Penultimate Happiness

This is my 999th post on Critically Correct - just one more to go before I call it a wrap.

It has been a slow march to 1,000 posts over these past two months. 2013 has unquestionably become the best year of my life. With so many new things picking up steam, I have found old standbys like writing (and blogging) falling to the wayside. New professional opportunities, new friends, new relationships, and amazing new experiences (I'm looking at you, booze cruises) have come together at just the right time for me. Above all else, I have discovered that great opportunities provide amazing benefits; that risk is definitely worth the reward.

But before I draw the curtain on this crazy train and look forward to the future, I want to take one last opportunity to look back on the best of Critically Correct. What articles, rants, and missives became my personal favorites over the years or influenced Critically Correct the most?

Let's jump back to 2010 and look at my last CC review: The Best of Critically Correct. This article looks at my favorite posts from 2005 to 2010, including my all-time favorite, "The Decade In Review: Ten Years of B3."

Since 2010, however, I have put out a few more gems, so in chronological order, here are my favorite posts through the end of Critically Correct.

7 Days, 7 Games
Day 6, Day 5, Day 4, Day 3, Day 2, Day 1
April 2010

This week-long countdown began as writing exercise to get me back into regular blogging, but ended up becoming a fun retrospective and study on my top seven all-time favorite video games. I love this series of posts because like all things not set in time, my tastes have changed since 2010. Would I still rank these seven games in the same order today? Actually... yes.

Double Review: Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario Bros. X
June 2010

I'm a long-time fan of the Super Mario Bros. series, but quite honestly, most Mario games released in the 2000's were hit-or-miss. So it was a pleasant surprise to play two excellent games back to back in 2010. even more surprising, the fan-made Super Mario Bros. X is one of my all-time favorite Mario games. With so much Mario greatness withing weeks of each other, I just had to gush.

XBox 360: I Should Have Done This a Long Time Ago
September 2010

I have naturally been a Nintendo fanboy most of my life (see above), so it was quite a jump for me to pick up my first non-Nintendo console: an XBox 360. This was a purchase driven by just one game: Red Dead Redemption, easily one of the best interactive experiences to come along in a long time. Today my XBox 360 is still at the center of my living room thanks to a ton of solid games (GTA V, anyone?).

A Moment Sixteen Years In the Making
January 2012

In twenty years I may look back on my photography career and be able to point its beginning right here. With plenty of cash and time, I took the plunge into serious pro photography with the purchase of my Canon EOS Rebel T3i.

My Mobile Future Part I
My Mobile Future Part II
July 2012

I basically hate all mobile phone companies (with Verizon being the most-loathed), so I spent some time musing about what my options were in the middle of 2012. While I mulled all kinds of WiFi-based options and rambled quite a bit about over-priced phone service, it wouldn't be until the middle of 2013 that I finally switched to the fantastic Page Plus Cellular to find respectably cheap phone service.

Well there you have it, a few of my latest favorite posts over the years. My final post on Critically Correct is coming before the end of the year, so stay tuned.

B3 out.

Twenty-Nine

"When I grow up" happened about five years ago, but here I am still thinking I am a young adult trying to start my life up. No, I'm way past that point: I am 29 years old today, and I am well into adulthood. So this weekend I made sure to celebrate like I am not a day over 23. And it felt so good.

I had big plans for the weekend, and no one part of the weekend really worked out quite right. Friday night I saw a movie (my new favorite space film, Gravity), Saturday became a shopping day and an unexpected night out for my birthday. Sunday was a day to relax with video games, friends, and family. My 29th birthday was everything I needed it to be: calm, collected, varied, and most importantly, fun. That must sound like the lamest description ever for a birthday weekend, but it is all I need nowadays to be happy.

B3 out.

Promise That Forever We Will Never Get Better at Growing Up and Learning to Lie

Sometimes I get so lost in the big picture that I forget about the details.

The world is a messed up place lately. The US Government spies on its citizens, shit's still expensive, and jobs are sporadic. Even though I chose a field that will allow me to be relatively well-off, there is still quite a crowd of competition for me out there. Many of my friends aren't as lucky. "College will get you a good job," is what my generation was raised on. Through a combination of laziness, confusion, and a lack of foresight, that isn't entirely true. College will get some of us good jobs; for others it will be an expensive reminder that pursuing an art degree to "follow your dreams" is utter bullshit. I hope everyone lands on their feet eventually. I hope I stay on mine.

Beyond work, there is marriage and family. I'm going on 29 this year and I am relatively single. This is by choice of course, but I can't help but feel a little pressure to get a move on towards starting a family. I'm not too keen on deep-diving into my personal matters on Critically Correct, but I'll say this: I'm on the exact path I want to be on for romance, no matter how big or small that path may be.

My personal well-being rounds out the big picture. Thanks to a new long-term diet and consistent exercise, I have found myself falling into a great place with my health. All though my 20's I kept telling myself "I'll get in shape and be healthy as an adult." Never mind that I've been an "adult" for ten years already. I think the place I've put myself in 2013 is a great start to an active, healthy lifestyle.

But...

All of this is moot for now. The "big picture" sometimes brings more stress than it's worth. Work, romance, and a pristine diet are all well and good, but these are things that I find bothering me too much. With summer slowly winding down, the next few weeks are about the little things: waking up without an alarm, fun bike rides, my vacation (camping and Kalahari can't be wrong!), river walking with Elli, my favorite video games, Friday Beer Night, and countless other things that I have been missing all summer (I swear I'm going to go canoeing, right?).

