Tangled in a World Wide Web

Hard to believe but, yet another year has passed. As I sit here waiting for the ringing in of another year, or the passing on of another, I look back over the past 12 months and while there are several high points, there are just as many lows. More importantly, being the glutton for punishment and masochist that I am, I chose to review my post from a year ago regarding my thoughts on New years Resolutions. Sadly, and against my own better judgement, I chose to list the things I wanted to change or improve. So instead of creating a new list here of renewed futility, I decided to outline my own epic fail. * * * I have never been particularly vain, but here on the other side of forty, I do carry a few extra pounds and I listed this as one of the things I would work on. I buy Lean Cuisine "nuke-n-pukes" and mostly low-fat everything and, still I fight the battle of the bulge. * * * After falling backwards into a job I never would have looked for, and subsequently becoming somewha...

I like to think of myself as a curmudgeon 1 . Most people have different names for me. Most are not particularly flattering and if I had feelings or cared what anyone else thought, I might be upset. Luckily, I sleep soundly, never giving it or them a second thought. I remember I used to love Christmas... as a child, as a teenager, even as a young adult raising two kids. Somewhere along the way, the magic died, the stress, the financial burden, the greed and commercialization all took over and a Grinch was born - or hatched. As the kids got older, and particularly after they left home and I transitioned into a single, forty-ish bachelor living alone, I became less enamored and more jaded. This year has seemed especially hard for many reasons. The weather has been warm. I haven't had much money (big club, I know), I didn't see much chance of my getting back to my hometown and family for the holidays and aside from being a world-class procrastinator, I was working constantly and d...

Where can I get THAT, you ask... Over 700 online merchants are participating in the second annual Free Shipping Day from www.freeshippingday.com . In 2007, Luke Knowles of FreeShipping.org noticed that after about Dec. 10th, Internet shopping all but came to a halt. Many people are afraid that their orders won't make it on time or they'll have to pay exorbitant shipping to get it. An idea was born and in the Summer of 2008, preparations began for the first ever Free Shipping Day. When freeshippingday.com launched, it was expected to have 25 participating merchants. By the time Free Shipping Day came on Dec. 18th 2008, there were over 250. The site drew a quarter of a million hits over a 10 day period including over 100,000 hits on the actual day. It was such a huge success that Knowles started immediately planning and preparing for this year's event. The goal this year was a lofty 500 merchants. That mark was left in the dust about a week ago and as I write this now I just...

This is an oldie but I found it recently and got a chuckle so I thought I would share... ______________________________________________ I found my pet's diaries ... I can't believe what they have to say... Pet Diary Excerpts The Dog's Diary 8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing! 9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing! 9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing! 10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing! 12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing! 1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing! 3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing! 5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing! 7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing! 8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing! 11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing! The Cat's Diary Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Altho...

Many of you may be aware that last weekend I went to Montgomery for the Jubilee CityFest. Essentially, two days of concerts on three different stages across downtown. There were all types of artists and groups and music represented. Just a few acts that were there: LL COOL J Hinder 3 Doors Down Montgomery Gentry Candlebox Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Darius Rucker (former lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish) Tone Loc Bow Wow Unfortunately, many of the concerts were happening at the same time. This means I didn't see everyone I wanted to and I had to choose in some cases. I missed LL Cool J and Hootie. I saw Hinder and Candlebox and 3 Doors Down. They were the main reasons we went anyway.  Friday night after the concerts ended, we went back to the hotel and discovered we had just missed LL COOL J, who was staying in the same hotel. We were a little bummed but it was cool to know that he was there.  Hinder was so awesome as was 3 Doors Down. Candlebox surprised me by doing a little mont...

