The rain is definitely coming down hard outside. We have our door open to the sleeper porch which makes it all the more enjoyable. I love weather like this at night. However, our tropical rain forest out back doesn't need any more encouragement. It's already going to be a nightmare trying to mow it.

On another note, my last final exam was today. It was just early world civ, so it was all short essay stuff about the roll of religion in early empires as means of control of society and its impact on cultural diffusion. I also finished tweaking my el ed gateway portfolio on LiveText tonight. I'm not really for sure about term deadlines for the artifacts, but I thought I might as well spruce it up before the week was out.

I'm just thrilled that I have the next four weeks off to get our house back in order. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to get as far as paint the breakfast nook and touch up battle scars around the rest of the house where mayhem has left its mark. We've also got soffit falling down in a couple of areas and birds have alread moved in. I'm going to have to do some evicting.

Speak of which --Joe's uncle, who is in charge of Joe's grandmother's house, had sent word via Joe's mom that we had to move our stuff out of the basement. No good reason really. There was a pending sale that fell though, due to failed home inspection, so Joe thinks that he is just venting his frustrations out on us. Thus ends our run at possibly the nicest rehearsal space that we've been privey to. We knew it would only be a matter of time, but it couldn't have come at a more inconvenient time. I had cancelled all practices for the last several weeks, since the end of the semester proved to be quite heavy in its work load, so we were looking forward to getting some quality session time in during this four week intersession. And now we're dead in the water. It's just one of those things that will eventually work itself out. A solution always presents itself --it's just that last time it took almost four years.

Wow it's really raining hard outside.

I'm going to go to bed.

Elena, Baby Slimers, and Sliders

So I was walking through the kitchen to the breakfast nook with some freshly nuked White Castle burgers. I know that sounds extremely healthy and appetizing, but they're the first I've bought at the super market in almost two years --guilty pleasure, and since I know how nasty they are for my consitution and overall well-being, I'm very much aware when I bought them last. Anyway, Elena came walking along with Rohan's "The Big Book of Reptiles" with the dust jacket dragging, as I swear the book is almost as big as she is.

She said, "Daddy, there are some baby ones in here and they are soooo cute!"

"Baby what?" I asked.

"These lizaaaards in heeeere! Duh?!" she replied as she rolled her eyes at me.

I picked up the book as I sat my White Castles on the table. I looked at the picture and it looked like an earthworm with a little head and two small appendages protruding from the neck area...that is, if it had a neck area.

"This thing?" I asked. "That's disgusting!"

"No it's not! It's just a baby and it's super cute!"

I looked at her and wondered what type of "-ologist" worked with amphibians, because they needed to petition my four-year-old to join their ranks. Imagine the grant money they could procure with her charm?

She pulled the book away from me and held it sideways, like a navy crewman admiring a new pin-up during The Big One, and squealed, "You are so, so cute!!!" Then she gave me a sidelong look, glanced over at my three-hundred calorie gut bombs and said, "We need that one thing that Rohan likes on t.v. to make sliders."

"The what?" I asked, because even though I do my best to decipher everything that comes out of my children's mouths, I am sometimes outmatched by their superior cultural lexicon.

"The sliders, Dad!"

"You mean this sandwich?"

"No! The pan!"

"Oh. Oh yeaaah! The thing that makes, umm...sliders. Sure, I get it. Yeah. I mean, no. No, we don't need that."

Elena rolled her eyes again, shook her head, smiled once more at the mini-God Emperor of Dune, and walked out of the room. I sat for a second in her wake, then whistled for Max. His promptness was rewarded with White Castles. Then I ate some Yoplait --Blackberry Pomegranate to be exact.

Rather insignificant day.

Went to my niece's birthday party. It was nice to see some of Em's family and some friends, since we really don't get out much. Someone blew up a lot of balloons for the kids to beat each other with. That got kind of loud. VH1 Classic was playing a one hit wonders show. Midnight Oil a one hit wonder? I didn't really agree with that one.

Riddick's allergies are getting the best of him. His eyes are always so swollen, and he coughs incessantly. I'm amazed he didn't lurch all over the place during dinner tonight.

Grocery shopped, so I'm stocked up on yogurt once again. I was starting to run low, so panic was soon to set in. :0

Allie made the jr. high pom-pon squad. She found out on Thursday night. She's still on cloud 9 and has been stretching and dancing around to music in her head ever since. We're so happy for her. I don't know how she would have dealt with another rejection.

I can hear Emily watching L&O: CI.

Working on some shows for the late summer and early fall. Even some acoustic ones coming up. We need to get the rehearsal space situation squared away, so we can start working again.

Finals week is here. Once they're out of the way, and hopefully if it dries up (someday) I'm going to get back to skating. It's been several weeks. The workload at the end of this semester has been grueling. I think I did three all-nighters, and a great many nights where I only got a couple of hours of sleep. I'm really not built for that at 35.

Darn that VH1. I can't get "Come on Eileen" out of my head.

I'm going to start transferring my MySpace blogs from the past couple of years just for the hey of it. Dinner is almost ready, the kids are going crazy with the dogs, so I'm not getting much work done anyway.

I haven't blogged in years, but I thought I'd start it back up. I actually keep a journal, mainly because I think there is still something to be said about a person's handwriting. So within the binding of my journals will always be words that only my children will read someday after I'm gone. For the rest of the world there is this.

So tonight, or rather last night, as it is now after one in the morning. Elena is spending the night with her cousin Sydney. It is the first time she has ever been away from Riddick, and he was not very happy about. The poor little guy was still asking about "Nonni" when he went to bed, as they sleep in bunk beds together. Like most every night, he'll come into our room around three, so I guess I need to get to bed so I get some sleep without little feet kicking me.

Summer so far...

My summer semester is half-way finished. It wraps up on the 31st, then we have two weeks off. Every evening is full of homework, but I'm pretty accustomed to it now. It all seems to be flying by really. I should finish JALC in the fall and be at SIU in the spring. Woohoo!

My swimming in the morning is getting better. When I first started four weeks ago, I almost died after 3 laps. I'm up to 14 laps now and will probably keep it up even after the summer term is over. Why stop?

Saw Tom Waits with Corey R Robertson two weeks ago at the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis. Waits is just incredible and I'm very satisfied after finally seeing him. It all would have not been possible had Corey actually received a confirmation email in a timely fashion when he ordered his first ticket.

Emily starts LPN school this fall. We're pretty excited. Another step forward!

We go on our first family vacation since 2001 this coming Friday! It's nothing big; just a St. Louis weekend excursion, but the kids will have a blast. Six Flags, the Arch, the Zoo, etc. Elena and Riddick have never been to any of them, so I can't wait to take a million pictures!

Our van got pulverized...sitting in our own driveway! Our neighbor backed a U-Haul box truck into the back of the van, crunching in the rear door. It won't close now, so I'm pretty pleased. She's supposed to contact her insurance company tomorrow. Yeah...first vacation in seven years, and we won't be able to take our van. The insurance company better front something compatable. There's six of us you know.

I passed the first part of my praxis exams, the basic skills test. Never before in my life have I aced any sort of standardized test, and I got a perfect score on my language arts section! It's almost as exciting as when I won a pair of Donkey Kong shoe laces from DK cereal when I was a kid!

I'm singing the National Anthem at the Miner's game this coming Sunday, July 13 at 2:00 p.m. at Rent One Ballpark here in Marion. I had a lot of fun doing it last year, and it's a privilege to do it once again. Emily will also be singing the anthem on Saturday, August 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Vacation Bible School is upon us. Is it already that time of year?! We're not going to be able to help out this year, so our hats are off to all of the volunteers that will be taking care of our kids!

I put up some pictures of a great Sunday afternoon at Dick and Francine Sander's house. They are such wonderful people that treat our children like their own grandchildren, and our children love them as such. For me, an afternoon at their house might as well be a vacation, since I get to relax so much ---and it's only ten miles from our house! Rohan got to finally fish with the fishing pole that our friend Larry Wheeler bought for him. And Elena caught her first fish as well!

My sister is getting married in Louisville, KY on the weekend of Rohan's and my birthday. The great John Maragni is going out there as well to help me do music during the ceremony. It should be a pretty fun weekend.

I've been invited to go to a IEA Student Program leadership training course at the end of the month in Bloomington. I'm pretty excited about that as it will help me to achieve more in my short time as president of our chapter at JALC before leaving to go to SIU. As DG sang, "Everything counts in small amounts!"

I have no idea with all that is happening when we are going to schedule a birthday party for Rohan! Like recent years, he wants to have a slumber party, but the weekends are all full. He'll be crushed if we don't have one. I've said it before: great planning Larissa!

We took Rohan to go see Modest Mouse at the Pageant in St. Louis this past Tuesday. My awesome friend Scott, who is basicially part of our family, got to go up with us. It was Rohan's first rock concert and it was a blast. He got to stand on the edge of the under 21 area which is raised above the floor, so he had an awesome view of the band which was only about twenty feet away. He definitely wasn't ready for how loud it was. We also got to watch the show with our great cousin Alex and his girfriend Amber and their friends.

Our landscaping project continues at our house. We've ripped out so much, and put down fabric, it's really coming together. However, it's taking so much time, of which we really don't have, and even as much as we're planting I don't think that it will really come together until next spring. But it's fun playing in the dirt for now!

