Blogs

Its been a while since I have updated this thing.. actually, a very long while. I am working on a new design, and plan on blogging much more frequently. So stay tuned.

As of a few days ago, I am now located in Boulder. So far, the transition has been smooth. As of yesterday, I accepted the job offer by pingVision, a local web design company. With sites in their portfolio such as Popular Science, I'm sure that it is going to be a lot of fun as I learn to work on sites of that high caliber. I am truly excited about everything there is to learn. Drupal is such a powerful framework, and I have only scratched the surface of what it can do.

One of my goals in moving up to Boulder was to play more ultimate. Being that ultimate is so popular in the area, I don't think that there will be anything stopping me. I am trying out a few different pickup games this week, hoping to find a few which are competitive. Boulder Fall league (through GRU) starts up next weekend. I am looking forward to, once again, playing in a competitive league.

Speaking of which, I am headed out to go play in a lunch pickup game...

It is amazing when you do something that you truly enjoy.

Early last week I received a call from an Ultimate friend who asked if I wanted to be an extra in an independent film that his brother was filming. I have always loved filmmaking and jumped on the opportunity to be on a set. The only problem was, I had to wait a week until the film date.

The movie, titled, The Weekend Crew is, simply put about about several employees of a movie theater. Of course, in order to do such a film, one needs a suitable movie theater. It just so happens that Kimballs Twin Peak, in downtown Colorado Springs, was just the place. The director of the film, Clint Wehling, had previously worked there for three years, so the owners were willing to let him take the place over for filming.

Because the theater is currently in business, filming had to be done after hours. Which meant, starting at 10 at night and filming straight through until 8am. As Friday rolled around, I became increasingly excited about helping out with this film. I got to Kimballs about 10:30 and by this time, they were all set up. Honestly, I was expecting a relatively low-budget film. Granted, it was, but the budget was much larger than I expected.

They had rented a Panasonic DVCPRO AJ-SDC615 camera from a company in Denver. This camera is quite amazing; definitely a good choice for this type of production. They also had a 5 foot jib arm on set. This was perfect for the venue -- it wasn't too large, and stilled allowed for some really nice shots. Also on set were two light boxes, and few smaller fill lights. A standard boom mic and poll, and a field monitor.

Truthfully, it was amazing working with this cast and crew. I had so much fun and have realized that, even if it is just on the side, I want to do more video work.

Sometimes I wonder why I am awake at such un-godly hours. Why is it that I can manage to stay up doing nothing productive? It's nearing 4am and I need to go into work early tomorrow. I don't really know why I do this to myself. I know that I need sleep, but I just can't seem to get myself to lay down and close my eyes. It seems like there is always something better to do.

So, here is my end of the week ramble. This week was a bit crazy, and I fear that next will be just the same. The week began a bit busy at work with a few videos to edit. After editing a high definition promotional video for a new ATM machine to be displayed at a conference this upcoming Wednesday, I ran into some problems exporting the video. I am still in the process of solving them, and I am running really close to the deadline. I am kinda freaking out about the whole thing. But hopefully I can get it working today.

A design I created for a new website for Affordable Medical Supply was approved by the business owner. I should be able to start working on developing that site this week. I am excited to see this one come together. It should be really nice.

Monarch Digital's website went live last week and it has been getting quit a bit of coverage from drupalsites.net. With an average of 4.4 of 5, it is doing quite well. We have also seen a notable increase in the number of calls and emails from visitors -- many of which give their praise of the new site. This is always very nice to hear after spending countless hours developing the new theme.

I have begun getting things in order for this years Ultimate Summer League. The website is all set. All I have to do is flick a switch to enable online registration and payment. Hopefully this years registration works as seamless as last years. Fields are hard to come by.. I am still working on that aspect. I can always fall back on Fountain Valley, but I am trying to get fields in-city. I have been in contact with several ultimate jersey companies in hopes to offer an option to purchase a real jersey instead of the normal t-shirt.

A few days ago, I was featured on drupalmodules.com as the reviewer of the week. This is quite exciting and I am glad that this site exists. I am a big fan. For anybody who is using Drupal, I believe this site is a must.

