Digital Wilderness

Take this quiz to find out: Do You Have What It Takes To Become a Citizen?

I scored 85%, missing three. They were:

14. Who selects the Supreme Court justices?
19. What INS form is used to apply to become a naturalized citizen?
20. Which of these contains three rights or freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?

#14 was a trick question!

How’d you do?

2006 Goal Tracking

• Learn to whistle loudly using my fingers
  No progress yet; still just blowing air
• Learn three five card tricks
  No new progress – still two down, three to go.
• Learn five origami models
  Completed – I’ve learned/relearned the crane, the flapping crane, the frog, the waterbomb and the iris.
• Redecorate/organize my family room and den and spare bedroom
  Finished the spare bedroom and I’m almost finished with the family room
• Get involved in a puppet team
  No new progress.
• Take a another small business development class
  Completed – I went to the class “Secrets to Starting Your Own Business” in Feb. I’m waiting for the next round of free seminars offered by the SBDC at NKU
• Get A+, i-Net+ and/or SAS certified
  No new progress.
• Take a week-long vacation; visit another state/national park on my list
  Still considering visiting Shenandoah National Park instead of the Northeast to save money for a possible trip to New Zealand next year…
• Find a church home
  No new progress – a post to come about this shortly.
• Have a consistent daily quiet time
  No new progress.
• Memorize 200 Bible verses
  I’m at 127 verses now.
• Swing dance once a month on average
  I went to the beach party last night and had fun. That was my fourth time this year, so I’m only two behind the average I’m striving for.
• Be more punctual
  Not too shabby this month.
• Run a 5K
  Completed

Holy Milestone, Batman!

Hard to believe, but this is the one thousandth post on Digital Wilderness, for a total of 155,028 words in approximately 850 days. Two years and 4 months have gone by since that first post and the site is still alive and kickin’, though it’s undergone several changes since the beginning. A new webhost (moved from 1and1 to Pair to Bluehost), new blogging software (from Movable Type to WordPress) and countless designs/themes.

Some of the most popular posts (based on number of comments) during this period include:

• Change Successful
• Artist Spotlight – Third Day
• Story Time
• UK Falls to North Carolina
• New Stats
• Kevin Sites Blog
• Find Your Spot
• The Real Gilligan’s Island
• Quote of the Day

The top commenters are:

• Bryan (356 comments)
• Paul C. (302 comments)
• Jeremy (300 comments)
• Robin (275 comments)
• Ashlee (265 comments)
• Jeff (265 comments)

Thanks to these and all my other readers!

Here’s to 1000 more!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, dear Jennifer H
Happy Birthday to you

Well, it’s been a nice, long weekend for me…and it’s not quite over yet. I took off Friday as well as today and tomorrow, in anticipation of some stressful times ahead. We lost one person to maternity leave last week, and two others are getting married and taking extended time off in the next two months. There’s also some people taking vacations in the coming months, so we’re going to be short-staffed over this entire time. Since I’m not planning on taking my week-long (at least) vacation until September or October, I thought I’d take some days off before the road got bumpy, so I can be rested up for the times ahead.

At least that was the plan…

I actually haven’t had a chance to rest and relax as much as I had anticipated, but at least it’s been an enjoyable time off.

Friday
Friday, I was determined to start work on one of my goals for the year – Redecorate/organize my family room, den and spare bedroom. I wanted to get a new entertainment center, one that was nicer looking than my all black unit that I’ve had since my apartment days and didn’t look so good anymore. Of course, with that furniture change, I’d need to get a new coffee table and end tables to match, according to what I’ve heard from those more knowledgeable in interior design. Yeah, yeah, whatever… Baby steps! First the entertainment center; the rest will come later.

I also wanted a library wall unit for the spare bedroom. I had four small bookcases that weren’t cutting it anymore. Books were falling out of them they were so full. I wanted to get something nice, not another cheap, small unit, so I went for a set of bookcases that came in three pieces that could be put together to make a “library wall unit.” So I’ve been shopping for furniture the past week or so and was determined to get something this weekend, which I did.

