Hidden AJenda

No Longer Hidden (…not that it ever really was)

A Quick Intro (or Re-Intro as the case may be)
For many of you reaching this blog via a link from Twitter, it may be the first time you’ve been aware of its existence. However, that has nothing to do with the reason I call it Hidden AJenda (heretofore also to be referred to as HAJ, for short).

This blog isn’t new — just neglected; I actually created it more than three years ago. At the time, (12-02-08) I said,

“This (I think) will be my microblog: something to fit in somewhere between my primary Blogger blogsite and Twitter. I’ve tried this before, keeping two blogs, and the result wasn’t exactly a model of consistency; so please don’t be surprised to see long gaps of time in-between posts. Again, I’ll be spending the bulk of my post time at one of the two aforementioned sites.”

Well, at least I was half-right; I have indeed spent a lot of time on Twitter over the past three years, and as per my prediction, there have been enormously long gaps between original-content posts here, but that’s something that will hopefully change rather drastically (I had been re-blogging my Blogger posts through this site, but I’m gonna knock that off starting now; bottom line is, the actual number of posts written just for this site has been embarrassingly paltry).

That being said, in 2009 I started a hockey blog which I now put a great deal of effort (if not output) into, and will begin contributing to another one starting next week. And yes, you may recognize that it’s an ‘AJenda’ as well (hey, what can I say? sometimes you just have to cannibalize your own ideas).

All of this, of course, means that I would be spreading myself pret-ty darned thin if I truly expected to keep all of my various writing and other social media involvements in the air at the same time. Unfortunately, the one project I have always cared about the most is the one that in reality has received the least of my attention: my personal blog, All Your Blogs Are Belong to Us, which in large part is the crux of this decision, as you’ll see in the story to follow this one. This long-overdue renewal of emphasis here on HAJ is somewhat in response to what I feared would have been losing my primary blog — or at least, having its identity irrevocably changed (which will be explained in my next post). This is really something I should have done from the beginning (of HAJ); I guess I needed to be ready to make the change, and now I am.

I realized enough about myself a long time ago to know that it’s silly — even disingenuous — of me to make too many promises about blogging; and I say that to remind myself of the many, many times I have indeed promised — in print — to be more consistent in various measures. I have no intention to do that here. However, I can and will say that this spot will definitely see more action from now on than it has in the past, due to the decision I’m now making to focus less on minutiae in my personal blog, in favor of bigger, yet still personally-charged storylines. I plan to now instead route that kind of content here to my Tumbl'r blog.

By way of comparison, if you’re familiar with my hockey blog, the flavor and scope of the subjects dealt with there will be the order of the day in the subsequent topics featured on AYBABTU. In other words, it’ll still be about me, just not about what I had for breakfast, if you catch my drift. The subjects will be bigger and more broadly-based, dealing with areas of interest to me and hopefully, to you as well.

In a nutshell, you’ll always receive my opinion and observations of whatever I write about, no matter which of my blogs you read. The difference (if I’m able to successfully parse this concept), will be that THIS is where you’ll always find the real me — if indeed that’s who your looking for, or even care to find. I’m well aware that some of my personal stuff can be an acquired taste; this is my effort to keep those items from necessarily overpowering the menu.

That’s all I’ll say for now, as I’m still actually trying to decide what all of it means, exactly, and how it will all play out conceptually.

When I do figure it out, it’ll be explained here, rather than on AYBABTU.

* * * * *

Well, I’ve managed to turn a few brief introductory sentences of this post into a post unto itself. Therefore, I won’t make it any longer by appending an entirely different subject to the end of it.

Instead, as the first primary item on this 'new’ AJenda, I’ll make it a separate post as it should be.

Thanks as always for reading, and most of all, for caring to read.

It’s time to bring this AJenda out of hiding.

* * * * *

finis

I’m not a jerk. HONEST!

I was going thru my senior year high school yearbook last night, reading all the great, corny messages from my old mates, including one from a cute girl who also included her phone number — which I NEVER saw until now.

Sorry, Suzanne! I mean…you wrote it in yellow pen!

:)

Here’s Some Pharmacological News We’d Like to See

Note: This is one of those funny emails of the type that get forwarded from office to office. We’ve all received a million of ‘em, but none are usually this brilliant. I don’t know if he’s the actual author, but kudos to 'Bob White, ’ who is credited as the original sender of this fun little spoof on modern pharmacology. Enjoy…

* * * * * * * * * * * *

In Pharmacology, all drugs have two names: a trade name and generic name. For example, the trade name for the popular pain medication, Tylenol, carries the generic name of Acetaminophen. Likewise, Aleve is also called Naproxen; Amoxil is also known as Amoxicillin; Advil is Ibuprofen, and so on. Now the FDA is trying to come up with a generic name for the erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra.

