The Other Debo

Ultimate Frisbee

2010-09-26T17:55:00.002-07:00

I have been invited to play Ultimate Frisbee with Brad and some of his friends this Wednesday. I have to admit, I am SUPER nervous about this. I haven't really played any sports since I left Buffalo like 3 years ago. I haven't run all out, besides on treadmills, in about that same time. Plus, Brad and I have talked about which one of us is faster, and I really don't want to find out that its not me. (I am most afraid of that last one. Stupid Alpha Male pride!) I can just use the excuse that no one knew me and that's why they were afraid to throw to me. Maybe......Or I could just rock it out! (I'm hoping for the latter.)

Guitar Problems

2010-09-26T17:41:00.002-07:00

I have been fiddling around with my guitar a good deal lately. I have come to a few realizations about playing the guitar and myself.

1) The amount I play the guitar has a positive relationship with the amount I want to buy a new guitar. The more I play, the more I want a new one.

2) The more alcohol I have consumed, the better of a guitarist I THINK I am. Don't really know if its true or not.

Evolution

2010-09-26T17:35:00.004-07:00

I don't really believe in evolution, though I do know that I can't disprove it. I won't say that we haven't changed over time, but the idea that we came from nothing just doesn't make sense to me.

What makes less sense to me are arguments like this video trying to disprove evolution using.....peanut butter?

Building A Better Body

2010-09-14T23:42:00.002-07:00

Speaking of a routine, I recently bought a bike. That sentence really doesn't make sense by itself, since buying a bike has nothing to do with having a routine, but, in a round about way, it does. See, I want to get into better shape. The issue is, I'm not much into lifting weights. I do enjoy swimming but the pool we have at the house really isn't big enough for that. Biking is also a physical activity I enjoy so I am hoping I can get into a routine of biking everyday/every other day. I would like to eventually do a race or something. Maybe eventually ride it over longer distance.

Maybe I should focus on doing something more than just going around the block....

Worring About This Semester

2010-09-14T23:37:00.002-07:00

I am an A student. At least normally, and it is what I want to be. Last semester, while working the night job, I studied a lot and felt like a good student. I put a little effort in and ended up getting pretty good grades. This semester is sort of a whole different story. I haven't read any of my books. I didn't study for my Spanish test (and I got an 80 on it). To top it off, I am working less than last semester and have much more time to study, but I just choose not to. I really wish I had better discipline. I really think I need to work on a routine of studying, working and social life to balance it all out. I think that was the benefit last semester, I knew what time I had to do things. We shall see, but I hope to right this ship soon!

A Good Life

2010-09-14T23:32:00.002-07:00

It's funny how often some people can go from having a great day to having one of the worst days ever. I can be one of those people. Recently, during one of these days, I stopped and thought about it. I really have a pretty good life. I have all I need and many extras. I think I have met some of the most wonderful people in the world and am grateful for all the friends I've made.

So, when those days come, I pause and think about it. I think about all the things I'm grateful for and end up always saying to myself, "I have a really good life."

I have started saying this to myself almost everyday. Not that the days are bad, but it does seem to make them better.

Chicago, in Arizona?

2010-08-24T01:43:00.002-07:00

I don't really care about tv. Brad doesn't either although he does enjoy occasionally watching Craig Ferguson. This desire kicked in for him the other night and, since we have cable internet, he decided to hook the tv up too. Now we aren't paying for any cable tv, so I didn't think we would be able to get anything, but Brad was happily able to watch his show.

A few days later, I was bored at home and decided to see what was on the tv. I flipped it on and scrolled around to see what stations we got. I excitedly found Discovery, which is where it stopped at my last place. I kept going and found we get most stations. One was even showing James Bond in Spanish, which I had to show Brad when he got back. Even better than that, I flipped over to a local news station. A local CHICAGO news station. Weird, I know. That oddity caused me to stay there for a few minutes. I even noticed it was the correct time, 2 hours ahead of Phoenix (at least, I assume that is the correct time for them.)

Not that I even watch the local news here, but its nice to know that I can keep up on Chicago if I get the sudden urge to know what's going on in that city.

