Beave's Brain

So I've grown up and left blogger behind like so many do... You can find me at http://jbeave.wordpress.com/

Quick FYI: I'm back working at the company that had laid me off. Although this is a quick fix to much greater issues, It's an amazing turn of luck. We were racking our brains on how to provide for ourselves, and we caught a break. And now we return to your regularly scheduled programming...

My pants have been crying, my t-shirts wheezing and to top it all off my scale doesn't give me a weight anymore it's just laughs at me and says "Error." Rugby season is around the corner and even though I may not be able to afford to play I am not even close to being in shape to begin with.

This is the first time I've gone to the gym for a full week since I hurt my knee in last years spring season. That's pretty sad, but good news is that after my day off I went back to the gym without hesitation. I also found myself able to run for half of my cardio which was one hell of an accomplishment for me at this point.

One of my best friends and I have decided to participate in Muddy Buddy 2010. The event will be on my birthday which will be a pretty cool way to celebrate. It's one part running, one part biking and five parts crazy obstacles and 7 miles in total. So if I don't keep it up I will not only let myself down but a friend as well. This should give me the extra motivation to get my butt in shape. I'll make sure to post pictures after the event.

I've told you of my departure from my last gig. Although it's not my wisest decision, it was one of my proudest. I saw blantant racism and stood up for something I believed to be wrong. When I found that the corporate mentality of "reverse racism" to be more worried about lawsuits than about justice, I stood up for my beliefs and quit.

Now I've been working for a small poorly managed security company that pays minimum wage since it's the only place I could find a job. This company has been loosing more accounts than it has been bring in due to it's sub par sales rep. So now I am once again unemployed with no real opportunities in sight.

Normally I wouldn't let this really get to me but V is also unemployed and it's possible that neither of us will find anything anytime soon. This is one of the only times in my life that I have been truly worried about what may happen.

I may go back to school full time if I can get a cost of living loan. I may try to find a gig bouncing at a club again. I may even go wait outside the Home Depot with the rest of the workers trying to scrape by. I will go to the IDES tomorrow to file for unemployment. I will do everything I can to keep V's and my spirits up. I will find another job and so will V. I will be fine.

Ties... Lol

My post today on ties is about the tie or noose that technology has around my neck. I'm sure y'all can relate at least a little.

I want to start with a story about this blog to prove my point. At the beginning of the month I got excited about the possibility of blogging more due to the abundance of time I have at my current job. So I started writing and writing and writing; it was like I couldn't stop because the muse was with me. This lead to an abundance of blogs. So I set them up to be distributed throughout the upcoming week and was excited that I may keep up this month's NaBloPoMo. I let the blog sit, relying on Google's technology to properly post my blogs. Much to my surprise I got a comment with a wonderful note about not being disheartened about not making NaBloPoMo and to keep up the writing. I became furious that all that work just sat there and I had failed due to my complete reliance on technology. (Fear not Andi I will keep writing.)

I let technology rule my life 24/7. I set my BlackBerry alarm to wake me up every day even though I have an alarm clock right next to my bed. Everywhere I go I check in on foursquare. I Twitter, I FaceBook and now I Buzz. My laptop travels everywhere in my car with me. Someone says they are unsure of a fact, BAM! I Wikipedia it. Someone talks about a restaurant in the area but can't remember the name, BAM! I Google it. I just can't help not knowing when the answer is easily available. I have turned around after being halfway to work (a 45min drive) because I forgot my phone, and what the heck would I do WITHOUT MY BLACKBERRY!

My wife suggested I give up texting for Lent this year and I laughed at her because I don't really text that much. I know it looks that way but I'm almost always checking Twitter or FaceBook, leaving comments, emailing, tweeting, posting pictures and sometimes even blogging.

Everything I do, everywhere I go there is some form of unnecessary technology that grabs me. I really don't think I would have a quality life without these things. Maybe it's because I am an attention whore, maybe it's because I have an addictive personality or maybe it's just because we live in an age where all this is possible and I want to take advantage of it all. Whatever it is, I just don't want to be without my BlackBerry or an internet connection.

