90 minutes left in 2009

It's December 31st. It's 10:28 PM. The roads are filled with ice, snow, and drunk drivers. Web sites and TV shows are filled with Top Ten lists. Will and I just finished killing 2087 zombies in the game "Left 4 Dead 2". The ABC coverage of New Year's at Times Square is filled with a bunch of gag-inducing, masses-pandering, self-fellatio garbage. Sheesh!

As has been the case over the last few days regarding Granny, news only got worse. The radiologist took a better look at her scans and her body is riddled with cancer. It's made its way well past where we initially thought. And the spot on her lungs is many spots. At this point there is no treating it. She is going to have surgery on Saturday to install a colostomy bag. Hopefully she has the strength to make it. At this point we aren't assuming anything.

If she does, and once she is back on her feet, she is heading back home to mom and dad's. They are going to try and get a hospital bed in her room so she can live what time she has in the comfort of her own room. The doctor said that it won't be surprised if she doesn't get out of bed again. He also said that he doesn't have a crystal ball and says that she could last days, weeks, or months.

As for me, I'm doing okay... seriously, I'm okay. I mean, of course, I'm upset. But Granny's health was slowly going downhill. And recently things just nose-dived (nose-dove?). So while I was holding out hope for better news I am not really shocked by any of this. I've lost focus at work a few times and I'm not sleeping too well. The wife and kids see the stress on my face. But deep inside, I know things like this happen. My hope is that she gets to come home and enjoy a little time there before it all ends. I'd like to sit down with her and watch "The Guns of Navarone" or "The Bridge on the River Kwai" one more time.

Granny news is bad

Granny has rectal cancer. "Rectal cancer! Isn't that what killed Farrah Fawcett?" you may ask. Yes, yes it is. The butt-cancer is getting my Granny :(

They are still running tests and taking scans so we don't know how bad and all of that. But based on her white blood cell count the doctor is nearly certain that it is cancer and fairly certain that it is spreading aggressively. If it has reached her liver then the rectal cancer has reached Stage 4. I probably don't have to bother to mention that there isn't a Stage 5 :(

I'm going to cut out after work (hell, I don't think I'll last much longer than "after lunch") and go see her. I know a lot but don't have many details. So I can't say more for certain without talking to mom or surgeons or doctors.

I guess the best case scenario, at this point, is that Granny is able to live pain-free for as long as possible - whether it will be in a home or at home with my mom and dad has not been determined yet. Worst case... well, everything and anything besides what I just said was the best case.

Sick Granny, Sick Laptop, Sick iPhone, Sick AC Adapter... ARGH!

I've just about had it with computer problems in my house. Kelsey got a super-nasty virus and I've been battling it since the week before she went back to her dad's. I'm about to throw in the towel and post up a cry for help on one of the many tech forums I have visited in my quest to rid her computer of this problem. Will's AC adapter for his iBook is dead. I've had that laptop for nearly five years and never had an issue. He has it for less than five weeks and it's already in need of repair. Thankfully, the problem is just the cable/cord/plug and is a somewhat inexpensive fix. Hopefully Will has learned his lesson and will no longer use the power cord as a jump rope. Lastly, Will's iPhone was acting up the a few days after he got it. I deleted his non-core apps and that fixed it. At least that problem was simple.

More importantly, Granny is still in the hospital. She tested negative for CDiff and that's awesome news. Her blood count is still low and her body is fighting some sort of infection. And there is still blood in her stool. She is getting scoped at both ends tomorrow so we should know something very, very soon.

The best case scenario is this: She gets better, goes to a home of some type, falls in love with it, and lives the rest of her days happy and healthy. Worst case scenario... well, if she has something terminal and the prognosis is nothing more than a few weeks - that would be very, very bad.

Keep your fingers crossed (for Granny and for Kelsey's laptop)!

Granny is in the hospital

Granny had another accident this morning. She made a mess in the bed and on the floor. Mom was cleaning it up while Dad's friend was over. Afterwards, Granny fell again. This time mom and dad called the ambulance and had her taken to the hospital. My mom's sisters came over immediately (hell, my aunt from Shelbyville beat the ambulance to their house). Jooj and I waited until some of the dust settled and headed over there before and after dinner. She was doped up on morphine and didn't look good. I woke her up with a kiss to the forehead and she told me that my hair looked nice :)

Soooo, I suppose that Granny will be placed in a home after all of this is over. A social worker is coming to discuss options with the sisters later. RIght now, we have to get Granny back on her feet. She is suffering from anemia and also suffered a compression fracture in her back after a fall last week. She didn't let anyone know that she was in pain, that sly fox. They are readying a blood transfusion for her in case her blood count dips any lower. They have also found blood in her stool. We don't know what that means yet but that fact is fueling mom's suspicions that Granny is suffering from colon cancer and has been for some time. I sure hope not. Her legs and feet are swollen from congenital heart failure... her poor legs are actually seeping fluid.

I know that everyone needed to get their rest and had to go to their respective homes tonight to sleep. But I just hate the thought of Granny spending the night in the hospital without anyone there with her. I can't imagine how scared she might be, with her mental state that it already is in coupled with the fact that she's been doped up all day, if she were to wake up and not realize where she is. I feel so guilty that I'm not doing more for her. It's eating me up.

Christmas, Round 5

Christmas is done. Phase 1 was Sunday at mom and dad's. Phase 2 was Christmas Eve morning with the kids. Everyone had a good one. I got some Star Wars Galactic Heroes Cinema Scenes, a lamp, and the new Lily Allen CD. Phase 3 continued Christmas Eve at Mimi and Poppy's. It was frenzy of yule tide merriment. Phase 4 was lunch at mom's with her side of the family. Granny had some more "trouble" but Georgia scored a few bonus points by rushing over and taking care of the problem. We cut out and Jooj squeezed in a nap before Phase 5 at her aunt Jeanie's. We just got back and it was a blast. My feet are killing me and I have a bloated stomach from all the food and Guiness. Delicious!

I love this time of year.

Christmas, Round 1

We celebrated Christmas today at Mom and Dad's. Melisss and her fam were there along with my fam. We opened gifts first. It was Luke's first Christmas and Emma's first where she kind of knew what was going on (but still kind of freaked out by all of the hoopla). Jooj and I both got gift cards for Home Depot (a gas-powered blower and gas-powered edger are as good as ours). Kelsey got a drawing tablet for her computer and a set of specialty markers that she's wanted. Will got two Wii games as well as the two seasons of the Clone Wars (the Genndy Tartakovsky ones that kicked all kinds of ass). Emma and Luke loaded up. Mom got her baseball ticket thing that will let her watch as much baseball as she can possibly fit in. Dad got a new flag, the new AC/DC CD, and a gift card for Ear X-tacy. It was a good haul overall.

But this Christmas had a bittersweet tone to it. Granny's health has been in an accelerating decline and it is pretty evident that this will be the last Christmas with her. I hear stories from Mom and Dad how this or that and it makes me sad. Today I was around for several instances of the evidence that she is really losing it. It was sad. I just hope that my mind and body go at the same time. I'm not scared of death - and I haven't been for some time - but I *am* scared of living life well past my time. I don't wish Granny to not be with us... I just wish the situation were better.

I love you Granny!!!

The big announcement (UPDATED)

Spike TV's Video Game Awards show is in 1 hour. I normally wouldn't care. I mean, I'd watch it if I thought about it and nothing else was going on. But tonight, I'm going to be glued to it. Why? I'm glad you asked (er, rather, I'm glad I postulated the question in my monologue).

Tonight LucasArts is going to announce the next Star Wars video game title. Well, more importantly, they are going to announce what the next game is going to be. There is heavy speculation that the game will be called "Star Wars: Legends" already, based on patent and copyright papers filed some time ago. But what is unclear, and the object of my interest, is what kind of game it will be.

Will and I both love the Star Wars: Battlefront game series. I don't know how many, but I do know that he and I have logged some *serious* time playing each of the first two - even before Jooj and I met I had put in some heavy-duty time. So we both have our fingers crossed for that.

Some have suggested a new X-wing game. Or maybe a new TIE fighter game. Maybe it will be a sequel to the popular Force Unleashed game. Who knows? (well, I mean, besides the whole world in an hour and some change)

UPDATE: The game will be Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Hmm... weak. The trailer was kind of cool. But I didn't play the first. Will blew through it. It looked like a button-masher. Will and I are both disappointed but we'll survive.

Mostly better... (and Secret Santa)

Sheesh, I'm doing my best to beat back this illness but I am still struggling with lingering effects. I'm still light-headed and I still don't feel my energy level has returned to normal. I have the company holiday cocktail party tonight and have been looking forward to it but I'm totally rethinking whether or not I should imbibe any drinkies.

I signed up for Secret Santa at work. I filled out my form and turned it in. Then I went back downstairs and rummaged through the "hat". I picked my own name! Teehee! I put it back, rifled through the group, and pulled another name. I picked myself again!!! What are the odds? Finally, on my third attempt, I picked... the CEO! D'oh!

Still sick (you will be missed, Rhonda)

Man, I'm having trouble shaking this illness. Hopefully, I'll get a good night sleep (after watching the Vikings win, of course) and knock the crap out of whatever is left of this nasty bug.

Due to my illness I was unable to pay my respects to Rhonda O'neil. She was Ross' mom and a fellow room parent with me this year and last. She passed away Wednesday morning after battling complications after going to the hospital for a separated shoulder. I don't even know what got her - I've heard H1N1 as well as staff infection so I don't really know. All I do know is that she was a force to be reckoned with when it came to pleasing those kids and she will be dearly missed. I only wish the best after such a terrible tragedy for her family.

St. Nick Ultimate Fighter Marathon

The morning started off with a bang. It's St. Nick day. Or whatever... the wife and kids convinced me that they got to open a Christmas gift. Sure, whatever :) Kels got a pair of boots that she's wanted. Will opened his big gift (big as in "size") and got a very large critter cage. We set it up and had a great time. But then I ran out of gas and realized that I'm still sick.

So I took my place on the couch and cozied up with the Ultimate Fighter Season 10 marathon. I've watched the entire season today. And you are not going to believe this, but Jooj has been watching about the last 6 hours with me. Fancy that :)

I hope I start feeling better soon. I need to go back to work on Monday. Mom called today and said that dad is still sick. Sheesh, we need to stop hanging around Melissa's kiddos and cross-contanimating each other :D

Sick

I"m sick. I was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. I think that's doctor-speak for "sick".

