Well, this last month wasn’t the best.  My Uncle Laird passed away.  It’s sad because he was my godfather and an all around cool guy:  a former marine, a security guard turn manager at Northrup Grumman, and an avid football/baseball fan.  I saw him last in April when he and my Aunt Pat visited us (they’re from Maryland).  A coworker had given me two tickets to the Cardinals game against Houston, and I decided to take him.  We shot the breeze, talked about the Orioles, and updated curious fans nearby about who the Rams had picked during the NFL draft:  my iPhone’s battery really worked hard that day!  The game was one to remember, too.  Schumaker hit in the game winning run in the bottom of the 9th!  I was reminded of this today as I watched the Fox Midwest Sports channel as I worked out today:  Schumaker’s hit was the 4th or 5th best play of the season.  After the ballgame, we met up with the rest of the family who had went to the zoo, and ate at Cunnetto’s House of Pasta.  Every time they come out, we would go there.  Uncle Laird and I got the Bistecca Soto (which is awesome btw), and it was nice to have the whole family there enjoying a good meal.

A little over a month later,  Uncle Ron (my grandmother’s nephew) died at 51, and then a weak later, I learned that Uncle Laird had a heart attack and a triple bypass, but it seemed he might pull out.  My cousin Brian, Ron’s son and the same age as I am, not only lost his father, but lost Uncle Laird three weeks later:  he even noted that Uncle Laird was coughing a lot and didn’t seem alright.  Brian’s a great guy, and I’ve been thinking about him a lot because these events really wore down his spirit.  It’s sad that it took my Uncle’s passing to reconnect with that part of the family, and it’s a sad coincidence because I had planned on seeing them this summer anyway.  I think I will anyway!  So anyway, to finish this rambling blog post, I just want to say farewell to Uncle Laird and I’ll always remember you.

Lately, it seems I’m being pulled in many different directions:  is it an inability to say, “No,” am I just managing my time poorly, or am I just succumbing to false expectations of myself?   I definitely know the first one contributes a lot.  I feel I’m agreeing to do anything and everything when asked for favors/jobs/social time.  I also know I could manage my time better:  this is especially true in the sleep department.  I need to get more of it so that I can stay focused during the day and have that additional energy to start/finish projects.  But, everyone tells me I expect too much out of myself.  I don’t know if that’s good or not.   I hope they don’t have low expectations of me (I really don’t think that…) or they’re just telling me to relax and enjoy the present.  Taking these last couple weeks, I’ve seen an improvement in my productive time without sacrificing the me time.  But, I’m not quite where I want to be…I’ll know it when I get there in the next couple weeks…

Anyway, I’ve updated my Wordpress to 2.51, and I hope this means this website will run smoother and securely.  Oh, I’m also going to add a new commenting system using intensedebate.com’s commenting ecosystem (a funny word to use in the digital world, but if I do succeed in creating a community here, then ecosystem isn’t too far off the mark!).  So if you see something here that needs to be commented on, go right ahead and do it!

If you’re not on Twitter, you might not understand it.  It’s like biodiesel.  You know it’s good, you might know someone who uses it, but you have no idea why or how to use it.  Plus, twitter even smells like Chinese food or french fries when you burn it!  :P  Ok, not really.  I’ve been finding Twitter really useful.  Since people are limited to communicating in 140 character blurbs (aka:  Tweets), they’re like useful digital fortune cookies, or maybe it’s more like a minute by minute zeitgeist barometer.  Well, whatever clever (or not so clever) metaphor I come up with, Twitter has been delivering tidbits of golden information to my digital front door.  I’ve discovered new music, websites, news, and productivity tips.  You are either followed or you follow others on Twitter.  I follow those who I think might offer something useful to me.  Hopefully, those who follow me feel the same way about my tweets.  But there’s also a social aspect.  I’m definitely using Twitter as a networking tool.  There are a lot of cool local professionals and artists on Twitter, and it’s been rewarding to peak into their life for that brief moment they post a tweet. You can really get lost in all those tweets flashing by on your screen (and if you really want a wast of time where tweets litterally flash across the screen, then go to Twistori.com!)

But as someone who will venture into biodiesel this summer (ok, getting back to this post’s theme), I need to be careful with it.  I don’t want to waste my time on it and not get anything in return.  If I get that Mercedes diesel, I need to know if I’m going to save on fuel costs.  On Twitter, if I’m not getting anything useful from it, I need to reign it in and stop spending productive time on it.  Like anything, it’ll be all good in moderation.  If you’re not on twitter, get on it and follow my twitter account mixmistakooz  (if you live in the STL, then also follow STL_Twits).