Growing up is okay - and quite frankly hard to ignore at 29 - but the big things all-too-easily drown out the little things that keep me feeling young. And I'll be damned if I ever get better and growing up.

B3 out.

The Fall Preview: 2013 Mixes It Up

Well I'm not completely writing this summer off yet, but I'm getting close. With a wet start and a hotter-than-hell middle, the last half of this summer has a lot of sunny-and-80 days to make up to us. My biking goals are out the window, my hiking for 2014 is off my calendar, and I have accomplished 1 out of 6 goals I set for the first half of the year.

Adversity can sometimes be relative, and in my case, I am still doing pretty well despite nothing going according to plan. If nothing else, a few unexpected pleasantries have come out of 2013 - and a few unexpected "holy shit" moments, kind of like this: the Wood County Fair is in less than a week as I write this. This summer just moved by too damn fast.

So with the fall season in the back of my mind, it's time for my usual look at what's ahead for the eventual Big Cooldown of 2013.

July 26: Chevelle

This was unexpected. Chevelle is a solid rock band, no doubt, and they are playing a show at Hollywood Casino Toledo. A small opening band, good food, a nice venue, a casino, and hopefully great weather will make this show the kickoff to a long weekend that leads right into...

July 29 - Aug 5: Wood County Fair

The Wood County Fair is typically my "oh shit, fall is here" moment, but this year things will have to go a little differently. I've had too short of a summer to consider it over quite yet, so fair week will simply be a fantastically busy mix of work, friends, fair, and food.

Sometime in August: Sandusky Trip

I was pleasantly surprised earlier this summer to have stepped onto a party boat and set out in Lake Erie with some friends from Sandusky. It looks like we will get round two of that experience, or at the very least, a trip out to Cedar Point Amusement Park. I don't get to see these great people very often, so it's a treat to make the drive every so often.

Aug 30 - Sept 5: Fulton County Fair

Well, shit, I'm going to be on vacation for this one. Okay, next.

Aug 20 - Sept 5: Vacation in Gatlinburg

I've been taking a week-long vacation every year since I began working in 2001, and most of those vacations have been quiet and relaxing - and at the least, not very adventurous. Last year's trip to Kalahari in September taught me that getting away from home is a better use of vacation than video games and Reddit. This September I am venturing off to Gatlinburg, Tennessee by my lonesome to enjoy the sights and sounds of Appalachia. I'm hoping to squeeze in some photography practice and spend time on the Appalachian Trail itself to field-test some of my gear.

Sept 21: "The Wedding"

This September I will get a very special role in a major wedding: chair warmer. That's right, I will be keeping a chair warm for several hours while a good friend participates in her brother's wedding. But in all seriousness, this should be a pleasant day overall. I don't get to many weddings, so this will be a nice change of pace for me.

Oct 19: The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddess

A treat to myself for my 29th birthday: a trip up to Grand Rapids, Michigan to see Nintendo's Symphony of the Goddesses, the second official symphony tour of Koji Kondo's masterfully-written music from the Legend of Zelda series. This is a perfect blend of culture, gaming, and nostalgia. This is easily worth the hundreds of dollars that I am spending to attend.

A Few Indians Games

Cleveland Indians baseball became one of my favorite new weekend summer getaways, and I have at least a game or two left in me before the regular season is up. A probable August game and a definite September game are in the mix.

And Everything Else: Festivals Galore

Waterville's Roche de Boeuf festival and the almighty Grand Rapids Apple Butter Festival are among my favorite fall activities. In addition to these two regulars, I will try to make at least one trip out to a new fall festival. There is no shortage of small towns hosting weekend festivals, so a little diversity this year should be easy to come by.

B3 out.

The Death of Critically Correct

My 1,000th post on Critically Correct is coming up and it's a milestone that will have double meaning. On one hand, I never expected to keep up a blog this long since it started in 2005. On the other hand, I have reached a point that regular updates have been slow, sporadic, and difficult (for quite a while not, obviously). I'm actually at a point in my life where writing in general has finally been defeated by all the other responsibilities of work, family, friends, and personal growth.

As of my 1,000th post, Critically Correct will cease to be updated regularly.

Going forward, I will be using this space mainly for special occasions. These will mostly be special articles, rare updates, big announcements, or unique reviews. Perhaps as a sign of the times, I will be using social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to announce these posts rather than hope my friends, family, and readers seek them out.

While I am not giving up writing entirely, I hope that when I do occasionally write, I will be most focused and energized than I have been when writing on a schedule. Time will obviously tell, but until then, I have a few more blog posts to write.

B3 out.

Blacking Out 2013

So this is what my life looks like when nothing goes according to plan.

2013 began with many promises - promises of budgeting, of hiking, of traveling, of genuine growth. I had nothing but good intentions when I planned my year out ahead of time, but here I am in July and so far my year has been nothing but unexpected change and constant surprise. Let's take a look at the highlights and low points of my 2013 thus far.

• I began the year with an incredibly painful slump. A long Christmas break and slow New Years, combined with the usual drama in my personal life, led to a very sudden withdrawal from my normal routine for almost a month. This grew to a head in January at CodeMash 2013, when I realized that I was repeating old social mistakes and jeopardizing good friendships. After a couple of stern conversations with my closest friends, coming to terms with my relationship issues was the lowest point of my year.

