Movie Music

I thoroughly enjoy the music of movies. Here I'm talking about background soundtrack music. A great movie score can add so much to a film. Here is a list of my 25 favorite such songs; no surprise that the list is dominated by music from Star Wars (8) and Lord of the Rings (7). I've included links to YouTube videos of each song. This may, of course, be updated as I watch (and rewatch) movies.

1. Duel of the Fates (Star Wars). I struggled with putting this song ahead of the Imperial March. But this song is just an amazing piece of music, both instrumentally and vocally. This song actually gives me the chills.
2. Imperial March (Star Wars). Classic.
3. Battle of the Heroes (Star Wars). Music during the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan in Episode III. More great vocals and instrumentation.
4. The Black Riders (Lord of the Rings).
5. Swords Crossed (Pirates of the Caribbean).
6. The Battle (Gladiator).
7. Emperor's Theme (Star Wars). Shares a bit with the Imperial March, but used more when the Emperor is on screen; dark and ominous. It's great.
8. Highway Chase Theme (The Matrix: Reloaded).
9. The Bridge of Khazad-dum (Lord of the Rings).
10. The Destruction of the Ring (Lord of the Rings). Good short tune with good vocals.
11. Lobby Shooting Spree Theme (The Matrix).
12. He's a Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean).
13. Star Wars Main Theme (Star Wars). Includes lots of great music, including the opening crawl theme and the music during the most suspenseful parts of the attack in the Death Star in A New Hope.
14. Isengard (Lord of the Rings).
15. The Fellowship (Lord of the Rings).
16. Driving With the Top Down (Iron Man).
    
17. The Lighting of the Beacons (Lord of the Rings). From Return of the King.
18. Funeral Theme (Star Wars). Great little ominous tune from the prequels with a hint of the original trilogy.
19. Jaws Theme (Jaws).
20. Professor Umbridge (Harry Potter).
21. The Dark Knight Theme (The Dark Knight).
22. Smeagol's Theme (Lord of the Rings).
23. Hedwig's Theme (Harry Potter).
24. Yoda's Theme (Star Wars). Soft and slow music, very good.
25. General Grievous' Theme (Star Wars). A nice piece of music from Episode III.

The Myths

I feel like I'm coming to the end of editing on The Lords of Sargoff. My wife has started to reread it. If I feel okay with it after another read-through or two, I do believe that I'll look into submitting it somewhere over the next few months. No matter what happens, it's been great fun, and I look forward to writing the second book in the series (which I will be doing at some point, whether or not book one ever gets published). I currently envision there being 3-5 books in the series. I know I've mentioned this before, but I've decided that The Lords of Sargoff is the name of the series, and the name of the first book is currently The Second Shadow, but that is not final. (A lot of novels that get published get renamed by the publisher anyway.)

In other writing news, as I have mentioned I may do, I have started expanding on my previously posted article, The Case for Death. The idea is to expand it into something book-length. I have 7 myths that humans often believe about death, and each chapter will be discussing why each myth is incorrect. Below are the seven myths and a quick summary. Let me know if you have any thoughts about any of them. This project is, of course, only in the beginning stages, and I need to flesh out the ideas a lot more. And I need to do a lot of reading.

1. A Good Life is a Long Life. A lot of the times, our focus is on keeping ourselves healthy and living a good, long life. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that shouldn't be our focus. The point of life is not to live as long as possible, but to fulfill God's plan for your life in the time you are given, whether that's twenty years or a hundred years.
2. A Good Life is a Wealthy Life. Same general idea as the previous one; life is not about building up treasures on Earth, but about building up treasures in Heaven. We should be more generous and use our resources for good, instead of simply building up our assets.
3. We Deserve Tomorrow. I think this is one of the toughest for us to understand. As we all know, we're all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. The Bible says that we all deserve death. However, it's not that we deserve death in fifty years; we all deserve it now. This may seem like a morbid thought, but we must realize that each day we have is truly a gift from God, and not a right we have. We should be thankful for every day, because for all of us, tomorrow is not guaranteed.
4. Life is Fair. It, of course, is not fair. Some good people die young, and evil people live long. Some lives are tougher, and some are easier. Life isn't fair, and in reality, it doesn't need to be. Life should not be about complaining that things aren't fair, life is about doing what you can with what you have.
5. Our Life is But Our Own. America is a very individualistic country, with the whole "look out for number one" mentality. We're not on this Earth to live as we like; we should be mindful of the needs of others, and more importantly, surrender to the will of God in our lives. It's about His plan, not ours. For each of us, that plan includes different purposes, different places, different times, and different life spans.
6. Good People Go To Heaven. This is also a tough one to understand, but the Bible clearly teaches that salvation is earned through faith in Christ and not through being a "good" person.
7. Death is the End. We all fear death, but that's due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to die. It is not the end, but merely the beginning of the next (and final) phase in our lives. We must not hold on to our lives so tightly in our fear of death that we never step out of our comfort zones in faith.
   

Top 10 Restaurants

I've decided to make (or remake) some top ten lists that I do not currently have posted on my website. They will likely end up there in time. So today I present to you my updated list of favorite restaurants. (My wife and I went to #2 very recently, for her birthday. It was wonderful.) The next list will likely be Bible verses. Let me know of any list requests! :)

1. Cheesecake Factory
2. The Melting Pot
3. Red Lobster
4. Damon's
5. Buffalo Wild Wings
6. Fuddrucker's
7. Famous Dave's
8. Olive Garden
9. Steak 'N Shake
10. Champp's

Yes, Actually I Am Still Alive

Haven't blogged in a while. Here's a typical what-I've-been-up-to rundown.

