Guitar Fiend

Hey there. Yesterday, I played guitar for the first time in quite awhile. I have a Kirk Hammett 602 and yesterday as I attempted to play some stuff, I noticed that I'm awfully slow, hammer ons and pull offs are nowhere near where they used to be and my timing was completely off. I'm going to have to spend a little more time working on my chops. One of my favorite songs to play, Master of Puppets, was completely butchered by me yesterday. I got a little down on myself and decided to put my gear away.

I won't be able to get any practice in today since we have 4 parties to attend at 3 PM. Scratch that, it's now 3. It was 2 graduation parties and 2 birthday parties. We're not sure how we're going to divvy up out time among the three... Then to top it off, I'm expecting a delivery from Lowes today. I am extremely upset with them because I wanted to lay cement on our back yard to extend our patio and the delivery was scheduled to arrive on May 7th or 8th. It is May 31st and they are now just getting around to delivering my cement. Damn bastards. So we wont be able to go anywhere until that arrives...

Hopefully, that shipment won't come late... I've had my yard all dug up for some time now and our dog, Odin, loves to roll around in the dirt so I need that cemented so that I don't have to wash the dog every other day. lol

Checking out the Autozone site. I need to give the car an oil change. Gotta find a good deal since the economy is so bad. I think I'm going with the filter and 5 qrts of oil for $15. That sounds good. I'm off friends. I'll catch ya later.

The Top 5 Blogs Are Up!

There you have it friends. The blogs for the month of May are now up and will stay up until the end of June, where the top 5 for the month of June will up. Check to see if yours is in the top spot. Later!

Project Wonderful

Hey there. As I was checking out other blogs, I've noticed that several had "ads" from Project Wonderful. Curiousity got the best of me and I finally checked it out. I've signed up and am waiting for a review of some sorts. Hopefully, all will play out well and I'll soon have a few spots open for bidding. Still not 100% how it works, but I would greatly appreciate feedback in regards to the site. Positive? Negative? Neutral? Whatever. The more info, the better. Many thanks. Later!

Blogs of the Month!

Hey there friends. I will be announcing the top 5 droppers later today and should see their image and link under the "Blogs of the Month" section. Spots 1 through 4 are already decided but spot 5 is still up for grabs. I'll be sending a message, via Entrecard, to the winners so keep an eye out for that if you believe you're in the top 5. Best of luck friends! Later!

Here's Your Chance For a Free Ipod Nano

Hey there friends. Tired of standing around and not having any tunes to listen to? Well, here's your chance to score a free Ipod Nano. They're sleek, trendy, come in a variety of colors, and can hold tons of music for those of you that are constantly on the run. Our good friends at Development Dimensions International (DDI) is offering the opportunity for you to own your own Ipod Nano. All you have to do is fill out a small survey, to take the survey, click here, and if you're in the health care profession, it's strongly recommended that you take the survey. Best of luck, friends!



This is a sponsored post

Drained After Work

Hey there. I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but this whole week, I have been feeling rather drained. And it's worst right after work. It's almost as if my body is forcing itself to stay up to get through the work day, but the moment I jump in the car, I start yawning, eyelids, feeling heavy and am just plain ol' tired out of my mind. Someone should conduct a study. I'm sure they'll find that work causes tiredness, which in turn causes us to leave work as zombies. No wonder rush hour sucks so much... Most of the drivers are out there as zombified drivers and what not. Damn... I think I need a rockstar.

Damn zombies... Until then, later.

Police Gear Up For Grabs

Do you have worn out police uniforms? Looking for new top of the line police boots? Been wearing the same old uniform for countless years on the force? Worry no more, friend. Check out L.A. Police Gear's website. They got it all, tactical undergear shirts, tactical uniforms, tactical belts, not to mention top of the line boots and many other items. You definitely need to check out the famed 5.11 Tactical Series. Not only will you be getting high quality gear, but with a minimum purchase of $125, you'll receive free shipping and a free travel mug. That's just one of the promos that they have the 5.11 Tactical Series, you'll need to check out their site and click on the "more 5.11 promos" button get filled in. Check it out and get yourself a makeover with L.A Gear.

This is a sponsored post

Lakers over Spurs!!!

