2011 In Review

2011 was a polarizing year for me - a year of change in every area of my life. I came into 2011 with a solid set of goals that focused on improving my professional career. Those goal paid of better than I hoped, as I transitioned to a new job in May that ultimately lead to one of the best years of my life.

Here is the breakdown of the highlights of my 2011.

January

I started 2011 with a renewed interest in blogging. I challenged myself to blog once a day for the entire month of January. A lot of this momentum carried into the new year, although by the fall I was getting quite busy, and blogging became a back-burner activity for me once again.

The winter season was particularly brutal, with several 6+ inch snowfalls blanketing Findlay in heavy snow. I enjoyed the weather with sledding and hiking.

February

February was a great month for a gamer such as myself. Thanks to the heavy snows of winter, I spent a lot of time indoors doing two things: working on my 2011 goals and playing a ton of games. My XBox 360 was getting a ton of playtime, new Steam games were getting installed and played every few days (leftovers from the holiday sale), and I kept busy with all the usual standbys: Minecraft, my DS, and Wii.

Unfortunately February also brought some unfortunate turn of events for me at work: several huge projects hit at once and I found myself overwhelmed, overworked, and stressed in very uncomfortable ways.

March


March may have been the most important month of 2011. Three things happened in March that set me up for a fantastic year:

• I reunited with one of my oldest friends, Aryn, and we hit off towards a wonderful relationship.
• My job at CRI was eating me alive. I was working mandatory 55+ hour weeks, not getting overtime, falling farther behind than ever before, and finding myself exhausted seven days a week.
• I became entirely disenchanted with my job, and I found the motivation to seek a new job, which returned immediate results in Computol.

While I was still suffering in Findlay, I was beginning to consider the possibilities and promise that a new job might have brought.

Despite the potential for a new job, I was finally (after a year and a half) beginning to become mildly comfortable in Findlay: I had a solid weekly routine down, I found some favorite local restaurants, and I did my best to call my tiny apartment and local ice cream joint "home."

The end of March saw the release of the Nintendo 3DS, and despite sitting on the fence for this expensive handheld console, I stood in a line of one at Meijer for two hours to get it for a midnight release. I was so early, in fact, that I had to inform the entire night crew at Meijer that the console was even supposed to come out at midnight. Figures.

April

I was at wit's end going into April. CRI was tearing me apart, now with 70 hour weeks the norm and unmanageable amounts of stress piled on me every week. On top of my "normal" job came studying, programming, and reviewing for my job interviews at Computol. I was generally stressed about the interview process. At one point I remember sitting at CRI with this thought: "I need to work at Computol. I won't make it past the month here." By the middle of April my mind was made up: score the Computol job or quit CRI cold turkey.

After two interviews at Computol - including one involving a lunch out with the entire company - I was invited for a third and final interview. A third interview? I must have been doing something right! As I rushed to Perrysburg on a warm Tuesday evening, I contemplated the possibility that I was indeed on the path to leaving Findlay. "You're hired," echoed throughout my head all night long. I did it. I wrote my resignation letter not more than two hours later after celebrating with my parents at Jeds. Goddamn did I ever scarf down some Bacon Doublecheese Balls. I was moving to Perrysburg.

May

May was the culmination of two months of work: I started my new job at Computol on the 2nd and moved to Perrysburg the following weekend. In less than a week I transitioned my life from Findlay to Perrysburg.

I immediately set out to enjoy my homecoming. With work that was easy to adjust to (I honestly loved what I did at Computol right from the get go) and no more mandatory overtime, I set about enjoying my nights by visiting family, friends, and local parks.

Thanks to work I also rediscovered my college-age love of Buffalo Wild Wings, cheap Chinese food, and a few other old standbys. Thanks to my time with Aryn, I discovered great new, classy-as-hell restaurants, and built a small shred of respect for Toledo that I lacked before.

June

Something hit me almost immediately in June: I was on top of my old Perrysburg biking routes. At the beginning of the month I pulled my old bike from my parents' place and started riding. The residential streets of Perrysburg were relaxing as heck to ride on, but I also pushed myself to make a routine out of visiting Side Cut Metropark, Oak Openings, Fallen Timbers mall, and eventually longer rides out in the country. 2011 was 2001 all over again: I became a super-active, health-obsessed, biking-crazed Brandon. By the end of June I was ready to upgrade my game.

As summer kicked off in the final week of June, I felt the need to find a new summer soundtrack. Thanks to a combination of an Amazon sale and just the right tracks on Last.fm, I discovered two very different artists: Oleander and their fantastic "I Walk Alone" and Katy Perry's "T.G.I.F." Five new CDs rotated through my car all summer long. All three Oleander albums were genuinely awesome rock for the great weather while Katy Perry's two albums were guilty pleasures in the extreme.

July

I started July on a hunt for a new bike. My old bike was a Wal-Mart level Huffy that did no justice to my dozens of miles per week. After two weeks of research and a week of shopping, I settled on a Trek 7.3 FX hybrid fitness bike. This $700 beauty let me step up my game and bike faster, longer, and farther without all the discomfort, doubt, and breakdowns of my old bike.

July was hot as hell. I started the month with a badly-needed Reboot Weekend. This was one of the most memorable weekends of 2011. I started by hiking the Oak Openings Scout Trail in its entirety over two days. Both sections of the hike were brutal: 95+ degree heat and humid-air-so-thick-I-could-almost-drink-it made my hiking a sweaty, messy affair. Every minute and every step was perfect. I also biked some thirty miles over the course of the weekend by visiting my parents along with my usual rides. Easily the highlight of the entire weekend: I rode my bike to Fort Meigs for the Fourth of July fireworks. The time alone in a crowd was a little awkward at first, but I eventually learned to enjoy myself. The air was crisp, the evening calm, and the fireworks beautiful. I rode home in the dark as scores of cars backed up on Route 65. I cannot imagine spending the Fourth any other way now.

August

August was a quiet month for me. The chaos and excitement of starting my new life in Perrysburg was finally settling down and I was fairly settled into my job at Computol. My biking routine kept me rolling (*ahem*) pretty well all month long.

Also in August was a memorable trip to Cedar Point with Jason and Denise: among the highlights were constant downpours, car troubles, flooding, and clothes so soaked they stunk for days.

Near the end of the month HP dropped the price of its TouchPad tablet to firesale prices, and I stayed up for a whole night checking prices, making reservations, and eventually buying three 10" tablets. I was a part of the tablet crowd! While the TouchPad was certainly neat, its lack of applications and sketchy build quality meant it was only a passing interest to me. I sold two and kept one.

September

I celebrated quite a bit in September: six years of blogging on Critically Correct, the end of a fantastic summer, and a second "What If..." post - one of my favorite topics on CC.

I continued biking several times a week and eventually began a routine at the beginning of the month that became something of a running gag. Every Tuesday and Thursday I would ride my bike past O-Deer Diner in downtown Perrysburg and stop for a sundae. Not only did I get to meet a lot of new, friendly faces, but I made a habit out of posting a "Check-In" to O-Deer on Facebook every time I went. This became the topic of many sarcastic comments on Facebook and some interesting back-and-forth banter. I would continue to check-in at O-Deer twice a week through the end of the year.

October

My birthday saw the first bit of measurable turbulence in my life since April. My biking came to a screeching halt thanks to colder weather setting in. In place of biking I tried to hike more often, but I found this challenging since I was lacking a lot of day-hiking gear. I rectified this by the end of the month with new hiking shoes, a new winter coat (actually, the return of my favorite old winter coat), and a new day-pack for 10-to-20 mile hikes.

My birthday was extremely subdued, just as I like it, and passed without any major incident. One of these years I will go nuts on my birthday and have a huge party. I have a feeling it will be within the next couple of years, but until then, it is all me, all alone, all the time.

I took the death of Steve Jobs on October 5th fairly hard. Even though I am not a hardcore Apple fanboy, I definitely understood the impact that he left on several industries, many of which I am directly involved in.

The end of October was rather interesting. After complaining about sleepwalking to my doctor, I was referred to a pulmonologist and eventually admitted to a sleep study. The process was much more comfortable than I expected it to be, but I still did not get much sleep. I came out of the study with good news: no sleep apnea and definitely no obvious signs of sleepwalking.

