It's been almost a year since I posted anything here.

I have to say, I really love my life. At this moment I am sitting in my garage and I just really like where things are at in my life. Things are pretty comfortable overall. I'm not sure this is a good thing or not. It feels good, but in my life I just feel like this has sometimes meant I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And how about that? There's a phrase huh? Waiting for the shoe to drop? what does that even mean? Waiting for everything to fall apart because things are going almost too well?

Yep. That might be what I mean. Sad? Perhaps. I think there is pain in life that we never share, and sometimes I think there is pain that we don't even realize is pain, but it all affects us.

This seems like a silly post. I have an unreal life. It's as close to perfect as is actually feasible. So why do I struggle with with these questions that really don't seem that significant in the end. Why am I sitting here listening to Jamey Johnson songs and beating myself up a bit?

Stock-car horticulture

I've realized how much I've changed.  Not in the sense that I'm necessarily a different person, but in the sense that I enjoy slightly different things.

For example, I used to read the blog of a particular writer as often as he wrote.  I enjoyed his books so much that I thought I would probably also enjoy his daily prattle.  What I found is that I didn't agree with him on a lot of his daily stuff... which is strange because I tend to agree with what is in his books almost wholly.  Maybe it wasn't so much that I didn't agree with his daily stuff but sometimes I didn't agree with how he was coming across.  I guess I can't explain it too well, but the bottom line is that I stopped reading his blog.

Then I heard he had a new book coming out so I thought I'd get caught up on his blog happenings.  Unfortunately as a result I'm not very excited about his new book, to the point that I don't even know that I'll read it.

So the question is, have I changed?  Maybe he's changed?  It's certainly possible that we have both changed.

I tend toward wanting to read books that challenge my mind in the sense that I'm learning something, which means that I read almost exclusively non-fiction.  I'm in a phase where reading fiction seems almost like a waste to me.  I certainly see the value in escaping in a book, but I tend to feel a bit guilty if I'm not reading something that isn't informing me.

I like books about people... what they did, where they came from, how they ended up where they did, etc.

I listen to far more music right now than I did a year ago, when I listened to AM radio almost exclusively.  I still listen to AM, but I am probably about 50/50 (music/talk radio) in my listening pattern right now.

How my lawn looks matters to me... and I have no idea why.

I swear that 3 year service award is around here somewhere

I like writing.  I truly do.  But I'm so inconsistent.  My problem is that I don't make time.

Of course, I have plenty of other problems as well.  One of them is that I leave home without zipping up my pants, and I do this a lot.  You probably don't believe that, but I'm not lying, and my wife will vouch for me.  I have no idea why this happens.  It's as if I get the button buttoned, the belt looped, and then I just get bored with the idea of completing the fastening of my pants.

*Speaking of getting bored, I also have A.D.D. when it comes to pumping gas.  I'll be right in the middle of pumping, and then I just decide that I'm bored with it.  Doesn't matter if the dollar amount isn't right on a dollar, doesn't matter if the truck is full or not... I just stop.  This doesn't make any sense to me.

Maybe as I get older I'm just getting more forgetful and impatient.  I'm not even that old... I just turned 32.  Someone told me that 30 is the new 20.  I don't even really know what the old 20 was, but I can tell you this, 30 isn't 20... heck, any math major, or 5 year old, will tell you that 21 isn't even 20.  Only 20 is 20. 

Doesn't matter.  I've realized that the more often people say stupid things like "30 is the new 20" to me that the correct response is almost always: "the Jer abides."

*I looked at Yahoo Weather on my blackberry today, and at the bottom it said "Are you in San Francisco, CA?"  How random is that? I immediately thought "No... are you?"

*Have you ever suddenly forgotten how to spell the city that you live in?  Yeah, me neither.

The Quotable Jerdogg: Year in Review

The last time I blogged (on this site anyway) was February... holy crap. So here's an update.

The best parts about 2009:
1) We bought a house and moved back to our hometown of Rochester.
2) It's almost over.

My wife likes Ryan Reynolds

*For the first time in my life I'm watching the Oscars. People will probably think me less of a person for saying this, but I'm not really that into movies. It's true. I like movies, and I have my favorites that I quote, etc, but I don't really see a lot of movies, especially in the theater. And almost every year when the list of nominees for best picture come out you can be assured that I haven't seen any of them.

*It's staggering how often I forget to zip up my pants.

*I've been playing guitar a bit lately. I'm not good at it. I know only a few chords (G, D, E, Em, C, Am, A, F, B), but the ones that I do know serve me fairly well in that they tend to be part of a lot of songs. More accurately, they tend to be the basis of most country songs. Which suits me fine.

*Christopher Walken is on the Oscars right now... I dig Walken. I think I speak for everyone when I say "what is he doing with his hair?"

*My wife thinks that Jennifer Aniston needs to break up with John Mayer.

Leather Seats Optional

Today is Wednesday...

Haircut lady at Fantastic Sam's: Do you want your hair washed?

Elderly client: I just washed it on Monday.

Edible undies and other great inventions

*I'm already tired of hearing about Michael Phelps smoking pot. I'm not saying I condone it, I'm not saying that he should lose all of his endorsements. All I'm saying is that I'm already sick of hearing about it.

*As a whole, I would say that this year's Super Bowl ads were well below my expectations. I generally expect that there will be at least 5 commercials that will make me laugh so hard that food comes shooting out of my mouth. Considering the hype that comes with Super Bowl commercials, I don't think that this is an unrealistic expectations.

Here are some other thoughts on Super Bowl commercials:
- I am against movie ads during the Super Bowl.
- I am against any ad that has already been on TV prior to the game.
- I am in favor of any ad by E-Trade that has the talking baby... they always deliver.
- I am in favor of the 1 second Miller High Life ad... am I the only one who only saw one of them?

The Fear Inside You

This may be a slightly controversial post. Depending on who reads this, and how they take it, I might offend someone. But I'm willing to take that chance, because someone needs to say these things.

This list is called "Signs that your friend has changed." Most likely this is because of a girl, but he could be changing for other reasons too, who knows. I suppose it's possible that some of these reasons could pertain to gals too... but I only have experience with dudes in this case.

#1: Your friend stops calling and/or answering/returning your calls.

This is an obvious one, so I won't elaborate.

#2: When you ask your friend to do something and he declines, instead of just saying no, he immediately gives you three reasons why he can't make it in rapid-fire succession.

You might just ask you friend to grab a beer, but he can't make it. Instead of just saying he can't make it because he's busy, he quickly fires off three reasons he can't make it. "I have to get up early for work, I promised my gal I'd have dinner for her... plus I haven't been feeling well lately." One excuse is fine. Usually when someone gives you three rapid-fire excuses, the real reason is "I just don't feel like it."

#3: Instead of saying yes or no to an invitation, your friend starts to say things like "probably."

"I probably can't make it." "I don't think I can come." "I don't know if I'll be able to." As his friend, you immediately know what this means.

#4: When your friend DOES go out for beers with you , he doesn't get as "loose" as he used to.

Okay, so you're all getting older, so maybe you need to slow it down. But every once in awhile it's okay to let loose and relive old glories. Your friend needs to be okay with this.

#5: "I've got to get going."

Your friend used to be the guy who MADE you stay out all hours of the night. Maybe he was the "just one more" guy, or the "I'm buying" guy... now he's the "I know it's only 10:30, but I've got to get going." And when you ask him why, his response? See #2.