It Has Been a While

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted something on my blog. I feel really bad about that, but once again I'll try to get back in the habit of posting regularly. So today I will mention something big that has happened to me. For those who don't know, a couple months ago I weighed more than 170 pounds. Not a good thing for a guy who is 5 foot 6 inches, I looked fat. However, a couple of days earlier and I weighed in at 154 and a half pounds. Ladies and gentlemen, that is less than I weighed my junior year in high school. I had to go through my closet and get rid of clothes that no longer fit me because they're too big. I found a black suit I wore in high school, it fits me now. Sadly most of my dress shirts are too big for me now, but hey, at least I'm thinner.

The hardest part of losing weight is the fact that I love food that has a lot of carbs. My mother made peanut butter cup cupcakes, and they are so good! Unfortunately, they are extremely high in calories. I feel like I need to spend an hour in the gym after eating one. Well, I'm still watching what I eat and I'm trying to choose the healthier option, even when it is hard. My goal is to get down to 150 pounds and keep my weight there. I'm still going to the gym as well as walking my dogs every day, even in the rain like I did this morning. If I keep this up, I'll get down to my ideal weight.

I'm going to try to post regularly again. I believe next time I'll do a Through Rose Covered Glasses post. I haven't done one of those in a while, and people seem to enjoy those.

Anyway, I'm Colin and these are the ramblings of a guy in his twenties.

Renaissance Fair

So I went to a Renaissance Fair over Labor Day weekend with my cousin, Jake. I got to say I really enjoy going to a Renaissance Fair since I think the last time I went to one I was about 7 or 8. It was in Bristol, Wisconsin and unfortunately it is closed for the season. That said, I truly enjoyed being there because it brought back memories when I was a kid. 

Now if you are going to go to a Renaissance Fair, go to a professional one like the one in Bristol. Don't go to one hosted by the local Elk's club behind Wal-Mart. You will be bored, but a big one like the one in Bristol there's a lot more things to do. First of all, more activities. The Renaissance Fair Jake and I went to had a variety of activities to enjoy. There was archery, ax tossing, and a rock wall as well as others. The fair also had more shows, such as jousting, music, comedy acts, and acrobats. One of the shows we went was called Barely Balanced, a trio of comedic acrobats. I laughed so much I nearly cried.

There was also so much good food, I had a cheesecake on a stick. it was a slice of cheesecake coated in chocolate. As you can guess, I was off my diet that day. There were plenty of shops to buy nearly everything related to the medieval time period. My favorite shops were the ones that the toy weapons. When I went to a Renaissance Fair for the first time when I was 5 or 6, my dad bought me and my younger brother of two years wooden swords and shields. Yeah, he gave a 5/6-year-old and 3/4-year-old wooden weapons, you would think that could have been a disaster. It wasn't too much. Though seeing the wooden weapons now, there was swords, shields, spears, axes, maces, hammers, flails, and epees. If only they these things when I was a kid. There was also a shop that sold real swords, the cheaper ones cost as much as my weekly paycheck. 

It's also fun to see people dressed up in costume. With a Renaissance Fair, you get people in medieval wear, fantasy wear, pirates, and even some steampunk. I surprise to see people in steampunk at a Renaissance Fair since steampunk deals with the Victorian Age. I also saw people dressed as members from the Assassin's Creed video game series. 

Overall I enjoyed hanging out with my cousin, though I wish we had more time to explore the fair. I would love to go back to that Renaissance Fair again.

I'm Colin and these are the ramblings of a guy in his twenties.

A Quick Update on Me

So here is a quick update on how my life is going so far. Well, I'm working as a reviewer at Solix in Charleston, IL. What I do is I look at applications for participation in a government program and see if people have dotted their i's and crossed their t's. I have the afternoon shift, which means that my mornings are free. It's a good job, hopefully, it will give me job experience. You know, that thing employers want at least a year of.

Had a nice little visit from my brother, Ryan. He's attending Purdue, going to be a senior and majoring in BioEngineering, much to the disappointment of my father who was hoping Ryan could build him an Ironman suit. I can't tell you a lot of what my brother is doing because quite frankly you need to have a degree in biology to have an idea of what he's talking about. I kind of understand, it was hard to talk about what I was doing when I was a senior in college as well. Hard to really explain a paper you're writing if you haven't read it yet or read what it is about. Anyway, Ryan and I had a short visit because I had a little thing called a job which took up much of my time. We did go see the new Star Trek movie. We both enjoyed it, I felt it was very fun like the original television show was. We both highly recommend people go see it, though I wouldn't be surprised if most people have already seen it.