November

What a dangerous month November was. Despite great success all year long, I was beginning to feel a little shut-in, a little lost, and a little lazy throughout all of November. I did discover one of my new favorite television shows, "The Walking Dead," and got to play Super Mario 3D Land - easily the Mario game I was waiting for since 1996.

I did not realize it right away, but November marked the beginning of a considerable shut-in period for me. Work, sit at home, sleep, repeat. Through all of November I repeated this routine and slowly but surely sunk myself into a kind of shallow depression that would become a serious problem in December.

The realities of my family's health hit home on Thanksgiving Day, when my cousin Kay passed away at Toledo Hospital, losing her battle with cancer. The subsequent funeral was nothing short of astounding: a firefighters' tribute involving hundreds of people spread between Bowling Green and Weston.

December

The first Saturday in December marked one hell of a start to the holiday season. The Computol Christmas party kicked off at Stella's in downtown Perrysburg. I took Aryn with me and was nervous to the Nth degree. How would eight families shoved into a tiny dining room three stories above downtown Perrysburg get along? As it turns out, pretty well. Despite the cramped space and occasionally-awkward conversation (seriously, what was wrong with me?), the Christmas party was a success. Each Computol employee ended the night with a 32 GB 3G iPad 2, a fleece jacket, a desk calendar, and a key chain flashlight. Not a bad haul for my first Christmas at Computol

The remainder of December was quiet. The stale routine that I fell into throughout November finally came to a head in the middle of the month, during a shopping trip with Aryn, when I realized that I have once again become too comfortable in my routine. This was really my 2011 coming full-circle: the year that began poorly because of my stale routines was thrust into change before slowing down again into a different sort of boring routine.

The remainder of December was spent planning for an excellent 2012. How do I avoid routines that slow me down? What do I want to accomplish in the coming year? How can I top the best year of my life thus far?

I am going to make 2012 amazing.

B3 out.

2011's Biggest Failure: The Socially Awkward Penguin

I generally look at 2011 as one of the best years of my life, and while my Year-In-Review next weekend will touch upon that quite a bit, I thought I would first take a good hard look at one of my biggest personal failures in 2011: my closest personal relationships being hurt by the culmination of three years of relative social isolation.

Allow me:

I graduated from BGSU in 2008 and my overall social life has since taken a backseat to my career. In simpler terms, I am basically a career man. Many of my free nights over the past three years have been filled with studying, working, and planning for the future. Thanks to all the dedication to my craft, I have found all the monetary and professional success that I dreamed about in college.

Unfortunately all this focus on myself has completely twisted me from the overly-social person I was in college. I once neglected my studies for time with friends. I used to rush from a shift at Meijer to the BG bars for wings and drinks. How many Friday nights did I give up video games for Otsego High school football games? How often did I choose to see five or six of my closest friends instead of my family over the holidays? The answer: a whole hell of a lot.

The last three years have been relatively lonely for me (please, folks, I said relatively), and this past weekend I was made painfully aware of how my recent anti-social attitudes have affected me: I am kind of a jerk. I do not mean to be a dick by any means, but I do find it hard to sustain a worthwhile conversation with even my closest friends and not somehow slip in a smart-ass comment that has no relevance whatsoever. What the hell is wrong with me?

Because I blame a lot of my current social awkwardness on my lack of social drive over the last few years, my most immediate goal of 2012 is fairly obvious: to get my shit together and put myself out in front of my friends more often. My studies, writing, personal projects, etc. will certainly continue to be a major part of my regular routine, but I will be starting the new year with a markedly different schedule that will absolutely force me to get out of the apartment and away from my own "success."

B3 out.

Just In Timeline

Facebook is rolling out its Timeline this week and I have to say: It is awesome.

For the uninitiated, the Facebook Timeline is an overhaul of your profile. Instead of showing a reverse-chronological listing of Status Updates, photos, wall posts, etc., the Timeline places everything from your profile in a tile-based timeline that visually places items in chronological relation to one another. In simpler terms: you entire online life is now on display and navigable with a few simply clicks.

The best aspect of Timeline for me is the ability to instantly view any year, month, or day from my past. Most major updates, events, photos, and relationships are already populated on my Timeline. In what will surely become an addiction in 2012, my Timeline can be altered at any point - I can go all the way back to 1984 and play catch-up by filling in major milestones with updates, notes, stories, and photos. My Facebook profile can literally be my own personal museum. In an interesting nod to how integrated to the Internet I really am, I found myself verifying events on my Timeline with those that I wrote about on my blog since 2005. Everything matches perfectly.

And that is what makes Timeline so great: it is my own personal, visual, interactive history that I can share with the world. I hope to spend many months filling in details of my past and I look forward to see how my Timeline grows over the years.

For the first time since I came on board, Facebook has made a change that I wholeheartedly support and most certainly do enjoy.

B3 out.

The Big December Reboot

Tomorrow at 9:00pm I am kicking off an emergency Reboot Weekend. Somewhere in the last month my awesome 2011 has run off course, and I need to get it back on track as soon as possible.

I'll report back in Monday with a full explanation.

I sure hope this works...

B3 out.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Oh winter, you are not even here yet and you are taking your massive toll on me. If the first half of 2011 was nothing but incredible, the late latter half is proving to be somewhat of a challenge: in and out of various doctors, huge financial burdens to handle, a very unfortunate funeral, and terrible uncertainty in a few areas of my personal life.

2011, you were good to me, but you are not going out in quite the style I envisioned. Curse you!

B3 out.

Your Second Childhood: Super Mario 3D Land Review

Nostalgia is a powerful thing and Nintendo knows it. Since 1985 the gaming world has been shaped by Nintendo's everlasting franchises that strike a balance between today's twenty-something childhood nostalgia and interesting new designs. Nintendo's biggest games consistently deliver fun challenges, occasionally innovate genres, and always impress the masses.

Chief among its franchises is Mario, the little plumber who could. Lightning struck twice in the 1980s with Super Mario Bros. defining the modern platform genre and Super Mario Bros. 3 perfecting it. Since then Mario has starred in countless games, but not since 1996's Super Mario 64 has the series offered a genre-defining, industry-shaping game.

Super Mario 3D Land might have just kicked Super Mario 64 to the curb. Here is a game so well done, so fun to play from start to finish, and so genuinely well-designed that it can barely stand among other games. While Nintendo has spent the last ten years designing solid, fun Mario games for Wii and DS, Super Mario 3D Land plays like the culmination of thirty years of the best of the genre. This is truly the best Mario game to date.

A year and a half ago I wrote a double-review of what I considered the best Mario games: Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii and the independent PC platformer Super Mario Bros. X. I loved the 3D Galaxy for its technical achievements and tight control, while I poured my love on the 2D SMBX for its incredible blend of Mario nostalgia and original level design. I think Nintendo may have read that article, because Super Mario Bros. 3D Land combines the best of both games.

3D Land is a 3D Mario game that plays like a 2D Mario game. There are distinct levels, power-ups, secrets, castles, bosses, and Bowser. Nintendo wisely avoided trying to tell a complex story here: Peach has been kidnapped and Mario is out to save her. Within a minute and a half of booting the game Mario is on the ground. Within an hour Mario will be well into World 2, if not World 3. The game starts out as cheerily and as easily as Super Mario Bros. 3 did, but eventually ramps up the difficulty to insane levels. One point worth mentioning: the game is much, much longer than it initially appears, so do not be discouraged by how fast you travel through the game at first.

Level variety is strong with 3D Land, easily the best of the traditional get-to-the-goal Mario designs. This is a platformer by all traditional definitions, with tricky jumps, fast-paced action, timed levels, and minor exploration. Difficulty pacing is top-notch, with early, easy levels introducing mechanics that come into play later in the game in big ways. Perhaps the best part about this progression: never will you notice you are learning a new mechanic, you will simply fall into it as the game progresses. This kind of seamless learning experience is one no other game as ever replicated so well.

Anyone and everyone will get immeasurable joy from playing through the first eight worlds of 3D Land, and those looking for an honest challenge will love everything that comes after World 8.

Nintendo, you have honestly made my favorite Mario game, finally surpassing the masterpiece that is Super Mario 64. Thanks to Super Mario 3D Land, I get to experience the joy of playing through a timeless Mario game as if I was 13 again and ripping open my SNES. For a hardcore Mario fan and dedicated gamer such as myself, this is like a second childhood.