When I read that February's topic for NaBloPoMo was going to be ties my mind automatically went to politics. For those of you that know me, that's not a far stretch by any means. And being from Chicago, my mind ultimately goes straight to Mayor Daley. So today I want to talk about the ties the politicians hold around us.

When people talk about Illinois or Chicago they almost always stop at politics. They mention how corrupt our government is and how everything is tied to "Chicago style politics." Chicago style politics are, according to most, inherently corrupt and inept. My view is that it is not inherent but that they are made that way by the voters. The voters of Illinois like to keep things the way they even though they may complain about how bad it is. It seems that as soon as they are familiar with a candidate or politician they are ready to keep voting for them no matter what. If most of the population thinks Daley is corrupt and has only his best interests in heart, why is he still in office?

My only solution other than getting people to change, which is damn near impossible, is to impose term limits. Daley's been in office for 20 years now and can "buy" every election. Now I'm not saying he pays for votes or is doing anything illegal but he has so much money for campaigns he can probably run and win for another 20 years.

This opens up the issue of "career politicians." After 20 years in any position you begin to amass a ton of favors done and favors owed. We see this is trading votes in congress and we saw it with President Obama's seat with Blagojevich. If the political landscape continues to change we greatly diminish these issues as the "favors" become useless as the politicians leave office. Think of yourself in your own private life and all the people that you have done favors for and people that "owe you one." Now imagine if those people went away after 8 years. People would be more reluctant to do you a favor as they might not see their return. They would start doing things based on their own principles rather than what they could get in return for swaying slightly from them.

Just a few thoughts on our ties with "The Machine." Happy primary voting to all my fellow Illinoisans.

So I just submitted myself to NaBloPoMo for the month of February. The theme for this month is "Ties." Neck ties, your ties with the world, knot ties and I'm pretty sure Alex P. Keaton can even be a topic...

This is a stretch for me and I'm not really sure I can make it. I've been pretty down lately and I don't know if I can find enough to blog about let alone a theme. Ah well I'm gonna try my best and if I can make this one it would be an accomplishment seeing as I've never finished a NaBloPoMo yet. Wish me luck and I'll see you tomorrow with my first post on Ties!

I can't wait for things to move forward. I feel like I've been standing in quick sand barely holding my head above. I hope things move forward, and I know they will. It's just how long will it take? Will V's crazy family ever give up? Will I ever finish my degree and move ahead further than being low level lacky? Will this damned economy turn so my friends and family can get back to work and get on with their lives? I'm just worried that as the outcome remains bleak so will my attitude, and I hate wasting emotion on being worried, sad or upset when I could be using it to enjoy life.

A lot has changed since my last update. I am working for a new company; worse hours, less pay but 100% more respect. My current position is only temporary as I am holding on for the new year and a huge promotion from soldier to commander. Just waiting on the current commander to step down and to get trained. It's an honest company with a lot of potential that just needs a swift kick in the right direction. I hope to provide a leg for said kick. So for now I just need to grin and bear it.

V is looking for a position with a firm and although I can see it gets overwhelming for her sometimes I know she is strong enough to come out on top. She is smart and resilient and I'm positive she will do just fine.

As soon as V gets in somewhere we are going to start looking for a home. That is super exciting for me because I've always wanted to own a home and it will provide V and I with a place to grow a family. I've seen the struggle my parents went through to get their home and how long it took them to get it and I feel lucky to be even thinking about it at this point in my life.

Well I hope everyone out there is doing fantastic and I hope to be more active in my blog and the blogging community as this new gig gives me a lot of time to sit and stare at the walls aka blog/blackberry time.

"If I'm not evolving, I'm going to become extinct."



I've tried to always live by that since I realized I believed in evolution. I realized that evolution doesn't only happen over millions of years to an entire species but happens individually in our daily lives of who we become through our choices.



I got winded walking stairs at work that I normally have no problem with and I thought to myself maybe I'm getting sick. So the next day after not feeling any symptoms at all I patrolled the same area and got winded again. At this point I couldn't figure it out. How could I have become this out of shape in the two weeks I was off so I decided to weigh myself. I had gained a substantial amount of weight on my honeymoon and was disgusted. This little ordeal got me thinking about what I had been doing and if I was moving backwards rather than continuing to evolve.