• The last couple weeks have been busy at work, as it is election season. While odd numbered years are certainly not as busy as even numbered years, there's still a decent bump in workload, causing us to work longer shifts and weekends. But, tomorrow is election day, then it'll be back to work as normal, if there is such a thing.
• I am thoroughly enjoying the Mustang. It's always a fun car, but I enjoy it most while the top is down. Which, being my normally warm self, happens much more than with most people. I will usually drive around with the top down when the temperature is at least 45 degrees, except on the interstate. I'll drive with the top down on the interstate when it's at least 50 or 55 degrees, but slower speeds allow for a lower temperature without freezing. I'm looking forward to next spring and summer. Especially during the summer, I'll have the top down pretty much all the time, weather permitting.
• I have finally gotten back into doing work on The Lords of Sargoff. I am nearly finished another read-through, continuing to work on making the language more fantasy-like. I'm starting to think I may not be too far away from considering submitting it somewhere, but who knows. Maybe a couple more rounds of edits and I'll decide what to do.
  

The Pony Car

I know most of you have seen pictures of my new car on Facebook, but I thought I'd post them here, along with a little more info on it. On September 20, we acquired a 2003 Ford Mustang convertible, with 64,000 miles. It is white, with a white top, white seats, and black interior. It is the 3.8 liter V6 engine. It has alloy wheels, a 6 disc CD changer, and a nice Mach stereo system.

I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far, especially with the top down. The convertible top goes up or down in about seven seconds. Mustangs have been one of my favorite cars for quite a long time, since high school or before, and in fact, this model of Mustang in convertible form was my #1 car for a while.

The trunk is a little small, but still good enough for me. Though, it will become rather useless over the winter, as it will be more or less full of bags of salt, so there will be a little more weight over the driving rear wheels in the winter. But that's okay.

So now my wife and I purchased 2 cars within about a 2 month period, and had saved up enough to buy both with cash. Hopefully they both end up being good cars and last a long while.

What Happens in Vegas

... ends up on my blog.

On Saturday, we got back from a five night vacation in Las Vegas, which was good fun. It was my first time there, and Megan's second. We stayed at the Excalibur, which looks like a castle. It was pretty neat. We walked around a lot, saw a couple shows, and had some very good food. Here's the overview.

• Oddly enough, the very first thing we did was go on a timeshare tour, where they were trying to get us to buy a timeshare in Vegas, which we had absolutely no interest in. But, we got a good discount on tickets for The Lion King play at the Mandalay Bay hotel. We paid $25 a ticket, instead of the normal $75, so we saved around $100 total. The play itself was on Wednesday night, and was rather good. (I enjoyed the Phantom of the Opera play we went to earlier this year, because it was darker, but this was still good.)
• On Thursday night, we went to see magician David Copperfield perform at the MGM Grand, which was a great show, and to me, the highlight of the trip. He did a lot of neat and crazy tricks. It was a lot of fun.
• On Friday, we went to the Palazzo hotel and walked through the Lamborghini Las Vegas showroom. They had several very nice cars there, but unfortunately, their Lamborghini was not there, as it was rented out. I don't have any idea how much it costs to rent a Lamborghini in Vegas, but it can't be cheap. However, they had 5 Ferraris (I had seen 3 total before, so now I've seen 8), and a few other nice cars. It was very cool. (I have seen 3 Lamborghinis in the past, so that's okay.) Another neat car-related sighting was that, sitting outside one of the hotels, we walked by an Aston Martin Vanquish. Not only had I never actually seen an Aston Martin before, but the Vanquish currently tops my favorite cars list. So that was awesome. Unfortunately, I failed and did not take a picture of it. What was I thinking? There was also the added bonus of it being parked right next to a Dodge Viper. How slick.
• We walked around many of the hotels along the Strip, and saw the neat fountain shows in front of the Bellagio and the Mirage.
• We ate a lot of food, including several buffets, which were quite tasty. We also went to a nice Italian place in the Excalibur, and I had swordfish for the first time, which was pretty good. We also ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was the first time I'd been there.

It was a fun trip, but as always, I'm happy to get back home and back to normal life.

That, and on Sunday I drove down to Jack's and picked up my Mustang, which is very exciting. It's good fun. It was a bummer to wave goodbye to the Cavalier, but I am very happy with my new ride. I'll post more about the Mustang, and more pictures, in an upcoming entry.

The Workless Week

My wife and I are going to Las Vegas during the week of September 14-19. It should be lots of fun, and will, of course, be nice not to have to go to work for a week. We can both use the vacation. I've never been to Vegas myself, but Megan has, and she rather enjoyed it. We will be entertaining ourselves with activities that do not include gambling, as there are lots of shows to go to (none of which include showgirls), and the hotels themselves are interesting to look at and walk through. We are staying at the Excalibur, a hotel that looks like a castle. It should be a good time.

