Bit of a Geek

Yeah, I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

I'm a Geek.

No, not one of those people who bite the heads off chickens. More of the current Geek. The kind of guy who dresses up in replica movie costumes on nights other than Halloween. The kind of guy who loves tossing dice at a table with his friends that have more than 6 sides. The kind of guy who will read webcomics late into the night on my phone, instead of sleeping.

Like I said, I've said all this before. I've written about attending conventions, costumes I've worn, working in Hollywood, the full nine yards. I have a Geekling that refuses to blink when she looks at a stone angel, and loves playing with her Daddy's stuffed X-Wing Fighter.

I'm a Geek.

I'm a Geek that has finally started getting the ball rolling on his dream blog.

I have finally just completely nuked the Wordpress blog, and in the meantime, I'm working within the constraints of Google's Blogger platform. Yes, the same platform that this blog is written on. So far, I think I'm making it work, but we'll see.

So, what I've finally started back up is my Geeking in Indiana blog. This is a blog about being a Geek in Indiana. Shops to visit, events and conventions to attend, and just different Geeky things I've done around here. Yeah, sometimes it'll be about events out of Indiana, but 98% will be based inside our wonderful state's borders. So far, I've uploaded most of my review posts from the old Wordpress blog, and I'm working on editing and updating those posts, as well as putting up new content.

Not only do I have that, but I have the Indiana Geeking Twitter Feed that I'm updating a bit more regularly. I'll be using that feed to whore out new posts, as well as interacting with friends and fellow geeks using less than 140 characters.

I've also got a Facebook Page for the blog. It's another place that I'll be posting about new articles, as well as talking about upcoming events, conventions, and other things of Geek Interest happening around the area.

For those who love it, I've got a Google Plus page that I've started, as well. I know I have some friends on the Plus, so feel free to add me to your Circles.

Finally, I've also got a map. Yes, a frakkin' GOOGLE MAP listing every place I've found on my web searching, thumbing through phone books, and driving around. The Map is being tagged as I review places with a link to the blog, and will hopefully be a good reference for my fellow geeks.

So here we go. It's up, it's posted.

Let's do this.
Tony

Is it January Yet?

You know, I'm used to going out of Thanksgiving Weekend into the month of December. Is anyone else a bit thrown off with the 1st not coming until Saturday? Oh well.

This time of year stresses me out to no end. I've got a Geekling who thinks that everything she sees on television and goes "I want it!" will be brought to her by Sandy Claws on Christmas morning. Yes, Sandy Claws. She loves "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and has been quoted as saying, upon seeing a fat, jolly Santa, "That not Santa, Jack Santa!" Anyway, trying to gently let her know that there isn't a snowball's chance that Santa will be bringing her Gak is only met with tears and screaming, so I'm still working on that.

On top of that, our office hasn't moved yet, and we're still behind the Fashion Mall at Keystone. That makes traffic... fun. I am having to go out of the way, and come through the back entrance to the office park, to actually make it to work on time. And this is when I leave an hour early. Mall traffic just gives me anxiety, that's all there is to it. Probably comes from having spent 10 of the last 14 Christmas season's working retail.

Gift buying is also fun. I've got Shannon taken care of, and I think the Geekling is pretty good, but what about my brother and his family? My parents? The in-laws? Yeah, I'm looking at handmade presents. Well, I am for everyone but the nephews, because how can you explain to a six and three year old why they aren't getting a toy from their Aunt and Uncle? Yeah, you can't. I'm sorry. Everyone else will understand, I hope.

Holidays are just a time of stress and struggling with money. Yeah, I know this is a downer topic, but I can't be all Unicorn Farts and Rainbows, I'm sorry. The holidays are times of the type of stress that I won't put out there for anything, but stress none the less. They are times where I really wish I could get 4 or 5 extra jobs so I could buy people gifts from Dollar Tree and still be able to afford to eat and pay the other bills. It's the time where I start stressing about the extra 70 miles a week I'm driving because my workplace hasn't moved during the time frame that I thought we would be moving, so my budget has been thrown off. It's the time of year that we're hitting websites that offer Amazon Gift Cards as perks heavily so we can get a little extra scratch.

