Quiet Rumbling

End of June

2011-06-30T20:11:00.000-05:00

Since it's the end of June and I'd like to (at the very least) post once per month, I figured it was time to chime in again. Things have really ramped up at work--Yay! So happy to be working again!--and there just aren't enough hours in the day to work, spend time with my family, and sleep, let alone write.

(Notice the use of the Oxford comma in the preceding sentence? Oxford commas rock!)

I seem to bemoan the lack of writing time every time I post lately, but it's true. I even started a Tumblr.com account, so that I could ease some of the pressure of writing a lengthy post and just put up snippets. Social media is so varied these days that my blog has been somewhat left in the dust with everything else that I use: Twitter for micro-blogging, Instagram for sharing photos, even GetGlue for... well, I'm not sure what it's good for, but you can earn a lot of virtual stickers.

Even Google has gotten into the fray with the new Google+ Project. I can't really tell you what that's like because it's still in beta, and I haven't received an invite yet. (Anyone? Anyone?) However, I've heard good things about it, and I look forward to taking it for a test drive.

Oh, and then there's Facebook... If personal privacy is not an issue for you--because they seem to change the settings on a whim, usually requiring you to opt IN to privacy, not opt out--then Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. And play mindless games with thousands of people who join your mafia or posse, or who become your neighbors in cities, farms, space stations, etc.

Hmm. This post went longer than I thought. I guess social media is a good topic for me to just flow with a stream-of-consciousness sort of style, huh? Well, that's all for now. I guess I'll see you again next month.

Writer's Envy

2011-05-19T21:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight I helped my 11 year old son with some of his homework. He had a composition to write for his English class, and I promised my wife that I would take a look at it. He had no grasp of how to write dialogue correctly, or how to structure his story in paragraphs, so I gave him a few pointers.

Aside from the horrible delivery of his story, the tale itself wasn't bad. His main character, a detective, was called while relaxing at home by a police sergeant, who informed him that the city museum had been robbed of its most prized possession, a famous diamond. I asked him what his detective was doing before the phone rang, and we fleshed out the early part of the story by telling his readers that his detective was reading a book.

Once the detective made it to the crime scene, he looked around for a little bit, and then he announced that he was going home to sleep. I laughed and asked him what the detective had found at the crime scene. Was the display case for the diamond smashed or untouched? Was anything else stolen or damaged? Had the detective found any clues?

My son said that the detective found that the display case untouched and the alarm system had been turned off. The detective had forgotten his tool kit, and planned to return the following morning to investigate further. I pointed out that he hadn't let his readers know that. The details that were in his head had to be put down on paper, so his readers would know what was going on.

He revised his story, and I showed him how to convey information via narrative.

"But how do I show a conversation?" he asked.

"Good question," I said. "You have to put their words in quotes and space them out, like this."

I also told him that there's a fine line between dialogue with purpose and dialogue for the sake of dialogue. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to providing one's readers with the details that they need, so they can follow along with the story.

Another tip that I gave him was to hold off on using multi-syllabic words because simpler words can be more powerful that ones that have a bunch of syllables. For example, "interrogate" and "ask a few questions" essentially mean the same thing, but have a subtle difference in meaning.

I have to admit that even though his tale of theft and betrayal was less than well-written, the heart of it was very imaginative, and I envy my son's creativity. When I try to write something, the process is often painful and unproductive. Ah, to be 11 years old again, when imagination was king...

From Once a Day to Once a Month?

2011-05-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I haven't posted in nearly a month. I guess that's not really a surprise, given how busy I've been lately, but it's disappointing. To think that I went from posting once a day to once a month...

So the big news of the last few days is that they finally found Osama bin Laden--killed him during a raid on his luxury compound in Pakistan. I've seen a lot of people celebrating his demise, and I have to admit that it made me happy, but it also made me sad. Not that I feel bad for him, but I mourn the loss of the many people--good men, women, and children--who died because they didn't find him sooner.

It makes you wonder sometimes, why it is that someone evil, like bin Laden, survives to cause so much pain and suffering, while someone good dies in excruciating pain from cancer (or some other disease). Where is the justice in that? Where is the fairness?

Sadly, life isn't fair. Like the Tao of Pooh, life just is. It doesn't have it in for you if you do something bad, nor does it bestow good fortune upon you if you do something good. Granted, doing the right things will probably improve your life, but not always.

Bah! I'm talking out my arse again, aren't I? Well, that's where my stream of consciousness is flowing, so that's what you get tonight. Thanks for reading, and I'll try not to be such a stranger.

For Whom the Horn Blows, Part 2

2011-04-10T20:44:00.001-05:00

(Continued from Part 1)

A shrill cry woke me, and my eyelids fluttered open. Bright light spilling in from the open door assaulted my eyes and speared my barely conscious mind. I shut my eyes and let them adjust to the light. The cry came again, and this time my brain processed it as birdsong.

Tentatively, I opened my eyes, and as they slowly focused, I found myself staring at the ceiling. From the way my back ached, I had been laying on the floor for hours. That jived with the daylight currently streaming into the living room, instead of the moonlight from last night.

I tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea squashed that idea and forced me back down. My forehead throbbed with pain, and a groan escaped my lips as I reached a hand to my temple. My finger tips encountered something crusty, and when I picked at the substance, I found myself staring at dried blood, presumably my own. For a moment I was confused, and then the shock and horror of the events of last night slammed into me like a freight train.

The creature!

This time I did sit up all the way, glancing around the room for any sign of the... thing from last night. Other than an overturned chair and the wide open door, nothing looked amiss.

My wife!

She wasn't in the room with me. I called her name and stood, my sore back screaming at me to be more considerate. I flew into motion, frantically searching the entire house from top to bottom. I called her name repeatedly, pleading with her to answer me, but I couldn't find her anywhere.

Returning to the living room, I paused near the open door and stared into the yard. The last I could recall, she had been under the creature's spell, writhing as if in the throes of a seizure. She wasn't here, so she must have been taken, but why hadn't it taken me, too?

Lost in contemplation, I nearly jumped out of my skin when something warm touched me on my shoulder. Screaming incoherently, I turned to face my assailant, my body automatically dropping into a martial arts stance. Rage and fear painted my face into a grotesque mask.

(To be continued...)

Movie - Inception

2011-04-07T20:34:00.000-05:00

One of my coworkers asked me to watch the movie Inception because he's been looking for someone, with whom he can discuss it. So, I requested it from Netflix, and a few weeks later I finally set aside some time to watch it.

My friend told me that the movie would "blow my mind", and I have to say that it certainly sent a strong breeze through my neurons. The basic premise is that a man named Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) has a team of people who are able to steal secrets from the minds of people while they're dreaming. The technology that allows them to do this is never really explained, so there's a lot of stuff that you have to suspend disbelief for, in order to accept it.

Reality aside, the things they are able to do in the dream state are mostly mundane. Turns out that the dream world is a fickle place and that the people in it are projections of the dreamer's subconsciousness. If the intruders do things that depart too far from reality, then these projections will summon the dreamer's "security forces" to expunge them from the dream world with deadly force. Thus, they do their best to construct a dream world for the dreamer that models reality, so the dreamer won't even realize that he is asleep.

And yet, the intruders can change their appearance, equip themselves with all manner of weapons and objects, and maneuver through the dream world to find the dreamer's secrets...

Overall, I really enjoyed this film. I liked the characters and the plot, and I found the concept plausible if not probable. The idea of the subconscious mind being unpredictable made me think of another move, one of my favorites, Forbidden Planet.

In that movie, Commander Adams (played by a young Leslie Nielsen) encounters the mysterious Dr. Morbius (played by Walter Pidgeon), whose research into the history of the (now extinct) original inhabitants of said planet, the Krell, unleashes the power of his subconscious mind in physical form, which has deadly consequences. Not quite the same premise, but both movies warned about the parts of the brain, over which man has no conscious control.

I'm deliberately just scratching the surface here because I don't want to spoiler either film for those who haven't seen one or both of them yet. However, let me conclude by saying this: Inception's biggest flaw for me was that the intruders had too much control over the dream world. If so much of it is populated by the subconscious mind of the dreamer, then I would have expected the dream world to become something more like the one in What Dreams May Come, rather than the pale copy of reality that they encountered instead.

Despite its occasional flaws, I enjoyed Inception very much, and I highly recommend it to you.

For Whom the Horn Blows

2011-02-26T22:04:00.000-06:00

I sat in my kitchen, typing away on my laptop, the light from the chandelier above the table barely strong enough to illuminate my surroundings. I could hear commercials playing on the TV in the living room; my wife was in there watching some show from her list on the DVR as she tried to delve back into her childhood by relearning how to crochet a blanket for our only couch.

From somewhere in the distance the horn from a passing train suddenly blew, sounding a lonely note. It sang out like a warning to any who would listen. "Beware!" it seemed to say, "Beware! Ask not for whom the horn blows, it blows for thee!"

I smiled at the thought. Beware of what? I'm in a quiet house in a quiet town in the middle of the night. What's there to be worried about?

The train's horn faded as the furnace kicked on. Even though the sound meant warmth was flowing through the house, I felt cold. A shiver ran down my spine, and I grabbed my sweater from the back of my chair, draping its familiar weight across my shoulders. I rubbed my arms and went back to typing.

Minutes later, the furnace turned off again with a sigh. I could hear the train's horn again, softer now that it had traveled farther along its appointed route. The living room TV still blared its mindless advertisements, but I tuned them out. My fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing my thoughts to life as words and paragraphs. Another cold draft of air hit me, causing another shiver, and that's when I noticed the sound. Or rather, the lack thereof...

What the hell was that?

Something tickled the back of my brain as I came out of my writing-induced meditation, forcing me to focus my awareness on my surroundings. I looked up and turned my head from side to side, trying to pinpoint what it was that had caught my attention. I stood up and turned to look behind me. Like the kitchen, the lights in the living room were dim, indicative of the lateness of the hour, as well as our penchant for saving energy. I stepped to the archway, expecting to see my wife crocheting away, but what I saw chilled my blood to the marrow!

The back door of the house was ajar, and I could feel a cold breeze gently pushing at my hair. My wife lay upon the couch. Someone--or some thing--stood above her, staring into her eyes, which were rolling back into her head. She looked like she was having a seizure, and as I moved into the room to confront the invader, it turned to face me, the malice in its large eyes causing me to stop short.

"What the hell are you?" I said, the icy grip of fear causing me to whisper. The creature hissed and then rushed straight at me. I raised my arms in self defense and screamed, whether in rage or terror, I don't recall. Then everything went black, and I knew no more.

(To be continued...)

Not As Easy As You Would Think

2011-02-25T22:47:00.022-06:00

It used to be that I would spend a couple hours every day thinking of things to blog about. When you write about things daily, you inevitably run into one of two problems: nothing interesting to write about, or too many ideas to pick just one.

Now that I'm gainfully employed again, I find myself running into three different problems: not enough time to write, nothing good to write about, or no inspiration to write. Sometimes, I'm faced with all three. Tonight falls into the last two categories since I have nothing interesting to write about (where's my writing mojo when I need it?) and little or no inspiration to write in the first place.

That can't be totally true though, right? I mean, I wouldn't be writing now if I didn't have at least a little inspiration (or more likely guilt) that's prompting me to write. Mostly, I think about the people who used to read every post that I wrote, like my Mom and my Aunt Karen. Sadly, my Mom passed away in September, but I know that my Aunt Karen would still read what I have to say, even the crazy, fictional stories that pop into my head every now and then. If I were giving her something to read, that is.

So, where to start? It seems like it's only on the weekends that I have any time, or make any time, to write. During the week, time is a precious commodity as you all know. I find it to be one of life's greatest ironies that those who have the time to write often have the least to say. However, without time to write, nothing would ever be written.

Perhaps like Sisyphus (the man condemned for all eternity to roll a boulder up a hill, only to see it roll back down the hill once he's reached the top, at which point he has to start all over again), writers must keep writing until they reach the top of their hill. But instead of watching their work tumble back down into the void, every once in a while they catch a break and get published, and people actually read what they have to say. That's the beauty of blogging. Once in a while, people stop to read what I have to say, even when I'm not making much of a point, just writing. Just being me, so to speak. Because writing is like a connection that's not so much about words as about how those words make you feel, or think, or trigger a new thought in your head that wasn't there before.

Man, I must be Mr. Philosophy tonight! Listen to me. Complaining about having nothing to write about and then going off on a deep thought bender. Ha! Sometimes I even impress myself.

It's time for this guy to call it a night. Thanks for stopping by.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

2011-02-13T09:15:00.000-06:00

The other day I was browsing through my list of recorded shows on our DVR when my 11 year old asked me a startling question. He said, "What is Doctor Who?" At first, I thought he meant, "Is Doctor Who an alien or something?" But then I realized that he literally meant, "What is this show?" because he had never seen it. He must have noticed the title while I was looking for something to watch.

Gasp! Could it be that my oldest son had never seen Doctor Who? I searched through the internal memory banks and came to the conclusion that he never had. I hadn't watched much Doctor Who in the preceding two years, and obviously, neither had he.

For the uninitiated, the Doctor Who franchise has been around since the early 1960s. I'll let you read the history of Doctor Who on Wikipedia, but the premise is that an alien being (known simply as the Doctor) travels around the universe in his time machine (the TARDIS), usually with one or more Earthlings as companions. The Doctor is somewhat of a "meddler" because whenever he stumbles across a nefarious plot, he does his best to throw a wrench into the works and defeat said plot. Thus far, there have been 11 Doctors (technically, there have been 12 if you include the movies, see below). There's much more to it than that, but like I said, you can read all about him elsewhere.

Now, a proud, geeky father could take this as a sign that he hasn't been keeping up with his geeks-in-training regimen, or he could rectify the problem and educate his son about the "one and only" Doctor Who. I chose the latter path, and we watched a mini-marathon of Doctor Who episodes starring the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. I hadn't seen any of them yet, so I was in for a treat, as well as a chance to teach my son about one of science fiction's greatest heroes.

I first made the acquaintance of the good Doctor back in the B.C.E. (before cable era). When I was a young boy, we would eat dinner every Sunday at my Grandmother's house, and after the meal I would watch her television while the adults talked (for hours!). In those days, the local stations mostly played old movies on Sunday afternoons, so I had plenty of chances to watch Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, The Little Rascals, and Shirley Temple movies.

Every once in a while, Channel 7 (WXYZ, Detroit) would show something newer, and that's when I saw the Doctor for the first time. I didn't understand the significance of what I was watching at the time, but now I know that I saw the Doctor Who Dalek films, starring Peter Cushing. However, it wasn't until I was a teenager and the local PBS station started showing Doctor Who episodes on Saturday afternoons that all the pieces fell into place, and my love for Doctor Who took off in earnest.

(Oddly enough, I also saw my first episode of the Doctor Who television series in my Grandmother's house. And again, I didn't realize it was Doctor Who at the time, but I later found out that it was the Talons of Weng-Chiang episode, starring the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.)

Just like residents of New Jersey often ask, "Which exit (off the Turnpike or the Parkway)?" when they meet another resident of New Jersey, Doctor Who fans often ask, "Who's your favorite Doctor?" Usually, one's favorite Doctor also happens to be the first actor that one saw portraying the Doctor, but that's not the case for me. Peter Cushing is one of my favorite actors to have played the good Doctor, but my number one favorite is Tom Baker. I should also put in honorable mentions for the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, and the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. I had the opportunity to watch several of their episodes, thanks to that same PBS station (bless them!), so they hold a special place in my heart, too.

So, if you've never seen Doctor Who, I highly recommend it. And if you're a long-time fan, like I am, find someone who's never seen it before and introduce it to them. Don't worry about giving them a crash course in Doctor Who first, though. The show speaks for itself when it comes to hooking fans; the back story can come later.

Off My Stride

2011-01-30T11:25:00.000-06:00

As the end of January nears, I find myself lamenting my drive to make daily posts to my blog. On the one hand, it was a whole lot easier to find the time to post when I was unemployed, and on the other hand, all things considered, I would rather have a job than the time to post to my blog, you know what I'm saying?

Still, blogging has always been very therapeutic to me. It gave me a daily goal and challenged me to stretch my creative boundaries. (And trust me, they really needed to be stretched!) Honestly, I hadn't felt that creative since playing with my Lego blocks as a kid. Then, I was putting together buildings and spaceships with blocks of plastic. Now, I put together articles and stories with blocks of words. Very similar, really.

In the back of my mind, I have this idea of jotting down various blog post ideas and fleshing out the best ones, perhaps picking my favorites to post here, but will that really happen? When I posted daily, I went with my gut and wrote most of my posts "on the fly", which allowed my creativity free reign. I'm proud of most of the posts that I created that way. (Okay, maybe proud of all of them, just more proud of some than others.)

So, I can't promise that I will find the time to post daily like I did for most of last year, but I can promise that I will continue to post. Thank you for being a reader and for caring about what I have to say!

First Paycheck

2011-01-19T20:21:00.000-06:00

Today was a really good day for me. I received my first paycheck from my new job, and it felt great. I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I am very glad to be a contributing member of society once again.

I think James Brown said it best:

All in a Hard Day's Fortnight

2010-12-14T22:05:00.000-06:00

The bitterly cold wind rampaged across the parking lot as I stepped outside. Swirls of snow, the frozen equivalent of a desert's dust devils, danced toward me, heralding the blizzard that the meteorologists had predicted for this evening.

I checked my watch. Just fifteen more minutes until my lunch break. Thank goodness! I'd been working fourteen days straight, so I could take time off for Christmas and visit my family out East.

"Whoa, watch it!" I heard my supervisor yell. I spun around and nearly crapped my pants. Some joker in a Volvo nearly backed into me while I was watching the snowy ballet. I exhaled a sigh of relief as the rear bumper stopped just shy of taking out my kneecaps.

The driver hopped out of his vehicle and rushed over to me. He glanced at me, then glanced at the bumper.

"Wow, that was close!" he said. "You almost scratched my car."

Great. Another one of those, I thought. I put on my best "customer service" smile, struggling to keep my hands from reaching for his throat, and addressed him politely.

"Sir," I said. "How may I help you today?"

He looked at me and sniffed, as if he weren't sure that anyone could help him well enough to satisfy him. I could almost hear the gears churning as he thought about what he wanted to say. Finally, he came to a decision.

"I'm here to purchase some wood for my fireplace," he said. "I hardly ever use it, but I'm throwing a party for my clients, and I want to set the... appropriate mood."

"Certainly, sir," I said. "I'll bring some out for you, sir. Right away." I walked over to the wood pile and picked up two bundles of cord wood. Then I took out a bottle of my "special sauce" and sprayed some into the center of each bundle. The "special sauce" is a concoction that my cousin came up with. He's a chemist of some sort. This stuff is odorless until you heat it up, and then it smells like sick. Like somebody took a huge diarrhea dump on your rug and then threw up on it. It's nasty, so I only use it when I meet someone who--how should I put this?--doesn't have the Christmas Spirit?

I put the wood in Mr. Personality's trunk and closed the lid. He thanked me, somewhat stiffly, handing me a whole dollar.

"Merry Christmas," he said, as he climbed back into his car. I crumpled the bill in my fist and tossed it over my shoulder.

"Merry Christmas indeed, sir!"

I waved as he drove out of sight, and then under my breath said, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

I smiled as I checked my watch again. Lunch time. I love my job.

