Welcome to 2006!

As I sit here and watch Train at the House of Blues in Chicago, my excitement builds toward the beginning of the next year and with the new year comes the new look. I hope you like it.

I am have had the great pleasure of learning about other people's views on religion, life, things that make them laugh, things that make them cry, and things the truly piss people off. I appreciate all of it. I am a very new blogging and am truly enjoying it. Actually, I must say I haven't really enjoyed something like this for a very long time (say 20 years). I like being able to express myself and have found it extremely therapeutic.

So, who to blame? Well, there is my wife (QueenSuchandSuch), who as of tonight has decided to stop protecting all of her posts and open them to the entire Xanga community, my kids (all 4), and especially all of you. I have only been really blogging since December 20 and in that time, I have subscribed to 27 people, and to my surprise, 17 have subscribed to me! I find is hard to believe that there are that many people out there who haven't taken their medication. For all of you prescription dodgers, I bow to you (Please don't chop off my head).

2006 holds promise for all your dreams, resolutions, and ambitions. Just keep your eye on the target, and it will surely come.

Happy New Year!

Each year I struggle to answer a few questions (I always have questions). What makes January 1 the first day of the year? Why aren't we using a clock and time system that makes more sense? Why aren't we using the Chinese or Aztec calendar?

As many of you know, this year we will have 1 entire extra second. For those who don't know...um...we get an extra second this year, so if you have a quartz watch, fix it. When you ask? Well, for you in the Central time zone (such as me), it is at 1:00PM today! Here is how it works. Today, my clock ticks:

12:59:5812:59:5912:59:601:00:00

How often does this happen you ask? About once every 18 months. Why? because when the Roman Catholic church put what we use as a calendar together, they were off. Fact is, they were off a lot! This is not the first Roman calendar either. We actually use the Gregorian calendar. Now for the quick history lesson...

The Roman Calendar

When Rome emerged as a world power, the difficulties of making a calendar were well known, but the Romans complicated their lives because of their superstition that even numbers were unlucky. Hence their months were 29 or 31 days long, with the exception of February, which had 28 days. However, four months of 31 days, seven months of 29 days, and one month of 28 days added up to only 355 days. Therefore the Romans invented an extra month called Mercedonius of 22 or 23 days. It was added every second year.

Even with Mercedonius, the Roman calendar eventually became so far off that Julius Caesar, advised by the astronomer Sosigenes, ordered a sweeping reform in 45 B.C. One year, made 445 days long by imperial decree, brought the calendar back in step with the seasons. Then the solar year (with the value of 365 days and 6 hours) was made the basis of the calendar. The months were 30 or 31 days in length, and to take care of the 6 hours, every fourth year was made a 366-day year. Moreover, Caesar decreed the year began with the first of January, not with the vernal equinox in late March.

This calendar was named the Julian calendar, after Julius Caesar, and it continues to be the calendar of the Eastern Orthodox churches to this day. However, despite the correction, the Julian calendar is still 111/2 minutes longer than the actual solar year, and after a number of centuries, even 111/2 minutes adds up.

The Gregorian Reform

By the 15th century the Julian calendar had drifted behind the solar calendar by about a week, so that the vernal equinox was falling around March 12 instead of around March 20. Pope Sixtus IV (who reigned from 1471 to 1484) decided that another reform was needed and called the German astronomer Regiomontanus to Rome to advise him. Regiomontanus arrived in 1475, but unfortunately he died shortly afterward, and the pope's plans for reform died with him.
Then in 1545, the Council of Trent authorized Pope Paul III to reform the calendar once more. Most of the mathematical and astronomical work was done by Father Christopher Clavius, S.J. The immediate correction, advised by Father Clavius and ordered by Pope Gregory XIII, was that Thursday, Oct. 4, 1582, was to be the last day of the Julian calendar. The next day would be Friday, Oct. 15. For long-range accuracy, a formula suggested by the Vatican librarian Aloysius Giglio was adopted: every fourth year is a leap year unless it is a century year like 1700 or 1800. Century years can be leap years only when they are divisible by 400 (e.g., 1600 and 2000). This rule eliminates three leap years in four centuries, making the calendar sufficiently accurate.

In spite of the revised leap year rule, an average calendar year is still about 26 seconds longer than the Earth's orbital period. But this discrepancy will need 3,323 years to build up to a single day.

