I Shouldn't have told you that.

grownupron @ 2009-12-25T10:22:00

2009-12-25T16:22:57Z

Presents have been exchanged, breakfast eaten, kisses stolen and now the turkey is roasting and I am searching for football.

Life is good in the Goodwin house.

Merry Christmas everyone

grownupron @ 2009-12-24T08:29:00

2009-12-24T14:29:50Z

So it seems that people are crying racism is all over the place in Avatar....

Well except the people who say that its radical environmentalist, Anti-capitalist work....

Seriously?

This is what happens when offense becomes an industry. People start picking everything apart, as filtered by their own particular brand of judgementalism, and then try to use it as "proof" that they have been right about issue X all along.

Some people try to take teh fun out of everything....

grownupron @ 2009-12-23T11:38:00

2009-12-23T17:38:46Z

I think its immoral to let children go without.

I also think its immoral to force people to pay for other people who can't manage to stop screwing up.

Not likely to be resolved any time soon.

grownupron @ 2009-12-22T07:37:00

2009-12-22T13:37:36Z

Remember Rock the Vote? Well apparently they decided that they didn't like being a non-partisan group so they are actively pushing kids to start pressing Congress for Health Care Reform.

Well they have a new ad trying to convince people not to have sex with someone until they also support health care.

Has that ever worked?

I remember being in my 20's and I would have said "See ya around," if my gf had tried to blackmail me with sex. I mean jebus, sex was everywhere and no one who really cared about you would pull a stunt like that anyway. What kind of douchebag lets themselves be run over like that?

I respond really badly to manipulation and often in the exact opposite way the person wants me to go.

grownupron @ 2009-12-21T09:00:00

2009-12-21T15:00:40Z

Stacy made me a new icon because Bellatrix made me laugh so much in the last HP movie.

grownupron @ 2009-12-21T07:30:00

2009-12-21T13:30:41Z

So I have a lot of friends with wildly divergent beliefs, hobbies, convictions, and lifestyles. Its fun but sometimes it can be a bit of a chore keeping some of them part when prudent. For example I don't want the deeply religious ones comingling with the wildly pagan zombie fans. Because discussion is fun, arguing is not.

I also tend to stress that if you believe something so strongly that disagreement hurts your feelings then don't bring it up in conversation. If you do bring it up in conversation and then somebody does disagree then your getting all butthurt is your own fault.

I mention this because we ae having a party at work today and Stacy was nice enough to make a big platter of chocolate peanutbutter brownies for me to bring. As I was putting them in the fridge here one of the people here said "Those look good," and I answered "Yep, I hate I'm not going to be able to eat some,".

They asked why I couldn't and I said "They don't fit into my calories for the day," this caused a long winded rant about its the holidays and how I should relax and how maybe I make people feel bad because I don't eat the desserts at parties and every one else does.

Now I didn't feel like I should have to justify my not eatting or eatting anything to this douchebag nor do I think I should have to tell them I'm cutting my calories a bit because I will most likely eat an entire apple pie this weekend. So I simply said "Don't you have better things to pay attention to than what I eat?"

This is in a nut shell why I avoid talking to sensitive people a lot. Somehow everything you say or do becomes filtered through their own issues and becomes a statement about them.

grownupron @ 2009-12-18T16:56:00

2009-12-18T22:57:01Z

Okay this is cruel and kind of insensitive but I just read where a English guy was talking about one of the girls on the TV show Jersey Shore and he said (and I quote) "She had a face like a blind cobler's thumb."

I cannot stop laughing and it is so going into a fic.

grownupron @ 2009-12-17T12:21:00

2009-12-17T18:21:58Z

I'm tired of people quoting statistics without actually understanding how those statistics are derived. Today I was told 80% of people in the US are Christian, when in fact the actual study found 80% of people in the US believe in some form of God. The 80% Christians included Jews, Moslems, and Hindus apparently.

How does this happen? Well mostly it happens when people get their information from special interest groups and then assume its 100% factually coreect and do no more research into it. We all know that statisics are only as relevant as the way the information is gathered and how the definitions of the data is framed.

Even more importantly these groups often carefully craft their studies to discount any information that could cast doubt on their findings.

