Category: Blog Posts About Me

So I woke up early this morning and was working on my computer.  I like to sit in front of a space heater and blog (doesn’t get much better than that).  I had a pillow on the floor with me when I started feeling something moving under the pillow.  I ignored it after 2-3 times of feeling it until I lifted up the pillow to discover a lizard was under it which scared me good as I was not exactly expecting to see that by any means.  Here is the video of my encounter and please note that no lizards were harmed during the making of this video so it is PETA friendly.  OK I couldn’t help saying damn, I guess I was still stunned I was laying on top of a lizard…

Went to Flora tonight in Oakland for dinner with some friends.  If you go you have to get the caramel pudding, I know you are probably thinking the same thing I did…pudding for dessert?  I read the reviews of the restaurant on Yelp before going and everyone was raving about the pudding so I figured I’d give it a try.  It had sea salt and whipped cream on the top which made it incredible.  I completely agreed it is really good and is one of the best desserts I have had in a really long time.  OK the dinner was good too.  To give you an idea, they have sides of macaroni and cheese so how can you beat that!  My kind of place.  🙂

Psst…you wanna know a secret?  Only a few people know this but as long as I can remember my favorite time is 10:10.  For whatever reason when I notice the time I find it is 10:10.  It doesn’t matter if it is a picture of a watch in a magazine, a clock on my nightstand, or a clock anywhere in the world, if it is 10:10 I take notice.  People think I am crazy (and I am) when I tell them that.  I’m curious if it is just me or if people have a favorite time, or a time they seem to notice more than usual.

Never, ever, ever, ever get divorced but if you are going through it like I am, I really feel for you.  The strange thing I found after separating is you go to get something (especially in the kitchen) and you can’t find it so you think “hmm maybe I misplaced it”.  Then you think “hmm maybe she took it with her” and you repeat that process a million times until you drive yourself crazy.  When my wife took her things to her new new place the thing I missed more than anything else was the KithenAid mixer (odd I know).  I made cookies the other day with one of those hand mixers and the thing was moaning at me like a dying cow.  I found a new mixer online a few days ago which just came to the house today for $100 less than everyone else had it listed for so I am pretty excited to get one again.  She did all of the cooking and baking so watch out world I have a mixer now so you have to suffer through my food experiments.

I’ll make it easy on you, here are some excuses (and solutions) for staying safe:

• “Oh I couldn’t possibly, I am on a diet because of my New Year’s resolution”
• “I wouldn’t want to spoil my lunch/dinner/breakfast”
• Ask who else has eaten one and then go over to them to see if they are still alive

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. – Benjamin Franklin

I was thinking about what my 2009 resolutions would be and I thought it would be smart to focus on what I’d like people to say about me at my funeral. This comes from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — the habit called “Begin with the end in mind.” If you are at the end of your life, looking back what would you like to have accomplished? What kind of person would you like to have been?

2008 was quite a year and knowing at least some of what 2009 will likely entail should make it a really interesting year as well (but hopefully much more positive).  At the start of 2008 everything was going great, mid 2008 about as good as it can get but then at the end of 2008 it fell apart.  I think most people only have one resolution but that isn’t really my style so below are my 2009 new year’s resolutions:

Health Resolutions

• By the end of the year be able to do 100 consecutive push-ups.  I’ve been trying forever (still at 27).  🙂
• Run a mile in under 6 minutes, thirty seconds.  My treadmill in the garage has been getting more use these days.
• Remember to eat.  When I’m stressed I don’t eat, or at least not much.  My little brain gets wrapped up in what is going on around me and I either forget or don’t want to.  Yeah, not eating is probably not a good thing.
• Eat at least one vegetable a day.  Last night I had broccoli.  It’s a start…

Relationship Resolutions

• Spend more time with family and friends.  Remember to tell them how important they are and how much I appreciate them.
• Be a good dad to Tyler and son to my parents.
• Read at least one self improvement book a month.  Right now I’m reading The Marriage Fantasty which was loaned to me by a friend.  By the way the book isn’t saying marriage is a fantasy but rather people have unreasonable expectations about what marriage is and how to make it last.
• Attend church every week (unless I am really sick or something like that of course)
• Try to forgive and forget (might have to forget before I fully forgive…haha)

Career & Hobby Resolutions

• For JeremyPerson.com I am at a 115 visitor daily average so I met my 2008 goal of 100.  For 2009 I’d love it if the traffic would double to at least 200.  Everyone likes to be heard and I am no exception.
• Work hard, play hard, and remember what is important
• Watch at least one movie a week.  These days I am lucky if I get one movie in a year.
• Launch at least 3 new websites (I have lots of ideas)

Random

• Make the bed every day (random I know)

Happy New Year’s everyone!

