Headlights in the Fog

2005-11-15T12:05:00.000-05:00

Entish

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

2005-10-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

Both Shakespeare's Sister and The Heretik are talking about their brushes with fame. Got me thinking about my own.

I once walked into Lawrence Taylor. Long after he was the linebacker for the Giants I bot looking where I was going, slammed into the chest of one of the largest human beings I have ever seen in my life. Lightening bolt ear ring and all. I was leaving and he was entering the movie theater at a large mall in Nyack New York. All I could do was stammer 'uh...uh...sorry man'. The big man looked down and giggled. 'No problem kid."

I was once standing in line for an Amtrak ticket at the Providence Train Station. I got to the window and paid for and recieved my round trip ticket to New York City to visit my then-girlfriend (now Wife) about five years ago. I turned around and walking up the ticket line behind me was Sam Waterston. This was at a time when Law & Order was still a favorite of mine and I was blown away.
"Excuse me Sir, I don't want to be a pest, I just wanted to let you know that I am a big fan of your work." He smiled a bit and thanked me and we went about our business. Seemed nice didn't blow me off, I just walked away and let him have his privacy.
Let me first say that I have no idea what else could have happened to this guy that day. I don't no why he was travelling so have no basis to pass judgement; but I was an bit disappointed to see him red faced and flustered as he left the dining car shouting 'Do you have any idea who I am!'

At the small Vermont liberal arts college that I attended the Rugby team did all the security for the large concerts that the school hosted once a semester. The semester that I was on the Rugby team (hurt my ankle about two weeks into the season and decided that I really didn't want to play rugby I just wanted to drink as much as the rugby players did. And boy did I, but anyway) Buffalo Tom was the big musical act. In 1996 this was a very big deal. After spending a day preparing the gym for a few hundred college kids a white van pulled up to the back entrance of the building. A small red-headed guy gets out and starts saying hi but I don't catch his name. HE makes some jokes including one about the hat I'm wearing I throw some lame ass joke at him we trade good natured insults for the few minutes we work together unloading the bands equipment (guitars, basses, and amps) out of the van. A car later arrives with a few band members and I assume the guy I've been talking to is their roadie.

Hours later after I get something to eat and down as many beers as I can before the show, I come back to the gym just in time. Red-headed kid is on stage singing and playing. 'hey, how cool is it that these guys even trust their roadie enough to check their levels and do the soundcheck.'
'Roadie?! They don't have a roadie!' He was shouting now. "That's Bill Janovitz!"

After the show We were allowed into their huge backstage area where we -- and I assure you this is the truth as strange as it may sound -- played hangman on one of those enourmous dry-erase boards. And you would think that a creative bunch like one of my favorite local grunge acts would be good at hangman but alas when you get twenty college kids and a rock band together no one plays good hangman. A stramge evening.

In my sophmore year of college the (at the time) executive producer of The Simpsons David Silverman gave a presentation. I waited in line for hours and got great seats in the first couple of rows. His speech was entertaining but not very educational. Afterwards he managed to find the party at the biggest frat in town. After having more than a few warm beers he began taking requests for drawings and drew characters from the show all over the walls of the house. So long security deposit. Hello Hans Moleman.

Overdue Link Dump

2005-10-08T22:40:00.000-04:00

I need to come up with a sustem to nots where I find these things. I just cruise around these blogs and book mark things that seem cool and forget to note who sent me in the right direction sorry.

Amen Sister!

Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride shot entirely with a Canon dSLR. The amateur phootographer in me is so excited by this, even though I will never be able to afford the type of camera I used its still something I could do (but won't because I'm Lazy) myself.

Gettin loaded in the oval.

A fantastic online project from the British Library. An exhibit of personal journals. The Leonardo Da Vinci journal is fasinating.

2005-10-06T23:56:00.000-04:00

The reasons that The Wife and I probably won't be moving for a long, long time. We just have too much stuff. See the Playstation there. I don't think I've played that thing in about five years. Can't seem to get rid of it though. Too lazy for eBay I have asked around and no one wants it. Like asking someone who owns a '65 mustang if they needed an Edsel to take up space in the garage. Who needs it when there are xBox's and the like allowing them to play against friends and strangers around the country. I hold on to things for strange reasons. I hold onto things that I know I will never use again but from apartment to apartment. I have three VCR's and have no plans to hook any of them up to a TV. Can't throw it out; it still works fine. Help me I have problems.

Why do I do that. I insist that I am helping because I am not wasting but isn't collecting dust in the botttom of a closet a waste?

With the move The Wife and I decided to invest in the much talked about DVR experience from our local cable outfit. Fucking awesome doesn't seem to be enough. It is so easy to watch what I want when I want with nearly no commercial breaks. It will forever change the way I watch TV.

We also upgraded (or what I currently believe to be an upgrade) to a cable ISP rather than the DSL we had at the old apartment. Much faster in my opinion. perhaps we just had a bad line at the old place but this cable line is much faster. Hands down.

Also moving has meant that I am left with five large boxes and an enourmous trunk of books that need to be organized and unpacked. The very large bookcase I had in the old place would not fit up the winding stairs of this one. I need shelves and I need them bad. I have one built in set of shelves in the living room and was able to unpack two boxes of my favorites in there but the books in boxes bother me. Of course not because I need them all out but I feel I may want to check on something or re-read things on a whim and having to take a look at so many boxes will deter me from it. Whatever. I know I am nuts.

I have a few blogs that I just found and instantly became dailies --- Shakespeare's Sister,, -- Lance Mannion, -- Everything and Nothing. Go and enjoy.

Be sure to enjoy the Photoblog.

why is it that I cannot put together more than one paragraph on the same topic?

2005-09-19T23:28:00.000-04:00

Eleven days since my last post and I must admit that I cannot come up with one good reason why it has been so long. Sure I'm busy but not so busy that I don't spend at least an hour surfing the internet for some kind of inspiration that doesn't exist. I have the photoblog to contend with but if you take a look you'll see that I am failing at the post-a-day rule over there as well. I also have a few Moleskine notebooks that stay in my backpack as I carry them to and from work every day. I wrote in them every day for a couple of days. That was about a month ago. $14.99 well spent.

I spent yesterday in church. Perhaps you have heard of my cathedral Fenway Park. The sermon was pretty bad though with the Sox losing 12-3. You know what they say about a bad day at the ballpark...

I am not sure why but my blog reading has fallen off nearly as much as my blog writing. Since I found Photoblogs I have spent more and more time looking at photographs and less and less time reading blogs ( or anything else for that matter). I have been thinking about why that is. I have spent the last five years or so reading and trying to figure out what I should be writing. I wanted to be a writer. Still do, I think. But when I found photography and photoblogs I found the instant gratification alluring, almost addictive. I can take a picture, post it to my blog, and have other photographers take a look and send me their comments and ideas in minutes. Proofread? Edit? Think? Not so much. So how is it that I could just simply give up on something that was supposed to be a lifetime dream. I don't know. I've got issues.

As usual I'm late to the party with this but if you haven't yet seen the Aqua Teen Hunger Force -- Do yourself the favor.

I am, of course, probably only here writing this right now because I am trying to avoid all news baseball. The Red Sox lost about an hour ago, not long after the yankees won. The lead is down to a half of a game. I am very upset.

I've always wanted to have one of those cool things in the sidebar to show little pictures of the books I am reading. Sadly when it comes to HTML or CSS I'm all thumbs. If I could get it done right now it would say I am reading The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. I read it every couple of years and have already warned The Wife that my mood may take a steady decline until I'm through with it. It happens every time.

Its all I've got for now folks. Its time for bed.

music police

2005-09-08T16:54:00.000-04:00

Anyone who finds this kind of thing hard to believe has been living in a fantasy world for the past 6 years.

a few thoughts

2005-09-07T22:52:00.000-04:00

Does anyone outside of New York realize that there is a man running for mayor named Anthony Weiner. I know that if I lived in the city I'd be voting for him. Hey look its mayor Weiner!

Please go here and read these quotes and follow jason's links to the original articles. There needs to be more awareness of this problem in this country. I know that we now have other things going on in the gulf but don't kid yourself into thinking that the two aren't related. The stagnant water covering the city is breeding more and more bacteria and the aftermath will include widespread disease. I don't think it will be Trent Lott checking into the hospital with e coli.

No administration could credibly investigate such an immense failure on its own watch. And we have learned through bitter experience - the Abu Ghraib nightmare is just one example - that when this administration begins an internal investigation, it means a whitewash in which no one important is held accountable and no real change occurs.

From today's editorial It's Not a 'Blame Game' in the New York Times.

No packing today.

2005-09-04T00:34:00.000-04:00

The Wife and I woke up with the intentions of starting to pack. We are moving in about three weeks and hope that this time we are not throwing things into trash bags and the trunk of the car on the last morning here. We are planning on packing all month but when movies like One Hour Photo, Sleepless in Seattle, You've got Mail, and Spiderman 2 are on cable then we seem to lose all motivation. I was also all set to go out to the Waterfire tonight so we could take some pics for our photoblogs but we got some wine. I think you know what that means. We haven't packed a thing. Maybe tomorrow.

2005-09-01T23:56:00.000-04:00

The Wife and I celebrate our three year wedding anniversary today. Three wonderful years of wedded bliss. More ggod than bad and really what more could you ask for. We have known each other close to ten years and still just have a good time being with each other. She still makes me laugh. In short I am a very lucky man and every year on the first of September I can sit back and reflect on how very lucky I am. Especially this year when there is so much pain and tragedy in this country. Give. Please Give. If you are lucky enough to be reading this you probably have a roof over your head and food to put in your belly tonight. There a thousands who don't. Give to them. Whatever you can spare, a little or a lot. Whatever you can afford GIVE!!!!!!!!