Man, I swear these damn Lakers are going to give me a heart attack. We were up 7 with less than a minute to go and after bad, bad clock management by the Lakers, the Spurs end up with the ball with 2 seconds in the game. Brent Barry, killing us all night from the 3 point line, misses the 3 point buzzer beater. For those of you who watched the game, GREAT no call on Fisher. Barry shied away from the contact making a conscience effort of avoiding the contact. If he were to have jumped into Fish, then it would've been a foul. Fish flew by Barry, and Barry dribbled away and then at the last possible second tried to catch Fish in the air and get a foul called. It didn't happen that way and we end up with the win. Now, up 3-1 on the Spurs... We need to close em out at home and take the Western Championship. Let's go Lakers! Lamar, great 4th quarter. You were in foul trouble and struggled most of the game but when it matter most, you came up. Keep it up! Later!

$1,394.30 a Month!

Hey there friends. Whoo hoo!!! According to Website Outlook, my blog is worth $1,394.30 a month! Bad ass. I've been keeping an eye out on this widget and submitted my site to it every now and then to check it out. I never posted the widget since I was embarrassed to display a big fat $0, but now that there's an actual figure, I'll display it proudly. lol

Now if only I knew how to capitalize on this new found info... Until then, Later!

Captivity

UGH! I rented this out from Netflix and finally had a chance to sit down and watch it... BUT THE STUPID DISC DID NOT WORK!!! So now I have to wait until they send me the replacement and considering that this is a 3 day weekend, it'll take forever for it to get to me. Ugh!

My First Blog Review

Hey there. I've been reviewed! Check it out, here. It's my first one and I guess it's not bad, right? Check it out and let me know what you think. Later!

Metallman's Reverie Review

New Orleans

Hey there. I finally have a few mins to post about our trip... and what a trip it was. It was my first time driving to LAX and parking there and for those of you who know, it's a nightmare. I knew that it was bad, but didn't know how bad. I wanted to be there an hour before our flight, my wife suggested 2. Good thing qwe left 2 hours before. After missing the exit (stupid mapquest) and having to exit the freeway, then getting back on the other way and then back on again... it took forever to finally reach LAX. Once there, following signs mind you, we cirled the airport like 5 times and when we finally were able to stop at a red light, I yelled at a bus driver for directions to a parking lot. Again, circled some more and finally reached the parking lot.

We hurried into a shuttle and off we went to the United Terminal. First time flying United, or TED as they call it now. We checked in and then went through security. I emptied my pockets, boarding pass included, so I was held up because I didn't have my pass with me. Stupid brain... I told the lady that it's in that bucket thing and after she searched for it, she asked my name to verify. I then was "cleared" and allowed through the metal detector.

Here we are at LAX


We ran up the stairs and walked briskly to our terminal. Once there, it was practically empty. We gave the woman our tickets and she was like, whoa, you guys are very late. Almost missed the flight if you'd gotten here "6 minutes later." Close call. lol Because we were so late, my wife and I didn't get to sit next to each other.

On to New Orleans. We stayed at the Monteleone hotel. Nice hotel and all. Had a pool on the roof, a gym, and spa. We settled in and off we went to explore the city. We took a walk towards the riverfront and checked out the Mississippi River. Here are a few shots of that. The jester in the front was pretty massive so I had to get a shot with that. lol



Further down, we stumbled upon 2 Holocaust memorials. The first one was a curved tablet with names on them and the other was a structure. The are structure was extremely interesting. At first glance it's just bars heading up in the middle of a star of david. After reading the plaque, you understood that viewing it at an angle, you will be able to see symbols to represent unity, strenght, and religion among others. I only snapped religion and unity.








Here is the plaque giving the artist credit for his work.



Oh before I forget... We were almost hit by a trolley! Stupid trolleys. No more than 15 mins in New Orleans and we were almost decimated. lol That's why we decided to snap a few pictures with a trolley in the background. I'm sure that's something that's going to stay with us for awhile. lol




Soon after we took a stroll down the famed Bourbon Street. There was plenty of live music playing, along with many restaurants, pubs, and it's fair share of strip joints. One in particular made me laugh since it had a pair of a woman's feet swinging from inside the building to the outside. Wish I took a shot of that but was too busy laughing to remember the cam. We tried the local drink, Grenade, and I ended up drinking them both since my wife didn't like it very much. To be honest with you, I have no idea what that drink is made of. We just ordered, and I drank em. lol Oh and in case you don't know what a blow job is, here it is. lol



And here is the origin of the word, Dixieland.



