Archive for December, 2007
Well, it’s been since July that I’ve seen South Dakota’s soil, and of course the last day of work for a couple weeks has been chaotic. Out of nowhere I get an email from a client saying they’d like to setup an additional control for next week. Nothing like last minute.
I plan on doing some work from home, I hope anyway, cause that would mean I’m getting business in. It definitely feels good getting some business in, but I need lots more even to hit my quota.
In other news, we’re all packed and ready to go. Last night was our Christmas party, which wasn’t as fun as last year, I didn’t care for the place it was (some ski lodge that someone from another team knew the owner so got our banquet room for free). It was in the mountains, took forever to get there, and was a mess getting home. Once home, the fun was just beginning, we cleaned, packed, and wrapped presents. Actually, I watched TV and Linds wrapped presents.
There is some bad news, the cats know we’re leaving. Bitty gets very timid and scared, hides. And Bear, well, he packs himself:
22 hour drive, here we come. So lets hope for a few things: good weather, that we don’t tear each other apart, and wide-awake eyes.
December 20th, 2007
Wow. If the Vikings can squeak their way into the playoffs, which they have better than a 50/50 shot of doing, can you imagine how good they’ll be next year?
I watched MNF last night and most of the post-game, and I realized some football players can talk about football intelligently and some can’t. Steve Young can. He talks more like a coach than some analyst. Listening to him last night I found that he captured my attention and my interested. And he brought up a good point. Teams are so nervous of the MN run that they’ll bring 7 to 8 guys up front, which leaves the backfield wide open. If we had a more confident QB we could tear it up. And I think that’s going to come, I saw a lot of good things from the Play Action.
So, it’s Tuesday today and Thursday I’m leaving for home. Seems like forever that I’ve been home.
While running last night I listened to two new albums, Allison Krauss and Robert Plant’s album, which I listened to 3 tracks and called it enough. If I run tonight I’ll pick up where I left off. I also listened to Aracade Fire’s album “Funeral” which I liked a great deal more. Good albums to listen to while working out? No. But, sometimes you just wanna check out new music.
December 18th, 2007
Ok, what is the deal with Miles and Holli recruiting me to come to Sioux Falls?
Lets address this: Sioux Falls is the biggest city in the state, the safest city in the country to drive in, a great place to raise a family, and also SD has the lowest premiums for car insurance than anywhere in the country.
So, Cheers for that.
That being said, there is no crime lab there, in fact, SD has just one crime lab and it is unaccredited and in Pierre, SD. My company doesn’t do any non-telesales work in SD/ND/or most of MN. And to be really honest, there isn’t too much I find exciting about the possibility of living in SF aside from the excellent company (tons of family and friends in the area). If I lived there, would I find exciting things, no doubt, but just off the top of my head, for entertainment, I don’t know what SF has to offer.
Would I be happy living in SF, without a doubt. But, if I could make a list of 10 places I’d like to live at right now at this point in my life, it wouldn’t make it. It would probably make my top 15.
So, lets change the tone of this post. It is looking to be a busy week for us here at work. Our biggest month being January and its my last week hitting the phones of December. I have a few things in my pipeline that may or may not drop for the new year. If any of them drop, I make my month, if not, I don’t. High pressure.
Linds and I are also coordinating events for when we go home. When do we go to this christmas, that christmas, she may go to Marshall, I’ll be with Miles in SF one night, and of course, Dan coming back to Philly with us.
We are approaching a very exciting few weeks. Mom, get the beer bong out, it’s gonna be a party.
December 17th, 2007
Hey, Miami won a game.
Ok, so allow me to respond to Linds’ blog.
She is practically being offered the Bemidji job on the spot. The guy during her phone interview asked, “would you rather live in a rural or metropolitan area?” and she went on and on about how she enjoys stalking homeless animals that go out probably looking for shelter or food and she shoots them to death, rips their skin off, and cuts their horns off. I believe word for word that’s what she said, too.
Crazy girl.
