List: Lyrics

I have been thinking over the past few days, and I think this is where I am at with this list of my favorite lyrics from songs. The issue is, there are sooo many to choose from. But I have narrowed it down to ten; and these are in no particular order.

Daisy by Brand New: Well if we take all these things and we bury them fast
And we'll pray that they turn to seeds, to roots and then grass
It'd be all right, it's all right, it'd be easier that way
Or if the sky opened up and started pouring rain
Like you knew he was trying to start things over again
It'd be all right, it's all right, it'd be easier that way.

Zero-Sum by Nine Inch Nails: Shame on us, doomed from the start
May God have mercy on our dirty little hearts
Shame on us for all we have done
And all we ever were. Just zeroes and ones

Distraction by Angels and Airwaves: There’s a field nearby
With words written in stone
My love will not die
Please let it be known
This place is dead
It echoes through town
There isn’t one voice
I haven’t heard a sound
The planes flew in
Their bombs did too
The city fell flat
The fires, they grew
When the smoke comes in
It’ll color this town
But I’ll still have you
So I’ll say it aloud

The Good Left Undone by Rise Against: All because of you,
I believe in angels.
Not the kind with wings,
No, not the kind with halos,
The kind that bring you home,
When home becomes a strange place.
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut by Coheed and Cambria: Will they ever measure up
To the way you left me?
Here by the roadside
The bloodiest cadaver
Marked in your words:
I'm the joke,
I'm the bastard

Dirty Business by The Dresden Dolls: She's the kind of girl who gets her slings and arrows from the dumpster
The kind who tell you she's bipolar just to make you trust her
She's the kind of girl who leaves out condoms on the bedroom dresser
Just to make you jealous of the men she fucked before you met her

…And We All Have A Hell by From First To Last: Every day gets worse, 
Locked in a vice my thoughts perverse 
You must wonder why I look at you that way (that way)
Tonight I'll make my way into your house 
I must; I'm lusting for your body 
Skin looks tight, think I just might have 
To take a bite, but I know one will turn 
To three or four or more my little whore 

Dear God by Avenged Sevenfold: Dear God the only thing I ask of you is
to hold her when I'm not around
when I'm much too far away
We all need that person who can be true to you
But I left her when I found her
And now I wish I'd stayed
'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired
I'm missing you again oh no
Once again

All The Rage by Funeral For a Friend: I'm sick and I'm tired of always being the good guy

Soul on Fire by HIM: We are like the living dead
Sacrificing all we have
For a frozen heart and a soul on fire

So there it is. My ten favorite lyrics from songs. I wanna know what your favorites are from this list, and feel free to comment your favorite lyrics. 

Don't mind me, the tequila is doing the talking...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. I have family and friends who love me.  I have a job which I love. I am healthy and currently well rested. The gift exchange for the family will begin once mother and father return from Christmas Mass.

Now onward and upward. I am looking forward to the New Year. This past year has been a little rough at times. But it has only made me a better person. Earlier this year, I made my New Year’s Resolution. My resolution was to gauge my ears to a size 0. Check. That was my only one because I wanted to set something that I would actually be able to accomplish. I am pondering about my upcoming resolution. I want something else like my last one; simple, yet something that is changing me. I will post it when it is the year 2012.

In other news, I have lost a lot of weight this year. This morning when I weighed myself, I weighed in at 281. This means I have lost over 40 pounds this year. I have no exercise program. I have no diet. I just work. Because of this, I am able to fit into clothes that I haven’t been able to wear in years. This makes me happy in ways that I cannot explain.

