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.

Happy, merry, jolly ... whatever

I got a note from a friend telling people to send a "Merry Christmas" e-mail to the ACLU ... just to drive them crazy.
Got another one complaining about Bush and the holidays.
It's amazing how people are all sides can turn the holidays into a political statement.
I would like to call for a politics-free holiday season.
I don't care about your stand on the war, on the hurricane, on Saddam's trial, on Hillary, on George, on steroids, on Pete Rose (well, I care about that, but not right now), on anything except family and the holidays.
So, given that, have a great one ...

Closer

OK, so I've been writig the family Christmas card. I've been writing my column for the newspapers. I've been writing a lot of e-mails, reports and other assorted crud at work.

I'm still not doing the writing for my book. The ideas keep circulating around in my skull. I think I know where I'm going with it. Just not doing it yet.

I'm hoping that the holiday break will allow me some time to get back into it. I want to get to a regular writing schedule. Not as hectic as NaNo. Something manageable. Like a diet -- I need one I can live with (although anyone whose seen me lately knows I'm not having success finding the diet any more than I am a writing schedule).

Oh, well, I will stick with it. It's not going away.

NOT

OK, I'm not writing.
My alarm goes off in the morning. I lay there. I'm tired. I contemplate getting up to write. I lay there. I think about just getting the ball rolling again and how easy (relatively) it was to get the first 50K. It's a fun story. It's going well. JUST WRITE, Darn it! And I just lay there.
And then I look at the clock and it's time to get up to get dressed for work.
I'm hoping I'm surrfering from a short-term NaNo hangover.
I will get back to it.
It's finally starting to snow here! I love sitting inside a warm house, sipping on some spiked hot apple cider and writing. Now, all I have to do is do it!

Small world

So, last night we had our last meeting of the Greeley contingent of NaNoWriMo.
As I sat and listened to their stories of how their month went and the strange details of their lives and their novels, I realized that without the internet and the NaNo site, there is probably no way in the world any of us would have met up. We all come from completely different worlds with the lone binding link being that we all love to write.
Anyway, I'll get off the NaNo kick now...
My plans for the coming weeks...

• Continue writing my book
• Help with Alex's basketball team
• Help Tracy as she coaches Alex's Odyssey of the Mind team
• Finally freakin' see the new Harry Potter movie (it's killing me!)
• Get some Christmas shopping out of the way
• Continue with racquetball so I don't triple my current weight with holiday food
• Try to give a little more attention to Andy who seems to be incredibly sensitive about just about everything these days.
• Work on Andy's birthday cake!
• Maybe get some work done at the office (ha!)
• Shampoo our carpets

Sounds like fun, huh?

Clips

So, about a week ago this guy from the Denver Post wrote me an e-mail about NaNo. I answered his questions and he wrote this article.

And then I showed it to some friends at the Greeley Trib and they did a story also.

Kind of strange how these things work...

Anyway, woke up this morning ... and without needing to (since I finished the NaNo month), I actually wrote... another 2,000 words. I will eventually get this book finished... then I'll sent out pitch letters to agents for my last book, "Wrath"... then I'll finish making the final edits to Wrath and start editing "Black Sheep." All of that should take me until next November when I actually write again!

Done!

When I planned to stop writing this morning, I was 200 words shy of 50K.
Couldn't let that happen. So I finished it off! Now I'm a winner.
Of course, the novel isn't done. Probably take another month or so to do that (not quite on the same hectic pace). But I'll do it.

Home stretch

Despite a near triptaphan (sp?) overdose (coupled with an excessively high pumpkin pie count), I was able to keep up on my writing over the holidays. I'm now at 46,021. That's just a smidge under the pace, but should be no problem to do especially since there's nothing good on TV this week until Wednesday (LOST!!!).

The novel is going really well. I like my protagonist family. I think the bad guy is pretty real, but still pretty spooky. The tense scenes make me tense. The scary scenes scare me. This is really the first time that's happened. It's really fun.

