Emotional Drinks

Sometimes life takes you places you don’t expect. You work and raise a family while trying to hold your own composer watching tiny girls grow everyday becoming more and more beautiful. Trying to set a good example you find yourself not having any fun. The kids have fun and you enjoy it which is great. Your wife is great to talk to and helps with almost everything everyday. Adding to her stress doesn’t seem worth it. What do you do when no matter what you feel like you have to hold everything inside. Not to hurt anyone or because you want change but because you physically do not have time. When life just happens you should embrace it.

Last night my wife told me to go with my cousins to grab pizza after trick or treat had commenced. When getting in the car I instantly felt the change of perception in regards to life. Suddenly it was okay being open while the kids and family were back at home. Knowing that they were playing and having fun and everything was fine made life easier to let go. Driving to the pizza joint amazed at how different things seemed. Music they spoke of was not familiar to me and seemed silly. Two brothers arguing in a fun way about music that I had never heard of. “Just go to Fucking YouTube, It’s on your iPhone” followed by “I don’t have YouTube”. Sitting in the back I wondered if they were using bluetooth or a 3.5mm jack to listen to music. If bluetooth I could have had what they wanted within seconds, however It was fun listening to them bicker. Shortly after arriving at the parlor I had realized that nothing from the car ride mattered and that it was all just fun. That being said I can say that I have not had a beer in a very long time. I had already turned one down that evening, but this time I decided not to. If I would have it would have been okay. I was not pressed to drink at all either time. Being Diabetic I do not like to drink very often and it had been almost 2 years since I had a beer. Needless to say I ended up having a beer or two with them. Riding in the car was interesting and I thought if I had a beer I would loosen up a bit and I was right. I struggle with acceptance of myself and criticize others in return. Something I hate about myself and have wanted to fix. Now is the best time I thought. Let me tell you something about me personally.

I have 4 cousins that I feel are all great people and successful. I would not say I look up to them or idealize them, but I think that what they have accomplished is so fantastic. Each to is own they have totally different stories of the paths they have taken just like anyone else. In the end all being close and me still on the outside watching. I have watched for years while creating my story and just then in that moment with everything else in my life I stopped watching. I accepted my games I play and my values I support and my wife that I love and my kids that I am raising and I started to talk and I started to drink and as I drank I continued to talk and the more I talked the more I realized that….. No one knows me and my story. I have watched everyone in my life for so long that I have never created a story for others to give advice. I have never held a friendship nor have I cared about anyone other than my wife and kids. Iv always watched others and tried to figure out what I wanted and focused on whatever I wanted to when. Really focus like devoting my entire life to one thing. Now I have 2 wonderful kids and a beautiful wife at the age of 25 with nothing but multiple skills that I am great at but have not mastered and a ridiculous amount of anxiety.

You have to stop and focus on you and accept yourself. I still do not know how this will all turn out and nothing changes quickly, but something is changing and has to. If it doesn’t I wont be able to raise my kids. Who am I and what will I carry out? You don’t know and neither do I. You can’t say that you will figure it out or that I am just living life. I am finding me and it wont happen overnight. Who are you and what do you strive for? Why is it that even though we all have a story people like me want to test every detail? Life happens and we are making our own story. What do you think about? Do you want to raise your kids better than you? or is it something simple like your scared to take that plunge and do something? Simple as it maybe your mind will tell you otherwise.

This turned into a bit of a ramble. I have a beautiful daughter to feed and waiting on my other beautiful daughter and wife to come home with some food.

The Point! Accept yourself no matter what, How are you going to have the best story if you are watching everyone? Take the best of both worlds and learn what to do and what not to do. Stop judging and focus on acceptance of you. Everyone and everything else will follow when you open your book and start your story.