I need to have a long weekend and come over to my parent’s house and take the time to clean up all my stuff that still occupies the basement. I know that my dad was joking, but it still struck a nerve when he was talking about my stuff still occupying the basement. So I have a few ideas on how to clear all this out. First off, I want to buy a Kindle Fire. It might be a late Christmas present to myself. I then want sort through all the books I have and see if I can find them on Amazon.com. If so, I want to buy the digital versions if possible. Now there are some books that I have that I know are not on the Amazon.com marketplace. These will be kept on a shelf; a shelf I want to buy from IKEA and place it up higher on the wall so they will not be in the way if there are more room renovations. The other books will be donated or sold or whatever is needed to rid myself of them. I have a large amount of random electronics that I would like to sort through and depart with some of them are the superfluous and just wasting space. I just am not sure what to do with my old bed frame. I mean it can be kept here for when we come and stay for the night, but I think there needs to be a separate faux guest bedroom. I am hoping that with all my clothing out of drawers on the frame, it can be used if I come and stay for a few nights or whatever.

I am waiting for the spring/summer. My dad is making himself an office. I am really excited about this because I have a hidden love for building and designing rooms/houses. So this will be a fun and exciting adventure for the two of us because we are best when we bounce the ideas off each other and we work well together. I am thinking of getting some things framed for the decorations in his office. I am thinking maybe a small shadowbox with things from his time in the Seabees and some photos from Dubuque. I think it will be a nice little place for him to relax and to do his work.

I was thinking about something while I was at work. I was thinking about my top ten favorite songs and lyrics. I think I will compile this list with some long thought and that will be in an upcoming post.

I would like to take this time to send out my sincerest condolences and sympathies and love to the Havens family. This Christmas, they lost as husband and a father. Colleen, I know you don’t read this, but all of us at Hobby Lobby Polaris are here for you. You are a member of our family and we support you.

Holy...

So long days, and short nights. This sums up my existence the past few weeks. But it will all be worth it soon. On that note, I PROMISE to put up a nice new post during Christmas weekend. It will be insightful, humorous,  full of shit, and slightly revealing. I hope you all stay tuned. I leave you with this:

Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your mouth,
Stones in your ears,
Stones in your mind,
Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,

We live in the jar and think the lid's the sky
You're hoping for a savior on your cross outside
Stars are just a million little fireflies
The sun is just a hole. What is the light outside?

Someone save me cause I
Can't keep traveling alone
Come with me to hide out
When there's nowhere that is safe tonight. 

Holding out for rest but on the seventh day,
I've created nothing and I'm wide awake,
So can I tie my key to your electric kite?
The rooster crowed twice and you kissed me goodnight.

There's too many saviors on my cross again,
I know I'm never going to be a perfect man.
Everyone's an oyster with their grain of sand,
I love you most in summer, now it has to end. 

Someone save me cause I
Can't keep traveling alone
Come with me to hide out 
When there's nowhere that is safe tonight. 
When there's nowhere that is safe tonight.

Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,
Stones in your eyes,
I'd run a million miles if you won first prize. 

Someone save me cause I
Can't keep traveling alone
Come with me to hide out 
When there's nowhere that is safe tonight. 
When there's nowhere that is safe tonight. 
When there's nowhere that is safe tonight.

Video Entry #2

XBMC and Our Digital Future

So here is where I’m at. I’m working on getting our digital household up and running. I am getting everything encoded into the proper format and set up for the HTPC. A desk has been added to the living room. Kate’s laptop is to reside upon this desk. We also plan to have my underused Samsung laserjet printer connected to this laptop so anyone can print out what they need. The printer can also be shared so we can print out through our computers on the network. We also have plans of purchasing a low cost Android based tablet, and using a few programs, we can use it as the input interface for the Home Theater PC. We are embracing the digital future.

Now I want to do something a little different. I want to do a small software review, based on my experiences and uses for it. Bear with me, this something I have never done before.

XBMC

XBMC is a media center program, with its roots planted in Microsoft’s XBOX gaming console. The software was only able to be installed after some form of modding and hacking. The creators then ported the program to Windows, OS X, and Linux. A Media Center program is different from a normal video player. XBMC organizes your files, watches your folders, collects data, and plays your files. I will go into detail with each one.

                When you first install XBMC, you need to set up the install. This includes telling the program where your media files are stored. XBMC will then “watch” those folders; for example if you rip more CDs to your Music folder, XBMC will “see” the new files and add them. This a great thing to have in a media center program, as you don’t have to worry about continuously adding single files in the program. Once your files are in the program, it will then “scrape” your files to collect the metadata. It will attach this data to the file within the program. This will give you information such as covers, artwork, summaries, ratings, etc. This makes it easy to see at a glance any information for the movie. From this organization and listings, you can play your files.

