Author: John Bollwitt

It something I haven’t heard before, but it always surprises me when I hear it. Perhaps I should learn to take it as a compliment, but people tell me that I don’t seem like I’m from Iowa. This tends to make me wonder what that means exactly. How does one from Iowa seem like? Granted that I have my own stereotypes of those folks that live among me, but just as there are different areas of the great city of New York, there are many different “breeds” of Iowans. We’re not all the same. I’m sure NYC has it’s version or hicks, farmer boys, and wannabes just as much.

It’s been a fast, first day in the city. No complaints. No problems.

I have hit the point where shorts have turned my blood from cold to hot. The warmth lately has been nice, but it’s not as warm as you would think it would be this time of year. Granted that wearing just a t-shirt and shorts at the station does bring on a chill from time to time, I am able to handle it. I guess I should mention that the thermostat in every other room of the place seems to perpetually reside down around the cool level. I don’t think it’s changed since last summer when I cranked it pretty high just so I could survive in my office without still shivering from the cold outside. My sister has that problem too, but it seems to stick with her year round.

In about twelve hours, I’ll be in New York. This weekend, I’ll be in Boston. After that, I’ll be back in New York. Then I come home. A bit of a whirlwind tour, but I travel for one. Meet up with good people along those routes. Traveling is the only addiction that has set into my veins and has been hard to let go of. It’s been far too long since I’ve last been anywhere like this, and hopefully it will happen again very soon.

I’m excited.

That time before you go somewhere for a while is such a stressful time. At least for me it is. It’s not completely about making sure you take everything with you that you want to. With the station, it’s important to make sure that everything is in place that needs to be when you leave. Granted I’m not a producer who has to worry about any potential programming that might come up, but sometimes people don’t quite understand what going on vacation really means. To say it another way, they don’t really understand that those days you say you are going to be gone, you really won’t be around to help out when needed.

I would have to say that it’s partially my own fault. I’m readily available when I need to be and do my best to help anyone solve their problems. Perhaps it’s better to say that I’m always around. When people don’t expect you to take time off, or at least as little I do, it takes them numerous times to remember within a single day that yes, I will be completely and totally out of the state this weekend.

This is going to be good. Getting away is what I think I need right now.

What a crazy past couple of weeks it has been. I have actually been able to come into today, the start of the work week, and actually feel like a normal human being. Just lots of projects and things going on that time gets really difficult to manage and kept straight.

I can say that Des Moines has more going on there than I have probably ever given it credit for. More so, what I consider to be something that I would enjoy. This includes things like great places to eat and a good place to see a show. A martini bar that has thirty-some different kinds of martinis that you could enjoy during on of their ipod nights where you put yours in line to sample a playlist of yours to fellow patrons.

It just wasn’t what I expected coming from that particular area of downtown, not to mention that this is Des Moines afterall. A tiny slice of culture in the state capitol, but my time there was only limited to one night in a six block radius. I’m thinking that the rest of this city would not be as enjoyable in comparison.

Somewhere in this town, there is a man spending the evening doing everything he can to accomplish a desperate goal. From what I understand, it is a plot that has been in the making for quite sometime. Within this plot, I am separated by a matter of mere degrees. There is part of me that feels guilty. There is also another part of me that feels like I am taking advantage of the situation. In the end, I’ll benefit from it as well. To feel fortunate. To feel lucky.

To know that I will be able to see Episode III at midnight on the day that it is officially released.

One man seeks to make it see fit that I might have that opportunity, and I thank him… whoever you are.

I saw Kingdom of Heaven tonight with Heath and Chichi. There are things that I’d like to say about the film, but I don’t want this to become a platform about what I like and don’t like about films. More so, I’m not the best critic in the world. I tend to find the good elements in a lot of the things that I enjoy and focus on those rather than the negative. This might change in the future, but I’m still kind of undecided about this one.

One thing I do not understand is when did they start making annoying movie goers in surround sound? There was the murmur of something going on from somewhere in the theatre, and I’m not sure I should dive into my theory as to what that could have been. Behind me to the left, there was a guy who kept playing with his soft drink lid. To the other side, the proverbial play-by-play announcer, discussing what’s happening, when it happened, and why.

Where do these people come from? Why must they exist? I just want to enjoy the movie that I overpaid to see and drink my water downed soda with a peace of mind that I can do it without the urge of causing bodily harm.

Happy Birthday, Heath!

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand times more; the people in my family are geeks. To you, the average person, that might sound mean to say. I think that at this point in our lives, that’s a compliment. We are known for our gadgets. We are known for discussing the latest in what neat, new technology there is out on the market and what it could possibly do to enhance our lives. More importantly, who is going to get it first. Even more importantly, how can I have something first that is way cooler than what anyone else in my family already has?

Then again, we’re not all playing with the same deck of cards. We’re all different in the geeky things that we can do. What’s nice is that the said geeky things allow us to make a living so we can buy more said geek stuff.

I just saw a commercial for Donkey Konga on TV. I had the chance to play this game for the first time last weekend with my niece Julia. At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Not being a very big gamer myself, I had not heard of the thing. Once I discovered that they had a song on there by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, I was hooked. It’s addictive. A potentially great drinking game… and addictive.

There’s a lot of talk right now about taking vacations going on around the station. For the first time, I can’t actually chime in on the conversations. And there’s no question about allowing me the time to get away. I’ve been kept to close to home as of late, so it feels good to have the tickets booked for my departure. In three weeks, I’ll be hanging out with good people. This won’t be the typical excursion of going away to see family for a weekend. This will be me on an adventure. It’s the way I like to keep things as much as I possibly can.

If you see something different here, it’s because there is. I’ve made some minor adjustments and changes to things. The comments system has changed, so with the change comes the deletion of all the old comments. This will work out better in the long run. Feel free to go back and post comments on the old posts. Really… I don’t mind.

“Be nice to the monkey.”

Maybe it was the food. Maybe it was the lack of immunity from not being around the grocery store of disease known as elementary school. It could have been an assassination attempt. Perhaps the amount of stress and hectic schedules in my life drove my body down a little. Whatever it was, it sucked. I hate being sick. Especially when it makes me miss important events like my niece’s first communion celebration. I haven’t been that sick in a while, and my body kind of shudders thinking about all the “fun” that I went through for that brief amount of time.

Anyhow, my short weekend excursion to the land of Illinois wasn’t as relaxing as I hoped it might have been. In fact, getting back to the station late on Monday afternoon, everyone asked if I was rested and ready to get back to things. The truth was that I felt quite weak and tired. Coming in for just the afternoon might have been a mistake, but I think I’m back on top of things.

There certainly was no shortage of things to do when I got back in here. It’s always a party in my office.