After careful consideration by a team of government experts, it was recently announced that they had settled on the generic name of Mycoxafloppin. Also considered were Mycoxafailin, Mydixadrupin, Mydixarizin, Dixafix, and of course, Ibepokin.

Additionally, Pfizer Corp. announced today that Viagra will also soon be available in liquid form, and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola as a power beverage suitable for use as a mixer. Consequently, it will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one.

The impact on modern colloquialisms is clear. We now obviously can no longer call this a 'soft drink,’ and it definitely gives new meaning to the terms, 'cocktail’, 'highball’ and, 'just a good old-fashioned stiff drink’. Pepsi will market the new concoction by the name of, MOUNT 'N DO.

The company plans to have the drink available in stores by Valentine’s Day of next year.

Thought for the day There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer’s research. This means that by 2040, we could well see a substantial portion of the elderly community walking around with perky boobs, huge erections, and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them…


finis

37 Odd Things About Me (yet another dastardly Facebook meme)

Okay, here’s the deal. My friend Kim tagged me with another one of these insipid Facebook memes. I wasn’t gonna do it, but I soon found myself jotting down answers to the following 37 random questions. I mean, who comes up with these things? Anyway, since I invested my entire lunch hour to this worthless endeavor, I decided to go ahead and post it. Meh…okay, okay…It was kinda fun, too.

However I will remain true to my half-hearted protest by posting it on my Tumblr blog instead of on Facebook directly (although it’ll be imported there too), and ask my friends to in turn share my pain by coming up with their own version of the list. Besides, I wouldn’t wanna take the chance that Zuckerberg might try and make some money on this little gem, right?

So…here goes (literally) nothin.’

1. Do you like bleu cheese?
Yes; it was actually the ONLY kind of salad dressing I would eat for a long time when I was a kid. Now I honestly can’t remember the last time I had it. However it was probably sometime back in the 70s or early 80s when I lived in SoCal and frequented Marie Calendar’s restaurants. I remember discovering the heavenly combination of bleu cheese and Marie’s signature Hot Bacon dressing that they featured at the salad bar. Geeze, my salivary glands just cramped as I wrote that!.

2. Have you ever smoked?
Never been a smoker, but in the wild, rebellious, middle age-crazy days of my early 40s, I did smoke a couple cigs on two occasions I can remember while out with a billiards buddy of mine. I thought, “Is that all there is? So what’s the big deal?” I didn’t cough, didn’t catch a nicotine buzz; nothin.’ Meh. I just have no idea what the deal is with people and smoking.

3. Do you own a gun?
No, but I am a staunch supporter of peeps’ right to own and keep them. I’ve simply never gotten into them myself, and thank God, have never really felt the need.

4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite?
Cherry.

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
I LOVE EM! Don’t really care what’s in ‘em, I LOVE hot dogs! HOW-EV_AH, my wife Michelle does endeavor to buy Hebrew national kosher dogs whenever possible, no that *sort of* makes eating them somewhat of a less nasty proposition (at least that’s what I like to tell myself). One of my fave foods when I was a little kid were beans and weenies, hence, to this day, both are like freakin’ crack to me. I love'em.

7. Favorite Christmas movie?
Easy; “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart. Never saw it until I was well into my twenties, and haven’t been able to even think of it without getting choked up since.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee, always; but if there’s none available, orange juice. It obviously has nothing to do with caffeine; I just think I need something strong to wake me up.

9. Can you do push ups?
I’d have to turn in my man-card if I said no, wouldn’t I? I’ve always done push-ups; it’s my favorite calisthenic exercise.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?
As per the fashion of the 70s and 80s, I wore pukka shell necklaces and (unobtrusive) gold chains, respectively. However in the last 20 years, the only jewelry I’ve worn is my wedding ring.

11. Favorite hobby?
Nowadays, by far it’s writing. But in general, sports has always played a huge part in my life. I’ve been a big fan of all the major sports, with an emphasis on the pro game, ever since I was in grade school. Surfing the web and staying up on all things 'Net related would be a close second to blogging I’d have to say.

12. Do you have A. D. D.?
Not officially diagnosed, but I believe I do — at least a mild case, anyway. I tried Ritalin once — a neighbor gave me one of her son’s pills — and I was absolutely amazed at the almost surreal focus I had for about four hours. I always had a problem paying attention in school and reading a book is still a nearly impossible endeavor for me, for the fact that I continually lose my place and end up reading the same paragraph two or three times. All that said, why don’t I get something done about it? I honestly can’t give a definitive answer except to say that I don’t want to have to live on drugs to think straight. I’ve made it okay for fifty-plus years without medication, so I’m assuming I’ll be able to get by for the next fifty without it.