We also visited a local cathedral. I want to say that it was St. Jude's. Here is the sculpture located there.



We also checked out the IMAX and the Aquarium. I'll only post this one of the aquarium since I thought it was pretty bad ass.



We also killed some time at the casino. I believe it was a Harrah's. I thought it was a little odd that there'd be stars and a moon in front of a casino so we took this shot from the top of the small flight of stair in front of the back entrance of the casino. Pretty cool, I think.



Those are the higlights of our trip there. We walked into many stores and what not, but I don't want to go into every detail. So we're back on a plane, on our way back. I thought this shot was simply breathtaking so I had to include it.



So there you have it, friends. Our trip to New Orleans. Later!

Bug

Hey there. I caught this movie last weekend and I must say that I was disappointed. It had the premise to be a good flick but it lagged significantly in many areas. First off, I was drawn to this movie because Netflix recommended it, since I checked out Girl Next Door, which is pretty bad ass, and thought, what the hell, I'll check Bug out too. The description of it made it sound interesting. A psychological thriller full of suspense and what not. The movie left many questions unanswered and the ending was extremely disappointing.

First off, the movie is based on a theatrical play. The director thought the play was bad ass and figured he'd make it into a movie. So this is what he came up with.

The opening scene is a corpse lying on the floor in a room covered in foil. It's there only for a second. Enough time for you to say, "What the fuck?" and grab your attention. It grabbed mine. I instantly thought, oh hell yeah, this is gonna be good. Next thing you know, we're introduced to Agnes, the main character, and her phone constantly ringing off the hook. She answers it, but no one responds on the other end. She thinks it's her ex since he just got out of jail and she figured he'd be after her.

Agnes works in a bar and while there, she meets her friend RC. RC and Agnes soon go the Agnes' place and RC brings along a guy named Peter. While at her place, they drink and do drugs. Peter, being a quiet one doesn't do any of that and while he's in the bathroom, RC confesses that she just meet him that night and they joke that he's an axe murderer or something of the like. Peter tells the ladies that he's not and soon after R.C takes off, leaving Peter behind. Agnes invites Peter to stay since it's revealed that he's "in between homes".



Morning comes and Agnes gets up and sees a pot of coffee on the stove. She pours herself some and then walks over to the bathroom to thank Peter, since the shower is running. When the door opens, it's not Peter, but her ex, Jerry. They argue and fight and then he strikes her down. At that point, Peter walks in and Jerry gives him a few cold stares and then tells Agnes that he'll be back and takes off.

Peter and Agnes, then sit and talk about Jerry and what happened between the 2. Evidently, Agnes was in a store with her son in a cart, but when she turned, he disappeared. They both show compassion for each other and consequently, the have sex. Soon after, Peter gets up complaining that he got bit by a bug and they start looking for it on the bed. He finds it, but Agnes can't see it. Peter then blurts out that someone is after him and starts to get dressed. Agnes tries to convince him to stay since she is lonely and loves to hear Peter talk. Peter takes off but then soon returns and tells Agnes his story.



He tells Agnes that he was once in the military and that they used to do experiments on him. Injected him with all kinds of stuff and since the two had sex, he fears that he may have passed whatever they gave him to her. He then tells that the people that are after him is the military since he went AWOL. The two then get some sleep.

Come morning, the room is full of fly paper cause Peter is trying to rid the place of bugs. Jerry breaks into the place and confronts Peter, who is sitting on a table looking at his blood under a microscope. R.C. and Agnes then enter the three of them force Jerry to leave. Once he's gone, Peter shows Agnes that he has bugs in his blood. R.C contests that there are no bugs and all this is unnecessary. Peter then tells Agnes that she has bugs too. R.C. then blurts that they went to a doc and they found nothing wrong with Agnes. This infuriates Peter, believing that the doc is in on the experiment and lied to Agnes. He then lifts his shirt and shows all the "bite" marks all over his body. R.C. accusing him of doing it to himself, then tells Peter that a doctor was looking for him. After saying his name, Peter flips out. He starts to have a seizure and Agnes kicks R.C. out for trying to take Peter away from her.



