I really need to stop trash-talking

Or "I'm a curse to sports teams".

Image from totalprosports.com

If you don't follow me on Twitter or talk about hockey online, you might not remember that I'm a hockey fan. The Canucks are "my" team, whether I'm happy for them or wondering what the hell happened to them, I'll be rooting for them all the way.

. . .

And I think that's the problem. So far this season, if I'm talking shit to fans of other teams, the Canucks LOSE to those teams. Granted, it's still really early in the season, but it's happened each time so far. I talked shit to Nick and Em before the season opener against the Penguins, and the Penguins beat them. Just a few days ago, I was trading trash-talk and talking about how the Canucks were going to beat the Flyers... and then they didn't. Both games were good games, but what happened when I kept my mouth shut and actually missed the game against the Oilers last night? THEY WON.

I'm just going to silently root for the Canucks, and not talk shit with anyone other than Flames fans. And Islanders fans, because... fuck the Islanders.

-J


P.S. One of the cool people I've gotten to know online has been featured as Blogger's "Blog of Note" back on the 12th, for his second time. Go check his blog out, and follow him on Twitter. He's an awesome guy, and has been a strong proponent for peace lately. :)

I'm not dead!

Although I can see why you'd think that, since I've been really inactive on here, with no real excuse for it. I'll be sure to submit myself for a public flogging soon, but for now, let me go over the last month -- (MONTH?! Nobody told me it'd been a MONTH since I blogged last!) -- and update you all. :)

It's October! One of my favorite months, because it's the start of that magical time of year when you can say that you want pumpkin pie or other magical pumpkin-flavored things, and people don't look at you funny. Seriously, are there many things in this world better than a good pumpkin pie?

Another good thing about October: 

creative pumpkin carvers

Image from whatthesooke.com

Other than enjoying the occasional bit of pumpkin-related awesome, I've been working a lot, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's great because I like that whole "money" thing, and being able to do grown-up things like "pay bills" and "pay bills" and... is there anything else I do with my money? Come to think of it, not really that much. I do get myself the occasional fun thing, like a CD or a book. The most recent CD purchase? Textures' "Dualism" album, which is AWESOME.

TEXTURES!!! MOTHERFUCKING TEXTURES!!!!!

You guys, I've been enjoying this CD far more than I should be. I've even taken it to work so that I can use the CD player at work instead of listening to the crappy radio stations we have in this area. So far, nobody has complained, so I'll probably keep doing it until I get tired of it. Or until I get a new CD, whichever comes first -- and I've been looking at the latest album from 3, so that might be soon.

So, that's the long and short of things lately. Lots of work (still working the graveyard shift at 7-11), lots of jamming out to Textures. All in all, I can't really complain too much.

I've also been prepping for NaNoWriMo -- my third attempt, and I'm determined to succeed and not let Real Life stop me from finishing again. I've got an idea that I really like, and I'm already eager to start writing on it. This is my year, and I'm going to have a novel by the end of November... or at least part of one, since I think 50,000 words might be a little short. Depends on how much story I can tell with this idea. :)

Hello!

 

Know what it’s like when you keep meaning to do something, and kind of forget? And by “forget”, I mean “just don’t do it”? Yeah, that’s been what’s going on. Well, that and…

 

It has been HOT AS HELL the last couple of days.

 

This wouldn’t be a bad thing, but I sleep during the day. Really, the sun should’ve taken shit like that into account when it said “Hey, I’ll make the thermometer read ‘HOLY FUCK’ in Grays Harbor!”, because that’s inconvenient as all hell. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like waking up sweaty and gross because of how warm it’s been.

 

 

So, to update you guys on the last few weeks…

 

My friend’s wedding went well! There were a lot of people in the wedding party, including my friend’s daughter as the flower girl, and another friend’s kid as ring-bearer. It was good to see so many of my friends again – I’ve been friends with the groom and all of the groomsmen since junior high!

 

 

Beyond that, I’ve just been working a lot, and writing as much as possible. I’m almost halfway done with the first issue of my comic book pitch, and am prepping for NaNoWriMo again! I’m also brainstorming an interesting project with James Riot, one of the RRTV contributors!

 

Also, there’s been a couple videos for that, so go check them out! One’s from Emily, and the other is from me. Here’s the links:

 

Em’s video: Canadian Stereotypes!

 

Mine: SPACE IS AWESOME!

Random Ramblings TV!

THE FIRST RRTV VIDEO IS UP!

The editing work was quick, so it's not much of a video this first time around, but I was a little pressed for time (and much later than planned!). But, now that it's up, you can expect more! Nate and Em are both tweeting me about videos that they are wanting to film RIGHT NOW, and I've got sooooo many ideas.

It'll probably be a few weeks before I have a video up with lots of editing work on there, but I think I might try a "Riverside Vlog" soon. Maybe even tomorrow, since I have the day off because one of my long-time friends is getting married.

Anyway, my battery is dying, so we'll see if I can get any more ideas rolling around after I get home, plug in, and cool down. :)

I HAVE INTERNET AGAIN! ... sort of.

"Reunited, and it feels so goooood!"

Sure, it means that I have to set up my laptop in the kitchen, plug it in behind the microwave, and deal with the occasional drop-offs that come with only having one bar of signal, but I HAVE HOME WIFI AGAIN! ... sort of.

After picking up a connection and being amazed that I was online, I started walking around with my laptop, checking for where the signal could be coming from. Turns out that one of my neighbors has unsecured wifi (and is okay with me leeching it every so often), and the signal drops off the least in this corner of the kitchen. Look forward to more frequent blogging, because I am BACK... until my neighbor objects, or until I get internet of my own and then am MORE BACK!

In other news, Random Ramblings TV is coming soon! I've got introductory clips from some of the people contributing, and I'm editing them together, to be up (on a different site) on Friday. There will be vlogs, and videos, and hopefully some fun times to be had. For more on that, you can ask me on Twitter (@justinbarlow), or check out the fledgling RRTV account (@Ramblings_TV). The intro video goes up on Friday (the 19th)!

Now, I'm going to go listen to Textures and finish doing some necessary shit around the house.

Under the microscope

I came to an odd realization this morning: I think too much.

I don't mean that I think about meaningful things, or even useless things, and I'm not trying to make myself sound smarter than I am. What I am trying to do is come to terms with this 'flaw'.

One thing that I love about some of the blogs I read, sites I visit, and friends I keep, is how in-the-moment they seem. Maybe they're neurotic about it on the inside, but what comes across to me is that they don't overthink everything like I do. To me, it feels like they LIVE. They REACT. They don't try and think too much, eliminate any "what if" situations, or concern themselves so much with the end of something. It feels like they just let themselves be a part of the experience, not concerned with the end.

Somewhere, I forgot how to do that. I forgot how to get wrapped up in the whirlwind of things going on. If someone jokingly proposes an on-the-spot game, I wonder about the technicalities that could cause me to win or lose. If someone tells me "Oh, I saw _____ today", I ask why they told me or what the point of the story is.

It seems like there are only a few situations left that I DON'T overthink everything: when I'm angry, when I'm buried in work, and when I'm being creative (writing or cooking). Even then, if something draws me out of what I'm doing (like my neurotic obsessive-compulsive attitude about time-checking), I go right back to the 'what if' and all the other overthinking.

Any ideas on how to fix this? I can't be cooking or writing constantly, and I'd rather not be angry or buried in work all the time.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry