Just rambling on about something...

Following through with JMA

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Well its been a while since my last post. Looks like the last post was done in July, a mere 5 months ago. So yeah it has been a while. This blogging thing can be hard to keep up :)

Anyways I just wanted to follow-up with my previous post about the plans with JMA Design Studio. For those who don't know about JMA Design Studio it is my business where I provide website design, custom illustrations, logo development, multimedia development, and now a new service consultation with Social Media. The plan was to create new business cards, new promotion package, and redevelopment of the website. Well I'm happy to say that the new business cards are completed, and the website is in the process of being redone as I type this (yeah, I can multi-task...I can write this and do web development at the same time...just kidding). Hopefully if all goes well I will have the website completed before the new year. It is my hope to start off 2010 with a new image, new services, and new contacts for my design studio.

Thus far everything is shaping up very well. I will keep whom ever reads this updated about my progress with the website and the business as things progress.

Thank you for reading!

In the works for JMA Design Studio

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Right now I'm working on a new website layout for my design studio. This time I'm getting away from the Flash based website, which I've always made in the past. This time I'm making it more like a blog style website with a Web 2.0 feel. I figured its best to go with this type of feel for my audience. I'm trying to cater to more small business owners who are technically inclined and have a good understanding of what it means to have a web presence. I also want to target non-profit organizations and churches because of their good will towards others. I'm going through some design options and trying to figure out the best one for myself.

I'm also working on new business cards. I hope to have them printed on recycled material, so I can start making my design studio more environmentally green. There are so many more ways in which JMA will be going green, which I will blog about in a different post.

Once the business cards are finalized I will be putting together a big self-promotion package to better market myself as well. This will include new polo type shirts and other clothing with my logo on it, signage, direct mail advertising, etc. This is something I needed to do in the first place when I was starting my studio, but really didn't have enough dough for it.

I will continue to network with various businesses like I have been, I will be attending the local tweetup, and new this month I will be attending a day long Business Break-out session for designers like myself.

As you can see I have huge plans like I always do to expand my business. You can always follow me via Twitter, where you will find the latest updates about what I'm doing and you check in on me to see if I'm following through with what I wrote about with this entry. Follow me here: www.twitter.com/jmadesignstudio

Thank you for reading!

Take care,
Jason

Pepsi Throwback

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:44:00 +0000

I just wanted to drop a quick few lines to give my thoughts about the new Pepsi Throwback. I had my first sip of it not to long ago and gotta admit it isn't to bad. If you're unfamilar with it...it is a all natural sugar alternative that is a little better for ya. It doesn't contain the corn syrup, which can be harmful, so that's a good thing. When I took the first taste of it, it had a more sugary taste, and does seem to contain more sugar according to the contents, but I could wrong. Anyways not to get into the history of it and bore the crap out of you, I just wanted to say that I liked the taste of it, I like the Can design and the commercial on TV advertising it. It definitely gave it a retro feel. Mountain Dew also has its own Throwback version, which also contains all natural sugar, but I've heard mixed reviews of it. Well, that's just my thoughts about it. Overall, I like Pepsi Throwback.

Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:39:00 +0000

Last night for some reason I flipped on the TV to check out one of the late night talk shows, you know like David Letterman and Jay Leno. Usually I watch Leno, but last night I thought I'd give good 'ol Letterman a try. To much of my surprise it was pretty damn good. Now I'm not doggin' on Letterman, I'm a fan of his show, and remember watching him quite a bit back in the day. His guest if you happen to not know was Joaquin Phoenix. I did hear that Mr. Phoenix was giving up on acting and was going the music route to be a hip-hop artist, which when you have a glimpse at him now you can really see the hip-hop look in him...NOT! Anyways, while being interviewed by David Letterman his body language was just comical and his answers were brief. This made for some awkward pauses and many silent moments. David Letterman didn't have much to work with, so he pretty much made fun of the moment and went with it. It was just one of those interviews that you had to see. Pretty funny in my opinion. I'm sure Joaquin was just showing off his acting abilities once again by being the guy he was last night. I sincerely hope that he snaps out of the music scene and gets back to being an actor. Just don't want him to give up on a gift like he has. I mean come on, who else could play Johnny Cash like he did? His performance on "Walk the Line" was unbelievable. Anyhoo, I know that this topic is all the buzz and that many people are writing about it, but I just thought I'd put in my two cents.

Thanks for reading, take care.

JMA Design Studio Website Redesign

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:07:00 +0000

So after careful planning and brainstorming I went ahead and decided to give my website a complete redesign. The previous design was good, but wasn't exactly what I wanted for my own site. I was hoping to make the design studio look professional and reach out to more people in the business world. With the new design I was able to provide a neutral background that could have different colors applied to it. The whole website itself is able to be scalable, meaning you can adjust the browser to any width while having the content move with it. There is a blog section and a FAQ section as well. I really wanted to have an area where potential clients can get answers to their questions, so I made sure to have an FAQ page.

