The Year In Review

When it comes to this time of year, everyone starts putting out their lists of things that happened over the past twelve months.  I suppose I could go through all of the blog posts that I've written this year (and there are a lot) and come up with some basic things that have happened, but then this blog would simply have fallen prey to the cliche list building of all other blogs.  And since I'm not like the other blogs that are out there, I suppose I also can't be cliche.  But you also wouldn't be reading this if you didn't want something, so here's a brief rundown of the year:  I saw some movies, I kept watching television, I had fun with Abby, I ranted about some stuff and I'm sure there were other things, too.  Oh yeah, I blogged every day for two separate months - and I know what you're thinking: "Professional bloggers have to do that already."  Yep.  And they get paid.  That's why they're professional.  Start paying me and I'll offer more information.

Let's see.  Oh, I guess this would be where I put in the New Year's Resolutions part of the blog entry.  I could say that I will lose weight, which I might, but I know it is something I want to work toward.  Also, I could resolve to write more - not just blog posts, but stories, novels . . . etc.  I could resolve to travel more and thereby forcing the previous resolution to come true since I would write about my travels.  How about this for a resolution:  I resolve to be the best me this year.  If you don't get it, tough.  Really, I just want to keep doing the good I'm doing and try to be better in all ways.  A better dad, a better husband, a better sibling, a better son, a better employee and most important, a better friend.

Life isn't about the resolutions, it's about the adventure.  And this is the great adventure (to borrow a line from Steven Curtis Chapman).  Keep it real.  Do your best and be happy and grateful for what you have because it could all disappear in an instant.

Keep checking back for more blog posts in the new year.  I hope to break my current record next year.  Stop by sometime to see how I'm doing.  And don't forget to follow me on Twitter (shown on the left hand side of the page) for more random thoughts.



Happy New Year.


Until next year.

Why Bother Calling It URGENT Care?

A few days ago, our little Abigail was getting sick.  She's been sick before, so it wasn't worrying us too much.  However, she was starting to develop a deep cough in her chest and Joanna was slightly worried that it could develop into pneumonia.  For that reason, Joanna decided to take Abby to the "Urgent" Care facility that is near our house. 

I met Joanna a little afterward (she got there at 6:15) and she was waiting.  And waiting.  I waited too.  And waited.  After about thirty minutes of waiting, Joanna's name was called.  No, they weren't taking us to the exam rooms, they simply needed to return Joanna's driver's license and insurance cards.

So we continued to wait.  And wait.  Jeopardy came on (it comes on at 7pm over here).  And Abby watched and tried to answer some of the questions.  She got a couple right, but it was a hard question day.  Then we watched Wheel of Fortune (which is right after Jeopardy).  Then we watched that show The Middle (are you seeing a pattern here, folks?).

And they call it "Urgent" Care?  Doesn't seem so urgent.

According to Joanna, when she arrived, there were a handful of people waiting ahead of her.  And yes, each of those people were seen ahead of Abby, but it seemed as if they were each taking forty five minutes to examine, diagnose and treat each of those patients.

We even got to start watching the beginning of Modern Family at 8:30 and were finally called back around 8:40pm.  Remember, Joanna got there at 6:15.  The other bummer was that by this point, Abby was tired of being there and was falling asleep.  To the point that at 8:45 (when we still hadn't been seen by a doctor), I walked out of our exam room, found a person and asked them when the doctor would be checking on us.  She had the nerve to ask "Did you bring a bottle to calm her down?"  A bottle?  She wasn't hungry, lady, she was exhausted.  Some people.

Well, even though she said she would come back, she didn't.  We did hear her talk to the doctor and heard him say there were two or three ahead of us.  Fantastic (said with sarcasm).  At this point, it was pointless to leave since we had waited so long.

Eventually, the doctor did come into the exam room, which seemed more like a storage space with supplies strewn all over it.  Because Abby was basically asleep in Joanna's arms, he had to maneuver around her in order to check Abby.  Plus, since she was grumpy, it was that much more difficult for him to examine her.  However, he got enough information to determine that she had a bronchial infection that also was causing her to have conjunctivitis.  Lucky for us, we caught the eye problem early and had been using an ointment that Abby had gotten when she was a few months old and had gotten conjunctivitis and it was working well.

I waited some more for the doctor to write out the prescription and then waited again at CVS for the medication to be filled.  All in all, I suppose it was a good thing that Joanna took Abby to the doctor because we did find out she was sicker than we thought.  Plus, we got the antibiotic into her system, which, hopefully, will help her start feeling better.

And yet, I am going to renew my disappointment and anger and the prospect of calling a place "Urgent" care, when it takes three hours to be seen and treated by a doctor.  Oh, and one last tidbit....the facility closed at 9 - just as we were being seen by a doctor.



Until next time.

What Can't They Do?

Pixar, the fun-loving company that brought us such movies as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Cars and Up, are constantly coming up with imaginative ways to entertain the public.  It is with great  imagination and storytelling that they give us hints into what life would be like as a bug or as a car or as a toy.  Viewpoints that would not even be thought of, really, in most cases, though a car as a character in a movie or cartoon has been around for a long time (see Knight Rider, My Mom the Car, Speed Buggy and the Herbie movies).

This is not to say that Pixar can’t come up with great ideas.  Their talent seems to be taking ideas or plots that have been done millions of times and coming up with a new twist.  Whether it’s the buddy comedy / road trip movie, or the good versus evil movie or just a plain comedy that doesn’t make sense.  For Pixar, all of their movies make sense and have an underlying theme to them.

With Up, it was about not giving up on dreams even in the face of extreme circumstances.  With Wall-E, it was about discovering that love is there when you need it the most.  With Toy Story, it’s the fact that the toys don’t like it when you try to destroy them.  And with Toy Story 3, it’s all about ultimate friendship and sacrifice.  With The Incredibles, it's about the importance of family.

That’s what is so incredible about Pixar and what they do.  Every story means something and has meaning to everyone that watches it.  Even children are still getting some lesson out of it.  And yet, with news of two of the current “in development” movies at Pixar, I wonder just how amazing they are still going to be.

The first film that is just finishing development is Brave.  A movie that is set in the highlands of Scotland a long time ago.  It’s a grand movie with action and adventure and magic.  Oh, and a female protagonist.  That’s right, for the first time, Pixar is making a girl the main character.  Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with a female protagonist.  Look at Disney, they’ve made their living on female protagonists (however, if you look at their most recent movie, Tangled – which is reviewed earlier on this blog – you’ll see there was also a male lead.  This was because some producers at Disney felt that they needed to increase the male population attending their animated films as well as have more male related toys for the parents to purchase).

So why is Pixar creating a movie with a female lead?  Because they can.  But this leads to the question – will it work?  All of their movies to this point have had male leads with female characters running alongside them.  Pixar is taking a risk with a female leading the story (AGAIN, there is nothing wrong with this concept). Of course, it’s only a risk until the movie comes out.  If it comes out and the movie makes $200 million, it wasn’t a risk at all.  But if it only makes $150 million, that might be saying something to Pixar and Disney in general.  Not that Disney and Pixar should change their movie making strategies, but at least to think about them a little more.

The second movie that Pixar has in the works “takes place inside of a girl’s mind” (quoted from this article).  Again, it’s another risk to have a female that is technically in the lead (though, at the moment, it seems unclear exactly what the focus of the movie will be).  But Pixar seems to be able to toss fairy dust on paper and it turns into a magical movie experience.  I plan on seeing Brave for a lot of reasons, most of which are because I think the story is very original, but also because I am a fan of Pixar itself. 

With these two movies, Pixar is taking a leap of hope and faith that their audience will remain loyal regardless of the film’s characters, setting or plot.  For Pixar, the most important things are the characters and how they fit with each story being told.  For me, I think that they will continue to tell great stories with great characters.

Until next time.

What's Your Glory?

Last weekend, on television, a movie was on that is based on one of Mitch Albom's books, Have A Little Faith.  The movie, though based on a book, is based on a true story of Mitch Albom and his coming to terms not only with his faith but with the fact that people can change. 

During the movie, and I presume the book, Mitch is asked to do a favor for his former rabbi.  The rabbi asks Mitch to write and deliver the eulogy at his funeral - which turns out to be eight years after the initial asking.  Later, Mitch meets a pastor, named Henry, who, we learn through flashbacks, was a drug dealer and did anything he could for money, including armed robbery.  And though he was convicted of manslaughter, the story informs the audience that a former friend actually committed the crime.

Though raised Jewish, Mitch is married to a Christian, and neither of them have enough faith to attend services.  That's not to say that they don't believe - they do - but for the basis of the story, let's just say that they weren't consistent in their beliefs.