I'm Back... Back in a New York Groove

2005-08-31T22:37:00.000-04:00

Hey folks it has been too long. The list of things that have changed for me since my last post is too long to get into. New job, New digs, New car just overall new stuff! Big changes.

Through some intense research I have concluded that three bowls of soup for me, is about 5 years worth of soup. I am just not a soup person and you can't change my mind. There I've said it and I feel better for it.

I read The Ha-Ha by Dave King and really liked it. I read Atonement by Ian McEwan and was extremely impressed. I am reading Lolita (part of my 'classics that I've missed' project) and am absolutely, and completely blown away by the beauty of his prose while being slightly disturbed by its content which is exactly the point right. Genius.

I was taking pictures every day but haven't in about a month. Computer issues have prevented me from taking the digital camera out that much.

I am sick to my stomach by the fact that the gas at the local station is going for 3.23 a gallon. That's the regular folks, Not the good stuff.

I am sure that I have seen a bunch of movies since I posted last but I'll be damned if I could remember one of them right now. Ah well.

Whew, I am wiped out. This blogging thing can take a lot out of you when your endurance is lost. Til next time.

Friday Random Ten

2005-07-01T22:46:00.000-04:00

This random meme is fantastic. In your favorite digital music player (itunes along with my ipod of course) shuffle the entire library and tell us the first ten songs it spits out.

Here goes...

1. "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" -- The Police (Zenyatta Mendotta) -- Who doesn't love The Police?

2. "Jesus Children of America" -- Stevie Wonder (Innervisions) -- Just after finding out that Stevie Wonder gave more to pop music than "I just Called to Say I love You" and "Part Time Lover" I took a summer job renovating apartments with my father and a friend of his who was the owner of a few apartment houses. This guy was everything I wasn't in high school and we didn't get along well at all. He loved this album. He would sing at the top of his longs to this album for hours at a time. Any other record and I'm sure I would have hated it forever after. Not this one. A great song on an even better album.

3. "Spider" -- They Might be Giants (Severe Tire Damage) -- To be perfectly honest I'm not sure I ever remember hearing this song before. There are just so many damn songs on each album with these guys.

4. "Karate" -- Tenacious D (Tenacious D) -- Funny, funny stuff.

5. "Son of Neckbone -- The Beastie Boys (The Sounds of Science) --

6. "Out of Range" -- Ani DiFranco (Living in Clip) -- A great song by a great songwriter. Plain and simple.

7. "Dog Eats Dog" -- Les Miserables original Broadway Recording -- What makes me an even bigger dork is the fact that I also have tha London Recording, er, ..., and..., uh, ..and the French Recording too.

8. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"-- Elton John (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) -- Let us not forget that Elton John before he sold his soul to Disney sat down with Bernie Taupin and wrote a great song here. Fun to sing along with, though no one sounds good doing so.

9. "When You Dream" -- Barenaked Ladies (Stunt) -- I saw these guys on a live television broadcast and was blown away. Saw them live and was hooked and about a year later the released this album and a different single off of this became one of those songs that you don't even have to own a radio to hear it everyday. It was being played EVERYWHERE. All of the sudden I wasn't so much a fan anymore. But on Road trips I still like me some Barenaked Ladies along for the long car rides.

10. "Burma Shave" -- Tom Waits -- (Used Songs 1973-1980) -- Tom Effin' Waits need I saw more?

I just want to do great hair.

2005-06-16T22:25:00.000-04:00

It took me awhile to come around on the reality TV phenomena. I was a huge fan of MTV's Real World when it was in New York (the first time kids. I was there for the Julie and Kevin fight) but by the time it hit LA I lost interest. Survivor has been around for five years but I never saw an episode until 7 months ago. Queer Eye? Nope. The Apprentice? Haven't seen a second of it. Bachelor/Bachelorette? What the hell is a flower ceremony? Blow Out? I want more. I don't want to miss a thing that Jonathan Anton says. I am fascinated by this guy and how far away from reality this guy is. I know that he doesn't realise how crazy he really is. He is hair!

Aside from my strange intrest in a show about a hair salon is my current obsession with Tommy Hilfiger's God complex. I watch the first 50 minutes giddy with anticipation for the "style forum" and Tommy's "final judgement". Where does this guy come up with this crap. I don't know but I can't look away. What on Earth is wrong with me?

I need help.

A new job, a new look, a new blog.

2005-06-15T22:47:00.000-04:00

I have been a away from the blog for a long time I know. It has been over a month since I have even thought much about posting at all. I have been focusing on other things...

I started a photoblog. It has been fun taking and choosing pictures for this thing. I have big plans for the template in the future but I haven't had the time for that. I've been too busy going for walks with my wife and my camera.

I got a new job yesterday. I quit my current job today. I am very excited.

I haven't been reading much. Somehow I simply hit a wall. I have been reading blogs and magazines but I've taken a few weeks off on my fifty books in a year quest. I think I got a bit discouraged by the fact that I am way off the pace. I was reading some George Will baseball essays from his book Bunts but stopped halfway through. That was a few weeks ago. Monday I picked up Reading Lolita in Tehran which has been fantastic!

I saw a few movies. Closer was disappointing. Revenge of the Sith did not disappoint (though after episodes I and II I wasn't expecting much.) Mr. & Mrs. Smith was funny and entertaining.

All in all things are going well. I plan on spending more time writing so I will try to post much more often. . . . We'll see.

It is called a bubbler thank you very much!

2005-05-28T23:50:00.000-04:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% General American English

40% Yankee

5% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

State of the union.

2005-05-23T21:59:00.000-04:00

Well the hard part is over and now it is just a matter of muscling my way through 4 more long days of mindless work to get to a 3 day weekend. Much deserved at that. I work in an office of two people and my one co-worker has been out on a medical leave for three weeks, and there is no telling how long until she comes back. My job is mindless but now I am stuck doing the mindless work of two people and not enjoying it at all. The upcoming three day weekend will hopefully give me some time to recharge my dying batteries while having some fun (hopefully in the sun but I'm not holding my breathe on that.)

Both The Wife and I have started photoblogs and so I suspect we will be carrying the camera around with us more often. If money weren't so tight here in the Fog we would get another just so we could each have our own. Ah well, someday.

We downloaded (legally people) the new Ben Folds album yesterday. I haven't had time to give it a listen yet but The Wife tells me that it is quite good. I have been a fan of Ben's for a long time and so I am not surprised by this.

I am reading Bunts by George F. Will. While I disagree with Mr Will's politics, no one writes baseball essays like him. A Cub fan for life George feels the pain I felt until last October. His pieces show and tell why baseball is more than a game but instead a way of life in this country.
I would put a graph or two here but I haven't been able to narrow one down yet. There is at least one noteworthy piece every page or so. I did throw something up on my baseball blog though.

Snappies

2005-05-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

Don't say I never warned you. I went ahead and started a photoblog. I know that the template will probably change over the next couple of weeks as I get myself acclimated. I like it so far and I hope you do too. Feel free to comment on any of the photos you see over there as the whole point is to force myself to take better pictures. Your feedback will help me do that.

2005-05-21T00:06:00.000-04:00

My first entry to Photofriday. This weeks challenge: Green.

Rain, rain go away.

2005-05-20T22:58:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow the forecast calls for rain, again. This will be the 5th weekend in a row that rains from beginning to end. I am a little tired of staying inside all weekend and The Wife and I are itching to get outside and take some pictures. I am still thinking about starting a photoblog. (My brother-in-law recommends these guys) What good is springtime when the only time the sun comes out I am in a dark basement office without a window or even radio reception. Cabin fever combined with spring fever makes for a very cranky Fog.

I had a Rock tumbler as a kid too.

2005-05-18T21:13:00.000-04:00

The TV show Mythbusters has officially run out of ideas. Does a rolling stone gather moss???? Are they kidding me? This is a figure of speech not a myth, urban legend or old wives tale. I think that everyone in the English speaking world knows what this figure of speech means without having to watch some movie prop guys build a big rock tumbler and throw some moss in with some stones. This show has gotten more and more ridiculous. I used to love this show. I am just so disappointed and I don't know why. There is very little worth watching on TV and this show used to be one of those gems. An exception to the rule of terrible programming that has had to fill the twenty four hour cable world. R.I.P. Mythbusters, you had a good run.

2005-05-17T21:50:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for me this summer I'll probably be fishing from my dad's 1977 Grady White. She's almost ready to be put back into the water.

The Guide

2005-05-14T20:19:00.000-04:00

The Wife and I saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy today. I liked it. The books meant so much to me growing up and I read them last month just to be ready for the movie. I'm glad I did even if the plot and action didn't follow exactly. I didn't expect them to be identical and I of course prefer the books but was impressed with the scope of the film. Previous attempts at making this a radio and visual medium to me came across flat and a bit hokey.

I think that the biggest asset to the film was casting. All of the choices made were spot on in my mind and it made watching these characters familiar even if I hadn't "seen" them before. The visuals were impressive. Even the Magareatha planet building as well as the vogons themselves. A particularly smart choice to stay away from CGI on the vogons their interactions with the actors made the humor.

Although some of the best jokes of the books were omitted, they managed to hit the humor and tone throughout. I laughed a bunch and so did The Wife who has never read the books.