"History of the Calendar." Infoplease.© 2000–2005 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.31 Dec. 2005 http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0002061.html.

There are a couple other things that the calendar does not consider. One, the earth is slowing on it's axis. Second is time zones. Time zones is another creation of man that was originally created to help the railroads. What? That's right, the railroads created the need for time zones. Citys and towns all over the world used to have different times. Cities would measure their clock on solar time. So, Chicago, Illinois might be 6:30PM...Peoria, Illinois about 150 miles southwest would be 6:25PM. So, time zones were made. This is also not a terribly well thought out concept. First, it didn't take into account air travel nor computers (which they didn't have at the time).

Which brings me to my next point and I actually have one...Let's change it. Why can't we use ONE clock in the world? In a way we do anyway. All computers are set to GMT, now called UTC for Coordinated Universal Time (I didn't mix up the acronym, that's really right). If we did this, it would also eliminate the semi-yearly clock change MOST of us feel. I hate that and will discuss that in much more detail when the time comes. I don't have a problem going to work at 12:30PM and coming home at 8:30PM...Just because the clock has that time doesn't mean that is what the sun says...Maybe in my location the sun is up between 11:30AM and 1:00AM. I digress.

My solution: Lets get the "Numbers" TV show guy and Stephen Hawking (Astro-physicist) together and have them design a real calendar and real clock to avoid all of this confusion for eternity.

Oh, (stepping off my soapbox)...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Edit @ 1:00PM: OK, my kids and I huddled around the computer watching the clock tick through from 12:59:59 to 1:00:00. I guess Microsoft didn't take into account the extra second. I do have to admit, it was more exciting than most New Year's countdowns.

After further investigation, the leap second is at 11:59:60PM UTC. Well, I guess I get to do this again at 5:59PM Central Time. Either way, Microsoft didn't account for it.

When I moved to the Chicagoland area I was asked one question all the time. "Cubs or Sox?" Well, my answer is "for what?" I am not a big baseball fan although the White Sox winning the World Series was fun. Fact is, there are very few sports I really enjoy watching. The key word here is watching. I like to bowl, but I don't like watching. I mean lets face it, golf is boring as hell to watch on TV. In my best golf announcer voice "the ball is about 20 feet from the hole with a 2 degree slant to the left. I hope he doesn't hit it too hard..."

Could it be Baseball? Football? Soccer? Basketball? Golf? Curling? Swimming? no it's Hockey! Ice Hockey to be specific. Fact is, I had the opportunity to see the Cubs and White Sox many times and declined. I am not interested in sitting in a freezing cold football stadium either.

Why ice hockey? Lets think of the talent, and physical and mental abilities involved with ice hockey.

First, people have to stand and skate on 2 thin strips of metal on ICE thus making them farther off of the ground. I have a hard time standing on skates on bare ground let alone moving backward and forward on ice. I tend to use my backside more than the skates when on ice.
Second, everyone has a lethal weapon. A long stick with a flattened curved end which depending on the player could be sharpened to a razors edge. Sticks are moving into skate paths, arms, faces again while attempting to ice skate.

Next comes the puck, keeping in mind this is vulcanized rubber. Now you would think that vulcanized rubber would have some give to it when you are clipped in the ankle by it going 100 plus miles per hour. No, you see pucks are frozen before the game even starts, making it rather solid. For you scientist out there, bounce a frozen and a room temperature puck.

We aren't done yet boys and girls, you see besides standing on ice on two pieces of metal, watching for sticks and keeping an eye on the puck, you have to attempt to place this puck gently or by bazooka into the net protected by a very fast reflex guy with more pads and a bigger stick than any other player. His body mass alone is about 1/2 to 3/4 of the entire net. So, you buddy while following the rules passes it to you without a blue line issue (oh yeah, there are rules). You manage to dodge from being made a blob on the giant plexiglass wall all the way around the ring and catch the frozen puck flying at you at 100 MPH, keep control of the puck while the sticks hit your forearm, and attempt a slapshot into the net with 3 other team players and a goalie blocking it. (long sentence I know...used for effect)

If you really upset someone, boxing on skates. Gloves off, sticks thrown and fists as well, until someone falls down. That is just in the stands. Hockey fans are very vocal in their approval or disapproval, very unlike cricket or polo. A cup of beer is like having a water balloon ready to be lauched. That's why guys always buy two.