Just for Fun - Baker's Dozen

2010-12-13T23:43:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I published a post that included a video of humorous George W. Bush bloopers. To show that I can be bipartisan in my humor, I have decided to include in today's post a video of humorous Barack Obama bloopers. Enjoy!

See, even I can appreciate the humor in these, and all I can say is, "Better him than me." I could never run for political office. There's just too much opportunity for making a fool oneself. I do enough of that on my blog here.

"If you can't laugh at yourself, then maybe you're not really laughing?" - D.A. Schweiss

Just for Fun - Twelfth Night

2010-12-12T22:45:00.035-06:00

It's the twelfth night of the twelfth month. There's got to be some kind of cosmic significance to that, right? According to Wikipedia.org, December 12th is the day when the United States Supreme Court decided on the case of Bush vs. Gore, in which George W. Bush was declared the winner of the 2000 Presidential Election, casting Al Gore into relative obscurity (with the exception of his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth).

Personally, I think the "Bush II Era" (as I like to call it) led to a lot of inconvenient things, not the least of which is the state of our economy today. Your mileage may vary.

So, in honor of this date in history, I leave you with this:

A Lucky Break

2010-12-11T22:45:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned several times in recent weeks that I've been cleaning and packing and sorting and tossing out things around the old homestead, right? Well, since I'm the one doing most of the tossing out/donating, I've made several "executive decisions" about what stays and what goes. So, it may come as no surprise to you, intrepid readers, that some of my decisions have been less than happy-making when discovered by my kids.

You see, I cleaned out their playroom, which had toys from back when our youngest son was a baby. When I say "cleaned out", I mean that quite literally. With very few exceptions, I have donated the majority of their toys to Goodwill. Some might call this cruel, but most of their toys were for much younger children. I'd rather get rid of them now, than move them to Cincinnati with us. I can buy them more age-appropriate toys later.

Unfortunately, what makes sense to an adult doesn't always make sense to a child, especially one with Asperger's Syndrome. Case in point: I am somewhat of a perfectionist at times, so I was waiting to donate one of my youngest son's toys until I had found all the pieces of it; specifically, both doors of his Go, Diego! Go! Animal Rescue Center play set. I happened to mention to his older brother that I had found both doors, but may have already donated the rest of the play set to Goodwill. I did this within earshot of my youngest son, who immediately began crying and telling me that he "loved that toy" and that I should "ask Goodwill if I can have it back."

I know, I know. Bad daddy.

Well, I felt awful. If I hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have noticed that it was gone, and I could have donated it without any guilt; however, it IS his toy, not mine, and even though he never plays with it, he still has an attachment to it. It's easier for me to get rid of things to which I have attachments because I'm an adult and I've been tossing things left and right for the past several weeks. (Once you get over the initial clingy-ness, it's immensely therapeutic to get rid of all the dead weight.) It's much harder for a little boy with Asperger's to do the same.

As chance would have it, after I consoled him by telling him that I would buy him a new play set, I happened to find it in a garbage bag that I had prepped in order to take to Goodwill, but which was still sitting in my garage. Talk about a lucky break!

I put the doors back on the Rescue Center and took it up to my youngest son's bedroom. He was still awake, so I showed it to him.

"Daddy, where did you find it?" he said. I told him that I had found it in a donation bag; that I hadn't taken it to Goodwill yet. Then I told him that I would let him keep it, as long as he put it in the box of toys to take with us. Of course, he wanted to sleep with it in his bed, so I let him. All was right with his world again.

When I told my wife about all this, she raised a very valid point: this may be how he's expressing his response to the move, which he's not a big fan of. We live next door to a family whose kids who have become good friends with our kids, so he's not just leaving Madison, a city that has been our home for five years (a lifetime in the mind of an 8 year old); he's also leaving his best friends. I sometimes forget that I did the same thing when I was 10 years old, when my family left Ann Arbor to move to Holland (Michigan, that is). It took me years to recover from that, so why should I expect him to move without any ill effect to him?

I'll get us packed up and ready to move. I'll make sure it's as painless as possible for my family. But how do I prevent this move from traumatizing my kids? If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks!

Calgon, Take Me Away!

2010-12-10T22:01:00.000-06:00

Today started out pretty well, but since late afternoon, it's taken a turn downhill. All things considered, this "downhillyness" is probably more positive than most people's "bad days", so I really can't complain. It's just that it would be nice if the odd things that have popped up here and there in conjunction with our impending move from Wisconsin to Ohio would just... sort themselves out, or not be screwed up in the first place.

Take, for example, the task of informing our television/satellite service provider that we're moving and that we'll need to transfer service from our current address to our new address. One would think that a relatively simple task like this would be fairly straightforward, right? Not so with our provider. My wife informed them that we were moving, they said that we were all set and that there wouldn't be any charges for the transfer, and then a few minutes later, the time for our programming guide changed.

Turns out, when you tell them that you're moving, they immediately change the address for your account, and that affects your programming guide if you happen to be changing time zones, which we are. Why they can't do that switch on the day of your move is beyond me. And they can't fix it without canceling the work order for the transfer, so you're stuck with a programming guide that's off, which in turn screws up your DVR scheduling. Nice. Thanks so much for making that so complicated, satellite provider!

We'll be renting a house for the first year, year-and-a-half that we'll be in Cincinnati, and let me tell you, the process of finding, leasing, and moving to a new house (rental or otherwise) is highly stressful. Luckily, we found a nice place, we're just about to sign the lease for it, and we have the move lined up. We just need to be packed and ready to go by next Monday morning. That leaves us less than 10 days to accomplish "The Great Move of 2010". That's a tall order for this family, but we've been cleaning, tossing, sorting, tossing, packing, tossing, etc. for the last few weeks, so I'm feeling confident about our chances.

So, why can't I relax? Maybe it's the piles of stuff still to be packed, or the furniture that we still need to get rid of or toss out, or the fear that the weather won't cooperate and it will screw up our schedule? Even when I make time to relax and de-stress, I don't actually relax. There's too much on my mind about things that need to be done. What am I going to forget to do? What's going to bite me in the butt?

All I can say is, "Calgon, take me away!" Even if only for a little while. Please?

The Stealth Approach

2010-12-09T21:31:00.000-06:00

I pressed my back to the shelving behind me and peered around the corner. The coast was clear, so I edged around the corner and approached the display of Nintendo games. I walked quickly down the aisle and found what I had come for: the elusive, special edition, red Nintendo DSi XL bundled with Mario Kart for the DS.

"Hmm. Not a bad price," I said to myself. I glanced left and right, and then pressed the button for assistance. A computerized voice informed me that someone should be with me in less than 60 seconds. I twiddled my thumbs and waited.

"Daddy, my shoe won't stay tied," said a voice behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I turned and found my youngest son standing behind me. His left shoe had indeed come untied, so I bent down to retie the errant lace.

Just then, a Target employee approached us and asked if I needed assistance. Not wanting to reveal the true reason for my presence in the aisle and thus endanger my mission, I told her that we were just fine. She moved on to the next aisle with a confused look on her face.

"Thanks, daddy!" said my son as he ran off into the Toys section. I stood back up, and to be safe, I waited a minute before pressing the button again. After a minute, the same Target employee showed up, and just as I was about to tell her what I wanted to purchase, my oldest son showed up. Since he can't keep a secret, I didn't want him to overhear our conversation, so I waived off the Target employee again.

"What's up, kiddo?" I said. He asked if he could go to the Books and Magazines section to look for a new book.

"Sure," I said. "Why don't you see if they have that new Ranger's Apprentice book in?" He thanked me for the suggestion and ran off. "No running!" I called after him, but he was already out of sight.

I wandered back over to the button, and nonchalantly made sure that I was alone in the aisle. Before I could press it, the Target employee that had tried to assist me earlier walked up with a set of keys in her hand. Then I saw that she had another customer behind her.

"You're in luck, sir," she said to the gentleman. "This is the last Special Edition DSi XL that we have in the store. We probably won't get any more of these in until after Christmas." She removed my mission objective from the display case and handed it to the man who thanked her profusely.

"You can pay for it at the Electronics counter, or I can take it to the Registers for you," she said. The man said that he would pay for it at the Electronics counter, and he walked out of the aisle with his prize. The Target employee locked up the display case, and then noticing the downtrodden look on me face, she said, "Sir, is there anything I can do for you?"

I shook my head. "No. No, not anymore. But thanks," I said. She left me alone in the aisle, and I realized that my mission had failed. Inches from greatness.

"So much for the stealth approach," I said to myself. "Maybe I can find it on Amazon?"

From Cassette Tapes to MP3 Players

2010-12-08T23:30:00.061-06:00

Today I was loading some music onto my youngest son's MP3 player with my laptop, while my wife played music for our oldest son on her laptop. At the same time, we were watching a recording of NBC's The Sing-Off, and one of the groups performed Billy Joel's The Longest Time. My wife then played the original Billy Joel version for the boys, so they could hear Billy Joel singing each part, and then we watched the music video.

How amazing is technology today that we can do that? It's almost scary how plugged in we are.

While listening to the song, my youngest son said, "Hey, I recorded that song on my MP3 player!" His MP3 player has a microphone on it, so he can record whatever he wants to, and I realized that I used to do the same thing when I was his age, only I did it with a cassette recorder. Talk about a walk down memory lane! The funny thing is, Billy Joel's The Longest Time was one of the first songs that I ever recorded like that (along with Weird Al's Ricky) because that's what kids did back in the day--they made mix tapes from other tapes or from songs that they recorded from the radio.

These days, kids have the Internet, CDs, iTunes, etc., and they're less likely to record things off the radio, but it's nice to know that they still can.

But wait, that's piracy, isn't it? Yes, technically it is. But then so is using a VCR or a DVR to record a show for later viewing, and people do that all the time. Is it hurtful to the artists? Not in my opinion. Not unless the kid turns around and sells the music to other people. They could hear the same song on the radio again later. This just allows them to listen to it more conveniently, and potentially to the point where they would want to buy the song legitimately on iTunes or buy the whole CD later. That would work in the artist's favor, which is a good thing.

But I digress...

So, my point in writing this post is that my son is following in my footsteps, and I turned out all right. We have a subscription to Rhapsody, which lets us listen to lots of great music for $15 per month, and if we like songs, we buy them individually on iTunes or purchase the entire CD. Life--and music--is good.

YouTube Finds - Christmas Lights Set to Shake Up Christmas by Train

2010-12-07T23:00:00.016-06:00

Found this on YouTube.com and decided to share it. (Okay, okay! It's filler, but not every post can be a novel, you know?)

Christmas Lights 2010 - "Shake Up Christmas" by Train

Here's a copy of the song from Train:

Train - Shake Up Christmas

First World Problems

2010-12-06T17:22:00.001-06:00

Every once in a while I see a tweet on Twitter where someone complains about an issue that would seem either trivial or superfluous to someone living in a third world country. In cases like that, they usually include the hashtag: #FirstWorldProblems. This post represents my own first world problem.

Last week, we drove to Cincinnati, so that we could locate a house to rent during our first year there. (In case you're wondering, I finally found a job--a great job, really--that starts on 1/3/2011.) It's one thing to see pictures of each house online. It's quite another thing to see the houses in person and discover that the pictures left out, such as dog-chewed wood on a back door, etc.

Well, we finally found a very nice house and we told our realtor that this was the house that we wanted to rent. She then contacted the agent for the house's owners, but things are progressing very slowly. We're still waiting to see if they'll take us on as renters, which is frustrating because we still need to finish packing here, find a moving company to move us, and unpack once we've relocated to Cincinnati. We'd like to accomplish all this by Christmas (and you thought shopping at the mall was impossible!), but we'll be lucky if we can get it done by New Year's at this pace. That's assuming that we get the house that we want.

This is a first world problem because anyone living in a third world country would be more concerned about having somewhere to live or something to eat. They would love to have our problem because it would mean that they wouldn't have to worry about basic things. That kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

We're hoping for a speedy conclusion to our present dilemma, so that we can get our lives back on track. Well, wish us luck!

The Calm Before the Storm

2010-12-05T20:59:00.000-06:00

We're back home in Madison after a brief rental house hunting trip to Cincinnati, and things feel oddly slow. It's been a very relaxing evening, but I have visions of all the things I need to do to get this house packed up and ready to move dancing through my head, so I'm not very relaxed. You would think this whole process would be easier by now, but then if it were, wouldn't everybody move whenever they felt like it?

I've made a first pass through most of the house, but I still need to tackle the garage. I haven't been looking forward to that in general, but the high temperatures this week are supposed to be in the teens and twenties--very cold weather for cleaning out an unheated garage. I'll need to wear gloves, just to keep my fingers from falling off.

We're still not sure which moving option to go with at this point. One moving company quoted us a rather high price for moving us, especially since we don't plan to take any furniture with us (beyond our kitchen table and chairs). Another option would be to try PODS or UPAC, where you can pack a small storage container at one house and have it delivered to another house. This is less expensive, but has its own issues. I thought about renting a truck, but then we wouldn't have anywhere for the kids to sit. We'll figure it out.

Of course, we don't know for sure if we'll get our first choice of rental houses, either. We're expecting to, but that's not the same thing as knowing that you have it. We hope to hear good news soon.

So, things may be peaceful now, but that's just the calm before the storm. This house will soon be a frenzy of activity, and our time in Madison will be up before we know it. We'll miss it here, but we're looking forward to a new job and new opportunities in Cincinnati. Here's to the power of positive thinking!

Rental House Hunting, Part 4

2010-12-04T22:00:00.003-06:00

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Well, maybe not...

We were supposed to drive back to Madison today, but Mother Nature decided to throw a wrench into our plans and throw snow at the Midwest, smack dab in the middle of our path back to Wisconsin. In spite of light snowfall in Cincinnati and the uncertainty of the amount and severity of snowfall that we might encounter in Indiana and points North, we left Ohio after a very nice lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory. I hadn't been to one of those since visiting Toronto (yes, that Toronto) as an elementary school kid, and the food didn't disappoint.

But I digress...

We had light snow through Southern Indiana, and things cleared up after we passed through Indianapolis. But it was cold! I'm talking "wear your hats and gloves" and "get your thermal underwear out of mothballs" cold. I was more worried about ice on the road than snowfall by the time we stopped for the day in Merrillville. We had stopped there once before, so we knew there were hotels in the area.

Okay, I'm bored with my own blog post here. Long story short, our drive went well, but we stopped because we heard a weather report on the radio that indicated a high chance of lake-effect snow in Chicago. Having spent considerable time in Western Michigan, where lake-effect snow is the norm, I didn't want to risk running into nasty weather.

Oh, and we also heard from our realtor. You may recall, we had our list of top three houses to rent, although we were in disagreement about which one to try to rent. We decided to go with the Symmes Township House if they would come down in price on it, since it was in such a great location and a very nice house. The West Chester House would be our second choice. Well, the realtor said the owners of the Symmes Township House were willing to come down on price, but only if we extended our lease to 24 months. As nice as it was, I didn't want to be tied into such a long lease, and since my wife was heart-broken over the thought of not getting the West Chester House, we opted to push for a better lease with the owners of that house instead.

And the result? Looks like we'll be renting the West Chester House, which we all liked. Here's hoping that everything goes well with our rental application and that the move itself goes smoothly. (Yeah, that minor detail.) Take care!

Rental House Hunting, Part 3

2010-12-03T22:00:00.035-06:00

Okay, so today wasn't quite as busy as yesterday. We had fewer houses to look at, and we revisited some of our favorites. We also borrowed a video camera today, so that we could create video walk-throughs of our favorites, but we only recorded one house. I don't know if that's sad or telling. The one house that we recorded seems to be the one that we all liked. Sure, there were others that we all liked, but this one was different.

So, my wife and I have been talking, and we've decided that we have a top three houses list, but we each like them in a different order. For example, here are my top three (in order):

The Symmes Township House
The Loveland House
The West Chester House

While my wife has this top three:

The West Chester House
The Symmes Township House
The Loveland House

The pluses and minuses of each house vary, of course. The Symmes Township House is beautiful. It has a first floor master, an amazing kitchen, two decks, a view of the woods, a finished basement, etc., but it also has a funky driveway, feels like a museum, and has an odd layout. Oh, and it's also 6 minutes from where my job will be. The yard is also sloped, so not much good for the kids, play-wise.

The Loveland House has a second floor master and an average kitchen, but it has a nice yard and I like the layout. It's also within our price range and about 10 minutes from where my job will be. Oh, and it has a finished basement, which could be good for the kids.

The West Chester House has both "wow" factor and "this feels like home" factor going for it. The yard is smaller, but it's in a community with a pool and just down the street from a new elementary school. It has a great kitchen, a first floor master, and a nice layout. It also has a three car garage. (We only have one car, so that's kind of excessive at this point.) It also has an unfinished basement, which is a little disappointing, but the rest of the house makes up for that. Did I mention that this house is, like, 30 minutes from where my job will be? Yeah, not the greatest selling point for me, but it's a nice house.

Well, more to come, I'm sure. Take care!

Rental House Hunting, Part 2

2010-12-02T22:00:00.026-06:00

Wow! And I thought yesterday was a long day! We drove all over the northern Cincinnati area today and visited a dozen houses. I'm serious! We actually saw 12 houses. We thinned the heard considerably. Most of the houses looked better on paper than they did in person, so I'm glad that we bit the bullet and took this trip. (I have my Dad to thank for that because he loaned us money for the trip.)

We also learned a lot about what we really want in a house. For example, we determined that the kitchen, the master, and the yard are all very important to us. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, we want a decently sized and arranged (layout-wise) master bedroom, and we want a nice yard for the kids. We also want a house that feels like a home. That sounds simple, but when you're going with your gut, you have to be able to recognize the "this could be my home thoughts" and distinguish them from the "this is a cool house" thoughts.

Well, we have four houses that could work for us. Two of them are at the high end of our price range, and the other two weren't perfect, but would do. Oh, I should also mention that we are leaning toward houses with masters on the first floor. My wife's legs give her trouble if she has to do too much climbing of stairs, so this is a chance to find something with a more knee-friendly layout.

More houses tomorrow! See you then!

Rental House Hunting, Part 1

2010-12-01T22:00:00.027-06:00

What a day! We drove from Madison to Cincinnati today, so that we could look for a house to rent. We don't know the area well enough to buy a house, and we've moved beyond the stage where renting an apartment is an option for us.

Google maps optimistically estimated the 450+ mile drive as taking a little over 8 hours. Of course, that didn't include potty breaks, meals, gas ups, etc., so it took us a little longer than that. Still, any 8 hour drive that takes under 12 hours is a win in my book. The boys were really good, too, so no complaints there. We even had time to stop by Jungle Jim's, a local grocery store of some note.

We'll see what the next few days bring, house-wise. We had an original list of 20-some houses, but the list has been narrowed down by some places that decided they only wanted to offer a lease/purchase, instead of a straight lease or a lease/option. Okay, some definitions (as I understand them):

A straight lease is just like renting an apartment. You rent the house for a set amount of time, and then you move on.

A lease/option is like a straight lease, but you have the option to purchase the house at the end of the lease for an amount specified at the time of lease signing. However, you're under no obligation to purchase the house, you just have the option to do so.

A lease/purchase is like a lease/option, but you agree to purchase the house at the end of the lease, and you are obligated to do so. This is useful for people who know they want to buy the house, but who need some time to build up or repair their credit before doing so.

We're looking for a straight lease at this point. I figure if we like the house well enough to buy it, we can cross that bridge when we come to it.

