iPod Touch Case Fail!

Dear Blog,

It's been a few days since I got this case, but the more I play with my iPod Touch, the more I see this god awful case! It's actually a really cool case, but the color! Ick!

I bought it off ebay. And the seller pointed out, tell me the color on your notes section on PayPal and I will send you that color, otherwise, don't blame me for the color selection. So I checked out, and didn't see this box anywhere. He said not to email about color, so I said "what the hey", I'll still get a silicone case, and whatever color it happens to be, it'll be destiny. But my destiny thinks it'd be funny for me to get a pink case! Haha, very funny destiny! Anyway, I'll keep it on as a reminder for times where I make mistakes. Mistakes happen, it's no big deal, but I DO have to live with the consequences!

I just woke up from like a 2 hour nap, and I'm wide awake @ 11:25 PM. I guess I'll sneak some programming in, and see what "work" I can sneak in tonight. Later!

- E.T.

Run, ET..... RUN!!!

Dear blog,

Brr. Another cold night in New Orleans. I have a schedule to keep to run the Crescent City Classic. Goodness, I can't see how I'll be able to train for 3 more months! But I will along with other things!

So I'm getting into this thing called Nike+. I just purchased the Nike+ Sensor online for $18.94 from J&Rs and bought the Marware Sportsuit Sensor for $9.95 after shipping. It's this sensor that you put on your shoe that let's you know how far you ran and includes sign up to a site where you can share your info with your friends. Cool stuff! I'll see how it goes and post my stuff maybe here on the blog too!

I've been getting work done, and feeling good! I hope to continue on this trend. Motivation = Good Feeling! Let's keep it up!

- E.T.

Think... Rethink... Time to Reflect

Dear blog,

Today has been a day of reflection for me. What do I want to do? Where do I want to go? Who do I want to take? When do I want to do this? How is it going to be done? That's right, the five question words in the English language. I want to answer these, and I've been avoiding this so hard that I never found an answer.

I figure I'd find the answer if I just thought about it...

What: I want create video games. I played them so long in my life, I have a good grasp of what is good and what is bad. I know them like the back of my hand. It's my passion. But plan B is to teach. I love teaching. I feel like I'm due to share knowledge to the world, since so much has been shared with me. I will never stop learning, but I do want to start teaching.

Where: Here. Right here! I have an established life, and I have settled down here in Metairie, LA. There's no place I rather live, and no one I rather live with. I started my LLC in Louisiana, and I hope to stay here for a good amount of time. I'm not opposed to visit other places, because traveling is one of my true loves, but I have a home (and it's not just a building that I live in) and here is where I start.

Who: Well it'll have to be me, but I do have a friend who is filled with ideas. He helps me out, not just in idea creation, but really keeps me motivated. When I think I was at my worst of unmotivation, he called me out on it. He's right, I'm really not going to get anywhere unless I apply myself.... and I will only apply myself if I have motivation. He'll be someone I take along if I start moving along.

One other person would be my brother. If there is someone I have to name I have the most in common with, it's my brother. He probably molded my dreams as much as I have for myself. One of my dreams is to own a business and to work together to make awesome games. Although it feels like a lot of time has passed already, I feel there's still much fire left in both of us to make this dream, or any other's we may have, come true.

When: Now is the time to start! But "when will the money come?" is the big question. The answer is, "I honestly don't know!". I really hope I can make this a lucrative venture, but if I can't, I may want to fall back on teaching. It's the only other passion in life I have. If I can't get anything done by Fall 2010, I think my life may need to turn its direction to teaching and I'll start going for my PhD.

How: That's really for me to know, and you to find out. I want to take it in small steps. But not small amounts of work. Each step will require much time, but I need complete steps so I feel like I'm doing something, and keep myself motivated. So, I will have to define steps for myself, and get on it!

Reflection is nice, and gives me some confidence to do what I love. I just need to shake off some negative parts of 2009 which are still attached to me in some ways, and get on with it. Tell me if there's anything else I can do to get my goals done!

- E.T.

Long time no blog!

Dear Blog,

Wow! Long time no blog! I really wanted to blog since the New Year, but something has kept me from doing it. I blame it on games! Right! Games! The one thing in my life that I was supposed to be striving for and making a career for myself has been the one thing that has been my down fall these last two months! Darn you very fun games!

So what games? Well, I'll tell you my life sucker! It's Team Fortress 2! Oh man! That game has leeched onto my life and sucked every free second out of it. I can't believe I let it do it too! I have a very addicting game personality, and if something is too fun for even a little while, I play! The game has 9 different classes, and with all the people out there, the dynamic is soo different. And me, I have the "I want to be the best player" bug, and I keep playing and playing until I either think I'm the best player or I just give up! It's been a wonderful distraction, but a horrible motivator. I'm stagnant all night playing this game, where I could be programming or learning something new. Wow, I never thought I would talk bad about games, but it really hurting me at this point in my life where I want to go somewhere! Make money! Do something creative!