Now, I can play sports, like bowling (if that is really considered a sport) and not enjoy watching bowling. However, I do NOT play hockey. It is the best game ever played and I love to watch it.
Tonight, I see the Blackhawks. I was a long time Capitals fan, but when in Chicago...

edit: Well, due to personal and work-related crap going on, we had to bail on the Blackhawks game. Probably better... It is sleeting, and I would surely get into a fight tonight with all of the beers I need.

Ok, I am sitting here in bed and trying to watch Without a Trace. For the past month though the sound is every so slightly, ok, very annoying. The bass work great, the treble works great, the problem is everything in the middle. The background music is clear but the voices are pretty much non-existent. So, we turn up the volume to hear the show and when the commercials come on, it sounds like a Klaxon screaming to run for cover. It is really nice when d-d-d-d-d-Dora is on TV. They have songs every 5 minutes.

So, the question now becomes, eBay, WalMart or Best Buy. I really have not purchased a TV in so long, the last one I bought wasn't stereo sound. There are too many choices now. I remember having to choose between stereo and mono sound, black and white or color. Now there are sizes from 15 to 71 inches, tube, plasma, LCD, projection and DLP with or without DVD, computer input, S-Video, composite video... I don't know. I can manage to run a set of networks for billions of dollars in transaction per month, but I can't figure out how to buy a replacement TV for the bedroom.

I think I will just look for the cheapest.

It truly amazes me when people come up with new, ingenious ideas and actually turn them into something. As you can see from my previous posts, I use Reuters Oddly Enough as one of my main feeds. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, it is not usually the depressing news you normally see. Two, the articles make me laugh and think. Which brings me to one of todays articles about thinking outside the box.

I have had many money making ideas which have not or will not come to fruition. Some are unattainable because they require money, of which I have very little. The other reason is because I am behind the gun and someone already did it. For instance, before Amazon.com became the goliath of an online store it is now, one of my ideas was create an Amazon type mall called Mall.com. At that time, the name had not yet been taken and I built an entire business plan. Well, three things happened. I didn't register the webspace. I didn't build the website. Amazon beat me to it. Yeah, it took about 4 years to beat me to it, but they did none the less.

What prompted this blog, you ask? Well, MyLifeAndWorld commented to ilsurvive about the news and how he wishes one channel had good news instead of death and destruction (my words, not his). Great Idea! Someone needs to build a newscast that is not only regional but filled with nothing but good news. The news today is so depressing. Additionally, Reuters ran a story about a college kid with another million dollar idea.

I have business ideas galore that will never see the light of day rattling in my pea brain. Most of my ideas are complicated and require functions I am not able to provide such as:
A reverse EBay (you request the item and the people who have it bid to win your business with the lowest bid). Imagine buying a car THAT way. I would like a 2006 Honda Civic, Blue with a real spare tire. You have 48 hours for bids. Lowest bid wins.

A single store card (get rid of the grocery store, book store, pet store, coffee club, sport store cards and consolidate to a single store card). Stores would LOVE to have more demographics and I would LOVE not to have to fill my wallet with all of those cards.

There are more ideas that I am not willing to share yet. Maybe I should just play the lottery. I think my odds are better.

Cash pours in for student with $million idea

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - If you have an envious streak, you probably shouldn't read this.
Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.
Selling porn? Dealing prescription drugs? Nope. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the screen that appear when you call up his home page.

He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university.

The idea: turn his home page into a billboard made up of a million dots, and sell them for a dollar a dot to anyone who wants to put up their logo. A 10 by 10 dot square, roughly the size of a letter of type, costs $100.

He sold a few to his brothers and some friends, and when he had made $1,000, he issued a press release.

That was picked up by the news media, spread around the Internet, and soon advertisers for everything from dating sites to casinos to real estate agents to The Times of London were putting up real cash for pixels, with links to their own sites.

So far they have bought up 911,800 pixels. Tew's home page now looks like an online Times Square, festooned with a multi-colored confetti of ads.

"All the money's kind of sitting in a bank account," Tew told Reuters from his home in Wiltshire, southwest England. "I've treated myself to a car. I've only just passed my driving test so I've bought myself a little black mini."

The site features testimonials from advertisers, some of whom bought spots as a lark, only to discover that they were receiving actual valuable Web hits for a fraction of the cost of traditional Internet advertising.