Well, there will be more to report on tomorrow (and the next day). Take care!

Guest Blogger - Santa Claus - The Reason for the Season

2010-11-30T18:00:00.058-06:00

Ho, ho, ho! Hello, boys and girls! Santa Claus here. I'm much too busy to update my own blog, but since Quiet Rumbling asked so nicely--and since he's been a good boy this year--I agreed to let him type my words as I dictate.

As you can imagine, my schedule this time of year is full of guest appearances on talk shows, on radio shows, at parades, in malls, and so on, and sometimes I see myself both coming and going. (That's a trade secret that I can't explain, boys and girls.) And I know that everyone wants to get a special gift from Santa this year, but I want you all to remember that presents--toys, game consoles, bicycles--these are just material goods, and they don't represent the real meaning of Christmas.

Boys and girls, I'm not Christmas. Oh, I may be Father Christmas in some countries, Saint Nicholas in others, but I--me, Santa Claus--am not Christmas. Nor am I the meaning of Christmas. I'm just a man, boys and girls, a man who wants to share good tidings with everyone. Christmas celebrates the birth of a very special Man. A Man who loved each and every one of us, whether we've been naughty or nice--which is more than I can claim (Ho, ho, ho!) because I don't give presents to naughty boys and girls, do I?--and He gave His life for us.

Why? Well, you see, boys and girls, this Man was Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Savior and Redeemer. No matter how naughty or nice we have been, with Jesus Christ on our side, we can be forgiven. It's like having all of our naughty acts removed and replaced with super nice ones. Through Him, we can be found without naughtiness in the eyes of God, and we can go to Heaven when we die. He was the Sacrificial Lamb of God, the ultimate gift from our Heavenly Father: a chance to atone for our sins--our naughtiness--and be forgiven, to have our spirits made clean again.

This chance is the true reason we celebrate Christmas. Not the presents, not the TV specials, not the movies, or the family get-togethers--although, those are very nice, aren't they?--and certainly not the shopping. Enjoy the commercial trappings of Christmas, but don't get lost in them. Remember the reason for the season, and be sure to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmas.

Oh, and don't forget to leave out a plate of cookies for me on Christmas Eve! The frosted sugar cookies in shapes of trees and wreaths and snowmen are my favorites. And a plate of carrots for the reindeer would be nice, too.

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

Screams of the Hungry Beast

2010-11-29T18:00:00.051-06:00

She woke from a sound sleep. Some noise on the edge of consciousness had tickled her dozing brain, igniting her strong sense of protectiveness. She sat silently, waiting for the noise to happen again.

There it was! The scream of the Hungry Beast! It was faint, but slowly coming closer.

Meggie leaped into action, running into the living room to alert her Master. "It's here! The Hungry Beast is screaming! Do you not hear it, Master?"

Her Master tried to calm her down. "Quiet, Meggie!" he said. "I hear it, but it's nothing to worry about. We're safe."

The Hungry Beast screamed again, and Meggie ran to the window. She pressed her face to the glass and looked down the street. She couldn't see it yet, but it was close. Then she noticed the offerings at the edge of the yard. She turned to her Master and gave him a reproachful stare.

"Master, you're bribing the Beast with offerings? Those were to be mine? Oh, Master!"

Her Master picked her up and held her in his arms. "Meggie, how many times have I told you? It's okay. Really." Meggie wasn't so sure, but she sat quietly in his arms, looking out the window and waiting for the Hungry Beast.

Finally, it was there. The Hungry Beast approached their yard and its servant jumped down to grab the offerings. He tossed the offerings into the Beast's gaping maw, and it munched on them, devouring the offerings in a squeal of glee. The servant jumped back onto his seat on the side of the Beast, and then it was gone--on to the next yard and the next set of offerings.

Meggie wiggled and her Master set her on the floor. She looked up at him and sniffed, shaking her head.

"That's right, Meggie," he said. "You can go back to sleep now. Everything's safe." Meggie yipped and wagged her tail, then walked over to her bed, curled up, and closed her eyes. Her Master and her house were safe, and that was all that mattered.

Buyer's Rejoice

2010-11-28T00:15:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I casually responded to a comment that Liz Strauss (@lizstrauss) made on Twitter about a new pair of boots that she had purchased. She found them for 66% off, but she wasn't sure that buying them had been a good choice until she wore them; then she knew that she had made the right decision. I somewhat jokingly told her that she had reached the point where "buyer's remorse" had turned into "buyer's rejoice", which may not be grammatically correct, but was my way of stating the opposite of "buyer's remorse". This lead to a brief conversation about how people should always feel "buyer's rejoice".

You know, this concept of "buyer's rejoice" is interesting because it could mean feeling good about all of your choices, financial or otherwise. It's difficult to reach a point where you feel 100% comfortable about any decision, and eventually you have to pull the trigger and make a choice based on the best information you have available to you. Once you make a decision, stand by it for better or worse, and let the guilt go!

For example, in Liz's case she bought some new boots. I don't know if she bought them because she needed new boots and they just happened to be on sale, or if she bought them just because they were a good deal. Granted, the former case would make the decision easier, but sometimes an opportunity arises where buying good boots at a good price makes sense because you'll need new boots eventually. Unless money is tight, buying the boots on sale in anticipation of needing them eventually should not leave you guilt-ridden, unless you buy a lot of things in this fashion.

As another example, my wife and I are currently looking for a rental home in the Cincinnati area. We're not sure exactly where we want to be, geographically speaking, but we'd like to be close to my new job site and we'd like to find a "nice" house. With two young boys in tow, we'd like it to be roomy and have a decently-sized yard. My wife wants a cook's kitchen, too. With all these criteria in mind, it's difficult to make a decision based solely on photos of the rental houses; we'd really like to see the houses first hand, but money is tight right now. Should we take a house-hunting trip and make a better-informed decision, or save the money (reimbursement or no) and rent blind?

Well, we looked at our finances and decided that renting blind was a worse option than spending money on a house-hunting trip (for which we will be reimbursed). After making a decision like this, it would have been all too easy to feel "buyer's remorse", but I opted to deny myself that guilt and go with "buyer's rejoice". We made the best decision that we could based on our circumstances, and now that we've pulled the trigger, we can focus on what follows.

So, set the guilt aside and let your mind be free. You made the purchase/decision/call/etc., and now it's time to move on. Rejoice in your decision and look forward to the next step!

YouTube Finds - Marry You by Bruno Mars

2010-11-27T22:13:00.000-06:00

This week's episode of Glee, called Furt, involved a wedding between Finn's mom and Kurt's dad. It also included music from Bruno Mars, two songs that I had never heard before: Marry You and Just the Way You Are, both of which come from Mars' Doo-Wops & Hooligans album. I loved both of these songs, but Marry You has been rattling through my brain ever since I saw the episode.

Luckily, I was able to find a video of Marry You on YouTube.com. Here it is:

Marry You - Glee Cast Version

And here's a video of the scene from Glee:

Glee Episode Furt - Marry You - Glee Cast Version

And finally, here's a video of the Bruno Mars version:

Marry You - Bruno Mars

My wife claims that I'm "obsessing" over this song, so I hope this post will help exorcise it from my system. Eventually.

A Tale of Two Reimbursements

2010-11-26T19:00:00.000-06:00

This week I received reimbursement checks from two different on-site interview visits, capping off two very different experiences with two worthy organizations. The first one arrived on Wednesday; the other one arrived today. Both are desperately needed and greatly appreciated.

I interviewed with the Organization A back in September. As a matter of fact, the interview occurred the day before my Mom died. I debated whether or not I should have attend that interview in the first place, but I think my Mom would have wanted me to go, so I went. Overall, I think the interview went well, but I was so stressed about my Mom and money (because I had to pay for everything myself and then wait to get reimbursed) that it was hard to stay focused. I submitted the pre-interview receipts for reimbursement while I was at the interview site. Due to my Mom's passing, I didn't submit the remainder of my receipts (post-interview receipts) until the end of September.

I interviewed with Organization B in the early part of November. They surprised me by paying for almost everything up front (I still had to pay for a rental car and meals), AND they flew my wife down, too! That gave us a chance to drive around a little bit and get a feel for the area. I submitted my receipts about a week after the interview.

The first check that arrived this week came from Organization B. They apologized for the paperwork taking "so long" (roughly two weeks) and OVERNIGHTED the check, so that it would arrive more quickly.

The second check that arrived this week came from Organization A. I had to call and badger them weekly to keep the paperwork for the check rolling. One hand didn't know what the other was doing, and presumably, HR had no sway over Accounts Payable to get them to reimburse me in a timely fashion. It was very frustrating to have to wait over two months for reimbursement, especially after having to pay for every part of the trip out-of-pocket.

I realize that every organization is different, but just like job seekers are always trying to make their best impression, so too should employers be aware of how the various aspects of their recruiting process can leave the wrong impression with potential candidates. Needless to say, my impression of Organization B was much more favorable.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-25T20:14:00.000-06:00

The United States celebrated Thanksgiving today; a day to give thanks for all the many blessings that each person has received, as well as to mark the end of the harvest season. Of course, Thanksgiving is quickly followed by Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which marks the official start of the Holiday shopping season. Sadly, we do not have any money to take advantage of the many sales that will run rampant tomorrow, but we do have the time to be thankful for our blessings.

My family really is quite fortunate. In spite of eleven months of unemployment, during which we saw the passing of my wife's Grammy and my Mom, we have a home (we rent), we have food, and we have each other. As trying as our eight year old can be, he's still a great little boy, and I love him dearly. In contrast, our ten year old is as mild-mannered a boy as you can find, for which we are truly grateful. And then there's my wife. Without her, I would have gone off the deep-end long ago. So much love in that woman...

I'm also thankful for my Dad and my Aunt Karen. My Dad has been a wonderful supporter for us in general, really, but especially lately. And my Aunt Karen is part older sister, part mom-away-from-mom.

And then there are my extended family and friends. I have relatively few friends that I keep in touch with, but the ones I do talk to are good, reliable, caring people. I have a slightly broader circle of friends and acquaintances on Twitter, and I am grateful for them, too. They have a knack for cheering me up or saying just the right thing when I need it most.

I could go on for a while with the things I am thankful for, but I have one really big thing that I'd like to mention. A few weeks back, I had a phone interview with an organization that went really well. This was followed by an on-site interview, for which they flew both me and my wife in, and which also went really well. As you can probably guess from my recent posts about "Fall Cleaning" and such, we're preparing to move to Cincinnati, OH next month because I GOT THE JOB!

I don't start until January, which means that money will still be very tight, especially since my unemployment is scheduled to run out two weeks before my start date, and I won't get my first paycheck until two weeks after I start. Tough times ahead, but there's a bright light at the end of our dark tunnel. My Dad has offered to help with moving expenses, but he has his own fish to fry, and even with his help, we'll be hard pressed to pay for this life-changing transition. We'll get through it somehow, but if you're of the praying kind, I would appreciate a few extra prayers sent our way for the next month-and-a-half.

Oh, and lest I forget, I'm thankful for one more thing this year. Although my Mom is no longer with us physically, I know she's still with us in spirit, and that means a lot to me.

Thank you, Lord, for all that you have given us. Please let your Holy Spirit be with us, to help comfort and guide us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

One Family's Old Clothing

2010-11-24T21:43:00.000-06:00

I've been cleaning around the house this week, attempting to reduce and recycle the stuff that we have. Today my efforts resulted in a dozen bags of old clothes that I then tossed in the car and took to Goodwill. I wasn't the only one with that inspiration because I found myself in a (relatively short) line of cars waiting to donate their gently-used goods.

Admittedly, my goal wasn't to donate and "do good", but to get rid of clothes that are just taking up space in our lives. However, the added benefit of feeling good about donating clothes that someone else will use is nice. This point was driven home for me when I looked through the windows of the Goodwill store and saw the racks of clothes, the shelves of miscellany, the furniture, etc. that people were perusing as I sat in line. It struck me that one family's old clothing is another family's warm sweater, sturdy jeans, or interview outfit.

Organizations like Goodwill take more than just clothes; they take a variety of household items, computers, and furniture, too. So before you toss that old laptop in your garbage bin, or junk your futon because you're moving, consider donating it. (Toys, too!) You might just make life better for a fellow human being, someone you may never meet, but who will appreciate your donation more than you know.

How Much Is That Birdy Behind the Lamp Post?

2010-11-23T21:02:00.000-06:00

The weather has taken a turn for the frigid around here, and people aren't the only ones who've noticed. Yesterday, our neighbor discovered a visitor to the porch that we share between the entrances of our two units, a tiny, feathered friend. I'm not sure what kind of bird it is, but he (or she) looked very cold hanging out behind our light fixture.

Our unwanted attention scared him (or her) away, but my wife told me that he (or she) was back again today, so I turned the light on. I'm hoping that it will help keep him (or her) warm during the very frosty evenings that were mentioned in our local forecast. If I were more of a handy man, I would make him (or her) a bird house to stay warm in for the winter, but since we rent, I don't really have anywhere to hang such a thing.

Funny, how I can get so concerned about a "mere" bird and not even think about how this cold might be affecting homeless people in our fair city. In fact, the thought didn't even occur to me until I started writing this paragraph. Our finances may be struggling right now, but at least we have a place to live, food on our table, and a semblance of security in our lives. Take a moment to think about the less fortunate in your city or town this season, and then remember that they have needs that go unmet all year long, not just during the Holidays.

Peace.

Eleven Months Later

2010-11-22T20:00:00.038-06:00

Has it really been eleven months already? Eleven months since I last worked? I knew the economy was bad, but... wow. I've written a number of posts about the "joys" of job hunting over those eleven months; about how stressful job hunting can be, not to mention depressing. The most difficult part has been staying positive and remembering that although the tunnel is dark, there's a light at the end of it.

And what a bright light it is! I only have one month left before my non-compete agreement expires, and there are a lot of opportunities available for people with four years of experience in the realm of electronic medical records. A lot of opportunities. I have had recruiters calling me about these opportunities since I left my former place of employment, but I couldn't take advantage of any of them due to the non-compete agreement. That's all changing and the earning potential is fantastic for someone with my skills. I'm looking forward to tapping into that earning potential and turning our financial woes into financial hopes.

For anyone who has been on the job hunt for as long as I have, I wish you the best. It feels like the economy is getting better, and I pray that the jobs in your field will come calling again and that you'll find something soon. God bless!

Linkbait - 5 Things Glee Taught Me about Dealing with Kith and Kin

2010-11-21T21:32:00.000-06:00

In honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd do a post about keeping things friendly and cheerful when interacting with friends and family this Turkey Day. And in order to drive more traffic, I thought I'd use a popular show like Glee to help me illustrate my points. So, here are five things that Glee has taught me about dealing with kith (friends) and kin (family):

1. Be Yourself, But Don't Overdo It
One thing that Chris Colfer has taught me in his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on Glee is that you need to be true to yourself; however, don't expect people to accept you for who you are immediately. If the only time you see your relatives is on Holidays and your personality is somewhat flamboyant, then you might need to tone yourself down, or risk alienating them.

2. You've Got to Roll with the Punches
One thing that Kevin McHale has taught me in his role as Artie Abrams on Glee is that you have to handle life's little adversities in a mature and adult fashion. (Or maybe that was in the movie Top Secret!?) When people say or do something that makes you feel inadequate, remember that there's more to you than meets the eye, and you can get the better of any situation with the right attitude.

3. Be a Team Player
One thing that Lea Michele has taught me while playing Rachel Berry on Glee is that whether or not you are the diva of the group, you can't be successful if the whole group isn't successful, too. Don't expect to be able to dictate to everyone else what they're going to do. You have to negotiate and encourage. And it wouldn't kill you to volunteer and help other people accomplish their goals ahead of (or in addition to) your own.

4. Don't Be a Jerk
One thing that Jane Lynch has taught me in her role as Sue Sylvester on Glee is that sabotaging someone's moment in order to further your own agenda can backfire on you. You may not care for some of your relatives, but you'll feel better in the long run if you put aside your differences (real or imaginary). Of course, if you're not a jerk, then you should be fine.

5. Don't Dwell in the Past
One thing that Matthew Morrison has taught me in his portrayal of Will Schuester on Glee is that you can't dwell in the past. Don't ramble on about how great Thanksgiving was when you were a kid compared to nowadays because you'll miss out on how great things are now. The good old days have a way of looking better in retrospect than they actually were.

There's the Rub

2010-11-20T21:53:00.000-06:00

One of the pains of having a blog that you've promised yourself to update daily is that in order to keep that promise, you have to come up with something to write about every day. And there's the rub. How do you stay fresh when your life feels like it moves with glacial quickness sometimes?

We're trying to do a variety of things right now, but it doesn't feel like any of them are successful at the moment. That's an inaccurate statement, really, because everything's moving along, but it just feels overwhelming with everything added together. I know I'm being deliberately vague here, but I prefer to be vague at the moment. It suits my mood.

One of the things I like best about my blog is when I just write for the sake of writing. I like to make up stories, something I call "unleashing my creativity" (for lack of a better expression). This mostly involves focusing on a writing prompt and then allowing my mind to take over when I weave together a (hopefully) amusing story, or something that makes people think. Sometimes I even surprise myself.

I also like writing about other people's blogs in my Blog to Blog-style posts. Not like my own blog is very successful, but I like sharing good blogs with my readers when I find one worth following. I'd like to think that others would return the favor to me, but who says my blog is worth reading by anyone other than my kith and kin, right?

Yes, there's the rub. Keeping a promise to myself to post daily--at least for the first year, sort of a Project 365 kind of thing, where instead of taking a picture each day, I write a blog post--all the while keeping the posts fresh and interesting. It's a tall order, but I'm just over a month away from finishing my first year with this blog. Here's to keeping promises, especially to myself!

Gamer's Lament

2010-11-19T23:12:00.000-06:00

Another Friday night. It's my traditional night for gaming, but I haven't played any in months. I used to play games like Left 4 Dead and Dawn of War for hours, but that's taken a back seat to other priorities. That's a shame, really, since that's how I used to blow off steam and recover from the stresses of the week.

My favorite games are first-person shooters, but I also like role-playing and real-time strategy games. The latter two are the easiest to waste time on, since they tend to be more time-consuming and detailed, but the former can be a real adrenaline rush. Yeah, I'm not really an athlete, so these games are the closest things to sports for me. Of course, with two young boys to raise, I find myself more active than I was when I was single (big surprise, eh?).

I see games as a great way to bond with friends. They're definitely an exercise of the mind if not the body, and more likely to yield novel experiences than, say, watching a movie together. Oddly enough, I suddenly have an image of raking leaves passing through my mind, followed by playing basketball. When I was in college, I joined Tau Beta Pi (the national engineering honor society) and one of the things we did for service work was rake leaves for elderly residents in the Fall. We also had an intramural basketball team; I wasn't much of a scorer, but my defensive skills became pretty good.

But I digress...

It's fun to play games alone, but it's more fun to play them as a group. I prefer co-operative play to anything else, especially if it means playing as part of a team. Even though it's virtual, it still gives a feeling of accomplishment when you defeat a difficult level or lay waste to an opposing team.

Not that violent games are the only type I enjoy. I also like games like Roller Coaster Tycoon, where you design a theme park or a neighborhood, doing your best to attract customers or residents and unlocking new features to use in the game. And the Lego series of video games--Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones, etc.--are a lot of fun, too. I like to play those in co-op mode with my boys, while I ~~bore~~ thrill them with tales of seeing Star Wars in the movie theater in 1977 when it first came out. Good times.

