Taste

Tastes change in many ways.

I can prove this by simply stating the fact that my taste for food has changed drastically in the past several years. I can remember a time when mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, peppers, peas, fresh green beans (i really love canned ones, especially my mom's because she uses bacon to flavor them), and others (oddly enough... all vegetables). Somehow I believe I must be making out of what a friend of mine refers to as my yummy stage.

My taste for beer changed shortly after I forced it down several times. As time went on, it began to taste better. These days, I feel lost and helpless after a hockey game if I don't have a beer, just the taste when it hits your lips is the best.

My taste for vodka/whiskey/liquor in general is yet to change and i really doubt that it ever will. Although i do continue to remind myself that anything... yes anything, is possible.

Taste in women has changed a lot over my lifetime too. I've gone from bitchy, hottie, pretty, smartie, funny, and boringy to others. These days I have specific preferences (prerequisites) that must be met or else you get the boot.

Taste in music has progressed in a multitude of ways. As a kid, I never understood music for some reason so never listened to it. Slowly i fell in to the rap era... then the classical (I used to love the Jurassic Park soundtrack for some reason), then alternative, then punk, then Texas country, and now I'm pretty much open to everything. I believe that having a taste of tons of different music has given me the appreciation for anything that just happens to sound good to me at the moment.

Taste in sports has shifted through out the years of my life from t-ball to soccer to hockey to running to climbing to who knows what next.

Changing tastes can have ups (now i don't have to pick peppers or onions out of my fajitas) and downs (I'll eat just about anything these days). But that is just how life goes... So taste the rainbow.


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random note: I have become desensitized to flying. I remember before last year, i was always excited to get on plane. Mostly because you get on in one city, and magically appear in the other. Yesterday morning as my plane landed, everyone in the window seats had their heads glued to the window as if something cool was happening out there. I guess that's what happens when you fly so much, it just becomes part of your life.

It's all good

Random Note: I have 4 books currently in my laptop case. I have started all four books in my case, but have not finished any of them. What is wrong with me? Also i had Vanilla Late number 2 this morning. It woke me up for the flight... then made me pass out the second half.

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My name should be Steven… because for some reason, everything seams to even out. Today was the perfect example.

Example 1 – While going through the Airport Security this morning I got stopped for a bag search. I have never had them stop me and I always carry the exact same items, nothing changes. No big deal though, they are just doing their job. So they search my bag and find that the culprit was my gyroscopic wrist work out ball. Must have resembled the shape of a hand grenade which is why they stopped me. This slight inconvenience was balanced out on the airplane where I had no one next to me at all… allowing me to stretch out and be comfortable. Things evened out.

Example 2 – After getting off the plane and going to buy my train ticket, I somehow get there just as the two most clueless women ever are attempting to buy tickets. One of the women says to the other… and I quote..

“Do I push the ‘Push to start’ button first?”

The process of purchasing a ticket should at most take 20 seconds… it’s already been a minute and they are not paying attention to the 3 step instructions

1. Push start
2. Pay money
3. Take ticket

Anyways, at this point it is getting close to 10:33 which is when the train comes. I start to hear it. Damn! I don’t want to miss it. Finally one woman finishes and I start my process. BAM! BOP! BANG! (Just like in the old batman movies) and I’m done. Rush down the stairs… just as the train stops and I make it on. Things evened out.

Example 3 – It’s freezing cold in Minneapolis right, currently 7 degrees. I have no gloves. I have no hat. That’s right I’m crazy. I have to walk across 5 streets to make it to my work. My hands began to hurt at block 3, I can do it. But luckily, I hit every light and make every walk sign perfectly. Things evened out.

And the day is only half over… there so much more in my life to even out. But I’m not worried, because things always work out, no matter what happens.

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Random Note: There was a drunk Cuban guy at the wine bar i went to last night. I hope he made it home alright. Also, drunk goat cheese goes very well with red wine, if you've never tried it... buy some tonight.

140 Degree Coffee

Today's blog is long and boring... but then again, I don't care.

Fatty Vanilla Cafe Latte... i tried you for the first time yesterday. You tasted very smooth and kept me warm in the below freezing weather in Dallas. The caffeine kick you provided also helped with my alertness and made me have to pee half way through church. Thank you very much for your help and i expect that kind of help every time i drink you.

This was probably only my 3rd or 4th time in my life to actually drink coffee (first time ever was when i was 19 at a McDonald's in Paris). Unfortunatly, the stuff was very good... hopefully my addictive personality will not cause me to become addicted.

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This past weekend went very well. Friday night i had a work happy hour/planning event where we worked to plan out the entire year's events. Got stood up later that night... but then again, it wasn't intentional, so no worries :).

