BrianJarrett.com

So 2009 came and went and 2010 is here.  Overall 2009 was a positive year for me.  Thanks to Traci’s decision last year to push herself to try new things I’ve now been exposed to some new people as well.  It’s been nice connecting with people of a similar nature with similar interests again.

Personally I’ve grown quite a bit in 2009.  I learned how to deal with an incredibly difficult person at work and how to better handle stressful situations there.   I was also able to use what I learned and apply it to my personal life as well, reducing my overall frustration level.  This person has now been effectively neutralized and poses very little actual threat anymore.  I also came off a successful project right at the end of 2009 that, combined with my improved skillset, will help to solidify my role and hopefully ensure my longevity.

2009 ended with me in a very different place at work and in my career.  My confidence level has increased dramatically and I’ve produced some work I’m very proud of.  I’m also steadily moving back toward the type of role I’d played at CPI before I left.  I’ve been at my new job for two years now and it pleases me to say that it’s feeling more and more like home.  My career is back on track again and I feel like I can grow where I am.  I’d love to be able to spend some time here; five or six years (or more) would be great. Read more…

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I found this image of the brilliant 19th century freethinker Robert Green Ingersoll a couple weeks ago.  It’s from a Thomas Paine memorial gathering on May 30, 1894.  Apparently it’s the only known image of him addressing a crowd.  This image and more are available here.

Ingersoll Speech

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This is highly funny but highly irreverent.  Watch at your own risk.

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I ran across this one day while out running errands.  Just so happened that day to have my camera on me.

Perfect

I wonder how they’re so sure about this?

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I received the best letter ever today, one that I apparently have needed for some time but didn’t even know it. Turns out there’s this group called St. Matthew’s Churches in Oklahoma that knows me without even knowing my name. They’ve detected, through some kind of magic, that I need some direction in my life. They decided to loan me a letter with a bunch of cool stuff in it so I could get right to turning my miserable, useless life around and start obeying orders.

I flipped the envelope over to find even more good news:

Prophecies? Sealed prophecies? That’s Indiana Jones type stuff! And it also appeared that my time was running out since God’s divine power would only work for tonight and tomorrow night. I knew I was on to something good and I didn’t have time to waste so of course I decided to open it and peruse its contents.

Inside was a letter talking about handkerchiefs. They already had me at “sealed prophecy” so I read on: Read more…

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