I'm finally semi-retired from building! Our final project which was a house that we built for Emily's cousin and her husband is finally completed. I had sub-contracted the siding to another group, and they really drug their feet on the project until the home-owner fired them, so I had to finish it recently. I've been around building all of my life. I used to spend my summers as a child in my dad's wood shop at Crab Orchard High School when he would build cabinets. I started working for him during summer vacation beginning when I was thirteen. I worked on and off for him throughout the next ten years, especially after I got out of high school, honing in on my craft. For the past thirteen years I've slowly gone over to managing the business, although both of us still have always worked along-side eachother on the job site. I've had a lot of great memories, and it's kind of sad reaching this turning point in my life, but it's for the best. I can honestly say that I'm very proud of everything that my dad has taught me, and I'm proud of every house that we ever built.

Elena is taking violin lessons from our good friend Deavyn. You should see it: she's so small and the violin is just a small ---it's just too much. She's so proud of knowing how to take the violin out of it's case and how to rosin her bow. And I'm proud of her! I need to get some pictures up.

Rohan's ball season is already over! He had three rain-outs, so really there weren't that many games. There is supposed to be a fall league for his age-group, so we'll see what happens. All in all he had a great time. His team wasn't that great, but he really improved from last year. He only struck out twice; his best hit was a triple; he got a lot of experience playing second base; and he even caught a pop-fly!

We got to see Ryan and Erin for a bit this past Thursday. We had a great time messing around in the back yard for little time we had with them. We were supposed to meet her family yesterday, but of course the van was killed on Friday.

Big thanks to Jeremy and Sara Johnson for a great time on The Fourth! They fed all of us and all of Emily's family. A great chore for sure. We love their family and wish we could do more with them! We also watched the Marion K.C. Hall fireworks with them and Emily's sister Kendra and her family in a car wash parking lot with an easy escape route to avoid traffic jams. Ha!

Through Dint of Heavy Wishing practice is going great! And yes, there is new material that will be recorded soon. We cannot wait to begin playing out again! Our first show back will be Friday, August 15 at John Brown's on the Square in Marion. Go check out the Heavy Wishing page for more details, and add us as a friend for crying out loud!

Once

We bought a lot of movies tonight, because that is something that we love to do. One of the movies was "Once". What can I say? It’s an absolutely beautiful and brilliant movie. If you’ve ever loved music, because music is all you’ve ever had at any point in your life, and if you’ve ever loved, because that love was something that you could never have...then you’ll get this movie. If not, don’t waste your time. I’m going to go play guitar in the dining room now...because it’s almost midnight, and it’s finally quiet here.

Love,

Derek

Early Morning Gutter Twins

Emily and I made it up to Chicago two weeks ago in a whirlwind trip to see a late night Gutter Twins show. We left around 4:45 in the late afternoon and got to my brother’s place off of Division around 9:30. A rather eventless trip, which cannot be complained about. I will say there was a gas stop North of Champaign that I remember quite well, because of a wind chill that almost stripped the flesh off of my face. However, besides that, like I said, the trip was rather eventless.

We settled in to Ryan and Erin’s place, had some drinks, and checked out a bunch of videos on YouTube. Anything that we could find that was relevant to the evening. Mark Lanegan interviews, old Screaming Trees performances, Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singer stuff...you get the picture. I was pretty stoked about seeing Lanegan, as I had never seen him live before. Ryan saw him with Dulli and the Twilight Singers the last time they were in Chicago, and said his performance (or lack of) was a curiosity to behold.

Close to 10:30, Ryan called a cab, and soon we were on our way to the Metro. I lamented not having enough time or money to make it a true rock evening, because I had only the week before found out that Bob Mould was playing a show with two other bands at the same venue at 7:00. Like my friend Corey said, "Can you imagine all of the rock history in that building on just that one night?!?!" Simply mind-blowing.

Doors weren’t supposed to open for the late show until 11:00. We arrived around 10:40 and found a line that stretched down Clark St. to the end of the block and back up another street. I should point out that none of us were wearing coats, because we were unsure of any coat check, and that it was a wind chill of six degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, pretty warm. Oh yeah, and it was snowing. I haven’t been that cold in a long time, and I’m usually pretty good in situations like that.

Moving right along, when we finally got into the building, tickets scanned, and into the main room, the realization hit me that I hadn’t been to the Metro since ’92. In my mind the place was a lot bigger than it really was, but of course I had also experienced it through the eyes of a 19 year old newbie musician on stage. The place had barely start to fill up, so we got an excellent position a free-throw away from the stage, front and center.

The first band was called Great Northern, and they had driven to Chicago, straight from L.A., for thirty-seven hours. That’s some hard-core travelling. They were a four-piece consisting of a female lead on vox and keys, then a bassist, guitarist, and drummer. The lead singer and guitarist also each played tambourine and would on occasion double up on a floor tom for emphasizing some parts. I thought that was pretty cool, although I think it was more for visual effect than anything else: the lead singer was doing this on the first song when the drummer’s right hand was idle, so you get my point. All in all, I was happy that they didn’t suck. That happens a lot with opening acts. Yet, not only did they not suck, they were actually quite good. Wonderfully strong vocals from the lead and the guitarist. His vocal were almost in her range, with almost the same tone. I hate to make comparisons, because I’ve always felt I was victim to some really bad ones, but if I had to I would say she sounded like a cross between Tori Amos and Aimee Mann. That’s the best that I can come up with. Altogether a great full sound, nice breezy pop songs, with good chords and earnest feeling. I think they did about a half hour set, or maybe a little longer.

There was about a thirty minute long set change, which was a little too long for me, but what are you going to do? The band proper came out, and then Dulli and Lanegan followed after a good dozen or so bars had been played in the first song "The Stations". Of course, the place went absolutely crazy as soon as Lanegan’s growling voice engulfed the room. And wow, what an incredible sounding room it was. It was so round and full. My brother was right though: Lanegan does nothing but stand in front of the mic stand with his eyes closed. If he opens them, it’s usually between songs and he’s staring at the floor beside him. He’s got such a mystique about him though, it affords him the privilege as a performer to get away with being so non-involved in an outwardly physical way.

Then there’s Greg Dulli. Come on ---do I really need to say anything about this showman? You’re always on the edge just wondering what’s going to come out of this man’s mouth in between songs. His carthotic screams leading in and out of crescendo phrases were dead on. As usual, Dulli delivered all of the goods that we came to see and made the trip worth it.

Besides Lanegan and Dulli on guitar, piano, and organ, there were four other players. Ryan said that the keyboardist/guitarist was part of the Twilight Singers, and had even opened the show for them when they were in town previously. The drummer was someone I didn’t know, as well as the bassist. The lead guitarist was also from the Twilight Singers.

I wish I was more familiar with Saturnalia, but it was only released several days before the show, and to the best of my knowledge didn’t make it to iTunes until after that weekend. I listened to it stream several times on their MySpace page the Monday prior to the show, but was doing school work, so I didn’t really "know" it. I’ve since downloaded it from iTunes.

We probably made it back to my brother’s place sometime after three, and hung out until about four, eating frozen pizza and watching a Pixies DVD. Somehow we were up by 10 and on the road by 11:30. I actually went to Chicago for 15 minutes last year around this time, so this trip wasn’t so bad. I got to see Ryan and Erin, some great music...and even enjoy a quiet breakfast on the way home at an IHOP with Emily. What more can you ask for?

Here is their set list that I found HERE

Setlist:
The Stations
God’s Children
All Misery/Flowers
Live With Me
7 Stories Underground
Idle Hands
Circle The Fringes
Bête Noire
Down the Line
I Was in Love With You
Each to Each
Front Street

Encore
I’m Ready
River Rise
Papillion-Shadow of the Season
No Easy Action
King Only
Methamphetamine Blues
Number Nine

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

This really bummed me out. I've liked Heath's work ever since the Fox network's Roar, back in the late 90's, and had been totally stoked about his upcoming portrayal of the Joker in the Dark Knight. In more ways than one, this echoes Michael Hutchence. Very sad.

If I May Boast

In the last eight weeks I have gone from weighing 187 lbs to 162 lbs. I didn't really set out to lose 25 lbs...it just seemed to coincide with changing the way I eat and starting an every other day workout program. I never really thought I'd look "thin" again. I guess I'm posting this as incentive to myself to keep the weight off, lest I fall off of the wagon. I do love melted cheese you know...

Radiohead's "In Rainbows"

Jef from Himalayas sent out a bulletin recently pushing Radiohead's newest effort "In Rainbows". I was just talking to my great friend Corey the other night on the phone about this release. We both agreed that we probably only listened to "Hail to the Thief" a handful of times, if that, and might each grab a copy of this latest release just because it was Radiohead, even though neither of us were excited about it. Jef has set me straight. For a limited time, Radiohead is offering this gem on their website for whatever you the consumer wishes to pay for it, even if you want it for free. I chose the deadbeat option and downloaded it for the hey of it. Now, after listening to it several times, and having fallen for it, I'm going to shelve out the bucks to get the real thing, in which they are offering on their website as well with a 12" vinyl, a second disc with some more new tunes, and some artwork. Go check it all out at their MyS page.

Faster Painted Pussycat

I had just finished painting the floor of our sleeper porch that is right off of our bedroom. I put up a baby gate to keep our dog out of the wet paint, because he had been nosing around trying to figure out what I was doing. I then grabbed a bite to eat down in the breakfast nook when Emily came in from some errands. She asked if I had the room shut off upstairs, and I told her about the gate. She asked if I thought that was really going to keep the cat out. Without comment or question I took off running, bounded up the stairs, ran though our room, and looked upon my freshly painted floor with horror. Apparently the cat had indeed jumped the gate, freaked out upon hitting the wet floor, flailed around a bit, and then jumped back into our bedroom. The painted floor was an absolute mess that would have to be quickly redone in front of the door if it was to be salvaged at all. She had then tracked paint through our bedroom, down the hall, down the stairs, down a second hall, through the kitchen, into the butler's pantry, and onto the shelf where her food is kept where it looked like she performed a number from River Dance. I've tried to kill her, but she's too fast. So it goes.