It took me 3 weeks to complete the site. I designed it and laid it out in a couple days with Photoshop, then spent the rest of the time doing the development in Flash. It was hard to decide whether it be best to do a Flash site or a traditional HTML/CSS site. When browsering the web for inspiration I stumbled onto a great site that allowed me to get inspired and get the creative energy flowing. The site I referenced was done in Flash, so that helped with the decision of doing another Flash site for myself. I'm 100% happy with the new design, I'm happy and very confident in telling people to check out my website, and I'm happy to see what will happen as a result of the new design. I hope to gain work and continue to build upon the site and offer many more services if possible. I'm including a video that I did a couple days ago on YouTube that also relates to the new website.

Thanks for reading, take care.

Walking and the Indiana Dunes

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:21:00 +0000

So today I took advantage of the crazy warm temperatures by taking a walk at the Indiana Dunes, which is less then 10 minutes away. Me and my brothers spent about an hour or so walking along the frozen shore just enjoying the weather and catching up on what's been going on with our lives. Its been a couple of weeks since I last saw them, so it was good to hang out with them. I don't know for some reason I always enjoy taking a walk. For me it relieves stress and gets me out with nature. I'm a huge nature lover, so anytime I do get to be outside it is always a good feeling. I've been also preoccupied with my JMA Design Studio stuff, which I will get into with a different post. The last three weeks have been the quickest and most productive, because I have been working with my redesign for my own website. The end result was worth all the stress and frustration, I'm very happy with it. Hopefully I will get some good results from it. Anyways after a busy past three weeks it was good to take a walk. And the best place to take a walk for me is at the dunes, thank God I live close to it. That's about all I gotta say. Hope everybody is having some good weather.

Take care.

A Recap of Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:19:00 +0000

Hey, just wanted to drop a few lines to tell y'all what I've been up to. Over the weekend I discussed my website with a friend of mine. We came to the conclusion that it would be good to enhance it with a new design. Or at least I came to that conclusion a while ago. I'm not liking the current design I have now, also not happy with the results of it, so I'm going to redo it. Which is what I have been busy with recently.

On Sunday I mostly watched videos on YouTube. Watched alot of Classic Game Room, which has a bunch of reviews of games and stuff. I myself made a game collection video over the weekend for YouTube. Started with the Nintendo (NES) game collection. The games I have are some of my favorites from my childhood. Played the shit of them and still do to this day. Its funny how something that is over 20 years old can still be entertaining. Will probably do the handhelds that I have next. Sadly I only have the Nintendo DS and Gameboy, so I'll probably do those games together in one video.

Some other stuff that I would like to share. I unclogged a drain that was backed up. I went under the sink and took apart the P-trap and stuck my finger up the drain pipe to unclog the sink. When it all came loose it sounded like someone pucked into a bucket, since I had the bucket ready to catch all that was going to come loose. Was a quite a bit of crap stuck up there. Felt good to be able to fix it myself.

Went out and took some photos of the snow this morning (Monday). Had a yard stick and measured the snow. All total from the past week, or so, we have 14 inches. And yes it is still cold, so I don't see it going anywhere soon. Gotta love it.

I'm definitely enjoying things recently...everyday things are starting to really fasicinate me...its weird, but I'm liking it. It feels good to be a little happier than I was a few months ago. :)

Alrightly, thats all for now. Thanks for reading.
Take care.

Watching a Bunch of Movies Lately

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:08:00 +0000

So yeah, I've been watching a quite bit of movies lately, which is a perfect time for it, because of the shitty weather we've been having. I usually do this when it is winter time, either watch movies or dig deep into a game. Lately though it has been strictly movies. This past week I have watched Amityville Horror, Marley and Me, Star Wars Clone Wars, and Wall-E. All in my opinion were very good movies. Highly recommend giving them a try. Just thought I'd write a little about them to give y' all my thoughts, hope you enjoy.

Wall-E: I finally got around to watching this movie last night, and I gotta say it was an amazing movie. Pixar never disappoints, they always seem to create some of the most creative stories and amazing 3D animation ever. The movie starts out with the main character, which is Wall-E, as a lone robot on Earth who is there to compact trash. He eventually is greeted by another robot sent from space to find plant life. They become friends and go through an amazing adventure to bring back humans to Earth. Please don't hesitate to check this movie out it is pretty damn good. Just don't know why it took me so long to check it out.

Amityville Horror: I was flipping through the channels and noticed this movie was coming on. Now I remember seeing it on cable TV before, but didn't watch it, I just kept flipping through. So when I saw that it was coming on again, I thought what the heck. The story to this movie is that a newlywed couple moves into a house that had previously been a scene of a terrible mass murder. The son of the family that lived there before went through the home and killed his parents and brothers and sister. So the new couple along with their kids move into the home, which was very affordable for them. Not long after moving in they experience weird demonic occurrences that puts a toll on them. They eventually are driven away from the home and never return, leaving all their possessions. I thought this movie was damn good. The remake that came out not long ago, I guess sucked and wasn't true to the story that Geogre Lutz told, so I'm not going to even bother watching it. The 1979 version was good in my opinion. Oh yeah, it is supposed to be based on a true story. Definitely check it out if you haven't.

Star Wars Clone Wars: Ok, so with this movie I was going in with the thought that this movie was going to suck ass, so I was preparing myself for it, but to my surprise I actually liked it. Now I'm not 100% sure if this movie is supposed to take place in between the second and third episodes, but I'm pretty sure they do. It would only make sense I guess if the clone wars happened at that time. Like I know what I'm talking about...the whole Star Wars story is so huge that it would take me a life time to fully understand it. Anyways, to break down this movie I gotta say the character design was kinda unique. The way they modeled the hair and facial features made it look like it was blocky in some ways, so that took time to sink in. Animation and art style was top notch, so yeah visually it was excellent. Again going to the story of this movie, it was good, and will not confuse someone who hasn't watched all the previous movies, but still should watch them to get a general idea of what is going on. Overall I really liked this movie.

Marley and Me: Oh man, it isn't often that a movie like this comes along. It is a movie that grabs ahold of your heart and keeps on pulling. I hate to sound like a wimp, but I gotta say this was a emotional movie. Especially the last 20 or so minutes of it. Definitely don't want to spoil any of it, but I'm sure you'll guess what'll happen. If you are a animal lover, especially a dog lover then you're going to love this movie. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston seemed like a realistic couple who struggled with so many problems, but still managed to stay together, all the while the dog kept being the worst dog ever. There is a few funny scenes and a bunch of emotional ones too. Highly recommend this movie.

So there you have it, my list of movies that I've watched this past week, hope you enjoyed my general thoughts about them and if you have any comments about them, you know what to do.

Thanks for reading, take care.

A New Year...Thank God!

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:47:00 +0000

Thank God 2008 is over with. I'm so glad to have it in the past and so glad that the promise of a new year is here. I believe (at least I'm hoping) that 2009 will be a great year. In a few weeks we will be having a new president whom I believe will bring in some much needed change. It is so historic to have Mr. Obama come in as our first African-American president. Looking forward to seeing what he will be able to achieve...maybe he will be our next great healer, we'll see.

What I do see happening this year for myself? Well, I think I'm going to be doing more blogging, more socializing, meeting more new friends both virtually and in person, I see myself reaching new goals, and sticking to the old ones as well.

I also see myself remaining sober, which is always good. I see myself creating that retro gaming site that I mentioned last year, I will be updating my design studio site often, and hope to gain new work, remain financially stable, and hopefully be in good spirits about the economy.

I know that is a lot to be looking forward to, which is good...better than not setting yourself up for nothing.

Anyways, hope everyone has a great new year!

Take care.

Quick Update 12-29-08

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:42:00 +0000

Hey, Hey! How's it going?! Sorry for no updates or blog entries lately. Been busy doing nothing.

Did do a quick youtube video basically detailing what I got for Christmas and talked about working with my client. Did get one game for Christmas, which was Dead Space. I hope to do a video review on youtube of Dead Space for the Playstation 3 as soon as I'm done with it. If I don't do a video review of it, then I'll definitely do a written review of it here on my blogspot.

So yeah, what have I been up to recently??? Really nothing much at all.

I do have one major event that has happen, which has been a positive and will continue to be for the rest of my life. Which is being sober. Yes, that is right, after nine years of drinking I have decided to stop drinking. The major factor in me quitting is the fact that I keep getting in trouble with the law. Why am I admitting this? Well because I feel it is important to tell people who drink to please DON'T DRINK and DRIVE. It just causes so many problems that will ruin not only your life, but possibly someone elses. There are many people out there who are in the hospital right now, either in a coma, paralyzed, or somehow injured due to reckless drunks. So please don't drive drunk. Now luckily I caused no injury and God forbid any deaths, because of my drinking, but I still feel that I need to quit because of the possibility of it happening is very likable. I'm going to be looking for ways to help spread the word out about how drinking can affect some people. So you may see some blogging about that as well.

Onto other things, hmm...I guess there's not a whole lot going on. Been busy playing some old NES games. Still trying to do a complete playthrough of Super Mario Bros. (the first one), all worlds, no warps, and no deaths, all while being under a half hour. I've seen some people do it, but they cheated, so I'm hoping to do it myself. After that I hope to get a life! Haha...making fun of myself :)

Anyways, all is getting better in life. I think who ever reads this or has been following me, either with my youtube videos, twitter, or here, knows that if they are going through tough times then you need to keep positive and make that change in your life, so that it no longer bogs you down. If you relate with me on this, then please feel free to let me know. Would love to chat with you.

Alrightly, take care everyone and God Bless.

JMA Design Studio

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:11:00 +0000

Just a quick blog to introduce my newly redesigned website. Please feel free to check the site out at:

www.jmadesignstudio.com

JMA Design Studio is a design studio that I created to help build websites, publications, and media for small businesses. I decided to cater to the small business group, because I wanted to keep small businesses alive and to remain competitive in the market.

To give you a little more background about my decision. Well I'm from a small town, which I love, and will always love. When I'm seeing local businesses going out of business and not lasting long it breaks my heart. I hate to see them struggle against Wal-Mart or other larger corporations. I know as a small design studio that you have to be competitive, which requires a good image, good marketing, and good services. Which is what I strive to do, all the while keeping within budget.

I know that I have alot of expectations that I would like to meet, so I am going to change my way of doing business and create a unique approach so that my clients are 100% happy.

If anybody is reading this and knows someone who may need a website or any design services, please feel free to mention my website. I always appreciate any business that comes my way.

Thanks everybody for reading, hope all is well with everyone.

