The Agenda, Part I

Here's what I've been up to and what I'm going to be up to in the near future, if things go as planned.  Of course they never do, but I figure this is a good way to at least organize my thoughts.

Doings:

1) Learning guitar.  I was just practicing tonight.  It's pretty rough, as I have absolutely no musical background to speak of.  I'm 22, and just starting to learn.  I mean, I played recorded in like, 3rd grade, but that doesn't really help.  Fortunately, I have a great teacher in my current housemate Ryan.  I think he's got enough of a musical background for the both of us.  It may just be because Ryan's a good friend, or because I love live music, but I think that he's an outstanding guitarist.  He's got a good singing voice and his lyrical abilities have really been impressing me of late.  Again, I'm biased, but I really think Ryan could make a career in music.  He said that when I learned to play guitar, I could be his guitarist.  I'm holding him to that.

Anyways, I'm a pretty independent guy and I also hate to inconvenience people, so I've mostly been trying to teach myself.  It's slow going, for sure.  I've semi-learned a few "real" songs, and I know a few old folk songs (Kumbaya, etc.) from this "Guitar for Dummies" book.  ...Yeah, I know, shut up.  In theory, I know how to play Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," and "Acoustic #3" by the Goo Goo Dolls.  I'm currently working on "Rough Draft" by Yellowcard.  For the most part, I know the notes and chords to play, I just have to work my coordination up to the point where I can strum it at a decent pace.

2) Paying off my car.  My girlfriend, who really is wonderful beyond any ... tangent:  Reno 911 on Comedy Central is a pretty quality show.  Well, it's hit-or-miss, but when it hits, its really brilliant.  End tangent.... so I was saying, my girlfriend is fantastic, and she was nice enough to front me $700 to buy a car.  It's a '93 Ford Tempo, standard.  Vicki taught me how to drive standard, too, which has proven remarkably useful.  So anyways, things always come up and you know how that goes, so it's taking me longer to pay her back than I'd like.  In any case, it is exciting to really have my own car.  I had used my parents old Caprice Classic before I went to college, but I never really felt like I owned it.  So this is a good feeling.  Or will be a good feeling, anyways.  Hopefully the car will last me for a long time -- about half the thing was just recently replaced with brand new parts, so here's hopin'.

3) Reading Game of Thrones.  I'm a huge geek, so I love a good fantasy novel.  You know, Lord of the Rings-type stuff.  Anyways, Brian (another good friend/roommate) had the Game of Thrones books by George R. R. Martin.  I had heard that the books were phenomenal from like six different people.  All of my friends from GAGG (it stands for Geneseo Area Gaming Group) were reading the novels about a year ago and couldn't stop raving about it.  I had just about forgotten about it until I noticed that Brian had 'em.  I'm on chapter 4 (5, maybe?) of the first book now.  It's pretty good, but unfortunately I keep reading it when I'm tired so its sometimes hard to focus.  It's nice to be reading for pleasure again... I haven't done that in ages.

4) Working.  I currently landscape for a living.  Vicki and I work there together.  It's tough work, but a good work out.  And its decent money.  There's definately some shady stuff going on right now with our boss, but that's a story for another time.  I really want to finish up this post in a timely matter as its getting late, so I'll put it on the back burner.

Sadly, that's about all I've really been doing.  I work, play guitar, read, watch TV, and occassionally play some Magic Online or Online Poker.  It's pretty sad, but working is pretty draining, and it the end of the day, its hard to get motivated to do a whole lot.

To-dos, in Brief:

Getting tired, so I'll just run down this stuff so I don't forget it.  Details next time or whatever.

1) Update this freakin' blog more often.  I'm nototiously bad about keeping journals and such. Daily is a lot to hope for, but hey, you never know.  Which reminds me of one of the topics I wanted to talk about: the lottery.  Other upcoming blog stuff: "I, Robot" review, a couple of CD reviews, more talk about my dysfunctional brain (note to self: The Bike Accident), my recent bad luck streak and superstition, the state of music these days, politics (maybe), my apparent problem with brevity...

2) Work on the Matrix RPG, as well as other game projects: helping out on the Mage Academy BBG (note to self: suggest Blogger to the guys for communication purposes) and my pet game setting, Soulbinder.

3) Actually win at both Magic and Poker.  There's a Grand Prix Trial coming up I want to hit for Magic.  For those of you not in the know (probably most of you) Magic: the Gathering (which is a collectible card game, by the way) has a professional circuit that I've been passively trying to break into.  I'm pretty sure that I'm a pretty good Magic player, and it would really be a dream if I could make money on one of my favorite hobbies.