Because I'm nearing the end of this grand adventure, I want to document all the other things I was able to accomplish this month on top of writing a 50K-plus word novel:

• Put up all the inside and outside decorations for the holidays (and removed the ones from Halloween!)
• Attended every one of Alex's basketball practices and games.
• Unloaded the dishwasher almost every day
• Did the lion's share of the laundry
• Visited with friends and relatives over Thanksgiving break
• Saw a few movies
• Watched most of the TV shows I normally watch (on tape!)
• Helped get my kids up-to-date on all the past Star Wars movies
• Played racquetball every week (twice a week most of the time with an extra session with Dan!)
• Had two poker nights (really, really late nights!)
• Did a Guy's Write Nite with Alex
• Met a couple times with my fellow NaNo folks in Greeley
• Got to play with Alex and Andy a lot!
• Helped get the house cleaned up and presentable (not as easy as it sounds, trust me!)
• And worked a full-time job

Next year when I think I'm too busy to do NaNo, I just want to be able to read this again.

The Wall

Runners call it The Wall. I think. I have no real idea. I try to avoid running whenever possible.
But my understanding is that The Wall is that thing you hit when your body tells you to just shut down. Real runners break through The Wall and keep going.
Why all this background in running? Well, I think I hit the writer's version of The Wall this morning. I only got 1,000 words and each one was a struggle. My body was none too pleased about waking up another morning at 4:30 a.m. (almost as much as Tracy who keeps getting the brunt of my alarm clock).
So, I'm now slightly below pace at 34,514 words after a disappointing weekend for writing (but pretty good other than that). And I have hit The Wall.
But like those strange runners in the world, I need to break through it. Seems to me this happens every year for NaNo. It does suck, though. But I just have to force myself to keep writing. Even if it's just 1,000 words at a time. Eventually I'll break out. Better happen soon, though. The end of November is looming!

Twilight zone

So, I was writing a scene for NaNo this morning (I'm at 28,003 for anyone who might care) and it involved the dad of my family fixing himself a sandwich in the kitchen. He turns on the radio and "Living on a Prayer" comes on by Bon Jovi and it is later followed by CCR's "Fortunate Son."
I don't know why I picked those two songs. They just came to me.
Later, I was driving into work and I turned on the radio just in time to hear the DJ say, "That was Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer' and before that was 'Fortunate Son' by Creedance Clearwater Revival."
Freaky, huh?
In a related matter, I'm headed to the store later to buy lottery tickets.

50 percent

Well, I passed the halfway mark this morning. I'm at 26, 048.
The good news is that my novel isn't halfway done. That's actually a first. In the past I've had to milk my story for extra words as I neared the end. Last year, the final version was about 65,000 which is still a little short for a "real" marketable novel.
I have a feeling this one will be in the 75,000 to 100,000 word total at the end. But it's really good. This morning I actually scared myself with something I came up with. It's kinda fun writing in a quiet basement all by yourself. Nice and creepy.
Also, last night, I had a dream that this book was No. 2 on the bestseller list (I'm sure it was the DaVinci Code in front of mine!). We had lots of money and I was doing talk shows. It almost sucked to wake up, except that I woke up to go write.

The Force is with me

After amassing a word count of absolutely ZERO on Saturday, I kicked hiney on Sunday and this morning. Now I'm back slightly ahead of the pace at 24,104.

The surprising part for me was that I did all of my writing after a marathon movie session with my kids.

Here's how it started:
I took the boys to Burger King after Alex's basketball game Saturday. They each got a Star Wars toy featuring the Stormtoopers. That made them ask me what a Stormtrooper was.
So, I said we would watch the original Star Wars on Sunday. We did that Sunday morning and they were hooked. That led to the next two movies (don't worry we did get outside to play, also!). But when your kids ask you about Star Wars, it's worth putting other stuff off to show them, right?

