So my little brother is heading back to college tomorrow and we spent the day today eating McDonald’s, watching Casino Royale, and playing some card games. I thought I’d take a couple pics of the card games.

This first one is of the Star Wars Collectible Card Game by Decipher. I actually bought my other brother a box full of cards for a different game and the one who is leaving for college was more excited about it than him! So I thought that maybe I’d break out some of my old Star Wars cards from the late 90′s and he and I would play a few games. It took over two hours the first game because I had forgotten the rules over the last 12 years and he didn’t know them in the first place. I won the first game and he won the second. The first game was just a bunch of characters, but for the second I got out some of my star cruisers (Rebel) and Star Destroyers (Dark Side) and we had a lot more fun. Great game and I can’t wait til he comes back after his year is over and we can play a few more times.

This second game is one of my Christmas presents he bought me. It is a Monopoly card game by Hasbro. It is much simpler than the Star Wars game, but is a lot more like chess in that you have a finite number of cards in the deck and there is no trading cards in or out. So far I’ve been winning games at about a 75% clip. If he gets the right cards he can win, but I’ve more or less figured out the timing for this game and until he does too I’ll have the upper hand. . This game is also much much shorter in length than the Star Wars game. We can probably play at least three games in the same time frame it takes to play one game of Star Wars.

Anyone else out there familiar with these games? How about 7th seas(this is the game that I bought for my other brother and have yet to play with him)?

I made a few wild picks last week to try and catch up to my Dad who was leading the family in wins. I ended up placing third out of the five of us playing. But now there’s the Playoffs. There are four rookies starting in the playoffs this year. Two play each other this week in the Seattle and Washington game. Gonna be a wild one in the wild card round!

Texans
Packers
Colts
Redskins

This afternoon’s therapy session was a so-so session. Both my doctor and I were coming off lengthy vacations and so neither of us were full throttle today. The main development actually occured back on December 23rd when the local paper published an article related to the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. The article was written by someone very closely associated with the Medical Center I go to for treament and therapy. My mindset after reaading it was that perhaps it is time to seek treatment elsewhere. My mindset before my therapist/doctor read the article was all about finding out whether the article was a reflection of his views as well. They were not and I felt encouraged by that.

I pay my own way for my regular doctor visits, but the therapy part is covered through a grant for him to further his education towards becoming a cognitive behavioral therapist. As his first real patient I am kind of a guinea pig for him, and I feel a certain sense of responsibility towards helping him maximize his potential. I would say that I feel as much responsibility towards him as he does towards me. So what I have decided is that once my CBT treatment is finished and my therapist/doctor moves on from both roles into the next phase of his medical education, I will begin the process of seeking treatment at one of the other medical centers in Columbus. It will not be an easy move, but the principled move never is.

Now to get to how I did on the three main goals. If you would like to catch up on the last 6 parts of my CBT series, you can start HERE.

Goal #1. Separation Anxiety. I did not get much of a chance to work on this goal as everybody in my family was home for the holiday season.

Goal #2. Dogs. I really thought that when Leanard came over with my brother and sister in law on Christmas Eve that it would feel like yet another invasion. But while there was a minor incident with one of my cats, I think I was bound and determined not to let it, or him, ruin the day. And in the end it turned out to be one of the best days of the year. Honest! I take that as a sure sign that the therapy is working.

Goal #3. Weddings. I look forward to the next time I can hang out with Brad. I rather liked the little pizza place we went to last time. It was nice and comfy and conducive to quality conversation. I think he can see for himself that I’m just a regular guy who happens to have a couple screws loose and so sometime this year I will meet his wife. When that will happen I will leave up to him. Other than that I didn’t really work much on this goal.

@mypublicsite @megabyyte @foodhog @light_blue_fables @heytherejoann @isitreal_no

It’s 2013! Happy New Year’s everyone! I thought I would go back and find my resolutions from 2012 and see how things went. So here, in quotes, is my post from last year.

“So it’s New Year’s Eve. Time to wonder about New Year’s Resolutions and things related to 2012. So I have two questions for you.

First: What is/are your New Year’s Resolution(s)?

