BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

31Oct/160

Halloweenkend

This weekend was crazy busy. Parties galore. And tomorrow night I'm off to yet another Science After Hours event! I love these things. I'm going tomorrow night and again in two weeks.

Seriously, they are awesome. My only wish is that they were on a Friday or Saturday night and not on a week night. Oh well. It's cool though.

Anyways, yeah last night I went to two parties. One was my friend Melody's place. We played a game called Werewolf. It's also known as Mafia.

We ate food, and drank some drinks.

Good times.

Melody and I are trying to plan a Scribbles and Nibbles party in January. Wine, appetizers and coloring books. Our other friend Patience doesn't like the name. She thinks it's "weird". Melody and I both think it's a fine name, sooo the name sticks.

After that party I went to another party out in West Chester. They were playing beer pong on the roof. The usual. It was a halloween party. Everyone dressed up. I went to both parties as the color pink. So I had on a pink shirt, and had a pink towel around my waist covering my pants. It would have been easier if I just had pink pants, but I don't. Still a good time.

Tonight I went to another friend's place to celebrate a birthday/halloween party. SOOOOOO much food. I just got done going on a run. About to hit the hay.

Now that I'm getting into November, things will probably slow down a bit as far as my events things. I can focus more on music and just organizing things around the house. I have a million boxes of papers to sort/scan/shred. I also plan, especially over my xmas break, to pack up and put some of my mom's things away in plastic bins. I mean, it's weird, but it will be a year this Friday on the 4th. So, I don't know. I'm just going to maybe do an item or two here or there. I mean, I have been doing that... But, maybe I'll do an item or two each day during break. For the last good 6 months I've been moving stuff around about 1 item a week...

Just trying to make this home more into my own touch. I'm in no rush. All of my friends keep telling me... "You should sell the house and move to the city! You should quit your job and go see the world... You should sell all your belongings and be free as a bird!"

I could. If I wanted that. I don't want that. I don't really like traveling or being free as a bird. And I don't much care for Free Bird either. It's an okay song but... I guess I'm just different.

I like having my house, my car, my 9-5 job, and my weekend parties. I like working on creating a little music studio to work on music, and a little writing space to work on my books. And I like trading my stocks and continuing to hold and increase my investments. And I like making small changes around my house. I've just never been one of those weekend road trip, vacation to far away destination people.

Like, I went to the Ren Faire a few weeks ago with this girl Kat... She's cool. I might say I even have a small crush on her. But we're not compatible. She lives downtown in the city, and she plans to move in a few years. She's going to apply to work for the foreign embassy stuff. She knows I'm interested. She's not interested back. Mostly because she doesn't want to settle down or have kids, or get married, or even be in a relationship any time soon. She's one of those free bird people. Wants to travel the world and see the sights.

Anyways, so to all the people telling me I should use my money to travel and see the world, and I should use my vacation in December that I have 2 weeks off from work to go to a far off destination I say...

Nah. That's okay. I have stuff around the house to do. I have a fridge to buy. I have friends having holiday parties nearby to attend. I'm good. A world traveler I am not. I'd rather just be cozied up under some blankets with a good book, or make some food and start the first show in a new Netflix series.

And one of these days I'll meet a girl that prefers that too. Who knows, maybe she'll be at Science After Hours tomorrow night! Maybe not. And that's okay. But hey, for now.... I'm kind of taking my dating efforts down a notch. I'll link up with someone when I link up with her. Right now I'm just looking for friends and things to do with friends. Should magical sparks turn on and it's mutual. That's fine, I'd go with it. But, I don't know... at 34.... I'm just not interested in chasing a girl around the world. If after that girl see's the world and she's had her world traveler free bird fix and wants to come back and hang out in Philly with me again? That's cool. If not... I'm not worried. There will be someone else. And even if there's not... There's SOOOO much fun things to do even as a single person.

Right now, I'm just living it up and having fun. Working and playing... and researching this new fridge that I want to buy.

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28Oct/160

Last Acting Class

Tonight was my last acting class.  But, it was good.  It's been a great experience and tons of fun.  I learned a lot.  We discussed the "biz" part tonight.  There's a lot to it.  I'm just kind of getting started with it all.  My next plan is just to get some headshots and a little headshot/resume thing made up.  Then after going on an audition, there's also this thing where you get little postcards made up with a mini photo of you on the front and a personalized thank you on the back.

