It's been a loong time... Good and bad partings and how to deal with them.

"Oh... It's you. It's been a long time. How have you been? I've been really busy being dead."

The first thing we hear the main antagonist of the Portal series in the second installment is a pretty good way to describe how I have been over the past year or so. So I'm not going to go into detail other than I'm back.

          And with that, it brings up the subject. How do you get in touch with someone which you haven't spoken to in a long time? It depends on how you left. Was it on good terms? Great, just get yourself caught back up with them by asking what they've been up to since you last saw them and what they're doing now for starters and work from there. Did you leave on bad terms? Is it too soon or such that you probably shouldn't try catching up? If so the only thing you can do really is ask for their forgiveness and leave it at that, give them some space and hope for the best after that. Which is hard, I know, but that's really all you can do.

          I've been on both sides of having people come back into my life that I did and didn't want to, as well as getting back with people with good and bad partings, and it can be hard. A huge part of it is knowing how the other person thinks, but a good way to go is to follow the K.I.S.S. principle, Keep It Simple Stupid, stupid being addressed to self as you don't want to overload both yourself and especially the other person whatever the situation may be.

Trip Tips

Well, I'm actually kind of surprised that people are still dropping by this blog considering how long I haven't updated any content on it. While in college I spend many of my days sitting at my desk sipping on a freshly brewed cup of tea. To be honest I wasn't really expecting to come back here, but one of my friends reminded me of it and gave me the idea to do something new on this (as well as the other two blogs I run and 3 pages I'm an admin on Facebook).

But while in college, there are many days where I want to make a trip to the mountains. There are many trips that as a young man I want to make both to the east and west coasts. But here are some simple tips to use, but you don't have to follow them as some people prefer to do things certain ways, but some things carry over.

Tip #1: I speak from experience, when traveling to a place that you know you'll be coming back to, don't devote that trip to taking pictures. As an unofficial professional photographer I spend great lengths of time in just one spot taking pictures waiting for the lighting to be juuuust right, making the other members in the group wait for me (thankfully they enjoy books and they bring one or two). Unless there are other photographers then you're all fighting for the right angles to shoot from.

Tip #2: This can vary from person to person, some people like to throw chance to the wind and just see what happens on their trip, while others will chart out every detail for their trip. For me it's sort of in between. Many times I'm revisiting somewhere I've been before and have a habit of going with what I'm familiar with (goes with being an introvert). But every once in a while, you can find some great little gems by taking a chance.

Tip #3: How you travel to your destination is just as much a part of the trip itself (if you've never traveled, once you do you'll understand what I mean). Most trips I've taken have been by car, which I'd say is true of every one. The great part is anything that could go wrong probably will, and that brings you closer with the other people you travel with. Travel by a plane, I've done it a few times and it is a lot of fun, it's not cheep, but you get to where you want to go quickly and seeing everything from so high is just magical, I don't know how else to describe it. Then the last two main modes of transportation are by train and boat, which I've never actually done, but they're certainly on my bucket list for whenever I go to the west coast.



What would you all suggest for a great trip location or tips do you have?

It's Been a While

Greetings everyone, it's been a while since our last post. Sorry about that. As of lately things have been very busy between the different jobs I have been working. Anyways, the topic for this post is somewhat of a follow up in the last post, Spending Time with Family. This is specifically on camping. Whether you're a single guy or girl, a group of guys or girls, or even guys and girls, young married couple, or even if you have a family, even if you're up to it when your kids have grown up and moved out, camping produces bonding moments.

Why? Generally there will be an event that at the time might be a tragedy, but after the initial incident, you will probably look back on it and laugh. From personal experience I can say this is true. When I was a small child, we made a trip out to Wyoming. All the way there we were having troubles. Our pop up trailer had a flat going into Wisconsin, and another coming out of Wisconsin. We blew a gasket while in the middle of nowhere South Dakota and a hail storm with winds so strong we thought we were going to be blown off the side of the bluffs. Another camping experience was when we went to Jay Cook up in MN, about a half hour south of Duluth, MN. One night some raccoons were trying to get into the tub of food we had and my mom was already awake trying to get my dad's attention. Right when my dad and I wake from the twilight, we here, "They're getting into the chips!" And my mom loooves potato chips, making it sound like that was the only thing she was concerned about. So when she said that we just started laughing. To this day we still occasionally tease her about that.

