The Kids Showing Interest in Music and Sports

Great job, boy!

Hey there.  When I was in middle school (let's go Edison EAGLES!) I was introduced to a lot of extra curricular activities.  There was the ROTC team, music, running, basketball... It's one of those times in your life where you decide which path to take.  I could have done the sports thing.  I love sports and it would have been great to jump into that, but as many of you know, my love was invested in music.  I went the musical route and devoted my middle school life to that.  Yes, my friends.  I was a band geek.  But that doesn't mean I didn't participate in sports activities in school.  I also did some running for the school and did a few relay races and mile runs.  Nothing too fancy, mind you, but it was done.  With all things considered, it's pretty awesome to see that the kids are following suit.  Check it out.  The boy in his first cross country run (The Long Beach Middle School Cross Country Championship) and my oldest daughter in her first orchestra recital.

The Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide Video

Oral-B at it's finest!

Hey there.  A few weeks ago, I received a Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide to use and review.  I must say that I was extremely excited to get to it.  A super powered toothbrush with several brushing settings and a smart guide to help you brush?  Yes please!  Now that I've had some experience with it, I want to let you guys know how it went.

First off, I am now brushing my teeth for MORE than the dentist recommended 2 minutes.  The smartguide and the 30 second timer for each section of your mouth is 100% responsible for that.  Without the timer, I know that I was rushing my brushing.  I also noticed that I may have been brushing a little too hard as well.  The power toothbrush has a red light (and sad face on the smartguide) to show you that you have brush too hard.   Have the smartguide as a guide, I know that I'll brush for the full 2 minutes and then do a little extra brushing because of the new teeth brushing ritual that I have incorporated into my oral hygiene.  I brush for 2 minutes using the whitening setting and then an extra minute using the deep clean setting.  I actually spend more time brushing my teeth than brushing my hair!  lol

Princess Zelda Drawing

Hey there.  I'm still stuck in Zelda mode right now.  I started playing Twilight Princess and I started reminiscing about Ocarina of Time.  Tonight, I grabbed a piece of paper and pen and started to doodle.  I remember seeing this glass stained drawing of Link and Zelda.  I think it's from The Wind Waker.  Anyways, I wanted to draw the whole thing.. but I'm still a little rusty.  My artistic skills are not what they used to be.  But still... I managed to draw a pretty decent Princess Zelda.  Check it out.

Not too shabby, right?

I'll get around to posting more of my drawings here and there.  The girls like to ask for drawings from time to time.  Damn.... looking at this drawing, I realized that I missed a pearl type ball in her necklace.  Oh well... like I said... I'm still rusty.  Later!

Booking That Las Vegas Hotel & Casino Getaway for Under $100

Las Vegas!!!  Here I come!!!

Hey there.  It's set.  Vacation time has been approved and it's time to book that Las Vegas getaway for a few days.  The wife and I sorely need it and just when we were talking about getting away for a few days, I get an Email from Groupon with an awesome deal for a 2 night stay at the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino for under $80.  The cool thing about Vegas is that it really doesn't matter where you stay since you want to visit all the casinos and attractions so you're really only looking for a place to sleep, but this deal included all you can drink alcoholic drinks from 4-8 pm, 2 free breakfasts, and 2 free entries to the day spa (and gym).  FREE DRINKS!!!!  That alone makes this deal worth it.  That's a pretty damn awesome deal, if you ask me.

If you're looking to score this deal, get to it.  Quantities are limited so you need to act fast before the deal is over.  The last possible day to score the deal is June 8th but they could be long gone by then.  So let's hear it, what are some of your favorite summer vacation spots?  Later!

The Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide Toothbrush

An Oral-B toothbrush with power!