My goal really is just to get one gig.  I'll start with that.  If I can just get one gig.  I'll then figure out my next goal.

I met a lot of very nice people during this class.  All super cool and just great people with lots of talent.

I think my favorite part of the class, or the part I really enjoyed the most was just the idea that you should be nice to everyone no matter what.  There's sort of this tendency to get a little big super overly confident as the roles get bigger.  The idea is that no role is too small, and that no actor or actress should ever consider themselves above anyone else.  Once you start to get that way, no one wants to work with you.

I feel like that can also apply to any workplace.  I mean, or life in general.  I mean, even if you're in a very top position... You should still kind of remember where your roots are and the work it took to get there.

But yeah, just kind of... have some humility and be willing to still be "down to earth" is it was put.

The example used was that actor that is sitting in their trailer and calls to say they want someone to bring them exactly 50 grapes, off the stem and peeled.  Or, 50 green m and ms, but rub the logo off so that they are just pure polished green.

That kind of stuff is just not what directors or other actors really want to see.  They will be very hesitant to work with people like that.

Anyways class was great.  And I learned a lot.  Life right now is pretty good.  I'm just going out and meeting new people and learning new things.  I'm just enjoying life and letting what comes to me come.  Just kind of let the world show me what's next.  That's the thing about life is... sometimes you just have to kind of step back and let the world show you the story instead of trying to figure out where the story is leading.  Life is a story that unfolds.  Things that you need will come when they are needed.

So, what class will I take next?  Or what more will I do with acting?  I don't know yet.  I'll just take a wait and see approach.  I'd like to work on music more.  I have these 2 songs I'm getting close to finishing.  I plan to spend more time this winter working on music.  Most of the Fall fest things are all winding down, so I'll be going into Winter time where I can just curl up at home in some comfy clothes and have the heat on and just enjoy working on things.  Just going to let the story of my life show me what's next instead of trying to force the pages into place.  It'll all happen the way it's supposed to happen.

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25Oct/160

Rearranged A Little

Tonight I rearranged a few things in my kitchen while I was making dinner.  I now have a much better space on the counter to prep things next to the stove/oven.  I moved a few items around, and cleaned some.  I also made a little spot for my wine collection (all 5 bottles).  I DEFINITELY need to get one of those wine racks I think.  Or, I may just go with a wine chiller.  I cleaned a good amount too.  So, overall things are looking much better in the kitchen.

My next plan is to replace the fridge.  I've started doing research.  I'm slowly compiling a list of fridges and places I want to buy it from.  I have a few favorites so far.  I really want to spend  my money wisely on a good fridge and don't just want to buy some random one.  My plan is to eventually replace all the appliances in the kitchen and laundry room.  So, then I'll have a new fridge, stove, dishwasher, and washer/dryer combo.  I then want to refinish the cabinets and then redo the flooring along with the counter tops.

I've got this long range grand master plan.  It all starts with a new fridge though.  Just one thing at at time.  I'm in no rush.  At this point it's not a money or funding issue, it's just a matter of.... Every change I make in this house is tough.  I mean, when I replace something, it's different.  It's new.  It's not something that my mom once used or touched.  So, it's a small bit of her and the time that we had together while she was alive, slowly being replaced.  It's weird and hard to explain.  But my mom was all about putting work into this house, so it's just strange to make changes without her input.  Like, I know, it's my house now to do with how I see fit, but I still just feel like it's part her house too.  But we'll see what I decide to do.  Tonight I changed the counter space around and I REALLY like it SOO much better now.

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25Oct/160

Haunted Hayride

Tonight I hit up the Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride thing.  It was fun.  I've done it twice before.  I'm fairly certain it's basically the same stuff, maybe with a couple of little different things.  But pretty much it's the same as before.  The only difference was that each year I've gone with different people.

So the first year was with this girl on a date... and then there's a whole long story to that ending in me writing the book I'm writing...  That was waaaaay back in 2010.

The second time was last year with my coworker, and then this year... Again coworker, but instead of his sister and her friend joining us, two of his other friends joined us, and the one girl's friend.

It was fun.  It was cool to meet new people.  Do something I've done before but with new people.

Unfortunately I still have yet to meet that love of my life thing.  Or even just any girl to date.  The new girl I was introduced to tonight already has a boyfriend.  That's pretty much the story of my life these days... I get introduced to someone, annnnnnnnd... Not single.