Saturday I was hooked to my favorite channel... MTV and wasted a lot of my day watching that. Went for a pathetic run where i continued to realize that in order to be in shape, you have to run more. Saturday night went to a new place called Times Ten with a new cool friend which was shorter period of time than i wanted, but the time was fun. If you've never been to Times Ten, think of it as a wine bar in a rich person's living room, pretty nice and comfy if you ask me. Later that night, I progressed to O bar and limited my drinking very well.

Sunday morning consisted of a fabulous breakfast at Cafe Brazil followed by Church. Yes I went to Church and it was probably the first time in at least 7 years that I've been. Wow has church changed. The beginning was like a rock concert and the people that played were really good. I was impressed and actually felt like i could get into the music as opposed to when i was a kid and we sang hymns that sounded like enya or something. Ed was a very interesting and insightful speaker, i guess it's just interesting to hear what he has to say. We'll have to see if i continue this streak of going, a new series starts next week, and it is supposed to be good if you can catch them all.


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Just got a call from that recruiter guy who sent me the email last week. Talked for a little bit about what I've done and where i want to go (I'm not 100% sure of this... but then again, who really is). Informed him that I'm very happy where I am and am not looking for anything really at the moment.

I'm sure that if i did pursue this, i could "cash in" my consulting experience value. But i had this conversation once a while back with our Managing Director about how basically you can leave a consulting place at just about any time in your career and probably make 10 -25% more. He called this cashing in your experience. Which i completely agree. But if i were to leave, i really feel that my learning would be capped and my career path would be flawed. Does that make me crazy? I guess that in my eyes I had planned to stay where I'm at now for at least 5 years prior to leaving. Money can't be everything in life, because in the short term, yes, I could probably make a lot more than i make now. But in the long term, would i be able to have the same opportunities that i have now and the great fun smart people i work with now. I don't think so. So I'm going to have to tell the guy no, which has never been something I'm good at, but then again, it's good practice for me.

You tired yet... because i am?

I think I'll make a Starbucks run shortly and pick myself up a cafe latte. sounds almost peachy. I'm pretty sure my latte wasn't 140 degrees, but supposedly that is when coffee is at it's best according to an expert in the field.

pick up the phone and...

So today i received this email:

Hello Brian,

I received your contact info from a former peer of yours who recommended you when I mentioned I am looking for a highly capable Business Analyst. Do you have a moment to talk about an opportunity?

Please give me a call when it is convenient for you.

Thank you,

NAME CONFIDENTIAL
Account Executive
Parkwood Intl.
3550 Parkwood Blvd. Suite 500
Frisco, TX 75034

First thoughts... has to be a scam. I get crap like this all the time and it never amounts to anything. I read through it again and realize it's probably real, but not a job I would prefer. I check out the website... and it seems like they are some kind of consulting/contracting company. In some ways I wonder how this person found me (couldn't have been my blog because that does not show off my "Highly Capable Business Analyst" skills). They say a peer referred me, is it wrong if i ask who. Because to me that would greatly impact the level of seriousness i take this email.

It is flattering yes... but i already know i'm not interested. I love my job now and i love where i work, i don't see myself going anywhere anytime soon. So do i call just to be nice and tell this person thanks... but no thanks. And i digress.


This morning i had this conversation with my mom:

mom: TGIF (note: next to that she put an Angel icon that flew around like pheasant during hunting season)
bellison03: i know that's right
mom: Big weekend plans?
bellison03: OH you know, the usual. Having a good time and enjoying the weekend.
mom: Just wanted to tell you that i love you and have a good weekend.
bellison03: Thanks mom. Love you too

My mom and i have a similar conversation to the one above almost every day (except they don't always start with TGIF). I like having this. I feel lost without it. It all kind of started when they moved to England several years back and she felt very detached from myself and my sisters. So i introduced her to AIM. She caught on quick and was on all the time. We've had the above conversation probably almost everyday and still do... every once in a while a few other things are brought up and discussed, but something about this makes me feel happy. Moms are the best.

Is it friday yet?

My favorite toy as a kid was more than likely transformers because there was so much more than meets the eye. Who would have thought that all these year later they would make another movie about it (except this time it's not a cartoon). The movie comes out on July 4, 2007, and from the trailer, I did not see all that much transforming which kind of disappointed me. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Optimus Prime (my favorite transformer), but not much else.

It looked very much like another Independence Day type of movie which also disappoints me... because it's been done. Hollywood needs to make a movie about an asteroid coming to hit the earth and the president of the US (hopefully not G-dub in the movie) has to make critical decisions to save the world by finding a lucky soldier to fly in to outer space and destroy the asteroid before hitting Earth. Now that would make a great movie (i came up with this idea 20 years ago while playing house with my sister).

