Post #601

It just seemed like yesterday that I laid down Post #500 ... man, the time just flies on by.

But at this moment, I'm a hurtin' unit. I just feel drained, feeling like I haven't slept in ages. I guess I've been trying to get used to working "full weeks" once again, due to state volleyball tournaments and Thanksgiving breaks, now we're back to Monday through Friday all the way 'til Christmas.

It's been a rough week of sorts, down here in southwestern Minnesota. Just this past week, there were 3 teenagers that had passed away: 2 by car accidents, 1 by suicide. The student who committed suicide did go to school in this school district last year, so he had plenty of friends that he had left behind.

Although I personally didn't know this student (I had met him a few times), the shock really didn't hit me hard. But what killed me was watching the other student's reactions from the death. I cannot count how many of my students came into my room during a free period with tears running down their faces ... it kind of made me hurt. I would do anything for my students, but in this case, there was really nothing that I could do.

That just kind of set the tone for the week ... just a tired, sleepy, COLD week. Nothing much to look forward to, except the boy's and girl's basketball games that are now currently underway.

Crash Productions, Inc. Update

Man, what a great camera!

I'm currently transferring my old "classic" tapes from analog video (VCR) to my camera (which is digital -- duh...) and from that point, I'm transferring it all over to my computer for a nice editing process.

Instead of going with Windows Movie Maker (which is alright, but I want something a little more advanced), I'm hitting up Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5. Unfortunately for me, I know nothing about it, so I bought a book from Barnes & Noble today so I can basically teach myself the quirks of such an advanced movie and editing program.

My current first project is called "902 N. Josephine," which is basically a collection of videos that was taped at "The Shoebox" -- a crummy little joint that I had lived in with Troy and John back in the college days in South Dakota.

I've already got the episodes listed:

• Episode I: "Troy State"
• Episode II: "Whiskey John"
• Episode III: "Nightsabers"
• Episode IV: "The Dishwasher"
• Episode V: "Tony and Troy Enjoy SNL"
• Episode VI: "Confrontations of the Ol' Homestead"
• Episode VII: "Tickled To Death"
• Episode VIII: "The Jewett Sleeps Tonight"

I've also got the lost audition tapes for our now infamous "Star Wars" movie that Jason and I made for our Multimedia class in college. That may come soon, specially packaged as a Collector's Edition sometime next year!

But, I should start importing the next BIG project, my 10th Year Anniversary documentary on The Owl Garden, so I can prepping it for editing.

Fantasy Football Update

As the regular season is finally starting to wrap up, I have major issues regarding injuries -- in both leagues.

Strangely enough, in both Minnesota and South Dakota fantasy leagues, I'm currently sitting at a 6-6 record. The parity is so great in both leagues that anybody -- whoever makes the playoffs -- could be in prime position of winning it all at the end of the season.

Disaster struck a couple of weeks ago when my leading point getter, quarterback Donovan McNabb, went down with a torn ACL and is out for the year. I had him as a starter in both leagues! I've got Tom Brady as a back-up in my South Dakota league, who by the way is a choice back-up, but on the other hand, I'm currently struggling with the likes of Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich (who I had dropped due to an ankle injury) ... but I managed to pick up Chad Pennington (who I actaully dodged a bullet last Sunday when he took a shot from a charging defensive end).

With Thursday games on the docket, that seems to mess things up a bit. If a player gets banged up from that previous Sunday game, he might not be able to go on a Thursday game. But, it all adds to the tension of what fantasy football is.

I'm still not decided who to start at quarterback (Big Ben or Pennington -- in the MN league) and my current running backs -- Rudi Johnson and Thomas Jones -- are up against the top rushing defenses in the NFL. And on top of all that, I'm up against a divisional rival for a prime seed in the playoffs!

As much as I hate to say it, I'm all but giving up in the South Dakota league. There's only one more week of regular season football (compared to two in the MN league) and I'm one spot out of the playoffs. I have a fairly good chance of winning and moving on, but again, injuries (namely Ronnie Brown) have hurt the team.

But all I see it as is a good relationship between the boys from here in Minnesota and hooking up with the ol' college gang back in South Dakota. Sure, I'll be a little stressed out in the next couple of weeks regarding my teams (hopefully to get some of my money back), but all in all, it's been a pretty good season.

