Not a long post today. I got off work early and I'm posting from home. I just wanted to do the cheesy thing and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm not sure whether I'll get on the computer again before Monday so posting might be a touch thin.
Once again I have to split the holidays. I hope the child gives us the power to stop doing that, but I doubt it. We'll start with my family, end with hers and will most likely see Tom's family somewhere in the middle.
Anyway, that's about it for now. Hopefully the holidays will go well, although some of Terri's extended family will be in for Thanksgiving and that's never good, but we'll see how that goes. Maybe I'll get a chance to express my true feelings and take care of all of the problems all at once.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Looking at Joe's comment, I couldn't help buy chuckle. I'm taller than both Randy and Elizabeth and I'm pretty short comparatively. So, no, I don't know Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth. I think it would be rather difficult for a dead woman to have a baby, but stranger things have happened.
Randy, Elizabeth, Matt, Alison, Suzy, Terri, and I all attended CMU at around the same time so we all kind of knew each other. Now Elizabeth, Alison, and Terri are all in various stages of pregnancy. Elizabeth is due first and will have an '03 baby, but Alison and Terri will have '04 babies. It's going to make getting together interesting to say the least. Instead of everyone piling into one or two cars, we'll have to caravan since car seats aren't exactly compact and none of us is planning on running right out and buying a 24 passenger mini-van.
Anyway, that's enough about that I guess. Although it's rather odd being around that many pregnant women at once. Usually it's just one at a time. And, to top it off there's a woman at work who is becoming a grandmother for the first and second time within months. There's also a woman who used to work in our department who is expecting. So, there are going to be kids everywhere I go.
And, looking at Friday's blog, I was close. We got 3 out of a possible 4 points. Now, we lost to the Devil's in overtime, but still gained that crucial point. We are at the moment last in the league, but we'll vault over Washington quite handily. We just need a couple of other teams to spiral once we put together a few wins. Lemieux's status just became indefinite today so that was a blow to the team in general. Hopefully they can win Wednesday and Friday. The Flyers might be a slight challenge, but we've tied them once already this season. And, we owe the Rangers.
Randy, Elizabeth, Matt, Alison, Suzy, Terri, and I all attended CMU at around the same time so we all kind of knew each other. Now Elizabeth, Alison, and Terri are all in various stages of pregnancy. Elizabeth is due first and will have an '03 baby, but Alison and Terri will have '04 babies. It's going to make getting together interesting to say the least. Instead of everyone piling into one or two cars, we'll have to caravan since car seats aren't exactly compact and none of us is planning on running right out and buying a 24 passenger mini-van.
Anyway, that's enough about that I guess. Although it's rather odd being around that many pregnant women at once. Usually it's just one at a time. And, to top it off there's a woman at work who is becoming a grandmother for the first and second time within months. There's also a woman who used to work in our department who is expecting. So, there are going to be kids everywhere I go.
And, looking at Friday's blog, I was close. We got 3 out of a possible 4 points. Now, we lost to the Devil's in overtime, but still gained that crucial point. We are at the moment last in the league, but we'll vault over Washington quite handily. We just need a couple of other teams to spiral once we put together a few wins. Lemieux's status just became indefinite today so that was a blow to the team in general. Hopefully they can win Wednesday and Friday. The Flyers might be a slight challenge, but we've tied them once already this season. And, we owe the Rangers.
Monday, November 24, 2003
This weekend was a lot of fun. Matt and Alison arrived Friday night and dropped me off at work this morning. One thing we found out...Alison is due 3 weeks after Terri. So, I spent the majority of the weekend hanging out with three pregnant women (as friends Randy and Elizabeth are expecting next month.) I didn't make one decision on what or when to eat. I did, however, spend the majority of Sunday in Randy's basement playing Lord of the Rings RISK with Randy and Matt. Matt ended up winning about 9 hours after we started. Talk about a war.