I want to type more but I'm tired. I'll give my account of my recent "adventure" with the GE charcoal filter once the saga concludes. And I will also dedicate an upcoming post to the memory of Rhonda O'neil.

Maybe I'm a UofL football fan again

Hasta la vista, Coach Kragthorpe! Please let the door hit your ass on the way out...

"Were you looking for season one?" (Black Friday highlights)

Woke up at 7AM this morning and was ready to go. I had a list of movies and other things we wanted to get. Last year we waited until about 8:30am and most of the things were pretty well picked over.

We started out at Best Buy. It was crazy. People were everywhere. The line, we discovered, wrapped around different aisles before you could check out. We waited, as if waiting for a ride in an amusement park, to check out for 30 minutes. It was insane. We got everything on our list as well as a few other movies and a drawing tablet for Kelsey. Total saved: $90.

We then headed over to Target. It wasn't nearly as bad as Best Buy. The only thing I needed here was a Mr. Coffee for $29 and Seasons 1 and 2 of "Flight of the Conchords" for $8.99 each. We headed to the movies and, alas, they were sold out. We managed to get the Mr. Coffee and picked out a few more things. Then I thought I might sneak back over to the cardboard movie bins and check again. I didn't see anything. Then I overheard some little grrrl complaining about how they only had Season 2. I followed her voice and found Season 2. I told her that they were all sold out in the back so this may be all they had. I walked to the cart and then heard in a squeaky voice, "Were you looking for season one?" I turned and it was the grrrl waving season 1 at me. I can't recall the face I made but I'm sure it was embarrassing. Total saved: $55.98.

After that we went to Home Depot to buy some cute little trees. From there we headed to Oxmoor. I had visited the Apple Store a few days prior and found online that the Apple store was offering $101 off every computer in the store. I walked in and soon walked out with a brand new, top of the line, 15-inch Mac Book Pro. RULES!!!

We hit up Gap next. Then somehow talked ourselves into going to Wal-mart (and struck out). We came home, ate a turkey sandwich from Pat's leftovers (thanks man), and then headed back out. We went to Feeder's and struck out. We headed over to another Home Depot and got two more cute trees. Then we headed to Feeder's downtown and hit the jackpot. Will.i.am and two bearded dragons named Percy and Panda are going to have a very merry Christmas.

We came home, wrapped stuff up, put up the tree, took a nap, and now I'm playing with my new toy. We're heading out to dinner with Jed and Vian tonight. Can't wait!

A Real Spoiler

I like to talk trash in FFL but my team has been in horrible shape this year. How is it that I get stuck with duds when another guy manages to score Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, and Ronnie Brown? Anyway, with three games to go and only inter-divisional play left, I am finally leading my division with a record of 6-4-1. Not glamorous, but it's done the job.

This was an open letter to my FFL league. Just thought I'd share...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Real Spoiler

Some of you are at the top of your game and have nearly locked your division. Some of you are still holding out hope. One of you is still gunning for your first win. Some of you fancy yourself spoilers maybe.

Let me tell you something about spoiling. A real spoiler is someone who takes a team with the worst point-producing, first-round draft pick and makes the team work. A real spoiler is someone who picks up another man's trash and watches that player top the stats for his position (thanks for the TE Eckel). A real spoiler picks up a player from the waiver wire and watches him top the stats for his position too (okay, fine Morton, we're both tied for the lead at Kicker). A real spoiler takes his team of 7th ranked Passing, 8th ranked Rushing, and 8th ranked Receiving and muscles his way to lead his division. A real spoiler simply spoils, robbing a much needed win from a division contender when it really counts (sorry Ted, no Neti Pot is going to save you on this one).

Gentlemen, I have clawed my way through this season without stud RBs or flashy WRs. I've done it with good coaching moves, good waiver-wire pick-ups, and a little bit of luck (49ers DST scoring 45 points that one week didn't hurt either). I'm done with you other divisions (for now - see you in the post-season) and plan on spoiling it for the rest of mine. As your wives already know, once I get on top I stay there until the job is done!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

No ma'am, I do not *need* a new computer

Jooj likes to tell me what I need to do. So when I brought up my 12-year old, inoperable G3 Mac (still running OS 9, thank you) from the basement, Jooj took the opportunity to tell me that *needed* a new computer and that I was going to get a new laptop. You know what? That's fine and all, but I, like the US military (or at least the actors *playing* them in the movie Black Hawk Down), leave no man behind. I bought this G3 used, with its cracked Bondi Blue case, and it has proven its worth time and time again. It is still the main computer I use in my studio to project the images that I paint by. And it's still good to fire up a classic arcade game via MacMAME. So while a visit to the Mac Store and a purchase of a shiny new Mac may be in my future, not today sister!

I noticed that it turned on, hummed about for a moment, and then turned off. I turned it on again and it did the same thing. Then it stopped doing anything. I thought that the power button wasn't springing back into place so it may just be a problem with the switch. I popped her open and had a look.

The casing housing the switch was locked in pretty tight. I grabbed a screwdriver and, after quickly thinking to myself "I can't hurt it anymore than it already is," pried the casing open. I quickly figured out which tiny button was the power and manually punched it. The machine hummed to life (lurched is probably more precise) and kept at it. So my switch it busted but now I know how to turn my machine on (in the event that I have to power it down, which happens from time to time).

And yes, I'll be going to the Mac Store soon, Jooj. Just not today.

"The first rule of Fight Club is..."

I just want to take a moment and wish the movie Fight Club a very happy 10th birthday. This movie is one of my top five favorites and is probably ranked #2 right under The Big Lebowski. The movie came out during a time in my life when I needed the kick in the ass that the message of the movie delivered. I need to buckle down and read the book. I know I'd love it.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off. " -- Tyler Durden

"Gravity-y-y-y-y-yyy on me, Never let me down, Gently"

I've been reading over my blog posts over the last month or so and I'll be the first to point out that I've lost a little of my zing. I think I was suffering a little mixture of anxiety and stress. I was stressed from going a little longer than I wanted to without a job while watching those numbers in our budget slide downward. I was also dealing with the anxiety of the possibility of none, one, or two job offers that I was hoping were going to be slapped on the table. It all worked out in the end but things were kind of rocky in my head.

And then once I got the job I've been hard at work. Really hard. Head down, nose-to-the-grind hard. Not stay-late, burn-the-candle-at-both-ends hard. But hard enough to drain the wacky, creative, off-the-wall (have I hyphenated enough in this paragraph?) juices out of my posts.

For that, I apologize to my loyal reader(s) and to my future self who goes back to read these (and to the future editor of my memoirs for when you write them after I get mega-famous for doing whatever it is that gets my name in the history books). But I promise to being wackier, creativier, off-the-wall-ier, and zingier.

For example, I've been doing a lot of yard work. And while doing yard work I've been listening to a lot of music, old and new. I came across the quote from the Gorillaz first album and thought to myself, "How true!"

Gravity *never* lets anyone down gently :)

First paycheck!

I earned my first paycheck since August yesterday. W00t! Jooj and I celebrated by eating a nice dinner and getting our drink on at Dundee Tavern KT's (Dundee was too packed). We came home and I attempted to get her hooked on Eddie Izzard's "Dress to Kill". She liked it, but we had to turn it off before getting too far into it (her white zin hit a little hard).

We further celebrated our new source of income by shopping for 4 ours. A little of it was our weekly errands (we love you Target). A little of it was early Christmas stuff (this is going to be a good year). And a little of it was just for fun (Gap jeans fit my waist so well).

Yard work tomorrow. And painting. And grocery store. And... FOOTBALL!!! Woohoo!

Kelsey was behind the wheel

And I must say this first: I was quite impressed. We drove around parking lots for 45 minutes before she took to side streets for another 15. She did fantastic. I was so proud and impressed. She did almost hit a biker, but hey, who hasn't almost hit a biker or pedestrian?

You? No? How about you? No? You? You neither? Okay, well, maybe nearly hitting bikers isn't as common as I thought. Ms. Kentucky? Ah, winner!!!

Happy Birthday, Will.i.am!

It's Will.i.am's (my Will, not Black Eyed Peas Will... er, hell, maybe his his too) birthday today and the big man turns 13. Thirteen. THIRTEEN!!!

Wow, what a great age. I wish him a good one and many, man more good ones to follow.

Behind Door #3 is... A BRAND NEW CAR!!!

We opted for what was behind door number 3 today - kind of. Jooj had been talking about getting a new (new as in "used") car for a few weeks. With Kelsey turning 16 and my work schedule we knew that we wouldn't be able to rely on the Jeep. I feared that my time with the Jeep was winding down and I was sad, but also excited about the thought of a new car.

Well, Jooj found a red Honda Civic online that she liked and we went to check it out today. It was a 2-door 2004 EX - very sporty and a little flashy. It had 55K miles on it, rode well, and was in our price range. After the test drive I asked the dude to take us inside and go over some paperwork. We did.

But then we hit a snag (don't worry, it turns out well). Another person was already "in the back" getting her financing straightened out for THE VERY SAME CAR! We had every right to just walk away. But the sales dude really wanted a new pair of shoes so he cut us a deal. He offered another 2004 Civic EX - gray, 4-door, and with just 33K miles... for right about $1000 more than what we were going to pay for the first car (a substantial discount from the sticker price).

We considered it. We test drove. We went inside. We did some paperwork. We opted for what was behind door #3. And we walked away with Jooj's new car!

And the best part of this story? Well, besides Jooj getting her little Civic, I not only get to share the CR-V with Kelsey (so I kind of get a new car) but I also get to keep my beloved (piece of sh!t) Jeep! Life is good.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

First week at Genscape

So I finished my first week at Genscape and I'm loving it. I think my coding skills rusted a bit over the last two years as the projects dried up at ServicePower. I've hit the ground running at Genscape and am so invigorated to be working on new, exciting stuff. I find their product to be so darn interesting. And the project I'm working on will have have an impact that can be noticed - not just another cog in some lumbering webapp. I'm going to love working for the R&D department. I really love going into work (and even enduring the drive downtown).

Genscape is such a great place. The office is hip and modern. The people there are either young, energetic, or young and energetic. It feels like a start-up but has the financial backing to not have to worry about being a start-up :) I have two monitors (one is just so early-2000s). I love the team that I'm on (Dev) as well as the team that I work with (R&D). We have a kick-ass kitchen. Lunch is catered/ordered in on Fridays. We have a candy drawer and a beer fridge (and holy shit, the beer fridge has one of my old incuBusiness magnets on it!!!!!!111!!!one!!11!!!!). We have an office dog named Buzz. I mean, sheesh, this is what the modern office environment should be.

Today we actually didn't order out but instead had a pot luck luncheon. I knew there were some vegetarians in the office (and assumed a few more lurked about) so I whipped out my Spicy Spinach & Black Bean Lasagna. It was a hit! And the rest of the vittles were top-notch. It was so good.

And I learned a very important thing today. I didn't have a way to heat up my casserole dish but the receptionist (Amy, the owner of Buzz) showed me a trick of placing the dish on the griddle. It worked like a charm!!!

Tomorrow's post will be a bit more somber though... an ode to the Jeep, who's 12-year relationship with me may be drawing to a close...

Proud of Kelsey

My baby grrrl has her driver's permit now. Yay! Now I can put her behind the wheel and it won't be illegal :)

She also played with charcoals for the first time and her sketch is rockin'! I'm so proud of her!!!

I'm still lovin' the new job. I'm working on some exciting stuff.

I'm *really* looking forward to falling back an hour this weekend. I know that it means less sunlight but that extra hour of sleep sounds delectable right about now :)

Being employed rules!

That is all.

The day after

Wow, the party last night was slammin'! And I learned one valuable lesson last night. I will never throw another party without the magic of karaoke. It was a hit. I had so much with it (and some would argue that I was a hit). I really enjoyed singing and performing. At times I would pick up the mic, start up a song in an empty room, and finish to roaring applause. Man, it felt great!

Everything else was great too. Will had his friends. Kelsey had her friends. We had some great friends and family show up and I appreciate everyone who made it out. We look forward to celebrating our 9th annual party next year!

In other news...

* I start my new job tomorrow. I am so happy to be rejoining the ranks of the employed. And I'm tickled to be working where I am. More on that after I get a few days under my belt.

* I hate the new CNN.com. I'm not a fan of the layout but I can get over it. What I can't forgive is the fact that they have completely removed their Science section. It is as extinct as the dinosaurs. So sad. Their science coverage has been going downhill for some time but this is probably what will cause me to switch my online news source.

* Why are the Giants trying to run the ball against the Cardinals' 1st ranked running defense while Eli is simply not tossing the ball nearly enough against their 31st ranked (that's second to last for you non-NFL peeps) passing defense? Sheesh! Vikings lost... boo!

I hurt

I skated over the weekend and I hurt. I removed the over-the-range microwave tonight (after my second attempt) and I hurt. That silly Wii Fit has me stressing about my weight so I've killed my abs with Super Hula-Hoop and I hurt.

The Halloween party is approaching and there is still so much to do. This aching back can't slow me down! I simply won't allow it!

Had lunch today with a good portion of the team(s) I'll be working with at my new job. I'm so stoked... I really can't wait 'til Monday. A new chapter is about to begin...

Hate to see you go, Dave :(

I got an email yesterday informing me that Dave Minors passed away after a fast, unexpected illness. I had worked with Dave during my time at ServicePower. He and Earl were the "two old guys" that would call me up from time to time - sometimes to ask a favor, sometimes to have a favor asked of them from me, and sometimes just to shoot the shit. Dave was no Spring chicken, but he also wasn't the oldest dog on the block either. I am quite shocked and very saddened to hear of his passing.

I just don't have much else to say on the matter. I'm sure his family is devastated by the loss and I wish them the best.

Go to Hell, Wii Fit!!!

We picked up the Wii Fit Plus last night at the new super-duper Target. Jooj had wanted it for a while. She is excited to check out its yoga offering. She hinted at getting it for her some time ago but it was hard to find and then the jobless thing and yadda yadda yadda.

So anyway, I set it up for her today. During setup, it goes on and on about posture and health and blah blah blah. I put in my birth date. I put in my height. Then it measured my BMI... and came back with 26%. WHOAH! Still reeling from that "comfortable" number, it then had the audacity to tell me that I'm overweight. Maybe... but... but, you know... that may just be a matter of opinion, man! Without even giving me time to recover from that the Wii then informs me that an ideal weight for my height is 148 lbs. What?!?!?! Are you crazy, Wii Fit? Have you lost your silicon mind? I haven't weighed that since high school!

At this point, I'm a little concerned. Jooj wanted this thing so she could play around with some yoga moves. She doesn't know that this weigh in/BMI/computer criticism is part of the program. I'm not sure this is going to fly. You may think that I'm joking but there may be a greater than average possibility that this Wii Fit Plus unit will be bagged up and back on Target's shelf by sundown!

Job Offer

I will circumvent any smart-ass or cute comments and cut right to the chase. I got a job offer today and I'm going to take it. It was at one of the two places where I interviewed a couple of weeks ago and I am quite pleased with entire package. Jooj is on her way home and I have to take a shower so we can go out and celebrate (she's THE BEST!).

I'll have more details later. And while on the subject, I just wanted to let everyone know that my brother-in-law got a job too. It's not an ideal position but at least we're both out of the ranks of the unemployed!

(Oh, don't you worry, "The Man"... I'll still be filing on Thursday and expecting my check on Saturday. You and I aren't finished quite yet!)

The list

The wife left this morning for work while I "enjoyed" another day of unemployment. Some days are easier than others. I try to keep myself busy - even if it is with stuff that, in the grand scheme of things, isn't really all that important.

When she was leaving she asked if I could pick up her medicine form the pharmacy. I told her I could. She also asked me to mop the floor where Will spilled a Sprite. I told her I could do that as well. She then asked if she needed to write these tasks down. I said something like, "What, make a list with two things on it? I don't think I need a list for that, honey."

Well, guess who has two thumbs and didn't do either of the two things that my wife didn't put on a theoretical list? That's right... this guy!

They did it!

Remember that half-crazed blog post I had a while back about NASA's LCROSS project? Well, they did it. They smashed a big hunk of junk into the moon and then measured the dust-up with another hunk of junk as it smashed into the moon. Ain't science fun?

I'm snarky and don't feel well. I have a cold and the weather is crap. I'm also still a little upset from yesterday's Stormtrooper debacle. Not to mention I have BYE week headaches going on right now in FFL and a dicey QB issue. I won't go into it. Yeah, actually, I will...

My main man, Phillip Rivers, is on a BYE this week. I wasn't even remotely worried about it because his backup is Eli Manning. But ol' Eli pulled up gimpy last week and has some sort of injury that sounds like a cross between an STD and leprosy. So I went looking for a backup to my backup. Corell Buckhalter is injured and just riding pine anyway so I unloaded him for Derek Anderson. Oh, but Derek's main receiver, Braylon Edwards, was traded to the Jets THAT DAY. So I drop him and pick up Seneca Wallace. He's done well enough for the Seahawks while Hasselbeck recovers from his busted rib. D'oh, guess whose rib isn't busted anymore? So I dropped Wallace and pick up Trent Edwards. He's been sucking for the Bills for two straight weeks. Maybe he is due? Maybe I'm desperate? We shall see...

Stormtrooper down

I went upstairs today and found one of my Star Wars stormtrooper statuettes on the ground. It happens from time to time due to house rattles, earth tremors, slammed doors, and feline escapades (normally due to the latter). What I was horrified to find was his foot laying separate from his body. Oh no!

Yep, he was broken. I won't say how much I spent on him (it probably isn't as much as you think... hopefully) but it is no longer available - and made only in Japan - so I don't think I'll be finding a replacement. It's a shame because he was one of my favorite pieces.

Well, guess I'll get the modeling glue out and see what I can do...

This and that

Got a call yesterday. Didn't get the one job. It was the one that I wasn't terribly excited about. I want to say that I am upset since I have only one active possibility at the moment but I'm not. This job was a little weak and, while comfortable, wasn't going to be exciting. I took a look at jobs posted this week in case nothing happens with the other prospect and there is nothing new. Zilch.

FFL is really rolling. My division took in 3 wins yesterday (the guy who lost didn't start a QB or a RB and still almost won). San Francisco's DST gained 43 points. Holy mackerel, that's a lot of points for any given player! And nearly unfathomable for any position other than elite QB or RB. Way to go coach (pats self on back).

Met up with Jim, Pat, Jeremy, and dad last night at Gerstle's to watch the Vikings more or less dominate the Packers. And speaking of Packers, the place was PACKED! We posted up by the door and stood for three hours while we watched the game. At least we had a railing to lean on. Go Vikes!

Torn

Had a great interview today. I'm so torn between my two prospective job possibilities. It's going to be very difficult to determine which is better for me, my family, and my career. I should be thankful since there is a very real possibility that I may have not just one, but two job offers (I think... I hope). I can't get ahead of myself and I refuse to worry about what comes next until I actually have an offer in my hand. Once I do, I can pressure the other possibility to show their cards. After that I can move forward... and get back on the job wagon!

Rapid Development

I'm watching a webinar on the WebSmart IDE for WebSmart ILE. It's a slick piece of work but the webinar is kind of boring. A term the presenter used was "rapid development" to describe the speed by which pages can be built. I started to liken the term to the goings-on in my world right now.

I have a second interview today. I am watching this webinar just for that. After that interview I am meeting with the owner of the Louisville magazine Food & Dining. I am going to paint some pieces for him and maybe talk with him about some ad and/or web work. Exciting, huh? It gets better.

I had a phone interview last night with another company and it went really, really well. This company is at the top of my list of desired future employers. I don't want to say who it is and fear I'll jinx it if I do. I know - silly me. They called this morning and want to sit down with me on Friday. Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!

So for now, I have to snap back to reality and get my head back onto today's interview. I'm watching this webinar and I'm trying to care but it is getting tough. I don't want to assume that I'll get the job that I'm interviewing for on Friday (hell, I shouldn't get ahead of myself and assume that I'll get the one for today either) but I'm so psyched that it is overshadowing what I need to do for today.

Whew, other than that things are still in "rapid development". I installed three pieces for Toast on Market in New Albany and have one more to finish. The guy I'm talking with today wants four and will barter some of the price with exposure in his mag. That sounds pretty cool!

