Ends, Starts, Football and Hollywood Glamour

End and Start

So Friday was my final day as a contractor with Enspire Learning, my employment home, more or less, of the past year and a halfish. I'll miss the scrappy little elearning company that could, and I wish the company, its leadership, and my friends who I leave behind the best of luck. May you continue to give learners better product than they're expecting.

Monday I start with a new venture, but I'll save that for later when I can speak more intelligently about the folks I'm working with. What I can say is that I am lucky to have found the position as it matches pretty much exactly what I was thinking I might like to try as a career path should I eject from the world of eLearning (although I'm staying in education).

I am considering how I can approach this new position without becoming an overbearing freak for my supervisors to deal with, but I am honestly so excited, I am looking forward to really digging in and making the absolute most of the opportunity.

Lunching with the Hollywood Elite

So I've been friends with Ms. Shauna Cross since I was about 14 and we shared Mr. White's Geography class at Westwood. At this point, that means I've known the lady for something along the lines of two decades, which makes me feel insanely old.

Anyhoo, Shauna's script "Whip It!" was produced this summer with Drew Barrymore directing and Kristen Wiig and Ellen Page co-starring. I guess there's a phrase she's been using or has been used in Hollywood (I missed wre it originated), but "after eight years of working she's an overnight success". The message being, of course, she's been working her butt off to get to this point, and now she's seeing he fruits of her labor.

She was in town this weekend for the Austin Film Fest where I guess she was on panels and whatnot. I was to meet her at the Driskill on 6th and Brazos, but I got a call while en route to swing by and pick she and a friend up on South Congress and race them back as the friend was supposed to be on a panel in a few minutes.

Turns out the friend was a/ the screenwriter of "Legally Blonde". Go figure.

I was also excited to meet Shauna's kid, Roscoe, who I think is 6 months (you people keep having babies, and I can't keep track anymore. You're lucky I remember their names). Roscoe was really very good. I also met Shauna's Significant Other, Fred, who does work for a music label. Very cool guy (which is good. You always hope that your friends are not married to/ getting serious about some twit).

It was fun to catch up and hear about Shauna's past year with everything going on, and also her next project (which isn't listed on IMDB, so I'll remain mum as I don't wish to jinx anything).

So, anyhoo... go see "Whip It!" when it comes out.


UT Plays like the #1 Team

Sadly, I had to ditch team Cross to meet up with Jeff, Keora and Patrick for a pre-game slice of pizza and a beer before we hoofed it over to DKR Memorial stadium. Patrick lives much closer to DKR than my previous parking spot, so from now on Pat is getting all my spare tickets.

I don't know if you watched the game, but... if there was any doubt about who should be at the top of the Big 12 (at least this week), UT played like it was the Rose Bowl. Mizzo, sadly, didn't show up until the second half, when they proceeded to disassemble our secondary and put 4 touchdowns on the board.


cough... Heisman... cough...

The crowd was going CRAZY, and I don't think I've ever high-fived people that much in my life. Also, my voice is kind of shot today from the 3 hours of straight yelling. (I think when I yell "Go Horns!" repeatedly, or "Go TEXAS!!!!", it really influences their play.)

I am now looking forward to OSU and Tech, where I'd sort of dreaded those games before. We have the opportunity for a legendary season with UT Football. So here's to Colt, Jordan, Ogbonnaya, Muckleroy, McGee and the rest staying healthy.

GO HORNS!

Well, I have no choice now...

Well, pretty clearly Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain have both been after my vote all year long. But how did Mr. Obama seal it up today?

From this article:

Said Obama: "Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth," a reference to Superman.

Really, it's like McCain hasn't even been trying to appeal to me as a geek. Where's invocation of The Force? His reference to his Spidey Sense? Oh, wait...

I believe McCain served on the USS Enterprise.

Well played, sir. Well played.

Politiks for 2Day

I did not watch the debate. Instead, Jason and I got swept up in a rousing meal at "Chinese Super Buffet" and then some Sci-Fi Channel. I think Jason knows my tolerance for the presidential debates is pretty low thanks to crippling ADD.

