If only such a machine really existed!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Escargot
Last night we went out to eat and the menu included escargot. Growing up this is something I ate from the time I was to young to remember. So it was never a big deal to me to eat snails and they are very tasty. But my kids have never really been exposed to it, they just figure its another one of those weird things Dad eats. Last night I coaxed kid #3 to try it. She said she couldn't do it. I told her she was 18 and needed to be more adventurous. After all she is getting ready to leave home in a few months to go off to college. Carpe Diem!
She tried it, and she liked it! And she had another. Go her...
Last night we went out to eat and the menu included escargot. Growing up this is something I ate from the time I was to young to remember. So it was never a big deal to me to eat snails and they are very tasty. But my kids have never really been exposed to it, they just figure its another one of those weird things Dad eats. Last night I coaxed kid #3 to try it. She said she couldn't do it. I told her she was 18 and needed to be more adventurous. After all she is getting ready to leave home in a few months to go off to college. Carpe Diem!
She tried it, and she liked it! And she had another. Go her...
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Big Hole
Few things can prepare you for actually gazing upon the Grand Canyon. No picture does it justice. The immense size and grandier overwhelm your brain. You just look out and go 'wow'...
Joan and one of the kids went to northern Arizona last weekend. It was a college visit to NAU. They made the time to drive up to the canyon as well. Whether she goes to that college or not the trip to see the canyon alone is well worth it.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Dream
You know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life's July, and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.
You know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life's July, and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Out of the Blue, Into the Black
In 1979 I moved from California to Arizona. I would start my sophomore year at a new high school in a new state. And as it would turn out I would only be there to complete my sophomore and junior years, two short years. High school is hard enough normally so these were trying times.
With a late registration there wasn't much left for electives so somehow I ended up in yearbook. Talk about oil and water, this was no fit at all but I had no choice. In the same class would be Ken who was also in the same predicament. Very quickly we gravitated to each other and would remain inseparable for two years. (Ken is on the right in the first row and I'm on the right in the second row above).
This would be a friendship deeper than any. And in two years Ken taught me more about life than I had even known possible. He was a very quiet person but incredibly intelligent and talented in many things. We had adventure after adventure.
The desert was our playground. A 10 minute drive and we were in the middle of nowhere. So we went out to play everyday. Ken got me into hunting. Bird hunting mostly. We would go out in the desert and shoot skeet to practice. Then when dove season rolled around we scouted orange groves shooting doves and dodging pellets. Right outside of Phoenix was a quail preserve for hunting as well. We would spend hours marveling at how a stupid bird could be so smart as we chased them in endless circles. More rabbits died at the hands of frustrated quail hunters than quail did.
Ken and I camped at many lakes in Arizona and tried to catch fish. We never did but that didn't stop the pursuit. Just being out in the wild was enough. Our favorite lake was Lake Pleasant. The lake had the infamous cliffs that we stupidly jumped from for amazingly scary thrills.
I bought my first bass in Arizona. Ken had a Gibson Les Paul with sunburst finish just like Jimmy Page had in the Song Remains the Same. We had big Sunn amps and learned how to jam for hours in the key of G. Our theme song was the Neil Young song "Hey Hey My My" . We played it just like on Rust Never Sleeps, real loud and real distorted!
Ken bought himself an Apple II computer. Back then having a computer was not even something you knew was possible. But not Ken, he had been studying and dived in. He was programming graphics and games in assembly language all on his own. He told me he was getting it before he did and I didn't believe him. $1200 was a lot of bread in 1980 for a high school kid. As usual he told me I never believed what he said. And he always did what he said.
He drove an old blue station wagon his parents gave him. We saved all of our coke bottles on the floor. That way when we coasted into the gas station out of gas we could cash the bottles in for another tank! A few months later Ken's dad bought 7 Corvairs just as a hobby to restore them. Ken got a red one. That was a strange car, a '68 Corvair Monza, standard shift, flat six in the back. You learn real quick how to put the belts back on... Many a dough nut was had in our desert playground.
So much more packed into two years, two of the best years of my life. I moved away, Ken eventually moved away form Phoenix as well. After I graduated from college I took a job in Tucson. Ken was going to U of A in Tucson then so we reunited. He was the best man at my wedding, I was the best man at his wedding. After only 3 years I moved back to the south and Ken went to California.
We would see each other again only twice over the next 20 years. But he was always my best friend. Two years ago I got a call from a friend of his saying Ken had died of cancer. He died 2 years ago today. I didn't even know he was sick. It was like a kick in the stomach.
Ken truly loved people and he always looked at life as an adventure. These are things he showed by the way he lived. These are things I will always remember when I think of him.
In 1979 I moved from California to Arizona. I would start my sophomore year at a new high school in a new state. And as it would turn out I would only be there to complete my sophomore and junior years, two short years. High school is hard enough normally so these were trying times.