So what am I doing tonight? Not playing any games, that's for sure. But I'm working on the computer as my wife and I catch up on episodes of The Mentalist. There's only so much time in the day for every activity, and tonight, like so many Friday nights before it, I'm sacrificing my gaming time for... other things. But it will all be worth it in the end. In the grand scheme of things. (That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.)

However you spend your Friday night, spend it well. For me. I'll be with you in spirit.

Blog to Blog - On The Normal Side Of Crazy

2010-11-18T22:02:00.000-06:00

A good friend of ours just launched her blog, and I like where she's going with it thus far, so I decided to write about it. I want to make everyone aware of it because I think what she has to say is worth hearing, and similarly, what she has to write is worth reading. So without further ado, may I introduce to you the On The Normal Side Of Crazy blog by Kelly (@kellybean725).

In her inaugural post, Kelly treated us to ten random things that she thought everyone should know about her. I have known Kelly for over 8 years now, but I learned a few things about her that surprised me. She's afraid of balloons? I had no clue. She's a Snuggie addict? Lord, help us!

She followed this post with one on pet peeves. Kelly is never one to mince words--she tells it like it is--so I wasn't surprised to see her write a post about things that irritate her. I have to agree with most of her list, but I really liked the statement that she made at the end when she apologized for starting her blog with two posts that consist of lists:

I always say if you REALLY want to get to know someone, find something you disagree with them on.

I don't agree with Kelly on everything, but that's what makes our friendship great: I don't have to. We respect each other and agree to disagree on those few points.

Now, when I say that Kelly just started her blog, I mean that literally. She only has two posts thus far because she started it yesterday, but it's off to a good start. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Do you have a blog that you would like to recommend (yours or someone else's)? If so, let me know about it with a comment, below. Thanks!

YouTube Finds - Rowan Atkinson as Doctor Who

2010-11-17T08:00:00.016-06:00

I found this on YouTube.com while looking for another video. It's Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame (among other things) playing Doctor Who in a skit for Comic Relief. It's lengthy, but fun to watch.

Rowan Atkinson as Doctor Who

YouTube Finds - The Best Burrito

2010-11-16T23:42:00.000-06:00

My kids were introduced to this song/video by the kids next door. For weeks my seven year old sang this song incessantly, so for those of you who don't know what it's like to have kids, I am sharing this with you now. Consider it a public service announcement.

This Is the Best Burrito I've Ever Eaten

For more videos of this variety, check out the Parry Gripp Channel on YouTube.com.

Author - J.R.R. Tolkien

2010-11-15T22:30:00.000-06:00

I will be the first to admit, that it's nearly impossible to do any justice to my favorite author of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien, in a brief blog post, but I will try.

I first became aware of J.R.R. Tolkien's work when my Sixth Grade teacher, Mrs. Pierce, read The Hobbit to us as our after-lunch-recess book. I loved hearing about the adventures of the gentle-Hobbit Bilbo Baggins as he got caught up in the quest of Thorin Oakenshield's band of Dwarves to reclaim their ancestral home. Never mind the fact that they had to survive the journey in the first place and then deal with an extremely dangerous Dragon once they reached their destination. Details, details, right?

When we reached the end of the book, I was hungry for more. As luck would have it, we had a Holiday Gift Exchange that year (with a $5 limit), and of course, I asked my "Secret Santa" to buy me the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring. I don't recall who my "Secret Santa" was, but I will love him (or her) forever for buying me that book. Whereas The Hobbit had been a good story, The Lord of the Rings was an epic adventure--sort of like The Hobbit on steroids--and the interweaving of the many story lines was so masterful and detailed, I couldn't believe it.

I read The Fellowship of the Ring from cover to cover faster than I had ever read anything else, and then I begged my parents for the second and third volumes in the series, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, respectively. I was sad when I finished the series because it had been so good!

Around that same time, a family friend gave me a copy of The Silmarillion, which sort of cooled my enthusiasm for Tolkien's other works. It was a thorough history of his Middle-Earth setting, but it was almost too detailed, and very confusing. It didn't have the same flow that The Lord of the Rings had, and I didn't find it as accessible, so I stuck with my two favorites, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In fact, it was a long time before I realized that Tolkien had other works out there that I hadn't even known were there. Sadly, even though I now own most of Tolkien's works, I haven't tried to read any of them. One thing or another has prevented me from doing that, but I look forward to the day when I can read them.

In cleaning out the books in our basement storage area, there are few books that I haven't said to myself, "Oh, I can borrow that one from the library." I will keep my collection of Tolkien books, even if most of my other books are going into the "To Donate" pile. (Ironically, I couldn't find my copies of The Lord of the Rings anywhere prior to starting the clean up, and I had checked the series out of the local library.)

I have rarely read a series of books with more finesse of plot, depth of characters, and genuine believability than the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. If all you know of The Lord of the Rings comes from the recent movie adaptations of the series (which were exceptional, by the way), then I highly recommend that you read the books.

One of the things that I like best about J.R.R. Tolkien is that, in addition to being an amazing author, he was first and foremost an amazing linguist. He had a passion for languages, and he created the languages that he used in his books to give additional depth to the characters in them. Briefly--very briefly--I considered a career as a linguist in college, but that's the type of thing that's best done by those who are independently wealthy. In other words, it's not the sort of career that pays well (worse than teaching, which is saying something).

For more information about J.R.R. Tolkien, check out the information about him at Wikipedia.org. Then go down to your local library and check out a few of the biographies about him. But to really get a feel for his heart, read his works. You won't be disappointed.

Real Men Have Journals, Not Diaries

2010-11-14T19:10:00.000-06:00

While cleaning out one of the storage rooms in the basement today, I stumbled across a diary that I kept while I was in Japan during the summer of 1999. Sorry. Did I say diary? I meant journal. Being the manly man that I am, I would never keep a diary; I would keep a journal, right?

What's the difference between the two? A lock, maybe? Whenever I think of diaries, I think of hard-cover, lockable books, either completely blank or with lines for writing. I also think of Marcia from The Brady Brunch. If I recall correctly, there was at least one episode where someone snagged her diary. Then again, maybe that was Jan during the whole George Glass thing (see episode 34, "The Not-So-Ugly Duckling")?

Anyway, I found my Japan ~~Diary~~ Journal, which I wrote in a flimsy notebook, and it brought back a slew of memories. I give myself a lot of credit for seeking out the opportunity and then spending three months living in Tokyo. How many people can say that they've done something like that?

I also found my notes from my high school Chemistry classes, which are now in the recycling bin, as well as the first radio that I ever owned: a Panasonic FM-AM Cassette Recorder (model number RX-1230). That radio holds a special place in my heart because my Dad bought it for me (roughly) thirty years ago. I took very good care of that radio; better care than my brother Pete did with his. My Dad bought each of us the same radio on the same day. I think Pete's lasted a year. I still have mine, but sadly, the cassette player no longer works, and it sounds like the radio itself no longer receives any signals. I've asked my wife to take some pictures of it before I throw it out.

It's hard to say good-bye to things that have so many memories attached to them. That's the hazard of cleaning out a storage room: you run across things that evoke a multitude of emotions. But that's a good thing, too. Memories may fade, but they can't be lost, and things are just things.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

Fall Cleaning

2010-11-13T20:33:00.000-06:00

There are few things more exciting than a post about cleaning, I know, but here it is. Try to contain your enthusiasm.

I decided that five years is too long to leave the boxes in the basement storage room alone. At this point, if we haven't needed what's in the boxes, it's probably okay to get rid of whatever is in them. For the most part, that would be correct, but there are good reasons why these things were put in boxes in the first place, so you can't just throw them out without going through them.

Thus far, I've found a lot of documents with my signature on them, which makes me want to shred them before throwing them out. We also have tons of books, clothing, and stuffed animals. (I think the stuffed animals have been breeding, there are so many of them.) And lots of receipts, too. Lately, I've taken to tossing out receipts for all grocery purchases--for most purchases, really--unless they have an item on them that I might want to return. It's very liberating, let me tell you.

Surprisingly, I haven't found many things that make me say, "Oh, I've got to keep that!" Most of the things that I've sorted through thus far have been something that we could clearly do without. I just hope that trend continues because I have a lot more boxes to open. Now where did I leave that box cutter...?

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2010-11-12T19:30:00.058-06:00

Today could have been a bad day for us. It's my Mom's birthday, and since she passed away two months ago (almost to the day), we could have been very depressed. Instead, we celebrated her birthday at The Nitty Gritty and ate some cheese curds in her memory. That's not to say that we didn't shed a few tears, sad ones and happy ones, but we chose to remember my Mom as the wonderful woman that she was.

Facebook reminded us that it was Mom's birthday, too. My wife tried to memorialize my Mom's Facebook account, but couldn't get through the process successfully. My Aunt Karen was worried that this would be a painful reminder of her loss, but I didn't mind it. I wrote a comment on Mom's Facebook wall, and didn't think much of it until I received a message from one of Mom's friends. She hadn't heard about Mom's death until today, and she was pretty broken up about it. She wanted me to know that she had fond memories of my Mom, and then she shared a story with me about how Mom had helped her learn to sing better for a Holland Community/Civic Theater production of Nunsense II. I enjoyed hearing about that because it was "typical Mom" to me.

I will always think of my Mom as someone who knew a lot of people; someone who made a difference in the lives of others. She met a lot of them while teaching and while working as a vocal director for the Holland Community/Civic Theater. I have tried to follow in her footsteps to a certain extent, but teaching didn't pay very well, and although I can carry a tune in a bucket, I don't have a musical degree, or the desire to do more than watch musical theater. (And perhaps sing the songs in the shower.) However, I will honor my Mom by being a good person, helping people whenever possible, and making the world a better place in general. Or so I hope.

Do you have someone close to you who passed away? How do you honor their memories? Please let me know by leaving a comment, below.

Veterans Day 2010

2010-11-11T20:06:00.000-06:00

Thank you to all the men and women who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces of the United States. You help keep our country safe, as well as make the world a better place.

And thank you to the families who worry about their loved ones in the active military or have suffered the loss of a loved one in the service of their country. I do not envy your sacrifices, but I am immensely appreciative of them.

Another Long Day

2010-11-10T21:59:00.000-06:00

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't believe how much sleep I had gotten last night. Oddly enough, I still felt tired. Then I realized how much I would be doing today, and that made me feel even more tired. See, I changed time zones yesterday, so that I could pick up the boys from my mother-in-law's place in South Carolina, and I would be changing time zones again today.

Flash forward half a day, and the time spent traveling (airport, airplane, and car) has sapped the energy right out of me. But it's all good. The boys are back home, I have a lot on my plate for tomorrow, and life is good.

Oh, and one word of advice for sleepy people: don't eat Chinese food if you're already tired. It'll make you sleepier and leave you hungry an hour later.

One Long Day

2010-11-09T21:00:00.025-06:00

Just a brief entry tonight because I'm tired. My mother-in-law was able to watch the boys for us last week, so that my wife and I could fly down for an interview last Friday in a city that (for now) shall remain unidentified. The only glitch with this plan is that my mother-in-law has been watching them at her place in South Carolina, and I had to fly there today, so that I can escort the boys on the flight tomorrow.

Did I mention that I had to fly out of Chicago O'Hare? Yeah, that was to minimize the cost of airfare. So, two and a half hours in the car plus several hours at the airport plus two hours in the air equals one long day. Good night!

Follow That Neuron - Soap Operas

2010-11-08T20:43:00.000-06:00

Time for another post of the Follow That Neuron! style, in which I start with a specific prompt and then write whatever my brain dishes up. Today's prompt is: soap operas.

One of the things that I have struggled to avoid during my long period of unemployment is watching too much TV. During the day, my wife and I share the living room, both of us working on our laptop computers. She likes to watch soap operas, especially All My Children and The Young and the Restless, and it's hard to ignore them while you're focusing on other things (like looking for work). Lucky for me, I can tune out pretty much anything to get the job done, but even I have found myself drawn into the often ridiculous story lines on occasion.

For example, on The Young and the Restless there's a story line where Victor (the patriarch of the Newman clan) narrowly avoids the plot of a woman named Meggie (played by Sean Young of all people), who marries wealthy men and than kills them (a real black widow plot). Then he finds his fiancee Nikki in bed with another man at the rehab clinic that Victor checked her into. She thought he had married Meggie, so she threw caution to the wind and slept with this other guy. Victor yells at her (understandably) and then tells her that they're through. If he had told Nikki what was happening, she wouldn't have made her mistake. (You see what I mean by ridiculous plots?)

Speaking of ridiculous things, the other day I was waiting at a light to make a turn, and someone cut me off when the light changed. This particular light had two left-turn lanes and I was in the right-hand one; the person who cut me off was in the left-hand one. When the light changed, I moved into the intersection and swung into the right-hand lane of the turn, like I was supposed to. The other driver pulled straight ahead and nearly hit me, forcing me to hit the breaks as he cut me off and moved into my lane. What the heck? If he needed to be in that lane, why didn't he position himself in the right-hand lane to begin with, or just wait for me to clear? Some people just aren't very considerate, I guess, but that kind of stupidity borders on recklessness.

This past Saturday we drove past one of the local malls, and the left-turn lane for one of the entrances to the mall was backed up all the way to the highway. The first Saturday of November and already the mall traffic is crazy? I guess so. Lucky for us, we have no money, so we aren't tempted to go Christmas shopping yet.

This Christmas will be a tough one for us because it'll be the first one without my Mom. My Dad went to their house in Nevada for the Winter, and I don't know what we'll be doing or where we'll be. If we're lucky, we might get to spend some of the holidays with my Dad. It's hard to say for sure this year.

Well, I think that's enough for today. I kept getting interrupted while writing, which makes it more difficult to "follow that neuron" and drift from topic to topic. I hope to have better luck next time. Until then, take care!

YouTube Finds - How I Met Your Mother

2010-11-07T20:23:00.000-06:00

One of the shows that we've been watching a lot lately is How I Met Your Mother, which is difficult to describe. The premise is that each episode represents a story told by the main character, Ted, to his children as he tells them about how he met their mother. Ted is not the most interesting character (in my opinion); his friends have many more quirks: Marshall and Lily (the married ones), Barney (the womanizer), and Robin (the ex).

I found this video on YouTube.com, and I think it conveys the general mood of the show rather well:

How I Met Your Mother - Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit

Are you a fan of this show? Who's your favorite character? What was your favorite episode? Please tell me about it in the comments, below!

Digital Scrapbooking Day

2010-11-06T10:25:00.000-05:00

Today is the first Saturday in November, which means that it's Digital Scrapbooking Day! This is a day intended to celebrate the work of designers and creative teams that work in the digital scrapbooking world. It also means that a lot of digital scrapbook materials will be on sale all day.

I know this because my wife, Leila (@LeilaS), is a digital scrapbooker (a.k.a. a digi-scrapper). This means that she takes a lot of photographs and then creates these amazing scrapbook pages with Photoshop on her computer. Unlike a traditional paper-scrapper, everything she does is part of an elaborate image (thus, the digital name). The end result is a layout that looks like it could have been done on paper, until you get closer to a printed page and realize that it wasn't done with paper scrapbooking materials. (Although, some scrappers work on hybrid projects, which are a combination of both paper and digital.)

My wife has been scrapping like this for years--at least as long as I've known her, which is nearly a decade now--and digital scrapbooking is her passion. She works with several designers and is a member of their corresponding creative teams. (Each designer tends to have a creative team of five to twenty-five digi-scrappers). As a result, I know more about the scrapbooking world than I would have ever ~~wanted to learn~~ learned on my own, and I have a tremendous respect for my wife's creativity. She can do things with Photoshop that make my inner geek very jealous, let me tell you.

As part of a new style of posts that I'm dubbing "shameless promotions", I need to inform you that in addition to being Digital Scrapbooking Day, it is also the last week of voting for a competition that my wife is in, called the Battle of the Creative Teams. My wife is on the Libby Weifenbach creative team, and she would love to receive your vote. Libby's team, the Libby Lou Crew, is the defending champion, and her team has been in the top three several times during this competition, and the winners receive gift certificates to every participating designer's store. It's a small victory in the grand scheme of things, but the bragging rights are the true prize here.

Here are this week's layouts from the Libby Lou Crew:

Leila

Heather

Sula

Angie

Joana (Hybrid)

Again, if you would like to help out and vote for the Libby Weifenbach team, my wife would really appreciate it. Many thanks!

Do you know anyone who's a digi-scrapper or paper-scrapper? If so, do you have any of their layouts that you would like to share? Feel free to post a comment with a link, below.

Don't Just Sit There

2010-11-05T23:00:00.001-05:00

Earlier today we were sitting in an airport, waiting for a wheelchair for my wife, when I saw one of the skycaps bring in a little old lady from outside. (This particular airport is very big, and since my wife has difficulty walking long distances, we had requested wheelchair assistance for her.) It was clear that this lady was somewhat frail because she was thin and already sitting in a wheelchair.

Her back was to me, so I couldn't see much of her, but I noticed that she had a kerchief on her head and that she was wearing a long skirt or dress with possibly Eastern European patterns on it, so I assumed that she was not a native English speaker. This fact was confirmed moments later when she tried to speak with a ticketing agent, but they couldn't understand her. Apparently, she spoke no English at all.

Fifteen minutes later, we were still waiting for that wheelchair for my wife, and that little old lady was still sitting by herself. We thought she had been wheeled in while her family went to park their vehicle, but as the minutes ticked by, we realized that she was on her own. We couldn't believe it! Who would drop off an elderly lady at the airport without any escort, especially if she didn't speak English?

The lady grew agitated. I imagined that she was concerned about missing her flight. I walked over to her, but unfortunately, whatever language she spoke was not in my repertoire. She showed me her ID and ticket, so someone had already checked her in, but she was clearly wondering why she hadn't been taken to the gate yet. I walked up to one of the ticketing agents and asked her if she could help out this lady. She said that she had called for someone to escort her, but since no one could speak her language, they hadn't been able to tell her that.

I walked back over to my seat while the ticket agent tried to communicate to the elderly woman that someone would be along soon. I felt a little better, but I was still worried for her. Then the lady pulled out a cell phone and placed a call. She waived the phone at the ticketing agent who had gone back to her counter, but could get her attention. I motioned that I would get the ticketing agent for her, and went up to the counter again. The ticketing agent came over and took the phone, speaking with (presumably) someone from the old lady's family who spoke English. Together, they were able to communicate to this woman that it would be just a few more minutes.

Indeed, a few minutes later, a wheelchair assistant arrived to take the lady to her gate. It was another ten minutes before one finally arrived for us. I didn't mind the wait because I knew that this elderly woman had been helped.

International travel can be frightening and confusing--I know because I have traveled to Europe and Asia, where English is common, but not everyone speaks it. If you see someone in need of help, please don't just sit there. Try to help them, either directly if you know the language or indirectly by finding someone who can. This world can be a scary place and language can be such a barrier. Help make the world a better place whenever you can.

It's the Simple Things

2010-11-04T22:00:00.048-05:00

We had dinner with my brother and sister-in-law tonight. I hadn't seen them since my Mom passed away, so it was good to spend time with them over something as mundane as a meal at a restaurant. We spent the evening talking about the events of the day and life in general. Such a simple thing to do, and yet it meant a great deal to all of us.