Soon after, as the two lay down together, Peter's tooth starts to hurt. Convinced that the experiments done on him implanted bugs, the concludes that there is a nest of eggs on his tooth. With this, he storms up, grabs some pliers and pulls on his tooth until he gets it out. He looks at it under the microscope and discovers the bugs. Both look at each other in terror and then the scene fades.



The doctor looking for Peter starts to knock on the door. After some convincing Agnes opens the door. We then notice that the whole room is now covered in foil. The doc asks for Peter and tells her that he experimented on Peter and that he can "fix" all of this. She refuses to tell him where he is. The doc then brings up her lost son and claims that he knows where he is and he can bring him to her. With this, Peter storms out of the bathroom and holds the doc at knife point. After Agnes tells Peter that the doc knows where her son is, he stabs the doc to death. Hysterical, Agnes asks why he killed the doc and Peter goes on about people being implanted with microchips and that everyone has one and that's how the government keeps tabs on people. He found his and cut it out, that's another reason why they're after him. Then, a knock on the door. It's the pizza guy delivering a pizza they didn't order... they slip money under the door and tell him to leave it outside. Once he leaves, they get the pizza and inspect it under the microscope. Peter flips out when he finds bugs on it.

This is where the movie goes from bad to worst... They both start talking to each trying to figure out why them. They conclude that everyone around them is in on it. R.C, Peter, Agnes, Jerry, and their son all are intertwined in some way. After babbling on about what probably happened, Agnes loses it and starts shouting that she's the queen bug and they were meant to be together so that Peter and her can make millions of little bugs. They then look at each other knowing what to do and then they strip naked and cover themselves with gasoline. They then ignite themselves on fire and the movie ends. After the credits roll, that intro scene is then played again.

My first complaint... You NEVER see the damn bugs. This was a huge disappointment because it doesn't help to understand Peter and Agnes. Are the bugs real? Are they psychological? And if so, how did the "bite" marks occur? It just leaves so many questions opened that it did not make the movie satisfying. Then there's the issue with the doctor. Was he really an android as Peter made him out to be, or an actual person that Peter murdered due to his paranoia? I mean, they act through the second half of the movie smacking themselves killing bugs but you don't get a sense of their presence. You only see what they believe is out there and there is never any clarification what so ever. Did the army experiment on him? You don't know. Just not my fancy and again, an extreme disappointment of a movie.

Ode to Star

A lone diamond twinkles brightly
Like an unsung hero that passes on
No dark clouds to shroud you over
Like a black veil that covers face
You blink
You turn
You light
You burn
O heavenly body, how I envy you
To live in the heavens and watch over
To live a million lifetimes
Our feeble minds advance and regress
While you shine as radiant as ever
As I watch you rise, and soon, your fall
I detest to follow suit
For I know I won't rise with you, my friend
To see your luminescence once again

-Metallman

Kids Say the Craziest Things

Hey there. Yesterday, we went to the market to buy us some groceries. Nothing unusual while we're roaming the isles filing up our cart. Once we're outside in the parking lot, I turn to make sure that the kids are not in the way of cars and I notice that our middle child, who will be turning 7 in June, is walking with her eyes closed. Soon after she says something to my wife, which I didn't catch, and my wife is laughing her ass off. Practically in tears. As she composes herself, I asked her, "What did she say?" She told me that she said, "How can Chinese people walk with their eyes closed?" LMAO We laughed. Now, we don't mean any disrespect. I'm not racist, sexist, or any other negative "ist" out there. The fact that I saw her walking with her eyes closed and then her making that comment just completely threw me off guard and started laughing.

Still in the parking lot, loading groceries into the trunk, I explained to her that different people have different features. Every one is unique in their own way. I told her to look around and she'll see people with different skin color, different eye color, different hair color, and that very rarely, you'll see two people looking the same. I explained to her that our Chinese friends do not have their eyes closed, they are open, just not as open as your eyes.Therefore, they are not walking with their eyes closed. She just gave me a look and said, Oh, OK.