I'm planning on taking an online business course this fall through the local community college. I think it will help bolster up my resume and help my future. Going to try and continue this blog. Which by the way, someone commented on for the first time, which pleased me. It was on my last blog post,  "The Loss of a Pet". I do hope people will comment on my blog posts, be it on this one, past posts, or future ones.

I'm Colin, and these are the ramblings of a guy in my twenties.

The Loss of a Pet

When my grandmother passed away my family took in her two dogs, a poodle named Zoey and a bichon named Gracie. Now these dogs were pretty old when we took them in but on July, 22, we had to put Gracie down. It was hard for us because Gracie was very special to my grandmother.

Gracie was nearly 15-years-old when we had her put down, which in dog years she was about 95. Gracie had never gotten over the death of my grandmother, nor did she get used to the fact that she was permanently living in a different home. When Gracie was younger, she was super friendly and loving. For the last year, however, Gracie didn't want to be near any of us. If you tried to pet her, she would just duck and run away. Gracie also seemed to be depressed. She was always crying and begging for a treat, to go out, or come back in. Worst of all, she was constantly getting me up at night to let her outside. So my family decided to finally put her down. It wasn't easy, we said our goodbyes to Gracie by giving her one last hug and kiss before my dad took her to the vet. There was a little comfort to know that when my father took her to the vet, he was told that he was doing the right thing.

While I'm glad that Gracie is now in peace, it does make me pause and think about my other dogs, Zoey and Maddie. Maddie is a poodle as well, and Zoey's older half sister. Maddie is about 14 and Zoey is 12. Both dogs have health issues, Maddie is nearly blind and deaf while Zoey is clearly not as active as she was when she was younger. It saddens me to think that any day could be the last for my dogs.

How is it that dogs are able to take such a huge section in their owners' hearts. Though they do not live all that long, we come to love them so deeply. I don't know, but as one who always had a dog growing up, I can't image not having one. I hope that other dog owners will understand what I mean.

I'm Colin and these are the ramblings of a guy in his twenties.  

Remembering with Rose Colored Glasses: Captain Planet

Environmentalism is an important concept because so many different people have tried to cram the message down our throats. Teachers, politicians, activists, movies, and of course, television. The arguably the most famous show about environmentalism was Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Airing in 1990 to 1996, the show was a superhero cartoon about… you know I’m just going to let you watch the opening theme of the show; it sums up what the concept of the series the best.

So the spirit of the Earth brings to her secret base five overbearing and overemotional humans… oh, wait that was Zordon from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. So Gaia enlists the help of five teenagers from five different continents, gives them magical rings that control the classical elements, some surprisingly high-tech gear and sends them off to fight pollution. When things went pear shaped, which they always did, the Planeteers would shout out the element they controlled and summon Captain Planet to save the day. Then at the end of every episode the Planeteers would do a PSA and finish the show with the Captain Planet's phrase, "The power is yours!" Now the show not only covered issues dealing with the environment, but also gangs, drugs, HIV, and peer pressure. So every episode tried to hammer a message into its viewers, and I was one of those.

Now let's talk about our heroes. Gaia was the motherly teacher of the Planeteers who was voiced by Whoopi Goldberg during the first few seasons, then later Margot Kidder. According to the show's lore, Gaia took a nap for a couple of centuries, and humans took that time to pollute the earth. Despite being M.I.A. for several hundred years, Gaia somehow poses advanced, environmentally friendly technology. The only answer I have is why the goddess of the Earth has such tech is magic. Overall Gaia doesn't have much of a personality. She gave advice to the Planeteers and told them when a problem occurred. In fact, she is like Zordon from the Power Ranger series in that way.

Then there is Captain Planet, he has a ridiculous superhero costume I've ever seen and has so many superpowers to make Superman jealous. When summoned, the Planeteers give up their ring powers in order to create the ultimate champion of Earth. Captain Planet's only weakness is coming into contact to pollution. Yeah, his weakness is the very thing he's fighting against, that doesn't make sense at all. The only reason I can think of why the writers gave Captain Planet this weakness is so the planeteers can still be useful without their powers. The thing I liked most about Captain Planet is that he was funny and made so many puns when fighting bad guys.