Will had a blast climbing Saturday night and is looking forward to getting back. It looked like fun and made me consider getting up off the ground again. My palms still sweat when I think about it (for those of you who don't know, I broke my back in 1995 after a climbing accident). Kelsey and I want to check out "Zombieland" that is coming out this weekend. We both LOVE zombie movies. Jooj has the day off on Friday and we're going shopping!

Too much

Argh! I hate it when I don't blog for a few days and then so much happens I can't seem to make a coherent entry. Grrr!

Had an interview. Made a great impression. Got mad at Kels for her grades. Maybe didn't need to. Got mad at Will for his grades (a rare thing these days). Baby Luke is doing well. Got busted being an overprotective dad. Thank gawd the busting was done by Jooj and not Kels. Am favored to win this week in FFL by 52 points. I have favorable match-ups across the board so I should. Watched the movie "Slither" and had a blast doing it. Going rock climbing with Will tomorrow. Played "Halo: ODST" with him today. It rocks! Busy painting Toast pieces. Lexi is recovering from her surgery. Her ovaries were so tiny and hiding behind her kidneys :( Dad may have had a seizure tonight... definitely had an "episode". Granny had something happen to her tonight too. She's suffering micro-strokes... and may have had one tonight. Oh, Granny...

I'm an uncle (again)!

William Lucas Galloway was born at 9:30 tonight. He weighs in at 7 lbs. 9 oz. and measures 21 inches. In my heart I just knew he was going to be a boy. Hang in there, little man - I'll be there in the morning with an outfit and a blanket as soon as I can. Star Wars figures come later :)

Yay!

Big Week Two

FFL is about 60 minutes from starting and I have a dilemma. Do I start Phillip Rivers, my stud QB, against the hardened Ravens or Brett Favre, a definite wild-card, against the porous Lions defense? Decisions, decisions.

I'm making a calculated risk in benching the Jest DST against the Patriots in favor of the Redskins DST against the horrible Rams offense. I had picked up the Broncos DST shortly to go up against the Browns (who scored their first TD in 7 straight games just last week). The deciding factor in that decision was that the Redskins will be at home... and maybe that is what will be the final factor in my QB issue. Favre is at Detroit, Rivers is at home.

It was also a no-brainer to bench Kevin Smith against the staunch Vikings defense. I just hope his replacement, Ahmad Bradshaw, does *something* against the Cowboys (I *hate* the Cowboys).

My first three and last three games of the season are against teams in my own division so these games mean more down the stretch as the season goes on. Wish me luck!

Regardless, GO VIKINGS!!!!

Busy day!

I woke up this morning to find that I lost my first FFL game last night by 4 points. Grrr! I do take some solace in the fact that I could have only tied him if I had maximized the points on my bench (but why would I have benched Matt Forte???). I had my weekly Tuesday lunch with mom and Granny. Georgia joined us. Got a call from Melissa that she thought she was about to have her baby. Woohoo! I came home and found that Issue 16 for City of Heroes has been deployed. I can't wait to play around with it. I had a phone interview at 2 o'clock. And then I got a call from someone who was only laughing on the other end. IT WAS JED!!! The desert man is home - for good. Whew, all of this and the day is only half over :)

The Hyksos

The Hyksos (pronounced hik-sohs) were an ancient people that ruled Egypt for roughly 200 years between 1700 BC and 1500 BC. Much of their history was destroyed by the Egyptian historians after the Egyptian rulers retook power and expelled the Hyksos people. Egyptian history tells us that the Hyksos invaded Egypt and sacked and razed towns. But evidence for that claim simply does not exist. There are no old battlefields nor remains of large battles. Instead, many believe that the Hyksos simply migrated their way into power. Egypt was weak at the time, battling famine and plague, and the Hyksos were migrating at an alarming rate. The Hyksos were a collection of traders, doctors, accountants, artisans, farmers, mercenaries, lawyers, and skilled workers. There were a Semitic people, possibly Hittites or Canaanites. While it is true that they introduced better axes and bows to the Egyptian military, along with introducing the horse-drawn chariot to the battlefield, it is not clear whether or not they actually used them to gain power. It is becoming more accepted that the Hyksos simply married their way into powerful positions and claimed power through popularity of the masses. While the Egyptian rulers eventually expelled the Hyksos, the benefits of their culture helped advance Egyptian society. Besides the aforementioned advancements in military technology, the Hyksos were responsible for introducing the hump-back cow as well as new crops and fruits. They also preserved key Egyptian texts by recording them (there were, after all, lawyers and accountants among them).

There is no reason I should know this. But since Will is doing his class project on the Hyksos, I do.

September 11th

Do you remember where you were eight years ago today? I do. I was sitting in Texas, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life, watching it go nowhere that I really wanted, and wondering how in the world I had taken so many wrong turns. I woke up and attempted to log onto CNN.com. The site was overloaded and I thought that to be pretty odd. Then my friend Bernie called and told us that a single-engine plane had collided with the one of the World Trade Center towers. We turned on the television and didn't turn it off. Speculation grew that the plane was something much bigger. The second plane hit. The first plane was certainly not an accident at this point. Surely an attack. The Pentagon was hit. Was the White House next? All planes were immediately forced to land. Eight flights were missing. Nothing seemed safe. The towers came down. I was shocked, scared, and very angry. Sadness would come later - much later.

As Captain James T. Kirk stated in Wrath of Khan, "How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life..." So to honor this quote, I'm going to balance the sadness that may be attached to this day with some thoughts about life.

Today was a good day. The cats have a new (used) cat tower. The grass is mowed. The plants are watered. The baby fish in the pond are growing. Will has some new shoes and experienced White Castle sliders for the first time. Jed is back in town. Kelsey did well on her Algebra test. Time keeps on slipping (slipping) into the future...

9

I took the kids to go see 9 today. It was opening day (9/9/09... get it?) and we've been talking about it for a while. I think that Capone, a reviewer for aintitcool.com, summed it up best with the following statement...

"Capone gives Shane Acker's 9 a 3 for story, 8 for voice acting, and 10 for visuals!!!"

The visuals were truly stunning. I know that it was all computer generated. But more times than not I was believing that I was watching stop-motion. And a few times even I forgot that what I was seeing on screen wasn't real to begin with. The voice acting was spot on. That is something that is sometimes overlooked, forced, or simply miscast in animated adventures. And the story was alright. It felt like I'd seen something similar in any number of end-of-the-world anime over the years. The ending was down-right horrid, but in a feel-good, corny, dorky, sappy kind of way. I wonder if the ending was the director's original or if it was force-fed to him by studio execs.

Either way, I liked the film and would recommend it. The little robot-doll-things were adorable. And the robot-creature-nasties were downright terrifying. This is definitely not something for the little 'uns.

Labor Day recap

* "There is nothing better than beer and chocolate." This was stated by Jooj's mom Mimi at their birthday party at Susu's house. And honestly, I can neither agree nor disagree.

* Pat can sure boil up a low-country feast for the masses! I enjoyed drinking over an over-sized pot full of shrimp, potatoes, sausage, corn, and Louisiana spiciness on Sunday. In fact, I had a blast seeing the whole gang :)

* Had lunch and saw my side of the fam Monday. It sure is nice to have such wonderful families.

* Taking Kels to get her driver's permit today. Wish her luck!

This and that

* Mom is out of the hospital. She did not suffer a heart attack and will go in for more tests later. She passed her stress test and the doctor said that, physically, she's doing just fine. I guess we'll blame it on stress... with Granny's failing mental health and the passing of Cubby and her son *and* son-in-law unemployed she's got a lot on her mind. Oh, and thanks for asking about her Silver :) Hang in there, mommy!

* I'm gearing up to work on the new Toast on Market (New Albany) pieces. I have the canvases stretched and am working on the images.

* New web site! I'm redoing my web site to focus more on my art. I've already started it and want to get it finished before I start a new job. It's going to have a newer, modern look. I'm going to tone down the playfulness and polish it up a bit.

* Jed is coming back from the desert. Last I heard the day was this coming Tuesday. That may have changed but I know it will be soon. It's going to be so nice to have him back.

* I hope everyone has a safe, happy, family-filled, friend-fueled, drama-free Labor Day weekend. If you drink, don't drive. And if you drive, watch out for drunks!

"Something good is going to happen today. I can feel it."

Those were my exact words to my wife in an email to her this morning.

Three hours later I received a call from my mother at the hospital. She was admitted after she drove herself there with chest pains. They discovered an abnormal EKG and are keeping her overnight. They did not find any signs of a heart attack... and that is great news.

So much for my premonition today, eh?

"I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

The line for this entry was spoken by Mugatu, played by Will Farrel, in the movie "Zoolander". But it also explains how I feel right now. And I'm not just talking about stuff in my life. I'm going to take a moment and put my life aside (but Lord knows I have plenty of reason to feel like I'm taking crazy pills for everything that's going on) and talk about something else.

Marvel. Disney.

These two words do not belong together in my opinion. But I read just now that Marvel is considering a deal to be bought by Disney for $4 billion. That's $4,000,000,000. That's a lot of zeros. That's a lot of bags of money. But is it a good move for Marvel?

What will happen to all of my favorite Marvel comic book heroes? Spider-man, Hulk, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Jean Grey, Iceman, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Deadpool, Blade, the Fantastic Four, Ironman, Thor, Ghostrider... the list goes on and on (a total of 5000 characters).

I just don't know what to think. I can't put it together in my head. I can't process such a union. It's weird, man. Weird sh!t.

Check back tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be back to the regularly scheduled drama of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

One of those days...

Mom called roughly around 8AM this morning. The dogs had already woken me at 6:17AM (it's the weekend, guys!) so I was up. She was upset. Cubby, one of the family cats, was seriously ill. Dad is out of town. Her vet wasn't in the office. She couldn't get him in the carrier. There was blood and shit all over the house. She started crying. I told her that I was on my way.

What transpired over the next 2 hours is between Cubby and me, period. There are going to be different versions of what happened. There will be a version for the grandkids. There is the version that I told mom. There is the version that I told Jooj. But what went down... well, what happened happened and Cubby is no longer with us. I loved that cat and remember when he was just a little kitty from the litter from the alley cat, Mama, in dad's garage. I buried him next to Pablo, dad's old alley cat that died from FIV. I will miss him but I am glad to know that he will not have to suffer any longer.

I came home and Jooj checked the mail. There was a particular letter that I've been waiting for... Commonwealth of Kentucky v. NoShow. We opened it up and... I WIN!!!! I'd tell ya what it was for but since it never happened I don't know what you are talking about.