Take care,
Jason

10-29-08 Update - Lazy SOB

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Yes, I have to admit I'm a lazy son of a bitch when it comes to keeping everybody in the loop. Its just a little hard to keep motivated when you're burnt out on the regular things that you do in life, even the stuff you like. Anyhoo, things are going to be ok eventually. Which leads me to what I have been doing, which is soul searching. I'm currently reading a book that is titled, "A life at work" by Thomas Moore. Its a good book to help explore what you truly are meant to do in life. Be it with the job you do, be it with a relationship, or whatever...you get my point. So yeah it is sorta helping me realize some things that I probably should re-evaluate.

What else?...finally did finish one thing to the house, which was the closet/pantry for storage. Basically redid everything, with the help of my family. I painted the ceiling and trim, my mom wallpapered, and did the flooring, which I cut to size, and also put in shelving, so it is now storing a shit load of stuff. I'm so glad it is done, can see a difference in the amount of stuff that is stored in there. Should be getting the new windows for the house sometime soon as well. Would be nice to have that off the list of crap that has to be done. :)

Still loving the iMac, definitely worth the cost (just hope to be able to keep the payments...kinda nervous about that). Actually I'm nervous about a lot of things, but I guess that is how it goes for now. It is definitely tough times in the economic world, glad I didn't invest any money in the stock market.

Hope to do the reviews of the Incredible Hulk and the latest Metallica cd soon, we'll see.

Talk to all later, take care.

New written blogs next week.

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:49:00 +0000

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Its going to be just a little bit longer...expect new blog posts next week - starting Oct. 27th (will try and start fresh and keep you guys up-to-date on my life). Will try and give my thoughts about the Incredible Hulk movie, which just got released on DVD and also give my thoughts about the latest Metallica album.

So again sorry for all the wait. I promise to have written content next week.

Take care everyone!

A Written Shout Out

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Is it really possible to make a written shout out to a group of people? Can you really shout out to someone verbally with text (kinda kidding around if you haven't noticed)?

Anyways, I've been wanting to do this blog for a little while now. I've been wanting to somehow reach out to my readers and tell them that I really do appreciate their comments. The fact that they're reading my written words means alot to me.

I would like to thank the following individuals for their readership.

Shepdawg25, SixtyXCelph, tifany48, mavrek48, and williamcook08.

You guys all rock! I really do enjoy reading your blogs as well. Everybody that I just listed has very well written content that I find useful and just damn good.

To say a little about each person:

Shepdawg25. He's a very inspirational person, he got me more involved with YouTube and gaming. I never thought I'd have the guts to make videos on YouTube myself, but I felt it was a good time to try it out, so that I could share my feeling, my life, and my opinions just like he does. Thanks man for your work!

SixtyXCelph. He has a very well written blog, uses good grammar and spelling, and just makes reading his thoughts easy. His opinions and reviews on DVDs is very valuable to me. Makes me think twice before buying or renting a game or movie. Keep up the good content!

Tifany48 and Mavrek48. I first would like to thank you guys both for your comments on my blog. Sounds funny, but I really do look forward to hearing what people have to say and you both always have something positive to say, which is freaking nice. I always check their blog out, because they both do great reviews on movies and keep everybody up-to-date about what is going on with their lives. I never had a chance to say CONGRATS!! for your newborn. Hope all is well with your new addition.

Williamcook08. I just discovered your blog. First impressions of what you have there, is simply damn good stuff. I see that you do reviews of old games like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe, which are my favorites for the Sega Genesis. Played the shit out of those games. Your Family Guy tribute is damn good too. You got damn good stuff man, keep it going!

And to all my readers, whom ever they may be, I simply want to say THANK YOU!! I really do enjoy the fact that someone out there is reading my words of thought. Without you guys I simply wouldn't do this. So yeah, thank you everybody.

Thanks for reading!

Quick ramble for 9-25-08

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:23:00 +0000

Oh crap, its been a little while since my last blog entry (great way to start off a new blog, right?).

So, what have I been up to? Well, I finished painting my living room and office, started to work on a closet to store my crap, and basically made more plans for the house. Will be getting new carpet for the office soon, been looking forward to finishing everything for that room. Mostly because I have a new addition for it. Which is a new iMac. Got it yesterday. All I gotta say is, is that it is so damn nice! I only had about an hour to use it last night. Looking forward to powering it up again. Probably will be doing a whole new blog entry about my first few days using it. So expect that soon.

Other than that, not a whole lot new. My lack of internet usage kinda sucks. I would like to be updating this blog more, plus make new videos for youtube, but until I get internet service for my new home its going to have to wait.

Not sure if I mentioned this here or on Twitter, but I came up with a genius idea for a new networking site. When it is done, it is going to be fucking sweet as hell. I see it being very successful too. After that I hope to be working the gaming site that I mentioned to my youtube viewers back in February (yeah, I know I'm slacking). Just trying to think of ways in which I can have more freedom to do what I want.

Well, that's about all...will be keeping everybody up-to-date about this new site that I'm going to be doing.