Books of '05: The Memory of Running

2005-05-07T11:45:00.000-04:00

I stopped reading Marquez's autobiography. The writing was beautiful but I wasn't in the right headspace for it. A bit heavy duty. On my father's suggestion I started reading The Memory of Running by Ron Mclarty. I remember reading a review a few months ago and noting to myself that Mclarty was from here in Rhode Island. Apparently he has been writing for most of his life but this has been his first novel to be published a situation I hope to find myself in someday. In the usual its not what you know but who you know scenario Stephen King read this manuscript and saw to it that he be published. Viking publishing too, not too shabby.

As it turns out most of the book takes place in the town that I grew up in. Home sweet home. Passages about the fishing spots my dad used to take me to, whole chapters about my high school, and even mentions of the Boy Scout camp where I spent large chunks of my boyhood summers. I have been trying to read 40 pages a day and this book makes it easy. The narrative though depressing seems familiar and heartwarming. In the first three chapters "Smithy" Ide's parents and sister die. The other day I was reading in the cafeteria at work and on the verge of tears as "Smithy" talks to his mom in her dying moments. That's good writing.

Reading this book reminds me of the first time that I read "On the Road". "Smithy" hops on his bike to ride across the country for no apparent reason ala Forrest Gump and learns quite a bit about himself in the process all the while recounting childhood memories of East Providence Rhode Island.

It is moments like this, pivotal moments, that I had always failed. Sometimes there are moments when a person has to make a decision, as opposed to letting things just happen. A person has to happen himself. I had never done this. Life bounced off me, and bounced me and now it was going to bounce me to death. My fat ass, my blue suit. And so I turned my sizzling Raleigh off the 95 hill onto the Hope Valley exit ramp at approximately sixty-five miles per hour.

I am not one to go around recommending books. If someone asks what I'm reading I have no problem sharing but I normally don't initiate the conversation knowing that most of my friends and acquaintances have different tastes in books than I do (if they read at all) McLarty's Running will snap me out of that. Maybe its the home town thing but I will be giving this book as gifts and shouting from the mountain tops the fun and wild ride these memories of his bring.

Security Checkpoints

2005-05-07T09:41:00.000-04:00

The Wife is flying high at about 30,000 feet right now on her way to North Carolina. She is getting together with her mom and sister down there for a weekend. I dropped her off at the airport at about 6A.M. It is unfortunate that I couldn't wait with her at the gate. Saying goodbye at the ticket counter just doesn't have that romantic movie feel. Picking her up and meeting her at baggage claim is not right either. Gone are the days of waiting at the gate and seeing your loved ones coming directly from the plane. Those movie moments just another casualty of the unfortunate events of 9/11. On top of the human tragedy, some little things won't ever be the same.

What the hell is wrong with Kansas lately?

2005-05-06T22:03:00.000-04:00

Vonnegut writes a story. Fiction. A story. The story talks of how forcing everyone to be equal would have disastrous consequences. In their infinite wisdom some Kansas school departments decided to use the story as justification for denying less affluent areas equal funding for their public schools. Makes perfect sense right? I mean if we give the poor kids any funding they might actually think that they could amount to something. We wouldn't want them getting any ideas or motivation now would we.

Fucking Kansas.

Riding into the Sunset.

2005-05-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I left my ipod at home for the busride to and from work. The bus in the morning was packed as usual with high school kids still half asleep and grumpy as anything. There generally is very little conversation on the morning busride. About three quarters of the way downtown after all of the seats and most of the spots to stand had been taken an enormous woman got on carrying her walker. It was apparent that it had been a long time since this woman had any steady shelter nevermind a shower. The bus driver turned to ask for some of the kids in the front to move so she could sit down but he was too late. Most of them where fighting for position to get as far from her as they could.

Under her arm she carried a large Dean Koontz book. I've never been a big fan of his and cannot remember the title. She took her seat and scanned the kids around her obviously looking for someone to talk to. Anyone who has ever ridden the bus knows that rule #1 is never make eye contact. I have one of those faces that complete strangers love opening up to so it was very important that I keep my head down and try to observe without being observed. Luckily she found a polite young lady next to her to occupy her time.

"Do you like to read lots of books?" The large woman asked the girl. The girl is always struggling to carry her three or four large textbooks onto the bus in the morning and this day was no different. She nodded her head and kept looking at the floor but unfortunately it was too late for her.

"This is a great book," Large Lady said as she dropped her Koontz novel onto the lap of Polite Student. "You should tell your teacher that everyone wants to read this book." Large Lady had one of those voices that alerts everyone around -- Beware, Crazy lady talking. Polite Student held her ground and kept her eyes on the shoes of the person sitting across from her and said nothing. A smart move in my eyes.

Large Lady would not be deterred. The crazy ones never are. "I'm writing a book you know." Something in this statement sparked interest in Polite Student. Perhaps she is writing her own book or she wanted to intimidate Large Lady into backing down.

"Oh yeah, what's it about?" She asked defiantly. Polite Student has been riding the same bus I have for the last 8 months. I have never seen her talk to anyone. I am still confused as to what brought it out of her.

"It's complicated" Large Lady replied. "I write science fiction so it has to do with so many things." immediately the image of stacks and stacks of notebooks filled with ramblings ala Kevin Spacey's character in Seven came into my mind. I half chuckled but kept my cool so as not to attract attention.

"It has to do with space and water and people and computers and it is very complex and very dark just like life it gets very dark. There is a lot of very sad and depressing stuff."

A few moments passed without a word between the two of them. My stop was approaching and as I readied myself to get up and off the bus she said it.

"Don't worry sweetie it is still a story, so by the end everything works out."

One of my heroes (after my dad of course) has written that after weeks of trying to end one of his novels he asked his agent for advice on the problem. His agent came back "Ending a book is easy. Your hero gets on his horse and rides into the sunset." Its a lot like that I guess.

The point of all this -- What else have I been missing looking out the window and listening to my ipod?

2005-05-05T22:09:00.000-04:00

Bonsai

This n' that, good n' plenty, bits n' pieces...

2005-05-03T22:24:00.000-04:00

Terry has great story about an actress who I personally can't stand but her box office draws lead me to believe I am in the minority. Hilarious.

Justin Peck (who runs the beautiful blog Beautiful Stuff) has a great piece up at Y.P.R. Check it out and laugh.

Want to know what humans will look like 2 to 4 million years from now? Check out this interactive piece to see. Especially apt in Kansas where they are about to embark on hearings to decide whether or not they want to teach their children about gravity, no I mean the need for oxygen, er, no I mean, evolution. Yeah that's it. Evolution.

"To debate evolution is similar to debating whether the Earth is round. It is an absurd proposition." Topeka attorney Pedro Irigonegaray who has agreed to defend evolution as valid science.

(Thanks for both links goes out to SOT.)

I have seen a couple of movies lately that I missed out on in the theaters because, well, because I don't go see movies in the theaters because I have better things to do with my 7 to 8 hundred dollars. Anyway, in short form -- I loved Sideways like everyone else. I thought 21Grams was good but a bit too heavy duty. The Incredibles was about as good as movies get animated or otherwise entertaining.

On the television front, The Wife and I have been on a big Futurama kick lately. Always funny and often smart.

My father gave a demonstration for the Rhode Island Bonsai Society last Saturday. I took a bunch of pictures and had every intention of posting some of the highlights and a write up here. Then I thought it would be a good idea to start a photoblog with some of the shots that I was really proud of and then I decided that it was too much work to neglect three blogs when I get so worn out not posting on the two I already have so I ditched that idea and decided to do nothing. I am very good at that.

Catching up on lost time.

2005-05-01T23:01:00.000-04:00

I've started Gabriel Garcia Marquez's autobiography Living to Tell the Tale. I have never read anything by Marquez. Love in the Time of Cholera, and 100 Years of Solitude I had heard of but never gave them any time in my search of all things Vonnegut. Well now I am broadening my horizons and all I can say about Mr. Marquez's writing is . . . Wow. Wow. Truly beautiful writing that put me in Columbia fro the afternoon. How could I go so long without reading this guy? I'm glad I have found him now.

Books of '05: Homeland

2005-04-29T22:34:00.000-04:00

I am beginning to realize that 50 books this year is a bit of a pipe dream. I started out with a monster of a book and because of stress or just plain business did not read nearly enough as I had wanted in these first four months of 2005. So far I have only completed 9 books and that is only if you count the four Hitchhiker's Guide books I read in one large volume as four separate books. I say different copyrights, different books. 9 books going into the fifth month of the year I better step it up.

In that vein, the last book I read I did so in about three days. I couldn't, or rather didn't want, to put the damn thing down. Homeland by Sam Lipsyte was fun, quick and also thought provoking. I laughed my ass off reading this one even getting some strange looks in the cafeteria at work because of my giggling. The tale of Lewis Miner aka Teabag, Homeland is told as a series of letters to his high school alumni newspaper. His letters spare no one including himself from the grim and often hilarious truth of Teabag's life. A mom who died too young, a lover who broke his heart and a father who wrote him off years ago all come to life in Lewis's search for community and family.

Lipsyte's voice while at time vulgar and lewd can turn on a dime to heartwarming and thoughtful. Go and get this book. You'll thank me for the wild ride.

2005-04-28T22:12:00.000-04:00

The pot of Gold is about three blocks from my house.

First amendment, we don't need no stinking first amendment.