Or maybe a movie about my life story... oh wait, it's already been done i forgot. It was called Boogie Nights (Based on the true life of me).

I have tons of ideas for movies... just no Hollywood support... someday it will happen.

Friday is tomorrow... can you tell that I'm ready for a weekend.

20070170000285

pathetic

So I'm really hungry before lunch today and decide i'm going to walk across the street and get a sandwich. Walk outside of the building and i saw a TACO WAGON and seriously thought about going to eat at it and started walking in that direction. Then as I walk up to it... I notice it really said Tag Wagon (Toll Tag selling bus).

I don't know which is worse, the fact that I was going to eat at a "Taco Wagon" or that I can't see large print 20 feet away from me. I should really wear my glasses.

Television Watching

I do have to say, television is not something i tend to watch a lot of these days, although i do get sucked in a few times a year on certain shows, but there will always be one that is near my heart... Seinfeld.

I'm not sure if it's just because i feel almost as if every real life experience can relate to a Seinfeld episode in some way, or maybe its the fact that my dad loved and made me watched it (We only had one TV as a kid and no cable). Or it could be that it is so well thought out and the episodes really come together to create a great show. I know several people probably disagree, well... you're wrong and I'm right... so get over it.

I just got Season 7 in the mail via Amazon (love the online shopping experience) and watched a few episodes last night prior to my hockey game (which we kicked ass in: 8-0). I love to laugh, so that probably helps, but i felt like i was laughing all the way through the first two episodes. It's just a gekius kind of show i guess.

As far as other shows go, not too many compare. I've seen a few episodes of the office, which i found very funny, but never got hooked. I do get caught up in Grey's, but that's probably more due to the fact that every Thursday my place turns into a Grey's watching party (which i don't mind). 24 was a big deal for me last year, but i fell out of the loop and now don't know who most of the people are (except Jack Bauer, because he is just one hell of a bad ass). Somehow i watched about 5 episodes of Desperate Housewives in a row... it was rather funny, but then i got bored with it. MTV has some good ones that I'm embarrassed to watch and am pretty sure that you'd laugh if i told you i love to watch them (Next, Sweet 16, Real World, Parental Control, and others that i can't think of but I'm sure i waste time sometimes laughing at the stupidity of the content in the show and how i must be getting stupider as i watch). I'm sure there are others... but you get the point.

Overall, they say the average person watches 4.5 hours a day. I'm not sure how that is possible, but I would imagine that on an average week... I probably watch about 10 hours of television. So if I live for 80 years (i have high hopes), and i probably started watching television when I was 5... = 75 years *10 hours a week *52 weeks in a year = 37,440 hours = 1,560 days = 4.25 years. Meaning I will spend probably 4.25 years of my life watching television coming out to 5% of my life spent doing that. Does that seem like a waste to anyone else... or am i just crazy?

Imagine if we had to live life without television like back in the day, society was probably a lot more productive back then. Guess that's just the way it is.

This is me exhaling.

It's Tuesday... bad day to all

NOTE: This post may be confusing, ask me if you have questions.

Where to end oh where to end.

So today... i'm going commando. That's right I said i love it (refer to past entry), but i won a bet. I made a bet yesterday with someone that i would not have anything to drink last night. I had nothing to drink... so i won. HA. Beat that. Boo ya ka shah!

The one down part of the night had to have been meeting one girl in particular. She was boring, dumb as a fleece, younger than me (at least that is the impression i got when she called someone else close to my age an old man), not cute, and just i don't know. It was just all bad. I mean seriously, she writes in a blog which is an action i find completly stupid and a waste of time (confused... me too). I guess that is the way things go sometimes though especially when it's a monday night in a bar.

This is me breathing. Side note... Tuesday is the goodest (it's a new word... look it up on google/urban dictionary) day of the week because it is opposite day.

I'm The King of Beer Pong

Beer pong... an old ancient Chinese traditional style game generally played by drunken people who try to increase there athletic ability with alcohol consumption. This is my definition of Beer Pong.

On Saturday night, the night started with some mild drinking since I was still strongly recovering from the night before. A house party with lots of older rich nice people. Eventually, we proceed to a bar. Jam the night away until 2 am. And then the famous words... "let's play beerpong". Holla back.