One of my good friends, Aaron Carlile, is in a band, The Way to Dover, and they just added a few songs to their myspace profile. Check em out! I am also developing a website for the band, I will keep you updated on that. Speaking of good music, one of their influences is Lydia, an absolutely amazing band who has a new CD coming out in a few weeks. (And don't tell anybody, but I already have it, and it is incredible. -- Definitely pick this one up!)

I have a lot going on this next week. Talking with two separate clients about developing sites on Monday and Tuesday, filming a surprise wedding proposal on Tuesday night, and a pretty large video conversion project is due next week. All of this without the boss, who just happens to be in Belgium. Of course, it is spring break, so school will not really get in the way this week. But I will have a few friends in town from Boulder, so I will probably spend more sleepless nights up playing Halo and such.

Anyways, off to bed for a bit.. and then to work.

The iPhone is an amazing piece of work. Apple spent years developing it, and has not stopped, even 8 months after its release. A few weeks ago, Apple held a keynote to discuss the software roadmap of the iPhone. At this keynote, Apple announced its enterprise enhancements which will allow the phone to be used throughout large corporations. With push email, push contacts, and push calendars, along with integration with Microsoft Exchange, and many other enhancements, the iPhone is ready to make this jump.

This started the keynote on a positive note. I was excited to see how far the iPhone has come in such a short period of time. The second aspect discussed in the keynote was the SDK (software development kit). This has been in the works for quite some time. Apple spiced things up a bit by showing what they had created using the SDK in just two days. They then pushed themselves to 2 weeks. After half a month of coding and 10,000 lines of code, the Apple development team had created an amazing 3D game with amazing graphics, sound, and functionality.

Slamming the idea home, Apple brought up 5 companies who have had a 2 week trial period with the SDK. All 5 companies (with just one or two developers) created amazing utilities and games for the iPhone. This simple test shows how powerful the SDK really is.

There are many other aspects of the development kit that make it the most advanced development kit for mobile devises. This really excites me. It excites me to the point that I have thought about becoming an iPhone Developer. I have several ideas for applications and think that it would be an amazing thing to learn.

Two small problems. First, I don't have an iPhone to test on. Although this is not completely necessary in order to develop (due to the iPhone emulators, it still would be really nice to be able to test exactly how one's application would function). The second major problem is that the development kit only runs on a Mac. I have been watching the prices of Macbooks recently trying to decide what I want to do. I can guarantee you one thing, as soon as I get a mac, the SDK will be the first thing downloaded. I am excited to being learning this advancing field and developing applications.

It is one of the most popular videos on the web today. As I speak, the abridged Oprah version is the "Most Viewed" video on Google. It's called "The Last Lecture" and it was given by Randy Pausch (the links to the videos are at the bottom). Randy is one of the most gifted computer scientists in the field today. Most of his work will not be seen by the general public for many years, but his advancements in computer generated worlds and virtual reality are absolutely phenomenal.

There is this hypothetical "Last Lecture" that many professors will give once a year. The idea is that if, as a professor, you were given one last chance to lecture, what you teach... In the summer of 2006, Dr. Randy Pausch was diagnosed with the deadly pancreatic canter countless surgeries and many sessions of chemo, Randy was given only months to live. It turns out that this 'hypothetical' "last lecture" was all too real.

Randy is an absolutely amazing speaker. His skills as a professor extend far beyond computer science. His teachings are life long. He has taught thousands about life and still manages to transform lives. Randy is still going strong, still going into surgery every few weeks. The doctors still give him "a few months of good heath left". Randy has not stopped teaching. Even in the face of loosing his own life, Randy has continued to make the world a better place. His "Last Lecture" video has been past from blog to blog and his message has been heard by hundreds of thousands. It would not surprise me if many of you reading this have seen or heard about him.

Randy's original "Last Lecture" was given September 18, 2007 and titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". Simply put, the lecture walks through Randy's life, his childhood dreams, how he has achieved them, lessons learned along the way, and how we can enable our own dreams, and the dreams of others.

I watched this video back in September, very shortly after it came out. At this time, the video was not very popular at that time. When I first watched it, I was completely amazed. This video, simply put, transformed my life. This time in my life was life changing, and this video has definitely apart of that change.