That's what I thought. And I was rewarded with a hugely productive writing session that pushed my word count into orbit (OK, so it wasn't to the 25K I wanted, but it was still good).

May the Force Be With You.

Keeping it in the family

My word count sucks today... I'm at 18,135.
But I have a pretty good excuse. Last night Alex's school had a really interesting program called Guys Write Nite where all the boys in the class brought their dads into the class from 6-8 p.m. and all we did was write together. Alex's teacher is doing some sort of thesis or something on boys and dads and writing. But it was really fun. Alex was so into it. He knew I've been doing a bunch of writing (especially lately) and he liked being a part of that.
We wrote some fun stories about our road trip to California a year ago and then we made up a story about a boy named Chicken-Butt (Alex's favorite word). In the end, we had about 1,400 words -- that don't count toward NaNo.
Of course, that was only two hours, right? So, what's my REAL excuse?
Well, I did have to write my regular bi-weekly column for the newspapers. That was 650 words -- all of which had to be good enough to be publishable (not quite the standard I hold for my NaNo novel, where I spent about 300 words talking about how my family had bought a new hot water heater (and, no, it has nothing to do with the story ... I think).)
Still that wasn't all my time. How about ER live, Survivor on tape last night and then The Apprentice on tape this morning. How sad and pathetic is that, huh? Well, at least I got 1K-plus done this morning. But now I'm behind the pace again.
This weekend will be the time. In fact, I'll lay down the gauntlet right here... I will have 25K by Monday!
You read it here first!

Pluggin away

My little progress meter isn't working right now. The guy who hosts it got overwhelmed with bandwidth and couldn't keep it going.

So, my count now is 14,310. I'm only slightly under the pace I need. I need one great evening writing session to put me back in the black.

The story is actually progressing well. It is really fun to see how the characters progress. I am also limiting myself with the number of characters. I have my family of four and my one bad guy. That's it. It's really fun to develop them a lot more than trying to do too much with too many others.

10K

I'm still behind the pace, but I passed the first milestone this morning as I hit 10,000 words. The story is going really well. Probably too well. My internal editor is not letting me write the crap that normally propels me. It keeps saying, "You're just going to have to fix it later, so make it good now." Pro is at least it's slightly better than crap. Con is that I'm dragging. I'm thinking of blindfolding my internal editor and beheading him on live TV just for fun!

I'm pretty tickled about hitting 10K actually. I haven't really given up on other stuff to do it. Had a late-night poker game Friday, watched Alex's first basketball game Saturday, went to two movies with Tracy and some friends Saturday night and I actually made my first pie (gluten-free!!!) on Sunday.

With all of that, 10K sounds pretty good.

Slow cruise

I realize I have probably bored anyone who may be reading this with all my references to NaNo lately, but this thing practically consumes me in November, so that's what I'm thinking about.
I'm at 4,384 words on Day 3. It's not bad. I'm slightly below the pace I need to finish and I'm more than a little concerned about the weekends (4:30 a.m. is fine on a weekday, but not sure about Saturday ... especially this Saturday because I have friends coming over for poker on Friday!).
Anyway, the story is going well. I've abandoned my original plan of making this a sequel to my last book with the same detective. I really enjoyed the thought of someone living in someone's house without them knowing about it. So, I decided to scrap the police and have it be a bad guy vs. good guy thing in the house.
The creepy part is that the family in my book lives in a house that's laid out like my real house (so much for imagination, huh?!?). So, now I keep looking in all these hidden crevices and it's kinda freakin' me out a little.
Guess that's good, right? If I scare myself, it's gotta get other people, right?

