Here's my favorites of 2009. I like to do my list a few days after the new year, because I'm an egomaniac and think more people will read it than if I did it on January 1st like everyone else. So, without further ado, here is MY list of everything 2009:
Movies
Favorite Movies of 2009: Up In The Air
District 9
Taken
The Soloist
Star Trek
Tyson
The Hangover
Funny People
Inglorious Bastards
Zombieland
Avatar
I Love You, Man
Least Favorite Movies of 2009: Halloween II
Transformers 2
Drag Me to Hell
Bruno (Couldn't even finish watching this actually)
Observe and Report
Favorite Movie of 2009: Tie between District 9 and Up In the Air (but if you put a gun to my head, I'd probably pick District 9)
Least Favorite Movie of 2009: Halloween II
Movie I'd Like to Kick in the Nuts if it had Genitals: Transformers II
Movie I Saw That's Going to Win a Ton of Awards But I Didn't Care For Very Much: The Hurt Locker
Movie I Liked that Completely Ruins my Credibility: G.I. Joe
Movies I Didn't Care For That Much Despite Seemingly Everyone Else Liking Them: Up
9
The Ugly Truth
Public Enemies
The Orphan
Paranormal Activity
Movies I Liked That Other People Seemingly Didn't Like: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Terminator Salvation
Know1ng
Movie I Liked the First Half of but Hated the Last Half: The Invention of Lying
Movie I Don't Want People to Know I Loved: Crank 2: High Voltage
Movie That Made Me Very Uncomfortable Watching: Last House on the Left
Movies from 2009 I am Really Eager to See Still: The Informant!
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Extract
Movie I Don't Need to See to Know it Totally Sucks: Twilight: New Moon
MUSIC
Favorite Albums of the 2009: The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
Editors - In This Light and on This Evening
John Mayer - Battle Studies
Air - Love 2
Tiesto - Kaleidoscope
Muse - The Resistance
Favorite Songs of 2009: The Prodigy - Take Me to the Hospital
Editors - Papillon (yes, spelled like that) and Bricks and Mortar
Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Rock
VAST - I Know How to Love
Chevelle - Sleep Apnea
Pink - Sober
Dead Confederate - The Rat
Death Cab for Cutie - Cath
Tiesto featuring Nelly Furtado - Who Wants to Be Alone
Imogen Heap - Canvas [Mark Eteson Re-Paint]
U2 - Magnificent
Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight
Soliquid - Music is for Rich People
Pendragon - Indigo
Favorite Song I Listened to in 2009 That I Think Came out in 2008: Jamie Foxx - Blame It
Favorite 2 Songs From 2008 That I Listened to in Africa in 2009: Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes
Hillsong - You'll Come
Person I'm Glad Did Not Make Music in 2009: Amy Winehouse
Album from 2009 that did not Live up to the Hype of 12 Years in Production: Guns n’ Roses - Chinese Democracy
MEDIA
Favorite Blu-Ray: Star Trek (SO MUCH bonus stuff)
Best Website for Making a Music Station that Plays Only What I Like: last.fm
Favorite Video Games of 2009: Shadow Complex
Fifa '10
Fight Night Round 4
Rock Band 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Resident Evil 5
DJ Hero
Ghostbusters
Street Fighter IV
Favorite Video Game of 2009: Tie between Shadow Complex and Fifa ‘10
Favorite New Gadget of 2009: iPhone 3GS
Favorite Apps for iPhone: Runkeeper
iSwapfaces
Cydia
I Am T-Pain
Logos
ESPN ScoreCenter
Chase Banking App
MISC
Worst Preaching Experience of 2009: Roseville First Presbyterian because I forgot my notes
Favorite Preaching Experience of 2009: Preaching at the Destitute Camp in Africa, which is home to all of the lepers, blind, lame, mute, deaf, handicapped and otherwise underprivileged. (And to be underprivileged in Africa is COMPLETELY different than being underprivileged here.) A man named Justin accepted Christ after I preached a sermon on Matthew 5, and that might just be my most treasured experience of my life, next to the birth of my children.
