My dad has been (and still is) a pastor for as long as I can remember. I grew up listening to my dad preach, week in and week out for most of my formative years and I have mostly learned to tune out his voice whenever he preaches (it’s a coping mechanism, I swear!). It’s not that he’s a boring preacher (I don’t think), it’s just that when you listen to the same voice, talking about the same things, week after week (and often multiple times during the week!), you start to tune him out!

I remember being approached by many church members and being asked whether I planned to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a pastor just like him. I know how young kids usually say: “when I grow up, I want to be just like my dad (or mom).” But not me. Even when I wasn’t old enough to understand the question, I answered with a resounding NO! I did not want to be like my dad. I wanted to be my own man. I did not want to be my father.

Anything but my father.

And so my path was chosen from very early on in life. I wasn’t an outright rebel (like a number of my PK peers), nor was I a goody-two-shoes PK (although I put on quite a show for the members of my dad’s congregation). I avoided all opportunities that might have led to me following in my dad’s footsteps (like studying at a church-sponsored university). No, I wanted out of my dad’s shadow, and I wanted to strike out on my own.

Which I did. And my path has led me to successes and failures. I am nowhere near the end of my life’s path, and I have yet to see whether I will go down in history as a resounding success, or a dismal failure. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Sometimes though, I wonder, had I chosen to follow in my dad’s footsteps, would I have been more successful? I have been placed in situations not unlike that of my dad (I was even once a youth pastor at a local church), and I met with moderate success. But does the calling really burn in my blood like it does in my dad’s?

I don’t think so.

Not really.

No.

I guess I really am not my father after all.

I remember a time when I saw all these actors and actresses and saw them as people way older than me. I could not relate to anyone (for the most part), and turned instead to cartoons (which my young mind found absolutely hilarious).

I remember a time when I realized with elation I was as old as some of the “in” actors and actresses. I looked at them and saw people my age, and the movies they acted in was somehow relevant to me.

I remember a time when most of the actors and actresses my age started fading away and were replaced with “newer model” actors and actresses. It was disconcerting to realize that my generation was quickly becoming old news.

And lately, there have been a spate of deaths in Hollywood that have resulted in a few of the icons from my youth pass away, and I wonder how much time I have left.

Time moves forward inexorably, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

My Psych professor requires us to write in a journal (I suppose a blog will do) over the duration of the semester, about our thoughts and feelings about the subject, I guess. So I’m thinking, more introspective and pensive, less geeky and pop culture-y?

To be honest, I am around 3 weeks and 6 squintillion words behind schedule, but I’ll make up for it. Not because I want to, but because I have to.

Actually, it’s more like I prefer to play my new (old) game. I was able to get Guild Wars for a discounted price and so far it’s been quite entertaining. I kinda burned out on WoW and GW seemed like a good alternative.

I like playing MMORPGs but I like to solo in them mostly, so I don’t know how long this will keep me occupied. I have heard that it is solo friendly to an extent, so we’ll see I guess.

Shiny, shiny new toy… me so happy!

Well, I’m onboard for however long this new show Castle lasts.

I’m always iffy when it comes to new shows, since they often die young (like Fillion’s other show Drive, which lasted all of four episodes, IIRC). But hey, Castle pressed all the right buttons, and I loved it.

Castle‘s got a fan, and if you haven’t seen it, find a way. You won’t regret it.

I love my professors, with the exception of my lab prof, who’s not a bad guy really, just not-American Indian– I just can’t understand what he’s saying half the time, with the language barrier and all! I am still kicking butt in lab though, so it’s not a biggie.

What I am really digging is my English class (academic writing)… I really love my prof, she’s friendly, witty and smart (and pretty too, in a Dana Scully sort of way). And for some weird reason, she thinks highly of my work so far (I’m getting A-pluses on my papers). I guess I’ll put up my work on this here blog when the sem is over just for posterity’s sake… and for your perusal.

In any case, so far so good… and so it continues.

I felt apprehensive (as would anyone who has been out of the academic realm for such a long time), and I wondered whether my dusty, rusty brain cells could handle yet another round of college courses.

I am glad to report– after my first day at school– that my dusty, rusty brain cells are still up to it. I also believe that my more mature (yarite!) outlook in life more than compensates for the accumulated mental cobwebs I have had to brush off.

Eventually (hopefully), I would like to follow in the footsteps of the wifey and take up Nursing. It’s a far cry from my original line of work (computers), but since outsourcing programming jobs is still the in thing to do, I am forced to take up something quite different from what I consider my forte.

Therein lies the challenge, and I intend to take it up and conquer it.

Right now, I am liking my chances.

And I’ve let this blog suffer for it.

/sigh

In recent developments, my little girl’s growing up so quickly… she’s able to read at a first grade level (at 4 years old) and she’s learning her numbers and how to tell time. At this rate, by the time she actually starts school, she’ll be ready for college!

Anyhoo, I’ve got quests to do, and monsters to kill, so I’ll just let this here blog decompose some more.

Well, not here here… but they announced the sequel, and looking at the gameplay demo, it’s going to be a blast!

I loved playing Diablo back when my PC was weak sauce compared to today’s generation of PCs… and I love the gameplay inspired by Diablo in World of Warcraft (which I have rediscovered, thus the no blogging)… and I am more than certain D3 is going to be nothing more than spectacular…

Now the long wait begins… Blizzard I love yooooooooou!

I really hate how the Big 3 shamelessly pimped Archuleta to the unwashed masses as Your Next. American. Idol!

Now, I’m not a fan obviously, but I will admit that the kid can sing. Unfortunately, the kid is severely lacking in the personality department. He can sing the hell out of sappy ballads, yes, but he can’t sing any other genre of music (as demonstrated by his mangling of last week’s With You). And I can only take two or three sappy ballads at most, what more a whole albumful of Archuleta ballads?

I didn’t mind him much in the beginning. He was pretty solid early on. But as the weeks passed, he brought nothing new to the table. He was still pretty solid, but he became predictable. Boring even.

And now, I can hardly stand him at all. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way. He feels fake and plastic-y. Especially his “I’m about to cry, thank you for being so nice to me” look while the judges praise his performances to high heavens. He’s done that week after week after week after week and, thankfully, he’s done it for the last time tonight. That being said, Archuleta did well tonight. I still liked his version of Imagine, but well, I’ve heard it before, and I wasn’t really clamoring to hear it again. I would’ve appreciated something new, especially that Archuleta’s been tagged as boring by many.

Cook didn’t do anything in the neighborhood of his Hello and Always Be My Baby performances. I did enjoy his version of I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For however. But then again, I am a big U2 fan, so no surprise there. So, pretty much middle of the road for Cook tonight, which is still pretty damn good.

So who should win this season? Simply really. For me, it all boils down to this: if I were to listen to an albumful of songs by either finalist, who would I rather listen to? And as I said, I could only take two or three of sappy ballads at a time… therefore I’d choose Cook’s album over Archuleta’s, especially if he takes on non-rock songs and gives them a rock makeover.

Thankfully DialIdol.com has Cook leading over Archuleta by 12 points right now. The pimping of Archuleta has thankfully backfired and my faith in the unwashed masses has been restored.