A Warning

I don't think I'll be talking about my late Dad much. I'm not trying to just move on, or whatever, I just don't really want to write about it, or I feel like I lack the eloquence to do it. So when you see new posts that make it seem like I'm just fine, it's not because I'm over it, it's just that I don't want to write about him. It still haunts me, but I knew it would. So I'm just warning you. Besides, my uncle is doing a much better job of writing about Gary than I ever could have done... (Switch2planb.com)

The Situation With Dad

It starts with a Dance.
What makes it worse about Gary is just what a man he is.
If ever there were saints, he's one of them.
If ever there were scholars, he's one of them.
If ever there were good fathers, he's one of them.
And if ever there was true love... Gary and Mitzi have it.

So it's really quite tragic to see him diminished to what he is now - speech is incredibly difficult for him, and he has trouble moving around.

I will never forget that week under the maple tree with friends and family, near and distant, all come together to toast to Gary, the man they all know and love dearly.

So a toast! To Gary! A good Father. A good Husband. A good Doctor. And a Saint.

Up The Ante

Because that's just what my uncle Brian did recently. He upped the ante.

While some of you may not know this, Brian of Switch 2 Plan B is quite a blogger and is part of a very active blogging communities. Yesterday he did a post titled "Avuncular" and comically referenced both me and my cousin Calvin. And already I see that Calvin's blog has gotten comments from Brian's friends. Comments = views + feedback. I.E. Good.

To be honest, this panics me a little bit. First impressions are really important for repeat visits, and quite frankly most of the stuff I've been writing recently seem more like filler than anything else. I don't like writing filler, but some days I can write well and others I can't think of anything.

All I can say is that I better step it up. And for any new visitors, make sure you take a look past the first two or three posts. You'll find there's more to me than meets the eye.

The Different Types of Blogs

You know, I've been thinking about the nature of my blog, and the nature of other blogs, and how mine fits into it. Or how I fit as a blogger. I've arrived at a few conclusions - mainly that there are essentially three different types of blogs.

Type 1 - Completed.

These are the blogs that you occasionally see and try to go back to, but find nothing new. This means that the blogger has probably moved on and left it to die. These are like novels, and if you look closely, you can find some really good gems. Of course, none of these classifications ensures quality, but I've found that these can be quite good. Take The Musings And General Ponderings of Master Seth. This was really a great blog because of it's content, and it remains so. Seth wrote in this sort of Homeric style and had interesting things to write about. But he won't be updating it anytime soon, I think. But it's a great collection of stories, still.

Type 2 - Semi-Regular

These are the blogs that are updated less than twelve or so times a month. Usually, these ensure better quality, seeing as the author is given more time to write better posts. The best example of this blog would be Switch 2 Plan B. I personally know the author, and he is a great speaker and writer as far as I know him. Like I said, these can be very good quality due to time over post distribution, and there definitely a lot of great blogs in this category.

Type 3 - Regular

This is the sort of blog that are updated more than twelve or so times a month. These can be good, and if nothing else, a steady stream of new material usually flows from the author. The perfect example, I think, would be none other than yours truly, Alcatraz014. My frequency's gone down, but my quality, I think has probably gone up (or at least according to the poll I put up). You have to be careful with these ones though. They can be more filler than good stuff, and you may find yourself looking for stories and finding Youtube videos (I'm guilty of that a few times).

There's one other distinction that you can make in blogs, and that is it's audience. If you ever take a look at the Blogs of Note on blogspot, you'll probably notice that most of them seem to have an exclusive audience. Christians, horse owners, artists, musicians, and medical workers (I've even seen a Santa blog) seem to be very common niches. I think my audience may pertain mostly to high school students such as myself, but I think that most people could read of my adventures and not be bored to tears or have no idea what I'm talking about. But then again, I'm not even sure I have an audience. It should be noted that I have more than one blog, but they're all Type 1 except my Mobile blog. Which doesn't count.

The Christmas Spirit

First snow of the season and Christmas is really beginning to show.

The day started out sluggishly. Like a wet sponge. Like the past few days I woke up and spent about three hours in the basement entertainment center. The thing about waking up and doing nothing is that it often makes you do nothing later. And that's just what it did. When we were called up to make Christmas cookies, I nearly sank my face down in the dough from exhaustion. But I held and we decorated our shortbread cookies with all varieties of Christmas sprinkles.

After baking them and laying them out for display, we again laid around until 5:00 PM and then went to the Saturday mass at St. Mary's Church. I like going to mass but I wish I could've served as the cross bearer. It really helps my experience of the mass when I feel I'm contributing. But instead I sat with my family and listened to the Homily about St. Joseph. I may have wavering faith in the church but it warms my heart to see the community that joins together for the Eucharist.

At any rate, after the mass, we went to Kurt and Amy's. Kurt and Amy are two of my aunts and uncles and they are the only ones that live in Boise. I have noticed that they have some questionable financial tactics, but they are good people and their daughter Ali, is the sweetest little girl alive. She is only about three and like most other three-year-old-girls, she is a princess fanatic, and I ended up playing the princess wishes card game with her. But not before seeing the tree. It seemed humble in comparison to the house, and it really got me thinking about Christmas.

As time goes on, it always seems that holidays mean less and less. Several years ago, I couldn't wait for Christmas. I was excited out of my mind. This year, it just seems to familiar. It just is less of a big deal now. I miss waking up with that irrational excitement of gifts and stockings. Because that joy is gone now. But in place of it I have picked up an appreciation of spending time with my family. I now look forward to seeing Micheal home and Jessica coming over. And I think that this is somewhat better. It may not be the same sort of luster that Christmas used to have, but it is much more meaningful now. I've had my Mount Crumpit Moment (Switch 2 Plan B) and have lost my boyish materialistic thrills of gifts and picked up a much more mature enjoyment in the company of my dear family and friends. It's not Christmas I'm looking forward to, it's the people that Christmas brings about. And that's the true spirit of Christmas.

On another note, hen I came home, I found that I had left my bike in the snow and it made this neat little imprint in the snow seen above. It gives a good impression of how much snow we got.


"It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!" - Dr. Seus's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

A difference

-Barilan's map of the Internet-

I keep wondering whether or not anybody really reads this blog. I can't really count family and friends, but I'm wondering if someone would look at my blog and say to themselves, This guy is good. I'd like to read about him and his life daily. I'm worried that the answer is no.

I've had two comments so far, and one of them was by my older brother while the other was from a classmate, so I can't really count them. That kind of goes for a lot of things. When you're skilled at something, you're only really skilled if you actually have people you don't know that think that. Of course my friends will tell me I'm good at something, but I need a really neutral point of view to assess myself accurately.

I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much. Such is the nature of blogging after all. My uncle blogs, and his link is up on my side menu. He says alot of really good stuff on the matter, and I would suggest you take a glimpse at his page to get a picture of an expertly crafted blog.

But I'm not going for expert writing. I don't know waht I'm going for. But I do know that I want people reading, for better or for worse. Andl I know is that you don't get a huge successful blog overnight. So I write daily, and hope that people read as such. But I rather doubt it. But who knows? Anything can happen on the World Wide Web.

"A person sits alone at his computer and presses “publish,” while across the country, a restless reader closes out a window and moves on to another blog…" - Switch 2 Plan B (Brian Cieslak)