I have never been too crazy about living in small towns. Big Stone/Ortonville/Doland, I don’t know what it is, but when I went to college it was a relief to have so much opportunity. More job opportunities, more money, and from a consumer perspective you have a much better chance of being able to buy what you need when you need it.
Was I intimidated with Philadelphia? Of course. I went from 605 people (604 after I left) to millions and the 5th largest city in the country. I’ve gone to professional sporting events (Philles and Flyers), top class restaurants (Mortons and Morimotos), fun hangout spots (Dave and Busters) and the shopping places can’t be beat (a big mall, all major stores within 10 minutes). I have gotten used to all of these things.
This is just one part, I have also begun a career. My company is a Fortune 300 which employs over 50,000 employees nationwide. Has international centers, and has a variety of other job opportunities after my sales position. I have met most of the officers of the company, and some of them even know me by name, which is incredible due to the size of the company. Not just that, the opportunity on the East Coast is tremendous, but lets not limit ourselves, there are lots of opportunities in the Midwest and everywhere. Chicago, the Cities, even Sioux Falls seems to be growing.
Are metro places good to raise families? I don’t know, there seems to be a lot of good people that come out of areas like that, and I know the area we live right now wouldn’t be that bad, and that’s a reflection of the type of place we’d live no matter which metro area we lived at.
So, in recap: I like the career opportunities, the entertainment opportunities, and the general excitement that comes with living in/near a metro area.
Bemidji isn’t like that. It’s a 10,000 population town with a college. A move there would either force me to restart my career or begin going in a new direction and just throw what I’ve worked for away. Not only that, but its a move to the exact opposite type of place I want to live. It’s rural, its great for hunting and fishing (things I’ve never been able to get into) and its cold. Like way cold.
So, thats my argument. If linds gets a job there and no better opportunities present itself, I’ll be a Bemidjian. Because I’ve already made sacrifices for this relationship, whats one more.
I do want to be fair though. There are benefits that are very obvious to my readers. I’d be an afternoons drive away from home, and an almost equal distance from St. Cloud, Duluth, Fargo, and the Cities (roughly 150 miles). (That being said, it shows how we’re in the middle of nowhere). It would be a restart to my career, but that bring some exciting possibilities. And Linds would be happy. I realize we’re going in opposite directions with where we want to go in our lives, and one of us will have to give in to make this relationship work. And, since I’m whipped like a horse at the Kentucky Derby it’ll probably be me. I just wish I could be like Sinatra and do it My Way.
I know this post seems like a downer, so please, all of you aren’t just my readers but some of my best friends, let the advice pour in. I could use the pep talks, the advice, and whatever else you want to present.
December 16th, 2007
I’ve determined I don’t care for shopping at Wal-Mart. The place is filled with gross poor people. I know that sounds snobby, but these people don’t bathe. I actually get nervous around them because the that lingers longer then their smell is their criminal records.
So, I mostly finished Christmas shopping today. What do you think about that?
ND State beat up on Colorado State pretty bad, in fact, Winkelman had an amazing game. Serves you right, traitor. Am I right?
Lets see. Friday night was mostly spent along, Linds went off with the girls for Happy Hour and got a 45 year old man’s number, ca-ching, and I sat at home, drinking alone. I called it the “Indifferent Hour”. Linds and the girls came home and we drank ourselves silly. I chose to drive the 1/2 mile home since I wouldn’t be leaving the apartment property and I guess I got what was coming to me. I left my lights on all night. Killed my battery and in the windy cold today I had to jump start it.
Earlier I watched a re-airing of the De La Hoya vs Mayweather fight from back in May, that got me all jacked up to go work out, but I was still very hungover and I ran less than half a mile and did some very basic lifts before running out of steam and giving up. Tonight the re-air the Mayweather vs Hatton fight. I watched it live, but now i’ll get to watch it in HD and much better quality.
So, at work one of my co-workers is actually Larry Holmes’ nephew. He is considered one of the 10 best heavyweight fighters ever. Crazy, huh?