Meanwhile Tew has had to juggle running the site with his first term at university, where he is studying business.

"It's been quite a difficulty trying to balance going to lectures and doing the site," he said.
But he may not have to study for long. Job offers have been coming in from Internet companies impressed by a young man who managed to figure out an original way to make money online.

"I didn't expect it to happen like that," Tew said. "To have the job offers and approaches from investors -- the whole thing is kind of surreal. I'm still in a state of disbelief."

Over the past week, my wife called a family meeting to discuss what we plan to do over the next year. What this means is she wants a plan. I am not terribly big on plans for life, although I think she may be on to something this time.

Since November 24, 2004 I have been an avid World of Warcraft player. I have a level 60 mage, level 53 paladin and multiple level 20 somethings. I have spent hours upon days playing these characters, levelling up, and building reputation with other races. To some of you this might seem Palauan (a lauguage of a small country of islands in the north Pacific), but to the avid WoW player, there is extensive time and effort included in each character. Since becoming a blogger...my name is John... I am an addict...I have found that there are actually other humans out there. I also realize that the last year of gaming was a complete waste of time and money ($15/month). After all, that 15 bucks could be my next turkey sandwich!

Therefore, as my first resolution for the new year, I am shutting down my World of Warcraft account. Whew, thats almost like admitting alcoholism. I only drink on occasion...like now...I came home early today. Err, where was I? Oh yeah, shutting down the game will probably make my work life more uncomfortable due to the fact my boss is the person who introduced it to me. I sometimes think if we aren't totally with him then we are against him. Whether it be someone playing a game, or managing a network with billions of dollars in transactions per month, you need to be thinking like he does.

My second resolution is to become more social. If any of you have read previous posts, you may have remembered one about bowling. Well, I am joining a bowling league. I pretty much suck at bowling, but with a handicap, I may be able to put on some pressure. I want to live life again. I have been in hiding since we moved to Illinois. I am ready to interact. Besides bowling, I am thinking I will join some civic organization. Not really sure which one, but they all help people as whole. I will have to review. I don't want to get caught up in one of those wear a hood or fez over your head type of organizations. The hood would just be contrary to my ancestry and the fez is just a stupid looking hat. After all, (in my best queer eye for the straight guy voice) it is all about fashion right?

Lastly, because I don't want to go overboard with things I may not be able to keep, I want to travel again. There was one time in Virginia that my wife, Avery and I went to breakfast at the local Bob Evans. After, we decided to go for a ride around D.C. We drove through D.C. and ended up on Baltimore Washington Parkway. BW Parkway is a pretty ride and we were enjoying the time together. So we talked until we were to Wilmington, Delaware where Andi asked, "where are we?" To which I replied "Wilmington." For all of those people who think New England is a state (another previous post), Wilmington is directly across the river from New Jersey on I-95. She then shocked me by asking "how far are we from New York?"

Now you have to understand, my wife has never been a traveller. I love driving and discovering new places. She never did that. I knew she had never seen New England, so to rectify that, I was thinking Portland, Maine would be a good stop.

My reply back to her was "about 3 hours." To my surprise, she agreed to continue on. She doesn't realize how small the northeastern states are. So after crusing through the big city, we end up in Connecticut. By the way, what do you call people from Connecticut? People from Virginia are Virginians. Texas has Texans. I digress. So as we hit Hartford, we decide lunch/dinner would be good and we may want to buy some clothes since we brought nothing but a diaper bag. We eat, hit Target for clothes and toiletries and continue. At night's fall while hunting for a hotel, we realize it is a holiday weekend. Most hotels are booked. We were able to get into Eastland Park Hotel and slept. We took the long way back through Rhode Island. My wife, Avery and I all had a great time. We vowed to take the other kids on the same trip and add a stop at the Mohegan Sun the next time. Both trips were great. I miss that. My wife complains about me just driving us all over the country, but secretly, I think she likes it. Last year we took a road trip to Milwaukee.

This year, I want to take her on a train ride to... maybe...hmm, Where's my map and dartboard?

Edit: People from Connecticut are called Connecticutians. What about Massachusetts?

Another Article from Reuters Oddly Enough prompted this thought. What the hell are they thinking? There is absolutely no way I would take a swim in a 36 degree lake for 1 second, let alone 1, 10 or 15 minutes! How is it possible that these people do not have their joints lock up, muscles tighten and their genitals not crawl well into the lungs?

