Frankenstein Reborn

So I finally got my desktop computer up and running again, after a long-time hiatus in death-land. His graphics card crapped out... AGAIN. This is the third one I've had inside this particular computer and I believe it shall be the last. I'm going to transfer all the music, pictures and other random junk off here, onto my new laptop, clean it off a bit and then give it to my girlfriend Ashley, whose computer has died even harder than Frank did. Frank's the name of my computer, in case you didn't know. I put him together from random parts I got from www.newegg.com with the help of my old buddy Chris. I've had to replace a few parts here and there over the years, but for the most part, he was still going strong. Just going off to basic training, then tech school really threw a wrench in getting him up and running this last time. But I finally did it, despite numerous setbacks and dead-ends. Anyways, I wanted to brag on myself a little bit. Tomorrow is Friday, good thing, I'm ready for the weekend, Billy and Amanda are coming to New Orleans and I'm meeting up with them for a big weekend of fun and festivities. Should be nice. Of course, the only thing missing will be Ashley. Dang... Miss that girl. Well, goodnight internet!

Strange feeling

So I know that most will think this is stupid and pointless, but I just need to get it out. I just finished playing Grand Theft Auto 4, the video game, on my laptop, and the ending to the story... just saddened me. There are two endings, really, and I played them both. You can either get revenge on your enemy, or you can choose to work with him and get a lot of money. Well, in the end, you kill him either way, but in both endings you lose someone you love, well, Niko loved. Niko is the main character. So in one scenario, he loses his love interest Kate, and in the other he loses his cousin and best friend Roman. What the hell, Rockstar? All that work, all that investment in the story of this sad but strong character and he doesn't even get a remotely happy ending? I felt for this dude! Is that so strange? His story is that he's a Serbian who fought in the Yugoslav War and was ordered to commit atrocities, was betrayed by his "friends" and fled to America to get away from a former employer who believed owed him money. So he comes to America to find the men who betrayed him and earn some money to get the old boss off his back and help his cousin out financially. Well, of course since it's GTA you drive and shoot and steal and all that stuff, but I mean the character is an ex-soldier who has seen awful, terrible stuff and has grown jaded and cynical and believes himself to be un-redeemable. So he does what he can to make money. But after he has settled his debts, helped out his cousin, gotten closure with those who betrayed him and given up the life of a gangster, he loses someone he loves dearly, either his blossoming love or his dear cousin. Garbage! So I realize this is ridiculous, but imagine your favorite book with your favorite character who you have stuck through thick and thin with the whole novel and right at the end, when the hero has saved the day, something wicked comes in and smites him. And then the book ends. How does that feel? Crappy. That is right. I guess it's one of those Goodfellas type things. Just showing you that a life of crime only leads to heartache. Well, it lead to this heart's ache. :(

Thoughts

Just when you thought things were crappy, there's always someone else out there who has it worse. So there's this website, http://www.fml.com/, which stands for "f*ck my life", where people share stories of unfortunate events that happen to them, followed by "fml". Some are funny, some are really unfortunate, and some are both. Then there's this one.

Today, I came home from work late (2:30am). As I snuck carefully into bed and laid down next to my sleeping future wife, my fiancee half awake said "No, no... Dan will be home soon." I am Dan. FML

I had to read that one twice to fully appreciate the true misfortune of Dan, but damn that sucks. Sorry Dan, but you make me feel like things in my world are pretty peachy. Best of luck to ya.

edit:

Ok, this one's even better, less unfortunate, way more funny.

Today, I was at a club with my girlfriend of only two weeks. As we were dancing, another woman grabbed my ass from behind me and squeezed. I yelped and turned around to see my mother as the culprit. My girlfriend punched her. I found out my mother is a Cougar and my girl has a mean right hook. FML

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Well, it is apparently that time of the year, kiddies. Wesley has started to go crazy enough to want to talk to himself and to a hypothetical semi-anonymous audience on the internet. So here I sit, on my bed, with my cool new laptop, drinking my coffee made from my new coffeepot, listening to music on my new stereo. Yet, in a very Fight Club way, I am still unsatisfied with things. But before I go into a brain dump about all the things that are bothering me, I might as well talk about some concrete things that maybe will be more understandable than my rantings.