My friend Corey told me tonight that music mogul Tony Wilson of Factory Records and founder of The Hacienda club passed away last Friday after a long battle with kidney cancer. This guy was so influecial to the Manchester scene. He signed such acts as Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays. If you get a chance, rent 24 Hour Party People, which is about his life. Here's a blog with more info.

Ida will be playing @ Schuba's on Monday the 27th of this month. Tickets are only ten bucks. The last time I was able to see them was in Champaign in '99 on an acoustic tour and they were simply amazing. Their music is absolutely beautiful. They have several albums available on iTunes if you want to sample their wares. Anyway, they rarely make it to this area, so this is a must see show! Emily and I have to find someone to watch the kids and get the two oldest off to school, I will have only started a new house the week before, we're driving back the night of for work the next morning ----it's going to be extremely difficult for us to pull this off, but it's that big of a deal!!! So get your mouse a'clickin' and buy your tickets now!

Quote of the Week

I just heard Emily over my shoulder talking to Rohan: "If I pull that tooth out, you're gonna look like an idiot." Brilliance.

......and I think I'm being summoned to do the dirty deed.

TRANSFORMERS AND THE POLICE

My brother called me Sunday evening as Emily and I were playing goofy golf with the kids at our city park. He told me that he had two tickets to see The Police in St. Louis on Tuesday night. I'm sure they were good seats as he had spent $220 on each of them. He had bought them, because at the time they hadn't announced any dates in Chicago where he lives. Later he ended up getting tickets for a Chicago date, but couldn't get rid of the St. Louis tickets. He said that he would let me have them for $50 a piece. I jumped at it.

The Police broke up when I was 11 years old. They had always been a staple on Kasey Kasem's Top 40 Countdown, and radio in general. I remember the summer that Return of the Jedi came out, and an hour didn't pass on the radio without hearing Every Breath You Take. They also ruled Friday Night Videos on NBC. Hey ,we didn't get MTV yet. Wow...now, so many years later, I was going to get to see Sting! Sting! Man, are you listening to what I'm saying?! ...and better yet, Stewart Copeland! One of the greatest drummers of all time! Prior to six o'clock that evening, none of this reality existed. It was truly to be a beginning to July that I would not soon forget.

Later Sunday evening, I called my friend Corey who lives in St. Louis to tell him my good fortune. I knew Corey was also going to the show, so I knew he'd think it was pretty cool. Corey did think it was cool, but informed me that the show wasn't on Tuesday, but Monday the 2nd. I immediately called my brother and told him what Corey had said. Ryan assured me that the show was on Tuesday...the 2nd. I told Ryan that is was already July 1. Ryan wasn't so pleased. Of course, here I am, the guy who is about to miss out on a great show, because there would be probably no chance at getting those tickets delivered in time for the show. I then knew what I had to do. I told Ryan that I would get up early in the morning, drive to Chicago to get the tickets (almost a five hour drive), drive back to pick up Emily, and then head to St. Louis which is about two hours away. Of course, Ryan honorably said that wasn't necessary, but I assured him that I had done crazier things. Hey, what's a little road trip? Even if I would spend almost twelve hours on the road before the show started.

I called Corey to tell him that all was good, and even called my good friend Joe, who I knew would also be at the show. We agreed to text eachother to see what sections we were in. Emily and I discussed what we would do with the kids. We would ask my Dad to watch Elena and Rohan, and we knew that a lady from our church would be glad to watch Riddick. Allie was going to go to her Dad's for a week, so she would be taken care of also. I knew Rohan would be upset that Allie would be gone, but I knew that he was going to have an exciting week as well. His Uncle Ryan was going to come in to visit on Friday...he was going to get to see fireworks on Wednesday......his last ball game that I had almost forgotten about was on Tuesday night....and I was going to take him to see the new Transformers movie on...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

I had totally forgotten.

I had gotten tickets over two weeks ago on Fandango to see a sneak preview of Transformers on MONDAY....JULY....2nd.

I sadly called Ryan and told him that I wasn't going to be coming up to get the tickets. I called Corey and Joe and told them that I wouldn't be joining them to bask in rock glory. Corey laughed at the situation and came up with the crazy scenario, saying he could just picture Rohan waiting on the front steps of our house in an Optimus Prime t-shirt, waiting for his Dad to pick him up to take him to the theatre as all the other kids in the neighborhood went racing by in cars in their t-shirts with their dads on their way to see the movie...and he would continue to wait in tears as his Dad was rocking out at the Police concert.

I'll never be THAT kind of Dad. I'll never break a promise to my boy.

Tonight I took Rohan to Target and bought him a new Optimus Prime t-shirt. Then, Rohan, Emily, and I went to see Transformers.

AND IT ROCKED HARDER THAN THE POLICE.

After all, I had been waiting for this movie just about as long as the Police have been broken up.

I did give instuctions to Emily though. When Rohan is a teenager, and tells me that I suck, for whatever reason, since he inevitably will, she is to tell him about the time that I sacrificed going to see one of the greatest rock bands of all time playing what would probably be their only reunion tour ever to go take him to see a Michael Bay car commercial called...

"TRANSFORMERS"

Terry

The song I've got up was recorded on Easter Morning at my church. It was sung by Terry Sprague, backed up on vocals by his son Chris, with Chad Harlan on piano and vocals. Terry was killed in a motorcycle accident yesterday, April 22, 2007. Please listen to the entire song, to pay respect to Terry, whether you knew him or not. Terry was a great man, husband, father, and grandfather. To me, he was a great friend that I looked forward to seeing every week. He was a musician with few peers. It was an honor to play with him every Sunday in our praise band. No one will ever be able to fill his shoes in what he did, and nothing will fill the void that has been left now that he has gone on to be with the Lord. He was an awesome guy. I wish it could be made clear why the Lord wanted to bring Terry home when he did. It's something that people will slowly accept, but I don't think we'll ever understand it. There's a reason for it...but...I guess I'm still at a loss, trying to even talk about it. So please pray for Terry's family, his wife Shara who is still recovering from surgery due to the accident, his son Chris, and his daughter Carrie.

Is this Thirty Something?

Where does string come from and how did it get all over my floor?
There is more toothpaste dried in the sink than there is in the tube.
The dish washer runs every day.
There is always a mountain of clean clothes to be folded that tries to merge with the dirty to be washed.
Somehow my desk is always littered with toys.
The trash is never empty.
Flashlights are always dead.
The gas tank is always on empty.
I don't know where we keep kleenex, but it's easy to find them wadded up.
When I go to use the bathroom there are towels laying everywhere; when I get out of the shower, there are none to be found.
There are always dead batteries where the fresh ones should be kept.
I swear dust-bunnies multiply faster than rabbits.
My leather car seats always have toddler footprints on them.
I'm always stepping in goldfish crackers.
I hate balloons and the fights that they cause.
Every room in our house is infested with Legos.
How does my two year old find chocolate anywhere she goes?
If it's plastic and makes crinkly noises, the cat will find it at three in the morning.
There are no sharpened pencils in our house.
I never remember as a kid asking my parents during the week, "So are we doing anything tonight?"
I think I'm the only person at my house who executes the final step of changing a diaper: dispose of in waste receptacle.
Every light in the house is left on during the day, yet they all seem to magically turn off after sunset.
Above all, children should never have been given instruction on how to use a DVR.
Who knew a two year old could break so many DVDs in half?
My kids can't finish a glass of anything.
They also ignore loose change.
How do we manage to simultaneously start every checkbook in the box?
I used to listen to music that I liked.
When was I not tired?

Greatness from Rohan

When I want comedy, I look no further than dinner time conversation. The other night at dinner, Allie said, "I know who Rohan likes!" Rohan just stared at her as she proclaimed, "Her name is Emily." Rohan barked, "How do you know?" Allie replied, "I looked her up in the yearbook!" Rohan smacked his own forehead and exclaimed, "They've got names in there?!?!?"

Riddick Edward Cook was born this morning, January 31, 2007 at 9:52 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs, 1 oz., and was 19.5 inches long. Emily was induced last night around 10:35 a.m, but remained at a 2 all night long, as they checked her every three hours. Emily's wonderful friend Jenny Walker was with us the entire night, and slept very little in one of the other rooms. Emily's mom Joyce and our oldest Allie arrived sometime before 7 a.m. The mid-wife broke Emily's water a little after 8. She was then given an epidural at 8:45. She had delivered our oldest three without any drugs, so with that and her abdominal hernia in consideration, she deserved the smooth ride. We (Joyce, Allie, & myself) were asked to leave the room for about half an hour while they administered the epidural. We got back around 9:20, and Emily was in much better spirits, not really feeling her contractions at all. Joyce commented from the monitor readout that the contractions had really picked up intensity. Less than ten minutes later Emily gripped the bed rails and said that something felt really strange. Her friend Lynn, who did all of her sonograms, came into the room, and Emily told her something was going on. Lynn got her nurse who then checked Emily and announced that she was complete. The midwife came in and along with her nurse and Lynn got everything ready. Lynn grabbed one leg, I was asked to grab the other, and simultaneously we brought her legs toward her chest. They asked her to push and hold for a ten count, and Riddick came flying out. The midwife said as his head first came out, face down, "There's her head!" At that point I knew we had a girl and looked to Emily. I glanced and saw the entire body come out, but didn't watch them flip him over. Then Emily cried out laughing, "It's a boy!" I looked back as they placed him on Emily's chest, and sure enough, there was his stuff. I still don't understand why you would want to know the sex of your baby! This is one of the most incredible "good" surprises anyone could ever have! As I write this, I am at home with Allie, Elena, and Rohan, while my beautiful wife and new baby boy are still at the hospital. I can't wait to bring them home tomorrow afternoon. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ that we have been so blessed with a safe delivery. I had worked out in my head any number of different outcomes and asked God to give me strength, no matter how this played out. It was all in his hands. I am so thankful that this delivery couldn't have gone any better for Emily. It was her best. I still can't explain the exploding feeling of joy that is in my chest. Praise God! and thanks to all of our friends and family who kept us in their thoughts and prayers. May God bless all of you! We love you all!

