To breed or not to breed...

I don't want to have kids for a few years after I'm married. I've talked with Alexa about this and she agrees with me, thankfully.

My parents had my older brother less than a year after they were married. Not that it ruined their marriage, but I'm sure they wished they had had more time together as a young couple without having a child around. I know I'm going to want to do things with Alexa that won't be as easily done with a kid. I'd like to travel a little bit, feel free to move if we have to, just enjoy each others company.

When a couple has a child all the attention is focused on the it. There is little time for each other, which is why, I assume, most people get married. You want to spend more time with that person, get to know them better, become better friends. Children get in the way of that.

It might be selfish of me to not want kids for these reasons, but it's important to me. I'm sure my parents were looking forward to being able to spend time together without us. Unfortunately, my dad didn't make it that long. I don't want that to happen to me. If I die when I'm 42 I want to know that I had some fun with the woman I love before responsibilities came crowding in.

I look at one of our couple-friends and I see how great they get along and how much they're enjoying the freedom that comes without having a child. I want to experience that before I experience the supposed joy of having progeny.

There is also the financial burden of having a little parasite. I would like to establish myself first, save some money, then procreate.

I look forward to having a kid, I just don't want to do it yet.

Teaser: The next blog will be music related.

This is a cool link (mainly intended for Aaron of the Aaron-faces and Ned of the Nucking Futz, even though one of them doesn't read the blog).

Sunshine Superman

If I could choose a genetic mutation (non-superpower) it would be the ability to stay awake and never feel tired. I love sleeping, but I also hate sleeping. When I finally do go to sleep I sleep a lot longer than I want to.

There's just so much I want to do and I feel like I have no time to do it. I want to read as much as possible but I also want to watch a lot of movies. I want to learn how to play guitar and bass guitar but I also want to spend time with my fiancee. Often these things cannot go hand in hand. When I'm married, though, I will be able to consolidate two of those things.

I enjoy staying up late because it's quiet, which is something I rarely get when I'm at home because there are so many people going in and out and the dog is constantly pacing. When everyone is asleep I feel like I can accomplish the most. However, I run into another roadblock: I can't do anything loud. So it's hard to watch movies or play my guitar. This leaves me with lots of nighttime reading time. Of course, I won't complain about that because I love reading, but I don't always feel like reading at night. I just wish I could forgo sleeping for a year without looking like this. Instead I would like to look like this.

I just learned how to play an amazing Steve Hackett solo on the guitar. The solo part is at 5:37. I would recommend listening to the entire song, though. It's pretty great.

While looking for my fitness picture I ran across this. Just plain awesome.

Just out of curiosity, I would like to know who reads this blog. If you read it please comment on this post. Of course, only do this if you want to. No obligations, no fees. I'm merely curious. Good thing I'm not a cat.

Mr. Pitiful

I found out today that I did not get that sports writing job in Saline/Milan. I'll continue freelancing for both papers (gotta keep my name out there and make some money on the side). I'll be substitute teaching in the fall/winter in Washtenaw County. I figure it will be a fairly low-stress job (hopefully) and it will be easy to get out of if I find a writing job. My hopes aren't high, though (about the writing).

I wasn't disappointed, initially, about not getting the job. I figured after two weeks of no contact from the editor I was pretty much out of the running. I e-mailed her once to find out if she had come to any decisions. She hadn't at the time.

It turns out the person who got the job is a 2004 Saline High School graduate by the name of Jana Miller. I think it's great that a female is writing sports. It adds a completely different perspective to story choice, game coverage, etc. That's not what disappointed me. It's the fact that she's younger and seems to have less experience than me. I kind of feel that she got the job because she's from the area. I know more qualified people were interviewed and they didn't get the job. It's just a bit of a heartbreak for me because I always thought experience was what got you ahead.

I also feel a bit cheated. The previous sports writer had a lot of experience and was able and always willing to lend a hand if I had a problem with some of my writing and provided a critical eye for my writing. He was always able to provide some feedback for me, whether positive or negative. I don't know if I'll be able to take what this new reporter will have to say about my writing to heart.

One good thing is that I don't have to work under the editor of the paper. She's a bit of a scatter-brain when it comes to planning. She often gives me story ideas three days before they're due and wonders why I haven't been able to accomplish every story. It's not the easiest thing to call someone and set up a meeting with one day's notice. I guess I can count my lucky stars for getting me out of the frustration of having her as my boss.

I know I'm not the best writer. I also know I'm not the worst. I think I'm somewhere in the middle and it kind of hurts whenever I realize/remember that. It's the story of my life. I've never been the best but I've never been the worst (on an individual level. I have been the worst in team things.).

My confidence has been lowered. Not demolished, just taken down a couple of levels.

While watching the Tigers game today I realized where the phrase "right off the bat" comes from: baseball. Think about it.

Getting a life in the dreamer's dream!

I have been living an uninspired and uneventful life the past two weeks.

I attempted a feature story for the Milan News-Leader but the woman I needed to talk to never returned my calls or e-mails. I'm quite disappointed. Of course, this story was for the newspaper I interviewed for. It can't be a good mark for me.

The Olympics have been going on for a little while now and I have found myself watching footage for more than a few hours a day. I even watch it on foreign channels. I'm not interested in the sports and I can't understand what's being said, but I have nothing else to do.

Before the games began I was sure I wouldn't watch any of it. I didn't watch any of the 2000 or 2004 games, so I figured it would be more of the same. However, I have found myself cheering like I haven't cheered since 1996. I have become a Phelps Phan (sorry Aaron, Ashley and Alexa, my three A's. I know you hate misspelled words for the sake of making it seem cool and trendy). I just watched the women's gymnastics team lose to China. Two gymnastics finals, two gold medals for China. At least the U.S. has been able to win some sort of medal in that event.

I'm sure it helps that a certain Detroit baseball team has not given me anything to cheer about. In fact, I can't even sit through a game anymore because the pitching staff is just so wretched.

I must change the topic before I begin a rant.

I've been playing Pokemon a lot. I've gotta catch'em all. It's driving me crazy.

I recently became acquainted with a guitar pick. It's opened new worlds for me on the bass. Of course, I'm still not very good but I'm able to do so many more things. I can play fast now. But not this fast.