Out of curiosity I asked her how she met her current boyfriend.  Apparently 10 months ago they were just at a party together of a mutual friend.... They started talking and that's how it went.

I feel like that's probably the best way to meet someone.  Just basically make TONS of friends.  Go to gatherings, and outings.  Any time I'm invited to something... I'll go.  Because all it takes is that one person that got invited that also happens to be single.

So, like this Saturday I'm going to a halloween party.  Although, I already know these people and I can guarantee you, it's going to be the same group of friends.  Every time I hang out with these people, it's always the same core people.  So, I'll go anyways, but I already know I won't meet the love of my life at that party.  I'm just going because I'm friends and it will be fun.

BUT, going forward... I feel like that's the best way to meet someone.  Just go to events, parties, whatever, and just make friends.  I mean, even if I make friends with non-single people, they might have a single friend!  It's like that 6 degrees of whatever and everyone knows someone by 6 degrees.

I mean, that's all it takes really.  Just being at the same party with that one person.  Or, okay so maybe it takes more than that... You have to chat, and you have to have mutual interest.  Etc. etc.

I mean for all I know the girl I might one day end up with could have been both at Harry Potter Fest on Friday night but I just didn't end up chatting with her... and she could have been at the hayride tonight even, but we missed one another by an hour.  Or we just didn't see each other.  Or she could have been one of the people there working all dressed up in makeup and outfit and I wouldn't even know it.  She could have been one of the people that was scaring people on the hayride.

I mean, she basically could have been crossing my path or me crossing hers.... Over and over, and over again.  But we just keep missing one another by a tiny bit.  Maybe we even have mutual friends in common... But we've just never been introduced!  I mean maybe the girl I might fall totally in love with could actually be friends with a girl I've dated in the past.  I know people like that.  They were dating someone for years even, then those two broke up, and then they started dating a friend of the person they dated.  I feel like that's a little strange, honestly, but hey, they're married now.... So it couldn't have been THAT strange for them if they eventually got married and have a kid to boot!

Well anyways... So who knows.  Who knows where this mystery girl is.  I'll admit one thing though... While I'd LOVE to meet that special someone...

I think I'm just getting to the point where I wouldn't mind just dating someone.  Not to fall in love with.  Not even to really have any expectations.  We just date.  Maybe we both agree that it will just be to date with no expectation that we ever take it any further than we're just dating.

I feel like more often than not that's how people do end up getting married or falling in love.  I mean, I'm no expert on this whole falling in love or getting married thing.  But... Who says it has to be anything more than, we date... and then when the day comes we say.... Let's do more with this... We do more... Or if one day comes and we decide it's just not working.  We just do that.

Maybe I'll just take that approach the next time I befriend a friend of a mutual friend at a party.

It can just be like...

Hey look, we're both talking to one another at this party of this friend we both know.

Hey it was great to meet you, here's my number...

Hey look at that, we're texting.

Hey cool, we decided to hang out again and get coffee.

Hey... We're at the movies together.

Hey we're hanging out again.

Hey we both decided to go to this thing and get some drinks.

Hey we just made out.... Oops.  Was that a good idea?  I don't know, I don't know either.

Hey... What are you doing?  I was thinking about that other night and that kiss and for some reason I can't get you out of my mind.  Can we do something again soon.

Hey... We're doing something again soon.  Which means we're kissing... Again.

Hey!  Can we do that kissing thing like... Again.

Hey!!!!  So, remember when we agreed to just kiss.  Yeah?  So, we both failed at that.

Hey... SO now we're doing more than kissing.  Whoops.  Okay.  So... This is a thing now apparently.

Hey!!!!  Come over?

HEEEEEYYYYY!!!!  Come over again?

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!  Yeah, we can't stop.  This is something we can't stop now.  We're totally gonna keep going to one another's places.

Hey.  Nice dinner?  Sure.  And then that thing after dinner where we--Ummm yes.

HEEEEYYYYY!!!!!  Can we?  Yep.  And maybe we just get take out?  Sounds good.

Hey.  More dressed up.  Apparently we're some kind of thing now.

Hey.  More of a thing.  More dinner.  More take out.  More hang out.  More.... You know what.

Hey.  Yeah, we're officially a thing now.

Hey.  More of a thing.  I guess we're together together.

HEY!  Okay so... I feel like we should move in together.  We might as well, we just spend every night at one another's place.

HEY!  We're moved in.

HEEEEEEEY!  We live together and everyone knows we're totally together long term.