My AT&T contract was finally up so I went to Best Buy yesterday and got one.  Obviously I am still learning things but I can already tell it is going to change how I live and use technology.  For instance I was going somewhere last night I hadn’t been to before so I printed out the address of the place so I could GPS it in my car.  Well that works if you remember to take it with you as you are leaving which I didn’t.  So as I realized I didn’t have it so I stopped for gas, got my iPhone out and Googled it.  I am a huge open source advocate so I know I’m going to take some heat over not buying an Android OS phone but I don’t think it is ready for prime time yet and the iPhone is.  I just got Twitterific installed so there is no stopping me now.  Obviously more reviews and feedback to come as I learn more.

Hey everyone, I’m back in the Bay Area after visiting Portland for the last few days for Christmas and let me tell you it was quite a trip!  I woke up this morning at 3:30am and left with my dad and Tyler to the airport at around 4:20am for our 6:45am flight so I could get Tyler back to Lana for Christmas.  My dad heard the main roads had cleared up so he took the chains off his truck.  We had quite a ride down the hill to the highway and once we got on the highway everything was plowed really nicely with no snow at all.  We were going maybe 45-50 MPH when we must have hit some ice going over an overpass when we started zig zagging left, then right, then back left, then back right until we did a 180 into the highway wall which luckily had a ton of snow buffering it.  The snow bank stopped the truck and my dad told me to drive so he could push us out of the snow and back onto the highway.  We got going again and I kept it in four wheel drive going real slow the rest of the way to the airport.  Everyone including my dad’s truck is luckily fine but it was quite a ride let me tell you.

We only had to stand in line during check-in for maybe 5-10 minutes and the guy checking me in asked my dad if he wanted to help me through security and I didn’t even give him a chance to answer before I said “YES” for him.  The guy said he was a single dad too so he understood what it takes to get through security which was so nice.  It was really nice to have some help going through security and then we got a Starbucks and watched Tyler flirt with all the people.  Of course as they were calling for us to board Tyler decided to “do his thing” so I ended up being the last one to board.  He was really good on the flight and went to sleep about 10 minutes into us taking off.  When we got into Oakland it was raining and really windy which wasn’t fun for Tyler and I because we had to stand and wait for the economy lot bus.  I dropped Tyler off at Lana’s and just got home about an hour ago after calling my parents to tell them I made it.  I don’t think I went on any trains but it has been quite an adventure let me tell you.  Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone.

Dear 2008 we have now spent 31,556,926 seconds together (give or take a few thousand at the time of writing you this).  We shared seconds I wish could have lasted forever, and seconds I wish I could give back to you that will remain with me forever.  In the same year, I saw my son walk his first steps and my marriage walk its last.  We have shared deep sadness, betrayal, shock, anger, hate, frustration, helplessness, joy, exhaustion, success, failure, love, heartaches, and headaches.

More than halfway through the year, I knew you were starting to consume me.  I couldn’t absorb all that was being asked of me and that I was asking of myself.  I was like a sponge who had taken in all it could, which didn’t have room to absorb anything else.  I knew that I was taking on more than I should, and it was affecting myself and those around me.  I started to tell others I was seeing things were broken and my desire to fix them.  Fortunately, I had enough foresight to realize part of what was happening, but I had no idea how much foresight I lacked, which I eventually gained.  The important thing I take away from 2008 is I now understand what happens to a sponge which has nothing left to absorb is squeezed.  It drains itself of everything the pressure demands, which leaves it void of what it used to have.  However, the sponge is then able to absorb better things.  In life, be careful how much you absorb, but also be careful how much you let go of something you have committed to keeping.

You taught me a lot about myself, probably more than any other year I have come to know. You have changed me in ways I didn’t think possible.  Entering 2008 I was on a track to something I thought I wanted, but it took a freight train on that track to hit me to realize it is something no longer of importance to me.  My nephew Evan’s favorite toy is Thomas the Tank, and I find it so interesting every time I play with him that he creates a disaster in order for Thomas to come and save the day.  Evan yells, “HELP CHOO CHOO… HELP!” and along comes Thomas to assist.  My help isn’t coming from a train but rather from others who have helped push me up the hill saying “I think you can, I think you can”.  To those who have helped push me up the biggest obstacle of my life, words can’t express how grateful I am.  Freight trains are tough to stop and even after they hit you, they will drag you quite a distance if you don’t find a way to stop it.  I tried to stop it several times after it hit me before realizing the train didn’t have brakes of its own, so the best thing I could do was direct it onto another track I was not on, but I truly hope in doing so it doesn’t hit anyone else in its path.

Do whatever it takes to keep your family happy and since that isn’t always possible, remember to find a way to keep yourself happy.  Just be careful to make sure your happiness isn’t at the expense of others.  I’m sorry 2008, I won’t miss you, but I’m also not sorry for meeting you, which is an odd thing for me to say.  2009 you had better be good to me because I deserve so much better than 2008.

Sincerely,
Jeremy