Attractive Girls Union Refuses To Talk With Mike Greenman
November 18, 2008
I was thinking about writing something about my ongoing experiences with e-Harmony. Then I saw the following Onion video. It pretty much sums it up (though I hope that my conversations have more depth than this poor soul’s)…
“Natalie” from the Stormmaker 2003 recording
October 27, 2008
I wrote some time ago about the Curse of Digitally Enhanced Memories because it has a tendency of painfully pointing out how I seem to make the same relationship mistakes time after time. As if that weren’t bad enough, I have recordings from a former “Christian musician” life that most of my current friends would have a good chuckle if they were to discover. Well, like the former relationship foibles, I’m going to own up to these recordings from many, many years ago and “enjoy” the nostalgia of it all. This first tune was something that I wrote for a friend’s infant daughter named Natalie…
For my friend, Sukie, thanks for the encouragement. More ancient tunes to follow…
Writing About My Wonderfully Flawed Co-Workers
October 18, 2008
I need to be a bit more careful about the blog. I mean, I’ve been known to vent a bit and cause more than a few hurt feelings from said ventings. Alas, I met another Full Sail department director today who was familiar with the blog. Well, he was familiar because they have an app that looks for references to “Full Sail” on the web. Oops. Nervous smile. Damn. And now, having used the “FS” name this silly little entry is going to show up in the search. Well, I might as well own up to my foolishness and say “Hello” to unnamed FS director. Umm, “Hello.”
So, one other thing that came out of the conversation was that one of my best friends (and boss), Holly, generally reads the blog up to the first paragraph, but stops reading at that point if I don’t mention her. Hmm, so I wonder if she’ll continue to read this, in that I didn’t mention her until the second paragraph. Oh yeah, the point isn’t just to mention her but to say something witty (or if I’m smart, flattering). Awkward pause. Damn. Do you know how weird it can be to have shared years of very personal stories and experiences, hear the unfiltered thoughts of fellow-workers and try to remember to pay attention to who might be in earshot when I open my big fat mouth? The scary part is that I write a publically available blog. So on more than one ocassion Holly has stopped me mid-sentence and asked, “is X at her/his desk?” just as I was about to say something that might not be taken well by the party under question. Doh! Talk about being smart beyond her years. Smile.
872
October 9, 2008
Today I went to lunch with my dear friend Kathy and she asked me how the e-Harmony thing was going. The discussion prompted the following note: Remember me talking about there being hundreds of closed matches. Tonight I checked the numbers and it turns out that since beginning this little e-Harmony journey three years ago next January (with probably about four months off for confused behavior)) I have had 872 closed matches. That means since January 2006, counting the current 18 matches who are active, I’ve had 890 “matches.” Kind’a stretches the meaning of “matches.” Wow, almost 900 times… that’s a lot of human potential pissed away. I imagine that I might be able to figure out how many times I pulled the trigger versus how many times my “match” did, but that’d probably just get depressing. Does make one wonder. The computers have been working at it for nearly three years and almost 900 times the humans have said, “you must be kidding…” And yet I still entertain a ray of hope that somewhere someone …
… and I will agree with the damn computers and get on with a life well lived. jbb
Music: “Don’t Bring Me Down” by Electric Light Orchestra from the “All Over the World: The Very Best of ELO” CD
e-H Time
October 2, 2008
It’s time. Some might say that it’s long past time. I turned in the final grades for my first class here at Full Sail. I wrote a script for and then did an audio podcast/interview for another course director. Then checked into Second Life to monitor students coming in looking for assistance with the new class I’m the assistant course director: Corporate Training and Motivational Development. I’m really looking forward to the new experience and what the new students will come up with. While my avatar sat waiting in Second Life I decided to update my profile in e-Harmony.
I’ve been here for over three-months and it’s actually been over a year since I did anything with the e-Harmony account. Yeah, it’s time. I guess part of me was hoping that maybe something would “happen” socially given all of the great people I work with. Alas, like everywhere else in the world there’s a real taboo about dating co-workers. Damn. So it looks like I need to turn it over to the ol’ stand-by. I mean, I’ve been giving them my money for … probably about two-years, with two separate “campaigns” that lasted four to six months.