Again, don't mean to disrespect or offend anyone. It's just that kids these days are so observant and voice their observations out loud. I believe children should be well informed. I don't tell our kids that because people have different features from theirs, those people are "weird" or whatever. Golden rule in our house is treat everyone the way you want to be treated, regardless of nationality, race, color, or whatever.

Sometimes an innocent question from an untainted child really puts the world into perspective. Most of us watch (or read) the news so we know of hate crimes and what not that goes on in our world. Kids don't. To them, life is about school, homework, and play. Repeat as many times as possible. If they never know of the wrong doings that go on, they'll never do it. Don't get me wrong, if your kid notices something that someone did, you should inform them. Let them know what's going on but let them know it's wrong. If us, as parents instill in our kids that it's OK to get along with anyone and everyone, the world should be a better place because of it.

Later.

I'm back!

Hey there friends. I'm back! New Orleans was fun. Credit conference finished a few hours early so I had a little extra time with my wife to check out the city. The place is such a party town. I always thought that Bourbon street would only be "crazy" during Mardi Gras, but from what I saw, it seems to be a party there every night. Loud music, live bands in every pub, people walking on the street, drinking, strip bars on every block, definitely not kid friendly. We tried the "local" drink, Grenades, which I drank, no problem, but my wife didn't like it so much so I drank hers. I'll provide more details when I get home, so that I can associate my words with pictures. Until then. Later!

New Orleans, Here We Come!

Hey there. We're heading to New Orleans. I have a credit conference to attend there, so I'll be off on a business trip for a few days. I'm taking my wife with me though so she'll keep me company. We take off tomorrow morning and be back home late Saturday evening. Not so sure what kinda sights there are so I'll need to look up stuffs to do in New Orleans. All I know is that Bourbon Street is a tourist attraction so we'll more than likely head off there to check it out. If you guys have any suggestions, let me know!!! Later!

Cosmic Bowling Pix

Hey there friends. Here are some of the pics that were taken that night. Check em out.

Here is my wife and I getting ready for some action. Bowling action, that is.



Here are my friends. Bro and sis. I knew that they were close but man... What sis would be that excited to see her bro's balls??? And he doesn't have a problem showing em to her either. Hahahaha



That's me in the middle, trying to figure out how to use that machine to enter names. From left to right, my friend, me, and my bother in law.



My brother and I discussing the physics of bowling. If I remember correctly, it was something about how the Earth's rotation causes centrifugal force affecting the alley causing the ball to shift slightly to the right. lol Or at least that's what we thought... Or... just making excuses for all those gutter balls.



Me and my buddies, who I haven't seen together since our SMC days.



My babe, looking "super cute."



YES! After 4 hours of bowling and many, many, many frames later... I finally win one. Notice the date change? Must've been somewhere around 2 AM when I won. Chalk it up to fatigue if you wish, but I know it was my awesome skills that put me on top. lol



There you have it friends. I have another of the spot where my brother ate it, but you can't see his marks on the floor because of the camera's flash. lol But man, that would've been a good one to have up.

Until the next round comes along, Later!

Metallman's New Card

Hey there friends. Just wanted to show off my new Entrecard. Courtesy of Eyespi20. Check it out friends and tell me what you think. Also, don't forget to check out Eyespi's webpage. Later!

Cosmic Bowling

Hey there friends. We had a blast bowling on Friday. I forgot the damn camera so I can't post any pics so I'll do that later tonight, if not, tomorrow. My wife had a lot of my friends, especially some I haven't seen in awhile, scheduled to show but some canceled for personal reasons. It was still cool, though. It ended up being my bro, brother in law, 2 friends, and my wife on two lanes. We got there at 9:30, and left at 2:30!!! We killed a lot of time there.

My wife and I are rookies at the game. It took some time for us to the get the groove of bowling. My friends are experienced, as well as my brother in law. My brother claimed to be a pro. lol So we basically aimed at trying to throw him off his game so that the rest of us had a chance.