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!  That proposal thing.

Hey.  That marriage thing.

Annnnnnd there you have it.  That's how it happens.

SO all I have to focus on is the first thing.  We talk at a party... and then we exchange numbers.  And don't worry about the rest of that crap because it will just happen.  Because the more you hang out with someone, the more likely you are to become closer and the closer you become the more likely you are to become intimate and once you become intimate you eventually usually wind up in a relationship and then once that happens you get serious and then totally serious and then you end up married.

So all I'm going to do is show up, and wait for another single girl to be at the same thing I'm at, and just talk to her.  And then if we hang out again, we hang out again.

If not.  We don't.

For now... I go to things like Hayrides and hope that the next time my coworker's friend introduces me to her mutual friend... She's single and not already taken.

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18Oct/160

Tuesday Night Things

So, I'm sitting here working on editing a new song... I have two very close to end stage production.  One is closer than the other.

I'll be starting cover art soon and then on to the copyrighting and uploading stages.  Both are quite catchy.

I'm also doing a little stock research too.  Musics and stocks... And maybe work on some book writing.  The stock thing got a little more big time recently... I'm trading commission free at the moment because I deposited a sizable sum.  I get 60 days of commission free trades.

So, my trading account is beefed up now.  I'll use some of that beef to buy a new fridge.  And maybe buy some actual beef.  But for now... I'm doing research for trades.  So far I have made one trade... and I'll most likely make another tomorrow.  But we'll see.

I guess these are mostly investments and not so much trades.  I guess I hold and collect dividends and mostly trade longer term holding for years at a time so they aren't quick little trades...

Anyways... My plan for the long term is to track my investment portfolio against the portfolio manager of my trust.  I want to see if I can beat the portfolio manager.  We're now getting monthly statement updates of things, which is nice.  Let's us see what it's invested in and the activity happening.  Something that was hard to come by up until this point with the trust.

It's just sad how much less there is compared to what my grand parents and great grand parents had, but oh well.  It's still in the 7 figures range, so I'm not going to complain.  Most people don't have that.  Or anywhere near that.

So, my game plan at this point is to just keep up everything I'm currently doing and see what takes off.  Things that don't work I'll tweak or change.  And then I'll introduce new things and see if that works.  My latest new thing is the acting class.  I'll see if I can get some acting gigs and if that takes off... I'd like to balance my projects with things that are fun, or true passions... and things that actually generate income.  If I like it but don't love it... I might be inclined to scrap it and try something new.  If it's generating income.... I'll be more likely to keep it.  If I love it and it's not generating income but it's not sucking money from me either... That's okay too.

The chart will be as follows:

Hate it, taking money = scrap

Hate it, making money = scrap

like it, taking money = scrap

like it, not taking or making money = keep

like it, making money = keep

love it, taking money = scrap, unless it's not TOO much money, but if it's not sustainable and it's taking so much money that I might run out of money.... Scrap.

Love it, breaking even = keep

Love it, making money = DEFINITELY KEEP.  This is the ideal situation.  I'm loving it, and it's generating income.

We all do this in our lives all the time.  We balance things that we love with how much it costs.  Most stuff is... We do stuff we don't like to spend money on things we do like.  Which, is a rough way to live.  But sometimes there's no way around it.  So my goal in life is... Change that system so I'm doing things I love to make money to spend that money on more things I love.

Then it's just fantastic all the way around.

We'll see.

Some of my friends have said to me... You JUST got money from your trust!  Go have fun with it!

The answer is no.  Because that's now how I operate.  I'm not interested in buying fancy things.  I don't have fancy stuff around my house.  My mom never did.  And that's my view too.

I keep that money in accounts, guarded and triple password protected and requiring 50 different forms of ID to even touch.

That's where I like it.  I like to see my net worth going up, not down.  I like to see my investments making money and then those investments diversified into new investments and so on and so forth.

I like to know that should I suddenly find myself unemployed, I have enough in the bank to live off for years and years to come because you never know.  You never know what situation might happen.  That's the way I like it.

I like a tip of the iceberg way of living.  My physical tangible things are the tip of the iceberg... Then the part under the water?  That's all my investments.

I like it kept under locks and keys and surveillance video cameras.  I keep zero cash on hand.  I don't have valuable stuff.  I just need the basics of life.

Yes, if I had a significant other, of course this would be different depending on her needs/wants/desires... but since I'm single... I live like a single guy lives.  Just the basics of life.  And then I put all my efforts into the projects that I'm currently pursuing, like acting, and music, and books...