Later in the day I was feeding the fish in the pond and noticed some new "additions". I guess we've had some fish getting busy because we have at least four new little fish. One is a straight up goldfish. One is speckled white and black. Two are very dark in color. There may be more but that is what I saw. They are so tiny and cute. Cool!

So yeah, totally circle of life today with a little judicial spice for flavor.

Proud owner of 250 pinhead crickets

Well, the paintings are hung down on the second floor of ArtSpace next to the Brown Theater. And once I pick the kids up and buy some taco shells (for spaghetti tacos... don't ask) my day is done. I don't even know if I'll be awake for dinner. My head is starting to get that migraine-like pain whenever I move it. Riding in the Jeep is going to be murder.

So on the way home Dad swung by Pets Galore and I picked up 250 pinhead crickets. Why did I buy 250 pinhead crickets? To feed the two new bearded dragons silly!

Will brought home Percy and Panda (short for Perseus and Pandora) on Sunday. We've been feeding them greens up to this point while we waited on my shipment of pinheads. I'm waiting until Will gets home to mess with it but I did manage to sneak 4 crickets in their cage as an appetizer. Bearded dragons 4, crickets 0.

Yeah, and after I get some sleep maybe I'll blog about my horrible experience with the Unemployment Office and how I'm being investigated for fraud. Go ahead and read that last sentence again. So yeah... ain't life grand?

Nearing the end... UPDATED x 5

Physically I'm creaky and sore. Mentally I'm a little scattered. Physiologically, well, I simply don't feel "right". I've been living off of hourly handfuls of peanuts and cashews and washing them down with Mountain Dews. However, progress was made yesterday and I have a plan to finish today. I was thrown off my schedule a bit because I had to go pick up Kelsey from school after she threw up. And I also hit a snafu with the foreground for the Opera piece. But I'll make up for it all today.

Orchestra - Foreground complete; need to finish borders and that's it
Ballet - The ballerina is done (and she looks marvelous); must finish rest of it; paint borders
Opera - No progress from yesterday; instead of brown foreground going with Red Oxide, a brick red
Theater - Traced; Dracula should go quickly and smoothly

My plan is to have all of them finished tonight and ready for delivery in the morning tomorrow. I'm going to start today by painting the edges of each piece and giving them 24 hours to dry.

Whew. Hear I go...

UPDATE #1 - It's 10:11 AM and the borders are done. I'm moving onto Dracula now. I hope to have him done by noon. Black is very easy and quick to apply and he has some of the biggest (i.e. least detailed) shapes that make up his foreground. My plan is then to move onto the ballerina and finish her before 3PM. I'm also relying on the power of old skool rap to get me through the day. I just listed to Redman's Muddy Waters and am now moving onto The Wu-tang Clan's first album. But first, let me grab some nuts...

UPDATE #2 - It's 3:35PM and Dracula is done. It took me longer than I had expected. During the last 6 hours my bro-in-law brought me some paint and I've listened to Wu-tang Clan nonstop. I think I'm starting to overdose on Mountain Dew at this point. But I must persist. Every time I stop to do something my body starts relaxing like it's "quitting time" - and then I have to start moving again.

UPDATE #3 - It's 5:15PM and I have to take a break for dinner. A good majority of the wall and about a third of the floor is done on the Ballet piece. The intricate gate behind her will prove troublesome but I have the gusto to push through it. More to do after dinner...

UPDATE #4 - It's 8:58PM and the Ballet piece is done. My hands are both cramping - my left palm from holding my paint bowl and my right fingers from holding the brush. My stomach feels weird. My scalp feels itchy. I keep hearing faint voices yelling my name. I'm really starting to fall apart but I'm going to dig in and start/finish the opera piece. Since each piece is taking me between 4 to 6 hours I hope to be done with it around 3AMish. It's been a looong day.

UPDATE #5 - It's 5:14AM. I'm done. I'm going to go to sleep for 90 minutes and then start the day :(

Painting Update

I went to bed last night after a rather productive day. Here is where I stand:

Orchestra - About 75% painted and complete
Opera - Tracing complete
Ballet - Tracing complete (and it will be a BITCH to paint)
Theater - Background complete; ready for tracing

And here is the schedule for completion:

Tuesday...
Finish painting Orchestra piece by 10AM
Begin and finish Opera piece by 4PM
Trace Theater piece and be finished by 6PM
Dinner
Paint Ballet piece for 90 minutes and stop at 8:30PM
Paint all borders of all pieces (so they have plenty of time to dry) and be done by 9:30PM

Wednesday...
Paint Ballet and be done by ???
Paint Theater piece after that (it's foreground color is black and is easiest to paint)

It will be a marathon to finish and the first leg is already behind me.

Not worst case scenario... Back on track

So I didn't get the best case scenario but it was far from the worse case scenario. Adjusting the orange-colored canvas did not work. But stretching the red-colored canvas onto the new frame did work. We removed the orange canvas from its frame and then I successfully stretched it onto the new frame this morning. So I'm behind but back on track. As it stands now...

Blue - Traced and ready to be painted
Yellow - Ready to be traced
Orange - Background washes still needed
Red - Background washes still needed

So by the end of today I hope to have the Orchestra piece (blue) nearly complete, the Ballet piece (yellow) traced, and another coat of washes on Theater (red) and Opera (orange).

No time to dilly dally - I gotta go!

Officially on the Verge of Freak Out

I have 4 pieces due by Thursday at the Kentucky Center for the Arts and I'm reaching crunch time. To make matters worse two of the pieces had to be taken off their frames due to warping of the wood. I restretched one of the pieces tonight and I don't like it. The wood is warping on two sides. And I ripped some canvas along the back edges... so doing it again may be out of the question.

Best case scenario: We can mend the braces on the newly stretched piece and salvage it. I successfully stretch the other piece onto a new frame. Move forward at break-neck speed.

Worst case scenario: Messing with the braces doesn't fix the problem. Stretching the other canvas onto the new frame doesn't work either. Two more frames must be built. And then stretched. AND THEN totally repainted. AND THEN NOSHOW GOES BAT-SHIT-FREAK-OUT CRAZY!!!

We'll find out more tomorrow...

FFL - L'ville Hotspurs

I already have football fever. The Favre news pushed me over the edge. I've spent about an hour a day the past week reading up on player news, preseason recaps, and injury reports. The team I drafted was alright but I had to get rid of some older guys and some dead weight (that's right, Willis McGahee, I'm talking about you, sucker!). Meet the 2009-2010 L'ville Hotspurs...

QB - Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers)
RB - Matt Forte (Chicago Bears)
RB - Kevin Smith (Detroit Lions)
WR - Santonio Holmes (Pittsburgh Steelers)
WR - Eddie Royal (Denver Broncos)
WR - Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers)
TE - John Carlson (Seattle Seahawks)
K - Shayne Graham (Cincinnati Bengals)
DST - Jets DST (New York Jets)

And my bench consists of:

QB - Brett Favre (Minnesota Vikings!!!)
QB - Eli Manning (New York Giants)
RB - Ahmad Bradshaw (New York Giants)
RB - Beanie Wells (Arizona Cardinals)
WR - Josh Morgan (San Francisco 49ers)

For the first time since I started playing FFL I have my BYE weeks worked out before the season even begins. And that is a good thing. I'm a little heavy at QB right now but I want to see how Favre and Manning do before dropping either (or possibly trading). I'm also a bit heavy at running back. I feel lucky because Forte and K. Smith are both lone running backs and not part of a 2-man or 3-man RB committee. That's pretty much why McGahee got the boot. Beanie Wells has a banged up ankle and I may drop him at some point, depending upon how well Bradshaw does with the Giants. Josh Morgan is reportedly the favorite in SF so I picked him up. My tight end is just someone I picked up. That position is so worthless and unpredictable most of the time. I dropped my dud kicker and picked up Shayne Graham. He's been good to me in years past. And finally I'm pretty stoked about the Jets defense and special teams. They are ranked highly this year.

There may be some juggling still and I'm sure I'll have to react to injuries but that's what I've got so far. I'd be very happy to win the division this year. I can't set my sights on winning the big game but a man can hope can't he? Go 'Spurs!

Are. You. KIDDING. MEEEEE!?!?!?!

Bret Favre is a Minnesota Viking.

Seriously? Really? I mean, really??? As a long-time Viking fan I really don't know how to think about this.

On the one hand, we seem to have a bit of a QB problem between Jackson and Rosenfel, so the veteran could add a nice oomph to a weaker offensive area. He's old, yes, but he is very experienced as well as intimately familiar with our offense. With Adrian Peterson in the backfield he should have a little less pressure on him. And with some of our talent in the wide out positions he is going to have some pretty nice targets to hit.

On the other hand, well, he is a former Green Bay Packer - a cheesehead - the mortal enemy (along with the Bears) of any Viking fan (and the Detroit Lions don't count 'cause they are awful and the Bucs don't count 'cause they are no longer in our division) living or dead. So the big, unstoppable, I've-beat-the-record-for-most-consecutive-games-played-by-a-longshot Bret Favre is going to be tossing for the men in purple? As my mother put it, "that's like a [Chicago] Cubbie playing for the White Sox." It sure is, mom. It sure is.

On the other other hand, what divine providence to be given the chance to stick it to the Packers with their old, recently-shunned quarterback of old, throwing bomb after bomb into the end zone? Seeing that may actually make me cry with joy!

Monday, October 5th, I will be at Gerstle's watching the Vikings take on the Packers on Monday Night Football while I drink too many beers with my brother-in-law Jim, dad, and any other Viking-faithful that want to join us! Pat, you in?

District 9... what can I say?

The kids and I saw District 9 today. We made an earnest yet last-minute attempt on opening night Friday but it was sold out. We went to the first showing today and the place was packed. Obviously this movie is getting some good word-of-mouth.

I will not give any spoilers away in my recap. The movie, based purely off what can be gleaned from the preview, is about an alien population living among us. Their mothership came to a halt over South Africa over 20 years ago. After we initiated first contact they were found to be malnourished and marooned. We setup a shantytown for the population of 1 million alien refugees outside of Johannesburg. Relations between these aliens, nicknamed "prawns", and their human neighbors is like any other situation you would expect when two people living in close proximity believe each other is different - there is violence and tension. Well, we've decided to relocate the prawns to a new tent town called District 10... and that's how the movie starts out.