• The fallout from January calmed in February and trickled into March, but this grew back into a big deal when one of my long-time friends Kristin and I went our separate ways. Years of uneasy tension finally boiled over, and for the first time since 2006 I found myself at ease with letting someone go from my life, and this was the beginning of my turn around for the year.

• The Green Day concert that closed out my March was a phenomenal opportunity to get to know a whole group of great people. A genuinely fun road trip with a diverse group, the concert itself was just one great closer to a weekend of great food, sights, and insane GD fans.

• April and May brought some unexpected change at work. With another senior engineer leaving the company, my responsibilities and reach at Computol grew a bit more. Along with new iOS-based work, my comfortable year at work suddenly became filled with new challenges to overcome. The pressure to become a competent Android and/or iOS developer is huge now - there is a lot of mobile app development that is asked of us, and I feel like I am in the best position to lead one of these paths.

• June is typically my biggest month for biking, and this year's Summer of Biking has been a wash. Almost literally. With 85% of our June being rain and thunderstorms, I have missed my bike. A few important rides still happened, though, so I am making due with what I can until we get consistently great biking weather.

• On the few good days that we have had this summer, I have spent them at Indians games with Laura. She introduced me to all the fun that comes with major league games, and I can honestly say that I love making the two-hour trip to Cleveland on a Friday or Saturday night.

• In late June I set out with a friend to do my first low-carb diet, and the results have been amazing: 8 pounds down in five weeks. This will probably continue for the rest of the summer, and if nothing else, has taught me a whole new way of making health-conscious decisions. In a similar vein, I tried a robust new budgeting system this June and July that has literally fallen apart, so I am back to square one with my financial situation. Oh well, you win some and lose some.

• And here we are in July. It looks like the scorching summer heat we have all been missing is beginning to arrive, so I get to spend the next few weeks sweating at almost every turn. The particular weekend, smack-dab in the middle of July, feels like a turning point for me. This weekend was filled with drinking, friends, and traveling. In the process of having an incredible time, I also lost a huge part of my Friday night to alcohol and then followed up with an exciting trip to Cleveland that my body wasn't ready for. The Friday night shenanigans was something above and beyond my usual self. This is a part of me I am not used to: the kind of carefree, abusive, do-anything spirit that thrived in my late teens. This brings me to one question that I never thought I would have to ask this year: is my overwhelming desire to excel with money, work, and professional goals holding back something more in me? I just don't know.

• Perhaps the scariest thing about July is just how fast it's going. The Wood County Fair begins in two weeks - a sure sign that fall is encroaching faster than I want it to. Really? Two weeks. Goddamn.

The biggest change in 2013 actually rolls over to 2014: I won't be hiking the Appalachian Trail next year. I simply have not been able to dedicate the time I need to training and preparing, so for now that trip is a 2015 venture at the earliest. This means other priorities now take precedent - first and foremost, surviving the rest of the year without any more major surprises. Then again, this year has been a fantastic demonstration for one of my most personal beliefs:

Change is inevitable - it's how you handle that change that defines you as a person.

B3 out.

I Got the Led Out

This past Saturday night was an unexpectedly fantastic surprise.

A few weeks ago my dad invited me to a Led Zeppelin tribute band called "Get the Led Out" at Centennial Terrace in Sylvania. While I was raised to partly resent cover bands, this tribute band went overboard and nailed the Zeppelin sound like no other I have ever heard. Every song was note-for-note perfect, the stage presence over-the-top, and "Stairway to Heaven" exceeded the album version by a long shot.

I will certainly never get to see the real Led Zeppelin live, but Get the Led Out is a fine substitute that I plan to see again - and they are definitely worth front-row seats.

B3 out.

My First Week with An iPhone 4S: Quick Notes

The simple elegance of "it just works" is brilliant; my old Android phone was buggy as hell. However, the battery life of the iPhone is atrocious by comparison, and Android is years ahead with innovative ideas and customization.

I think Android will be the platform I eventually return to, but for now, the simple beauty and constraints of Apple's ecosystem is all I need for my mobile phone needs.

B3 out.

The Internet Is Destroying Me

1998 was the year that my family came into the Internet age. Carried by a Pentium II 450 Gateway computer, WCNet dial-up service, and Internet Explorer, I became immediately familiar with the primitive Internet of the day. In 2002 I moved up to high-speed DSL, and in 2010 I surrounded myself with online access in the palm of my hand. Between work, laptops, desktops, tablets, game consoles, and my mobile phone, every aspect of my life now provides access to the Internet.

And it is destroying me. I am losing who I was, am, and want to be. The Internet has meant different things to me over the years, so let us see how I got here.

In 1998 the Internet was a new frontier. I was definitely a tech-head at the time, but mainly because of video games. My experience with real computers was limited, so I was overwhelmed at first by the possibilities presented to me by a powerful new computer and huge amounts of information. Yahoo! was my first stop online and I saw the world through it's purple-tinted glasses for quite a while. I found a few favorite websites, dabbled with HTML for the first time, and eventually found a small online presence thanks to the awesome 10MB of online storage WCNet provided us.