I am not going to try to summarize the video, because I would not even come close to doing so. I will, however, say that the summarized versions do not pay tribute to the full-length lecture. I urge you to set aside an hour and a half, and watch the full length video.

I will try to summarize one simple topic which is discussed countless times throughout the video. One of Randy's life goals as a child was to be a Disney Imagineer. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, he sent his resume to Disney. Randy was nicely rejected. At this point in his speech, Randy brings up the metaphor of Brick Walls. He thought he was well on his way to achieving one of his childhood dreams of working for Disney when he was stopped dead in his tracks. But, "brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want something... Brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough". This is such a simple and profound idea. After a long string of events, and a lot of hard work, Randy did end up working for Disney years later. A simple proof that if you want something enough, and you are willing to put in the effort, it will happen.

I think this single idea has stuck with me for the 6 months since I have seen the video. I would not be surprised if I remember this metaphor for the rest of my life. There are many brick walls throughout life, but they are always there for a reason.

..to be continued...

• Full length "Last Lecture"
• Reprise of "Last Lecture" on Oprah

I am really tired, and therefore, I am going to bed. I will write a lot more on this lecture as well as several others given by Randy.

I thought that categorizing one's personality was impossible. I thought that you could never put who somebody was into a box.. but I was so very wrong. I have known for years that I am an INTJ - according to the Myers-Briggs test. It is amazing how accurately this four letter designation describes who I am. People always try to figure me out... as all humans do. We all want to know what others are thinking. I will tell you right now that I'm not easy to figure out ;) INTJs are estimated to be around .5% of the population. I will first begin by describing the four traits, then I will conclude by bringing all four traits together and how they describe who I am.

I will start with the first letter: I. It stands for Introverted. Introverts are more reserved, less outgoing, and less sociable -- not necessarily asocial, but simply have smaller groups of friends and tend not to seek out new friends. Introverts choose solitary over social activities by preference. Introversion and Extroversion has been shown to be genetically past down. My dad was most definitely an introvert (he was an INTJ as well). My sister is as well (she too is an INTJ). Most of the males on my dad's side of the family are introverts.

The next letter is N. This stands for Intuition (I is not used because of introversion). In terms of personality, intuition means that one can immediately understand an object, situation, or person without true reasoning. Having the ability to very quickly grasp a situation allows an intuitive person to act quickly.

T is for Thinking. Thinkers usually deeply analyze positions before acting. Wanting to observe before acting, thinking before talking, and planning before executing.

J is for Judgment. A Judger usually plans and executes.

Now, what does that all mean? Here is a short introduction from a book by Hirsch:

"INTJs are strong individualists who seek new angles or novel ways of looking at things. They enjoy coming to new understandings. They are insightful and mentally quick; however, this mental quickness may not always be outwardly apparent to others since they keep a great deal to themselves."

"Seek new angles or novel ways of of looking at things"
Put simply, this describes me perfectly. I am always trying to find a new way to look at a situation. I believe that you cannot solve problems by using the same knowledge you used to create them.

"Enjoy coming to new understandings"
I love figuring something out. I will usually spend hours over-analyzing something, but in the end I almost always realize something new about the situation.

"Insightful and mentally quick... not always outwardly apparent to others since they keep a great deal to themselves".
I could not described myself more perfectly. I have the ability to understand a situation very fast. I can grasp concepts with a great deal of speed, but I will usually say nothing. I will rarely tell you want I am thinking.

It should be noted that the Judgment aspect of test is questionable. I could very well be a P or perceiving. The following excerpt was taken from wikipedia about INTPs:

"INTPs organize their understanding of any topic by articulating principles, and they are especially drawn to theoretical constructs—such as the MBTI. Having articulated these principles for themselves, they can demonstrate remarkable skill in explaining complex ideas to others in simple terms, especially in writing. On the other hand, their ability to grasp complexity may also lead them to provide overly detailed explanations of "simple" ideas, and listeners may judge that the INTP makes things more difficult than they are. This to the INTP, however, is incomprehensible: they are merely presenting all of the information."