At the moment, we don't live very close to them at all, but I had an opportunity to visit with a company in a city near them, and said company was kind enough to fly both my wife and I in, so we could look around the city before and after my interview. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. In the past, something like that was fairly common, but in the current economy, it's very rare. This particular company is well known for being family-oriented, and I find that this has permeated all the interactions that I have had with them.

It has taken an experience like this for me to realize just how important it is that I find a family-friendly company during this job hunt. If I were asked what my ideal job would be, now I would say that I want a position where I can make a difference (i.e., help people), learn new things every day, and feel like my work and family life are in balance. And I want to live somewhere closer to family. That's very important.

It's the simple things in life that have the greatest impact. Individually, they may not seem important, but when you take a look at the "big picture", the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. I don't know how things are in your life, but I'm finding that family, especially proximity to family, means a great deal to me, and I'm very fortunate that this job hunt has made me aware of that.

YouTube Finds - Halloween Light Show Set to Thriller

2010-11-03T14:36:00.000-05:00

I know Halloween is over, but I'm not quite ready to say good bye to it yet. So, here's a video that I found on YouTube.com to help you bid a fond farewell to the annual fright fest.

Halloween Light Show Set to Thriller

Get Out and Vote!

2010-11-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

I'm sure that blog posts like this, encouraging people to vote on Election Day, are a dime-a-dozen. Telling people to vote today is like telling people to watch the Super Bowl on the day of the Super Bowl--you're either going to do it, or you aren't. Your mind is already made up, right?

Well, if you're reading this, then I've got your attention. Good. If you haven't voted yet, get out there and vote! Dinner can wait a few extra minutes (or eat dinner early!). If no one is available to watch the kids, take them with you. Don't want to vote alone? Call a friend. Even if that person has already voted, they'll probably go with you because they realize how important it is to vote.

Why is it so important? We live in a democracy. Every vote counts. What you think matters. There are some states where it can feel like your party will always be in the minority, that it will always lose, regardless of whether or not you vote, due to sheer numbers. But that's the wrong way to look at it. That's based on a percentage of total voters, not on the percentage of people who actually show up at the polls. If enough people that support your party decide to vote, relative to the number of people who get out to vote for the other party, your party can carry the day. It's all a matter of who wants it more. That's how a state that is usually Republican can find itself electing Democratic representatives, and vice versa. Every. Vote. Counts.

Besides, if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the outcome. None. And people like to complain, especially about politics. So, if for no other reason, you need to vote, just so you can complain. Yup, I went there.

Now, get out and vote!

Is It November Already?

2010-11-01T21:23:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's November already! It seems like only yesterday that it was Halloween. OK, so yesterday was Halloween, but you know what I mean.

I had another long day today, flying back from South Carolina and then driving home from Chicago O'Hare. The boys are firmly ensconced with my mother-in-law who learned about the joys of having your children enrolled in a virtual school. She had a moderately productive first day, although our youngest gave her some trouble. (He has a cold, so I guess we can cut him some slack.)

Meanwhile, I recalled the joys of flying alone, which is to say that I was bored, but I caught up on my reading. I also listened to NPR (across three different stations) on the 2 1/2 hour drive home from the airport, which is something that I have gotten out of the habit of doing. When I was working, I listened to the local NPR station all day long (that's one nice thing about having your own office)--when I wasn't on a call or in a meeting, that is.

This week is turning out to be a busy one for me and mine, and I'll post some relatively innocuous stuff as the week goes along. I don't like to comment too much on my interviewing and such on my blog anyway, so don't expect anything too juicy from me, details-wise, about the events of the week. Just remember this: positivity is the key!

It's Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:00:00.004-05:00

That's right, it's Halloween! One of my favorite days of the year. Part of my affection for this holiday is due to candy, part of it due to all the creepy shows that so many of the different cable networks broadcast this time of year, and part of it is re-living my youth through my boys as they enjoy Halloween, too.

This year is a bit different, though, because it's the first time my boys have experienced Halloween with their maternal grandmother and without their mom (see last post). My mother-in-law took the boys over to the mall today, where stores gave away candy to trick-or-treaters for several hours. Then she stuck me on candy bowl duty, so that she could take the boys around the neighborhood. Our seven year old was eager to go and (1) get more candy and (2) show off his freaky, blue, spiky, mad-scientist hair. Our ten year old was more interested in playing video games (go figure!).

My mother-in-law was out with our youngest for over an hour--I didn't think her neighborhood was that big--which kind of worried me near the end, but when they came back, he had a huge supply of candy. I mean "he made out like a bandit" huge! So, I guess it was worth it. That discovery led to a new law of trick-or-treating for me: going later in the evening guarantees that people will give away more candy per visit, so as to avoid having leftover candy.

And I have to say, I gave away more candy today than I have given away in five years of living in Wisconsin. Of course, anything would be more than zero. I'm talking about people coming to your door and you handing out candy. We've done trunk-or-treating, where you park your car in a lot with a bunch of folks from church and everybody's kids go from trunk to trunk and pick up candy. That's very different.

After the boys went to bed, and my mother-in-law logged onto her laptop, I sat down to watch a new series on AMC called The Walking Dead. (You may have seen my The Zed Word posts earlier in the week, which hinted at it.) It was standard zombie apocalypse fare, but the story was a bit more compelling. I'm eager to see how it evolves over the course of the series. As I understand it, they're going to focus heavily on character development, and characters don't usually last very long in a zombie show, so that's unique.

Needless to say, I had a good time, and so did the boys. And that's the most important part of Halloween, isn't it?

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2010-10-30T22:15:00.023-05:00

I took my first solo trip with the boys today. Next week will be a busy week for me, interview-wise, and since my wife has been under-the-weather, my mother-in-law offered to watch the boys. Unfortunately, she lives in South Carolina part of the year (i.e., this part of the year), and since she currently has a sinus infection, instead of traveling to Wisconsin to watch the boys, she offered to watch them in South Carolina--if I could get them to her.

Most people wouldn't be able to take advantage of this, but since the boys attend a virtual school, they can take their laptops and not miss any schooling. Besides, my mother-in-law offered to pay for the flights, so how could I say no?

Did I mention that we had to leave from Chicago O'Hare? OK, so maybe having to travel 2 1/2 hours (5 hours round-trip) to save on airfare wasn't so great, but all things considered, the boys did really well. Our seven year old was just a tad silly (and annoying) for the car ride, but he improved after lunch at the airport, and he was well-behaved on the plane. Our ten year old is a solid, dependable guy, so he didn't give me any trouble.

We survived the trip, and the boys were happy to see their maternal grandmother. I felt somewhat badly that my wife couldn't join us for the trip due to her illness, but since this is a short stay (just long enough to drop off the boys and fly back, really), it wouldn't have been worth it for her to go through the stress of air travel. That's for later in the week...

The Zed Word, Part 5

2010-10-29T15:55:00.000-05:00

Hi Sam,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you; I've been on vacation in the mountains. I remember meeting John and Mary when I visited your family back in June. Such a shame. I hope Mary gets the help she needs to recover from that.

I took at look at all those videos that you showed me, and I think you need to cut back on the caffeine, man. Those aren't zombies in the videos. They're people dressed up as zombies. Get a grip! Cindy knew you were losing it, so she took the kids somewhere safe. You need to get your act together and fast! I'll give her a call tonight and see what I can do to patch things up, OK?

Still don't believe me? Take a look at this video:

It's for a new TV show called The Walking Dead, man. I plan to watch it on Sunday when it premieres.

By the way, what's the deal with calling them "zeds" and not just saying "zombie"? Is this another one of those "words have power" things that you like to get stuck on? Zombie, zombie, zombie! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Pull yourself together and give me a call. I tried to call your cell phone, but it kept going to voice-mail.

Love,
Walter

The Zed Word, Part 4

2010-10-28T21:58:00.000-05:00

Walter,

I'm so tired, man. I keep hearing sirens from police and emergency vehicles passing through the neighborhood. Something's going down, but the TV news programs are still acting like nothing's happening. I barricaded all the first floor windows and doors, and I'm only using lights in the basement. I don't want to attract any unwanted attention, you know?

The wind has been blowing so hard this week, and it sounds like the souls of the damned are screaming every time it whips past the house. When I peeked out the window, I saw a couple people staggering down the street, but I couldn't tell if they were zeds, or if they were humans just having trouble walking against the wind.

I've got one of John's rifles with me. It has a scope, and I'm no marksman, but I can probably take out a couple hundred zeds with it. I hope it doesn't come to that. As long as they leave me alone, I'll leave them alone.

The Internet keeps hinting that there are more "incidents" happening around the world. The videos that I keep finding are freaking me out! It's so obvious that these are the walking dead, I can't believe more people haven't caught on to this! Take a look:

You can tell, right, Walter? I'm not crazy. I'm not.

Well, write back to me, please. Please? I need to hear from you.

I love you, bro!

Sam

The Zed Word, Part 3

2010-10-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

Hey bro,

I still haven't heard from you, Walter. Are you okay? Have you heard about... those things in your area? Have they reported anything about the living dead? So far, the only thing I've seen about it is on the Internet. It's almost like the local news people are keeping everyone in the dark. Here's what I saw just a few minutes ago:

Do you see what I mean?! I heard some people talking about this being part of some publicity stunt for a new TV show, but I'm not falling for that. This stuff is real!

I'm telling you, bro, things have gone from weird to Twilight Zone around here, and not in a sparkly vampire kind of way. I decided to barricade the windows and doors of the house, but Cindy thought I was going nuts, so she packed up the kids and left for her sister's place. I begged her not to go, but she kneed me in the groin and walked over my fetal-positioned body.

It's okay. Probably for the best really. She should be safer at her sister's. That's what I keep telling myself at any rate...

I went to the store and bought up all the canned goods and non-perishable items that I could fit in the car. I went to a pawn shop to try to buy a gun, but they actually expected me to wait a week for a background check. WTH?! Don't they know it's the freakin' zed word apocalypse out there?!

Then I remembered that John from next door has a gun. Had a gun. There's not much of John left anymore, although for all I know, he probably reanimated in the coroner's wagon on the way to the morgue...

Anyway, I let myself in to John's place with the spare key that he gave me and I poked around. I almost wish that I hadn't, Walter. His place was a mess, and there was a huge blood stain on the second floor landing. I guess that's where Mary caught him after she turned, poor guy.

I didn't find anything upstairs or on the main floor, but I hit the jackpot in the basement! John used to be in the military before he went into construction. In addition to an impressive little armory, he also had a safe room in the basement. He also had a bunch of food down there--maybe a year's worth! Now that I think about it, John was Mormon, and during one of our many discussions about religion, he said that all Mormons were supposed to lay aside one year of food stuffs, half a year of salary, etc., just in case.

I found the half a year of salary, too, Walter! It was in the back of John's gun cabinet. I'm so lucky that he hadn't left it locked; otherwise, I might never have found it. Praise God for the Mormons!

Take care, bro! And contact me. Please? I'm at John's place now because of the safe room and the food, so call my cell phone or send me an e-mail.

Love,
Sam

The Zed Word, Part 2

2010-10-26T18:10:00.000-05:00

Hi Walter,

Did you get my last e-mail? It's been insanely windy here today and some thunderstorms went through earlier. The bad weather knocked out our Internet connection, so I'm sitting with my laptop at a Barnes & Noble to send you this. (You really need to get a land-line again, dude!)

Talk about insane things happening! Remember how I said that our neighbor John was acting kind of funny yesterday? Well, I heard him screaming through the wall of our duplex this morning, like he was being murdered. I mean, he must have been yelling loud enough to wake the dead because ordinarily, I never hear anything through our shared wall.

I walked over and rang their doorbell, but nobody answered. Then I knocked and knocked, but I couldn't get anyone to come to the door. I pressed me ear to the door, but other than some faint munching sounds, I couldn't hear anything. So, being the good citizen that I am, I called the cops and told them that I thought John and Mary were having a domestic dispute.

The cops arrived, but they couldn't get anyone to come to the door either, so they called for backup. After two more patrol cars arrived, they all lined up outside the door, and then I stood on the sidewalk and watched as they broke down the door and stormed inside. One of the cops came back out a minute later and lost his cookies on the front lawn. I'm talking some serious projectile vomiting, bro!

Two more cops brought Mary out in handcuffs, and she had blood all over her! I mean, she was covered from head to toes in blood, and she looked awful. I'm talking about Keith Richards warmed over. She was so out of it, she just stared blankly as they put her in the back of a patrol car.

One of the cops went to his patrol car to report in, so I wandered over to ask if John was okay. He just shook his head.

"Sir," he said. "You did the right thing by giving us a call. That was a domestic dispute gone bad. Really bad. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in all my years of law enforcement."

It was at that point that I noticed he had blood dripping from his elbow.

"Are you okay, officer?" I said, pointing to his arm.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. We found her hunched over her husband in the upstairs bedroom. She was... eating him."

I gasped in shock and put my hand over my mouth.

"We grabbed her and wrestled her into some cuffs, but she scratched me before we got her subdued. After that, she was all docile. Almost catatonic."

I thanked the officer and went back inside my house. I don't think I've ever seen someone look so shell-shocked before. Poor John! I can't believe that Mary would kill him like that. And then what the hell got into her? Why the heck would she start eating him? I just don't understand it.

You know, I found this video on the Web, and although it's in Spanish and I don't understand what they're saying, it looks like this think might be spreading:

You don't think my neighbors are victims of the living dead, do you? Could Mary have turned into a... I can't bring myself to say it!

Walter, what should I do? I'm worried about Cindy and the kids. I don't own a gun, or even a Ginsu! Get back to me ASAP, bro!

Thanks,
Sam

The Zed Word

2010-10-25T21:17:00.000-05:00

Dear Walter,

Hey, bro! How's it going? Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been so busy with work, and Cindy and the kids have been running me ragged at home...

Anyway, a strange thing happened today that even now has me shaking my head. I bumped into my next-door neighbor earlier--literally. As you know, we live in a duplex, and I had just finished taking our garbage bin out to the curb when I collided with him as I was coming around the corner of the garage.

"Whoa!" I said, grabbing him by the arms and steadying him before he could fall down. He was acting really out of it, and I noticed a bandage on his hand. "Hi, John. I haven't seen you or Mary since your trip to Knoxville. What happened to your hand?"

He stared at me blankly, like he was trying to remember who I was, and then he collected his thoughts.

"Oh! Hi, Sam," he said. "Yeah, we had a great time in Knoxville. Mary's sister was a little under-the-weather when we arrived, and I think we might have picked up the same bug that got to her."

"What happened to your hand?" I said, pointing to his bandage.

"Oh, my hand?" he said. "Well, one of my nephews bit me just before we left. He bit Mary, too. My sister-in-law said she was going to take him to see his doctor, but I think she should have taken him to the hospital. He wasn't looking too good, you know? Kinda green around the gills and mumbling a lot."

After that, we talked about football and hockey for a bit, and then he shambled back into his house. John looked so blah. Germ-o-phobe that I am, I went inside and washed my hands immediately. I didn't want to risk catching whatever John and Mary had picked up in Knoxville.

As if that encounter with John wasn't odd enough, I was reading my timeline on Twitter, and I saw a link for something that really had me scratching my head. Here's a copy of the video attached to the link:

You don't suppose that John and Mary... No. That's ridiculous! Forget that I even mentioned it.

So, send me a response when you get a chance, or give me a call. I'd like to hear from you.

Love you, man!

Sam

Sunday Reflections

2010-10-24T09:25:00.000-05:00

It's one week until Halloween, and as I listen to the cars driving along the rain-soaked street outside my window, I find myself thinking of my Mom. Not that my Mom was ever very big on Halloween, but it's the first major--well, holiday isn't the right word, so perhaps calendar event would be the appropriate term?--since her passing, and that makes me anticipate other, more significant "calendar events" in November and December that are still to come.

Cancer. I hate it with a passion. There are few other words in the English language that evoke such a feeling of dread when someone says them. Cancer hammered my Mom's body for three years. That has to be against the Geneva Conventions. (Inhumane treatment? Torture?) It took my Mom from me, my wife, my children, my brother, and.... my Dad.

I really shouldn't list him last, you know. He was at the forefront of the battle. He was the caregiver, the comforter, the supporter, and so much more. I very much regret that we weren't closer, geographically speaking, to be able to help. Nor did we have the financial wherewithal to visit. That's one of the greatest ironies of our current situation: plenty of time, but no money to do anything.

But I digress...

My Dad is all alone now, and I worry about him. My Aunt Karen, who was also on the front lines for most of those three years, has been watching out for him (better than I have, sadly). She has urged me to follow up with my Dad more, and it's something that I find difficult to do. I mean, I have trouble keeping up with my high school friends on Facebook. Keeping up with my Dad? Not so easy. He's not a big conversationalist.

And yet...

When my Dad does talk on the phone, it's usually for a long time. He may be slow to get started, but once he's rolling, he can talk your ear off. However, as he readily admits, he feels a little uncomfortable on the phone. He much prefers e-mail for the occasional update, so I accommodate him by sending him e-mails instead of "pestering" him with phone calls. (I do call occasionally.)

My Dad's a very smart guy. He loves to fiddle around with various programming languages, and the last I heard, he was even helping other people learn how to program online. (My Dad?) Of course, that was before Cancer reared its ugly head. He also takes the dog for frequent walks and uses those outings to meet and greet his neighbors and fellow dog owners. (Again... my Dad?) I think he may have more of a social life than I do!

My point in mentioning these thoughts is simply this: Reach out to your loved ones. Send that e-mail. Make that phone call. Mail that letter. Whatever you need to do to stay in touch, communicate, and show that you love them--do it! Humans can feel lonely even when they aren't alone. Whether you are 1 mile from your family or 1,000 miles, take time to show them that you care each and every day.

Excuse me, I have an e-mail to write...

YouTube Finds - HP's Happy Baby Commercial

2010-10-23T00:15:00.001-05:00

I just saw this commercial on TV, and it had me chuckling, so I thought I'd share it. Nice job, HP!

HP ePrint "Happy Baby" Commercial Spot

New Lyrics - Schweiss Schweiss Baby

2010-10-22T22:59:00.046-05:00

During the past year, I have had the pleasure of speaking with some of the best recruiters that I've ever met (on the phone, at any rate). I'm talking about people who really know how to listen to a candidate and find out who they are, what situation they're in, and where they would like to be. I salute these people for really going above and beyond in their job.

I have also spoken with recruiters who don't so much talk with people, as talk at people. I spoke with one such person just this week, and I was greatly offended. This person wasn't interested in listening to me, and that very much turned me off. It was like encountering a stereotypical used car salesman.

I like to pride myself in ensuring that my blog remains extremely neutral when it comes to my job hunt because I don't want to post anything that will jeopardize my chances of landing a job or gives someone the wrong impression about me. However, in a move that I will simply label "unwise", I decided to write new lyrics to one of my favorite songs, Ice Ice Baby, by the one and only Vanilla Ice, and I dubbed my rewrite Schweiss Schweiss Baby. I focused on offering advice to anyone who speaks with people on the phone, not just recruiters, and I thought it was rather funny in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. Then I posted it in this space last night.

Apparently, I offended someone with my rewrite, possibly the very same person who had offended me, because I got a comment on my post that said I had "just rapped my way out of a job." Fair enough. I'm a grown up, and I can live with my mistakes, as well as learn from them. And after taking another look at my rewrite, originally written in jest, I freely admit that it could be viewed as presumptuous and rude, so I pulled it from this post.

