The Evils of Female Salespeople

Wow. I just had a close call. I almost spent $200 dollars on a pair of Oakley sunglasses. These ones to be more specific. The girl selling them to me was really attractive and sweet and nice and funny and.... yeah..... you get the picture. Sigh... I'm such a guy. She was even going to throw in a free hard case.

They actually looked really good on me and were quite comfortable. It was hard to leave without the glasses but I said I'd take a walk and think about it first. So then I went to a department store and looked at the $20 sunglasses. They even had a pair that looked like the Oakleys but man were they ever cheap. Then I got thinking about what else I could buy for $200.... like the new hard drive I've been wanting for months. So I left the mall and came home. I still have a desire to get the sunglasses but it's too much of an impulse purchase since I'd want them for my drive to Ottawa. Hopefully the scratch in my old glasses doesn't bother my eyes too much.

Matthew.

A Not So Unexpected Marriage

I found out this weekend that my sister Christi-Ann is finally getting married. She and Dwight have been seeing each other for gosh, at least ten years and they've been engaged for nearly five of those, but they had never set a date. It got to the point my parents were encouraging them to elope and get it over with. I'm sure they were afraid they would never tie the knot. They bought our old house and have been living there for the last few months. So on Sunday I learned that they are going to Niagara Falls on Canada Day (July 1) to get married down there.

They are the perfect example of why Christians in general should not be unequally yoked with a non-Christian - my sister being the Christian. They saved nothing for their marriage night. They spent all their time at his house, hardly spending any time with my family. They aren't getting married by a minister/pastor/clergy. My parents didn't meet his mother until Father's Day just over a week ago. I didn't meet anyone from his family until then. I mean I courted Jenita for a year and I met her family and she met mine - and we were from nearly opposite ends of the country. I really try not to get worked up about all this, but it's hard. It's happening and I have to accept it. All I have to say is they'd better throw some kind of wedding reception when they get back or heads will roll. We've got a close Italian family and they will want a party. I mean I'm sure some of you reading this will hear about their wedding before some of my relatives. I'm glad I won't be around this weekend since I won't have to field any phone calls.

Going to Ottawa is looking to be more and more worth it. A chance for me to leave my problems at home and enjoy life for a bit. I just hope I can see as many of my old friends as possible. The challenge coming home will be leaving my problems where I left them instead of just picking them up when I walk through the door and putting them back on.

Matthew.

My Sunday Morning Ritual

The biggest problem about not having my own car is having to depend on other people and adjust my schedule to theirs. My parents and I go to different churches. They still go to the church that my mom grew up in and we kids grew up in as well. After I moved back here from Ottawa I knew I didn't want to go back to that church. It's just too conservative. The current pastor there believes that rock music is of the devil so the worship music that I love is not allowed to be played there. At least not with a full band. It's a very small church, maybe 30 people on a good Sunday. Anyways, when I got back I started going to All Nations with my friends Dana and Andy.

But once Dana and Andy moved away I had to find another way to get to church. Well my dad gives me a ride but because of the different times that our respective services start, I get dropped off an hour before my service starts. I can always find a ride home so that's not a problem. All Nations meets in the auditorium of my University so at least I can run up to the computer labs and surf, or write emails, or - like I am now - write a blog entry. heh heh. But that won't be for much longer since I'm a graduate now. In the fall I should lose my computer account here when they purge all the accounts at the end of the summer. Hopefully by then I'll have a car of my own.

I ended up cleaning my room yesterday and reorganizing it. I've been putting it off for a long time but we're having company over tonight so my mom had me help her clean the house. And once I got into the cleaning groove I just kept on going. I think I spent about 2 hrs on my room. Not that it was filthy, but I emptied my shelves and dusted them and time consuming stuff like that. I also went through my piles of paper and tossed a lot of all old receipts and notes and the like. I also had to make more room for my DVDs cause I've been a bad boy in regards to saving money.

This blogspot add at the top of this page is kinda freaky. I mentioned a few blogs ago how my eyes get tired and irritated at work so now there are links to adds for eye drops. Oh and I also like how the spellchecker doesn't like the word blog or blogspot. ;)

Matthew.