Thank you.

B3 out.

Gaming Season Is Here

Skyrim tomorrow.

Super Mario 3D Land Sunday.

Skyward Sword and Minecraft next weekend.

I get to be stuck in front of a TV screen just in time for the cold of winter. Beautiful.

B3 out.

Hunker Down Now, Hike Later

This upcoming week of work will be something spectacular. I have a major project coming together and I am making the big, final push to get it completed this week. I am planning for a heavy work week that will spill over into almost every night this week. The positive of all this? I like my job, so I do not mind the extra work at all!

Next weekend will be something special. This weekend I bought a new pair of hiking shoes and a new daypack for my shorter hiking trips. I am hoping to put all this new gear to use next weekend with my first full 16-mile hike on the Scout Trail at Oak Openings. My next big purchases will be a tent and mummy bag, which will complete all the big items on my hiking supplies checklist.

This should be a very fun winter. Bring it on, Mother Nature.

B3 out.

Beginning of Things

Six years ago today my life changed in ways I never could have anticipated.

Today I officially declare the beginning of a fantastic new chapter in my life.

B3 out.

I'm Too Late: The Walking Dead Review

This week I watched all six episodes of AMC's The Walking Dead on Netflix, and tonight I offer my review of the show thus far.

I will keep this review brief: I should have finished Meltdown ten years ago. The Walking Dead (in its comic book form) launched in 2003, exactly when I hoped to finish my original draft for Meltdown. I agonize over this because The Walking Dead is nearly identical to the story I began writing for Meltdown in 1998. The zombies, the slow deliberate pace, the focus on humanity... hell, even the concept of traveling in an RV made it in there. Between this and Cormac McCarthy's The Road, just about every concept I originally envisioned Meltdown to be has been made popular.

Not that there is anything terribly original about the zombie survival-horror genre, but Walking does an extremely admirable job with it. Striking the perfect balance of character, drama, action, gore, and suspense, Walking may end up being the best story/show/movie about zombies ever produced. There are no overarching plots that echo society a la Romero's Dead-series or goofy (but excellent) diversions like those from Shaun of the Dead. Walking is all about humanity at its most basic level: fear, love, hunger, thirsts, desire, insanity - the very core of the human psyche is tested as early as the opening scene of the first episode.

Despite a highly-repetitive per-show format (spin up the story from the previous episode, move the characters around, end with a cliff-hanger), Walking does an excellent job with its characters through-and-through. There are good guys, bad guys, guys we love to hate, and guys we are sorry to see die.

Walking's strength is clearly in its core characters and their desire for survival. Perhaps less entertaining is some of the techno-babble that dominates much of the final episode of season one. This is a minor complaint against a series that is already so well done no other zombie tale before it may matter.

I look forward to catching up with season two this year. Well, that and finishing Meltdown. Dammit.

B3 out.

The Other October Update

This October is wrapping up in spectacular fashion.

Sweet and Chunky

This past Friday was a bit surprising for me. Work was "meh" at best, but I got through it knowing that I had a full weekend ahead of me. Friday night turned out to be very interesting. I ended up at the Toledo Museum of Art (for which I am a member now) with Aryn for a dessert-themed wine tasting. This was the sweetest set of wines I have ever had. The final of the four was a delicious cabernet sauvignon port that came with a perfect punch of sweet and alcoholic. I enjoyed it so much I bought a bottle.

After the museum we ended up at (our usual?) Doc Watson's. I am definitely warming up to Doc's, and I made an awesome discovery - Doc's wins the boneless chicken chunk battle. I judge almost all sports-eateries / bars on their boneless chicken chunks. It is one of my favorite junk foods and Doc's nails it: actual chunks of chicken right off the bone, deep fried in a thick, meaty batter, and tossed in one of a few sauces. That Doc's only offers five sauces says something about these chunks - it's all about the chicken, and there is no screwing around here.

Sorry, Jeds. There will always be a time and place for your Fireballs, but when I want the perfect chunk, I am off to Doc's.

P.S. - Wonder Showzen. That is all.

Where are the Bagels?

Ann Arbor's Day of .NET was this Saturday, and it was a decent day, but certainly not as awesome as my last AADODN. On the plus side, the drive to Ann Arbor is painless and perfectly manageable, which means I have no excuses to not visit the city from time to time.

The first session I attended focused on how to properly use data in a mobile environment. Most of this talk was focused on some generally good practices that apply across most software development: use asynchronous requests when talking to services on the web, store data locally, and make the mobile user experience paramount.

The second session focused on operating as an independent software developer. This is much more involved than simply finding a contact job and rolling with it. Michael Eaton covered the process from top to bottom - managing time, the importance of having quality a lawyer/accountant/insurance agent, time tracking, and various other topics.

The third session I went to covered iPhone development using C# / .NET. I can only say one thing about this: given all the effort and expense that it takes to get a C# app developed in the MonoTouch environment, it is probably worth just learning Objective-C.

The Coding Season

As this fall season slowly-but-surely transforms into winter, I am looking ahead to my next big project. Since I tend to spend a lot more time inside during the winter than during the summer, I tend to do a medium-to-large programming project. This winter I have a couple of projects in mind: additions to the BrandonBruno.com website and working on my Android development skills. In addition to the redesign of my website that rolled out last month, I hope to move some additional changes live in November.

Alright, now I am off to enjoy this wonderful Saturday night.

B3 out.

The CodeMash Explosion

This past January I attended my first CodeMash in Sandusky, Ohio. This upcoming January, I will be attending my second CodeMash, but unfortunately it most likely will not be as sweet as my first.

CodeMash 2012 has proven to be immensely popular. Tickets for the 1,200-person conference sold out in just twenty minutes. Luckily myself and everyone at work got tickets. Not so lucky: my chances of staying at Kalahari during the conference. The hotel was completely booked just hours after the tickets went on sale, and I was unable to get a room for the entire stay. Instead I will be staying outside of Kalahari (probably just commuting, to be honest), which ruins the best part of the CodeMash experience.

Waking up in my own private hotel room at 7am, stumbling from my room to a CodeMash breakfast buffet, then returning for a quick shower... this was the best part of my first CodeMash. I will definitely miss the comfort and convenience of staying at Kalahari this year.

Despite this minor setback, I am looking forward to the conference. January cannot come soon enough.

The October Update

It has been a fairly busy October for me this year. The first half of the month was spent exactly as it is every year: I celebrated my birthday, went to the Apple Butter Festival in Grand Rapids, and wrapped up the last of my summer and fall activities. Now I look forward to a few more unique events in the coming weeks: a sleep study this Thursday, Ann Arbor Day of .NET, a possible concert in Toledo, and three major video game launches in November: Minecraft, Super Mario 3D Land, and Skyward Sword. Do not even get me started on Skyrim. I will be hearing plenty about that from my sister, no doubt.

I have been making some excellent progress with writing as of late. I am working on two working drafts of Meltdown and both are coming along nicely. I think either of the drafts could end up becoming a final story someday. Or not, who knows.

Anyway, I have plenty to keep busy with this week, so I am off to get back to writing!

B3 out.

A Few Words About Steve Jobs

I make a special point to keep my banter on my blog as positive as possible, but sometimes something comes along that requires me to bend the rules a bit.

Today, October 5th, 2011, Steve Jobs passed away.

Death is not necessarily a time for mourning, although it is hard to not tear up at Apple.com's bleak memorial to the company's visionary leader. Rather than mourn the loss of a great individual, I instead briefly reflect on the incredible influence Steve held over the entire technology industry and the world beyond.

I have never been a huge buyer of Apple products, but I have always been a relentless fan of Apple products. Apple's pricing and walled-garden ecosystems have been my primary turnoffs, but these very elements have helped to cast a certain sheen on Apple products. iPods, iPhones, and iPads are premium products of tremendous attractiveness, quality, and most importantly, an ease of use that makes these high-tech toys accessible to everyone.

The iPod changed how we listen to music. iTunes changed how we buy music. The iPhone, Apple's riskiest product launch ever, forever changed how we use mobile technology to interact with one another. The iPhone was not the first smartphone, but it was the one to get it right for the everyman. Go back to 2006 and try using a "smartphone" - the experience is night and day from what we take for granted now. The iPad has yet to prove its staying power and influence, but it sure has had the right start.

