Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: Where Have I Been and Changes...

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: Where Have I Been and Changes...: Where have I been? I have been being so lazy.I guess my life recently hasn't been really worth writing about, not bad, just not interest...

Where Have I Been and Changes...

Where have I been? I have been being so lazy.I guess my life recently hasn't been really worth writing about, not bad, just not interesting. I think I am going to change the format of this blog. I am a huge fantasy game role-player.

I think starting with my next blog post, I will talk about things gaming base. I may talk about many different things from games I am involved in, to games I am running. I may talk about specific books and possibly even specific monsters in specific games. It could be just about anything gaming. I hope that I don't lose many of you, but, if this is not your thing I can completely understand you leaving.

That said if you are into the gaming thing feel free to pass this on to others that maybe interested in gaming. I will also take questions in the comment sections or to my email. Tell me what you want to hear about. The main games I will be taking ideas and writing articles about will be Call of Cthulhu (CoC), Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 (D&D 3.5), World of Darkness (WoD) and possibly a few more.

My first article in the next few days will focus on the difference of some creatures in between some of the games and how it effects gamers of each genre, especially if they play many of the platforms. It should be fun.

Until Next Time....
Jaxion

Friday, February 22, 2013

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: Cabin Fever

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: Cabin Fever: It seems to me that this has been a long, cold winter. I mean winter in the northern part of the country where I live is always long and col...

Cabin Fever

It seems to me that this has been a long, cold winter. I mean winter in the northern part of the country where I live is always long and cold...but this year it seems longer and definitely colder. There are good points to winter and bad points. That's what I want to explore today.

Pros:

  1. You get to see the natural beauty of winter
  2. You get to snuggle close with the ones you love (You have to it's so cold)
  3. Snow Days (I know as adults you really don't enjoy them, but, the nostalgia is worth it)
  4. Get to work out inside where no one sees what you are doing (trust me you don't want to watch me work out)
  5. More time to watch TV (The best shows are on in the winter)
Cons:


  1. It's freaking cold (Honestly Man was not built for such temperatures)
  2. Cars break down (For you warm weather folks, yes cars can and will quit running when they get too cold)
  3. Snow Days (I know I used this above, but, honestly they suck. Your kids get to stay home and play outside while you still have to climb in your car and drag your ass to work)
  4. Heating Bills (They are freaking ridiculous in the winter and you still freeze)
That said I love Wisconsin. I was born here and have never lived anywhere else. I have moved around the state, but, never called another state my home. I love Wisconsin especially in the fall when she comes to life before she dies for yet another long, cold winter. I really like spring as well as mother earth wakes up and wakes up all her children to once again give you the beauty of hills of green and skies of blue.

Until Next Time...
Jaxion

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: WARNING *Valentine's Day is Bad*

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: WARNING *Valentine's Day is Bad*: Tomorrow is Valentines day. Named after three Saints named Valentine.  St. Valentine of Rome:  was a priest in Rome who was martyred about A...

WARNING *Valentine's Day is Bad*

Tomorrow is Valentines day. Named after three Saints named Valentine. 

St. Valentine of Rome: was a priest in Rome who was martyred about AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. The flower crowned skull of St Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics are found in the Basilica of Santa Prassede, also in Rome, as well as at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.

Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino).

The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him. Saint Valentine's head was preserved in the abbey of New Minster, Winchester and venerated

So three very important people in history. All gave their lives for Christ. What do we do to show respect for these three martyrs? Well, we give each other chocolates and lingerie. We have turned Feast day of Saint Valentine; the celebration of Love and Affection into something in a lot of cases depraved and sinful.

You must understand that I do like Valentine's Day. I like to shower my wife with gifts and presents that I think she will truly enjoy. I think Valentine's Day can be a sacred thing between two people in love.  I think that our primal urges also make it something of a depraved celebration of lust and self fulfillment. 

I don't often talk about religion and I didn't want this to come off as preachy as it did, but, as I said early on in this blog I am giving you a look at what's in my mind. So take it for what it is worth. The ramblings of a fat man, a thought provoking warning about human nature, a kick in the face of a highly commercialized holiday or just a man writing down what he is thinking and feeling today.

I have a great set of presents lined up for Valentine's Day (I'll not list them here since my wife reads this, even though she may have stopped reading by now). We are actually going to celebrate on Friday this year since we both have things to do tomorrow night and we want to have time to spend with each other and do it right.

Until Next Time...
Jaxion

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: NO EXCUSES Explained

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: NO EXCUSES Explained: So I am a month and 1 day into my year of NO EXCUSES and let's see where we are. I am down about 4 pounds. I know that doesn't sound like a ...

NO EXCUSES Explained

So I am a month and 1 day into my year of NO EXCUSES and let's see where we are. I am down about 4 pounds. I know that doesn't sound like a lot and maybe in the weight loss thing it isn't. I do think the weight will start to catch up with me as I continue on. If nothing else my life has gotten better. I can last longer when exercising. I am starting to miss exercising when I can't get it in. I am eating way less and way better than I did before. I can tell a difference in my clothing and I like it. My pants are looser, my shorts hang better. the weight will come.