I realize that there are some mentally unstable people out there who think that this is fun. When I get in the shower after the hot water is used up, first I scream like a girl, then I curl into the fetal position, and promptly crawl out. I can wait for the water to warm back up. It is much better than having my voice go from baritone to soprano.

So, how many of you have done the polar bear swim? How many of you still do the polar bear swim?

Naked in a freezing lake for good health

Mon Dec 26, 9:22 AM ET

Saying ice cold water is good for their health, a group of about 30 naked Germans jumped together into a Berlin lake for their annual Christmas swim Sunday.

Wearing nothing but red Santa Claus caps, the naked men and women aged between 25 and 73 went cheerfully en masse into the Oranke Lake in northern Berlin, which had temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit).

"It feels great even if it's not quite as cold this year as in the past," said Kathrin Hornack after her five-minute swim. Last year the lake was colder and in previous years it was sometimes filled with chunks of ice.

"What more could we ask for?" she said. "The sun is shining and it's a lovely day in the lake."
Some stayed in the water just a minute or so while others swam for 10 to 15 minutes.

The traditional Christmas swim goes back many years, at least to 1980, even though no one knows for sure when it began. The swimmers, outnumbered by news photographers drawn to the event, first warmed up by singing Christmas carols together.

"It's a wonderful feeling," said stark naked Dieter Korinke, neither shivering nor showing any signs of being cold after swimming a few laps in the freezing water. "The only thing that could make this even better would be snow and ice in the lake."

But Gerd Godau said he was happy about this year's slightly warmer water temperature.
"A crust of ice starts forming on the surface if the water gets much colder than this," he said. "This was just right."

In London, 57 swimmers -- though not naked -- braved the cold waters of Hyde Park's Serpentine Lake for a traditional 100-yard race dating back to 1864.

Christmas morning has has come and gone. We were awakened by Avery singing Frosty the Snowman. Andi woke up all excited ready to queue the children at the top of the stairs for the great descent down to the living room where the Dora's Talking Kitchen stood. Cameras at the ready, they sllllooooowwwwllllyyyy came down. I think it was more frustrating to us than them.

They get to the bottom of the steps, and Avery slowly walks over to Dora's Talking Kitchene and fumbles with the knobs. Andi exclaims "Santa brought you Dora's Talking Kitchen!" Avery responded with a smile (not quite elated) with "Yeah." What a huge disappointment. The digital camera Shae begged us for and the sewing machine Sydni nagged us about were not even noticed. They walked over and nothing... if it were summer, you could have heard the crickets chirp. I am not sure if it was just too early for brains to kick in, or what.
Avery and Andi really made out this Christmas. Avery had the Dora section of ToysRUs throw up in our living room. Talking Dora, Talking House, Talking Kitchen and every piece of furniture, accessory and figure was strewn throughout the room. Andi ended up with not 1, not 2, but 3 stockings, an electric roaster and the breadmaker she had been begging me to buy.
Jami, the oldest child, arrived after Andi and the girls came back from church. It was nice to see her. She stayed a total of about 25 minutes and ran off with her boyfriend. Andi asked her if she was staying for dinner, as which she said she had other obligations. Well, it was nice seeing her.
So, what was really the hit of Christmas? The one thing that everyone can't help but to play with time and time again was not the most expensive, technologically advanced piece of hardware or software. Nope, it was the $1 laser pointer.

What is it about bubble wrap, aluminum foil, and laser pointers that draws the human male into total distract mode? I sat there a good hour pointing and having Toby, our cat, chase the red dot all over the house, slamming into doors, sliding across the floors and never really getting the damn dot. LOTS of FUN!

So, after cleaning the house in preparation for my sister and her kids arrival, Andi threw the turkey into the oven, and we have a break.

The sister has arrived. Jan brought Marty, her boyfriend. The first thing Marty does when he sit down for tea is grab the laser pointer. Off Toby goes again for another couple of hours. A couple hours later, Colin, my nephew picks it up and another hour is spent terrorizing the cat up and down the hallway.

Overall, it was a great Christmas. Next time I will buy everyone laser pointers.

