College Football - Week 1

Saturday marks the beginning of the 2009 College Football Season. Now, as can be accurately said, I have four teams that I follow and root for religiously:
1 - The University of Arizona (my Alma Mater)
2 - The University of Notre Dame (the team of my childhood)
3 - Pennsylvania State University (it's a family thing)
4 - Any team playing against BYU (did you expect anything different?)

So, I'll give my breakdown of each of these team's games from a fan's perspective.

Central Michigan @ Arizona
Central Michigan is not to be overlooked. A Bowl-Bound team from last year and one of the MACs better programs, the Chippewas will be ready to pull an upset over a Pac-10 team. Their case is improved by Gronk being out indefinitely and a starting QB not being named yet. But, a strong returning receiving corps, mixed with a solid O-Line and a re-tooled defense will help UA overcome their few downside and defeat a good CMU at home.

The Wildcats give the home crowd something to cheer about and beat CMU.

Nevada @ Notre Dame
The video above is from a Notre Dame pep rally last season. The band is playing Celtic Chant, a personal favorite of mine. The only song better than that is the Notre Dame Victory March, a song I expect will be heard frequently in Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday. A quarterback that is finally comfortable in Charlie Weis' offense, a receiving corps that is used to their quarterback, and a defense that is a year older and wiser. I'm optimistic for 9 Irish wins this year, and their first will come at the expense of Nevada.

The Irish will 'Rise and Strike', beating Nevada by at least 21

Akron @ Penn State
Really? Do I even have to say anything about this one? No, but I will anyway. Akron is the annual sacrificial lamb for Penn State. They'll get trounced, JoePa will come out in his khaki pants that are two inches too short and fire up the students who idolize their octogenarian coach, and the classically dressed Nittany Lions will make Akron look like the MAC team they are.

PSU mauling the 'Mighty Zips' of Akron.

BYU @ Oklahoma (at Dallas Cowboys Stadium)
Here are the advantages that BYU has in this game - It's not in Norman, It's...well, that's really the only advantage that BYU has in this game. OU is the better team, top to bottom (having a Heisman Trophy winner in your locker room helps). BYU isn't a bad team, but they're not OU. It makes one wonder why a decent program would take a game of this difficulty to start the new season, especially when one loss in the Mountain West (especially a non-conference loss) will keep you out of the BCS. But, for as much credit as I may give BYU, they'll see the Sooner Schooner and the Ruff Necks too many times on Saturday.

Oklahoma big in this one. Boomer Sooner!

Thus Sayeth Your Haus

From Haus' iPod

A lot of what I think about on a daily basis comes from the music I listen to. Here's a sampling of what's in my iPod right now and what kind of effect it is having on me:

Taylor Swift (don't laugh!) - Our Song
"Our song is the slamming screen door, Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window. When we're on the phone and you talk real slow Cause it's late and your mama don't know. Our song is the way you laugh. The first date "man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have." And when I got home ... before I said amen, Asking God if he could play it again."

This brings back memories of big things I've done badly. I remember being a junior in high school and talking with my girlfriend on the phone late at night. The only downside was my parents did know, as the light on their phone showed the line was being used. There's another girl out there that I should have kissed long ago, but I've never wanted to jeopardize the relationship we already have. This girl brings out the best in me, but she also brings out my biggest character flaw...my inability to take a big chance. Of course, there's another girl I did kiss on our first date where I now wish I would have slow-played things for a bit. That would have saved me a lot of heartache later. I have been in a relationship where there's been an 'our song'. It was 'You Belong to Me' by Jason Wade. All of the other ones, though, we haven't really had a song that was ours, which may be for the best. I haven't listened to 'You Belong to Me' in a few years, especially after the 'Dear John' letter I got two weeks after Valentine's Day.

Dropkick Murphys - The Legend of Finn Mac
"This mighty soldier on the eve of the war he waged told his troops of lessons learned from battles fought. "May your heart grow bolder like an iron-clad brigade" said this leader to his outnumbered lot."

There are just some days when you feel outnumbered beyone belief. You look out and see a veritable sea of enemies and obstacles, and you look behind and see it's you and your shadow. To get through this advisarial force, a bold heart and a smart head are needed. I have to remember that as long as I keep my head about me and know where to turn for help, that 'those that be with us are more than those that be against us.' That's a thought that will help embolden a man's heart.