Gravity seems to have lost it's effect on my body cavity. I rarely feel this way. The cat meowed. Corbyn is scampering after her. Rohan is singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Elena is repeatedly saying, "Mommy!" Emily finally replies, "What?!" I'm slouched to one side of my office chair, with my elbow on the window sill. I'm going to see my Uncle for the last time tomorrow. I haven't seen him for over a year I guess. Life is for the living they say, yet life gets in the way of seeing the living, and then they're gone. It would be useless to rehearse a conversation. What do you really say? It's just...something I haven't contemplated for a while. My grandparents are all gone, and two of my Dad's siblings have passed as well. Even when you see it coming, it still catches you off guard when the reality of that one last visit hits you. I guess some don't get that one last time. Rohan asks if I want to help him do his homework. And so it goes.

Some time ago I bought some shirts from ThinkGeek. If you send them an "action shot" of their product, they usually post it. "Here I am!" said the small brown-eyed cow.

So last year, Emily and I were asked to participate as judges in a beauty pageant. Certainly a first for me. I played the part, albeit a strange one. I felt we were fair, and picked the right girl, but we got out of there as soon as we could so as to avoid angry mothers. Now I get a call. They want me to emcee the event this year. Strange things are afoot at the Circle K. They said it's all scripted. Thank goodness for that.

We just got back from a great weekend in Chicago. We took Emily's Mom, Dad and Brother up north with us. We hit the Field Museum for the King Tut exhibit, the Shedd Aquarium, and an awsome Blackhawks vs. Blues game with my Bro ---front row seats on the glass, no less. I won't write about all that we did...there wasn't much that we didn't do. C'mon, walking 10 blocks in the rain trying to catch a cab, walking around the Chicago Water Tower, Eating Awesome food, 9 year olds trash talking us at the hockey game, Giordano's pizza, hanging out on the roof of my Bro's place (39 floors up), Eating more food, Sponge Bob in 4-D, Hiking up and down Michigan Ave, Eating even more great food, 40,000 people running underneath my feet in a cold drizzle..of course, they were running a marathon up Columbus and I was standing over them on E. Wacker, but it had never happened to me before. Check out the new pics and videos.

It's been a while since my last post. Maybe I'll post more frequent, but the odds are I won't.

I'm going to try to keep the typing down ---Emily is asleep close by, but tossing and turning. I just turned on the ceiling fan. Hopefully that'll help, but who can tell? Pregnancy is a weird thing.

I watched an old ('94) Cruces video tonight, or pieces of it. I really have never watched one of those things in their entirety. It's an odd thing, knowing that you've aged and that you don't resemble that person that is supposed to be you on a recorded piece of history like a video tape. I wonder if my kids will ever watch any of those tapes. I'm sure they'll laugh.

Oh, Rohan got attacked by a volleyball net rope at church. Rope burn right over his left eye. I don't know how he does it...

I bought the Chronicles of Riddick trilogy this weekend. I had only seen Pitch Black out of the three flicks. The animated short film was okay, but not necessary. It's something that I'm ashamed to say thatI would have done ---throwing something in that you think people will find interesting just because you have the ability and means to do it, yet that doesn't make it a good idea. Anyway, long story short, I actually liked CoR. I know that the critics hated it, but come on, what is this movie anyway? It's not Gone with the Wind, it's just plain old action/sci-fi. Hey, I liked Alien 3 when no one else did. I kinda like the character anyway. He's an outer space Mad Max. I hope they do another sequel, even though I'm probably the only one.

I don't know if I ever posted this before, but I found this in a text file from a little over two years ago. I was quite amused, as Rohan had just started to really talk in full sentences. He's still fond of monsters...although I think he now makes the distinction from girls.

2003.11.18 age 3yrs.3mo.
Rohan, as he's putting a female action figure in a thomas the train car: "He fits!"
Daddy: "Yes, but that's a girl, so it's a she...boys are he's and girls are she's, and that's a girl."
Rohan: "Yeeaaah! And He fits!"
Daddy: "No, boys are he's, and girls are she's."
Rohan: "Yeeaaah! Girls are mossers."

The Amazing Rohan Does it Again.

This time he managed to fall into the Ohio River. Yeah. Not something I've ever done in my lifetime, but we are talking about the Amazing Rohan. Remember, he's amazing, because after all of his misadventures he's still alive. My dad took Allie and Rohan to Fort Massac at Metropolis, IL. and while walking along down by the river (no there was no van) Allie got up on a washed up log and walked along its length. Of course, Rohan tried to do the same and fell with one foot in the water and one still on the log. Dad said that Rohan panicked, tried to scramble back onto the log, and flipped head over heels into the water. He started screaming hysterically, and it took awhile to calm him down. Dad told him not to worry, that they would dry him off as soon as they got back to the truck. However, upon regaining his composure, Rohan informed him that he had been upset only because he was worried that "the sharks" were going to bite him.

I am absolutely amazed that my son Rohan is still with us. He flirts with death all the time...and he's five. Tonight, he and his sister Allie shouted their "goodnights" from their bedroom, and then we heard what sounded like a boulder crashing through to the first floor. Rohan had managed to flip head first off the top bunk, over the safety rail mind you. He smashed though the keyboard shelf of Allie's desk, ripping it from the desk itself. On top of that, or should I say underneath it all, a shattered bottle of nail polish. That's gonna bring up the varnish on the wood floor. We ran into the room and found that he was already on his feet crying. He ran to Emily as I knelt over the whole mess. Allie was standing beside me, and I asked her to grab Elena and take her to her room. Allie then proceeds to try and walk barefooted though the rubble. I throw up and arm, barring her way, and advised her intelligent self to go around the other way. Rohan managed to almost do the same thing about ten minutes later. Then as he was sitting in Allie's lounge chair with a bag of ice on his head, he managed to flip it over on top of himself. After I got though cleaning the mess, Allie advised us that Elena's foot had been bleeding, but that "it was almost dried now"......just wonderful. I'm just blown away.

My friend Kirk has included this blog in one of his links, so I thought that I ought to put up a little update.

My daughter Elena Estelle turns ONE today!!!!!! Rohan had his birthday two weeks ago (on some other person's bday :D ) and had a pretty good time. He starts kindergarten this year. Allie is almost done with her last bit of vacation with her dad, so we're looking forward to her getting home.

We're going to be moving soon. We're buying our first (most likely last) house and we close in two days. It's a great house built in 1920, and we can't wait to start working on it. We're turning the attic into a bedroom for Rohan, and we're combining two rooms on the second floor into a master suite. We'll hopefully tackle the kitchen this coming spring. Some people keep saying,"Oh, get ready for a huge headache..." even knowing that I do this sort of thing for a living every day. I've been demolishing and rebuilding since I was thirteen. Guess to be me is a real headache.

Saw one of my aunts yesterday for the first time in many years. Mentally challenged. Pulled up in my Mom and Dad's driveway in a mini-van as we were making pieces for a pergolla. Didn't know she could drive ---really didn't know who she was for that matter. My mom reported updates to my Dad later that night. Her oldest is almost out of juvey since he's almost twenty-one. Won't tell you why he's there, and don't ask if he forced some boys to allow him to perform felatio on them in a jr. high bathroom under threat of violence, because I won't comment. Her daughter is back home with her, since being in foster homes since the age of twelve. She's eighteen now, and I guess she thought it was smart to go home to mom, even though mom's boyfriend was the one who raped her six years ago. Sure that dude's gone, and my aunt's current husband is in prison for fifteen, but I'm just thinking that "home" would not be the best place to be living if living is what you want to do. I haven't even seen these kids for over fifteen years. Craziness. God be with them.

The band finally got a decent rehearsal space, all thanks to our drummer Joe. Maybe we'll get back to playing out. Who knows?

What else....what else...

We've said goodbye to our landline, and I don't think we'll be picking it back up at the new place. Kind of a nice feeling.

I guess I'm about to dive back into the joy that goes along with moving. Ordering new checks, throwing away all the free address labels that we've collected over the past two years from VFW mailings :). Calling ump-teen places to change our mailing address. Changes our mailing address at ump-teen more places online. Doing the mailing address change thing with the post office. Then hoping no bills get lost in the mail. Yea.

Something died somewhere hidden in the hall bathroom this past weekend. Now our bedroom closet which is beside the bathroom is eminating a nice sweet odor of death. Lovely, lovely, lovely. We've been having to sleep with a candle burning at night, hoping that the cat doesn't decide to burn the place down.

Guess that's all for now. Gotta go start baking Elena's cake, so Emily can frost it when she gets home.

So I haven't blogged in forever. Oh well, what can I say.

I copied this short bit from an email that I sent to some friends. It's about my trip with the wife and kids to go see "Batman Returns". Enjoy...

Just saw it. It was pretty good from all that I gathered. I say this, because of course it was a typical night at the movies for the Cooks.