By the end of 1999, I found my first "must have" app of the Internet: AOL Instant Messenger. While it was initially close friends that brought me to AIM, it was the promise of talking to my high school crush that kept me on the service. I had AIM before I had my first phone, and 15-year-old me got to experience something my parents never did: asking a girl for her screen name, not her phone number. My routine was obvious: flirt with girls all day at school, then run home to continue the conversation for as long as possible all night long.

2000 saw the melding of two worlds: gaming and online socializing. EverQuest entered my life, a subscription-based massively multiplayer online game that let me explore a virtual world with friends and strangers. EverQuest laid the groundwork for the addictive nature of MMO games, and I was sucked into its world for almost three years before moving on. The persistent nature of the game meant that fights over how long I tied up the phone line were a weekly occurrence.

In 2001 I took to AIM with another high school crush (this one should be easy to figure out), and kept in constant contact with her. This was an amazing time for me - the constant nightly chats helped me grow closer to her than I ever expected, and I completely thank my growing Internet obsession for that. With more communication and more friends came more drama, however, as constant chatting to multiple people led to a game of "he said, she said" quite often. Thankfully I was not always glued to AIM, as the Half-Life universe of games led me to online gems like Team Fortress and Day of Defeat. These games consumed immense amount of my gaming life, and it was around then that I decided I was a PC gamer first and foremost.

My time at BGSU began in 2003, and with it, mobile computing. My first laptop, a Dell Inspiron 5150, was a heavy burden on my shoulders but a necessary tool for my roaming college habits. I kept close to the laptop - in class and during breaks - thanks to BGSU's high-speed wireless access. I was able to keep up with my favorite news sites, play games, and chat with friends from wherever I wanted to be on campus. In hindsight, this always-available connected access was the beginning of my painful Internet obsession.

Two of my biggest online obsessions began in 2005. First was my introduction to World of Warcraft, my first online game experience since EverQuest. I immediately recognized the addictive nature of the game, and chose to limit my time with WoW to summer breaks. But man, what awesome summer breaks they were. This new thing called "Facebook" also reared its head at BGSU, and I joined the social network, mostly out of curiosity. At first it was a little awkward - and barren - but I was quickly addicted to updating my status. As more friends joined, I found a new obsession, which would later be known as "Facebook stalking." Whoops.

With Facebook officially a thing with all my friends, 2006 was the year that the Internet brought me pain. While I was meeting new friends thanks to college, things like AIM and Facebook meant I was always up-to-date with my friends even when I should not have been. Did I need to know about all the fun my friends were having when I was laying in bed for work the next morning? What was my ex-girlfriend up to that weekend? How many new friends did she connect with on Facebook? Oh, they were all guys? Someone else I may like just found a boyfriend. Work sucks, and now my bosses all know it. The communication flood turned a puddle into a lake into an ocean within a year, and guess what: I cannot swim. For the first time in eight years, the Internet brought me more pain than pleasure.

In 2009 I was a year into my first "big boy" job in Findlay, Ohio. Three monitors surrounded my desk. Two laptops at home glowed all day, one of which (a Dell Mini 9) went everywhere with me and connected to every available Wi-Fi network I could find. My desktop at home was a beastly machine designed to tear through modern games without breaking a sweat. Its most-used application? Firefox. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Calendar, GMail, Engadget - the list goes on, but I was using all my computing muscle and time to browse the Internet, click links, and look at pictures of cats. How did I feel about all this? Amazing. I had access to tons of information and plenty of distractions to keep me busy during the most boring days of work.

The mobile web entered my life near the end of 2010, and all hell broke loose. My first mobile phone with an unlimited data plan meant I had the whole Internet experience in my pocket. I used and abused this awesome power. Facebook was more social than ever. RunKeeper was my new favorite app. I read my favorite sites in those small pockets of downtime at family functions. I checked my email obsessively. Streaming music was awesome. Mobile YouTube. I came to rely on my phone as my calculator, clock, to-do list, Internet browser, Facebook companion, and ultimately, my enemy.

Never in my life have I hated something so much. Over three years, after seeing more and more people around me glued to their mobile screens, I have learned that the always-connected, always-available distractions of the mobile Internet are dangerous. Countless dinners with friends and family have turned into phone-fests. I cannot tell you how many times I hear "huh?" from my friends as they miss what I say because they are scanning Twitter, Instagram, or checking scores. Not only is it obnoxious, it is rude. I am certainly guilty of all these things over the past few years too, but I am at a a turning point now.

2013 began with a painful realization: I am addicted to the Internet. This is not an obvious admission. I have clearly been sucked into the Internet for well over ten years now. But for the first time ever, I have had a moment to step back from my constantly-connected world and take in the bigger picture of what I am missing in my life. Conversation with friends. Honest emotion. Downtime. Rest.

Information overload has been taking its toll on me, and along with all the other changes in my life this year, I am making a new pledge: to put my phone away on a regular basis. Out with friends and family? Phone away. Unwinding after a long day? Phone away. Trying to focus or working on one of my projects? Phone away. Addiction is not easy to break, and my move away from the always-connected world will be slow-but-steady.

The constant glow of the portable, mobile Internet is one of the biggest revolutions of my generation, and it is eating me alive. I love the Internet, I really do. Is there a place for it constantly in front of my face? Not anymore. Focusing on my writing, photography, and biking is so much easier without the anxiety of checking my notifications, checking my work email, or wondering if so-and-so messaged me back.