Dropkick Murphys - Never Forget
"In a child's eye there's something I hope someday you'll know. A friend's dedication, it's something to behold. A mother's smile, it makes everything all right. To a women's caring hand I'll be holding on tonight.
When you got love and we got family, keep 'em close and don't forget to hold them right there in your heart. When you got love and family."

There's always something good in life, and sometimes we have to look at the little things to find the good in life. Something as simple as a look in a child's eye, a smile from Mom, or just the simple touch of a woman. You want to keep these little things close to you, as it's those memories that will help you as you feel alone. Plus, really, there's nothing better in life than a woman's caring hand to hold onto. Well, at least I'm thinking that now as I don't have any children (or a woman's caring hand to hold onto, but that's another story).

Great Big Sea - Sea of No Cares
"When you decide that what counts is inside, your friends all say it's a lie. But there's no brighter light than the look in her eyes when you're walking her home through the night. And hey, hey somewhere, you threw your fear in the Sea of No Cares."

Nowadays, I don't walk many of my dates home. Drive, yes. Walk, not so much. But, I do walk each one to the door. And when we get to the door, I make sure to look each one of them in the eyes before wishing them a good night. It's cliche to say that the eyes are the window to the soul, but I happen to find the eyes to be the most beautiful part of a woman. You can tell a lot about a person from their eyes. And, in the case of a woman with beautiful eyes, you can get lost in them. When you see a person's feelings in their eyes before you hear them express them, then you know that you truly understand a person. And to see the love of a woman in her eyes before she says anything is the kind of connection that I really want in life.

Rise Against! - Paper Wings"
"And I can't tell if you're laughing. Between each smile there's a tear in your eye. There's a train leaving town in an hour. It's not waiting for you, and neither and I."

Sometimes I wonder if this is my life talking to me. I'll do anything in my power to not show weakness, sensitivity, or sorrow. For someone to actually see me sad, they have to either catch me at a weak moment or they have to be really close to me. I want people to see the smile and to hear me laugh. I want them to see the thoughtful look. I don't want people to see me when I'm sad. You may think it's my massive ego, or an overdeveloped sense of machismo, but I don't want people to see me when I'm seriously down. I try and keep an even keel in public, not too far up and not too far down, and that's how I want to be seen. Calm, collected, and stable. Nobody needs to know when I'm freaking out inside, and nobody needs to know when I'm hurting inside. When I broke up with my most recent girlfriend, I didn't say anything right away. I told my brother (who then told my parents), and I mentioned it to my boss after she mentioned to me that I looked like I had checked out (in my defense, I did have a vacation coming up at the end of that week, which is what she attributed it to). I didn't want to make a big deal about it because I didn't want people to see how if affected me. I wanted life to continue on as normal. I knew people would eventually find out, but I didn't want life to stop because of it. And that's just how I am. I play things close to the vest and only show what I want to show. Is this healthy? Probably not. But, it is the way it is.

Street Dogs - The General's Boombox
"You lit the fire in us and we play on in your trust. A reluctant, poetic guttersnipe. Beyond images and songs, more than your memory carries on, As the general's boombox still plays on."

Everyone has something to motivates them. A person, a concept, a goal, a twinkie. It's different for everyone. I'm currently motivated to work hard because I know that I'll get a nice, well-deserved vacation at the end of our Go-Live and Transisiton process (73 days until San Diego!). The memory of a fallen teammate motivated my high school football team on to victory week after week. It's the memory of how a woman feels in my arms that motivates me to want to find the woman that I'll be able to hold for the rest of my life and into the eternities. Memories can cause us to do all sorts of things, and it's the results of those actions we remember that can be our constant reminder of what we know and how we want it to affect our lives.

Thus Sayeth Your Haus

Live by the Smack, Die by the Smack

So, I'm in a fantasy baseball league with my cousin and a few of his friends. One of them decided to talk some smack once he made it to the top of the league (last week), and then immediately lost to the worst team in the league (dropping him in third place). So, in response to the smack talk, he got this today, courtesy of me. Hutch will just have to learn from his mistake. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, I am in first place in the league (technically tied for first, but I own the tiebreaker).

Let's Go Murphys!

