It's my fault

Things are crazy busy around the house and I got to thinking about why.

Then, I realized I'm making my son's birthday cake (instead of buying one) and I'm also making several Christmas gifts (can't tell you what!) this year instead of buying them. I'm sending out my normal slew of Christmas cards (many to folks I only communicate with once a year any more) even though it doesn't make a lot of sense to send so many. And I always have to do a fancy newsletter instead of just a normal holiday letter. And that took time.

So, the problem is: ME!

If I'd just give up on some of this stuff, my life would be a heck of a lot easier right now. All I'd have to work on would be cleaning our house for when my parents come next week.

But, I really love making birthday cakes and ... emmm ... other presents. And I like making a fun newsletter. And sending cards to long-lost friends.

The holidays are weird ... and so am I.

One down

Of all the stuff we were focusing on in our house, the production of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" was a big one. But it's over now after a successful four-show stint this weekend.

Both Alex and Andy were fantastic. I'm just amazed at home mature they are now (usually).

But no kid production would be complete without some mess-ups so here are my favs:
* On the first night, the lamp post shorted out toward the end of the show and blew the circuit for all the stage lights so the end of the show took place under the regular house lights.
* During a sweet scene with Aslan, the sound effects for the fight scene blared from the speakers for a couple seconds. (The kids did a great job of continuing on).
* Alex's final scene was completely cut on one show because, well, nobody really knows why. Just happened.
* During the last show, Father Christmas was supposed to have a present for Edmund, but it was misplaced so when it came time to give it, he said, "Well, that's all I have." And then the Lucy character tried to remind him, "Is there a present for Edmund?" and Father Christmas responded, "Nope." Just classic theater IMHO.

So, now the only things on the agenda are: take picture for family newsletter, write family newsletter, address cards for newsletter, make and decorate Andy's birthday cake, work on special gift for parents (shhhh, don't tell!), wrap presents, get house cleaned for parent visit, make gifts for co-workers (shhhh, don't tell!), try to calm down Tracy who will be freaking out about cleaning house for parent visit, having Andy's birthday party and editing the video from that for thank-yous, and possibly feeding and bathing the children every so often.

I love the holidays.

Clerks 2

So, I don't know why I didn't see it in the theaters, but I just watched Clerks 2 on DVD (thank you NetFlix!).

I have no idea why this movie didn't do better in the theaters. It was funny. It was well written and the love story was actually touching (as opposed to Jersey Girl which was just lame).

The intros by KS are great and, of course, having Jay and Silent Bob back is great. You need to watch the deleted scenes because it does explain one plot hole that was bothering me.

In the opening, KS explains that there are outtakes on the DVD as well, but I couldn't find them. Anybody else had better luck? There's one part of the deleted scenes with Wanda Sykes that is close to outtakes, but I don't think that's it.

Anyway, if you haven't seen it, you should. I actually think I like this one more than the original and I can't remember the last time I said that.

Big show

So, this weekend -- after many, many long hours of practice -- the boys will be featured in the play "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" which is being put on by the Broadway Bound Theater School.

Alex will be Mr. Beaver and he's very excited to have such a big role.

Andy will be a Dwarf and an Animal on different nights. He is outstanding as the Dwarf being a power-hungry underling. He loves to yell at people and now he's being encouraged to do it.

Should be a lot of fun, but I'm mainly looking forward to it all being over after Sunday so we can get back to our regular lives again. It's been a grueling time and Tracy has been helping out a bunch, so she's really beat, too.

Tradition

Last night, we continued our holiday tradition and saw the Air Force Academy Band's holiday show at the Union Colony Civic Center here in Greeley. We have been going to this show ever since we moved to Greeley and it's just fantastic. Tracy's cousin's husband, Mark, is in the band which makes it really special, and all of the performers are top notch.

Alex and Andy love to hang around after the show and get autographs from the performers. And every year they mob the stage with the other kids to see Santa. It'll be sad when they're too old to do that anymore.

I consider myself a pretty cynical person, but I fall for the Christmas fuzzies in this show every year. We're lucky to have this here and such a nice place to see it.

Wow, that was a lot of sweet stuff for one of my blogs. I'll try better next time.

D'oh

So, now that NaNo is over, we can get to more serious issues...

TV Land is brilliant because it is doing the 100 greatest catchphrases ever list.

The only things wrong with the list of nominations: Paris Hilton is in there and "finger-lickin' good" isn't!

Here are my top 10:

1. "D'oh!" (Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons") – The fact this is now in the dictionary just shows how much it has taken over. I use this word daily (in my feeble attempt to decrease the number of actual swear words I say daily)

2. "Do you believe in miracles?" (Al Michaels, 1980 Winter Olympics) – For historical relevance as well as just the perfect summation of the event. Any time someone says “Do you believe …” you immediately think back to this.

3. “And that's the way it is" (Walter Cronkite, "CBS Evening News”) – Just classic.

4. “I know nothing!" (Sgt. Schultz, "Hogan's Heroes”) – Another one of those things I say pretty much every day. Anyone under 30 has no idea what I’m saying, but screw ‘em.

5. “Yada, yada, yada" ("Seinfeld") – I figure it would be bad form to have more than one line from one show so I chose this over “No soup for you” but it was tough.

6. “Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" (Arnold Drummond, "Diff'rent Strokes") – When I first say the name of this list, this was the first phrase that popped in my mind.

7. “Jane, you ignorant slut" (Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin, "Saturday Night Live") – Again I didn’t want two from the same show so this beat out “2 wild and crazy guys” mainly because I can’t meet someone named Jane without thinking about this.

8. “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" (Jim McKay, "ABC's Wide World of Sports") – Classic.

9. “If it weren't for you meddling kids!" (Various villains, "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?”) – You know that “meddling” was actually supposed to be a swear word!

10. “Say good night, Gracie" (George Burns, "The Burns & Allen Show") – This is one of my all-time fav shows and this line is just awesome!

Honorable mentions:
_"De plane! De plane!" (Tattoo, "Fantasy Island")
_"Good night, John Boy" ("The Waltons")
_"Here's Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, "The Tonight Show")
_"Holy (whatever), Batman!" (Robin, "Batman")
_"How you doin'?" (Joey Tribbiani, "Friends")
_"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" (Vicks Formula 44 ad)
_"It keeps going and going and going ..." (Energizer Batteries ad)
_"Mom always liked you best" (Tommy Smothers, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour")
_"Nip it!" (Barney Fife, "The Andy Griffith Show")
_"No soup for you!" (The Soup Nazi, "Seinfeld")
_"Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" (Stan and Kyle, "South Park")
_"One small step for man ..." (Neil Armstrong)
_"Tastes great! Less filling!" (Miller Lite beer ad)
_"Up your nose with a rubber hose" (Vinnie Barbarino, "Welcome Back, Kotter")
_"We are two wild and crazy guys!" (Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as Czech playboys, "Saturday Night Live")

Done

The book stinks. The characters are boring. The plot is juvenile (and not in a good way!).

But it's 50K words. I might add a few more before I officially verify the count tonight or tomorrow, but I'm done for another year. Yeah!

The only things that has come out of this year:

• A few kernels of ideas for actual good books
• The realization that I can force myself to write 50K words on total crap
• Something closely resembling a habit (but really November is all about not getting proper sleep and that's not really a good habit ... even if I am writing). I need to develop a healthy habitual writing schedule.
• Even with two medical procedures, a whole house carpet and duct-work cleaning (try typing when your living room sofa is jammed in your ribs!), two sons trying to memorize their lines for their upcoming play (I think I know it better than they do!), my wife who was rabidly trying to sort through boxes of memorobilia dating back to her birth to make way for the major cleaning, and all the hundreds of other things that normally keep me from writing, I still got 50K.

Woo-hoo! Now, I'm going to sleep.

Tastelessly funny

I'm going to hell for linking to this...

In other news

There's a bunch of talk about the Baseball Hall of Fame now.

Three guys Tony Gwynn. Cal Ripken, Jr. and Mark McGwire.

Gwynn and Ripken are no-brainers. Gwynn is one of my all-time favs. I won a signed picture/plaque of his at the Baseball Breakfast of Champions a few years ago and it hangs proudly on my wall. (This year's BoC features Nolan Ryan!!!). I heard a stat somewhere that Gwynn could have struck out 2,000 times and his career batting average still would have been over .300. That's incredible.

Ripken is just awesome. I will never forget watching him on the day he broke Gehrig's streak. The guy was class and a pro.