I thought about all the changes I had made in the past year to my lifestyle both personally and to my environment. I thought about all the progress I had made and was disappointed in myself for allowing this to happen.



So I've sworn off the elevator, greasy fast food, decided to use public transport 3 of my 5 work days, made an attack plan for gym, and decided to purchase as much of my weekly groceries at the farmers market as possible. Let's see how long I can make this last. I have V's support so that will help a lot.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

So as I'm sure y'all are aware I have been planning (to attend, as V did most of the work) a wedding. On September 19th I got married. It was an amazing night and everything was beautiful and perfect sans a few wedding crashers.

We just got back from the honeymoon which was also amazing. We went to Disney and stayed at the Boardwalk and had a great time. Then we went to South Beach and stayed on Ocean and 7th so we were in the heart of everything. All I have to say is Wet Willy's is the shiznit! Then we had a day trip to the Keys for dinner and a sunset.

It'll be a few weeks before we get the professional pictures but I will be uploading a bunch from family and friends and I will post them soon for anyone interested.

Catch y'all later!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

So I got drunk and picked a winner on Friday of they got back to me making it official, Nikki of Tales from my Second City is the Poken winner! Nikki is an awesome blogger and a great Chicago implant. I am glad to see she won as she is a Panda-holic and and will make good use of the Poken.

For those of you who liked the Poken and would like to get one of your own, Andi has created a discount code for my 100th blog post celebration for you to use. BEAVEXN19Y8DR will get you a discount at Andi's Poken Store! Isn't she awesome!

It has taken me a long time to get to this point. I am not exactly the most steady blogger of all time but I never really thought that I would ever continue this long and cover so much of my thoughts and life in this blog. I am proud that I hit the 100 mark and I hope to hit 200 in a much quicker time frame.

Like I had said before there was going to be a giveaway when I hit my 100th post. The great Andi at Misadventures with Andi was the first contact I had with the blogging world who I felt knew me as much as I knew them. Andi gave me a Voodoo Poken as a gift when she opened her online shop Got To Buy Me A Poken and being as awesome as she is, she gave me one to give to a friend. So as you can see, this is a perfect circle from newbie to 100 and I've had the pleasure of both involving Andi.

If you don't know what a Poken is, it's this little social media RFID thingamajig that let's you share your contact information with your friends and new aquantiances. They are fanfreakingtastic. I have my blog, my twitter and my facebook linked up to it allowing me to instantly and easily transfer my data to anyone with a Poken. You simply have your Poken Hi 4 your friends and you have all thier info and they have yours. It connects via USB and your contacts Poken Cards are in your virtual roledex at doyoupoken.com. I am actually surprised that as many people in Chicago have Pokens.. Pokei? (whatever the plural is...) as I they do. Now when I meet new people I simply ask "Do you Poken?"

Now for the contest. I am giving away the Panda Poken one of the coolest there is. Simply comment on any one of my blogs and your entered! If you commented a year ago your still entered! Also if you retweet the contest you are entered a second time! [ RT @jbeave Beave's Poken Givaway! Want to get your hands on a Poken? Retweet to enter! http://bit.ly/QaB5Q #Poken ]

Good luck everyone!!

The contest ends Thursday July 9th at 11:59pm. I will draw the winner Friday July 10th. The winner will be contacted via email or Twitter DM. If I don't hear from the winner within a few days another winner will be drawn.

Apparently I need to go through some kind of therapy or become a politician. I am getting more and more annoyed by the culture I live in. I am so proud of it sometimes and so fricking pissed off by it other times. How is it that we are so enamored by the death of a celebrity yet so lackadaisical regarding world events? I know I rambled on in my last post about the lack of news coverage regarding Iran, but seriously how is it that we care about Jackson and Fawcett more than the suffering of MILLIONS of people around the world.

I see top headlines on Google about a man that died, a woman that died and crap about a guy who cheated on his wife in South Carolina. Is that really more important that the daily deadly blasts in Iraq, the attacks in Nigeria, the terriable human rights violations in Palestine, China and Egypt and the horrific things happening to the people in Iran? Is this what we have become? A people more connected with our celebrities than the rest of the world? Ask anyone on the street who Heidi and Spencer are and I bet 95% know. Now ask them who Jalal Talabani is and I will guarantee only 5% know who he is.