But I'm getting away from the topic of this blog post.  Let's go back to the title.  I got it from this movie.  The rabbi, Albert Lewis, wrote a book (and I checked it on Amazon.com) in 1984.  The title of the book, What's Your Glory.  As the rabbi in the movie explained, it's a collection of thoughts and told Mitch that his own glory was to be a rabbi and shepherd to his flock (granted, it was in different words, but that's the explanation that I took from his talk).  The rabbi asked Mitch what his own glory was and Mitch couldn't answer - not until the end, anyway.

After I heard the question, I decided that I had to write about it.  So, what is my glory?

It took me a couple of days to really think about it and I'm not sure why, since my glory is right in front of me every single day.  For me, my glory is being a dad to Abigail.  The more I teach her, the better a child she'll be.  The more I show her a good example, the more she'll be willing to help others in the future.

My glory also lies in being a husband.  The better husband I am, the more love that Joanna will show for me.  It will also give Abigail an example of what marriage and love should be, hopefully steering her away from bad relationships.

And yet, my glory doesn't end there.  I am also a son, a brother and a friend.  Each of my family members knows how much I care about them and that I'm willing to do anything for them.  My close friends are basically family and are treated the same way.  My family and friends are very important to me and even if I haven't told them in awhile, they should know just how much they mean to my life.

That's a lot of things that I think are my glory, but there is still one more.  I feel that my gift of telling stories and writing is one of my other glories.  I continue to write, whether it is this blog or my novels or short stories, because I enjoy writing and, hopefully, there are people that enjoy reading what I write.  And even if I don't get a novel published, I know that there are enough people that like my stories and, as I've recently learned, that's really all that matters.

So, what's your glory?



Until next time.

I Don't Want To Get Off On A Rant......

First off, let me just say that cheerleaders get a lot of bad press.  They're considered airheads or dumb blondes or easy or whatever other terrible stereotype that is associated with them.  However, that is only a small majority.  Most cheerleaders are intelligent with dreams of being more than a pretty face.  Some even have aspirations to be doctors or humanitarians.

Second, I think that cheerleading is a dangerous sport.  There are plenty of accidents and falls that lead to serious injury.  But people don't look at cheerleading as a sport because all they are doing is "cheering" up the crowd.

Third, cheerleaders, when doing the fancy flying tricks and somersaults and whatever they do when hoisted into the sky have spotters.  These people, usually taller, stronger men, are there to catch a cheerleader should she slip and fall.  This is so the cheerleader does not sustain as serious an injury as she would had she simply fell out of the sky.  Remember this fact when you look at the video below.




As you watch the cheerleaders fall, you'll see that one spotter manages to catch his specific cheerleader.  And yet, the second cheerleader that falls is completely missed by her spotter.  Plus, the three other people that are standing behind the group - in apparent spotter positions - don't provide any assistance until the poor girl is practically on the floor.  Shouldn't they be paying more attention?

This is only one reason that I would prefer Abby didn't become a cheerleader in the future.  It's too dangerous and if you can't trust even the spotters, who can you trust?

By the way, the girl was released from the hospital in good condition, but still.


Until next time.

The Irony Is Ironic

Ray Bradbury, one of the kings of Science Fiction and a lover of books in print has done something that I never thought he would.  Before I tell you what he did (because you probably would never read the story unless I told you about it - I guess I bring the random news, huh?), let me give you a little background.  Ray Bradbury wrote a book in 1953 called Fahrenheit 451.  The story is very famous and even if you haven't read the book, you might have seen the movie of the same name from 1966. 

It's a story about books in print and how the government doesn't want them around any longer.  They want people to watch television all day and get the news, entertainment and everything else from government programmed series showing on large screen displays (sound familiar?).  However, there are still people in this movie world that care for books and they hoard them and hide them away from the government and the firefighters that are ordered to burn the books on site.  And yet, one firefighter falls in love with one of the dissidents and starts to secretly read - oh no!  I won't give away the ending because it's much too enjoyable a book/film. 

Head to your local library for more information.

So, now that you have some background, it is easier to explain what I discovered today.  It was in the news that Ray Bradbury has finally agreed to allow Fahrenheit 451 to become a digital book, basically realizing his own worst nightmares from the very book that is being converted.  Think about it.  In today's society, where do most people get their information?  TELEVISION, the INTERNET - data communication.  A lot of people don't buy actual bound books anymore.  Look what happened to Borders just a few months ago.  Almost every novel that is published now has a digital version of it for those millions of people with e-readers.  And yet, the man who discussed the whole thing is slipping to the dark side and becoming part of the system that he wrote about.  Ironic.

Maybe, since Bradbury is 91, he finally realized that all that technology isn't so bad and that he was wrong about what he wrote.  I can kind of agree with that.  But Bradbury has long felt that people need to see and talk with each other face to face in order to really gain the wholeness of interacting with others.  These are ideas that I also share and yet, as a lover of technology and programs like Skype, I find that trying to be a traditionalist in the digital age is a lot harder than it looks.  Maybe that's what Ray Bradbury finally understood. 

Digital versions of a book are not a denial of the original work nor is it a way of throwing the bound book away, it's another way of keeping the book for a lifetime in case there are no more trees to create books.  Real books are great, but eventually things like coffee stains happen or young children decide to rip the most climactic scenes from the binding and you're left with heartache trying to find another copy.  With the digital version, there's no need to worry.  But for me, I still like to have the real thing too.


Until next time.

Thank You

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about my writing.  Well, today I'm here to talk about my writing once again and how it relates to Thanksgiving (yes, I know that Turkey Day was yesterday, but this still applies).

During this month of November, I attempted National Novel Writing Month once again.  I was going strong.  I had a great idea for a story, good characters, a decent plot and even some good action.  With five days left, however, I'm way behind with no clear outlook on finishing the story.  Now, before, I might have decided that "I could still finish" and stay up late and work extra hard in order to finish the 50,000 words by the end of the month.  But, after reminding myself again of that previous blog post and the blog that it linked to, I have to remind myself that not all gifts will offer rewards, but that all gifts are rewards themselves.

I like to look at my gift of writing as a great reward.  It's a way of clearing my mind of useless clutter that might be clogging it up and possibly even find other viewpoints bouncing around in there.  And yet, I don't feel the need to validate those voices by straining myself to complete 20,000 more words in a matter of five days.  That's not saying that I couldn't, but at the moment, I'm not feeling good and I have plenty of other things that I want to accomplish.  This also doesn't mean that I am completely giving up on the story.  It will still be there when I am ready and I'll be able to continue right where I left off.

But where's the part about Thanksgiving? 

Oh yeah.  Couldn't you guess?  I'm thankful for my gift of writing.  Sure, I'm thankful for all the other general stuff too (family, friends, a job, my daughter), but there are some things that people don't always seem grateful or thankful for and so I am thankful for my gift as a writer.  It hasn't brought me fame and fortune just yet, but it has brought me peace, serenity and a lot of happiness.




Until next time.

A Momentous Milestone

That's right, folks, as of this posting, my blog has reached 200 posts.  I know that's not as many as some other bloggers out there, but it's a pretty big deal for me, especially since I only hit 100 posts in January.  Of course, when you count the fact that I blogged for thirty one days in a row not once, but twice this year, it's pretty easy to see that I would reach two hundred before the end of the year.

And of course, with the year not over just yet, there are still things to talk about.  Like Thanksgiving - the day that we give thanks to the Pilgrims for inviting the Native Americans to the dinner table before deciding that they wanted all of the land as a payment for cooking them a great meal (at least, that's what the history books said, right?)

Other things to talk about: Christmas, which actually isn't until almost the end of December, correct?  That's why we're hearing Christmas music on the radio now?! (if you don't believe me, for those in the Los Angeles area, put your radio station to KOST 103.5).

I could also talk about movies - or at least movies that I might see, or movies that look interesting.  In fact, an upcoming blog post will focus on the new Pixar movie, Brave.  But I'm not going to write any more about that and let you read that one when it comes in the next few days.

Also on the plate, writing, because that's what I do.  There will be more submissions to agents and I'll possibly get disappointed, but after reading that blog post that I mentioned in yesterday's post (I'll pause so you can look at it), I'm not going to worry myself too much if I get denied yet again.  I'm just going to keep trying my best and that's good enough for me.

Oh yeah.  I have a baby and it's very possible that some of her misadventures might end up on the blog as well.  I guess I should set up her own email address so that her fans can start writing her.

So you see, these are just a few examples of what's upcoming for the blog.  And I know that I wrote something like this before (check the archive), but I thought I would reiterate it now since I had your attention.



Until next time.

A Very Good Reminder

Before I ask you to leave my blog for another, let me just say that I happened upon this from another source - a source I trust.  And so I hope that you trust me when I ask you to go read it.  It doesn't take that long.  When you're done, I'd really like it if you returned.

Wait.  I changed my mind.  Maybe I don't want you to wander away from my blog at the moment.  If you did, maybe you wouldn't come back.  And while that probably is no skin off either of our backs, it would be a lot easier for me if I were to just put the link at the bottom of this entry and let you read it on your own.