And then, on September 20th, I get to drive down and trade my Cavalier in for the Mustang. I'm super pumped. In case you hadn't seen it on Facebook, I've included a picture of my Cavalier's odometer on August 29. It's been an excellent car, as I've had it for almost 7 years. But, time came to get something different. Only 17 more days until The Age of the Mustang begins... :)

My New Ride

Well, this is technically a little premature, but alas. I have one more month of driving my Cavalier (giving it enough time to easily hit 200,000 miles), and then I will trade it in for my new ride: a 2003 Ford Mustang convertible. I am buying it from Jack, who has provided multiple different vehicles to our family over the years (by my count, this will be at least the ninth car we've gotten from him). Jack provided this picture to me before I was able to go see it.

I drove down on Sunday to see it and test drive it. It is great fun to drive, especially with the top down. It drives great and is all around in quite good condition. I had been searching for such a car for a while at dealerships around the Twin Cities, and a few weeks ago had emailed Jack to ask him questions about Mustangs regarding reliability, and he told me that they had this car, and had had it for a few years, and rather enjoyed it, and that it was a "great car." Then last week, he emailed me and said that he was going to be selling it, and asked it I was interesting. Which of course, I most certainly was. So it ended up working out rather nicely. We're paying $8900 for the car, but will also be getting $500 in trade-in for my Cavalier. Sweet.

The only thing I wish was different about it is the color, as white is actually one of my least favorite car colors. But that's something I can live with, considering that I think this quite a good car, and should be reliable. I trust Jack more than dealerships, and the fact that it has been his car for around 5 years means that he's been keeping very good care of it. It also has never been driven in a Minnesota winter, so there's no winter damage.

I am rather pumped. But, of course, it will be until the weekend of September 20th that I'll be able to get it. Booyah.

Crushed Beyond Repair

Every so often, words of a poetic nature pop into my head. I wrote this one just yesterday, and it's the first one I've written since March (I posted that one as well - This Question Haunts Me Still).

Crushed Beyond Repair

Somebody come and rescue me, I'm crushed beyond repair
Someone come and take my hand and let me know you're there
Come and sit beside me, place your hand upon my heart
Pull me close and hold me tight, in case I fall apart

I once had joy and dreams and hopes, but now my heart is grim
I once saw a bright horizon, but now my view is dim
I felt the love around and through, I never hid nor fled
But now I have nowhere to run, and I've been left for dead

Where are they hopes that once felt so true?
Why am I abandoned by all I once knew?
Who can I blame for where I am and where I've been?
When can my eyes shut and not open again?

Somebody come and rescue me, I'm crushed beyond repair
Someone come and take my hand and let me know you're there
Every hand I've found to hold has failed me in the end
Another painful memory, another wound to mend

What in this world can bring me peace?
What hand can make the anguish cease?
What path is there for me to tread
That brings me views of light instead?

From deep within, I feel a love I haven't known before
I can't explain but now I know this hand holds something more
Blood drips from the shattered palm, my world is torn in two
The old life is washed away, I'm left with something new

Our New Ride

Last week, my wife's 1997 Pontiac Grand Am was in the shop, and the issues with it were so bad, that we ended up just getting rid of it. We had actually accumulated quite a bill for the repair, but the shop just took the car off our hands and we didn't owe anything else. That did, of course, leave us with a gaping hole in transportation. So on Saturday, we went car shopping.

We went to four different dealerships and test drove 4 different cars (a 2000 Grand Prix, a 2004 Dodge Neon, a 2005 Ford Focus, and a 2004 Chevrolet Aveo) before test driving and ultimately purchasing a 2004 Dodge Stratus (our new-to-us car is pictured). We went a little over what we were planning on spending, but I think it was a good deal for a good car with low mileage (35,000). There were a couple small things they were going to do to it, most notably being the removal of the tinting on the windows. We didn't know if there would be any issues with it being too dark, legally, so we just decided to have them remove it (since they offered to do it at no additional charge). We've gone a couple days with only one car, but we'll be picking up the Stratus tonight after work.

At dealerships, we did see 2 Dodge Vipers and one Prowler (previously my favorite car, since replaced by the Aston Martin Vanquish). The Vipers and Prowler were around six or seven times our automotive budget.

My 2000 Chevy Cavalier is still running, but I don't know how long I'm going to keep it. Just last week it hit 198,000 miles. I know I want to drive it to 200,000 (and get a picture of that number), but then I almost would like to replace it sometime in the fall. It's starting and running rougher, and I have worries of taking it through another Minnesota winter. But we'll see.

When I do go shopping, I believe I'm going to be a bit pickier as to what kind of car I'll get. I'll probably look up cars online (mostly on Carsoup) and then have a list of cars and dealerships I'd like to visit. But who knows. I have a certain amount of hope that I can find a decent Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, or Eclipse in our price range. If not, I'll look at some other cars I like, like a Grand Prix. I would really like another two door car, at least something like a Cobalt or even another Cavalier. Part of me also wouldn't mind a pickup. (All these linked cars are ones I might put on my list to go test drive. That linked Grand Prix is actually the exact car we test drove on Saturday.)

The Month of Wordlessness

So yes, it has, in fact, been a month since I've posted. Crazy huh. Here's what I've been up to.