2005-04-26T22:42:00.000-04:00

With the Red Sox down by three in the bottom of the eighth I just don't have the time or the energy to write all of my feelings on this topic. I don't know if I would be able to stop and I am trying to cut the stress and aggravation out of my life. It is stuff like this that gets my blood boiling. Please read this. (I hope you have a signup to the old grey lady but if not use bugmenot.com) Please think about it. Please realize that these are very, very dangerous and trying times in this country. Especially if you are not part of the religious right. The Thought Police are out there and unfortunately they are in positions of power.

The result of this open espousal of one religious view is a censorious climate in which a growing number of pharmacists feel free to claim moral grounds for refusing to dispense emergency contraception and even birth control pills prescribed by a doctor. Public schools shy away from teaching about evolution, and science museums reject scientifically sound documentaries that may offend Christian fundamentalists. Public television stations were afraid to run a children's program in which a cartoon bunny met a lesbian couple.

Scary, scary days.

For every million babies born in 2000 none of them are named Marion.

2005-04-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

Thank you very much Terry for introducing me to one of the best time wasters I have ever seen. The Wife and I spent a long time with this thing last night.

WEEEEEE all the way home.

2005-04-25T22:05:00.000-04:00

The Wife broke her toe last night. Rather than rehashing it I will just direct you to the details here complete with illustrations!

A list of things found in the junk drawer

2005-04-24T21:26:00.000-04:00

The Wife is currently organizing the kitchen junk drawer. Among the hidden treasures...

A christmas letter from my brother-in-law sent before the birth of his 20 month old daughter.
The reciept from the installation or our satelite dish dated 7/26/2003.
The Wife's application for a new social security card from 11/2002. (strange considering we moved into this apartment in december of 2002)
5 lighters. 4 of which actually work.
A Starbucks card that neither of us remember buying or recieving.
Two cell phone chargers. The corresponding phones were donated to a domestic violence shelter over a year ago.
one peice of Bazooka Joe bubble gum.
A lint brush.
A wine key.
prescription bottle of cat traqualizers that were prescribed by the vet for the three hour drive up to RI when we moved here.
A travel size packet of Pepto Bismol.
Instruction manual for a small appliance that never worked.
something stcky that has yet to be identified.
3 rolls of film. Your guess is as good as ours as to what is on them.
2003 Date book that I used until May.
My sixth grade Safety Patrol badge.
small open bottle of Elmer's Glue. (stickiness identified)
4 Leathermen (utility tool)
6 Sharpies, 15 pencils, 47 pens.
24 cents.

Well, I showed you mine... Your turn.

Books Meme.

2005-04-22T22:32:00.000-04:00

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
Even though It was assigned to me twice in high school I am embarrassed to say that I have never read Fahrenheit 451. I know it is about book burning but the question puzzles me? If I want to be the book I am assuming I don't want to be burned yes? Screw it, I want to be Cat's Cradle my favorite book.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Honestly, not that I can remember.

The last book you bought was...?
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell. I don't have much of a TBR pile right now. My finances being what they are I can't buy books the way I used to.

The last book you read was...?
Cloud Atlas. Like I said.

What are you currently reading?
The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide. I am in the final pages of the final book. I wanted to reread the whole series before the movie came out and had to track down the copy I bought in junior high at my little brother's apartment.

Five books you would take to a desert island...
1. Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut because it is the book that forever changed the way I looked at books, and my world .
2. The Great Gatsby How can you mess with a classic like this one.
3. The Grapes of Wrath. I don't think there is any need to explain this one.
4. Catch-22 even stranded on a desert island a guy has to laugh.
5. Moby Dick I've started this damn book 5 times maybe being stranded on a desert island is just what I need to finish the dman thing.

Who are you passing this stick on to and why?
If you are reading this then consider it passed. Why? Because its there.

Back in black

2005-04-22T21:27:00.000-04:00

Guess who's back? That's right the laptop issues I mentioned in my apology have been remedied and I am back online in a big way. Well, big way may be overstating a bit. I thought that without access to the internet that I would grab a pen and paper and have all sorts of ideas to post about when I got back but not thinking about this space for a week actually felt pretty good. Subjects for posts would come and go with little more than a passing thought. You see I used to agonize over these things all day and then once I fired up the ol' laptop all of those ideas would fly out of my head like gulls to the sea. Then I would get pissed off at myself and spend the rest of the night upset that I didn't jot down any notes when the ideas were fresh.

And now? Well now I just don't care.

Sorry.

2005-04-20T08:09:00.000-04:00

Bad days have descended on us here in The Fog. Hardware issues with the laptop, and our landlord selling our house and moving to Florida has knocked my legs out from under me. Posting will resume I promise. I'm just not sure when.

Good Eats.

2005-04-15T23:56:00.000-04:00

This guy is an absolute genius. Exploiting thousands of vegetarians and city folk who think eating is a rabbit is wrong into giving him money for no reason whatsoever. I wish I had thought of this. The guy has already made close to $25,000 in donations!!

I grew up next to a family that would get a new baby bunny every Easter. They would name it and tack care of him or her in a rabbit coupe in the backyard. For the whole year they would make sure that the rabbit wanted for nothing. A few days before Easter of the following year they would lop off its head, skin it, and prepare the pet to be Easter dinner. Then they would introduce the new pet to the family and repeat the whole thing.

The first time I had rabbit I was on a camping trip with my Boy Scout troop. That same meal was the first time I had succotash. The rabbit tasted a lot like chicken but was enjoyable all the same. This guy has hit some sort of nerve with his sob story about finding his poor defenseless bunny. The PETA crowd falls right into his hands. A few cute pictures and every animal lover in the country wants to send him a few bucks to keep this furry rodent around. Guess what folks -- Its called a food chain and we are on top. Go hungry for a few days and little Toby there will look pretty appetizing.

What is it good for?

2005-04-13T22:06:00.000-04:00

The wife got this quote in some sort of email forward. I had never seen it before and I wish I had seen it before the election when it seemed I was getting into daily arguments about the war.

Naturally, the people don't want war, but they can always be brought to the bidding of their leaders. Tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and endangering the country. It works the same in every country.

Herman Goering, Hitler's Reichsmarschall at the Nuremberg Trials.

Works in any country indeed.

2005-04-12T22:04:00.000-04:00

Its a beautiful thing.

Link dump

2005-04-11T21:52:00.000-04:00

Maud alerts us to the 80th anniversary of The Great Gatsby. While Mr. Champion tells us why casting Paris Hilton as Daisy in the film version (titled Jay G.????) is a perfect choice.

The Lit blog Co-op makes its presence known and gears up to the May 15th announcement of the book we should all be reading.

Terry tells us about his punctual friends. (Maud tells us she is of the 7:55:30 variety)

Frank Rich op-ed on the recent deathwatches. (behind annoying sign-up)

Books of '05: The Guide.

2005-04-10T23:07:00.000-04:00

In preparation for the upcoming film's release at the end of the month I have spent the last week traveling the galaxy with Arthur, Ford, Trillian, and Zaphod. Oh and Marvin, let us not forget our favorite paranoid android Marvin. A very close friend introduced me to the Hitchhiker's Guide when I was in junior high school with the book and a collection of tapes of the BBC Radio broadcasts. Said friend has moved all over the country in the years since and we rarely have a chance to get together. Re-reading the whole set of books has brought me back to many conversations we had as carefree eighth graders on summer vacation. Conversations on the important topics of science fiction, comedy, and of course why we are here. Those were heady days.

The books have been fun to revisit but I'm not sure I would like them if introduced today. Half the fun has been revisiting simpler days. I am looking forward to the movie though; if for no other reason than the casting of my favorite rapper Mos Def as Ford Prefect. Past TV and movie attempts to me have fallen flat because they could not show the scope of the Galaxy and traveling it for less than 30 Altarian Dollars a day. Special effects now make that possible. Should be worth the wait. I'm hoping.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

2005-04-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

Our Fair City

R.I.P.

2005-04-05T21:20:00.000-04:00

Saul Bellow died today.

Office Envy.

2005-04-04T21:31:00.000-04:00

A fantastic portfolio of photographs of Brazilian writers in their writing spaces. The little writing pieces that accompany each picture are great too. Make sure you give it some of your time.

(click on the guy sitting at his desk to start. Link via Tingle Alley.)

Good thing its free.

2005-04-02T12:30:00.000-05:00

My last couple of posts have been the product of many problems with Blogger. I have written no less than four posts regarding the death of the very funny Mitch Hedberg. Blogger has found it fit to delete two of them before I could save them and even went so far as to make me think that a third was deleted only to have it somehow appear there the next day making me a bit embarrased at my posting. Thanks again blogger.

There is no need to include paper and ink in this transaction.

2005-03-31T23:51:00.000-05:00

With a rash of recent celebrity deaths the one that saddened The Wife and I the most was the untimely passing of the comic Mitch Hedberg. The Wife and I were big fans. Mr. Champion has a good list of lines.

RIP Mitch.

2005-03-31T23:04:00.000-05:00

Why is it angry?

2005-03-31T23:03:00.000-05:00

The most frightening Easter Pez dispenser you have ever seen.

2005-03-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

Calvin.

Books of '05: Cloud Atlas

2005-03-28T22:27:00.000-05:00

I finished Cloud Atlas and I have to admit that while enjoying the novel all the way through it fell flat by the end. Mitchell is a genius it seems. I had a great time reading the book, it challenged the way a novel can be put together but in its complexity lay its downfall. With six stories spanning hundreds of years and the entire globe its hard to have a climax. Any way you slice them these are six strong short stories all able to stand on their own. As a group they certainly do blossom into an enjoyable and praise worthy book. But this structure became jarring in the second half.