Do or Do not. There is no Try. – Master Yoda

HBO Changing Families Everywhere

Cable TV will soon be in the past. Applications like Netflix and Hulu already stream what a high population of families watch on a daily basis. In the last 2 years programs like Plex have become a power house for geek fathers everywhere. Plex offers a full server connecting to multiple streaming devices like Roku Players and Samsung Smart TV’s. This gets better when shared, yes you can share servers to your friends and family. I know that my family members own movies and tv shows that I do not. Sharing a server makes it simple to have multiple collections from multiple viewers all in one place.

Now back to HBO and a stand alone app to stream content. As of now you have to pay for cable and HBO to use the app on your already expensive device. Unlike Hulu and Netflix where you pay monthly and watch what you want. I think HBO is making a smart choice. Times are changing and whether we want it to or not all media will be digital eventually.

Game of Thrones was the most downloaded show of 2013. This being one of the most watch shows on paid cable. If HBO charged $9.95 a month or even $14.95 a month to have that plus movies and other HBO series at my disposal the purchase would be a no brainer. Disney could learn something from HBO and start charging for its apps per month and not through cable providers.

Soon I hope to see this come to light and even Time Warner Cable pay for a stand alone app. As of now you can watch tv but only when you pay for cable and are on the internet connection paid through Time Warner Cable.

Winter is Coming! We need to see the light at the end of the tunnel and switch to a digital age as consumers to boost companies into developing apps. Whats the point in having a smart tv if you only use it with the cable you already pay for. Take control of your operating system and use the apps at your disposal. HBO would not have jumped this quick if Game of Thrones was not so heavily downloaded. CBS you hearing this? you need an app as well, or at the least update Hulu with CBS shows like Fox and ABC already do.

Comment below and possibly find more families with Plex servers to share. Make sure to share and like this post and spread the word. Why wouldn’t you want to save money and enjoy more convenient tv that can be watched on your time without a DVR box.

How to Dad

Topic choices are hard to think about when you think about everything.  Writing down thoughts and keeping them organized is another step one must conquer.  So what are topics?  In reference to blogging a topic is anything.  It can be a question you have or a statement you made. The topic choices are endless and as the Internet grows vastly on a daily basis they are becoming anything.

Just recently I read an article about Disney Star Wars Rebels.  A series being played on Disney XD geared towards younger teens that is to be released online before broadcast cable. A younger audience and not even that of the Facebook age group. Online videos before broadcast cable? (Source: IGN)

Well it worked and the ratings online surprised Disney and the rest of the series will be released on the app before TV. (Source: Variety)

Wow that alone says something about bloggers.  We can write anything. No matter what, someone in the world will find it and follow it.  Popularity should not be your focus or you will find very few followers.  Saying something different and whatever you please to become popular online won’t happen.  Was Star Wars popular amongst everyone? No of course not, but a vast majority. Now years later after the changes in technology Disney is grabbing more viewers by releasing a show ahead of the broadcast premiere and on an app. Something that you might have felt was nerdy at a younger age can be brought to your child’s attention without you knowing. As a father you would want to support them, oh how the tables turn as a parent. nerdy means nothing now because nerdy is everyone and our kids need to know that what they watch has value. Follow MagniDAD and the shows that I will inform common life tactics into can brighten not only your, but your child’s day. I grew up thinking that the little things in life are not important and that the big picture is all that matters. Wrong, little things do matter, actually they mean so much more. You can not achieve goals together if everyone is not involved. Simple yet powerful can take big pictures and break them down so small that what seemed like an eternity now feels like only a week passed by.

Looking back at life now I regret so much. Talking to family and friend they feel the same. Why do we regret when ultimately we can focus the first time? This trait has been forgotten and should not have. Every idea one would start has precautionary outcomes that could be thought about. Not everyone has to or will, but it is something that can really boost your motivation when looked at in a positive way.