Favorite Pair of New Shoes in 2009: Sketchers Citywalk Midnite (Color Black)
Approximate # of Miles Ran from May to December: 280
Pounds Lost in 2009: 18
Favorite Purchase of 2009: Samsung 42' Plasma TV for the Bedroom
TV Show That Should Have Sucked Based on Recent History, But Totally Doesn't: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
AFRICA
Best Thing that Happened to me in 2009: Going to Africa for a Month
Thing (non-person) I Missed the Most While There: Music (I didn't bring an mp3 player or radio. On purpose)
People I Missed the Most: Duh.
Favorite Person I Met in Africa Over the Age of 3: Rashidi Nyasinde
Favorite Person I Met in Africa: Ephram (Doto)
Scariest Moment In Africa: On the safari when we went off-course and tried climbing a hill in the Land Rover. I should have fallen off the roof, and the Land Rover should have tipped backwards, landing on me. There is no reason other than God as to why this didn’t happen.
Favorite Place to Eat While in Africa: Hilltop
Thing I Can Still Imagine if I Close my Eyes and Think About: Feeling the tops of all of the little kids heads as we walked. I would put my hand on their heads and pray for them, and I can still remember exactly how they're hair and heads feel. Coming in a close second is the smell of the village we stayed in. It’s not a bad smell at all, just very unique.
Thing I Learned Most While In Africa: That God is not just my God, or the God of Lincoln, CA. He truly is the God of the universe. That, and I had no idea how good I have it living here in California, with a roof over my head, food on my plate 3 times a day, adequate medical coverage, education, family and friends.
Favorite Single Experience in Africa: Helping Doto get the help he needed when he had malaria. A close second would be every time we did a kids club in Kamala.
Closing
Biggest Thing I Learned in 2009:
Despite being in college and studying to be a pastor, I have no idea what I want to do with that when I graduate in December.
I do most of my blogging on Facbeook now. I don't know what I'll be doing with BorbaFett.net in the future, but since I use it for so many things besides blogging, the actual website isn't going anywhere. So if you have a Facebook account, look me up and add me. You can add by name (of which I'm still the only "Ricky Borba") on Facebook, or you can look up by email address, ricky@borbafett.net
Anyway, the reason for this post is because I'll be leaving for Africa on Sunday. I'll be gone 25 days. I do plan on writing about my experience on this blog once I return, along with some videos and pictures. So please keep myself and my family in your prayers! That we'll all be safe and stuff like that.
1. VAST is definitely my second favorite band. I'm not sure who was number 2 before I listened to their latest album, but they took over.
2. I'm in a really good mood today. Today is my favorite.
3. I love it when Kayla comes into bed with us at 3am. Even though it interrupts my sleep, it's my favorite.
4. I bought two mini-composition notebooks yesterday. One for my pocket and one for my nightstand, so when I come up with incredible ideas I can write them down on the spot. Three days ago I came up with the cure for gout, but forgot to write it down and couldn't remember later. But my mini composition notebooks are my favorite.
5. It's really windy up here. The past 2 days have reminded me of Chicago, even though I've never been to Chicago. Chicago is my favorite though.
6. I have not studied for this quiz I'm about to take in Western Civ II right now. Studying is my favorite thing to do.
7. For having only slept 6 hours I have surprisingly high energy levels. Having energy is MY FAVORITE.
8. Is there anything better than listening to 80's and 90's rap mixes while you drive to school in the morning? 80's and 90's rap in the morning is my favorite.
I probably shouldn't be writing this right now because I'm upset. But writing is therapeutic for me, so here goes. I just need to write this stuff down to make myself feel better about myself, as lame and stupid as that may sound.
I know I'm lazy. But I make up for it by working hard at the really important things in life.
I know I haven't been the best husband, father, son, brother, cousin, friend in my life. But I make up for it by loving the best way I know how, with everything that I have inside of me.
I know I don't always walk my talk. But I make up for it by at least trying, every day.
I know I don't own a lot of things. But I'd still be willing to give you the shirt off my back if you needed it.
I know I have a big mouth sometimes. But I make up for it by admitting I was wrong, asking for forgiveness and trying to learn from it.
I know I'm 31 and didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do with my life until last year. But I made up for it by never compromising what was important to me or forgetting what my true passions and desires are.
I know I come off as "black and white" sometimes. But I make up for it by doing my homework and sincerely believing in what I believe in with all of my heart.
I know I don't have a lot of time these days to give my true friends the time I'd like to. But I make up for it by letting them know all the time how much I love and appreciate their friendship.
I know I might come off as too care-free. But I make up for it by caring about a great many things.