A Saturday Full of Nothing

Well it's Saturday morning at 10:30am and I've already gone out and got my hair cut. So I'm sitting here thinking, "Now what?" Last night I went to Blockbuster and rented Aliens and Final Fantasy. I watched Aliens last night. Definitely a guys flick with all the fun toys. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the language but all Hicks did was swear. If you make him a non-speaking role the movie is a lot cleaner. Too bad the DVD is damaged cause I couldn't see the final fight scene. I'll try it on my parents player and see if it still freezes there. I also used my free Blockbuster Rewards coupon. Pretty cool stuff. Lots of coupons and a fancy new card. You even get a keychain card. lol The coupons make it worth the price, but I didn't even have to pay. Woo!

Hah. Phone call... maybe some plans.... nope. Just about a band practice today. I'm not going because they are playing next Saturday when I'll be in Ottawa. I know they want me to come but they need to practice without me being there. So hopefully something will happen tonight. I'll prolly just end up watching a movie with friends.

I think my sister is coming today from Toronto to stay with us for a few days. I think I remember hearing something about 2 weeks. But I dunno. My family doesn't tell me much. They assume I can hear them talking when I'm not at home or in another room. I have two older sisters. I'm not looking forward to her coming because it means she'll be asking about my life and well there's nothing to talk about. I'm working. Trying to pay off my loans. There's no one left around for the summer so I spend most of my time in my room in front of my computer. Most days I feel alone and like I'm a loser. So why would I want to share that with her? I'm just not close with my family. Sure I live with my parents but I don't really talk to them either.

Well I should go shower and get rid of the left over hair from my haircut. Man that stuff makes me itchy. L8r.

Matthew.

Say it ain't so

During the past five months I've been working with the school board a startling thing has happened: I've been spending less time playing computer games. For most of you I'm sure this isn't a big deal but it is for me. Escaping from a computer job isn't so easy when computers were my main method of escape in the past. I'm finding myself choosing to watch a movie instead of playing a game, but I only have so many DVDs. I've been renting but the first sign of how often I rent is receiving a free Rewards membership in the mail from Blockbuster. I think I need to find a new hobby or something but I won't stop playing games without a fight.

I think a big part of this change is my eyes. I work on two computers at work and one of them is an iBook with a small screen. After a day of staring at that thing my eyes get pretty tired. I enjoy games with lots of story, but that means more reading. And as fun as the games can be I'm sure the bloodshot eye look isn't terribly attractive. Maybe I need to look into getting a console so I can sit farther back from the screen and get Nintendo thumb. ;)

I just hope this new trend isn't because I'm growing up or something.

Matthew.

G-mail Here I Come!

Well I now have a coveted g-mail beta account thanks to Rae at the webboard. One gig of space baby! And trust me I need it. I tend to be quite the pack rat when it comes to correspondence, e-mail or snail mail. Now the challenge is moving from my Hotmail account which I've been using for like six years. Wow! Has it really been that long? Craziness! I'm old! :( lol. So I'll have lots of e-mails from my Hotmail to decide what to do with. As well as contacts. Sheesh. This could take a while.

Oh. My new addy is the same as my hotmail cause some punk stole clemster on me already.

Matthew.

The Continuing Adventures at Lunch Time

Well, I went for a walk again today at lunch with Rod and Eric and the usual entertainment ensued. Eric's always bugging me to go to the moped shop downtown with him and race him around the streets during our break. He's weird that way. ;) It's been pretty dreary outside the last few days so I was surprised they wanted to go. I had stopped raining just long enough for us to get away from the office and then it started drizzling. So I'm still a bit damp. We walked through the mall and browsed around this bargain shop that carries everything from kids toys to axles for a trailer. You gotta wonder about those two dollar tools. They all have that cheap smelling plastic. I can't stand that smell. While we were walking around we got asked three times if we worked there. We got a good laugh out of that. The funny thing is the people who work there generally wear tattered jeans and t-shirts and we were walking around in our dress pants, dress shirts, and ties.

Matthew.

The Darker Side of Father's Day

Well it turned out I was all worried about singing "Meant To Live" on Sunday for nothing. My buddy Toby who organizes our Sundays at Cecil Facer, and who plays lead guitar, slept in until we called him 10 minutes before the first service started. =) So we did a quick scramble and changed our song list since some songs like Meant To Live don't work too well with just one acoustic guitar.

The topic of the morning was of course Father's Day. A tough topic to talk about with a group of young offenders because chances are they either don't know who their father is or they hate their father's guts. I'm pretty sure I was one of the few people in that room that had a good father. A father worthy of a father's day card. The speaker was a man who's father did not deserve a card yesterday, but he's a man who's trying to break the cycle that started three or four generations ago. He got all teary eyed when he started talking about the little rewards of trying to be a good father to his two little girls. How precious those cards can be. His feelings at being told by his daughter that he is her best friend. You could tell the guys especially were riveted. Not too many of them were fathers themselves, but on some of those faces you could tell they wanted to be good fathers.... well I mean I'd like to think no one goes out of their way to be a bad parent. It's hard for me not to get emotional during talks like that because I want to be the best dad in the world.... once I get a wife and kids that is.