With just two months left in my non-compete agreement, I'm finally seeing some very promising light at the end of what has been a very long, very dark tunnel. During the last several months, recruiters from all around the country have been calling me, trying to get me to submit my resume for various positions, and for once in this lengthy job hunt, I feel that things are finally going my way. I really love the attention, and I don't want to show poor judgment now, just when I'm nearing the finish line.

As I said, my intent was to entertain and to offer some advice. As someone who has spent many hours on the phone with clients, I understand the ebb and flow of a good conversation, and the importance of knowing when to speak and when to listen. So, if you read my original post and you were offended by it, I apologize.

Movie - How to Train Your Dragon

2010-10-21T21:15:00.000-05:00

We rented the movie How to Train Your Dragon the other night, and I really enjoyed it. So did the kids, but they had already seen it.

The plot involved a centuries old battle between a settlement of Vikings and a nest of dragons. The dragons frequently raided the Viking settlement for food, burning buildings and killing residents in the process. The Viking leader wanted to find the nest and destroy it.

The Viking leader's son just wanted to be a normal Viking, but he was sort of a loser (by Viking standards), and when one of his inventions wounded a rare dragon, he inadvertently wound up befriending it. That changed the whole face of Viking-dragon relations and set up the rest of the movie.

At times, the film's plot was predictable, but the variety of dragons and the steady bursts of action helped me get past that. The animation was spectacular, and I found myself wanting to watch the movie again, just to let it all sink in. Once I get back in the game job-wise, I'll be adding this to our list of must-own movies.

For parents of younger children, you may want to wait until the kids are older because the dragons can be scary. Plus, there's a lot of fighting between the dragons and Vikings at various points in the film. Other than that, I found the film to be very kid-friendly, and I highly recommend it.

Have you seen this film? What did you think of it? Do you have any recommendations for other kid-friendly films? If so, please let me know about them in the comments, below.

A Pleasant Visit to a Planetarium

2010-10-20T22:28:00.000-05:00

Not much to write about today. (OK, so maybe I could fill a few pages with the day-to-day things that happened today, but I'll spare you the gritty details.) The big event of the day was a trip to the local planetarium. My oldest son's Webelos (i.e., Cub Scout) den scheduled an outing to the planetarium, and since I had never been to one before, I decided to tag along and take my youngest son, too.

We all had a good time, even though it was a pain in the neck (literally) to stare up at the stars and planets projected on the domed ceiling of the planetarium. My youngest son was brave enough to ask a few questions, and I was proud of him for that. I also learned about how Columbus used Polaris (a.k.a. the North Star) to navigate to the West Indies in his search for India. Interesting stuff.

The best part of the visit was that this counts as a science lesson for their virtual school. (And here I was wondering how I was going to manage field trips on a tight budget...) The cost was pretty reasonable. For an hour-long show, we paid $2.50 per person, although my oldest son got in free because his den leader paid for all the Cub Scouts. Sweet!

So, if you're looking for an educational night out, check for a planetarium near you. If you're lucky, the shows will be brief, inexpensive, and a good experience for you and your kids.

Do you have suggestions for other educational activities to do with your kids? Please share them in the comments, below!

I Get No Kick from Champagne

2010-10-19T22:17:00.001-05:00

Long-time readers of my blog know that I am currently in-between jobs, and with the expiration of my non-compete agreement approaching, I'm looking for a way to reward myself once I finally land that next job. Some people celebrate major events with champagne; others with vacations. As a non-drinker and a man who has no money, I will settle for rewarding myself the way that I normally do: with a video game.

I have already purchased the video game in question, which may sound like putting the cart before the horse, but I look at is as more of a carrot before the ~~ass~~ ox. The game that I chose for my carrot is Dawn of War II, which is a real-time strategy game based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

There's a long story associated with this game that I will make briefer. I have the original Dawn of War video game, along with all the expansions for it, and I have been waiting for Dawn of War II ever since I heard that there was going to be a sequel. However, I am not one to go out and purchase a new game immediately after it releases. I know that if I wait long enough, I can get the game for $30 or less instead of paying the release price for the game, which is often $50 or more. So, I waited.

Flash forward to my current job hunt and my limited finances. I walked into Target last month, and I saw that Dawn of War II, which had dropped to $30 several months ago, was finally on clearance. There's something magical about video games that Target puts on clearance. They don't always drop the price a lot, but it's usually a good deal. This was a great deal: $15! So, I picked it up and made it my carrot.

Then I walked into Target this week, and the game had dropped to $7.50. Wow! It may sound cheesy (and possibly cheap), but since I hadn't opened the game yet and I still had the receipt, I took it back and picked up one of the further-reduced copies. I wound up with the last copy of the game on the shelf. $7.50. Amazing.

See. Good things come to those who wait, but you have to pull the trigger some time. Now, if I can just have that kind of outcome with my next job! Here's to great deals and great careers!

What do you use for your carrot? Is it always the same, or does it depend on your goal? Tell me about it in the comments!

Book Review - The Man Who Ate the 747

2010-10-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

Last month, I read the book Charlie St. Cloud (a.k.a. The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud) by Ben Sherwood, and in my review of it I mentioned that I planned to read his earlier novel The Man Who Ate the 747, too. Well, I finished reading that book last week, but I forgot to let you all know what I thought of it.

When a lonely man, a farmer from Superior, Kansas, decides to prove his love to the girl of his dreams by eating a 747, another lonely man, a "keeper of the records" from New York, New York, gets wind of his attempt, and he travels to Superior to document it. Will Wally be able to finish his metal meal and win Willa's heart? Will J.J. keep his job at The Book of Records and hold on to his heart when he finds himself falling in love with Wally's dream girl? Will Willa want either one of these guys? To find out, you'll have to read the book!

OK, enough with the "back cover blurb" since nobody is paying me to write one.

Overall, I wouldn't call this one of the most amazing books that I've ever read, but there's something about the characters, the plot, and Ben Sherwood's writing style that really appeals to me. Like his novel Charlie St. Cloud, the story is somewhat predictable, but has enough twists to keep things interesting. Plus, the characters make you want to learn more about them, so I found myself reading page after page to do just that.

I could really relate to the way that J.J. felt like he could never find the right woman because of the demands of his career, and I could relate to how Willa felt duty-bound to remain in her small town, even though she could have gotten a better job elsewhere. And what about Wally? Haven't we all been ready to eat a 747 to prove our love to someone who didn't return our affections? Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Like I said, I've read better books, but few that were more entertaining than this one was. If you're looking for some fairly light reading with good characters and a twisty storyline, then I recommend that you take The Man Who Ate the 747 for a spin. I think you'll enjoy it!

Anime - Samurai 7

2010-10-17T20:25:00.000-05:00

Back when I was in grad school, I was an officer in a Japanese animation film society at the University of Michigan, called Animania (a mash-up of anime and mania, pronounced in the Japanese phonemes of a-ni-ma-ni-a, which would sound like ah-knee-mah-knee-ah in English). At the time, I watched a lot of anime, but after living in Japan for three months back in the late '90s, I kind of fell out of the habit of watching it.

Flash-forward to this year, and I find myself watching more anime. I'm still not watching as much as I did in the late '90s, though, and I also find that I'm very selective about the titles that I do watch. One show that recently caught my attention is Samurai 7, which is based on the similarly titled movie The Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa.

The seven samurai of Samurai 7.

The movie The Seven Samurai tells the tale of a village of poor farmers who decide that they've had enough of the bandits who steal their rice harvest each year, leaving them with barely any food to survive, so they hire a group of samurai warriors to defend the village. The anime Samurai 7 tells a similar tale, but introduces a much more steam punk-like, futuristic setting for the story.

One thing that I hadn't realized before writing this is that the character names of the samurai in Samurai 7 are the same as the ones from The Seven Samurai. That's a nice touch. Of course, Samurai 7 has much more time to build up the characters and explore the themes of love, honor, courage, and just plain doing the right thing, since it is a 26 episode series (where each episode is 26 minutes long, for a total of 676 minutes), compared to The Seven Samurai, which is a 207 minute movie.

Another thing to mention is that The Seven Samurai served as the basis for the movie The Magnificent Seven, where a village of poor farmers hires a group of gunslingers to defend them against bandits. As you can tell, The Magnificent Seven was a remake of The Seven Samurai set in the Old West. Initially, I saw The Magnificent Seven, and then I heard that it was a remake, which made me want to see The Seven Samurai. I will not lie, The Seven Samurai is a very long movie, and it feels like a very long movie. However, it is well worth seeing, although if you're not aware of Japan's feudal history, you might want to read about the Sengoku (or Warring States) Period of Japan first.

Back to Samurai 7...

Thus far, I have only seen about a third of the series, and I'm at the point where all seven samurai have been recruited. I'm really enjoying the story, and even though I have seen The Seven Samurai, you don't have to watch that movie before watching this series. The characters are developing rather nicely, as is the storyline, and I look forward to what will happen next. Be forewarned that the action is part of the story, but it is not the whole story. I like that kind of anime, so this doesn't bother me.

One last thing: This series is available from Netflix on DVD and on instant play, so if you don't want to buy the series outright, you can watch it for "free" (with a monthly fee) from Netflix.

YouTube Finds - Teach Me How to Bucky

2010-10-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

I heard this song on the radio earlier today, and I was surprised to find the video for it on YouTube.com. It's a fun song for University of Wisconsin students and alumni. Note that Wisconsin's mascot is Bucky Badger.

Teach Me How to Bucky (Official Video)

It makes me wonder if Michigan State has something similar...

McDonald's Happy Meals - I'm Not Loving It

2010-10-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

Ordinarily on Fridays, I tend to post a list of people I'm following on Twitter and why I'm following them. However, I wasn't feeling the inspiration for a post like that today, so instead, I'll share with you something that my wife mentioned to me earlier today.

Apparently, some woman bought a McDonald's Happy Meal six months ago, and she has been taking weekly photographs of said Happy Meal for some kind of experiment. The creepy thing is, it really hasn't decomposed or otherwise turned into disgusting mush like you would expect it to do. This piqued my interest, so I did a little digging, and I found the article that my wife had read on Yahoo.com: McDonald's Happy Meal resists decomposition for six months.

The woman's name is Sally Davies, a photographer and an artist from New York City, and she's been doing this little experiment since April, 2010. The scary thing is, there's little (if any) difference in the appearance of the burger or the fries, between the Day 1 photo on April and the Day 180 photo on October 7, 2010. Even the bun is still in good shape!

Sally Davies: McDonald's Happy Meal Project (as of October 15, 2010 on Flickr.com)

That really makes you wonder just what McDonald's is doing to their Happy Meals to get them to last that long. As you can imagine, my wife and I have decided to avoid McDonald's from this point forward, even though I personally love their Big Mac burgers. I enjoyed their Happy Meals when I was a kid, but as a parent, I can't in good conscience subject my kids to whatever is in the food.

At least... not until we forget about the photos and compromise our principles in favor of the convenience of fast food. Sigh.

Have you seen a similar article that made you say, "Whoa! Time out!" recently? If you have, tell me about it in the comments, below. Thank you!

Blog to Blog - Sugarcrafter

2010-10-14T21:03:00.000-05:00

Recently, I made the acquaintance of a very nice lady named Tracy (@sugarcrafter) who runs the Sugarcrafter blog. My wife had stumbled across Tracy's site while looking for cannoli recipes, and she wanted to try her Cannoli Cupcakes. We followed Tracy's recipe to the letter, and after finding ourselves in cupcake nirvana, I knew that I had to thank Tracy for her fantastic creation.

Like me, Tracy has a technical background. On her blog, she reveals how she transitioned from software development to technical writing (a career that I have also considered for myself), but that is her day job. At night, she experiments with food and photography, and you'll find that she excels at both. However, that wasn't always the case. Tracy also mentions that she once set spaghetti on fire, and she's quick to point out that although she shares her food successes on her blog, she also shares what didn't work for her. Overall, I find her blog to be a tremendous resource for novice and expert cooks/bakers alike.

If you've never been to Tracy's site, you will be amazed by the sheer amount of culinary goodness. Each blog entry is basically one recipe or technique that will make you a better cook/baker, and Tracy includes lots of photos to help you see what each dish will look like at various stages in the process of making it. The site is like an online cookbook, there's so much information!

In addition to the cannoli cupcakes, I just found a recipe on Tracy's site for Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies that I'm eager to try. I love shortbread cookies, and the thought of making a red velvet version of them has my mouth watering even as I type. This particular post shows the cookies in the shape of little Christmas trees because it's part of a series that Tracy calls her "12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies", but you could easily cut them into less seasonal shapes for any time of year.

This is just a small sampling of the many recipes at Tracy's site:

Again, I cannot stress just how much great information Tracy has on her site, and I have just barely scratched the surface of the many tasty-looking recipes that have visions of sugar plumbs dancing through my head. Please, do yourself a favor and visit the Sugarcrafter blog immediately! You will not be disappointed.

Just for Fun - Are You Normal?

2010-10-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

Not that I watch The Oprah Winfrey Show very often--in fact, I think today is the first time I've watched Oprah in months--but every once in a while I catch an episode, and today's episode was entitled "Are You Normal?" The entire show was filled with topics like:

How many hours of football is it normal for a man to watch? 3 to 6 hours per week is normal
How often do you pick your nose (or touch it)? 5 times per hour is normal
Do you talk to your pets like they're human? 94% of people do
Do you brush your teeth before you go to sleep? 44% of people sometimes do (bad, can lead to gingivitis)
Have you ever cleaned your house in the nude? no official statistic

Aside from the stat about nude house cleaning, one statistic that caught my attention was that 1 in 4 men travel with a stuffed animal. Oprah interviewed a man who has traveled with a stuffed dog named Barkley for years, and he said that he did it because it's a tie between him and his family when he's on the road. I think that's kind of cool.

My wife always travels with a stuff animal because she uses one as a prop for her arm when she sleeps on her side. I might be inclined to do the same, but I can usually use a pillow for the same thing. That's not to say that I have never traveled with a stuffed animal before, though, because I have. Most of the time it's because I picked up stuffed animals for the boys as souvenirs from my trip, but there have been times when I took a stuffed animal from home with me.

Why did I take the stuffed animal along? No matter how old you get, sometimes having something familiar like a stuffed animal can be a great comfort, especially when you're far from home. Like the man on Oprah, it's a physical connection to home, which a telephone call can't always deliver.

Do you travel with a stuffed animal? If so, what's your animal and how long have you had it? If not, have you considered traveling with a stuffed animal? Please respond in the comments, below. Thanks!

Because It's October!

2010-10-12T16:55:00.000-05:00

I started reading Salem's Lot by Stephen King last night. (The correct titles is 'Salem's Lot, short for the town name of Jerusalem's Lot in the book, but it's easier to leave off the leading apostrophe.) As recommended by the author himself, I've been reading it in a dark room, to maximize the creepiness factor. I plan to watch the TV miniseries/movie about Salem's Lot after I finish the book. Even now, I consider it to be one of the scariest movies ever.

Why am I doing this? Because it's October!

I tend to avoid horror novels and horror movies, but when it's October, I find myself gravitating to scary stories. I attribute that to Halloween, but it might have something to do with Fall, too. The leaves changing color and falling off the trees tend to turn my mind to mortality in general, and this season it's even more pronounced since my Mom passed away in September.

The other night I watched the movie Paranormal Activity, and I thought it did a great job of slowly building until the very eventful, very creepy final twenty minutes. The paranormal fascinates me, but I'd rather keep it at screen's length, rather than experience it in person. I like to watch shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, where investigators visit haunted locations in search of some kind of evidence to prove that ghosts exist. I also used to watch Most Haunted, but all the screaming got to be a little ridiculous (from the investigators, not me).

It's not like the paranormal is something that I only recently latched onto--after all, I watched Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! when I was a kid. (It's odd, but I only just noticed that the show name ends with an exclamation point instead of a question mark. Interesting...) I also used to watch In Search Of..., which was hosted by Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame.

So, before I write another fifteen pages on the topic of the paranormal and scary stuff, I think I'll call this post done. Like I said, I find the paranormal interesting, but it's just one aspect of me, and possibly a small aspect at that. Add in my family, science fiction (Doctor Who, etc.), fantasy (Tolkien, etc.), cooking, PC games, reading, college football, etc., and there's a lot more going on in this old skull of mine.

What does October mean to you? Please share your thoughts in the comments, below.

In the Round

2010-10-11T20:45:00.000-05:00

I'm watching Dancing with the Stars tonight, and they've changed the main stage to a large, circular platform. In honor of this transformation, I'm dubbing my post today "In the Round". (And for those who've wondered, yes, I do know that one is supposed to include the period within the quotes when ending a sentence with a quote. However, I feel that quotes should be exact, so if the original text didn't contain a period, why should the quote?) All the songs are acoustic this week, too, which may affect how well people are able to hear and feel the music.

On the job front, last week ended on a high note. I had several e-mails and a couple phone calls from recruiters, and each of them was interested in my healthcare IT experience. Once my non-compete agreement ends (in just about 2 months), I'll finally be free to take on one of these positions, and the market is very hot for these jobs right now. That spells good tidings ahead for my family and me; we'll finally be able to move forward again.

This week, things have been kind of quiet on the job front, but it's only Monday.

On the school front, I took the opportunity to push the pace with the boys today, so that we can try to get caught up. We fell behind during the week of my Mom's memorial service (and the week after), and in spite of our best intentions, we're still far behind. But things are getting better!

Not sure where to go from here, so I'll just call it a night. Take care!

Just for Fun - Happy 10-10-10!

2010-10-10T14:33:00.000-05:00

Today is October 10, 2010, also known as 10-10-10 (technically, 10-10-2010). Other than the fact that it's fun to have a date where all the numbers are the same (in a 2-digit year format), there's nothing particularly significant about this day. Or is there?

Wikipedia.org will tell you that October 10th is the date for a number of historical events, including (but not limited to):

1938 – The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. (The Sudetenland was a strip of land in Czechoslovakia which Nazi Germany claimed should belong to Germany because of the high percentage of ethnic Germans living there. The Nazis used "nerve warfare" to intimidate the world into letting them take it prior to WWII.)
1964 – The opening ceremony at The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite.
1971 – Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. (I've seen it. It's not as impressive as you might think.)

It's also the birth date of a number of famous people, including (but not limited to):

1917 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (d. 1982)
1954 – David Lee Roth, American singer (Van Halen)
1965 – Chris Penn, American actor (d. 2006)
1969 – Brett Favre, American football player
1973 – Mario López, American actor

So, whatever 10-10-10 means to you, have a happy one!

YouTube Finds - Sesame Street: Smell Like a Monster

2010-10-09T00:15:00.002-05:00

Heard about this on Twitter earlier today and finally found it:

Sesame Street: Smell Like a Monster

In case you didn't realize it, this is a spoof of the Old Spice commercials starring Isaiah Mustafa:

Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

8 People You Should Be Following on Twitter - October 8, 2010

2010-10-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

Today's post contains a list of people I follow on Twitter, complete with descriptions for why I follow them. These descriptions won't fit in a single Follow Friday tweet/recommendation, thus the blog post. Here they are (in no particular order):

Emilia di Girolamo (@EmiliaDG)
http://www.emiliadigirolamo.co.uk
Lead writer and co-producer of Law & Order: UK. I started following her because she retweeted one of my tweets about Law & Order: UK, which I subsequently covered in a blog post. She was on the core team for season one, which is currently airing on BBC America, and she's the lead writer for season two.