Well, Avery was tucked in bed. After checking the video monitor, I removed the Dora's Talking Kitchen from the tightly packed box. I had it in my mind right from the start that putting this together the kitchen was going to be like building the Statue of Liberty with duct tape. In preparation I got out my toolbox, my laptop for the AltaVista translator, and every picture available of the Dora's talking kitchen to compare it.

So, I removed the tightly packed materials and began the search for the instructions. Of course, I can't find them. So, I spread all 25 pieces of the kitchen all over the floor and noticed something taped to the back of the largest piece of the construction set. What could it be? WOOOHOOO! The instruction set! I promptly opened my laptop to start the Chinese translation and to my surprise, IT'S IN ENGLISH! WITH BIG PICTURES! AND THE STEPS ARE SMALL! I can't believe it. I assembled according to the directions (which were right), and screwed in the phillips screws with my screwdriver (the only tool I needed) from my larger than life toolbox, and in less than 20 minutes, done. My wife came back from church and I was sitting here blogging.

I just have to say, after putting together Dora's Talking Kitchen, well done to the manufacturer! I usually dread Christmas Eve for having to put together the most complicated products in Chinese, Korean, or some other language I don't know, and either having extra pieces or not having enough.

This post is a spin off to a post by MyLifeAndWorld. This guy is a good blogger.

Isn't it odd how the human body can all of a sudden decide it needs a nap? I have a theory about the human body I wish to express right now.

When you are first born, the human body can't survive without the help of others. The reason for this is cognitive function is not fully developed. This means that the baby needs diapers, long naps, and someone to help feed and clothe them. Without this help, the child would (morbid as this may be) discontinue life. The child often faces memory issues especially into his or her teens. This is reflected by the very common terms "I can't remember" and "I don't know." This is due to the brain still going through a developmental phase.

Through the young adult and middle-aged portions of life, people appear to have higher cognitive abilities even when they abuse of their bodies with alcohol and stupid human tricks. They no longer have to have a diaper, long naps, and only have someone feed them if there is some sort of fetish involved. The terms "I can't remember" and "I don't know" are replaced with "let me find out" and ""I will have to get back to you on that." The brain has fully developed.

Then comes the elderly and ancient phase of life (you know who you are). The cognitive functions begin to degrade. This category requires diapers, long naps, and someone to help feed and clothe them. Without help, the elderly would discontinue life. The elderly often face memory issues. This is reflected by very common terms "I can't remember" and "I don't know." This is due to the brain going through a break-down phase.

Now there is probably some doctor that has put this in detail in some technical paper about the human psyche. My point is... We will all end up at the same point sooner or later. Just remember now that SOMEONE is going to have to change your diaper after you take a long nap, feed you and cloth you. Be nice to your children. They will be the ones picking your nursing home.

I added music to the website only for only a couple days. I am trying to get into the Christmas spirit. I added a holiday song from one of my favorite performers, Douglas Spotted Eagle (www.spottedeagle.com).

I will be blogging throughout the holiday mostly because I think I am becoming addicted to blogging. I really appreciate reading other peoples weblogs, getting their points of view, and finally being able to get all of the crap that is in my head out. I consider this a kind of therapy. My wife says it is more like me starting to get social. She may be right.

For the past year, I have been using World of Warcraft to "detox" from work and the stresses of life. Andi calls the game the monkey slapping game although there are no monkeys and very little slapping. I guess that better than monkey spanking game. I have been trying to figure a lot of things out in my head, and the game often lets me just shut it out, that is until issues rear their ugly head again and I have to play the game. So, I am on hiatus from the game. Andi says I am starting to act human instead of troll again AND I am becoming addicted to Xanga.
So, does that mean I am out of the frying pan and into the fire?

:edit: It has come to my attention there is a pop-up at the end of the song. Let me first apologize. The regular streaming sites do not have this selection and I am really not willing to pick another. Second, in Internet Explorer at least, it pops up a second browser window. your comments should not be lost if you just close the pop-up.

:edit 2: I cut the music for now because of the Budweiser ad.

There is always some point in parenthood you think well into a decision, Oh shit. We all took a jaunt down to Navy Pier last weekend to see the Winter Wonderland and Santa Claus.