Take care everybody!

iMac 24"

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:25:00 +0000

Going to make this a very quick blog. Just wanted to mention that I ordered the iMac today and will hopefully have it by the end of the week. If not, then it will be early next week when I get it. I'm very excited about getting the Mac. Been wanting to switch over to a Apple brand computer for a while now. I've used them at work and love them and know that it will be the best fit for me. I like things that are simple and work properly, which is what Macs are all about. So yeah, very good news about that.

Will also be shopping around for a new phone today, this bitch really complained about my phone reception today while I was on the phone with her. Probably will be getting a Blackberry Perel, they look like the best fit phone for me.

That's about all, just wanted to share more good news.

Weekend of 9-12 to 9-14 events

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Just wanted to recap this weekend and share some of what happened for y'all. On Friday I got some books from the library about plumbing. I'm hoping to learn about how to remodel my bathroom. I would like to replace the sink, toilet, and bath tub. Basically I'm wanting to redo everything. I already got all the old wallpaper off the walls and pretty much cleared out all the little unnecessary crap out of there. I will probably go ahead and purchase a tub soon, because that is the first thing that I want done. The tub that I have now is terrible. It is a old claw foot style tub that has the enamel peeling off, chips broken off, and just looks terrible. Thinking that it is going to be a blast removing it. What I'm going to do is use a sledge hammer and just break the shit out of it. Love destroying stuff. But I have to be quick about it, because their are creatures living in that area. Killed a couple of mice through this little access door, so I know that they're there. Anyways, I have big plans to make the bathroom really nice, just need to learn everything first before tackling a big project like that. Also on this day I had the window guy that had given me an estimate a month ago for some windows come back, so that we can get the ball rolling. I should have some new windows in about a month. So that is going to be nice, what wasn't nice was paying him. Always sucks to fork out money for home repairs, but it should save me money in the long run.

Saturday I went to a wedding. One of my friends that I used to work with got married. So that was good. She was a good friend and co-worker, who I really enjoyed working with. Hope they enjoy their lives together. It was a open bar this night as well, which is always good.

Sunday I pretty much slept in. Did get home late from the night before, plus it was raining...always like to be lazy and sleep when it rains. Caught up on all the news on TV and watched the Colts game. Basically watched TV all day. I usually don't watch TV much at all. But on this day I just felt like it. Played N+ for about an hour, advanced a couple more episodes. Really love this game. After that I watched "The Secret", which is a motivational DVD that I've watched a few times already. It is really good, because it teaches you the secret that some of the greatest thinkers have mastered. They have gone on to accomplish phenomenal things. It teaches you to think positive. All actions and events that happen are a result of the energy in our bodies, especially from the brain. So if you think differently you can achieve almost anything. After this time watching it, I followed their advice a little more closely and wrote out my plan of action, my goals for the rest of my life, and the stuff that I want to see materialize. I am going to as a result of these actions, become the person I truly want to be. So yeah, expect big changes (if you're following me). That's basically Sunday in a nut shell. Big stuff is happening.

We received record rain fall this weekend. In the O'hare area they received a little over 8 inches of rain, which is insane. Here in the area where I live we got over 6 inches. My basement of course was pretty watered log, but you know what? I really don't care. Looks like it has been flooded before, so oh well. Actually found it sorta funny to see the water coming out of the concrete steps going down to the basement. Luckily enough there is a drain that was taking the water out, so when the rain stops it usually catches up and drains all the water.

Well I guess that is about all, hope everybody is safe after the bad weather we've been getting lately. Take care everybody!

2 New DS Games

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:34:00 +0000

A couple of days ago I decided to check out some of the newer releases for the Nintendo DS. I've been wanting to play an all around fun game. So I went online to took a look at some new releases and to see how well they did. One game that I was going to get, no matter what the reviews said about it, was Spore. I figured what the hell, wanted to see what the hype was all about. I know that the popularity was more for the computer version, since it is more expansive and is graphically better, but still, I wanted to at least check it out for the hand-held. Pretty glad that I did. It is a decent game, one that I know that I will put alot of time into. Now I'm not a simulation type gamer at all. In fact it is something that I usually avoid, mostly because it involves way to much time. The developer of this game is the same that did the hugely popular Sims games. Again those games I never touched and may never will, because of the whole simulation thing. Spore on the other hand is something that I found interesting even back four years ago when they first started to talk about it. The whole concept of beginning as a single cell organism or small creature, and then evolving into a full-blown huge ass creature, is something that I found pretty cool. Mostly because as you evolve you help other creatures evolve as well. And you develop relationships with them too. I can't really give a detailed description as to the whole concept of the game, mostly because I've only played it for an hour or so. But I can tell you is that as you progress through the game you take over land, sea, planets, and then eventually the whole universe (at least I think). So yeah, I'm liking the idea of this game and the originality of it. Hope to maybe do a detailed review of it either here or on my YouTube channel.

Okay, the other game that I got, and the one that I'm already addicted to is N+. This game is simple in both theory and in the real gaming world. It takes you back to the old school days, when things seemed simple. The game itself as far as difficulty goes, is not simple...it can be a challenge, which is always great. So, to give you a little background about this game, you play as a Ninja whose goal is to simply collect gold pieces without getting killed by. Killed either by booby traps i.e given land mines, a target who follows your movements and fires a missile when you cross its path, and other common stuff like falling from a far distance to the ground. This game is a 2-D scroller, the type that I love. It has been on X-Box live before and was popular with that platform as well. I've already gotten through 9 episodes (episodes is basically levels), and can honestly say that is worth the 20 bucks I spent on it. This type of game in my opinion is best for hand-held devices. You know, best for pick-up and play anytime type of thing. Plus the replay value is going to be great as well. I hope to do a review either on here or on YouTube of this game as well, so be on the look out for that.