Oh man, the moment of the night: The "pro" fell as he was about to let go of the ball. Oh man, that shit was funny. He ate it nasty and got up, all Mr. cool, and started brushing himself off but he couldn't bowl cause he just couldn't stop laughing. I took a picture of the spot where he fell because you could see the marks he left all over the alley. You can't really see the marks in the pic, but still... It's where he fell. lol The girl on the adjacent lane was laughing her ass off and almost fell herself because she was about to roll and held it back to laugh and compose herself. Man, that was funny. I shouldn't be talking, though. The ball slipped out of my hand as I was about to roll it and it just dropped straight down behind me. Man, good times, good times. Maybe it was us being tired... or Maybe it was those 4 pitchers of Heinekens, I don't know, it was good stuff and we're definitely thinking of doing that again.

Check back later, friends. So you can check out the action. Later!

Someone Spills the Beans!!!

Hey there friends. I quit trying to get the surprise out of my wife, since I know she busted her ass off to keep my birthday activity a secret. Well, my comadre spilled the beans!!! She wished me happy birthday over IM and after I thanked her, she asks, "so you guys are going bowling tonight". lol So it looks like I'm going bowling!!!! My wife came over and was like, "I'm going to sock her!" =oP She's not mad, friends. Just a friendly, "Ugh!" lol Cosmic Bowling, here I come!!!! Now... if only I knew how to bowl.... Ha ha ha Later!

Budget Cuts

Hey there friends. I got this in an Email today. I thought this was hilarious. Looks like all new employees will be sporting these new "manufactured" cubicles due to budget cuts. hahahaha

Birthday Surprise

Hey there. My birthday is tomorrow and I know that my wife has something planned but I have no clue what. lol She said that for sure, dinner. Where? No clue. I'm feeling old now. lol Last year, I was walking around saying that I'm a "quarter of a century old". Now, I'm gonna start with, "I'm a quarter of a century old plus 1." lol I've been trying to trick her into telling me what's going on, but no dice.



My wife, she's a sweetheart. Always has me in mind and busts her ass off to please me. Now, if only I was cleaver enough to come up with a way for her to spill the beans. lol It's not that I really want to know. I want to be surprised because she is going through great lengths to hide whatever she has planned from me, but I guess it's that inner child that is just itching to know.

Guess I'm not as old as I think. Especially if that inner child is getting the best of me right now. Until I discover what's behind door #1, I'll catch ya later.

Cash Crate

Hey there friends. On my quest to make a few extra bucks online, I stumbled upon Cashcrate.com . So far so good. You fill out a simple surveys or you sign up to receive free samples of stuffs and you get paid for it. Sounds good to me. I've only been a member for about a week so, I suggest you check it out for yourself. It's free to join and if you're not happy with it, delete your account. I think this one of the few sites that will allow you to delete your account if you're not happy with their services. I think that speaks volumes. Use this link Cashcrate.com and check it out, friends. You got nothing to lose and much to gain. Later.

Fried Guitar Hero, Please

Hey there. This morning, my boy made me and my wife laugh our asses off. Since we're coming in to work later than usual, we are dropping off the kids at school this week. Well, this morning, as I pulled in front of the school, I got out to walk them across the street. As I was telling them to have a good day and be productive and what not, my boy turns and says to me, "I always mess up on the beginning of Raining Blood." I kinda gave him a brief look of disbelief and then started laughing. I got in the car and told my wife and we both started laughing. She says that the boy has Guitar Hero fried in his brain. lol Especially, if I'm over here telling him to have a good day, and out comes a comment about Guitar Hero. Man, that was classic. Ranks right up there with my daughter saying that when people turn 100, they turn into pets. Hahahahahaha Man, children say the darnest things. lol

Speaking of Guitar Hero, here's my update in my quest to become a Guitar Hero master. lol I'm going through Expert Mode and struggled heavily on the Slipknot song and Knight of Cydonia song... Took about a week for me to luck through them. I finally got through last night but now I can only get through about 75% of Cult of Personality... That damn solo kicks my ass. Gonna more than likely have to practice that sucker...

If I succeed, I'll let you know. Until then, later.