Both Gwynn and Ripken were great players. And shoo-ins. The only question is if either one will get 100 percent of the vote. (Nobody ever has ... not Mantle ... not Mays ... not Ruth). And they deserve it. But let's face it, they were boring. Gwynn was never a home run guy or an RBI guy. He just got hits. A lot of them. But usually they were a slap into the opposite field. Pretty boring. Ripken's greatest achievement was for basically never calling in sick. He played every day. And, yes, that's incredible, but it's also kinda boring. (Please remember I love both of these guys and I'm not saying they shouldn't be first ballot...)

So, that leaves us with McGwire. I'll admit I am biased. I remember his rookie season with Oakland. A season when people were talking about him breaking Maris' record at the All-Star break. He fell short that year, but he was always exciting to watch. He lit up the scoreboard. With his Bash Brother, Jose Canseco, they scared the pee-water out of opposing pitchers. And there are very few people who would disagree that when McGwire and Sosa broke Maris' record in that incredible summer, they brought droves of people back to the game -- people who swore to never return after the strikes. He helped save the game.

Of course everyone talks about the steroids. Possible steroids. Did he take 'em? Probably. Can anyone EVER prove it? NO! So, get over it. What if alcohol became a banned substance? Would we have to wipe out Ruth's records? Of course not. Could Mantle have been dosing on illegal pain killers to help him play? Maybe. Doesn't mean we ban him from the Hall. Plus, WE CAN'T PROVE IT!

So, obviously I think McGwire should be eligible for the hall. I also think he should get in. His impact on the game is larger than any other person in the 90s. However, looking at his stats, I don't think he's a first round guy. That's hard for me to say because I loved watching him play. But he didn't get to 2,000 hits and he didn't play for as long or as well as Gwynn and Ripken. They should go in together and then next year we could have McGwire and FINALLY Goose Gossage.

I still think I can...

Guy coming to the house today to clean our vents and our carpets. Whole house in disarray. Still got a decent word count. Hopefully cross 50K tomorrow. Normally I keep writing until the story is done, but I hate this one so much I will probably just sleep in on Thursday morning. YEAH!

I think I can ... etc.

Almost there. Finish line in sight. Hate every single word I write. Hate NaNo (not really, but sorta). Hate my characters. Hate my plot. Hate my dialogue.

This is the hardest NaNo ever and vow to NEVER try to rewrite something I started in college. It's just bad. I mean stinky. Really bad.

But almost done!

Limping

This weekend, as expected, kicked my hiney! Now I'm a little below pace. But I am taking off early from work today, so I hope that will put me back.

Gotta go to the doc for a test tomorrow and I'm expecting to return looped-up pretty good, so maybe that will help also.

Pushing

OK, this morning was tough.

My characters didn't really want to do anything and it was the wrong point in the novel to kill any of them (bummer). So, I muddled through.

Still slightly (even slightly-er than in the past) ahead of pace. Still waiting for that 30K slide. I need it badly. This could be an ugly weekend.

Half

OK, so I'm halfway there.
It's been a little slow and a little tough the last couple days. I'm hoping this is last big hurdle before hitting the magical 30,000 word mark which traditionally has been my mark for when things really start to cruise.
<>

Almost there

I was running late for work this morning or I would have added a couple hundred more words to get me officially over the half-way mark. But I'll be there easily by tomorrow.

24,700 not bad.

Today's writing was fun because, for no apparent reason, I started a flashback part for my main character on how he became an FBI dude. It's actually working well with the rest of the book and may come into play for the ending.

No matter. It's just fun. That's the best part about NaNo. I can create a character I truly love and then just forget about him because he bores me later. Or, better yet, kill him!

Busy weekend

Poker Friday (Got creamed)
Stayed up way too late.
Woke up way too late (thanks, Tracy, for letting me!)
Wrote a bit
Took the kids to the Greeley Airport for aviation exhibit (fun!)
Took boys to "Open Season" (at least I got a nap!)
Boys and I went bowling (I stunk!)
Wrote.
Slept.
Woke up early.
Wrote.
Worked with boys to clean their activity room (9 full bags of trash!)
Saw "Stranger than Fiction" (very funny and even saw some fellow NaNo people)
Saw "Borat" (Oh my! I haven't laughed that hard in years. Thought I was going to lose consciousness!)
Wrote
Slept.
Word count: 23,211. Still a bit above pace, but now I'm writing past where I have written in this book before so it will be interesting to see if it goes quicker or slower. I'm hoping quicker.

Fake words, real ones

When you are trying to write 50,000 words in a month, the good part is that those words don't have to be any good.
But then when you have to write 650 words for a bi-weekly column for the local papers, you would think it would be easy. But the problem is that those 650 words might actually get read. So, it's really hard to get out of the mode of writing long crap to writing short decent stuff.
Oh, well.
Anyway, zooming away on track now. I'm still a bit more than 1,000 words over pace. But here comes another weekend!!!

Something different

OK, my NaNo stuff is probably boring the two people who actually read this blog (but I'm still slightly ahead of pace!), so thought I'd bring up something else.

Lost. The TV show. Last season, I was so hooked on this show, I swear they figured out a way to send crack through the airwaves! But this year, I'm bored. Lots of wacky stuff going on. Big smokey monsters. Carnivorous polar bears. A couple deaths. But really just boring. Last night was the final episode before the hiatus until February and I was hoping this whole boring season was leading to something, but it didn't happen last night.

Fortunately, there are some new shows, namely "Heroes" (overtaken Lost for the best show on TV ... especially now that Deadwood is off the air!), "Studio 60" and "The Nine" are all fantastic shows.

So, how do I work, write and stay up on current TV shows? A VCR and LOTS of caffeine.

Fun stuff

One of the interesting things about working on a book that I first started in 1989 (and later worked on in 1993 a bit) is that there is a lot of updating to do (as well as extensive re-writes because I really, really, really liked adjectives and adverbs back then).

E-mail was a brand new thing and I didn't know how it worked so I faked it (not too bad). But now I'm changing it all to IM.

CDs were cutting edge.

Dahmer was the big scary guy (now it's either Bush or Trump, you choose).

Anyway, I'm still spitting out words and I'm a little over pace (yeah!).

Cruisin'

Survived the first weekend ... still on pace (not kicking pace's butt, however definitely on top!)

Yesterday, I had to go in for a medical thing at the hospital, but I hit my count before I left and again this morning, so I'm still golden.

My buddy, Eric, is completely killing right now and that's so cool. Also, our Greeley contingent is doing very well up against our arch-nemisis in Fort Collins. We're having a challenge to see which area will have the higher percentage of completers.

The other good news for the day is that it's Election Day. This is not good because we are once again proving democracy works or because I have a particular favorite candidate I'm pulling for (actually more likely, a candidate I want to lose!). No, my excitement comes from the fact that we won't be getting any more calls, seeing more ads or getting annoying people knocking on our door.

1/10th of the way there

After two painful days, I finally had a good one.

I woke up at 4 a.m. (didn't get out of bed until 4:15) even though my alarm was set for 5 (actually I haven't needed my alarm all week. Strange, huh?)

And then I started writing. It just flew. Characters were fleshed out. An old woman was killed. My cop got wasted. It was really fun.

I think the key for me is dialogue. It takes me a bit to get the feel for a character and how he or she would talk. But once I do, it just goes. Their conversations ramble through tangents and silly stuff and funny stuff and finally get around to advancing the plot while defining the characters to a T (or a P or even a Q).

So, I'm slightly above pace (not as far above as my friend Eric, you can read his update in the Edge of Nowhere link on the right side of the page).

Weekends tend to be tough, but the boys have theater school in the morning, so after I drop them off, I can come home and write for a couple hours so that should help.

Day 2

OK, this morning ...
Woke at 4:45 a.m.
Still earlier than the alarm
But I laid in bed until the alarm went off.
Turned on the computer.
Decided to read the whole next chapter of old book.
That helped because I knew where it was going.
Abandoned where old book was going.
Wrote all new stuff
Much more fun
May have accidentily found out one of my characters is gay who wasn't the first time.
Wrote.
Checked clock.
Checked word count.
Wrote.
Kids wake up and bug me about breakfast.
Writing's done for this morning.
3,104. A little below pace, but not bad.

Simple pleasures

So, one of the candy items are stole from my kids (actually they didn't want it!) was a Tootsie Roll Lollipop. I've always loved those. But now they have a watermelon flavored one. Gotta tell you, it's pretty much heaven on a stick!

A painful start...