So what does this all mean?
Nothing really -- this is just my way at explaining who I am.. if you really want to try to understand my personality, read the article on INTJs on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTJ
If you are interested, here is the article on INTPs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTP

Three days ago, the UPA sent out an email to most of the Colorado Front Range Ultimate communities (which, I believe warrants a list of all community forums -- but that is another topic).

UPA.org

The reason for this blog entry is simply to state that I will be sending in my resume for the Administrative Assistant full-time salary position. I have been toying with the idea of moving to Boulder, and this would be far to great of an excuse. I cannot think of a better way of using my skills to better my hobby, but to combine the two. I love Ultimate too much not to work for the UPA (Ultimate Players Association). To me, it really does make a lot of since.

This presents an interesting situation, what if I were offered the job (after the interview and such).. From the email and from the job description, it appears that they are in need of somebody relative fast. However, I am currently mid-semester at UCCS. I could not easily just move. I'm sure that this would be discussed in the interview (if my application even gets that far), but I have started thinking - would I just drop out? I guess it depends on what I think of the job after the interview and how badly the UPA needs this position filled.

Another interesting point to bring up is the fact that this is a full-time 40 hour/week position. This would leave little to no-time for school. I would most likely still take a class or two per semester in the evenings, but my degree would be delayed by years. A 4 year degree would probably become a 6 or 7 (or even longer).

www.prospectnewtown.com

The next issue is of housing. Where would I live, especially if they are looking for somebody in a short period of time. Just recently, I found my way to a community in Longmont, CO, called Prospect. It is a new-urbanist community. The instant I walked in, I fell in love. I felt so much at home and yet I was far from where I had ever been. According to Google (which is pretty much amazing), the community is about 20 minutes from the UPA headquarters (which is about 2 minutes from the CU campus, on the south end). Although there are definitely plenty of available houses in Prospect, I really do not like the idea of driving 7000 miles a year just for work. So that leads me to believe that the bet option would be to live in Boulder. So, what does Boulder have to offer.. well I have not really looked, but I will soon.

www.monarchdigital.com

A few more interesting things to think about: First, what about Monarch Digital? I have basically created an entire new market for the company in web design. Technically speaking, Rick (my boss) cannot code or design the types of webpages that we have been creating lately. There are so many things that I know about Drupal (and websites in general that I have not had the time to teach him). He would be forced to find a new employee who understood creation of websites.. and he would have to do it fast. It's a major problem for me.. I have only worked at Monarch for 9 months. I never really thought that I would work at a job for less than a year. And, I have always frowned at people who jump from job to job. But at the same time -- a lot of things have changed in my life, and I don't think that a change like this would be too far out of question.

That brings me to my final point. What about Erica? I love my sister dearly. There is nothing in this world more important than her. Truthfully, I cannot even fathom living without her nearby. Is it time? Is it time for us to move apart and go on with our lives? Or do we still need to be together? I guess I just need to think about things and figure it out. More on this later.

I cannot hardly recall the number of English teachers who have told me, almost demanded me, to write a book. I have thought about it for a very, very long time, juggling several ideas in my head -- fiction or non, exaggerated or serious, pain or happiness... Then, it hit me -- none of that matters. The reason for writing is not for pleasure on behalf of the reader, it is purely for the gathering of my thoughts, memories and beliefs. Memory is such an important aspect of life, and yet it seems that mine is lacking. I have noticed that deep thought and concentration often brings out those past events, but I have been searching for a reason to remember. Why should I remember what has past when so many new things are to come? The answer is simply, because I can. If I have the ability to write now and years from now be able to re-read... what a joy to have.

So I am writing a book. Will it be published, I highly doubt it. Will anybody actually read it, I doubt it. This will be my way of writing in a journal. I have never been able to write with no significant purpose (such as in a journal). But writing for the purpose of writing a book -- now, that is something to look forward to.

You probably won't see much from what I will be writing for a long while. But if you ask, I will gladly tell you my progress -- and I ask you now, while I am actually excited about this process, to remind me.. and push me to write. I'm sure that this so called 'writer's block' will come. I'm sure that there will be weeks in connection without a single new word added. But with a bit of encouragement, and a bit of motivation, I have no doubt that I will get it done.