Television is a big part of Americas daily life. Prime time television and sports are vastly bigger then most anything else. Applications on our smart phones and streaming players are so easily accessible. Referencing back to Disney and cartoons. Younger generations are going to be online all of the time. If you do not start adjusting now we all will fail and our kids will not have the most positive support. Cruel is most of the web and I for one am not going to let my children grow learning from others. The only way to do that is for us all to grow and become opened minded towards this imaginary space called a “cloud”. What is it that we can learn from TV? Follow me and Ill show you how every show that may or may not be on in your house on a daily basis can be a learning experience. Learning for us as families and adults alike. Not everything has to be looked at as funny or fake. Some good values can be found in the prime time we all enjoy so much.

Underneath all the colors, names, dates, times, recordings to watch later and overall concept these shows are developed with they are teaching us something. A reason that might make you think differently about your kids and life. Life is choices that we have to make. making the right choice seems easy and when looking at more details can make life even easier to live. Last night on Big Bang Theory Season 8 Episode 5 we see that sometimes staying in is the better option and trying to accomplish something is hard when your not focused. What was the focus problem? Simple, you can not make your imagination work by telling it to. Some of the best ideas come to us at random times. Write those ideas down or take a note. I use my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to jot down ideas for a later time. Plenty of applications to help you can be found on the Play Store. Evernote happens to be my favorite. Some of the new updates have made it very simple to write anything down you think of. Tag your items to keep them organized and create separate notebooks for different tasks and family members. Just as well staying in can really benefit you sometimes. Take the night off from friends and family and just spend time with your wife and kids. In the Star Wars Rebels premiere we see a young Jedi in need of guidance. No matter how silly it sounds “The Force” is strong with parents. we have to work, raise kiddos, and take care of daily responsibilities. Most of you think that you have it all under control, but I will guarantee that something is lacking. Take a second to collect yourself and use the guidance you strive to teach your kids to create a better you. Let your kiddo look up to Ezra and his transformation into a Jedi, while in the background the force you create is strong with them. Show them that daily life and the mystical force are one in the same. Chances are you learn something too.

Technology can be broken down to better benefit you. Everything in the world can be looked at from another point that I will post and look forward to your comments and views. So much hate is online, until now. Technology is a beautiful thing that when neglected we see as a burden.  What if that burden was presented in a way that helped not hindered your view?  Just like your choices in life, your media and technology are choices.  Looking at bigger pictures and setting standards for what is and can be will help adjust to modern day information, TV, news, and communication. Applications on Google Play change all the time. Updates and useful information needs to be presented without all the extra articles.  Reading about an app that makes a father’s daily life easier is different than sifting through press conferences or new phone specifications.

I idealize blogs like Android Central, to name just one, however not all people want to read every blog or subscribe to multiple RSS feeds just to see what technical news they are interested in. Some may not subscribe to any feeds due to lack of time and with so many, who knows what to read. An overabundant amount of blogs with the same information to sift through is enough to destroy any motivation one might have to further dive into the technological advancements in the mobile market, hints why most people have iPhones and like the simplicity of them. I mainly want to focus on the Apps and Games. Games that I play as a father to pass the time. Updates from the Facebook pages and of course them in the real world as developers. Any apps you might want to use and “how to’s” that explain simple tasks and list to help you focus on work and family together. Just as well please let me know what apps you use and play in the comments.

The bigger a community that can rise up and see both sides while standing up for one another will create a great place to learn. Who cares what so and so says or what you think of them. Take a deep breath and realize that the world is full of many types of people and the more we combine the more we find who we are and grow as a community. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Please like and subscribe to my blog and any other advancements you might see MagniDAD take part in the future. Email me with any comments or questions you would like to see my view on as well as simple family design work. MagniDAD would like to offer a personal experience in design. Birthday cards for your child’s party? Surprise party for your amazing wife of 30 years? Business cards for the start up that you just have not found the time to complete. Email me and we will work together to finish your design needs. How much would that cost you might ask? MagniDAD will talk to you about the price. This is a personal experience. I am not a studio, nor do I have employees. I am just a dad with dreams and ambition to help others that are raising families and care about the one they married. Real heroes learn from not only themselves and there mistakes but others and what they have to offer.