Steve made entire industries bend to his will, sent competitors scrambling to create countless copycat products, and ultimately proved that second chances do exist. Steve was the best of the best of the best. He was a leader for our generation. He was the first celebrity death to bring me to tears.

Steve, you will be missed. Rest in peace.

B3 out.

Twenty-Seven

Today is the portrait of aging.

I am twenty-seven; lots to reflect on.

B3 out.

The "What If..." Post: Part II

Several years ago I wrote one of my favorite pieces on Critically Correct: The "What If..." Post. Today I return with a long-overdue Part II.

When: 2003
The Event: I signed up for English 111 in the 11:30am time slot as my very first class at BGSU.
The Fallout: I meet a friend who affects my entire social experience in college.

What Happened: Aryn and I met in English 111 on day one of college, and over the next five years, would get to know each other on and off as our lives crossed paths. She also inadvertently helped me meet Colleen.

What If... I did not take that particular English class? Would I have met Aryn? Probably not. We were not exactly two people who might have struck up conversation on the street as strangers. If I were not in that English class, I may not have met a whole new group of friends, experienced campus life through Colleen, or even drifted from Lacey more than I already did after our breakup. More likely than not, college may have been a considerably lonely experience for me.


When: 2004
The Event: I changed my college major from creative writing to computer science.
The Fallout: I put myself on a solid course of study that ultimately lead to me affording the job and lifestyle that I have always dreamed about.

What Happened: Throughout my early college years I debated what course of study to pursue and changed majors multiple times. In my sophomore year I finally decided to pursue my first love, computers.

What If... I stuck with the "easy path" and chose to finish my creative writing major at BGSU? Well for one I would not be where I am today. I might also have been in school two years longer, as the vast majority of writers coming out of BGSU stick around for an MFA degree. I would have done the same, but I would certainly have ended up not with a successful novel or two, but an ambiguous blend of short stories, novel misfires, or perhaps nothing at all. Could this path have been one where I live now as a starving artist? Quite possibly.


When: 2011
The Event: I left my job in Findlay to find greener pastures.
The Fallout: I find the perfect job, a great apartment, and reconnect with old friends over the best summer of my life.

What Happened: Growing tired of my consistent, stable life in Findlay - oh, and my job - I moved to a new job in Perrysburg. I ended up finding complete happiness. I also returned to my loves in life - hiking, biking, and seeing a wide variety of friends.

What If... I stayed at my job in Findlay? Well, for one, I might still be working constant weekends. My former company has undergone many positive changes since I left, but I do believe I would be even more unhappy now than I was when I left. In fact, Summer 2011 could have been the worst of my life. I would have been unbearably busy and always behind at work. This would have prevented me from learning all the new skills that I have picked up this past summer: HTML5, .NET 4.0, and additions to my PHP and JavaScript skills. I would not have made weekly trips to Cedar Point. I would not have rekindled my loves of hiking and biking. I might have been in worse physical shape now than in the spring - the Findlay area just is not conductive to my staying active. Most importantly, however, I would not be readily available to all my friends, especially the ones I care the most about. Whew.


When: 2003
The Event: Deciding between two amazing girls to pursue, I choose long-time favorite Lacey over Brittany.
The Fallout: I fall in love with my best friend; we eventually date but ultimately break up.

What Happened: Over the course of a year I grew very close to one of my Meijer pals, Brittany. By this time I was already a couple of years into my long-term crush with Lacey, but I did face a decision: which of these two girls - each whom I really, really liked - did I want to pursue a relationship? Despite some back and forth, I chose Lacey.

What If... I chose a path with Brittany instead of Lacey? Spanning nearly all of my young adulthood, seven years of my life were devoted to Lacey. Suffice to say, she was an important part of my growing up. Brittany could very well have been the same thing in my life. I might have stayed focused at BGSU better than I did when Lacey re-entered my life. I would almost certainly have started a family by now - assuming Brittany and I were in a long-term, successful relationship. I might not have ever worked or lived in Findlay for the sake of staying close to Britt. This list could go on and on. When presented with a binary choice as simple as "choose the girl," the possibilities for the road not traveled seem infinite.

B3 out.

Bluer Than Ever: Any Man In America Review

Blue October's last album was a bit of a disappointment for me. While the album grew on me over several months of repeated listening, I ultimately did not care for Justin Furstenfeld's constant whining and the album's inconsistent musical focus.

The latest album from Blue October, Any Man In America, is another romp through Furstenfeld's tumultuous  personal life (as is most Blue October music). This time we are presented with his poetry on his recent divorce. Unlike Approaching Normal's blatant emo lyrics and scatter-shot musical hooks, Any Man In America is a much more solid album.

Furstenfeld attacks every corner of his divorce. He pleads for his wife to stay with him ("The Feel Again"), hurts in the moment of losing his daughter ("For the Love"), yet pleads again for their relationship while reminiscing of better days ("The Chills"). Instead of whining about his miserable situation, however, Furstenfeld holds his head high and goes into full-on attack mode in the titular "Any Man In America." A six-and-a-half minute opus of hip-hop-infused rock, Furstenfeld and the rest of Blue October tear into his ex-wife and a legal system favoring women before racing into a catchy-as-hell chorus warning every man in American to "take back your control."

Musically, Any Man In America is much closer to pop and hip-hop than Blue October's earlier rock-based work (History for Sale). Not every track is a winner here. The latter-half of the album lacks any of Blue October's trademark hooks and comes of a little generic. This might throw of the casual listener and cause all but the truest of Blue October fans to lose interest in the album as it enters the home stretch.

With four songs over six minutes and most other near five, this is not a radio-friendly album. More than any Blue October album before, this is an immediately personal album, and warrants time, patience, and understanding to get through all of Justin's pain. Luckily for us this time, he knows how to move past his moping and look to a positive future.

I'll take it. B3 out.

We Need To Talk, Facebook

As of this writing I am 26 years old. Facebook is 7 years old. I was with Facebook from Day One way back in 2004. It was a different kind of beauty back then - simple, clean, and easy to use. The Facebook we all know and love today is more like 4 years old - the birth of the News Feed changed everything. All in all, I think I have a few years of maturity on this baby. Between Facebook and I, I am the senior in this relationship.

But now it is time to talk about my relationships outside of Facebook. Yes, those.

You see, Facebook, you are causing all sorts of problems in my personal life.

Yes, you are a useful communication tool, an invaluable way to keep up with long-lost or distant friends. In many ways you are the epitome of what communication in the digital era is supposed to be: concise, instant, and always-available.

Yes, you are an interesting distraction. You cater to my almost primal desire to obtain knowledge. That devilish News Feed. Instant and daily updates on what my close friends, former lovers, known enemies, and stray co-workers are up to all day long. It is an addiction, really. All the drama, quotes, lyrics, jokes, and mundane updates I could ever need.

And yes, you are still beautiful. While you're interface can be a little inconsistent and even flabby around the sides, you adhere to enough of a minimalist design to have kept me happy over the years. A little exercise wouldn't hurt, though.

But, Facebook my dear, I have come to the conclusion that you are perhaps a little too useful. It seems some people use you as the middleman - the go-between, the private investigator.

I love my own vanity, no doubt, and will happily post my every whimsical thought, petty joke, skewed insight, and upcoming plan. But boy, Facebook, it sure is annoying when all of my awesome updates get contorted into something else entirely. I'm going where? With who? When? I said what to who?

If people cannot get enough drama in their lives (and similarly, enough Facebook), then you must revel in dishing out my every update. Spread my words to as many people as possible. Let them connect the dots. Let them see who I am one status update at a time. This is where all the problems are in my personal life. Some people just wrongly connect the dots, make assumptions about me, and throw a fit about it. How could you do this, Facebook?

You see, Facebook... Wait. I think it's me. You have been doing what you do all along. You are still beautiful. You keep me connected to all my friends. You work perfectly.

Facebook, I hate to say this, but maybe *I* am the problem. Maybe I shouldn't give you so damn much of my life. Maybe a little change is in order?

I am good at that, after all.

B3 out.

The Best Summer of My Life

What made Summer 2011 so memorable and significant for me? A new job, the glory of rekindling old friendships, staying active on my bike, and plenty of other changes that will define me for years to come.

In short, change defines the best years of my life, and this year has been the prime example of positive change. What follows is a full list of just what happened this summer.

