Rebirth

The idea of a new year being a chance for resolutions or a new start hasn't been something that I've found myself believing in. However, this past year, I've been feeling more and more like it's time to start doing things a little differently.

I don't want to say that I've been "in a rut" but it definitely feels like it's time to shake things up and see how they settle out.

One of the things I've been thinking about for awhile is a rebirth of this blog. When I registered the domain name and started posting, I had some ideas as to what I wanted it to end up being about but, as with most of the things I start on the internet, I always seem to end up holding back because I know that people in my "real life" (family, friends, employers and such) have seen or may possibly end up finding things I've put up. I still struggle with the issue of keeping my private ideas private and separate from my professional life and I'm sure that I'll always have that struggle. So, I'll take this opportunity to issue a disclaimer that anything here is solely my own opinion. However, there have been things that I've been thinking and would love to put them somewhere. Why not here?

So, as a new start to this blog, here is a list of topics I was planning on working on in my personal life, as well as writing about on my recently retired "motivation" blog:

• eating more healthy / in-season / local food
• cooking at home more
• eating less prepared / fast food
• incorporating more enjoyable physical activity into my life
• finding ways to reduce stress
• worrying less
• meeting new people
• spending more time with family and friends
• keeping in touch with non-local friends
• simplifying and decluttering
• learning new things
• attempting to work on more creative / artistic things
• sharing thoughts and ideas
• starting new hobbies and revisiting old ones
• reading more books
• spending less time in front of TV
• spending less time aimlessly browsing on the internet

The plan, as it stands right now, is to roll the (modified) ideas of that blog into this one and actually share things that I want to share. I'll probably still hold back a little bit, but hopefully be a little more open that I have been in the past.

I FINALLY saw SiCKO

Over the weekend I finally saw the Michael Moore's movie SiCKO. I had wanted to see it when it came out but didn't make it to the theater when it was playing. and it had popped into my head again a week or two ago when it was available "On Demand" on our cable box. I was SHOCKED when my roommate came home from the movie rental store with it amongst her choices and asked if there were any of the movies that she brought home that I was interested in seeing...

Let me start this off by saying that I'm not attempting to "review" this movie and admitting that I am a fan of the other Michael Moore documentaries that I've seen including Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11.

I like the satirical approach that Michael Moore takes to asking questions that I would have never thought to ask. I appreciate his incredibly sarcastic and dark style of wit and humor. I AM, however, the type of person who likes to attempt to do my own research when trying to formulate opinions on controversial issues. I don't like to just take someone else's opinion as fact. I tend to like his movies because they make me think. They make me wonder why things are the way they are instead of just ignoring what's going on.

SiCKO was another one of those movies that made me think. It seemed to bring up the questions:

* Why does America have a health care system that is focused on little more than profit?

* How do you hold organizations accountable that benefit financially from not paying for adequate care for the people that pay into them?

*Why do these organizations have departments that look to invalidate claims and claim "fraud" over "preexisting conditions" instead of having a trusted network of doctors that do what is medically necessary and are compensated fairly for their work?

* Why do Americans with health care insurance of some sort feel comfortable letting "for profit" corporations "take care" of them?

There are a MILLION more questions raised by the movie so I'm recommending that you go rent it and ask some questions.

I'm going to leave you with a a blog and a review of the movie that I found interesting.

* Frank Robbins: "Sicko"


* KPBS Movie Reviews: "Sicko"

Apartment hunting, movies & more.

Saturday I went out apartment hunting with my girlfriend and I think we found where we'd like to live. Now we just have to wait a little while and see if they're going to have any open apartments when we need to move. (Hopefully they'll have a second floor 1 bedroom with gas heat available in the middle of December.)

Sunday I did a bit of stuff around the apartment and watched a couple movies that my girlfriend and I rented on Saturday night. I happened to see the the movie "Everything's Gone Green" which was written by Douglas Coupland sitting on the shelf so I picked that as my choice...

It was a weird movie but overall it was pretty much what I expected. It was basically one big sarcastic (but not very laugh-out-loud funny) pop culture joke. In short is was the kind of backhanded satire on various things such as the lottery, get rich quick schemes/scams, fancy cars and clothes that I've come to expect from Douglas Coupland.

I won't write any spoilers or plot detail into this blog post because I know a few of my friends are Douglas Coupland fans but I'll definitely recommend that you fans out there pick this movie up (as a rental) just to check it out. It's not awesome... but I don't think you'll be disappointed.

My new camera came!

My Canon A640 digital camera that I mentioned in my last post came last night. I messed around with it for a little while last night and it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. I only had the 32MB SD card that came with it, though, and that holds about 8 pictures at "superfine" full resolution... and you can't really do too much messing around in 8 pictures. ;) I can't wait to get the 2GB SD cards that I ordered on eBay for $18 each (shipped) and get out and actually start taking some pictures with it. :)

I think this weekend I'm also going to take pictures of all of the stuff I have sitting around my apartment waiting to go on eBay... I'm probably going to put a bunch of it up on our local craigslist first and then what doesn't move in a week or so there will go to eBay.