The movie started much as I had expected. I knew that parts of the movie were shot to be a documentary. This worked very well. I was completely immersed. The main character, I don't remember his name (for good reason... he's not an actor and has never been in ANYTHING... but the way this guy acted... shit, some "actors" out there should just quit now), is a very unlikeable guy who is put in charge of the relocation program. And you immediately don't like him because he's ignorant, a putz, and a simpleton - and these qualities make him naively innocent in an unforgivable manner. So during the initial stage of the relocation, the eviction notice stage... well, the shit goes down. And the shit never stops going down.

Literally, I never had a chance to catch my breath after things started happening. It was brilliant. The story was full of suspense and action (and social commentary... chock full of it). I could continue with sentence after sentence of kissing this movie's ass. I really could. How about this? I could watch that movie ten more times. Today.

I will have to rearrange my favorite sci-fi films now. This movie falls short of knocking down Aliens but I'm pretty sure it has overtaken Blade Runner. This is sci-fi at its best. If you are even a mild fan, go see this movie now. This movie kicks the shit out of any other summer blockbuster I've seen (sorry Moon, you were creepy and awesome but District 9 is better!).

Marley Died (and other news)

Marley, the infant bearded dragon and newest addition to the family, passed away this afternoon. Will was devastated. Hell, I'm pretty upset too. We buried her in a private ceremony attended by Will and myself, along with Boba and Jack.

In other news...

* My monthly COBRA payment is too high. And to be covered by Jooj is even higher. So I set out to obtain my own personal insurance coverage... and it got denied!!! I'm seeing my doctor on Wednesday to check my cholesterol and straighten out those underwriters!

* I've decided to keep the Jeep and not trade her in for the cash for clunkers program. The fuel line (it turned out to be a 2 inch part instead of the tank or the fuel pump) was fixed and she's going in tomorrow to get that muffler looked at (i.e. "quit down").

* Watched Repo: The Genetic Opera with Kels tonight. Meh, it was alright. It was an awesome story. And the opera angle was very cool. But my point to Kelsey, as to why I didn't like it, was that if you are going to make a movie that is an opera then hire opera singers - not movie stars.

* Going to go see District 9 with the fam tomorrow. I am so stoked. The hype behind this movie is leaving me literally salivating :)

* I'm pretty psyched about my FFL team and am shocked I haven't posted about it. That may be remedied soon...

* I couldn't tell you what I've been doing the last week. I've been busy but I don't know how. Jooj asked me one day, "what did you do all day?", and I couldn't tell her. Time flies by. When I put my mind to it I can get stuff done. But when I'm off-task, like reading articles or playing video games (or blogging), I can waste the day away without even batting an eye.

Enjoying my "unexpected vacation"

Last night was the St. Joseph's orphan's picnic. Man-o-man, those Catholics know how to throw a party... I already knew that. And their summer picnics are events not to missed... this has been well established as well. And finally, out of all of their summer picnic affairs, St. Joseph's orphan's picnic is the biggest and best to be had.

I was a bit bummed to hear that Jooj's parents weren't going to be there. But it was a little too hot for them and that was a pretty good reason to stay home. We also heard that her sister, Susu, wasn't going to be there either. What?! Susu and Jim miss this? Blasphemy! I just knew they would show.

We started off at mom and dad's. My sis and bro-in-law were there along with little Emma. We hung out for a bit as I quietly proceeded to pound beers. They left and the four of us were on our way. The fish sandwiches were good and the fries were crisp and salty. But the bratwursts were on fire! They were so good. If I remember correctly (and maybe I don't, I must admit) I ate two of those bad boys over the course of the night.

Pat and Patrick showed up shortly after we found a spot on a bench (Mimi would be proud). A short while later Susu, Jim, and the newly anointed Margeux (sounds so mysterious and French, oui?) arrived. Beers were buzzing and conversations were going down (er, maybe the other way around... maybe :) The times were good and the heat was easy to ignore with all of the good vibes. Cute little Caroline even showed up (although quickly flitted off with the other youngin's).

I stopped drinking after a while in an attempt to sober up enough to drive home. But I was much too far into my drinking endeavor to pull that off. We walked to mom and dad's and Jooj took the wheel. We arrived safely and I promptly went to bed... another happy, successful, fun-filled picnic beneath our belts :D

As for the layoff, I've taken the news of it rather well. My boss and the HR rep seemed sincerely upset to let me go and I really can't complain about any part of the process. These things happen I suppose. And I've been keeping myself busy since I received word of my unexpected vacation. That's how I'm looking at it, by the way - an unexpected, extended vacation. Now I will have time to finish the pieces for Toast on Market in New Albany, finish the pieces for Kentucky Center for the Arts, work on those icons for that patch to that video game I've been playing for years (Warlords IV), and the list goes on.

Laid off

Well, it just happened. I am employed until the end of the day. And then that's it. Lame.

Kelsey (almost) turns 16

We celebrated Kelsey's 16th birthday yesterday. Her birthday isn't until next week but she's at her dad's. It was an awesome party but I am POOPED!

After the concert Friday night we woke up and started cleaning and cooking. I boiled and marinated 18 pounds of chicken for the party on Sunday. I also put an interesting twist on my Root Beer Baked Beans but substituting RC Cola for the Root Beer. I didn't really like the sweetness from the Root Beer and the RC Cola worked out just fine. Preparations were made and the party was a success.

The weekend was a blur, in fact. Jooj woke me up extra early on Friday and I couldn't fall back asleep, fearing the impending layoff (that never happened... more on that as I get the news). I was up 20 hours before finally crashing at 3:30AM. Saturday was filled with cleaning and cooking. I woke up at 7:30AM Sunday to pick Kelsey up from a lock-in. I've had no chance to catch up on sleep.

So this was supposed to be about Kelsey turning 16 and I've talked all about myself. How rude!

In a nutshell, I'm so proud of her and can't imagine being a step-dad to anybody else! Love you and happy birthday, sweetie!

Green Day in Nashville

Kelsey and I trekked down to Nashville on Friday to see Green Day in concert. I've listened to them throughout the years but don't own any albums. She's a pretty big fan. She was pretty excited which made me pretty excited. And since she's been acting like a typical 15-year old recently we needed some good drama-free bonding time.

We left L'ville with three and a half hours for the trip. Google says it takes 3 hours. I remember it taking more like two and a half. Construction on I65 slowed us down leaving L'ville but we cleared that soon enough. I made her a long-promised mix for her iPod, the "Nashville Super Mega Random Mix", and we were enjoying that.

As we crossed into the Central Time Zone it occurred to me that Nashville was also in CST. Hmm, that meant that the 7:30PM start time was actually going to be an 8:30PM start time for us. That also meant that we had some time to kill. We rolled into Bowling Green, hitting nasty traffic along the way, and finally made it to a Cracker Barrel. It was delicious and we were back on our way.

We hit Nashville at 7:10PM local time and walked into the stadium with about 10 minutes to spare. I was kind of cheap and didn't get the best seats - 3rd deck. We made our way to the top and then couldn't find our seats. The ticket people kept telling us to walk down the hall. The sections were curtained off - even our section. We finally walked all the way around the stadium where there was a little table setup and a line of people. We waited in line and traded our tickets up for 1st deck. The seats turned out to be awesome! First row of the 1st deck! We were still a little far away but I had a railing to prop my feet upon (or so I thought) for the whole show.

The Kaiser Chiefs opened for Green Day and they were alright. They sang one song that I recognized. They weren't on stage for very long. And they were the only openers so I knew the time was drawing near.

Billie Joe, the lead singer for Green Day, took two steps onto the stage and the crowd went wild. Kelsey shot from her seat and took on the posture of a grrrl that wasn't going to sit down for the rest of the night. Nobody else stood and I started getting nervous that someone would say something. I felt like such an old fogy. But then Billie Joe lambasted us for sitting down ("You're not at home watching television! Stand the fuck up!") and I never took my seat again (well, okay, for like 60 seconds on the second-to-last song).

The show was awesome. They played new stuff, but not a set too heavy from their new album. They played the classics. Billie Joe accepted any crowd surfer that made it to him. And some he even sent back with a stage dive blessing. He invited audience members onstage to try and sing along (one kid knew every word but couldn't sing - one grrrl couldn't do much besides giggle). Billie Joe and Tre Cool switched guitar and drums and played a song. They all donned silly hats and played "Shout" with quips of "Earth Angel", "Stand By Me", and "Pretty Woman" between the "little bit softer now" and "little bit louder now" parts of the song. The crowd was really pumped and the band kept us engaged the whole time.

The set ended and I asked Kelsey what she thought they'd play for an encore. They came out and encored alright! They played four songs. And the last two was involved another crowd volunteer. They plucked some lucky kid from the audience to play along. Billie Joe handed him his guitar and told him to watch Tre Cool for the cues. And the kid was spectacular! He played right along like he'd been practicing for it all week.

The band went backstage. The crowd cheered. And the lights stayed dim. After a moment or so Billie Joe came back out and performed two more songs on acoustic guitar. The crowd went wild. The lights came on and the show was over.

The drive back was long and tough. But Kelsey kept us energized with her DJing on her iPod and we rolled into the garage at 3:10AM. Whew!

Today?

Well, it's 7:43 AM and all is quiet. I will post any updates as they occur...

Maybe today isn't the day...

So maybe I'm not getting laid off today. But that isn't to say that it's not going to happen.

I woke up and I checked my direct deposit and it wasn't there. But after making a few calls, sending a few emails, and exchanging a few IMs it was undetermined whether we get paid on the 30th or the 31st. I've worked myself up to the thought of getting "the call" today and will be disappointed if I don't (how odd does that sound?).

But I did find out a rather interesting tip while making my communication rounds. I found out that ten employees from the UK office are being let go on Friday (er, rather, are losing all network privileges effective Monday).

So layoffs are happening. For sure. Will I be on the victim (redemption?) list? We'll have to wait and see...

Marley... the new addition to the family!

Will has a bearded dragon at his father's house named Marlin. He's had him for a few years. His buddy, whose dad breeds bearded dragons, offered to send him home with another one - a female. We've decided to name her Marley.

I've never had a reptile as a pet so I'm relying on Will's expertise. She seems to be doing well. She has a pretty nice setup, thanks to Feeder's Pet Supply. I hope she lives a long and prosperous life.