I went into the office a little early this morning. I got settled in, checked in with the boss, and then started waiting for today's trainee. She was half an hour late, so while I was waiting (and complaining about her being late to training), I went onto the Dropkick Murphys website. I've been looking for information on either a fall tour or their new live album (also expected out before the year's end). It seems that sometime on Thursday, they posted the dates for a November tour! Now, I looked at the dates and cities to see if they were coming to Arizona. Nope, no shows in the Grand Canyon State. So, next I look for dates in neighboring states. Now, they're starting this tour in Anahiem, and the second show is in San Diego. San Diego is only 400 miles from Tucson, so I made a bee line for the boss to get a couple days off and bought my ticket to the show. I had been looking to get out of town in November (as September and October will be pure tourture at work), and now I have a date and place for this vacation. So, in the space of one hour, I had taken care of making travel plans for a vacation that I've been looking forward to since May, I just didn't know what I was going to do until today. So, that made today a very good day.

Thoughts of a Musical Nature

At the end of a long day at the office (and I've had plenty of those lately), I like to come home, change into something comfortable, and then sit down with my guitar for a little while and play while I decompress. Now, I'm not any good, but I enjoy trying to get better. I have two simple songs in my back pocket, and I'm learning more as we speak. Now, what kind of guitar do I play? Good question. I play an Ephiphone Les Paul Special II.

Now, why do I bring up what I play? Simple. The world lost Les Paul today. Here is a guy that invented many of the things that musicians (and even wanna-be guitar players like me) take for granted. First off, and probably most famous, the solid-body electric guitar. Because I have an electric guitar, I can play whenever I want just by plugging a set of headphones into my amp, that was all the sound goes to my ears and doesn't bother my neighbors. Second, he invented multi-track recording. Where would we be without that. The way that music is recorded would be considerably different, probably more expensive, and not as accessable to us. That would be undesirable, as music is what I use to decompress at the end of the day, and I know that I'm not the only one to use music as a method of relaxation, stress relief, or artistic expression. Les Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame years ago, but it was about 4 years ago that he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame. This is a recognition that was definately overdue.

As I drove home from work this evening, I noticed one of the local music stores already had something on their sign out front noting the passing of Les Paul and how he'd be missed by the music world. Interviews have been done, and will continue to be done I'm sure. People will talk, and think, and write (obviously, because I'm writing). But do you know what I'm going to do next? I think I'll sit down with my guitar.

What's your name again?

Ok, so when I saw this today, it was just too good to not go ahead and post. I mean, really, what kind of mind sees something like a 'Hello, my name is...' sticker and immediately thinks of 'The Princess Bride'? So, props to whomever came up with this.

Reflections on the Heart

Disclaimer: These thoughts are general thoughts, and are not about any particular person, so don't read that deeply into them.

So, I was bumping around online and found this statement, and it made me think:

"Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love". – Neil Gaiman


Now, there are aspects of this statement that I can't argue with. Being in love does make you vulnerable. If you're really in love, you do open yourself entirely to someone, and hope for the best. Of course, sometimes the best doesn't happen. There are times where you may not feel like you're no longer in control of yourself. There are times when you feel as if you're whole life hangs on their each and every word. And when things don't work out as you'd like, it can send you into a spiral that's hard to counter. It gets into every part of your being, and drags down all of your thoughts and actions. It tears you apart from limb to limb, and then continues to tear at the bits that are left.

But, does this downside of love outweigh the upside of love? Let's see.

When you're in love, you open yourself completely to someone. You give yourself to someone, and do so without regard. And if they take what you give them and treat it correctly, you feel invincible. Nothing can take you down from the high that you're on. You enjoy hanging on your love's every word, and you take whatever opportunity you can to be around them. You look at them and think that nothing in the world can be wrong so long as you're around them. When you drop the armor around your heart, you feel as though a weight has been lifted from you. You can move freer when not constrained by the armor and barriers that have been built up to 'protect' your heart. You don't mind the access that your love has to you, because you want them to know that a part of you belongs to them.

I think back to something I read a few years ago. C.S. Lewis, in his classic work Mere Christianity, tackles the topic of love. He distinguishes 'love' from 'in love'. 'In Love' is the thrill-seeking, can't live without you feeling that people have in their gut when they fall (and how aptly titled) 'in love'. To be 'in love' takes a lot of effort, action, and energy. On the other hand, the emotion of 'love' is a calming feeling that is more easily sustained and creates a more fulfilling state of being. This isn't to say that 'love' is boring, as it provides ups and downs, just like being 'in love'. He compares these emotions to thrill seeking: "Let the thrill go - let it die away - go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follow - and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time."