Blogs of the Month

Hey there friends. As I was browsing some of the blogs in the Entrecard community, I noticed that some held contests and what not to entice people to comment thier sites or join their communities. I decided that I'll follow suit and reward some of my fellow Entrecard members by providing them with a free link for a full month. I will now have a section titled, "Blogs of the Month" where I will place a link and image to those friends that dropped the most cards on my site for the previous month. Any tie breakers will be decided by comments left on any of my posts. I will send a message to the top 5 so that they can provide a link to their site and image. You won't see any during the month of May since I joined Entrecard in the last week of April, so the first set of winners will be displayed on Jun 1st. Best of luck friend. Later!

Restful Nights

Hey there. This weekend, we slept well. Pretty damn well. Our little one (turning 3 July 4th) has been sleeping in our bed since forever and she moves, kicks, and turns all night long, leaving us restless and tired as hell in the morning. My wife receives these Emails from Baby Center. She signed up for the newsletter a few years back when we were pregnant. She used to send those Emails to me on a weekly basis, to read up on tips and what not to help care with the baby. Well, she sent one a few weeks back and said, it's been awhile since I sent this to you. After we looked it over, there was a tip on how to get your little one to sleep in their own bed. Our eyes lit up. lol We went ahead and decided to go for it. BC (Baby Center) said that you should move in her bed to your room and let her sleep in the room until she gets used to the idea of sleeping in her bed. I moved her in right away. lol I carried her bed, all toys and dolls incuded, and plopped it right beside our bed. She had very few hisitations and was proud that she was being a "big girl". This weekend, I moved her bed back to her room and, Lo and Behold!!!! She sleeps in her bed! Leaving us feeling pretty damn good about ourselves, not to mention well rested. lol

For you parents out there that can't get your little one to sleep in their own bed, give this a shot. You have nothing to lose. lol

Keep on sleeping and keep on dreaming. Later!

Dimebag Darrell

Hey there friends. As we were riding home, we were listening to the radio, as does the majority of America. After a song or two, I turned it off. Was pretty upset with the quality of new music that's out there. I just don't think it's good. Even a great bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (I chose them as an example cause I swear, they are on the radio 24/7) sound so commercial now. Their new sounds is nothing like their old stuff and their old stuff was good. Anyways, I pulled out my phone, put on the tunes I have there and let it play on random.

I was singing along, enjoying myself, to Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera. Ahh... Pantera. I started thinking of Dime. One the worlds best guitar players, taken from us a few years back. As we were cruising on the freeway, I started thinking what were some of his best riffs and solos. Immediately, the classics came to mind. Cowboys from Hell, Cemetery Gates, Hollow, to name a few... But I was listening to "10's", one of my absolute favorite Pantera songs.



In my opinion, the solo for 10's has got to be Dime's best solo ever. Hold the hate mail, please. lol I know the man had chops. No one can take away from this man's shredding ability, he was definitely one of the best and I enjoy those riffs as well, but the solo on 10's just emanates Dime. Ask yourself, who was Dime? He was a laid back, crown royal drinking, funny ass, every man's man that will kick your ass if you cross him kinda guy. That is exactly what that solo is. Starts off laid back, it flows beautifully with the song, and through it all, he shreds through the scales going back and forth showing that he can not only be chill, but be killer too. You can always tell the good guitar players from the great ones because the greats will always amaze you, even when you least expect it and this solo just blows me away.

When you get a chance, listen to it friends. It's exactly what Dime will always be... just simply bad ass. Rest in peace friend. Later

Entrecard

Hey there friends. So I joined a new community not too long ago where you create your own business card and "drop" it off on other blogs that are also members. As you can see on the top right of my page, I have a "blog of the day" with a "drop" sign underneath it. So far, I think it's a great tool to not only check out other blogs but also to expose your blog to others as well. There's also a business sense to it, since this is your business card. Once you join you have the option to promote other blogs on your site and you can promote yours on others. You gain credits by dropping your card and by promoting other blogs. You can then use those credits to buy a spot on another blog to advertise yours.

So far, it's been working great for me. I drop off on sites I think are cool and I'll promote those I think are worthwhile. I've read some negativity regarding this, though. From what I've read, there are people out there that drop away until you've reached your daily limit. I don't think that necessarily bad but if you're just dropping cards for the hell of it, then it's kinda defeating the whole purpose, you know.

I just left a post on their forum for some feedback. Hopefully, I'll get a good grasp on how this works and how I can optimize it's potential. Later!