How often we forget that Memorial Day is more than just a day off, a means to a three day weekend or the beginning of grilling season. In truth, it was established specifically to honor the fallen men (and later, women) of the militia.  It saddens me to admit that I, myself, have been guilty of treating Memorial Day like a pseudo-holiday. There are no presents to buy, no cards, and many companies don't even offer it as a day off. This is especially sad because so many families have, in one way or another, felt a loss associated with military service.  My grandfather was in the military ( 101st Airborne - Screaming Eagles ). He jumped at  Normandy  on  D-Day (June 6, 1944)  and again into Holland in September. He was captured in October and remained a POW until he was liberated in May 1945. Though he was not killed in action and lived a full life until November 1998, he gave much of himself overseas. Forced to  march in the snow for nearly three months , his feet were badly frozen a...

So, maybe I am a slacker. I was gonna send my mom flowers on Mother's Day and I had found a beautiful arrangement that was perfect. It was the perfect colors and I was excited about it. It was about $42 and I knew there would be other charges. I even added an option that took it up about another $5. When I started to check out, it jumped up to about $65. I thought, "Damn! Do I really want to spend that much on something that will rot in about a week?" I decided to hold off. Long story short, I tried again later, decided WTF.  It was now gonna cost $85. I just couldn't do it. Sorry Mom. Now, this doesn't mean that I don't think my mom is worth that amount. It just means I don't think dead flowers are worth that much.  Sometimes it's just Goodbye... After giving up on that plan, I found a great gift - one I've been halfway keeping an eye on for a while. It was a digital frame that was large (800x600), took all kinds of memory cards and a USB cable an...

This is a response to a blog from a friend of mine which was a response to a blog from a "friend" of hers...  My friend is a lesbian; her 'friend' disapproves. Read on. I am never so appalled as when a 'christian' starts espousing faith-based "wisdom" about something that is controversial. I find it especially telling when you ask one of 'them' to explain or substantiate some of their ranting...  You are liable to get the same old rhetoric and hoopla and when all else fails the old standby  "...that's what faith is all about".  As near as I can tell, the ultimate goal is to make certain that absolutely no one is happy (except the mindless drones who meander contentedly through life, denying themselves many forms of pleasure in the now, for a promise of eternal happiness forever-after -- after they die that is).   So here is this wonderful, loving, christian woman writing about how forgiving she and God can be of the horrible evi...

Everyone likes to feel special, right? Sure we do.  Don't let anyone tell you that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. It is all about feeling special. We want that one woman (or person, sorry), that makes us feel like we can do anything and we can do it better than anyone else. That's the secret. I have to move on before this becomes a very different blog. This weekend, a few of us went to the newest Mexican restaurant in the area, La Parilla , again. We have become fans. I should mention that we have been a few times.   I went in and put in for a table of four and was handed the vibrating thingy . I asked how long and the girl estimated about 25 minutes. I went back to let the rest of the group know.  As we stood waiting outside, enjoying the pre -summer afternoon and a little banter amongst ourselves, the guy who has been our server several times (maybe every time), caught our attention and asked if we'd like to sit there on the patio.  As it was a nice...

So, it's been a while since I blogged. Yesterday was a month because, for three weeks I had no internet. It had something to do with the freakin' 40 days and 40 nights of rain that nearly washed away my humble abode. (OK, It was more like 2½ weeks.) Because of this extended and unplanned hiatus, I have several unrelated items to air out. So, if this seems disjointed and rambling - it is. The Job I still have the same job, working for a company with nearly 200 employees and about 220 faces. Also I have discovered that, after two and a half years in school, struggling to get a degree (while working full-time), I have achieved the heady title of Overpaid Typist.  I am all choked up. The Car I still have the same car that I spent over $1250 to get running after the "Total Loss" of my perfectly good one. I haven't had a lot of trouble out of it other than the fact that it is 16 years old and during the aforementioned monsoon season a couple weeks ago, leaked like a sie...

The videos didn't work very well.  The audio was horrible.  Not going to post anything with audio because of it.  Here's a link to some pics .  They were all taken with my phone so...