Two years ago we made this trek and had a great time. But now, Avery is two years old and she is loving the lights, festival and wonder of the holiday season. The bouncy areas, ice skating, train ride were all fantastic and Avery was burning down as time continued. After about 3 hours, Andi was ready to take Avery to get the Frosty at Build-a-Bear workshop.
Build-a-bear was packed and also uncomfortably close to Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Frosty (Avery's favorite snowman of all time) was stuffed, given a heart, stitched and clothed. So while Andi was fighting and elbowing the other parents and kids inside, my mission was to watch for the jolly fat guy in a red suit. About the time Andi and Avery exited the store, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived for the costly photo opportunities.

While in line, Andi made friends with the woman with 4 kids in front of her and the woman with a single boy behind her. My wife is very social and somehow can make entire groups of strangers discuss their innermost secrets in the middle of a rock concert. Somehow I was commandeered to take photo of the kids in front of Andi and Avery. We had the digital camera so that was really no big deal. As I managed to rip money out of the hands of the photo Santa group, the lady behind Andi mentioned that her 6 year old boy just last year stopped screaming at the top of his lungs when he was around Santa.

According to my wife, a wave of fear ran over her because she had been waiting in line for 40 minutes and had not considered the fact that Avery could be scared of Santa. In her best psycological maneuvering, she coached Avery that Dora Talking Kitchen is the gift she wanted from Santa. Andi and Avery had met with the totally whacked out Elves with WAY too much sugar in their system and when Avery laid eyes on the big man with the white beard, Andi had to hold her back.

The hyperactive elf said Santa was ready to see Avery and it was like the release of the horses at the Kentucky Derby... AND THEIR OFF! She runs to the steps and as fast as she can climbs them and grabs Santa around the neck and with all of her might hugs him. With the timing of the Mormon Tablenacle, a giant "awwwwww" came from all around Santa. I was so proud. She then hopped on his lap, asked for Dora's Talking Kitchen, sat for the picture (with a smile), and Mrs Claus walked her down to a VERY proud Andi. Mrs Claus exclaimed, "We are even dressed alike." We paid the 20 bucks for the photo package and walked back toward the car.

Avery promptly fell asleep. Overall, this was the best day we could have had.
I sure hope that she enjoys Christmas, Santa, and Frosty next year.

I want to go bowling.

I can't possibly be alone in the rationalization that I am wasting space. I better explain. For quite some time I have felt as though my sole purpose here is to provide funding and male role model for my girls. There are times that I truly enjoy my job. But when I look around at what I have really accomplished that may have made a difference in someone's life, I see nothing. I don't golf, I am not someone with a substantial amount of money, and I do not contribute to the community or the human race a whole lot. This lack of involvement was quietly pointed out to me by my wife as Christmas comes closer. I don't attend church (I have a real issue with organized religion).

It is not that I don't want to make a difference, more the fact I don't feel like making a difference. I am really in a defensive mental posture right now. I wake up after a restless night of sleep, drudge my ass to work with the gruelling 2 to 2 1/2 hour commute, only to arrive at an organization that is currrently thinking with the logic of a submarine with screen doors. There are bright spots in the day, glimmers of hope often extinguished with a puff of a breath of the flying monkeys. My job is thankless. Only when something goes wrong do I here any type of criticism. Then I again take the 2 to 2 1/2 hour excursion back home. The ride to work does not bother me nearly as much as the ride home. I arrive home in time to have dinner (sometimes with the family), sing the youngest a bedtime song, and then, maybe, some me and Andi time.
My weekends are spent at home. More often than not, we have no money. Even if we have some money, it is scheduled for other things. We used to hop in the car and find a new destination, but with the price of gas, food, and maybe lodging, that too is limited. Whoa is me! It's all about me! So, I shut up, watch some TV and/or play my game. I should be interacting with the kids, but my experience in this matter involves some sort of other activity (as mentioned above).

So, when my wife mentions to me that wants to help 3 kids on the angel tree, I understand the intent. At the same time, I sit there and think, dammit, our kids could use that too...and I still haven't gone shopping. It is her money. She is right. It makes her very happy to help these kids. I am so proud of her. I just wish I had the same compassion, passion for helping, and sense of community. I have really tried. It is just not in me, or maybe it is and it is just delivered different.

It is not that I don't have any passion. I love providing experiences to people. It can be as little as introducing someone to the ecstacy of loose leaf Earl Grey Supreme freshly brewed in the french press; or it could be taking my daughter to the front row seats of the Blue Man Group concert and being sprayed with squished bananas. I have a passion for music. The more intricate the music, the more I love it. I love my home town of Clinton, Illinois. I don't live there, but if I could, I would. In Clinton, I feel the sense of community that I haven't begun to feel here. People still know me in Clinton and I haven't lived there in 21 years.
Andi feels the sense of community because she it beginning to seed herself into her church. Did I mention I have a problem with organized religion?