Started

So, last night we hosted 18 family and friends for our annual Halloween party. Our house (formerly clean, I swear) is a disaster. We cleaned up enough last night so we could still walk around. Tonight I have racquetball. Wednesday is basketball practice for Alex. Thursday is racquetball with Dan and Friday we're hosting a poker party for my friends so the house has to be back in some semblance of order.
On top of all of that (oh, yeah, and work!) I started my quest this morning at 4:30 a.m. to write 50,000 words in one month. I got 1,400 words. It's a slow start (mainly because it took me awhile to come up with my bad guy's name ... Anthony Speck!) but I knew the first little bit would be tough because I had to set up the main scene. Now I get to have some fun!
Hard to believe I actually can't wait for my alarm to go off at 4:30 a.m.!?!?!

Vrooooooom

Check out my NaNo guage to the left. Anyone who cares will see how far I've gotten on my novel there!

Starting

Last night the first official Greeley National Novel Writing Month group met. There were about 11 or 12 folks who all pledged to write at least a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. It's very cool to connect with folks who are into writing for writing sake. And as we went around and discussed our various planned projects, I soon realized that my sick and twisted tale of a psycho-killer who lives with his unsuspecting victims before he offs them may have been one of the more "normal" storylines from our group.
Knowing I'm not nearly as strange as I (and often my wife) thinks was well worth the cost of the hot chocolate. Now I just have to write the darn thing.

Tid-bits

Haven't had much to say lately... a few things, though:

Family ... My mom, sister and nephew are coming for the weekend. The boys are thrilled. Tracy and I have been going nuts trying to get the house clean. Should be a great time!

Poker ... Now that the house is back in order, it's time for poker nights again!!! My friend, Dan, will be very happy.

Baseball ... This time of year is hard for me. I love the World Series, but I realize it's going to be a long off-season.

Soccer ... Ditto

NaNoWriMo ... Seems like there's a lot more interest in Greeley-ville these days about this. We even have our own forum site. I love chatting with others who are planning the same thing, but I can't wait to get started for November. I think I have some really good ideas.

Beer ... I had my first one in more than a year this last weekend (thanks to my Celiac Disease thing). It was wonderful! I never thought I actually liked beer that much. According to the Celiac sites, I can have a beer "occassionally." The last time I did, I got a stomach ache the next day. This time: Nothing. What does this mean? I'm drinking Fat Tire "occassionally!"

NaNoWriMo

Well it's getting close to National Novel Writing Month again.

This will be my fourth year (hopefully my third completion) of writing a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. I go into the month expecting to write absolute garbage and I have always been pleasantly surprised how non-crappy it turns out.

Anyway, we have a group from Greeley who are going to meet later this month to kick off our little adventure. I've been doing this with my friend Eric Anderson for all four years, but last year we brought in a couple other Greeley folks and sounds like this year will be even bigger.

Normally I don't like writing groups because I think it takes time away from actually writing, but this group, so far, has emphasized encouragement so we all know we're not doing this alone.

Anyway, I can't wait to get started!

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I sent this note to a bunch of my friends who are into music ... For some reason, this drives me nuts...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

First, here’s who’s nominated:
J.Geils Band
John Mellencamp
the Patti Smith Group
Chic
Joe Tex
Miles Davis
Cat Stevens
Blondie
the Paul Butterfield Band
the Dave Clark Five
the Sir Douglas Quintet will all have a chance to make it into the hall of fame, located in Cleveland.
Black Sabbath (eighth time on the ballot)
Lynyrd Skynyrd (seventh time)
Sex Pistols (sixth time)
Stooges (fifth time)

And here who’s missing from the list:
KISS
Rush
Van Halen
Yes
Genesis
ELO
Joan Jett
Def Leppard
Alice Cooper
Heart
Deep Purple
Pat Benatar
Duran Duran

Nominees are picked by a 70-member committee of rock 'n' roll historians, journalists and label execs, with ballots then mailed to an international voting body of 700 music industry types for the final decision. The five to seven nominees that receive the most votes will be inducted into the Rock Hall next year.

So, I ask you, were these 70 people completely high?!?!

