Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep, today is the day! And the picture says it all. 31 Flavors, Baby! Not sure what that means, but since B&R was a big part of my youth, I'm runnin' with it. :)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, everyone.

I won't be eating birthday cake (Chuck), but I will be splurging a little bit (with pain pills nearby just in case). My mom got me this little mini tiramisu (my favorite dessert - if you've never had it, go to a good Italian restaurant and get one today!), with a candle in it, so that's my b-day cake this year.

So tonight I'm gonna eat dinner and watch Evan Almighty, which I've yet to see, and just chillax.

Today, my little brother called me from school and had his whole class sing me happy birthday. That was an unexpected yet welcome and pleasant surprise. He told me not to tell the whole world, but hey, here I am doing just that. Oh well. :)

So today is ok. Hopefully I'll feel the same way tomorrow after whatever I chance eating tonight!

B-Out

The Big B-Day

Yep, my birthday's this Friday! I'll be 31 (ugh). Nothing planned, not gonna make a big deal out of it, but hey, if you wanna buy me a present I won't knock ya for it. :)

B-Out

On the Upswing

Well, the medicine seems to be working so far on my ailment as I was feeling much better yesterday. Today I'm a little more sore than I was yesterday, but still much better than the day before. So hopefully it's clearing up.

On another note, Scott has been updating the Wannabez blog of late with clips of various pages from our #0 story, so check those out. And speaking of, here's another clip from page 2 he didn't show. You'll have to trust me that the entire scene is very funny in context. I can't wait for it to be out there and available for you guys and gals to pick up!



Lettering work is going ok, though I could certainly use some more paid work right now. I have some medical bills and stuff to take care of, and work is still kind of slow going at the moment. I do have a couple of potential small gigs in the pike, but nowhere near what I need. So if you have something...

Let's see, my cousin's 31st birthday was yesterday. I didn't get to see him, but I left a message for him on his myspace page. If you happen to read this, Jay, hope you had a great one. I won't embarrass you this year with old pics like I did on your 30th. :)

I guess that's it for the upswing. I have a few things on the downswing, but you don't want to hear about those, trust me. So here's to hoping those turn around as well.

B-Out

Winding Down

Well, it has been a very stressful and very busy weekend. I had a big problem that I think is now getting resolved. At least I hope it is. Work got held up because of it.

That said, I completed AOH #2 and am waiting on the script for #3. I finished about half of what I have of Lightning Squirrel #3, did two logos, finished some more edits on Fracture, and some other stuff I can't recall.

I hope to be back to regular posting on SBC tomorrow providing everything works out.

Tonight Heroes season two premieres, and I am so ready for it! I'll be watching Prison Break first, and then I'll be watching the second half of wrestling (since I'm not sure if Heroes will replay on Sci-Fi like it did last season or not).

Last night I finally watched Hustle & Flow. That was a good movie, but not exactly what I expected. I have to say, though, that Terrance Howard is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. I can't wait to see him as Rhodes in Iron Man next year.

I'm about 3/4 or so through Dragonlance: Amber & Iron. This trilogy (The Dark Disciple) isn't quite as good as the War of Souls, and it's definitely not as good as Dragonlance Chronicles, but it's still a decent story. There's some mystery building, which should be interesting to discover as it unfolds.

I guess that's about it for now. Sorry I've been out of touch for so long.

Oh, before I bolt, I just want to publicly wish my cousin, Susan, a belated Happy Birthday! It was yesterday, and I sent her an ecard, but I'm not sure if she got it.

B-Out

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

...to a friend of mine:



Happy 29th!

Yesterday

August 14th. That is a date I will always remember whether I want to or not. I know two people whose birthdays occupy that date, and both were, once upon a time, very close and important people in my life.

The first is my first girlfriend, Jamie. We were together for 10 months when I was 16-17, she was 15-16. Yesterday she turned 30. I think it's been about 8 years since I saw her last give or take a year. We had known each other in our youth briefly (she went to my church for a bit) and then I didn't see her for a few years. When she came back it wasn't but about a month or two later we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Even though life has taken us in completely different routes I still can't forget her birthday. I'm good with dates like that I guess. Anyway, if you're out there and happen to come across this, I hope life is treating you well.

The second is a relative of hers, David Lovin, who was like my little brother for a number of years, far after Jamie and I had broken up (which was on Easter, believe it or not). I miss David a lot, and I think it's been about 5 or 6 years since I saw him last. Man, time flies. I used to stay with his family a lot. We were as different as night and day in some respects, but we had this kindred something that connected us. Then some stuff happened, his family moved away, though not that far away, and we just lost touch. I tried to reconnect a couple of times, but there was just too much... stuff in the way.If you come across this, bro, I hope you are doing well also.