I know I'm someone that isn't worth a damn to some people. But I make up for it by being valuable to everyone else I have a relationship with.
I know I come off as having strong opinions about my faith and how I let that guide my paths. But I make up for it by being sincere about it, and unwilling to change for anyone just to make them happy.
I know I'm not in the best shape. But I make up for it by spending quality time with my family, friends and children, enjoying everything life has to offer.
I know that I don't always know what I'm doing or where I'm going. But I make up for it by knowing how to get back on the path when I veer off of it.
I know I might not be someone that everyone wants to be around or converse with. But I make up for it by never allowing that to be the reason I stop caring about them.
I know I say things that might come off as hurtful sometimes. But I make up for it by knowing that it comes from a good place that was only intended to help you grow.
I know I'm selfish sometimes. But I make up for it by putting others first 99.9% of the time.
I know I might not get out of my comfort bubble that often. But I make up for it by participating in something that is greater than myself.
I know I struggle with letting my anger get the best of me sometimes. But I make up for it by not letting that happen very often.
I know I am a walking contradiction sometimes. But I make up for it by not allowing that to be a regular occurrence.
I know I'm human. But I make up for it by never forgetting that.
I just don't want to be one of those bloggers that blogs for the sake of blogging. (If only I could have used the word "blogged" in that sentence, I would have used every form of the word "blog".)
For some reason, I feel like I'm suffering from creative writers block. I used to come up with 2 or 3 weird/creative/insightful things a day to blog about, and now I feel like I haven't had one of those inkling's in months. I really do contribute it to the fact that I am writing papers all the time for school. I have been concentrating on studying, working at school after school and then being "daddy" when I get home. So, the point is, is that I don't feel very creative or weirdly minded the past couple months. I'm also trying to raise money for my trip to Africa, make sure I remain balanced in my husbandly/fatherly/studently roles, and get in better shape too.
So I'm sorry for the lack of updates on borbafett.net. I enjoy blogging, and I enjoy knowing there's a few of you out there who enjoy reading my meanderings.
I guess one thing I have been thinking about since Friday morning when one of my professors asked it in class, is "If I could sit down with anyone in this world, living, who would I want to and why?" In class off the top of my head I answered "Steven Spielberg to talk about film", but that's a lame answer and I'm not even sure I believe myself. The thing is, I don't have a clue who I'd like to sit down and rap with. The easy answer is to say someone like Barack Obama or Kim Jong Il, but I don't care about politics and I'm not impressed with world leaders. I've also got to meet my fair share of celebrities and athletes in my life, so I can't think of any one of them either. There's probably someone that once I think of them I'll think to myself "DUH, I can't believe I didn't think of them immediately." But remember, the question is "living" person.
I hate to sound like my father, but if I hear my girls say "daddy" one more time today, I'm going to change my name.
Excuse me, do you know which way the weight room is?
I'm 31. I see pictures of me at 21 and I cry. I see pictures of me from 6 months ago, and I think, Man, I was doing good for a while with the eating of the healthy and the exercising of the body. So now, on February 19th, 2009, I weigh a thick 168.5 pounds. I know, to some, that doesn't seem like much, but to me, it's out of hand. I weighed 174.5 when I moved to Lincoln last January, and got down to 159 last year just by eating healthier and running/biking. Now I'm back up to 168.5, and I'm not happy about it.
I can't complain though. (Even though I am kinda, huh.) My diet for the last couple months has consisted of about 4 gallons of soda per week, a lot of chocolate, doritios, pasta and pizza. Add the fact that I quit exercising, cold turkey, and you've got yourself a recipe for a nice little weight gain. I had deceived myself that I was looking pretty good, until Nicki got that damned 10.2 megapixel Nikon camera and took a few pictures of me. I looked at them and said "I think your camera is broken." And she said "You can't compare yourself to 10 years ago". Then I said, "Oh yes I damn well can." And she said, "You're still hot". And then I said "Honey I look like I ate a hobbit". And then she said "Oh, that reminds me, your mother called".
My point is, after seeing myself in those 10.2 megapixel pictures, I realized that while I am definitely not "fat", I am positively out of shape and soft around the edges. Lets face it people, I'm lazy when it comes to my body. So....