We did, however, watch Post-Game on CNN, MSNBC and Fox.

The most hilarious moment was not the punchiness of the CNN assembled reporters and analysts (who obviously all need a week off), but Fox declaring John McCain a winner by 89% of its viewership and trying to get Geraldine Ferraro to put some stock in the Fox viewership Text vote as a telling sign. I'm not saying CNN or MSNBC don't have bias, but sometimes I wonder what its like to work in a place dedicated to and serving a particular constituency where you constantly are trying to angle for Your Guy.

It DOES certainly make me wonder about the scientific basis for polls on CNN and elsewhere. But I assume CNN, etc... have a stake in working with 3rd party polling in order to maintain credibility. It would also be interesting to see a breakdown of how the news organizations manage the different candidates, and what would happen if they gave ALL of the candidates equal time in the debates. There are, like, seven candidates on the sample ballot I looked at online for Austin/ Travis Co.

I'm never really sure why we tend to consider anyone running in a party other than Dem or Republican to be insane. But we sure do. And that's too bad. It sort of reminds me of what they call "conversation enders", such as describing an idea to be "a no brainer", as if questioning the idea is simply beyond logic. Is what these 3rd, 4th and 5th party candidates have to say really any more less legitimate than the highly compromised platforms and big-tent appealing ideals of the big 2?

It just doesn't seem like its a good way to do much but fight to reinforce the attitudes of a constituency rather than driving new thinking.

I'm not 100% on board with any party these days, and I'm not particularly convinced My Guy is a prince in need of a coronation. If you can't question your own candidate in a democracy, and THEN hold them to the highest of standards when in office, it seems to sort of miss the point of having elected leaders.

I'm also in a weird position where I'm tired of the election coverage (the primaries made this election extra-long, it seems), but I also am curious to follow election coverage on a daily basis, hoping to hear something new that isn't just mud-slinging. I'm mostly curious to hear more on how each candidate is planning to deal with the economy at this point (my other major issues: international relations, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and healthcare have been covered pretty well). And, I want to hear from people with experience how those models could play out. However, guessing from how well anyone dealt with financial models the past few years, my guess is: they don't really know.

Here's some helpful reading material on economic plans:

McCain - lookout, this section has audio that kicks in
Obama - lookout, this is some logical but dull web design

Not Exactly a Crisis on Multiple Worlds

So one of the things that makes DC Comics a bit tough to get used to is the fact that the stories of DC Comics don't take place on just one plane of reality. In Flash #123, it was revealed that there was a parallel world to Flash's own where time was running slower. This enabled Barry Allen to team up with the original Flash (Jay Garrick).

Later, it was revealed that there were an INFINITE number of other earths that Superman, Flash and Co. could visit. One Earth might be a place where Superman and Co. are evil villains. Another might be a world where everyone is a cute, talking animal. Another might be a world where the Nazis won. Pretty typical sci-fi boilerplate by today's standards, I think...

That idea was kicked to the curb for about twenty years, but recently made something of a comeback as, really , hopping between dimensions and discovering evil images of yourself, (a la Star Trek's "Mirror, Mirror") is an idea comics just love coming back to, as well as just throwing our heroes into worlds where things are a bit off from the everyday.

Anyhow, I bring this up because any time Jamie is out of town for more than a day, I am sort of left wondering "what if"? What if, for some reason, I were left to my own devices?

At this point, I've now been with Jamie my entire adult life. We started dating 13 years ago this month. At 33, that's officially more than 1/3rd of my life. So I really have no perspective on what life would have been like had Jamie and never started dating.*

So, what is Ryan of Earth 2 like?

Would I be living in Austin? Would I have followed my current career path (such as it's been the last year)? I can say that I made a decision to stay in Austin when graduating college rather than heading to NYC or LA (with film degree in hand) based partially on a sudden disinterest in film (I had visions of historical documentary and wanted to try for grad programs), and partially because Jamie and I were making long-term sorts of plans.