• In June (the day after my last posting, in fact), I went to Ohio and hung out with the family. We had a good time. I got to eat my favorite ice cream in the world (Graeter's) and go to one of my favorite restaurants (Damon's), neither of which is present in Minnesota.
• Erik and I also played a test round of my Reclamation card game. I do think that, each time we've played it, it's been improved, and I left with a bunch of notes for additional changes, most of which I've already made in the rules (but haven't had a chance to play test yet). I'll bring updated decks and rules when I'm back in the Eastern time zone around Thanksgiving.
  
• For my birthday, Erik and Gina gave me the book The Game Inventor's Guidebook: How to Invent and Sell Board Games, Card Games, Role-Playing Games, & Everything in Between! It is interesting and should be useful. I had done some work on a board game called Myridia last year, and wouldn't mind picking that up again and perhaps playtesting it in November as well. I do enjoy designing games.
• I have been considering expanding a previous piece of writing (The Case for Death) into something more book-length. I already have a couple pages of notes, and have come up with the basic concept - 7 myths about death and why they are incorrect. But I may want to finish up my work on The Lords of Sargoff and get that submitted around for publication before I start on that too much, unless I decide to start work on the next Lords of Sargoff book instead.
• Over the 4th of July weekend, my parents and David and Becca were around. We had a good time, including a Twins game and the fireworks. They left on Monday.
• A couple weeks ago, I had a dentist appointment, and found out that for the first time in my life, I had a cavity. So yesterday I went in to get the cavity filled. It was a small cavity, and they did not numb me at all. This is what I get for not eating as well, and for not going to the dentist last year. Whoops.

Here's hoping it's not another month until the next posting.

The Hunt for the Canine

My wife and I have been keeping our eyes open for a dog. A few weeks ago, we put to sleep Ruffles, her 14 year old Maltese that she had had since it was a puppy. We are now looking for another dog, but one that is more a compromise dog, and one that will do fine in an apartment. The apartment technically has a 20 pound limit on dogs, but we've certainly seen may others that are over that limit, and think we could probably stretch it to 30 or 35 pounds.

We have found a few that we thought might work, but a couple of them (Pia the cattle dog and Speckles the blue heeler) are probably too energetic to be in an apartment. We've also considered Sasha the chow chow / keeshond mix.

But we're unlikely to get one of those. One of the breeds of dogs we've found that we think would work is a Shiba Inu (pictured). They've had a few at the humane societies, so we're hoping they get another one at some point.

On a future note, I am looking forward to getting a house and (hopefully) a big outside dog. My two favorite types of dogs are the St. Bernard and Siberian Husky. The humane societies also currently have a very cool Alaskan Malamute.

I am, of course, still a cat person, but my wife is allergic. I have hopes of either a future hypoallergenic cat (when they're not $4000) and/or an outside cat, when we get a house.

Disc Golf

I have picked up a new little hobby recently: Frisbee Golf. It's good fun. There are tons of free courses to play at (I've been playing at Lakewood Hills in White Bear Lake), the only expense is buying the discs (mine cost around $9 and earns me extra geek points by having an Orc on it). I'm not particularly good at it, but I am getting better.

It's both lots of fun and something to keep me active. The Lakewood Hills course is about 8 miles from where I work, and I will sometimes play some over my lunch break. There are 14 holes on the course, and I can usually get through at least half in about 40 minutes. I actually have a spreadsheet of my scores (Gina should be proud), showing how I've been doing.

So if anyone reading this (who lives in the area) :) wants to ever play a round, let me know.

More With Names

Thanks for the replies to my last post. The jury is still out on the fate of the name of Arien. Now today, I have more thoughts on names. Previously, I had posted how I will quite possibly use The Lords of Sargoff as the name of the book series, and thus will have to come up with a new name for the first book. Here's a list of possible names I've come up with. Let me know if any of them sound like a good title, especially for those who have read it. :) Or, of course, any other ideas or thoughts on book titles would be helpful. I have a few that I like more than others, but I'm curious as to what any of you think.

The Light of Fear
The Light of Magic
The Light of Mystery
The Stone of Fear
The Stone of Magic
The Essence of Fear
The Essence of Magic
The Essence of Light
The Light of War
The Essence of Chaos
The Source of Light
The Curse of the Light
The Illumination
The Glorious War
The Beauty of Chaos
The Glorious Chaos
The Second Shadow
The Power of Magic
The Rise of Fear
The Magic of Fear
The Rise of Chaos
The Essence of War
The Power of War
The Malumar
The Second Shadow of the Malumar
The Successor
The Successor of Chaos

Evidently, My Book is Nazi Propaganda

.......well, not really. But I have recently been made aware of something that I had previously not considered when it comes to my fantasy novel, The Lords of Sargoff.

In the book, there is a dark wizard named Lord Arien (pronounced like "Ariel" from The Little Mermaid). It is also pronounced like "Aryan," which is what the Nazis referred to as the "master race." It has been commented that keeping the character with this name may bring up negative connotations and turn off some of the readers, perhaps especially those that are of races targeted by Aryan racism.

So, I'm hoping to get some input on whether you think this is actually an issue, especially from those who have read the book (which is most of you). It seems there are two possible actions to take.

I can, of course, rename the character. On the other hand, part of me sees the similarities between Lord Arien and the Aryan master race. The character is one bent on dominance and power, with very little regard for the lives of others. I could keep the name, because the connection almost fits.

What do you think? Does it even matter?