Yesterday I ran 3 miles, then did some crunches, then rode another 8 miles on the bike. I felt good. So I decided to keep that up. Not only that, but on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays, I'm going to go to my friend Justin's house and pump iron with him. My goal is to lose 15 pounds by the time I leave for Africa on May 17th. Almost exactly 3 months from yesterday. The reason I'm posting about it, is many:
1. When people see me, I want people to ask me how my workouts are going. 2. I want to look better in pictures. 3. I have sweet hair.
Reasons I feel like this time I'll be able to follow through this time: 1. I posted about it and now you're all aware of the fact that I'm trying to get in shape. 2. I do feel a sense of "my body is getting older and I need to start taking better care of it". 3. I have two precious baby girls that I'd like to be with for as long as possible. 4. Jackson Perdue did it, and he can't one-up me.
Reasons I feel like I won't follow through with it: 1. My schedule. With school, work, homework and daddy duty, I could see myself getting burned out. 2. I've never followed through before. 3. Pepsi is going to use real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup in Mountain Dew from March to June, and they said it will taste even better. 4. I have sweet hair.
So that's it. The gauntlet has been thrown down. I've got a workout calendar, a workout buddy and some super sweet workout gloves. As of right now, I'm pretty pumped. (Pun intended). If things work out (again, pun intended), I'll post my before and after pictures in May. I'd post them now, but if I end up not making it through, I would have posted a hideously ugly and unflattering picture in vain.
Dear Waitress at Tahoe Joes, I'm not sure I liked your tone...
Tonight Nicki and I went out to dinner with some friends of ours from the bay area, that are contemplating moving to Lincoln/Roseville. Nicki and I had spent the entire day cleaning, so by the time they arrived at 5pm, it was a welcome break. After chatting for a bit in our house, we all piled in the car and headed to "Tahoe Joes" (because the Cheesecake there is better than making love to my wife while simultaneously winning the lottery as Tony Bennett seranades us). After having some more chit chat, TJ informed us that Sandy's work was paying for the dinner, as part of their effor to woo her and TJ out to Roseville. (Her work gave her the company credit card for the weekend and told her to eat, drink and be merry). After hearing the wonderful news that dinner at an expensive restaurant was going to be free, I proceeded to order the most expensive item on the menu. Seriously. It's called the Tahoe T-Bone, and it's half New York Strip and half Filet Mignon. (I didn't know such deliciousness was even possible, but apparently some scientists figured out how to have two completely different steaks on the same cut, separated by a bone).
Fast forward to about 3/4 of the way through the meal, and I'm cutting one of the last bites of New York Strip from the bone. I dip it in ranch dressing (because really, who doesn't dip their steak in ranch?) and proceed to bite down on what I assumed was going to be a tender, juicy morsel of steak. What I got instead was a shard of bone stuck to the roof of my mouth, in-between upper anterior numbers 10 and 11. Instant blood, and it hurt. So I think I yelped in some sort of sissy manner, then grabbed the cloth napkin on my lap and began to treat the wound. Just then, the waiter came by, so I took the white, blood-stained napkin out of my mouth and asked him for some warm salt water, so I could take it to the bathroom and gargle with it. He looked perplexed, so I explained that thanks to the Tahoe T-Bone, I had an open wound in my mouth and it needed treatment immediately before I would die from dysentery. Moments later, he brought out a piping-hot, calistoga hot springsesque glass of salt water.
I got up, holding my volcanic temperatured glass of salt water, burning my hands deeper with each passing second, and headed toward the bathroom. As I turned the corner, a waitress whom I could only imagine had been watching me carry the glass from my table, literally jumped in front of me and said: "Where are you going with that?" (Raise your inflection on "going", as to make it seem like I was mentally retarded in the way you ask). I had to stop, swallow the blood saliva that I was planning on spitting out once I got to the bathroom, and reply with "I took a bite of steak and a shard of bone got stuck on the roof of my mouth. I'm going to go rinse with this now". To which she replied, "Ohhhhhhhhh, I'm sooooo sorry!".
As I rinsed and spit in the bathroom, I started thinking about what exactly she may have thought I was going to do with that scalding hot glass of salt water. I guess it was a fair question, but I didn't understand why she asked me in the manner she did. It's not like I was shirtless, carrying a dead squirrel to the bathroom.