Hey there.  This year, I turned 30 years old and I made a promise to myself to take better care of myself. Not because I'm in poor health or anything of that sort, but because it's a healthy lifestyle that I want to integrate into my life.  I started to exercise regularly, started going on morning runs, and I started to pay more attention to my personal hygiene and grooming habits.  I want to make sure that I am at my best going forward and nothing says great hygiene than an awesome smile.  That's the first thing that people see when they meet someone, you know.  A bright smile can convey confidence and that's what I want.  My teeth have coffee stains and I've been thinking of getting a more serious toothbrush to tackle those stains and attain that awesome smile.  Good thing that my good friends at Dad Central and Oral-B provided me with a toothbrush that claims to do just that.  Check out this bad boy!  The Oral-B ProfessionalCare Smart Series 5000 with SmartGuide (Oral-B 5000) toothbrush!

Goodbye 20s! Hello Super Spartan Race!!!

Hey there.  As mentioned earlier in my Twitter feed, today is the last day of my 20's.  Yup, as of tomorrow, I will be 30 years old.  Now... I'm not one to make a big deal over birthdays.  Actually, I'm one that doesn't really care how old (or young) one is.  I usually forget how old I am and my wife is the one to remind me.  Well...  in this instance, my wife has reminded me of the big 30 once a week, every week for the past few weeks.  lol  I don't feel 30.  To be honest, I don't even know how "old" I feel.  I'm still a goofball, I still play video games (as if that's a bad thing...), and I still take part in less than wise activities (sliding down the stair case on cardboard!  C'mon!  Don't tell that you've never done it!)  If anything, I'm not as active as I used to be.  But that's about to change!  Starting tomorrow, I will go out for a morning run.  Yup.  I need to start training.  Why?  Because I'm going to take part of the Super Spartan Race coming this January!!!

The Magic of Chucky and Child's Play

Hi, I'm Chucky wanna play?

Hey there.  It's Friday night and we're hanging out at home looking for a movie to watch.  We could go out and catch a just released film but we decided to browse through Netflix to see what we could find.  What we decided on was Child's Play, the 1988 cult classic.  The kids haven't seen it.  They're more into the new stuff.  They care not for 80s awesome unless I bring it up and tell them about it.  I always said how some of my earliest memories are that of my dad and I staying up watching movies on HBO.  I'm sure my mother didn't approve.  I was no more than 8 years old or so and there I was, watching Child's Play, Poltergeist, The Exorcist, Phantasm, Hellraiser, you know, movies along those lines.  Looking back at them now, they aren't really child material and I wouldn't show my kids stuff like that at that young of an age.  Anyways, Child's Play came up on Netflix and there I go, saying how awesome it is that we just have to watch it.

Daaaaaaad! Moooooooom!

Cute:  Daaaaad!!! Look!  I sit myself!

Hey there.  MOM!!!  DAD!!!  What parent hasn't heard their kid screaming at the top of their lungs because at that moment in time, they need their mom or dad?  lol  When the kids are under 4 or 5, it's cute.  The other weekend, I was playing basketball with friends and family and I took the kids to the park.  The wife wasn't feeling all that great that morning so when our 2 year old needed a parent, what do you think I heard? DAAAAAAAD!!!  lol  And you know what... he was a cutie pie doing it.  The guys that I was playing basketball with are dads too so they knew the drill.  We all heard dad out in the distance and we stopped and turned around to see where it was coming from and to make sure the young one wasn't hurt.  He wasn't hurt...  he needed help sitting on the bench... or he needed me to get his older sister to NOT tie his hair... or, in his eyes, did something awesome and NEEDED dad to see.  lol  Like I said, under 5 years old, it's cute.

The Importance of Taking a Mental Health Day

A strong indication that you need a Mental Health Day!

Hey there.  You know... I work to hard.  I don't take many vacations.  Not because I don't want to, but because I always seem needed at work.  I've been working at the same place for well over 8 years now...  it will be 9 years this May.  And even though I am proud that I have managed to discover a career, it's tough to know that the time off is rare.  And if I do get time off, it's in small spurts.  I could never request weeks, let alone, a full month off at work.  It's just not possible.  With my, I'm lucky to get 3 days straight.  That was what was supposed to happen this week, but it didn't.  Instead, I'm settling for today, Friday, off and next Wednesday and Thursday.  Mondays and Tuesdays and are out of the question because of the meetings that I am a part of.  I think that I need to simply accept that this is what it is and cherish the moments that I can take off from work.

