The Future is at hand (Commit and Go)

Life’s full of choices to be made

All the craziness of it can leave you in a haze
A fog of unanswered questions blocking your view
And you realize you can only handle so very few

Time’s not always a friend of yours or mine
What ever you do, don’t let him mess with your mind
You can trust that fate is on your side
Although she may take you for a hell of a ride

You’ve got to make up your mind
You’ve got to decide
You’ve got to commit and go

Don't sit around wondering what if
All you’ll feel is sorry for what you may have missed
I learned a long time ago, not to dwell in the past
That time is long gone, so make the best of what you have

Think of all those crossroads from your past
Each one seems so much more important than the last
At some point you’ll have to take a stand
Always remember the future is at hand

So, make up your mind
You’ve got to decide
You’ve got to commit and go

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I wrote this about 2 years ago thinking more along the lines of song lyrics rather then as a poem.

Digital Artwork

I found this digital art on my computer that I did back in 2003 using Paint Shop Pro.

Paradox Storm

There was a great game that came out in 2005, The Movies by Lionhead Studios. The game was designed as a Sim style game where you play a Hollywood studio mogul. But the game was also a full on Machinima maker. I played the game quite a bit and even participated with the community providing custom Mods and modding guides. About a year ago, Lionhead studios shut down the online portion of the game which involved publishing your films for community members to view and rate. However, one of the most popular modding sites, Directors Cut Modding Foundry (DCMF) is still up and running and actively providing mod tools and content.

The best original film that I created while playing was a short 4 minute film called Paradox Storm. I still like the story that I created for the film and would like to someday build on the basic idea in a new Machinima film.

Lionhead Studios and The Movies and the respetive logos are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation

Bogus Black

I found an old notebook from Highschool. I got an A for the following poem, which was assigned in Speach class as a poem about a color that describes yourself. I didn't remember being so dark and seemingly unhappy in Highschool.

I see myself as bogus black
Like a man that walks at midnight
Stalking in the shadows
Stripped of all color
Lost in a different dimension
Where I am king and high ruler
Afraid to return to real life
In fear of rejection
Deep inside myself I see a speck of another color
It is a color of a red and yellow mix
A color I guess you could call yell-ed
A color of danger and my love for adventure
A color that grows deep inside
Ready to explode with all it’s power
Waiting for the future
When it can break free

My Amateur Photography

Please enjoy some of my really amateur photography:

My TiVo & What the kids are watching

One of my favorite Gadgets is TiVo and it’s a lot more then a DVR. We basically have one TV that we all watch. So we only needed one TiVo DVR set top box, which certainly made configuring easy. The TiVo and its remote control integrated perfectly with our current setup, so we use just the one remote to control almost everything, with the only exception being the DVD player. The TiVo allows us to receive two connections at once. Meaning we can record 2 shows at once or watch one show while another is being recorded. This is an amazing ability and I couldn’t imagine ever going back.

Not only is the TiVo great as a DVR, but it plugs directly into my home network and after setting up my computer as a TiVo Server I can easily view and stream content from my computer to my TV (i.e. Family photo slide shows, music, home movies, etc.) using my TiVo remote. Also, there are hundreds of web channels that you can subscribe to that automatically download webisodes to your TiVo when they are available, my favorite being Indy-Mogul.

The Network connection works the other way as well, allowing me to download the shows that I’ve recorded to my computer, which is extremely handy. I can take my favorite shows with me either on my cell phone or PSP, or I can watch a show that no one else is interested in on my computer in private. Also, on more than one occasion I’ve made a compilation DVD for my boys to watch in the car or on vacation.

There is a fee for the Plus version of the TiVo software, but it’s worth the price if you plan to use the videos for portable players or DVDs or to publish your own movies to TiVo.

Here’s what's on my TiVo “To Do List…”
• Lost • Amazing Race
• Wheel of Fortune • Smallville
• Heroes • How I Met Your Mother
• Best Week Ever • The Soup
• Big Bang Theory • Chuck
• Saturday Night Live • Desperate Housewives
• Gary Unmarried • Wizards of Waverly Place
• Biggest Loser • America's Funniest Home Videos
• Survivor • Days of Our Lives
• Celebrity Apprentice • How It's Made

Let’s not forget what the kids are watching:
• Super Why • Caillou
• Higglytown Heroes • Go, Diego, Go
• Little Einsteins • Dora the Explorer
• The Wonder Pets • Max and Ruby
• Dragon Tales • Imagination Movers
• Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! • Maya & Miguel
• Curious George •Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

TiVo and the TiVo logo are registered trademarks of TiVo, Inc.

My Favorite MMORPG: Tibia

In my spare time I’ve been playing a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) called Tibia. For any of you who’ve played Tibia you may appreciate my character sheets (at right). As you can see by my knight Gauvin of Pacera on the left, I hate training. If I could just get my skills up to (80 sword/80 shielding) then I’d be happy. On the right is my druid Rick Oshea, as you might think by the magic level I’ve made myself a “pretty penny” selling icicle and UH runes.

The game usually gets 2 major updates each year, one in the summer and one the winter. Usually the updates are great because even if there are changes that the community doesn’t totally agree with, Cipsoft almost always finds ways to change the dynamics of the game so much that it keeps everyone interested to keep playing. Each recent update includes new hunting areas, new items, and some changes to character abilities (usually in regards to balancing the vocations). The most recent update actually included one change that upset me. The graphic of “Hat of the Mad” was changed from Blue to Purple. If you notice my druid character wears all blue equipment (Blue Robe, Blue Legs, Vampire Shield, Platinum Amulet, Beach Backpack, and Hailstorm Rod). After the graphic change, I have to use a Mystic Turban. However, soon after the update I heard that someone had found a new item “Batwing Hat”. The graphic is the same as the old item, with the addition of wings on the sides (so much cooler anyway) and even the stats are identical to the Hat of the Mad with the only exception being a lvl 50 requirement. Looks like I need to get leveling.

One of the great things about Tibia for me, is that my wife and I play together. She plays a sorcerer Chichikin (at left). We hunt and quest together and she has a much better demeanor for selling equipment to other players for the maximum value. In fact that was the reason she started playing. She was intrigued by the economics of the game.

The game has a great quest system. Quests can either be stumbled upon, being a chest deep in a dungeon, containing an item that every character can only receive once, or they can be involved plot lines, including chatting with many NPCs, collecting items, and teaming up with groups of players to defeat seemingly impossible boss odds.

The overall best thing about the game is: It’s totally free to play. It’s true that you can pay to have enhanced abilities and hunt in premium only areas, but you can play and keep your characters for ever and never pay a dime. Perhaps even better is you can pay for premium when you have the desire to do so, and if you want to take a few months off then you don’t pay while you don’t play, but when you come back your characters are exactly the way you left them. This is great for those of us being hit hard by the recession. I've made the decision to play as a free account for a while as a way to save money .