Over the remainder of 2013, I am weaning myself off the need for an expensive phone and expensive data plan. By the end of the year, I plan to use my iPad and a cheap data plan for the occasional mobile internet, and my phone be reduced to a no-texting and no-data dumbphone that does one thing very well: make calls.

B3 out.

Summer of Biking 2013

Things have been changing rapidly in my life over the past few months (definitely for the better), but the thing I look forward to the most this year is a constant: my Summer of Biking. I am starting a bit later than usual this year, but only barely.

This past weekend I tore my bike apart and rebuilt it. Today I took my first test ride on the new build, and it rides like the day I brought it home (all the way back in 2011 for those keeping score). Suffice to say, this weekend will be the kickoff to the Summer of Biking 2013 season. Highlights of this year include a heavy schedule (4-5 days per week) and endurance training. Cardio-heavy rides and strength training are in my future this summer.

While 2011 was a leisurely kickback for me and 2012 was a test of variety, 2013 is all about my health. This amazing three-day holiday weekend cannot come soon enough. My first ride? Almost certainly The Towpath to Grand Rapids.

B3 out.

Priorities

2013 has so far been a year of change (yet again) thanks to plenty of upheaval in my life. Social changes, work changes, and finally - finally - changes in the weather. For all intents and purposes, warm and respectable weather is here, so it is time to look ahead at my summer and a few of my most important goals for the remainder of 2013.

Exercise & Health

Walking. Hiking. Summer of Biking. Cedar Point. Canoeing. Jogging. Swimming. Along with a reasonably healthy diet, I plan to be extremely active this summer. In fact, my health and fitness is my first and foremost goal of 2013. Thanks to a shift away from gaming throughout much of this spring, I am looking forward to plenty of time in the sun. A focus on less restaurant food and healthier cooked meals should blend in nicely with my active lifestyle.

A Financial Future

As of May 2013 I am officially 100% debt free. The remainder of 2013 will be used to save up substantial amounts of money for the next few big phases of my life - a major hike, home ownership, and hell, who knows, maybe I will settle down in a few years. I have always been relatively a low-debt kind of spender, so now I am going the extra mile: I want to remain as debt-free as possible for as long as possible, which means paying for most of my major purchases (gadgets, cars, durables) with raw cash. A new monthly budget plan will help me get where I want to be come 2014.

Hiking

There is no denying that I love hiking. A major part of my exercise routines this year involves pumping myself up to be a capable hiker. More than just physical prowess, though, is my desire to thrive on my feet. How well can I get by hundreds of miles from home with nothing more than a backpack, a tent, and a couple days' of supplies? Later this year I will find out, and in 2014, I will go all-out on the road.

Shiggs Photography

My personal photography brand, Shiggs Photography, was always supposed to be a very small side project that let me make a few extra bucks while expanding my photography skills. "A very small side project" may end up becoming "a moderate business" this summer as I travel throughout Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee for photography, hunt out small business work in Perrysburg, and work with Computol to get more experience. Starting June 1st, I will be "working" (read: dedicating) two days a week at Shiggs Photography as a means to practice the craft, blog about photography, and look for sales opportunities.

B3 out.

"Shoot Her"

I think it is about time I get back to reviewing on Critically Correct (what a novel concept, huh?). I recently saw Jurassic Park 3D, so here you go: the first review on Critically Correct in months.

In the past four years there have been hundreds of 3D films flooded onto the movie market in an attempt to get people back into theaters. Of those hundreds of films (totaling billions of dollars in total costs), I would honestly say that two are worthwhile in 3D for any good reason. Avatar was a storytelling turd but a graphical powerhouse, and overall worth the price of admission. Ladies and gentlemen, the second is clearly one that should not have been so well done in 3D: Jurassic Park.

The groundbreaking 1993 film ushered in the popular use of CGI in modern cinema, perhaps the single most important development in the industry since Technicolor or sound. While the movie certainly has its issues (that weak ending still hurts), Jurassic Park is ultimately a no-holds-barred summer action flick that is just as fun in 2013 as it was in 1993. While today's kids may not be as enchanted by the dinosaurs and visual treats as my generation was twenty years ago (thanks, ironically, to modern day CGI), the film still packs a punch with a well-paced story, subtle humor, and plenty of imagination.

Most surprising is the jump to 3D. Unlike Avatar and other high-end modern films, Jurassic Park was not shot in native 3D, instead going through a very labor-intensive conversion process from the 2D original. Incredibly, the film was otherwise left alone. No new CGI, no new effects, no editing to clean up the rough edges of the story. What we get, then, is a chance to see Jurassic Park on the big screen once again, this time with the bonus of super-effective 3D. Never obtuse, never unnecessary, the 3D elements of the film work wonders to put viewers in the middle of the action. The thick forest growth of Isle Nublar and lunging dinosaurs of the runaway park add subtle depth in places that really help carve out the physical space of the film. Characters move around objects, through doorways, and avoid dangers in ways that feel completely natural with the addition of 3D.

So many things could have gone wrong in converting a beloved classic to 3D. First and foremost, it just did not need to happen. But it did happen, and it was done with extraordinary care. And for that, it is easily one of the best 3D films yet.

B3 out.

Just Do It

Is is an accurate generalization that odd-numbered years tend to be full of change in my life. 2001, 2003, and 2011 are prime examples of years filled with significantly new routines, friends, and direction in my life. After an incredibly painful start to the new year, 2013 is shaping up to be another landmark for me.