Anyway, not much else is going on. I spent the bulk of the day training a new employee, so those days are always mostly relaxing. More tomorrow about the baby explosion that seems to be happening around me.
Anyway, not much else is going on. I spent the bulk of the day training a new employee, so those days are always mostly relaxing. More tomorrow about the baby explosion that seems to be happening around me.
Friday, November 21, 2003
Ok, so I didn't make it back to the blog last night. I guess that's ok.
Part of what I wanted to talk about was Wednesday night's Pens game against the Wild. On the 13th I talked about the lights going out on Broadway because of the reference to the Billy Joel song "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" and the fact that they refer to the Rangers as playing on Broadway. However, on Wed. I saw the lights go out in the Mellon Arena. There was 31.9 seconds left in the first period and wham! No lights anywhere. Everyone was sitting completely in the dark for a second or two. Then slowly everything kicked back on. So, the announcement was made that they would tack on the 31.9 seconds to the beginning of the 2nd period. So, when they came back, they had them take the same sides of the ice they had for the 1st period skate for 31.9 seconds then switch places. It was fairly asinine in my opinion, but no more so than not broadcasting the Heritage Classic outdoor game in the United States. They're playing 2 outdoor hockey games tomorrow. One is an old-timer's game between Montreal and Edmonton alumni including Wayne Gretzky and, to the chagrin of everyone but myself and Darren Pang, Mark Messier. And then the Oilers and Montreal will play a regular season game outside. Everyone says it's generating a lot of talk and will cause quite a stir in the hockey world. How the hell would I know? I won't get to see it until next weekend on ESPN Classic where they butcher the coverage and only show you what they consider to be the "interesting" part of the games.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like the Classic channel for catching things like the Pens 8-0 victory for the Cup against Minnesota and Mario's return to the ice in 2000, but that's only because I've seen both those games, know how they end, and can live with the fact that the coverage is chopped up. For a monumental game such as this, I want to see every minute on the ice. I want to see the weather being a factor in the game for players like Saku Koivu. I want to see some blowing snow catch the goalie in the mask and give someone a wide open net. But I won't get to.
ESPN bitches about the attendance at hockey games and the general fall-off of popularity. Did anyone ever think that they might play a fairly large factor in that? They are the Sports channel for pete's sake.
Enough ranting. Time to get stuff packed up, find out where my guests are on the road and enjoy the rest of my weekend. Which hopefully I will get to do by seeing the Pens stomp New Jersey tonight and Ottawa tomorrow. (Optimistic ain't I?)
Part of what I wanted to talk about was Wednesday night's Pens game against the Wild. On the 13th I talked about the lights going out on Broadway because of the reference to the Billy Joel song "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" and the fact that they refer to the Rangers as playing on Broadway. However, on Wed. I saw the lights go out in the Mellon Arena. There was 31.9 seconds left in the first period and wham! No lights anywhere. Everyone was sitting completely in the dark for a second or two. Then slowly everything kicked back on. So, the announcement was made that they would tack on the 31.9 seconds to the beginning of the 2nd period. So, when they came back, they had them take the same sides of the ice they had for the 1st period skate for 31.9 seconds then switch places. It was fairly asinine in my opinion, but no more so than not broadcasting the Heritage Classic outdoor game in the United States. They're playing 2 outdoor hockey games tomorrow. One is an old-timer's game between Montreal and Edmonton alumni including Wayne Gretzky and, to the chagrin of everyone but myself and Darren Pang, Mark Messier. And then the Oilers and Montreal will play a regular season game outside. Everyone says it's generating a lot of talk and will cause quite a stir in the hockey world. How the hell would I know? I won't get to see it until next weekend on ESPN Classic where they butcher the coverage and only show you what they consider to be the "interesting" part of the games.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like the Classic channel for catching things like the Pens 8-0 victory for the Cup against Minnesota and Mario's return to the ice in 2000, but that's only because I've seen both those games, know how they end, and can live with the fact that the coverage is chopped up. For a monumental game such as this, I want to see every minute on the ice. I want to see the weather being a factor in the game for players like Saku Koivu. I want to see some blowing snow catch the goalie in the mask and give someone a wide open net. But I won't get to.