Set alarm for 5 a.m.
Get up at 4:15 a.m. because I really want to start writing.
Pull out old novel of which I am revising heavily and FINALLY finishing.
Read first page.
Realize it's total crap.
Freak out.
Start writing anyway.
Each paragraph is worse than the one before it.
Uggghhhh! Why the hell am I doing this again?!?!
Hit "Word Count" about 700 times to see if I passed 1,667 yet!
Not yet.
Keep writing.
It's just so crappy!!!!
Keep writing.
"Word Count"
1,700.
Yeah!
Can't wait for Day 2.

Tracking

I tried this last year and it screwed up my blog... so let's try it again.
Over on the right side you can now track how I'm doing on my word count for National Novel Writing Month. Hope it works!

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I realize I go off every year on this topic, but GOOD GOD!!!

First here's the news:
R.E.M., Patti Smith, Chic, the Dave Clark Five, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Ronettes, the Stooges, Joe Tex and Van Halen have been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In January, five of the nine nominees will be selected and will participate in the induction ceremony on March 12th at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

My friend Dan sent me this item and he was very excited because of Van Halen, but I have got to tell you this list pisses me off.

First, Van Halen started in 1974. That means they were eligible in 1999. And they are just now put on the list? Ridiculous!

Second, Van Halen was "discovered" in 1976 by Gene Simmons of Kiss. Guess what? Kiss is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This would be laughable if it weren't true!

Third, R.E.M. was founded in 1980 but nobody knew about them until 1982. That means they are eligible for the first time in 2007. And they are on the same ballot? I like REM a lot. I think they did a lot for rock (alt rock, but still rock). But I really think they have to pay some dues.

The following are NOT in the Hall right now (so how can they justify REM?):

Electric Light Orchestra
Squeeze
Yes
Genesis/Peter Gabriel
Rush (MY GOD!!!!)
Alice Cooper
Jethro Tull (I’m not entirely upset about this because of the whole Grammy thing over Metallica!)
ABBA (My wife likes ‘em)
Styx
Def Leppard (1977 founded!)
Journey
And the most egregious one: KISS!

Any one of these groups should be in there. It is a travesty they aren’t. And until the HOF recognizes these issues, it will continue to be a laughingstock. I mean this is the same group that finally enshrined ZZ Topp and Lynyrd Skynrd … LAST YEAR! REM right after them seems crazy!

VH is a no-doubter. Wouldn’t mind Grandmaster and Smith. But I gotta say that REM needs to wait (and, trust me, I’m a fan!).

New look

So, I decided to mess with the look of my blog. How do you like it?

On the writing front, I'm getting set to do National Novel Writing Month. On Sunday, I met with a bunch of my fellow Greeley writers at Margie's. They are a pretty eclectic group, but many of them are into the "community" thing with writers, and I tend to be more solitary. They gather to write together and do exercises in writing. I just like to write. Sometimes I like to chat about it, but not often.

I wish all of those going for NaNo this year success. I can't remember if I have written here about what I'm going to do this year (and I'm too lazy to go look) so here it is. Every year for NaNo, I plan on re-writing and finishing the novel I started when I was in college, Deadlines. But, every year, right before NaNo, I come up with a better idea. Not this year. So, I'll finally be finishing it. It's the story of a reporter who writes about serial killers ... the twist is that he is the serial killer.

So, off we go. Starts tomorrow after midnight (I love that it's Halloween!!!)

Why?

When I tell people I'm doing National Novel Writing Month and writing a 50,000-word novel in one month, that's what they ask... WHY?

There is something to be said for getting in the habit of writing every day ... of stabbing in the heart that internal editor who tells you your stuff sucks ... of writing to write without a concern for quality.

But the truth, I think, is the sense of accomplishment. It's something I don't get from writing a press release, working on an ad campaign, or (ugh) balancing a budget. It's a personal accomplishment.

For 11 months out of the year, my personal accomplishments are pretty mediocre (finishing a "tough" Sudoku in 10 minutes). But for November, every day is filled with a goal and the entire month has a victory just waiting for me to grab it.

Anyone who's reading this in Greeley is invited to Margie's at 3 p.m. on Sunday to help us kick-off NaNo and see a bunch of other folks ready to accomplish something.

Just a few more days

NANO NANO NANO!!!!

Oh, yeah, and HALLOWEEN!!!

Disillusioned

So, last night Tracy and I went with some friends to see The Prestige.
This is the second of two 1800s magic movies. The other was the Illusionist.
Neither was very good.
<<>>

In The Illusionist, we are supposed to believe that in the 1800s, a magician was able to create a 3D projector that would fool people into thinking a real person was there (think like Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor pulled off in Superman except less believable).

In The Prestige, and I'm not making this up, the plot revolves around ... a CLONING DEVICE!!!

<<>>

I can't understand why someone can't make a good magic movie. I used to interview magicians and they all had really interesting things to say about the process and showmanship. Seems like there could be a good flick there.

Too bad these aren't them.

I'm hoping to see Flags of Our Fathers on Friday with Dono and Dan. So far, The Departed is easily the best pic of the year.

Boys day

So, I had two free passes to Six Flags Elitch Gardens. I bought another at King Soopers so the boys and I could check out the Fright Fest activities at the park.

It's been many years since I was there the last time. And at that point Alex was barely old enough to ride the kiddie rides. So, I sat there and watched him go on the train ride AGAIN as I looked longingly at the big coasters and thrill rides that I knew I couldn't ride.

But this time was different. Sure, we spent some time in kiddie land (they actually have a nice trick-or-treat trail thing that the boys liked). But then we ventured to the bigger things.

Andy just made the 48-inch cut-off for most of the big rides and so we hit 'em. We went on the Batwing ride first which is actually just a giant spinning swing ride with the ability to control some movement by moving the big wings on the seat. Both boys loved it and were excited for more.

We hit a number of other spinning, rolling, flying things and they loved each one. And then we went to Twister II which is the big wooden rollercoaster. The boys were in awe, but they were both excited to go. We ended up going on it twice and despite a crazy-hard beating the rides provides, we had a blast.

Alex freaked a little on some of the big rides at Disneyland a few months ago, but he was gung-ho for rides at Elitch's. In fact, when we saw the Flying Coaster, Andy was sad because he was too short to go on it. But Alex asked if he could go by himself. This rides goes upside down and is pretty fast, so I was shocked he'd want to go. But he did and loved it!

Tracy is not a big fan of amusement parks (meaning, she hates them!), so I am glad that my love of the thrill ride rubbed off on both of my boys.

Over-tained

Flags of our Fathers and The Prestige and Marie Antoinette
They all come out this weekend.
And I have one son's birthday on Saturday and we'll be out of town on Sunday. (Poker tonight)
Last weekend we wasted our money on "Man of the Year" and now there's 3 movies I want to see.
We have all of this plus some really good TV shows: Heroes, The Nine, Lost, Studio 60, The Office, Earl, ER and 24 hasn't even started yet.
Plus, HBO and On Demand.
Plus, NetFlix.
I may actually be over-dosing on entertainment.
Didn't know that was possible.

Nanu-NaNo

I can't believe November is almost here again. Which means it's National Novel Writing Month again!!! 50,000 words in one month!!!

I have to admit I'm a little intimidated this year. It's going to be my fifth year of doing this, but I don't feel anywhere near a writing groove. But I have signed up. Here's my profile if you care.

I have also cleaned off my computer work space. I have a new computer that actually connects to the internet so I can do updates easily. I am planning to revisit a novel I began writing in college called "Deadlines." I still think it's a good story. I haven't pursued it in the past because other ideas kept getting in the way. But not I have nothing in the way (meaning I have no new ideas) so that's it. Wish me luck!

No. 1 on my Christmas gift list

I need this for my car!

Macha out

I know most people who read this blog don't care about baseball, but I have no where else to rant about this...

So, the A's fired Ken Macha ... again.

And even though they FINALLY made it past the first round of the playoffs, I think this is a good move.

The A's were swept by the Tigers. I hate to write those words, but they're true. And it's not that the Tigers had the better team (although they have a great one!). They had a better manager. And that's really hard to swallow after the crappy year Leyland had at the helm of the Rockies.

But the playoffs are a time when managers are needed to fire up a team or turn things around when they aren't working. Macha never did this. I know that professionals shouldn't need to get fired up, but they do. And I know that under Billy Beane no manager is going to really get full control, but something has to be done.

Anyway, I'm hoping for a St. Louis and Detroit series just to have the midwest showcased. And I have to admit, I'll probably be cheering for the Tigers.

WARNING!

This is a public service announcement...

DO NOT (I Repeat DO NOT) go see "Man of the Year" with Robin Williams!