So, in my opinion, Mr. Gaiman, don't hate love. You may disdain being 'in love', but love opens up a world of new possibilities that can heal a ripped-apart gut and (more importantly) mend the broken soul.

Thus Sayeth Your Haus

Lamentations of a Summer

In two weeks, the students will return to campus, I'll have trouble finding parking, and I'll actually have to bring myself to hitting the books once again. Now, granted, I'm a part-time non-degree seeking graduate student, but school was never something that I spent a lot of time working too hard at. Learning has come easy to me. Well, book learning has come easy to me. Other aspects of learning have not. But, that's for another day, or at least another paragraph. I know that an education is important, I would not trade my college experience (and the degree that came with it) for anything. But, I sometimes feel that by staying in school, and especially by staying in Tucson, that I'm trying to extend something that should have ended for me two years ago. Of course, if I had just gone straight to grad school full-time, I would be done by now. But, that's also besides the point. Putting myself in the correct mental state to go back to school is difficult, though it's something that I've been thinking about more and more recently.

The thought of just going back to school, and by definition leaving Tucson, is something brought on by the idea that my life just isn't where I want it to be. To quote Flogging Molly, "There's an ocean between where I am and where I want to be." This thought has been intensified this summer. Now, an outside observer would think that I've had a good summer, maybe even a really good summer. I, though, an not an outside observer. I'm just over three months removed from a nearly four-year relationship. It has been a tough time, but I thought I was getting through things fairly well. After spending a month in a self-imposed house arrest, I decided to go out with some friends one night. We went to see the Tucson Pops at Reid Park. I started to meet new people, make new friends, and have fun again. Where my wheels started falling off the wagon, though, is when I met and started talking to one of the girls that was at the park that night. As I got to know her, I had a few realizations. First, that I still have the ability to make a decent impression on a girl. Second, it was fun to get to know someone new. Third, that it wasn't good for me to be alone anymore. Now, I can tell you that in the short time I've known her that I haven't thought through that third point in relation to her, but just in general. But that general thought was enough to get me thinking about where I really want the direction of my life to go.

So, what have I done to change the direction of my life? Very good question. I've started prepping for the GRE so I can become a degree-seeking grad student. The next question is where. I could stay at UA, work and go to school at the same time, and then just hope that I meet the right girl here. It would also help that I really wouldn't have to pay much for school (as being a University employee is good for the tuition bill). On the flip side, I could pack up and leave, live on a part-time job and a student loan, hope to find a woman whereever I end up, and finish my degree in half the time it would take at UA going part-time. The next question would be where to go? So, I took a minute to do something that I would never have considered a year ago...I looked at the grad programs offered in Happy Valley (and I'm not referring to Penn State). I've thought about Notre Dame, which would be cold, but fun. I've thought about a few SoCal schools. I've thought about PSU, UConn, and BC. But I haven't come any closer to making a decision that I was a month ago. I just know that the status quo can't continue if I want to be happy. And this is where my summer has gone.

The First Post

I am sitting in an all-day training session, waiting for the session to finish so I can get up and stretch. This is the third of these PeopleSoft Basic sessions I've had to co-facilitate, and is also the last of them. I've become the de-facto BenAdmin trainer, though I'm trained to be a functional person. Months spent learning configuration, analysis, and analytics, and all I'm doing is talking to groups of people who really don't care too much about what I'm saying. But, on the upside, I do get a change of scenery for a few hours. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but training all day long (especially one-on-one sessions) does get tiring.

I feel I should explain the title of this blog, seeing as how this is the first posting. While on my mission, I was given the nickname of 'Haus'. The inspiration for this nickname is the character from the TV show 'Bonanza', though I believe that character's name was spelled 'Hoss'. Since we were missionaries, we had a tendency to speak in a biblical manner. So, when I would get done speaking, and someone felt like being a wiseguy, they'd pipe up and say 'Thus Sayeth our Haus'. After a while, I'd end my comments with 'Thus Sayeth Your Haus'. That's where it's coming from.

While I may seem like a bit of a sports nut, there is a more intellectual side to me which I hope to express through this site. We'll see how it goes. But, in homage to my inner sports fan, I have to say this: Yankees Suck! Go Sox!

For now, this is all. Thus Sayeth Your Haus.