Much more likely though, is to make money on Poker.  I say that because Magic only pays out cash to the top, top players.  Poker revolves around money, so with some careful play, I can hopefully come out on top in my gambling endeavours.  I invested $35 into an online Poker room... at my best, I had turned that into $170, but I was stupid, went "on tilt" as they say, and lost it all.  I turned $20 more of "bonus" money that I had gotten free into $50... then lost that all on one hand because I didn't trust my instincts -- I knew the other guy had the pocket aces, but I just kept betting anyways.  Anyways, a lesson learned, and hopefully next time I can make -- and keep -- some of that money.  I've got a plan, but more on that another time.

3) Look for a new job.  There are some nice prospects out there, details on that next time 'round.

4) Go home.  I've got to take a trip home sometime, see the family.  Haven't done that in a while.  Speaking of that, hopefully my cousin and some other friends from home will be coming up and we'll be going to the Rolling Rock Town Fair in PA.  If I'm able to go (it's looking rather shaky :sad face:) I'll be sure to let you all know how it went.

5) Tangent:  Mena Suvari (of American Pie, American Beauty fame) is pretty hot.  Vicki asked me once who the hottest celebrity was in my opinion, and I thought she was at that moment.  She fell out of favor with me after that, but I just saw her for a sec on the tube, and she was looking very nice.  End tangent... ...

...

... I really thought I had more for this to-do list.  Well, maybe I'll remember for next time.

Until then! Have a link!

Peace,
Schmitty

Intro and assorted nonsense.

You know, I had a delightfully clever way to kick off this little weblog. Blog, as the kids are calling it these days. Amd no, that wasn't it. Oi, three sentences in, and this is already going downhill.

I was never very good at meeting new people, you know? That, in part, was because I was never very good at telling stories. Sometimes I stutter a bit, or talk to fast or too quietly. My wit, I like to think, is sharp -- but sometimes a bit too slow. You know how sometimes you think of something really clever to say about a topic like twenty minutes after a conversation is over? That's usually where I'm at.

Not as bad as I used to be, but I still have trouble believing that people really care about what I think or do. Probably because I really don't care about a lot that people have to say. My girlfriend, Vicki, is constantly on my case about giving her one word answers to questions of comments that she makes. One of her good friends says that I respond to everything with an uninterested laugh. The more I think about it, I guess its less disinterest and more the fact that some thoughts just don't need to be expanded upon. Some comments and questions just don't trigger anything worth mention. So if you know me, or meet me, and I seem aloof or disinterested -- worry not, you're not boring or inane. I suppose I am.

Vicki is always on my case about that sort of talk, too. "I suppose", "I guess." Maybe I'm weird, but I'm almost never 100% sure of anything. Even if I'm 99.9% sure of something, I'll say "That sounds right," or "I'm pretty sure." In my mind, there are no absolutes, no black and whites. I often don't even trust my own memory. It's a sort of comfortable uncertainty. Of course, it is difficult for people to trust what you say when you don't completely trust yourself.

-----

So let me bring you up to speed on my life as quickly as possible. I'm a 22-year old college drop-out. Well, I flunked, actually, but I tell everyone that I withdrew for money reasons. I went to SUNY Geneseo, and I still live right near the college. Though they kicked me out, my life still revolves around the place. My girlfriend and a lot of my friends are here, and that's what's important to me.

I work at a for a private landscaping company called "Doing It All Enterprises." Sounds like an escort service, I know. It's a bit of a change of scenery, as I'm generally a big computer dork. My previous job was a tech-support gig at the school. Now that was a great job. Anyways, landscaping isn't so bad -- its like getting paid to work out. 'Cause honestly, I'm lazy, and there's no way I'd make time for working out otherwise.

I currently live with Vicki and my good friend, Ryan. My life has been pretty banal lately. Working, living paycheck to paycheck, wasting too much time and money on games. I've been learning to play the guitar from Ryan, who is a stellar guitarist. There's some more interesting and scandalous stuff, but I can't share that just yet. If you keep reading, you'll see that I'm pretty candid. Pretty much the only time I won't be 100% honest is when someone elses privacy is at stake.

I started this blog because I was thinking a lot and not writing at all. I wanted to have an outlet for my thinking and a place to practice my writing. Expect equal parts boring day-to-day journal, introspective ramblings, media reviews and random curiousities. There'll probably be a rant or three along the way, too. Comments and prompts are welcome and encouraged.

Peace,
Schmitty