Things are slow in my life right now. I’m finishing school, working part time, playing volleyball, and that’s really it. I’m much older than the majority of people I meet at school, so there isn’t much chance to socialize there. Most of them are either living in dorms or partying in campus apartments. Not that I don’t have friends at school –I actually have quite a few really good friends there– I’m just in a different place than them (although, not, because we’re all in the same program at school!) Anyways, it’s just different. I’m all for going out and having a good time, but since my closest friends in town are married and/or have kids (or dogs,) those outings are few and far between. But at least I save money!

Volleyball has been good but again, most of those guys live together or have played together for years. It’s hard to break into that group. But I’m trying to concentrate on just improving my game and having a great time. We’re headed to Michigan State University this weekend for a 2-day tournament, our biggest of the year so far.

So yeah, things get a little lonely sometimes. Which is fine usually, because I’m totally cool on my own. I like peace and quiet and downtime. But sometimes it gets to be too much and I get that longing to be social.

I’ve waited a while to comment on this, but things with Shannon and I are good. We’ve emailed a few times in the past weeks and it looks like we’ll be able to be friends after all is said and done. The breakup was very hard on her, harder than on me for reasons I can’t really explain (or don’t wish to get into on the internet.) She took the time she needed to sort things out and she’s in a better place now. I’ll always respect the time I spent with Shannon, and I’ll always be grateful for what she contributed to my life. Like I’ve said before, I can’t say enough about how great of a person she is and I hope for nothing but the best for her in the future.

But life moves on, and here I am in the newest phase of my life. Although I find myself wishing it was December already and the end of the semester, I keep trying to enjoy the here and now, because you never know what may happen. I’m not actively pursuing any kind of relationship at the moment, but I’m not ruling anything out either. What I am trying to do is to respect myself and whoever I might meet because of the fact that I just got out of a 3-year relationship. I have no intention to date just to date. And I want to make sure I’m not rebounding or trying to fill a spot in my life that Shannon once occupied. With that said, the past few months have made it clear that I am and have been ready to move on. I think that I was earlier before the breakup but I just didn’t know it or didn’t want to admit it. And I think that is why it wasn’t hard for me afterward. It’s difficult to explain and even to think about, but I know that now I’m working with a clean slate. There has been enough time to analyze and put that period of my life into perspective. I’m glad that it happened, but I am also glad that I am able to move on. Move on cautiously and responsibly, but move on.

So yeah, here we are. Like I said, I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I’m confident that this period in my life is working out. It’s preparing me for what is coming next. I don’t know what that is, but I’m excited for it. 2009 should be a good year. I’ll (finally) be graduating with my bachelors degree. I’ll be job hunting and hopefully will make the first moves of my career. I might move, I might stay. Sometimes the unknown can be more exciting than anything.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Feel free to leave a comment below with any advice or whatever you might have in your head at the moment. I appreciate you taking the time to read about me!

No, this isn’t a movie review, unfortunately (though I did review that movie.)

This is about Shannon and I. As many of you already know, we broke up about a week ago after over three years of being together. It was definitely not an easy decision, and it was mostly mine to make. Shannon did not want to break up, and was leaning more towards taking some time apart. We discussed, and without getting into too many details, we are now broken up.

I can’t justify the whole thing in this blog post, and I won’t try to. And I can’t sum up our three years together or what Shannon means to me either. I’m not even going to attempt it. Shannon knows how I feel for her, and hopefully our friends do as well. That is what is important.

What is also important is that I do what is right for me at this time. And that is to get my life in order and get things straight. I need to finish school — two more semesters left! — and find a job. I need to figure out what I want in life and who I really am. I need to stand on my own two feet for once in my life and succeed.

It is possible I might see other people. I am not specifically looking for that right now, but I’m just going to live my life. I will continue to stay friends with Shannon because she’s a very special person in my life. I will continue to be friends with her friends and family if they will allow that. I’m just kind of….over here now.

No one knows what will happen in the next 6 months, year, 2 years. I’m not closing any doors, but I’m hoping to open a few new ones up. I don’t really have the money to open up too many new doors, but I’m open to the idea.

So yeah, there you go. This is not meant to be an inspiring talk about life or anything, and I’m not trying to say I have all the answers or that what I’m doing is the absolute right thing to do. I don’t know. I’m just trying to be Brad.