I used to just laugh at people who get sucked into these rediculous statistics, but as I get older I find these people annoy me, a lot.

grownupron @ 2009-12-16T07:58:00

2009-12-16T13:58:26Z

I get that sometimes people aren't into the holiday spirit. This is not carte blance to be a giant asshole. If you don't want to hear "Merry Christmas" thats fine but you might hear "Oh I'm sorry, I meant to say Fuck You," instead if you're an ass about it.

grownupron @ 2009-12-15T15:19:00

2009-12-15T21:19:10Z

Gym membership: $360/year

Inzer wristbands: $ 45

Fake Walmart Chucks: $8

Cock blocking the douchebag next to me: Priceless

Little bastard should not have pissed me off.

grownupron @ 2009-12-11T20:23:00

2009-12-12T02:23:15Z

I have found a flaw in facebook, I have too many professional friends on it to make posts like I would on LJ. So as much as I don't like keeping things seperated I guess I will.

I have a fic just about ready for Stacy to beta, its right after the funerals the Weasley boys aren't quite ready to let things go.

The end of the year also seems to bring with it restrospection. Sometimes with that comes some surprises. For years Stacy and I have discussed retiring to Ireland at some point and it seems like this is going to be more than just a remote possibility. At this point it seems like there is a very strong likelyhood that we can do it. Now we are talking at lest 20 years from now and lots of things can happen in two decades but its really kind of cool that we might actually get to do that.

A little cottage on some land and being able to see lots of Europe sounds like a great way to finish out a pretty good life.

I have been fortunate enough to hit all of my goals for the year and so I will need to take some time to decide what I need to accomplish next year.

Also Stacy and I are going to be taking a second honeymoon at some point this year. I figure after 12 years we deserve it.

Looking forward to Turkey and Apple pie again on Christmas day and I since I will be done with exams at the end of this week I am going to attempt to watch every single bowl game possible. Speaking of football, I was the MVP of our flag football All-Star game which was pretty cool even if I felt like death on a cracker after every game. Since it was a church league we had to pray before and after each game and surprisingly I did not burst into flame nor was an angel sent to cast me into the pit of perdition. Go figure.

grownupron @ 2009-11-30T18:45:00

2009-12-01T00:45:25Z

Canon fest submitted, now here's hoping it doens't suck.

Now I have two ideas for fics burning a hole in my literary pocket.

Canonfest

2009-11-23T18:32:00Z

The deadline for Canonfest is approaching so I'd really be appreciative if someone can tell me how I format all the information that goes at the top of your submission.

Thanks.

This Space for Rent.................

2009-10-01T00:00:02Z

So I'm shutting this LJ down. Oh it won't go away until I've submitted my canonfest fic but its just time to call it a day. I hope everybody achieves all the things they desire and all of your loved ones are kept safe.

As the Lady said, all was well.

grownupron @ 2009-09-25T11:04:00

2009-09-25T16:34:50Z

"But Mum says we shouldn't be prejudiced against people!"

Ron paused to take in the sight of a throughly indignant Rose standing only a few feet away, her hands on her hips and looking at him as if he had eaten the last of the tarts. Stifling the uge to laugh at how she reminded him of Hermione during third year he instead spoke in the most serious voice he could manage.

"Its not prejudice, Rose. It's the truth."

"Mum says, that its not fair to make judgements about people because groups they might belong to," Rose huffed.

"Thats because your mother is Muggle Born," Ron sighed.

Rose looked shocked and then her face turned bright red "There is nothing wrong with being Mugle Born!" stamping her foot for effect.

"Of course there isn't" Ron answered indignantly "But because she's Muggle born she forgets some things,"

"Like what?" his daughter asked sceptically.

Ron grabbed a chair and spun it around so that he faced the back and answered "In the Muggle world people sometimes make assumptions about people based on what they look like, or where they are from, or how much money they have,"

"Thats why mum says we shouldn't judge people," Rose retorted.

"Well she's right, but I didn't judge them. The Sorting Hat did,"

"But Mum says...."

"Look Rose your Mum is brilliant but because she's Muggle Born sometimes she forgets things and one of them is that the Sorting Hat knows what its doing. Its an old and ancient bit of magic made to do one thing, look into a person heart and see what sort of person they are." Ron interupted impatiently.

"Mum even made a speech saying Slytherins aren't eveil," Rose rejoined and folded her arms over her chest victoriously.