So I live in Mississippi. Who saw that coming? Not me, that's for sure. How is it? It is less populated than I imagined. But in what ways is Mississippi different from my beloved home state of Texas? Let's just look at a few statistics I pulled up after about 30 seconds of internet searching:

Obesity prevalence among U.S. adults
#1 Mississippi: 26%, (tied four ways for)#3 Texas: 24%

Percent of People Below Poverty Level in the Past 12 Months
#1 Mississippi: 21.6%, #8 Texas: 16.6%

Firearms Death Rate per 100,000
(tied for)#6 Mississippi: 17.3, #26 Texas: 11

Unemployment Rate
#2 Mississippi: 7.9%, (tied for)#12 Texas: 5%

So, while Texas doesn't blow Mississippi out of the water on all of those statistics which were chosen based on which ones made me laugh out of the ones I looked at. This website is the source: www.statemaster.com So anyways, all of these statistics just confirm my susipicion that Mississippi is indeed fatter, poorer, less employed and more trigger-happy than Texas, which I didn't know was possible. I mean, I love my state, but there are a lot of rednecks in Texas, so I gotta hand it to Mississippi. Anyways, does this do anything to make me feel better about my current predicament? No. In fact the opposite. It just reminds me that I am not home, where all the people I love are. I am basically conscripted into a job that I don't care about, to work with people that I do not identify with and therefore have a hard time socializing with, which makes Wesley go crazy and have to talk to himself on his blog page. Harrumph.

Ok, so my advice for anyone who is all in the dumps and pessimistic is to look on the bright side, count your blessings, find the silver lining, blah blah blah. So lets do that, for realz.

#1) I am alive. Like the saying goes, every day you can get out of bed is a good one.

#2) I have a job. In reference to the aforementioned statistic, I guess I am lucky.

#3) I have a lot of people who love me in Texas and some elsewhere, including but not limited to: Ashley, Mom, Dad, Lindsey, Nonnie, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, all the aunts, uncles, and cousins, my buddies, all my friends from all the jobs, clubs, classes and activites I've been involved in over the years, and anybody else out there that cares about me that I am unable to put in a category. So to all of you, I love you too.

#4) I am healthy. While I am getting older, and I can tell (stupid grey hairs), I am healthy and fit, although I want to be going to the gym more than I have been, that's another story. Still, no major illnesses.

#5) I suppose this should go higher on the list, but I have got God looking out for me. Right now He is testing me, making sure I'm as tough as I think I am, but He is up there.

So, I do feel a little bit better. Yes, maybe I don't have just a roll-a-dex of friends here in MS, but that's my own fault. I need to get out there and get involved in activities and clubs and talk to people, get their phone numbers and go do fun stuff with them instead of sit in my room, playing computer games, waiting for something to happen. I also need to stay out of casinos, unless I have someone with me to pull me away when I'm doing good... or doing bad, haha. They can be fun, but it has become apparent to me that the best way to make money is to go to work and wait for paydays, instead of trying to make it multiply at blackjack, they'll just take it away.

Also, I live on the freakin' beach! Why am I not out there, soakin' up the sun and sand right this very minute? I should go buy a beach towel, slather on some sunscreen, go take a dip in the gulf and then let the sun warm me dry. That sounds nice. Maybe get something good to drink... Yes. That sounds like fun. I would prefer someone to go hang out with, but hey, I'll be that cool solo guy out there.

Speaking of being a solo guy, why, you may be asking yourself, are you not chatting up the ladies, Wesley, everyone knows you are a ladies' man. Well that is because, my dear friend, that I DO have a lady. And I am trying to do everything in my power to get her down here. Her name is ASHLEY and she is BEAUTIFUL. Just LOOK at her.