ESPN bitches about the attendance at hockey games and the general fall-off of popularity. Did anyone ever think that they might play a fairly large factor in that? They are the Sports channel for pete's sake.
Enough ranting. Time to get stuff packed up, find out where my guests are on the road and enjoy the rest of my weekend. Which hopefully I will get to do by seeing the Pens stomp New Jersey tonight and Ottawa tomorrow. (Optimistic ain't I?)
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Made another great dent in the library last night. It seems as though I'm going to run out of time before Matt and Alison show up. Well, they know me. I'm sure they know I'm cluttered and messy. Oh wait, they've visited before. They know.
I'm steadily working on trying to relocate all of the items in what was the game room. I did succeed in displaying Escargot. I think it looks very distinguished where it is, but as usual Terri and I disagree on style choices. I think we need to go on that Mix it Up show started by Courtney Cox-Arquette and David Arquette. Anyway, I have ideas for the Air hockey table and the foosball table. We'll have to see how that pans out.
Right now I need to concentrate on getting the guest room in order for our impending guests. And tonight is shot since I'll be at the Pens/Wild game courtesy of Ray, Tara, and the Pens. And, in addition to all that I need to get caught up on my exercise. Oh well, Let's go Pens. They're only 6 points behind Minnesota overall. And for Minn in the west that's not too good. Maybe we can eek out a win and prepare for Ottawa this Saturday.
I'm steadily working on trying to relocate all of the items in what was the game room. I did succeed in displaying Escargot. I think it looks very distinguished where it is, but as usual Terri and I disagree on style choices. I think we need to go on that Mix it Up show started by Courtney Cox-Arquette and David Arquette. Anyway, I have ideas for the Air hockey table and the foosball table. We'll have to see how that pans out.
Right now I need to concentrate on getting the guest room in order for our impending guests. And tonight is shot since I'll be at the Pens/Wild game courtesy of Ray, Tara, and the Pens. And, in addition to all that I need to get caught up on my exercise. Oh well, Let's go Pens. They're only 6 points behind Minnesota overall. And for Minn in the west that's not too good. Maybe we can eek out a win and prepare for Ottawa this Saturday.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Gee, if I'm actually slacking I don't mind getting nailed for it. (Though I rarely do) Today, though I'm sitting working very quietly at my desk to finish up a very tedious assignment. You'd think I was hosting a party in my area. The supervisor, and I use that loosely, decides to exert her pretend authority. So, I fire back a quick e-mail defending my position. That's when she involves the boss. He reads what I wrote and his response is for the supervisor to handle it. That was almost an hour ago. No response yet. So, I'm blogging. Just goes to show you shouldn't piss me off when I'm actually being ambitious.
I started rearranging the library at the house last night. I was very motivated by a movie I saw recently and I'm creating the poor man's version of what I saw. Hopefully it will materialize the way I want it too. It will also create a nice house for Escargot which is one large chunk removed from the soon to be nursery if it happens that we're still in this place come due date.
Anyway, that's enough for now. Not much else is actually going on. Pretty dull, huh?
I started rearranging the library at the house last night. I was very motivated by a movie I saw recently and I'm creating the poor man's version of what I saw. Hopefully it will materialize the way I want it too. It will also create a nice house for Escargot which is one large chunk removed from the soon to be nursery if it happens that we're still in this place come due date.
Anyway, that's enough for now. Not much else is actually going on. Pretty dull, huh?
Monday, November 17, 2003
Today was a nice easy day. I got to clean out my filing cabinet, post some of the nice homey touches back up in my little cube area, and just generally slack all day. Work was sporadic and not very taxing and with my supervisor having the day off things drifted along nicely.