If it's just you all by yourself, it can be great too as you can just get away from everyone and every thing and have your own schedule and just relax and be yourself while camping. Or if you're wanting to go with some friends and hang out and rough it for a few days is also great bonding time. Even if you're a young couple it's a great time to continue to know each other and how they tick. If nothing else you can turn it into a learning experience and finding out what you both enjoy or dislike, try something new.

Thankfully with this post I've been able to get my wheels going as to what the next post will be, so hopefully I'll get a consistent posting going for a little while. But that will been another day, another post, another Guru. Cheerio!

Spending Time with Family

     In all the rush of a technology driven society, parents and their children are spending less quality time together. Today, I'll be talking about various things that families can do together. I am not going to go into the flip side of why families are not spending as much (if any) quality time together as that would be more of an article that will take a great deal of time. So, what is the difference between family time and quality family time? Family time would include, but not be limited to all the activities that people would say families have together on a daily basis, such as dinner... and... hm... that's about it these days. Which is why this is being addressed!

     Parents as well as children need to spend time together as it helps the parents to get their minds off of the rush of working all the time. Quality family time should be about once a week as it is consistent yet can still be special. Now for the hard part, finding something that everyone can agree on. For my family that is usually trying to pick a movie to watch. Mom wants a chick flick, Dad wants a war movie, Sister wants a mystery, and Son wants a Science Fiction. So, how do you decide? There are two ways you can do this. One have one member of the family decide each week, or find something everyone can agree on.

     Now this problem (and solution) is not limited to just movies. It can be a game, like Dominos, Uno, Monopoly (if that's your thing) etc. It can be a video game, which is where I do like the Wii. *Plug in for another blog/alias of mine* I do some video game walkthroughs and tend to be very picky nowadays. If it doesn't have a multiplayer I'm more hesitant to get the game. I'm a people person. Now that does not mean I don't like more hard core gaming like Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, Infamous, and so on and so forth, but those can only have one person playing at a time, so those aren't family friendly. When we got our Wii, my mom (who hates technology, things like Minority Report or Enemy of the State are the reasons why she doesn't like them) actually enjoyed playing games. Like Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros, Olympics, there's a lot to chose from that the family might be more inclined to.

     But back to what I was saying, families need to spend more time together. It doesn't have to be much. Even with the every day life, make the little things count. Just make sure that when you are together that you can focus on each other and remove distractions, that includes cell phones! Well, this has been another day, another post, another Guru. Cheerio!

The Art of Writing: The Love Letter

     We have been waiting with great anticipation for this post, after a long wait, it's here! That's right, the love letter. This is the hardest to write about as it is the most heart felt, and for most guys, it's hard for us to put how we feel into words. Well, most of us, there are some who can put their thoughts and feelings into words.

     The original article that inspired this is from Art of Manliness

     While we could cheep out and say, read this, they already did the work, and they're bigger/better than us, but no, we're going to write this! Now there are two questions, why and how? First the why. They are tangible, they are real, you can hold onto them. Emails just don't have the same specialness as a letter. When you give the letter to your girlfriend, or if you're lucky, your wife, they hold onto it forever, or at least they should. But anyways, it should be special.

     You can never tell the girl (or woman) to many times that you love them. The love letter allows you to express yourself differently than what you express yourself on your normal day to day basis. It give you a chance to show your more romantic side. They'll never get tired hearing how beautiful they are and how much you love them, that you love just as much, if not more than when you first met.

     Now, what do you write in a love letter? This is where guys generally have a hard time.
First, let them know the reason for the letter, this will help you keep on track. Recall a great memory the two of you have shared, either recently or a long time ago. Now you can use this to transition to write about the things you love about her, whether it be her personality, her talents, or her looks. Next, let her know how much she means to you and how much she has changed you into a better person. Try to avoid the cheesy "You complete me" line, sure if you want to use it go ahead, but try using your own words. And last, ready for the close with reaffirm how much you love her and that you are committed to loving her and caring for her.

