A new update (after almost 3 years of nothing)

I can’t believe that it’s been so long that I’ve done nothing with this blog. Truth be told, I’ve been busy with life, raising an autistic son and working long hours with the USPS, among other things. The reason why I came back is because I’m learning web development online through TeamTreehouse.com in order to have an easier job and make more money. A point they keep banging home is to start a blog reiterating what I learned as practice.

It makes sense to me. The way I would retain anything from college is writing papers on a subject. As painful as it was, it worked. Anything else I needed to know for things like quizzes has flown the coop long long ago. How am I supposed to remember the intricacies of Kantian Ethics or Utilitarianism when my life is so busy, especially when my wife is always blasting Big Freeda and Nicki Minaj on the stereo?

Also, it’s not as if I haven’t thought about coming back to my blog sooner. I have a moleskin book full of ideas that I never acted upon, including articles for Feastmas. I wanted to come back but then I had another dilemma. Am I so important that the world wide web would be incomplete without my blog posts? Who am I that I have to talk about my life online? Am I part of the celebrity-crazed public that I have to put myself out there in order to be internet famous? I’m conflicted about that because on one hand, unlike Ron Burgandy, I’m not a big deal. I’m part of the all-singing all-dancing crap of the world. On the other hand, that seems rather judgmental to others who have an internet presence.

Lately, I’ve been remembering why I started a blog in the first place: to talk about things that I like and to keep my writing skills up to par. When I started, I didn’t care if anyone read this. My writing was to help me get better at writing and to keep memories of my past fresh. You know what? I had fun remembering things of my childhood, and my college papers would’ve suffered if I didn’t start the blog. My writing was terrible when I started blogging and it has improved tenfold. I have been out of school for about three years and I’m afraid that my mind might start slipping.

I do have more free time considering that I’m still healing from a broken ankle and I’m about to quit my job in order to help my wife ghostwriting articles for the web. I’m not sure what my subjects will be since I’m not sure what to write about from my past. I think I will just wing it and write when I’m inspired. I need more practice writing to help my wife with her job. I’d rather do that than slaving delivering mail.

Better than getting chased by dogs.

Another strange thing I noticed when I logged on to WordPress is that I regularly get views daily. Kinda strange considering it’s been forever since I wrote anything. It makes me think of cool blogs that I stumbled upon that ended abruptly and wished the bloggers still wrote for them. Did that ever happened to anyone who read my blog? I’ll probably never know but it does kinda motivate me to write.

Finally, there are things coming around that I might want to write about, including a possible relocation south of New York and a Disney trip that may actually happen. I’m excited about this and may want to keep an online journal.  I don’t know how often I’ll post, but who cares. Nobody reads this anyway. I’m writing for me.

P.S. When the hell did WordPress change it’s format? I have to learn everything again.

End of Feastmas

Could you believe it? Late Wednesday evening, my cable and internet gets cut off for some reason. It wasn’t a technical problem because the screen stated to call my cable provider. I don’t know why that happened but I had no internet until today, which sucked. At least I was able to mess with the cable wires so that I was able to get basic cable and see the Macy’s parade. But that also meant that I was unable to post this update yesterday.

In any case, I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving. I really hate driving that day because there are a lot of crazy people making stupid mistakes on the road. However, I did not have that problem because for me, there’s no place like home for the holidays. My wife and I made our own dinner, pigged out, and watched The Expendables 2 after the airing of Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving. I also managed to squeeze in Garfield’s Thanksgiving, which I own on DVD.

Perfect again!

Another thing I realized is that this month marks the three-year anniversary of this blog. WordPress sent me an alert with the info and I was surprised because it certainly does not feel like three years. I have slowed down with the blog posts but I think I was more active this past year than last. Sometimes things get in the way but ideas eventually find me and then the blog gets active. I especially like to give props to Thanksgiving, a holiday that seems to get lost in between Halloween and Christmas. That is a shame because it is certainly one of my favorites.

I don’t plan on ending my blog anytime soon and should definitely find more time to write. I still have several more Thanksgiving themed posts that I haven’t gotten to but I’ll just save them for next year. Screw it; I should just do another Feastmas since I wasn’t satisfied with this year’s. A good strategy I should follow is to write all the posts ahead of schedule in case of any unforeseen circumstances that may delay any articles.