That's where I find value.  I'll be open to changes in lifestyle if they come in the way of a significant other or kids or whatever...

But right now, I deal with what's before me, and right now... There isn't even the hint of a significant other on the horizon, or kids.  Or anything like that.  So, I'll live the way that my values steer me.

Just going to find things that make me happy, and figure out how to get more of those things in my life.

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17Oct/160

GoMacro, Cabernet Cabaret, Party Hat Cat, Ren Faire, and other things

Lots of stuff.  In general this has been a busy last few weeks.  It's also been a... Strange last few weeks.  I'll explain that in a bit, but... Mostly it's just been busy.

First... GoMacro... So, I eat a lot of snacks.  I love snacks.  I'm all about finding new snacks when I can.  My newest one, which is probably not ALL that new, but it's new to me... Is GoMacro.  These are just in the granola bar family of foods.  Good stuff.  I eat a lot of the Cliff bars which are great little on the go snacks or afternoon work place snacks, or just good late at night when I'm driving home from an event, and want to nibble on something on my way home because I'm hungry but don't want to full out stop somewhere (such as Wawa for a sandwich) or make something when I get home.

Second, I went to go see this show on Friday night... It was great.  It was a friend of mine named Kat who put on a cabaret.  I found out there are more of these shows around the city.  They are BYOB so you can just bring your own drink.  Which, is fantastic because... It's just fantastic!  My plan is to bring a cabernet to a cabaret.  Just because it sounds cool.  Her show was amazing.  Just lots of fun songs and friends of hers and... I even made a new friend or two, or three.  Good times.

This show though, is where I heart the song "Party Hat".  It's about putting a party hat on your cat.  The end of the song is probably the best part.  Here's a youtube video of the song...

So, speaking of Kats... I went this weekend to the Ren Fair with another friend named Kat.  That was fun.  Although, that's kind of where the strangeness lies...  Well, okay so the Ren Faire was awesome... I picked her up at the train station and we drove out to the faire... Then we drove back and I dropped her off.  The faire was great... SO much good food and cider and the events and shows are fantastic.  And I even walked away with a bottle of Cab Franc which I might have to take with me to a cabaret.

Life is all interconnected and intertwined like that.  Something you take from a previous event ends up being part of the next event or part of your life.

This is where the strangeness lies... Previous parts of my life are... Appearing, at least, to show themselves again, or replay themselves again.  It's hard to explain.

Here's the deal really... Back in 2010 I had my heart set on this girl.  For some reason I always seem to fall in love in the Fall.  The specific date is October 24th.  Multiple times I've entered "officially" into relationships on that date.  I don't know what it is about that date, but it's the magic date for some reason.

Back in 2005, I entered a relationship with a girl on October 24th... Or at least that was when we made it offical.

Well... as of right now there's no relationship about to happen (as far as I know, if a relationship happens to me on October 24th of this year, it will be quite the surprise to me), so I'll spoil that part... But there are just some new friends that have come into my life who just kind of remind me of people from my past.  It's not just the people themselves... But more the way the events around these people are playing out.  It just reminds me of stuff that has happened in the past.

So the first strange part of this whole thing was back on the Wizard Night of Science After Hours.  One of my new friends brought her friend.  The two of these people just, mostly the way they interacted with each other... Reminded me of 2010... So, this girl that I met in 2010 that I had my heart set on, I usually call her Miss Daylight... Her roommate... This one friend of my new friend just reminded me a LOT of that roomie.

And so, it just kind of struck me as one of those.... "Hmmm, that's weird" moments.

You know how people just remind you of people?  Just something they say.  Or do.  Or a phrase they use.  Or maybe they kind of sort of possibly slightly resemble the person, maybe the way they walk, or talk, or their hair.

Well... There were just some random similarities that kind of placed these two in the shoes of those two.

I guess I didn't think too much of it.  Then, this past weekend happened.  So, this past weekend was strange.  For sure...

I'm trying to explain this, and set it up as best as possible so it comes from the way I experienced it in my mind out into words.

So Friday night, I go to my friend Kat's show.  Now, this is confusing because there are two Kats.  Kat number one... Goes way back.  She's friends with this girl named Mo.  Who is Mo?  Mo was a girl I started seeing when Miss Daylight sort of took her space from us attempting to date in the summer of 2010.  So, I met Mo.  Then Mo and I started to date.

