The Black Braveheart

Another Year Bites the Dust

2012-01-06T00:33:00.002-06:00

Well, 2011 has come and gone. It was a pretty good year for me as well as my family. If you don't mind, I'd like to share a few things from my year.

This was the year that I finally picked up recreational reading. I have never been one to do much reading for fun. If you saw me reading a book, it was 9 times out of 10 a book having to do with programming. I just never saw reading fiction books as a form of entertainment. Then a funny thing happened... I had to take a business trip to Denver for a training class and since I was going with co-workers I would not have a car of my own to go and explore the city like I wanted. I was going to have to have something to kill the down hours and hotel TV is pretty sketchy and we don't have a Netflix streaming account. Cara suggested that I read a book she had read called Hunger Games. I had never heard of it, but after reading a sample I agreed to give it a try and loaded it on my Nook Color. Little did I know, but I was about start the beginning of what I would later classify as the most entertaining series of books I have ever read. I only hope it will continue and each book I read seems better than the next. Oh yeah, TEAM PEETA!!!
I forced myself to be more healthy this past year. The year began with the yearly Crowley High School soccer alumni game (the alumni have won 4 or 5 years in a row, what! what!). I was playing as a defender and in my mind I was the same All-Region player I was back in 1999, but in reality I was a guy who was knocking on crossing the 200 lbs. mark who was huffing and puffing while trying to keep up with kids almost half my age. A week later I turned 30 and realized it had to stop. I now had 2 young sons to look after and growing into a fattie was not going to help that. (Yes, we also welcomed a new son this year, but I will get to that in a bit. You have to save the best for last...) So I promptly changed my diet with the suggestion of trying to limit my calorie intake to less than 2000 a day. A year later I am down to between 170 - 175 lbs. and hopeful to shed 5 - 10 more this year.
I learned how to write apps for both the iPhone/iPad and Android devices. My job sent me to training for the iPhone apps and I taught myself how to write the Android apps. I am still very much a novice, but I look forward to improving on both. I just need to get my hands on a Mac so I can really practice on the iPhone apps at home. (So if anyone has a Mac Mini they'd like to send my way just let me know... *wink* *wink*)
And now for the most monumental event of 2011... I was lucky enough to become a father for the second time with the birth of Topher. He is just as awesome as his brother. They look so much alike, but a little more of his mom found its way into his genes (I'll work harder on that next time, haha!). He's already almost 10 months old and time is flying by, but I will never forget the day and a half spent in the hospital while Cara was in labor. This little boy was extra comfy in his mother and decided to take a couple of extra week to make his appearance, and even then we had to make him come out. I was so proud of his mom. She was able to go through labor with no pain meds, even after having to take drugs to induce and speed up her labor. I did a lot more work this time around and together we got him here safe and sound. I am so excited for him to be here and could not imagine him not being here!

Well that's enough of my sharing. I really enjoyed 2011 and I hope you did too. Here's to en even better 2012!!

Champions Are Forever

2011-06-12T23:04:00.001-05:00

I remember when I was in the 6th grade, I would walk the halls in my green Dallas Mavericks shirt at least once a week. Being in the Dallas area, this should not have been anything out of the ordinary. However, this was the Jordan era. The Bulls was in the middle of their first three-peat so everyone was rocking their Bulls gear. The Mavericks? They were everyone's least favorite team to cheer for and their most favorite to make fun of. In fact they were one step above he Washington Generals to most people. So what was I doing in this shirt every week?

I easily could have joined the crowd, but I have always felt close to the Mavericks. They were the worst franchise in the league and quite frankly in pro sports in America for a long time. I would watch the games, season after season, hoping to see some glimpse of hope for the future. Well, tonight that hope was fulfilled when my Mavericks popped bottles to celebrate being the 2011 NBA CHAMPIONS!! I cannot fully explain what this feels like. This is a team that was given no chance to do anything this post-season, but through it all I believed. The Mavs could go on to win a thousand more championships, but I will always remember this one.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!

YourNextRead!!

2011-05-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

So I just found this really awesome site for big time readers, YourNextRead. How it works is you enter in the title of a book you have read and it will give you recommendations for other books to read. I would think this would be very valuable recommendations for people who fly through books like my wife. She will finish a book and then have to scour the Kindle store for a new book to read. You should check it out. Here's what the site looks like, but please ignore the nerdy book I am currently reading haha.