2008 was an incredible year for me. It started off with Nicki and I moving to Lincoln in order for Nicki to begin her Chiropractic career. In the midst of that, I found a job doing video production at a Rocklin based company. We thought we were about to soar. Unfortunately, just a few months in for both of us, it became readily apparent that neither Nicki's nor my job were what they were billed to be. Long story short, I ended up getting laid off in May, and Nicki quit that practice to move onto another in December.
Along the way, I had applied for over 52 jobs from May 3rd to July 11th. I applied for things I was qualified for, over qualified for, not that qualified for and everything else in-between. Not one of them replied to me. Nicki and I were pretty discouraged to say the least. Our bank account was negative, and our rent was due. Things were pretty bleak. But something happened on July 11th. I drove back to Fremont to get some financial help from my church that we attended while living in the bay area. I went to breakfast with the pastor, and had one of those life altering moments. Over the course of pancakes and a few beers (just kidding about the beers), I heard God speak to me. I called my wife and my mother to see if they were on the same page with what I heard God speak to me, and in fact they were. My wife and mother, both without prompting or baiting, said the same thing God said. I needed to realize my calling in life, and become a pastor.
I started attending William Jessup University in August, just 4 short miles from my house. Turns out there may have been other reasons Nicki and I chose to move here, even if it was unknown to us at the time. WJU is a 4 year Bible-based College. I am enrolled in the Pastoral program and in 3 years (because I already had a year of Junior College under my belt! Wooohooo!) I will have a bachelor's degree in Pastoral Ministry AND Bible/Theology. For the first time in my life I feel like I'm at the right place at the right time doing the right thing. Another incredible thing that happened to me this year was the unexpected and unbelievable desire to go on a mission trip. I know, Ricky Borba, going on a mission trip. Who would have thought? I was sitting in our school's bi-weekly church service while running the sound and light board. A student came to the podium to speak about mission trips (a speech I've heard 1000 times before) and I felt moved. I was totally caught off guard, and before the 2009 mission trip locations were discussed, I again heard God speak to me. "Africa". Normally I would have had a little dialogue with God, like "Are you sure you have the right guy here? ME?" but I didn't. I felt like I was being called. And sure enough a few minutes later, Tanzania, Africa was put on the screen as one of the places our school was going.
So now I'm on this incredible journey before the journey, of getting everything in order so I can go to Africa and help out those in need. I want to be a light to those people, and to serve them the best way I can, for three weeks. I have no idea what and how God is going to use me for, but I know that I can't wait to get there and show Christ's love through my actions. I've never been the type of guy to get my hands dirty (I've never been a fan of the outdoors and I'm not the type of guy to work on cars and stuff) but for some reason, none of that matters when I think about doing a mission in Africa. I want to get filthy for the Tanzanians!
If you've read this far, I want you to know the reason I sent this letter to you is because I believe you can help support me in one of three ways, or possibly more.
The first way you can help is simply by praying. I need prayer for myself as I prepare for this incredible opportunity, I need prayer for my family as I will be leaving them for three weeks, I need prayer for finances so that I may go on this trip, I need prayer for me as I try to balance being a father, husband, student, employee and now mission trip attendee. Above any other need, I believe this is the most important way you can help me.
The second way you can help is by visiting my wife and kids if you live near my family. I'll be leaving for 3 weeks, so my hope is that some of you who live nearby can go to my house and visit, to keep all 3 of my girls company. It's hard enough raising two kids with two parents, and Nicki is going to be all on her own for 3 weeks. So if you live close to us, please give Nicki a call and check in on her. While in Africa, I will only have access to internet twice during the entire trip, and no access to a phone at any time. I would like to know that before I leave, some of you have committed to making sure my family will be alright.
Finally, I need your financial support. This trip is expensive. The amount to go is roughly $4000. The only way I'll be able to go is if God provides a financial way for that to happen, as Nicki and I simply do not have the funds to finance this ourselves. I want you to prayerfully consider donating (it's a tax write-off by the way!) I feel 100% certain that God wants me to go to Africa. There isn't any doubt in my mind. So please pray and consider whether or not you can help me out financially. If you can, and would like to, please click this link, which is a pdf file that you can print out and use to mail a check to the school. The amount you donate goes toward my "account". It's also tax refundable! (Don't write the check out to me though!!! Make it out to William Jessup University. All of the this info is on the form by the way) We are doing fundraisers and a couple of other things to raise money, but the primary source for everyone's funding is coming from this letter.