One problem with posting nearly everyday is the problem with repeating yourself. I think I might have said that story already.
That’s it, dumb post, I know.
December 15th, 2007
Snow day yesterday. We had ice, supposed to get snow, and it was cold. That means people panic and send all the employees home by 11am. I went home, worked out, and played some wii. I have determined that if I don’t have much else going on, I do like WATCHING RPG’s, but for the most part I don’t know if I like playing them. I think it has to go back to Attention Span, which I don’t have much of…Lets go ride our bikes!
Did everyone who’s gonna get it, get it?
To not bore ya’ll to death, I’m doing this in lump sums, this is going to be a marathon post. I am going to do #40 through #11 today. I plan on leaving this window upon most of the day and just typing when I get the chance.
9:38 am
Starting it off is…
#40 is Hotel Yorba by the White Stripes.
Yes, that’s right. Who’s heard of this song? I stumbled on this song after Miles first got me into The White Stripes. Then, at the time the fad was Audiogalaxy.com. So, I would DL tons of music…that was available. Pretty much the entire White Blood Cells albums was there and I had heard this on my Yahoo! Radio Station.
Definitely my favoried White Stripes song so I made sure it made the list.
One down, lots to go. It feels like a Live Blog.
10:01am
Speaking of which, anyone read that Mitchell Report. Shocking stuff. I mean, some of the names was just like, duh. But I loved that Clemens was on it. He just seems like a mean guy. I haven’t liked him ever since he threw the bat at Piazza. Uncalled for. Now just wait, everyone who made it on the list is gonna sue for slander, they are all gonna lose. Personally, as a big fan of all sports, I don’t support the players in this. I actually get annoyed when all those former players turned ESPN analysts start dissing the report. That being said, I totally understand. It’d be like my company all of a sudden saying, “some of you were cheating on your talk time or sales or whatever and we’re going to have to audit everything you’ve done for the last 10 years. Well, if I’m not cheating I don’t worry about it, but a lot of people fudge their talk time a lil here and there, and that’s going to come out.
10:21am
So, a cheer for the report shining a light on a dark subject and a boo for MLB for having so many people doing ‘Roids just to keep up. A bigger cheer for Albert Pujols for not being on the list, I really hoped he wouldn’t be.
#39 Loser by Beck. See, I told you it’d make the list. I was torn to put it on, but how can a #1 not make it, plus its kind of a cool song.
10:31am
#38 is Plush (Live) by The Stone Temple Pilots. I love the live version and the studio version is only ok. I’ve noticed that’s a trend with me, I usually fall in love with the acoustic or concert performance of a song and hear it in the studio and think, this song’s not that great.
10:49AM
Anyone loving this post yet? This will be my longest ever. So, about the writers strike, Miles aren’t you a member of the Writers Guild? If so, remember that Newsbleep you did about how you basically have the formulas figured out for TV shows? Well, doesn’t that make you a traitor? In case I have any foreign readers, in THIS country we don’t take kindly to traitors. Miles Rausch…your days are numbered.
11:20am
#37 is Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Nirvana (Unplugged Version).
The passion of Kurt’s voice while singing this song is why I love it. If you’ve ever watched the performance it totally steals the show during the MTV taping. Great album, great performance, great song.
2:12pm
So, afternoon time. Almost the end of the day and I haven’t done much in respect of the countdown, so I’ll catch up.
#36 is Time of Your Life (Good Ridance) by Greenday.
This song is most memorable to me as the background of a Seinfeld finale photo-reel.
#36 is Such Great Heights by Iron and Wine.
Originally done by The Postal Service (The band not the part of the government). I love how pure the song sounds. Just a guy and his guitar. Great lyrics, but that credit goes to TPS, which I honestly had torn, one or the other was going to make this list, and I went with this one.
#35 is Adam’s Song by Blink 182.