Of those who are nominated, you could make a good case for Mellencamp (although I personally think he should go in as Cougar!), Blondie, Lynyrd Skynyrd (how you overlook them six times and vote in a band like the O’Jays (last year) who had one hit song, is just wrong) and probably the Sex Pistols. Miles Davis was freakin’ awesome, but not a rock and roller! I’d accept the Dave Clark Five (“Do You Love Me” is classic and certainly they were huge part of British Invasion) and Cat Stevens (not sure why) although I like Black Sabbath and J. Geils more.

But how do you skip over Heart (three decades!) and Yes (c’mon). I avoided the hard rockers KISS and Rush and Van Halen and Deep Purple because you all know I’m biased, but you could make a good argument that each one of them revolutionized rock in some way (truly original and influencial, power trio, popularizing hard rock and the all-star band).

Anyway, I’d be interested in knowing your thoughts…

Trumped

So, the last two days I got to see Donald Trump and Rudy Guiliani live at a biz conference here.

Pretty cool, actually.

Trump made a lot of people mad. He used a number of dirty words (oooh, the F-bomb!) and was pretty crass about his dealings with people. I actually enjoyed it. It really showed him as a person. Yes, he's a jerk, but at least now I know he's a human jerk.

I'm not sure why swearing has the exact opposite reaction on me than other people. The second someone curses around me, I feel more relaxed. I remember the first time I met Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell when I was in Fort Morgan. Like always, he rode into town on his motorcycle. He walked into the conference room with me and my editor and said, "It's hotter than s*** out there."

I was so impressed. I mean here is a guy who is representing Colorado in the U.S. Senate and he feels comfortable enough around us to swear! How cool.

Anyway, like I said, it wasn't Trump's swearing that turned me off (I liked it). But, rather, he was mean-spirited and didn't really have anything to say beyond "be sure to watch The Apprentice" and "Don't I have a hot wife?" I mean, one of his points about good business is "Be sure to get a pre-nup." Obviously, Trump thinks of marriage like a business transaction, but the rest of us don't.

Guiliani was pretty impressive. He's obviously planning a run for president. Hard to think who could beat him. I actually got to ask him a question about media handling. Pretty fun.

Dogbert brain

Today, I attended an internal workshop called, "Maintain Your Brain." I thought it was going to be about fixing my brain which apparently has lost the ability to hold any piece of information (except baseball scores) for more than 2.3 seconds.

The session was well attended with my fellow colleagues, all of who obviously thought there was something wrong with our minds.

For some reason this got me thinking about the Evil Dogbert and how he could take advantage of something like this... He would throw one of these sessions. People would attend in droves (because, let's face it, everybody's memory stinks these days) and then he would "remind" everyone that there is a $25 fee. If anyone said they didn't remember anything about a required fee, he'd just say, "You really need this class, huh?"

When your brain is screwed up and you get no sleep and lunch consists of Liquorice-flavored Altoids, this is what happens... I'm sorry for sharing...

Caffeine

About six months ago, I switched. I went from Diet Pepsi to Pepsi One. This was not an easy switch for me because I am a die-hard. However, Pepsi One was just WAY better.
This weekend, we were up in the mountains and I couldn't find a Pepsi One anywhere. Had to settle for Diet Pepsi.

I forgot how wussy Diet Pepsi was. I thought it was just the flavor, but then I saw this site. And I realized it was the caffeine. Apparently Mountain Dew has as much caffeine as Pepsi One! Holy cow! (By the way, if you go to the tab that says "Death by caffeine" you can determine exactly how many of your favorite drink it would take to kill you. (Good to know before your next all-nighter).

Anyway, drink up!

The first day ... again

Yesterday was the second first day of kindergarten for our house.

Andy started his academic career with little trepidation. He got a little overwhelmed (and shy) with all the people (every kid had at least two parents in tow). He had been pretty excited about the big day, but was getting more nervous as the morning continued.