"I didn't say they were evil, Rose. I said they were all bad people." Ron sighed again and ran one hand through his hair before continuing. "The Sorting Hat puts people in Slytherin because they are cunning, ambitious, and selfish. Now Ravenclaws are clever, and plenty of Gryffindors are ambitious but the hat puts the Slytherins in there because their ambitions are the most important things to them and in the end they will sell anybody out to achieve them. That doens't make them evil but it does make them bad people,"

"But surely..." Rose began before trailing off

"You are old enough to know how things work Rose, remember when we told you about the battle at Hogwarts?" Ron asked gently.

When Rose nodded Ron continued "Well when the students had to decide if they were going to stay and fight none of the Slytherins did, not one."

Ron stood and walked back to the counter "Your as smart as your mum Rose, I'll let you decide what that means,"

grownupron @ 2009-09-24T09:06:00

2009-09-24T14:24:09Z

So I have been going to that website Angela posted, mostly because its funny as hell to tell Stacy about what they are discussing and listen to her rant about it. However if you read the comments one thing become abundantly clear. There are LOTS of crazy people out there. I mean people who have trouble dealing with every day normal stuff.

Why is this important? Because crazy people freak me out. As in I do not want to be around them. AT ALL!

Freud would say its because my mom was, and is, bat shit crazy. Of course Freud spent way to much time thinking about his junk so who knows.

This made me realize that most of my "dealbreakers" are things that are signs of emotionally unstable people.

Like people who scream at other people. People who cry a lot, not I'm not talking about people who cry at horrible events but people who just cry when normal every day crap happens. People who have long term use of mood altering medicines also give me pause. People who hit other people when they get mad. People who repeteadly create drama in their lives.

Now since I'm happily married my "dealbreaker" list isn't that important anymore but its worth examining these sort of things to see what makes us tick. Personally I think wanting to avoid unstable people is simply a survival mechanism because in general unstable people often fail to thrive in other aspect of life.

It probably means I'm not very sensitive to other peoples struggles but frankly we too often try to whitewash what we think so other people think better of us and I think thats dishonest.

grownupron @ 2009-09-22T12:18:00

2009-09-22T17:42:50Z

Five words mem from Maple

Stacy- Sometimes I wonder how we ended up together because shes just such a good person. She's good and kind, and clever as hell. Its a special person who will deal with a husband that has nightmares about things that happened 35 years ago. She doesn't have any idea how great she is and often we will argue about that. After 12 years I still can't keep my hands off of her. I absolutely got the best end of this deal.

Swords- There is a suburb of Dublin called Swords and we spent the last night of our first trip to Ireland there. We sat up late into the night seriously talking about coming home, selling every thing we owned and moving to Ireland. Obviously we didn't but it was a really wonderful time and its probably the reason we will retire there.

South- I have a love/love/hate realtionshiop with the South. I cannot stand the Confederate flag waving morons. Not because I think we should ignore history but because of the reasons THEY are using the image. That said I love that we still say sir or maam and that men are expected to hold doors open from women. I love how you automatically speak to someone you walk past. I love ice cold watermelon when its 100 degrees outside. I love college football and a million different traditions at each University. Sorority girls in their dresses and the smell of honeysuckle in the evening. I love being able to BBQ in November and that the trees are almost always green. I love white sand beaches and fresh Gulf seafood. Ya'll come down and sit a spell.:)

Running- I can't run long distances without wreaking my hamstrings so I've taken to sprinting. Often i'll do it with my sled behind me pulling 25 or 50 lbs to add endurance and conditioning.

School- is way easier than I remember. Only math has required very much attention at all. Now I've had to do a LOT of work but its been easy and the only real consideration is time. Mostly its pointed out that men in thier twenties are really weak, not physically though that to, they are just....lame.

grownupron @ 2009-09-19T18:04:00

2009-09-19T23:05:15Z

After seeing the Daily Deviant Christmas fic prompts I can safely say that there are some astonishingly fucked up people in fandom.

grownupron @ 2009-09-19T17:12:00

2009-09-19T22:13:20Z

Jonathon Crompton is the worst quarterback in the nation. How in the hell can this guy be starting for an SEC team?