As for the layoff ('cause you knew I was going to mention it), my best guess is that it will happen Thursday morning. I get paid on the 15th and 30th of each month and Thursday is the 30th. We'll see...

Oh, and Pat, I feel for you. That sucks. And it sucks levels of magnitude more if *other* people managed to earn bonuses and raises :(

"Everybody's rep... will be affected this week."

This is what a client just sent me in an email. Everybody's reputation will be affected this week. It's Go time for him, which means it's Go time for me. I've been working with him for the past 90 or so days getting a tool of his up to speed and working the kinks out for him. He pays us per month about the same as I make per month. So the pressure is on the make things work flawlessly for him this week.

I suppose a lesser man, given the same situation I am in (knowing that an impending layoff is coming in the form of a telephone call to me later this week), would... well, I mean, what kind of loyalty do I actually garner toward a company that is going to end our relationship? What kind of respect can I hold toward a company that has asked so much of me over the last 18 months only to end things like this? What kind of confidence do I have in a company that is laying off so much of their IT folks (I found out today that they are laying off their 2 remaining Infrastructure team members... uh, who is going to babysit your servers and stuff?)? Everybody's rep will be affected this week? So if shit went down what is the worst that would happen? If the user experience was so bad would you actually pull your contract (you know, the one that is worth about as much as I make?)? Does vengeance get any easier? Seriously, could it be any easier to sabotage my soon-to-be-former employer?

These are the questions a lesser man asks himself.

I am not a lesser man.

Unfortunately, the only people that will know this are the people I tell... my wife, my family, and you - the reader. So the next time you ever find yourself asking "What would Eric do?" in a certain situation, you better bet your ass you should know that he'll take the high road.

Why? Why, when this situation is so nicely gift-wrapped and delivered at his feet? Why would I shoot down this opportunity to get back at those who are about to strike at me? It's not right, no, but is what they are doing right?

Well, it doesn't really matter. Because, bottom line, it isn't right. And I am better than the lesser man. I am because I got to be.

Motivation at an all time low this week

How does one generate the gumption to get through the grind? (does that last sentence count as alliteration?) Some weeks are slower than others. Some weeks blow by. Some weeks are bone-crushing, skull-busting, heart valve-blowing bad. Some weeks are cake (with icing!). You've gotta love what you do to stick it out. Fortunately, in most of my work experience, I've really enjoyed the work that I've done.

What about this week? I know that a phone call is coming. When I get that phone call - it will probably be Tim - I will answer it and ready myself for the words that he'll say. He will say something to the affect of, "Eric, we're going to have to let you go." I'm ready for it. I know it's coming.

But how do I motivate myself until that moment hits? Obviously I can close up shop and kiss off this job once I get that call. But what do I do in the meantime? I really can't justify kicking ass and putting yet another 50-hour work week in. I don't see myself staying up 'til 1AM babysitting a process that runs nightly for a third week in a row. I don't see myself waking up earlier than everyone else to get the day started. My daily scrum meeting? What the hell am I going to say? We all know - at least most of us secretly know - that some of us aren't going to be around next week. My boss is out of town this week. What about my support meeting on Tuesday? Hell, I think I can blow that one off.

But if I start blowing stuff off where do I stop? My work ethic tells me that I can't blow anything off. My bitterness tells me that I shouldn't work another hour for those fucks. I'm sure I'll fall somewhere between working a 40-hour week and working a 0-hour week, but where will I fall?

What an odd predicament I'm in. Just waiting now...

Bombs dropped (so much for karma)

Mom called pretty early this morning and dropped a bomb. She told me that Melissa, my pregnant sister, was on her way to the ER after her fifth day of suffering a fever. Fifth?!? Sweetie, at some point you gotta stop putting your faith in those holistic kooks and rely on good ol' science. The wonders of science gave you your first born. Don't turn your back on it now. She's tested negative so far for everything and the baby seems strong and well. She's being tested for swine flu and an infectious disease doctor is going to see her tomorrow. Swine flu? Seriously?

But the day was far from over and the Enola Gay had not yet delivered her payload.

Amid the layoffs and the rotten work load and the working from home (not the mention the fact that something who could/would be in the "know" told me I'd be losing my job soon) and numerous other unmentionable red flags, I have slowly come to realize that my job may be in jeopardy.

Well, Alex, I'll take "Layoffs" for $400.

"This person will be losing his job, most likely later next week."

Do I need to give you my answer now - and do I *really* have to offer it in the form of a question?

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck :(

I did my good deed (and *not* 'cause I want the karma kickback)

The wife and I went to Walgreens tonight, among other errand-running places, to pick up some prescriptions for her. The young lady behind the counter plucked two bags of medication and scanned the first. Then her eye caught something on the computer screen and she went back to the bins and pulled another, larger bag. She scanned that one and tallied up our order... $25.

Okay, by my count, that was three medications but only 2 "beeps" from the scanner. And $25? I knew the eye drops were $20 and figured each of the others were $5 apiece. I asked her, "Did you scan all of them?". She smiled and said that she had.

I paid the total and we walked away. I checked the receipt as we walked down the aisle and I only saw two medications on it. The other, a $5 medication, was missing. I gave my wife a look and went back to the counter. I pointed out the mistake and they made some kind of comment about how honest I was.

I mean, I suppose I am wrong in thinking that people would normally do that. I know one time I got an extra $20 from the ATM machine and I never gave it back. But do I feel bad about that? Seriously, who was I going to give it back to? The bank was closed. I probably pissed it away on pitchers at Wick's or O'shea's. Had a teller miscounted I could turn around and give it back. And I would.

The grrrl seemed so shocked that I bothered to come back.

What an odd little world we live in.

Fantasizing is not cheating on my wife

Well, the above statement is true in at least one sense of the word...

FANTASY FOOTBALL, BABY!!!!!!!1!!!!111!!!!!one!!!!1!!!!11!!!!!!!

I got my annual invite this morning to the private league I've played in for years. The description of the league reads as follows:

"Badasses only!"

The automated draft is on August 2nd, so you already know I'll be posting my roster along with thoughts and predictions. I love FFL. I love it so much. My wife has noted that I stay in a bad mood for a day or so when I lose. I never exhibited that kind of behavior when I actually *played* soccer, so you know...

This news totally makes up for the rotten day I had yesterday. Oh, and I already went out and purchased my copy of Watchmen: Director's Cut this morning. Who watches the Watchmen? Me, sucker!

Fun with Painting!

I invited my niece Caroline over to help Kelsey and me paint the background for the pieces that I'm doing for Center for the Arts. It was just going to be a background that was going to get pretty much washed out but I figured it would be fun for us to do. But she bailed on us (which was a good thing since I had only stretched canvas onto 2 of the massive 60" x 60" frames so far) so Kelsey and I went on without her.

I set up the area - the wall on the other side of the skate ramp. I cleared out anything that didn't need to get splattered with paint. I packed up the Art Cart with all of my paint and rolled it over. I filled jars and buckets with water. I grabbed all of my massive brushes. I had all of my drop cloths. I had paper towels. We had cokes. We had music. We were set.

Kelsey came downstairs. I gave her free reign of the paints. Before I could finish explaining and offer her a brush she was squirting paint on the canvas and then attacking it with her bare hands. She was timid in her use of paint at first but then really started laying it on thick. Paint was flying everywhere. She smeared it on with brush and fingers. Spray bottles were "pffftsh"ing away. She swiped it with her forearm. More paint. Pfftsh. She smeared some more. Even more paint. We turned the piece on its side. Paint. Pfftsh. Paint. She even pulled up her pajama leg and used her feet! She was a machine.

She admitted she never really liked abstract work but, after our painting session, she certainly understood how much fun it can be. It's too bad that all of her hard (and messy) work will be covered up with a bunch of washes.

Caroline, we still have two more pieces... and they (and Kelsey) are waiting for you!!!

Double Shot of Anime

I started the arduous task of stretching canvas over the 60" x 60" frames that dad built last night. To keep me company while I did it I watched a couple of DVDs. I started with the anime classic Fist of the North Star and followed that up with another classic, Ninja Scroll.

There is no way I can pinpoint the moment I fell in love with anime. And it would be equally impossible to determine which feature-length movie was my first. Maybe Akira? That's one helluva way to start a career in lovin' anime. But I digress.

Fist of the North Star was one of the first anime movies I ever saw. It is based off the manga of the same name. The movie is ultra-violent - easily the most violent anime I have ever seen. The animation is below average (or possibly worse than that) by today's standards. The action is over the top and the violence is simply visceral. If you sit through the whole movie without thinking to yourself, "Whoah!", "Gross!", or "Holy Shit!" then you, my friend, have seen too many Saw and Eli Roth movies. Go to therapy now.

Ninja Scroll is an absolute classic. Ninja. Bad ass wandering samurai with his bad ass sword. Ninja. Seven devils of Kimon. Ninja. Tokugawa shogunate spy and wizard. Ninja. Ninja. And more ninja! This anime has it all. It's violent. It's fantastic (meaning, filled with fantasy - although it is also fantastic in the sense that it is a great... oh, hell, you know what I mean). As soon as I started watching it I wondered why I've never shown this to Kelsey (who shares my love of anime) - this is penultimate anime.

And then I realized, I haven't because... It. Is. Pen. Ul. Tim. Ate. ANIME! It's misogynistic. It's chauvinistic. It's brutal. It has copious amounts of nudity. It borders on the perverse. In other words, it's a 15-year old boy's cinematic wet dream but not something I want to share on the couch over popcorn with my daughter quite yet.

It's a genre-defining movie, sharing the top ranks with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Vampire Hunter D, and... aw jeez, I better stop there or I'll just rattle off every title in my collection :)

Moon is a movie everyone should see

It only makes divine sense that I review the movie Moon on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch. Forty years ago today, at exactly this time (9:32 AM EDT), the Saturn 5 rocket carrying the Apollo 11 crew took off. I'm a space junkie - love everything about our space program - and I can't wait to get back to the moon.

So Moon... it's an awesome movie. It is seeing only limited release and is only playing in a small theater ("last theater on the left") at Baxter here in L'ville. Kelsey went with me to see it. I knew it was a bit of a mystery but had read no spoilers. I had only seen the trailer. She went into the movie completely cold.