Crash Productions, Inc. -- Ooh, It's On

The dream is one step closer to reality.

Just last week, after finally paying off my Vaio, I dropped a grand on this digital camcorder, including a tripod.

Like I've said before, it's all about the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Owl Garden. I've got the footage, but it's all going to be about the interviews, a possible reunion, and the EDITING. It's going to be crazy. It seems like a monumental project, but right now, this is something that I really enjoy to do -- make something great and most of all, I'm going to make it and it's basically going to be a tribute to the Old Days.

It's scheduled to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to play with my new toy. I'm already writing down a few notes to get some of my thoughts organized into the making of the documentary.

Much more on this later.

Back By Popular Demand

My eyes are bloodshot, my eyelids are heavy. That can only mean one thing: I had one hell of a weekend that is worth mentioning.

First off, I apologize to all -- especially the boys and girls across the great states of Minnesota and South Dakota -- that know me well enough to read this thing. It's a little difficult to explain ... I guess it seems to stem from the finalization of the divorce in September. I just simply had no willpower to pick and choose the little details in my life during that time to publish. I basically put myself through a self-imposed depression, a state in which I just had to look inwardly and keep the thoughts to myself.

The truth was that I really didn't like the person who I had become. I've become more cynical, more serious, less "fun." This was all reflected upon my classroom, in which my own students were questioning my behavior and they all wondered what happened to the "old me."

Luckily for me, I've got a wonderful and supportive family and I've got friends that no money can buy ... but they can only take a person so far. To reach my full potential, it was putting my care and my trust into someone else -- a soulmate, perhaps -- but all I have now is a void.

But I do feel a comeback coming on! Slowly and surely, I'm coming back to regain my confidence once again to take on the world. For a while there, I was scaring myself into thinking that I was "one and done" and I "didn't have it any longer." But with a nice invitation to South Dakota to see the ol' mates once again, Josh and Troy -- Tony could possibly be back.

Josh surprised me with a phone call on Thanksgiving Day to say that he had scored some hockey tickets. He didn't need to twist my arm around to attend the best spectacle on ice, so on Saturday I made the plans to head to pack a few things, drive on down to South Dakota, and enjoy a great weekend.

Immediately when I met up with Josh, a friend of his Brett, and his brother-in-law Jim, it was all about beer drinking (and eating buffalo wings). Between that and the hockey game itself (with a few 21 oz. taps), I could rightfully say that I was unable to drive back to Josh's hometown.

We entered the hometown bar, affectionately called "Fresh Horses" and hooked up with Troy and his new girlfriend, Trisha. Even Bennie and the Fro-Man made an appearance!

After several cervezas and a few "Duck Fart" shots (while meeting the new, hot bartender along the way), yours truly was not feeling too well. Again, my fate was sealed, right along with the past New Year's Party, when I visited the back of the bar and let loose the excess alcohol that I couldn't process.

What about this new, hot bartender?, you may ask. Ever so often in my life, there will come along a female with such quality features that will actually stop me dead in my tracks. Sure, there are lots of "hot" women around, but while looking at those choice ladies there is that little voice in the back of my head that says: high-maintenance, man.

It may sound sappy, but I can truthfully say that there has been only three women during my entire lifetime that have made me sit back and say, "God, that's good." Usually it's in the eyes -- but for this girl -- it was totally about the smile. If I had a picture of her, I could probably just sit and stare at the smile ... it was just that good.

But what sucks is that she was working! Sure, we struck up a pretty good conversation during certain times that night, but of course, you know what happened to me later on. Josh was doing his best to "brag" me up a bit and things looked good, but considering my current luck and my so-called confidence, I really wouldn't stop the presses on this one. But, you never know and things could happen!

That next morning, I felt better considering that I had ralphed the night before, but Josh was a pile with a nice puke-bucket next to him on the couch. My head did feel like it got bashed into a brick wall, but I deserved it. Josh and I both swore off shots for a while.

I tell ya -- that last weekend could really jump-start a few things in my life -- this ol' blog as one of them. At a time in my life when I thought that things were basically over, things are looking great right now. Even if it doesn't work, no biggie -- at least I know I still got it.