With a late registration there wasn't much left for electives so somehow I ended up in yearbook. Talk about oil and water, this was no fit at all but I had no choice. In the same class would be Ken who was also in the same predicament. Very quickly we gravitated to each other and would remain inseparable for two years. (Ken is on the right in the first row and I'm on the right in the second row above).
This would be a friendship deeper than any. And in two years Ken taught me more about life than I had even known possible. He was a very quiet person but incredibly intelligent and talented in many things. We had adventure after adventure.
The desert was our playground. A 10 minute drive and we were in the middle of nowhere. So we went out to play everyday. Ken got me into hunting. Bird hunting mostly. We would go out in the desert and shoot skeet to practice. Then when dove season rolled around we scouted orange groves shooting doves and dodging pellets. Right outside of Phoenix was a quail preserve for hunting as well. We would spend hours marveling at how a stupid bird could be so smart as we chased them in endless circles. More rabbits died at the hands of frustrated quail hunters than quail did.
Ken and I camped at many lakes in Arizona and tried to catch fish. We never did but that didn't stop the pursuit. Just being out in the wild was enough. Our favorite lake was Lake Pleasant. The lake had the infamous cliffs that we stupidly jumped from for amazingly scary thrills.
I bought my first bass in Arizona. Ken had a Gibson Les Paul with sunburst finish just like Jimmy Page had in the Song Remains the Same. We had big Sunn amps and learned how to jam for hours in the key of G. Our theme song was the Neil Young song "Hey Hey My My" . We played it just like on Rust Never Sleeps, real loud and real distorted!
Ken bought himself an Apple II computer. Back then having a computer was not even something you knew was possible. But not Ken, he had been studying and dived in. He was programming graphics and games in assembly language all on his own. He told me he was getting it before he did and I didn't believe him. $1200 was a lot of bread in 1980 for a high school kid. As usual he told me I never believed what he said. And he always did what he said.
He drove an old blue station wagon his parents gave him. We saved all of our coke bottles on the floor. That way when we coasted into the gas station out of gas we could cash the bottles in for another tank! A few months later Ken's dad bought 7 Corvairs just as a hobby to restore them. Ken got a red one. That was a strange car, a '68 Corvair Monza, standard shift, flat six in the back. You learn real quick how to put the belts back on... Many a dough nut was had in our desert playground.
So much more packed into two years, two of the best years of my life. I moved away, Ken eventually moved away form Phoenix as well. After I graduated from college I took a job in Tucson. Ken was going to U of A in Tucson then so we reunited. He was the best man at my wedding, I was the best man at his wedding. After only 3 years I moved back to the south and Ken went to California.
We would see each other again only twice over the next 20 years. But he was always my best friend. Two years ago I got a call from a friend of his saying Ken had died of cancer. He died 2 years ago today. I didn't even know he was sick. It was like a kick in the stomach.
Ken truly loved people and he always looked at life as an adventure. These are things he showed by the way he lived. These are things I will always remember when I think of him.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Revolution?
The use of the Beatles songs for commercials does bring up other thoughts. Certainly John, Paul, George and Ringo didn't write songs to later be used for Target commercials. I know this came to a head a while back when it first occurred for a car commercial. But the former Beatles don't own the rights to their own songs and had no say. I think Michael Jackson actually owned them and he allowed a song to be used for a car commercial. That certainly caused a break between Ebony and Ivory.
But would Paul and Ringo object today to this happening? I would say probably not. The idealism of the 60s is long gone. Buried in the mess of the 70s and me generations that followed. John's revolution was a generational revolution against the Vietnam war. Would anyone today dare put up billboards in NYC saying "War is Over - If You Want It"? How many people really care? The war is largely ignored. Its not humanized to any degree. Rarely do you see news stories about war in Iraq. Instead the coverage is about Wall Street and recession.
It seemed you used to be able to discuss politics to some degree and look at issues from both sides. Now you are either Red or Blue. Speaking from the wrong side gets a revolt against you, usually in a personal manner.
You tell me it's the institution,
Well, you know
You better free your mind instead.
Will it be alright? Dunno. Maybe its easier to sell products to the institution at Target then it is to free your mind. And just dont' worry about the rest.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Hello Goodbye
I saw a Target add yesterday that used the Beatles song "Hello, Goodbye" as it's theme. This was instantly recognizable. When I was a kid everyone knew the Beatles and everyone knew their songs. My brother was the huge Beatle fan, he still wear's a Beatles belt buckle. I gave him a Beatles record (yes, the the vinyl kind) every year for Christmas during our teen years. He was John or Ringo and I would have to be Paul or George. We would have conversations in our best Liverpoolian accents! My brother is a drummer. His very first band played in our school's talent show and the song they played was Day Tripper. He cried real tears of sorrow when he found out John Lennon had been killed. For many years after the Beatles broke up they were still reveared as the pinnacle. So many wondered when they would get back together.
I bet anyone over the age of 40 could rattle off at least 10 Beatles songs at the snap of a finger and could probably sing along with more than that. Its hard to imagine any other band that could have so many songs that so many people know.