Basically, the person whose blog I want you to read, wrote a very important message.  A message that someone like me needs to constantly be reminded of.  You know that I try to be a writer and that I've tried to do a decent job - even submitting my work to agents in the vain attempt to publish my work.  And yet, I haven't been successful.  But I will eventually and the blog post linked below is a good reminder that it doesn't matter if I don't sell a book now.  It also doesn't matter, really, if I ever get noticed for my writing.  I would like to think it mattered, but I suppose just to say that I'm a writer and that some people actually like my work should be good enough.  If not, then I shouldn't care what those people think because they are not moved by my writing.

That's what I need to remember - move people with my writing and I'll be happy.

Of course, it wouldn't be so bad if I were to sell my writing and move a lot more people.



Until next time.


Here's the link.

A Revelation

I've noticed something.  Something that has been a problem recently.  What is it, you might ask?  Simple.  If you haven't noticed, let me explain.

After each of the 31 blogs in 31 days, you'll notice that I disappear.  Sometimes it's for the entire month and sometimes I manage to get a post in just before the end of the following month.  What's wrong with me?  Am I that drained from writing one post per day that I can't write for several days, if not weeks afterward?  Is my brain tired of coming up with ideas every night to talk about the next day?  Is it something else entirely?

None of the above.

I think I just like the fact that I don't have to write something and choose not to.  The problem with this thinking is that it defeats the purpose of me being a writer.  The whole point in being paid to write is that you constantly write.  If I were a paid writer, I would have to work at writing at least eight hours a day.  This could be mind boggling if you don't  think ahead a little, but even worse if you don't.

And so, I'm going to try to keep blogging every few days from now on.  Maybe I'll be good at it and maybe I won't, but at least I'll keep writing.  Who knows, maybe I'll be able to one day look back and realize that I was a good writer and just got better once I started getting paid to write.


Until next time.

This Is Halloween

Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween

This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright

It's our town, everybody scream
In this town of Halloween

(From The Nightmare Before Christmas)

For her first real Halloween Abigail seemed to do pretty good. Granted, Joanna carried her the whole way but it wasn't too far. I pushed the stroller just in case Joanna got tired, but she wanted to take Abigail to each and every home.  To my knowledge she didn't even cry at any of the scary decorations and there were plenty of those. Which is very good.

The annual holiday is to remind children that at least once a year it's alright to beg. And if I said that already somewhere else on this blog, too bad because it's an important lesson. A lesson you really shouldn't teach. I suppose that's why parents teach their children to say thank you instead of just taking candy and leaving. Of course there are plenty of those kinds of kids too.

There's a lesson in all of this somewhere but I'm not really sure what it is. Maybe it's just that kids need one day a year other than their birthday to get jacked up on sugar and wreak havoc on their parents, neighbors and teachers.

And so ends another month of blogs. Though it isn't the end for the year by a longshot. As you can see I'm dangerously close to 200 blog posts, so we're just getting started.


Until next time.

And Now, the End Is Near

It's almost that time again, kids.  Yes, today marks the second to last blog update for the month of October.  How has it gone so far?  Well, despite some days of utter mental block about what to write about, I managed to write one blog for every single day of the month.  Of course, since tomorrow hasn't happened, there's still a good chance that I'll miss posting and won't even make it through my planned blog experience.  However, since I already know my topic for tomorrow (hmmm....any guesses?  I mean, it is a holiday and I have a cute kid, right?), I have a feeling that the only thing that would keep me from posting would be something very terrible happening.  Granted, it's a long shot, but even if I don't have access to a computer, with my iPhone, I could still post something.

So what else have we learned this month?

There are plenty of stupid people in the world and they aren't just all in your neighborhood.  There were a lot of good times and one very big sad time as well, but we all move on.  It's just something that has to be done or we feel like we'll never get past any sadness.  We've learned never to underestimate the underdog when it comes to baseball, though I still would have preferred if the Diamondbacks and Yankees had managed to make it to the World Series as a wonderful homage to the tenth anniversary.  Plus, we've also learned that, on occasion, I can be known to Tweet very frequently and actually get comments from random people (the guy from Charter Communications and Snoopy, too).

All in all, it's been a good month and I'm glad that I continue to force myself to write one post per day.  I'm not exactly sure how some people write five to ten posts per day, but I suppose if that's your job and your livelihood, you simply find a way.  Maybe that could happen one day.



Until tomorrow.

You Didn't Tell Me You Were Going To Kill It!

"This will be a day long remembered.  It has seen the end of Kenobi and will soon see the end of the Rebellion."

Yes, I know I'm quoting Star Wars, but who wouldn't on such a good day.  Sure, Darth Vader was speaking in bad terms, but the good guys won out in the end, right?

Anyway....the reason I say that today was a good day is because we went to our friend's Annual Pumpkin Carving Party.  It's a great time and we've managed to go for the past several years.  Even last year, just a few weeks after Abigail was born, we were there.  I even carved two pumpkins last year.  One for me and Joanna and the other for Abby (although, hers was rather simple, since I just spelled her name).

This year, we were a little undecided on what to carve.  It had to be Disney, of course, but the choices were either Minnie Mouse or Tigger.  And since Abigail just happened to be wearing a Tigger outfit:

Not a bad rendition, huh?  It was a little harder to tell if it was working while I was cutting, but looking at it from a little further back, there is no doubt that it's Tigger. 

But then again, what happened to Minnie Mouse?  We have a cute Minnie Mouse outfit that Abigail has worn (to Disneyland, even) and could have looked adorable in for Halloween and yet she was Tigger.  What's up with that?  Let's just say that the Minnie was a good backup, but we were really hoping that this Tigger outfit, borrowed from someone, would fit.  And it did.  Well, it will fit long enough to last through Monday and that's about it, but that's all that's necessary.

Here's to Halloween and all the little monsters and heroes that will be wandering neighborhoods begging for candy because their parents said it was okay.  Though, as Sally Brown says during It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown:

"Is it legal?"

To which Lucy's response, "Of course it's legal." just seems so appropriate.  Also appropriate, the title comes from Linus's response to seeing Lucy begin to carve the pumpkin after he retrieved it from the pumpkin patch.


Until tomorrow.

Movie Night

I wish I could enjoy a movie at the theater once again.  It's not that it's been a long time since I saw a movie at the theater - I saw Captain America earlier this summer - and then before that, we saw Harry Potter in the theater also.  The problem is that because of Abby, it's hard for us to get to a movie.  Not that it's a bad thing, but we used to go to the movies a lot.  Of course, since those days were before the blog, you'll just have to take my word that I did see some good movies.  And there are still good movies yet to come.

One that I'm curious about is Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  Sure, it's starring the crazy Tom Cruise, but I liked two of the other Mission Impossible movies, so it's possible that I'll actually like this one.  Who knows, but I'm willing to give it a chance, at least.

Another movie that I really want to see won't come out until the beginning of the year.  It's The Lorax.  Now, The Lorax is one of my favorite of the Dr. Seuss stories and it is that book that prompted me to look closer at other Dr. Seuss stories to find other messages hidden in the stories.  Not every Dr. Seuss story has the hidden messages, but there are plenty of stories that have messages hiding in plain sight.

Of course, the biggest movie of the Fall (for me) is going to be The Muppets.  I've been a fan of the Muppets for as long as I can remember.  I don't really know why.  They're silly and dumb and their jokes are silly and dumb but they just get funnier.  I know you've seen a lot of the trailers and that you might think that all of the funny parts in just in the trailer, but I have a feeling that the movie is going to be just as funny as the trailers have been.  That's my opinion, naturally, but as a fan, I have a job to simply suggest it's going to be good.

As for other movies, such as the Sherlock Holmes sequel, I'm not exactly sure if that's on my list.  I didn't see the first one, so I don't know if I want to see the first and then the sequel.  I'm also unsure of the Tin Tin movie, which, from my understanding, is a variation of Indiana Jones, except animated.  Who knows?

I've got a lot of time to decide which movies I would like to see and hope for the best that we might be able to get to a movie theater.  Here's hoping, anyway.



Until tomorrow.

Now That Was A Baseball Game

I'm not really a fan of the Texas Rangers or the St. Louis Cardinals, but I am a fan of good baseball.  And while errands prohibited me from watching the entire game, I got home just as it started to get interesting. 

I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched the Rangers take a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth and then for the Cardinals to come back to tie the game and send it to extra innings.  And if that wasn't bad enough, the Rangers managed to get a two run home run from their big hitter, Josh Hamilton, and take a 9-7 lead.  Well, the Rangers couldn't put the game away in the bottom of the tenth and allowed the tying runs to score AGAIN!  Watching the game on television was bad enough, I can hardly imagine what it was like to actually have been in the stadium when it was unfolding.