From Findlay to Perrysburg: Seeking Out the Perfect Job

This is the big one, of course. This past spring I grew tired of my job at CRI in Findlay and during a quick browse for jobs online, stumbled upon a small company in Perrysburg, OH. Moving to Perrysburg sounded like a dream come true: I could live close to home, make more money, live in a wonderful city, and get a ton of great experience as a web developer.

I never wanted something so bad in my life, and I worked furiously for nearly a month to prepare for three interviews, a small lab project, and a potential upheaval of my cozy life in Findlay. I got the job, of course, and I did on my own what I had always relied on other people for: I found happiness, success, and comfort all at once.

I have been incredibly happy with my professional life ever since.

Pure, Unadulterated Fate

Right as I moved to Perrysburg, I also met up with an old female friend from college. The two of us never really kicked anything off as friends in college - our lives were just heading in different directions. This past summer we met up for the first time in years and have been having a blast. An absolute blast.

Along with one friend came another: an old Meijer co-worker moved back to Ohio, which has allowed him and I to hang out, catch-up, and have some great times at Cedar Point.

In the end this summer has really hammered one point home: I have some awesome friends all-around.

Back to Biking Basics

In 2001 I biked like my life depended on it, and for nine years since then I have been rather sedentary. School, girls, college, you know the routine. This past summer I rediscovered my love for biking and have made it the single-most important aspect of my outdoor life. I sunk serious time and money into buying a new bike (which I love), and I have integrated biking into my daily life.

The result of this physical activity has been tremendously good for my health. I am in the best shape of my life and I intend to continue improving my health.

Get to the Point

This summer was kicked off with a new tradition for me: weekly trips to Cedar Point. No longer just a twice-a-year event with the family, I turned Cedar Point into a casual weekend affair. I bought a Platinum Season Pass and have been to The Point at least a dozen times already, with at least two or three more trips possible before the park closes for the winter.

Let the Countdown Begin

The title says it all, really.

As this summer comes to an abrupt end (who turned the heat off?), I look forward to fall as a time of change in a couple areas of my life:

The New BrandonBruno.com

This week I will be launching a revised, updated, and outright-cooler home on the web. The new BrandonBruno.com features a new design, revised content, and a couple of new features - chief among them being a blogging engine.

Beginning this October, Critically Correct will become my personal blog - no more tech posts intermixed alongside my daily and weekly posts. Tech talk and similar babble will be published directly on the BrandonBruno.com blog, while personal posts, weekly updates, and my creative writing will be published here. I hope this helps focus my audience for each type of posts.

My ultimate goal for BrandonBruno.com is to morph it into my professional home on the Internet. My personal and professional programming portfolios will be highlighted, as well as the basic technology services that I provide. These sections will be fleshed out in the coming months as well. I intend to go independent as a developer one day, and my refocusing of my website is a huge first step in that direction.

Back to Biking Basics


2011 has been fantastic to my biking. Not since 2001 have I spent so much time on two wheels, and now that warmer weather is giving way to the cool breezes of a chilly (and typically wet) Northwest Ohio fall, I am looking to adapt my biking habits to keep it in my daily life. In fact, that is what I am doing - incorporating biking into my daily life by doing the unthinkable for most people: swapping my car for my bike.

I spend about ninety percent of my time every week in or near Perrysburg - within biking distance, for example - so why not just bike everywhere all the time. That is what I am doing. Thanks to some extensive planning and smart spending, I am now biking to and from work everyday. Light grocery shopping, eating out in Perrysburg, visiting local friends - all of it from my bike.

Critically Correct: Year Six and Beyond

Notice anything different about Critcally Correct?

Just one of many changes rolling out this week as part of a massive redesign and rebranding of BrandonBruno.com.

As always, stay tuned.

B3 out.

Oh Dear, O~Deer

I write this as my first post from my new TouchPad, but there is far more significance to tonight than a new toy. As cicadas scream from every direction around my comfortable outdoor chair, as the hair on my leg stands on end, and as my body chills from the air, not from the ice cream I am eating, one thing is very clear: fall is coming.

Never mind the fact that I am constantly hammered by an unbearably-busy schedule now. Never mind that I have not been on my bike in nearly a week. Never mind that I am running out of steam to see my usual friends. As it comes to a close, summer 2011 may go down as the best summer of my entire life (sorry, 2001), and while it has been a blast, I am silently and hesitantly chugging along into another period of change in my life.

What is next for me over the next few months? I am still working on that, actually, but I know that I have no special goal in mind - only that I will be extremely busy with work, non-stop weekends, and a couple of very important personal projects.

Then again, I love change, so this fall should be awesome.

B3 out.

The Unexpected Tablet

About a month ago I noted that I would be getting in the tablet game sometime this year. First I would see what Amazon produces for the Kindle line this year - a quality color Android tablet, perhaps? If that was not an option, I would simply give in to the Apple-mania and go with an iPad 2 or 3.

Today I have an HP TouchPad.

Here's the story behind it:

Everyone knows this part: this past week HP dumped the TouchPad and Pre lines, and as of today issued a "markdown order" to its retail partners for the 16GB and 32GB TouchPads to sell for $99 and $149 respectively.

This news came to me late last night (about 11:30pm). "A cheap, dead tablet? Sure, I'll take two!" I stayed up until midnight hoping for early price changes from most of my favorite online retailers - no dice. Instead I was up early Saturday morning - just before six - and noticed that Wal-Mart was selling the TouchPads at their clearance prices. I ordered two for store pickup. Awesome.

I immediately ran over to my local Wal-Mart for pickup and got my 16GB unit. I later found out that the store did not have enough units to fulfill my complete order, so I took a refund in stride and happily accepted my one TouchPad.

Here are my first impressions:

webOS is fantastic. In just a few hours of using the operating system, I am already finding it much more usable than Android. Task switching is awesome and the overall user interface is snappy and polished. The default apps are all acceptable and perfectly usable (particular props to the web browser, email client, calendar app, and integrated Facebook app).

I am a little off-put by the hardware thus far. The tablet itself is a bit heavy, although as my first tablet, the weight does not bother me much. The screen is bright, although mine has dimming issues - perhaps a hardware defect in my unit. Finally, the hardware does not seem to always be able to keep up with webOS: on more than one occasion per use, I have to tap repeatedly on my intended target, only to find my app was chugging the whole time. A bit frustrating.

Here is another way to look at my purchase of the TouchPad: this is my first tablet. It was super-cheap. This was not a gamble purchase by any means - simply an experiment. Even though the hardware is not ideal, the novelty of having a tablet and the $99 entry price makes this a great purchase no matter how I slice it.

B3 out.

The Human Sponge

Today's (nearly-random) trip to Cedar Point was one for the record books - as in, the record for the least number of rides ridden during a visit to Cedar Point.

I was to meet with Jason and Denise for a day at The Point. I arrived right on schedule at 9:00am, but due to some outside influences, Jason and Denise were late by an hour and a half. I used this time to indulge in some of my favorite rides: the Millennium Force, the Maverick, and the Gemini. These rides were all prior the park's general opening at 10:00am, so I was able to blow through them in about 45 minutes. Once the park opened I slowed down and walked around a bit.

Once Jason and Denise showed up, we immediately waited for the Raptor - and the keyword is "waited." I have not spent any significant time in any queue line at Cedar Point yet this year. We waited more than an hour to ride the Raptor, but it was worth it - and it was the second-to-last ride of the day.

Shortly after noon, the skies darkened, thunder rumbled, and lightning shut down almost every ride in the park. And that was the rest of my day at Cedar Point: wet and cold. Despite the rain, we waltz around the park without a care in the world: soaked from head to toe, riding the small oddball rides along the way, enjoying greasy food, and wondering what the hell we were thinking.

Despite our unorthodox day at Cedar Point, my time was enjoyable. I walked around soaked, I drove home soaked, and as I write this several hours after the fact, I am still a little soaked.

Today has been the unexpectedly perfect day.

B3 out.

About Those Tablet Things

At the beginning of 2011 I made a promise to myself: I would buy a tablet sometime this year.

The iPad 2 came out in February - and it was beautiful (it still is). This year has seen tablets take off, however, and I am now sitting on quite an interesting fence. Here is the full story:

Last November I bought my Droid Incredible and became a fan of Android. The platform is of decent quality, easy to customize, and highly tweakable for a geek like me. It is certainly buggy, however, and the app platform for it is hit-or-miss and sorely lacking quality games. Even so, Android can only get better with time, so I am sticking by the platform for my phone needs.