Vacationing

I will be visiting my family in Ohio in June, which I am very excited about, but that is not the only little vacation I'll be taking. My wife and I are planning a little trip sometime during the summer or fall, probably July or September. We've talked about New York City or California (would likely be around San Francisco). More likely, however, is that we've talking about going to Las Vegas. I've never been there, but Megan has. She said it was great fun, and that there's lots of fun things to do that don't include gambling. (Or showgirls.) Lots of shows and that kind of thing. So that could be interesting, and it's another state to remove from my states-I've-never-been-to list (currently includes 13 states).

On a related note, I've gotten a bump up in how much vacation days I'm receiving at work, and so now I'm actually earning around an extra 4 days of vacation per year. Which is really rather exciting, as I've been rather low on that lately. Now, I will not only have days for the Ohio trip, the trip with Megan, and going to Ohio for Thanksgiving, but I am hoping to be able to start working TECs again (I need 1 or 1.5 days of vacation each time I work one). Those are great fun and great experiences, and I had worked 3 as an adult, but now haven't worked one for a year, which is no good at all.

In other news, I've just about completed another round of edits on The Lords of Sargoff. I'm pretty happy with it right now, even though I know that there's certainly more work to go. If anyone would like the current version to read (or re-read), let me know and I'll send it over (it's currently just over 67,000 words, or approximately 269 pages).

Anticipation, Cinematically Speaking

Here are my most anticipated movies of 2009, in order of my excitement:

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (7/17) - This was also my #1 looked forward to movie of 2008, but it got pushed back from a November release to July. The trailers look good. I've found each movie in the series to get better, so I have high hopes for this one. I will be rereading the book before going to see the movie.

Star Trek (5/8) - This will only be the second Star Trek movie I've seen in the theater (after First Contact). At that time, that was the only Trek movie I had seen, and I had only seen a few episodes. Now, I've seen quite a few episodes, all the movies, and I play the card game. Suffice it to say I'm now officially a Trek fan.

Terminator Salvation (5/21) - Even though this is an Arnold-less Terminator, I've found the trailers to look good, and the addition of Christian Bale is a big plus. And it comes out on my birthday. Nothing like apocalyptic-type storyline to celebrate my birth.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (5/1) - The trailers look more promising than I originally thought they would. So this movie has potential.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (6/24) - While I've never been much into Transformers myself, I did rather like the first movie. Let's hope this one doesn't go the typical sequel route and be utterly terrible.

Public Enemies (7/1) - How can you go wrong when you pair my two favorite actors (Johnny Depp and Christian Bale)? Plus, of course, the movie looks interesting.

I expect theatrical viewings for at least the first five, and hopefully the sixth. There are some other movies that I have interest in, but these are certainly at the top.

Hacking, Biting, Cleaning, Knowing

(Just like Treebeard said.)

Well, it's been an interesting last twenty four hours. Here's a quick recap, for those of who you love to know what I've been up to.

• Yesterday, my Everquest II character Chromiden (a healer), reached level 80, which is the highest level currently attainable in the game. It was very exciting. :) I have another character, Vython (a necromancer), who is rather close behind him at leve 77, and will reach 80 in the near future. Then a bit of my time will be spent with Athennemarr, my level 52 brigand (a scout), and I'm looking forward to having him level up higher.
• In the last week, our apartment complex has decided that it will start charging us $15 a month for storage units that we previously were allowed to use for free. We've had two of them, and we are currently doing a bit of spring cleaning, getting rid of things we no longer need (I've gotten rid of a bunch of stuff), in order to reduce our storage needs, hopefully so we don't need either of those storage units any more. Not that we couldn't afford the $15 month, but, we just don't want to. :) We stayed up pretty late working on that stuff, which is good we stayed up later than usual, because...
  
• Last night, after midnight, someone hacked into my Facebook account and wrote some rather inappropriate and racist things on my profile and to some of my friends, including profanity, Satanic and homosexual references, and racist slurs. They also changed my profile picture to a pornographic image. Fortunately, we noticed it within ten minutes of it happening, so I quickly removed all such changes and also changed my password. I don't know who this person was, but that was just weird, and rather disturbing that people would do that.
  
• Yesterday, my wife and I went to see the movie Knowing. Overall I did like it, though I don't think it all came together as well as it should have. I'm not going to give anything away, in case any of you see it. But I did like it. Soon I am going to post my list of 2009 movies I'm looking forward to, as there actually are quite a few, the first of which comes out in just about a month.
  
• Over the weekend, my wife and I also went out to Buffalo Wild Wings, which has become one of my favorite places to eat. They have great chicken and sauces. I always get boneless chicken wings. They have around 14 different sauces, on a scale of how hot they are. Yesterday, I tried the Wild sauce, which is the second hottest sauce they have, and it was rather good. One of the next times, I'll try their hottest, which is Blazin'. It will be wonderful, and will possibly cause my tongue to light on fire.
  

The Return of the Poet

Here's something I wrote a couple days ago; it's been a while since I've written anything poetic.
--
This Question Haunts Me Still

The foolish man I see, through my years and history,
All the flaws and errored ways, the regretted yesterdays,
My attempts at turning round, hopes of landing on solid ground,
Longing to forget that past, believing I can change at last.

I leave my former days behind, buried in the depths of mind,
Looking forward, not looking back, grasping what I used to lack,
The blood drips upon my soul, the broken body is here to hold,
My life was once in disarray, but You have made it new today.

