Finally! My Final Four...

I’m going to be honest – I genuinely cannot decide how to differentiate between the final four distractions on my Top 10 Distractions list. I literally (not figuratively, but literally), sat for about 20 minutes on my computer and debated this one (rearranged the list, reworded descriptions, etc.) and no competitor is distinguishing itself/themselves as a clear cut winner out of my final four. So I’m just going to give them to you as potential candidates for first place (just saw this for the first time the other day…it’s awesome if you look up the back story) in no particular order, and we can decide which one wins based on everybody’s comments.

P.S. – I’m hoping to make this the last of my overly, insanely long posts. I just could not decide how to break it up. But this should be the end of those. I almost promise. And I'm going to start adding more pictures. And possibly some embedded videos too, now that I can do that. So much excitement!

P.P.S. - No matter how many times I've tried to re-edit and fix this post, it still shows up as one big jumble of paragraphs with no spaces depending on your browser. I apologize, but it appears I've been defeated. But this is the last time Google Blogger defeats me!

(potential) #1: Wikipedia/IMDB/YouTube
Ok, I know you know about these websites. If you don’t, you soon will. Basically, I can get lost for hours on any of these three sites. For example, during finals week this past May, I spent TWO HOURS bouncing around on Wikipedia so I could read about 1950s actors and actresses. I thought, I don’t know enough about them so I should read up... Then I realized I had wasted 1/12 of my day. With the Internet Movie Database, you can spend hours reading trivia bit after trivia bit and reading hilarious quote after hilarious quote on your favorite movies and TV shows. And if you don’t know about the stuff you can watch on YouTube yet, then I’m just so sad for you. I’m going to list five videos that have made me laugh (or made me happy) recently…and this isn’t even a Top 5…just five that I’ve recently enjoyed. They are here, here, here, here, and here. Then all you have to do is spend the rest of eternity looking up video after video and you can see why it’s distracting. Like you don’t already know that though.

(potential) #1: Twittering/Blog reading/Facebooking (p.s. – that’s not actually me)

Of these three, Twitter has really moved into the primary spot for my distracting. In fact, I’ve sort developed a nervous twitch (eerie, considering “twit” is found within the word twitch) that results in my checking of Twitter every ten minutes to see the updates. If you don’t know what Twitter is yet, go ahead and watch this informative video. In an effort to keep the middle portion of this distraction sandwich short, blog reading is what you’re doing right now. And I do it a lot. With other people’s blogs. Since I basically only check Facebook these days to read my wall and write on my friends’ walls, it’s pretty much a version of Twitter with more friends on it for me. I also play Scrabulous though, so maybe it’s worth it to stick with Facebook awhile longer. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time socially networking. And I get distracted due to this social networking. Fortunately, as a blog writer for my real life job (not this blog, but a different one), this is almost not a bad distraction.

(potential) #1: Video Games (I know it’s not the actual game, but it looks like fun)

I play too many video games. Instead of listing the reasons they distract me, I’ll just list what my roommate and I share right now and you’ll hopefully understand the level of distraction these things bring into my life. Here is what we own with which to waste time in our apartment: a regular NES, a Super NES, a Nintendo 64 (same clip, still funny), a Playstation 2, a Playstation 3, and a Wii. We have all of the Guitar Heroes, Rock Band, the Mario Karts that matter (64 and Wii), and so many other things. It’s basically a buffet of video games. Which is why I’ll start playing Rock Band with my roommate Andras and my friend Cole at 8:00 pm and end up playing until 1:30 am. It’s a guaranteed disaster for productivity.

(potential…and final) #1: Television Shows on DVD

What do my roommate and I do when we aren’t playing video games (or being social and actually hanging out with people)? We watch hours of television series(es)… on DVD. This really began in the dorms sophomore year, when one of us would want to watch an episode of Family Guy. We’d say “just one Family Guy” in order to convince the other roommate to stay up a little later. And, of course, this would turn into four or five episodes of Family Guy and our hours of sleep would consequently decrease. Fortunately, we eventually evolved into more intelligent beings as time went on, and we quickly converted our addiction to shows like Arrested Development (check the headline link) and Entourage. And, don’t worry Miles and Holli, Lost is a part of that list as well. Watching just one of these shows is like trying to stop watching ESPN’s Top 10 Plays after the first one they show. Why stop when you know they are only going to get better? And that’s why they’ve distracted me time after time.