     It's ok to get a little side tracked here and there as it makes the letter authentic, and she can tell that the letter came from your heart, some fun things to add onto the letter is to have a little bit of your cologne on it. I know that as a guy the first love letter I received from my girlfriend I cherished it very much and smelling the perfume she put on the letter. As it is I have the letter close by right now as I am writing this. Another fun thing to do is to seal the letter with wax, this can be a little more expensive and difficult as finding wax seals and sealing wax is hard to find these days, but some tips for some improv is to use something that can make some sort of seal that your girlfriend or wife would recognize is from you, as for the wax, you can use a candle's wax. Just light the candle and melt some of the wax, when you have enough, carefully pour some out over the part of the envelope that is licked, then use your seal.

     Actually, while I was writing this article, I came across another dealing with wax seals and I thought that it would be perfect to include in this article. How to Make a Wax Seal

     Well, now that the big one is out of the way the next and last part of the Art of Writing series will becoming shortly, and that is on story writing. But that will be another day, another post, another Guru. Cheerio!

The Art of Writing: The Journal Entry

     Hello again everyone! I'm honestly and pleasantly surprised as to how well this blog is going on it's own. While I'm not able to write every week, just seeing how many visits is encouraging me to keep up on this! The more you gentlemen and ladies get involved here just makes my day! Anyways, to get to business. This next post is the third part of the Art of Writing: The Journal Entry.

     The Journal Entry in many regards is actually the easiest to write as it is the least formal. However it can also be the most challenging as usually you want to make it something that you do daily. But do not let that get you down if you miss a day, just make up for it on the next day. Now you may be asking, "Why should I keep a journal? Isn't that for girls?" Oh, how much we all need this post right now, myself included.

     The reason why you should keep a journal is, most obvious, to chronicle the events of your life. But you can use it for more than that, your journal could be used in a way that you can always carry it with you, and you can write down your thoughts throughout the day. You can also save it for the end of the day and write down everything at once as if giving someone a report of your activities that day. Probably a mixture of the two is best however, as it can bring your journal to life when read not only by yourself but by others. Now you're probably thinking, "People are reading my journal?!" Well no if you don't want them too, but they probably will if/when you pass away. But anyways...

     Now we here at the Gentleman Guru are here to give a few tips on what to look for in a suitable journal book contestant. You will want either something small enough to carry in a pocket to a book about 5''x7''. You can get a spiral bound notebook if you're poor, but you can save up a little and then get a leather bound notebook, which is much more classy. Thankfully they are surprisingly not too expensive and you can get them at most stores. Now if you don't like the selection, you can find a Barns and Noble bookstore and find a good selection there. The last factor to look for is of personal choice, do you want your notebook bound to the cover, or do you want it "disposable?" Now when we say disposable, we don't mean, "That was a horrible journal entry, I must throw it away!" What we do mean is that the banded paper can be slid out of the cover and have a new band placed in, either way the price is about the same.
     As a side note, if you enjoy reading this blog, leave a comment, send an email, share on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google Plus, Pinterest, or where ever you go for your socializing. Feel free to also ask for requests on future articles to write about. The next post will be the dreaded *cough cough* love letter. Actually, we're looking forward to writing this one,and we hope that all of you will be waiting with great anticipation as well! But that will be another day, another post, another Guru. Cheerio!

Update From the Guru

A thousand pardons from the past few weeks of absence. Things have been busy as college is at midterms, which is when there are many projects going around and all the teachers think that their class(es) are the most important. Anyways, in the next week their may be some photos and a shout out to another project from the creators of The Gentleman Guru. As for the shout out, that will be in a further post.

Sticking to the cause of the post, further on the update we have been getting beyond the basics of web designing, so we are currently working on making an actual web site, not just being here on blogger. When we make our transition, we'll have more options of what to have on the web site, so we are fairly excited about this. However it could be a bit of a wait before you will get to see this.

Our next post will be a continuation on the Art of Writing. Cheerio!