The Planeteers themselves don't really have much personality. From Ghana, Africa, Kwame is the leader of the Planeteers and the team's green thumb. Kwame has the power of earth, (dirt, rocks, plants), and begins the summoning of Captain Planet by saying, "Let our powers combine!" Gi, from Thailand, has the power to control water and the team's mechanic, pilot, and marine biologist. Then there's Linka, from the Soviet Union/Eastern Europe and controls the element of wind. The show never says what Linka's nationality is, so the fans assume that she is Russian. Linka's personality is that she's a computer expert, a bird lover, and she's constantly putting Wheeler in his place. The fourth member of the team is Ma-Ti who is a native of the Amazon jungle. Ma-Ti is the wide-eyed innocent of the team and its emotional center. Ma-Ti has a pet monkey and the power of Heart. Okay, so Heart sounds like a lousy power, but it does Ma-Ti telepathy and the ability to feel other living beings' suffering. So yeah, it's still not a great power.

Finally, there's Wheeler from Brooklyn, New York. Wheeler is what I think most of the world assume Americans to be, jerks who really don't know much about the rest of the world. Wheeler is the team's street smart hothead, so he, of course, has the power of fire. While Wheeler does act like a jerk, I do think he has the most personality. Wheeler has an alcoholic and verbally abusive father, causing Wheeler to spend his childhood in the streets of New York. While being a bit lazy, brash, loud, and quick-tempered; Wheeler is also brave, humorous and playful. Wheeler also hits on Linka every chance he gets, and Linka generally turns him down though occasionally she would return his affections. 

All the Planeteers villains are one-note mustache-twirling baddies who are evil for the sake of being evil. We have business owners Hoggish Greedly and Looten Plunder; (insert any Trump joke of your choosing), mad scientist Dr. Blight, evil garbage collector Sly Sludge, mutants Duke Nukem and Verminous Skumm, and spirit of destruction, Zarm. These guys were all about making money and hurting the environment, even when it didn't make any sense to.

While I do have fond memories of the show as a kid, I have to say I find it now too preachy for my taste. While all shows have an eco-friendly episode or two, this show shoves environmentalism down your throat. That said, I do think it did a good job of teaching kids to be respectful toward the environment. I still enjoy Captain Planet's puns, but overall I say this show belongs in the 90's. If you are interested in seeing how the series holds up for yourselves, you can find episodes on YouTube, or buy the first season on DVD.

I'm Colin, and these are the ramblings of a guy in his twenties. Remember, the power is yours!

Thank You

I started this blog in December of 2015, and it's now July of 2016. I just want to thank you to everyone who have read my blog posts. While I don't post as often as some people it still amazes me on how many people have read my posts. My blog has seen over 800 page views and not just from people living in the United States. I've page views from people from Canada, Mexico, Poland, Australia, Portugal, Russia, and even Mongolia.

While my first blog post, cleverly titled "My First Post", has received the most views at 157 views. The second highest is "Zombies, Run!" and I'm surprised to say of my "Through Rose Colored Glasses" blog posts, the most popular one is the Mystic Knights one. Strange, either more people remember it than I thought or are just curious about. Either way, I'm pleased that people are reading my posts. 

I recently started a new job and I don't know how much free time I'll have to write blogs. That said, I do want to be a bit more punctual about writing them. I going to try to get one out every other week. I will continue to do "Through Rose Colored Glasses" posts, and I would love to have any of my readers make comments. I would love to hear from those who read these posts about any topics you want me to cover.

I'm Colin, and these are the ramblings of a guy in his twenties. Thank you for reading them.

The Search for a Job

So the search for a job has been tough, but the last couple of days I've gotten a few offers. On Monday I will start working at a call center, I hope to work there for a bit and gain job experience. That said I'm still looking for another job. In the immortal words of my father, "The best time to look for a job is when you already have one."

Well, earlier this week I had an interview in Springfield, I think it went well. The only problem is waiting for them to get back to me, and tell me if I'm moving on in the interview process. I can't decide what is worse, the moment when you're mind goes blank after they ask you a question, or coming up with better answers when the interview is over. Well, I do know that if I don't move on that I can't give up hope.

I'm Colin and these are the ramblings of a guy in his twenties.