So there you have it. My final four of distractions. Now that this post is FINALLY done, I can move into blogging real life events in which I’m sure you’ll be much more interested. And I’ll try not to keep you hanging in suspense for such a long time. And I’ll definitely try to start making these much, much shorter. Thanks for your patience, all.

And please comment on what you think is your biggest distraction. Is it one of these? Is it something unique to you? Is it legal? Do you have pictures? Feel free to answer any and all of these questions.

Well I be done seen about everything, when I see a elephant fly…

Time to get old...

So I graduated on May 25^th. I’ll be adding a more personal picture soon, once I acquire one. And while I won’t get into the details of my five-day weekend (Thursday counted as the weekend this time) of merrymaking and revelry, I will say that I enjoyed the entire experience quite a bit.

This year's graduation. I'm in there somewhere.

I’m not a very emotional person or anything, because I look at graduation as a logical step in life rather than a major achievement. That might sound pretentious (in which case I don’t care), but that’s just how my life has always been: you go to school and then you graduate from it and move on.

Now I have a job, but I’m going to try my best to keep work and personal blogging separate, so I won’t mention my job on here (quite yet). I will be writing with my new job though, so that’s nice. I’ve enjoyed every day of work so far, which not everybody can say, and things are going well.

Anyway, my final weekend as a college student was just about perfect. While numerous people had various gatherings on different nights, one of the weekend’s highlights was getting to see my good friend (as I claim him to be) Joey Ryan perform both Friday night and Saturday afternoon in Sioux Falls (click that link by the way…my current favorite is “Speak Easy, Mr. Darling”). Every time he plays I like his solo stuff more and more, which is awesome. I also informed Joey that when I get a career as a professional film scorer/soundtrack producer, I plan on using his music as frequently as possible. So get ready to hear him in the movies sometime soon.

I also had a great weekend with my roommate and his brother/brother’s friends. Andrew Hewitt and I have lived together for three years now, and somehow he manages to keep putting up with me. His brother and sister-in-law threw an awesome party for him on Sunday night and a bunch of our friends showed up. Unfortunately, a bunch of his brother’s friends showed up too (Durns and Gellart, for example), but all in all, it turned out to be a great finale to an awesome four days. By the way, just kidding Durns and Gellart.

I also somehow ended up on a friend’s party bus (p.s. – our bus was about 1/30^th as nice as that one…and that’s not a typo…) Saturday night, when I certainly was not expecting to do so. That randomness turned into a substantial amount of fun though, so I have no regrets about it.


No more student sections for me...

So now I’m old, and while I’ll still do some collegey things over the next few years, I’m looking forward to what the rest of my life has to offer. Hopefully when my current job ends, I’ll be able to get a new job that I enjoy just as much. It’s easy for me to say I’m not worried about the future when I know I’ll like what I’m doing for at least six more months. After that, I’ll just have to make it good. Luckily, I’m awesome so I don’t think I’ll struggle too much with making my career enjoyable.

Anyone else have some exciting graduation weekend stories? I’d love to hear about them, even if they happened many, many years ago.

"Pop in my CD and let me run a rhyme, and put your car on cruise and lay back cause it’s the summertime..."

Get Excited...I'm Finally Back!

I’m alive. It may seem shocking, but I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. I’ve just been really, really busy. Which will take us right into distraction #7, so that’s convenient. But first, if you haven’t read the previous posts, the bottom three of my top ten distractions were: 10) Eating, 9) Comic book reading and buying, and 8) Searching for crap I don’t need online. Onward, to number 7...+6?!?

P.S. – I know this post is long, but it's been so long since I've posted and there are tons of good links in this one. If I were you, I’d take the time to peruse them sometime when you need to be distracted. I’d be lying if I said I weren’t a little proud of this post.