So unless you can peer into the crystal ball, it's impossible to know what would have become of me. Obviously when Jamie goes away for a few days, she's still coming home again (I hope) and, tellingly, we call each other multiple times each day when we're apart. So I don't think about some imaginary lady or something who would be around if Jamie were not (but I think it's safe assume I would now be Mr. Lynda Carter).

Left with no Jamie or Lynda Carter, what would Ryan do with his time?


Mrs. League of Earth 2?

Even that is difficult to determine. After all, I've got our joint dogs and a cat to contend with who are especially needy when Jamie isn't around to dole out an endless stream of attention and hugs. The TV I watch when she's around or not is pretty much the same as Jamie DVR's anything she thinks I might not be interested in (ie: Project Runway).

I think, were Jamie not around, I'd be a lot grouchier. Jason was always happy to comment on my surliness through my teen and early college years, and I think Jamie puts me in a much better place. I know Jamie has made me a better person in many, many ways. She's given me something to focus on outside of myself, and shown me what real strength can be in the face of incredible challenges, all while never becoming bitter. That's no mean feat.

But as I say, there is no Ryan of the past 13 years without Jamie. So who knows... Ryan of Earth 2 could easily have been a hobo drifter, a Dell tech support rep, a frustrated gaffer working on the latest Hilary Duff movie... Possibly a pirate. I've always been interested in starting a piracy (see: Mirror, Mirror). But we're pretty pleased with how things turned out on Earth 1.

This time around while Jamie's out of town, I actually have a pretty busy schedule. Mini-golf tomorrow. Then possibly catching up with a friend in town for a festival Saturday afternoon and the game Saturday night. My time to get the house back in order is a bit minimal.

*A quick qualifier: Jason will bring this up, because he can never leave well enough alone... It is true that I had been dating a great girl just prior to starting to date Jamie. It is most likely that was about to end for various reasons had Jamie entered the picture or not.

Things That Make Me Sad

1) Beverly Hills Chihuahua has been #1 at the box office for two weeks. It has earned $55 million domestically. here

2) There is a line of Beverly Hills Chihuahua stuff at Petsmart. Just say no. Dogs are not dolls.

3) Spoiler: Jonathan "Pa" Kent died in Action Comics #870 last week.

4) No matter how much time you have, it's never enough

5) This year when watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", I will know that both Charles Schultz and Bill Melendez are no longer with us

6) I talk a lot of smack about the future of comics being online, but I still only read Achewood and re-runs of Calvin & Hobbes and Peanuts online for the most part. Other than that, I depend on Leaguers sending me funny strips. I never made it through Zuda's "Bayou", as I decided I'd rather wait to see if they printed it. They did not. I never got around to spending $60 this year to read back-issues of Marvel.

7) I will never read 99% of what I probably should, and, that roughly translates to option paralysis

8) Movies like Ratatouille get forgotten in favor of lesser films

9) Sometimes I don't know what it is that Lucy would like when she obviously wants something....

10) Too much of the time, I am not the change I am looking for

The Neverending Story of the Floors and Not-Living in Your House

Our furniture is back in the house, but I am now struck with the realization that I (and mostly likely I alone) will be putting all the stuff back on the shelves, etc... while Jamie is in Berkeley yukking it up with Douglas.

No worries. I'm just glad to have the furniture back in the house so I can sit on something other than cement.

My blogging has been a little light lately, I suppose, at least from a content perspective. Probably a product of a busy schedule and that I haven't been thinking "what shall I blog about?" so much as "what's on the agenda today that I need to get done?".

Things should be slowing down considerably for the next few days, and I admit that I'm looking forward to less-to-do. But I am not excited that Jamie will be AWOL until Sunday. Ryan sort of go crazy when Jamie go out of town...

Happy B- Day, Funky L

You'll note we already had a bit of a celebration, but happy birthday to Lauren.

May this next journey around the sun be greater than the all those before, but be just the first of many, greater journeys to come.