Overall I am pretty happy with both games, would recommend them both. Well, I guess I should get back to work.

Take care everybody and as always, thanks for reading!

When Technology Fails

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Damn, doesn't it suck when technology like computers, phones, and TVs seem to not work right? Well that is pretty much the case for me...well at least at this time. At this particular moment my computer, which is a 2003 Sony Vaio PC, isn't working all that great. This past Friday it was infected with a virus. This virus created some data lose and significant problems when trying to do anything. The main thing, and the thing that gets me nervous is that this virus is known to track and record passwords. So, I'm not excatly sure if it is able to get my passwords like from my email or youtube or banking accounts, but if it does, then I will be mad as hell. Prior to this infection the PC was slowing down a great deal. It seemed to have alot of problems when trying to edit photos through Photoshop, which is without a doubt a very intensive CPU abuser. Other issues included, constant pop-up balloons (not pop-up ads) asking if I wanted to do something like upgrade, delete unused icons, or saying something like you have low disk space. The whole low disk space thing seemed to happen every time I used the computer. Now I know it is important to free up space and to allow room for temp files that the internet creates, plus the whole cache issue, it seems to add stuff to the hard drive space. So yes it is important to free up space, which I did every time it asked. Plus I freed up space by simply burning files to a cd, but that is besides the point. Anyways, I did the best I could to prevent these stupid annoying balloons from appearing. But still they would appear. So what is the solution? Upgrading sure sounds like a good option, but for what? Probably will only get one more good year out of the computer. I'm not really sure, but I think the best thing for me is to simply get a new computer. Now I'm thinking different, something with a whole new Operating System, something that seems to represent good quality...oh yeah, you've probably already guessed it...I'm thinking a Mac. I have the iMac in my sights as my new computer. They seem to be good computers. They seem to have alot less cords, a clean GUI, and just good quality features that seems to make computing life easier. Now I could be totally wrong about that, but that is something that I will find out later when I get the iMac. I've definitely have used a Mac before and know that they are good. Hell I use them at work. So yeah, its time to make the switch.

As far as the phone thing goes, well simply put my phone is a pre-paid piece of shit, that I would like to smash with a hammer, which I probably will and get it on tape for possibly youtube. The stupid phone has terrible reception, no one can hear me and I can barely hear them. So that is really annoying me as well. I definitely sound like I'm complaining alot is this blog, but sometimes its best to let it all out. Haha, who ever reads this gets to see me complain...poor saps. I've looked into getting a actual phone with a real service, like with AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon, but I'm looking for the cheapest deal, cause I simply don't make to many calls. Trying to find the best deal is pretty frustrating, but hopefully it'll be worth it in the long run.

The TV thing with me is simple as well. I just need to upgrade to a bigger TV that will be able to support gaming the best. Would love to get a 42 inch TV, but that is without a doubt not in the budget at this time. The TV that I have now is a standard small TV that will have to do for now.

The computer, phone, and TV I have now are all fine in their own way, but I just have concluded to make life easier I just need to upgrade. Not only do I sound like a complainer, but I also sound like a spoiled rat. Oh well :) Thanks for reading!

The Dog Days of Summer

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:20:00 +0000

With it being the day after Labor Day, I just thought I'd write a little bit about what is referred to as the "The Dog Days of Summer". Alot of people consider Labor Day as the last great holiday of summer, in which they can get together with family and friends to enjoy one last Bar-B-Que, a good game of horse shoe, or just lounge around in the pool. Now for me it represents all that and more. I really don't consider it to be the end of summer until the end of the summer equinoxe. Or simply until I see the leaves turn on the trees...you know FALL time!! So now I want to go ahead and mention some of the things that to me represent the end of summer..."The Dog Days of Summer".

This is going to sound weird (and not really relevant to this blog subject), but when I was growing up, I would notice the sun patterns throughout certiain parts of the house. Still to this day when I visit my parents I see the same way the sun shines in. When it would be close to the end of summer, the sun would shine in greatly into the living room of the house, in the winter it would shine in my old room, in the spring it would shine more on the deck just outside our kitchen, and in the early summer it seemed to shine more into the lower levels of the house. I really don't know why I really remember those patterns, but I guess it could be because the sun is sorta symbolic to me, it seems to convey alot of emotions and memories for me. So when I see that the sun is out, it is usually a good indication that I may have good thoughts throughout the day. And now, I'm sure that the sun is shining brightly into the living room. Just like I always remembered it.

Alright, enough of that sun bullshit, right? Alrightly, so let me go ahead and shift gears and get into the real deal. When summer seems to wind down, I think of... lazy days outside on the hammock, I think of lemonade, I think of bugs dying in the bug light (which I always called it a bud light when I was a kid), running though the sprinkers for one last time, riding my bike for hours and hours, fishing, camping, hanging out with friends all day before going back to hell...oops I mean school, and just being outside til night listening to the crickets, staring at the stars, and with no worries.