Tracy and I saw this over the weekend and it was just awful. It was billed as a comedy, but, if anything, it's a political thriller (trust me, it's not good at that either).

And don't tell me I don't understand Barry Levinson's vision. B.S. I loved "Wag The Dog" and still think it's one of the best political comedies ever. But this one sucks!

Williams isn't funny. Lewis Black is pathetic. The only person worth a darn is Laura Linney and she seemed like she was in a different movie (a better one!) the whole time.

I truly hope Robin Williams will again make a good comedy, but this ain't it.

P.S. Sorry for the light postings. I've been sick as a dog and then I had a loopy dentist procedure.

Not giving up!

It's only one game. My A's will come back! PLEASE!!!!!

Bill and Mitzi

I think everybody has an Uncle Bill and Aunt Mitzi in their lives. They are the people in your family who insist on family getting together regularly. They organize reunions, schedule times to get together and/or just make that extra effort to ensure family stays together.

Bill and Mitzi live in Longmont. They are technically my Great Uncle and Aunt, but they are as close to our family as any of our relatives. (Andy's middle name is William in Bill's honor). Bill and Mitzi have been to every major celebration of my life (including junior high graduation) even though most of those took place in California.

This weekend we went to see them again. They are both getting older and their lives are busy with their own activities as well as those of their grandchildren. But they always make time for us and always want to know how everyone in our family is doing.

In these days where everyone is so busy that we often tell ourselves we don't have time for our extended family, I am very glad there are people like Bill and Mitzi who make sure we know that jobs may come and go, hobbies and other interests may fade and all those other things that fill our time won't seem so important years from now ... but family and friends are what really matters.

October Madness

OK, I know that I am one of three people in the world who cares, but the baseball postseason is awesome.

I'm fine with the fact my Rockies aren't in it (AGAIN) because I have faith in next year (AGAIN!).

But my Oakland A's have FINALLY made it past the first round and will now take on the dreaded Tigers for the AL championship and the honor of kicking the poop out of the NL (AGAIN! But I'm not happy about it).

Go A's!!!!!

Catching up, revving up

I graduated from college in 1991. I haven't seen nor heard from most of my friends from that era since around 1992.

Of course, they all have normal names like Tom, Scott and Cro-Mag (don't ask). Anyway, that makes it nearly impossible for me to Google them. So, I have to hope they find me (the one saving grace for being cursed with two screwy names!).

Well, the other day, I heard from my roommate and best friend from college, Bill. Found out he's married. Has a kid. Hard to believe because in my mind all those folks are stuck in the hardened amber of my memory as the drunk, crazy kids we all were.

Anyway, I've actually been having a fun conversation through e-mail with his wife, Patty. She enjoys writing, so, naturally the first thing I did was try to recruit her for National Novel Writing Month. And my writing buddy, Eric, is back behind the keyboard as well.

All of this has got me pretty excited once again for taking on NaNo. I'm still not sure what story I'll do. If I can't come up with something better, I'll probably work on the novel I started writing when I was back in Chico, going to school. It's called "Deadlines."

I'd love to get my NaNo novel from last year finished. And I'd like to get my pitch letters out to agents as well. I'll try to do that before November, but with work, racquetball, soccer, new TV season (including Lost tonight!!!), playing around with iMovie, and many other distractions, it will be a struggle.

Justice prevails

Saw this news item this morning:

Ex-Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent lost his appeal in a dispute over royalties with his former bandmates. Justices declined to consider lower court rulings dismissing Vincent's claim that he is owed royalties for his contributions to the heavy metal band's 1983 album Lick It Up.

All I can say is "YES!"

Vinnie was the worst guitarist Kiss ever had. Paul Stanley used to mock his solo on "Lick it Up" when he played it live. He would play the solo on the lead guitarists' guitar. Worse than being a bad guitarist ... he was REALLY boring.

Macs vs. PCs

OK, I'm back in the fold. I'm sorry I ever considered leaving!

I am a Mac person. Ain't no doubt.

For the past five years, I have learned to deal with a PC for my work life. I have found them to be much easier to use than I expacted. Many of my favorite programs (mostly Photoshop) run very well on a PC.

Because of that, I was considering going the PC route at home, too. I figured I could handle all the PC limitations and have the advantage of actually getting to buy software from a store ... like games and stuff.

But then I got my father-in-law's G4. This thing is sweet. Runs all my programs smoothly and WAY better than a PC. Plus, I recently discovered the absolute joy of iLife. This is the suite of programs that turns a Mac into a video production studio. It's incredible. I'm upgrading to iLife 06 (for an amazingly low price of $79!) and just loving it. I'm turning all of my South Dakota vacation footage into a DVD that will NOT bore other people. Believe it or not!

Plus, the latest Macs now have a chip that allow them to run Windows so we Mac people can buy those games off the shelf.

I was terribly close to giving in, but I have been saved.

Fuzzy

That's my brain lately. Completely fuzzy. Calling people their wrong names. Walking into walls. Watching Oprah (ha! just kidding. I'm not that bad). Not sure what this is about, but I'm pretty concerned (or at least I am until my brain forgets why I'm concerned and then I go back to trying to figure out the lyrics to "Louie Louie".
Hey, we gotta go!

BTS ... post Star Wars

This is so funny! My buddy Ken Mooney sent it...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6021365693605761325&pr=goog-sl

Whining

So, I saw "Last Kiss" over the weekend. This is a follow-up for the Scrubs dude to "Garden State" (which I thought was well done, but didn't have a great plot).

This movie is just as well done with a better plot, but my biggest struggle is listening to these 30-year-olds (and, yes, I'm in this category!) whine about the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood.

Wah! So you don't get lucky every night with a different woman (let's face it that only happens in the movies ... and for my roommate in college) and change a few diapers. Suck it up! It's a hell of a lot more manly to take responsibility for his life and his family than it is to whine about "losing my freedom." Good lord! Next it will be someone doing a movie about having to make a house payment! Oooooh! How do you do it?!?!?

OK, now I'm off my soapbox. It was still an OK movie.

Also, I saw "Everyone's Hero" with the kids this weekend. Despite the reviews, I actually enjoyed this one. It had a good story. If it hadn't been for an absolutely moronic ending, this could have been a great movie (although the animation was weak). And, before you ask, no, I don't like it just because it was about baseball. I will admit that there are very few baseball movies I don't like (MVP would probably be top of the list), this was good anyway.

Preview or just view?

A couple other blogs I've read have talked about the Previews to movies giving away the whole movie or at least the best parts. Gotta say that I completely agree.

Seen the new flick with Ashton "jailbait" Kushtor and Kevin "If it's not a baseball movie, it stinks" Costner? It's not out yet, you say? But let's face it, if you've seen the previews, you've seen the whole dang movie. What more could there be? Think he's gonna have a sled called "Rosebud"? Nope! Sorry.

On the other hand, there have been a lot of movies recently that should have been edited by the guy who designs the previews. This guy took a lot of crappy footage and created a two-minute teaser that makes it look like it won't suck. These are the people who should be running Hollywood, IMHO.

Back at it

Struggling to get back in the groove at work and now it's Friday! Needed badly!

Vacations most of the time are meant to recharge your batteries. But our trip to the Black Hills was just jam-packed with stuff to do and I am just fried.

The kids seem to be adjusting to all of this better than Tracy and I. Of course, all they are focused on is Halloween stuff that's now invaded the stores.

The weather has finally cooled here (I love it!), but I have to admit I'm wanting to get back on the golf course soon. I'm playing in a fun tourney (my first!) on Oct. 6. I just hope I don't embarrass myself (more than normal).

Back from the Dead(wood)

Well, we just got back from our trip to the Black Hills. I had never been there and I gotta say it was one of the best vacations we've done. Really fun, but exhausting.
We had a blast. I got to gamble and geek-out in Deadwood. The boys got to touch snakes, a bear came up to our car window (in one of those drive-thru zoo things). We saw Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Saw Mammoth Bones. Saw Wild Bill get shot. Ate a lot of junk. Spent a lot of time in gift shops! Went in a cave and a mystery house. Panned for gold. Swam in every hotel pool in the Hills. Froze our butts off during the lighting ceremony for Rushmore. Lots more.

Here are some pics from the trip:

To the left, Alex tries to beat a chicken at tic-tac-toe at Reptile Gardens. None of us could beat that darn chicken. I'm a little frustrated!

The boys and I hanging with the prairie dawgs.

We ate at Kevin Costner's sports bar in Deadwood. When I looked next to our table, there was Crash Davis' bat from Bull Durham. It's kinda like going to Mecca.