Tracy (@sugarcrafter)
http://sugarcrafter.net
Baker, photographer, crafter, and coffee drinker. I started following her after trying out her recipe for Cannoli Cupcakes, which I wrote about in a blog post. Her website is filled with fantastic recipes!

Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles)
http://www.sarabmusic.com/us/home
Singer, musician. My wife has been a big fan for years. I really liked her latest album Kaleidoscope Heart, which I wrote about in a blog post, so I started following her on Twitter.

Melissa Cook (@MACSTL)
Grifter extraordinaire, board moderator at ACK (http://alwayschristiankane.com), and workaholic mother. I started following her because she was following me and actually conversed with me. (Gasp!) Did I mention she's a huge Christian Kane fan? We are both fans of the TNT show Leverage, which I wrote about in a blog post, and in which Christian Kane stars.

Angie Underhill (@angiegirlie)
Registered nurse, wife, and proud dogmom. I started following her after she started following me. If I recall correctly, it was because Chris Gorham (@Chris_Gorham) retweeted a blog post that I wrote about the USA Network show Covert Affairs. I have found her to be a good conversationalist, which I always appreciate on Twitter.

Heather (@poeticnstuff)
Mom, writer (not famous just inspired), loves to read and watch movies, her family is her life, and she loves meeting new people. I don't recall why I started following her, but I'm glad that I did. She has been a good conversationalist and very friendly.

Debbie Bray (@definitelydeb)
http://www.definitelydeb.com
A silly, sarcastic, single gal who loves to travel, read, and craft. She also describes herself as obsessive, happy to be alive, and zesty! A person who definitely makes my Twitter timeline brighter and more fun, I enjoy reading what Deb tweets, as well as our infrequent conversations.

Storkdok (@Storkdok)
http://storkdok-nos.blogspot.com
A 48 year old CF G2P2L2 retired OB/GYN, raising her boys, and learning about autism and life. Storkdok began following me several months before I returned the favor and started following her. That's a shame really, because I probably missed out on some good stuff. What "flipped the switch for me" was a comment that she made on a tweet of mine. (Yes, I'm more likely to follow back if people talk to me.) Storkdok's presence is a definite positive in my Twitter timeline.

Do you have suggestions for people I should follow? If so, please leave their Twitter handles in the comments below. Thank you!

Just for Fun - Law & Order: UK

2010-10-07T21:56:00.001-05:00

My wife has been a big fan of the various Law & Order shows for years, and I have to admit that they've grown on me, too. The latest version of this venerable series is Law & Order: UK, which as the name implies is Law & Order in a UK setting. (OK, technically Law & Order: Los Angeles just started, and we're watching that, too. But I digress...)

Every episode of any Law & Order show follows a basic formula: A crime occurs at the beginning of the show, police detectives investigate, they identify a likely perp, and then the prosecutors put him or her on trial. After that, they either discover that they have the wrong perp, or they realize that they need to find additional evidence to put him or her away.

This might lead you to think that if you've seen one episode of Law & Order, you've seen them all, but you would be mistaken. The writing is what keeps each episode fresh and exciting, and Law & Order: UK is no exception. I saw the premiere episode on Sunday, and the case took several twists that I wasn't expecting. It was definitely Law & Order, but... different. Pleasantly different. For example, the title for the Assistant District Attorney is Junior Crown Prosecutor in the UK version.

Fans of Doctor Who will recognize Junior Crown Prosecutor Alesha Phillips--she's played by Freema Agyeman, who played Martha Jones opposite David Tennant's Doctor. I might watch the show for Freema alone, but the entire cast is very good, and the plots for each episode will be unique with their UK perspective, so I look forward to each new episode.

I tweeted about how much I liked the premiere episode of Law & Order: UK after the show aired on Sunday, hoping to catch the attention of BBC America (@BBCAmerica) and get a retweet from them, but I got a retweet from Emilia di Girolamo (@EmiliaDG) instead. I didn't know who she was until I took a closer look at her profile today. She's the lead writer and co-producer of Law & Order: UK. Wow, that's even better than getting a retweet from BBC America!

BBC America airs Law & Order: UK on Fridays, so if you have that channel and you're a Law & Order fan, I highly recommend that you check it out!

YouTube Finds - The Dead Pants

2010-10-06T21:42:00.000-05:00

The other day I was looking for new music on Blip.fm, and I found a new German group that I had never heard of before, Die Toten Hosen ("The Dead Pants"). They reminded me of another group that I loved to listen to in the late '80s and early '90s, Die Ärzte ("The Doctors"). Here's a video from Die Toten Hosen that I found on YouTube:

Steh auf, wenn du am Boden bist ("Stand up, when you're on the floor")

This is the kind of positive song that I love to listen to; it starts out kind of slow, builds, and then makes you want to kick butt and take names.

For an example of an English video that gets my positivity up, check out "Weird Al" Yankovic's song I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead. I wasn't able to embed the video, but you can watch it on YouTube.

I Just Don't Know

2010-10-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

I was going to write a rant about some guy on a bicycle who ticked me off today because he rode through a red light. Granted, he waited for traffic to clear and then went, but bicyclists have to obey the same laws that drivers do (that's right, pal!). If he had waited for one minute, he could have crossed the intersection safely and legally.

But you know, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter. I'm not his dad or a cop, so why should I get all steamed about it? Life is too short to let crap like that eat at you.

So, I'm still job hunting, and I have an interview tomorrow, but I'm not sure what to think about it. I like to think that I would make a good QA Analyst, but I could do any number of things. In my last position, I was a combination of things: product support specialist, programmer, QA tester, business analyst, and teacher. What would make me happiest? I just don't know. I guess a job that allows me to provide for my family, has good benefits, and doesn't treat me like a slave. One that lets me grow professionally and personally, and that lets me be useful.

(I have to say, if teaching paid a decent salary--and I had a teaching certificate--I would love to teach again. I used to teach high school physics and science. Given a chance to do it over again, I might lean more toward German or math.)

Anyway, I'm at a cross-roads in my life, and I have a variety of paths to go down, but I don't know which one to follow yet. I just don't know...

Writing Prompt - Campfire

2010-10-04T20:54:00.000-05:00

Today's writing prompt comes from The One-Minute Writer blog. It is the word campfire:

Write about a memory you have related to a campfire. (If you don't have any such memories, write about any fire-related memory.)

Campfire
When I was a boy of four or five, I met one of my best friends on a church-sponsored camping trip. He was the youngest son of the new pastor, and he was the same age that I was. Appropriately enough, his name was Kirk (Irish for church).

What helped seal our friendship was the completion of a task. We were asked to find some branches for kindling for the evening campfire. We went into the forest and started picking up small branches and twigs. Then we stumbled across an old, dry log, and we set our branches down. We each lifted one end of the log and carried it back to camp, where our find was celebrated by the adults. Then we ran back and gathered more branches and twigs.

I don't recall what the dinner was that night (probably hamburgers and hot dogs), but I remember what we had for dessert: marshmallows! We roasted them slowly over the campfire and then ate them. I think I burned my mouth, but I didn't care; they were good!

When I woke up the next day, Kirk and his family had already gone home, and I was sort of bummed out. Luckily, our moms arranged some get-togethers, so that we could play again a few more times before school started. And I was very happy to find that Kirk was in my class on the first day of school!

What's your campfire story?

Follow That Neuron - Captain Caveman

2010-10-03T14:52:00.000-05:00

Time for another post of the Follow That Neuron! style, in which I start with a specific prompt and then write whatever my brain dishes up. Today's prompt is: Captain Caveman.

When I was a kid, I used to watch a slew of different cartoons on Saturday mornings, and one of my favorite shows was Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. This cartoon came to mind today because Dustin Pari (@dustinpari) of Ghost Hunters fame tweeted a link to the intro for the show on YouTube.com:

I loved how this show packed so much humor, action, and adventure into each episode. And it's funny to think of Captain Caveman, the world's first prehistoric superhero, as a mix between Cousin Itt from The Addams Family and Bigfoot. My youngest son has an odd fascination with feet. He thinks they're very funny, so I think he would like Captain Caveman for his honking big feet alone.

Captain Caveman carries a club that's sort of like a prehistoric Swiss Army knife; it pops open to reveal a number of different attachments and special features that allow him to solve mysteries like Scooby-Doo. Sadly, he's only marginally easier to understand than dear Scooby, but that's part of the charm.

I used to watch a lot of mystery and sci-fi shows when I was a kid, so I guess it's no surprise that I also used to read a series called Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. If you've never read it, the series was about a trio of boys (Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews) who set themselves up as investigators, and they used to solve all sorts of mysteries.

Early on in their investigations, they made the acquaintance of Alfred Hitchcock (yes, that Alfred Hitchcock!) who became an occasional resource for them. What I liked best was their headquarters, which they made out of an abandoned trailer/mobile home in the middle of the salvage yard owned by Jupiter's Uncle Titus. The Three Investigators series was like The Hardy Boys, but more modern. Sadly, I don't find it much outside of a library these days. I'll have to make my boys aware of it. They're just about the right age for the series.

During my teen years, I shied away from mystery stuff and paid more attention to sci-fi and fantasy series. That's not entirely true. I liked watching The Hardy Boys television series, and if you think about, Doctor Who, one of my all-time favorite sci-fi series, is basically a mystery series in a sci-fi setting. My favorite episode of The Hardy Boys was the two-parter called "The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula". That episode came out in September, 1977 (33 years ago? Holy cow!), and as a seven year old, I found their investigation of Dracula's castle very scary, but a good kind of scary.

(I'm tempted to go off on a tangent with Doctor Who, but I think I'll save that for another post. Instead, I'll veer off on the topic of vampires, since it IS October.)

Fast forward a couple years, and I learned about a whole new kind of scary when I watched the Salem's Lot mini-series Based on the book Salem's Lot by Stephen King, the mini-series stayed pretty close to the book (which I finally read years later). In the small town of Jerusalem's Lot (now Salem's Lot), evil has gained a foothold. A vampire has moved into town, and it isn't long before people are dying mysteriously and bodies are disappearing from their graves and the morgue.

There's a scene in the show (also in the book) where a boy's friend shows up outside his bedroom window and tries to get him to let him into the house. The fact that his friend was (1) dead, (2) had fangs, and (3) was floating outside a second story window scared the crap out of me! To this day, I still sleep with my covers around my neck because of that scene.

Oddly enough, I'm not a huge fan of Stephen King's work. I like Salem's Lot and Pet Sematary, but I'm not that into his other work. However, I did enjoy his autobiography On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, in which he wrote about how and why he writes. My respect for him went up several notches after reading that.

Nowadays, I find myself reading a mix of paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, action/adventure, and mystery books. The Tres Navarre series by Rick Riordan (of Percy Jackson & the Olympians fame) is one of my favorites.

OK, so I started with Captain Caveman and wound up with Stephen King (more or less). I think that's enough neuron-following for today. I strongly encourage you to check out the various series that I mentioned, either for yourself or for your kids. I think you'll enjoy them.

Recipe - Cannoli Cupcakes from Sugarcrafter

2010-10-02T21:13:00.000-05:00

Last night, my wife and I made some of the most delicious cupcakes that I've ever eaten: cannoli cupcakes! The recipe came from a blog called Sugarcrafter, and I am very glad that my wife found it. The wonderful site is run by Tracy, who works as a technical writer by day and a baker/blogger by night. Her blog includes step-by-step instructions plus photos of everything, so rather than copy and paste everything here (which would be in poor taste), I'll insist that you read the recipe where it belongs, on the Sugarcrafter site.

Oh, and I think I'll be reading more of Tracy's blog very soon, so don't be surprised if you see it featured in an upcoming Blog to Blog post!

New Day, New Month, New Possibilities

2010-10-01T21:10:00.000-05:00

October 1st. It's a new day (and a Friday at that!) and a new month, and I feel like life is filled with new possibilities. This is all part of my fervent wish to be positive in the face of adversity and negativity. If my Mom could keep her chin up in spite of everything that happened to her during her bout with cancer, how could I not do the same?

But it's not easy, let me tell you. My wife's grandmother passed away this summer. My Mom passed away last month. This is my 10th month of unemployment. That's a lot to be negative about, but I refuse to give in. I still have people calling me and e-mailing me about employment that I will be eligible for (once my non-compete agreement clears) in January, and that makes me feel like if nothing else comes up between now and then, at least there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

And I'm writing again. I'm still at a loss, some days, for topics, but I'm letting myself go with the flow, writing what my brain wants to write, using my blog as a therapeutic voice, so that I can stay sane and positive. And who knows? Maybe my kids will read this blog some day and think to themselves, My Dad was kind of a weird guy.

OK, so maybe I'd like them to say something more flattering about me, but you get the idea.

At any rate, I'm jazzed about the future because I believe that all this stuff will pass, and life will get better. I just hope that it'll happen sooner, rather than later.

Unrequited Stress

2010-09-30T13:13:00.000-05:00

My bowels felt like they were tied up in knots, and my stomach was definitely not happy with me. Standing was better than sitting, and laying down was verboten.

I stood up and lurched to the bathroom, my head spinning as a series of images splashed through my mind: last night's meatballs (had they been cooked all the way through?), the kid at the grocery store who had coughed on me as I had walked down the soda aisle (could it be the flu?), and that odd letter with the powdery feel that arrived in yesterday's mail (could it be anthrax?). No, there had to be a simpler explanation. There had to be!

Washing my hands, I checked myself out in the mirror. I looked... OK. Sure, I needed a shower and a shave, but otherwise, I looked fine. I stuck out my tongue. No obvious coating. I placed my hand on my forehead. No discernible temperature, either.

Just then, the phone rang. I picked up the handset to check the number. "Unknown Number" flashed on the screen, but I answered it anyway.

"Hello?" I said. A moment's silence, and then a click, followed by the dial tone.

That's the tenth hang-up call today, I thought. Who the heck keeps calling me?

*****

Across town, a shadowy figure hung up a phone and chuckled softly. Next to the phone was a list of names and telephone numbers. The figure used a pencil to add a tick mark next to the first name on the list, then it placed a finger below the next name on the list and dialed the corresponding number.

A moment later, a woman's voice came on the line. She sounded desperate.

"Who are you? Stop calling me!" she said. The figure hung up before she could say more, chuckling again as it added a new tick mark next to her name. It placed a finger below the next name in the list and dialed...

Minis and Minivans

2010-09-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

I had just missed making the light. You know, the really long light? The one that makes the ice age seem like the blink of an eye? It didn't help that I was already running late, which made me feel like the universe was stacked against me.

As I sat there, waiting for the light to cycle, a young man in a Mini pulled up next to me in the neighboring lane. It was a red one with white racing stripes and a white roof. I have a fondness for Minis, especially red ones with racing stripes. If it weren't for the fact that I had inherited my Mom's curse of never being able to own a red (or reddish) car because red cars attract accidents, I would have bought one myself. If I had the money. Instead, I simply drooled.

The Mini was cool. My minivan? Not so much. But that's what happens when you get married and have kids. You make sacrifices. You buy a vehicle that everyone will fit into, instead of the "cool car" that will alleviate your approaching mid-life crisis. You buy something that will survive a collision, that has anchor points for child safety seats. You go with practical over, well, impractical.

I stared at the Mini, imagining myself behind the wheel. I saw myself sitting there with driving gloves and sunglasses, one hand on the wheel and the other on the stick shift. The light turned green, and I hit the gas, shifting through the gears and jetting away, leaving the guy in the minivan in my dust.

A car horn blared behind me, and I snapped out of my daydream. The light had changed, and just as I hit the gas, it cycled from yellow to red. Damn! I hit the brakes and groaned. The car behind me moved over into the neighboring lane, and its driver gave me the finger. Thanks.

I sat there at the light, waiting for it to cycle with its glacial slowness. I watched as my Mini--I mean, the Mini--faded quickly in the distance...

YouTube Finds - Honda Odyssey Commerical

2010-09-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

Honda recently released a commercial for their Odyssey, which caught my eye. I thought it was brilliant, so I looked for it on YouTube.com, and here it is:

I think my favorite part is where the van momentarily flashes into a black panther. It's classic! It's almost as if whoever created the commercial channeled an '80s metal/hair band's video when they wrote it.

And I hate to admit it, but it almost makes me what to buy one... or at least test drive one.

Music - Sara Bareilles

2010-09-27T17:36:00.001-05:00

We recently picked up a copy of Kaleidoscope Heart by Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles). This is her latest album, which came out just after Labor Day (or thereabouts). We listened to it on our long drive to Ann Arbor for my Mom's memorial service, and I don't think my wife has stopped listening to it since, the entire album is that good.

My favorite song is Gonna Get Over You, which has a very '50s-style sound to it. We purchased the album at Target, so we have three additional Target-exclusive songs, including a second version of Gonna Get Over You. This made me a very happy camper, given the circumstances of our trip. The rest of the songs on the album ranged in style from pop to ballad, etc. The more ballad-like songs were difficult to listen to while grieving, but that can actually be a good thing sometimes--just not while driving!

For me, this is one of those albums where it gets better the more you listen to it. I don't always give an album that kind of play time, so a long car trip was the perfect forum for this one. Ms. Bareilles has a wonderful voice, and I like both her lyrics and her music, which isn't always the case with singers these days. Some other songs I liked were Uncharted and Basket Case, but I can't honestly tell you of any songs that I didn't like on the album.

This album has me wanting to hear more of her earlier work, and since my wife listens to a lot of music on Rhapsody, I'll have to ask her to put together a Sara Bareilles play list for me. (Rhapsody is a great way to preview music, by the way.) My wife claims to have the previous album Little Voice, but she's not sure where it might be buried in our many boxes in storage.

By the way, if you want to see what I've been talking about, you can preview Sara Bareilles' new album on her website for a limited time.

A Walk on the Wild Side

2010-09-26T13:24:00.001-05:00

The weather around here just turned colder--from highs in the upper 70s to highs in the low 60s--and it feels a lot more like Fall now. We're looking at mostly sunny days with seasonally appropriate temperatures, and this sort of cool, perfect-for-football weather makes me think of just one thing: long walks through the woods as a family.

When I was a boy, my Dad used to take us to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, which was just a few miles from our house. At the time, it seemed like we went once per week, but my memories are from the Fall. Although the MBG's conservatory building contained a greenhouse for tropical and desert species, we rarely visited it. We spent most of our time at the MBG walking the various nature trails. With 350 acres of land, that gave us a lot of ground to cover and explore.

I think the things I remember best are the primary color markers to help you figure out where to go, the well-worn paths through the forest (it had mostly deciduous trees), and the time it took to walk those paths. As a kid, it felt like it took forever to walk the complete circuit of each path, but when we finished one path, we were usually up for walking a second one. I'm not sure that these walks were "fun", but they were enjoyable and it meant spending time together as a family.

This was before cable TV and video games (although we might have owned Pong at that point), and my brothers and I would spend all day outside, playing on our swing set, pretending to be soldiers, riding bikes, etc. We thought nothing of walking for hours at the MBG. (Try that with today's kids, and it would probably be a complaint-fest.)

Thinking about it now, the thing that I liked best about those walks--other than being in nature and seeing the occasional animal--was that it let me spend time with my Dad. During the week, I would see my Dad at dinner, but I don't remember seeing much of him beyond that. He was always so busy with work-related things. My Mom was the one who really raised us. She was a teacher, so her schedule more closely matched ours. But I'm not here to write about that, am I?