I would like to see how Android extends to the world of tablets. I have yet to play with with a Honeycomb tablet, but I have not been too impressed by what I have seen yet, and again, the tablet-specific app market is pathetic. So why not pick up my iPad 2 already? Two words: Amazon Kindle.

With dozens of rumors of Amazon releasing a 7-to-10-inch iPad-competing Android tablet this year, I am holding out. I am a huge fan of Amazon's online offerings (Cloud Player especially), and with their quality ecosystem of music and movies, I feel that an Amazon tablet could be the first Android tablet to capture my interests.

And so it goes: I am waiting to see what Amazon offers the world. If their tablet (most likely part of the Kindle namesake) is what I hope it to be - a decently-prized (sub-$400) high-quality Android tablet with plenty of baked-in hooks to Amazon's services - then I will be there on day one. If not, it looks like I will be picking up an iPad to satisfy my tablet cravings. This will be an interesting fall season.

B3 out.

Fall 2011: More To Do Than...

Remember that post of mine about a week ago where I complained about my fall schedule being light this year? I lied.

I have a super-busy fall season ahead. Almost every weekend between now and early October has something going on, and in keeping with my yearly tradition, here is the full schedule.

August 2nd - 8th: Wood County Fair

As I said before, this yearly event is the traditional kick-off to my fall season, and soon I will be basking in all kinds of greasy food, stinky animals, and perhaps a carny ride or two. I'm pumped about this year's fair since I now live in Perrysburg and can attend the fair with just a simple 15-minute drive.

August 13th: Summer Picnic w/ Computol

This is an interesting one: my new company, Computol, will be hosting its yearly company picnic in mid-August. I have been to company picnics before - a couple of CRI's were more chaos than not. With Computol being such a small company, I expect a subdued, quiet event, great food, and hopefully a great time outside.

August 20th: A Weekend With My Dad

This weekend should be fairly quiet. Fort Meigs is hosting an event called "Life in Early Ohio," and I am planning to attend it with my dad. This will only be a couple hours out of a Saturday, so the rest of my weekend will likely be spent biking or hiking.

August 27th: Skydiving

And now, ladies and gentlemen, something completely different. I am scheduling a tandem skydive up in Tecumseh, MI. I plan to take friends and family to watch me jump from about 14,000 feet. Am I scared about this rather random event? Eh, a little. Am I thrilled about it? Absolutely. I want this experience to be something that I take with me well-into my adult life. Actually, if the dive goes well and I find it rather tame, I might consider picking this up as a hobby.

September 3rd - 4th: Fulton County Fair

While my heart is with the Wood County Fair, the Fulton County Fair is always quite a spectacle. This is one of Ohio's largest fairs, and the variety of high-quality rides, food, entertainment, and staff make this a fair worth visiting more than once. I will definitely try to go at least twice this year, hence the two-day listing above.

September 9th - 11th: Reboot Weekend

I have had only one Reboot Weekend thus far in 2011. The weekend was such a success that I am scheduling another one for mid-September, whether or not I really "need" it at the time. Quite frankly, I would rather not wait until I am at a breaking point to take the time off, so I am taking this one as "preventative maintenance."

September 16th - 18th: Ann Arbor Give Camp

I was unable to attend Cleveland Give Camp this past weekend, so I am definitely planning on attending the upcoming Ann Arbor Give Camp. Give Camp is a program for charities to get IT work completed by a group of volunteer developers. The event usually runs three-days, two nights, and is a great way for me - a software developer - to get experience working on different systems, build my resume, and help some great charities.

September 24th: Roche de Boeuf Festival

This yearly tradition in Waterville is one of my quieter events. The festival is pretty straight-forward: a morning parade, craft and food vendors littered everywhere, and small carnival rides set up for the kids. While certainly nothing special, Roche de Boeuf is a great way to spend a Saturday close to home. I hope to bring more friends this year too!

October 1st: Bash 2011

Finally we arrive at my birthday, this year known as The Return of Bash. Seriously. I'm hauling Bash out of the attic for a while to help celebrate my birthday. I hope to get a lot of old friends back together and keep this year's event relatively small. Since this is doubling as my 27th birthday party (good God, twenty-seven), there will likely not be any one place for Bash, but rather a series of activities - perhaps Cedar Point, dinner, dessert, bowling - all kinds of stuff. I will be posting full details of the event soon.

Now Until October 31st: Constant Biking, Hiking, and Riding

I feel like a cheapskate for tossing this in at the end, but it needs to be said. Even though I am quite busy every weekend from now until October, I still plan to fill in the free time between major events with biking, hiking, and Cedar Point - the three defining activities of my 2011.

And that is a quick look at the next few months of my life.

B3 out.

The Countdown Begins, The Disturbance Grows

Say hello to the 900th post on Critically Correct. One-hundred to go before the big 1,000 mark.

To be honest, I kind of hoped I would be well-past the 1,000 mark by now, but the last few years of my life have just been boring as far as blogger is concerned. Obviously that is changing in 2011, so I am looking forward to hitting 1,000 posts sometime early next year. It will be one hell of a celebration.

While I look forward to the future in many areas of my life, I have recently looked back in my past to find something rather disturbing: I am a clueless, anti-social asshole.

Okay, so I am exaggerating a bit on that diagnosis. However, I recently downloaded my entire Facebook profile - dating to 2004 - and looked over a good majority of my interactions with friends between 2004 and 2006.

To summarize: I was wanted by dozens of daily friends. I did a hell of a job balancing my work, school, social, and personal lives. I was presented several blatant dating opportunities and passed them all up. I loved writing (productively) and bragged about it all the time. In short, I was active, friendly, and from the look of things, in my social prime.

Was I just naive back then? Where did my overly-social side go? Why can I not focus on all aspects of my life as well as I used to? So many questions, so few answers.

Looking back on a storied past can be exciting, scary, or even painful. My past is a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. Ultimately, however, my past is one that I always try to learn from, and by spending an hour tonight reliving my past, I feel I have a better idea of who I am today.

B3 out.

Until The Day I Die

This past weekend was not entirely what I thought it would have been.

Friday was a day to relax. After work I curled up with video games and writing all night - a solid six hours of relaxation B3-style.

Saturday was all over the map - a little exercise, a little lunch, a little swimming, and a little dinner out. I went out for a nice dinner with a friend, but that was where the night ended - kind of a disappointment since I was expect at least drinks afterwards, but no matter. I did reinforce one of my most important life lessons, however: being lazy and indecisive is for the weak. I was in a funk all day long, and it definitely showed that night as I stumbled my way through dinner and did nothing worthwhile afterward - straight to bed with me.

I spent Sunday in a mini-reboot mode. I woke up early and took off for the Towpath Trail in Waterville for some sweaty, high-humidity hiking. To be short, I walked my troubles and self-doubt away, which felt great. I spent the rest of Sunday relaxing with my parents, although it was kind of a slow, wasted day in my eyes.

Is my life becoming a little stale again? No, not really - I have just been falling behind my fitness curve without a bike (I should have my new bike this week sometime - stay tuned for that post). What I did do Sunday, though, was quite extreme, even for me: I signed up for a tandem skydive. At the end of August I will venture to Tecumseh, MI, climb to 14,000 feet in a prop plane, and free-fall my ass back to earth. Yeah, I know, this is totally unlike me. This is also the exact kind of spontaneous action that I am trying to generate in my life. More to come on this one... I promise!

B3 out.

Et Tu, Summer?

I will just say this plain and simple: Summer 2011 has been one for the record books. This summer has easily been one of the best of my adult life, in no small part thanks to The Trifecta, my extremely active lifestyle, countless trips to Cedar Point, and a seemingly unlimited amount of potential in my life over the next four years.

As July comes to a close, I am looking forward to one of my favorite yearly traditions: The Wood County Fair. I traditionally use the fair as a kick-off to my (usually busy) Fall season. Unlike years past, however, I do not have much of a Fall scheduled out this year.

Rather than get a huge Fall lined up, I am simply going to push my Summer as far as it will go. Having bought a new bike recently, I feel that I am only halfway through my Summer (I know, technically we are not even half-way through it yet). I intend to ride as late into the season as I can afford, but I cannot deny it: in less than two weeks, the Wood County Fair does start.

