The Trials and Tribulations of the not-so-New Bear Icon

It's been a busy few days as we got to year end. Chris met more members of my family this weekend as my parents were in town for the funeral of my great-uncle on my mother's side. Chris didn't go to the funeral, it would have been awkward since he hasn't met that part of the family, but he did get to meet my aunt Suzanne who was up for the funeral. We met for lunch before the funeral.

The funeral itself was boring. Two funerals in a short span is a bit rough. However, it's more of an expectation when it's a 95 year old man that it is for someone who was three years older than yourself. My great-uncle's son (my cousin of some sort) is a lawyer and both father and son were members of Sigma Chi, so the reception has the feeling of being at a Republican convention...including women with high hair.

Chris also got to meet my great-aunt on my father's side, Ojeda. She is always a hoot, a chain-smoking, margarita-drinking hoot. We had a nice dinner with her and my folks on Sunday.

One of the good things at the end of this past year was hearing that my dad has a clean bill of health after his prostate cancer surgery. He's not healing as fast as he'd like, but the prognosis is good.

Chris and I both had to work on New Years Eve, but we did go out last night, first checking in at soonercubntx's apartment for a movie, then off to the biggest bear party in town, the shindig at Mark and Ami's (amisadeh). It's the fourth year we've gone to the party, and I think this year's was great. I'm sure it was the largest turnout they've had There were people visiting from all over. Near midnight the house was packed, and it's one of the best looking and friendliest crowds you'll see.

Now normally a crowd like that gets me running for a far corner, but this year I felt good, confident and occasionally even sexy. It was nice, and it made it easy for me to strike up some conversations here and there with bears known and unknown.

One of the best moments for me was running into someone who had just recently come back to Dallas after living elsewhere for the last couple of years. He was very complementary to me saying that he noticed the weight-loss I've had over the last couple of years. It's good to know that it's paying off.

I would like to shop for some new clothes. I haven't dropped so much that I can't wear what I have, but I do find some of my biggest shirts are just that, big, and I need a size smaller in belts as I'm on the last hole. I'm hesitant because I want to make sure I keep this shape and don't backtrack. I've been very good about working out regularly and I need to keep that up in 2008.

Of course the other reason I'm not buying new clothes right now is I'm very cheap. I've seen some 50% clearance sales this week, but I'm waiting for the 75% off sales. Why any one shirt costs over $30 I'll never know.

Not so much happening today. I cooked up some cinnamon rolls from a can and we started the year in trivia off right playing at BW3 in the middle of all of the bowl watching football fans. Then it's enjoying another Worlds Strongest Man marathon. Otherwise, its back to the grind tomorrow.

So we're now 40 days away from my 40th birthday. Already this year i've been feeling the pull of this big, biblical number. Since we're now so close to the actual event, I'm tagging my next few posts with the above banner. It's also an encouragement to me to actually blog something for the next 40 days. Sometimes it may have something to do with the upcoming birthday, sometimes it won't. Just like anything else in my blog, it's terribly inconsistent.

While I think of myself as old already in many respects, really I've lived through some interesting times, but not necessarily everything. As most of us, I was born after the Big Bang, and will likely die before the Apocalypse. Everything else is just details.

Do to kick off this 40 day countdown to the big day, here's a little list for things I'm younger than vs similar things that I'm older than. Certainly there's a bigger list, but it's just something to get us started here.

On with the show, we only have a few days left now.


Michael is...

Younger Than...	Older Than...
The JFK assassination	The RFK is assassination
The War on Poverty	The War on Drugs
The American Basketball League	The NFL-AFL merger
Tim McGraw	Faith Hill
Apollo I Burns on the launchpad	Apollo 11 lands on the Moon
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band	The White Album
Monterey Pop Festival	Woodstock
Canadian Centennial	United States Bicentennial
Kermit the Frog	The Muppet Show
Bay of Pigs	Watergate
Vietnam Police Action begins	Vietnam War ends
The Monkees debut	The Partridge Family debuts
Nicole Kidman	Julia Roberts
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood	Sesame Street
Cabaret	Hair
UNIVAC	Altair 8800
Houston Astrodome	Astroworld

Hello LJ Land! Long time no see.