Then Miss Daylight came back into the picture and then I broke up with Mo to go with Miss Daylight... Because obviously Miss Daylight was the one I had my heart set on.

Well, Kat and Mo are friends.  Mo wasn't at the show on Friday night... But there was another girl.... Who reminded me a LOT of Mo.  I mean... a LOT.

So this girl, finds me on Facebook after the show, and then we start chatting.

Now, let me backup... The other Kat that I went to the Ren Faire with was the same Kat I went to the Harry Potter thing with.  I actually met that Kat at my friend Jesse's show.

Let's refer to Kat 1 and Kat 2 as... Kat 1 is Mo's friend... She sings and had the show on Friday night.  Kat 2 is the one I went to the Harry Potter Wizard School thing with and I also went to the Ren Faire with.

So... The girl that reminds me of Mo invites me out Saturday night to hang out with her.  Meanwhile right after that happens I get a message from Kat 2 asking if I want to go to the Ren Faire...

Here's the thing, Kat 2 and I were chatting a lot after the Harry Potter thing and then it kind of fizzled out.

So, then it was weird to all of a sudden hear from her again.

So the girl that reminded me of Mo Kat 1's friend and I hang out Saturday night, and then Sunday I'm off to the Renn Faire with Kat 2.

So, I'm hanging out with Kat 2... and she's talking about how she's going to Miami soon.

It's just weird.  It's just very strange.  Very strange and very weird.

So here's this girl, that kind of sort of not really, but a little bit reminds me of Miss Daylight... and she even had a friend that reminded me of Miss Daylight's roomie when I first met Miss Daylight and this girl that I'm in the car with is now talking about her trip to Miami that is coming up.... Which is where Miss Daylight moved to.  Then the night before that I was hanging out with another girl this reminds me of the other girl I decided to break things off with to go with Miss Daylight... and even the 'Mo' girl is actually mutual friends with someone that is friends with the actual Mo.

Here's the part about Miss Daylight 2... She also just has one sibling like the actual Miss Daylight.... A sister.

There's other weird similarities.  But the Miami part just made it totally strange.

Anyways... SO then last night, I dreamed about Miss Daylight.  I woke up thinking... Okay, so we have two options here...

It's all coincidental.  Or, there's some higher order of the universe... Trying to tell me something.

There's something about the end of October and this Daylight girl, and the Mo girl, and this whole falling in love on October 24th thing that I'm missing.  A puzzle piece I'm not quite putting together.

Oh, I forgot to say, SO, tonight I was supposed to do the Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride.  Here's the thing, Mo and I went on this haunted hayride back in 2010... That was the same night that Miss Daylight called me while on that date because she lost her photos and needed me to come over and help her recover them.  Well, my coworker that organized the event, woke up sick this morning and decided to push the event back to next Monday... October 24th.

So here I have this one night in my memory... That I think about every time this year... Where Miss Daylight called me to help her recover these photos that she lost on her computer while I was on this date with Mo at the haunted hayride.  This is the scene that inspired my book.  So, the entire book I've been writing this whole time these last 4 or 5 ish years... Was inspired by Miss Daylight losing her photos while I was on a date with Mo at the Bates Motel haunted hayride.

I'm just thinking though... It's all very weird.  I mean, it's as if some higher being is trying to remind me of the past because I'm supposed to do something or get something out of it...

Of course this time of year is extra different now because last year my mom was only a week away from being admitted to the ICU... Which was about October 24th last year.

It's just a weird date.  And I don't get what it all means.  I don't get what Mo, or Miss Daylight, or Kat 2 or Mo 2 mean.  I don't get why this weekend reminded me of it... I don't get why the hayride was pushed back to October 24th... I don't get any of it.  I don't get my Miss Daylight 2 was telling me about her Miami trip which just made me feel even more like she was Miss Daylight ish....

It's all just very strange.  I guess maybe one day I'll figure out what's going on.  For now though... I'm puzzled.

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12Oct/160

Qwilt

I told my boss yesterday morning of this CRAZY COOL thing I learned all about on Friday night at the networking event I attended.  He was impressed...  Very impressed...

Then he looked at me from his chair after watching the short video link that I bought up on our big computer networking monitoring screens and said... "How much?"

I told him I'd find out.

That's one of the things about pretty much anything.  It doesn't matter HOW amazing your product is... If it's expensive, it's hard to keep potential customers interested.