So we head over to the West Village, in some crazy empty town home that belongs to some Army guy. He is very nice considering we just barged into his place and started drinking his beer and setting things up. After the first round, the team i was supporting lost, so i jumped in and led them to victory. Some people just aren't any good at throwing the ping pong ball at all. Especially the drunk girl who vomited off the balcony and then passed out and couldn't even stand up on our team. She was basically leaning on me much of the night as i continued to push her up each time she started to fall. Eventually she left, and we won with out her. Soon we ran out of beer... so we used wine for beer pong (VERY STUPID). Chugging wine is not the best thing... but it worked. All in all, i stumbled into my house around 630 am... and the night was done. Hello Sunday!

This is me breathing.

License and registration... chicken fucker.

On Sunday as I drove back from the fantabulous Austin, TX, I couldn’t help but go a little fast. Suddenly, I noticed I was approaching a cop. I slowed down to 70 on the cruise control (5 over the speed limit) and continued on my way. Next thing I know, I’m passing the cop. My gekius self decides it’s not a bad idea to pass a cop only going 5 over. So I pass him successfully and continue driving at 70 mph not thinking much of it. About 5 minutes later I notice Mr. State Trooper is behind me with his lights on. WTF… there must be an emergency up ahead. So I move to the right, and I notice he moves to the right. What a retard… I’m moving out of your way I thought. Then… it hit me. He wants to pull me over, must be some simple mistake like he thinks my inspection sticker is expired. For about a split second, I thought about flooring it and running, then I realized my supped up Toyota Camry would probably leave him in the dust and make him feel bad, so I pulled over.

I begin to assume the position, turn the car off, roll down the window, and put my hands on the steering wheel. This in case you don’t know is the position of a not guilty person. He comes up and asks if I know how fast I was going… typical retarded cop question. I say, “Yes sir, had the cruise control set on 70”. He replies back with a firm “I paced you at 80”. It was at that moment, that I thought, you paced? PACED? You have a f’in radar gun for a reason, use it to confirm your pacing suspicions. His stupidity reminded me of a drunken sorority girl I met at a toga party once that thought the square root of 9 was 81…

I look at him and say, “It doesn’t really make sense that I would pass you going 80 when I saw you, I mean that is just ridiculous, I’m certain I was going 70”. He replies back, “yeah I thought the same thing, guess you were wrong.”

"Come on meow” I reply back, thankfully he didn’t notice my rude and offensive reference the great movie Super Troopers. “I’ll be back with your citation”.

You have to be kidding me, this guy is wrong clearly in my mind and I am right. I wouldn’t have been that pissed, except for the fact that this was my second ticket in less than three weeks. Needless to say, I’m going to do all I can to get this thrown out or deferred or whatever. For once, I’m actually pissed at the Nation of Texas. Remember the Alamo!!

This is me breathing.

Dirty Dirty

I know when I used to think of snow, i would always remember the beautiful ski trails and marvelous mountains covered in the beautiful white snow. Clearly snow was not made to make the big city look pretty because it is not. The sides of the road of downtown Minneapolis are covered in piles of grayish-blackish dirty dirty snow that is not pretty at all. And in the crosswalks and through out the sidewalks it turns into a frozen muddish substance i will refer to as snot. It is not pretty and definitely not good for dress shoes. This makes me glad to live in Texas where we don't have to see snot at all. I've never seen it in Texas for the past 24.75 years.

Whistler in 3 weeks... get ready.

This is me breathing.

I'm a nice guy...

Right. Tonight as I was walking down 2nd street in front of my favorite building in Minnesota (the back of the Local bar is covered in Music notes on the back and I think it's awesome and it reminds me of my mom since she loves music), a homeless man asked why i looked so down and sad. I told him I wasn't sad and it was at that moment our relatioinship began. From that moment on, I was Jim Carrey to him and he thought I was pretty funny. We talked a little bit standing there in the 15 degree weather (probably 5 with wind chill) and he finally began to aks for some money so that he could get some fried chicken. I told him, no money, but I'll take you to chipotle. After come coercing, i was able to persuade him that Carnitas Tacos would be great. he finally gave in.

We walked over there. Ordered our food and sat down. He was a very messy eater I guess and i felt bad for how fast he was eating. He told me it was his first meal today and that it had been a pretty bad day. I later learned he was a Hurricane Wilma victim and has a wife and two kids. He hasn't seen his kids in a while or his wife and things didn't seem to be going great with them. He spoke very much of how he misses them. Then he continued to talk of how sad he is and how he feels like he is stuck. I tried giving him encouragment and telling him to keep trying and working hard and that things will work out (I'm not sure how true that really is)... but i figure positive enforcement is the best.

So all in all... no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always someone that has things worse. It's sad to say, but it's true. I hope things work out for the best for him.

This is me breathing.

So... Cold...