This weekend I was very lazy work-wise. I should have been cleaning the house and steadily going through all of my stuff to prepare for the impending arrival of the kid. Did I do any of that? Hell no. I worked out on the treadmill a little, went to a Pens game (they lost) hung out at Glen and Amy's, played with Cole (which is to say I held him while he slept). And, I was just generally lazy. I'm sure I'm going to pay for it.
We have company coming in this weekend. I think they'd like a place to sleep which means I need to get working on that. And the living room and dining room looks as though they exploded into one another and then self-destructed. Terri and I need to get better as housekeepers. I could give a bunch of excuses, but laziness prevails both in preventing excuses and being the root cause of the whole issue.
Anyway, enough rambling. This week is shaping up to be rather busy, so hopefully I can carry the motivation home with me and put it to good use. I have an interesting idea for re-configuring the library which I can't wait to try out. But, since the library is not a necessity in a guest ready house, I may have to hold off on that.
I also need to finish the cat stand that I've been working on since last November. I now have everything at the house, carpet included. I just need a little time and space to work on it. This in addition to buying a last minute baby gift for Randy and Elizabeth, getting my hair cut, my oil changed, etc., etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, as stated before...enough rambling for today.
This weekend I was very lazy work-wise. I should have been cleaning the house and steadily going through all of my stuff to prepare for the impending arrival of the kid. Did I do any of that? Hell no. I worked out on the treadmill a little, went to a Pens game (they lost) hung out at Glen and Amy's, played with Cole (which is to say I held him while he slept). And, I was just generally lazy. I'm sure I'm going to pay for it.
We have company coming in this weekend. I think they'd like a place to sleep which means I need to get working on that. And the living room and dining room looks as though they exploded into one another and then self-destructed. Terri and I need to get better as housekeepers. I could give a bunch of excuses, but laziness prevails both in preventing excuses and being the root cause of the whole issue.
Anyway, enough rambling. This week is shaping up to be rather busy, so hopefully I can carry the motivation home with me and put it to good use. I have an interesting idea for re-configuring the library which I can't wait to try out. But, since the library is not a necessity in a guest ready house, I may have to hold off on that.
I also need to finish the cat stand that I've been working on since last November. I now have everything at the house, carpet included. I just need a little time and space to work on it. This in addition to buying a last minute baby gift for Randy and Elizabeth, getting my hair cut, my oil changed, etc., etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, as stated before...enough rambling for today.
Friday, November 14, 2003
Well, I was informed this afternoon that starting on Monday I would be going back to writing the process and procedure manual for the office. Which should leave me plenty of time to blog at work. So, the posts should keep flowing nice and steady. Of course, this being Friday there's not a whole lot going on within the office today. Everyone is just kind of clock watching til their quitting time. And, I'm no different (51 minutes to go). I figured that I could kill a few minutes scanning blogs and such. Oh well, time to head out.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Well, the lights went out on broadway last night as the Rangers beat the Pens 6-2. I know everyone's pinning their hopes on Fleury, but um, we need to score too. Remember the good old days when we didn't even need a goalie or defense? We'd just outscore all the other teams. Now, we're 14 games into the season and we haven't even broken 10 points yets. The only bright spot was the fact that the Caps were below us, but now they've pulled even. Stupid Hurricanes. Where were you when we needed you Ron Francis?
I recently re-heard (is that even doable?) or once again came in contact with the phrase, "One monkey don't stop no show." What if it's a one monkey show?
I have seen several interviews with celebrities where they have mentioned the fact that one of their negative reactions to interviews are the fact that they get asked the same questions over and over. I'm beginning to understand what that feels like. Everyday, my office asks me how Terri's doing. Like there's going to be some huge change from day to day. I can't even make up answers anymore. I just mumble ok and keep working. One day I think I'll say the baby sprouted wings and left the womb under it's own power. That'll keep them talking. Not that they need encouragement.