I actually know quite a few people who have birthdays this month. My cousin just turned 15 Saturday, and two of my former pastor's kids have birthdays this week and next. And another friend's b-day is also next week. So happy b-days all around, guy and gals. I hope life is treating you all well, and I hope you have wonderful birthdays this year.

B-Out

20s No More

Well, it's official. This is the day. I am no longer in my 20s, having crossed the threshold into a new stage. For today I am 30.

Though there is some debate over which day it is, the 20th or the 21st (I've heard both), I'm considering today also the first day of Spring. I am told the year I was born the 21st was the first day of Spring, and it's a story I'm sticking to. How awesome of an idea is it to be born on the first day of Spring, when new life is thought to begin? It symbolizes a fresh start and a new beginning, a new chapter in life. So what could be more fitting than that, I say.

Purely coincidentally this day, and technically this post marks my 500th post on this blog! It wasn't planned or premeditated, it just sort of happened that way. No big announcements to share per se, but isn't being my 30th birthday and the first day of Spring enough cause for celebration? I say it is.

And yes, you read that right. I said celebration. Not necessarily for turning 30, but for it marking a new era and fresh start, and beginning the rest of my life, as of course every day should and does whether we want it to or not.

Contrary to what you may have derived from previous posts, turning 30 never bothered me. It's a number, and it means one more year older. That doesn't bother me. My whole ordeal was being where I'm at by this age, not being this age. There are goals I have not yet met that I certainly thought would have been met by now. And there are things I was hoping would have changed for me by now, but haven't.

But this is not a day to think on those things. Those details are concerned with the past and what could have been, whereas today is a day of looking forward and opening oneself to the possibilities of what lies ahead. So it is with that that I embark on a new journey to discover not what could be, but what can be, at least for the day putting aside concerns over what lies in the path blocking those things, but concentrating on those things themselves. Those goals, dreams and aspirations that lie just over the horizon, just beyond the obstacles, just a few steps away, however large those steps may be.

This is a day of rejoicing for the good and positive things that have come to pass in my life thus far. For the people who truly stood by me, for the accomplishments I did achieve, for the steps that were taken, and for the love I have received.

Fifteen years ago, half my life ago, my brother was born. He has been the greatest thing to ever happen to me in my natural life thus far. I helped raise him and we formed such a bond between us that I had never experienced with another human being. Now he is in those teenage years, soon to be 15 and is into his own things and somewhat distant like all teenagers can be. But that bond still holds strong, and he is still the best thing to happen to me yet aside from God being in my life of course.

At 16 I had my first girlfriend, first serious relationship and first kiss (I was a late bloomer in the looks department - kind of awkward before then). It was an experience I will forever cherish regardless of how it all turned out.

I also had my first job at that age at Chuck E. Cheese's. Yes, I even donned the suit and danced a jig once or twice.

And I graduated high school this year as well. Long story, and I did end up having to go back for three months the following year to make up some tests.

At 18 I got my license (long story), which opened up an entirely new world to me. I could now take myself wherever I wanted to go. And I mostly went alone as everyone was too scared to ride with me!

18 is also when I accepted the call to preach, a call that has been sidetracked a few times over the years, but one that has not been forgotten by any stretch of the imagination.

On my 21st birthday there was a church outing - a get together at a gym where there was food, basketball, skating and other fun stuff. I didn't go instead opting to sleep in. It was my day after all, and the church I had been at since I was 8 had only remembered one of my birthdays up to that point, that being my 16th. So I decided I wouldn't be missed and would have more fun being by myself. Turns out I was missed as my pastor's daughter, a girl I had previously been crazy about for a number of years, but hadn't for a couple went all out. She made me a cake and dressed up in one of her best outfits at the time and made a big deal out of it. I hear she was pretty ticked I didn't show up, but she never let me know it. I still grin about that when I think about it. :)

One week later I started college (struggled for several years figuring out what I was going to do). I should have went to a more specialized college, maybe art or maybe a college that offered degrees in English or graphic design, but I went to a business-centric school where I studied Computer Science and ultimately Business Administration. I hated both and still do to this day, but it was not a waste. While I didn't go hog wild and party I did meet a few very special friends in those days. I've lost touch with them now, but they were great friends at the time and I couldn't have made it through without them.