I just want to lament the fact that Bill Moyers doesn’t get more widely distributed.  It seems that not having a profit-driven agenda (like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC) means your message is less important.  Disinterested examinations of a topic have little validity in the mainstream media:  when in fact, the opposite should be true.  I just watched Bill Moyer’s report and interview with Jermiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor, and it was as evenhanded as possible.  He had a civil discussion with Wright, and wanted to understand him and his views.  If this had happened on one of the cable news stations or major networks, they would have been focused solely on “gotcha” questions and not delved into any substance.  Our news media is in a sad state.

This also leads me (well, actually it doesn’t) to a short review of the lastest version of Ubuntu Linux Hardy Heron (apparently Ubuntu likes to give thier operating system versions animal names).  Ubuntu is one of many flavors of Linux, an open source, free operating system.  The problem with Linux in general is that it’s hard to use:  only hardcore geeks need apply.  The latest version of Ubuntu has lowered the bar significantly in terms of ease of use.  To use isntall it and use the preloaded programs (like Firefox, OpenOffice, etc), you just need to be comfortable using a computer, but if you want to install new programs, there might still be some snags.  One might need to delve into the command line, fix some permissions, or search for hard to find drivers.   But, overall, it’s a solid, stable platform that made a nice leap forward in ease of use!

I had an interesting experience the other night:  I was invited backstage to Steve Job’s keynote announcing the 3G iPhone.  It was really exciting!  I’ve had my iPhone since the day it came out last June, and honestly, it feels as if I’ve had it for a lot longer!  I guess my constant use of the iPhone prompted my invitation backstage to get a first look at the 3G iPhone.  It was about the same thickness of the original iPhone, but the face was black and a bit of a vshape at the bottom where the home button is located.  It was just absolutely exciting to be there backstage.  I took in the nighttime scene behind the stage:  the tall redwood trees were swaying behind the outdoor ampitheater, while off in the distance, the Ewok village rested peacefully.  So yea, I must really want the next generation iPhone because I was dreaming.  Dreaming!  It’s my subconscious telling me to save up for the next iPhone, and that Steve Jobs uses Ewoks to build and design the iPhone.  Interesting insight.

I’ve added a lot more photos to my Flickr webpage!  A lot of old school kooz and some Truman State U pics!  Lots of old and good memories!  Yea, I sure was a cute kid then an ugly teenager.  But, I don’t regret it because that’s what made me who I am today!  Enjoy.  You should have a big laugh.

Once again, I have re-invented kooz.net!  I love this new style of blog!  I hope you all like it!   My last Content Management System was called Joomla.  It wasn’t all that bad!  It did what I wanted it to do, which was to blog, add some links, and have up to the moment updates, but it wasn’t always that easy or seemless.  If you can wrestle with a metaphorical bull whose horn is stuck up your pants and you’re about to show everyone your junk, then Joomla is not so bad.  Oh believe me, I like airing my stuff out just like the next person, but the bull and that horn complicates matters.  I just don’t have the time anymore to deal with it.

And so, I’ve chosen Wordpress as my new blog CMS.  I couldn’t be happier.  It’s easy to use and post content.  Unfortunately, as these CMS’s get more robust, it’s harder and rather time consuming to create your own look and feel.  So, what you’re seeing here is a reflection of an aesthetic choice than a creative process:  I just don’t have the time to create my own “kooz” themed website.   I chose this one called, “”SoSuechtig 2.9,” and I really connected with it because it’s minimal, classy, and easy on the eyes  It was also designed by some dude from Germany.  A hearty, “Gutentag!” to whoever designed this!  If you’ve noticed, some of the descriptive elements are written in that lovely Deutsche language:  I’m debating whether to keep it or not!  I think it adds to its kitchy appeal…we’ll see.  I also like it because us English speakers in the Midwest probably don’t go trolling German websites.  Ergo, my website, for all you know, is unique!  Language barriers FTW!! 

What you will see are more posts, and I’ll be importing old posts in an archive.  Unfortunatley, I lost about 10 months of posts due to a mix up with my web host:  even though they did botch it up, it is squarely my fault because I didn’t maintain backups.  Any web person worth their salt should frequently back up their database.  I had only one database/website backup, and that was from June of 2007.  The good news is that I probably only lost about 4 or 5 posts at most!  W00t for being lazy!

Update: 11:21pm  I’ve disabled registering/being able to leave a comment, even though you think you might be able to (In this case, if you can read German, you might be even more suceptible to this.).