I have plenty to look forward to: new development projects, lots of exercise (hiking will really take off this year), a growing photography business, traveling (for said hiking and photography), and unfettered access to Cedar Point. This is on top of my usual biking, writing, and gaming, of course.

Maybe it was the long, depressing winter, but I am coming into this spring with one phrase on my mind: "just do it."

Seriously.

After a winter of sitting inside, gaining weight, and planning the year away, I am ready to shift into high gear and just get this damn summer started already. Ideally, work will consist of me staring at a computer all day, while the rest of my time this spring and summer will see me outside pushing myself farther, faster, stronger, and longer. I'm seriously thrilled for all the raw potential that has built up over the unforgivably gray winter that we are leaving behind. My physical health comes above everything else this year (which is partly why I am upset about having $42 worth of Easter candy in my fridge - *sigh*).

So, now it's time to get off my ass, prepare for a new day, and just do it.

B3 out.

Blue Skies, Green Day

If "you are the company you keep," then this year has been a hell of a learning experience for me.

With the challenges of 2010 long gone, the beauty of 2011 history, and the persistence of 2012 finally paying off, 2013 has become The Social Year for me. Last weekend was the perfect example of this. Myself, Laura, and five other mutual friend set off for Pittsburgh, PA for a three-day weekend excursion to see Green Day. The trip was unorthodox for me - farther than I typically travel, more expensive than I usually spend, and with an untested set of people I "sort of" knew. My fears were put to rest, however, by the time I crossed the Ohio-Pennsylvania border - I was clearly going to get along with these crazy nut jobs.

I am not as big of a Green Day fan as some people (*cough*Laura*cough*Alissa*cough*), but the trip was more than made worth the effort. Saturday was a day to explore Pittsburgh, which resulted in local attractions and local food. Nine hours of waiting in the cold rain was an interesting way to spend my Sunday afternoon, but by the time 6:30pm rolled around, our group was ready for the mad dash to the front of the Consol Energy Center stage. Sure enough, and despite some short hang-ups near the doors, we made front row. This proved to be a blessing and a curse: front row was an awesome experience no doubt, but the raw energy of the crowd crushing us was a bit overwhelming at times. I have not been so sore in years. So while Green Day did not put on their best show in my opinion, being right up front made up for some of their predictability. All in all, it was definitely an experience I could repeat sometime.

B3 out.

Discover This: New Old Music

Given that I spent most of this weekend sick, in bed, and going nuts trying to sleep, I am lucky to have anything ready for this week's post. This is why a nice backlog of nearly-finished drafts is always nice to have at the ready.

Anywho...

What follows is some of my favorite new or obscure artists and some of my favorite songs by each. Consider this a "best of" list for music that I have discovered in the past six months. Some of these artists have been around quite a while - The Tragically Hip, anyone? - but thanks to discovery services like Last.fm and Spotify Radio, have surfaced recently for me. Expect this sharing of music discovery to become a regular feature on Critically Correct.

All links are Spotify handlers. If you cannot use Spotify, most of these songs are readily available on YouTube, but I declined to link to those videos since YouTube videos tend to come and go.

Enjoy!

The Damnwells

Sleepsinging
Golden Days
Electric Harmony

Bif Naked

Crash and Burn
Spaceman
I Love Myself Today

Matthew Good / Matthew Good Band

Deep Six
Rico
Last Parade

The Tragically Hip

Bobcaygeon
Wheat Kings
Gift Shop

Cowboy Mouth

Easy
I Believe
Tell The Girl Ur Sorry

B3 out.

Et tu, Green Day?

I will be seeing Green Day for my third time at the end of this month. My first two concerts were riding on the back of popular albums: first 2004's excellent American Idiot and then 2009's 21st Century Breakdown. I went into these concerts with clear expectations of the music. Green Day's catalog spans more than twenty years of punk rock that has been consistently built on the band's unique sound, and these first two concerts were perfect blends of the old and the new.

So why does this upcoming concert feel like I am going to my senior prom with the cross-eyed girl that no one else wanted to ask out?

No, it is not that 2012 iHeartRadio incident and rehab stint. Green Day is certainly no stranger to drama, as this latest incident unfortunately played out, and they also are not strangers to finding themselves in a commercial stalemate. 1994's Dookie was a monster success with over 26 million album sold. By the time 1997's Nimrod was released, Green Day had to make due with sales of just 2.6 million albums (still no small feat, but for the band credited with bringing punk to mainstream rock, a huge disappointment).

Despite the ups and downs, Green Day ultimately captivated the rock world again in 2004 with American Idiot. An album so brilliantly written and executed, it is set to surpass Dookie as Green Day's biggest album, spawned a traveling musical, and led to an excellent follow-up in 2009's 21st Century Breakdown, a spiritual successor in every manner of speaking.

It turns out my concert woes are based in Green Day's latest studio effort - their ¡Uno! !Dos! ¡Tre! trilogy of albums. Wanting to avoid a Pink Floyd-esque lock-in to operatic narratives, Billie Joe and company set out to explore their garage-based punk rock roots. Unfortunately, releasing three albums in five months may end up being the band's biggest creative and commercial mistake in their careers.

Why is the trilogy on track to be Green Day's poorest performing album to date (with less than 600,000 units sold in the first six months) and a big critical "meh" from the music world?