Those days were to me are referred to as "The Dog Days of Summer", which will always hold a special part in my heart. I still hope to relive those memories when I have kids too, so that they can enjoy them as well. I know that I don't share the same type of memories as most do, but that is what makes everybody different. What do you think of when summers starts to wind down? If you really sit and think about it, you'd be AMAZED at some of the great memories that it can spur up or bad ones (at least I hope not).

Anyways, I just wanted to share those moments that I went through in my life and hope that I may have rekindled some great memories in your early childhood. Here's to the end of summer (soon to be at least), as I hold up my glass of lemonade to you.

Thanks for reading!

Attic Cleaning Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:06:00 +0000

Day 3 and the final day of cleaning was a success. I was able to get everything cleaned up extremely quickly, I wasn't mess'in around this time, everything that I needed was there and readily available. I had to work a little late at work on this day, so I was worried that I wouldn't get much done, plus I had to goto Home Depot to buy some Romex wiring, a few pieces of plywood, and a couple of lights. So by the time I got home it was close to 7 pm. As soon as I got home I pretty much headed straight upstairs and just went ahead and tackled the left side of the attic. Will have a couple of pics to show what it looked like before doing any cleaning to it.

The first task was to clear out all the big stuff, which was mostly drywall and boards. There were a few pieces of insulation that I threw away (they were pretty well saturated with dirt and shit). Nothing to special was in this side of the attic, which was disappointing in some ways, but good too, wouldn't feel as guilty about throwing it out. After all the big stuff was gone, it was then down to the mouse droppings, dirt, dust, acorns, and random crap just like in my Day 2 Cleaning blog. And just like on that day I just sweeped out all the crap as best as I could, then got the shop-vac out to do all the detail cleaning to make it even cleaner.

Its all clean and ready more mice orgies.

I should note that I did find a bone that made me a little curious, mostly wanted to know where were the other bones from that animal and what animal it was. It was rather large, almost like a full grown racoon or something like that. Oh well, I only saw one bone part, so hopefully I don't have any problems to worry about as far as big animals in there.

Also wanted to mention that it seemed extremely dusty. Kinda worried about breathing it all in. I had a dust mask on, which never seems to protect my nose or mouth to much. When I took the mask off to check my nostrils they were both dirty as hell (sure y'all wanted to know that), so that goes to show you how un-protective the mask can be. Oh well, I guess it is best to at least wear one, cause I'm sure it does prevent some dust from getting into you. The mask was again pretty well blackened from the dust, did get a picture this time to show you how dirty it was. The pic I have below just shows what it looked like after only wearing it for a couple of hours. So yeah, it was dirty as hell.

I guess that is all I can really write about for the cleaning portion. Glad it is done, feels good to know that it is clean and ready to be insulated and boarded up, which I will be doing soon. When that is done I'm going to go ahead and start storing some of the stuff that I have in totes. I do have a bunch of storage stuff, so that is going to be nice to get that put away and out of the way.

Hopefully the electrician will come out tomorrow (Sunday). I just want that crossed off my list of things to do. He was supposed to come out today, but never came around to doing it...still not sure what his deal was. Not the most reliable person, but oh well, just so he get the job done...is all that matters to me.

Attic Cleaning Day 2, with Visuals!

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Day 2 of the attic cleaning went pretty well. Again I didn't see any live creatures, which is a blessing. Did however find 2 more skeletal remains of mice. Now that's a great site to see, but then again it means mice have been busy with their orgies in that space as well. So today I concentrated on vacuuming up all the dirt, acorns, mouse dropping, paper, nails (the type used for construction, not human nails...thank god), etc...you get the point. I first started to use the shop-vac, but man it just kept getting too much in the hose to where it kept getting clogged up. So the best thing I did was to sweep it up first with a dust pan and hand broom. Definitely wore a dust mask when I was doing this. There so much dust and crap floating around in the air, that it made my mask pretty well covered in black residue. And the rooms upstairs were pretty fogging as well. It didn't help with my shop-vac getting clogged up, because when it did that, it just shot out alot of dust as well. Anyways, I took some pics which I hope to share with you to give you an general idea of what it looked like and what it looks like after sweeping all the stuff out. Lets try some pics out:

This picture shows some of the stuff that I
had to sweep up.

Just my feet and the dirty ass floor.

Here's that little doorway I was talking about
in the "Attic Cleaning Day 1" blog.

Oh yeah, a site I like to see! A dead mouse.

One side of the attic all cleaned up and ready
for the electrician.

So tomorrow I'm going to be cleaning on the other side of the attic. This side of the attic doesn't have as much crap as the other did. The pictures I just showed, show a completely different attic. I really regret not getting some pictures before I started cleaning it out. You'd be amazed at how bad it was. Oh well, I will write again tomorrow about my cleaning adventure.

Thanks for reading!

