2008

Almost there.

Blogging my fortune cookies #3

A surprise treat awaits you.

KK Graduates!

Click here

Blogging my fortune cookies #2

I lost the actual paper, but it said something like "sometimes the wisest person in the room is the rudest dressed." It made me laugh because before reading it I was thinking I might be rudely dressed because I was wearing my hat while I ate.

Interesting Stuff

I've been thinking of mentioning some stuff I have seen online lately. You should all check out Ectomo.com and theantigym.com because they are both awesome. That's all for now...

Leaving The Cult

After a 7100, a 7105, and two Pearls, I have decided to leave the BlackBerry cult. It is kind of a sad day for me, but I am getting tired of not being able to scroll left and there were no comparable BlackBerry models that I could get instead of the Pearl as a free replacement from T-Mobile. My replacement phone will be a T-Mobile Dash, which is probably only bested by the Pearl because of Rim's Push Email, which I no longer use anyway. The Dash seems to have a lot more compatability for media formats, and I will be able to access the internet through my wireless connection at home without getting a data plan. I guess this is just one more step towards regular human interaction that my CrackBerry had been preventing.

Blogging My Fortune Cookies #1

When the moment comes, take the one from the right.

There Must Be Some Mistake.....

Lesson Two

Today was my second flying lesson. The turbulence was somewhat intimidating but it was an excellent chance to learn a lot of stuff that is a bit more advanced. I am doing well with maintaining altitude while turning, which can be a real challenge for most people. I am pretty proud of how well I am doing, and I am really enjoying myself. Time to eat, I have a neat picture to share in another entry later tonight.....

Thank You, Uncle Nick!

Thank you so much for the generous check. I will be putting it towards my flying lessons and necessary materials for that.

The days go so fast

I can't believe it is already the 6th and almost the 7th. Halloween was yesterday right? I'm looking for a happy medium here, somewhere between the days dragging on endlessly and this current situation of the days just flying past. Speaking of flying, my next lesson is scheduled for next week. Time to get into slightly more complicated stuff, I presume. Not quite time for the barrel roll yet.

Pictures From Flying over Greeley

Rocky Mountains

South Platte River

Target from the sky

Flying Over Greeley

Here are a couple videos from inside a Diamond. One is our takeoff and one is our landing. The plane I flew last month was a Cessna 172, but I didn't take any video. Rachel and I went flying on Saturday because there was an aviation open house and it was only ten bucks! Awesome!

oh, toes

SO yeah. The part of my toe that was hurting me is fine now, but my attempts at preventive maintenance have rendered two other pains in my toes. whatever, I am just gonna eat my ice cream and play my video game.

twitch

My left eye has a random twitch that has been there for a week now. I want it to go away because it worries me, but honestly it feels kind of cool.

LIVE!

Saw Live last night. Absolutely awesome. I was about 15 feet from Ed!!!!

I got a raise

holy crap! We have brand new equipment and more money. All we did was ask for it.

Greeley is actually beautiful from 7000 feet.

I took my very first flying lesson in a Cessna 172 today with instructor Craig Kozak. He was extremely friendly and made me as comfortable as possible. The controls were a little bit of work to learn at first, but there was a certain level of intuitiveness to them once things got rolling that I was not expecting. I just thought I would post that I had, and if you want to hear the story in more detail just let me know. I'm sure the effect is greater if you see the big grin on my face while I tell the story than if you just read it. If you live in Greeley or nearby, you should definitely check out Poudre Aviation to learn to fly or just go on a scenic flight.

Send in your signatures!

Uncle Nick! John P!

A sense of relief means you did the right thing.

