Virtute.org

Well, it’s one of those days.  I’ve got so many projects open that it’s been crazy staying on top of them all.  The short week doesn’t help, but it does seem nice that it’s ending soon.  Hopefully I can close out a lot of these clients and make some space for my other projects.

Tough break for the Jazz.  You can see some thoughts from Deron Williams here about what’s behind it.  Seems like Derek Fisher agrees.  You know he’s talking about Memo, AK, and Giricek.  Our reserves played their hearts out.  You have to give praise to the Spurs for the killer instinct, though.  Except Ginobli.  He’s a flopping Euro-ball thug.  I love Tim Duncan, though, and Tony Parker seems decent and is a fun player to watch.  Congrats to the Spurs, and watch out; the Jazz will only be better next year.

Oh dear. Laresa started this one, so I figured I’d post it.

It’s largely Kathleen’s fault, too.  Ok, it’s pretty much all my fault.  I’m not much for organization, but I’m trying to work out a system to de-clutter.  I stumbled on a couple of good blogs, such as ZenHabits.com, which have some good ideas for clearing out crap.  I feel like I spend too much of my life wasting time and never really getting anything done.  Granted, I have a home, a family, and a decent job; we have plenty to eat and enough money to have a little fun now and then.  But I can’t really shake the feeling of wasted time lately.  I read things like this and think about what I might accomplish if I bent my energy to it.

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Well, more random would be better.  For some reason I keep getting the Rescue Rangers theme song stuck in my head in the mornings.  There’s something triggering it, I’m positive; when I was on my mission in New Jersey, the blinkers in our Escort would tick right to the rythym of the opening drum lick of Natalie Merchant’s “Carnival”, and that would get into my head frequently. 

I have had some cooler songs get stuck recently; I’ve had a lot of David Bowie’s “Strangers When We Meet”, which is a pretty good song.  But if I start hearing the songs from Duck Tails or TaleSpin, I’ll be seeking professional help.

I found this list on Digg.com today. It’s supposed to be a list of the saddest songs. Some of them I agree with; “Brick” by Ben Folds is quite sad, as is “No Surprises” by Radiohead. Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” is quite sad. Some I would have considered would be “Little Girl Blue” by Janis Joplin, or maybe “Going to California” by Led Zeppelin, or “Circle” by Edie Brickell. When I was younger and depressed about love, I’d listen to “Why Should I Cry for You” by Sting, or “Love’s Recovery” by Indigo Girls. Sone others to consider would be “Was It Something I Said” by OMD, “Amy Hit the Atmosphere” by Counting Crows, “Running to Stand Still” by U2, “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying” by Sting, and “Lonelier Than This” by Steve Earle. Anyway, just got me thinking and I thought I’d share.

Those of you who know me well know I’ve been a Colts fan for some time.  This has been a strange season, when it seemed like they struggled to win every game right up to the end.  Peyton wasn’t as brilliant as he was in his record-breaking season, but he was brilliant in the crunch.  The defense struggled all season but came together in time to win it all.

So why am I feeling so subdued about the win?  Well, I don’t want to look like I jumped on the bandwagon when I’ve been rooting for the Colts all along.  I also didn’t want to get to involved emotionally and get set up for disappointment.  As a Jazz fan, I’m too familiar with that feeling of getting to the brink and not getting over the top.

The Colts are a great organization.  Tony Dungy reminds me of LaVell Edwards – quiet, patient, tough, and beneath all that a kind and good man.  Peyton is the opposite of a guy like Terrell Owens, a humble superstar who gives credit to his team and devotes himself to the game.  I’m proud to be a fan of a team representing the best in sports today, and I’m proud of them for winning the big one.

Well, I made a special page for everyone to start posting idears. Just visit this page:

http://www.virtute.org/virtute/christmas-lists/

Or hit the “Christmas Lists” link in the nav above to to get started. Let’s keep it clean, everybody!

We’ve got a new pet at the house. In addition to Hernando, my male G. rosea, and Unnamed Spider Jr., my A. seemani (I don’t know the gender yet, so I can’t name it until it molts) we have a new A. avicularia, commonly known as a Pink-toe. I missed the reptile show in Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago, so I didn’t get a chance to check out any of the more exotic species. This one’s pretty common, but they’re neat little spiders. It was very docile when we were trying to get it into one of the little pet boxes to bring home, and again transferring to the new home in a large plastic jar. The A. seemani was a little pill, kicking hairs everywhere and trying to run anywhere but into the box. Anyway, the poor thing endured a short ride home on my motorcycle (tucked away from the wind in my saddlebag) and a transfer to its new home. It seems very docile. I’ll leave it alone for a couple of days to get settled in, and then I’ll try feeding some crickets.

I’m going to guess it’s female, just from the size, but I’m not sure until it molts. You can check the exo-skeleton after a molt for certain indicators of gender. With this species, I’ve heard the males only get to about 3″ in legspan, and this one seems bigger than that. I didn’t have a ruler handy, and I don’t want to bug it at the moment.

This is a tropical species, found in rain forests in the Amazon basin. They prefer a little higher temperature and pretty high humidity, so I’m keeping this one near my computer and I’ll mist the jar periodically. That should do the trick to keep it happy.

Anyway, I’m pleased with this little creature and I’m excited to watch it in action. It looks like a great little spider.

Here’s a shot of the new nephew:

He’s a meaty little fellow, and he looks angry a lot.  He weighed in a 9 lbs. 10 oz.  It’s fun for Isaac and Charlotte to have a new cousin.  I’ll encourage them to beat up on him while they can, because I don’t expect he’ll be littler than them for long.  Kathleen will send an email out with more details later.

Kathleen’s sister Sarah is about to burst forth with child.  Kathleen and her mom are over at the hospital now, and the boy could come at any minute.  I’ll make Kathleen put up some pictures when she gets a chance.

I’m going out on a limb here and saying that today was the absolute best weather ever in the history of the universe.  So as soon as church was over, I went out riding.  I have a little 1979 Hondamatic I cruise around on.  That’s my buddy Rawlyn with his new Buell CityX.  We headed down to Springville and then up Hobble Creek Canyon.  The leaves are just starting to change, and the temperature was perfect.  Just a great day to be out riding.  And now, a great time to watch a little football.  It’s Manning vs. Manning tonight, and I’m a Colts fan.  So back to the game.

Well, I’m a nerd.  NERD NERD NERD.  My new lightsaber (the Master Replicas Force FX Obi Wan) has arrived.  I can’t wait to go home and play with it.  I’ll post pictures when I’ve got some batteries in it.