Let me back up for a second: the albums are decent, but not great. Thirty-seven (37!) fresh tracks spread across three albums may be stretching the creative juices a little too thin. For every excellent "Nuclear Family," "Stray Heart," or "X-Kid" there is a bland "Wild One" or even a horrendous "Nightlife" (what the actual fuck?). The trilogy would unmistakably have been better as one album: take the best five tracks from each set, combine them with an optional album of B-sides, and we would not be in this mess.

Going into this latest concert, I have no idea what I am going to be hearing. Does Green Day even know what rocks on their new albums? I sure hope so. Green Day is a fan's band - they have a core demographic that loves them to death, and the new trilogy is squarely aimed at those 600,000 fans.

But we have been here before. Green Day was on a crash course in the early 2000's as well, and we all know where American Idiot eventually landed them. This latest trilogy is not entirely terrible, but combined with some public relations woes, certainly ends up being a blemish on Green Day's otherwise fantastic complexion.

Just like the cross eyed girl that I am hoping stuns at prom, I am hoping that Green Day comes out swinging in a couple weeks - and for God's sake, stay focused, guys.

B3 out.

Beaten, But Not Yet Broken

This past week has been a reminder that I should never worry about my life becoming stale. While I get myself into the occasional rut of "work-eat-sleep," I ultimately have limitless opportunities to explore thanks to an active lifestyle, plenty of interests, and a strong start on my career as a software developer.

Work has been busy and Computol looks like it may grow overall this year. More projects, more people, and more learning opportunities await. This is the "good" kind of busy, as far as I am concerned.

While I am looking forward to what work has to offer, I am beginning to look forward to all that will be consuming my time this spring and summer: Shiggs Photography, three developer projects, and lots of hiking. More than anything, I am looking to balance all these things with everything else that matters: friends, family, and personal sanity. Toss in a little of the unexpected (huge career potential down the line, for example), and I can say that this year will in no way be dull.

I have some more interesting content in the pipeline, so stay tuned!

B3 out.

So I Want To Talk About Meltdown

In the 7th and 8th grades - junior high school at Otsego - I was influenced by several pieces of fiction. Video games such as Forsaken on the PC and Resident Evil on the PlayStation caught my attention. I began to fully understand some of the more intense messages in films such as Jurassic Park and Tremors. In 1998 I combined my new perspectives on these media with my love of travel (along with adventure) and did something I never thought possible: I began to write my own fictional story.

New ideas spawned on a daily basis. These ideas flowed together, sometimes violently. I took notes all day at school and sat in front of the family computer every night to hash these ideas into something coherent. Over the course of six months, the first draft of a story called Meltdown came together. The story was short, characters were crude, the writing horribly amateur, yet I discovered something magical: people loved reading it. Granted these were peers, but the dozen or so people who read it sucked down. Written as short, high-digestible five-page episodes, Meltdown was an exciting endeavor for me at the age of fourteen.

This was the birth of my writing career.

Throughout high school I expanded my writing tremendously. I kept busy with creative essays, music reviews for a Toledo magazine, short stories, technical documents, and poems. Meltdown evolved with my writing style - it even had a tagline by this time: Meltdown: A Survivors' Story. The short, poorly written first drafts evolved into much longer and much more detailed episodes. This is when my hero and mentor of the time, Aaron Weisbrod, tempered my expectations and grandiose dreams of publication and helped me to understand that good writing was more than just action and characters. Meltdown was on hold for years to come, despite multiple attempts at a major rewrite.

Today Meltdown exists as an on-going stack of notes, rough drafts, outlines, character bios, and evolving tastes. In 2011 I rewrote the basic story altogether, reduced the character count (from an astonishing eight leads to just four), and gave it a new name: Children of the Meltdown. I now spend about four to six hours a week filling out story details, writing scene outlines, and reworking my characters.

So what is Children of the Meltdown?

From 1998 until about 2006, Meltdown was a story about a group of teenagers surviving a cross-country trip in an apocalyptic United States. Challenges were many, and zombies were plentiful.

Largely thanks to the influence of modern zombie fiction (I'm looking at you, The Walking Dead), Meltdown has become something a bit more personal. No longer a collection of fun scenes about shooting zombies; survival and basic human decency have become the norm. I asked myself this question: what would today's awkward teenager do when the world goes to shit?

I have the entire story outlined and about a third of it drafted. So far I have addressed a lot of issues: death of friends and family, teenage isolation, loss of innocence, lack of moral guidance, heartbreak, rape, and redemption. I know a lot of these sound like some heavy-hitting issues, but in all honesty, they have made for fantastic topics in the latest drafts.

If I should stick to this revision of the story, I plan to release the episodes a month apart beginning sometime in 2013 or 2014. Eventually I will bring the episodes together into a novella and self-publish the entire story.

At this point, Meltdown is like a child to me. I was there when it was born, I have watched it fall and recover, I helped it mature, and now I feel like it is finally coming into its own. Once the story is completed, it will almost certainly feel like the passing of a huge part of my life. But man, has the journey ever been a great one.

B3 out.

Say Hello to Shiggs Photography

This coming Friday is an exciting day for me. I am officially launching Shiggs Photography, my basic camera-for-hire photography service.

My ever-growing interest in photography hit a milestone last year when I bought my Canon D600 / T3i and began experimenting with various kinds of photography. While I have found myself more interested in nature, portraits, and low-light photography, I ultimately have spent the past year becoming competent with the technique, the technology, and most importantly, my passion for the medium.

