cannot find the deadman
Nor his putrid fanny

But we will keep up the search
For this affront to the nose
But allowing it to continue the stench
Would not be a good way to end the prose

It’s the quest
For the Holy Grail
And I can attest
We shall not fail

Because we are sick and tired
Of this awful reek
We don’t want to be mired
In the smell of something that died last week

Help us
Oh mighty lord
Deliver us
From this smell’s deadly sword


And bring to us
Gentle smells
Of beautiful rose buds
Or other flowers of bright pastels

But until you do
We have the Scentsy burning bright
And we will leave them all on
If we have to, all bloody night....

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

Lisa's Turning me Back into a Nerd

As I walk down the street now-a-days, something happens that hasn’t happened to me since the 90s.  People stop and tell me how cool my shirt is, ask me where I got my shirt, or go about telling me a memory sparked by the shirt.

Fact is, back in high school, I wore nerdy shirts.  From Wolverine to the house crests from the A Game of Thrones novels, I enjoyed sporting the shirts based in the books and comic books I read.  I would always sport some kind of shirt that meant something to me.  The last one I bought, before meeting Lisa, was from Princess Mononoke, a wonderful anime movie.

Life's Little Complications

There is nothing quite like complications.  They arise when you least expect them, and make life so much more complicated.  If you’ve followed the blog, or know us at all then you know that our marriage is just a handful of weeks away.  The fact is, we had a complication arise a while ago that is throwing many things into turmoil.

An interesting fact: I have never owned a passport, nor gone out of the country.  I’ve always wanted to.  We wanted so much to do a Carribean Cruise for our honeymoon, as Lisa has never been on a cruise, and I wanted us to do something together neither of us has ever done.

Working Out Can be Fun

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been walking in the afternoon as part of my fitness routine.  I’ve really been trying to push myself, knowing that there is a honeymoon coming up in my near future.  So, I’ve been pressing myself to walk further and further, and just trying to increase my stamina and walking distance.

Fact is, writing takes a toll on the body, especially once you add in a blog to keep up with.  The only way to combat the inactivity is to work out, or some form of sport.  In recent years I’ve struggled with my health, not in terms of being sick, but just being strong.  There’s nothing more sad than going on a shopping trip and getting winded when walking through the mall....

(poem) - Stats Hide The Joy of Blogging

Stats stats
Its all about the stats
It makes me so mad
That I just spat

Why can’t it be
Just about writing?
Putting out content
That is simply inviting?

It seems there is
Some kind of statistic
Behind everything in life
Including a simple lyric

So how does one
Tune it all out
Blog about whatever
And not scream and shout?

I’ve been amazed at how many
Analytics there are
And how SEO
Is what everyone should strive for

Getting viewers to come
Is such a heroic deed
That it makes one wonder
How DO good bloggers get paid?

In the end
You can’t think about that
You have to write for the joy
Not for the feather in the hat

Getting paid would be nice
But the true joy of writing
Is simply creation itself
Of dreams igniting

And burning bright
Out on the internet
For anyone to come by
And leave a comment.

Blogging is a joy
That can be an occupation
Its too much fun
Enjoying this creation

So only glance at the stats
Don’t watch them like a hawk
Keep your eye on the prize
And don’t listen to the talk

Just write for the fun of it
And if you get paid
Then it will be a joy
As joyous as getting laid

--Dan

--Want more Poetry?  Check out my Poetry Collection Page!

Genealogical Research is Fun!

Genealogy is an extremely fun hobby.  Even though I only dabble in it from time to time, its amazing to learn all the stuff that happened for you to get born.  In the end, you never know what you’ll find.  I know some people that branch way out and find links to celebrities, or famous people in their past.  I know, I was hoping to find a link to a very infamous family secret....

Luckily its very easy to get started, Ancestry.com is a great place, and its pretty much free.  Sure you can pay for more access to stuff, but the main thing is the family tree maker, and that is most definitely free.  After that, its all about searching and cross referencing.  Its hard not to feel the joy of searching through history, and finding links to other people, making the tree bigger and bigger.

The Start of the Descent into Winter.

All Hallows Eve.  I still have yet to find refutable proof that Halloween is not the only holiday left that has not been perverted by Christians.  I know, I know, such a horrible thing to say, but seriously think about it alittle bit.

Every major holiday, around the world, that’s celebrated in multiple countries, normally has a religious influence.  Admittedly my range of holidays is mainly in the US, but I know that Christmas is celebrated all over.  I always find it funny to think that it was once Yule, a celebration of pretty much being half way through winter, and getting closer to being out of the darkness and cold.  In most places, long before Christ, it was a time for family to come together and share what they had, especially warmth.

Blogging, Blogs, and Bloggers

Reading blogs has been an odd way to spend my time blogging, but it has been very important.  I’ve tried to learn from what others have done, and been inspired by people’s blogs in the process.  I am honestly stunned at what I’ve found, and I’m amazed at how far the culture of blogging has come.

It almost seems to be the way you’d think about it, but I think the term, “Only Bloggers read Blogs” is kind of the truth to an extent.  There are definitely those out there that find a particular blog and stick to it, even though they don’t blog themselves.  I mean, I have some family and friends that stop by every now and then to read something, but for the most part, I get more feedback and sociality from fellow bloggers.

An essay on poetry

Once upon a time, I was scared of poetry.  I thought it was silly, and that there was no true way to get a clear and consistent thought across using such a format.  Rhyme and structure, beats and verse....  Its all very daunting.

Then I tried it.  Its very easy to get swept up in a poem, and get side tracked.  One of the hardest things is to just go back and read it, and see if the flow works well.  Also tough to stay away from, what I call, the cheater rhymes.  The best example is The Tyger, by William Blake:

What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

To have a schedule.

Schedules.  Why are they so feared by some people?  I like a tad bit of order to the chaos of the day.  Its not like they are concrete things that cannot be flexible....

I enjoy my schedule, I am trying to be diligent with it, and treat this blogging thing like a job.  I try to make sure I spend equal time networking and writing each day, so as not to fall behind, or get lackadaisical.  But in the end, I still feel I’m falling behind in my own way.  I want to write more fiction, yet I think I write just about the correct amount of time with the blog.  Hopefully I can balance this out more soon, though I’m not sure how without spending yet more time here in front of the computer and away from Lisa.

Metric Milestones

Milestones are such simple little things that always seem to mean so much.  Just a round number most times, they tend to radiate an accomplishment.  There are so many stats on this blog thing, so much to keep track of.  I have surpassed 1000 page views, and I’m very happy about that milestone.

But now what’s next for me?  I am actually close to getting 1000 pages views per month, maybe that will be it.  I know I’ll keep track the next two, 2000 and 2500 total page views.  And I’m steadily approaching 50 posts.  I currently have 86 published comments, so that’s approaching 100, which will be a nice one, though I don’t see a stat about how many were mine....