#7 AND 6 - School

What?!? Two distractions in tandem? “Blasphemy!” you say. As much as I’d love to tell you that you’re right, the truth of the matter is that school takes a special two-spot rank on this list as a result of the last three weeks of my life. During the last twenty-one days, I have been subjected to 7:00 AM wake-ups to watch scary movies (for school), writing three 25+ page group papers (for school), and devoting any time that could have been spent in fun and debauchery instead studying and preparing for the end (of school). And while Augustana College has certainly owned me during its various mid-term and finals time frames over the past four years, the rank is no higher than a 6-7 ranking due to one fact: I’m done with school forever after Sunday. So, while school has been a distraction (as can be seen by my supreme lack of blog posts), it will soon be the Artist Formerly Known as a Distraction. And in less than a week I will be out of the tyrannical clutches of the non-living organism that is school…forever.

#5 – On-line Humor and Fun

This is not the only on-line distraction I deal with, which is why a #5 ranking is slightly lower than what may seem logical, but anyway, some of my more enjoyable and distracting experiences on-line come in the form of humorous videos and cartoons (warning...VERY violent), as well as fun games. I think a major part of this affinity for said internet elements first presented itself in this Strong Bad e-mail from the Homestar Runner website. While my love for the site has since diminished, it was this video that made me realize how much the internet had to offer in terms of humor. One of my newfound favorites, discovered courtesy of my friend Brenni Fresh, is this one (WARNING...you might be offended if you are a scientologist…or if you don’t really have a sense of humor).

Also, this game presented the biggest hindrance to my success in Statistics class my junior year. I’m going to go with an external locus of control on this one and blame the game rather than myself. By the time I reached my Line Rider peak, I was creating jumps where my sledding stick-man was soaring through the air over roaring dragons and spike canyons. Nothing as impressive as this though. However, similar games, (such as the ones found at Addicting Games…such a fitting name) have kept me from accomplishing goals and tasks countless times. As a result, these games and videos get a number 5 ranking.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re absolutely right; “If these unbelievably distracting distractions are only #7, 6, and 5, the rest of the distractions must be insane (ironically, this video was the first that came to mind when I thought of a link for “insane” and when I searched Google videos with the search term "insane," it was the first result to come up...crazy…or…insane). And the soon-to-come distractions are insane. So get ready.

P.S. (again) - My new address is now easier and faster to type out. It's just www.wisdsomsmouthpiece.com. Woohoo! (I'm so glad to be able to blog again).

I'm a educated fool with money on my mind... got my ten in my hand and a gleam in my eye...

Twitter: My (not so) early adopted child...

I should just give up on the distractions because they are taking me forever to get posted, but I'm not giving up yet. If anything, this just goes to show you how easily I get distracted. In fact, one of the reasons I get so distracted is due to what I'm writing about right now.

This blog post by Robert Scoble (a "technical evangelist") is a perfect example of how I feel right now as a result of Twitter. Very, very few of my myriad friends use Twitter, so they wonder why (and get angry because) my Facebook status always says that I'm Twittering. Luckily, I felt really tech-savvy because, with so few people on Twitter, I feel like I might be one of those "early adopters." And they always seem like such cool people.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm probably not a true early adopter, but at least I'm trying. Anyone else having issues with wanting more (real life) friends to get on Twitter? Anyone I'm (real life) friends with on it already without my knowledge? Let me know so I can follow you. If I'm not already (real life) following you. Because I do that sometimes. If you want to follow me (like all of these people), it's just "MikeBilleter."


Federal agents mad cause I'm flagrant, tap my cell and the phone in the basement...

Putting An Issue To Rest...

First and foremost, I apologize to all of the people who are anxiously awaiting the next blog post about distractions that waste my life away. All two or three of you are probably upset. But, due to a recent verbal altercation amongst a few of my friends, I need to clarify a serious, serious issue that has been heavily debated since the existence of time. Or toilets.

While I genuinely hope that I do not alienate myself from any women (specifically, potential significant others), it is my firm belief that men SHOULD NOT be required by any law, implicit or explicit, to both raise AND lower the toilet seat in order to use it.