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts?
Glasses; I’m far-sighted with an astigmatism, so I’m not a good candidate for contacts or lasik surgery. I’m okay with that, as I really only need my glasses to work at the computer or read. I see fine from two feet out and more just as well as with them. I have progressive bifocals, so I pretty much wear glasses all the time, even though I really don’t need to. My vision began to degrade just as I turned 40 (along with everything else), but held out, denying that I needed them until age 42. And then, because I have such good shape recognition, I cheated (i.e. I guessed on the eye chart and was right most of the time) on the eye test when getting that first pair. The prescription was so far off that the glasses were pretty much useless, giving me more of an excuse not to wear them. Finally, at age 45, I stopped swimming in de nile, and got glasses that actually allowed me to see comfortably. I love my glasses now, not only because they allow me to see, but also because I actually look younger wearing them (the frames hide those freakin’ sandbags under my eyes).

14. Middle name?
Phillip; don’t ask me why my parents added the second 'l.’ Most people who go by that name (including the biblical apostle from whom my middle name supposedly came) spell it 'Philip.’ No biggie though. I guess that makes me different, and I kinda like that.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment:

• Geeze! Kim’s gonna get me in trouble for doing this nutty meme instead of working
• I need to stop pretty soon, 'cuz the #2 train has pulled into the rear station and the passengers are screaming to disembark.
• Man I’m sore from yesterday’s workout. What a drag it is getting old…(♫ NERN-ER NER, NERN-ER NER, NERN-ER NER, NERN-ER NER…♫)

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?
Coffee, water, milk (and less regularly: beer & OJ)

17. Current worry?
Practically none; Right now, I’m very thankful to say, both Michelle’s and my job status is secure; our cash flow is good. However that doesn’t mean that I’m not keeping my guard up at all times. I’m definitely more concerned about the economy now than at any point in my working life, but what…me worry? Nah. Back in 1995, while a full-time freelancer, our finances tanked and the bank foreclosed on our mortgage. We were broke and my marriage was on the rocks (funny how those two things seem to go hand-in-hand). I was plenty worried then. But after fighting through all that, and in the end keeping the house, keeping my family, and subsequently paying off all our our non-mortgage debts, when most people would have long since filed bankruptcy, I now know that we can make it through just about anything. I am honestly not worried now, given what we’ve been through.

18. Current hate right now?
None that I can think of, other than self-loathing. I’m a lover, not a hater…

19. Favorite place to be?
Seriously? I think at this place in my life, it’s driving a country back-road in my convertible, with the top down, the sun shining, less than 70% humidity in the air, my XM radio blasting, and a Starbucks Grande-Nonfat-No-Whip-Mocha in my hand; and preferably but not necessarily, with my lovely Michelle riding shotgun. There’s not a whole lot better a place to be in my mind, especially when the weather cooperates; and here in Middle TN, that means mostly in the early spring and most of the fall months.

20. How did you ring in the new year?
I’m gonna show my crustiness here. I had a horrible NYE. The In-Laws were living with us at the time and that pretty much put the kibosh on ANY kind of celebrating (if you catch my drift). I guess it wasn’t all bad; at least Michelle and I were able to go out to dinner by ourselves early in the evening. but when we got home, I spent the rest of the night downstairs surfing/blogging while everyone else was upstairs watching those inane Network TeeVee New Year’s Eve shows. I came upstairs just in time to see the ball drop, go, “WHOOPEE,” and shuffle off to bed. just once I would like to actually go out somewhere and ring in the new year somewhere other than in front of the boob tube; but unfortunately Michelle is really against that idea, unless it’s at one of our friends’ house. Hmmm…maybe I should have listed this in that 'Current hate’ question…

21. Where would you like to go?
I would love to go to New York and Boston. I’ve been to Washington D.C once, but only for a day. I’d really like to do an East Coast road trip with someone who knows their way around; someone who knows the good, non-touristy places to check out and enjoy the local color. That’s be cool. And as far as traveling abroad, I only have one place on my bucket list: Paris; not because I have any love of France, but for one destination: The Louvre. As an artist, it’s truly the Holy Grail of art museums.

22. Name three people who will complete this:
Just me. No one else I know is silly enough to waste this much time and I have no intention to ask anyone else to.