We definitely want it.  We want it for sure.  We actually, I would argue, NEED it for the college network.  It would DEFINITELY improve the experience for the students in the residence halls and as well would be beneficial for the staff and faculty in their offices around campus.

The question though, like my boss said is that it comes down to... "How much?".

I would argue that, even if the price weren't on the super affordable side of things... We should spring for it anyways.  Although, there are financial limits to everything and if it doesn't fit in the budget, it doesn't fit.

SO, just what is this amazing product?

It's called Qwilt.  And... It's the future.  It's disruptive.  It's groundbreaking.  It's a technology that's here to stay.

Here... Watch this video...

And this video...

And there are two more located at http://qwilt.com/resources/#videos

And there's one more video here... http://qwilt.com/solutions/universities/

I haven't been this excited by a new type of technology in a while.  Okay to be fair, caching isn't new.  Your computer caches all the time.  Your phone does it.  Your brain does it!  It's when you store something locally and when it's needed again, it retrieves it locally.  This already happens on networks.  DNS names are cached for websites.  There's a whole lot of caching going on.  But videos?  Videos are never cached.

Every time you click that YouTube or Vimeo link... Every time you open up Netflix.  It's a live connection out through the network and ALL the way to the datacenter that is hosting that video.

So, if say, 50 of the same people on the network are all streaming the same exact episode of the same show on Netflix... Those are 50 concurrent connections.

This device also does download caching.  SO in addition to video... It locally caches software updates.  Let's say a new iOS update comes out... or, a new Android update.  If there are 100 kids in the residence halls that want to download that the night it comes out... Or even staff and faculty, or even commuter students on campus... Or ANYONE on campus...

The moment that comes out there could be hundreds of people downloading it right then and there.  This device caches the first copy, and then locally delivers the rest instead of having it go ALL the way out to the internet to hit the download servers.

Since the outgoing and incoming pipe only has so much bandwidth capacity... and on top of that, it's EXPENSIVE to buy more capacity...

This solution is a VERY smart one indeed.  It's not just a great one for universities.  It would work well at any company that has users downloading or streaming the same exact large bandwidth hungry files over and over again.  Let's say you have even just 50 employees at your business and everyone has a PC in their office.  And let's say that everyone is using a content management system that is hosted outside in the cloud...

Now let's say that someone posted an instructional video on Youtube for ALL the employees to watch.  It's a 10 minute video.  All the employees click that link that was just posted in that portal that is hosted out in Amazon Web Services...

The first few employees watch it fine.  Maybe the first 10, or 15... And if not every employee watches it at the same time... You're okay.  BUT... What if MOST of them click and watch from their desks at pretty much the same time?

What if some others are trying to do work and upload and download files?  What if another employee is streaming Spotify or Pandora.  What if another employee has Netflix in the background while they are working on an Excel Spreadsheet.  They have their iPad next to their desk using the workplace wifi to stream the latest episode of their favorite show while they work on their computer.

It's ALL going over your network.

This Qwilt device frees up that bandwidth so things can get done.  So, the next time you watch a funny cat video on YouTube and then you click copy and paste and send that link to EVERY SINGLE COWORKER at your office... The first copy is cached locally on site... Every other person who clicks the link and watches the video gets a local copy and doesn't hog down that precious workplace bandwidth!

Seriously... I'm geeking out over here.  Especially in the residence halls where the students all now have wireless and video streaming service capable devices up the wazoooo... Friday and Saturday nights are spent watching movies on Netflix and other services like that.  They are spent downloading updates for their iOS devices.  Clicking YouTube links... Online gaming, downloading new games from a service called Steam... and basically doing all sorts of things that are bandwidth intensive activities.

This... Is... the holy grail for data redundancy and conserving precious bandwidth.  How much?  I say... It's almost priceless!

Qwilt is AWESOME.  I want one of these for our network SOOO bad!  You have no idea.

http://qwilt.com

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10Oct/160

A Birthday Gift

Today I got a gift from my mom and grandparents.  It wasn't PURPOSELY meant to arrive today... But it just happened to arrive today.  It's something that's been going on for years now... I just find it strange that today was the tay it arrived.  It's like it was just a sign that they are still there and watching me and they wanted to say hello.

I'm not going to go into details because the details aren't important.  It's just that it happened on my birthday and that's what is important.

Anyways, it's just strange.  With this gift... everything is resolved.  It's kind of like stepping out of a previous life and into a new one.  Not sure where the new live will lead... But we'll see.