Because this nearly-sacred reminder of the Fall season is so close, I feel as if my summer has been cut short. I have not accomplished as much as I am used to - concerts, canoeing, water parks - but I have had a blast regardless. If nothing else, Summer 2011 has been all about preparing myself for the next four years - the push to 30. While this Summer may feel shortened to me, I will definitely look back on it in a positive light.

B3 out.

About the Beard

In June of 2010 I began growing a beard just for fun. It was one of those "can I even do it?" kind of things. Well after about a month of shaving and shaping some funny peach-fuzz-style hair, I finally began to grow a decent beard. It turned out all my friends loved the beard and it has definitely become a part of me.

On my birthday of last year I considered shaving the beard, but I made an interesting connection on that not-really-but-kind-of-fateful October 4th: I began growing the beard at the exact same time as I began losing weight for my 40 Pounds Down program. Since October 4th of last year, then, the beard and 40PD are connected: the beard comes off when I reach my weight goals, plain-and-simple.

So there you have it. The beard started as an experiment and turned into a kind of outward-facing symbol for some of my more personal goals. The world will know that one of my major goals for the year has been accomplished when the beard comes off.

I cannot wait for that day. B3 out.

Fitness Gone Mad

I am constantly reminded by several people that I am a busy man - too busy, perhaps? It is going to get worse before it gets better.

Yesterday I bought a new bike. A Trek 7.3 FX fitness bike, to be exact. I began this summer with a strong desire to bike my ass off, and thus far that is what I have done. I have also been very serious about accomplishing all of my goals for the year, number one of which is to finish 40 Pounds Down. I am no longer in "casual mode" with this goal. I am balls-to-the-wall serious about accomplishing this before my 27th birthday on October 4th, so between now and October I will be biking, running, hiking, and swimming. Nonstop.

I have to stay busy. Over the long Fourth of July weekend I rebooted and unfortunately did not accomplish nearly what I wanted to accomplish in three days. Despite spending all weekend refocusing myself, I have actually felt a little more "blah" and a little less focused than I should be by now. To that I ask myself: what the fuck is wrong?

To be honest, while I try to keep myself busy, I do not think I am keeping my mind busy enough. I can bike and write and hike and swim all I want, but I ultimately find myself focusing on just a few constant thoughts all day, every day. It is worrisome; I am distracted by too-few things all day long.

So from now until the end of summer I am going all-out with my 40 Pounds Down plan: nothing stops me, nothing else matters (this is slight hyperbole, of course). The point is that I need to finish what I started this year: a tremendous focus on myself and only myself so that I may get exactly where I want to be at 27: in damn-near perfect physical, financial, and psychological shape. It will happen.

B3 out.

Turns Out the Drink Is Good For Me

So I have spent the past three years being frustrated at my lack of creative drive to write any worthwhile fiction, and tonight I get tanked and crank out an extremely worthwhile plot and story outline for one of my newer pieces, "Event Horizon."

I'm writing this entire story this weekend, I swear it.

B3 up, up and away! Or out. B3 out.

Turn the Page: The Most Influential Changes In My Life

Like most people, I learn and grow a little bit each day. Sometimes I grow professionally by overcoming a crucial obstacle at work. Sometimes I grow personally by making better decisions day in and day out. Sometimes, though, something happens in my life that ends up defining who I am for years to come - essentially becoming a major milestone, a turning point, if you will.

These changes were not always apparent from the get-go, but at twenty-six years old, I can look into my past and analyze what events truly defined my life. Here are some of the most influential events of my life thus far.

1994: My First Computer, Ten Years Late

As a child I knew that I wanted to grow up to be a pilot. Flying was the coolest thing to my six-year-old self, and I was even more stoked to learn that a pilot's license could be obtained at just ten-years of age. In 1991 this young dream was put on hold when I discovered my first-major obsession (outside of Ghostbusters and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, of course): video games. With a Super Nintendo arriving in my home in mid-October, I immediately became obsessed with games, which slowly-but-surely grew into a general obsession with technology.

Come 1994, my dad was handed off a Commodore 64 personal computer - a hugely-popular computer ten years prior - right around 1984. I found the ancient technology extremely entertaining - the computer itself basic, but loaded with two disk drives, countless accessory cables, and hundreds upon hundreds of 5.25" floppy disks full of programs and source code. Thanks to the disk drives I was able to easily tinker with the computer all I wanted, and it did not take long for me to begin learning the basics of BASIC - the introductory programming language that any programmer born before 1985 might have cut his or her teeth.

I was immediately hooked, and began writing all sorts of programs. Most were simple text-based utilities and the occasional word scramble, but I did write at least one or two basic text-based games.

The Commodore 64 finally began to sputter out a couple of years later, but by 1996 I was hooked: programming was extremely fascinating to me and it would be my future.

1998: Hey Now, I'm An All-Star

From my birth in 1984 to my fourteenth birthday in 1998, I was basically exposed to whatever music my parents played around the house. This meant very little radio and lots of 1970's and 1980's rock, country, and a few international hits. Steely Dan, Reeba McEntire, Santana, the Eagles, The Allman Brothers Band - the music was no doubt awesome, but it was not my own. Truth be told, I really did not see the point of listening to music - it seemed like a massive waste of time (especially compared to video games!).

In 1998 I took a trip with some friends for a weekend of camping and canoeing in Indiana. Local radio filled the car during the two-hour car ride, and believe it or not I was quite annoyed by having to listen to this "pop music." Something sparked on the way home, however - I found a song I liked. I honestly cannot remember what song it was, but it was certainly something post-grunge on 92.5. Come 1999, going into high school, I made a habit of listening to 92.5 for more songs I might have liked. As it turned out, I liked nearly all of them.

Smash Mouth's "All-Star" stuck out as my first favorite song. It belonged to me, not my parents. Oh, and that "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)" song was pretty good too. So for my next birthday in 1999 my parents bought a portable CD player and Smash Mouth's Astro Lounge and Blessid Union of Soul's Walking Off the Buzz. My first two CDs. I had my own music and my own tastes, and I loved every minute of it.

In early 2000 I would discover the wonderful world of Napster and push our dial-up connection to its limit while building a music library that I still fill with music to this day (albeit in a much-more legal fasion). The very first song I downloaded over the Internet? Meredith Brook's "Bitch."

2001: The Meltdown Melts Down

My first high school English teacher, Mr. Weisbrod, was a tremendous influence on my teenage self. Going into high school I was nearly goddamn illiterate: I hated reading books and I hated writing even more. Come the 1999 - 2000 school year at Otsego High, however, Mr. W taught me to love writing - namely by encouraging what little writing I did do and introducing me to a wide breadth of writing potential - from creative short stories and novellas to more technical and opinionated styles such as film and music reviews. I absolutely loved writing by the end of the year, and my entire first summer in high school was spent in front of a computer and a keyboard.

From this writing, "Meltdown" was ultimately born - my most ambitious fiction machine - and thankfully, was almost immediately shot down by Mr. W.

I anticipated the day near the end of my sophomore year when I would give Mr. W. what little portion of Meltdown I had "finished." After roughly a week of anticipation, his criticism felt like a big, fat, red "F" was stamped across my work of genius. His criticism was not quite this dramatic, but for the first time in my life, someone took my work of earnest love and said "it isn't good enough." While I was quite crushed at the time, I ultimately learned to take this kind of criticism constructively. My junior year of high school was spent revising my masterpiece, writing new short stories, cranking out several creative essays, and doing my best to improve my craft. I was on my way to a future full of writing, and that is exactly where I landed in college.

I ultimately minored in creative writing at Bowling Green State University thanks to these awesome two years of high school.

2003: Scan, Scan, Scan, Sit, Sit, Sit

My first job was at Meijer #156 in Bowling Green, Ohio. I hesitated to get a job for most of my high school career - I did not want to be away from home for hours a day. As a junior in high school, however, I finally interviewed at Meijer and started working a 6:00pm to 11:00pm shift four nights a week.