Eventually, David Freese came up to bat in the bottom of the eleventh inning and sent a low pitch into the grassy field in center field for the game winner.  It was an incredible game to watch for both teams.  Each one battled and each one managed to get timely hits.  I'm not going to say that the Cardinals came through in the clutch, because that's a subjective statement.  What I will say is that no matter what happens in tomorrow's game, both of these teams have finally shown me that they deserve to be playing for baseball's biggest prize.



Until tomorrow.

It All Makes Sense Now

Or does it?

What am I talking about? 

First off, have you ever wondered if there are other beings out there in the universe?  Beings that are so powerful that they could do almost anything and not be bothered with technicalities like us lowly human beings have to deal with?

If you said yes, great, I'm a supporter of that.  However, if you said no, that's just fine too, because I support your theories of a single human race that achieved so many impossible tasks over the last millions of years (no sarcasm implied).

So, what is it that I'm talking about?

CLICK ME

An 8 foot Lego Man?  Really?  I think that it's a NORMAL sized Lego man and we're all just really tiny.  And the Lego man belongs to some child and we are all in his big toy box.  Sounds feasible, right?

Regardless of who made it, how it was made or whether there's some very large alien child playing with Legos out in the universe, it's still pretty cool that someone could make such a large Lego man out of plastic.

If you have a problem with me pulling some story off the web, deal.  It's the twenty sixth day of October and I'm still blogging, so there.  Just because I can't think of anything truly original today doesn't mean that it's always that way.  Look at almost every other post this month.  Plus, I still have five more days, including All Hallows Eve.  That one should be interesting.


Until tomorrow.

More Writing

I've just started yet another story and hope that I can write enough to actually have an idea of where to go with it.  The problem is that the story came from a dream and even though I managed to write down a lot of notes as soon as I woke up, I still have found that I am missing some information. 

It's weird, really.  When I get ideas from my dreams, it seems like the stories will just write themselves and then I get to a computer and I simply stare at the screen, waiting for the dream to reenact itself for me in words instead of images.  Nothing.  This is the usual ending to me trying to write my dreams down.

However, since I got the iPhone last year, I have tried to quickly write notes down on the phone as soon as I wake up - that way they are still semi fresh in my mind.  Of course, this doesn't always work when the cool dream was sometime in the middle of the night and the mediocre or non-worthy dream was the most recent and therefore the one I recall the most.

So what's the solution?  Do I keep writing random things (like I've been doing on this blog)?  Do I try to remember my dreams more vividly and therefore get more detail and hope to string together all of the notes in order to form a story?  Is that even possible?  Do I simply avoid trying to write about my dreams and move on to other aspects of my life to pull inspiration from?  That's a thought as there is a story that has been hiding for some time and I might be able to muster up some assistance from outside sources.

Whatever I end up doing, at least it will still be writing.  I have to write.  If you look over there (to the left) where my Tweets are, you'll see that I have reasons to write.  They are all true.



Until tomorrow.

Nightmare

Dictionary.com defines the word:

night·mare   /ˈnaɪtˌmɛər/ [nahyt-mair] noun 1.a terrifying dream in which the dreamer experiences feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, sorrow, etc.


I can completely understand nightmares when you're a toddler or a young child or a teenager or young adult, or, sometimes, even as an older person.  There are plenty of things that could cause such experiences of helplessness or extreme anxiety or sorrow for each of those age groups.  And yet, I did not mention babies.  What experiences have babies gone through that would cause them such feelings? 
 
Maybe they've had the feeling of helplessness because they can't do something specific or grab something that they want, but really, with parents around to do what they need, they can get all the help they want.  Perhaps the extreme anxiety could come from the fear of not getting food in time?
 
Just a little bit ago, Abby had a nightmare.  It was one of those that daddy's arms could not comfort.  Only mommy was able to comfort the sad little girl and get her to fall back asleep again.
 
I think of this topic tonight, mostly because I was trying to find something to actually write, though I still had a few other ideas that could be talked about.  And yet, ninightmares come in all sizes.  Not just in sorrow or anxiety or helplessness, but also in fear.
 
Fear of loneliness.  Fear of poverty.  Fear of denial.  Fear of desperation.  Fear of illness.
 
Sometimes fear can weigh a person down and cause them to not do anything.  A person could get lost in the fear and let it control them.  It's only by controlling one's fear can they get past their fear and let them move on.  Even Yoda told Luke Skywalker that he had to control his feelings.  If you control your fear, it won't control you.
 
 
 
Until tomorrow.

Another Cheese Factory?

This past summer, Joanna and I took a road trip to Oregon, with quick stops in Northern California because we had never really been there together.  Along the way, we stopped at the Loleta Cheese Factory, based on a suggestion from someone I know at work (you can read a little bit about it here).  Anyway, it was a once in a lifetime thing that we just happened to do because we were in the area.  However, today it was more just "one of those things".

We were headed back from Northern California today, after attending our friend, Anna's, wedding.  On our way down, Abby decided that she needed to take a break from the car and our nearest exit took us to a quaint little highway attraction known as, Bravo Farms.  The funny thing about Bravo Farms is that they are also famous for their cheese, just as Loleta is and they have their very own cheese factory which you can tour and sample various types of cheese.  So, which one is more famous and who is the judge?

Regardless, we wandered around the little area that has a good size "country shop" as well as a bar, a restaurant and even a small petting zoo.  There's a picnic area and an ice cream shop that serves delicious scoops of ice cream, which, of course, we had to partake in.

After we were there for a little while, we decided that it was time to head home.  Though we hadn't planned on stopping there, we decided that on our adventures to Northern California that take us across the 99 Highway, Bravo Farms might have to be at least on the list of frequent destinations.  It has everything that we needed, including gasoline, food, entertainment and ice cream.

I'm not sure what this affinity to cheese factories is, or how it came to be, but I think that we are going to simply make our way around the country looking for cheese factories.  We've already been to (in my opinion) the Grandaddy of all cheese factories, Tillamook, in Oregon, so that makes for three that we've been to.  Anyone know how many there are in the country?



Until tomorrow.

Versus

I was flipping channels last night and came across a movie that I had wanted to see in the theater but never got a chance.  It was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.  The movie was based on a comic book series of the same name and while it depicts a lot of the comics adventures, obviously it is not all of them.

It's safe to say that the movie wouldn't have won any awards for acting, but in regard to sound design, production design and special effects, they could have been a contender.  I didn't look it up to verify if they were or not but since I don't remember them getting nominates in any of those categories, let's just figure they weren't.

The story is a semi love story and a semi "coming into one's own" as a person story.  It focuses on Scott Pilgrim and his quest to gain the affections of Ramona.  However, in order to do so, he must defeat each of her evil exes - not ex-boyfriends, exes (since she once dated a girl).  From the first battle on, Scott gains confidence in not only his fighting abilities, but also himself as a person and he realizes just how bad of a person he is for dumping another girl so he could date Ramona.

It's a fun movie (as long as you don't think too much) because it reminded me of days at the video arcade playing all manner of fighting games and hoping to win.  Granted, winning those games didn't get me the girl nor does it have to at all.  It's one of those movies where if you suspend any thoughts of reality, you'll actually enjoy it and you might even laugh at a few parts.

There's no need to spend money on renting this one.  Like I said, I was flipping channels and it came on, so I got lucky there.  Maybe you can get lucky and find it on television like I did.  If not, and you do want to see it, I guess you'll just have to rent it.  Though, I think you can rent it on Amazon or through iTunes for a lot cheaper than at Blockbuster.


Until tomorrow.

It's Learning Time

Every now and then, I read the blog by Dilbert creator, Scott Adams.  Sometimes his blog entries are funny, sometimes they are very serious and sometimes I just don't understand them.  However, one of his more recent posts got me thinking.

If you choose not to follow the link, let me summarize.  Scott Adams feels that people are a culmination of what they learn.  Because of this, if they have learned how to be one thing and get tired of it, they can simply learn to do something else.  This might take time, effort, money and patience, but given enough of those four things, a person can learn to be something entirely different.  This is a very familiar theme to me. 

I find that sometimes I think that I know quite a lot and yet, really, I don't.  But I keep learning and knowing and understanding more.  Not just in the way of technology (as is my profession), but also in the ways of writing and analyzing writing.

Sometimes I think of myself as a constant learner and I think that anyone that is attempting to be a writer will feel the same way as well.  This is because writers are always trying to learn new tricks to get people to read their stories or new ways to tell a particular story.  And, based on some of the novels that have come out in recent years, it seems the old stories are the best ones to rework with new formats and new ideas (Romeo and Juliet with vampires, anyone?  Or Dances With Wolves with blue people?).

Hopefully, you get my meaning.

But this is not a blog post about Hollywood ruining every story that was ever made by rehashing poor plots and hoping that big explosions or pretty people will make it all work better.  No, this is a blog entry to talk about learning and the process of learning and the fact that no matter what we learn, we are better because we learned it.  Some people might choose to argue with me that people that learn bad behaviors are not better and therefore my argument would be invalid.  However, don't you think that people that have learned bad behaviors know they are bad because they also learned what good behaviors were?  This would also imply that at some point, they may regress back to said good behaviors because the bad ones just weren't working out.