I guess I should just get this off of my chest first, since it seems to be the most important thing that's happened lately. Today, somewhere around 5:30 pm, I became a licensed general securities representative. I still can't sell you anything, because there's a state sales license that I would need, but hey, I'm one step closer.

I'm just going to re-phrase it all and put it into bigger letters: I Passed the NASD Series 7 Exam!

It's a really big relief. Although my current job wouldn't have changed had I failed, many more jobs open up to me now, and that's a good thing...the other good thing is that I shouldn't ever have to take this whole damned thing again. No, it won't be the last license exam I'll ever have to take if I keep going forward, but it is one of the biggest hurdles.

Now I know someone who remembers back to my last post might be saying, "Weren't you supposed to take this test two weeks ago?" The answer is yes, but when I actually got a mentor to teach me most of what I didn't know/understand about options, she looked at me and asked me if I was really ready for this test. I honestly said that i wasn't, and she asked if I still had time in the testing window. The test is scheduled, you have to take it in a certain period of time, or you have to pay to set up another time window. I said I'll look to see if I could postpone. Luckily there was one date left at not the original testing site, but the one off in Ft. Worth. So that's when I moved it.

Since rescheduling, I really finally learned what I was supposed to know. Seriously, two weeks ago I had some knowledge, but I really would have bombed the test. No, I didn't get more mentorship, or help from the company, but I did get to borrow a book that made sense (not the one the company provides) and I got busy with the online trial tests that really did give me the information I needed. Apparently much of the reading I did in the other books was a waste of time, and I plan to tell our training department that.

I feel really good about this, because I did it mostly by myself. I could have done more to look for help, and probably should have, but in the end, I scored a 75, which is two points higher than the national average. You need a 70 or higher to pass. Think about that folks, most of the financial advisors of the world passed with a C- average. Makes you think about your money.

The whole thing is something I've done before when I took the Series 6 eight years ago, you sit in a little cubicle with a monitor and a mouse, and choose the best answer of the four choices given. The difference is that you get a lunch break because the test is just that long. The testing center was next to a Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3) and normally i'd get a trivia box and play, but after punching answers 1-4 for a few hours, I wanted to get away from answering more questions.

The waitress at BW3 asked me if I was taking the Series 7. I said yes, and she said that they get several people for lunch who are taking it. Apparently it's the most common test with a lunch break. She asked why I wasn't huddled over books and papers, trying to cram for the second half. Apparently many of the afternoon patrons are looking for the littlest edge, but I said to her, "I either know it or I don't. A few more minutes of trying to dredge up trivia isn't going to help me much."

I'll admit that the last month or so has really gotten me off my stride as I retreated from the online world a bit, trying to use that time for a better cause, but I didn't stay a total hermit. I have watched the bigger season finale episodes of shows and Chris and I have been out to see Spiderman 3 and Shrek the Third (I could have waited for both - doesn't bode well for Pirates 3), and we saw Better than Ezra at the Wildflower! Festival (click for a blurry photo).

Still, my workout schedule is all screwed up, and my work ours have gotten jostled as I tried to pick up overtime hours and still study, and sleep. I look forward to getting back to normal, and perhaps cooking a little more because our eating out budget has gotten out of hand, and dang it if gas didn't finally hit $3.00 a gallon this past week.

Chris took me out to Texas Land and Cattle tonight to celebrate. I was quite happy to be celebrating, and quite happy to see what comes next. Right now I'm more excited to be able to read a normal book, one that's fiction, and has nothing to do with my job, investments, or anything dealing with the number 7.

I thought about doing something silly like saying that I'd be giving up my iMac and getting some Dell or Gateway computer, and then saying April Fools, but everyone would know it's a lie and it wouldn't be much of an April Fool's joke if there wasn't someway you might believe it.