Photography is one of my favorite hobbies. I am not looking to make a living from shooting photos - that is a realm dominated by constant creative churn and pricey (and stressful) wedding shoots. Shiggs Photography is all about extending my intermediate (but growing) photography skills to the low- and mid-priced needs of anyone interested in getting professional photographs.

Because I do not have the same aspirations as those living on their photography, I intend to keep Shiggs Photography simple. Want affordable portraits? In need of consulting or photography tips? Need a second photographer for a major event? Just want some well-done snapshots in the park? Rather than charging for distinct types of sessions, I am offering my services for a flat, affordable hourly rate that will allow me to cover all the above and much more.

2013 is just the start for Shiggs Photography. As my experience grows, I hope to remain an affordable photography option for those in the Northwest Ohio area. The Shiggs Photography website is in a constant state of flux, so check back often for an expanding sample gallery, an upcoming blog, and new, experimental photography.

B3 out.

Page Plus + 1

Roughly two weeks ago I switched away from Verizon Wireless as my mobile phone provider. I had been with Verizon in some form or another for roughly fourteen years.

As the cost of owning a top-tier phone on their network slowly crept over $60, then $70, and then $80, I began considering alternative providers. With Verizon starting 2013 off with their super-expensive Share Everything plans (minimum cost for me: $90 + taxes and fees, coming to just under $100 / month), I finally decided to pull the trigger for cheaper service with Page Plus Cellular.

Page Plus is an interesting prepaid service provider. They are based out of Toledo, Ohio, which means it is easy to get support in person if I need it. Even better, it is one of the rare few providers that use Verizon's network, so my current phone runs on it without any modification. I only had to order a free port of my phone number and a monthly service plan to get started. Rather than pay the $80 / month I have been used to or the roughly $100 / month Verizon wanted on my next contract, I am now paying $40 / month with no contract and the exact same service I have been used to getting.

Yes, I have limited data on that $40 / month plan, but that is easily fixed with a still-reasonable $55 plan. So far, even only two weeks in, Page Plus has been a good experience with very few caveats. The money I am saving (better than $1,000 over two years) will be going towards many other great things (*cough*photography*cough*).

B3 out.

A Decade Of Growth, Mistakes, and Finding The Nice Guy

Ten years.

It has been ten years since I took the plunge into a new world that was supposed to change me. For much of my teenage years, I dreamed of accomplishing several goals - some driven by passion, others by romance, and a few by hormones. 2013 is the decade anniversary of many accomplishments in my life, but also marks the beginning of many failures, some of which continue to this day. While I always strive to learn from my mistakes, some of the past ten years represent me at my worst.

Still, the last ten years have been nothing less than the prime of my life thus far. 2003 kicked off a flurry of changes in my life: graduation from high school, entry into college, a ton of new friends in my life (thanks to Meijer and BGSU), a new career path inside Meijer that boosted my professional outlook, and of course, all those wonderful people that have influenced me over the years.

Near the end of high school I had almost no idea where I would have been in ten years. I had some vague predictions, though: probably working a decent job, married or close to it, and living in the Perrysburg area. It looks like I was mostly right: I love my job and I live in Perrysburg, but I have sacrificed my social life for my professional pursuits. I am nowhere near married and have no idea of when I will get there. But I have no regrets about this course. Yet.

I left high school as a social butterfly, but have since struggled to find that easy-going attitude that led me into so many great relationships back then. I consider this a form of poison at my age. With four years of professional development now paying off, I am in a position to meet new people, make new friends, and reconnect with old ones. Despite being so well off, I find that I have trouble moving back to that socially-inclined guy I was ten years ago, which brings me to the ultimate point of this post: through all the ups and downs of the last ten years, am I letting the "downs" get the best of my "ups?"

In ten years I have made a few critical mistakes that have forced me to seriously question what kind of moral person I am. Yes, that sounds like a serious charge, but I do honestly believe that a serious faux pas here and there have led me to lose confidence in myself. Ten years ago today I took a plunge that helped me understand so many teenage curiosities while throwing so many cans of gasoline onto a fire that I did not know existed. Ten years of festering on these issues and issues like these have came to a head in the last two months, bringing my life to a halt while I re-evaluate what I want out of the next ten years of my life.

As it turns out, its time for me to start being a nice guy again.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

B3 out.

It's That Time: CodeMash 2013 Is Upon Us

The last four weeks have been non-stop for me. Shopping, exercising, Christmas, New Years, and a mini vacation - I have been having a blast. This week wraps up my unusual schedule and goes out with a bang: CodeMash 2013.

This will be my third year in a row attending CodeMash. As a technology conference, the event has always been spectacular, with the content becoming more and more interesting every year. As a social event, CodeMash is always a fantastic way to meet up with old friends and make new ones at all sorts of gatherings and parties. This year was a bit bumpy for me going in. I had reservation issues back in September, buying tickets was unnecessarily dramatic, and I cannot seem to nail down a final session schedule since everything is so scattered. Despite a few minor setbacks, I am looking forward to a fantastic three days at Kalahari Resort.

My focus at last year's conference was responsive web design. I attended six web- and design-related sessions that kicked off my huge interested in RWD. This year it seems that I will be focusing on Android application development, .NET data access, and software development processes. I am looking forward to the variety!

Oh, and the food. I cannot forget about all the food.

CodeMash, I love you.

B3 out.