So, anyways, she's gorgeous and I am not about to do anything to jeopardize my situation with her. I just need to find her a job and a place to live and then life will be GREAT because I'll have someone to explore with, which is way more fun than exploring by yourself, I think. Anyways, I'm going to wrap this up because I'm losing daylight and that's the whole point in going to the beach!

A stale start...

So I have lots of "Ok, THIS is gonna be the start of a new phase! A new beginning! A fresh chance at redemption and glory!!!" But I usually lose steam part of the way through and I have to re-pump myself, so its not really new anymore, I guess. So, here is one of those re-pumps. Rar! Off to learn things I've already learned and hopefully some new stuff. Maybe even make a friend... yay! Coffeez, mmmm.

Happy (belated) New Year!

Ok so I suck at updating this thing. Sorry. But all I've got at home is dial-up so excuse me if I don't have the patience to sit there and watch paint peel, aka the page load. But now I do have my spiffy iPod touch with wifi so that is how I am currently blogging this entry. Via my iPod. I know, I'm bragging but I love gizmos and it seems like I'm never on the front edge of the new technology, but this time I am so booyah!

So I am not really rocking the gym membership like I should be doing, but it's all microsofts fault. They made the sexy xbox 360 and then someone made the game fallout 3 and that is the reason I have been planted in front of the tv almost continuously for the past 48 hours. Very little sleep, very little socialization. It's so damn addictive! "Just one more mission," I say. Well that turns into three or four and then suddenly five hours disappear and my stomach is complaining at me. I shut it up with a couple fistfuls of wheat thins and finish unloading a clip into another super mutant. Damn those things are annoying. The mutants, that is. Anyways, enough about that.

I believe this is one of the weirdest times in my life. Since that fateful day in 1990 when I walked into A. L. Day Elementary and met Mrs. Elroy, my kindergarten teacher, I have been a student in public education almost non-stop, minus summer and Christmas breaks, of course. But now, I have graduated college (finally!) and my title of student is now N/A; not applicable. So what am I now, I ask myself. A grown up? Well, a grown up would have his own place and a good paying job. I am living at home with the 'rents, currently, and while I do head to San Antonio on February 4th to begin my career of unforseeable length with the US air force, until then I have no real responsibilities, no objectives or purpose. Now while that sounds like vacation and carefree funtime, it is, as I have said, a little weird. No assignment to work on, no deadline looming or a test I should be cramming for. Well, ok not entirely true, I do need to take the ASVAB, and finish my last two stinkin thank you notes and close my old bank account. But really those are just kind of remnants of the old chapter and a little minor preparation for the one to come. I mean when I took the asvab in high school, I scored in the 95th percentile or something. Hopefully I haven't gotten dumber since then.

Which leads me to another topic which is a little sour but there is not much I can do about. Since I wasn't able to graduate on time, I wasn't able to commission into the AF as an officer and will have to fulfill my committmenr as an enlisted man. Now while I am glad that I still have the opportunity to join the air force and even eventually go to officers school if I want, i'm still a little less than thrilled at being ridiculously over-qualified for my job. I was in marching band in high school, I was in the A&M corps of cadets for four years, AF ROTC for four years and I completed AF field training. I know how to march, I know military discipline, I know leadership. So now I'm being thrown in with a bunch of 18-19 year old highschool graduates who know none of that and are probably going to try my every nerve. So yeah, I'm a little less than psyched. However, that's not to say that I'm not looking forward to testing myself, serving my country, learning new skills, meeting new people, traveling, and getting paid for it. Not to mention maybe getting a masters degree paid for and then all the benefits of being a veteran after it's all said and done.

Well, after that little thought-dump I am feeling a little tired, so that concludes this post. Thanks for chillin' with me. Wish me luck, I'm gonna try to beat fallout tomorrow. Night!