Yet this question haunts me still, if I am a city on a hill,
If forgiveness covers me, if I'm dead to sin and forever free,
If my past is gone and my future bright, if I'm walking in the light,
Why do I turn and thus allow, sin to yet control me now?

These evil ways that thrive within, bring shame upon my heart again,
For I was saved and I was clean, my eyes shown with sights unseen,
Drowned in forgiveness and bathed in the light, sin was defeated and gone was the night,
Despite my attempts to live life as I should, I fell into darkness as You knew that I would.

I do what I hate and I hate what I do, my life is a lie that I'm trying to prove,
Though I've given my life to grace, I fall and I stumble every step of the race,
Each time I'm shamed and I look back to You, Your hand is outstretched and the forgiveness is true,
You remind me we've fallen short of the glory, but this side of Heaven's not the end of the story.

Cars, Pounds, Cards, Words, and Brackets

I continue to blog less often than I have in the past. I really should improve that. Anyway, here's some (un-) interesting tidbits from my recent life.

• I have created a lot of images for my Reclamation card game, and will now be able to easily print out cards for playtesting. For those interested, you can view the cards or print for deck making.
• My car has hit 190,000 miles, and is less than 100 miles from 191,000. Not too long until it hits the impressive 200,000 milestone. Assuming it makes it that long.
• I had posted on here at some point about me wanting to lose weight. Well, I am happy to say that I have been eating much better (in general), and so far.... have dropped 18 pounds. I still have a bit more to lose though for my target weight.
• I love the NCAA basketball tournament. It's just good fun. At the time of writing this blog, I had correctly picked 20 of 24 games, and am tied for first place in both bracket groups I am entered in (one with family, one at work). That, obviously, could all change rather quickly.
• I am starting to work more on Lords of Sargoff again. One of my friends just finished reading it, and gave me some good tips. I have done a lot of little edits with wording, and also some bigger changes, including making significant changes to one particular section. That particular section may also end up being moved to a different part of the book, but that is still under consideration. The current version contains 65,500 words and 27 chapters.
  
• In other thoughts on the book, I can see myself writing more books and turning this story into a series, which makes me think about book names. Currently The Lords of Sargoff is the name of the first book, but it is quite possible that I would make that the name of the series instead. I have come up with a short list of possible names for book one, should I do things that way. Such potential book one titles include The Light of Fear and The Light of Magic. Book two (which I already have quite a bit of plot notes for) would quite possibly be titled The Blood of the Queen. Let me know if you have any thoughts on titles for the first book (for those of who who have read it).
  

Slow It Down

I often do things quickly. When working on different tasks, I like to finish them quickly and move onto what's next, or perhaps have some extra time in between. I don't like to take much time on things.

This certainly has its advantages. At work, I am very fast at what I do. I do our day-to-day projects quicker than anyone else. I am often the go-to guy for high priority projects, because I will complete it quickly. This, however, leads to a certain problem, that affects things both at work and in other aspects of my life.

The faster you push yourself to complete a task, the more prone you are to mistakes. I have always understood this, and yet have continued to complete things as fast as possible. I have realized recently, however, that I need to change this habit and attempt to slow things down.

At work, mistakes lead to the redoing of projects, and can cost additional time. Recently, I made a couple mistakes that will cause us headaches for a few weeks, and also cost the company some revenue. I need to slow down my work and do a better job of double checking my work. I need to pay more attention to what I am doing to make sure I am doing it correctly.

Oddly enough, the other aspect of my life that I am seeing this problem is in playing games. I love gaming. I play three different collectible card games, and it is my favorite hobby. However, in those games, I often make my strategic decisions too quickly and don't allow myself to fully think through each situation. This has lead to hasty and poor decisions, and has caused me to lose many more games than I think I should have. (We have been tracking our games recently, and since we started doing so, I have a 19-40 record. Ick.)

I think I'm a pretty smart person. Not that I'm a super genius, but I think I'm fairly intelligent. However, I think I sometimes rush through decisions and strategies and make myself appear less intelligent than I really am, when the problem is really that I simply didn't stop long enough to apply myself cognitively to the problem. In gaming, I lose games due to a poorly executed maneuver or ill conceived strategy, because I didn't fully think out all the different possible results. If I would slow down and allow my mind to fully wrap itself around the situation and consider what else could happen in the game, I think I would make less bad decisions and, ultimately, win more games.

The same is true of work. If I slow myself down and fully think out each project, double checking my work and fully thinking through each step, making sure not to miss anything, I would make less mistakes, which would make me look better as an employee and would ultimately allow me to go farther within the company (and in my career).

So, I am going to try my very best to slow down and think things through more. I don't want to miss things because I was too busy speeding through everything I'm doing. Speed is good, but it is less useful if it causes you to do things twice.

A Place of Rest

My wife and I recently purchased a new couch from Ashley Furniture. We looked around at many places, and finally chose this one. It is comfy and, most importantly, my wife likes it. We have also now bought an area rug for the middle of the living room, and will be getting some type of coffee table or footrest. We have a couple other items we'd like to get for the living room as well. Then hopefully we can stop buying things. :)

For those who care about my Reclamation card game: I have no created a printout page for the Genesis set, for playtesting purposes. I will be working on the images (right now they all have a 'No Image' placeholder, but all I need to do is upload the image for a card and the programming will use it). So I will be working on the images. However, the cards should work for playtesting purposes, and should print out okay. In theory.