It's not an alien movie and it's not a summer blockbuster yellin'-explodin'-cgi popcorn machine. The movie takes place in the near future and is about a guy who comprises of a one-man crew at a mining station harvesting Helium-3. When the movie utilizes music it is creepy. The base is worn, yet sterile - desolate yet oddly comfy. Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, the lone human on the mostly-automated station. Kevin Spacey lends his voice acting as Gerty, the AI robot on the base. And that's pretty much it. Rockwell is an acting dynamo in this film. I really only am familiar with one role he played, Zaphod Beeblebrox in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (although IMDB lists him in several movies I've seen), and no one should attempt to gauge his acting prowess from that over-the-top character.

I *really* can't go into the movie without giving too much away. Suffice to say, if you go, you will not be disappointed. It's better (and waaaaay smarter) than any summer movie I've seen this season. It keeps you guessing. It keeps you on your toes. You spend so much time waiting for "something" to happen and it doesn't. But the story takes you for a ride and leads you, eventually, to where you think it is going to go. Yet it isn't predictable.

It is rated R, but only because of some mild cursing and a little bloodshed and, I guess, a shot of Rockwell's butt. So go see it. Just go. It's an awesome movie and the "1" of the "1-2" punch duo of movies that I'm anxiously waiting to see this summer (The Hurt Locker being the "2").

What a night!

How is that Marcy still single? Sheesh, that grrl knows how to have a good time. I mean, with all the fun that grrrl has between the dancing and the drinking (not to mention what she did on top of that table) I don't know how Mr. Lucky hasn't swooped her off her feet! :D

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Jooj and I went out for dinner. I had one of the best Margaritas I have ever had and my meal included half a chicken, sliced from head to talon down the middle, along with the fixin's and some veggie empanadas. But the party was only just starting (a fact that my wife had somehow failed to mention to me... silly grrrl).

We met up with Jim and Susu and little KT. I've already shared a drink with Lala since she turned 21 but hadn't had one (legally, at least) with KT. We all were amazed by the blue mountains on the Coors Light glasses (I kept turned the peak into "snow-capped" by applying pressure with my finger, thus turning the blue to white... we were easily amused).

The aforementioned Marcy showed up. Some food was served. We had word that Lala was coming. The rest of her clan? We didn't know. But then Pat, Kim, Karen, Kara, Patrick, Leigh Anne, Lala, Dillan, and Denver Joe all walked in. Holy cow! It was nearly a family reunion. All we were missing were Mimi and Poppi, our kids, and Caroline. Oh, hey there, Caroline, you decided to come up too!?

We took over a small section of the patio area of Joe's for a while. Drinks were had. Laughter was let out. Smiles abounded. And then the ABC-fearing security gang started shutting us down (you gotta bring your ID to bars, Lala... the "parents will vouch for me" line only works in the movies).

Overall, it was a great night. What a way to spend my anniversary. And sorry, Marcy, we didn't take your advice after we left :)

Two years and counting...

Today Jooj and I celebrate our two-year anniversary. We're going to Havana Rumba for dinner - the place where we shared our first date. The kids have graciously decided to stay home for this one (they're going to be watching Michael Jackson's Greatest Hits DVD).

I hope to celebrate this date each year for the rest of our lives! Love ya, Jooj!

Just stand up, dummy!

So I've been skating since about May of 2006. I feel like I have done an admirable job for starting my skating career later than everyone I skate with. I am not quite as bouncy and injury-resistant as I was back in my youth. I've taken some falls but I wear full pads and a helmet so I ain't skeered :)

So I have some tricks under my sleeve or up my hat... er, whatever. I like the park and my specialty is speed. I like to rip through the 'crete as fast as my little butt can crank it through the runs.

One trick that has eluded me is a good 50/50 grind. This is when the trucks of the skateboard (the metal that connects your wheels to each other and the board) "lock" into the coping. You slide on the coping, metal against metal, and then drop back into the bowl. It's a balancing act since your wheels aren't really coming into contact with anything... it's your axle against the metal coping of the bowl.

I've attempted this trick as long as I've skated. And I finally got it today. I just decided to stand up. And voila! I nailed it. And I kept nailing it. I was leaning into the bowl a little too much every time and it was sketchy - even when I did manage to kinda hit it.

So yay me :D I can't wait to try it at the Barnacle and next weekend at the park.

Those Catholics are fun!

I just got back home from an evening out with the wife, Jooj. We went down to the St. Joseph picnic. Her parents were there, and my parents showed up with little Emma. We had ice cream, corndogs, french fries, a few beers... it was loads of fun. Little Emma caught a second wind and starting dancing to the music. It was adorable.

Jooj and I left the fun and went to Dundee for some beer, white zin, salad, and cheese balls. Delicious!

So I have a little buzz and will probably go to bed early. Hooray!

The Days of the Jeep...

... may be drawing to a close.

On the heels of the battery trouble I noticed a new problem. I jumped in her today to go check on my wife and noticed that I had no gas. That isn't normally a problem except that she had a 1/2 tank just the other day. When I drove back into the driveway and into the garage I hopped out and looked under it. Shit. Gasoline was just pouring onto the ground.

It may be something easy to fix. But it's not getting fixed now. And if she keeps this up, she's going to get the boot.

Life After Michael

Michael Jackson is in the ground. His memorial was yesterday. I did not watch it, but it was only because I was not in a room with a television. It was covered by every network. Seriously? When was the last time that happened? The State of the Union doesn't get full coverage like that. Fox doesn't carry the president's speeches. It leaves those to the big three networks. So what gets that kind of attention? The only thing I can think of is when two little planes rammed into our beloved trade center. And is this really impacting us like that? I mean, seriously... let's not be ignorant (vague South Park joke there) :)

Jooj pointed out that at 12:34PM today it was 123456789...

12:34:56 on 7/8/9

The Kings Island Trip

The kids and my cousin Matt went to Kings Island on Thursday. Wow! It was a blast. We had so much fun. We arrived at the park right at opening and left around 9PM. Here is a rundown of the trip...

Started the day with The Beast
Vortex
Flight of Fear (better than I remembered but kinda lame)
Zephyr (ya know, the swings? So relaxing... love that ride)
Subway ($35 for subs? Ouch!)
Firehawk (WOW!!! Maybe my new favorite!)
Racer (no more backwards Racer??? Lame!)
Adventure Express (lame)
Viking Ship (it was pretty weak... the smaller one at Kentucky Kingdom goes higher)
Invertigo (fun but short)
Flight Deck (formerly Top Gun)
We stopped and had some Dippin' Dots... yummy!
Diamondback (the new coaster... this thing is bad ass!!!)
Hand Dryers (we all went to the bathrooms and the hand dryers in the bathroom were just utterly amazing... you put your whole hand in them and they were dry in a matter of seconds)
The Crypt (Will didn't know what the ride was [none of us did] and he did not like the idea of riding some unknown ride... he freaked a little but it turned out to be a weak ride)
Train Horn (as we left The Crypt we turned a corner and the park train blew its horn... Will jumped high off the ground and suffered his biggest shock of the day... hilarity!)
Vortex
La Rosa's Pizza in front of the fountains
Ended the day with The Beast

Firehawk and Diamondback are two contenders for my favorite right under The Beast. Some of the rides suffered from having the brakes applied a little too much (Vortex and Viking Ship!!!). We didn't have the group's Go to ride Drop Zone or the evil-looking Delirium. Maybe next time ('cause there will certainly be one)...

"Honey, I never drive faster than I can see. Besides that, it's all in the reflexes."

I just dropped a can of Coke. I get on Will about that all of the time. He drops things like it's his job. I don't. But I guess we all have a case of the dropsies from time to time. And, ya know, as I kid, I think I had some grip lapses myself. But I am getting off subject...

I just dropped a can of Coke. It dropped, bounced off my office leather chair, and I caught it in mid-air. Sure, some Coke spilled. A few drips on the desk. Drips on the mouse pad. Drips on the plastic mat. Drips on me. But it could have been a lot worse. It could have been disaster.

But it wasn't because I caught my Coke on the bounce. I feel like Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China (hence the quote) after he snatches the bottle that Wang shot his way after his failed attempt to slice it in half. Yeah...

The last day of June

Well, here we are at the last day of June. It's been a fun month. Had my birfday. Skated the new ramp in Jeffersonville, the Barnacle. Had a slew of celebrities bite the dust - Bill, Ed, Farrah, Mike, and Bill. Got good news. Got bad news. Dealt with some surgery. Things in space were going on. Things in the garden were going on. Things in life kept trucking.

It was a good month. And it seemed fairly busy as far as I remember. Do they always seem so busy? Maybe they do.

July, here we come...

Singapore Street Noodles

We're going to PFChang's tonight to celebrate my birfday. And I just thought I'd take a moment to point out how much I love their menu item Singapore Street Noodles. It's just a lovely combination of rice noodles, veggies, chicken, spicy, shrimp, and yummy. I am very much looking forward to it.

On a completely unrelated note, I closed the door to the old office for the last time today. I had been asked to go over to the office to clean up. I suppose the cleaning crew was going to clean if it was cleaned out by me first. That would alleviate the need for a maid service. So I agreed. I threw away a good ten pounds in cables and cords. I turned off the lights, locked the door, and considered it the last time I would be there.

What a(n) __________ day!

"happy" - It was my birfday today! Thirty-five. Yippee!

"stoked" - I skated up a storm this morning. And Nikoli gave me a new pair of knee pads. I even found a new leg of a run that I have found and am excited about trying it out next time. I was going so fast :)

"unfortunate" - The USA played in the finals of the Confederation Cup against Brazil this afternoon in South Africa. They were up 2-0 at the half. They lost 3-2 :(

"weird" - The pharmacist today said that she had a son and his middle name was Brinley. I asked if it was a family name. She said that her husand's mother's maiden name was Brinley. To which I replied that we must be related. Later in the day, while driving waaaay out in the middle of nowhere, we passed a small business called Brinley Financial Services. How odd?!?

"deadly" - Billy Mays dead? Are you serious? Ed, Farrah, Michael... and now Billy? And it is weird how he went. Something struck him in the head, supposedly, after a hard landing in an aircraft. He went home and was later found dead. And what about those assholes as the FAA? When asked about the situation they commented that it is the passenger's responsibility to wear a seat belt. Seriously? I suppose that is what the poor folks aboard that Air France flight failed to do too, huh? Unbelievable!