We stop at the good ol' IL Center 8, and I run in to buy tickets. One girl is tapping a stack of Father's Day Sith posters on the counter, and while I'm wondering how I could score one, I almost miss the other girl short change me a ten dollar bill. I question the amount of change given, and she apologetically slips my ten-spot through the window. After walking out I kick myself for not asking for a poster to make up for the small misunderstanding. We drive around for a bit to kill time, knowing that the less time spent sitting in the theater, the less fussy Elena will become. I tell Emily about the two movie girlies, the posters, and the short-changing. Emily tells me I should have been cute and gotten that poster. Imagine ---my wife shaming me for not flirting.

We return to the movies after Emily and Allie argue for ten minutes about where some friend of Allie's lives. (??? ---such important issues.) We walk into the building, and Rohan bee-lines for the water fountain. Nothing good will come of that, I know. We file into the theater and shuffle into a row near the back of the room, but not near enough. Allie has a spiral fracture below her left elbow, and because of it's location (or dislocation I should say) from the growth plate, she doesn't have a cast, but a robot arm thingy that when bumped she's in tears. This does happen while we're trying to get the kids seated, and she does erupt into tears. After some verbal caressing, she settles down to her usual somber self.

For fifteen minutes, we sit through the bad theater trivia advertising slide-show, which loops at least three times. I look over and Allie and Emily are starting to fight. Emily is telling her that she can't go swimming with her Dad's family like he said that she could next weekend (what a moron), and she's starting to do her quiet mopey crying bit like her favorite slacker rocker has blown his head off and she can't find a candle to light and has no flannel to wear to the vigil. After trying to assure her that we're only thinking of her well-being, we get her to stop crying (again), and she drops her head to stare at the floor.

Previews start. Rohan keeps rubbing his eyes and says that they're burning. I tell him if he's tired, he may want to close his eyes. He says he's not tired. Elena keeps wanting to be passed back and forth between Emily and myself. Emily has brought fries in from Sonic to give to Elena to keep her quiet, so we take turns with one of us holding her and one of us shoving fries into the lil' guppies maw. Allie the 9-year-old vacuum keeps eating the fries, Emily keeps snapping at her, and Allie returns to more staring at the floor like it's full of reflections of happiness lost. I can't imagine what she's going to be like as a teenager. I'm definitely hiding my Cure cd collection.

Rohan's Velcro movie booster seat keeps falling over to one side, and although he requests my help in the matter, his simultaneous attempts to remedy the situation thwart my efforts to help him out. The result is something out of a Peter Sellers flick.

During the Dukes of Hazzard trailer Rohan says his eyes won't stop burning and starts to cry. I get up, take Rohan to the bathroom, rinse his hands, rinse his eyes, let him do his usual cycle with the hand dryer, let him stop at the water fountain (please let him have an iron bladder), and then march him back to his seat.

Movie starts. Rohan wants to know when does he turn into Batman. Elena starts crying. Emily leaves the theater with her. The kids are more concerned where their mother has gotten off to than what's on the screen, and so they keep turning one-eighties in their seats thinking that they'll find her. Rohan's movie seat slips to the side at least several times during these visual recon missions.

Rohan still wants to know when does he turn into Batman. Rohan then gets on my lap for round one of the twenty minute twist and squirm game (at least ol' B.W. turned into Batman.) Rohan then has to go pee. My Dad claims the kid sat all the way through Sith and then hit the bathroom running after the credits started to roll, but I guess Batman doesn't hold the same curiosity for him. I take him to the bathroom during the Arkham Asylum fight; guess I'll have to catch that one on the dvd. I look in the stall to tell him to hurry up. This is what I see: Rohan levitating over the bowl gripping the bare rim of the toilet like a prize gymnast on the parallel bars. I checked...just because...and we'll say that the guy before Rohan didn't have good aim. Hell, the last twenty guys. Anyway, this means of course I definitely can't skip the ritual of the washing of the hands. However, I did make him skip the hand dryer much to his disappointment and gave him a quick lesson in shaking them dry.

After being reseated and watching more of the movie. some gunther guy gets up to go to or go do whatever and trips on our diaper bag that Emily has forgotten ---both ways. I locate the bag and shove it under the seat in front of me. Rohan is thirsty. I tell him he can wait.

Rohan declares that he is now tired and wants to sit on my lap for round two of twist and squirm. After twenty more minutes of this wonderful activity Emily returns from the outside world. She hits Allie's arm on the way in. Allie starts to cry. Emily hushes her up. This probably happened during a meaningful scene; I wouldn't know. Emily asks for her keys. I throw Rohan into his booster seat. It slides to the side. He starts to complain, I shush at him. I fidget through all of the wrong pockets trying to locate the keys, while of course Rohan is trying to tell her that the guy has turned into Batman, and not quietly I might add. By this time I'm sure that the people behind us are just loving their choice of seats. After giving her the keys, she asks where her purse is. I'm sure that gunther guy kicked it high and low, and for the life of me I just cannot feel where it's at. No other choice. I get on my f***ing hands and knees and start to peer under the seats. Even as a kid I never crawled on a theater floor. What a lovely place it is. As soon as my eyes start to adjust to my new surroundings, Emily hisses in my general direction that she meant the diaper bag. I look at her, soooooooo happy that my hands are coated with theater floor residue. I shove the diaper bag at her and hope that she catches my glare. Emily hustles off and I climb back into my seat.

After a while the movie ends, we get up and walk to the lobby. There is Emily at the box office counter with three movie girlies, including the human calculator. Elena is on the counter, holding one of Emily's hands, bouncing up and down, waving to the drooling girlies going ga-ga over baby party tricks. In Emily's other hand is a Father's Day Sith poster.

Score: Mommy 1 --- Daddy 0.

Up next, Fantastic 4.

I'm about to go to bed. Elena is quiet...she's been asleep for about two hours now. Emily has Rohan at the E.R. His breathing became short tonight and he complained about his chest hurting. He's been coughing so much the last couple of days and regular cough syrup just isn't helping at all. They've been there for almost three hours now, and she just called saying that they've been put in a room in same day surgery to await a doctor, since the E.R. is too full. Poor Rohan...I hate seeing my little boy have to go through this.

We enjoyed a nice Super Bowl Sunday at our friends' house in Belleville. Thanks again for having us Doug and Jess!!!

My Dad is recovering from having a torn retina re-attached. He's not being too patient with the healing process. I think after you reach the age of 60, patience is all but gone. The poor man needs a vacation from health problems...and so does my Mom for that matter, but wow, is that another story.

Have I been absent for a while or what?!?!?! :)

Maybe I'll start blogging again. I haven't really been online much, or around the computer much for that matter. Life has been really different for the last five months or so, but it's starting to return back to normal...the normal that preceeded Elena's birth, I guess. It feels nice, really. No big opinions to spout out right now, or nothing monumental to say ---I just thought I'd throw some sort of post up, put out the signal that I'm still here.

I'm going to bed now...hoping that I hear from Emily soon...

Staring at the months. Wow, have they really gone by that fast? Let's see if I can give a brief synopsis on what's going on in my life.

My daughter, Elena, is now two months old. She's finally taking to me, as she's a mommy's girl. Since she was born, she would freak out when she realized that it was evil Daddy holding her, but she's starting to chill out. She looks like Emily, so that's awesome. It's a first for one of her children.

My dad had back surgery in September, and we took care of him for a week or so, until he was able to get along by himself. He's going to have a re-reconstructive surgery to his intestinal plumbing on Nov.1, so the adventure isn't over yet. Hopefully in the months following this upcoming surgery, he'll regain his physical strength. He's gone from around 190 pounds to around 140. He looks much too weak and old for being 60.

Since my dad has been down, we haven't been working together, so I had to get another job. I now work for some friends of ours at their fireplace and lighting studio. I work on the sales floor and out in the field doing installs. I'm learning a lot in an area of building that I have no experience in. Namely dealing with different gas pipe installation configurations, installing gas logs and fireplaces, mantels and cabinets, etc., etc., etc. The hours are different than what I was used to and are a little longer also. My work day was always 7 to 3:30. Now I don't go in until 8:30, and usually get home before 6. Although some nights run late, as I didn't get home tonight until 8. So, it's not so cool as far as family time is concerned, but it's not long term. I'm sure my dad and I will be back working together some time after the new year.

Heavy Wishing hasn't been playing at all recently. I think that it's killing us. Our schedules have been so crazy, we just haven't been able to hook up. Also, we lost our long-time rehearsal space, so that's the main factor in why we haven't gotten together. We have a show coming up on Nov.6 (I think), so now all efforts on are just preparing for that, no matter what. We have some new material that we started working on at the beginning of the summer, but now it seems so far gone, we'll really have to bust ass getting it all together in time for the show.

In other Derek music news, my old band Cruces will be reuniting for a show this coming Saturday night in Carbondale at the Hangar 9 with another band that we played with in the 90's, the Waxdolls. We had a rehearsal last night ---the first time that we've played together in over 2 years. It was very surreal. Honestly, it was as if the band had never broken up. Sure, we were rusty here and there, and I think that the guys were kind of hard on themselves for mistakes that I really didn't hear. That's to be expected though, but from where I was standing, I thought it sounded great. If we sound as good or better than Sunday night, we'll be in good shape. Dave from TDOHW took a lot of pics of our practice that'll I'll be posting on the Crucesrock.com site soon.

Rohan snuck off at Emily's salon today with some shears and cut a huge chunk out of his bangs. The only way Emily could fix it was to give him a buzz cut with a number 4 guard. When I got home from work and saw him I almost cried. My dear little boy has no hair left! I had spoken to her earlier in the evening, and she said that he didn't want to eat dinner. He told her that he wasn't hungry. When she asked him why he replied,"My belly hurts, 'cause you balded me." Only Rohan...God love him.