Today... I live at the airport. This morning, I woke up at 4:40 AM for my 6:00 AM flight, only to soon realize that it was really 6:50 AM and that i never actually turned the alarm on, i just left it in the Set Mode. So I ended up missing my flight, having to pay 100 bucks to take the 5:30 PM flight tonight, and I don't feel like driving so I figure I will just work from the airport. The worse feeling was probably this morning as i walked down my icy stairs and busted my butt on them. Didn't feel to great. As I walked down the stairs, I prayed that my car was there, and that I did not drive it. It was there... and i got word this morning that I did not drive it. Thank you lord.

All this... I blame on one thing. Yup, that's right. I'm retarded.

The worse part is... it's freezing cold in the airport. I'm beginning to think that they are actually running the A/C even though it's 26 degrees outside. It's at this time that i wish i owned a parka or some other extremely warm piece of clothing other than my north face fleece that is failing to keep me warm.

Last night is kind of a blur, supposedly the last thing that happened to me was i fell down outside the bathroom. I'm pretty sure I made a fool of myself, but that's what i get for drinking my arch enemy... Jack N Coke. It beat me up for sure last night, and it didn't help that i drank them at the bar in Dallas that is known for having the strongest drinks. Oh well. We all make mistakes right.

Change is definitely needed. "I lack the courage for even the simplest of deeds".

This is me breathing.

Boxers, Briefs, or Commando!

Guys fortunately have a few options to choose when it comes to under garments. I remember as a kid I wore whitey tightys... but eventually for some strange reason made the transition. And when i look back on it, I have no idea why, but it must have been one of the best decisions of my life in terms of comfortability.

I know a small percentage of people that go commando. I did it once or twice (only because my boxers got messed up or lost), but it was very uncomfortable. The rubbage of jean material on teh sensitive parts of the body is not nice at all and can be very irritating and painful.

Anyway, commando doesn't make sense, and whitey tightys are for boys... boxers are the way to go.

My Favorite Physical Force

The Centripetal force is not one that I 100% understand, but i do think it is one of the more useful ones in the world to somewhat understand.

Physics was by far my favorite subject in High School, although, I didn't really excel in it, I still found everything we learned to be very interesting. It helped understand the motion of things and how the world really operates.

So what does F(Centripetal) equal to... well its m * ( V^2/r). What does it mean, well.. any motion in a curved path represents accelerated motion and requires a force toward the center of the curvature. This is the center seeking force.

How can you apply it to everyday life... in your car, when driving on a curved road, before going into the turn, all your velocity is going straight. The mistake most people make is they break, and the velocity/motion of the car continues to go straight. The key thing to do in a turn is accelerate, so that the acceleration of your car is pointed in the new direction. This is the key to driving and mostly race car driving that most people don't understand. And I digress.

No Post Today

Wait for it....

Are they really Cubes?

The cube world is an interesting place. Technically I work inside of a rectangular prism without a top, but that would just be really strange if we called them that. Cube is short fast and easy to say.

Anyways, I'm not sure if all places are like where I am at now, but I've noticed that everyone has there own little world almost inside of their cube. Some people decorate it like it's there home, others talk on the phone in there outside voice and seem to want everyone to know what is going on in their personal life (and no janey, i don't care how much apple sauce your son threw up yesterday and i doubt the person on the phone you are talking to really cares, unless you are talking to god, because he cares about everything).

The one really strange thing about our internal cube worlds, is that when people sneeze, even in the cube next to us, no one says God Bless You or kazoontite. Which is odd to me, because we all hear it, but no one says anything even though it is the appropriate thing to do. Maybe I'm just crazy and a God bless you Nazi, but just my thoughts. And i Digress.

Day 3 of 2007. Keep on rocking in the free world.

Welcome to 2007

It's going to be a good year, I can already tell in so many ways. The following reasons are how I can already tell:

1. On my first flight of the year (this morning), we were delayed 20 minutes because they had to de-ice the plane (that's right, in Texas they have to do it sometimes, but my first time in Texas), I got to sit next to a rather large man who i definitely rubbed shoulders with the entire flight, and to top it off there was a man snoring rather loudly on the flight that really made me laugh since he was louder than a train being powered by horse manure. It was hot and romantic.
2. I went out yesterday, played waterfall with some friends and was already drunk again by 6 pm on the first day of the year.
3. I'm in Minnesota right now, and its only 36 degrees. Tonight I will try and run and hopefully not fall on the icy sidewalks or from hypothermia. I can do it.

As a result of these 3 negative ways to start, I believe i should counter them by purchase season 7 of Seinfeld on DVD. I watched all of season 6 this past weekend and can't remember laughing so much. And I digress.