At least it's something to think about.  And if you want, try to learn something to prove me wrong.



Until tomorrow.

#whyiwrite

I learned today, October 20th, that today is the National Day of Writing.  What is the National Day of Writing?  I actually had to go look it up in order to really find out what it was.  Actually, it's pretty cool.  It's a day to talk to others about the reasons why one writes.  If you follow me on Twitter, or, even if you don't and just look to the left over there, you'll see one of the reasons that I write.  There will probably be more over the course of the day, but it's a start.

The reality is that, besides the very large imagination that makes sense when written down, writing is an outlet for me.  Not that I don't have plenty of people to talk to, because I do, but sometimes my imagination just has crazy stories in it and the only way to really get them out is to write them down.

As you know from previous posts, I've been trying to be a writer for some time.  I have a finished novel that I continue to fiddle with despite the fact that I feel it's a good story.  I only review and revise because it has yet to be picked up by a literary agent for representation and therefore I keep thinking that something must be wrong with it.  Or at least the first ten pages, since that's usually what agents wish to look at.

And yet, nothing.  But it's not stopping me from writing.  Obviously, I am maintaining the blog, especially this month since I am writing thirty one posts in thirty one days.  Conveniently, this topic appeared earlier in the day to allow me to write about it instead of searching for a topic later in the evening.

I'm also continuing to write in general.  There are a couple of stories that I am working on as well as a piece that was inspired by a discussion I had with a few people at work.  That story might take a little more time as there will be the need for actual research and that is not necessarily my strong suit.

The National Day of Writing is a great day to remember all of the writers around the world that happen to entertain you.  Or drive you crazy.  Or inspire you.  Or even the readers that aren't published (namely, me) that you still like to read despite his inability to publish a novel.  Or something like that.

If you're a writer, take part in the movement.  Write well and write long.



Until tomorrow.

Does Mr. Kimble Work Here?

If you couldn't tell from teh title, I am referencing Kindergarten Cop and the character, John Kimble, that was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.  And the reason I'm referring to that movie is because the inevitable is about to happen.  We are contemplating placing Abigail into daycare.

Duh duh dunnnnnnnnn.

It's not a process that I would wish on my deepest enemy because there is a lot of research that must be done beforehand to determine if you even want to go look at any number of places.

What are their hours?  Do they have specialized care for infants?  What age range to they care for?  What's the child to teacher ratio?  Do they provide food or do you have to?  How safe is their facility?  Are their teachers certified?  Is the daycare certified?

And those are just the questions that I remember.

Needless to say, it's been somethign that we've been thinking about since Abby started to crawl.  Since Joanna was taking her to work, it started to become a bit more dangerous for Abby to start moving about the office.  Plus, it has become a small distraction and caused headaches and heartaches for Joanna when she can't get any work done.

Who knows, though.  Kinder Care, the daycare that we looked at tonight, seems to have piqued our interest enough to have a trial day.  This means that we can drop off Abby for a few hours and let her get used to the place and the teacher, Ms. Nancy.  It's worth a shot. 

Of course we're not sure just how Abby will react to Joanna disappearing, but it's something that we have to do.  Abby is growing up and we have to deal.  As much as we want her to remain a baby, we can't.  Life moves forward no matter how hard anyone tries.



Until tomorrow.

A Brain Teaser

A blind man walks up to a door with a package.  He hands the package to the person that answers and leaves.  What was in the package?

This brain teaser managed to confuse me for quite some time this morning.  I heard it on the radio and could not for the life of me figure out the answer until about five hours later.  Of course, you, my readers are smart enough to figure it out, right?  I mean, the answer is obvious.  Need a hint?  It's in the first three words.

The answer is: BLINDS (to see the answer, simply highlight the section before the parenthesis with your mouse).

I'm a smart guy.  Well, I tend to think that I am.  Plus, I can speak intelligently about a lot of different subjects, so that must mean that I'm at least well read.  But sometimes I just can't figure things out (like why the rest of my blog disappeared).

Since I can't remember what else was here, I'm just going to have to end it, but that is very strange.  Oh well.



Until tomorrow.

Veggies Are Our Friends

Tonight I tried something that, if it weren't to celebrate someone's birthday, I probably never would have gone.  It's a restaurant.  And while I'm not usually one to not go to a restaurant unless it's seafood only, this one would not have been on any list that I might have even thought of making.

The restaurant is called Le Pain Quotidien (don't bother trying to find their website, it doesn't work).  What's unique about it is the fact that everything is made from organic materials.  Organic produce for the salad.  Free range chicken.  They even have vegan and gluten-free specialties.  Not that I'm against any of that kind of food, but most of you that know me know that I prefer meat and potatoes or at least something a little more filling.

Here's the funny part.  As I was searching for the website, I found several people that reviewed the restaurant on Yelp.com.  It turned out that (according to them) the food was decent but the service was lousy.  Even when we arrived tonight, it took several minutes before the waiter actually brought us our menus and then another few minutes before our drinks arrived - and all we had was water.  The best part was that there was only one other group in the restaurant and a few in the outdoor dining area, but still.  I couldn't believe that the reviews were coming true.  I even mentioned it to our friends and they were a little stunned.

However.....

I found that the food was not bad.  I had a chicken Cobb salad with arugula and organic egg (whatever that is) and I was even surprised to find bacon bits that tasted like real bacon, which means it was probably turkey bacon.  All in all, it was a good experience and we had fun with our friends Amanda and Marc.

I wouldn't recommend going to this restaurant if you are in a hurry, though, as the reviews about it being slow are accurate.  We got a little lucky, but it seemed to take longer than usual. 


Until tomorrow.

Ireland, I Am Coming Home

Today we went to Disneyland.  What's new, right?  Well, tonight we ate over at California Adventure.  They have a new Italian restaurant that has a really good Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and Chicken Pasta dish that is really good.  They also have really tasty flatbread pizza.  It's funny to see it all flat, but that's how they make it. 

Anyway, we sat outside near the small stage that had been set up for bands.  The group that was playing tonight was called, Siglo Rags.  They're an Irish band and they reminded me of a band that we heard in a pub when we went to Ireland back in 2006.  That was such a memorable trip and I could not believe that I was there sometimes.  There are so many memories from that trip, from seeing Riverdance in Dublin to seeing Andreas Boccelli in Galway just before the rain.

There were so many things that we did and saw but I know that there were just as many that we missed.  Ever since I went to Ireland, I've wanted to go back.  I even wanted to stay the first time that I went.  Just the thought of living in Dublin or Galway or even one of the smaller towns, like Kilkenney or Waterford.  I'm not sure what I would do with my life, but it wouldn't matter because I would have been in Ireland.

Of course, I can't live in Ireland without having something to do.  Maybe I should make it my life mission to become famous enough that whatever it is I can do successfully, I can do from Ireland.

The band was really good and very authentic.  According to their website, they're at California Adventure quite a bit this month.  I'd definitely listen to them again.  Of course, if they took me home with them, I'd listen to them forever.



Until tomorrow.

It's the Great Pumpkin Patch, Abby

Tonight, we took a quick trip to the pumpkin patch near our house.  We weren't planning on purchasing a pumpkin as we like to do that anyplace else because the patch is just so darn expensive.  For the same price as one large pumpkin, we could pay for two at the grocery store or even Home Depot.  So what were we doing at the pumpkin patch?

Simple.  Last year, right around this time, Abby was just a few weeks old and we took her to the pumpkin patch.  The pictures from then weren't that bad but they weren't that great either.  I mean, she was tiny and we were very tired.  This year, we're still tired, but she's anything but tiny.  Not that she's huge, either, she's just normal size.

When we got there, it seemed like everyone in Rancho Cucamonga had decided that tonight was going to be the night to go the pumpkin patch.  We couldn't even find a place to park (we had been out running errands for a little while before hand) - it was that busy.  We parked in the parking lot a little bit away and grabbed Abby and went for a walk.

The place was packed with people buying pumpkins left and right.  I'm a little surprised that there were even pumpkins left over with the amount that were being purchased.  And yet, the place still seemed full of pumpkins and people.  It almost felt like Disneyland on a busy day.  That's how many people that seemed to be there.

It's a pumpkin patch, people!  What are you all doing there on a Saturday night?  I know why they're really there, though.  It's FREE.  Well, admission is.  And the petting zoo.  But the jump houses and the slides and the food for the animals and even the food for the people cost money.  That's right.  Not very free entertainment after all, huh?  And yet the place was like Disneyland.  Plus they were buying pumpkins.  Has the recent economic downtrend not softened people to saving money?  Shouldn't they be purchasing smaller pumpkins at the grocery store instead of spending two to three times the amount at a pumpkin patch.

If you, dear reader, are patch goers and buyers, please don't take offense.  I have nothing but respect for the people that manage the patches, but I just think that their prices are higher than they should be and they should offer a few more freebies.