Mission: Accomplished

2011-05-01T23:56:00.001-05:00

Like everyone else I just saw President Obama address the nation and inform us all that Osama Bin Laden was killed in an operation today in Pakistan. Though I do not celebrate anyone’s death, it is nice to know that he has been met with justice after ending so many lives across the world with his viciously orchestrated attacks. I don’t have much to say really other than it is nice to see some result after spending almost 10 years hunting for the man. So I will spend the rest of the night taking in a monumental moment for the country and the Obama administration so when I wake up in the morning I can ignore all the negativity the president will receive from those who choose to oppose him at any cost.

Happy Man

2011-03-14T18:49:00.001-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Waiting for Baby #2

2011-02-14T15:58:00.002-06:00

I am getting closer and closer each day to doubling the number of sons in my family. I am getting more and more anxious as each day passes. Thanks to the technology of this millenium, I already know this next son already looks like me and 3.0, but I have no idea what his personality will be like. 3.0 is turning out to be a dancing baby engineer, much to my delight. With that said, the odds have to be that new baby will share more personality traits with his mom (which could lead to some funny shenanigans between the two children.

I just know how excited I am to be meeting the little guy soon.

I'm On The Clock...

2011-01-07T12:29:00.000-06:00

The time has come...

I now have less than a week remaining in my 20s. As I sit here and watch the time tick away I can reflect on all I've done this past decade. There have been ups and down, but in the end I can't complain at all about how it all turned out.

Here's to you Twenty-something Will!! You loved, you lived, and came out on top. Now let's get ready to kick Forty-something Will's ass in 10 years...

New Photos on My Flickr Photostream

2010-12-30T15:14:00.000-06:00

I recently took a trip to Jamaica with my wife (who is also pregnant with baby #2...) to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I snapped some photos while I was there and added the best ones to my Flickr photostream. Here they are:

UTA in the SportsCenter Top 10

2010-12-30T10:44:00.000-06:00

Check out Lamarcus Reed's sick dunk at #2 around the 1:15 mark...

Phones, Phones, Phones...

2010-11-29T10:21:00.001-06:00

I have a bit of a dilemma. I need to get a new cell phone, but I can't make myself decide on the phone I want. I have literally gone back and forth between the MyTouch 4G and the HTC HD7. They are both smart phones, but very different. One runs Android and the other runs the new Windows Phone 7. The nerd in me can write apps for both, though it might be a little easier for the HD7. I just don't know what to do. I am just going to have to go into the store and take a leap of faith...

March Madness Begins in November

2010-11-11T14:09:00.001-06:00

With all of the BCS and NFL news filling up the Sportscenter broadcasts it is easy to not notice that NCAA basketball season has arrived. This is by far my favorite sports season of the year (I'm sure there being no UTA football influences that. C'mon Pres. Spaniolo, get on that ASAP...). So get out and support your alma maters this season.

Now for my UTA Movin' Mavs, it is going to be a season of unknowns. We have zero seniors and lost a big chunk of our scoring when Marquez Haynes graduated. That said, we have probably our most athletic recruiting class in school history (we even got a guy named Shaq...) that will be taking the floor. It should be interesting to see how it all comes together. We were picked to finish dead last in the West division of the Southland Conference, so the sky is the limit. Then again, the last time we were picked 6th we found ourselves in the dance. Who knows what will happen...

No matter what, this will be a season that goes down in the history books. This will be the last season Texas Hall will be used, which means no more ballin' on The Stage. As sad as I am I won't be able to see opponents mis-judge the distance to the edge and fall into the orchestra pit (I've seen it at least 5 times), I am just as excited for the new College Park Center to open next year. It's been a long time coming and I know the basketball and volleyball teams will enjoy the move.

Now, I'm off to go scan the tv guide I can plan for all the games I need to watch. The 2010 - 2011 basketball season has officially begun. Enjoy!

Braveheart Strikes Again!!

2010-11-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

So today I had to call and get a medical bill paid, so I knew there was a great possibility of Braveheart coming into the short conversation. What I didn't know is that it would end in a complete laughter jackpot.

I had just read off my card number and expiration date, so I knew she would soon be asking for the name on the card. I gave my full name and made sure to include that I was the second ( a.k.a. II). The woman on the other end then said, "You know, there was a Scottish warrior with that same name." How did I respond?

"Yes, I know.... He's my dad."

From that point, the woman laughed on and off for the next few minutes. She ended the phone call by wishing me well in the rest of my battles and said I had brightened up her day. She brightened mine as well...

Case of the Mondays

2010-10-04T12:05:00.001-05:00

Mondays are getting harder and harder to endure. It is not just that the day brings my weekend to a screeching halt, but it has become my official day to lick my wounds. You see, I recently started playing semi-competitive soccer again. That in itself is grueling enough for a Sunday afternoon, but when you add to that the fact that I am out of shape and about 15 - 20 pounds too heavy... Well, let's just call it a beating.