Getting Back into the Writing Game

Hey there.  I would like to take this minute to say, I'm sorry.  Sorry for the short posts and sorry for the lack of more personal, "in depth" kind of stuff that I mean to post from time to time.  Sorry to the many sites that I SHOULD be contributing, but simply could not because I didn't have the means.  Well, let's rephrase that.  I had the means, but only during certain times of the day and for short period of times.  It sucks to have to squeeze out content within a few minutes and when it's rushed, it's not of good quality.  So instead of churning out crap, I decided to take a step back, regroup, and make sure that when I contribute to a site, it will be of some value instead of filler.  So again, I'm sorry if I have gone MIA the last few weeks/months but it's not because I did not want to contribute, it's because I respect your site enough to bow out in order to keep the content quality high.

The Color Run 2012

Hey there.  Guess who just signed up to do The Color Run in the city of Irvine this April?!?!  That's right!  This guy!  I told myself that I wanted to do some more running this year.  I started the year well by doing a good 5 mile run about 3 times a week but have kind of ventured off from that pass.  It's OK, though.  I'm still staying in shape and am squeezing a workout here and there.  But when I made that commitment to be in more shape this year, I told myself that running a 5K would be a goal.  That goal is now going to happen on April 22nd!!

If you guys haven't head of The Color Run, it's pretty damn cool.  It's not so much about speed but more about enjoying yourself.  You start off with a white colored shirt and at the 1K mark, you'll be splattered with paint.  By the time you reach the end, you'll be covered in colors!  Check out the video below of how much fun it can be!

Reducing the Glare From Your Glasses

Great picture of my son and I...  but it would
 have been better if that glare was gone!

Hey there.  I wear my glasses all the time.   And I mean, ALL THE TIME.  lol  I only take them off when I shower and sleep.  I just can't see without them and when I can't see, it frustrates me.  So I simply will keep them on to avoid that.  But because I keep them on all the time, especially during sports activities, they end up breaking more often than not.  At one point in my life, I must have been going at a rate of 2 pairs of glasses a year.  Anyways, because I always have em them on, I tend to have plenty of pictures with glares on them.  Annoying, right?  I know that there have been more than a few pictures where everything was perfect except for those bright lights where my eyes should be.  It can be quite annoying to take several pictures to avoid that dreaded "glasses glare" in pictures.  What I need to look into are these new oleophobic lenses that will reduce glares on lenses!

Starting the New Year with Fitness

We're doing what now?!

Hey there. 2012 is upon us and while many people have decided to start some new resolutions, I've decided to continue one that I've been working on for a few years now. I know that many new year's resolutions die by the end of the month so you need to see them as what they are, goals. I plan on kick starting my exercise routine and the wife actually provided the jump start tonight. As of last night, 5 mile walks will be taken nightly.

My wife has been taking walks while I'm at work but I need to get off my butt and get as active as she is. Last night's 5 mile walk kicked my ass. Lol. I haven't been to the gym in months but I've managed to do some push ups here and there but it's simply not enough. I think I was at about 180 lbs for a short time but thinking back, I don't think it was a healthy 180 lbs.  While walking (and really it's more like a slow run), I began to feel the burn in my legs after 15 mins! Wow! That's some real bad cardio on my part. I'm really looking forward to these walks. Aside from the health benefits, I'm looking forward to spending some alone time with the wife. It's tough to find time to ourselves with a full house. Yeah, you parents out there know what I'm talking about.

So what are you guys planning to do differently this year? What resolutions have you tried? Did you succeed or fail? Let's hear it, friends. Later!