It was an incredible experience the first time that abruptly ended when I reconnected with you-know-who. The second time wasn’t so great, mostly because I wasn’t entirely sure that this was what I was supposed to be doing. Hopefully the third time will be the charm. I don’t have the blind conviction of the first time (that was fun, but didn’t end particularly well), nor the ambivalence of the second go ’round. It’s that saying about the insanity of doing the same thing everyday but expecting things to change. So beginning today, I’m taking another step toward that change that I’m looking for. Let’s see if we can’t take advantage of the previous experiences without getting confused about what’s “supposed to” happen. “Supposed to happen,” that’s funny. jbb
Music: Wheel by John Mayer from the “Heavier Things” CD
Priorities
September 21, 2008
Sunday night football @ mellow mushroom. There’s a presentation for the peace film festival down the street I was thinking of going to which starts in five-minutes. But I have over 1/3 of a beer left and I’d rather not rush it. Cute barmaid is on the stool side of the bar but she has three others basking her with attention. I don’t feel like being the weird stalker. I should have gone to the film festval last night when Kathy called about dinner. I was tired but I’m sure it would have been way more fun than putting away laundry and setting up the recently upgraded mac mini. It’s good to want to have a comfortable home, but if I ever intend to share this with someone I need to do a better job getting my ass out of the place. I can’t afford to let myself get fixated on all of the undone things to the exclusion putting in the effort to find others to share it with. Well, now that I’ve uploaded my course I should have some time to devote to ending my social exile. jbb
Music: “Long Train runnin’“ by The Doobie Brothers from their “Greatest Hits” CD
Finding Center
August 29, 2008
I uploaded my first modules for my course this afternoon. Sigh. Needless to say, the crush to get the course up and running has been getting heavier and heavier over the past weeks day-by-day. Adding insult to injury, over the past week I got a new 320GB hard drive just dying to be installed into my Mac Mini, a new copy of Mario Kart waiting to be played on my Wii and a stack of DVDs languishing next to my TVs. I’ve been able to marginally keep the blogs going, but some of my favorite sections such as “Sex and the Single Brain Cell” have gone without any new content that hasn’t been borrowed or ported from other sections. I’m going to be very happy when this weight becomes more manageable. Odd that I would look at the coming season of teaching as a time when I will be able to better achieve “Center.” When I saw the following video on one of my many searches across the Internet media jungle I was encouraged. I am hopeful that I will regain my spiritual center…
Alone in Kyoto AIR
Design by God - God by Design
August 7, 2008
One of the greatest benefits of living in this age is the possibility of going directly to the first sources when one wants to read or listen to the thoughts of any particular speaker or thinker. Back in my Fuller days in the early 80s one of my favorite professors, Colin Brown, commented that then popular Christian writer, Francis Schaeffer, got Kierkegaard all wrong, adding that Schaeffer probably never really read Kierkegaard. Without leaving my computer I can look up the works of any of these folks and directly interact with the material. One amazing venue for connecting with today’s sources is TED, which stands for “Technology, Entertainment & Design” and whose tag-line is “Ideas worth sharing.”
The following link was given to me by Full Sail coworker, Linda, who was impressed with Rick Warren’s ability to present his belief system without sounding “religious.” I appreciated that Warren seemed to respect the venue he was speaking at and addressed his thoughts as not addressing religious issues, but as human issues. Warren came off as firm but nurturing, understanding but uncompromising and very matter of fact, all hallmarks of a somewhat laid back “Seeker Sensitive” California attitude. Enjoy.
Rick Warren @ TED: Living a Life of Purpose
Dan Dennett @ TED (Feb 2006) - The Biological Evolution of Religion
Interestingly for me both of these speakers represent a bifurcating pull in my own thinking between this “matter of fact” Christianity and a more scientific, cultural-anthropology view of things…
Music: “First Prayer” by Randy Stonehill
Unintended “Jesus” Mixed Message
August 4, 2008
Attractive coworker and fellow refugee from fundamentalist-Christianity, Kathy, hinted that as long as I persist in parading about with my long dark hair and beard than I’m sending out a mixed message to my potential dates regarding my “faith issues” and my relationship to the church. The way she said it was much funnier. I laughed. It’s good to have friends with whom you can share the deep things and find a kindred spirit; And then laugh because life is so odd sometimes. jbb
p.s. Sorry mom, she already kind’a has a boyfriend. jbb
Music: My Favorite Mistake from the album “The Globe Sessions” by Sheryl Crow
A Month of Rainy Afternoons
July 28, 2008
I recently had my one month anniversary of my move to Florida. First thing that I learned was that it rains every afternoon/evening at this time of year. Being from Southern California I feel like I need to explain what I mean by the phrase “it rains every afternoon/evening.” Let’s just say that one single afternoon/evening of rain here in Orlando equals the rainfall for a whole year in So Cal. Holly asked the other day how I’m adjusting. I guess because the rain is so regular that I just figured to go with it. I mean, Orlando in July equals rain every afternoon, just like living in some place like Corona (CA) equals a one-hour 10-mile commute home if you leave the office after 4pm. You either go with it, or figure out a way around it. Besides, there was a time when being in the rain used to mean “indoor fun” for me, but those stories belong in a different section of this blog.
So, after a month of rainy afternoons I’m still adjusting to the concept of living in more than one room and still moving the furniture about. But then I never quit moving the furniture after living 13-year in my one-room studio in Long Beach, so …
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