So, I think I'll have to make time to take my kids for walks. I can already hear my youngest saying that his feet hurt just thinking about it, but I think my oldest will enjoy them. Either way, it'll be good for our health and our togetherness.

Movie - Twister

2010-09-25T16:17:00.000-05:00

Today I learned something about my Dad that kind of surprised me: He's a big fan of the movie Twister. The funny thing is, this is one of my all-time favorite movies, too. He was telling me that he picked up a copy of Twister today because his other copy is in Nevada, and I mentioned that I have at least three copies of this movie myself (two on DVD and one on Blu-Ray). It's nice to know that we have a love of this film in common.

If you haven't seen it, the movie Twister is about a team of storm chasers, led by Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, who brave severe thunderstorms and hazardous weather in an effort to be the first to place an experimental prototype in the path of a tornado, so that more can be learned about these destructive forces of nature. Hunt and Paxton, who play a married couple, recently separated and on the brink of divorce, struggle against nature and themselves as they attempt to heal their broken relationship. To add some extra friction to the mix, they must compete against a rival team of storm chasers, led by a former colleague who stole their design for the prototype.

Some notable (in my opinion) actors in this film are: Alan Ruck (Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off) who plays one of the storm chasers, Jami Gertz (Star in The Lost Boys) who plays Paxton's fiancee, and Cary Elwes (Westley in The Princess Bride) who plays the leader of the rival team of storm chasers. All three of them have played characters in some of my favorite movies, and they add their considerable talent to Twister, too.

Some of my favorite parts of the film:

Hunt and Paxton have just survived a tornado after sheltering under a bridge, and Hunt wonders where her truck went. A moment later, it comes crashing down several hundred yards away!
Hunt, Paxton, and Gertz are riding together in a pick-up truck, when they encounter water spouts. Gertz, who plays a therapist, has to end her phone call prematurely when a cow flies across the road.
Hunt and Paxton are running from an enormous tornado, and they take shelter temporarily in a large barn. They take a moment to catch their breath, and then they notice all the sharp farm tools hanging from the walls and rafters. Definitely not a good place to be!

Yes, this is indeed one of my favorite films, and I am happy to share a love for it with my Dad. If you don't own a copy of this movie, you should go out a buy one (or more). The last time I checked, Target and Wal-Mart both had it for a good price ($5.00 to $7.50) on DVD, and every so often the price of the Blu-Ray drops to $15, so keep an eye out for that. You won't be disappointed!

All-Star Edition - People You Should Be Following on Twitter - September 24, 2010

2010-09-24T17:22:00.003-05:00

Today's post contains a special "all-star edition" list of people I follow on Twitter, complete with descriptions for why I follow them. These are the folks who make my Twitter feed worth reading and who keep me coming back to Twitter day after day. Plus, I almost always read what they tweet. (Note that I had to limit this list to 15 people for this edition, lest it grow out of control.)

Here they are (in no particular order):

Leila Schweiss (@LeilaS)
No list of all-stars would be complete without including my wife, Leila. She is my better half, and if I have a bad day, she knows what to say to get me back on track. We've been through a lot together over the years, and I love and appreciate her more than I'll ever be able to say. She tweets mostly about parenthood and digital scrapbooking, both topics about which she knows plenty, so you're sure to see learn something new on either front.

Kelly Even (@Kellybean725)
A long-time family friend, Kelly is a mom in the truest sense of the word. She has five great children, a strange husband, and various household pets. (Of course, my wife has a strange husband. Perhaps that's why they get along so well?) Never one to worry about "telling it like it is," Kelly is a straight-shooter who lets you know how she's feeling about any given topic at the drop of a hat. She's also a loyal friend who never lets a friend down.

Bob Knorpp (@TheBeanCast)
Bob has a website and hosts a marketing podcast called The BeanCast, which is decidedly unique. You can learn more about it in my Blog to Blog - The BeanCast post. As I have mentioned before, I follow Bob because he's funny, clever, and a nice guy, and because he tweets about a variety of things from marketing to video games and everything in-between.

Jim Mitchem (@smashadv, @jmitchem)
Jim is one of my favorite people. Period. We don't have very many conversations, but I love what he writes, whether it's at his website Obsessed with Conformity or a number of other sites where I've found his writing and/or commentary. I also tend to agree with most of what he has to say, but that's not to say that I follow him blindly.

Recently, Jim decided to switch from his original Twitter handle @smashadv to @jmitchem, so that he could follow only those people who added value to his tweet stream, instead of feeling obliged to follow back people who follow him, even if he had no interest in them. I totally understand that. However, he decided to keep both accounts, so if you follow both, you'll see some duplicate effort.

Jim also tweets from @boxmanstudios in a unique, social media-only marketing campaign for the Lunch Box in Charlotte, NC. If you have any interest in marketing at all, I encourage you to read more about this campaign on the Boxman Studios website.

Molly Cantrell-Kraig (@mckra1g)
Molly is a true treasure. I follow her mostly for the poetry that she links to at the end of every day, but she also tweets a lot about green energy and such. I have gone through some difficult times this past year, and she has always had a kind word for me and a virtual shoulder to lean on, which I greatly appreciate.

Geek Shui (@GeekShui)
I can't say enough good things about Geek Shui. This young(er) man has a good head on his shoulders and a good heart in his chest. He's been a good friend to me since I started following him on Twitter, and occasionally I pay him back by writing an article for his website GeekShuiLiving.com. If there's fun to be had on the geeky side of Twitter, Geek Shui is probably in the middle of it.

Jeff Bruneau (@jeffbruneau)
Jeff is an old friend from elementary school who had the good taste to befriend me on Facebook and Twitter after having lost touch with each other for nearly two decades. Like me, Jeff is looking for his next job. (In my case, I'm looking in IT, and in Jeff's case, he's looking in marketing.) If you need someone to brighten up your day, spin a good yarn, or lend an ear, you can't find many better than Jeff.

Bob Young (@SOCOACH)
Bob is a marketing consultant and a fierce liberal who dares to tweet what I only whisper in my mind. He has been a good friend to me, and I appreciate that. He also has some great taste in music, which he shares via blip.fm on occasion. I always look forward to seeing him in my tweet stream.

PK (@badlvillemojo)
PK is a fellow IT guy who knows what it's like to live in a world full of cubicles. He's also a loving dad and a good friend. I'm never quite sure what his next tweet will be about, but I can be sure that it will be worth reading.

Sandra Ritchie (@LittleFairyCult)
Sandra is a force of nature. In addition to being a lively tweeter, she also creates her own custom jewelry pieces, which she sells on her website. Since she's in the U.K., we tend to tweet each other in passing, but that also exposes me to life outside the U.S.A. It's always good to have a reminder that the world's a bigger place than your own neighborhood.

Alex (@GizmoAlex)
I'm downright trepidacious about what Alex might tweet because if @LittleFairyCult is a force of nature, then @GizmoAlex is a mix between a natural disaster and a loose cannon. Of course, I say this lovingly because this is the persona that Alex projects on Twitter. Part Mogwai and part human, Alex is one of those rare tweeters who always keeps you guessing. Beyond the persona, he's a devoted family man, a loving father, and a very nice guy. Alex also has a blog Gizmonauts that he occasionally updates and which is well worth reading.

The Jack B (@TheJackB)
Jack is another of my favorite people. I think we have a lot in common--we're both fathers of roughly the same age and we both enjoy writing--although he's a true blogger, while I just blog for my own enjoyment. I really like his writing, which he shares on his blog. You can read more about it in my Blog to Blog - Random Thoughts - Do They Have Meaning? post. Like @SOCOACH, Jack has great taste in music, which he also shares on blip.fm from time to time.

Annie (@Ragg3dyAnni3)
Annie is a bright spark in a world that can often feel very dark. She's just a fun, happy person, as well as a mom. For my money, she has to be experienced as a package deal with @L33tM0nk3y, who is her very good friend and co-worker.

L33tM0nk3y (@L33tM0nk3y)
L33tM0nk3y is a wonderfully talented young woman who is equally at home in a cubicle or on a stool with a guitar in her hands. Her tweets can occasionally seem sort of random, but you have to take them in context because she's often referring to something that happened earlier in the day. She's another bright spot in my tweet stream and I enjoy following her.

Nielle (@niellemc)
If belly dancing ("hips of fury"), web design, and Joss Whedon are some of your favorite things, then you will love following Nielle. She's a very positive person and knows more about most sci-fi series than a 40 year old virgin who still lives with his mother. (I mean that in a good way.) If I tweet about something that's bothering me, she's usually one of the people who tweets back about it. She's a good friend and a good person in general.

Bonus:

Cpt. Jack Sparrow (@ICptJackSparrow)
Captain Jack is a fun guy who enjoys tweeting. He's made a lot of friends on Twitter, and I am lucky to be one of them. He's included me on his weekly Follow Friday list for ages now, and I always feel guilty when I don't mention him as someone worth following because he really is. If you're looking for someone with a fine sense of humor and who tweets about a variety of topics, then look no further than Captain Jack.

Book Review - Charlie St. Cloud

2010-09-23T15:25:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading the book Charlie St. Cloud (a.k.a. The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud) by Ben Sherwood, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it.

Spoiler Alert
The basic premise is that the main character, Charlie St. Cloud, and his brother, Sam, die as kids. However, a paramedic manages to bring Charlie back from the dead. Because of his near death experience, Charlie is able to see the ghost of his brother, as well as other ghosts, but only within the confines of the local cemetery. Being the responsible older brother that he his, Charlie gets a job at that cemetery, so that he can be with Sam each evening. Charlie and Sam are bound to each other, neither one of them moving on with their lives (or after-lives), until the events of the present day unfold. For that, you'll have to read the book itself.

I started reading this book before my Mom passed away and just finished it this morning. I have to say that my perspective on life and death is a little raw right now, but I found the basic premise of the book to be oddly comforting. Anyone who has lost a loved one probably longs for just one more moment with that person to be able to tell them everything that we might not have had the time or the courage to say while they were alive. (In my case, I said everything that I needed to say to my Mom. I always let her know how much I loved her and how important she was to me.)

If you're not a fan of the paranormal, then you might not care for the story, but I like to keep an open mind about these things, and I found the book to be very entertaining. Granted, the book could probably just as easily have been done as a short story, but on the other hand, I never felt like any of the extra details or characters in the story were fluff. It was a good read, and one that I needed at a low-point in my life.

So, I encourage you to give it a read, and I look forward to seeing the movie adaptation starring Zac Efron (who in my opinion is turning into a very fine actor). This is one of those cases where the movie trailers made me want to read the book, and I'm glad that I did. I also look forward to reading Ben Sherwood's book The Man Who Ate the 747, which sounds interesting.

The Last Day of Summer

2010-09-22T16:47:00.000-05:00

I'd like to say that I have something mind-blowing to say about life, death, and everything, but I don't. I'm tired, emotionally and physically. Mourning takes a lot out of you, and when you add grief on top of the stress from job hunting and just day-to-day stress, it hits even harder. Plus, every time I bump into someone else and tell them about my Mom's recent passing, it dredges up the pain and sadness all over again.

But...

It's the last day of Summer, and that's a good thing. It marks the end of one season and the beginning of another. Even though Fall (or Autumn) is typically seen as a season of things winding down before Winter, I see it as a new opportunity, a chance to start fresh and refocus on the important things in life. As a husband and a parent, my wife and kids are definitely high on my list of important things/people. With the recent passing of my Mom, I need to include a few other things, too: don't sweat the small stuff, always look on the bright side, and participate more in life.

I'm not a perfect person, and I don't expect to be a perfect person, but I can do my best to become a better person. I owe that to my Mom, I owe that to my family, and I owe that to myself. I don't know what your plans are for the Fall, but I encourage all of you to strive to be better at keeping up with your loved ones: Call your parents, get in touch with your old school friends, and make friends with someone local. Whatever you do, help yourself and help someone else by participating in life. You'll be glad that you did.

Review - The Ivy Court Inn and Suites in South Bend, IN

2010-09-21T20:24:00.000-05:00

We recently stayed at The Ivy Court Inn and Suites in South Bend, IN, and I promised to write a review of this hotel for my blog.

If you're a Notre Dame fan, then you'll love the location because the inn is across the street from the university on the southeast corner of campus. In fact, our room had a great view of the famous "Touchdown Jesus" image on the backside of the school's library.

I have to admit that I am no fan of Notre Dame, having attended Michigan State and the University of Michigan (long story), but even I enjoyed my stay in this newly refurbished inn. The prices for the rooms were great--much less than a chain hotel--and it was only a few miles off the interstate, which made it relatively easy to find. The rooms were spacious and very nicely furnished, and the inn consisted of two buildings, which looked like they might have been early dorms or boarding houses.

We stayed in one of their king bed suites when we went out for my Mom's funeral, and we had a huge, third floor room with both a sleeper sofa in the front room and a king bed in the bedroom. The bedroom had enough room to put a second king-size bed in it, it was that big! I couldn't believe that we had that much space at such a great price.

Lest you think it was the perfect hotel, I also have some negative comments. The inn buildings were nice, but the entrances were not designed for convenience. For example, there was no ramp, which meant that I had to carry our luggage up the steps to the luggage cart; I couldn't bring the luggage cart down to the car. The beds were large, but rather hard. That's not uncommon, but it would have been nice to sleep in something a little softer.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Ivy Court. We stayed there during the week, but we weren't able to stay there on the weekend because it was all booked up. If you plan to stay in South Bend, IN on a weekday, then I highly recommend it, as long as you don't need a handicap-accessible hotel. The rooms are spacious, the furnishings are modern, and the prices can't be beat.

Cancer Sucks

2010-09-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't written any entries for my blog since September 8th. Here's a quick recap of what's been happening in my life since then:

September 9th and 10th
I flew out to New York City for an interview. Some friends of ours from Staten Island let me stay with them on Thursday night, and then I took an express bus into Manhattan on Friday morning. (I thought the interview went well, but I haven't heard anything yet.) I flew back to Wisconsin on Friday night.

September 11th
My Mom passed away. We think she knew, even in her non-responsive state, that I had an interview on September 10th and she held on until September 11th, so that I could go. Her death hit me very hard, and I am still mourning her loss.

September 12th
Stunned.

September 13th through 14th
This week was just a blur. We made plans to travel to Michigan for my Mom's memorial service.

September 15th through 17th
There was an open house on the 15th and the actual memorial service on the 16th. My best friend from Holland drove in from Boston to attend both the open house and the memorial service. It was good to see him again, even if the circumstances could have been better.

September 18th and 19th
Not much to report. The biggest event of the weekend was a search for new shoes for my 10 year old.

September 20th
Oh, yeah. That would be today. Still very slow around here.

My promise to myself when I first started writing this blog is that I would post an entry every day. I intend to keep that promise, but some days will require me to "back-fill" them after the fact. I plan to do that with last week's entries at some point. If you are a faithful reader of my blog, I thank you for sticking around. I'm not sure how my Mom's death will affect my topics or my writing in general from this point on, so I will apologize in advance if I take a turn for the melancholy for a time.

Many thanks to all who prayed and sent positive thoughts for my Mom, my family, and me during her illness. Cancer sucks, and I hope that none of your loved ones ever have to experience it. Take care until next time.

It's the Hard Knock Klife

2010-09-08T17:22:00.000-05:00

When I was 11 or 12 years old, my Mom became the musical director (her title may have been slightly different) for the local community theater. One of the first plays she worked on was Annie, and I remember we had a pool party at our house that summer, where all the girls from the play came over to swim and practice singing. I remember feeling somewhat outnumbered (even though I had two brothers), and I don't think I did a lot of swimming that day.

What I remember most were the songs. I like to sing. I have always liked to sing, but I never tried out for one of the many musicals that my Mom worked on. That's one of the real regrets that I have. Not that my singing was great back then (it still isn't), but I could carry a tune in a bucket, which is more than can be said for many would-be contestants on American Idol.

But, I digress...

As I said, I remember the songs for Annie well, and I still sing many of them to this day, having learned them by heart at the time. One of the songs that always comes to mind is It's a Hard Knock Life, which Annie and the orphans sing while they're doing chores at the orphanage. One of the tricks that my Mom taught the girls was how to enunciate the words clearly enough for the audience to hear them. For this song, she had the girls pronounce "life" as "klife" because it made the "k" sound clearer. This simple trick is something that will always remind me of my Mom whenever I see the musical Annie, and I've very grateful for that.

Another of the songs is You're Never Fully Dressed without a Smile. The orphans hear Guy Smiley and the Hour of Smiles singers perform this song while they're listening to Ms. Hannigan's radio. It's a typical kind of Depression-era song intended to cheer people up, and the orphans run with it, creating their own performance for it. It was my favorite song to sing from Annie, even more so than the more famous Tomorrow. It's just a lot of fun to sing, and I can be silly at the same time. I don't think I've ever sung it for my kids, but I may have to dust it off and share it with them soon.

I think my Mom would like that...

Latest Update - September 7, 2010

2010-09-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

No news is good news. I haven't received an update on my Mom today, which means her condition remains unchanged.

At dinner tonight, I was inspired to sing some silly songs that I heard many years ago on the Dr. Demento Show. One of those songs was the Shaving Cream song, for which I knew several verses. I even found a video on YouTube.com for it, which I showed to the boys. They thought it was hilarious, so I share it with you here.

The Shaving Cream Song

New School Year

2010-09-06T21:24:00.000-05:00

In all the "excitement" of the past few days, I forgot to mention that the kids are back in school. Both boys are attending a virtual school this year, so some of their lessons are online and some of them come from the Calvert curriculum. (We used Calvert with our seven year old last school year when we home-schooled him, so we were already familiar with the setup.)

This is already an interesting school year for the boys because our ten year old is ostensibly a fifth grader, but he's doing fourth grade curriculum, while our seven year old is ostensibly a second grader, but he's doing third grade curriculum. That's just how they tested, and that kind of flexibility would be difficult to achieve in a traditional brick-and-mortar school. So far, they both love the online stuff more than the non-online stuff, which isn't surprising, but the Calvert curriculum is well-done and fairly easy to use, once you get past the initial learning curve.

To be honest, I expected more online stuff, more online classes, but that may yet come. This particular school has Elluminate classes (a.k.a. online classes), and they won't release the schedule for them until later this month. That will give parents a chance to get used to working with the curricula (Calvert, K12, and Lincoln Interactive are the three to choose from) and the corresponding online stuff for those curricula. It's actually kind of nice that they don't have more structure because you can educate your kids at a pace that's appropriate for them.

Well, that's all for now. For anyone interested in an update on my Mom, she's still in Comfort Care, and there's no change in her condition yet.

Latest Update - September 5, 2010

2010-09-05T20:31:00.000-05:00

Nothing new to report today. My Mom is still in Comfort Care and she's not in any pain.

At some point, I'll get back to my regular blogging, but it's been a tough couple of days. I also have a job interview on Friday that I'm really looking forward to, but the timing of all of this is just awful. "Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger", right? Maybe. It might also make you weaker for the next thing to come down the pike.

Good grief! How about some positivity here? I haven't survived nearly nine months of unemployment just to let this be the straw that broke the camel's back. If I want to honor my Mom, then I'll get through this and I'll kick butt at that interview. She would want me to do just that.

But that doesn't mean that I won't shed a few tears along the way...