Ugh! I beat myself up and up, and today, I deleted the game off my computer. It took me 2 weeks of actually saying it to myself before it finally happened! Slippery road I'm on. Anyway, I'm shaking off the cob-webs, getting ready to get back to work! But it took way too long. But ergo, I must try! Try as hard as I can, because regret is the one useless waste of energy in life, and why waste good energy? Let's go! Let's get a move on to my life's mission. Let's put down the controller (or keyboard and mouse) and let's make some games (and pick up that same keyboard and mouse)!

To start, I'll play around with this nice Apple Ipod Touch 3rd Generation. I wonder if I should try forcing my programs onto my device, or cough up some money, and just be 100% legit on this. The answer is obvious I know, but it's hard to break old habits. It also comes with this Nike Program which I'll try out. It tell you distance you ran, etc. Can't wait to give it a shot!

Home Sweet Home

Dear Blog,

Now I'm writing all my blog entries in DreamWeaver CS4. The design interface allows me to write some nice clean HTML without having to type <p>paragraph</p> or <a href="somewhere">Link</a> and most importantly format images the way I want them! I had to disable "Enter as Line Break" so the rest of my blog looks all messed up as of today. I plan to go back and start editting them and rereading to get that reminiscent feeling.

Well during my previous post I had some ginger and old, way overripe bananas. So I made some good eats and I always make some Iced Tea with my little Ice Tea Maker. I love cooking and I love eating. That's what makes it soo hard to lose weight around here!

Well I've hermit crabbed my life into this house. I am completely infatuated with making this the best possible that I can make it for the cheapest possible. I think I was born to flip houses, but that's another day, another market. Here are a few of the many repairs I've done to my wonderful house.

Colleen and I cleaned out a water filtration system we had with bleach and vinegar. I guess every year or two it's required to do this. But now we getting nice crisp clean and cold (or hot) water on demand! Nice!

Check out our old TV setup! Yikes, right!? Well, since then we went to rooms to go on this awesome fall sale, and we got the floor model of this excellent set. Everything reclines except the center of the main sofa, and it just completely rocks! I love it!

My bud Brett gave me this awesome computer desk. When I paint the office, this piece of furniture may be getting primed and painted black black black.

Then waterproofing the deck! Well first we have a set of dry deck pictures.

Then I hose blasted it! Notice how the water seaps right into the wood.

After some deck cleaner and waterproofing agent that I applied with this cool little garden pump device, my deck doesn't absorb the water. It just beads up on the surface. I think that's soo cool.

Colleen's parents has also given us some old items that they had in their shed that we can revive, such as this microwave.

But the restoration that has taken most of my time is this cool little dinet set that Colleen's parents gave us. Notice in the original that the table top has some rust on it, and the color of the furniture is like a faded red or orange.

I primed it, put some Rust-Ex on the table top, and painted the table top with some white enamel paint. Looking pretty cool now! Now that we are primed in the next few days, I'm going to paint the furniture hopefully a nice glossy dark brown.

And the chair padding was really thin also. So I pulled it apart to find that it was a layer of fabric, a layer of tough leathery material, and then some kind of sheep wool padding. I'm not sure if I'm going to reuse this, or just use my old pillows in the padding. I want a green that matches our walls in the kitchen as the fabric to go on our chair padding. This project may take me just a bit longer, and I can't wait to get it done!

Life at the house can seem hard, but it really is fun creating something for myself and my loved one. One day everything around the house will be done.... one day!

- E.T.

ET's Yum-Yum Pho

Dear Blog,

This entry is about my first experience making Pho. I absolutely love this Vietnamese traditional soup, and was not even remotely sure how it was made. However, I looked up some sites and recipes on the net, and I was brave enough to try. Now my pictorial story!

I split up the ingredients into two teams! The Pre-cook team, and then the post-cook team. Then I start with the Pre-cook team.

First I take my beef bones (not very good choice of beef bones my frist time around, not even bones! I hear knuckle bone is a good choice, and will try it next time) and parboil them (boil them for 10 - 15 minutes before actually cooking). I take two yellow onions and split them in half. I do the same with the 4" - 5" nubbin' of ginger. Stick them in your broiler on HI. After about 10 - 15 minutes you should have some nicely charred veggies. Your beef bones should be done too, just scoop up and scum on surface and toss that in the trash or sink.

Alright, I throw everything into the slow cooker, and I add some sugar, salt, beef broth (cause I didn't use real bones) + water, and fish sauce. I let this cook for about 8 hours in the slow cooker on low.

Ok! 8 hours have passed and I'm ready to prepare the post-cook team. I get a nice big bowl, put some rice noodles into it. Then Itake some nice steak and slice it very thin and put it in your bowl. I chilled my steak for a little bit in the freezer so it was easier to cut thinly.

Add hot broth!!! Let is set for about 5 minutes. Mix in some lime, hoison sauce, chili sauce. If you have mint leaves and bean sprout, those are great too! EAT!

My first experience was near Pho quality, but I think I screwed up cause I bought the wrong kind of bones (not bones at all, just ribs with small bones in them.). The ribs also made it extra greasy, which I could feel all over my hands after eating a bowl of Pho. Colleen and I totally enjoyed eating it, and I really want to add this to something I cook often.