Category: general

Where I put something when I’m too lazy to categorize it.

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weekending

Man, today worked out great.  A Sunday like the Sundays of old.  I mean, after church, we all went down to the town square and sat under the old oak tree for an afternoon concert.

Yeah, well, maybe not exactly like the Sundays of old… but we did come home church and take a family-style nap – all three of us sacked out in various places around the house for a couple hours.  Quite nice.  Later on I put together a new set of shelves I bought for the garage; more storage for our ever growing collection of stuff we don’t need.

The weekend otherwise was normal.  Dinner out with some friends Friday, the crew over for beer and football Saturday (and helping put some last-last-minute touches on some of the Halloween decorations), and then a chili-cookoff at Ben & Suzy’s place later that evening.  It was a nice low-obligation weekend with no real “work” I had to get done, since the props are all up and running (minus the new one I didn’t build… there’s always next year).

If you couldn’t tell already, I don’t have much today, like I said I whiled away the afternoon on the couch listening to music and napping.  I do, however, have a little Keaton audio I took tonight on the trusty iPhone.  I wanted to share her new joke with you guys.  Yeah, I taught her the joke (Mom did laugh, but wasn’t exactly anxious for her to go around telling it to all her friends, either… but that’s what dad’s do, right?) – but she’s getting really good at telling it.  Here, I’ll let her show you herself:

[audio:keatons_joke.mp3]
She has her dad’s impeccable timing.

Wasn’t that awesome?  She’s been telling people this “joke” for about a week now, and, even though it may sound perfect, her timing still needs a little work (what you hear here benefited from a little editing wizardry from dad).  Anyway, perhaps another generation of class-clown in the making…

Goodnight.

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sometimes i suck too

Something went wrong with last night’s post scheduling, and I didn’t notice until midway through the day today that it hadn’t auto-posted at midnight as my entries usually do.  If you missed it, you can just scroll down – so don’t panic. And now, to Tuesday…

You guys know what?  I totally got the crank ghost up tonight after work.  If you would’ve asked me yesterday I would’ve said it might not happen at all this year.  See, my new rig was flawed, was tangling the strings and the thing wouldn’t work.  But then,  I got all nuts and made it work.  I also managed to set up the motion detector and prop timer for sound and animation and lighting.  I didn’t, however get it all hooked up or cable-managed.  But, good Lord I almost made my self-imposed October 15th deadline for all the old props being up and running.  Tomorrow I’ll hook things up and take a video of the coordinated triggering I setup for the popper and dropper so you can see it all in action.

Y’know… I get on to Sharaun a lot for being disorganized, unmotivated, and, at times, downright lazy.  I know, what a great husband, right? I like to think of myself as a shining example of organization and motivation, never letting myself falter.  Every once in a while though, I’ll step back and realize I’m a fairly lazy procrastinator in my own right.  Take for example the pair of tennis shoes outside our front door right now.  They’re all dusty and dirty so I stuck them out there to knock together a couple times before bringing back into the shoe rack in our closet.  Sounds prudent, right?  Yeah, all but for the part where I forgot to mention that I put those shoes out there right after removing them from my feet upon returning from our aborted JMT hike back in the first week of September.  So yeah, a month out there on the porch waiting for me to bring them in.  That’s pretty bad y’all… pretty bad.

Hey guess what?!  I actually posted some new pictures to Keaton’s gallery!  Yeah, I’m for real.  Now, even though I’m supposedly covering two months time with this update – I only managed to pull together a measly twenty decent pictures.  But, I figure it’s better than nothing.  You can go check out the new stuff by clicking right here.

Goodnight my friends.

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no tengo nada

Sorry for no Monday entry.  Sunday I spent the post-praise day working on the Halloween props, and with dinner guests that evening I found not a common moment between me being awake enough to write and me wanting to write.

Anyway, the props are about 80% ready – still some wiring and cable-tacking and fine-tuning to do before everything’s perfect.  Of course, setting things up wasn’t with out issue, and I found myself frustrated and pressured by some imagined deadline.  I’ll be happy if I get everything dialed in this week, and then can spend some time working on the “new” prop to see if I can get that working before the 31st.  I’ll let ya know.

I’ve really got little to post today… but I did want to share a little bit of why our daughter constantly amazes me.  And yeah, I guess this is sort of dad doing some bragging… but…

See, she’s got this little “music table” toy that sings all sort of songs.  It’s actually from when she was little, but we keep it around because she still enjoys it and it’s good for our friends with cruisin’ babies.   Anyway, the thing sings counting songs and the alphabet – and does both in English and Spanish according to how a little switch on the side is set.  Apparently, Keaton’s been practicing her alphabet in Spanish.  Check it:

[audio:alphabeto.mp3]
Better than I could do.

Awww, that’s the cutest Spanish alphabet I’ve ever freakin’ heard (that last bit goes something like, “La cancion del ABC y la sabes bein, cantas la tambein”).  I love that girl like she was money.

Oh and because I’m so behind in updating Keaton’s gallery, Megan posted some new pictures of Keaton (and one hilarious one of yours truly too) – and Bill posted some of Keaton and Jake from our first debate-watching party (yes, we’re old) – and Ragan posted some from when they visited.  Go check them out here, here and here, respectively.  Thanks for doing my work, folks.

Goodnight y’allz.

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bring on the pumpkin, turkey, & reindeer

Humpday.  Sorry no entry yesterday, my brain failed.  Not much more for you today, I’m afraid.

Tonight Sharaun had volleyball and I was on daddy-duty.  And, I gotta admit I kinda neglected Keaton in favor of the debates.  Man, was it tough.  She just wanted to play, y’all.  It was heartbreaking.  I’m a bad dad.

A couple times I obliged her and paused the sparring senators so we could “hide from bears” (huh?) and “do decorations” with crayons.  But, for the most part I was a deadbeat dad sucked in by the glow of the plasma and the soft lull of two men babbling.  You don’t need me to analyze the thing, so I won’t – but I will say that I found it a lot more interesting than the initial debate.  If you missed it, rewind your Betamax and get your watch on!

Today was a wall-to-wall day at work… a 7am meeting with Germany and a meeting until 7pm with Japan.  Delivering the same message to both – and what a difference culture can make.  The meticulous and honorable Japanese refuse to take a simple “no” for an answer, while the Germans make an extremely detailed evaluation of the data and arrive at the sober conclusion that “no” is the only technically-feasible answer.  One meeting fairly easy, one hard – both equally uncomfortable for having to be the bearer of bad news.  Maybe that’s what they pay me for… because it’s surely not the stuff of paragraph-three over here (one of my very favorite unedited bits I’ve published).

Today when I walked out of work wearing my jeans and tucked-in company-logo polo (matching belt, shoes, and socks too, I’ll have you know) – I noticed that, for the first time this year, I was comfortable with the outside temperature even in pants.  As I was thinking that the weather must be turning, a windblown leaf skittered across my path.  And then another, and another.  This and the flirting rains this weekend past say that Fall is in the air – and I couldn’t be happier.  My favorite season, my favorite time of year, my favorite succession of family-oriented holidays.  C’mon Fall, make haste.  Bring on the pumpkin, turkey, and reindeer.

I dunno guys… there’s no magic tonight.  Sharaun’s snoring on the other couch and the remote for the TV is buried amongst her in the blanket and cushions… so I’ve left the television on but have switched on the iPod as the audio.  Right now Jerry Garcia is soundtracking an episode of Dateline or 48hrs Mystery or something… did you guys know Rubin & Cherise killed some plumber in the Hamptons?  Or… something.

That’s it, this is without point at this point.  I love you guys for real, let’s meet somewhere for a beer and some catchup.

Goodnight.

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hide and seek

Happy Friday-minus-one my fellow internet lurkers.  I talk music and politics today, although I think I weave the taboo topics in smartly enough that you’ll enjoy the narrative wrapped around them.  So, give it a try, wouldja?  Thanks.

I’m happy to share that I seem to be on the mend from my brief battle with a hit-and-run stomach sickness earlier this week.  And, even if it did force the cancellation of a long-planned trip to Oregon for some important (no, seriously, I missed something important) work-business and some even more-important family-business, I’m glad to share that I am once again comfortable enough to willfully pass gas without first heading to the bathroom.

Being at home today, and feeling much better than yesterday (and worlds better than Monday), I had some idle time on my hands.  I decided to try something I’ve been considering for a long time: Importing all my music into iTunes so that I can actually sync my Apple devices (iPod and iPhone) as they are designed.  So, I undertook that Herculean effort.  And, I’ll stop talking about it here now because I’ve broken off the detailed tech-heavy explanation into it’s very own blog entry you can read below (unless you’re an uber-nerd though, I don’t really recommend it).

Guys, guys, guys.  There are only a few unsolved musical mysteries left for me to ponder.  And, tonight, I totally solved one of the longest-running ones.  While I was sitting here typing, my iPod happened to shuffle up a live performance by Van Morrison (hey, it’s a 1-in-42,000 shot, them’s some odds!).  Now, this isn’t just any live performance, this is an incredible, amazing, vibrantly “alive” live vetting of Van’s “Summertime In England.  And, it’s a recording that I’ve been obsessed with for years.  Let’s tell the story, shall we?

Back in middle and high school, my best buddy Kyle was my musical sage, muse, encyclopedia, and conduit.  For a time, I got everything through Kyle, who himself got it all from his father by way of dubbed cassette tapes in the mail.  In a previous longwinded entry, I wrote about my “Kyle connection” thusly:

When I met Kyle after we moved to Florida, things exploded. With the influence his dad had on his extremely-mature-for-his-age and varied musical tastes, and the mainline connection to his dad’s collection in Texas (via dubbed cassettes again, but of course), my horde of lovingly hand-labeled 90min Maxells flourished.

Ahh… still as delicate a prose as the day I penned it, and just as accurate too.

Anyway, one of those recordings scored via a dubbed cassette from Kyle’s dad was a live version of a Van Morrison song before then unknown to me.  All I knew was that when I put on that tape and listened to that eleven minute orgy of musical and lyrical genius, I was transported.  Smiles creased my face unbidden, and the tune seemed to mate perfectly with the Fall weather of the season in which I first heard it. I was smitten from the moment I heard it, not even knowing the name of the tune.

I can remember vividly driving to Sharaun’s house early one Saturday morning in my little Red Nissan (perhaps it was still my parents’ litte Red Nissan at the time, actually).  I had the windows down and the cool Florida air (a welcome rarity for the few months we get it) streamed in as I listened to the tape.  The saxophones swelled as I crossed US-1 towards the river.  I remember we were headed to a pancake breakfast at McDonalds, I think to raise money for her soccer, or volleyball, or maybe it was softball team (Sharaun is the jock in our family).

The point being, that song was indelibly inked into my mind in that moment.

Somewhere along the road, as things transitioned from tape to CD, I put that well-worn cassette away.  And, eventually, somewhere in my college-years moves from apartment to apartment, I lost it altogether.  I never forgot that song though…

Several years later, after marrying Sharaun and moving to California, I decided I wanted to hear that song again.  Over the years, I’d done a fair job collecting a bunch of bootlegs – and I’d always been keen to pick up a new illicit Van Morrison recording in hopes my fabled song would be included.  Although I never did find the song, I had long before been able to identify the name of the track as “Summertime in England.”  Unfortunately, the song is a staple of many live Van performances – and trying to find a particular version based on vague memories of between-band banter just wasn’t that easy.

Believe me, I tried.  I e-mailed die-heard Van collectors every detail of the show I could recall.  I mentioned that he thanked the members of the band by name, and that he did this echoed lyrical interplay with another vocalist during the performance, where one guy copied the other guy almost at the same instant he sung his line.  They did the same thing with the guitar, I noted.  Not a bad level of detail from a then musty memory, but I had zero luck in locating the actual performance I was after.  Don’t get me wrong, I did manage to acquire ten or so other fantastic live versions of the song which kind collectors guessed might be the one I was after… but no paydirt despite my hunt.

Then, finally, out of frustration, I decided to cut to the chase.  Sometime in 2004 or so I decided to e-mail Kyle’s dad directly and just ask him about the performance.  I wondered, in my e-mail, if he recalled where in the world he got the tape… or did he even know what performance I was referring to?  I figured going to the source was my best option.  Turns out Kyle’s dad knew instantly exactly which song I was referring to (of course he would, he’s the same as me in that way).  However, he said he “thought” he recalled dubbing his cassette off an old VHS he’d recorded from a television broadcast, but could remember nothing more than that.

He did, however, still have that dub and promptly offered to send me a CD-R copy.  I supplied my address, the CD came, I thanked him profusely and dutifully ripped the now legendary-to-me performance onto my iPod… which brings us back full-circle to it being shuffled up tonight.

As my face beamed listening to the song again, I began wondering about typing some exact phrases from the band banter into Google… just fishing.  Turns out I got a single hit on the phrase “Mr. Morrison” “Mr. Hospitality.”  It led me to a message board where it mentioned a “Beacon ’89” show.  A few Google searches later and I’d landed on a YouTube clip of Van Morrison and his band playing “Summertime In England” live at the Beacon Thearer in New York City in November 1989 (too bad it’s clipped at the beginning).  And, wouldn’t you know it… it was the song.  That’s right, the version I’d been looking for forever (and, I suppose, had actually “found” a few years back – although still not fully knowing all the background).