So today I made my way into work with a bit of a limp in my step. Even though I know getting up and walking around would help with the soreness in my legs,back, feet, and just about everything else (the price of getting older), I am doing my best impression of a stationary object. One day I will stop doing this to myself, but right now my love of the game will keep setting me up for a nice "Case of the Mondays" hahaha.

Yoga For Black People (NSFW)

2010-09-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

I normally scan Funny or Die every few days to see if any of the new videos are any good and I came across this one. It's a funny video called Yoga For Black People. It's so wrong and so funny at the same time. Enjoy...

Yoga for Black People - watch more funny videos

Random Thoughts

2010-08-31T12:37:00.001-05:00

Just have some random thoughts going through my mind...

*Why do people tip the car hops at Sonic? I mean, the person at the McDonald's register hands you your food just like the car hops do, but gets nada.

*If you are complaining about your baby daddy, it's probably because he's a baby daddy and not a father. Any man can make a kid, but not every man is willing to be a father to them.

*If a high school switches to a school uniform dress code to stop hoodlum activity, they are just giving the students a peek into their hoodlum futures. Hoodlums usually go to jail where, guess what, they wear the same uniforms. So we are basically turning schools into general population...

*Why is Hollywood so caught up with 3D movies? At this point every movie will be in 3D by 2015. I don't know about you, but I definitely don't want to see Eye of the Tiger: The Tiger Woods Story in 3D. Seeing Waffle House ladies in 3D is not my idea of a good time.

*Why does Dancing With the Stars have no stars? If the best you can do is Bristol Palin and The Situation you are better off calling the show Dancing with Random Ass People.

That's enough for now. I now return you to your previously scheduled program...

Talkin' Jibberish

2010-08-25T14:30:00.000-05:00

I need to learn how to talk infant jibberish. My son has had long conversations with me in his native tongue and I have no clue what he is saying. All I know is he his very serious about what he is saying. :)

Fatty

2010-08-13T15:35:00.001-05:00

Ever since we found out we were pregnant with my son back in 2008 my weight has been on a roller coaster. When Mrs. Braveheart would take a few bites of her meal and then look at it with disgust I took it upon myself to be the closer. On more than one occasion I had two meals in one sitting. Well that new "job" put about 20 pounds of extra weight on my frame pretty quickly so I stopped. Since then I have not had the discipline or motivation to get the weight off and keep it off.

The past few weeks have been spent running around Disney World and celebrating 3.0's first birthday. Of course this means I have been eating all sorts of crap that I didn't need. Somehow in my mind I envisioned all of the running around balancing out the food. A trip to the scale this AM pretty much destroyed that theory. I not only gained back what little weight I had lost, but picked up a little extra. So today I am determined to make a change and get rid of my little friends hanging out around my waist. Wish me luck!!

Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife

2010-08-11T11:48:00.000-05:00

By now, everyone has seen the ghettolicious news interview with Antoine Dodson of Huntsville, Alabama. His sister was attacked by an intruder who escaped when Antoine entered the room and attempted to pull him off of her. When the police arrived, so did the local news station that allowed Antoine to give his now famous interview.

Now the guys at Autotune the News have turned his interview into the hottest jam around. Enjoy!!

The Cup Runneth Over

2010-07-12T01:16:00.001-05:00

Well World Cup 2010 has come to an end in South Africa. Spain defied their underachiever past to finally break through and lift the cup. I am happy for them and I have to admit I enjoyed seeing Casillas lift the cup over his head to a backdrop of confetti and cheering teammates. That is my favorite moment in sports and is well worth the 4 year wait each time.

Overall, I think the cup was a success. South Africa played the perfect host and ran the event smoothly with no major problems. They showed the African continent is more than capable of putting on the world’s biggest event. However, I am very disappointed in the teams of my African brothers I think all of the African teams underachieved. Even Ghana, the only African team in the knockout rounds underachieved (we all know that they have only themselves to blame for not playing in the final weekend). I fully expect them to rebound and show much better in the next World Cup in Brazil (I would complain about Brazil, but that would be a post in itself and I don’t have the time lol). Mark my words, in 2014 the African and North American teams will make plenty of noise.

What were your final thoughts on the World Cup? Who are your favorites for the next cup in Brazil?

A Sad Day For Me

2010-07-11T18:53:00.000-05:00

Today was a rough day, but what made it rougher was I knew it was going to come at some point. Today was the last day my family would be regular members of Destiny Worship Center Christian Church in Cedar Hill. The church will be moving its worship services to a new location that will just be too far for us to attend normally after our own relocation. We were really pushing it by continuing to attend after we moved, but we just enjoyed it so much that we put any discomfort for us to the wayside and made the trek each week, but we knew at some point it would have to end.