One of my biggest issues with the actual loss of weight is that I have a disease in my legs called Lympodema. It doesn't really do anything other than make me retain fluids. The lymphatic system just can't keep up so I get a lot of fluid build up in my legs and as we all know fluids cause weight gain. I can literally gain and or lose 10 - 20 pounds (due to fluid) in a single day. It makes the whole weight loss thing very frustrating. I know you may be thinking "Hey isn't that just an excuse?" You know I take seriously this year of NO EXCUSES so I would like to say that no it isn't an excuse it's just hard, cold facts. The doctors say that losing weight may help to alleviate the issues, but, it's not a guarantee. that is partly why i started this journey.  I hate having these monster legs, they make it hard to wear socks and shoes sometimes, they make it hard to wear pants and especially dress slacks. They hurt, they look bad, they make me weigh more than I should. What's to like? Nothing, so if losing weight gets rid of them, I say more power to me.

What else will this new lease on life do for me? I am also a diabetic, I have been for just over 20 years. Getting into shape and losing weight will make it easier for me to control my diabetes. What comes with better control of my diabetes? Better control of my life. Less insulin, less medications to take. Doctors say if I drop the weight and control my diabetes I could in theory lose all my blood pressure medicines and hopefully my water pills. In theory i could even control my acid re-flux without medicine. Down to just a small amount of insulin, that would make me happy.

I want to thank you all for your continued support of my efforts and I look forward to my success through this year and the coming years. Please continue to follow me and be my cheerleaders and I will continue the year of NO EXCUSES through 2013 and beyond.

Until next time...
Jaxion

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: Thankful and More...Check it out...beware I whine a bit.

Welcome To My Mind-Mare: Thankful and More...: I am trying something new, trying to make my life better through frame of mind. I have started each day this week with a positive upbeat mes...

Thankful and More...

I am trying something new, trying to make my life better through frame of mind. I have started each day this week with a positive upbeat message to myself and to my Facebook friends. The reaction has been mixed, one of my friends thought that perhaps I only had 6 months left to live. Not the case. If I only had 6 months left to live I would not at all be in a positive state of mind. I have too much left to do. The simple fact I have decided is that if you have a bad attitude you will have a bad day, likewise, if you have a positive attitude your life will be more charged and more intense in a good way.

I spent last night playing board games at R.O.E. Games and Hobbies in Schofield, WI. It's a new game store  that has opened in the last week in the area. A couple of my friends from when I had a game store. The guys here are awesome. They are open to suggestions and ideas to make their store the store where gamers want to go. I know they have won me over. I foresee a lot of time spent here. If your a gamer and I know deep down you are, go check the new store out. R.O.E. Games and Hobbies; 1901 Schofield Ave, Schofield, WI 54476.

Getting my stuff out is harder than I thought. I blog, I Twitter and I use Google+ and Facebook. One would think that if you use all these with the amount of friends I have I could get my message out. Yet to my dismay I have 8 followers here on the blog. Eight. I have almost 450 friends on Facebook  I have 6 followers on Twitter and I have a bunch of people on Google+ that follow my stuff. I ask how hard is it to click a button and follow my blog. To click another button and share with the friends that they have. I have given multiple ways to follow my blog, I have asked, begged and pleaded to no avail. So can someone tell me what i am doing wrong? Tell me how to get my message out there and get followers? I would appreciate the help.

Until Next Time...
Jaxion

Thursday, January 24, 2013

And the Winner is...

The first competition has come to a close and we have a winner. As of Noon yesterday I had 8 followers and those names were put in a hat and a name was drawn at random. The winner will be sent a box of Little Debbie Snacks (Star Crunch). I will need the winner to email their address at chad180knight@gmail.com.

Drum-Roll Please....


Winning Follower...Alice!

Congratulations Alice with your foresight to be one of my followers has worked out in your favor, your the winner of a whole box of Little Debbie Star Crunch. Send me your address and I will send you this wonderful sugary snack.

This takes me to my next point...FOLLOW ME!! It's easy, it's fun and most importantly it's FREE!! There are several options on ways to follow my blog. Be a Google+ member or follow by email.

Here are the other current promotions going on:

- 20 Followers
- 40 Followers
- 60 Followers
- 80 Followers
- 100 Followers

I will be giving away some more awesomely mediocre gifts at these level of followers. So tell your friends and your neighbors, parents, anyone who goes on the internet. This is going to be a great blog and the more the merrier. I look forward to a bigger and better future...who's next?

Until Next Time...
Jaxion

Monday, January 21, 2013

What do I Follow?

Taking a slightly different approach today. I have been wondering what is out there in the way of blogs. I only follow two at this time and I will talk about each of them in a bit. I am looking for your recommendations on great blogs out there so I can get an idea of what is being read and what people are looking to read. This is your chance if your one of my followers to make me one of yours. I have a blogger account as well as a wordpress account. Now, on to the two I currently read...I would recommend these to you as well.

First and the more active of the two that I read. It is called Apologetics & Theology for the Rest of Us. You can find it here. This is written by a friend of mine Dillon. He is a sincere young man, who is finding his way through religion and through life. I find his posts to be well formulated and very insightful. I can't say that this is for every one, but, if your on a journey to find faith or just need a refresher course this is the place to check it out.