I did get to head off an anti-gun person today. The office was talking about home invasions and they were joking that you need a gun around every corner of the house, just in case. The anti-gun popped up with..."But, why do you need a gun?" I just paused and said, "'Cause it does more damage than a wooden spoon." The laughter killed the rest of the discussion so there was no need for me to get in a lather. Other than that, the day has been pretty dull.
I recently re-heard (is that even doable?) or once again came in contact with the phrase, "One monkey don't stop no show." What if it's a one monkey show?
I have seen several interviews with celebrities where they have mentioned the fact that one of their negative reactions to interviews are the fact that they get asked the same questions over and over. I'm beginning to understand what that feels like. Everyday, my office asks me how Terri's doing. Like there's going to be some huge change from day to day. I can't even make up answers anymore. I just mumble ok and keep working. One day I think I'll say the baby sprouted wings and left the womb under it's own power. That'll keep them talking. Not that they need encouragement.
I did get to head off an anti-gun person today. The office was talking about home invasions and they were joking that you need a gun around every corner of the house, just in case. The anti-gun popped up with..."But, why do you need a gun?" I just paused and said, "'Cause it does more damage than a wooden spoon." The laughter killed the rest of the discussion so there was no need for me to get in a lather. Other than that, the day has been pretty dull.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Today was fairly uneventful. Most of the day Saturday and again last night I was babysitting a 3 year old. His grandfather had bypass surgery so Robyn and Mark were at the hospital. The world of a child is an interesting thing. On Saturday, Robyn and Mark went to the Pitt game with another couple; Gary and Jody. Gary and Jody have two children and Robyn and Mark have one. I, at the moment, have none. So, it was decided that I would take Jacob to McDonald's for dinner (which was not my choice by any stretch of the imagination, his mother put that idea in his head). So, he had to be dressed for the weather, so I got him a little Pitt outfit complete with hat and got him out of his PJ's. Then he was gone. So, I had to chase him around the house trying to get clothes onto him. Did the four adults with actual parenting experience offer any assistance? No, they just stood and laughed. It took me about 35 minutes to get him fully clothed. Then the errands that we ran before dinner would have taken me about 30-45 minutes. It took us 2 1/2 hours. We got home just in time to see the Pens get stomped by Tampa Bay of all people.
Last night was also kind of amusing. Since Mark and Robyn are remodeling their kitchen, they've been eating out. So, it was either take Jacob to dinner last night or try and defrost something for the microwave. When Terri and I picked him up from daycare, we started driving down the main road looking for a good place to eat. I finally saw a Lone Star Steakhouse. I was in the wrong lane to make a left hand turn so I pulled into a parking lot to turn around and head towards the restaurant. That's when I hear this little voice from the backseat..."Bill, can we eat at the place with the playroom right there?" Turns out, I had pulled into a parking lot across from a Burger King with a big playland for kids. So, instead of a nice juicy steak, I got a whopper.
The playland itself was an interesting experience. The majority of the stuff is above your head. The kids climb up a staircase and crawl through some tunnels to get to a slide, a helicopter, or a rocketship. It was fairly cool and there was certainly nothing like it when I was child, but it made me think. What if your child decided he didn't want to come down? What if he got scared and couldn't come down? I'm certainly not going to fit up there to follow him. I'll end up like Augustus Gloop in the chocolate tube. They'd be sending the oompa-loompas in after me.
Anyway, not too much else going on. Hopefully the Pens will respond to the shelling they got Saturday by handily beating the New York Rangers, which are just the Pens branch East anyway. They have 5 ex-Pens on their squad. Oh well, we shall see.
Last night was also kind of amusing. Since Mark and Robyn are remodeling their kitchen, they've been eating out. So, it was either take Jacob to dinner last night or try and defrost something for the microwave. When Terri and I picked him up from daycare, we started driving down the main road looking for a good place to eat. I finally saw a Lone Star Steakhouse. I was in the wrong lane to make a left hand turn so I pulled into a parking lot to turn around and head towards the restaurant. That's when I hear this little voice from the backseat..."Bill, can we eat at the place with the playroom right there?" Turns out, I had pulled into a parking lot across from a Burger King with a big playland for kids. So, instead of a nice juicy steak, I got a whopper.