The parents were asked to stick around for the first 30 minutes to go through some activities with the kids. Andy was getting more and more freaked out.

But then, one of the activities involved taken a specific number of food items and putting them in a snack bag ... five pretzels, two cookies, etc.

Andy saw the items and at the end of the row -- right next to each other -- were M&Ms and marshmallows. Andy's fav. His face filled with a huge smile and I realized he was going to be just fine.

Flip-flop

Andy has been on a tear recently... typical 5-year-old stuff.

The really funny part is to watch Alex (he's 7). As bad as Andy acts, Alex goes to the exact opposite end of the spectrum.

Yesterday, when Andy threw a patented tantrum, Alex (who loves money) turned to Tracy and I and said, "Mom and Dad, I want to give you all my money because I love you."

I seem to remember doing this exact thing with my sister when we were growing up. One time when she was acting really awful, I actually cleaned up the entire house for my parents. Not sure why. I just did.

Guess this is an evolutionary behavior to ensure parents don't go insane. Whatever it is, it's pretty cool.

Long time ... no speak

Wow! Been a crazy bunch of weeks.

We survived California. Had a great time.

Here's the report on everyone:

Me: Got to watch a RiverCats game and two fireworks shows, bombed boats with water balloons, got to read in a hammock!, tan?, played the first 18 holes of (non-miniature) golf in 11 years (not too bad - shot a 49 on the front 9 and a 60 on the back). Got to meet up with my friends George, Ross and Juli which was really fun.

Tracy: Took a bunch of pictures, burned the heck out of her shoulders, actually liked "Batman Begins," was enamored with Alia and Aiden (as was everyone, of course), made cabbage pockets for my parents' anniversary, trying to survive a completely trashed house as we move into new rooms now that the remodeling is done. Met up with her friend Shar and her kids at the water park.

Alex: Loves the skeleton he got from Grandma, actually hit pretty well on the driving range with his new clubs, enjoyed getting hugs from Alia, won Uncle Mark's first annual fishing derby, loves the movie "The Incredible Mr. Limpett" (which was one of my favs growing up and now I can't remember why).

Andy: Learned to row the kayak for the first time, swam amazingly well, was a bit of a grump because of his altered scheduled (stayed up until 2 a.m. one night watching movies!?!?!), loved the big bag of candy Grandpa bought him, quite a good dancer who also really likes my bad heavy metal tunes.

Jannae and Mark: They, too, are trying to survive remodeling (the only difference is Mark has at least some talent to be able to assist), Mark caught his biggest bass ever but forgot a scale so he has no idea just how much it beat his previous record, Jannae still is happy and doesn't seem nearly as tired as I would be with three kids, including two babies.

Austin: The kid is a weed. He just keeps growing. He's five months younger than Alex, but could easily pass for at least three years older than him. Austin is gaining confidence in himself and this year mastered the kayak that was his nemesis last year.

Aiden: I have never seen so much energy in one body. He never stops. He runs from one situation to the next and doesn't pause in between. He has curly hair which just feels really cool when he gives you a big hug. He is starting to talk really well. He loves being thrown in the air and comes up to me and says, "Ump" which means "Jump" because he wants me to throw him.

Alia: This was our first look at the only girl in the family and she is such a cutie. She has big smiles for everyone and, like the boys, is off-the-charts huge. She is feature prominantly in at least half the pictures Tracy took of the whole vacation.

Mom and Dad: They are both looking and doing great. They're a bit exhausted because our trip was the end of more than a month of guests at their house. But we certainly appreciate their generosity. Next year will be a little different as they celebrate their 40th anniversary in Hawaii. (And, no, we already asked. They don't want anyone else there!).