The second one I read, when she actually posts is called Lessons Learned. You can find this one here. This one is about a prepper and her desire to get prepared for the end of the world. Here hardships in doing so from a world and family that think she is insane. Will she be ready for the July date this year when she thinks the apocalypse will occur? This blog mixes theories and absolutes with just a bit of tongue and cheek to let you know that she is only partly serious. Check this one out, maybe if she has more followers she will post more often.

Now it's your turn, do you have a blog, do you read a blog on a regular basis? Either way let me know and I will check it out as well.

Speaking of followers and being read, I know you know where I am headed here, right? I need more followers, I know I have more readers than the 7 followers I have. If you read my blog, why not follow it? The more followers I get the better chance I have of gaining a wider audience. Please help me out. That said I am sure by this time tomorrow we will have exceeded the 1000 hits to the blog. As promised one of my FOLLOWERS will get a very mediocre gift to say thank you. So you have until Noon on Wednesday to become a follower at which time I will be selecting a winner.

How do I follow you? You may ask this and I will tell you. Click here.

Until Next Time...
Jaxion

Friday, January 18, 2013

Where Have You Been?

Where have I been? That's a great question and I'm glad you asked. I've been at the gym, mostly. As you know it's the year of NO EXCUSES! I been at the gym about 5 days a week for the last 2 weeks. I been doing a combination of cardiovascular work on the treadmill and the stationary bike. I have also been doing weight training mostly Nautilus, but, some free weights as well. I hurt in places I didn't know I even owned  but, (I can't believe I am going to say this) it's a good hurt. I can tell I am gaining muscle, just by the way I feel. I know it sounds weird, but, I can't think of a different way to explain it.

We are very close to our 1000 view. And as I promised once I have 1000 views I will put the name of all my followers in a hat and draw a winner. That person will receive a little token of appreciation from those of us (me) at Welcome To My Mind-Mare. It's not going to be anything grandiose, but, it will be from my heart. So follow me now before your opportunity runs out. How to follow you may ask? Click here. Now with that said once I hit 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 followers there will also be great and fun prizes drawn at random. So please follow me and get your chance to get a wonderfully mediocre prize.

10 Presidential Quotes:


  • I may be president of the United States, but my private life is none of your damned business. - Chester A. Arthur
  • I have tried so hard to do right. - Grover Cleveland
  • May God save the country, for it is evident the people will not. - Millard Fillmore  
  • Must swear off from swearing. It is a bad habit. - Rutherford B. Hayes
  • I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me. - Zachary Taylor
  • Politics make me sick. - William Howard Taft
  • Every man has the right to a Saturday night bath. - Lyndon B. Johnson 
  • It is better to be alone than in bad company. - George Washington
  • All great change in American begins at the dinner table. - Ronald Reagan
  • Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. - Abraham Lincoln
I think these show the human side of some of our presidents. I find them to be quite insightful of the personality of each president.

Until Tomorrow...
Jaxion

Monday, January 7, 2013

2013: A Year of No EXCUSES

Here we are a week of 2013 behind us. How are things going for me now? Well, I can't complain. I am over a month caffeine free and almost 3 months carbonation free. I am working on making my life happier and healthier. I have been hard at work for the last week trying to lose weight. I have gone to the gym, I have been working on all my muscles groups.

I have spent time walking on the treadmill. I try to do a decent pace with some incline. I start with that and then I move on to the Nautilus machines. I work mostly my upper body on those.

Yesterday for the first time in probably 15 years I used free weights. Dumbbells and bench-presses. I felt kind of embarrassed that the amount of weight that I was benching was so small, but, I guess i gotta start somewhere. I was benching the weight bar plus 20 pounds and plus 30 pounds. I am not sure exactly what the bar weighs, but, I think it is about 50 pounds. I was benching somewhere around 80 pounds.  I guess it could have been worse, but, it could also have been better.

We also took "before" pictures and I tell you if that isn't the way to motivate yourself into weight loss, I don't know what is. I then posted these pictures in our weight loss group. I just wanted to crawl into a hole. Sweat pants are not flattering...to anyone, but, especially an over weight individual. Even as much as I hate that picture I see potential in where I can go with that body. I see that there is still a lot of good left in that body. I want to leave that body behind and find one I am more comfortable in. I hope that I have found a group of people that will help me get to where I am going. It's easier to do it with others than by yourself.

My goal by February 14th is to be done 25 pounds and I think it will happen. I know that now when I get hungry I grab salad or pickles instead of bread and peanut butter or something like that. No more sausage and cheese, no more soda and especially no more constant snacking. I wait until I am hungry instead of just bored. The first really big test will be when something emotional happens. Good or bad, my family is eaters. Bad things happen, you eat to feel better. Good things happen, you eat to celebrate. I think it will all be fine, but, it is going to take will power and a realization that my entire mind set has to change.

I think a lot of my posts this year will be in a way like this. I intend to document my ups and my downs. My successes and my failures. I am human, I will fail. I am human, I will fight back against myself if I have to.

Until Tomorrow...
Jaxion