LotD: Melon Mouth.

So Much to Do, So Little Time

One quick update on things that I am currently working on. Aren't you excited? :)

I have not worked very much on The Lords of Sargoff for a little while, but I am hoping to return to it shortly, as there is still a lot of work left on it. The story is pretty much in place, and most of the remaining work is in wording and tone, but there will certainly be some changes (mostly small) to story and plot.

A few weeks ago, I posted an article I had written called The Case for Death. I feel strongly about this subject and am considering delving into it deeper and expanding that article into something longer. I am just starting to take additional notes, but will certainly keep my blog audience updated on how much farther I take it.

And finally, I have done a significant amount of tweaking to the rules of my Reclamation card game, and will be looking forward to doing some playtesting. I have changed how characters enter play and are set up, and I have also made changes to battles. It should be interesting.

LotD: Floating Islands.

Fifty Random Cooper Facts

Here are fifty random things about me, that you may or may not have known, and may or may not have wanted to know.

1. I have been to 37 of the 50 states, missing Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Washington. I have also been to Washington, DC.
2. From the ages of 9 to 14, I had the same shoe size as age.
3. In the sixth grade lunch line, a girl elbowed me in the stomach and I fainted. For another thirty minutes or so, my vision then seemed like a television receiving a static-filled signal.
4. Around the age of twelve, I gave into peer pressure and jumped off a high ledge into the Ohio River. I gashed my foot open on a rock and scratched up my back.
5. I have a dream of becoming a published author. I would actually love to be able to write full time instead of work in computers. I also think it would be great to be a songwriter.
6. My contacts have a prescription of approximately -8.00.
7. I've been pulled over for speeding 14 times and have been given 4 tickets. I was pulled over a 15th time for a burnt out headlight.
8. I eat macaroni and cheese with ketchup.
9. I was an underachiever in high school, and slacked my way to a 2.513 GPA. I did better in college.
10. I hate all fruit except bananas, tomatoes, and olives. I hate apples and yet like applesauce; oranges are one of my least favorite, and yet I drink orange juice, but not if it has much pulp.
11. I have moved residences 7 times and lived in 4 different states. Time totaled, I have lived in Minnesota the most (Minnesota: 10 total years, Ohio: 8, Pennsylvania: 4.5, Maine: 4).
12. My biggest pet peeve is smoking. I also rather dislike long hallways.
13. I fit into each of the categories of dork, geek, and nerd.
14. I am an optimist.
15. I am pigeon toed.
16. Related to the last one, every pair of shoes I’ve bought for the past decade has been a Nike from one of their outlet stores. My body is somehow a little screwed up and my feet need good support, and I find Nike to have better support in their sneakers than most others. Also, it is not always easy to find size 14 shoes in other shoe stores.
17. I took a year of piano lessons when I was younger. I also played baritone in the school band from 6th – 12th grade. I was never very good.
18. I’ve never had a drink of alcohol. Nor have I had a cigarette or any type of drug that was not in a medication or a carbonated beverage.
19. I’ve never had a broken bone.
20. I’ve never had a cavity.
21. I can count on one hand the number of times in my life I’ve slipped a profanity.
22. I have purchased and played several collectible card games included Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Young Jedi, Jedi Knights, Rage, and Austin Powers. I have also played at least one game of Pokemon, X-Men, and Middle Earth. (I am also working on creating my own such card game, currently called Reclamation, based on the Bible.) I also love to play poker.
23. One day, my ten year old self and my fifteen year old brother decided to stack our small trampoline on the top of several wooden blocks, in an attempt to dunk the basketball hoop. He tried it first, and proceeded to break his wrist.
24. I’ve been to a doctor a total of two times (not including normal checkups): once for an ear infection and once for a 104 degree temperature.
25. I am a cat person, though my wife is allergic.
26. My favorite animals are large cats and sharks.
27. I almost never buy into conspiracy theories.
28. My best Scrabble word ever was “Gyration” – crossing over 2 triple words for 149 points. My best Scrabble game ever was 522 points.
29. I have only dated one woman, and I married her.
30. To clarify, I did have a “girlfriend” in high school for 3 weeks, but we never went on a date or saw each other outside of school. I was exceptionally nervous and shy.
31. By that time, I had become completely convinced that I was never going to get married.
32. Years later, I proposed to my then-girlfriend at a gazebo next to the lake in Albert Lea. The gazebo was decorated with roses and candles, and I read her a poem I am written for her.
33. I had taken out an additional student loan to pay for the ring.
34. My favorite pizza is from Pizza Hut. I love the stuffed crust.
35. I have only been to 2 other countries – Canada (which barely counts) and the Bahamas, for our honeymoon in 2006.
36. I have now built 2 of my computers instead of buying it as a system.
37. I did not vote for Barack Obama.
38. My favorite NFL team is the San Francisco 49ers, even though I’ve never been to California. My favorite ever football player is Joe Montana.
39. Geographically speaking, my favorite state is Colorado.
40. I once had a pedal snap off my bike and dig into my leg, and I still have scars from it. I have other scars from box knives and chisels, and the grill from McDonald’s.
41. I was picked on terribly in grade school. I was also punched in the face once before a little league baseball game.
42. During all of high school, I ate one cafeteria lunch. I usually had a sack lunch. I even brought a sack lunch into McDonald’s once.
43. I am somewhat lactose intolerant, yet I love milk, ice cream, and cheese. A stomach ache is worth a good bowl of ice cream.
44. When I was around 8 years old, I fell off my bike and knocked my mouth into the corner of a wooden picnic table. My two front teeth were knocked out because of it.
45. Concerning Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies: I have gone to see them in the theater a total of 27 times.
46. The first R rated movie I saw in the theater was Air Force One.
47. I love (non-alcoholic) egg nog.
48. The first CD I ever purchased was Michael W. Smith: The First Decade.
49. The highest profile person I’ve ever met is Senator Norm Coleman, from Minnesota. Also, my father attended the University of Maine at the same time as Stephen King, and one of my former coworkers was a college roommate with Tony Romo, current quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.
50. I worked for two months as a nursing assistant at a nursing home, working with sufferers of Alzheimers. They let me go, and several months later I started working at McDonald’s, where I met a girl named Megan. Oh, and then I married her.