The playland itself was an interesting experience. The majority of the stuff is above your head. The kids climb up a staircase and crawl through some tunnels to get to a slide, a helicopter, or a rocketship. It was fairly cool and there was certainly nothing like it when I was child, but it made me think. What if your child decided he didn't want to come down? What if he got scared and couldn't come down? I'm certainly not going to fit up there to follow him. I'll end up like Augustus Gloop in the chocolate tube. They'd be sending the oompa-loompas in after me.
Anyway, not too much else going on. Hopefully the Pens will respond to the shelling they got Saturday by handily beating the New York Rangers, which are just the Pens branch East anyway. They have 5 ex-Pens on their squad. Oh well, we shall see.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Well, let's see. Apparently I was supposed to send out a lot of bells and whistles to tell people I was blogging again. I'm not sure why. And it doesn't just apply to the blogging. I guess I'm supposed to sort out the caliber of the news that I'm delivering and send the more important stuff through e-mail as well.
What brought this on? Well, I've been yelled at twice already for not directly informing people that I was blogging again. I was under the assumption the fact that words started appearing on the page kind of spoke for itself, but I guess I was wrong. So, if there's anyone that hasn't found out yet...I'm blogging again.
And, I got a call from the LA side of the world last night chastizing me for only making an oblique reference on my blog about the fact that my wife and I are expecting.
So, if anyone hasn't quite figured it out yet...in about 7 months or so Terri and I will have a bouncing baby something or other (we don't even know what it is yet).
Now, on to some notable things that happened whilst I was preoccupied and could not blog.
I met Craig and Mike. They came down to visit Joe and Dwight and I had the pleasure of having breakfast with them.
There are a couple of job related things that happened, but I'll blog about them at a later time.
Glen and Amy had a bouncing baby boy. Cole came into the world on September 13th. Friends of ours near Philly had a little girl they named Anna. Other friends in Texas had a little girl they named Summer.
Other than that it's been pretty much work, home, work, home, the occasional bout of play, work, home, etc.
Well, I think that's about it for now. There are a couple other things of note, but I'll get to them later.
What brought this on? Well, I've been yelled at twice already for not directly informing people that I was blogging again. I was under the assumption the fact that words started appearing on the page kind of spoke for itself, but I guess I was wrong. So, if there's anyone that hasn't found out yet...I'm blogging again.
And, I got a call from the LA side of the world last night chastizing me for only making an oblique reference on my blog about the fact that my wife and I are expecting.
So, if anyone hasn't quite figured it out yet...in about 7 months or so Terri and I will have a bouncing baby something or other (we don't even know what it is yet).
Now, on to some notable things that happened whilst I was preoccupied and could not blog.
I met Craig and Mike. They came down to visit Joe and Dwight and I had the pleasure of having breakfast with them.
There are a couple of job related things that happened, but I'll blog about them at a later time.
Glen and Amy had a bouncing baby boy. Cole came into the world on September 13th. Friends of ours near Philly had a little girl they named Anna. Other friends in Texas had a little girl they named Summer.
Other than that it's been pretty much work, home, work, home, the occasional bout of play, work, home, etc.
Well, I think that's about it for now. There are a couple other things of note, but I'll get to them later.
Monday, November 10, 2003
Friday, November 07, 2003
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Hmmm, well I've made it through both Craig's and Dwight's blogs. Since I don't have an affinity for football, it made for shorter reading. Although there were several things to address.
From Dwight's blog...this scares the hell out of me and I like his music. Also from Dwight's blog the whole Top Gun/ESPN "Secretly Terrible Good Movies" The article itself was only mildly interesting since again, I'm not a football fan, but the whole STGM thing kind of stuck with me and on the bus home I started thinking about that category. I think the one that is uppermost in my mind has to A Beautiful Mind.