89

Yup, 89! My best golf score to date! And, yes, this score might be sad and depressing to many. But I gotta tell you, it feels pretty amazing to me. I haven't been back to golf very long. I don't get out very often. And when I do, it's usually pretty ugly.

And was it a perfect 89? NO, shut up and quit asking questions like that. Sure, I took a few mulligans. But it was still an 89 in my book.

My friend, Andy, and I took our kids with us on the carts to the Mad Russian Golf Course in Milliken. This is slowly becoming one of my favorite places to play. It has some of the strangest and most fun holes I've played (and after getting an 89 there, I may never play anywhere else again).

Yee-haw

You know when you wake up in the morning and everything just seems right? (I know ... it doesn't happen very often, but still...)

Anyway, when I got to work and saw that Paris Hilton had been arrested for DUI, it just filled my heart with joy. Now, if we could get people to quit writing about anything else she does (as well as the exploits of Jessica Simpson, Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears and all the other dimbos in the world) I'll be really giddy!

Sign of the apocolypse

No. 2367.
(courtesy of the Dave Barry blog!)

Music appreciation 2

My friend Eric Anderson sent this to complement the Simpsons guitar clip from below. I love classical music!

Am I a bad person?

Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, died. My wife was very shocked and saddened.
I have a hard time working up sympathy. Of course I feel bad for his wife and kid(s?). Nobody should lose their father so young.
But I have a hard time feeling bad for someone who put himself on death's door for alleged entertainment. I don't feel bad when people who do death-defying feats die doing those feats. They knew what they were getting into and they loved it for that thrill of possibly dying. If nobody died, they wouldn't be defying anything.
It drives me insane that my kids love to watch the shows where some moron crawls under rocks to grab some venomous snake. They film it so they can pretend they are talking about conservation or education. That's bull. It's all about defying death. His name was the Crocodile Hunter, for God's sake!
Anyway, I won't be shedding any tears for Mr. Irwin. You live by the sword, You die by the sword.

Crooks

With no taste.

Infestation

Somehow my two sons, ages 6 and 8, have started to creep back into the parental bed. They come in at 2 or 3 when nobody is willing to put up a fight to send them back to their beds.

Any suggestions for how to deal with this (and we are not above chaining them to their beds, but only after exploring a few other options).

Thanks!

Music appreciation

This is so cool!

Lively

While my kids have been in school now for two weeks, my "other school," Aims Community College where I work, just started this week. It is really invigorating to have students back on campus (and as marketing geek, I'm glad there are more of them). It is so fun to hear voices in the halls and all of that. I'm guessing that is what the folks in my kids' school think, too. But my kids are not so much invigorated (much like the students at Aims). They seem tired and unable to focus as they readjust to a school schedule.

We went to the kids' Back to School night last night and I always enjoys meeting the teachers, but I can't stand the school functions when EVERY SINGLE parent is there at the same time. The halls are crowded and it's just a madhouse.

But then I had my first racquetball class of the year last night also. I absolutely love racquetball. It's one of the few physical activities I can play for hours without getting bored. It is such a mental and physical game. The physical side kicked my butt last night. I played two games and thought I was going to die. I'm hoping that my buddy Dan will be done climbing mountains soon so we can play some games to supplement my Tuesday night class.

Deadwood

OK, so Donovan and I watched the last episode of Deadwood last night. We have been fully addicted to this show for some time now. Honestly, all kudos to 24 and all, but Deadwood has the best writing in all of TV, movies and most novels. It's brilliant.

But last night was the last episode. Literally, the last. Not just for the season. From some stuff I've read, they will make two two-hour movies to wrap up the details, but I have no idea when those will be coming out. Does anyone know? God, I hate this waiting around stuff! I have to know what happens!

Can't teach an old dog...

New tricks.

Should I be worried?

For the longest time, my tastes and those of the general critical elite who hand out awards were at complete odds. But, then it started with "Crash" winning Best Picture.

And then, last night, my favorite drama, 24, and my favorite comedy, The Office, took top honors at the Emmys. Plus, Jeremy Piven from Entourage won. I have to tell you this is a little unsettling for me.

The only good news is that the entertainment rags are complaining that the awards have stunk lately. So many people were mad that Brokeback didn't win (I still think it was an average story). And now people are complaining because Desperate Housewives wasn't even nominated. The only thing I agree with the complaints on is that "Lost" wasn't nominated. That show is incredible. It's not quite as pulse pounding but somehow the writers make me think it's OK that polar bears and magic numbers can exist on this island, because I had a really hard time with a lot less crazy things happening on 24 (i.e. the freakin' cougar, the atomic bomb in the desert, the deadly virus that clears a room in 2 seconds just by turning on the air conditioning, etc.)

So, I guess I have become mainstream and, according to the rags, the mainstream sucks. I guess I can live with that.

Fun site

This is one of most addicting sites. Go to the old contests and try to figure them out. I usually get 5 or 6 out of 8. FilmWise.

Don't mess with the Swiss Army!

You don't want to be looking into the business end of one of these.

That'll teach 'em

Don't make Dave Mustaine angry.

TV for kids

I came home the other night and Andy was vegging out ... zoning out ... spacing out ... whatever you call it ... in front of the TV.
He didn't notice I came home, but then at the commercial he turned and saw me and got excited, "DADDY!"
After giving him a hug, I said, "If you were watching TV, you wouldn't notice if a spaceship busted in here and landed on the couch."
Without even a second's thought, he replied, "Yes I would. They would show it on the TV!"

SOAP

So, after one of the crappiest weeks I've had in a long time, I went with three of my buddies to see "Snakes on a Plane" this weekend.

Like any good cinematic experience, we started the night off with nachos and drinks at Old Chicago's. Plenty of drinks.

From all the crap I read about this movie, I was expecting something along the lines of "Return of the Living Dead," a decent horror movie that was freaking hysterical because it went crazy. I have seen ROTLD and I can tell you that SOAP is no ROTLD (not even ROTHLD II).

Basically it had a few over-the-top moments, but took itself WAY too seriously (it took like 20 minutes just to get on the M***** F****** PLANE! Nobody needs that much set up! Titanic didn't take that long to get on the damn boat!). There were some fun over-the-top killings (I won't ruin them here, but e-mail me and I'll spill it) but not enuf for me.

We did see Little Miss Sunshine on Sunday, also. Absolutely loved it. Steve Carrell should be in every movie. I also rented "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" over the weekend and I am convinced that Robert Downey Jr. should narrate every movie for the next 40 years. He's awesome.

Ebert out.

First day

Yesterday was the boys' first day back at school. Andy in first. Alex in third. It was pretty different than any other first day, because Tracy wasn't there. (See previous post).
I was pretty lost for what to do on the first day. In the past we I've dropped off the kids, Tracy tells me where they line up from the playground to go inside. I had no idea how she knew that.
Fortunately, there were some other parents I knew who helped me.
This was Andy's first time to be in school all day and he was a little nervous. He wore a t-shirt and shorts that he picked out (meaning they didn't match). Alex was so excited, he wore a collared shirt and jeans (this is a new thing for a kid who used to live in shorts and sweat pants!).
After school, I took them out to dinner with my mother-in-law to hear about their days. Andy seemed to have a good time, but didn't want to talk about it much. Alex was babbling about every second of the day.
As we went to bed last night, Andy picked out a nice, collared shirt and "hard shorts" (that means his nicest ones that aren't very comfortable) to wear the next day. Not sure what happened at school yesterday, but it's already affected his clothing choices (this is a kid who once cried because he had to wear a collared shirt to hit a ball at the golf range in California).
Guess they're both getting older.

Joe

Tracy's dad, Joe, died last weekend.
Joe and Tracy's mom divorced when Tracy was just 4 years old. She kept in contact with him for years and saw him every so often.
He was a former cop when I met him, which was more than a little intimidating. He was socially awkward, but he knew that and he worked very hard at not being that way. I always appreciated the effort that he took and how nice he was to me all these years.
My fondest memory of Joe was on one of his trips through Colorado on his way to Illinois in his RV. He always stopped by Greeley on the way out there and on the way back to California.
This time, we decided that he'd help us decorate my downstairs area of our house with a dart board. Joe loved darts (as well as softball and bowling). It was probably the first time Joe and I really connected... you know the way two guys connect when working on some project involving lots of tools and a goal in mind has no real asthetic or helpful goal, but is just fun. We found just the right electronic board, based on his recommendation. Bought a nice case for it and then set upon putting it up. Cutting through drywall, brackets, placement. It was fun.
And then we spent the next several hours playing darts until I thought my arm was going to fall off. I had never been sore the next day from playing darts until that day. Of course, Joe wiped up the floor with me. He knew all the plays ("All I need is a triple 16 and a 3" and then HE'D DO IT!!!).
Tracy and I tried a couple times to recreate that moment on subsequent visits (like going to a Rockies game with him), but it never quite lived up to that one.
Today, Tracy and Greta are in California with their half-sister Kelly at a memorial for Joe. Since I couldn't be there, I thought I'd do my memorial here.