I haven't been to a real concert in ages. I have seen some live performances, some very good ones, but I haven't actually gone to a serious ear-bleeding concert in more years than I can count. This was a choice I made consciously, a supposed informed decision. As of this moment, I cannot remember what logic I used to arrive at that decision. Last night (Monday), I went to a concert in Columbus, GA. (I know, right?) For just over forty dollars, I was privy to Papa Roach, BuckCherry and Avenged Sevenfold, along with newcomers Burn Halo. Now, I know that A7X was the headliner with BuckCherry but I was most looking forward to Papa Roach. Either way, for forty bucks, I couldn't miss. If it wasn't bad enough that I was the old guy at a concert definitely not targeted to my specific demographic, but I had to go alone. {collective awww} (I know, right?) My buddy had to back out because of some work entanglements. I almost didn't go myself because I wasn't sure I wanted ...

Let me say, without any bias at all, that my niece is a budding actress and a damn fine one at that. All of my sister's children have participated at one time or another in plays and skits and such. Spenser, at 14, has decided he prefers behind the scenes work now, usually with lighting and or sound. Reed, 10, won an outstanding student award this summer, after attending a camp sponsored by the Springer Opera House, an honor for sure. Sydney, 7, and Macy, who just turned 6 last week have each had small roles in several productions at Family Theatre . My sister and her husband Jason, have acted, directed, written and everything else you can name from snacks to photos. Last night, (Saturday) I saw Macy in her first lead role; it was the title character in Heidi. Now, I'm no actor, nor am I a critic. I consider anyone who can get onstage in front of a bunch of people without wetting themselves darn talented and darn lucky. However, Saturday night, in a show of about 14 characters ...

A friend invited me over on the pretense of returning a borrowed book. I say pretense because, I am convinced the ulterior motive was good, old-fashioned torture. When I arrived, it was already in motion. Seemingly innocuous, it stood off to the side like a wallflower, like the middle school student who came to the dance without a date. "Would you like to play a game?" I'm reminded of an old movie with Matthew Broderick and Dabney Coleman. "No, I have to get home." It was true; Grey's Anatomy was not a repeat and besides, I'm a proud couch potato. "Just one game... it's awesome!" Finally, I relented to try baseball, because "all you have to do is hit a home run". Yeah, like point and shoot with an M1 Abrams Tank. No problem. Thirty balls later and I'm breathing like a pervert with a burn phone. "Let's try bowling." Bowling sounds good... no real athleticism involved. My kind of game. Turns out, I haven't bo...

I am not naive. I know how the real world works; I just never lowered myself to that standard. I guess I have come, once again, to that crossroad, the time to make a decision about myself, my work and my ethics.  This is not hard for me. I am forty years old and never once have I wavered on certain things. I do not go to work to be popular, and ambition is a younger man's game. I try to stay within the guidelines of the company I work for - which can be hard when they are ever-changing. I do not brown-nose or suck up. I speak my mind no matter who it offends. I do not say anything privately that I would not say publicly and most importantly. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. One of the lowest forms of life has two faces. It is the most vile and disgusting creature that slithers across the planet. It is not very smart but it is cunning. It has long been my belief that these filthy critters were ephemeral, flitting in and out of the periphery of life and finally dying slow and...

I guess it truly is inevitable. One day, we all wake up, look in the mirror and see our parents... I grew up in a single parent home and while I was certainly aware of the difference (back then, most of my friends had two parents living at home), I never felt as if I were missing anything important. I never felt deprived or underprivileged, neglected or abused. I knew that we didn't have everything that we wanted and that my mother struggled constantly to make ends meet but we had everything we needed. There was never a time when we were hungry or cold or naked.  My father's contribution, beyond the initial biological donation, was mostly empty promises. I suppose, on some level, as a child, I hoped for more occasionally; but by the time I was a teenager and working, and as I became more aware of the tenuous balancing act that my mother had been performing for my whole life -- as I began to understand the sacrifices she had made over and over again to keep from having to always...