In interviews Peter Jackson tells that the reason he left Frodo's battle with Shelob out of the second movie even en though it was the climax of the second book was because having more than one emotionally charged moment will leave them both flat. Cloud Atlas is the same. (As much as I loved the LOTR films I cringe at making that comparison but its all I could think of and it fits. Tolkein chose playing the two stories independently as two separate books within the same volume.) The intensity of all six storylines is lost completely.

Overall I loved this book. I thought the characters engaging and dynamic. It was the experiment in structure that disappointed me but I still recommend.

Dear prudence, can't you come out to play?

2005-03-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

The Wife and I spent Easter weekend in New Jersey with her family. A routine holiday visit leaves nothing major to report. My Brother-In-Law showed me why I should have switched to Firefox a long time ago. So I made the switch when I got home this afternoon and I am already glad I did. He also showed me the MMO he is playing and I am so close to diving in. I have a few reservations. I have some experience with these on-line games. While in that online world time seemed to melt away. Logging on for an hour or two would turn into all night epic battles with my new friends across the country; and a few nights on the couch because The Wife would not tolerate me waking her up at 4 or 5 every morning. My other problem is that I am already disappointed in how little time I spend reading and more importantly writing. The time spent online fighting monsters would do little to further my ambitions of a life of writing. I hope to enroll in a fiction workshop next semester at Brown's continuing education program and I'm not sure that I will be able to fit gaming in. My brother-in-law is also the first family member to know that I have a blog. I guess that would make this post me telling him that I can't come out to play until I finish my homework*. Sorry.

*Ed. Note: The author is weak. His will power virtually non-existent, if posts stop coming you'll know why.

Eggs and sausage and a side of tost (Lots of Tom Waits titles lately for some reason)

2005-03-27T22:44:00.000-05:00

My blog is so hot it could fry an egg.

destroy my site and others like it here.

thank Jeff for the link.

You must be reading my mail.

2005-03-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

Tom Waits gives The Observer his top twenty favorite albums. As ecclectic as expected.

Fernando Valenzuela rides my bus.

2005-03-18T22:07:00.000-05:00

I have been looking forward to tonight. This is the first friday night that The Wife and I have been able to stay home and just relax. No errands to run or things to pick-up I get to veg out on my recliner and await the weekend. My brackets are all fucked up already buit it is still fun to be checking in on all the games. We had to run on an unexpected errand last night right in the middle of watching Heavenly Creatures the Peter Jackson film about an obsessive friendship in 1950's New Zealand. Strange, surreal, and interesting. Like I said I only watched half last night so I'll get back to that tomorrow. I have to watch that and I have to finish Cloud Atlas this weekend. I really took my time with MN&JS and so I really have to get back on the horse if I am going to read 50 this year. I have been wearing a whole into my copy of mos Def's New Danger. Surprisingly enough I recommend everything up there. Oh yeah and I watched FX's show the sheild for the first time this week and liked it so I have the first season dvd's on their way from Netflix. Hopefully they arrive tomorrow. It's the little things folks. These things matter and I just thought you all would like to know what I was watching, reading, and listening to.

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,

2005-03-18T21:56:00.000-05:00

The New York Review of Books reviews the report filed by the investigation of CBS's handling of the RatherGate memos and tells us what we all already knew.

Lost in the commotion over the authenticity of the documents is that the underlying facts of Rather's 60 Minutes report are substantially true. Bush did not take the physical exam required of all pilots; his superiors gave him the benefit of any doubt; he did receive special treatment and Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, Bush's commanding officer, was unhappy with the loss of ANG's investment in him when Bush informed Killian he was leaving for Alabama. Before the broadcast, Mary Mapes, the CBS producer of the program, confirmed the facts in the documents with retired Major General Bobby Hodges, who had been Killian's superior in the ANG. Later Hodges told the panel he did not think the documents were authentic, but did not disagree that the facts were substantially correct.

Thanks to BookDwarf for the link.

Junior Campers Banquet

2005-03-12T19:49:00.000-05:00

The fact that I am an Eagle scout compells me to post to this article. Not to mention the fact that the gentleman on the right in the photo is my cousin and softball teammate.

What a world we're livin' in.

2005-03-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Bono? Bono got nominated for a Nobel Peace prize? When did this happen? Why did this happen? Look I think that Bono is a stand up guy. I think he is an extremely intelligent guy. He's still a rock star right? This whole thing had me perplexed for a minute before I thought abou the fact that there currently aren't too many alternatives are there? We certainly won't be seeing any nominees from our government anytime soon so why not give it to the Irish guy who's been rockin the charts for a couple of decades. These are haedy days indeed. But still, fucking Bono?

Book Quote

2005-03-11T23:27:00.000-05:00

Still. I felt the exhilaration of a journey begun, and I let my guard drop. A volume I once published,True Recollection of a Northern Territories Magistrate, claims that shark victims experience an anesthetic vision of floating away, all danger gone, into the Pacific blue, at the very moment they are being minced in that funnel of teeth. I, Timothy Cavendish, was that swimmer, watching London roll away, yes, you, you sly, toupeed quizmaster of a city, you and your tenements of Somalians; viaducts of a Kingdom Brunel; malls of casualized labor, strata of soot-blitzed bricks and muddy bones of Doctors Dee, Crippen et al.; hot glass office buildings where the blooms of youth harden into aged cacti like my penny-pinching brother.

David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas.

Damn, this guy is good. While I save my fun easy reads for my busride/lunchbreak books it is fun every now and again to lug the paperback OED along with me in my bag.

2005-03-06T00:14:00.000-05:00

The Boys

2005-03-05T23:48:00.000-05:00

Calvin

Its the Stay Puff marshmallow Man.

2005-03-05T22:41:00.000-05:00

By way of Tingle Alley I found OGIC's five quotes and so here are mine.

"Well moving on . . . did you hear they're canceling Latin?" -- Rushmore

"Your equipment is in my locker. You should probably come by and get it because I can't fit my numchucks any more" -- Napoleon Dynamite

"I got that going for me, which is nice" -- Caddyshack

"Riders of Rohan what news from the Mark?" -- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"Nobody puts baby in the corner" -- Dirty Dancing (yes I am embarrassed that this one popped in there. Like Akroyd at the end of Ghostbusters)

Trying not to panic.

2005-03-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

Finally, a real trailer for the Hitchhiker's Guide. I have not been this excited for a movie's release in some time. I wasn't even this excited about Lord of the Rings because I was worried they would ruin one of my favorite stories. The same held true for me here at first. When I heard about its making I was worried it would fall a bit flat, the way the BBC miniseries did, but when I heard who was cast I knew they were on to something. You can't miss with the mighty Mos Def. Special effects finally make the scope and grand scale of a Galaxy possible on film. Perhaps I am just setting myself up for a disappointment. You should have seen me the night Attack of the Clones came out. Lets hope this one lives up to the hype and if it doesn't; I'll just crack the book again.

2005-02-27T23:10:00.000-05:00

the Avalokitesvara mandala of compassion

Nuns in the Gallery

2005-02-27T22:18:00.000-05:00

The Wife and I, my mom and dad and my little sister had to go up to Boston for my cousin's first birthday. My dad had the great idea to take the opportunity to stop by Wellesley College to see the Tibetan Nuns and their sand Mandala. The experience was breathtaking.

We arrived around noon presumably during a midday prayer service because instead of working the sand the nuns were seated in a small roped off area in the corner of a serene and quiet gallery. Quite but for the beautiful and hypnotic chanting. Nine voices and occasional bells. Haunting and lovely at once I could listen to these Buddhist chants forever.

Dad, The Wife, Little Sister and I headed out to explore the rest of the museum after about twenty minutes. We were hoping that when we got back the nuns would be working on the Mandala. That's not a bad museum they have over there. More than a few very impressive works including a Willem de Kooning. There was a lot to take in but it made me remember just how much fun it was for us to go out to the arts museum just about once a months with my dad. A good time was had.

When we got down to the first floor we were happy to see the nuns hard at work and smiling at all of the spectators. Their work is painstaking and takes, as would be expected due to their faith,a tremendous amount of patience. It is beautiful to see. They work separately and without words yet all towards a common goal. The goal is not a beautiful sand mandala for the ages, This Mandala like all the others will be released back to the earth by way of the Charles River. The beauty and art is in the process not the result. Just like Chris in the Morning making Holling Vincoeur burn his paint-by-numbers landscape in the furnace. Just try and pretend you don't get the reference.

To say that the experience was moving does not quite fit. lets say it reaffirmed. Since college I have been a student of Buddhism and was fascinated to stand in the nuns presence during prayer even if it were for only a half an hour. If you see a similar project in your area please attend. It is fascinating.

Reason #943 why my wife is better than yours...

2005-02-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

Did your wife sign you up for a mailing list to recieve every catalog, leaflet, and postcard from every alpaca dealer and breeder in the country just because she thought it would be funny? Hilarious.

He's living the dream.

2005-02-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

This is a fascinating and exciting experiment. Jason is going to blog full-time and for profit without advertisers. I have always enjoyed Kottke.org even though when he starts talking tech and computers most of it sails clear over my head. The interesting and humorous outnumber the confusing. The idea of being paid for blogging full time is truly a dream of mine but I have nothing to offer in the way of interesting discourse so what are you doing here? Go visit and support Jason.