From Craig's blog the discussion of high school songs. That one caused me a lot of thought. No one song encapsulates high school for me. Since I DJ'd through most of my high school years (89-93) I heard songs from every genre and some I never want to hear again. However, I did manage to come up with some of the more memorable ones for me.
1. Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover- Sophie B. Hawkins This song used to play almost every time I was in the car during the summer between my junior and senior years.
2. One Moment In Time- Whitney Houston Didn't come out during high school, but a soloist in the choir did a rendition of this that I will never forget.
3. The Grease Megamix- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John Again, didn't come out during high school, but Grease was the first musical we ever did and that carries it's own weight.
4. To Be With You- Mr. Big Another song related to the musical
5. We Are The Champions- Queen Musical
6. More Than Words- Extreme Musical
7. Right Here, Right Now- Jesus Jones
8. Friends In Low Places- Garth Brooks
9. That's What Friends Are For- Dionne Warwick
10. Life Is A Highway- Tom Cochrane
That's a good list to start. I may or may not add to it. However, I'm just happy that I made it through two of the four blogs that I used to read daily. Now, onto Joe's and Tom's blogs.
From Dwight's blog...this scares the hell out of me and I like his music. Also from Dwight's blog the whole Top Gun/ESPN "Secretly Terrible Good Movies" The article itself was only mildly interesting since again, I'm not a football fan, but the whole STGM thing kind of stuck with me and on the bus home I started thinking about that category. I think the one that is uppermost in my mind has to A Beautiful Mind.
From Craig's blog the discussion of high school songs. That one caused me a lot of thought. No one song encapsulates high school for me. Since I DJ'd through most of my high school years (89-93) I heard songs from every genre and some I never want to hear again. However, I did manage to come up with some of the more memorable ones for me.
1. Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover- Sophie B. Hawkins This song used to play almost every time I was in the car during the summer between my junior and senior years.
2. One Moment In Time- Whitney Houston Didn't come out during high school, but a soloist in the choir did a rendition of this that I will never forget.
3. The Grease Megamix- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John Again, didn't come out during high school, but Grease was the first musical we ever did and that carries it's own weight.
4. To Be With You- Mr. Big Another song related to the musical
5. We Are The Champions- Queen Musical
6. More Than Words- Extreme Musical
7. Right Here, Right Now- Jesus Jones
8. Friends In Low Places- Garth Brooks
9. That's What Friends Are For- Dionne Warwick
10. Life Is A Highway- Tom Cochrane
That's a good list to start. I may or may not add to it. However, I'm just happy that I made it through two of the four blogs that I used to read daily. Now, onto Joe's and Tom's blogs.
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
What an interesting week thus far. Last night conjured up all sorts of thoughts of passing and the afterlife and some emotion that I, personally, have not felt in a long time. Tonight was no exception. Being raised where I was, country music is almost a prereq for life. To that end, I tuned into the CMA's to see who would win some of the big awards. And there it was...a tribute to Johnny Cash.
However to balance out some of this doom and gloom I got to hear my child's heartbeat for the first time tonight. I thought it sounded like our washing machine on a low rinse cycle, but none the less there it was. Actual physical proof that everyone's hopes are dashed and I have successfully started the pro-creation process.
And then, apparently just to keep my happiness in check, Robyn's father Don had another heart attack and is now currently stable in the Cardiac ICU unit. So, join me in a quick prayer for his speedy recovery.
However to balance out some of this doom and gloom I got to hear my child's heartbeat for the first time tonight. I thought it sounded like our washing machine on a low rinse cycle, but none the less there it was. Actual physical proof that everyone's hopes are dashed and I have successfully started the pro-creation process.
And then, apparently just to keep my happiness in check, Robyn's father Don had another heart attack and is now currently stable in the Cardiac ICU unit. So, join me in a quick prayer for his speedy recovery.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
It is absolutely amazing to me how outside experiences can influence the written word. If we lived in a utopian society where everyone was one big happy family, would the Wizard of Oz even make sense on a thematic level?