Anyways tonight I went to get dinner with my brother for a birthday dinner.  We got tacos and some margaritas.  Good times.

Then I went to Starbucks for do some work for a little while and sort and organize things and sign documents and stuff things in envelopes to mail back to places and things.

All in all it's a good Birthday.

Been chatting with one of my friends from Cali, he's like... "Come on out and chill!"... I'm probably going to plan a trip to Cali this winter.  I'll probably make a Cali trip a thing on a yearly basis.  Maine in the summer, Cali in the winter.

Life is good now... and that's the way life should be.

The future?  Not sure... But right now... Things are good.  It's been a pretty good birthday.  It'd be better if I could actually have cake and candles with my mom and grandparents... But it's okay... I know they are still looking out for me.

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10Oct/160

A Better Strategy

A lot of times in life, it's the way you do something that matters.  The order or operations if you will.

This is true when it comes to a chili cook-off.

Today I went to the annual chili cook-off in West Chester, Pa.  Good times.  The chili I had was absolutely delicious.  So many different kinds too!

I decided to just full on go right down the line in a row.  See, I didn't arrive until about 1:30pm and the tasting ended at 3pm.  This only left me an hour and a half of tasting.  Not nearly enough time.  Yes, in theory one could just taste all the tents in that amount of time, but in reality, one has to take breaks.  To walk around and let the food settle.

See, when I woke up this morning it was quite rainy... but the rain stopped sooner than expected out in West Chester.  I probably could have gotten there sooner for sure... Instead I decided to wait it out not knowing it would stop raining sooner there than here.

Anyways, so next year, I'm going to change my strategy.  I plan to show up RIGHT when it starts... And just take my time.  The first tasting starts at 10:30.  I can then be slow about it and really enjoy each tent.  Then I can take a break and have a beer maybe around 12 and then another one around 2...  Make it an all day thing.  Really mix and mingle and chat with everyone out there also tasting chili and such.

I did some of that today but it was very rushed.  It really should be an all day thing.  That's really how the other festivals I've attended have been.  It's meant to be an all day thing.

Next year.  Next year.

In other news, Friday night I went to this networking thing up in Bethlehem.  It was pretty sweet.  Open bar for a couple hours and lots of complimentary catered snacks.

I learned about a few new IT things that I'm going to pitch to my boss.  He'll probably say no... At first... But I'll work on getting him to be more into stuff.  That's just what bosses do.  They say no to stuff.  Then you have to kind of convince them as to why it's a good idea.  I feel like that's how bosses are SUPPOSED to operate.  If they just said yes to everything right up front... then you'd just be coming to them with every idea you have left and right.

So, they kind of have to be like... hesitant even if they actually DO like the idea.  Then you have to make charts and graphs and write short stories and put on one act plays to convince them that it's good idea... Whatever "it" is.

Anyways, lots of good stuff happening on pretty much every part of my life, besides the dating part... Obviously.  That's never happening.  Oh well.  It is what it is.

Tonight after the chili cook-off I went over to a friend's place to talk shop on possible future creative endeavors.  He's a filmmaker.  So, we want to collaborate on music and film and all that stuff.  Could be the start of something good.  I've known this guy for a good 10 years.  So, we've got some history.  There's a pretty good level of trust, which when it comes to working with people, that's key.  Trusting the person is definitely a big part.  We'll see what happens with that.

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3Oct/160

Scribbles and Nibbles

What is Scribbles and Nibbles?  Scribbles and Nibbles is an adult coloring book cafe.  We serve wine by the glass, and snacks are a la carte.  Scribbling is unlimited.  So come in and get your scribble on.  Scribble unlimited scribbles and enjoy wine by the glass and nibble away on your favorite bite size treats!

In addition to that we do coloring book parties.  You can book the place for a party, or an event.  You can just show up and scribble and snack on a day off or a Friday night... Or you can come with friends.

The coloring books range from standard ones, to print your own designs.  There's a computer with a library of printable designs and a whole range of coloring tools including pens, pencils, markers...

We also do special holiday themed scribbles.  Enjoy a scribble and a nibble and maybe a holiday themed drink depending on the time of year.  Scary Halloween scribbles, or Christmas cheer ones... Or a mid summer independence day scribble.

Feel free to bring your own coloring books or designs as well.

SCRIBBLES AND NIBBLES!!!

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