If I do continue Feastmas next year, it should be an interesting one due to some possible changes. If all goes according to plan, I may do a major relocation from the East Coast to the Midwest. I don’t want to get into major details at the moment but if everything works out, I should have all kinds of new material for the Thanksgiving countdown.

Hopefully I don’t run into people like this.

So this ends Feastmas for this year. It didn’t turn out exactly the way I wanted, but I am satisfied. Maybe I missed out posting this on Thanksgiving, but it still is Thanksgiving weekend. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and get all your Christmas shopping finished early!

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Thanksgiving Mobile Apps.

Thanksgiving is only two days away and I’m getting excited to eat turkey and watch the Macy’s parade. However, I wish I had more time to write more articles for Feastmas, but this 12 hour shift labor job is kicking my butt. I’ll just suck it up and work with what I got.

I’ve wanted to write this post for a while but there’s not much themed apps that fit Thanksgiving. I also wanted to include apps that are more holiday specific than simple ones that lets you book airplane tickets. Something more entertaining while letting you know what specific holiday is presented. I’ve covered 5 apps and most of them are for both iPhone and Android phones.

Cookie Dozer Thanksgiving. (iPhone/Android)

This dozer app is similar to those arcade machines where you drop a quarter and if that coin lands in a spot where it pushes other coins off a small ledge, you earn tickets or sometimes more coins. However, instead of coins, you get cookies in the shape of leaves and you get points when you push other cookies off the front ledge.

Cookies that fall off the side ledges get zero points. Randomly, special items such as pies or turkeys appear and you can get bonus points if they fall off the proper ledge. This is a fun way to kill time and is impressive considering that it’s free.

Thanksgiving Solitaire. (iPhone/Android)

I think the title is self explanatory. You’re basically playing solitaire on your phone. It is pretty cool though because it has holiday colors of maroon and orange and also have themed images on some of the cards such as pumpkin pie or turkeys.

I started playing the game to review it and forgotten how fun and challenging the game can be when trying to complete a set. It’s been a few years and I’ve started figuring out advanced strategies I never thought of when I was younger. Give it a shot.

Thanksgiving Dinner Coach by CHOW (iPhone)

If anyone is cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, this app is an essential tool. It lets you choose what you want to serve, create a shopping list, and how to cook everything.

With this app, there is nothing you will forget to pick up and you’ll avoid ending up on a long line at the supermarket on Wednesday night for one damn can of cranberry sauce. Definitely check this one out.

Thanksgiving Mahjong. (iPhone/Android)

Just like the solitiare game, this is a free Mahjong game with a Thanksgiving theme. Unlike that game, I have never played this game before. I’ve been so busy and truthfully, I’ve included this because there aren’t many themed apps to be so picky about. It does seem like an interesting game and I do plan on learning how to play it at some point. Maybe I will learn in time to play the Christmas version offered by the same app company.

It would be interesting if more games adapted holiday themes in their games. I know Angry Birds has done it, which I love. I wonder what kind of missions would be in Grand Theft Auto and Thanksgiving. Stealing turkeys? Floatjacking at the Thanksgiving parade? The possibilities are endless.

Jive Turkey. (iPhone)

This is the only game that is solely available for iPhone but I wanted to include it because it is fun. It reminds me of Fruit Ninja in which items would quickly move in and out of the screen and instead of slicing the items, you have to tap the screen in order to shoot the targets.

There are turkeys of course and other power ups like timers to extend time and bullets to replenish your ammo, along with the dreaded skull which will end your game if shot. It is another simple yet fun time killer. You know, in case you hate to read books.

I’m sure as time goes on, there will be even more Thanksgiving apps since the popularity of mobile apps is still going very strong and doesn’t seem like they’re leaving anytime soon. Try these apps out and get into the holiday spirit!

Related articles

• Thanksgiving Apps Go Well With Turkey (hispanicbusiness.com)
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• Thanksgiving smartphone apps look to make dinner prep easier (fox6now.com)