Second: What do you think will happen in 2012?

My answer to the first is that I want to be about half-way through my novel by this time next year. I don’t want to say “Start a novel”, because I’ll do that Jan. 9th or 10th. I also don’t want to say “Finish a novel”, because I despise working with deadlines. So, “Get half-way through a novel” is directly in between and should be attainable.

My answer to the second is that I’m really worried about what’s going to happen the closer we get to the date 12/21/12. I personally don’t believe the world will end on that date, but thanks to movies like 2012 and other such nonsense I wonder if it’s going to be a replay of the whole Y2K scare. You know, people going and stocking up on canned goods and water and hunkering (sp?) down in their basements the night of 12/20/12 hoping that nobody says to himself, “Well the worlds about to end so hey, why not go looting” and pick the house with innocent people inside where people are just hoping to get to 12/22/12 undisturbed. That kind of thing has me worried.

Your thoughts?”

And here is how I did in relation to my New Year’s questions.

I am about a quarter of the way through my first novel. For the first part of the year I purposefully took two weeks per chapter so that I didn’t burn myself out or get bored with it or what have you. The latter part of the year I amped it up to a chapter a week. I think there will be about 40 chapters when all is said and done and I am up to chapter 11. Again, just like last year I will start up again in January.

And you’ll note that I said ‘first novel’. I have begun a second novel. This one is in its’ infant stages. I am only writing about a page a day so that I can give myself time to get to know the characters and see what I want to do with it.

And the second part? Once California did not drop into the ocean, and once Yellowstone did not become a supervolcano and all that, I figured we were safe for 12/21/12. I saw Skyfall with my younger brothers and so that was a nice way to spend the day.

And now for my New Year’s Resolution for 2013.

1. Get to the halfway point of novel number one. I got to the 25% mark in 2012, so getting to the 50% mark in 2013 is fairly realistic, don’t you think?

2. Get at least two thirds of the way through novel number two as I will write it at the same time as number one and will also write it during the summer months as well. This one is not going to be as long as number one, so this goal is realistic.

3. Get glasses. Sigh. I have a hard time reading the scores on even HD now, so it is time to think about glasses.

4. And last but certainly not least is to continue with my Cognitive Behavior Therapy and discover new ways to defeat my anxiety.

This is it. The final week of the regular season is upon us. Last week I went 11-5. My Steelers were knocked out of the playoffs last week, but I’m hoping they can still pull off a .500 record. There are a lot of games with playoff implications so this week could be a wild one!

Bucs
Jets
Ravens
Lions
Titans
Texans
Panthers
Giants
Steelers
Broncos
Packers
Patriots
Raiders
49ers
Seahawks
Redskins

Only two weeks left until the playoffs! Time to put up or shut up. Last week I could have gone 11-5, but I changed my pick from the Redskins to the Browns after finding out RGIII wasn’t going to play. Then Cousins goes and wins. Oh well. So I went 10-6 last week.

Falcons
Saints
Packers
Colts
Dolphins
Chargers
Redskins
Steelers
Bucs
Panthers
Patriots
Texans
Broncos
Bears
Giants
49ers

Tuesday’s CBT session was a breakthrough session. Remember last time I mentioned that the session didn’t do much for me? Well this time it did. I gave my doctor my notebook of short stories from early 2006 up through the summer of 2007(including one false start that was written just before I was admitted to the hospital for the first time). Here are a couple of bombs I’m about to drop on those who are not on my protected post list. I admitted to him that I was sexually abused as a kid. I admitted to him that I identify as asexual, as well. Are the two related? Who knows? He also recommended that I not be so introspective in the future. Whether this is because I truly am too introspective or because I’m reflecting on the therapy without the help of a professional, I don’t know. I’ll just try to stop making my own little breakthroughs without his assistance from now on.

For those who are joining me late, here is a LINK to Part 5.

