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.