One of the great things about XBMC is its ability to install add ons and skins. You can browse and download and install the skin that you want to use. They are all good, but some are better for certain applications. I chose Neon, and the individual options to be used for the Home Theater. All this is set up on my desktop for now, but it will all be translated to the Home Theater. It is easy to use and navigate froma  distance. I also installed the add on that should help me configure my Windows Media Center remotes to be used with XBMC. I hope to make this our main media center application. 

Overall, I give it a 9/10. Why? For everything it does great, it lacks a few things. For one, no Netflix or Hulu integration. I am hoping that the remote customization will help create custom macros to launch Netflix and Hulu Desktop. Below are a few screenshots from my installation as it sits for now. 

I have a lot of work to do with it, mostly with getting all the correct information and files all together. I will let you in on the process, every step of the way. So long, fairwell.

Let's Hope This Works...

The Bedroom Odyssey

Captain’s Log: Wednesday, November 9, 2011.

Alright, so here is what’s happening in my world. Yesterday, I managed to cut myself twice on glass at work. It hurt like a mother fucker. But I’m better now. They are getting glued shut after being cleaned out before work. But on a better note, I have been cleaning my room. Not just picking up my clothes and shoving things away, I mean a REAL clean. I have been throwing away things and working on organizing my desk and stuff. This is all in preparation for my furniture and room décor purchases. I am purchasing a dresser from IKEA, with which I have the goal of moving all the folded clothes from the inside of my closet. I am also purchasing some nice wooden clothes hangers to replace the plastic ones that I am currently using. This is for looks, but also because the wooden ones are sturdier and they won’t be ruined when my coats are hanging on them. I plan on getting some covered storage boxes to place on the shelves in the closet. I plan on putting a lot of stuff in here, but I want it to look nice and not look like shit. I am also considering building a new bed frame for myself, platform style. This would allow me to get rid of my box spring, but I also like the look and style. What do you think? I’m redoing my room, and it looks as though we will be living here for a while. I also am going to finish my bathroom here soon in the near future. I need to purchase a matching rug, black paint, and a possibly a new showerhead because I went to adjust the direction of mine, and it came off. Soooo I am looking into replacing it soon. It still works, but I haven’t decided on if I am going to replace just the showerhead, or all the fixtures. I think that all these little improvements will make me happier in the long run. When the new furniture is purchased, I will be rearranging my room. I think my desk is going to go into the corner by the window, which my bed currently occupies. My bed will be moved to the wall between my door and closet, but not sure how it will be placed. I am leaning towards having it extend out into my room, off centered towards the closet, and relocating the wall shelf to be lower for a night stand replacement. I think the best spot for the dresser is going to be against the wall adjacent to the closet. I will be removing my current night stand, as it just isn’t working out as I had hoped. This leaves me a large amount of room available along the wall that houses the window. I am thinking about in the near future [after Christmas] of adding a futon/love seat to my room. This will allow me a place to relax and read, and a place to sit when painting and drawing. The one issue I need to resolve is where to keep my books. I like the look of having a long single shelf about 12 inches below the ceiling along the one wall. That would leave the books within reach, but give me the storage I need and room to bring other books into my life. I think I have bored you enough about my room’s future for now.

So I started my book. I had finished the covers, and I officially have one print in it! I have a few more that I need to cut down, and punch in and add. I am making this a “sample” book. I am printing on different paper, different sizes compared to the cover, cutting vs. tearing edges, velum sheets, etc. I am using this as a sample to hopefully show clients in the future that would like a photo book made. And I feel that some might like the idea of the book being custom and handmade, and not worrying about getting lost or mistakes. Once I am finished, or getting more finished in it, I will post some pictures.

And now, I must conclude this post as I need to get ready for work and eat some lunch. Have a good day, and I will be returning soon, with some surprises.