I was scheduled to start at TSA this morning. I was going to write "supposed to start" but when I thought about it I knew that wasn't true. I'm sure some people will be disappointed, confused, suspicious, etc, but let me tell you what I have learned to be valuable in this world before you decide to be anything about this turn of events. As some of you may know, I recently attended the funeral of my uncle Cliff, (father's brother) and it was an incredible learning experience for me, both about myself and about my family. I spent almost a week in Iowa, watching my dad and uncle Nick bury a second brother, hearing stories about the "Koch boys" from friends of the family, and seeing hundreds of different people grieving in different ways. I had no idea so many lives had been touched by my uncle. I wish I could convey to you the images of my aunt's grief that have stuck with me, but what she did or what she said would never come across enough if you only heard of it without being there. I hope someday that someone is that in love with me. My cousin was so strangely calm through the whole process of picking out photos, writing a pamphlet, and even the wake, right up until the funeral. She felt like a stranger to me with all the years since we have seen each other, but some sense of family made me love and care for her so much. There is a much larger experience to write about here, reaching farther than I'm going to post online, but the basis of my recent evaluation of my life is summed up by the question of "what happens when we die?". The simplest answer to that question is "we no longer live". We no longer read books. We no longer tell stories. We no longer share hot cocoa. We no longer go camping. We no longer hold hands. We no longer kiss. We no longer go for walks on the beach. We no longer ride our bikes. We no longer look at funny videos on the internet. We no longer watch movies. We no longer make fart noises and laugh. We no longer pay bills. We no longer work. We no longer drive to and from work. We no longer wait between shifts. Only some of these things are going to be missed. If you need me to explain which ones there is something wrong with you. Some of you will say "You could have been making more money", and I will tell those people those people that money isn't what's valuable. If I need to, I can even break down the numbers for them, and ask them if they would be willing to give up 20 more hours of their life every week in travel and waiting, and in giving up other things that they love which also make money. All told with the extra expenses of travel and lifestyle changes, it adds up to 88 dollars per week that I would be making more if I had started. 88 dollars in exchange for 20 hours of my free time, and my Tae Kwon Do classes that I would likely not be able to teach any longer (and not get paid for anymore). If you haven't done the math yourself already that is $4.40/hr to abstain from what life really is. If someone offered you $4.40/hr to drive for an hour, sit for two (You can read a book, but most internet activities are prohibited) and then drive back an hour and do this five days a week, I'm not sure many people would take it. I have heavy emotional and rational influence on my thought processes because of my parents. Because of my mom, I always consider how I feel about something. Because of my dad, I always consider what I think about something. I've made my decision and I have justified it to myself and the world. I have invited some other influences to sound off. (I have also chosen not to ask when I know the response.) My sister says it might be a great opportunity that I am passing up. Maybe I will regret it years from now. Monica says, "do what makes you happy, Baba." Tyler Durden (Fight Club) says, "You are not your job!". The Buddha says, "Take the middle way." God says, "I put you here to be happy." I'm allowing comments if you have anything to say, too. I think I'm done for now.

Google me

I am the first and second result for Bryan Koch. The first is my old blogger account, which I forgot the password to and never really wrote on. The second one is this site! Yay! People can find me.

Vexillology? I guess so....

I never thought it was that important, but the program I bought to help me brush up on my German seems to think I should be able to recognize the flags of different countries. How many countries have flags where there are three stripes of different colors? Ridiculous. Anyone wanna practice/learn German with me?

How To Make Money Doing What You Love.

Step One: Do what you love.
Step Two: Ask for money.


Let's see if it works.

The River

The river trip was pretty enjoyable. It was good to see everyone again and spend time with my roommates and family. We didn't take a camera, but if someone sends me some pictures I will post one or two here. We think next year we will do canoes instead.

River Time!

Today is the day that we leave for our tubing trip! There should be some stories and pictures coming Monday. The pirate gear is all ready and it is time for the ridiculousness to begin.

A stupid little poll for you to do. Yay

Create your own Friend Test here

Moving

We are moving now and I won't have internet til Tuesday. text me if you need me, or call after 7 on weekdays and any time weekends.

Our Treasure Chest

We're Moving!

We aren't going far, but we are moving to another building in our apartments into a room that is bigger and costs less per month! Good Deal!

Ride It!