Sadly, even without venturing to the patch to purchase an overpriced pumpkin, I still found that I was bothered by the amount of people and the way they were tossing money around for very little.  I just wanted to take the pictures.  At least we might have gotten a few where she actually smiled.



Until tomorrow.

The TV Report

Now that Fall is in full swing and most shows are on their way up or on their way out, I thought it would be fitting to talk about some of the shows that we're watching.

As usual, Joanna still enjoys watching Dancing With the Stars.  I like watching it and not just for the scantily clad women - that's just one reason.  I also like to hear the music and this past week was cool because they were doing movie scores and I knew almost every song, including the three that were from John Williams (the Master).

We're also still watching How I Met Your Mother and still wondering if we're ever going to find out who the mother is despite the hints that we've been given ever since the beginning of the show seven years ago.  It's not that we hate the show, it's still funny, but it would be nice to find out exactly who the mother is.  The best part about that show is that the shot of the "children" the narrator (Bob Sagat, of all people) is talking to, is the same shot that they've been using since the beginning.  The son is seven years older and was on one of those Disney shows - the one with Selena Gomez (found only through imdb.com, not because I know).  And the daughter has been on a ton of shows from Desperate Housewives (I'll get to that one in a minute) to Nikita and films like Kick Ass (go searching for my review of that later).  And yet, these "kids" still look the same.  I just think it's hilarious that they pretty much use the same shot for the kids.  I suppose if the "dad" is telling the kids a story, it's better that it's one very long story instead of broken up.

Anyway....other shows we're watching - Desperate Housewives.  It's a good thing it's coming to an end this year because it's getting old.  Same scandals, different people.  Murder, sex, divorce.  It's all the same.  It's still a decent show and I don't mind admitting that I like it.

We're also watching Pan Am (though a bit delayed since we watch it via DVR).  Mostly, we're watching it because we know Mike Vogel (one of the stars).  We don't really know him too well, but we have met him.  Joanna knows his wife, Courtney, a little better because they have seen each other a few times and Courtney is good friends with Joanna's friend, Devon.  Despite what some of the critics have been saying, we are actually liking Pan Am.  I suppose it's a cross between Mad Men (because it has that whole 60s drama thing going for it and maybe Airplane, because it has that whole airplane thing going for it too).

Also gracing out DVR this season is Glee, of course.  We still like it and I'm finding that there are times that I like the Glee version of a song better than the original recording.  Such as last week's, "Fix You".  Not that I don't like the original also, but the Glee version was just very good and probably will make it onto my iPhone when I get another iTunes gift card (hint, hint).

There are other shows, naturally, but those are the current ones that we try to maintain.  I watched the new Tim Allen show, Last Man Standing, and found it funny, but then again, I find him funny regardless of what he's doing.  I've also caught an episode of the new season of House and I tried to watch that Terra Nova show and even though I like dinosaurs and Steven Spielberg, I think the show is a little too much for me, so I probably won't try to watch any other episodes.

Well, that's about it for the Fall television preview.  I find it funny how networks will dump shows so quickly due to bad ratings, such as Charlie's Angels.  Granted, that was a bad remake.  Almost as bad as The Bionic Woman remake from a few years ago.  Oh well.  I'm sure they'll find something else to remake and reboot and I'll be making fun of that eventually.


Until tomorrow.

Baseball Update (In Case You Don't Look At the News)

Wow.  I'm not even halfway through the month and I'm already stretching to find subject matter for the blog?  That's just sad.  I mean, I could talk about baseball, but the fact that the Diamondbacks are no longer involved in the playoffs, it makes it a little harder for me to pay attention.  Well, I kind of do.  I at least see the scores to see who has won and what team might be a step closer to the World Series, but I don't put a lot of attention into the playoffs since, like I said, the Diamondbacks are done.  I do however, would like to see the Rangers win.  They were really close last year and were beat by the better team.  But this year, the Rangers have improved and are now they are the better team with a chance to remove the "crazy to think they're in the playoffs" Cardinals or even the "who would have thought they were marginally good this year" Brewers.

So then what will happen?  I mean, after today, with the Tigers winning Game 5, will the Rangers be able to close it out in Texas?  And with the Cardinals losing Game 4 to the Brewers, does this mean that the Brewers have decided to actually play good baseball again?  Who knows?  As they say, "that's why they play the game."  And yet, I don't really care too much.  Like I said, it would be cool to see the Rangers win the World Series because they haven't before.  The Brewers have won before, so why not let someone win who hasn't in the past, even if the past was almost thirty years ago.

Regardless of time frame right now, the Rangers seem to be the team to beat.  The Tigers have tried and their star pitcher, Justin Verlander, held the Rangers in check.  Today.  His record in the playoffs was not that good until today and that was just because he got lucky a few times.

I suppose I'll just have to wait a few more days to find out what teams will be in the World Series.  I think, either way, I probably won't be watching most of the games.  Perhaps the first game because they always do a really cool introduction with some really good narrator.  But that's probably it.  They need to bring back James Earl Jones to talk or something.  Darth Vader's the best.



Until tomorrow.

Are You Listening?

As you know, I am a member of audible.com.  I have praised the service in the past (go searching, I'm too lazy to find the links and put them here) and I will continue to do so.  At the end of last month, I celebrated one year as a member of Audible.  As a gift, they gave me a $10 gift certificate.  Granted, most books on the website are more than the ten dollars, but if you look hard enough (like I did), you can find some good "reads". 

I managed to find a Doctor Who story that is read by the current Doctor, Matt Smith, so I know it's going to be good.  I also found a Dr. Seuss story - Oh, The Places You'll Go - that is read by John Lithgow.  It's an amazing performance and very fun to listen to.  I know that I will be playing it for Abby sometime down the road as well as letting her read the book at the same time.  The last book that I was able to get with that ten dollars was The Tale of Peter Rabbit.  This is one of Joanna's favorite stories and she has actually read it to Abby, so it will be nice to have a recording of it as well.

I have found over the past year that even though I pay a monthly fee for the service, I am saving upwards of forty percent on the original cost of the audiobooks.  And if you have ever looked at the cost of audiobooks at a bookstore or online, they are not cheap.  As a member, if I were to actually pay for a book, I could save at least sixty percent, which is also a nice bonus.  Luckily I have yet to do that and simply wait for the end of the month and purchase a book with my free credit.

I have said that I'm not a paid endorser for Audible and I'm still not.  However, if you have a commute like I do, you'll find that having something else to listen to besides afternoon radio can be a good thing.  It might take me forever to listen to the books that I have, even though I continue to get one more each month, but I still like to get the books and have them available in case I'm feeling crazy and simply want to listen all night in order to finish.  It's happened before.


Until tomorrow.

Today's Lesson: Ask Questions Before Committing

Imagine this:  You're a waitress and you're told that if you have the most sales for a particular time period, you will win a Toyota.  Well, of course, you work hard and you win and you win your Toyota, which happens to not be exactly what you thought.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE (just look at the photo and read the caption)

Apparently, it was all part of an elaborate April Fool's Day joke.  A really good one at that.  I don't know why she wanted to sue.  Who cares.  If you actually click through to the source (snopes.com), you'll see that the woman actually won her case, but my question is, "who cares?" 

How was it possible that the case even managed to go to court?  Aren't there murders and rapists and armed thieves running around the nation uncaught, unpunished and unaccounted for?  And yet, this woman, because she was basically pranked, was able to sue a large corporation and win? 

And people wonder how the American justice system could be so out of whack. 

As you might have guessed, I was stretching for a subject for the day, but this lady happened to pop on my screen at just the right time.  Thank you for that.

So what have we learned, children?  First: don't work at Hooters and enter a contest on April Fool's Day.  You're bound to not win what you think you won.  Second: if you have a ridiculous idea for a lawsuit, try it out because you might actually win and bring a major corporation to its knees.


Until tomorrow.

A Sad Note

Today's blog was going to be about something very random and more than likely happy.  Not sure exactly because I didn't have an idea, however, once I got home, all those plans changed.

We've lived in our neighborhood just over two years.  In that time, we have gotten to know a few neighbors, but none more than the older man that lives next door.  Sadly, we found out this evening that he and his wife were hit by a car while on a stroll this morning and his wife was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The reason that I'm writing this tonight, not only to ask for prayers for our neighbors and the neighborhood as it heals, but also to remind everyone that life is short.  One minute you're here enjoying life with your loved ones and the next you're not.

It's sad that I've written blogs lately about dying.  I don't like to think about it because it brings my own mortality into view.  Yes, I know that someday all of us are going to die, but I don't like to be reminded.  Maybe I'm not a realist because of that opinion, but I've never said that I was.  Those of you that know me well know that I prefer to live in the imagined world instead of the real world.  I also know that doing so is not practical and I must live in the real world. 