In closing, most of you know that this is extremely out of the ordinary for me, to travel and get my hands dirty. I can't even really explain it myself, but I heard a song that I think perfectly exemplifies how I feel about this mission trip. The song is called "Give Me Your Eyes" and it's about wanting to have the eyes of Jesus if only for a moment, to see the world as he sees it. Here is the chorus. I hope it inspires and touches you as it has me.
Give me your eyes for just one second Give me your eyes so I can see Everything that I keep missing Give me your love for humanity Give me your arms for the broken hearted Ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me your heart for the ones forgotten Give me your eyes so I can see
1. Because I would walk 8 miles, just to be the man that.... 2. These shoes were made for walkin....and walkin's what they'll do.... 3. Having no car sucks... 4. My left hip hurts...
I have been without a car since November of last year. Nicki and I have been sharing the 4Runner during that time. It's been a headache to put it mildly. During my 5 week break from school, she would take the car to work, leaving me here all day with the girls. Now look, I'm not complaining about spending time with my girls, at all. What was hard, was the fact that it was winter, not allowing for us to leave the house (to go on walks to the park)on most days because of the weather. So, it was me, a 2 and a half year old and a 15 month old. Every day. Every. Day. There's only so much you can do. There's only so many times you can play Disney Princess Memory. There's only so many times you can read "Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles". There's only so many times you can watch Shrek and Tinkerbell. There's only so many days you can wake up, give the girls bananas and cereal for breakfast before all of your days start to run together in your head, making you feel like you're living the movie Groundhog Day. I have a point here people. Without the luxury of a car, you're stuck.
Now, what did come out of those 5 weeks with the girls was a total appreciation for single mothers/fathers. I'm telling you, when Nicki got home from work it was like a shift change at a blackjack table. I was OUT. I can't imagine what it's like to have children, and not have any time to pass them off to your spouse. Single parents have ALL of my respect and appreciation. What also happened is the fact that I promise I will NEVER complain about having a crappy car. Because you know what? A crappy car is better than NO CAR. I would GLADLY drive my 1998 Ford Taurus to pick up Jessica Biel Nicki for a date, rather than walking up to her door and then walking to our destination. I miss my tore-up-from-the-floor-up 1998 Ford Taurus. February 15th (the date we'll have the funds to fix it) can't come fast enough. I know later in life, I'll look back and see not having a car during this time in my life, especially while the girls were this young, as a blessing because I got to spend so much quality time with them. It's just right now that's tough.
I have the same schedule this semester as I did last semester. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I have the luxury of driving the 4runner to school, while Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to find a ride home, if possible. Here's how I feel on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You've seen Dumb and Dumber. The scene where Jim Carrey walks out of that mini-mart, up to those guys he doesn't know and says "Big gulps huh?" (They stare at him, and don't say anything) then Jim Carrey says "GREAT! See ya later!". That's how I feel on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have to ask for a ride. Example. Say I go up to a friend of mine, who's engaged in a conversation with someone else, or perhaps studying in the library.
Me: "So, Luke, whatcha readin/doin?" Luke: "Well, I was just reading this chapter for CF2 and then I was going to" Me (cutting him off): Sweet, can you give me a ride home?
I feel like a jackass. I know it's not that big of an inconvenience to drive me home, just one exit up from school, but it is an inconvenience. I hate having to ask, partly because I'm prideful I guess, partly because I'm 31 and don't have a car, but mainly because it's just awkward. I only see the people I'm asking at school. It's not like it's a job we're at from 9 to 5, 5 days a week. I feel bad. I just don't want it to get to the point where people start walking the other way from me after 1pm because they know I'll be asking for a ride.
So today. I couldn't find anyone to give me a ride home. Thankfully it wasn't raining. It was cold, yes, but the sun was out. What makes walking those 4.6 miles hard, is the 23 pound backpack I have on, and the 13 pound laptop I carry. That's not exactly the best situation. I know it could be worse, like people in third world countries, I get that. But what sucks is that the backpack and laptop aren't strapped tight to my body, they sway and bounce. By the time I've walked about halfway, my shoulders start aching, and I start crying. (One of those is true). Today was funny though. I turned my laptop on, opened my MP3 player, and set it to play my entire "Alternative Rock" folder on random. That's about 6000 songs. Can you guess what song it played FIRST? "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day. Are you familiar with the lyrics? Here they are:
I walk a lonely road The only one that I have ever known Don't know where it goes But it's home to me and I walk alone
I walk this empty street On the Boulevard of broken dreams Where the city sleeps And I'm the only one and I walk alone
I walk alone I walk alone I walk alone I walk a
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me 'Til then I walk alone
Seriously. Either God has a sense of humor, or my laptop is a living breathing organism that was aware of my situation, and decided to have a little fun with me. I laughed as if to say "Welp, that fits". It was a funny moment. To make it even funnier/worse, when I got home, guess what Kayla wanted to do IMMEDIATELY? That's right, she wanted to walk to park that's another 1.5 miles from the house. So we did. I'm Superdad.