Maybe I'll write more soon, maybe not. Life is crazy these days. At least I found this small bit of time to write.

Good night.

Wow.  Sure, Iraq was better off with Sadaam.  Whatever. What a bunch of evil bastards he and and his sons were.

It doesn't really matter to me what we spend at "sit-down" restaurants.  All in all, the cost is all relative to what you're getting.  However, if I try and extend that rational to fast food, I really don't expect to pay that much, especially at a burger joint.
 
Take for instance, today we went to Dairy Queen.  I left the house with $23 for food and ice cream, thinking that surely that was enough.  Wow, was I wrong.  Here's what we ordered:

• Me: Mushroom and Swiss double burger, Large onion rings, small drink
• My Wife: Chili-n-Cheese Dog, Reg. Fries, small drink
• Both kids: Chicken Strip Kids' Meals.

This came out to almost $19!!!  Come on.  The price of soft-drinks is getting so crazy, we always choose small drinks.  Well, I guess they caught on, because they charge the hell out of those now.  The worst is Hardee's...but lest I digress.  This left me with just a little over $4 for ice cream.  The kids each got a "token" in their kids' meals for either a small cone, an ice cream sandwich, a dilly bar, or $.39 off a blizzard.  Well, of course our kids wouldn't opt for the entirely free route with each of them wanting a blizzard.  Rohan was putting up a good fight, not wanting to eat his chicken, so I got Allie's blizzard long before he was ready for his.  Good thing I went up to the counter only wanting one.  Even with the token, the total came to $2.46.  That left me with a little over a buck and half for Rohan.  SOOOO....I had to go home and grab some more money and come back, because an almost four-year-old would not have grasped the hopelessness of my situation, and would have been way less than agreeable about the whole thing.  Needless to say, the whole thing sucked rocks.  To think: that if Emily and I had wanted any "Royal Treats" (I'll say they're for royalty) and maybe large drinks, we would have spent almost $30.  For Dairy Queen...I don't think so.

Received some really generous gifts from some friends of ours in a band called Basic just for helping them out with a website. This really wasn't necessary, and I just wanted everyone to know what cool people Leah and Reid are. If you read this, thanks guys. It was really nice of you to do that.

In other news: IT WAS STILL HOT TODAY. This is all because I said to my Dad this past week that it had been a pretty mild summer thus far. Today, the heat index rose to 110 degrees. By 10am my fingers and palms were wrinkled like raisins, like when you're a little kid and your mom says that you've played in the tub too long. Again, we quit by two in the afternoon.

It was so damn hot today. We quit around 2:30, because it we had had enough. I wasn't quite keeping up with my fluids...I was just busy. Around 2:00 a headache started to set in and my neck started to ache, so it was definitely time to call it quits.

When I finally got home, I straightened the kitchen for about 20 minutes, then took a shower, and then started work. However, the heat had affected me so much, I worked until about 6:30 this evening, and then crashed in bed for about an hour. Now I'm back at it for a bit before bed.

We watched Blow Out again tonight. This was last week's episode that we missed. The season finale is on tomorrow night...no...Thursday night, I think. Maybe not...whatever. Anyway, we've been hooked on the show, and we're dying to see what happens. Hey, having owned a salon, it's a pretty interesting show.

I can hear Rohan singing in bed from here. Funny.

Most disappointing show for me from this past week: The 4400. I did not want it to be a series, especially one that is almost an exact rip-off of the X-Files. I was a die-hard X-Files fan for seven years, waiting for the truth. Then when Mulder left, I gave up on the truth. If the producers of the 4400 think that they can do the same thing, they can just forget it. They main two characters don't even have any chemistry...there is nothing interesting about them. A show that I think has some great chemistry amongst the two main players: Touching Evil. Now that's a show that I hope comes back for a second season.

Oh yeah, we bought the first season of Reno 911! on DVD. I highly recommend it.

Okay, so I used to dress off-beat when I was younger, and I'm still all about expressing who you are through how you dress, but sometimes you have to look in the mirror and draw the line. I saw a girl at the grocery store the other day who took the cake for the worst accessory ever. She had kool-aid blue hair with about two inches of out-growth, some piercings, baggy pants, bum looking shirt, you know, the usual punk-slacker fair. But the crowning glory was the racoon tail that was hanging down the middle of her butt. I guess if there was any doubt before, I've finally lost touch with today's youth.

As it would seem, I have been busy. Very much so even. Every weekend has been so full of whatever nonsuch, I can't get work done that I've put off during the week. I don't begrudge the weekend activities, as they are almost always full of family and/or friends. It's just that I've been behind in all of my deadlines for quite some time now. I actually should be caught up by tonight though...just in time to get down and dirty on one project that I've been anxious to get back to, since this past March. If things would work out the way that we hope for them to, this would be the only project that I work on for quite some time, as I am to stay on as webmaster. Yes, that would be my wish, but we shall see.

Emily doesn't have long to go til her due date. Yet we have a busy month of birthdays to get through before that. Maybe all of the trudging excitement will induce labor just a little bit early. I'm being pressured to start the name picking process. Of course, we don't know whether it's a boy or a girl, so I'm sure like last time, it will involve both of us sitting at Barnes & Noble with baby name books shooting ideas off to eachother, with the both of us responding,"Ehhhh..." So it goes.

I just heard this on Futurama and thought it most hilarious: "So I ended up here, making pies out of shoes."

That's just great.

This is an interesting piece of news, and even sad in reflection. Rather than focus on the fact that this Confederate Soldier's widow lived to the incredible age of 97, I am drawn more to the story of who she was married to. Even though they were only briefly married during the twilight of his years, her connection to something that is now so far gone in our history, to me is thrilling. It was such a sad time for our country, with wounds that are probably still felt, especially in southern communities. It is a shame that a great majority of the war's stories die around us on a daily basis. Some oral histories, because of their obscurity and remoteness, are gone forever.

My Grandfather was a Cossack, part of the cavalry in the Czar's army before and during the Russian Revolution. This of course meant that he was on the losing side of that ordeal. His life's experiences were so rich, and I only wish that I was not so young, being the age of five years old, when he died. I would have loved to sit and listen to him speak. I remember him holding me and talking and singing to be, but that's pretty much it. One of my Uncles seems to know more stories about his life than does my mother, but if I don't sometime take the time to sit down and catalog those stories, they'll someday pass away forever. Oral histories are so valuable! I'm ashamed that I never begged my mother to teach me to speak, read, and write the Ukrainian language when I was younger. The dialect used by my family will also someday needlessly pass away. All I know are a handful of phrases that I was taught to say to make my Grandfather smile. Less talk and more action on my part is in order, so I must begin my endeavor to learn more about him soon.

In this picture, my Grandfather is on the left, his uncle in the middle, and his brother or cousin in the foreground on the right. The photo must have been taken sometime between 1912 and the Revolution, as he would have been in his twenties.



This is one of the few pictures that I have of me with my Grandfather. It was taken around 1975, with my Mother and Grandmother also in the shot.

Ray Charles was too young to leave this world. In his stead, now there is a void. May he find peace.

Emily and I just finished watching Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator. Everything in this movie was going on when I had just started high school, and skating meant everything to me. I refuse to believe that was seventeen years ago. Nothing else mattered then. We'd stay up all night, try to sleep from about seven in the morning until ten, then get up and go skate until the evening hours. No repsonsibilities whatsoever. It just doesn't seem real. I said that I'd skate forever. Well, forever lasted for about five years. Every once in a while I get on my old board in the garage, and tap around a little. I don't believe I'll ever skate hard again. My knees are blown from those wonderful years that I did. Growing up and skating in a small Mid-Western town didn't touch the scene that was going on out West, and I thought I was missing out. Maybe I was ---or, maybe I was lucky.

My friend Corey blogged this incredible story of Public Ignorance, and it IS the must-read of the day.

It's just absolutely amazing!!! This woman just can't stop herself!!! Courtney Love is her own worst enemy. I'd say to exile her skank self to a completely deserted island, but she'd only find a way to piss of the indigenous wildlife.

Here's the latest beauty shot of the newest member of the House of Cook. In the video that we have (yes, they can do that now also with this 4D technology, which is the coolest) the babies' profile looks so much like Rohan's it's just crazy. Not long to go!

Before this becomes old news, I'd like to throw out a HUGE congratulations to Emily's second cousin Alex Stephens for tying for fourth place in the 2004 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Our entire town of Marion is proud of him, as he has achieved an intellectual accomplishment that no one will ever take away from him. In addition to this, Alex is an amazing person with great character that will undoubtedly go on to do great things. Cheers to you Alex!

Greg at The Smoking Room jokes that the opposite sex may tar him as a "warmonger" when politics hits the fan, but my friends, he speaks the truth, even though it is not the popular version. History, though, will prove it the only version.

In response to a previous comment by Greg, no, I've never heard the Matthew Sweet comparison. About ten years ago, I heard all types, but these days, they're usually not good, as I've put on a few pounds. So I take the Sweet remark as a compliment, although I don't know if he'd like being compared to a blooming Slav like myself.

I smoked some awesome ribs tonight, and my friend Schurl came over to help get rid of them. I used Emeril's Rib Rub like always, and slathered them with a variety of Jack Daniel's brand sauces. I had them indirectly cooking over a pan of apple cider vinegar. Oh, ho, ho! They were incredible.

You know, I really like this song "Leave (Get Out)" by JoJo. Yes, yes, even I fall for bubble gum now and then. One of my favorite songs of all time is "Lady in Red" by Chris DeBerg. I even loved "King of Wishful Thinking" by Go West. Remember that one?!! HA! Anyway, I hope that this JoJo gal (who is thirteen by the way) does not go the way of the trash bimbos like Christina or Britney. Just stick with the voice. If I want flesh, I'll rent some porn.