Prototype Cannon

kool concert

I went and saw Kool 105's Kool Concert last night with my sister, my dad and one of his coworkers. The Turtles, The Rascals, War, and Tommy James and the Shondells played. I thought the Turtles were ok, but everyone seemed annoyed with them talking too much instead of playing. It seems they wrote a few theme songs for kid's shows I didn't know they did, including Care Bears. Boy, that's weird. Anyways, War was awesome. I love the song "Lowrider" and it was worth the whole concert just to see it live. The concert was really long though; we were there from 3 to 10:30 and it was still going. Also, the Kool Cats absolutely suck. They are the radio station's band and they did a few covers of songs that I didn't know I liked so much until I heard them being performed so terribly.

Writing

As many of you know, I change my mind and mutate whatever I am writing a lot until I get it to be exactly what I want. Right now I am in an interesting mood where I am drawn to write a musical..... We shall see how that goes.... Anyways, I had an idea for my writing. My lamp was too bright for me the other day so I was thinking I would like to write by candle-light. That seems like a fun night-time activity to do. I might even invite over some other writer friends and have a midnight snack with it. Of course, it would have to be on a night when I didn't work the next day. Anyone interested?

I Have To Share This With You

Six Billion Others

Jorge Doing a Speed Break

Pirates

I went and saw the new Pirates movie at midnight and then worked until 1030. I slept a bit since then, but I am still pretty tired. At least tomorrow I will have to leave work early to avoid going into overtime.

Fortune Cookies

I got a fortune cookie last night that said "devotion is worth the effort at this time" and I started wondering when that time would be up.....

A Picture I Took Today

Things I wish I Did Everyday

Write in this blog
Read for pleasure
Write a poem/ part of a story
Work on the film in my head
Clean part of my apartment
Train in the martial arts
Shave
Take pictures

Martial Arts Website for Everyone!!!

www.goultima.com You have to sign up to be able to post on it!

Bills Bills Bills

I compressed a few debts and have less bills to think about every month now. I feel great. For some reason I really can't think of anything to blog about, but I am trying to blog more often. I'm sure it is therapeutic. I finally finished House of Leaves a couple days ago, and now I have to pick up Only Revolutions. I saw a video of MZD talking about how he wrote it, and he said that in the 6 years of writing it, it destroyed 2 serious relationships. The need to write it kind of consumed him. Well, I don't have anything else right now. Talk to you all again soon.

The Moon

Weird To Be Normal....

I am still getting used to the idea that I don't have rings in my nipples anymore. They almost feel like nothing now. When I first took them out there was a bit of a struggle, so my nipples felt really warm and strange. They were all huge like Skittles at first but now the swelling has gone down and they just look normal, you know, for nipples.

Magical Journey

I passed out giving plasma today. I went on a magical journey, which I always do when I pass out. It brings me full circle though, as I am taking my nipple rings out tomorrow. I passed out for the first time when I got my left nipple done. A while later I decided I wanted my right too and I passed out again. There's a lot to say about what it means to me to take these rings out, but I think I will try to write more after the moment, rather than in anticipation of it. I'm sure I will have a much better grasp of how I feel about it after it is done.

Movies

It is weird to think about how many movies we hear about and keep in the back of our head to watch someday. I just recently started with an online rental program, and the idea of unlimited renting is still very novel. I can only have one out at a time, but I can return my online movies in store and get a free one right there, then have my next one shipped right away, so actually at times I will have two out at a time. Right now, I am going through some earlier influential films, like Citizen Kane and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I had already seen both of these in a film class but I thought it would be good to review and get some inspiration for my own project. I'm even considering finding another film class to take because the first one I took has stuck with me for so long. The ideas it gave me on how to tell stories are a large part of the inspiration to finally decide on an English major, with my emphasis being on writing classes. Without something to reignite that passion for creativity, I probably would have dropped out of school. I could have understood economics, (I had competed nationally in FBLA in high school) but I had no passion for it and didn't want to live my life dealing with it everyday. The idea of that was draining my will to live. Anyways, a person should live their life with passion. Care about people, let them hurt you if they must, but don't just accept life as it is and be unaffected. Smile sometimes, but only if you feel like it. If numbers are your thing, then be passionate and excel there. My thing is stories, in books, movies, video games, and any other medium that gets put in front of me. I want to be told stores, and I want to tell them. Right now, I feel like film.