Of course, today is the 30th anniversary of apple Computers, a little company that's a really big company in some ways, run by a guy who's been called visionary, demanding, crazy, stubborn, and many other names. Still, apple wouldn't be Apple without him. Heck, look at Apple in the mid 90's, they almost ended up on the scrap heap of computing, much like Commodore and Atari. Still, there's a loyal group of fans who've stuck with them, and now are in possession of some of the best hardware and software around.

Our family didn't start with Apples, in fact my Dad came home with a Commodore PET back in 1978 after fooling around with some very basic Heathkit calculators and circuit-boards. I then moved up to the Atari computers, and finally in college, despite being able to use my Atari 800XL with it's 300 baud modem on the university VAX, and having a good knowledge of BASIC, I bought my first Mac.

The Macintosh LCII had a separate monitor, and was shaped like a pizza box, but it was still an entry level computer. I used that to help me with my desktop publishing and the yearbook assignments. It was also compatible with the fraternity's computer (and they even had a LISA, the Mac's predecessor, in the attic). I think it used System 7. This was sometime around 1991 and I had a 1400 baud modem then.

From there I bought a grey iMac, and iBook, and finally the hemisphere-shaped iMac G4 that I'm typing this on. All have been good, reliable machines, and great for what I do, type, read the internet, listen to music. I bought one of the first iPods that came out, and am now on my second. I even have a Newton, but never found a good use for it. It's not that any of these machines dies, but just ended up needing an upgrade. I think I've only had a Mac crash and require a hard drive cleaning once.

Yes, I'm a Mac evangelist, and I want everyone to at least look at the Mac as a computer for them, but I know that not everyone would do well by having one. People who do heavy processes, computer programmers, gamers, these people need a PC, but anyone who just needs a good, well designed, easy to use machine, and is willing to pay a premium for design and ease.

I use a PC at work, but I don't want to come home to one. I love my Mac, and my iPod, and hope they'll be around for several years to come.


Now, back to the questions. JOhn (jkusters) asks:

What kinds of features in a guy catch your attention? What combination of physical, mental, and social aspects do you find interest-worthy?

I'll tell you, I have a really hard time answering this question, because I always have a hard time pinning down what I like in a few phrases because every day brings new possibilities and the chance to discover something you didn't consider before.

We can start with a few physical attributes. Facially I can't tell you what the secret combo is, but I like little noses, squinty eyes, and a great beard or goatee. Facial hair can really make a difference, and I prefer it. I like guys to have mustaches with the beards and goatees. It's just one of those things. Hair color doesn't mean too much, but for an extra look, red heads will get my attention.

Body types can be anywhere from athletic, to muscular to husky. There is a level of chubbiness that gets to be too much, but it hasn't always been a killer. I'll admit that porn-wise, I like the musclebears, but they are a fantasy, and they don't normally look my way. I do find the really skinny aren't very attractive to me at all.

Mental/Social - have somewhat of a brain. that's why I like a lot of people on LJ, because they can write a decent sentence. I like someone with a quick and probably quirky wit, and someone who has a little pop culture knowledge. It helps to have something to connect with in conversation. please be able to have a conversation. This is what annoys me with Bear 411 - people can't write. Then again, I always have a tough time with messaging services because I can't talk in short spurts like that. I also can't spell.

Also, I'd rather have people in my life who are good in small social groups, since big parties tend to put me into a funk. I just don't function well in a crowd. I guess I need a little more personal interaction.

If you want me to describe someone perfect (besides Chris of course) I don't think I could. I'm very case-by-case, and hopefully I'm not one to pre judge when there's an interesting person in there, but the packaging just didn't click the first time. it's hard not to be hypocritical about that though.

Thanks for the question. More answers to come.

Believe it or not, it's the last day of March, and I'm one of the few people who didn't actually participate in the "Ask Me anything" meme that was going around earlier. As it's not April Fool's Day just yet, you'll just have to accept that I'm not above doing a meme every once in a while.

So, as you can guess, this is your chance to ask me anything you'd like - but get those questions in prior to our change to Daylight Saving Time this weekend (This has been a public service announcement). I'll work on answering your questions over the next couple of days. I do reserve the right to answer with as much truthiness as the question demands.

So get cracking and we'll see what comes up, and what may be revealed...

March goes out like a lion!