First things first – the entertainment center. I didn’t have any trouble putting it together, but the hard part came when I moved everything from the old unit to the new. Whoa, I didn’t realize I had that many components and wires! Taking everything down wasn’t too bad, but re-wiring everything took a long time. I was up until 5am getting everything done, but it felt good to get that out of the way. It looks pretty nice, too.

Saturday
Maybe it wasn’t a smart idea to stay up so late into Saturday morning as I was playing ultimate Frisbee that afternoon. I woke up a little before game time, grabbed a bite to eat and hit the field. We played for about 2.5 hours on a fantastic afternoon and boy was I worn out. I didn’t last nearly as long as I did last month when we played. Part of that is due to me running only twice in the past three weeks. I wanted to take a week off after the 5K race, but that’s turned into almost three now… It’s amazing how much a difference running 2-3 times a week does for my fitness level and stamina I hope to keep up with it in the future…

Saturday night, after resting and cleaning up from ultimate, I headed over to Jeremy’s for movie night. Our choice for the evening? The 80s classic Goonies! Believe it or not, Mindy (who is only a couple years younger than me) had never seen it before. *gasp* We quickly remedied that issue, so now she’ll be privy to the source of the shout “Hey you guys!” that we frequently do.

After the movie, we watched The Red Green Show. Hilarious show! You’ve missed out if you’ve never seen it. Sadly, the show ended it’s 15 year run in April of this year, but look for re-runs on PBS and Comedy Central. We caught the tale-end of the series finale, which I hadn’t yet seen. There was a wedding, farewell from the cast, and a change in the man’s prayer – from “I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess” to “I’m a man, but I changed, if I had to, oh well…” We’ll miss ya, Red and gang. Remember, keep your stick on the ice!

Sunday
On Sunday, I started work on the bookcases. I had three units to put together, of which I did two before running out of time. I went to meet LT and we headed down to Lexington for Drums Across the Bluegrass, one of the many stops for the 2006 DCI Summer Music Games. LT’s sister is an instructor for Lexington’s own Southwind, while Leslie’s brother (Chicken Chimichanga) is a member of the trumpet line. The lineup for the show included 6-time World Champs and 2005 runner-up Cavaliers of Rosemont, IL, as well as the Bluecoats (Canton, OH), Blue Stars (LaCrosse, WI), Memphis Sound (Memphis, TN), Pioneer (Milwaukee, WI) and Music City Legends (Nashville, TN). It was a great evening of shows. Nothing like a good ol’ drum corp show on a pleasant summer evening. Southwind did well, though they didn’t score as high as we had expected. In fact, all the scores seemed a bit low. As much as I hate to say it, the Cavaliers’ show, Machine, was awesome. The Cavaliers are like the Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, Duke, etc. – traditional powerhouses that you love to hate but really have to give credit for having great teams and winning as much as they do. This year could be yet another championship year for them based on what I saw. Southwind looks like they could have a strong year and possibly make it into the top 12, and hence the finals at Madison, WI in August, for the first time. Go Southwind! Next up: I’m hoping to make it to Summer Music Games in Cincinnati in Fairfield on July 10. Southwind will also by playing at this show, as will my favorite corp – Phantom Regiment. After several down years, the Regiment finished third last season, so it’ll be good to see them again.

On the way home, LT and I almost became part of a Cavalier sandwich. We were between two of their semi-trucks of equipment when the front one stopped at a traffic light. We did likewise, but the driver of the one behind us either wasn’t paying attention or couldn’t stop fast enough because next thing we know, he’s veered off onto the shoulder right next to us. Scary!

Monday/Tuesday
I finished up the library on Monday, then did some yard work and made some phone calls. Tomorrow, weather permitting, Kari and I are going to go for a bike ride. Other than that – I’ll finally get to kick back and relax!

There’s plenty more to come the rest of the week, including a Reds’ game on Wed (it’s Barry Larkin bobble head night!) and the beach party at SwinGallery on Thursday.

I want to go to New Zealand.

After reading several articles in last Sunday’s Enquirer, it seems like the ideal place to go.

The geography looks fantastic! There’s a variety of awesome landscapes, from glaciers and mountains to vast plains and beaches, all within close proximity to each other. It’s a great place to go backpacking, cycling, etc. The weather seems like it would be perfect, too, with temperatures rarely falling below freezing or rising above 86°F.