So all in all the morning went really well. Over half of the residents came out to the services which is surprising since it's voluntary for them. They even started clapping during our last song which is unusual. I'm sure some of them were just goofing off but that's fine by us. We want them to have fun.

Matthew.

A decent Saturday

Well, it's the end of another Saturday and I had a pretty decent day. I actually slept in... well I woke up at my normal 6:30am time but I was able to fall asleep and just plain relax in bed until about 9:30.

Went shopping for a wedding present for my friends Kerry and Richard who are getting married in Ottawa on the long weekend. I can hardly wait for the vacation even if it's only for 4 days and will involve 12 hrs alone in a car. It's been too long since I've been away from home. Looks like I'll be getting the Jetta (w00t for VW's) for the weekend so I won't have to rent. It was pretty hard finding stuff on the registry list. A number of discontinued products or they were taken already. So I ended up getting some tools and a board game. I love getting people games.... it's a pretty safe gift since most people don't think of it. I also got myself a few inexpensive DVDs and books.

Then I helped my dad clean up after his spontaneous yard sale. I'm not sure how much he sold but at the end we loaded it all into the back of the truck and brought it to a good will place. I also unloaded out a bunch of old clothes that I had been keeping for some strange reason. I think I've been reluctant to get rid of them because it would be the final acceptance of my much bigger waist line. I hate the amount of weight I've gained and how it makes me look, but I just can't seem to motivate myself to do anything about it. And well having a desk job is not the way to go when you're annoyed with your weight.

I went over to my friend Toby's place for a bit after supper. He just bought a new computer and was having some troubles so I helped him out with that. Everything seems to be running smoothly now. We also watched Titan A.E. while the computer was doing it's thing. The story is kinda lacking but it's a fun movie and a really great melding of tradition animation with computer animation. The DVD was only $8.

Now it's time for a shower and sleep so I'm all fresh and ready to go for the kids at Cecil Facer. =)

Matthew.

I Don't Wanna Be A Rock Star

The band I'm a part of is called "No Idols". It's kinda cheesy but it tends to keep us in check when we start forgetting who's really in charge: God. My church broadcasts our services on TV, on the radio, and across the internet. So needless to say most Sundays the regular worship team is more concerned about how they look and sound then worshiping God through their music. We, No Idols, used to play one Sunday a month, but we haven't played up front since before Easter because our band leader got a job that involves 12hr shift work. When we do play it's a nice change for the church because the regular worship team tends to have a small repertoire of songs. So we get to come out and rock for God. :) I miss it not because I get to be on stage but because I see a need for our church to learn how to worship through music more.

In the meantime our gigs have been at the local juvenile penitentiary called Cecil Facer. About one Sunday a month now we go onto the grounds, get buzzed in through double doors that are opened by a guy from a room down the hall, get our visitors badges, and make our way down to the chapel. We do two small services and the chaplain arranges for a speaker. There are usually about 20-40 inmates that file in in their prison-type uniforms. And a couple security guards of course. It's all kinda surreal. Sad to see such young lives so messed up already. I've only gone four or five times so far and so I'm still getting used to it, but I'm trying to get myself to interact with the kids more. Some will come up and thank us but most get ready to leave as soon as they can.... kinda like a normal church actually. heh heh

We're going to Cecil Facer this Sunday which is Father's Day. The last time we went was Mother's Day. Kinda funny. Anyway one of the songs we've been goofing off with during practices is "Meant To Live" by Switchfoot and then want to play in on Sunday. That's all fine and dandy but I'm the one who gets to sing lead. You're probably thinking, "Great! Cool! Awesome!" while I'm just thinking, "Eep! How did they talk me into this?" I am not a fan of my own singing voice. Practically everyone says they like my voice, but not me. I don't completely know why I don't like it, but there's just a quality to my voice that makes me cringe. I mean I even had a guy who was classically trained and sang in operas tell me I had a nice voice, but in the back of my mind I still can't bring myself to like it. I've sung solos many many times so I'll do what has to get done. Just please don't make me listen to a recording of myself. Meant To Live is a fairly high song in the chorus and I wanted to know how bad I sounded singing in that vocal range. So... lol (I'm such a dork).... when my parents went out last night I pulled out my guitar and recorded myself on my computer using a headset microphone sitting on my desk. Let's just say the only thing I liked about the recording was that I was on key which I guess is what I really wanted to know. I've never sung that high in public before so I'm kinda nervous. At least now I know I don't sound like I'm being strangled. Sunday morning is going to be big for me. I'll be trying to rely on God to help me conquer my fear.