Returning to the scene of the crime

My friend Dan is now a daddy. His lovely wife, Kate, gave birth to Jayden on Saturday morning.
Tracy and I took the boys to the hospital to see the happy family. The boys were really into it because I kept telling them they were born in the same hospital. I pointed out the rooms they were born in. And they were actually interested.
Alex kept telling me to tell people the story of how he had to return to the hospital because of his jaundice (which happened during a major snow storm). Nobody else cared, but Alex really dug it. I think next time we go to a baseball game and I want them to pay attention, I'll tell them they were actually born on the infield.
Might work?!?!

Nuts

Things are going a little more crazy than normal right now in the Flume household.

First, I'm still getting used to a new job at Aims Community College which is hectic right now because I'm getting the Fall enrollment campaign going before ...

Second, we leave for California to visit my mom and dad (and sister's family including our first and only niece, Alia!!). I love going there, but I hate getting ready to go there! Tracy has developed a pre-leaving plan that is more complicated (and better carried out) than the invasion of Iraq.

Third, we are getting ready for our second garage sale in the last three weeks. We never thought our house could belch out so much excess crap, but it certainly does. And we need it, because...

Fourth, we are prepping for a remodel on the house (thanks to Tracy's mom!). We're finishing the downstairs area (yeah, a bathroom!!!) and adding a little closet space upstairs. All that means is that we have two major areas of the house that have to be cleared away and it is just insane.

Fifth, the boys have been busy with summer fun classes and overnights with their friends.

Sixth, we just got over the promotion of the book for Father's Day. It is always a little crazy, but it was also cool because of the book award.

Seventh, now that the rain has stopped (to be replaced with scorching sun), we have been invaded with mosquitoes the size of small birds. No one is safe.

Eighth, we just adopted our newest pets... two toads we found in the window well of the basement as part of the remodeling effort. The boys are enamored of them. One is about the size of my fist and the other is much smaller (the size of Andy's fist). Alex said, "I won't watch TV at all as long as we have these frogs."

Ninth, this blog, my column (due this week ... AGAIN!), my fantasy baseball team (currently in second place!!!), my softball team (currently sucking, but my hitting is good!), and I guess that's it. End of my whining.

Wet Relay

One of my favorite activities of the year is always the Weld County Relay For Life which raises money for the American Cancer Society through an 18-hour team relay walk. I love the sense of community as Greeley's event has grown to be one of the biggest in the country. My life (like everybody's) has been touched by cancer and every year during Relay I think about the loved ones I've lost and the folks I know who have survived this horrible disease.

This year's Relay was a little different for me. I had a wonderful team of folks from my new job at Aims Community College. We also teamed up with local radio station, SUNNY 97.9. We had all the makings for a great event.

But then Mother Nature decided to have some fun with us.

We were setting up our camp around 3:45 p.m. and we were on the air for about 15 minutes when the rain started. Hard. We tried to keep everything dry, but we weren't really successful. I went to the opening ceremony at 6 p.m. in a downpour. From there, the event moved inside to a large exhibition building.

We hastily grabbed all of our stuff and even had the radio station back on the air in a matter of minutes. In the end, the event was a little smaller with many of the people opting to stay home where it was dry. However, about 2,000 people stuck it out and walked all night. It was amazing to see the dedication of these hearty folks. And in the end we raised a record total of $520,000. Pretty amazing.

My job

Long time, no post...

The other day Alex was showing drawings other kids in his class did of what their father's do for a living (don't ask how he got the pictures ... let's just say he's a pack-rat).

"See, Dad, her dad is dentist. And his is a mechanic."

So, I asked him which picture was mine.

My day-job is marketing and PR -- not something easily shown in first-grade drawings.

"That's the one, Dad."

"What is that?"

"That's you working on mummies."

"That's not what I do?"

"But it's more fun," he said.

Hard to argue with that, huh?

36 and counting ... why?

Monday was my birthday. Woo-hoo!
I vowed to stop counting birthdays after age 25. Then I realized that if I was ever to become president of the U.S., I needed to be 35. So, I kept counting. I'm not really sure why I'm still doing it now.
But I had a great day. Dinner with my wonderful family. A little festivity at my new job. Got gift certificates for some new clothes (for said job) and for some new books (for non-said brain!).
Guess I better keep counting to 65. I gotta retire sometime, right?
But, then, there's always the lottery!