My Christmas Story - Banjo Kazooie, N64, and a Snitch

With Christmas being literally around corner, we all have our christmas stories. Whether it'd be getting that special gift, giving that special gift or just remembering the times you've had with your family and friends. I got my own Christmas stories to tell, maybe too many, to be honest. There's one I remember the most, its the one that makes me laugh and it reminds me of how much the memories of family means to me.

Getting Ready for a Young Lady

Hey there. Last weekend, I was drawing with the kids. Well, actually with the girls. They drew something for me and I would do my interpretation of that drawing. I figured that it was a little something that they may remember many years from now. What I didn't realize at the time is that those years are flying by a little too quickly for my liking. My oldest daughter is 10.  That is only a few years away from her quinceñera.  For those of you not in the know, it's a party thrown on the 15th birthday of a young lady to usher her in to womanhood.  Now... 15 does not make you a woman... but I guess the significance is that she is no longer a "child".  It's the moment that fathers everywhere dread.  It's the moment that you come to face the fact that daddy's little girl is growing up.

So why the revelation?  It's this drawing.  She drew herself and I did my version of her.  My drawing gave me a glimpse of what she could become in a few short years.  Well, I knew that it was coming.  I've even joked with her and said that I will embarrass her as much as possible before she won't find me "funny" anymore.  I've already declared that I will do the robot during our quinceñera dance.  lmao!  And I already see some of that luster come off.  My jokes aren't as funny, my mannerisms aren't as witty, and, to her, they're coming off as embarrassing or stupid.  It's ok, though.  That's not going to stop me from trying.  *sigh*  

Where's that parent instruction manual?  lol  Later!

Making Hickory Farms a Family Tradition

Hey there.  No matter what goes down in your daily life, at the end of the day, you come home to your family.  Always inviting, always waiting there for.  It's the best time of day, actually.  Well, at least for me it is.  After working hard all day, it's great to be able to spend some time with the wife and kids and dinner time is a great way to open up with each other and share the day's experiences.  It's a welcome change from the stresses of being a working parent.  And nothing makes the conversation better than an awesome meal from the wife.  But not just any meal, but a meal prepared using some Hickory Farms products.

Getting Screwed by Bank of America... Again

Hey there.  I have strong disdain towards Bank of America.  Throughout my years, they have managed to screw me over with my checking account, a credit card, and now my home.  Or should I say, previous home.  That's right, the bastards took my house.  It's a long story, one that starts about 2 years ago, but the stress didn't amp up until March of this year.  So here's the story...

Metallman is Now a Part of the Joystick Division Team

Hey there.  I want to expand.  I want to have my name across all sorts of sites.  The problem that I came across was I was unorganized.  I didn't know how to cut up my time to be able to write for more than one site. Now, I'm come across a system that is working for me.  And because this system is now in place, I should be more active across all the sites that I currently write for.  And with that, I am glad to announce that I am now a part of the Joystick Division team!  Here's the story.

My Blind Eyes Define My Look

Glasses?  What glasses?

Hey there.  I wear glasses.  As far I can remember, I've worn glasses.  If I had to put a time frame as to when I got them, I would probably say I got them somewhere around kindergarten so I've worn specs for most of my life.  And you know what, I don't mind a single bit.  I love my glasses.  I like how I look.  Sure, I got the whole "four eyes" thing as a child, but let's be real here, kids can be cruel and there's always going to be that one jerk that will pic on the kid with glasses.  The thing is to encourage a positive attitude and to create an identity.  At an early age, I learned that my eyesight was not the best that I would wear eyeglasses for life.  And you know what, I'm completely fine with it.

I've Been MIA

Hey there.  Just to give you guys a quick heads up as to what is going on.  My wife has been in and out of the hospital and clinic for the past few weeks.  The docs discovered a tumor that needed to be removed and all my focus has been shifted to her.  I'll give a more detailed post as to our experiences, thoughts, and fears.

Thanks to all that sent well wishes our way.  Trust me, they are very much appreciated and it definitely opened up our eyes to see that so many people had us in their thoughts and prayers.  Thanks again!