We started with the church in the fall of 2008 and it was the first church where I was not only a member, but actually excited about attending. In the years before starting to go there I had been to church for a non-funeral service one time back in 1999 (I only remember because I went to church with Cara that one time). In the short couple of years we worshiped there I got baptized and took an active role in the worship service by being in charge of church announcements. The church felt like a second home for me and the pastor certainly challenged me to push myself spiritually and find my true destiny. I will miss our church family and will try to pop in there every so often to see everyone. In the meantime, we will begin our quest for a new church home closer to our area.

And for all those in the Dallas area who are looking for a church, I urge you to check out DWC. The people are friendly and I can guarantee you will certainly not leave the same way you came. :)

Lebron James Has Taken It To Another Level

2010-07-06T22:56:00.001-05:00

Just read that now Lebron James has decided to announce which team he will sign with during an hour-long special on ESPN. Are you kidding me??? King James is slowly becoming a queen of the drama variety. At this point, I would not be surprised if he announced he had decided to sign with the LA Galaxy after falling in love with soccer during the World Cup.

Now, there is no doubt that Lebron James is a one-of-a-kind talent, but I just don’t see the point of dragging all of this out. All it is doing is holding up the rest of the big free agency signings as his decision will set the market for the rest of the big names waiting to sign. If the story is true, I can’t wait for Thursday to be over so I can finally figure out what my team will do to better itself.

FIFA Rule Change ASAP

2010-07-02T16:28:00.001-05:00

Dear FIFA,

After watching the Ghana game and seeing Uruguay profit by stopping a goal by intentionally stopping the ball with the hands, I think we need a rule change. From now on, balls heading into the goal that are handled intentionally to keep the ball out should be considered a goal in addition to the offending player receiving a red card ejection. This would put an end to the shenanigans in the goal box for tie games.

Thank you,

Pissed off soccer fan

Summer Tease

2010-06-30T14:02:00.000-05:00

Days like today make me really jealous of people who get a summer vacation. I went out for lunch and for the first time since April I was not met with scorching heat. It is the perfect weather for relaxing at the pool and instead I am sitting indoors banging out 1's and 0's on my keyboard.

I didn't mind as much when it was pouring down raining or when it was 100+ out, but now this nice weather is mocking me. I guess I will have to reserve my pool and water park (my HOA dues hard at work) time for after work and weekends. Then again, it is a holiday 3-day weekend so I just might get to make the most of it.

US Soccer Left Me Hanging

2010-06-27T23:06:00.001-05:00

I should have known better…

That is the only thing that ran through my mind after the US was knocked out of the cup by Ghana. I knew this team had some major holes in the defense. I knew they lacked depth. I knew Bob Bradley didn’t know how to pick a solid Starting XI and stick with it. I knew all that, but I started to believe this team was beginning to put together something special with the ways they kept fighting back into games. Then Ghana scored in the 6th minute and I took off my happy goggles from the Algeria game. I knew that there was no way they would be able to fight back and play games with Lady Luck one more time. So now I am left to wonder how team squandered a perfect opportunity to earn some more respect on the world stage.

The next World Cup will be in 2014 and I have no idea how the team will look then. All I know is that we need an infusion of young talent ASAP. The current core will be too old in 2014. Even Donovan and Dempsey will be at the end of their effective careers ( a la Wynalda, Balboa, Ramos, and the rest of the ‘94 guys in ‘98) and cannot be counted on to carry the team. I can only hope that guys like Adu and Torres will find a way to take their game to the next level because we will need the strong technical players to help us take the next step.

World Cup Fever!!!

2010-06-20T02:00:00.000-05:00

I have been eating, breathing, and living soccer the past week. I absolutely go nuts when the World Cup comes around every four years. At no other time can you watch 64 world class (mostly world class anyway) matches in a month. I am just loving seeing all the different teams around the world trying to match up against the different styles of play. It also doesn't hurt that USA is having a decent showing so far. We are nowhere near being world beaters at this point, but considering just 20 years ago we made our first appearance at the World Cup in 40 years with a team of college players I think we are at a good spot. USA is at a point where they can be competitive in any match they play. Anyway, that is a post for another time. Here are a few of my highlights from the games I have seen so far.

South Africa scoring the first goal of the World Cup on a rip to the upper 90.
Mexico getting its own Dos a Cero on the French.
USA fighting back from being down 2-0 at the half against Slovenia.
Brazil beating North Korea with two typical Brazilian goals.
Japan beating Cameroon with a goal by Honda. You couldn't make that one up.

The cup is halfway through the second round of group games so more excitement is to come. I can't wait to see what will happen next.