Its freaking embarassing.

grownupron @ 2009-09-18T08:35:00

2009-09-18T13:42:34Z

Well time marches on, and I'm starting to have to really think about what route I'm going to take in graduate school. There are really only two options, an MBA/MPH combo or an PhD in Economics. The PhD in economics would require us to move so I'm only going to consider it if I get into a top flight school on a full assistantship. I just can't justify moving and having Stacy have to redo her professional stuff for a run of the mill PhD program. If I get into a top flight program then the financial rewards will be worth it for both of us.

So most likely I will go the MBS/MPH route unless I get the golden ticket to a top 10 program. I like it here so its no real sacrifice and if I do get into a top ten program then its all good too.

But a good thoughts towards the London School of Economics wouldn't hurt either.

grownupron @ 2009-09-16T10:01:00

2009-09-16T15:28:15Z

We have a spare bedroom that I use for my office some of the time. It also has a TV and houses my Snoopy collection but its getting a bit cluttered. So my wonderul wife has started drawing up plans to turn it into a "man cave".

Now I don't really need a mancave and I do a lot of my work at the kitchen table so I can talk to Stacy while I do homework and the like but I do have to admit it would be nice if it was a little more comfortable for those nights she wants to watch House and I want to watch Monday Night Football. It would also keep me from junking up the kitchen table with school books as much as I do now.

She's also planning on picking out some better shelving from the Snoopys. Plus a new,and smaller, computer desk for my laptop. Now its not going to happen until after the holidays but still its something to look forward to and maybe help me be more comfortable this spring when I'm working two jobs and taking classes again.

grownupron @ 2009-09-15T13:05:00

2009-09-15T18:06:41Z

I have a co-worker who touches me, a lot.

Seriously...

The rest of my co-workers who have seen it laugh.

Who the hell does that?

grownupron @ 2009-09-11T09:46:00

2009-09-11T15:21:39Z

So the story around Caster Semenya keeps gathering steam. Turns out the South African track sensation is a hermaphrodite with no ovaries or womb but a functional set of internal testicles.

So in my opinion there is no grounds for her being stripped of her victory because she didn't cheat, she just never knew.

The real question is if she should be allowed to compete in women's races again. (Note I am going to use the term she because she refers to her self as being female.) According to the linked scientific study http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=129719 testicular tissue develops only in the presence of a Y chromosome so according to the "If there's a Y its a guy" theory she is in fact male. Her Testosterone levels are around 300 which is at the bottom of the normal range for men.

Which puts the governing bodies of the sport in a quandry. If she's allowed to continue to race as a woman there will undoubtably be court challenges from other racers which might very well win given the presence of a Y chromosome. If she is forced to race against men her times will not allow her to be competitive.

Some have suggested removing gender seperation in track and field and having men and women compete but I don't think they have thought this out. In general this would simply remove women competitors from the events.

Here are the top men's times in the 100m:
1 9.58
2 9.71
3 9.72
4 9.79
5 9.84
6 9.84
7 9.85
8 9.85
9 9.85
10 9.86

Womens top ten times in the 100m

1 10.49
2 10.65
3 10.73
4 10.73
5 10.74
7 10.76
8 10.77
9 10.78
10 10.78

There is almost a full second difference in the 100m times which is huge in such a short race.

To point out the differnce I will post the 2009 NCAA Outdoor field 100m dash results.

100-meter dash: 1. Trindon Holliday, LSU, 10.00; 2. Ahmad Rashad, Southern California, 10.10; 3. Gerald Phiri, Texas A&M, 10.18; 4. Terrell Wilks, Florida, 10.19; 5. Rondel Sorrillo, Kentucky, 10.22; 6. D'Angelo Cherry, Mississippi St., 10.22; 7. Adam Harris, Michigan, 10.29; 8. Reggie Dixon, Hampton, 10.38.

Or in other words the fastest 100m ever run my a female runner would have finished last at this years college championship.

It simply isn't feasible to get rid of the gender distinction in racing.

Whats the solution? I have no idea but I don't envy the sports gopverning bodies trying to figure it out.

I also feel very badly for Caster. That's a hell of a thing to have to find out.

grownupron @ 2009-09-08T12:55:00

2009-09-08T17:56:10Z

Okay, believe it or not this is a serious question.

Why do women wear cleavage exposing shirts/dresses?