I know that most of you are probably wondering the actual subject of the book. But I assure you, each and every one of you knows the subject very, very well.

I will post snippets from certain chapters from time to time, but for the most part, the majority of the book will be kept privet until I am completely satisfied with the content. Now, I must go on to Chapter 1.

Notice: After re-reading this, it is quite selfish.. and I am sorry for that. But anyways, you should live life to make you happy, thats all I really mean.

This weekend was wonderful. It opened my eyes and I am now dreaming. Dreams exist in order to give you hope, to give you something to strive for and a goal to try to reach. There are several things that I thought about this weekend. First of all, about a place of living. After walking in this open house in Prospect neighborhood in Longmont, CO, I came to a striking realization: I really want something new in my life. I have been living in the same house for all of my memory..

Simply stated, I could really do whatever I want with my life right now. I could move, I could start my own business, I could go to school full-time, I could go on vacation for an extended period of time... I could potentially do anything.

This got me thinking of what I really want. Truthfully I want to move. I want to live somewhere that I choose. I want to start making my own decisions. It seems like I have been living other peoples' lives. Living based on their decisions and not my own. I want to choose my own destiny - whether good or bad. I want to be able to walk into my house and really believe that it is mine.

I felt that when I bought my car. When I drive, I know that every penny put into that car was mine. I know that the car, its entirety is mine, and it makes me feel good. That was the first thing in my life that I had done on my own. I made the decision, I made the choice, I weighed my options. Truthfully, I did not want others' help.. I did not want other people to tell me what to do - I have had that done my entire life. I just wanted to make a single choice on my own. And now, I look back on it and I don't believe that I could have done better. I love making my own choices. I love living my own life.

My dream is to live my own life. I am tired of pretending to be ok with where I am. I am tired to pretending to enjoy where I am in my life. I have the capability to do something different and yet I am settling for something which is not what I really want - and now I see that that is not fair to me. I should live my life to its fullest and use the resources I have to make myself truly happy.

But how?! What can I do to make myself truly happy? That is where the dreaming comes in. I will probably be thinking about this for a very long time and there is a good chance that nothing will ever happen. But just the shear joy that I am having dreaming is worth more than anything that I could ever purchase.

Option 1: Buy a new house. This is definitely going to happen eventually, but when? There are so many options that I really do not know what to do. I think that I would really enjoy a house and renting out a room and living independently.

Option 2: Start a business. I have so many ideas for businesses that it really is not even funny. From energy based to web applications, to software, to art and commercial and retail... I really do not know where to start.

Option 3: Buy a piece of property with a retail shop and house on a second level. I really like this option, because it accomplishes a lot of different things. First of all, since location is key in terms of retail, I would be living in a prime location. Probably in a downtown district where things are always going on. People always around. Although I am most definitely an introvert, I still enjoy people - more than most people realize. I love being around people. I am just usually in my own little introverted world. This option also allows me to start my own business in the retail shop below. I have several locations in mind, but I still need to do more research.

Option 4: Get an place in Boulder and go to school full-time. This is an interesting option, because it is so far from the others. I have realized recently that I really do enjoy school. I enjoy learning as long as it is relates to my life - which most of the classes in college seem to.

It is important to know that all of the previous options are not abandoning school. I will get my degree (probably several) and I also see myself going further on, maybe with a masters or doctorate. I am always keeping school in mind and trying to work my other ideas around it - not the other way around.

Change. It is something that I really need right now. I am way to tired of the same. I will keep you posted on my research and my dreaming. For now, I am simply "Dreamin' Out Loud".

Movies has always impacted me. I always get something out of every movie. Yet The Ultimate Gift gave me so much more. It might be because it relates to my life so much, it might be because I tend to like these types of movies, or it might be that it really is that good.

Yes, it is a movie that you will cry in. I would question your humanity if you didn't. But it is a good sad. It is a sadness that makes you feel good. I really do not want to give too much of the movie away, because I think that most everybody should see it.

Does the movie change how I see my life? Right now, no. But I have a feeling that I will think about this movie in a few years and realize that it really did have an impact. I really hope that it does.