More than a Sound

Music is one of my favorite things in the world. I rather enjoy cranking up the volume and listening to some good hard rock. But music doesn't stop there. Music is not simply the sounds of the instruments. The words of music can hold great value; they can bring you messages of joy and peace and hope.

I listen only to Christian music, with the sole exception being Weird Al Yankovic. I listen only to Christian music because I want the messages of the songs I listen to to be positive and not tainted by a secular worldview. The lyrics of a lot of today's mainstream music flies completely in the face of what we know to be Biblical truth, and yet these are the songs we are choosing to play on the radio so our young children can listen and repeat over and over in their heads. I honestly feel that such music (along with movies and TV) all play into warping our beliefs about morality and Godliness.

Of course, probably due to a desire for success, many Christian bands use lyrics that, while they may not be morally irrehensible, are not always openly and obviously Christian. Their message is buried in analogies and subtleties, and it is not always obvious up front that it is a Christian band. They seem to be in the music business solely to provide entertainment, and not to use their talents to further the kingdom of God. While I understand that being "overly Christian" in your lyrics may turn off nonbelievers from listening, I really enjoy it and appreciate it when I hear a song that I really like that I can easily tell the beliefs and message of the band. We should not allow our choice of music to be swayed by the world and what they consider to be popular and true; for the music we listen to should be aligned with the absolute truth of Christ.

I recently purchased my first CD in many years. It is the Fireflight: Unbreakable album, and it is pretty much wonderful. The music is great (rock, but not too hard; no screaming), and the lyrics are obvious in their message. They have quickly become one of my favorite bands, and Unbreakable has become one of my favorite songs.

To finish, here are some pieces of lyrics from the Fireflight album. At some point, I might post some of my more favorite lyrics in general, but for the moment, I'm just really appreciating this album and its message.

God, I want to dream again
Take me where I’ve never been
I want to go there
This time I’m not scared
Now I am unbreakable, it’s unmistakable
No one can touch me
Nothing can stop me
- Unbreakable

Your love, it burns
Away my darkness
You guide me when I’m blind
You are the light
That shines inside me
Showing me I’m
So much more
When I’ve been on a losing streak
Hit so hard I couldn’t speak
But when I hear Your voice it fades away
- Brand New Day

And you want Him, and you need Him
But you act like He’s not there
Yeah, you know that you’re hollow
And something’s missing here
So you push and you pull the hole in your soul
But you can’t make the hunger disappear
- The Hunger

Yesterday I heard Your voice
Whispering through all the noise
I pretended I couldn’t hear You
But You kept on pursuing me
And You began to move in me
And I just couldn’t hide any more
- Go Ahead

And I’m here to stay
Nothing can separate us
And I know, I’m ok
You cradle me gently
Wrapped in your arms.... I’m home
- Wrapped in Your Arms

Making Less of Me

No, this is not a lesson in humility. Perhaps in a future post. :)

As I've talked about before, I am going to try to lose some weight. I have become more serious about it over the last few months, and am making a New Year's resolution (the first one I've ever made) to crack down on it and stick to it. Here are some steps I am and will be taking, most of which are obvious, but alas:

• Eat less. This includes, when going out to eat, eating half my meal and saving the other half. I do love leftovers. This also includes not overeating on snacks, as I have often done.
• Eat better. I have already been eating vegetable-type soups for lunch at work, and I will be making sure my suppers are healthier.
• Exercise. I will be using the treadmill 3 times each week. I have also started playing volleyball each week, which is a good workout. Trying to add extra walking to my day is also a good thing.
  
• Drink more water. I also need to drink less pop. We rarely have pop at home, but I sometimes overdo it when going out to eat or at game and card nights. At home, I drink mostly juice and milk.
  
• Get more fiber. I've been eating cereal for breakfast everyday for a year or more, but I've gotten some healthier cereals that are stuffed full of fiber.
  

I have small goals first, of losing 5 and 10 pounds, but my long term goal is to lose at least 40 pounds, hopefully 50. This will take sticking to a plan and not overeating. If anyone has any other weight loss tips, I'd love to hear them.

LotD: T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project. Tests With Inorganic Noxious Kakes In Extreme Situations.