There’s so much more than just the beautiful landscapes, though. It’s also arguably the extreme adventure, adrenaline-junky capital of the world. Not only did New Zealand give us bungee jumping, but now they’re giving us Fly By Wire.

For Fly By Wire, you’re secured in a “personal little rocket ship” 350 feet above a canyon in Queenstown. You have full pilot control of a high-speed tethered plane for the seven minute flight, which starts out going from zero to 81 mph in 2 seconds, and reaches speeds up to 106 mph. Whoa! Did I mention you have full control of this thing? You steer and you adjust the throttle over the course of your flight.

It doesn’t stop there, though. New Zealand also has many other adrenaline sports, such as:

Tandem hang gliding – Self explanatory…

Heli-bungee – Yep, that’s bungee jumping from a helicopter.

Canyon Swing at Shotover River – Jump off the cliff-mounted platform 360 feet above Queenstown’s Shotover River, then freefall 200 feet into the canyon before the ropes smoothly pendulum you into a giant arc at 90 mph.

Zorbing – I’ve seen this one on The Amazing Race and other TV shows. The zorb is a clear plastic sphere inside another, inflated sphere. The rider steps inside the ball and then tumbles down the hill. There are plans to take the zorb onto New Zealand’s swift rivers and over waterfalls, which would be absolutely awesome!

An added bonus is that New Zealand was the location for the filming of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It would be awesome to visit those sites as well.

Maybe I’ll skip my vacation this year and save up for NZ next year…

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there and especially my own. I don’t know what I’d do without all this help through the years, especially since I’ve been a homeowner. My yard and landscaping would be a mess and I wouldn’t have a deck without his help. Thanks dad!

For whatever reason, I’m in a blogging slump lately. I’ve lost my mojo. Just can’t seem to come up with ideas on things to post. I’ve got the desire and time to write, just can’t think of anything to write about. I hate the site being “stale” like this, so I’ll throw something up here for now.

Shannon posted this as a myspace.com bulletin, so I’m chopping it up and reposting it here. Greater Cincinnatians (and anyone else who knows what we’re talking about), let’s hear your take on these important issues!

Skyline or Goldstar? Gold Star

Paul Brown or Cinergy? Paul Brown

Cinergy or Great American? Great American

Paul Brown or Great American? Great American

Cyclones or Mighty Ducks? Cyclones

UC or Xavier? Um, go UK!! Of the two, I’d pick Xavier, though.

Biggs or Krogers? Krogers

Northern Kentucky or Ohio? NKY all the way!

West side or East side? Tough call…I’d probably side slightly more with the East, though.

Newport Aquarium or Cincinnati Zoo? No preference

Bengals or Reds? Both

71 or 75? 75

Kings Island or the Beach? Kings Island

It has just been brought to my attention by my brother that some of you may have had problems leaving comments on this site. To help stop the massive amounts spam comments that had been flooding this blog, I installed and activated a Captcha-based security measure when I redid the site a month or so ago. I thought everything had been working right (not a drop of spam since then), but apparently there’s a case where the security code can’t be seen!

Sorry!

For the time being, I have turned off this “secret image” security measure. It will remain turned off until a) the site gets hammered with spam again or b) I find a way to fix the problem.

In case I have to turn it back on before I fix the issue, I’ll briefly tell you the way around the issue.

When you enter your name, email, etc. on the comment form and have cookies enabled, your browser will remember this information so you won’t have to type it in every time you want to leave a comment. The blog will see you as “logged in” to the site, so next time you that you visit you won’t see the name, email, etc. fields. Instead you see a message stating “Welcome back, <name>.” However, when the comment form is loaded and the name, email, etc. fields “disappear” if you’re logged in, so does the secret image box. To see the secret image, simply click the “Change” link next to the “Welcome back” message.

Sorry for the inconvenience! I hope this hasn’t frustrated too many of you, or made you think I was blocking you from the site…

[Update: Well, the spam was starting to come back in force again. Just a trickle at first, but more of a stream lately. That didn't take long... I've turned the security code back on, but I've made it so the comment form information wouldn't be hidden.]