2005-02-21T21:44:00.000-05:00

When I was in the tenth grade my mother got me a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. I hadn't ever seen a magazine that wasn't about news or sports. In the first issue that was delivered to my house was the first chapter of the Thompson book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in honor of its 20th anniversary. The first paragraph gave me the feeling that I should hide this magazine. There's no way that my mom new what she had signed me up for was all I kept thinking as I read the list of drugs and paraphernalia. I had to get the book and did so within a week.

Few writers have had this effect on me. Steinbeck, Kerouac, Vonnegut, and Thompson. A feeling that I had never read anything like it. I didn't know that writing could be that way. Could invoke such feelings, could change the way I thought about something, to open my eyes. Sometime that same year another Thompson column came in my monthly Rolling Stone. Polo. Yup, Polo. Horses, mallets, a little white ball and a whole bunch or very rich, very white folks right? Hunter saw through that. Hunter showed the debauchery and lewdness that even the (or especially the) most reformed and refined clubs and cliques hold their own dark secrets.
Hunter showed me that. Hunter showed me that to learn about something the best way would be to submerse myself in it, be it politics, sports, guns, and even drug use.

Thank you Hunter. R.I.P.

The Mississippi delta was shining like a National Guitar.

2005-02-19T22:49:00.000-05:00

What can I say? Work has been crazy busy, life has been somewhat busy, and I have been spending a bit of time working on things for the new blog. I can't say that any of the business is in any way interesting. Just you basic routine life stuff aside from the passing of a distant relative and the subsequent wake. The Wife brings up a good point about wake's and funerals here.

Anyway, bullets on what's been going on --

still reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I just don't have the time.
the iPod song count has stalled at 1400. Planning a trip to my brother's place with my laptop so that number should jump soon.
The Wife and I went to the drug store today for some stuff and It finally happened! Its Cadbury Cream Egg time again! Thanks Easter Bunny, Bawk, Bawk.
I've decide to join a baseball fantasy league.
Over the past week I found out that my Wife makes the best chicken francais the world has seen. I am a very lucky man.

Busy doesn't always mean exciting.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

2005-02-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

I went ahead and started a baseball blog. Go checkout 108 Stitches.

I love this blog for the fact that I can throw anything from any topic up here but sometimes that freedom is overwhelming and daunting. It already feels good knowing that anytime I get set to post something there it already has a general focus and topic. A topic that I am very passionate about.

Where the hell's my juice?

2005-02-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

Uhhhhh . . . I'm sorry ..I guess.

Still a fucking cheater.

Hiding like thieves in the night from life, illusions of oasis making you look twice.

2005-02-09T20:24:00.000-05:00

It has been a whole damn week since I last posted and fro that I apologize. I can't get into details why just know that there has been plenty-o-stress here in The Fog but we have turned the corner and everything is just fine. A-OK. Peachy.

Anyway, to make it up to the one, possibly two, people who come and see this site I will throw about a bunch of stuff in short little bursts. Your welcome.

Today while on the bus I got up and offered my seat to an elderly gentlemen who had gotten on. He reacted as if I had given him one of my kidneys. According to him it doesn't happen all that often and that mad me a bit sad. I was not in the first couple of seats today, this poor old guy had to pass an awful lot of young kids and high school students to get all the way back to me and my seat. There are seats that are clearly marked reserved for seniors or disabled persons, all occupied by kids between the ages of 15 and 18. The idea seemed lost on these kids as one of them gave me a strange "what the hell did he do that for?" look. It would seem that courtesy isn't so common anymore.

I read quite a few reviews that thought Sir Paul Mcartney gave a terrible halftime performance. I disagree. While it did lack nudity and any kind of contemporary relevence, what it did have was a great performer performing his own great songs. Plain and simple.

I have been reading Faithful the book by Stewart Onan and Steven King about the 2004 Boston Red Sox Championship season. Well it isn't about the team per se but rather a diary of two sox fans. The trials and tribulations of a coupla guys watching games from their couches or their box seats or on the radio in their cars. I gotta say I had problems with this book from the start. What do I care how and or why two writers watch red sox games and what their opinion of these players are. What makes Steven King such an baseball expert? I have been a die-hard Red Sox fan since I was eight years old. Why is it that on every page we had different views on players, coaches, teams, curses, and trades? Somehow the only thing we agree on is that we can't seem to turn it off. Try as we both may, niether of us can not care about the sox.

A funny thing happened though as the pages turned and the 162 games of the baseball season ticked away. The book laid itself out the way a real baseball season would. I found myself looking forward to my lunch hour so I could catch up on the games and remember where I was when Nomar hit that home run or when Dave Roberts stole FIRST BASE WHEN EVERYONE KNEW HE WAS GOING TO, HE SCORED! HE SCORED! ITS ALL TIED UP!!! ...sorry (cough, cough) I get a little excited talking about it. So anyway I really started to like this book because I could visualize my reactions to the same events and how much the Sox really do mean to me. This year I plan on starting a diary of the Sox. Every day, just a few notes on the score, the game, and what I did while it was on. I think that I'll see some surprises as to what events get themselves all wrapped up into these events. Will I be watching the sox from a hospital waiting room while a child is born probably not this year but someday. What game was on when I got that call from my agent that the novel got sold? I don't know but if it happens during the evening anytime between april and November you can bet your ass that I'll be watching the game. A new blog is in order to chronicle my year with the sox and I don't know what I should call it so if that special person who is soo good at naming things reads this - please pass along any suggestions.

Someday, When money is no object. Someday, when we have a cabin in the mountains of Vermont I want to spend a season there tapping maple trees and making my own maple syrup. Someday.

Damn I thought I had more than that in me but I'm tired and need to get some sleep. I'm done.

What do you call a cat with no legs?

2005-02-01T23:19:00.000-05:00

We call him Linus

Linus has been part of our little family since October of 1998. He tipped over the trash can today and dug through the garbage hunting for the remains of last night's stir-fry. Apparently it made quite a mess but Wifey had it all cleaned up before I got home. Linus gets into some trouble but I can't stay mad at him. Just look at him.

The Wife and I went to college in Vermont and after about a month or two of "shacking up" (or the more popular "living in sin") we decided it was time to get a pet. (Not our first pet actually but we don't talk about the turtle fiasco of 1996.) A friend had let us know that her father found a litter of kittens in his barn. We could have our pick in about six weeks when they were weaned off of mom. These cats may have had a barn to live in but make no mistake, barn cats in northern Vermont are hunters. They serve a purpose; to kill mice and other rodents. You don't pet them, you don't feed them and you most certainly don't let them inside. Now of course these are kittens, I am just giving you a bit of background, Linus is by far the coolest cat that I have ever met. I hated cats until I got to know this guy. But I digress...

Anyway, four weeks later our friend called saying that we should get up to the farm and come pick out our cat. We were a bit shocked that it was so soon after birth but would find out when we got there that when entering the barn that morning the farmer had stepped on and killed one of the kittens. Afraid that he would accidentally kill more he wanted them to go to good homes, quickly. We could have taken them all if we wanted to but one was enough for two crazy college kids living together. Linus was hiding behind an old rusted out stove. He was the only one of the kittens that didn't hiss at The Wife when she picked him up. He was so small that I easily could have held him and one of his six remaining siblings in the palm of my hand. On the hour long drive home Linus slept wrapped in a blanket in a small cardboard box on the lap of the woman who would be my wife.

That's it. If I were going to continue with Linus stories I'd be here until dawn. I thought that I had posted a shot of him a few months ago and when I realized I hadn't, I had to fix it fast.

Everybody's workin for the weekend

2005-01-29T13:30:00.000-05:00

Aaahh, Saturday morning and a day completely open to possibilites. The Wife and I don't have any plans at all. All the options can be a bit overwhelming. We need to go grocery shopping but I prefer to do that later in the day when all the crazies are done. We are thinking of taking the camera and going downtown to get some pictures of the city 5 days removed from the blizzard. We'll see. I have to say that my lazy ass is feeling pretty good seated in this recliner. Netflix has sent three more gems of weekend entertainment, the liquor cabinet is stocked. Maybe you'll hear from me this weekend and maybe not!

Its Official.

2005-01-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

After an exhaustive search The Fog has officially labeled my copy of The Grateful Dead's Workingman's Dead: Lost Forever.

Family and friends have been notified and no word yet on the whereabouts of said CD; A CD that has been in my collection since early high school. In lieu of flowers please send money and/or itunes credit. It would mean so much at this difficult time of sadness and loss.

2005-01-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

The morning after.

2005-01-26T22:47:00.000-05:00

Calvin

My night is colored headache grey.

2005-01-26T22:27:00.000-05:00

You know that a day that begins with your car keys being locked in the car WHILE IT IS RUNNING is not going to be a good day. Well, this one wasn't. The Wife (who I really and truly do not deserve) was home sick so she waited for AAA while took a bus into work. I take the bus every day but usually not an hour late for work. Let's just say that my day sucked.

Dynasty

2005-01-23T22:34:00.000-05:00

like there was ever any doubt?

The Blizzard of '05

2005-01-23T01:07:00.000-05:00

As I write this we are being clobbered by a classic Nor'Easter. This one has been classified as a blizzard. That's right they're throwing around the B-word. Our only trip outside today was to the liquor store. We are well stocked in the event that we are snowed in which it looks like we will be. I sincerely hope that you and yours are somewhere safe and warm.

