Have you ever known someone who is...well, too perfect? You know the type...

the brains who excel at thinking about complicated concepts and ideas...

the jocks who excel at competing so they exist in a class of their own...

the artists who excel at creating experiences that are beyond description...

the leaders who excel at earning the unconditional loyalty of their supporters...

the empaths who excel at knowing your most inner thoughts, feelings, and concerns...

the friends who excel at being there when you need them the most...

Perhaps you’ve even known someone with several of these qualities, maybe they weren’t perfect in every way, but it gave you pause.

Joshua Chreosis knew someone like this, seemingly perfect in so many ways. In truth, he was Josh’s best friend even though he outshone Josh in almost every way. Josh loved being around him because he was so...well, perfect.

Of course, that was until the reality of his world was shattered and what he knew to be inconceivable turned out to be an incredible reality. What if that person was perfect because they could know the outcome of every decision they ever made, or better put, what if they could change any decision they ever made?

Josh’s best friend was one such person...

I love secrets. You feel so empowered to be "in the know." However, the worst secrets are ones that aren't yours secrets which you are forbidden to share. For example, when you are told something and asked not to tell anyone else. I think that most people would agree that I am pretty good about keeping those kinds of secrets. I don't tell a soul when I'm asked not to by the secret originator.

Needless to say, I was quite excited when my friends Dawn and Greg told me that they were having a baby. I think my exact words (or some variant) when handed an ultrasound picture were, "Congratulations on being pregnant, Greg." :) However, this information came with a price. I was asked not to tell anyone. So, I dutifully agreed and have not told a soul. Even when my parents asked, "How are Dawn and Greg doing?" I answered without any hint about the pregnancy. Today was a good day because Dawn officially removed my vow of secrecy.

So, DAWN AND GREG ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

Congratulations!

Titles are probably the most important aspects to my journal entries. I racked my brain for one for this entry and ended up combining two topics into one title...

I attended one of my high school friend's wedding on Sunday. Autumn Pavlick married Steve Dreyer on Saturday and I attended the reception afterwards. My friend Rachel was the actual invitee, and I tagged along as her guest. Rachel and I are wedding buds...we serve as the other's guest when we have weddings to attend. It works out pretty well. :) The reception was held at Villa Pena in Clinton Township. It was nice to attend as I finally got to see the place where my class' less than *magical* prom was held nearly a decade ago. Let me count the ways I am happy that I didn't attend.

One nice thing about attending the reception was I got to see Duncan Robinson, Paul Hubinsky and his wife, Mark and Kelly Hartzel, and Dan and Amy Murphy. With the exception of a couple spouses, these are all people that I attended Fraser with and don't get to see all that often these days. Duncan and I had a long conversation about Nuclear Power and how its renaissance seems to be arriving...ah, another topic for my blog. Dinner was good and I enjoyed myself.

Now I will follow up on the other half of the title, late nights. I am sooooo tired. My software development group's requirements document was due today and I have lost way too many hours of sleep to see it through to completion. I stayed up till midnight or 1:00 AM each night this week and then gotten up at 4:30 AM or 5:00 AM. Not quite an all-nighter, but the cumulative effect has been pretty bad...I need a good night's sleep as soon as possible! Fortunately, spring break is next week so I don't have any classes and I can catch up on my reading, homework, and sleep!

So after many moons of absolutely no updates, my web site has seen some pretty substantial content updates in the past couple of days. A new poll, new pictures on the home page, an updated schedule, updated interests, and an updated travel log through 2005. Not too shabby. Hopefully it will keep those baying dogs away...you know who you are.

So, as some people know, I finally started listening to music about five years ago. My interest page lists some of the bands and songs I like. One of the bands I like, which I find very weird, is Green Day. I can vividly remember back to my high school days when they were all the rage and I could have cared less...amazing how things change. So, I decided to title this entry after one of the lines from their most recent album and the song, Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I'm sure there is more meaning to the song that I'm aware of (big surprise there, Curt not fully understanding music!), but I really like it for some weird reason. Although most of it doesn’t apply, some of it is definitely, without a doubt me...I walk alone...however, I walk along the Boulevard of Kick-Butt Fulfilled Dreams.

Yeah, so I think about that only because I exercise five to six times a week now for about an hour. I listen to my SA-WEET little iPod and that is one of the songs I frequently listen to. Yeah, can you believe I'm exercising that much? Nutty, crazy. It seems to be working though as I lost ten pounds in January. If I can only keep it up, I'll finally lose the freshman *fifteen* ten years later. ;)

So, I was criticized the other day for not keeping my web site up-to-date. Well, I am guilty as charged although I do have some updates in the pipeline. Of course, the only thing I can say is that until you have a web site to keep updated, be quiet. :) However, I will endeavor to write more journal entries periodically.

As such, I thought I might write about my crazy schedule right now. I'm taking three classes (9 credits) and working full time (40 hours). Fortunately, I'm a month into the semester and I still have my hair, although I don't know for how much longer. I'm taking Teaching High School Mathematics, Teaching High School Computers, and Software Engineering. So far, it isn't all that bad, but my weeks are packed! I have class at 11:00 AM and 2:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I have to leave work early. To accommodate my schedule, I'm now starting work at 6:00 AM every day...so early, so bad. Prior to this semester I was starting at 6:30, so it wasn't that big of a shift. All I can say is the 5:10 alarm arrives WAY TOO EARLY!!! Of course, I'm up writing journal entries after 11:00 PM...go figure.

On a side note, I just thought I would warn everyone about a fairly dangerous situation I became aware of in the past couple of weeks. In fact, it sends shivers up my spine every time I think about it. No matter what you may think, or how tempted you might be, you must do what I say for the next 30 years or so...your life depends on it. In fact, the only people who don't heed my advice are truly unreasonable people who are not considering the totality of the circumstances they are placing themselves in. No matter what you do, avoid Madison, Wisconsin! Molly Thompson is on patrol and she will get you...