Oh and those recordings? I didn't save them so forget about hearing them. =P

Matthew.

Depression

Well today is one of those blah days. I had a bad time sleeping last night. Ended up waking up at 3:30am and never really fell back to sleep. My right shoulder and hip are sore from sleeping in an awkward position the other night. It's really dark and gloomy out right now. I was worried it was going to start pouring as I was walking at lunch. And my mood matches the weather.

For those of you who don't know, I struggle with depression on almost a daily basis. I've been on anti-depressants for several years now. It's always bothered me that I had to rely on a pill in order to function in school and at work. But the truth is I wouldn't have been able to finish my degree without them. I hoped I could try and get off them once I was out of school and working but the depression got worse instead of better once all the worries of the real world and growing up reared their ugly heads. Will I ever be free of this?

Here's something I wrote a few years ago that expresses best how I feel when I'm like this. I call it my rant and I wrote it in 2000.

Matthew.
------------------------------------------
Where are You, Heavenly Father?
Why can't I find You on my own?
You promised You'd never leave me
And that You'd always be by my side.

Were You lying to me, Jesus?
Why does this yoke dig into my shoulders?
You promised I'd be set free
And that this burden would be bearable.

Where is my comfort, Holy Spirit?
Why do I lose sleep thinking of my day's failures?
You promised to hold me in Your arms
And that I'd never need anyone else.

It's me who's moved, I guess, and not You
My eyes and ears are so caked with my sins
That it's hard to see the evidence of You
I came so far, but now I've lost so much
What happened to the faith I had?

You say I am Your child.
Why? What have I done to deserve this?
You love me so completely it blows my mind.
If I were You, I'd have given up on me a long time ago.

Oh God!.......

Cleanse me. Wash me. Fill me. Change me.
Constantly remind me of who You Are.

You, Father, are my Rock.
You, Jesus, are my Deliverer.
You, Spirit, are my Comforter.

Give me the patience to wait on You,
Strength for my walk along Your path,
Bread crumbs to find my way back to You.

Give me the strength to stand against Satan,
Perseverance to endure all he throws at me,
Balm for the times he knocks me down.

Give me love to spread to all I meet,
Courage to mention what You mean to me,
Humbleness to know I can do nothing without You.

Not as Brave as I Thought I Was

Wow. I still can't believe what I saw at lunch today during my short walk.... I'm having a really hard time not thinking about it since getting back. Part way through my walk I ran into two other guys from the department, one of the being my boss. We were waiting to cross a busy street when a girl ran across the street (in the same direction we were waiting to cross) with a guy running a couple feet behind her. We crossed the street and walked by a parking lot where two guys (one of them her pursuer) were trying to shove the girl into a truck. She was putting up quite a fight. She was probably around 16 and the two guys between 30 and 50. I think I remember the older guy say something about being her father, but what kind of a dad would do that?

I always thought I'd be the kind of person to react when seeing something like that but I didn't. I just ended up standing and watching with my co-workers. By then a crowd had started to form including two mall security guards (rent-a-cops basically) and a woman on a cell phone. When we saw things were being looked after we left, but those two guys were still struggling to get her into the truck.

Why didn't I do anything? Why did I just stand there watching and waiting for someone else to do something? Grr.... I'm going to be playing that back in my head all afternoon now. I feel like such an idiot. =(

Matthew.

Lunch Time!

I'm a very habitual person. I've got my routine and I like to stick to it, and my lunch while at work and when I was at school was no exception. Everyday I make my bagged lunch I make the exact same thing (weekends are whatever I feel like).

• One chicken cold-cut sandwich on white bread
  
• Crackers (usually Ritz or Bretons)
  
• Four Oreo cookies
  
• One Harvest Valley Granola bar
  
• One Apple Juice drink box
  

I used to also bring a Granny Smith apple but I have bad arthritis in my jaw and I'm not supposed to eat apples.... I could bring a knife to cut it with but that's too much hassle.

