If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy!

First off, let me start by saying that I was going to talk about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) but something weird happened. The online community rose up and convinced Congress that this wasn’t a good idea.

Both of these Acts have been killed off in Congress. YES! Way to go internet! I told you we could do it.

Just keep your eyes and ears open for the new Act that has cropped up, the Online Protection & ENformcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN).

Don’t know enough about it yet to give an informed opinion but after I do some reading about it, I will pass on my ideas of what I think about it in a later column, if this Act lasts that long.

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Now about my face...

It was a cold and dreary Tuesday morning. Having fought back a fever for most of the night, I engaged in the act of an animal owner and went to let the dog out.

Little did I know what my day had in store for me.

As I opened the door to let him out, the confrontation between two immovable objects began.

Knowing my opponent for as long  as I did, I dodged and weaved to the best of my ability but to know avail.

It dropped me with one knock out blow and I lay in a huddled mass on the cement having gone head first to the ground.

Luckily for me I wasn’t out that long and that the dog had already  made his way back into the house.

No I didn’t do battle with an unseen assailant, I actually had passed out from the exhaustion of battling an illness the night before.

I picked myself off the cement, determined to not let this beat me. I went directly to the couch to assess my injury.

My face and knee both stung and I knew that meant I had landed pretty hard.

Upon checking my face in the mirror I noticed the bruising and scrapes around my eyes. It looked like I had done battle or at least been pushed down the stairs by my wife. But no, just me and the cement.

I quickly ran (hobbled) down the hallway and sat down next to my wife and proceeded to wake her up and tell her the tragic tale. Part of me knew she would be a little disturbed by what had transpired but she is my rock and she quickly sprang into action to get things taken care of so we could make our way to the emergency room.

There I would receive great care from the trained staff at our local hospital. To those helpful nurses, techs, radiologists, staff members, and doctors, I say thank you. You made the experience less painful with your care and clever whit to keep a smile on my beaten face.

So there you have it. My run in with the cement slab in front of my house.

And yes I checked when I got home. Though my face was a bruised mess, there wasn’t a scratch or crack to be seen on the slab much to my dismay.

Because we all would like to think that we could crack cement with our faces.

So the other guy, well he looks just fine. As for me, I will live to fight another day.

That's right, I'm Abe Froman, The Sausage King of Chicago

Do you remember when you would celebrate a sick day home from school? 

I know I did. I loved it when I was sick as a kid.

The main reason being that my immune system in my young body would kick the disease out of my system by noon, so the rest of the day would be play, play, play.

Be it video games, watching television, or just getting into my brothers’ personal items to see what kind of stuff I could find to blackmail them with later, there was always something to do to keep me entertained.

Plus, back then, we all wanted to be like Ferris Bueller and have an elaborate scheme in place for skipping off to a baseball game in the middle of the school week.

Speaking of Ferris, how many of you tried the clammy-hand  trick that Ferris gave us?

You know the one where you fake a stomach cramp, and while bent over, you lick your palms.

Heck, I tried it and it worked a few times. Then my mom saw the movie...and well, let’s just say it didn’t work after that.

Fast forward a few years and I feel more like Cameron Frye now than I do like Ferris Bueller.

Just this past week I got a stomach virus from someone in my family. Try as I might I couldn’t work the full day, so I went home early.

As I got home I felt more like singing “When Cameron was in Egypt's land... let my Cameron go!” then finding some way to sneak off to do something to celebrate the extra time away from my responsibilities.

That is the trouble with growing older, you start to put things into a new perspective especially when your immune system isn’t as awesome as it once was.

You would rather cuddle up under a warm blanket and nap then break out the computer games for an all-day gamerama!

Plus, I missed out on hanging out with my kids and wife. Because I didn’t want to get them sick with what I had, they had to be kept at arms length so they would stay healthy.

It would break my heart when one of the boys would try to crawl up in bed with me or sit with me in the recliner and I had to tell them no.

So the moral of this column is that I don’t like to get sick anymore. Having to miss time with my wife and kids just isn’t worth it.

Also, I missed my geek night out with the guys and that is just unexceptable!

I know I don’t have any control on whether I will get hit with a flu bug or some kind of stomach virus, so it is not like I can will myself to be healthy for the rest of my life.

What I can do is try to eat better, get plenty of rest, and try to avoid every sick person in a two-county radius.

The pen is mightier than the sword, but what about the pencil?

So welcome to the year 2012. I hope it lasts longer than 2011 did.

They say that the older you get the shorter the years last. That is no lie.

But anyway...

So here we are in the new year. With that new year comes a whole new slew of resolutions.

You have the usual suspects like: going to lose weight, going to work harder at my job, going to spend less money and save more, etc. etc.

Though these are all great resolutions and ones that I have made and broken countless times, I have decided to go a different route.

I have decided that  I am going to write more.

No, no, I am not talking about sitting at a computer desk and typing out a quick email to let everyone know the latest and greatest events happening in my life.

No, I am talking about getting out a sheet of paper and a pencil (because I can’t commit to the pen) and write someone, anyone.

Why you may ask?

For one, I miss it. I really do. Don’t you miss getting to your mail box and being excited about a letter you got from a friend?

In a world where your mailbox overflows with bills and credit card “approval” letters, wouldn’t it be great to get an actual letter from someone you know and love? 

And I am not talking about a Christmas or birthday card.

I mean an actual “hey how have you been, this is what is happening with my life, I miss you a lot, write back soon” kind of letter.

So my goal this year, and I want you guys to hold me to it, is to write at least one letter a month.

This isn’t a lofty goal and it is one that should be easy to reach.

The hard part is going to be putting aside all the electronic wonderments that adorn my person.

Will I long for my smart phone, laptop, iPod or Kindle Fire (oh yeah I got my tablet finally) as I try to put all my words and phrases down on paper like I did so many years ago when the world was a simpler place?

Knowing me, probably.

But I am going to do it because I know that the person on the other side of that letter is going to appreciate it more. Hopefully this will garner a response and not by text message or Facebook wall post. 

Then I can go to my mailbox with the hope and joy of expecting something new and exciting and not enclosed in a box from Amazon.

Though those smiley faced boxes will still come and be enjoyed as well.

Who knows? Maybe this will be a new trend that will catch on like Facebook or texting. I mean really, who writes real letters any more.

Well, starting this month, I do. And I hope and pray that more of you do too. You will be surprised at how much you missed it just the way I know I will as well.