I saw a tweet from @bandcandy that said it perfectly for me: "This whole 'CNN relies on Twitter for news' thing is all Iran's fault. They're quoting MC Hammer's tweets right now."

Don't get me wrong I am sad for the families of the deceased, and the family of the Gov. Sanford. I just don't believe that the troubles of a few should outweigh the cries of so many.

I would really like to know... How many of you who read this had to click the links to find out who Heidi and Spencer are and how many of you had to click the link to find out who Jalal Talabani is. Please be honest even if you need to post anonymously to tell me. I am really interested.

There is almost no coverage of what's happening to Iran right now... Other than Twitter, Aljazeera and BBC I cannot find ANYTHING! How do you not report on a country that has rioted the way they are, with citizens terrified to leave their houses, with a government that cut out all mobile and internet networks within the country, that is blocking television channels? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE IN TODAY'S SOCIETY?!?!?

Imagine what you felt during the 2000 elections... except this time the nation knows George Bush circa 2008 and he is running against Obama. Now imagine you believe the Bush rigged the election and they put Obama on house arrest, cut your cell phones off, cut your internet service, shutdown satalite news stations and just ran a goverment sponsered news channel on your TV. Now you go to the streets to protest, just for being outside you will be shot by rubber bullets and beaten by police. HOW THE WOULD YOU FEEL IF THE REST OF THE WORLD IGNORED IT?

I am so pissed off right now that these so-called 24 hour news companies are failing so badly. This election affects the entire world not just Iran. This affects our relations with the Middle East and it affects the entire stability of the Middle East.

That is such a sad word, but that is what I have done with this blog. Total neglect, to the point where more people than I have subscribers have asked me what happened to me (makes me feel all special and crap.) I've just been keeping myself busy with classes and work.

The spring rugby season is over even though I missed the last bit from injury and the bachelor party. I have definitely fallen in love with playing that game. As soon as my knee is 100% I am gonna go and practice with the seven's squad to get in better shape and learn so when I play next spring I will be a force to reckon with.

Work is work and I think that it has lost some of it's luster, but I still enjoy what I do and who I do it with. Just not necessary who I do it for as much as I used to due to some recent management changes.

14 days till one of my very best friends gets married and I'm the best man for that one. I am super excited for them! C & M are two of the best people I have ever known and are totally made for each other. Although I don't know how he managed to land her in the first place, she is way outta his league... hahahaha!

Also! If you managed to read through all the boring personal crap I just wrote I'm having a Fantasticular giveaway for my 100th post! I will hint you into the awesomeness of what it is by the that time but for now you have to wait and see.

...isn’t supposed to be an all or nothing battle between misery and bliss. Life isn’t supposed to be a battle at all. And when it comes to happiness, well, sometimes life is just okay, sometimes it’s comfortable, sometimes wonderful, sometimes boring, sometimes unpleasant. When your day’s not perfect, it’s not a failure or a terrible loss. It’s just another day." -Barbara Sher



Something for all of us to remember next time we are having a bad day.

URLesque came out with the top 100 Most Iconic Internet Videos. They accompany each video with a background story which is really cool if you have about 3+ hours to watch and read each one. So If you'd like to waste a whole bunch of time here is the list. Enjoy