What brought all this on you might ask...or you might not. Well, on September 11th of this year in the midst of remembering all of the pain and Alan, the entertainment world lost two major players. Johnny Cash and John Ritter both passed on. Both immensely talented, but for me the losses were on two separate ends of the spectrum. Johnny Cash had lived an incredibly full life and recorded right up til the end. He was like the terminally ill great uncle that sparks the over-used phrase of, "he's better off, the suffering is over." It's so out of place and simply used as filler for the empty space that they have left.
Ritter on the other hand, was taken way before his time. His newest contribution, though mostly one-liners and filler, had it's moments. Tonight was different. Back when I was younger, I fancied myself an actor. I was told I wasn't bad and even had a passing thought to drama as a major in college. While flying around in this fantasy world, I read a lot of books on the craft of acting and going back to the most lucid theme in all of them...Draw on your personal experiences to create a believable character. Tonight I watched four people fighting real, raw emotion while trying to formulate the words set before them by a writer who was no doubt trying to do the same thing. So, in the midst of a falling tear I realized that whether you know it or not each person that you file into your subconscious has an effect on you.
I just attended my 10 year class reunion. We lost a member of our class to epilepsy. It tore some of us apart. And, though I've thought of her often since she was taken from us it only took a simple mention at the reunion to stun the crowd into silence. And, though I've never met John Ritter or Johnny Cash both affected me just as profoundly as Lisa did. And thinking of the three of them again makes me hope that somewhere up there the three of them are having dinner at the same table with Alan, June and Jesus.
Apologies for the rambling, I'm starting to get back into this. And the word lucid comes to you courtesy of Craig.
What brought all this on you might ask...or you might not. Well, on September 11th of this year in the midst of remembering all of the pain and Alan, the entertainment world lost two major players. Johnny Cash and John Ritter both passed on. Both immensely talented, but for me the losses were on two separate ends of the spectrum. Johnny Cash had lived an incredibly full life and recorded right up til the end. He was like the terminally ill great uncle that sparks the over-used phrase of, "he's better off, the suffering is over." It's so out of place and simply used as filler for the empty space that they have left.
Ritter on the other hand, was taken way before his time. His newest contribution, though mostly one-liners and filler, had it's moments. Tonight was different. Back when I was younger, I fancied myself an actor. I was told I wasn't bad and even had a passing thought to drama as a major in college. While flying around in this fantasy world, I read a lot of books on the craft of acting and going back to the most lucid theme in all of them...Draw on your personal experiences to create a believable character. Tonight I watched four people fighting real, raw emotion while trying to formulate the words set before them by a writer who was no doubt trying to do the same thing. So, in the midst of a falling tear I realized that whether you know it or not each person that you file into your subconscious has an effect on you.
I just attended my 10 year class reunion. We lost a member of our class to epilepsy. It tore some of us apart. And, though I've thought of her often since she was taken from us it only took a simple mention at the reunion to stun the crowd into silence. And, though I've never met John Ritter or Johnny Cash both affected me just as profoundly as Lisa did. And thinking of the three of them again makes me hope that somewhere up there the three of them are having dinner at the same table with Alan, June and Jesus.
Apologies for the rambling, I'm starting to get back into this. And the word lucid comes to you courtesy of Craig.
Monday, November 03, 2003
Alright, I finally realized that I didn't create this blog as a diversion, I created it to get me back into the habit of writing. And, in my brilliant flash of inspiration, I also realized that my "job" shouldn't stop me from doing what I want to do. So, maybe I don't get to post at work anymore. Isn't that why I bought a computer for the house? So, slowly but surely over the next couple of weeks I'll be catching up on reading everyone else's blog and that will no doubt precipitate discussion of some sort. Like finding the unnamed commentor who decided to point out my birthday. Anyway, with little to no fanfare, much like in the beginning...I'm back. And may God have mercy on all our souls.