I personally love this band. Their lyrics usually aren’t deep and poetic, usually very sophomoric and “fun”, but they play fact, especially live, and have a sense of humor. So, knowing that one of their songs had to make the list, this was my favorite. Probably one of their deeper more serious songs, my second favorite is about the opposite, Dammit, about losing your girlfriend and then running into her at the movies.
#34 Across the Sea by Weezer.
This is my favorite Weezer song. I always listen to the “radio” version, and by that I mean the version that they played once at the radio station. Poor quality, but just on an acoustic guitar and belting out the words. Maybe I just hate drums.
#33 Drugs or Me by Jimmy Eat World.
Two years ago I asked Miles to burn me a CD similar to the one he used as a soundtrack to his “going away DVD” of Linds and I. I liked a lot of the songs of that first CD and requested more. And he has delivered. Today I have probably 9 CD’s of random music. This is my favorite song from the albums of music he sent.
#32 is Better Man (acoustic) by Pearl Jam.
This song came to me by Robbie Volkenant in SDSU. He was a big Pearl Jam fan, and I had mostly not listened to them. But he would play this song and I could figure out how to do the opening part. I liked emulating the same sound I could hear on the CD with an acoustic guitar and with my limited guitar playing skills.
#31 Tiny Dancer by Elton John
I first loved it from Ben Folds, then I heard someone talking once about how the song was surreal at the end of “Almost Famous”. I haven’t seen the movie, but I watched that scene. And it was a cool scene.
#30 is American Pie by Don McLean.
This song dates back to childhood and with a story that really tells a story like this one, its hard not to like it. I have always liked songs that with dramatic changes in tempo. Also, I was glad Weird Al put this tune to the plot of Star Wars.
#29 is Blackbird by The Beatles.
It’s a good song anyway, but I absolutely love the guitar in this song. I remember seeing Kent Rausch play this and I was mesmerized. Also, I usually request this song when Miles is jamming. Its such a cool song.
#28 is My Way by Frank Sinatra
I actually recently appreciated this song. I had always heard it, but I think very rarely from start to finish. Its a confidence song. I’ll do it and I’m not gonna sell out one way or the other, I’m a man, I’ll do the work, but I’m going to do it my way. Yeah Franky, yeah!
#27 is Across the Universe by Rufus Wainright.
I fell in love with the song from the I Am Sam soundtrack which is made up of all Beatles covers. I loved this one the most, the lyrics are very poetic and out there but are put together in such a way that I loved it. I would sing along and it’d be a couple years before I’d find out just what the hell they meant.
#26 is Tuesdays Gone by Lynrd Skynrd.
First dealing with this song, Miles’ roommate Adam. He would say, “miles, i know what’ll cheer you up” and play this song. Funny how something i’ve never even witnessed, just imagined, has created a memory for me. Also, the scene in Dazed and Confused when the beer runs out. I love that movie so I love this song…and Foghat.
There you go, originally i was going to do this to #11, but this took forever.
Like 8 hours.
Here’s to a good weekend, all.
December 14th, 2007
A storm is supposed to be on its way. Like 6 inches of snow.
Aside from that I’ve really been getting into this documentary of Bob Dylan lately, “No Direction Home” directed by Martin Scorsese. It’s similar to the Beatles Anthology, less honest I think. Like, with the Beatles Anthology, though for the most part, they were very honest about drug use and inner disputes. They didn’t talk about all the bad times, but some. With Dylan, so far, I’ve seen some footage and just known he was wasted. In fact, there is a rumor that it was Dylan that got the Beatles stoned for the first time. Hmm…
If you want to really go through a Folk history lesson, check it out. I’m enjoying it, problem with it is…its 4 1/2 hrs long, 3 1/2 on dvd. It was originally aired on PBS, so that may explain some of the censorship.
I have this song that SHOULD make my top 40, but I can’t seem to pick a song to rip out in its place. So, it’s my top 41 list, or, rather, this is the Bonus Track.