So there you have it. Leave a comment if you’re so inclined. I’d like to know who’s reading about me.

There’s a post by Shannon on her website that you should all take a look at, read thoroughly, think about, and then comment on. It’s about women changing their last names to match their husbands.

I’ve commented on the article, so you can read my thoughts there. But I thought I’d send over anyone here that hasn’t read it so you can give your thoughts (I’m looking at you, Scott)

Here’s the link: Doahleigh.com - Last Names: to change or not to change

Yeah, things are going to look like this for a while until I can complete a new design. SO DEAL WITH IT. haha

But for real, I’ll get something done here after I finish my 3 other big huge web projects, plus go to school full time, plus work part time, plus spend time with my girlfriend.

So yeah, someday.

Ok, so I acknowledge that I’ve been around and used computers a lot in the last 10-15 years of my life. So obviously I know a lot more than the average person and especially the average person above the age of 40, just because I’ve used them and been around them so much.

But that doesn’t make it any less annoying when people don’t know how to use computers, or more accurately, don’t CARE to LEARN. A lot of people use computers because they’re either trendy and cool, or because they use one for work, or because they’re forced to. THat’s all fine and good, but people, if you’re going to use, here’s some simple tips that you should engrain into your heads to make my life less stressful.

First, clicking things:

1. Don’t click things multiple times! Especially if you have an older computer, this will most likely cause whatever you clicked on to open 80 times and crash your computer, causing you to say asinine things like “C’mon you stupid computer, gosh it’s so slow!” That’s just ignorance, so get over it.
2. General rules:
   • Icons on a desk top need to be double clicked to open
   • Icons in programs usually only need to be clicked once. If that doesn’t work after 5-10 seconds, then try double clicking.
   • Anything, ANYTHING, in a web browser window only needs to be clicked once. ONLY ONCE. Never ever double click something in a browser window.
   • If you hover the mouse over something, and a little border appears around it that makes it look like a button, then it is a button. Buttons only need to be clicked ONCE.
   • Remember what you used (single or double-click) to open something so you don’t get them mixed up.
3. You can double-click files to open them. This saves time.
4. You can right-click icons and files to see what else you can do to them. (You can also do this with links in web browsers to, for example, open that link in another tab)

There’s probably more but after writing all that, I’m not as frustrated as I was before. Thanks, BLOG.

My love’s birthday is today! Shan turns 26 today (I’m taking the chance that she’s still young enough to where it’s ok if I reveal her age to the world.)

I’ve never met anyone who’s made me feel more lucky or fortunate than Shannon. She’s shown me so much support, care and love that it’s sickening….sickening! We’re exact opposites and the same person all at the same time, which makes absolutely no sense to anyone but us. Our arguments and fights are the stuff of legend but somehow we come around and realize that we’re so frikkin’ in love that all that stuff doesn’t matter.

I love you honey, and I’m glad you’ve been on Earth for 26 years. Thanks for spending almost two of them so far with me.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and I think it’s very important that we all take a minute to learn more about this disease.

A member of my family is a survivor of breast cancer, and I am very grateful that she had the strength and courage to get through what was a very scary time for all of us in her family, let alone what must have been devastating to her herself.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women and is the second most lethal, behind lung cancer.

Women should get a mammography or have abnormalities checked out immediately.

This isn’t much that a lot of people don’t already know. And this is just the tip of the iceberg and is just some stuff I learned today. But I thought I would join in the call for awareness and support the cause.

Shan posted a little about the surprising site we saw when hading back from lunch on Sunday. The fact that those people had their kids out there doing their dirty work was just terrible. Okay, fine, I respect your beliefs and your need to express them. I have no problem with that. but at least wait until your children can make up their own mind before you send them out, protesting something that they most likely have no idea about. Especially something like abortion, where most of the grown men can’t possibly know enough, let alone the little kiddies.

Anyways, I just wanted to say a little something about that.

Besides that, let me officially announce a new feature here at Breathingfire.com. I’ve alwasy wanted to post movie reviews, and now I have. On the front page, and maybe on an upcoming ‘Movies’ page, I’ll list all of the latest movies I’ve seen plus a rating from 1-10 stars. And I’ll probably write a little something if it’s deserved. That’s it.

Edit: It’s now on it’s own page!

Ok, come back soon!