1. Separation Anxiety. On Saturday evening my family went to a play at our church. Everyone was gone until about 7:20. Normally anywhere from 6 to 7 is when I start to get edgy about whether something has happened. This time though my youngest brother sent me a text around 5:30 letting me know that the play was over and that they were going to get something to eat. That one text was all I needed to ease any possible tension over the next two hours. However, my doctor suggested that next time I not be notified so that I can actually experience the anxiety and prove to myself that I can manage it using the techniques I’ve learned from both him and the Feeling Good Handbook.

2. Dogs. I did not have any experience with dogs over the past two weeks. My doctor and I will be going over the sense of invasion next session though.

3. Weddings. I met with my friend for pizza(he actually picked me up since I don’t drive) and we spent most of the time catching up and really just finding out if the person we each knew on the internet was the same in real life. In my view, he hasn’t changed all that much since high school. I think then, that who he is online is the same as who he is in real life. I can only hope that I was the same person as I am online. His wife was at a musical for the evening so it was just the two of us eating pizza. At some point early next year she will accompany him from what I understand and to that I say that’s a good thing. I will be a little more nervous meeting her than I was him, but I need to face that anxiety. He’s a decent guy so I figure she’s going to be a decent girl and I will simply focus on that. .

@megabyyte @mypublicsite @foodhog @light_blue_fables @isitreal_no @heytherejoann

And congrats to @heytherejoann on graduating college. She is my editor so I kinda hope that I can help her become rich!!!

So two weeks ago I won the week. The last week I went 8-8 and tied for last place. It’s been an up and down kind of year. Just like two weeks ago saw the death of a Chiefs player as the end result of a domestic assault murder suicide, this past week was marred by the tragedy involving the cowboys where one player had a blood alcohol level of .18 and crashed, fatally injuring his teammate. Just like the former was a lesson about domestic abuse, this week is a lesson about drinking and driving. Forget your pride, call a cab.

Eagles
Falcons
Packers
Redskins
Vikings
Dolphins
Saints
Broncos
Texans
Seahawks
Lions
Chargers
Steelers
Raiders
Patriots
Titans

The long awaited prequel trilogy to The Lord of the Rings will see the first of its’ three movies released tomorrow. Here is why I will not be seeing it.

For a long time I loved the movie adaptations by Peter Jackson of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books. But then when I began to write a book of my own something strange happened. I could no longer stomach those movies. Why? Because they entirely missed the point and substituted one of its’ own.

The entire point of Tolkien’s masterpiece was to show that the Hobbits could fend off someone as dangerous as the wizard Saruman on their own. The Scouring of the Shire was the integral piece in this effort. Frodo and Sam experienced the One Ring(yes Sam too!) and were able to survive its’ poison. Merry and Pippin joined the armies of Rohan and Gonder, respectively, and were able to contribute big things(like the defeat of the Witch King of Angmar by Merry and the saving of Faramir by Pippin) despite their stature and status in the world.

When Gandalf departs from the four of them before they finally make it back home, he tells them that this(Saruman in the shire) is what they have been training for the entire time. So the fact that the biggest piece to Tolkien’s work was removed for the movies is an absolute travesty to any author who wonders if their own work will one day be treated in a similar fashion one day.

So with this in mind I closely followed the developments of The Hobbit production in the hopes that they (Jackson and company) would not make the same mistake twice. It is a profit making mistake to be sure, but it is still a mistake to ignore the original author’s intent. And so what have I learned? Bilbo will get a fair share of the focus, as is right. But Thorin will get the Aragorn treatment. Apparently you cannot have a movie where the Hobbits are the sole focus. Bilbo, if you read the book, actually leads the dwarves through most of the dangers they find on their way to the Lonely Mountain. But in the movie, Thorin, who does NOT look at all like a dwarf(see the picture at the bottom), will be the focus as leader and future king of Lonely Mountain.

So unless my family comes back from seeing it and says, “Bilbo was 95% of the focus”, I will not see the Hobbit.

Does this look like a dwarf to you??

This is Rascal, my 8 year old Mainecoon. Doesn’t he look regal? He’s my buddy. He comes into my room every night when I go to sleep to spend about five minutes or so cuddling up and getting pet.

This is Skittles, my 10 year old Calico Shorthair. She is a beautiful cat and whenever I go to the back room to listen to music, read, or watch tv…she’s on my lap.