And, with a little more digging I’d turned up the fact that a two-disc soundboard quality bootleg of the show exists under the title Inspired Evenings.  Minutes after that, that very bootleg was streaming it’s way, via a series of bits and bytes, onto my hard drive – from the very nether regions of the internet.  And now it’s done, one great mystery solved.  Next – the unidentifiable mixtape of 1992… I swear I’m gonna crack that case one day… I just know it.

OK, end music stuff.

Before I go, I wanted to remind everyone (even if you voted in a recent primary) to go ahead and double-check your registered voter status.  With deadlines looming in nearly every state, it’s in your best interest to confirm your registered status so you have no surprises at your polling place come November.  And yes, I mean this regardless of whom you intend to vote for 🙂

To check your status in your state, use the this handy website (quite a few states have quick and painless online status checking).  Happy democracying!

G’nite.

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change of plans

I should be in Oregon right now, gallivanting around under the pretense of “work” at the big manager summit at the mountain lodge resort.  But, I’m not.

‘Round about 3pm yesterday my stomach began knotting, and soon I was leaving my desk to head for the restroom.  And then again; and then again.  By the time I was home, lying prone in bed was the only effective way to stave off the nausea.  It worked, but only for a time.  The remainder of the night was awful.

Around midnight, my head in my hands in a then familiar posture as I sat on the throne, I mentally called off the trip.  After shuffling back to bed, I grabbed the iPhone from the windowsill and poked out an e-mail to my boss saying I was not going.  I called Southwest around 5am and canceled my flight, and later in the day called my Mom and broke the bad news that we’d not be there for the weekend.  She was bummed, but seemed to understand.

I feel a mite better now that the day has progressed.  Sharaun had volleyball tonight so I agreed to get out of bed for an hour and watch some Backyardigans with Keaton.  It’s OK, we’re watching “A Giant Problem,” which is my absolute favorite episode, because of the super-catchy 80s-themed soundtrack (well, right behind “Tale of the Mighty Knights,” which is a full-length prog-rock opera).  No, seriously folks, I’ve written about my appreciation for the music on this show before… I can seriously watch and enjoy them.

OK folks, I’m sleepy again.  Goodnight.

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it’s cool y’all

‘Round 9pm and Sharaun’s out (more on that later).  I’m listening to the iPod on shuffle, just switched from some late 50s free-jazz to Radiohead’s “Stop Whispering” to James Brown live at the Apollo.  I love shuffle.

Just another Friday here in America.  You know, no closure on our government’s taxpayer-backed $700B Wall Street bailout; the largest bank seizure ever with Washington Mutual being commandeered by the FDIC before it can crumble on it’s own, then later sold piecemeal to JP Morgan; even China won’t lend us money anymore…

It’s cool y’all.  Don’t worry.  Oh!  Did you see the new Real Rules Road World challenge!?  I totally almost choked on my Grilled Stuffed Chalupa when that one gay dude was making out with that inflatable sex doll in Vatican Square!  It was, like, so hilarious, I had to put down my People magazine and full-on got Fire Sauce all over the picture of Brad Pitt’s newest and blackest baby.

What a mess; what a mess.

We can get past this.  Let’s write…

At work, I usually run the MSN instant messaging client in the background on my laptop.  We have our own internal-only sawmill IM client, but I use the MSN one to talk to people outside of work.  Typically this is limited to Sharaun, and maybe on or two other friends who don’t happen to work at the same sawmill or live in the same state/country as me.  It’s useful for quick communication with Sharaun though, particularly if I’m tied up in a meeting – as I can type out a quick answer to things like, “Hey, can you pick up some milk on the way home?” and the like.

Sometimes though, IM just doesn’t cut it.  That delay between reading and writing can really gum up the gears of a conversation.  Take, for example, this exchange between Sharaun and I this morning.  She was at home, presumably eating bon-bons and doing her toenails, and I was at work, winning bread or some such.  Marvel:

sharaun says:
oh
tonight
you know color me mine
that pottery painting place by the bounce place

dave knows all your secrets says:
i don’t really know it, why?

sharaun says:
I wanted to go if that was ok with you

Straight-forward enough.  At this point, I think I understand what’s going.  There’s some paint-your-own pottery place around here (apparently next to the bounce place we sometimes take Keaton) and she wants to go.  I’m not sure, however if she’s asking if I want to go with her, or if she’s asking if she can go with a friend (meaning she’s actually asking me if I’m OK with Keaton for the evening).   So, I proceed to inquire down this path:

dave knows all your secrets says:
are you asking me to go?