I think my Best Motoring - American Touge 2 DVD (which I ordered on May 3rd) should have FINALLY come today, so I'll probably watch that tonight. I've also been reading Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg over the past few nights. I'm going to attempt to take another chunk out of that tonight, too. It's pretty good but I think it's appeal is very much limited to computer programmers, IT management and related "geeky" fields. I'm finding it very well written with great background information and research but I think it only really appeals to me because I am interested in programming and have done some programming in the past. I (unfortunately) don't think I'd recommend it to anyone who's not in an IT related field even though it does explain technical things pretty well and it doesn't delve too deep into the actual nuts and bolts of code.

Anyway, that's pretty much where I'm at right now... a few little new and exciting things and the rest of my life is pretty much the same.

Lazy Sunday

I was flipping channels this morning and came across the movie Pay it Forward and it was pretty good up until the end. I recommend it but I couldn't believe the ending. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it but it's a great movie with an inspired plot.

Now I'm watching Duplex. It's pretty funny so far.

Oh and I bought some new sneakers (Sneaux Yerba) to replace my completely falling apart Vans Rowley XLTs. I got them for less than $50 shipped because there was a 20% off discount plus free shipping if you paid through PayPal.

[05/20/2026: Removed dead link to Sneaux Yerba sneakers.]

Movies, Targa Newfoundland and little more.

This weekend was pretty uneventful but good overall. We watched a few "movies on-demand" including:

• Talledaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - This movie wasn't as funny as I thought it would be but it did have a few amusing moments. Some scenes just dragged on too long with the same joke over and over. I'm not a NASCAR fan so I saw most of the parody in the movie as funny. The stereotypes were a little over the top, though.
  
• My Super Ex-Girlfriend - I actually thought this one was pretty good. Definitely better than I expected, even though a lot of it was pretty predictable. Overall, though, it was funny and Uma Thurman played a great psycho superhero.
  
• The Break-Up - This might have been one of my least favorite movies ever. Overall it just made me feel bad for both of the characters in the movie. Not because of how they treated each other, but just because they were so stupid. The previews made the movie seem MUCH more funny than it actually was.
  

Other than watching the above movies, I finally got around to putting my new windshield wiper blades on my car on Sunday and they're awesome! The original ones that came with the car were streaky and didn't work well. I also picked up some sunvisors from an older model of my car and peeled off the airbag warning stickers. I'm debating whether or not I want to put them in my car, though. I like the visors that came in my car better. The mirrors and overall construction of the older ones look cheaper... so I'm torn. I HATE the bright yellow and white warning labels but the ones that you can peel the sticker off easily look cheesier...

I also got a chance to watch the Targa Newfoundland race that I DVRed last week. What a cool race! I'd love to be able to afford to build a car to race in that race! If I ran that race I'd probably get an older Subaru Impreza 2.5RS and swap in a built STI 2.5 liter turbo engine and 6 speed manual transmission.

Anyway, that's all for now.

'06 the hottest year on record?

I mentioned to someone at work today, that he should watch "An Inconvenient Truth" today after bringing up the news that it seems to be official... 2006 was the hottest year on record in the US.

I've been reading a book by Naomi Klein called No Logo which reminds me VERY MUCH of the spirit of Culture Jam: How to Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge--And Why We Must by Kalle Lasn. Lately I've been very much in the spirit of trying to make a difference in the world and one of the things I keep coming back to is "adbusting" or "culture jamming" or attempting to subvert the "cool" of brands and advertising. I've been somewhat interested in this whole idea since taking classes on Mass Media and Advertising in college as a part of my second major. I try not to be a slave to brands but it seems that I end up doing it anyway. I tend to be enthusiastic about things I'm interested in such as cars, computers and music. So I end up being a member on automobile related forums. I buy Apple computers and I brand myself with Thrice, Every Time I Die and Thursday t-shirts. In these ways I tend to strongly support things I'm interested and that makes me conflicted in the fact that I'm supporting the culture that is branding and selling EVERYTHING we come into contact with. (Aside: I find it very ironic that I also buy books on anti-consumerism. It should come naturally to someone who's interested in the whole idea of anti-consumerism.)

Anyway, I think that this weekend is going to be the weekend to get some compact fluorescent light bulbs and an increase in intensity to find a job closer to home.

On "An Inconvenient Truth"

I just finished watching "An Inconvenent Truth" and I must say that it was an awesome documentary. It appeared very well researched and I loved the digs that Al Gore snuck in there about the current administration... Overall the movie pushed me into leaning more towards the ideas that I've been writing about over the past few blog entries. Check out their website at http://www.climatecrisis.net for more information.

One of the first things that I've been going back and forth on is buying compact fluorescent lightbulbs. After seeing this movie, I'm going to try to make it out tomorrow to get some for my apartment tomorrow...

I also found a link on Wal-Mart's website about their "sustainability" practices and I must say that I'm a little bit impressed by that...

More tomorrow. I'm tired.