Mountains

My buddy, Dan, loves to go to the mountains. He likes to climb and push himself to the most extreme end of his endurance.
Fortunately, Dan also likes hair metal and poker because otherwise we'd have nothing in common.
I enjoy the mountains as well. However, I like to go there, maybe go on a leisurly trail ... maybe just sit out by a pond ... more likely, play miniature golf in Grand Lake and sip on a margarita on the porch of the Grand Lake Lodge.
Guess everybody has their own thing.

Gay marriage

I don't understand why so many people are against gay marriage. I don't know why someone else's marriage has to do with your own. But they say that having gay people married ruins the sanctity of marriage as a whole.

But here's why I've been thinking about this... Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson ... Britney Spears and that guy with the ugly hat ... Rene Zelwegger (sp?) and that country guy ... Madonna and Sean Penn ... Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman ... *** and the list goes on (feel free to add your own in the comments)...

If these people haven't messed with the sanctity of the institution of marriage, I really don't think Adam and Steve will either. Just my rant. Sorry.

I'm not political

But there are somethings worth protesting for...

Withdrawls

Softball's over (at least until later this month). The boys' baseball is over. We're going to Grand Lake in a bit. But this week is actually slow (at least at home). Came home from work last night and Tracy and I were shocked to realize we didn't HAVE to be anywhere. So, of course, we went about organizing our mucked up storage area. So much for rest.

Boys at play

I love softball. It's one of the few activities grown men can play and still feel like they are playing a real sport ... while drinking beer.

Last night, our team was booted out of the tournament after a horribly bad day in the field and at the plate.

But the experience was interesting for me as I watched some of the other teams playing. First, you need to know I play in a men's novice league. Parapalegic gerbils are more competitive than my league. Despite this, just about every game a big fight breaks out over a blown call, a rule or somebody bringing the wrong beer brand.

That's where I figured it out. These are grown men playing a kid's game. The minute we step on that field, we are just boys again. (It's when we get off the field and our backs are hurting that we realize we're old men again).

Soggy ending

Well I am still wringing out from the rain that ended the last baseball game of the year for our household. It's been a fun season. Both boys hit really well. Andy has become a lead-off hitter for his team and Alex is surprisingly fast on the basepaths (if you know ANYONE in my family, you'll know why I said it's a surprise). Alex had the strangest bat of the year last night before the rain came. The pitcher threw at his head. Alex ducked, but he forgot to bring the bat down, too. The ball hit off the bat and actually went into fair territory. There was about two seconds of absolute silence because nobody knew what to do. Then everyone yelled at Alex to run. He made it up the line just in front of the throw.

This was actually the first game of the year to get rained out. We've had amazingly great conditions this year. (Not always playing as well as the conditions, but always having fun!)

I have a softball game tonight. Our team lost the first game of the season tournament, but we came back to kill last week. We're hoping to work through the loser's bracket. Stranger things have happened. I almost hope the pitcher throws at my head so I can try Alex's trick.

Strange world

I went to a seminar last week where they basically told all of us colleges that the only way to communicate with the youth of today is through myspace.com. So, yesterday I decided to check it out.
It was here that I read about the intimate details of other people's lives. Just seems strange. Seems like they should leave that to the professional humor columnists.
But I guess that isn't all that strange. My wife has several notebooks filled with the notes the daycare gave us when our boys were going there. I asked her why she was keeping them. She said (A,N,IANMTU), "If I ever want to know what the boys were doing on June 12 and I know exactly how many bowel movements they each had."
Like I said, we live in a strange world.

Movies

So, we were gonna go see the new Pirates movie last night. Three shows in a row were sold out. There were more people in line for the movie than for the ride when we went to Disneyland a few months ago...

Instead of waiting, we decided to go see "Click" and it was surprisingly not crappy.

Since I'm going off on movies, here are more of my condensed reviews:

• "Superman Returns" ... Crap. Christopher Reeve dead and paralyzed has more life than this new guy.
• "Cars" ... Awesome! The credits are the best. Not better than "Finding Nemo" but WAY better than most kid fare.
• "Garfield 2" ... Bill Murray and Tim Curry doing voice overs ALMOST saves this.
• "The Breakup" ... ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
• "The Lake House" ... DON'T GO! Trust me. Just don't go!
• "A Prairie Home Companion" ... I don't listen to NPR, but this one was pretty good. Great actors and a fun story. Woody Harrelson and John C Reily should really work together more!
• "The Devil Wears Prada" ... I knew this would be a chick flick, but I think I actually liked it more than my wife did. Very funny and reminded me of some of the crappy bosses I've had.
• "The Da Vinci Code" ... Not nearly as exciting as the book.
• "Over the Hedge" ... Not better than "Cars" but WAY better than most.
• "Poseidon" ... Why do they need to remake classics and make them worse? Skip this and watch the classic on TV (it's on every other hour on AMC).
• "Hoot" ... I'll admit I went there to see Jimmy Buffett. Other than that, I had a nice nap while my kids watched the movie.

HBO

There was a time (when I lived with my parents) when I had HBO. Only thing I could remember watching was the late-night soft-core porn stuff (I was teenager, c'mon!).

Now, we don't have HBO but I end up getting on NetFlix a whole slew of HBO shows (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sopranos, Deadwood, Entourage). Strange.

Anyway, Donovan and I just finished the second season of Deadwood and I have got to say that may be the finest season of television ANYWHERE. I'm a huge 24 fan and I obsess on Lost, but Deadwood is just amazing. Fantastic characters. Great dialogue (Shakespear with the f-bomb). Fascinating plot. Please don't tell me what's happening with Season 3. I have to wait for the DVDs.

Tracy and I are now watching Season 2 of Entourage. This is a very funny show. Probably not up there with the BBC version of The Office, but I'd put it up there with the American one. Great characters and fun cameos.

Ebert, out.

Lame

I know I've been slacking (AGAIN).
Anyway, the house has been nuts because Tracy's taken on a HUGE grant job, so I've been pulling a lot of the parent duties over the last few weeks. And I really enjoy it. Shuttling the kids around and hanging out with them is nice (not easy, just nice).
Haven't been writing much, but I've been reading. My parents got me a good book, "Pursuit," that's really fun and I have the new Dean Koontz just waiting for me. Good problem to have.

So sorry

I've now been yelled at by a bunch of people to update this blog... I know I'm pathetic. Sorry.

Anyway, it's been pretty crazy around our place lately. Here's what we're up to:

Alex:
Play rehearsal -- Come see the young Olivier in "Dear Edwina" at the Hensel Phelps Theater Friday night, Saturday matinee or Saturday night.
Baseball -- Practice and games nearly all the time.
Swimming -- Lessons every morning.
Art class -- College For Kids classes!

Andy:
Baseball -- He's hitting the snot out of the ball and loving it!
Swimming -- Same as Alex
Art class -- Yup, same
Time with Dad -- Lots since Alex and Tracy have been at play practice almost every night.

Tracy:
Chauffer (sp?)
Working -- Part-time but she's almost done!
Weight -- Losing a bunch

Me:
Feet -- Still sore from Relay For Life last weekend
Book -- I have a book signing on Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble in Centerra. Please come by. I do get so lonely!
Radio -- Gonna be on KCOL Friday at 5 p.m. (you can listen online) and at 7:45 a.m. the Friday before Father's Day.
Work -- Crazy!
Baseball -- Tired of watching Rockies lose. Now just a fan of sons' teams. (Andy's team is undefeated so I guess my bad luck charm status is gone!)
Play -- Helped Big Andy get set together last weekend for the play.
Golf -- I really stink but I am really enjoying it. Guess it's genetic. Bizarre.

Guess that's it for now.

Pleading for Lost stuff

If you don't want to hear about a grown man completely geeking out, ignore this post...

No one at my work watched Lost, so I'm hoping some of you out there can talk with me. Last night's episode was incredible. Three shootings. More castaway ties PLUS the commercial for the Hanso Organization. Check out the new website here. The phone number on the commercial was 877-HANSORG (pretty weird stuff).

