Metta what?

I was watching the Laker game the other night and noticed the announcers kept talking about a player and referring to him as World Peace. I thought it was an inside joke until I saw the back of his jersey and it had World Peace on the back. I kept looking at the player thinking it was Ron Artest. I had to google it to find out he changed his name to Metta World Peace.

Crazy!!!

Maybe this why I love this team? Anyhow I hope this year is better than last year for the Lakers!!

Feelings & more feelings

A few nights ago I was at a bar with a friend talking about women we had crushes on and what happened with those crushes. Aside from a couple women I have had huge crushes on that lasted a couple years (I think I had a case of limerence with one) I have not had many crushes over the years.

The last time I noticed having crushes was in college which was over ten years ago. I have noticed most dates I am not super excited about and that many of the women I see seem to lack that special something that makes them stand out. Maybe this is part of the lack of crushes. Maybe my expectations are too high which could also explain the lack of crushes. Maybe I have not been dating as much because I am a one woman only type guy and this could aslo explain the lack of crushes.

I noticed that when I do have a crush I am powerless to limit my thoughts & warm fuzzy feelings towards the person. The world seems brighter, the sun seems lighter, and the world is a better place. I don't believe that I need a crush or a date to have a positive out look on life but I forget how having a crush opens up a way of looking at life with a romance that embrfaces it in such a way all of it is positive.

I enjoy being single and having only myself to worry about but I also hate being alone and do want to marry some day. I have been single long enough I wonder if I will ever have a crush on a girl like when I was in college. I am sure I will...I have noticed around a few women that the world seems brighter, the sun seems lighter and my world is a better place. Now I have to ask them out and figure out if we are compatible.

Being uncultured

After writing about being cultured I realized that with house sitting most of the movies I have watched point to a much different & low brow culture.

Movies like Jackass 2, Team America World Police, and Borat. I realize after reading classic literature all year watching a few low brow movies completely erases all the culture I absorboed from reading classic literature.

My attempt at culture

Every now and then I get the feeling I am not very cultured. It is more of a feeling that I am aware of many pieces of literature that I have not read and I have this desire to read them and have an opinion of them or least know about them.

So this year has been an interesting and long year as I have finished a few classics and am still working on a couple more.

I have read the following:
Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

I am currently reading:
Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I am glad I am almost done as all this culture wears me out. I can not wait to get back to my mindless sci fi and crime novels as they are my favorite genres.

The joys of house sitting

I am house sitting again and it is been an interesting experience. I am on the North western corner of Park Hill. The house I am staying at has no TV or cable so I am forced to read, do puzzles, or rent many movies & video games. One of the coffee shops I enjoy visiting near Harkins Northfield has been insanely crowded so I can visit it.

The dogs are extra heyper and seem to need endless amounts of attention leaving little time to myself.

I discovered a Jack in Box that is open 24/7 all year long. I picked out a couple hole in the wall restuarants I want to visit. The nice thing about the north Park of Park hills is I have not explored this side of town much so I love driving around this park of town.

My first driving mis adventure is having a head light go out and then deciding to go out late at night to get something to eat and getting pulled over. I only noticed that day and the officer did let me go without a ticket but he was very rude. Another strike against Denver Police...I am sure there are some good Denver Cops out there but I have never had a good experience with the Denver Police and from what I hear neither have most people.

More adventures should continue soon...

Disappointing movies

Many of the movies I have wanted to see turned out to be disappointing. The Dilemma started off decent but it got too serious and tried to deal with too many complex problems and Vince Vaughn Was not completely believable as a regular good guy. The best scenes are when Vince Vaughn's character is harassed by an sensitive yet rough & tumble character played by Channing Tatum.

Sucker Punch had the coolest visual effects I have seen in years!! It is worth seeing for the effects alone but the story lagged at many points and the entire believe in yourself even though no one believes in you and keep fighting theme got old after a while.

I was excited to see how Source Code played out but it was so grim and morbid that it ended up being depressing and not very enjoyable despite the ending.

The Immortals was shaping up to be a great mix between 300 & Troy but the lead character was not very convincing in his role & Mikey Rourke played the bad guy of the film so perfectly & with such charisma I was routing for the bad guy at the end of the movie.

Bad Teacher had a certain flare that it looked like it could pull of the bad behavior bit well enough it would be enjoyable. It did not and did not even come close enough to having much heart & soul so it was disappointing.

50/50 was okay but almost all the funny parts were in the commercials and after seeing them once they were not funny anymore. I got the feeling the film makers could not decide what to do with the movie. Was it supposed to be a comedy with drama? Was it suppose to be a drama with some comedy? Was it spouse to be more of a second chance at life with attempts at comedy & drama?

At least there is Ghost Protocol & Sherlock Holmes to look forward too!!

Weird habits

I eat certain meals standing. When I cook burritos at home I eat them over the sink. Usually it is because I have added too much sauce or too many beans and they leak out. It gets so messy I have learned instead of wiping myself down or arming myself with napkins I should just eat it over the sink.

Some days at work after sitting all morning I eat my lunch while standing in the kitchen. I do get tired of sitting all the time and want a break from sitting even if it is during my meal.

Those are one of my weird habits.

Mystery illness update

So at six weeks now my mild to moderate (depending on the day) sore throat is still with me. I have no temperature and just recently developed slight congestion with an occasional cough. The back of my throat looks like a science experiment and my tonsils are the size of gum galls!!