And all the kings armies are tired and slow, you can set them all up in a row

2005-01-21T22:30:00.000-05:00

I know that they have had all kinds of internet buzz but I just can't get behind The Killers. I've tried. Really I have The Wife downloaded the album at work brought it home for me. I've heard the songs, and it is not as if they are bad. I am not sure exactly what it is about them that I can't get past. I have heard a rumor that at appearances The Killers speak with fake British accents. Not exactly a point in their favor if true. I have no idea if it is true or not. I am a bit confused on this whole emo genre that my local radio station keeps playing. First of all the word emo to me invokes the word emotion which to me was always a big part of music anyway right? So how is the emotion different in "emo" music? I heard that the lead singer of one of these bands actually breaks down into sobs in one recording. I guess that's emotional. Anyway. Lately when I listen to the newest hip rock bands I shake my head thinking that it all just sounds the same. Further proof that I am getting old. Gotta go, Matlock's on.

. . .

I have been catching bits and chunks of I Love The 90's: Part Duex and absolutely loving it. Anyone who knows me knows that there isn't much that enjoy better than a walk down memory lane; this show is just that. Aside from watching and telling each other stories about where and when we saw each movie and toy, The Wife and I have found big gaps in what movies we never got around to seeing. It all got me thinking. Hell, I've never seen Gone With the Wind, or Casablanca. Citizen Cane? Just haven't gotten around to it yet. I do know that I have seen Rear Window. It is one of my first movie memories but that's the problem. I remember a guy in a wheelchair with a camera or something but not much else so I can't even count that one. Those are just a few of the biggies. I should put together a list of them but for some reason (read: two glasses of wine) I can't for the life of me think of them now.

. . .

This may sound crazy but the world needs to know. There are two very simple yet very delicious sandwiches that I swear by. I've been told they were gross but after a simple taste test all doubters have come around and for you dear internet readers I impart my wisdom. Nothing, and I mean nothing absorbs a few too many glasses of wine like two slices of American cheese on toast with a liberal smear of yellow mustard. Trust me. Another great simple sandwich is essentially the same with a twist. Two pieces of good old sliced white bread. Wonderbread if you can afford the finer things in life. Again, two slices of American cheese; again, the liberal helping of yellow mustard. This time take a handful of potato chips and put them on the opposite side of the mustard, as to prevent sogginess, squish down and enjoy. I have brought many converts to this hearty snack and while I used to be able to have them on a regular basis I know better now. Oddly enough a snack that I developed as a teen in my mother's kitchen has become a treat only enjoyed at my mother-in-law's. I have grown very comfortable there over the years and enjoying a comfort food of mine helps to seal the deal. Try one soon.

. . .

Thundersnow. If that's not a cool word or concept what is? Jon Bolaris of CBS 2 NY used the term about the oncoming storm. Yeah that's right snow AND lightning. Be afraid because it is on its way. Another great band name.

State of my Union.

2005-01-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much time to blog this week. Car trouble for most of the week, and The Wife and I had to catsit for my sister while she was in Florida. Don't get me wrong I am more than happy to help out family but it is a haul out to her house and back every night. Work still sucks. My ipod still rocks. With no time to read I am still only about halfway through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I am three weeks into the new year and still haven't completed a book. Does not bode well for my 50-books-this-year resolution. The Wife is, as usual, more than I deserve.

That about sums it all up for now, oh except for the best fact about today that I could possibly think of . . . Only 25 days until pitchers and catchers report to camp. Hallelujah!

Teach

2005-01-17T23:16:00.000-05:00

Terry has written some of the most beautiful pieces that blogging has seen. This one from today isn't too shabby either. Make his blog a daily read if you don't already.

I will never say the word "procrastinate" again; I'll never see myself in the mirror with my eyes closed.

2005-01-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

Editors Note: Until further notice titles of posts will be random song lyrics plucked from whatever my ipod throws at me on my bus ride to and from work. Why? Because I feel like it. Oh yeah and by the way, a bunch of random bits is probably all you'll see from me this weekend. Three day weekend of relaxing with some movies, some football, and of course liquor, lots of liquor.

I'm sure that anyone who has made it here has already found this link somewhere else but if you haven't and you enjoy film please check out the CONVERSATION. I spent this morning in their backblogs, they have no less than five interesting threads going on right now.

I have always heard that burning hair gives off an odor to beat the band. Lacking any first hand experience I figured it couldn't be all that bad. Its just hair right? This morning The Wife and I could not find the source of a stink in our living room. The rare big breakfast today had us blaming each other for the cloud that seemed to linger over the coffee table and couch. A moment later while getting a drink I noticed that the smell had just gotten significantly stronger. "Hey! Get away from there! That's the smell!" The wife was screaming in the living room. It seems that my cat when rubbing against the coffee table in the hopes that it would dispense food was dragging his tail through the flame of a small stinky candle we had lit. As much as we love this cat there is no denying that this particular animal is not so bright. The poor thing didn't even seem to notice the fact that a little longer and we would have had a fireball capable of dashing all over the apartment.

No one, and I mean NO ONE beats us in the snow.

The Wife and I became the proud new owners of a special edition rotating board version of Scrabble this weekend. The competition has been fierce although a bit one-sided. It seems that The Wife has a thing for anagrams and word games. Humbling.

Movies, movies, movies. Last weekend we saw Napoleon Dynamite, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I started a post and reviewed both of them but have yet to post it. This weekend we saw two more good ones. I am a bit late to both of these. I knew that they where released and I had read the reviews but I prefer the comfort of my couch to the movie theater so I generally don't see movies until they are out on DVD. First up it was Garden State last night. Good, but not great and I will post my reasons why when I get them together. Today after the Patriots game we watched Shaun of the Dead which I thought was in a word - Brilliant! (to be read in the voice of the guys in the Guiness commercial)

Tomorrow take a moment to remember him; and his works.

The pumps don't work 'cause the vandals took the handles.

2005-01-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

The ipod still has me captivated. Today while on the bus the shuffle seemed especially good. I know that it is completely random but who the hell knew you could go from Mos Def to Uncle Tupelo to U2 to Phish to the Bob Dylan referenced in the title of this post so seamlessly. The more I use this thing the more my CD collection surprises me with its depth. I haven't had this much fun listening to music since I figured out how to use my father's turntable.

When I was a kid my brother, sister, and I would spend the weekend with our cousins A & J about once a month. They lived about half an hour away from us but at twelve years old that might as well have been California. Getting together was always a big deal and we all looked forward to it. When I was twelve years old there was a rift in my Mom's family. Without going into detail there was a period of about 8 years in which one side of the family didn't speak to the other; like a Victorian novel we fell on opposite sides of this feud. About seven years ago said rift was resolved and cousins were reunited to a resounding thud.

Our formative years had passed without contact and A & J were different people just as we had been. The tension of the situation gave way to polite small talk and pleasantries. It all seemed a bit sad. None of us knew how to fix this. I think we all realized that we had just become those kinds of relatives that only see each other at major holidays. Once or twice a year was going to be it. C'est la vie.

Last night I went out to dinner with J. We each had burger and a few beers at the local brewery. Through a coincidence and well timed note left in my mailbox, a relationship all but dead was rekindled. Yeah that's right, I'm man enough to use the word rekindled. Anyway, it turns out that we ended up majoring in the same things in college; reading and loving the same books and authors; having similar beliefs on family, religion, and politics. Life is funny that way.

It was a great night and I hope that it was the first of many. We have more in common than blood (you see actually, we aren't related by blood, A & J are my uncle's wife's children from a previous marriage.) I am glad to have reconnected with long lost cousin who as it turns out will be a good friend.

Just a few completely random thoughts and ideas.

2005-01-10T20:41:00.000-05:00

I just heard the term "pest species" during a discover channel documentary. I think it is a good name for a band.

I think that Randy Johnson is in for a long year (or 3.) Great first day buddy.

As the ipod tally comes in today at about 1200 songs I am realizing just how much the music I listened to meant to me in my youth. I have heard songs in the past week that have been buried in my CD collection since junior high school. What a ride.

I have been trying to find a reason to see In Good Company other than the two female leads. No luck yet but I'll keep you posted.

Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?

2005-01-08T21:55:00.000-05:00

Thank you to Syntax of Things for directing us to this site.

It is Twenty Questions against a computer and I am telling you the thing can't be stumped! Don't think I'm a sicko because it was The Wife's idea and she was there helping me but the damn thing even got Tampon. Not so good on Bong though.

1000 Songs

2005-01-06T22:50:00.000-05:00

1,000 songs. I have put just about 1000 songs on my ipod and it is thirsty for more. I still have a bunch of CD's that haven't made the cut yet but I'm beginning to realize that filling it is a lofty goal. Still it is a revelution in the way we listen to music. I am still adjusting to having my entire collection at my fingertips. I find myself a bit overwhelmed every morning when I wait for the bus. A few CD's in one of those travel cases was my limit in choices until now. Now I can select any one of a thousand of my favorite songs, or I can just shuffle the whole damn thing and listen to my collection which won't repeat itself for 2 and a half days.

Of course at the going rate I'll probably have to upgrade to some sort of new gadget in about two years. My wallet can hardly wait.

Not One Damn Dime.

2005-01-06T22:15:00.000-05:00

My father sent this along in an email today and it sounds like a good idea to me.

Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is "Not One Damn Dime Day" in America.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending. During "Not One Damn Dime Day" please don't spend money. Not one damn dime for gasoline. Not one damn dime for necessities or for impulse purchases.

Not one damn dime for anything for 24 hours.

The object is simple. Remind the people in power that the war in Iraq is immoral and illegal; that they are responsible for starting it and that it is their responsibility to stop it.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is to remind them, too, that they work for the people of the United States of America, not for the international corporations and K Street lobbyists who represent the corporations and funnel cash into American politics. Not One Damn Dime Day" is about supporting the troops. The politicians put the troops in harm's way. Now 1,200 brave young Americans and (some estimate) 100,000 Iraqis have died. The politicians owe our troops a plan -- a way to come home.