Now there are reasons for my lunch ingredients. Oreos are a hardy cookie and don't break or crumble easily. Apple juice is one of the few juices I don't mind drinking warm since I don't always get to store my lunch in a fridge (I know I know - bring on the jokes about the other warm liquid that's the same colour). The sandwich I can make quickly and I find it tasty despite its simplicity. I don't tend to leave myself a lot of time between waking up and catching the bus in the morning.

This is a lunch I've made for a very long time. I don't think it's changed much since I started making my own lunches way back when. Most people wonder how I don't get bored of the same thing. Well it's just lunch to me. I'm eating it to stop my tummy from rumbling and this is my tried and true method. It works. If I have something different for lunch while at work, I'm usually thrown off a bit for the afternoon. So why re-invent the wheel?

I also eat my lunch at my desk. My dad used to work here at the same office as me so I never wanted to eat lunch in the lunch room with him and all his friends. I didn't want to hear the same jokes I've heard for 25 yrs and I didn't want to be the brunt of some of those jokes. Don't get me wrong, he's a really likeable, friendly guy it's just.... well... he's my dad. He's retired now, but I've come to enjoy a quiet lunch so I still eat at my desk. I get an hour so I eat and read and then I'll usually go for a walk outside. Sometimes I'll walk around the practically empty mall but I have to watch where I go otherwise I'll come home with a DVD or two (my current weakness). Sometimes one of the other tech guys will walk with me, but usually I'm on my own. Often I wish I had a friend at another office here downtown that I could have lunch dates with. Oh well. I'm not complaining. I'm sure some day I'll find a regular walking buddy.

Have a nice lunch. ;)
Matthew.

I read your e-mail

There's a website called ThinkGeek that has a whole lot of just plain fun geek stuff. They sell t-shirts, bumper stickers, caffinated soap, posters, computer hardware, and geeky toys. I've been wanting to get some of their bumper stickers for my guitar case, but living in Canada means shipping and the exchange rate will make them kinda pricey. One of my favorites says, "I read your e-mail".

As an IT guy I have access to sensitive information, like people's passwords. I just finished sending out 40 personalized e-mails containing user names and passwords for work. Sometimes it's fun to scroll through a list of usernames and passwords. Some are downright funny. Some I shake my head at because of their simplicity: can you say "hackable"? It's also scary knowing the kind of power I have. On a whim I could invade someone's privacy: I could read their e-mail.

As I contemplate the phrase, "With great power comes great responsibility," I think I'll have a cherry Jolly Rancher candy.

Matthew.

About being an introverted guy

One of the good things that came out of me getting kicked out of Aerospace Engineering was going to a career counselor to try and figure out what I wanted to do next. While she didn't help me with the whole career thing she helped me put part of my personality into words like I had never been able to before. I took one of those Myers-Briggs tests that maps out your personality and while explaining the test to us, she gave a great explanation of the difference between an introvert and an extrovert.

Picture a group of strangers at party trying to mingle.

The extroverts will flutter from person to person, engaging them in conversation as a way to discover who is interesting and who isn't. For the extrovert the act of approaching a stranger and starting a conversation means, "Let's talk. I want to see if you're interesting or not."

While this is happening the introverts will hang back in the crowd and just listen to the conversations going on. Once they find a conversation that interests them then they'll approach the stranger and start talking with them. So, for an introvert, the act of approaching a stranger and starting a conversation means, "I find you interesting so let's talk."

Following me so far? I hope so cause this is when the revelation for me came.

Let's flip things the other way for a sec. When an introvert is approached by a stranger in the back of their mind they are thinking, "They are talking to me to see if I'm interesting." No biggie. Makes sense right? Well when an introvert is approached by a stranger in the back of their mind they are thinking, "They are talking to me because they find me interesting."

When things get "fun" is when two people of the opposite sex meet cause then the word interested often gets misinterpreted as likes.

So for myself, being an introverted person, when approached by a woman in the back of my mind I'm thinking that she must see something she likes about me if she's coming to talk to me. At that point I'm not trying to think about whether she's an introvert or an extrovert. I'm just assuming that she thinks like me. And this is why I get crushes so easily. If a woman shows interest in me simply by saying hello then it gives me a reason to be interested in her. That interest all too easily turns into like for me. I think I honestly say that there aren't many women that I've met in my life that I haven't had a crush on at one point or another. And well if you're one of those women I've approached then yes: I find you interesting. Maybe I think you're attractive, maybe I think you're funny, maybe you're a fellow musician.... the list of reasons is long. But does it mean I like/have a crush on you? It honestly could. But I've known for a long time that I crush easy so I'm a patient guy and I'll usually wait a while to see if the crush with last before taking any kind of action.