I have been tested for strep & mono twice and came up negative each time. My doctor talked about running other tests and possibly visiting a head & throat specialist for a second opinion.

On one hand I do not like being sick but on the other hand it is kind of cool to have something doctor's can not diagnose. I feel like I should be on an episode of House. What if they discover a new disease and name it after me? It could be called the Duane the tub syndrome or Duaneifovna-virus. Maybe a antibiotic will be named after me? I can just see it now, a shot called Duaneious. It will cure that pesky sore throat associated with the Duaneifovna-virus!!!

More Adventures in House sitting

A loose schedule of recent house sitting events

Friday
Got up early & had some coffee, drove home picked up clothes & drove back to house sitting place. Slept before having a walk around city park early afternoon. It was a good time to reflect and clear my head. I ended up exploring and driving along some of the side roads around Harkens field and ended up driving north on Quebec. I have never driven around there so it was fun to explore and see new things. I ended up in a Starbucks and could have talked to this girl but I let the opportunity go and I was kicking myself later as the girl seemed nice. Oh well, live and learn.

Saturday
Slept in and rested most of the day. It was good time for reflection and reading. I have gotten away from it and I love reading. Rented Sucker Punch & watched Adam's Apples which is a foreign satire about good vs evil with ex cons under the care of a minister in a prison release program. Spent some time pursuing God and it studying the Bible, it was awesome. Had Chicken Swarma at Phoenician Kabob which was wonderful.

Sunday
More resting & reading as well as finishing up movies before running home to grab a change of clothes for work on Monday. While I was home I had time to spend with the Pearson’s and I realized how much I enjoy spending time with them and how much I enjoy hanging out with them. No family is perfect & everyone has idiosyncrasies but they are not bad.

My second career move this year

It was about three weeks ago I agree to step down from my current position and move back to customer service. I had not been happy in my job and every time my supervisor asked me I could not say I was happy. My old job became available and my supervisor gave me the option to move back to the position. She was very sweet in she gave me a day or so to think it over.

I only needed a few seconds to say yes but I took the day to think it over. The day I had to think it over I was out of the office. I am taking part of a research study out at Anschutz Medical Campus. I spent the day in semi cozy room getting blood draws. I had a TV some books and movies but I spent most of the day thinking about my job and my likes.

After working as an employment consultant doing professional level work for the last nine months I made the choice to move back to doing Administrative work. I am happy with helping people and I do get a joy out of providing quality customer service. I have not been able to do that at this job. This job is about pushy people and dealing with fifty interruptions all at once and meeting deadlines as quickly as possible. I have not been happy at this job and I knew I was not 100% convinced it would be a good fit for me when I applied but I took it anyway.

It is surreal in many ways but also very nice to have peace about my job situation as I have not had peace about it in many months. I noticed over the next couple weeks I had a few interactions providing customer service and I was very happy. A lady came in with a letter that had bad information & was incorrect. She needed it fixed and no one there who usually does those letters could do it so I did. I was happy to do it and enjoyed knowing I rescued this person and saved their day. I like providing for her and have rarely found those moments or that joy in the professional work I have been doing.

I feel good about moving back to customer service and know that there will always be other opportunities. Who knows what the future may hold.

How I spent Thanksgiving

I made a dish for the Thanksgiving outreach at the church I attend. It was good to be a part of something where I was serving and helping others. I have not done much to be involved at Pathways so I enjoyed meeting people and being active. I had time to serve homeless people meals, sit and a meal with the homeless, get to know people from the church and do some dishes.

Years ago while helping some people move I had the job of rounding up people to help load & unload trucks. For every ten people who said no, there were two who said maybe and never called me back. After close to twenty phone calls I was getting discouraged and thought no one would help me. A friend I have not talked to in years and one who seems questionable was the first and only person who committed to helping with the move. He told it has been years since he had a day where the entire day was devoted to serving or giving to someone else.

If you ask me about Thanksgiving this year I would say it was a day that was about serving & giving to someone else. For that opportunity I am grateful.

Crazy nights out

Out of all the people I have known I like Andrew Pearson for many qualities he possesses. He is fun to be around and gets out of the house and has a life of going out to bars, restaurants, movies, and drinks. Many people who know me would say that is not my scene all the time and I do spend nights in or at a coffee shop reading. I definitely do not have a social life that embodies the spirit of a non stop party person and never will. I do like to get out and live. Part of living in my mind means getting out and doing those things we did growing up or enjoying going out.

I have noticed as people get older they still in more and stay home with their kids. On one hand that is part of having kids but on the other hand it seems like these same people are not happy. It is like they gave up a part of the joy they had from going out or having fun and they do not know how to recapture that in their current circumstances.

Maybe that is what I like about Andrew, he wants to have fun and hang out. He is not wild or wreckless and is responsible with a job and being married but he enjoys life. I am not a party type guy and am not super suave so I have no clue why Andrew wants me to hang with him but he is fun and I have always said yes. I may go home early or not drink as much but I enjoy a night out on the town and Andrew embodies that fun life style more than anyone I know. Maybe this is what people like about him, his vivacious spirit.

We hung out at the Irish Snug for drinks then off to New Jerusalem by DU for late night middle eastern food. What is fun about going out for a night on the town is it has that flare of excitement where one does not know what can or will happen next. It has all the liveliness of youth but without recklessness or rebellion. It is a lot like being in college and going for a night out to have fun.

It seems like part of getting older for me has meant loosing that side of my self or I do not do those types of things as often as I use to so thank you Andrew!