On the website there are two places for passwords that will probably get more content. First is with the signup for the e-newsletter. I'm sure there's something you could enter that doesn't make it freak out. Second, is in the company listings for the board of directors. Anybody know what to do here? Someone said on one of the sites that they heard about a password on the phone number voice mail (can't remember what it is now) but I tried it in both places and it didn't work.

Anyway, this is one of the greatest shows ever and, even more impressive given my job, the most amazing marketing campaign EVER for a TV show.

80's (and some 90's) movies for kids

My kids are just the right age now to be introduced to a bunch of the stupid, fun movies I loved as a kid.

Here's our list so far:

• * The Last Starfighter (a little scary but they cheered at the end)
• Mighty Ducks
• Teen Wolf (and, sadly Teen Wolf, Too)
• Batteries Not Included
• ET
• Addams Family
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the trilogy)
• PeeWee's Big Adventure
• Ghostbusters

Still on my NetFlix que for them:

• Time Bandits
• Beethoven
• The Kid
• Hero at Large (I have no idea why I love this movie!)
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
• Gremlins
• The Ice Pirates (stupid, I know!)
• Crocodile Dundee
• Mannequin (yes, it's a kissy thing, but they might still laugh)

Any other suggestions?

Bach-ing it

That's not like Bach, the composer. It's bach, as in bachelor.
Tracy's in California with her dad, so me and the boys are on our own this week. We're missing mom, but it's kinda fun to just be boys sometimes. (although mom left a detailed two-page instruction manual to ensure I didn't screw up).

Other updates:
* Still don't have an air conditioner. I think they are pissed at me after the column in the paper (or else they read this blog).
* The boys are being amazing with mom gone. They are cleaning up after themselves and even got ready for school two days in a row without me having to wake them up! (And I even got into work early both days!)
* My Relay For Life team is coming together. Next year I'm just going to be a team member, though. It's a lot of work.
* Rented Fun with Dick and Jane the other night. Wow, was that just bad. I love Tea Leoni. Hard to believe they made this dreck, though.

Bye.

Update

OK, so here's where we are with the air conditioner (because I know all of you are eagerly waiting to hear)...
So, Tracy called them ... somehow got it to $650. Remember, this is for a thing that (I'm convinced) THEY CAUSED!
Since I was still pissed, she told me to talk to the owner.
I have to admit I'm not much for confrontation normally, but I was pissed, so I yelled at the guy for a half-hour as he told me that I was a complete idiot for accusing his tech of causing the problem (he didn't say "idiot" but it was inferred).
In the end, I vented ... that was about it.
We still have to pay them $650.
If you ever want to know the name of a good HVAC company, I can tell you who to skip!

Coincidence

I know this will sound like me being one of those "When I was growing up" whines, but ...

When I was growing up, it sure seemed like service and integrity were more abundant qualities than we see today. After battling the local Honda dealership's service department for more than a month last year, I was frustrated.

But now I'm just pissed.

First, I have to explain that I am warm blooded by nature. I sweat when it's 60 degrees out. So, one of the first purchases for our home in Greeley was an air conditioner. We use it pretty regularly and we pay the installation company a service fee to keep it up and running well. We had already cranked it up a few times as the temps rose (while California was swimming! HA!). It worked fine.

Then, last week, the service guy came for his twice-a-year checkup of the air conditioner and furnace. He did a bunch of stuff that I don't understand and then he left. The next day we turned on the AC and nothing happened. We called the service people and he came out again and noticed the circuit breaker was popped. He pushed it back and told Tracy the cooling unit would turn on in about an hour.

Two days later and we still had nothing (meanwhile my house is sauna!). So we called the service people again. A different guy comes out and opens the AC unit and says it basically exploded and shows Tracy the melted components inside. He also says we need to buy a new one for $800 to $1,200 (depending if it was still under warranty).

Tracy said it seemed awfully suspicious that this could have happened right after the other service guy told her we had a "clean bill of health".

He said that was just a coincidence.

HA! Yes, I said HA! Give me a break! He later came back and told us the part was still under warranty but that it would still cost us $700! HA! HA! Tracy then showed him a coupon for 30 percent off and he said he figured that in already. HA! HA! HA!

In case you can't tell, I'm a little miffed. Tracy is supposed to call the owner of the company today. It'll be interesting to see if service and integrity are actually dead or not!

Been awhile

My sister (the only one who reads this...) complained I'm not updating enuf.
Truth be told, I wrote a really funny entry the other day and the computer ate it when I tried to post, and I was too lazy to go back.
Here's where things stand:
* My sis is now out in Seattle and her family will be joining her at the end of the school year. Bizarre to think of her anywhere but California.
* I FINALLY beat my racquetball teacher after nine years of classes! Yes, he was hurting. But a win is a win!
* Alex's soccer team (which I coach) seems to be slowly improving, but the rest of the league appears to be made up of teams who have been playing together since they were in the womb and it's pretty tough!
* Andy is growing! (Not a news flash, but really, he's starting to get taller (still hasn't lost a tooth, but it's a start!)
* I'm using WAY too many exclamation points!
* Softball starts soon.
* I bowled a 200 game for the first time ever a few weeks ago (can't remember if I wrote that before ... but I like to mention it).
* Got new golf clubs from my mom (well, they're new for me). Kinda fun to play with clubs made in the last 100 years!
* I haven't been writing very much because the time change is still kicking my butt.

Long time, no blog

My sister, who is apparently the only one who reads this darn thing, complained that I haven't updated my blog much lately. Too true.

Well, not much to report, except:
* Yesterday, for the first time in nine years, I beat my racquetball teacher ... in racquetball. Sure, he was hobbling from an injury ... but I WON! (I don't get to brag much about racquetball, so I like to do it when I can.)

* Survived taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese on Sunday. I hate that place.

* My soccer team (and Alex's) lost our second game of the season Saturday. But the kids played great. It's a fun year so far.

* The Rockies are 5-2, in first place, have won five games in a row on the road (counting from last year) and are playing great. I'd like to take credit for it for helping cheer them on at Opening Day, but I've been doing that for eight years and they have stunk the other ones up.

* Had a cold on Monday. Felt like crap.

* I can't believe my sister leaves for Seattle on Sunday! That sound you hear is thousands of Jamba Juice chains going out of business.

* It's getting hot here. I don't like it. Meanwhile, in California, my parents are soaked. (And they think they have the best golf! HA!)

* Been playing more golf lately. Must be genetic. I'm getting hooked. I actually watched an instructional thing on TV the other day. You know when you think you won't grow up to be your parents? You're wrong!

That's about it. Happy now, twerp?

De-Tex-afying

Well, I'm back from four days in Austin, Texas. Trying to get the ya'lls and howdys out of my system. Had a great time (even if it was work related). The big place to go in Austin (apparently) is Sixth Street. Of course, the one night I was able to get out was a Monday. Not a whole lot going on in the area on Mondays. But a Monday in Austin is pretty much like Mardi Gras in Greeley, so I still had a good time.

Had lunch with my good friend Eric who is writing up a storm these days and attending baseball games in Arizona when he makes excuses to get down there (much better than Austin on a Monday night). He has been able to write all over the place on his laptop, and he was nice enough to give me the excuse of having younger kids (his are teens) to explain why I haven't been writing much lately. But that's crap. I know it. I keep letting everything else be a priority. And the problem is everything is a priority ... kids, family, job, money, soccer, baseball, community service, volunteering, being a husband, being a dad, being a columnist, being a teacher (yeah, I'm doing that, too) ...

So, if those are all priorities, where does "WRITE" come in? I feel guilty bumping almost anything else off that list (yeah, I could do baseball, but I really like baseball) ...

Of course, if I had a laptop, would I actually use it to write? That's the question. Would I, like Eric, drop my kids off at a practice and go to the library to write? I would love to say yes to that. And I would have every expectation to do that. But would I?

Not sure where I'm going with this rant. Just brain dumping. I'm writing ... at least.

Loving it

For the first time since 1991, I am happy about the Best Picture winner at the Oscars!

Ever since I saw Crash, every other movie this year has paled in comparison. I am just tickled it won.

In case you are wondering what 1991 was, well it was "Silence of the Lambs." I remember sitting in my little house in New Mexico yelling at the top of my lungs when it swept. I probably wasn't as invested in Crash as that, but I still whooped it up pretty good.

The other thing I loved was Larry McMurtry's acceptance speech about the culture of the book and how we can't lose it. I couldn't agree more and I plan on seeing my novels on the big screen someday, too!