So if I live in the real world, can't I choose the rules?  My house, my rules, sort of thing?  Maybe not, but I can choose what to write about here on this blog.  I'm very sad for my neighbor.  He's a kind old man and she seemed very nice even though I didn't really do more than say hello to her.  I wish there was something that we (Joanna and I) could do but they have requested nothing yet.  We'll be here, though, as good neighbors - to support and to encourage and to help.

When you see someone you care about in the next few days, remind them just how much you love them and care about them.  You never know when God is going to need you.



Until tomorrow.

The Party Hangover

Is there such a thing?

Yesterday (as noted in the previous post), we had a birthday party for Grandma Grace and Abigail.  It was a wonderful time with good food and good presents.  Naturally, since it was her party, Abby decided that she was going to take a nap for half of it (she missed opening her gifts, though we told her what she got later).  She did manage to have a little bit of cake and ice cream, though - she loves ice cream.

Now to the party hangover.  As hosts of the party, Joanna and I were up and about during most of the party making sure that people had everything that they wanted, needed, didn't know they wanted or needed or simply and asking because that's what hosts do at a party.

When the party was almost over, I still had to clean dishes.  The dishwasher was full, so I rearranged some items and fit a few more pieces in and set them to wash while I cleaned the rest of the dishes.  Who knew that we even had this much silverware that it would require two times in the dishwasher?  Plus, glasses.  I  knew we had a lot, but, wow.  I filled the entire top rack and still needed more room for glasses and didn't have any.  Oh well.  I guess I'll just have to do those later.

Anyway . . . there were a lot of dishes.  And I was on my feet a lot and holding Abby at different points during the day.  Add that all up and both Joanna and I were tired.  So tired, that we didn't wake up until close to seven.  And even after that, we sort of were lazy until about noon. 

This is all attributed to the Party Hangover.  The tiredness that comes from having hosted a day long event for some reason or another.  It also means that children will have to fend for themselves, unless, like our child, she can't.  It sure is a bummer that Abby can't make her own meals or dress herself and manage to fall asleep on her own.

Of course, when you have the Party Hangover, it's probably not a wise idea to go to Disneyland in the afternoon.  Yes, we went to Disneyland and we had a great time.  Granted, we are now exhausted and wanting to fall asleep, but someone is still awake.  Too bad we can't just leave her on her own and tell her to shut the television off when she was finished.  Oh well.

Off to bed now.  At least I still made the cut for the day.  Tomorrow's a new day and there's need for a new topic.  I'll think of one in the morning when my brain isn't concentrating on REM sleep.



Until tomorrow.

How Many Birthdays Does One Child Need?

Today is the fourth time that Abby is celebrating her first birthday.  The first was early in September with Abby's Arizona family.  The second was a small gathering for breakfast with Grandma GG (Great Grandma Grace).  The third party was a nice celebration put on by Joanna's staff at work, topped with a game of pin the tail on the donkey and of course lots of food.Today's celebration is a co-party to celebrate not only Abby's first birthday with the California family, but also to celebrate Grandma's birthday as well.

But that's only the beginning of this post.  Really, I'm writing this post because my little girl is one year old and is growing up, even if it seems slow right now.  I can still remember holding her after she was born.  She was so small and her little eyes were closed.  I think of that moment sometimes at night when I take Abby to her crib and she's cuddled in my arms with her eyes closed.

Someday soon Abby is going to not need me to carry her to bed and that's going to be a good and bad day.  Good, because then I don't have to carry her and bad for the same reason. 

I love my daughter and I've loved her ever since I knew I would become a father.  And I'm going to love any other children that we have (no, this does not mean that we are pregnant), but for now, I have Abby.  And one day she's going to grow up and start her own life.  Sure, it seems so far in the future right now because she's only one, but as I've been told by many parents since I became one, "treasure these moments because they go by so quickly."

So what prompted this sudden fear of Abby growing up?  Was it life's mortality, having seen Steve Jobs die the other day?  Was it someone reminding me of future events in my daughter's life?  Yes.  No.  Maybe.  All of the above.
I was listening to music on my iPhone (thanks Steve) the other day and a song came on.  It's a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that he wrote about his daughter, Emily.  Here's the song, titled, Cinderella.




Beautiful, I know.  And poignant.  So, I was listening to this song and "dancing" with Abby and I remembered a blog post that I had written over the summer.  One in which I think about Abby's wedding day years from now.  And dancing with Abby made me realize that one day I'm going to be at her wedding and dancing with her before she starts her new life.

Suffice it to say, I choked up a little bit.  It doesn't help that Abby has a Cinderella outfit that she has worn a couple of times already and looks like the princess she knows she is.

Happy Birthday (again) Princess.  Daddy loves you.


Until tomorrow.

The Dream Is Over

Well, technically, the dream was over yesterday when the Yankees lost to the Tigers, 3-2.  But it's definitely over now since earlier today the Diamondbacks lost to the Brewers, also by the score of 3-2.  However, the Diamondbacks showed their resilience and fought back to tie the game at 2 in the top of the ninth and were able to hold the Brewers to at least get into extra innings.  Despite the earlier grit and toughness, it just wasn't enough to pull off a win against the Brewers who are a very good team and could cause trouble for the Cardinals (I just saw that the Phillies lost their game, which means that the Cardinals advance to play the Brewers).

Anyway . . . back to the Diamondbacks.  There's no such thing as failure when talking about the 2011 Diamondbacks.  They did what no one expected or even bother to pick them to do.  They won the Western Division handily over the World Champion San Francisco Giants and a decimated Los Angeles Dodgers team.  They fought their way back to win forty eight games when they were losing (too bad they couldn't do it again a couple of times in the playoffs).  Not only did they do all that, but they increased their win total by almost thirty games - a feat that rarely happens anymore in baseball.

I'm proud to be a Diamondbacks fan and if I were in Arizona, I would be at the airport tonight when the team flew in.  There's no sadness.  We fans are just happy to be rooting for baseball in Phoenix again.  It's a hard concept when, for the last few years, the team hasn't been that great and has made some poor organizational decisions.  However, right now, this team that played the last five games is a good strong team.  A good core of young and veteran players and players that can do a lot, not just defensively, but there are a few that are showing they have some offensive strength as well.

More than likely, Kirk Gibson will win the Manager of the Year award.  He may say otherwise, but his attitude and his determination are what helped guide the Diamondbacks to a Western Division win and a season that went way beyond expectation. 

Like I said, I'm proud to be a Diamondbacks fan and a baseball fan in general.  The past few days of baseball have been great and just gives me something to look forward to for the second round of the playoffs.  The first round was so unpredictable, what's the second going to be like?  I guess that's why they play the games.


Until tomorrow.

Think Different

Ironic that I was just talking about the iPhone in yesterday's blog post.  News is spreading quickly (as I'm writing a day early) that Steve Jobs has died.  It's sad when anyone dies, obviously, but for just over an entire generation, the kid in the jeans and long sleeve shirt is the definition of the modern world's Thomas Edison.

Over the past few years, Steve Jobs has had struggles with his health.  He had pancreatic cancer in 2005 and had to have a liver transplant in 2009.  Some people suggested that his health is what led to him stepping down as Apple CEO earlier this year.  Regardless of his reasons, Steve Jobs leaves behind a legacy that not too many people will be able to match - either before or after.

Several years ago, just after Steve Jobs had been rehired by Apple to be CEO, his marketing team came up with a unique concept.  It was called, "Think Different".  The concept was to get people to think differently about personal computers.  To think about Apple Macintosh computers not just as a "cute" response to Windows based computers, but powerful to do many things other than just word processing.  The ads featured famous "thinkers" or people whose actions and were different than what was considered normal.  People from Cesar Chavez to Albert Einstein to Jackie Robinson to Jim Henson.  Each ad was simply their picture with the Apple logo and the phrase, "Think Different".  People who made a difference just by being who they were.  People who didn't let others tell them what they could and couldn't do.  People that decided that something was wrong in the world and decided to change it. 

These posters are still sought after pieces of memorabilia.  I used to have a Picasso one along with a Jackie Robinson one.  The one I always wanted was the Jim Henson one because he was yet another innovator of his time.  Not in technology, of course, but in how people viewed puppets and puppeteers and the creative genius that was in that man's head.  Much like people think of Steve Jobs.

In 2005, Steve Jobs spoke to the graduating class at Stanford University.  I'm sure parts of the speech are being played on the news as I type.  He had a great message - "You've got to find what you love."  He certainly did.  And even though I never got to hear that speech first hand, I've listened to it and read it a few times since it was delivered and find confidence in it.

Sometimes I get down about different things and sometimes I wonder when things might change (this is mostly attributed to my writing) and then, if I happen to think about it, I'll look at that speech and it will remind me that my writing is something that I love along with my family and no matter what, that's what's really important.  I still think differently than a lot of people and that's just fine.  I think you as my readers should also consider thinking different.  But don't do it for me and don't do it for Steve Jobs.  Do it for yourself.  Be who you want to be no matter what people think.  Be who you are and believe what you want because one day people might think of you as an innovator also.