Oh my. Comedy is found sometimes when I least expect it. During the period of mourning for the death of President Ronald Reagan comes this brilliant statement by one of the world's past number one morons.

Yes, yes...I'm going to bed now.

We went to Six Flags on a whim today. There was a 50/50 chance of showers, but it barely drizzled on us on the way up. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and a perfect one for walking around, as it never got real hot. My Mom, Dad and Sister went with us, so It was definitely an interesting day, for those who know us will understand without my having to go into great detail. As for the rest of you, well, I'm not going to go into great detail...actually none, whatsoever. :) One of the highlites for me: Larissa and I rode a ride called the Slingshot which was just incredible (although it cost 15 buck for each of us). The two of us were strapped inside a type of gyroscope that was connected to two towers by steal cables. We were slung upwards, 225 ft. in 2 sec. with a force of 5Gs. Then it was a bungee like free-fall back down. It was just nuts. For the most part, our day was spent catering to the kids, because we went up mainly for their sake. They had a blast in the water park and in the kiddie land, so it was all good. They also road some of the other rides in the park at least the ones that they were tall enough to get into. I think if we had let Rohan just ride the train all day long, he would have been fine with just that. Emily didn't have the greatest time, since she's 7 months along, and they don't want "expecting mothers" to get on any of the rides. She floated on a tube on one of the water park attractions, and also rode on the Scooby Doo Swamp ride, both of which recommended that she not ride them. There's so much to tell, but as usual this is one of the last things that I'm doing before I go to bed, so I'm pretty tired. Here's a pic of us going down the last part of the log flume. Check out the fear in Rohan's face. Pretty funny.

Things that I did today:
1. Got up at 6:15am
2. Went to work, cut many sheets of OSB, and multiple rafters. Nailed off the decking on the roof.
3. Picked Rohan up from my Sister-in-law's.
4. Got home at 4:00pm
5. Mowed the lawn, accidentally killing a snake and a huge bull frog.
6. Got in the house by 7:00pm
7. Took a quick shower.
8. Helped some friends get their web-site rebuild closer to launch.
9. Hugged my Wife.
10. Finally got to eat at 9:15pm.
11. Made some phone calls.
12. Collected dirty clothes from around the house.
13. Washed Rohan's hair and got him out of the tub at 9:30
14. Helped get Rohan to bed with that final glass of water cause "I'm Firsty!" at 10:00pm
15. Drank a glass of milk, and watered the plant.
16. Checked phone messages.
17. Brushed my teeth, closed the garage doors, locked the doors, and turned off multiple lights.
18. Replied to several emails.
19. Made my website rounds.
Now it's almost 11pm.
THINGS TO LEFT TO DO:
1. Publish this post.
2. Call my friend Corey and discuss something sneaky.
3. Call Schurl and see if he agrees that it is sneaky.
4. Work on some lyrics for rehearsal tomorrow.
5. GO TO FREAKIN' BED.

We just got back from my Uncle's Birthday/Burn the Mask bash. My Uncle Alan turns 48 this Monday. He completed his radiation and chemo treatments last October, and tonight he ritualistically burned his radiation mask on a bon-fire. My Aunt Debbie said a small prayer as a large group of us held hands, and then he tossed it in the flames. It was an emotional event, and I can't begin to understand how much of a toll this has taken on his life. Looking at this mask was scary. Not in the literal sense, but just thinking about what it symbolized. When I looked at it, it was like looking at part of the monster that almost killed my Uncle. I'm sure that the mask has been a constant reminder of the torment that was his treatment. I know that because of the treatment, he's on his way to becoming a survivor, but it's something that I wouldn't wish on any human being. It's even more devastating knowing that children have to go through the same thing every day. I don't know if I could ever be that strong. My Uncle is not so much older than I am...just seventeen years. I have many fond memories of him from my childhood as he was probably one of my favorite uncles growing up. He's always been a strong, hard working man; stern, but with a heart of pure gold. I'm happy that we were able to be a part of this tonight ---I love my Uncle and I wish him many, many more birthdays. I can only hope to recall tonight to my grandkids one day when our archaic fight against cancer is a thing of the past.

Okay, so maybe I should change my blog's title from "Staring at the Wall" to "Things that Rohan says". I just got back from rehearsal not so long ago, and Emily was recapping the evening's events for me. She said that she and the kids were watching Return of the King, and Rohan was play acting along with the movie (every night is a Rocky Horror Picture night for this kid) with a He-Man action figure in hand. He holds He-Man up in front of Emily and says,"See, he wears his underwear all the times!"

Another Rohan moment: We thought we were going to get rained out today, so my Dad called off work, and I stayed home with Rohan. I was trying to catch a little more sleep, when I heard Rohan messing around in the bathroom. I sat up in bed, put on my glasses, and stared at the open bathroom door. There was my son leaning up against the toilet, full stream ahead like a race horse, holding up a Bob the Builder LEGO box in front of his face, whispering to himself. After he tinkled out he put the seat down (at first I thought,"How considerate!") and then jumped up on it to do more business. He looked up from the LEGO box and saw me staring at him and said,"Hi Daddy! I'm pooping!" I just said,"Wonderful." Then came the joyous response that got old a long, long time ago: "Will you wipe me?"

This is probably funny to no one but me, but...

Today I was fixing lunch for my son, who is almost four, and myself. I heated up three hot dogs in the microwave, and put one on a bun with mustard for him, with some chips. I set him up at the table, and he asked if I was going to eat the other two. I told him I was, and proceeded to top them with chili dog muck from a can (mmmmmmmmmmmm...) and some cheese sauce from a jar (mmmmmmmmm...carbs......). After I nuked my concoction some more, he asked what it all was, so I told him in a way like I was a car salesman trying to get him excited about clear-coat. He started licking his chops and said,"Yummmmm!!!", so I asked if he would like to try it. He said,"No.", and I said in a sing-songy way,"You don't know what you're missiiiiing!" He replied in the same tone,"I'm missing chocolate miiiiilk!"

HILARITY FLASHBACK

This happened about a month ago: We were grocery shopping at Kroger, picking up the usual fare, along with items that we receive from the WIC program. One of the things that we always get every week on the WIC card is juice. You're given options on what type of juice, and we opt for Donald Duck Orange Juice. Yes, it's really a brand of juice, although I'm not familiar with who makes it. It comes in the big can, you know the type that you use a can opener on to puncture two holes to pour it ---yeah, that type. It's incredibly good, and we just crave the stuff. I mean we're just nuts about it. Hey, it's a simple life. Anyway, we head down the juice aisle, and...they were completely sold out. No overstock, nothing. It's all gone. We we're rather disappointed, but what can you do? So we finish our rounds and head to the front of the store to check out. We got in the line of our choice behind two rather obese women. These were some butch ugly women that looked mean in the norelco way. We were giving eachother secret looks and smiles in regards to our line-mates when Emily's jaw just dropped and smashed the bread and eggs. I quickly surveyed the checkout conveyer belt to see what Emily's deal was, and lo and behold, there were ELEVEN CANS OF DONALD DUCK ORANGE JUICE. Both of us screamed about it all the way home. Fiends.

OOOO!!!! This is just absolutely, stunningly beautiful...M..u..s..t....n..o..t....i..m..p..u..l..s..e....b..u..y...

The Ringling Bro. and Barnum & Bailey Circus family suffered a tremendous loss this weekend when Dessi Espana fell 30 feet during her act. She performed right in front of us when we saw the show in Carbondale and we have several pictures of her, so we were just stunned when we heard the news. Our children didn't ask any questions about it, although we discussed it in front of them. I guess they really didn't catch what we were talking about. Had it happened at the show we saw, I'm not sure how we would have dealt with it. Our prayers are with her Husband and children and the rest of her family and friends. I know that in her life she brought joy to many people of all ages, and I'm sure that is how she will be remembered.

What to say...where to begin...what to say...

Emily's cell phone keeps beeping...I wish she would check her voice mail.

Emily just told me some privey information about a female friend of our's genitalia that I really did not need to know about. Blechhh...

Do you want to know what sucks? Coming home starving and looking forward to that frozen pizza that you bought when you're feeling all junk food like, and finding out that the bagger at the grocery store didn't put it in your cart. Do you want to know what sucks even more? Thinking,"Well, shit. I guess I'll just pop the buffalo tenders in the oven, since it's all warmed up." and finding out that the fucking tenders were in the same goddamn bag as the frozen fucking pizza. Yeah. That's the capper on my night. Just called Domino's and ordered a pizza and some kickers. What's that, a what, like about a thirty-five dollar turn-around???

Went to Wal-Mart earlier this evening (yes that dreaded hell-hole). It was my wife's call as they had something that she can't find elsewhere, supposedly. Anyway, I have some crazy oozing poison weed rash going on up my arm, so I was going to find some sort of ointment. I found something that looked interesting ---a clear gel that you rub on. Emily was like,"Oh no, this looks better." Some sort of spray. Okay, whatever. So we buy our stuff (not before I have to sprint to the back of the store to swipe a bar code sticker for a price check...and oh, by the way, I have a horrible case of the chafed-ass tonight, so the sprinting sucked ASS...and I've had a tiring day at work to boot... SOOOOOOOOOOOO...anyway...We get out at the movies, as we we're going to see Shrek 2, which by the way was f-bombing hilarious, and I don't mean to get off on a tangent here, but the sound at the theatre sucked tonight...

CAN ANYONE TELL I'VE HAD A COUPLE OF BEERS ON AN EMPTY STOMACHE? Blame Hartwell ---we stopped over there a bit ago.

