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Martin Luther King, Jr. – I Have A Dream

Malecón, Habana, Cuba (Photo: Randolph Croft)

I’ve been a little slow on the draw with my new year resolution.  I suppose I could say that a new thing I did this week was read, and setting a new goal of writing a novel, the latter of which I am very excited and scared to do.

I finally sat down and forced myself to read a book, and I’m happy I did.  I read Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.  Very good.  Hemingway is great.  I won’t bore you with a biography or any of that you can check Wikipedia if you feel so inclined.  The Old Man and the Sea is a great first Hemingway book.  It’s super short, which made it easier for me to read since I am the worlds slowest reader.  Go check it out at your library or buy a copy.  Or you can read it here.

On to the novel…

I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but I know I need to express myself.  Since I have no patience to make a decent hip-hop beat or write lyrics, or lay them down I don’t know why I think I should write a novel.  Oh, and my English sucks.  I guess we’ll see what happens……….

This video has been around for a few years now, but I never watched it until last Friday.  It’s long but certainly worth watching.  Randy Pausch did some amazing things.  What amazing things will you do today?  What are your childhood dreams?

(Photo: Joaquin Jutt)

Shit sandwich would be an adequate adjective to describe 2011 for me.  I won’t bore you with the details, or wallow in self loathing.  I am glad to be done with the bad experiences of last year, some of which are still lingering.  I take full responsibility for what happened last year.  Nobody did it to me, I did it to myself.  And now I will fix it.

This year I am committing to one resolution. This is the only resolution I see worthy of committing to. I am, admittedly, a horrible procrastinator, and I want to correct that. (I put off even the most simple and necessary things: changing the cat box, exercise, extremely important paperwork, etc.) That is why this year my resolution is to simply: DO. It’s a simple concept, but often difficult to achieve, especially with my bad habit of putting things off.

My new mission statement is:  I’m the guy who gets shit done.  No more procrastination.  No more excuses.  No more let downs.  And it starts with a career.

As of the beginning of the year, I am looking for a new job. This is, and must be, my number one priority. There will be no reason for me to procrastinate on this at all. I am, however, trying to find a career that I am proud of so the search may take a little longer than it could. Except for fascinating events along the way, I will NOT be sharing the details of my career hunting adventures.

In addition to finding a career I will be working on this blog.  Every week in 2012 I will DO something new and write about it. It may not be absolutely positively new to me, it could be reigniting a past passion (skateboarding perhaps?), but it will certainly be chronicled here.

Other amazing experiences will be shared as well, so there may be two or more posts in a week. I want it to be known that I won’t post just to post. Everything on here will have a purpose. For the silly stuff I have Twitter and Tumblr.

I look forward to interacting with everyone and I hope we all have a great year!

Happy 2012!

Amid some current turmoil in my life I remind myself that out of sadness comes joy.  I usually don’t do this “think positive thoughts and anything can be yours” crap, but hey, what the hell (I even gave you a cheesy picture of hope).  I’m going through a rough patch in my life, but I keep reminding myself, “at least I wasn’t a victim of one of those disasters everybody has forgotten about: Katrina, Irene, Japanese tsunami, Haitian earthquake, Chilean miners, 35-W Bridge collapse, etc.”  It would be shameful of me to feel sorry for myself at this point in my life.  Everything that is going wrong is my own doing and I take full responsibility.  I look to the future.

I am the healthiest I’ve been in months, I’m tobacco-free (5 weeks!), and I have family and friends that love me.

That’s all I can ask for.

My shit stinks right now, but I won’t wallow in my sorrow.  I’ll get back up on my saddle, dig my spurs into the horse’s kidneys as if he doesn’t mind, and get back in the race.

GAME ON, BITCHES!

This is the inaugural installment of Tieden Traffic Tips!  There are so many stupid morons on the road that need correction.  This is my Minnesotan passive aggressive way of doing it.  Every now and then (more often now) I will honk my horn like an enraged Chicagoan half a second after a red light turns green.

Today’s lesson: Multi-Lane Left-Hand Turning.  Exhibit A:

Notice how the far left lane gets to merge into the left turn lane AND the left straight lane.  The center lane gets to merge only into the right straight lane and the straight lane.  The right lane gets to turn right only.

So many morons get this wrong it’s unbelievable!  I make this turn at least five times daily and center lane folks always seem to cut someone off merging into the left straight lane.  WAKE UP PEOPLE!  My diagram is accurate.  If you cut me off you will get the horn, the finger, and possibly a dented rear driver’s side quarter panel…AND IT WILL BE YOUR FAULT!

Stupid people never cease to astound me.

My most recent outing to Macy’s resulted in me finding a steal of a deal on some outstanding shoes.  Forget Allen Edmond and Kenneth Cole Reaction, Cole Haan is unarguably the best men’s shoe, period.  And since Nike owns them, the soles are super comfortable due to Nike Air.  Yeah, like the basketball shoes.

I dare you to find me a pair of loafers that are as comfortable and fashionable as these.

Growing up I always considered a tomato to be a vegetable. Then I learned that it was actually a fruit along with my other classmates. This upset me, since tomatoes don’t taste like fruits. They taste earthy and bitter, not sweet. I have recently concluded that tomatoes are both fruits AND vegetables and I can prove it.

The definition of a fruit according to Merriam-Webster is the usually edible reproductive body of a seed plant; especially one having a sweet pulp associated with the seed. According to this definition a tomato is, in fact, a fruit. Now let’s look at the definition of a vegetable (also from Merriam-Webster): of, relating to, constituting, or growing like plants. This would suggest that a tomato is also a vegetable.

In a supreme court case Nix v. Hedden it was ruled that the tomato be classified as a vegetable under customs regulations. Also, in the Tariff act of 1883 a tomato is classified as a vegetable.

Yes, I know this is not sufficient evidence for you research essay purists out there, but I’m not in college any more so I don’t have to write 20 pages worth of jibberish and waste paper. I did, however, cite my sources (albeit not ‘Chicago Style’ [this isn't a damn hot dog]). Check them out…they’re legit.

Want to stir the tomato soup pot? Leave a comment. And please use a silicone spatula, no licking.

I have always believed in the saying, “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”  I have adhered to this rule in most of my opinion making, except for cocaine and heroin use, and my opinion of Ed Hardy.  I originally thought it was just some guy who made some funky designs and charged too much for them, and then branched out to more tacky mediums (car freshers, steering wheel covers, etc.).

I’ve been interested in fashion and luxury goods for a while and I understand a few major brands and why they are so expensive, but I thought Ed Hardy just burst on the scene and demanded crazy prices and everyone drank the Kool-Aid.  After doing some research, I’ve changed my opinion and I actually respect Ed Hardy more now.

Ed Hardy is a tattoo artist who studied under Sailor Jerry Collins, yes the same Sailor Jerry on that bottle of rum that made you forget your entire spring break.  In college I studied a little bit of Jerry Collins’ work and began to view tattoo as an art form instead of just body modification.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not necessarily a fan of Ed Hardy, but I respect him as an artist and will not smirk when I walk past the Ed Hardy store at the Mall of America.  Who knows, maybe I’ll even grab a hat next time I’m there.