100. Bad Day

99. Scarlet Takes A Tumble

98. Roomba Driver (Cat on a Roomba)

97. Worst Day of My Life (Crying Idol Girls)

96. Lip Dub - 'Flagpole Sitta'

95. Charlie the Unicorn

94. Winnebago Man

93. Leeroy Jenkins

92. Lightning Bolt

91. The Average Homeboy (Denny Blaze)

90. The Machine Is Us/ing Us

89. Corey Worthington Delaney

88. Gamer Freak Out (Angry German Kid)

87. Impossible Is Nothing (Worst Resume Ever)

86. Shiba Inu Puppy Cam

85. Dog Saves Injured Dog From Freeway

84. Trapped In An Elevator

83. All Your Base Are Belong To Us

82. Guinness World Record for Most T-Shirts Worn at One Time

81. Tron Guy

80. Bill O'Reilly Flips Out (We'll Do It Live!)

79. iJustine's iPhone Bill

78. Barack Roll

77. Nintendo 64 Kid

76. Kittens Inspired By Kittens

75. Look At That Horse

74. Tom Cruise's Scientology Video

73. Powerthirst

72. David Elsewhere

71. G.I. Joe Porkchop Sandwiches Mash-Up

70. Will It Blend?

69. Samwell, 'What What (In The Butt)'

68. Wii Fit Girl

67. Little Superstar

66. Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

65. Liam Sullivan's 'Shoes'

64. La Caida de Edgar (Edgar's Fall)

63. Gellieman, 'Aicha'

62. Peanut Butter Jelly Time

61. Inmate 'Thriller' Dance

60. Parry Gripp Remixes - 'Cat Flushing the Toilet'

59. Avril Lavigne, 'Girlfriend'

58. Whistle Tips With Bubb Rubb and Lil' Sis

57. Breakdance Baby Kick

56. Cockroach vs. Weatherman

55. Potter Puppet Pals

54. Hahaha (Laughing Baby)

53. Howard Dean Scream

52. Fred

51. The Landlord

50. 2 Girls 1 Cup / Reaction Videos

49. Frozen Grand Central

48. Otters Holding Hands

47. Old Lady Punch

46. Daft Hands

45. One Man Band

44. 'Hey Jude' Kid

43. Fat Kid on a Rollercoaster

42. Afro Ninja

41. Skateboarding Dog

40. Christian Bale Freak Out

39. The Two Talking Cats

38. Obama Girl - 'I've Got a Crush on Obama'

37. Lonelygirl15

36. One Bank

35. will.i.am, 'Yes We Can

34. Guys Backflip Into Jeans

33. 'Shining' Trailer Remix

32. Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama

31. Jib Jab, 'This Land'

30. Miss Teen South Carolina

29. Dramatic Chipmunk

28. Back Dorm Boys

27. Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, 'Crank That'

26. Exploding Whale

25. "Don't Tase Me, Bro"

24. Guitar ('Canon')

23. Free Hugs Campaign

22. Tay Zonday, 'Chocolate Rain'

21. 'One Night in Paris' (Paris Hilton Sex Tape)

20. The Evolution of Dance

19. Maze Scare Pranks

18. 'I Like Turtles'

17. Diet Coke and Mentos Eruption

16. 'Charlie Bit My Finger'

15. Noah Takes a Photo of Himself Every Day

14. 'Boom Goes the Dynamite'

13. OK Go, 'Here It Goes Again' Treadmill Video

12. Michael Richards' Racist Rant

11. Numa Numa

10. Sneezing Baby Panda

9. 'Lazy Sunday'

8. Where the Hell Is Matt?

7. David After Dentist

6. 'Never Gonna Give You Up' (Rick roll)

5. Chris Crocker, 'Leave Britney Alone'

4. Barack Obama's First YouTube Address

3. Grape Lady Falls

2. Christian The Lion

1. Star Wars Kid

"We want to reunite people with their memories, not profit off of people's memories"

Have you ever lost your camera and been more upset that you lost those memories than about the expensive camera they were taken in? Have you ever found someone's camera, memory stick or film and wondered how you could ever possibly get them back? Well Cavy tweeted about this great blog where someone is connecting orphan pictures with their rightful homes.

Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures is an amazing blog that posts every Thursday with a new collection of lost photos. They even broke it down to where the photos were found to make it easier for the owner to track down theirs.

So did you find a lost camera or memory card? Email at least four photos from your found camera and include any other details, time, location, school, etc. It's that easy to save someone's heartache!

Make sure to bookmark Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures in case you ever come across someone's photos!

So what happens when someone starts winning the race for freedom? You knock 'em down with bs and scare tactics. Sadly for them, since no real actors are giant douchebags, they had to use these bottom of the barrel actors.

LOOK AT THOSE SCARY CLOUDS! THE GAYS ARE COMING! THE GAYS ARE COMING!

I'm just freelance quality assurance for the beer industry. -Ben Cox

I wish it was clearer but you get the point...



↓↓↓↓This is why we were doing Eagleman commercials↓↓↓↓