My reasons for this are many, so I’ll start by listing some of the arguments I’ve heard from women around the world as to why men should have to lift the seat and then proceed to lower it as well (ok, basically just why they should have to lower it – I think the reasons for why it should be raised are probably obvious).


(Fights like this could only come from one issue: toilet seat responsibility)

One reason I’ve heard from numerous women is that if men don’t lower the seat back down, “they sometimes fall in.” I would just like to state that, for the record, if you do not look down at what you are sitting on before you sit, you are foolish. I apologize to women who have fallen in before, but you would never just sit down on a random chair without looking to see if there were thumbtacks or a piece of cake resting on the seat. Why would you not look down at a seat (at least for one second) to make sure you won’t fall into a puddle of water?

From the guy’s perspective, here’s why this argument frustrates me. If women shouldn’t be required to look down at the seat before sitting down, why should men be required to look down at the seat before…I guess we’ll call it… going number one? I don’t walk in and begin to use the toilet without first checking to see whether the seat is up. If I did that, women would be extremely displeased with me. So I check, lift, and go. Why shouldn’t women have to walk in and check if the seat is down before using the toilet? As a woman, common sense should tell you that it would be in your best interest to at least check the seat for one second before sitting down. So if you fall into a toilet because the seat is up, blame ignorance, not men.

Secondly, I hear women say that they don’t want to touch the seat because it’s “gross.” What in the world would incline one to believe that guys don’t think a toilet seat is gross? Do you think I have any desire in my heart to touch a toilet seat not just once, but twice in one use? Absolutely not. I hate germs. Just because it is gross for a woman does not make it any cleaner for a man.

Thirdly, I have heard women say “that’s just the way it’s always been.” I won’t get into this too deeply, because this blog is young and the opportunity to offend the masses (again, all two or three of you) is ever-present, but if you applied this theory to any of the other major movements in United States history, you would be called ignorant. Racism – that’s just the way it’s always been. Women’s rights (or lack thereof) – that’s just the way it’s always been. Dumping toxic waste into rivers – that’s just the way it’s always been. Guys doing both sides of toilet seat maintenance – that’s just the way it’s always been. I repeat, ignorance.

I don’t understand how a solution can be so painfully obvious, and have the issue still be so highly debated. It’s mind-boggling (and this mind of mine is rarely boggled) that we haven’t come to the simple agreement that would solve everything: split the difference!

Guys: it is obviously our job to lift the seat before using it – it’s cleanly and it just makes for a better relationship with our female friends and family. Ladies: it is your job to use common sense, check before you sit down, and if the seat isn't down, put it down yourself. That’s all I’m asking you to do. Just think before you sit. You wouldn’t walk into the road without looking both ways (WARNING: THIS IS THE GRAPHIC CAR ACCIDENT SCENE FROM MEET JOE BLACK…that’s my disclaimer), you wouldn’t jump into a tank at Sea World before looking to see if there was a shark inside, and you wouldn’t jump out of an airplane without checking to see if you had a parachute on your back. The same could be said of checking the seat.

Besides, if the seat is up, it just means some nice boy or man already took the time to lift IT up rather than leave some disgusting bacteria on your porcelain throne. So just split the difference and go 50/50 with us on this one. It’ll be so much easier for everyone. Any differing opinions? I find it hard to believe there won’t be.

Here comes the hotsteppa…murder-a… I’m the lyrical gangsta…murder-a…

Big Cities = Big Fun

Sorry to interrupt the thrilling countdown I have going on right now, but you can’t go on a trip to a sweet city, meet a president of a Major League Baseball team, ride a really fun roller coaster (not actually me), and enjoy general awesomeness for two days and not write about it.

So our Public Relations Student Society of America group went to Minneapolis last Wednesday and Thursday. And it was much more fun than I thought it would be. We started the day with a short, four and a half hour drive but once we were in the Cities, it was on to fun and games. Literally.

We met with Dave St. Peter, President of the Minnesota Twins, to ask him about communication and public relationy things. And we got to hang out down on the field for batting practice, which was surprisingly cooler than you’d think. I’m not much for celebrity worshipping, but it was cool to be two feet away from Justin Morneau warming up at a major league ballpark (not him in the picture, by the way) ((I think it’s Punto)) (((Slight difference))). Later we enjoyed a game, although we weren’t sitting quite as closely as we were during batting practice. The Twins eventually won, 6-5 if you weren't there or aware of the radio, Sportscenter, or the internet.