Right before graduating high school in 2003, I applied to be a cashier (I was 18, woo!), although I immediately came to hate the job. The hours were far longer than the five-hour shifts I was used to as a bagger, I had to deal directly with cranky customers, and I was not able to move around the store to see my friends (Brittany, Ashley, Jamie, Chad!). A lot of responsibility came with being a cashier, but so did a higher wage, so I did my best to spend the hot, sticky summer of 2003 being a competent cashier.

Three months into the job, just weeks away from starting college, I finally decided to look for other work - cashiering at the big, unfriendly, corporate Meijer was just not for me. Surprisingly, then, my first post-Meijer job interview came from inside Meijer: the Systems Department. I was competing with three other guys for this position. I knew nothing of the department, but I knew they worked heavily on the technical side of the store, so I hoped my interests in computers and technology would be a boon. Sure enough it was.

The Systems Department was the most significant career change of my life - even to this day. I went from working a job I truly hated to one that let me sit in a chair, file paperwork, tinker with technology, and most importantly, learn all about the store and the company. No longer did I cashier from 6:00am to 2:00pm everyday and merely speak "Hello" and "Have a nice day" - I was moving on foot all about the store, helping customers (which I truly enjoyed), fixing front-end POS issues, and most importantly, meeting a lot of great, diverse people.

I spent four of my six-year Meijer career in Systems and I do not regret any of it.

2003: Paradise By the Dashboard Light

A lot of major events happened in my life in 2003 - girls entered and exited stage left, I grew professionally (see above), but most-important was my very first college class: English 111, instructed by the delectably ditsy Ms. Fouts. This young, graduate-level teacher was insanely attractive to my young, freshmen eyes. While it was Ms. Fouts that caught my eye at first, it was not her who would be leaving a lasting impression on me.

In this class, on day one, I sat next to my first true college friend - a slightly oddball stranger by the name of "Erin" (I would later correct this to "Aryn" - duh!). We talked, we laughed, and we even had a few things in common... le gasp! How could this be? Was I interested in a girl just a week into college? Why yes, yes I was.

Long-time readers of Critically Correct might remember that my first semester of college was spent without Lacey in my life. At the time she was in Florida for some special schooling - airline attendant or whatever they are called nowadays - and I wanted nothing to do with her "new" life. I was honestly expecting to make zero friends in my first months of college, but lo and behold, I found myself immediately attracted to this new friend of mine and definitely made a point to see her on a regular basis.

If I had not taken English 111 as my first class at 11:30am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week, would I have met Aryn? How much would my life have been different throughout college without her? As I will get to shortly, the difference is black and white.

Anyway, I had my first new friend in college and my first new girl interest since Lacey, but...

2004: Reading "Love You" Instead of "Luv U"

Lacey was back! In early 2004 I learned that she was already back from her training in Florida and had applied, scheduled, and started taking classes at BGSU. The first love of my life was within my reach, right? At first, no, but as it turned out, Lacey and I eventually started talking almost as if we were never apart. All those "let's just be friends for now" moments and flirty-but-confusing nights out with her in high school turned into "girlfriend" real fast. We became a couple and my life was perfect.

For a full year I was living the college dream: I had a great job, decent classes, lots of drinking to do, great friends in every part of my life, and the perfect girl - I was goddamn invincible and I loved every moment of it. At age 21 my life had peaked thus far, and I fully embraced everything about this moment in my life. Long after Lacey and I broke up, I did not look back on this period of my life as wasted time, but as an experience that defined my early college years - an experience worth remembering.

Thank you, Lacey.

2006: As Free As A Bird Now

As I am sure everyone is aware, I was not taking my break-up with Lacey in 2005 very well at first, and by the end of 2006 I was honestly dragging my misery out longer than I should have (hey, healing a broken heart takes time). I was struggling with my college classes, I was unsure of my graduation date, my Systems job at Meijer was becoming a nuisance, and there were no girls in my life - were the best days of my college career behind me?

To top all this off, my long-time interests, writing and video games, were nowhere near interesting to me - was this the onset of depression? Suffice to say, the first-half of 2006 was a miserable time for me.

All that changed in the fall, however, when the most important video game of the last ten years entered my life: Guitar Hero II. At a time when I was straying from just about everything that I loved, it was my first love - video games - that brought me back to reality (the irony of playing plastic instruments to this end does not escape me). No longer was my breakup with Lacey, my increasingly-crappy job, or my problems with school owning my time. I had no time to mope, I just fucking jammed.

While I could have certainly spent this same time learning to play a real guitar, I was in desperate need of instant satisfaction and a quick distraction, which is what GHII gave me. Ruining my fingers to the likes of "Carry On Wayward Son," "Sweet Child 'O Mine," and of course "Free Bird," gave me enough of a distraction from my troubles to actually step back and analyze where I was heading in my life.

I was definitely not heading where I wanted, so I quickly got myself back on track: I instantly stopped talking to Lacey, I changed jobs within Meijer (grocery pricing, of course), and decided on a track of classes to finish my career at BGSU.

All this because of one video game? Well, yeah, actually.

2006: Swoosh-Swoosh Goes the Girl With the Long Hair

As 2006 came to a close and I kicked my life back into high gear (see above), I also stumbled upon an interesting new girl interest. I knew her only as the girl with loud, "swooshy" pants and awesomely-long hair that passed by me from time to time in the student union. She was the first girl to catch my eye in a post-Lacey world, and I knew that meant something special.

At first I treated this relationship with a stranger as I might have in high school: get lost in the moment, dream of the possibilities, but never approach her for an actual conversation. I was quite surprised, then, to find out that this mystery girl (who I nicknamed "Jenny," by the way) hung out in the same circle of friends as Aryn. I had a connection to her!

Of course, by this time I was also a bit distanced from Aryn due to our genuinely-separate lives, but I went ahead and wormed my way into her circle of friends simply to meet this new girl. "Jenny" quickly turned into "Colleen," who quickly turned into a friend for nightly hang-outs.

In the following years I was acclimated to campus life through Colleen - campus food, dorm living, and of course, frequent trips to McDonald's. We certainly had our ups and downs as friends, but we eventually came together as a couple and remained so for years to come.

This relationship proved to be the most tumultuous of my life. Colleen and I did just about everything imaginable together and dammit, we were in love. There were good times, bad times, and everything in between - quite honestly, my time with Colleen was far better than my time with Lacey, and I absolutely look back on the end of my college career with Colleen as some of the best years of my life up to that point.

For those awesome memories, Colleen, I thank you.

2011: The Trifecta: Mission Accomplished

The latest major change in my life happened just recently and comprises not one, but three major events. While these events were recent, I am positive that the changes in my life over the past three months will be the defining moments of my young adulthood.

First, I decided I did not like my job in Findlay and scored a fantastic consulting position in downtown Perrysburg. Let me emphasize that: downtown Perrysburg - the history, scenic, and highly-livable downtown Perrysburg. The job itself is great, too - the perfect small-business-size environment and web development work that I love doing.

Second, with a new job came a new place to live, and I am now living near downtown Perrysburg. Leaving college meant having to very likely move away from home for my career. Perrysburg is the perfect compromise between living the comfortable, well-off life that I wanted and being near home to visit my family. Unlike my time in Findlay, I intend to be in Perrysburg for a long time to come.

Finally, what started eight years ago has come full-circle. One of my oldest friends, Aryn, is back in my life. Even better, we both share similar well-off lifestyles that let us get out and do things that is rather befitting of our career successes. Does this sounds rather patronizing towards my other friends? Absolutely, but I do not intend it to be as such; rather, I simply enjoy doing different things with different people, and Aryn has been great in introducing me to a variety of opportunities I did not have before.

Remember what I said about my English 111 class in 2003 - what if I never took that class? Would Aryn and I have met? Would I have been introduced to Colleen? Would I have eventually met Aryn now and rekindled a fantastic friendship? I do not think any of this would have happened if my first semester of college happened any other way, and this list might have been half as long. I owe a shitton to Aryn.

In many ways, everything about the past few months represent second chances: a better job, the perfect place to live, and a great friend that I care about very much. I have let many second chances come and go over the years, but not this time. Today, in 2011, I am embracing every opportunity I get, and I once again feel damn-near invincible. I would like to look back on these moments in 2011 as the ones that set me on a very positive course into the rest of my adult life.

I love change. Change creates new opportunities, inspires creativity, and opens new paths that I might have never considered. I believe all the events I talked about above have brought major change to my life, and I can look back on every one of them with extremely fond memories.

B3 out.