sharaun says:
yes
that’s what “I wanted to go if that was ok with you” means

OK, makes sense now.  She’s asking if we all want to go, as a family, to the paint-your-own pottery place over by the bouncy place we sometimes take Keaton.  Glad I asked.  At this point, I’m already typing up the explanation of why I misunderstood her the first time.  See, I want to explain that I was just unsure if she was asking me to go, or asking if she could go with a friend.  But, right before I hit send on that message, she replies again:

sharaun says:
anyway, there is a MOPS moms night out there tonight at 6:30

And, seconds later, I hit “enter” on the sentence I’d been typing”

dave knows all your secrets says:
i thought you might be asking if it’s OK if you go w/liz and spend money or something.  when?
you want to go tonight?

On her end, confusion blooms:

sharaun says:
I said 6:30
MOPS
not Liz
are you reading what I type at all?

Man, I hate it when this happens.  Now we’re exactly one thought out of sync.  I try to type a little faster and make my seemingly misplaced explanation a little more clear:

dave knows all your secrets says:
when you asked me if it was OK, i didn’t know if you were asking me to go or asking if you could go w/someone else (assumed liz)

There, that’s totally clear, right?  I just misunderstood her.

sharaun says:
no. It’s tonight at 6:30. Do you mind?
I can have dinner ready beforehand

OK, now I’m getting confused.  It’s the phrase “Do you mind?” that out of place here to me.  I need some further clarification, and attempt to get it:

dave knows all your secrets says:
do you normally ask someone if they “mind” when you’re trying to invite them somewhere?  sounds like you’re wondering if i “mind” you going w/o me?
how long would we be there?

See, the whole “Do you mind” thing really makes it seem like she’s asking if I mind her going… it just seemed like an odd way to ask me to join my own family at the paint-your-own pottery place up by the bouncy place we sometimes take Keaton to.  I mean, she clearly told me above that she was asking me to go with her… right?  Her response:

sharaun says:
I am asking if you mind watching K
no

Oh, wait… what?  Now she is asking if I mind her going and leaving Keaton with me.  By now, I am royally confused, and have decided we are having two totally different conversations.  I let her know this as tactfully as I can:

dave knows all your secrets says:
good god you make no sense

There.  That should do it.

sharaun says:
MOM’S NIGHT OUT
what about that makes you think you are invited?

Ouch.

dave knows all your secrets says:
you never said that

Whoops, my first mistake.  I was spotless up until here.  I should’ve been reading a bit closer back there I suppose.

sharaun says:
sharaun  says:
anyway, there is a MOPS moms night out there tonight at 6:30

Oh, I see.  She copied her own sentence from a few lines above.

dave knows all your secrets says:
lol

sharaun says:
really
I never said that?

OK.  Whatever.  This conversations is almost over.

dave knows all your secrets says:
i’m going to punch off your face

sharaun says:
not if yours is already laying on the ground and you can’t see me

dave knows all your secrets says:
no sure, that’s fine.
i don’t mind.
i like watching her

sharaun says:
ok

dave knows all your secrets says:
plus i get to listen to music when you’re gone.

sharaun says:
I’ll make you a pretty piece of pottery

dave knows all your secrets says:
OK, make a bong so i can smoke tons of weed…
and then maybe you’ll make sense

sharaun says:
hahah

dave knows all your secrets says:
love you.  sorry i don’t read right.

A flawed technology, I tell you… flawed.

Well, Sharaun’s car decided to crap out on the side of the road today.  I went to rescue her (and Keaton) and the thing was towed off to the local shop.  No word yet on the damages, but I suspect some kind of transmission problem (because, as you know, I’m an expert in all things car).  So, we’re doing the one vehicle thing with her taking me to work (which also means she has to take me by the donut place beforehand tomorrow – can’t come empty handed on my turn for the rotating managers-bring-donuts Friday). It’s cool, two cars is overrated.

Hey, Bill put up some pictures from our “extended lunch” the other day when we drove downtown to meet Sharaun and Susie at the circus.  Since I haven’t posted pictures of Keaton in ages, you should go check out what she looks like with her new retro bob and black dye-job.  Man… I think Bill’s camera needs an adjustment, I look globular.

Goodnight friends, have a good weekend and I’ll holla at you Monday.