23. Do you own slippers?
My Birks are my slippers. Slippers make my feet sweat. Yes, I wear Birkenstocks — what of it?

24. What color shirt are you wearing?
Off-white, and it’s not a shirt, it’s a sweater, and yes I know it’s still Winter — what of it?.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
50/50. Feels nice, but can be a little cold in the wintertime. And it increases the possibility one might go flying off the bed during vigorous sex, and that’s not a good thing.

26. Can you whistle?
If only. I love to whistle, but suck badly at it. My Dad is an awesome whistler. Guess I didn’t get any a’ those genes.

27. Where are you now?
At work in front of my computer finishing this damn meme instead of shutting down and going home like I should be. Damn your eyes, you evil meme…

28. Would you be a pirate?
I place pirates in the same category as clowns: who needs 'em? It’s further proof that I’m a generational misfit; given my age, I should love clowns, the circus, pirates, and Elvis, but couldn’t care less about any of those things — especially Elvis. Is there really any performer of our time any more over-rated than that guy? I mean, seriously.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower?
whatever is playing on the radio at the time. This morning I was crooning something that I can’t remember now, but it was awesome. Simon Cowell would have been so very impressed.

30. What is your best fashion trick?
Dude. You’re kidding, right? Sorry but this kid is all outta fashion tricks. I feel so out of step with fashion these days, I really don’t even try anymore. I just like to dress comfortably whenever I can. I’m definitely a Levis and sneakers kinda guy. It’s a good thing The Company where I work has lots of 'Casual’ weeks, 'cuz I start breakin’ out in hives when I have to wear Dockers for more than three consecutive weeks…

31. What was your WORST first date ever?
OMG I haven’t thought about this one in forever. It was the summer between 10th and 11th grade. I’m 16 and visiting my brothers in Indiana. My directly elder brother Kenny decides he’s gonna set me up on my first blind date: a 14-goin-on-21-year-old 38DD blond bombshell to whom I was clearly a charity case. I hadn’t seen boobs that big since sneaking a peek at my brother Jack’s under-the-mattress Playboy stash. I was mortified, and she wasn’t into me anyway. She would have much rather that I was my brother that evening at the county fair, where our 'date’ took place. The message is pretty clear when the girl is fighting the centrifugal force of the Tilt-A-Whirl just to keep from touching you. Ouch.

32. What is in your pocket right now?
My wallet is in one and my phone is in the other.

33. Last thing that made you laugh?
My message board buddies on “The Blog” had me rolling last night. They’re a freaking hoot.

34. What vehicle do you drive?
A classic 1995 Toyota Celica GT convertible. It was my 50th birthday present from Michelle. Well…she didn’t pay for it by herself, but she told me to go ahead and get it.

35. Worst injury you’ve ever had?
That’s easy; an injury sustained at the 1977 PCAA Individual Still Rings Finals. I was performing a new dismount for only the second time in competition. I was favored to win the competition, but just didn’t have it that day. I had missed my best trick earlier in the routine and my concentration was impossibly blown. I went back and forth in my mind whether or not I should have go ahead with the new dismount since my score was already gonna be in the toilet. I never made the decision, and got lost in the middle of a double-back straddle pike and dropped like a rock from ten feet in the air, landing on my back. I suffered a compression fracture of my 5th lumbar vertebrae. Fortunately the affects have been manageable, but my back has given me problems ever since.

36. Do you love where you live?
If Nashville was a girl and I was single again, I would so marry her…except that we’d have to take separate vacations in the summertime, 'cuz I can’t stand the bitch in July and August. Oh yeah, she’s hot, but not in a good way. we’d just have to hang out in different parts of the house until the middle of September when she cools off and becomes desirable once again.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house?
We have three but one is in the guest bedroom on the man-cave level, so it rarely gets watched.

So there you have it. Spread the love if you want to, but only if you’ve got an hour to kill.

Zombie

I’m doing it again
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice…well, you know how the old saying goes. Except in this case, I’m both the fool and the foolee in my current scenario. And I’m doing it again — to myself.

I’m a nightowl; always have been. However over the past year or so, I’ve officially graduated from nightowl to zombie.

On weekdays I get up (or should I say, my wife Michelle gets me up about 6:45 A.M. — and when I say she gets me up, what I mean is, she starts getting me up. Y'see, it’s a process. It begins at around 6:45 but usually drags out until about 7 A.M. I’m famous for sleeping through alarms. If I didn’t have her to make sure I was up and at ‘em in the morning, I most assuredly would have lost my corporate job years ago.

Back when I was freelancing it was no biggie. I generally slept until 8 A.M., then rolled out of bed, grabbed a cup o’ joe, and wandered upstairs to my studio to get started on the day’s projects. Sometimes I ate lunch, sometimes I stopped and grabbed a shower, but most of the time I just drank coffee all day long and worked until Michelle returned home around 6 P.M.

