Childhood Dreams: Right Field, Headlocks, and Painting...With a Cherry On Top.

So....you still read this?

I don't know why.  This blogger doesn't update very often.  And I don't know why, either.  I got great responses to my first couple blog posts.  Let's try again!



My third graph is a bar graph representing my childhood dreams and how well I have done accomplishing them.   

 (side note: I wonder what this graph represents???  My guess? Sadistic Pre-pubescent Paintball Players per Canadian City)

My first of four childhood dreams has gone "the way of the pony" according to the book.  (btw I never wanted a pony.)  When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a professional baseball player.  The interesting thing was that I was never that good.  I was a perennial right fielder, until all the good kids were called up to the more advanced league.  Then, I was a big fish in a small pond.  I was playing with kids a year or two younger than me.  I was awesome!  I played every position.  I was a lead off hitter.  (Those of you who know me personally know how speedy I am, right?!?!?!)  When I finally got up to the bigger leagues though?  Back to right field.  I finally quit baseball in middle school to focus on being a rock star.

I am still quite optimistic about my next childhood dream.   Check it out:

I was so close to eating a giant sundae one when I was about 6.  My brother and mom put the kibosh on that though.  I still don't see what the big deal is.  I was gonna share with my nephew.  I think he was 3 at the time.  Someday I will eat a giant sundae...

My next dream also has been abandoned.  When I was little I planned on being an artist and opening up a studio with my brother-in-law Doug (if he was still alive).

I gave up on this one when I realized I suck at drawing, painting, sculpting...really anything that involves art.  I can barely stay in the line while coloring with my daughter.  Doug is really talented though.  Maybe we could still do some kind of musical/artistic studio where people will pay us to draw/play music/talk about fantasy football.

My last childhood dream?  Check this out:

You may think I have also given up on my last childhood dream. 





"Oh yeah, Davie.  You definitely are not a wrestling champion." 

Oh really?  This is the only one of my dreams for which I believe I have reached my full potential.  I am the undefeated reigning heavyweight champion of the entire Havenstein family.  My first matches were against Philipp on my bunk beds when we were little.  You  may not recognize me now cause at that time I was wrestling under the name Tsunami.  Later, I wreaked havoc on a Carnival cruise ship.  Again, unrecognizable because of the Luchador mask I was known to wear at that time.  Most recently, I have had a series of battles with my wife Shanna.  I know, I know, she's a girl.  But she can throw some hard elbows and pinch like hell.

Personality, Politics, and the fear of Copyright Infringement

While completing the second entry into my journal, I noticed the copyright warning at the beginning.  "No part of this product may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission."  I see the irony of including this quote in my blog.  I also think that it is a little strange that the product may not be used without prior consent.  What is their definition of use?  Am I allowed to set my drink on it to avoid damaging my coffee table?  I better contact my lawyer.

I don't really have a lot of extra money to spend on legal fees, so I am no longer going to include pictures of my charts directly from the book.  When necessary, I will find other pictures to show examples.  For example, here is an example of an example picture:

My second graph is a Venn Diagram.  For those who don't know what a Venn Diagram looks like, I drew this picture:

Venn diagrams show commonalities and differences.  For this venn diagram, I had to choose three elements of my personality.  I chose Intelligent, Competitive, and Emotional.

Now I could explain why I chose each, but that isn't what a venn diagram is all about.  A Venn diagram is about looking at those overlapping sections and trying to figure out what the commonalities mean.  So that is what I will do.

Compelligent - I think the area where my competitiveness and intelligence overlap is the easiest to see.  I love absolutely love trivia games.  I come from a family that always was playing some type of board game while I was growing up.  When the Havenstein adults would be playing Trivial Pursuit, I would always have my box of Junior Trivia cards right there so I could join in the fun.  I love playing those electronic trivia games at Buffalo Wild Wings, too.  If I am not in first place, I look around, trying to figure out who my biggest competition is.  And MyTriviaLive!  I wish they had it in Vegas.  I am jealous of those of you in Metro Detroit.  I would play every week.