I know that I shouldn't be so materialistic, and feel like I need to be giving store bought trinkets to everyone that's related to me in some way, but I do. These are people who always support me, in their own way. They slip me gas money, they buy me lunch or dinner. They give an encouraging word, or they let me know when I'm being a putz. These are people that always give to me, and yet I can never afford to give anything back.

So, if you see me posting, asking if it's January yet, there you go. I'll make it, I'll try not to be moody, but it happens. I'll just try to keep it off of here.

Later.
Tony

Mindless Rambling

Sometimes, I just sit here and stare. I stare at the same websites over, and over, and over. Refresh The Twitter and The Book of Face to see if anything is new. There are times that I'll even check Google Plus, that's how bored I get.

Motivation is a tough thing for me. I admit it. I can either get up in the morning and go for a walk, try to get some exercise and lose weight, or I can spend the morning with the Geekling before work. I can hit the gym after work, or I can haul my fat bum home to spend with Shannon. I could sit here and stare at a screen, trying to figure out what to write so I can disappoint people who visit, or I can watch Grumpy Cat videos on YouTube. I can try to figure out what's up with my Wordpress stuff, or I can get distracted by online contests that I probably won't win.

In fact, I'm getting distracted by one right now.

Seriously, if I went to a doctor, I'd probably be diagnosed with adult ADD... ADD is Attention Deficit Disorder, and not Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, right? Okay, cool.

Tonight is really bad. I think it's because I've actually found some direction to my Wordpress issues, I have some tasks I'm trying to get done online, and I'm listening to Reel Big Fish on Spotify. I just can't focus. So, I'm switching to Mumford and Sons and we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, this week is Thanksgiving, and then this weekend is the weekend where I don't care HOW cheap a TV is, I'm not leaving the house and going around ANY form of retail. I enjoy the fact that my place of employment gives me Thursday and Friday off, paid, so I don't have to go out into the mad rush.

In the meantime, I need to start planning. Planning some more blog posts, planning my steps on Wordpress, planning on how to get my bum out there and become less of a fatarse.

Planning on how not to be a rambling mess on here.
Til tomorrow,
Tony

Night Biking

Don't you love it when you have a plan? You've had a long weekend at work, and you are looking forward to a relaxing bike ride with friends on a nice, cool evening?

You pull out your bike from the storage shed/closet where it was put when you moved into your new apartment and give it the once over. All the lights work, the fender strut that snapped off doesn't cause the fender to rub against the tire, so no harm, no foul. The tires are full, the seat is still positioned correctly, so you load it up into the car and go about your business for the rest of the day.

At a quarter 'til six that evening, you find the trail head for the Monon at 96th Street, and pull into a spot, glad to see your friends. You walk over, say hi, then unload your bike and helmet, standing around and talking waiting for everyone else to show up. Once everyone arrives, some self-shot photos are taken, and everyone saddles up and goes on their way.

Dang, you feel like you're totally out of shape. You immediately start lagging behind, and your friends have to wait for you ever half mile or so. You didn't think you got THAT out of shape, but you're determined to keep up.

Finally, close to 2 miles into a 12 mile ride, you decide to check something when you catch up to them, again. You reach down and squeeze the front tire, and your finger pushes in to touch the rim. Leaning back, you check the rear tire, and it's the same situation.

You just rode almost 2 miles on flat tires.

It was a lovely solo walk back pushing the bike, and I'll be checking it out this weekend to make sure I didn't damage the wheels.

For some reason, biking is not a good friend of mine. It never really ends well. Oh well, maybe next time, I'll be able to keep up better with actual air in my tires.

Later,
Tony

Follow Friday: The BgKahuna Blog

So, The Twitter has this hashtag thing that people do called #FollowFriday, or #FF for short, because those 140 characters are a precious commodity. I sometimes do those, sometimes I don't, but it got me thinking about today's blog post and what to write about.

Why don't I do my own Follow Friday for my friend's blogs?

I have a decent amount of friends who write blogs, so let's give them a little love on here.

So, for today's post, I shall start my first #BlogFollowFriday, and this will NOT shorten to #BFF.