At age 24 I got my first real job making more money an hour than I had ever made, and that's stayed pretty consistent since only with a couple of deviations. I absolutely hated the job with a passion, but I met some of the best friends of my life there. Again, I've fallen out of touch with them for a number of reasons, but they are the ones I miss the most. They showed me the kind of friendship I had shown others but had never really received myself. They were very special to me.

It was also this year that I went to Florida looking at apartments heavily considering moving there, both for work and because there were opportunities there, creative opportunities, that I wanted to explore. Ultimately reasons kept me where I'm at, but that was the funnest year of my life.

I also dated a girl this year that started off as a hangout buddy, and while we parted ways she was the best girl I have had the pleasure to have a relationship with to date. She was one of the kindest and sweetest persons I've ever met, and she thought the world of me. Sadly we were at different places and it didn't work out, but I'll always cherish the time we spent together.

At 26 I "preached" a benediction for a graduation service. Two of my Sunday School students were graduating high school, one who I'd known since she was a year old. It was a very moving moment for me to be able to deliver this. I choked a little, but all in all it went pretty well.

At 27 or 28 I did a video in one of those booths to a soundtrack at Kings Island (an amusement park in Ohio) and it was played for everyone there to see. I got some amazing feedback from it and even dropped the jaws of some family members. I had only previously sang in church, and mostly not alone. So they hadn't really heard me sing before that point. It's a moment in my life I'll never forget.

Nothing really significant or memorable has happened past that point that I immediately recall, though I'm sure there's at least one or two things I'm forgetting. But there were good times then as well.

Today is a new day to explore new things, to move on and move up and stop looking back. Those mentioned are the kinds of moments I wish to remember on days like this, and the countless little moments that happened in between.

So again I say, this is a day of celebration. To celebrate life, to celebrate opportunity, to celebrate change, hope, love, passion, dreams, desire, faith and so much more. For those reasons I rejoice in this day that the Lord hath made. I embrace the newness of life and a fresh beginning. I accept the challenge to go above and beyond, and to cling to the same hope that has brought me this far.

Today is my birthday.

B-Out

One Week Away

It's exactly one week until my 30th birthday, and depending on who you ask until the first day of Spring (some say it's the 20th, some say it's the 21st, who knows for sure?).

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not really down about turning 30 as far as the age is concerned. Yes, it saddens me a little to be leaving my 20s behind, mainly because I didn't really take the opportunity to really live during them and be nearly as reckless as I should have been. Not in the terms of partying and that sort, but more on the level of traveling and pursuing interests that I wanted to pursue.

That said, I realize I'm still young and still have my life ahead of me, and that it's never too late to do a lot of the things I want to do. If anything, turning 30 has woken up something in me that says "it's now or never". So hopefully this entire experience will turn out to be a positive one in the respect that I do actually get out there and live.

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I believe in the significance of numbers mainly because Biblically God used numbers a lot. The chief ones He used were 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12. Seven has always been my favorite number for some odd reason, and not for the Biblical aspects of it. Maybe it's because of my birth year. Regardless, I just think it's kind of cool that I was born in '77, and my birthday, 3-21 is a multiple of 7, and here it is seven days before my birthday. Coincidence? Most likely, but it's still cool. ")

It's 5:37am as I type this, and for some reason I can't sleep. I dozed off for about two hours around 1:15, but I just can't get back to sleep. I am so tempted to take some nyquil or something just to sleep, but I've never been one to use many medications unless absolutely necessary. So here I am typing a more or less meaningless post just to pass the time and hopefully make myself tired. It's not working, just so you know.

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You know what bugs me about the promos to the movie Number 23? In them there's a line about 666 being the number of the devil. Evidently the screenwriters didn't read their Bibles properly, because 666 is not the number of the devil. It is the number of the Beast, yes, but it is also referred to in Revelations as the number of man.

I'm not going to get into all that here and now, it just bugs me whenever I hear that. Yes, it's still a significant number referring to unsavory events, but it's a number that is far closer to home than people realize. It's not a voodoo number, or some magical number endowed with evil powers. It represents something that will be clear enough soon enough.

End rant.

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What good are these labels for in this new blogger? Do they just link to all posts I've made that contain those particular labels, or do they link to various blogs that contain those labels? If it's the former then it's useless as far as I'm concerned. The latter could be useful. And even though I'm not sure still I play along adding labels away. Why do we do the things we do?

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I'm getting bored with this and don't really have anything else to talk about. I wish I had some updates for you all, but I got nada. So I guess I'll bring this post to a close and maybe try to get a few hours of sleep before getting back up and hitting it all over again. Doubt I'll get a wink.

B-Out