So, what do I really want to do? I want to open a tea store simular to Starbucks, only for tea. I want to help out the local high school marching band or create an area drum and bugle corps. I want to experience the Midwest in all there is in sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. I want to go bowling.

I often have to read. It is necessary for my job, raising children, even just when I am sitting around watching TV. As I age though, I am wondering what is happening to the English language. I don't blame the students. I blame the educational system. With the "no kid left behind" belief, I feel a few important details are often missed. This issue affects more than just English. Let me expound:

• Strawberry sundae, not sunday
• You eat doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts. Donuts is part of a name. This is simular to catsup and Ketchup.
• The word "got" should never be used. For Pete's sake, do not use "gots."
• Stop ending sentences with adverbs that end with "ly."
• The period at the end of a sentence is placed inside the end quote.
• You jury-rig something.
• There are 15 uses for the word "capital" and 2 for "capitol." Capitol Records is a proper name.
• Etcetera is etc.
• The word ask is pronouced (sk). I do not want you to axe me...ever.
• Do not end a sentence with a preposition such as on or in.

History:

• Columbus nor Amerigo Vespucci discovered the new world. There were 10 million natives already here.
• There were other attacks on United States soil. If you only count wars after the Declaration of Independence, the Civil War was a large engagement. If you are only considering foreign attack on U.S. soil, the Japanese during World War II lauched balloons carrying incendiary devices that landed in the California forests.

Geography

• There are 50 states in the United States.
• The capital of the United States is Washington, D.C.
• New England is not a state, nor is it near old England. It is a region is the Northeast of the United States. This is like the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic etc.
• Everyone does not roll back or forward their clocks. Hawaii, Arizona and part of Indiana does not change time in the U.S.
• These are just a few of the examples I can provide. If you have children, please teach them the grammar that seems to elude the educational institutions. Maybe then the next time I see an interview on the television, it will not be filled with "gots to axe ya" and "all 52 states."
  

:edit: My sister is currently working on her second master's degree and has informed me that the fourth bullet under English is incorrect. Therefore, to avoid confusion, you may or may not pay attention to that bullet. It may be a case of hypercorrection.

Hypercorrection

Prescriptive grammarians, castigating various commonly used phrases of a vernacular language, run the risk of encouraging hypercorrections. Hypercorrections are the solecisms introduced into human speech by the strain of the effort made to avoid some form that the prescriptivists have forbidden.

Told to avoid using you and me as the nominative case (e.g. in "You and me are going..."), people will avoid the phrase you and me even when it appears in the oblique case, and will end up saying things like, "Between you and I..." Similar confusion surrounds the pronoun whom; people assume that whom is the formal and fancy version, and end up saying things like "Whom might you be?"

Told that they should never "drop" the ending -ly from adverbs, people produce new words like thusly, soonly, and fastly. Spurious adverb forms also appear behind words that are serving as a copula, and thus would call for a simple predicate in traditional grammar: "my eyes are going badly".

Another area of hypercorrection involves Greek and Latin looking words like octopus; the spurious plural octopi likens the octopus to a number of Latin words that form irregular plurals in -i. (Were there actually a classical plural of octopus, it would be octopodes.) Platypus, cactus, status, hiatus, rebus, syllabus, mandamus, and caucus are sometimes inflected the same way; none would be inflected that way in Latin or Greek. Virus sometimes gets the even more inappropriate pseudoclassical plural form virii, which presumes Latin *virius, and would pluralise bus as bi. All of these words take the regular English inflection in -es, but a few of the hypercorrected forms, such as cacti, have passed into such common usage as to be considered acceptable by some, despite their origins.

When pronunciation of learned words goes astray, it is sometimes called a hyperforeignism. For example, someone might assume, upon learning that the -s is silent in Mardi Gras, that coup de grâce is pronounced "coo de grah".

Another kind of hypercorrection arises when people try to use accents from foreign languages, often adding them spuriously. For example, one often sees habañero peppers, which should be habanero, as a consequence of a misapplied analogy with jalapeño.