The World Is A Vampire...

One of my bosses got fired today. I don't like it one bit. Another one is opting for a demotion and going to another area. I don't really like that either. The world is a scary place.

The Back, So John Can Pick A Spot

The Teaser

The Project Morphs

I've been thinking lately about the differences between books and movies, and why we would choose one over the other to entertain ourselves. There are so many great things about books that I love, but practically speaking, all of the most important parts of the story a book is trying to tell can be captured in film. You can't feel the book, smell the book, hear the pages turn, or taste the book, (who licks books?) but everything visual about a book can be put into a film. In some cases, that film might end up being nothing but scrolling letters, but the words can all get crammed in there. A film, though, can set a pace of its own. It can go too fast for you in parts, and promise to explain it all later. It can break that promise. I don't want to go too deeply into the differences and give away the elements of film that I plan to use, but I think it is a much more suitable medium for the story I am trying to tell. The plan now, instead of a graphic novel, is to create multiple short films that are completely silent and are only in black and white, with no grayscale. Because of the motif of the story, and the serial nature of how it is told, I have dubbed this project my "Noir Du Jour" series. Officially, I still have no name for it, though.

A New Project

I have been working on a graphic novel the last couple days. Right now, I am in more of an exploratory phase, seeing what exactly I can and can't do with purely black and white images, with no colors, shades or tints in between. The effect is creepy and dark, which is exactly what I intended, but I still need to write a creepy and dark storyline to go with the images I have created. Every picture stirs up a small story inside of me, and now I have to tie them all into one narrative.

Done!

A very large weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Signed, dated, and now just a bill. Just. Keep. Swimming.

Dreams

I don't know why, but I woke myself up in the middle of the night last night by screaming. I never scream, for any reason at all, so it was really weird. Luckily I was face down on the couch so I didn't really make a lot of noise. Any ideas?

Cinnamon

Cody and Jonathan have each agreed to eat a tablespoon of cinnamon for $20 from Peter. Jonathan has also agreed to be recorded while he does. Look for it here when I put it on YouTube if it all happens as planned.

Last Summer's Float Trip Pictures

New Place

Well, I am finally settled into my new place. I love it. I have been really busy but I will be taking pictures soon.

The Bar

Marked down to $55 from $330. The vodkas pictured (all gifts for Xmas and Bday) total up to cost more than that. There are a couple things I will have to fix on it someday, but for now it looks lovely and most of those things are covered by just keeping it open. Look forward to more pictures in the blog I think. I seem to blog more from home now that I have internet again.

A bit ill....

I ate a really great hamburger yesterday, as rare as they were allowed to give it to me, at Red Robin. It was fantastic, but now I feel ill. That is all, thank you.

not so bad...

My parents found out about a few things they didn't know about yesterday when they came to visit me. By a few I mean thirteen. I told them about my back tattoos (12) and they quickly spotted the non-concealed Wii system. My dad was not excited about the idea of joining everyone else as a tattoo and asked me not to add his signature. My mom didn't really voice any problem with it so I will probably just add hers. Fair enough. I wanted to place them on opposite shoulders, but I think what I will do with just the one is put it on my right shoulder where I can look back and see it. I can't see any of my other back tattoos without a mirror. Ok, so twelve down and one to go... My mom is hooked on the DS, so I figured I would be able to get her to at least try it once. I wasn't expecting it, but I noticed a grin on my dad's face as he was watching us play bowling on Wii Sports. I knew he was intrigued but not ready to admit it. If you know my dad you know what I was thinking: Golf! By the time my parents left I got him to play an entire game of golf with me and do some homerun hitting . He actually asked me "only $250?" as they were leaving. He may not go out and buy one but I have photographic proof that he enjoyed playing Wii.