I Like the Floor

2010-08-23T01:42:00.002-07:00

Growing up in the house I did. I always thought hardwood floors were the coolest things. We had linoleum in the kitchen and hallway, but besides that, the rest of the house had carpet. I grew up walking, sitting, napping, wrestling, playing, doing school work, and sleeping (lots of sleeping) on carpet. When I moved to AZ, I had carpet again. A little sad, because I honestly thought carpet was a little lame. Maybe it was the fact I (and my siblings, not just me) had to vacuum it. Well, in truth, we were SUPPOSED to but I think mom had to do it more often than not. Anyways, I didn't want that hassle, so when I moved out on my own, I got a place that had hardwood(not real stuff, just some fake linoleum) in the living room and kitchen. I was pretty happy, but that carpet in the bedroom still bugged me, and while my bed mostly covered it (it was a small room), I was still left to maintain some of it. In my new place, the third in AZ, The house has either tile or Pergo flooring. I thought this was amazing. Easy to clean and good looking. I never realized how much I would miss carpeting and the those activities I would do on it.

Well.......I mostly miss that napping.

Getting the Girls

2010-08-14T02:11:00.003-07:00

I have recently realized how irresistible I am to women. It is sort of crazy how girls fall in love with me everywhere. Not that its always a good thing. Let me explain....

Either late May or early June, Brad and I did an install at the McDonald's house. Brad started the install, I came a little bit later to finish while he went to another job. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have a young, 3 years old, daughter who was very shy the whole time I was there. She was on the couch watching a movie with her father, I think it was the newest Rambo movie, perfect for any 3 year old female, just what they always want to watch. Anyways, each time I looked over I would see her eyes peeking over the couch looking at me, I would smile and she would duck. I would laugh to myself and go about my work, not thinking much about it. Mid-July, I get a call that their Internet has been having issues since the install of our equipment, so I drive over there to fix it. As soon as I get there, this little girl (whose name I can't remember) excitedly yells, "Tom's here!" This three year old girl remembered my name after like a month and a half? I must have made an impression. (Brad believes its my beautiful hair.) She then asks, "Is Brad coming too?" Both I and her father laugh. While I work, she stands at the opposite side of the room, just watching me and smiling from the doorway, every few minutes, telling her parents, "Tom's here!" What a sweet little girl with some really nice parents. I wish all my customers could be like that family.

About a month later, my upstairs neighbor's daughter starts talking to me. I don't really recall how this started but she has decided she wants to have a water gun fight with her friends against me and my roommates. She talks to me just about every time she sees me, which is normally when I am going to a job. I think I was just taught not to be rude, especially not to kids, so I will usually talk to her and her friends for a few minutes, maybe getting to an appointment a few minutes later than expected. I believe this girl has a crush on me, as much as any 9 year old girl ever has a crush on someone.

These girls got me thinking. First, a 3 year old, then a month later, a 9 year old. Every month it jumps by 6 years. In two months, a 21 year old will fall in love with me. This is good because I do have my eye on a certain one.

A Little Music Update

2010-08-14T02:00:00.002-07:00

One thing that I hope will always excite me as much as it does now is the joy of finding a new song or band to listen to. I am grateful to have had some good friends that help me to this end. My brother and last roommate, Mike, was good at leading me on to new artists and my one of my current roommates, Jeffrey, is amazing at this. You can read about the amazing Jeffrey here. I have actually told him that any song I hear him listening to I either think that the song is amazing or I wonder why anyone would listen to that song. More times than not, its the former.

Well, anyways, here are a few songs that I have recently been enjoying. Though Jeffrey may not have told me about all three of them, I believe he did have a had in me figuring out who the artist or song was on each and every one.

New Semester, New Schedule

2010-07-27T01:56:00.002-07:00

And I know you are all dying to know what the schedule for this new semester will be. When making this schedule, I discovered how excited I get when thinking about a new schedule. The thrill and wonder of what each class may bring. From the teacher to the material to my classmates. It entices me to learn something new. That is why I am taking...

Intro to Physical Geography and Lab - Monday and Wednesday 12-2:45pm
Intermediate Algebra - Monday and Wednesday 3-4:15pm
Plant Growth and Development - Monday and Wednesday 7:10-9:50pm

Mythology - Tuesday and Thursday 9-10:15am
Elementary Spanish 2 - 11-12:50pm

Yeah. Fridays off!!! And only twice a week will I have to wake up before noon! If you know me, you know that this is the perfect schedule for me!