I was a nightowl back then. I stayed up, either working, websurfing or watching TeeVee, until at least 12:30 or 1 A.M. Any later than that and I’d either sleep away half the next morning or be only partially functional if I got up at normal time.

These days, my night’s just getting started at 12:30 or 1 A.M. — and that’s with getting up at 7 A.M. every weekday for the last ten years.

Over the last 4-5 years, particularly since I’ve been blogging, I’ve been sleeping less and less. I’ve heard that as we age, our bodies crave sleep less, which speaks to the stereotypical phenomenon of the senior citizen who gets up before the sun. However I know that I’m exacerbating that circumstance. I’ve been depriving myself of sleep for years, and it’s getting worse.

But now, finally, my body is barkin’ back at me — more than I’ve ever experienced. I know that I really need to get off of this treadmill — and soon.

The good news is that I’ve always been an extremely healthy person, so I’ve been able to get away with it. I work out three times a week and am in the best physical shape of anyone I know who is my age or older; I rarely get sick, and typically feel good just about all the time. It’s the latter part that has begun to change; it’s really gotten my attention; I realize that I haven’t felt <em>really good</em> in about two months, and I fear that it’s all beginning to catch up to me.

For as good a thing as the workout routine I’ve maintained over the past four years has been, I fear that I’m undermining the benefits of one healthy activity with another one that’s just as potent for the opposite side of the ledger.

At this point I honestly can’t imagine what it must be like getting as much sleep as I was back when I averaged 5-6 hours a night. Now my normal bedtime is somewhere between 3 and 4 A.M., while still rising at 7. And it’s not just on weeknights that I punish myself this way. I do it seven freaking days a week.

Sure there are exceptions, but on average, if I get four hoursa night nowadays I’m doing pretty well. And yes — just in case you were wondering — It’s also pretty depressing to think about how much sex I’ve screwed myself out of (pun intended) with this ill-begotten pattern of mine. Michelle places a much greater premium on shuteye than I do, and well she should. She ain’t waitn’ up for nobody.

What started out as a late night blogging obsession has now ballooned into a near desperation for 'me time.’ I fight drowsiness to watch an AMC movie that starts at 2 A.M. because I 'need to.’ And I’ve gotta tellya, as I type that sentence out I realize just how stoooopid that sounds, 'cuz it is.

In early December I got sick for the first time in about three years. I was miserable and missed two days of work. That never happens. And I know that my lack of sleep was the chief culprit. Right now I feel almost exactly the way I did just before succumbing to that nasty December cold. I don’t want it to happen again.

My body has had it with my zombiefied bent — no matter how much I try to justify it; I really know this. For the last 2-3 days, there hasn’t been five minutes I haven’t felt as though I could fall asleep in under a minute if I tried to.

That’s bad, folks. I should know better.

Maybe I’ve just now figured it out.

I need some Zs. Starting tonight, I’m gonna go get me some.

Thanks for listening.

finizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Pricewatchin'

If you’re shopping for computer or other tech-related gift items, perhaps the worst best-kept secret on the web is Pricewatch.com: the Web’s very first price comparison site. Established in 1995 to offer price comparisons of PC Computer hardware components (hard drives, memory, etc.); it’s been a godsend to me in saving money on the dozen or so computers I’ve built for myself and others over the past thirteen years.

Once the secret of only the most hardcore PC geeks, word about Pricewatch is getting around. It’s basically a searchable online ‘price war’ directory in which vendors compete with each other on thousands of items, listed from lowest to highest price. Each vendor’s listed price is guaranteed, else they get plenty of heat from Pricewatch.

But don’t think you have to “be a PC” to find anything on Pricewatch. Although PC-related components have and likely will always dominate the listings, Mac and iPod accessories are also easy to find, and always at the lowest prices available.

And in recent years, Pricewatch has expanded their horizons to include software, consumer electronics, clothing, even shoes and jewelery.

Give 'em a shot. You may be surprised what you’ll find on www.pricewatch.com.

.

Rumblin’ Bumblin’ Stumblin’ Tumblr…n’

This (I think) will be my microblog: something to fit in somewhere between my primary Blogger blogsite and Twitter. I’ve tried this before, keeping two blogs, and the result wasn’t the model of consistency; so please don’t be surprised to see long gaps of time in between posts. Again, I’ll be spending the bulk of my post time at one of the two aforementioned sites.

I really have no idea where this thing’ll go. I’m just gonna play it by ear.

That’s just the way I tumbl…r.

AJ in Nashville