Attic Cleaning Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:17:00 +0000

Today I decided it would be best to start cleaning out my attic. Let me try and describe this attic so that you can kinda visualize the space I'm working in. Ok, so the attic portion of my home is obviously located upstairs on the top floor of my home. It is also where my two bedrooms are. When you go up the stairs you see the two bedrooms; that is all there is to it. In the room on your left side you see two little doorways on each side of the room. Now these two doorways are just big enough to allow you to get in. You pretty much have to sit on the floor and then sorta crawl/kneel down in a guess the best way to describe it as if you were in the fetal position and then just get in. When you're in there there's enough room to stand, but still sorta be hunched over. (Am I boring you yet?)

Haha, anyways I wasn't even able to get in through the doorway on the right, because there was a bunch of crap everywhere. There was an old bed frame, bunch of boards that had a bunch of dirt, dust, and mouse shit on it, then there was a old mirror, and a whole bunch of random shit that had to be thrown away. Actually I threw away everything that was up there, because I wanted it to be completely clean. I was pretty unhappy to see the amount of mouse droppings and even acorns leftovers. I HATE MICE! I'm doing everything possible to make this house as mouse proof as possible, because I just don't want to deal with those fuckers, if I see one in the main areas of the house I will be ticked off big time. If they're in the walls, that's fine, because they'll eventually die. This was something that I knew when buying the house, but I knew if I do all the right things, then most likely the mice will decrease they're presence in my home. Man I totally got off topic, lets get back to the attic.

Unfortunately I didn't find to many old antiques, but I did find a old beverage container and a newspaper clipping from 1937, surprisely it was in good shape...just had the usual yellow color that you see when paper gets old. So no big surprises up there, no alive creatures, one dead mouse skeleton (was great to see!), and a shit load of mouse shit to clean for tomorrow. I'm leaving all the mouse shit, dust, acorns, and other little crap that can be vacuum up for tomorrow. Hope to get that cleaned up on that side of the upstairs/attic, then I will start hauling out the shit on the left side of the attic. Which will have me going through the other little door. Its kinda cool to be in there. It gives you a chance to walk behind the walls, which is neat to check out. Probably will blog about day 2 of my cleaning adventure. Will be cleaning the attic the next couple of days. Oh yeah, good times!

Being a homeowner

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:26:00 +0000

Being a homeowner is so damn great! But it can be overwhelming at times too, so I just wanted to type some of my feelings about being a homeowner.

As of today (August 26, 2008) I've been in my new home for almost 4 weeks. Now this isn't a brand new home by any means, it is the complete opposite...it was I believe built in 1918, which makes it freaking OLD!!! It has a lot of character that definitely defines its age. There is an arch doorway that separates the living room and the dinning room and there is still knob-and-tube wiring for the two lights up stairs, and there are two enclosed porches; one in the front of the house and one in the back. Now knob-and-tube wiring is extremely old and is definitely not up-to today's standards, thus the reason why most insurance companies won't insure your home unless you get that replaced. My insurance company won't allow it, so I have to get it replaced. So with that said I figured, why not get the electrical outlets upstairs as well, because for some reason there are still no outlets up there to plug anything into. Which I thought was crazy as hell. I don't know how the previous owner could live up there in the upstairs, which contains the two bedrooms for the house. Right now it is like a fucking oven...it is hot as hell! I'm sure it is like a fucking freezer in the winter too. So that is something that I gotta take care.

What I'm planning on doing so that I can live up there comfortably, is to get new windows, insulate the attic, and once the electrical is done I'm going to plug in a couple of heaters in the winter time and get a window AC unit in the summer. So that should make it good to go. So that takes care of that, so now all I gotta do is get the bathtub redone, paint all the ceilings with some paint that will cover up the common little crack (barely noticeable, but annoys me), then get the new toilet, sink, vanity to finish the bathroom, and oh god don't get me stared with the kitchen! I'm probably going to get new cabinets, and without a doubt a dishwasher (I really don't like washing dishes by hand), and probably get new flooring and wallpaper. So basically I'm redoing a bunch of stuff to the house. I just want it more up to my standards. I really do love the house and feel it doesn't need any of the things that I just wrote about, but I do see myself there for a long time, so I definitely want it to be as comfortable as possible.

I bought this house knowing full well that it needed some work, but that was perfectly fine by me. I believe that after a couple more months I will have a majority of the stuff that I want done and that I will be perfectly happy with everything. Hope this doesn't scare away anyone who is looking to buy a old home. Most old homes do need work...you just need to see the potential that it holds.

Good luck to anyone who is looking to get a new/old home.
Thanks for reading!

First blog.

noreply@blogger.com (brody80) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:31:00 +0000

Alrighty it is time to try out this blogger site. I haven't done many blogs before, so this is sorta a new thing that I have been wanting to try out. I have of course written blogs before, but not with this site. Please feel free to read my little profile on the left to get a general idea of what I will be writing about (will mostly be my interest and every day type stuff) . I will be very random with my blogs, one day I could be writing about something that happened years ago or I could be writing about something that happened today. So yeah, I just wanted to do a intro blog that will hopefully give you a general idea of what I will be writing about. Will try and keep this blog thing going as best as I can. Hope to make a written post at least 3-4 times a week, if not more. I usually have a lot to say, and feel I am best at writing about it, rather then making a video about (which I still do). You can always follow me with Twitter at this location: http://www.twitter.com/brody80. Thanks for reading...expect alot of content from me. Thanks!