Everyone is Fond of Owls!!!

2010-07-18T21:45:00.004-07:00

Recently, I realized that nearly every house out here has an owl somewhere in the house. Something like.....

It has become a game, during every install I go to, that I play the game, 'Find the owl'.

Its been pretty fun!

If you don't know why owls are so enjoyable, check out this video.

Blaming The Roommates

2010-07-18T21:04:00.002-07:00

I have some pretty cool roommates. Brad, Gene, and Jeffrey are all guys I met last year during my last summer. The four of us hang out a lot. We go out to eat, go to movies, go shopping, play video games, and eat mostly as a group. The issue is that, since I have this blog, I like doing things that are 'blog worthy' which means I have to hang out with these guys when they go out. There is a 99% chance that something crazy will happen and there is an 100% that someone will say something crazy. So I need to be there so you can all hear about it. Bring there means I can't be here. Well, at least not until I find a way to be in two places at once with the same consciousness. And that doesn't seem very likely to happen in thee near future, so deal with it!

Blaming Sleep

2010-07-18T20:55:00.002-07:00

As you all know, I LOVE my sleep. It is one of my favorite things. I used to think I was actually a fairly heavy sleeper, but have recently discovered that I just can fall asleep whenever, not that I can stay that way.

Well, I blame the lack of blogging on sleep in this way, I have a roommate that won't wake up for his alarm. Sure, he will roll over and hit snooze (only about half the times the alarm goes off), but then he falls back asleep. Plus, he is a very popular person so he gets a lot of phone calls and texts, sometimes early in the morning when he is not awake to answer so it keeps ringing. To wake him up, I actually have to wake up and yell at him or something.

Now, I am not angry at him for this, he is a good roommate in other ways. My ability to go to sleep anytime has really helped overcome that issue but those naps cut directly into my blogging time.

So you see, I can blame it on sleep.

The Wire Review

2010-07-14T00:45:00.002-07:00

There are many reasons that I haven't blogged a lot recently. I could come up with a short list of these excuses, but right now, I will be blaming it on the TV show The Wire.

If you didn't know, this show actually ended a few years ago. I never saw it when it aired since it was on HBO but I heard that it was a good show, sometimes even referred to as one of the best shows ever. After spending around 60 hours of this summer watching this show, I don't know if I would agree with those who say it was an amazing show. While it was good and may be on the top of the heap of crime shows, I had my issues with it. These issues are my own and I should fault the show for that, since this opinion is also my own, I can just make up the rules for how to do this as I go along. I felt every season dragged along with all/most of the action happening in the last episode or two. On the other side, I think it was well acted and amazingly cast. I could empathize with the characters and when a show can make yo feel something, you can never write it off.

Well, that is it for tonight. I may just spend the next few posts blaming my lack of blogging on other things. Stay tuned for me to (maybe) blame these things for my lack of blogging: My Roommates, Sleep, Work, Rock Band, San Francisco, and many more!

Or not. Who knows what I'm going to do? Certainly not me!

Following Me via Brad

2010-07-06T02:48:00.002-07:00

While I have been very lazy about regularly updating this blog, my friend/roommate, Brad, has been busy writing for his blog. You should check it out. Some of them have info about me, including a video of a fail of mine that almost resulted in my death. And I will leave you with that

Oh, and the link: Brad's Blog

Rocking with the Band

2010-06-29T01:39:00.002-07:00

Recently, I made what might be my best purchase ever. I bought Rock Band, and while this might be the older version and a long time coming, it's still been tons of fun. Just about every night since I got it, two of my roommates, Jeffrey and Brad, and I have been playing it for a few hours. It bring back some great memories of rocking with my brothers and friends in both NY and AZ.

Good memories, both past and present.

My Place

2010-06-29T01:33:00.002-07:00

Since moving out of my parents house, I really feel like anywhere that I am living is 'my place' no matter if I am renting it or having the company I am working for pay for it. I feel like, in 'my place', I should be able to do what I want and come and go when I want to. It sort of upsets me when I have to pay to do laundry and can't go to the pool whenever.

Stupid apartment complex.