There's no rally to attend. No marching to do. No left or right wing agenda to rant about. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" you take action by doing nothing. You open your mouth by keeping your wallet closed.

For 24 hours, nothing gets spent, not one damn dime, to remind our religious leaders and our politicians of their moral responsibility to end the war in Iraq and give America back to the people.

Please share this email with as many people as possible.

Big deal.

2005-01-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

All day at work I was drafting a post in my head. I don't ever blog from work and so I would jot down phrases like A-Rod was supposed to bring them a ring too! or They still have to play 162 games on post-its. Turns out I didn't have to worry about it because Jayson Stark at ESPN wrote it all for me --

If you're a Yankee hater, you should still feel free to rant, rave, grumble and mumble about (pick three): the Yankees' money, greed, egomania, Yankee-centric TV network, ticket prices, souvenir shop, parking nightmare, sound-system decibel level, owners-box guest list, yada-yada-yada -- whatever you think you have to vent about to get through this crisis.

But just remember: 10 months from now, all that angst could prove irrelevant -- because Unit or no Unit, there is still lots of stuff that could happen that could prevent the Yankees from winning the World Series.

Seriously.

Go read the Five Reasons the Yankees Won't Win.

2005-01-06T20:57:00.000-05:00

My father-in-law's silver balls.

2005-01-01T23:04:00.000-05:00

Calvin and our as yet unnamed pet.

Books of 2005: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

2005-01-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

Editors note: The writer of this piece was a swallow away from finishing his second glass of wine when he started this piece. Let this serve as a warning for any unrelated tangents, grammatical errors and general ramblings.

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about putting together a what-I-read-this-year list after reading one on another blog somewhere (I am not sure which and it is a common type list, no link but check out the list on the right.) I looked at my bookshelves and fired up the laptop and tried a few times put couldn't remember them all. I searched the blog but found that for every three books I read that only one would make a blurb here. This year I want to be able to tell you just how many books I read and when I was reading them. The posts that will assist me with this will be titled Books of 2005. The goal is at least fifty books a year, or one a week give or take. I'm not worried about hitting the number but I am nervous about keeping a solid written record. Explicit and specific documentation has never been one of my strengths.

The first entry in this years list was a Christmas gift from The Wife. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. At close to eight hundred pages I have lofty goals for my reading at a time when my reading is a bit slow. Busy nights and noisy lunchbreaks have my reading at all time lows right now. It has worked out to my benefit here though. Susanna Clarke's first novel is captivating and charming. According to the dust jacket blurbs a Washington Post review read -- "Many books are to be read, some are to be studied, and a few are meant to be lived in for weeks. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is of this last kind...Magnificent and original." I couldn't agree more. My short time in Clarke's 1807 London has been engaging and fun.

Let's get something straight right here and now; Wizards are fucking cool. Always have been. The first short stories that I would write in the 4th grade always involved Wizards. If a character was stuck somewhere or I didn't know how to get from one place to another throw in a wizard and he could fix everything. Merlin, Gandalf!? I challenge you to find bigger badasses in young adult literature. And so it comes as no surprise to me that I am enjoying Jonathan... as much as I am. Only 100 pages in I am already scared that this little journey will end too soon. I am savoring every scene. I recommend to fans of both literary and fantasy.

My number one Book of 2005! If my year goes as well as the choice of this book has I am in for a great one.

A return from the holiday break.

2004-12-30T22:40:00.000-05:00

I have spent the past four nights importing my CD collection into the laptop and onto the ipod that Santa brought me for Christmas. I am nowhere near finished but it has been fun to reacquaint myself withsome old forgotten favorites (I'm looking at you Tesla.) I think that the ipod is about the coolest thing I've ever owned.

The holiday was fun. The Wife and I spent Christmas in New Jersey with her family. Christmas day was spent relaxing in the In-laws house opening gifts for hours and being entertained by my nieces. Among the gifts from the In-laws -- a great winter coat from LLBean, guitar strings, a manly toolbox, a drill, and the extended DVD of Return of the King. A buffet dinner rounded out the day before most of the family headed home.

Wifey and I drove through the coastal storm hitting New England which turned our three hour drive home into a five and a half hour drive home. The important thing is we got to see some really cool car wrecks on the way. Always very comforting on the long drives. Wifey was a trooper and hung in there like a champ.

The tremendous gifts from The Wife included a kick-ass New England Patriots hooded sweatshirt and a copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell which so far is fantastic. I knew that Jonathan... Came in both black and white dustjackets but this one is red. I haven't seen anything on the internet about a red jacket. It has a few illustrations throughout it but I'm not sure if the black and white editions do also. More on that book in posts to come.

We had another Christmas on Monday night when we went to my parents house for dinner. A nice quiet dinner for four, after dessert we uncomfortably opened gift after gift while my parents watched. Said gifts included the aforementioned ipod as well as a few books, DVD's, and gift cards. My mother loves spoiling her kids at Christmas time. Always has.

But wait! If you thought that was enough holiday fun there's more! Last night The Wife and I again were at mom and dad's for a Christmas dinner with my brother and sister, my sister's boyfriend, my grandparents and an aunt so that we could all exchange more gifts. My sister got me a very nice Doug Mirabelli autograph. My brother got us a mug tree that we have wanted for years. He was a bit surprised at just how excited we were to receive it.

tomorrow will bring the end of the holidays, thank God. Its time to get back into a routine and maybe alter the old routine. I have some resolutions and I plan on laying them out here. I hear that if you write them down they cease being just an idea and become plans. Making them public helps people hold you accountable for keeping them up. One of those resolutions is to read more. I want to read at least 50 books in 2005. In keeping with that same topic I want to document and record what I am reading and when. Expect more posts on my reading.

That's it. We had a great Christmas. We are lucky. I don't think that any of us need any more reminders of just how lucky we are. Please keep the people of Asia in your thoughts and prayers. The effects of this disaster will be felt there for generations to come. Please do whatever you can to help.

Google set up this page to help people find ways to help. You'll be able to find it all there.

A disclaimer was released to all students and parents explaining that Santa Clause was just one of the possible unproven theories.

2004-12-23T23:16:00.000-05:00

To make matters worse, Principal Fred Muscara sent the preteen home from the holiday dance by himself to change into more secular attire. His mother spotted her son in the rearview mirror as she drove away.
``He was crying, he was upset,'' Leslie Lafond said. ``He did it all to be Santa, to make people smile and laugh. That's what Santa does.''

I always forget about that book of the bible. The book of Clause 3:16 -- and the child who disrespect the attire of the jolly fat man let him feel the neglect of his dancing community.

Secular attire? When did Santa become sacred? This country keeps on confusing me. Getting along shouldn't be this hard should it?

The christmas blackout

2004-12-23T22:31:00.000-05:00

Tonight was an important night for getting things done before our trip to NJ for Christmas. I had laundry to do and after that, some packing. We also have to get things ready here at the homestead for my sister to catsit. There is a lot to do and only one night to get it all ready. And so it would be fitting that on this night we lost power for about two hours.

No wrapping, no laundry, no phone, no internet, no lights, nothing. There was just nothing to do and after finding a bunch of candles and the flashlight The Wife and I sat in the candle light and let the gentle quiet settle in. Raindrops on the window and the occasional car passing by are all that we hear. The cats mill around but are sure to stay close and it is apparent that they know something is not right.

Then something happened. We started talking. No TV in the background, not over a quick meal, and not in the car while running errands. Talk. I can't tell you the last time we had as much fun talking. We didn't talk about anything specific or important and most of it was joking around but it is comforting to know that I can still have so much fun with the woman that I met almost ten years ago. We have lived together for about six years and have been married a little over two. Every time I find myself convinced that She has heard every one of my funny stories and anecdotes (and that I have heard all of hers) we have a night like tonight and again prove that I am a very lucky man.

The holidays are stressful. We all know it and it always becomes a struggle as we barrel toward the big day. Then, in a flash of ribbons and bows, ... Its over. The buildup is what becomes excrutiating, if I hear "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas" one more time at work I can't be held responsible for my actions. Tonight we got a chance to get away from it all for a while. To forget about the packing and the driving to spend time together. The Wife and I have survived this season better than I could have possibly imagined. The struggles of this year have helped to strengthen our relationship even more and it has made me very proud of both of us. As I reflect on the year ending and ponder the coming year I am feeling more and more optimistic. It is a foreign attitude for me but I like the way it feels.

Happy Holidays!

I really do have to come up with a clever title for posting favorite quotes.

2004-12-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

"As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." -- H.L. Mencken

(lifted right off of TEV.)

And keep in mind that I hate the mall.

2004-12-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

There are only two people that I have to buy anything for on Christmas. My mom and The Wife. The Wife basically takes care of the rest and she helps to come up with suggestions on things for my mom but I never listen. Tomorrow I will be left with four more shopping days and not a clue what to get for either. Any suggestions?

2004-12-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Bottle of Merlot tonight has made me a bit prolific.

2004-12-19T01:23:00.000-05:00

This from a little known writer from the Providence Journal. I have always loved Bill Reynolds' column. I have never seen his name in syndication lists so I;m not sure if anyone outside of RI knows him but he is great sports writer. Here is a great article that points out exactly why I didn't attend the "Sox Spectacular" at the Convention Center downtown tonight.