I started writing this blog post just minutes after the news started hitting the Internet.  I finished it later in the evening and it will post just after midnight - just over seven hours after people found out that a great man, a great father, a great husband and yes, a great innovator, died.

Rest in peace, Steve.  Your friends, family and fans will miss you.



Until tomorrow.

To iPhone or not to iPhone

For those of you who read this blog, you will remember that I bought an iPhone last year.  It is a great piece of technology and even Joanna has to admit that she likes the fact that I have access to not just her email on occasion, but also the Internet or Maps or plenty of other distractions or information items.

I still have the "old school" iPhone 3GS, though, I suppose it's better than if I managed to have the iPhone 3G (first generation).  I thought about getting the iPhone 4 when it was released last year, but then there were so many people that were having technical difficulties that I wasn't sure that I wanted to deal with it. 

And now, today, well, technically yesterday, Apple has released a new iPhone.  Not the iPhone 5 that the uber nerds were expecting, but the iPhone 4S.  It's like a mini upgrade or something.  From what I have read and seen, there are some pretty cool features on the 4S.  Some people might complain and say that it is not what they were expecting and therefore must not be a good phone at all.  Plus, Apple has decided to partner with Sprint, so (as some nerds think) Apple must be losing their mind.

But I don't think so.  Everyone wants an iPhone.  Okay, not everyone, but there is a large enough market demand for them that Apple can choose to offer a partnership with Sprint and therefore allow even more people the opportunity to use and abuse the iPhone.  Will this bring down the communication networks for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint?  No.  All of the smart phones that are currently out there haven't done that, so why should this be any different?  It won't.

As for me, I'm not sure if I want to get the 4S.  While it does have some cool features, in my opinion, they don't warrant me getting the new phone.  I'm perfectly happy with my old school 3GS and I will simply upgrade the operating system to 5.0 when it is released to the general public.  Sure, I won't have the cool voice activation feature, but I'm not exactly sure if I want my cell phone to talk to me as if it were the computer on Star Trek.  It's a cool feature, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready for that or not.



Until tomorrow.

Snake Bitten

Remember back in September where I blogged about how cool it would be if the Diamondbacks and Yankees managed to get into the World Series?  Well, that cool ten year anniversary matchup is looking more and more like it's not going to happen.  Not that the Yankees don't have a chance, but the Diamondbacks are sitting on the precipice of being eliminated from the first round of playoffs without really showing just how good of a team they are.

Of course, they are also playing against one of the better teams in the National League this year, next to the Phillies.  Although, based on Sunday's performance, the best team and one of the better pitchers in the NL didn't look exactly stellar.

But back to the Diamondbacks.  Over the weekend, they played their kind of baseball.  Aggressive (which cost them a run in Game 1 of the series).  They played like they have played all year long, but they were playing against a team that has been nearly unbeatable at home.  And while Daniel Hudson had a good game, the DBacks bullpen fell apart and opened the floodgates for the Brewers to take a two game lead heading to Arizona to win the series and advance.

I'm not writing to blame the Diamondbacks or the style of play that Kirk Gibson has instilled in them or even the Brewers.  I'm simply commenting on that blog that I wrote based on what has happened recently in the playoffs.  The Brewers are a really good team and as much as I would like to see the Diamondbacks pull off an upset and win three games in a row to advance, I see it being a difficult, though somewhat possible, task.

The Diamondbacks have been behind plenty of times this season and have won a lot of games by coming back.  Could they come back?  Yes, they could.  It would be a miracle in my books, if they did.  Either way, the World Series is shaping up to be one to watch based on how all of the teams are playing.



Until tomorrow.

Everybody's Different

Today's topic is about differences.  We're all different, that's easy enough to figure out and each of us are different in our own way, which makes us even more different than different people.  Differences are portrayed in different ways also.  In literature, such as The Ugly Duckling, which is ridiculed and teased for being different and then becomes a beautiful swan at the end of the story (oops, forgot to say, SPOILERS).  In books, such as Wicked, the antagonist of the story is thought of as different because she's green.  And she only got that way because of external circumstances, not her own volition.  And yet, she's tormented and teased because of being different.  Granted, you can't say the Wicked Witch of the West becomes a swan, because, well, she dies. 

There are plenty of movies that depict differences, but none more than Dumbo.  Poor little Dumbo, born with big floppy ears that were not his doing.  And yet people teased him because of them.  If Dumbo were your son and people were teasing him and making fun of him, what would you do?  Would you go into a rage, just like Mrs. Jumbo?  Would you try to let your child know that no matter what people say, you still love him?

Of course you would. 

But would you also be one of the ones that teases?

Differences and people that are different are taken in many ways.  Some differences cannot be overcome and people go to war because of them.  For the most part, in my life, yes, there are some differences that I have with others, but I try to look past them.  They're not that important.  Certainly not important enough to go to war over.  So why think of it as a problem.

His innocence and naivete are what makes Dumbo seem just like any other person that might be different. In the end, it's the differences that win out and teach everyone that no matter how different each of us is, we all matter in our own special way.



Until tomorrow.

Religion Is Not A Bad Word

For those of you that are frequent visitors, you'll know that I don't talk about religion much.  It's not that I'm not a believer.  On the contrary, I am proud to call myself Roman Catholic and while I don't always believe in some of the church dogma, I feel that I am practicing religion as it fits me.  But again, I don't really write about it mostly because I don't want to ruffle any feathers.

Today I'm not here to preach or evangelize or even talk about God.  Well, technically, I guess I'm talking about God, but . . . . . .  well, just keep reading.

This morning at mass, we had a guest Deacon that gave the homily (or sermon, for those of you that don't understand the term, homily).  This guest Deacon is currently serving as the Director of Catholic Cemeteries.  That doesn't seem like a very fun job to have and granted, it would not be one of the first positions that I jumped at (and I'm sure it wasn't necessarily his choice either).  But that's not the point.

As the Deacon was speaking, he started to talk about asking family questions about what they want done when they finally leave this world - what songs to be sung (if any) during the funeral.  Who will read the readings.  What should be said.  And so forth.  He talked and talked, but he brought a humor along with his message that I'm sure is seldom seen in the work that he does.  Then he picked up a Bible and held it up for people to see.

He said, "See this?  Everyone has one of these.  A Bible.  Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth."

It's a silly little acronym that even he can't take credit for and I'm not willing to go searching for whom to credit properly, but that's not the point either.

So what is my point, then?

Basically, I think that no matter what religion you are or what church you go to and what things you believe, I feel that if you believe that your message is true, great.  Like I said, I'm not here to evangelize or recruit.  If you read the Bible, great.  If you don't, don't sweat it.  I have Mormon friends, Baptist friends, Adventist friends and even Buddhist friends.  But they all believe that there's something on the "other side".  No matter what it is, it's good to have something to believe in. 

I guess that's my point.  Believe in something.  It definitely makes it easier to believe in yourself.


Until tomorrow.

Here We Go Again

Let's see.  If I just start typing, magically words appear on the screen.  But what was I going to write about?  I'm sure there was a reason to me dusting off the keyboard and opening the blog.  Hmmmm.....I wonder what it was?  Well, since I can't think of what exactly it was at the moment, I'll just go with my gut (and more than likely discover what I was going to write abut anyway).

I guess one of the things to mention is where I have been.  I've been right here.  Haven't you seen me?  I mean, I go to work, I come home, I eat dinner, I watch television and then I go to bed.  How could you have missed all of that?  Not sure?  Maybe you haven't been paying enough attention.  Work on that, please, especially now since its October! 

Yes, kids, October.  That lovely time of year that the weather changes from hot to mildly warm and the leaves all fall off the trees and mess up the lawn.  It's also almost time for the Autumnal Equinox (try saying that five times fast) and Halloween.  But there's something else that's great about October.  Any guesses?

Wait for it........

Not quick enough.  For those of you that missed the answer, it was, "it's another thirty one blog posts in thirty one days".  That's right.  For the next thirty one days I will be blogging.  I've had almost a month of vacation from this blog so I should have at least a few stories to tell.  And if I don't, I'll just make something up - much like I'm doing with this blog at the moment. 

However, since this is the first blog post of the month, I should also mention that happily, my Arizona Diamondbacks have won the NL West and are on their way toward losing their chance at the World Series.  I say this in all fairness to my baseball team, but (at least on paper), the Milwaukee Brewers are a much better baseball team.  However, I have faith in the DBacks that they will try with all of their might and hopefully they will fulfill my dream of a DBacks / Yankees World Series as a wonderful tribute to not only 9/11, but to the 10th Anniversary of the Diamondbacks winning against a much better Yankees team.

So here we go.  Buckle up and grab the "oh my God" handles.  I'm in the driver's seat and I'm not going to slow down until All Hallows Eve.



Until tomorrow.