ANYWAY, like I was saying, we got out at the movies, and Emily wanted to spray my arm with the anti-itch stuff, so she did. And guess what? It looked like goddamn Rustoleum white spray-paint. Yep. Big ol'white blotch of spray paint on my dark tanned "hello, I work outside" arms. I looked like a freaking inverted dalmation. Look at me, I have oozing sores on my arm. Well, Emily thought it was HILARIOUS. Yeah, she laughed all the way into the theatre. Oh well.

There was more fun stuff, but I'm tired of typing, so it'll have to wait til never.

Did I say that I bought a Namco classic arcade joystick tonight? I'm going to play myself some Pac-Man tonight. OH YEAH.

MY GOD I AM SO TIRED. We just got home. The kids are in bed. Rohan is singing as usual. My contacts are glued to my eyes. My body is burning with fatigue, I have to be up by 6:15...and I'm about to go to Carbondale to see a band play. What fresh hell is this?

I should point out that the "about" links are dead, only because those files don't exist yet. I was going to do those pages this past weekend, but it just hasn't happened yet. Today was one of THOSE days, and really, I need to catch up on all of my web work that I've let pile up, so who knows when I'll get them up. In the meantime, If anyone would like to contact me about whatever, you can do so at: derek (at) mollusktower (dot) com

BTW, I will always and forever list email addresses in the manner above, until there is a way to stop spiders and bots from culling real formatted addresses from source code. I currently receive anywhere from 15 to 40 pieces of junk mail a day to each single domain addy that I have. I don't need more.

Men and women can fight over the nuttiest things. My wife and I almost never fight. NEVER. Yet when we do, it's while discussing crazy hypothetical situations that are inspired by some television show that we've just viewed.

Tonight we watched the season finale of Law & Order S.V.U. A woman had acted upon pedophilic urges, because of a brain tumor that altered, or rather corrupted her behavior. After the tumor was removed, she supposedly returned to her old self, and was "cured". However, she lost her job as a school principle, because of the terms of her plea bargain, and her husband left her.

My wife asked me if I would leave her if the same scenario had happened to us. I said that I probably would, just because I would have a problem with what had happened, no matter the circumstantial innocence on her part. I said that I would probably need therapy to someday return to any normal relationship. In other words, I would be the bad guy. She still asked why. I told her why. She still pursued the issue. I told her that it would be my problem that I would have to deal with. She asked why I wouldn't just stay married to her and the both of us seek joint counseling. I then asked why the hell were we arguing about this?!?! I then shouted about how I had tried writing an email to a friend during the course of the show and had only typed about six lines, and I was tired, and just wanted to finish it and go to bed. I told her I wasn't going to talk about it any longer. She walked off, angry I suppose.

All of this and I'm drinking ice water. Is there something wrong with this picture?

Such insanity.

This is from the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page. The title of this article is
"Want a Different Abu Ghraib Story? Try This One: Saddam had their hands cut off. America gave them new ones.". It's definitely something that you will not see on TV...at least before this November's election. We wouldn't want to the American public to have anything but a bitter taste in their mouths from our intervention in Iraq, now would we?

My son who is three and a half has a way with pronunciation. My favorite right now is "weed-eater". I just bought a new one from Sears. He calls it a "wee-neener".

Tell me that Courtney Love is not the funniest celebrity around! Every chance I get, I click on Courtney Love slideshows on Yahoo. They absolutely kick my ass. Here are my six favorite shots from the last media frenzy.



God...She is so damn scary. She recently was quoted in saying to police officers before being arrested:"Please don't do this to me. I'm not the greatest mother in the world but I'm her mother. This incident will affect my custody case with my daughter. I'm not going to be able to get my kid." Maybe, just maybe you should think about your daughter before you throw shit off stage at people. I would do anything to get any of my children back, had they been taken away from me, which first and foremost would be to stop being an ignorant fucking junkie moron. Maybe it's just me, but somehow I doubt that any judge is going to believe her bullshit.

HA! I was just reading through my past blogs in the archives, starting with the oldest. As I scolled down through probably the first, I noticed that I said that I lived in a small town in southern Illinois, only 6 miles south of Chicago. Now that's funny. I meant to say only 6 HOURS (320 mi.) south of Chicago. That of couse is a conservative estimate according to a conservative driving time. I usually make the trip in about 4 1/2 hours. That's nary a bathroom break, fully gassed up for the trip, food already packed, y'know. You could turn it into a 6 hour trip, but that's not my style, to Emily's displeasure. Back in the day (the early sixties) when Interstate 57 was brand new, and only went for stretches here and there, not yet fully completed, my Dad said that he could make the trip in 3 1/2. That's not totally unbelievable when you hear him tell the story. He averaged a little less than 100mph, and would have averaged higher if he had not had to divert over to IL State Hwy 37 where I 57 was still under construction, and where he was able to drive solely on I 57, there was almost no traffic to speak of, nor was it really policed by any law enforcement officials. Anyway, I guess this turned from correction to history lesson, but I easily digress.

children. how amusing one's day is when spent with a child. i was working as usual (while doing laundry, of course) when emily called from work. i was chatting with her when i thought that i heard rohan calling from the back of the house. she coincidentally got a phone call, so i let her go and went to check if there was anything that i needed to attend to. sure enough, i heard rohan saying,"oh my gosh, oh my gosh! daaaaaaddy, where are you?!" as i neared the bathroom, i spied a three-year-old, with his underwear around his ankles, trying to twist, so he could examine his rear, which was speared up past his waist with poop. yeah, that was fun to clean up. sometimes people wonder why my sense of humor tends to get slightly raunchy, with no holds barred ----when you're a parent, life gets raunchy, with no holds barred. you never know what you're going to get into when your child starts saying,"oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

It's been a year since I changed the look of my blog page, so that's why you're looking at something totally unfamiliar. Of course, instead of working on this, I should have been doing real work, so after I post this, I'm going to get back to business. Oh well...it was fun!

WOW!!! I haven't blogged here since Thanksgiving?!??!?! I swear, I'm not that lame. Most of my time (other than time spent on work and family) has been dedicated to my band's website, which has another blog of mine incorporated within the front page, so that's where I've been.

We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's tonight. They had a great time. My major observation of the night was that the Skee-ball game that I grew up loving were not the huge ticket generators that I thought they were. Even at your luckiest, you might get three or four tickets. Yet right around the corner were several other types of games (if you can even call them that) that just spit tickets at you for doing nothing other than pushing a button, stopping strobing lights on a numeric amount, sort of like playing roulette. Once Emily discovered these games, we were swimming in tickets. When I was younger, my brother and I could never combine for more than fifty tickets. Do you know what our take was tonight? Just guess...C'mon....

266 tickets. And I know that probably doesn't even compare to some of the other patrons. We saw guys walking around holding bricks of tickets. Just amazing. What's even more amazing is that I'm typing about this. Oh well...simple minds, simple pleasures.

happy thanksgiving! yeah, i should be in bed...but as usual, right when i'm about to go off to la la dream land (which my dreams almost always turn into full-fledged nightmares) i start thinking about too much, and i come back into the family room and start going to different message boards, tweaking some sites that i've finished but can't seem to let go of, etc.

this site is starting to bore me...the way it looks. yes, i know...i'm sure it's boring to you too, since i don't post like i should. oh well. that's life. speak of life...

we got a dog last weekend. a miniature schnauzer. really cool. he's a great dog...12 weeks old, really sweet. we got him for allie, so now we've got an eight year old complaining about the great weight of this furry little responsibility. sure, i know, she's only eight, but we warned her what it was going to be like. emily thinks that what it really boils down to is that allie is really a cat person. y'know...cats come and go at their own will with a whatever attitude. yeah, that's allie's style. oh...there have been some cool dog & cat incidents between corbyn and eowyn. i guess i should point out that corbyn is our dog and eowyn is our cat. eowyn is now bold enough to come out and parade in front of corbyn, and as soon as he goes to sniff her out and find out what the hell she is, FSSSSSTH!!!! FFSSSSHT!!!!! FFFFFSSSSSSHTTT!!!! HEEEEEHHHHHCHCHHHCHCHH!!!!!! there runs corbyn. if he had a tail, it would be tucked between his legs. it's pretty entertaining. yeah, i'm twisted.

my good friend corey is about to release a site that i set up for him. it's going up sunday night, so i'll try and remember to post a link. it's just going to be a cool place to post articles about music and movies and have good debates. the whole point of the site is that even if no one goes to it, it's a place for corey to just tell it like he sees it. kind of like this, but he wanted it to also be more interactive, rather than seemingly one-sided...since i do have places for comments...though no one uses them /;(

actually got away from the monitor today and went with schurl to install a sound system at a church. i spent the entire day up in the attic pulling wire. fun. i feel like i've had my ass kicked and then ran over. not cool to be in the attic of a cathedral ceiling with a roof-overhead of about a six-twelve pitch. it sucks. there were areas where my fat ass would barely get over duct work while my head was scraping exposed roofing nails. yet, there are those who wonder why i aspire to be a web-designer. but y'know...not many people can say that their personal hell is the attic of a catholic church, now can they??? ;D

btw...i'm still getting feedback about the heavywishing post that i did recently...you know, my novela. for those who still don't get it...get out there, break out of your own little box, and go see some different bands play! i mean...even go see some crazy country band play. see how they do it; watch to see how much fun other fans have watching bands you really don't care about. just take it all in...it's all good! go up and shake their hands afterwards, and go home knowing that you made their show twice what it would have been if you hadn't been there. really, you won't be struck down by the coolness police.

okay...i'm really going to bed this time. so happy turkey day.