What's goin' on?

OK, I am now getting over ANOTHER FEAKIN' COLD!?!?!?
This is getting stupid. Kids got this one, too.
In between bouts of sneezing and coughing, I was wondering why we're getting hit so hard this year (my wife has barely had a sniffle).
Possible reasons:
Red Meat -- Tracy only eats the untasty variety.
Men -- Chicks have to have babies; men get colds?
Whiners -- Men whine?

But I don't think it's any of that. My bet is on aliens. Damn them!

New leaf(s)

So, first things first... I have a new job! Yup, beginning May 9, I'll be the Marketing and Public Information Director at Aims Community College. This is a job I have wanted for a long time and I am really excited about getting started.

Second ... I went to the Pike Peak Writers Conference over the weekend with my friend, Eric. Had a great time. Heard from some good folks. Pitched my novel to an agent who wants to see 50 pages! Got to hear from the guy who wrote The Pina Colada song (bizarre). And also saw the Sky Sox for the first time. Great weekend. Now, I just have to put all the novel stuff to use so I can get it the novel published.

Third... Now that we're at the end of April and the job situation is good, the novel is directed the right way ... well, now it's time to start marketing the holy heck out of Fumbling Thru Fatherhood for Father's Day. Woo-hoo!

Crossing fingers

My buddy, Eric Anderson, and I are headed to the Pikes Peak Writers Conference this weekend.
I am scheduled to do a read and critique session Friday and then meet with an agent on Saturday, on top of all the other events going on.

I don't have high hopes for selling my book, Wrath (although I wouldn't mind coming home with a six-figure advance!). My main goal is to get all the tools to refine my pitch letter and other materials in order to do a mass mailing to agents in the near future. So, basically this weekend is a kick-off of sorts for the book.

Plus, Eric and I are going to a Sky Sox game on Sunday, so no matter what, life is good when you have baseball.

Andy figured it out!

We were driving in the car the other day and talking about going to Grand Lake.

I told the boys that Grand Lake was where I asked Tracy to marry me. Andy said, "You got married in Grand Lake?"

"No, we got married in Fort Morgan."

"So, that's why you and mom fight sometimes! You should've been married in the same place."

"But, Andy, most people don't get married in the same place they ask them."

"That's why most people fight."

Hard to argue with that logic.

Timing

California Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit. Of course, that meant one thing: the boys were going to get sick. Not sure why, but just about every time they come here, the boys get sick. Andy had strep and Alex did his Exorcist impression all night Saturday (minus the spinning head but with a lot more pea soup!).

It's still been great having them here.

My dad joined me with a bunch of my friends Friday for a "friendly" poker game. Lots of swearing. Probably a bit too much drinking. In other words, a great night.

Dad had the best line of the night, said to Donovan, "Well, you folded, you f***" after Donovan griped about how he would have won a hand if he had stayed in.

It was that kind of night...

Opening Day

Haven't had a chance to update because I've been pretty busy, but -- most importantly -- I went to the Rockies Opening Day on Monday. This is the seventh or eighth year in a row I've gone to the home opener with my friend, Donovan. The group continues to grow. This year we had eight of us.

I'm still pushing for the legislation to make Opening Day a National Holiday. I'd appreciate your support.

This year, things were crazy as always downtown. We had a cocktail and then went inside early to watch batting practice. The weather was gorgeous. We sat in the left field bleachers, basking in the sun as we watched just about everyone else around us catch a ball. It was great.

To top it off, the Rookie Rockies (they're calling it "Gen R" now) came back from two runs down in the ninth to score four runs with two outs off Trevor Hoffman. Absolutely sweet finish!

On top of that ... my fantasy team is in third place!!! (Life is good!)