Someone's Name

2010-06-22T01:09:00.002-07:00

I wrote once about how I prefer to go by Tom over Thomas and Tommy. I recently found out that a friend I had known for over a year prefers Jeffrey over Jeff. I had been calling him Jeff since I met him. I sort of feel like a jerk. He probably introduced himself as Jeffrey and I, trying to be casual, just called him Jeff. Why is it a natural reaction for people just to shorten others names? I don't really think this is unique to me. I think most people try to make it more casual and shorten the name without thinking that the person might prefer the longer name. While doing this to make it more casual, the person who likes the longer name just gets bothered. I don't know anyone who actually gets upset about it, Jeffrey certainly doesn't, but he has admitted it does bother him. I imagine he isn't the only one this happens to.

I guess I just need to pay more attention to what people call themselves and respect there preference. It isn't much harder to say Jeffrey than it is to say Jeff, and if it means more to him, than I'm all for it.

Trying Some New Musical Flavors

2010-06-22T01:03:00.001-07:00

I have never been a big fan of rap or country music, most of my life stating that those were the two genres that I didn't listen to. Well, thanks to Brad, I have been giving both those genres a new listen. To my surprise, I do enjoy a good deal of both types of those genres. I won't say they are my favorite or even close to it but I can't say I dislike most of those genres anymore.

Finding new songs and bands that I enjoy is always good.

School's Out for Summer!

2010-06-18T00:18:00.002-07:00

So much for summer school. I decided that, with work, it was too much, and since I couldn't really drop the job, I dropped the class. The reduction in the amount of stress was greatly appreciated. It has really freed me up to hang out with my roommate and given me a chance to really enjoy my summer. I do sort of feel bad cause I was enjoying the class. I will probably take it during the Fall semester.

But for now, PARTY ON DUDES!!!!!

A Boy Became A Man

2010-06-17T22:46:00.003-07:00

There is a moment in every boy's life when he becomes a man. I am not talking about when he THINKS he has become a man, that happens weekly for most, if not daily. I had those ideas many times. Like when I learned to drive, got my first job, moved out of my parents house, got a debit card, fly on a plane by myself for the first time, and ate a whole pizza myself. No, I just had the moment where I knew I was a man.

I bought a baseball glove.

Not in the Brochure

2010-06-16T01:50:00.002-07:00

Well, These past few days and weeks have been a bit different than I expected this summer to be. After working for a security company last year, I thought I knew what I was getting in to. I knew I had worked in a small office but I didn't expect this much of a difference. Problems with equipment and scheduling. Working 10-14 hours per day one days and maybe 5 the next. On top of that, I was trying to take a really bad Internet college class. I decided, for the sake of my sanity, I would drop it and take it again in the fall.

Feel much better that I took care of that another issue I had been having recently. Smooth sailing for the rest of the summer? I hope so!

A Small Improvement

2010-06-01T00:41:00.002-07:00

I am not the one in my family with cooking skills. Well, I am not the one with good cooking skills. Not yet at least. I have made somethings that turned out pretty darn horrible, but, thanks to some advise from my friend Brad and bullheadedness from myself, I have not given up. I recently made some BOMB (in a good way) chicken with a Caribbean Jerk seasoning. This has given rise to me starting to be a little inventive, as I am starting to think of different ways I could make a delicious meal out of this. I really wish I had a picture of the chicken, sadly I don't, but I will try to take one for the next meal I make. I never really felt creative but finding I'm not a terrible cook has given rise to this different side to me. Hope it keeps going well. Luckily, I am the type of person who likes to try new things!

Just Drive

2010-06-01T00:17:00.002-07:00

I have driven my car a lot. From Buffalo to Phoenix, to Fort Worth, back to Phoenix, to Los Angeles, back to Phoenix, all around Arizona for my delivery job, and to Sacramento. Even with all that driving, it still isn't an activity I love to do. It is something that, if I don't do for awhile, I will miss, but I don't really ever crave to do it and am more than happy to let someone else drive. But, when uncomfortable times or hard times come, the thought always jumps into my head, 'Why don't I just drive away. Leave everything behind.' Most times I don't think too much on it but a few times I have thought of doing the whole 'Into the Wild' type thing and just disappear. I think it is just stress and I know how much it would hurt the people I love if I just dropped off, but that doesn't stop me from thinking. I have responsibilities. I can't just drive away, no matter how much I may want to. That answer would never be as easy as going to finish the install I don't want to would be.

I just have to remember everything will smooth out.