Today, I'm going to be a wee bit self-serving, but just a tiny bit because it's a nice segue into this recommendation. You remember how I mentioned that I wrote a guest post last weekend, and that's what prompted me to write again? Oh, you don't? Well, read it. I'll wait.

Are we good? Then let's move on.

Anyway, if you are not familiar with the man, the myth, the legend that IS the BgKahuna, I'm wondering what's wrong? The guys is regionally famous in anywhere from 1.25 to 4.25 zip codes, and those regions might be located in Japan. Who knows, though? It's all part of the myth. He is rumored to be part-Cat Lady, part Unicorn Trainer, but still 100% Pure Awesome. He is a father, a husband, a clown, and a caring individual. He loves his bacon and his Trader Joes Beer, and he honestly believes it when he tells you that "You can donut!"

And he has a pretty nifty blog at BgKahuna.com. It's a wonderful little slice of Kahuna where he showcases his photography, cool things he does with his family, his thoughts, and his "There's Nothing To Do In Indy" posts, which is what I guest wrote for.

So, today's #BlogFollowFriday is the blog for BgKahuna. Check it out.

Later,
Tony

Movember, Day 15

Movember: Day 15. I'm almost feeling a "Weird Al" vibe here.

If you haven't heard of Movember, then you honestly haven't come here from either my Twitter Feed, my Facebook page, or my Google + Page. It seems that many of my friends, not only here in Indiana but also around the country, are growing out their upper lip to either look like a creep, or try to raise awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Face it, we have so much awareness for the ta ta's, what about the, well, man parts?

Yeah, there was really no tasteful way I could come up with to put that, and since I try to keep it clean here, I gotta protect my brand, so I avoided any "nuts" jokes.

Moving on.

The idea is that, starting November 1st, you start with a clean shaven face, and grow a moustache. You also register with the Movember Website, download the app to your phone, and attempt to raise money towards research.

By the way, here is my donation link if you would like to help out. No pressure, though.

I've actually been clean shaven for a few months now, to go with the bald head, but I figured that it's a good cause, so I joined up with the team for Do It Indy, and got to a growing. Now, here I am, 15 days in, kind of looking like, well, I have two weeks of pathetic moustache growth. I know that by the end of the month, I won't have any epic handlebar or anything like that, but there it is.

So, with today's post, I would like to ask for your help. Please visit my donation page and drop a little bit in for me, or the team. Every little bit helps.

Until next time,
Tony

I'm Running Out of Excuses

So, lately I've been looking at here, feeling like I NEED to put something up. Obviously, however, I haven't been able to. I just... I honestly don't know why. I could probably put excuses up like I've been working a lot, or that when I'm not at work, I'd rather be spending time with my family. Either way, not much has been happening on ANY of the blog fronts.

However, today, I saw this comic strip posted up on the always awesome "The Oatmeal" webcomic site. It touches on content creation, and specifically touching on creating content for the web. Now, this creator actually creates for a living, as do many of the people I follow on Social Media, some of which follow me back. Heck, they might even subject themselves to the torture of reading this blog every once in a while. I don't know. However, I know a lot of them would understand that comic, so I made sure to share it.

It also got me thinking about these blogs again. I haven't touched this one in over a month. The blogspot for Indiana Geeking is pretty dead, since I haven't been able to go out and do anything, and have only been inspired by the recent acquisition of Lucasfilm, LTD. by the Walt Disney Company. I'm at a total loss on what to do with the ACTUAL Geeking In Indiana site, so I'm trying to work on that. Finally, I've actually got my family back, so I am planning and working on some short articles for the Troxell Pack site.

Anyway.

Lately, it seems that all I've been creating on here is excuses why I'm not creating anything.I didn't realize how rusty I had let myself get until over the weekend, a friend asked if I wanted to pen a short guest blog post for his "Nothing To Do In Indy" section of his blog. Since this is an awesome friend (seriously, look at the links to the right of this post. See the BgKahuna Blog? Visit it. Awesome.) that does awesome things on line, I was honored and excited to help contribute to his blog. At least, I was until I sat down to write the post. That's when I realized I was out of practice.

I'm getting back on the horse, I'm going to try to get posts out more regularly again, get myself geared up to create content for other places as well.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel this way, and I'll have something up here other than excuses.

Tony