Compotional - The part of my personality where my competitiveness meets my emotional side may not be as evident to outside observers, but is quite obvious to me.  When  my emotions start to take over, there are certain physical phenomenon I notice.  Racing pulse.  Anxiety.  Vocal Outbursts.  The same happens when I am involved in competition.  An interesting thing I've found out in the past few years is that I don't actually have to be competing to feel these highs and lows, I can be coaching.

Emelligent - This overlap is probably the hardest for me to dissect.  The most obvious place where my emotions and intelligence are overlapping would be my political beliefs.  I hold the beliefs I do not only because I believe they make intellectual sense, but also because of an emotional aspect as well.  The unfortunate thing about this is that I can't really have intellectual political discussions.  Because these beliefs are tied to my emotions, I get angry pretty easily with people who outwardly disagree with me.  To avoid this anger, I avoid politics as much as possible.  This is a change that has occured in the past few years.  Maybe I'll talk more about it in later posts.

So...this post is a bit deeper than my last one, and maybe not so entertaining, but at least I am still going.

Thanks for the positive comments.  I am going to try to allow everyone to comment right on my blog.  If I don't like what somebody writes, I'll just get rid of it. 

"This is a pie chart describing my favorite bars...and this is a bar graph describing my favorite pies"

I thoroughly enjoy reading blogs.  I especially like a blog that follows someone through a process.  I have been trying to think of something that I could write and would actually want to write.  I've had some ideas but nothing even worth writing about...until today.

The above clip is one of my favorites from "How I Met Your Mother."  I reference it as much as I can.  My wife doesn't seem to think it is quite as funny as I do.  While browsing around Urban Outfitters today, she found this book and purchased it for me:

The book is filled with blank charts, graphs, maps, and other fun things to fill-in.  This could be the beginning of  long, fulfilling blog filled with excitement, not only for me, but for the reader.  Or I might post for a week or two and just forget about it.

Enough idle chatter.  On to the first graph!!!

Breakdown of Morning Routine

This is a pie graph that breaks down my morning routine into percentages based on how long the activities take me.

First off, I have included snoozing as a part of my morning routine.  I go through both snoozing and non-snoozing phases in my life.  I am currently in a 20-minute snooze holding pattern.  I really hate alarm clock sounds so I have my alarm set to a classical music station.  Since I am a pretty light sleeper, I always wake up even if a calming lullaby is the first song to play in the morning.  The classical music snooze also doesn't bother Shanna, my wife, as much.

Next, I like to wake up while sitting on the toilet.  This is when I really show off my multi-tasking skills.  During this time I check email, facebook, read Entertainment Weekly/Sports Illustrated/current novel, play Angry Birds, and... well you know.

Then comes shower, shave, and other basic grooming/dressing.

My morning routine usually stops here for a couple of minutes.  I made a New Year's resolution in 2009 to never leave the house without saying I love you to Shanna.  According to her, I haven't missed a day.  So at this point in my routine, I wake Shanna to talk for a couple minutes before leaving the bedroom area.

I quickly prepare breakfast/lunch.  Breakfast is piece of fruit/pop tart/nutrigrain bar.  Lunch is whatever frozen thing I grab from the freezer.

Next is my commute to work.  My drive is about 20 minutes.  I spend this time eating my breakfast and either listening to my Ipod or Mike and Mike in the morning.  Recently more Ipod.  I am currently in the process of listening to all 5000 or so songs on my Ipod in alphabetical order.  That sounds geeky but I don't care.  If you don't judge me, maybe I'll talk more about it later.

The last twenty minutes of my morning routine is all preparation for class to begin.  I check my mailbox, check my school email, attend conferences and meetings, and make last minute adjustments to the day's lessons.

The only variable in this routine is my daughter Ani.  She inserts herself intermittently into many of  these activities throughout the week. 

That's it for the morning and should cover everything in the graph.