So yeah, this if my first attempt at writing this down. I've explained it to several people but it's always different explaining stuff like this in person. I'll prolly end up editing this a couple times before I let it be. heh heh

Matthew.

The Masks We Wear

Music is a big part of who I am and it's almost always on in my office or in my room. There's a certain song that whenever it comes on always makes me stop and listen. The song is called Charade and it's sung by Amanda Falk. I don't think she wrote it but I don't have my liner notes here at work. Amanda is a 19 year old up and coming Canadian artist who toured with Starfield before they went down to the States. She has an amazing voice with lots of emotion and is an exceptional pianist. I can hardly wait for her to put out a full length album.

This song speaks to me because of its honesty. It speaks to the real me that is tired of always hiding. I want people to know the real me, but if they knew what I was really like, how ugly my soul can be at times, what would they do? Would they turn and run away, throw a stone, or lend a shoulder to lean on? God knows who I really am and sometimes I wonder why He doesn't just stone me since He has every right to. Instead, just like in the Reprise, He lends me a shoulder to lean on. He's there for me whether I want Him to be there or not.

Here's the song. Check out her website. I'm pretty sure you can hear the song there and hear the tenderness as she sings the Reprise - His voice is not in the earthquake or wind, but in the quiet whisper.

Matthew
----------------------------
Charade - Amanda Falk

Another day paints on the face that they expect to see
It's not all I want but it's all I've got to make this world believe
Nothing's wrong with me
I'm unhonest of emotion, a master of deceit
And the many faces I portray are nothing at all I need
How I long to be free

Chorus:
From this never ending maze
Oh my head's in a daze
Every time I think
From this over played charade
Oh my heart's going to fade
And I can't go on

It's a tug of war each moment to hide this pain inside
Won't you open up and spill this cup of feelings that I hide
But what would people do and what would people say
When they hear the truth will they turn and run away
Will they throw a stone or lend a shoulder to lean on

Bridge:
It's not fair I can't take this anymore
Oh these tears have drifted me to shore
Is there hope for someone just like me
And I hear a voice inside me say
"I can set you free"

Reprise:
From this never ending maze
I will be your strength
If you let me lead
So just take my hand and seek
If you follow me
You can be free

A Beginning

Well hello! Welcome to my blog!

My name is Matthew. You're probably wondering where I got the nickname Clemster. Well one of my middle names is Clemente and one summer while counseling at a church camp I went by Clem which got turned into "The Clemster" one day while playing soccer in the rain. Friends in highschool also started calling me Clemente cause I've always liked the name and if someone shouts "Clemente!" in a crowded hallway I know they mean me. Matthew just isn't as unique if you know what I mean. Too many words rhyme/sound like Matthew or Matt. As for what to call me I don't mind any variation of Matthew. I've been called everything from Matt, Matty, Matticus, ... take your pic, it's totally up to you. Clem or Clemmy works too. =D

Hmmm... what to say about myself. I'm 25 and live in Sudbury Ontario Canada. That's about 4.5 hrs North-West of Toronto for those of you who don't know Ontario geography. I just got my Bachelor of Computer Science with honours from Laurentian University here in Sudbury. I'm quite excited to be officially done now. My last class was back in December and I've been working as a database programmer for the public school board here in town. Not the most exciting of jobs but it helps get the loan payments done on time.

I am a Christian with Baptist tendencies. My faith is expressed best with a guitar in my hand and a mic in front of my mouth. Just please don't make me go on stage without my guitar cause I never know what to do with my hands. ;) I'm not a big clapper, or hand waver, or anything like that.

I'm so not a morning person which is rough since I work from 8-4 during the week. You'd think after fourth months at the board office I'd be used to getting up at 6:30 to get ready for work.... but I'm not. Ugh.

I tend towards the introverted side of the personality spectrum but I definitely enjoy people. I'm just not one for small talk. Generally I can't stand it so it gets awkward when strangers wanna start a conversation with me on the bus. And it also makes it awkward for me to approach strangers. Platitudes can be so annoying at times.

In my spare time I'm usually here, sitting in my room in front of my computer surfing the web, chatting, playing games, or watching movies. Otherwise I'll be playing my guitar, reading a fantasy novel (I'm reading through the Wheel of Time series again at the moment) or hanging with friends.

Well I guess that's enough to start off my brand-spankin-new blog. I still have to play with my profile settings and stuff. Catch you l8r.

In Him,
Matthew.