#41 has got to be my favorite country song of all time, Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks. My fondest memory of this song is Doland’s pool hall. Dirk, Miles, and I, when we would stay in Doland for like a week during the summer, would go to this rinky dink arcade/pool hall, and it had a juke box, mostly country. I remember we poured what seemed like our life savings into that jukebox and played Friends in Low Places, the version with swearing, over and over. Partly because of the cussing, partly because we loved the song.
December 12th, 2007
I have worked about 3 hours on a new top 40.
I want to tell you my process so you can make your own and post them, too.
First, I literally made a playlist with every song I had in iTunes. First taking out books on tape, then rap to make this a clean top 40. Also, because right now I’m mostly listening to rap, and so songs that I don’t actually like in the long run,but like RIGHT NOW could make it and then in a year I’d be like, dumb move.
So, That narrowed it down to 5,000 songs. I then went through and there were entire albums and artists I could immediately rule out. Through Abba and Weird Al I got rid of a lot, but still had albums from artists I didn’t mind, which left about 500 songs. Then I just picked and chose through there. I had way too many from the same artists and I filtered out the songs I like RIGHT NOW. Songs I want to put on infinite repeat but will get sick of in a week or two.
So, I have my pick of the litter. I also have 150 songs. So now comes the tough work. I then narrowed it down to 80 and every song at that point was difficult to let go. I then had to start thinking, OK, I love this song, but, do I love the way it sounds, the lyrics, the instruments, or what the song means to me? With a greater emphasis on what the songs mean to me.
That was finally whittled down to 40. Now the trickiest part, I ran each song with a 1-5 ranking (8 in each category). It makes it much easier to rank that way. I then look at each bracket and rank them 1-8. And I have my list.
So, if I have my list, why isn’t there #40 here? Because, I wasn’t satisfied, there were a lot of songs in my 5 bracket I was thinking, I like this song over some song that didn’t make the cut?? So, I went back to the full playlist and spend another 30 minutes going through the 6000 songs to put into overflow. So, now I have 38 songs in overflow, 40 songs in a top 40 ranked, and figure at most 5 songs could be swapped. So, tomorrow you may have a final listing.
December 11th, 2007
My mother is 50 freaking years old today. At least, that’s what Facebook says. I called her and woke her up to say happy birthday. If I recall, I’ve called her around midnight on her birthday before when I was in college…and drunk. So, really, this year I was good by waking her up in the morning.
In other news, Vikings won but so did the Giants. I woke up Sunday morning and went for a 3 mile run, burned enough calories to feel better about heating hot wings and drinking beer.
I am in a very crucial part of work, these next 2 weeks are huge. Some of it is exciting, some of it is draining. Especially with a week off going home, I feel like it is an uphill battle. But, hopefully I’ll get some lucky breaks and things will fall my way.
Other than that, you’ll all be excited to know I have made a massive playlist in my itunes, 6,000 songs, and narrowed it down to my favorites. I have a new top 40 to be released…whenever I have time. Who’s excited?
December 10th, 2007
Happy Sunday everyone.
Lindsey and I finally bought our second Wii game, Mario Galaxy. I am yet to find any poor reviews for this game. X Play gave it a perfect rating, Gamespot gave it a 9.8, and it is dubbed THE game for the Wii. So, we’re not dumb, and we bought it. So, actually makes me mad its Sunday and there’s football to watch, I want to check the game out already.
Well, I watched the Hatton/Mayweather fight … mostly live. The same way I watch my Vikings games I watched the fight. Granted, it was very choppy the first 3 rounds, so I found another spot, this was better but also Romanian. So, went back to the original place and it was much better. I believe in the 9th round Hatton didn’t land a single punch. Honestly, Hatton was looking good early. He even knocked Mayweather down, though much of that was due to just losing his balance. But, at round 6 and on it was all Mayweather.
Good match, glad I watched it, but disappointed with the ending. Having watched 24/7 on HBO I was hoping Mayweather would lose cause he is soooo cocky. But, after this win, I guess he had a right to be.
Heard Timmy lost. Too bad.
Go Vikes. Go Steelers. Go Lindsey…into the kitchen and make me wings.
December 9th, 2007
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