The Beatles have finally faded. Those were different times. But the path they made was remarkable, just remarkable. And there will always be those songs that one can instantly recognize and sing along with. Even if its in a commercial....
I saw a Target add yesterday that used the Beatles song "Hello, Goodbye" as it's theme. This was instantly recognizable. When I was a kid everyone knew the Beatles and everyone knew their songs. My brother was the huge Beatle fan, he still wear's a Beatles belt buckle. I gave him a Beatles record (yes, the the vinyl kind) every year for Christmas during our teen years. He was John or Ringo and I would have to be Paul or George. We would have conversations in our best Liverpoolian accents! My brother is a drummer. His very first band played in our school's talent show and the song they played was Day Tripper. He cried real tears of sorrow when he found out John Lennon had been killed. For many years after the Beatles broke up they were still reveared as the pinnacle. So many wondered when they would get back together.
I bet anyone over the age of 40 could rattle off at least 10 Beatles songs at the snap of a finger and could probably sing along with more than that. Its hard to imagine any other band that could have so many songs that so many people know.
The Beatles have finally faded. Those were different times. But the path they made was remarkable, just remarkable. And there will always be those songs that one can instantly recognize and sing along with. Even if its in a commercial....
Monday, January 14, 2008
Welcome to the new year
Every year the new year is brought in by a visit from some old friends. This bird is the Cedar Waxwing. I see a small flock of them once a year. These are some very unusual looking birds. They come in to eat berries. I assume the birds must be migrating as I only see them usually one day or just a day or two during a single week of the year. Then they are gone. What is weird is I always seem to catch seeing them each year even though they are here for such a short time.
On Saturday the waxwings were in our cherry trees. It was good to see them again.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
2008 Setting In
Back to work for real now. Everyone is back, people are asking for things to be completed, all systems are ramping back up to bullet train speed as we speak. The American work ethic is still alive and well.
So how does corporate America start a new year? First with the annual January lay-off rumors followed by the 'they are changing the servernce package' rumor. Never fails. And the while the former is usually true the later never has come to furition. Its unfortunate that this is what it all boils down to these days but its always a subject close to the surface. It doesn't help either that we have a new CEO who started last week, the stock is dropping like a rock, and recession talk is in the air...
After a few days though things will get busy again and the gloom and doom will move to the back of the mind. Then the focus will be on each day as it comes.
Back to work for real now. Everyone is back, people are asking for things to be completed, all systems are ramping back up to bullet train speed as we speak. The American work ethic is still alive and well.
So how does corporate America start a new year? First with the annual January lay-off rumors followed by the 'they are changing the servernce package' rumor. Never fails. And the while the former is usually true the later never has come to furition. Its unfortunate that this is what it all boils down to these days but its always a subject close to the surface. It doesn't help either that we have a new CEO who started last week, the stock is dropping like a rock, and recession talk is in the air...
After a few days though things will get busy again and the gloom and doom will move to the back of the mind. Then the focus will be on each day as it comes.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Resolutions?
Usually I make a resolution and stick to it. One year it was to learn to like beans, another year it was to give up drinking anything with sugar in it.
But this year I'm wishy washy on resolutions. There are several I need to do but they center around things that I've always failed at (which can only mean excerise and money :-O )
And now add the cliche resolutions middle age men make, I will make my golf score lower! Yeah right...
Well here they are, best as can be said although they are very non-specific....
I will work on my Robert Lewis Authentic Manhood efforts to show my wife how much I really love her.
I will commit to work on my Dave Ramsey snowball.
I will go to the doctor(s) (includes dentist, ug).
I will lower my golf score to at least 100 (haha, you think I'm joking don't you)
There, now it said. Here is to 2008!
Usually I make a resolution and stick to it. One year it was to learn to like beans, another year it was to give up drinking anything with sugar in it.
But this year I'm wishy washy on resolutions. There are several I need to do but they center around things that I've always failed at (which can only mean excerise and money :-O )
And now add the cliche resolutions middle age men make, I will make my golf score lower! Yeah right...
Well here they are, best as can be said although they are very non-specific....
I will work on my Robert Lewis Authentic Manhood efforts to show my wife how much I really love her.
I will commit to work on my Dave Ramsey snowball.
I will go to the doctor(s) (includes dentist, ug).
I will lower my golf score to at least 100 (haha, you think I'm joking don't you)
There, now it said. Here is to 2008!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Re-entry
Well today is back to work day 1 after Christmas vacation. The last day I worked was Dec 18th so that was a good 14 day run of no work! How I could easily get used to that! Things at work are still in slow motion so re-entry isn't to bad. By Monday the bullet train will be back to full speed and the holidays a faded blur.
Well today is back to work day 1 after Christmas vacation. The last day I worked was Dec 18th so that was a good 14 day run of no work! How I could easily get used to that! Things at work are still in slow motion so re-entry isn't to bad. By Monday the bullet train will be back to full speed and the holidays a faded blur.
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