Then we went to a bar. But not this one. Go Augustana.

Thursday was great too. We went and met with people at WCCO TV in Minneapolis and talked about why they do what they do where they do when they do. Not who they do. Then we went to Carmichael Lynch Spong and listened to some high-rollers talk to us about public relations. These guys are good. Then, after a lunchless noon hour we made our way out to New Brighton and met with people from Risdall McKinney Public Relations. That place is really, really fun. It’s like a carnival for adults. Candy everywhere, crazy signs and paintings all over, cardboard cutouts galore. And they’re good at what they do too, so it was nice to see a place where you could be successful and still have craploads of fun.

Finally, we met with the Mall of America event coordinators. The Mall of America is this really big mall in Bloomington, MN. While event coordinating isn’t really my thing, riding the new Nickelodeon roller coaster rides at the renovated theme park is my thing. And my friend Kristen rode it too. And we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Sorry to all you Camp Snoopy lovers, but this updated park is better, fo’ real. They even added some new rides too.

Anyway, my two day tryst with Minneapolis rocked. I went with fun people and I learned a bunch about public relations and how to ride roller coasters. That’s such a good combination for a group field trip. Anyway, peace out, and numbers 7 through 5 are on their way into your heads and into your hearts.

I came to get down…I came to get down…so get out ya seat and jump around!

Distractions #10 - #8: Let's get it on!

So begins my list of the Top 10 Things I Waste My Time Doing. The title could probably be shortened, but I like starting words with capital letters, so I’m going to keep it that way. I struggle with different distractions on different days, but sometimes, I come across all ten of the things on my list in one day. And those days aren’t productive. In order to keep you enticed, and to not have a novel-esque blog posting, I’m going to start with the first three and add the rest over the next few days. Let the games begin with number 10 on my list…

10. Eating
This may sound like a deceptively necessary element of life, but the truth is, I spend far too much time eating. Whether I’m in the Augustana Commons socializing with people while we reminisce about old times (and people watch), or whether I’m sitting at home watching college basketball or the Twins while I eat my hot ham water, the point is that I end up spending way too much time that should be spent on much more complex and important tasks than eating food.

9. Comic book reading (and buying)
Some people know this about me, and a lot probably don’t, but I love comic books (mostly Marvel). I’m assuming that, in the near future, I will probably have a long, long blog post about the intricacies of comic books (and why they aren’t just for seven year olds), but for now, let’s just say that I spend too much time and money on comic books on an almost weekly basis. Not only do they collectively take about an hour or two to read, but I spend tons of time reading about them on-line too. It’s a deadly combination. But man do I love it.

8. The last distraction for today: searching for crap I don’t need online
The items that fall into the category of “crap” are wide-ranging, so I figure I’ll address just a few of said items so you get a glimpse of what exactly I’m talking about. The bottom line is I have spent hours upon hours searching for useless things I don’t actually need, such as a glowing piece of the Agro Crag (for the first time in about two years of searching, one is actually there…the bid runs one more day so take a look), a DVD collection of the X-Men animated series (90s style), and Arrested Development t-shirts (ok…maybe I do need some of those…but they still waste my time). While there is a plethora of other junk on my time-wasting agenda, this is about .05% of the stuff on which I waste my time searching. And this is something that I know won’t be stopping anytime in the near future.



(A glowing piece of the Crag... Mike O' Malley would be crushed to see it being sold so frivolously. Although I'm pretty sure it's just a replica anyway, so no penalties from Mo.)


So there are the bottom three of my top ten distractions. If you have a connection to any of those three life obstacles, let me know. I’d be happy to discover there are more of you out there like me (and I'm happy to take any hints on how to not be so distracted by these things). I’d also be happy to find out what distracts you. For all I know, I could come across a new distracter that might poke its way into my top ten. And I would both hate you for it and love you for it.

West side…which you and I know is the best side.