I'm complaining about not having a car. But as I was walking today I was reminded (by that little voice in my head) that I do in fact have the legs and feet to walk. I was reminded that I'm healthy enough to walk. I was reminded that I live in a country where I can walk safely. I was reminded that I was walking home to two beautiful baby girls that were waiting just to see me. I was reminded that I at least have one working car that I get to drive to school the other 3 days of the week. I was reminded that I was getting some exercise in the process. I was reminded that there are parts of this country where it's 20 below zero right now, not the bareable 52 degrees I had the luxury of walking in. So yes, I get it. I'm a lucky/blessed guy.
One of the most significant accomplishments of my life took place today.
I beat Fallout 3. After over 80 hours of playtime, I finally beat it. I'll go on a limb and say that this game is probably the single most involved game I've ever played. The genre of this game is called a "Role Playing Game". Meaning, you decide every course of action and method of accomplishing tasks. For example, if one of the quests is to rescue someone, you could do the quest as is, go and rescue them. Or, you could go to rescue them, run into the person holding them captive and then decide to take a payoff instead of rescuing them.
It's incredible. You gain and lose karma all throughout the game. Every discussion you have has ramifications on this karma system. Every person you kill or don't kill affects it. If you decide to steal some food, you get negative karma. If you decide to donate money to one of the two churches in the game, you gain karma. You can decide to go through the entire game as a positive karma'd person (as I did) or you could go through the game as a neutral or negative karma'd person. I'm satisfied with how I chose to play, as a nice guy, but I think it would be way more fun to be the jerk, and say things to make kids cry, blow up the huge nuclear bomb in a town populated by innocent people and killing and stealing from whomever I run into.
This game introduced me to the RPG genre, as I'd never played a game like it before. So now, I want to go get a few other games like it and play those. It's really fun being in control of my own destiny, and choosing how I want to solve problems and quests. One of the reasons it took so long for me to beat it though, was because of these quests. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything, so I played the game while simultaneously glued to the Fallout 3 website on my laptop. I feel like doing that really made the game more fun, as I knew how to gain certain things and not miss anything during the game.
So now that I've invested 80+ hours into the game with the goal of beating it, I'm going to go back to one of my old save files and start doing some things I avoided during my first run through. Things like building grenades made out of radioactive coca cola and throwing them at people. I'd also like to sneak up to people and place live grenades and mines in their pants, them watch them walk away and explode. I'd also like to walk into a town where I'm known for being a good guy, and start blowing people away with my shotgun. I'd also like to do a couple of the bad karma quests that I avoided too.
Now, I know what you're thinking. 80 hours already?! When did you have time to play that while you were taking care of the girls and stuff? The majority of my playing time came between the hours of 10pm and 2am. Since I've been on Christmas Break, I didn't have to get up early and pay attention to a lecture, I only had to get up early to pay attention to my two kids. ;)
So here's the deal. For the past day I've been trying to get wordpress working as my template for borbafett.net. The sad reality is, that I don't know how to fix it. I need to spend some more time tweaking it before I set it live. I thought I'd be okay with the fact that I had my new layout up, despite there being quite a few problems. But the more I thought about it, the more it disgusted me to the point of violently beating my dogs while singing the theme song to The Jeffersons.
I'll continue to tweak things and get this website cut over to wordpress, as I really can't stand the sight of my site right now. I wish blogger had some more options and bells and whistles, but it doesn't. Matt Smith was right everyone, he tried getting me to go to wordpress about a year and a half ago, right after my sex change.
Anyway, if you need me I'll be playing and finishing Fallout 3. I'm probably about 40 hours into that game, and only halfway done with it. I've never done drugs in my life, but I imagine this is what addiction feels like.