Now, I just have to finish the latest one.

Say no to 'Flightplan'

This is a public service announcement:

Under NO circumstances should anyone be put through the 1.5 hours of hell known as Flightplan. We got it on NetFlix this weekend and watched it last night. I've been eagerly waiting for it because I love Jodie Foster and, despite the reviews, I thought it looked creepy. NOT!
Just stupid! Want a movie with plot holes you could fly a big-ass plane through? This is it!

And as long as I'm helping out... also avoid "Elizabethtown." Hard to believe Cameron Crowe did this one. Believe all the critics. It is that bad!

Don't say I didn't warn you.

If you are looking for something good, here are a couple recommendations:

Junebug (Amy Adams is awesome!)
Murderball (best documentary ... even though I loved those darn penguins, too!)
The Island (great stunts!)
Saw II (not as good as the first one, but I liked the stuff with the bad guy)
Lords of Dogtown (Heath Ledger shows his pre-Brokeback acting chops!)
3 Iron (an Asian film that is bizarre but also really fascinating)
Band of Brothers (my friends lent me his copy and I was blown away!)

Refreshing

So, I was having a pretty crappy Sunday because I had to go into work for much of it.

After work, I stopped by Wal-Mart for a few items we needed. The place was crazy. Packed. People bumping into people. Getting pissy.

And then I went to check out. Unlike many of the times I go, most of the checkout lines were open. I picked a small line to stand in and I noticed the checkout clerk. She was laughing and smiling and joking with the customers. She was just great. When it came my turn to tally my stuff, she was so happy and chipper, it just made the rest of the crap I was carrying go away. If a Wal-Mart person can be this happy, why can't I? Really turned me around.

Anyway, my new happy persona is continuing to work on my book. Yeah! I have been doing a rough edit of the pages I already wrote (as I read it because I forgot much of what I've done already!). So, I'm guessing I'll be done with that tomorrow and Wednesday will be the push into the uncharted (literally because I have no idea where the story is going!) waters of "Black Sheep."

It's a start

Well, first day of my renewed plan for writing ...
Goal: 30 minutes
Did: 45 minutes

It's not much but it's a heck of a lot more than I've done in the last few months!

Vow

So after enviously reading the blog of my friend Eric Anderson who I mentioned earlier, we had lunch together yesterday. We mutually griped and groaned. We even talked how it was almost a year ago that we attended the Pikes Peak Writers Conference to begin our "official" writing careers (yeah, right!). The different now is that Eric has been writing recently and I haven't. I kept telling him how jealous I was that he was actually getting writing done.
Of course this is stupid. I know I could be doing the same thing. He said so, too.
Duh!
Eric has made a commitment to himself to write. So, I decided to do the same. Beginning Monday (I need time to get my body back in shape to wake up so early), I am going to write for 30 minutes a day -- 3.5 hours a week. That seems a reasonable non-Nano goal for me.
So, that's my vow. 30 minutes. One less sitcom. One-forty-eighth of the time it takes Jack Bauer to save the world.
That's it.

Missing the groove

My buddy Eric Anderson is in it. Heck, it seems that a lot of people are in it.
Not me.
I'm missing my groove right now.
After November, I felt pretty darn good about where I was with my writing. Work since then: NADA! Oh, sure, I could use the defense that I have a new job, I have two active kiddos and we have been helping my wife's dad in California (plus the fact that another friend lent me the 10-disc set of "Band of Brothers" and I'm burning up the postal usage with NetFlix).
But they all sound like the same excuses some of my friends use when they say they can't do NaNoWriMo every year.
Eric has the right idea. It's time for me to stop wishing I was a writer and do something about it. Heck he even uses some sage advice from George Brett and turned it to his writing and it seems to be working for him.
So, I guess I'll take the advice of the Pine Tar king and do it.
Hopefully, I'll be grooving again soon.

Draggin'

So yesterday was my first day back from California. Crazy time. My wife's father was in the hospital and we wanted to see him and help her half-sister with a HUGE storage unit he had filled there. Lots of work. A little sad.

But because I'm determined to be more positive this year, here are the good things about the trip:

* We were able to get away one day to take the kids to Disneyland for the first time. Disneyland is like Mecca for my family and I was so excited to share it with my sons that I barely slept the night before. January is a great time to go because it's not nearly so crowded (although there were still a lot of people and it made me actually fear going there when it was busy). We were there when the park opened and stayed until it closed. 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. HOLY COW! Lots of fun. Andy proved himself to be the crazy one. He went on every ride (he even stretched himself to meet the 46-inch requirement to go on Indiana Jones). He loved it. He ended each ride with a scream, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" Alex was not such a big fan. It was really my mistake. The second ride we went on was the newly redone Space Mountain and it scared him silly. The next one was the Matterhorn and he actually really liked it except at the very end as we we getting ready to get out, he was resting his chin near the front bar and our bobsled bopped into the one ahead and he hit his nose on the bar. But the place is still magical. I loved it.

* We got a new van. We are buying it from my father-in-law. Which meant, of course, that I had to drive it back from L.A. which meant ...

* I got to go to Vegas. Of course, I had no money and no energy which limited my craziness, but it was refreshing just to be on the Strip for one night and to play a little Blackjack.

So, I'm back and work. Sore, tired and brain-dead. TGIF!!!

Crud!

I just don't understand the HOF!
How do you pick Sutter over Goose!?!?!
OH Well!

Goosed

I love lists and other fun things people get to argue about. And I love baseball.

So, I love the annual Baseball Hall of Fame announcements.

I have three favorite all-time baseball players ... none of whom are in the Hall of Fame ... yet.

First, Pete Rose ... I don't care what he did after he played ... the baseball hall of fame is not a place for political statements, it's a place for baseball greats and Pete should be there.

Second, Rickey Henderson ... I'm sure he'll be in once he decides to actually retire. I love the guy's drive to succeed and be the best ... even now. I remember as a kid when I watched Rickey break Lou Brock's career record. I blew off several soccer practices just to see it happen on my little black and white TV in my room. He's just outstanding!

Now, you may be thinking that two of my favorite players are ... well ... ummm ... ok, I'll just say it ... JERKS. I suppose that's true. Neither Pete or Rickey are nice guys. But there's nobody I would rather watch play the game than those two guys in their prime.

My third pick is a nice guy ... although he wasn't on the baseball field.

Goose Gossage was scary. I mean really scary. He had the greatest stare down from the mound ever (although Dave Stewart later came close). He was a set-up man and a closer combined. He was ruthless and efficient. He was perfection.

For years, Goose has been overlooked for the Hall. I am truly hopeful that he finally makes it today when the HOF class is announced. I know everyone says Bruce Sutter is the only one who might make it, but Goose is far more deserving in my book. Sutter invented the splitter. Goose invented the closer position (coupled with the set-up guy). Which one had more of an impact on the game?

Anyway, hopefully, at noon today, I can finally say that one of my top three is a HOFer.

Off break

OK, so I'm back... It was a heck of a good break ... lots of time with the boys.
Here's a basic rundown...
* Had a great poker night with my friends Ross and Juli from California. We played until 5 a.m. and I lost about $10. Not bad. Had a great time, though.
* Found out my buddy Donovan is moving back to Greeley! Yeah!
* Rode the Poudre Trail with the boys (gorgeous!)
* Got to spend two hours of uninterupted time in Borders to spend my Christmas gift certificate (hanging out in a book store is one of my greatest pleasures (having more money to spend there would be high on the list as well))
* Signed up on an online poker site because my friend, Dan, is so into it. I was doing OK until Donovan lost a bundle of my play money after I went to sleep. But it is fun.
* Had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Ruth's!
* Ate WAY too much.
* Saw King Kong (very good!), Took the boys to Narnia (surprisingly excellent), Saw Family Stone with Tracy after a wonderful meal at Outback (our first date night by ourselves in months!), Saw Munich with Dono and Ross (pretty good ... very long ... but good).
* Watched the boys at their soccer clinic downtown.
* Watched DVDs-o-plenty ... the highlights: Star Wars Ep 3 extras were just awesome (Lucas' back info is like going to a film school), Airplane (classic Tracy gave me), The Island (just really fun ... brainless but fun))
* Didn't write anything, but I did think about it a lot. I have some cool ideas for where the rest of this book is going to end up and now I just have to get it back in my schedule.
* Took down all the Christmas decorations (two day job, but it feels good to have it done).
* Let the boys stay up for New Years for the first time and they loved it. (and they actually slept in the next day!)

Guess that's about it. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday.