Exercise!

Tonight, I used our new elliptical machine for the first time for exercise (trying it out when it was first put together doesn't count). I exercised for about 14 minutes, and that was good to start. I'll try to increase by 5 minute increments over the next few days, until I'm up to 30 minutes.

That's about as much of my daily life I'm willing to give up to exercise. I have better things to do with my time that that. Like writing here. Or picking belly button lint out of the appropriate places.

Too much?

I had off from work today, while Sue had to work. We spent yesterday in Hoboken, hanging out in a park by the Hudson playing checkers, and then eating outside at a Mexican place. To prove we did all that, here's a picture of a boat on the river.

Ah, now isn't that pretty! Let me take a drink of water, and I will be right back...

Ah! H20.

Today, since Sue had to work, I did what any normal person would do on a beautiful, sunny day. I went to 3 different cemeteries!

My first stop was at Hollywood Cemetery in Union, NJ. I was looking for the plot of Thomas Lord, a cousin of my grandfather. Supposedly, according to another cousin, Thomas is buried right near his parents William and Elizabeth, but on exploring the area, I could not find a headstone for him. When I've asked before, the main office does not have a record for Thomas's burial in their cemetery. Very strange.

I then went to Fairmount Cemetery in Newark. I've been there numerous times before, but I wanted to see if I could find some headstones on Lord plots, that are there according to cemetery records, but may be overgrown. Here's an example of a cleaned up headstone, that was getting covered with grass. (NOTE: Blogger is having trouble with photos, so I will have to see if I can upload them later, perhaps tomorrow morning. The same goes for the John Lord photo mentioned below.)

Of course, for a real comparison, I should have taken a photo before I cleaned it up. Live and learn. The above photo is for the grave of James and Sarah Lang, my great-great-great-great grandparents. They lived in Harrison/East Newark in the 1860's, after having immigrated here from Ireland.

And just to round out that trip, here's a picture of John Lord's headstone, from the same plot. John is my great-great-great grandfather, also born in Ireland, and he married Jane Lang in Newark in 1851. According to the Fairmount records, Jane should have a headstone in the same plot, but it's not there. Seeing how much these were covered with grass in just about a year since my last visit, I could imagine that there are some headstones that are just buried under an inch or two of grass.

I have a 3 foot long dowel that I put a nail into one end, in order to poke around in the ground to see if I would feel the distinctive "stop" of a nail hitting stone. However, I'm not sure if the nail is long enough to reach stones that may be under more than an inch of dirt or grass. I'll have to look for a longer nail.

Or, could there be any metal detector type thing that can find cut stone under dirt? Or would all the coffins and other stuff mess that up? Side scanning sonar? Something? There's got to be money in there for something like that, to have someone invent it, if it's not real already.

Also on the genealogy front, I've dug up a possible second marriage for one of my great-great-great-great-great grandfathers, Alexander Lindsay. Alex's (I am on a first name basis with these people) first marriage was to my G5-grandmother, Marion Dyer. However, based on Scotland census records, I discovered 3 additional children of Alex's, born appreciably after his first batch. And, Marion was nowhere to be seen. Therefore, I thought, the 3 additional kids may be from a second marriage. Today, thanks to the Mormon's, I think I found that second marriage. It would be to a woman named Helen Hosie.

And, in reviewing Alexander's 1841 and 1851 census records, I saw that his neighbors were a family of Hosie's. So, once I can get the official marriage record from Scotland's People, I can possibly confirm this second marriage. My hope would be that the marriage record would say something like, "Alexander Lindsay, widower of Marion Dyer, married..." blah blah blah...

Genealogists live in hope.

In random television news, I watched the premiere of Battlestar Galactica on Friday night. Even though I haven't seen the second half of Season 2 yet (it's next on my Netflix list), I was able to follow along with the plot pretty well. I won't get into a detailed analysis here, but it was quite good. There was a bit at the end, with Starbuck's baby, where I thought that perhaps the baby and the Cylon father were in cahoots, that the accident the child had wasn't "real," but we'll see where that ends up...

NP: Soundgarden - Fell On Black Days

Technology!

Today, we got a call from Sears, about a delivery we're receiving on Wednesday. It was a robot caller, and it left a message on our voice mail, as I was at work, and Sue was enjoying the sunshine down on the Hoboken riverfront.

Now, what just hit me a few minutes ago was that the message left on the voicemail was a complete message. It wasn't cut off at all. Which means that the robot was able to listen to our message, wait for it to conclude, and then leave its own message.

I don't know about you, but that's pretty impressive technology to me. Does the robot wait for silence before doing its thing, or can one robot voicemail somehow communicate with another, so that it knows to wait? Anyone have any answers out there?

In other, non-technology news, I got a genealogy request back in the mail today. Listen to this. I'm trying to get a death record from the state of Iowa, for a James Coulson, who died back in August/September of 1894. Iowa requires that someone who requests a death record should be no further back than a grandson. Other people do not have "permission" to request the record. So, I send a letter with my request for the death record, saying that I'd be the great-great-great-grandson of this James Coulson, but part of the reason I'm requesting the record is to confirm that relationship.

So, I get my request back in the mail today, stating: "Please do more research and when you know your relationship for sure you can re-apply."

I'm basically being told to do more research, to confirm the relationship that I'm trying to determine by requesting this death record from Iowa. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Come on!

This is one of the frustrations of the modern genealogist. Laws that have been enacted to protect individual privacy (and rightly so), are being applied to records over 100 years old, for records that have nothing of use to identity thieves. Modern records may have cause of death (a private medical issue, which the state of NJ blanks out on their genealogy record requests), Social Security numbers (available through the SSDI-Social Security Death Index), or other information that may be considered private. Old records are generally only of real use to family history researchers, and some states account for this, by putting certain records under more restrictive use.

In NJ, birth records before 1923, and marriage and death records before 1940 are all publicly available at the NJ State Archives. For records after those dates, a person must request them formally from the State Vital Records office. Not a huge hoop to jump through, but it is a way to make sure that the vital record office can redact any private information.

So, I'm a little bitter about the Iowa thing. If I had written that I was certain of the relationship, even though I wasn't, would they have given me the record? Am I being penalized for being honest?

As I said before, COME ON!!!! (In my best Gob Bluth voice...)

NP: Fission Trip - Master

Weekend!

It was a bit of a busy weekend up here in the Lord household. Well, not really, but I can pretend, can't I?

On Saturday, my mom came up to visit our apartment in Jersey City for the first time. She took the train from Allenhurst up to Newark, then the PATH train from Newark to Jersey City. Not a hard trip at all for her, from what she said. For the future, I will probably give her driving directions, now that she knows where she's going. But, if she wants to continue to train it, that's fine also...

We were hoping to get over to Liberty Island to visit the Statue of Liberty, but by that time in the afternoon on Saturday we got there (around 3pm), the weather had turned, and rain was threatening. So, the Statue will have to wait for another day. It was fun visiting Liberty State Park, we got some nice photos, and I was able to point out some parts of the train station there that were relevant for the immigration story of my mom's grandparents, who all came over from Poland between 1900 and 1907. They all passed through the old train station at Liberty State Park on their way to South Amboy and Elizabeth.

Before heading to Liberty State Park, we went out for lunch a little after 1pm to "Rita & Joe's," an Italian restaurant here in Jersey City. It was really quite good, and a place I'll feel free to go back to in the future. I had the Chicken Parmigiana (I'm probably misspelling that...), Sue had a salad, and my mom had pasta with vodka sauce. We all enjoyed our meal, and for three people, I think the total was about $50, which isn't horrible. We'll have to go back for dinner at some point, to see how it is then also, but for now, it gets my thumbs up!

Today, Sue and I went to see "Jackass II," which was really funny, in that "Let's watch idiots do really stupid stuff to themselves and each other" kind of way. For a laughs per minute ratio, it's hard to beat. Of course, you have to like stupid humor, but if you do, more power to you.

What's funny to me is that one of the guys in the Jackass "crew," I think his name is Bam, reminds me a bit of my friend Bill O'Neil, not in behavior (well, maybe a little), but more in looks. It's like they could be cousins or something. Probably not brothers...

On Friday evening, Joe and I did our recording of a new Pseudocertainty show, and it's up on the site, for your listening pleasure. Let me know what you think...

NP: Pink Floyd - Echoes

Oops!

Well, I mentioned on here yesterday that I thought that the year anniversary of this blog was coming up. I have since looked more closely, and I started this blog on 18 September 2005, so the year date has already passed.

Sue me!

I forgot to mention, also, that one of the movies Sue and I saw recently was Beerfest, the latest Broken Lizard movie, from the same people who did Super Troopers. Beerfest was fun, I viewed it as a live action cartoon. Good doofy fun.

Onto deeper things, work continues to go well. It's funny, because I'm not even at the three month mark (that'll be on October 10th), but it feels like I've been there much longer, and not in a bad way. Of course, I'm still figuring stuff out, like where to put items to file away, but overall, it's going well. Having a title like "Assistant Director," gets some attention when you ask people to do things, but there's also relationship building that has to happen, because titles only go so far.

I'm beginning to get calls from other offices, people looking for assistance, or even my opinion about approaches to initiatives, oddly enough. It's fun, but also something to get used to.

Tomorrow, I'll be consolidating my list of stuff to talk about on the next episode of Pseudocertainty. It should be fun, as Joe and I haven't recorded an episode in quite awhile.

NP: Brian Eno + David Byrne - Mea Culpa

Year!

You know, I'm coming up on the one year anniversary of doing this blog. That is, if it hasn't already passed yet. I hope you've enjoyed going on this voyage of life with me. I'm sure it hasn't always been scintillating, but life is lived in the moments between exciting happenings.

For basic daily routine today, I did laundry and dishes. We also put up some more stuff on our walls, but there's more to do. I organized the remaining art (mainly Sue's stuff, which is quite good) a little better, so it didn't look as much like a mess. Over the next day or so, we'll get the rest of the stuff up, or at least decide what will go up where.

This Friday, Joe J. and I are planning on recording another episode of Pseudocertainty. This will be the first one recorded down here in NJ, while Joe is in Boston. I hope that the internet connection is still good enough to let Skype work.

I realized the other day that this is the first time in years that my "center of gravity" isn't Boston, but now the New York/New Jersey area. What I mean by this is that, even when I was out at grad school in Michigan, Boston was a place that was very easy to return to. It's a place where a lot of life happened. Now, that "center" has changed back to the New York/New Jersey area. It's not a bad thing, and maybe it's more measured by what major metropolitan area is closest, but it is very noticable, for me at least. Except for when I was out in East Lansing, I haven't been more than 2.5 hours from Boston since 1989. That's now different.

I do enjoy being back in the New York area, it'll allow me to see family more often, and see New York friends that I've felt a little neglectful about, but I do miss the easy access to Boston. I'm sure we'll get up there again, possibly even before the year is out, but it is a change.

NP: Magma - K.A III

Audience!

You know, you go away from blogging for a few days, and people can't stop asking when you'll blog again!

Okay, when I say people, I mean two, and one of them was my mom. But, it's an audience, and so, I write...

I like to do these blogs in the evening, after Sue goes to bed. It gives me some time when writing won't take away from our awake time together. It's not that this is private in any way, Sue reads it, so it's not that, I just like the quiet of doing this now. I haven't done any blogging recently, in the last week or so, because I've been going to bed earlier. I've been really tired starting around 11ish. I figured my body needed rest, so the blog was sacrificed.

The most exciting news in the world of Lord over here is that Sue has been offered, and has accepted a position over in Manhattan at The New School. I won't go into the details, as it's really her business, but she has a great job, and is going to do fantastic with it. I think it'll be a good move for her. If she wants to take classes there, she can, which will be fun for her.

Once she gets in a good rhythm with the job, we'll be able to figure out our budget for savings, what we can do for future vacations, and other stuff. It'll be fun! It appears that we'll both get the same amount of vacation, and that we'll both have three day weekends during the summer. Good stuff.

Recent movies we've seen, with a thumbs up/thumbs down score:

• Snakes on a Plane: Thumbs up, but not as goofy as I was hoping...
• Little Miss Sunshine: Thumbs up, I enjoyed it, but it could have had a bit more of a resolution at the end. I would have liked to see a little more wrapping up.
• The Last Kiss: Thumbs up, but again, not a very deep film. A number of things happened, but you didn't really get into the characters as much as I would have liked.

I think that's all the movies for the past few weeks. I'm a fairly easy movie viewer. I generally will only see things that I think I will like.

That's all for now... More to come soon. I think I'm very close to the one year anniversary of this blog, which will call for some reflection, I'm sure...

NP: King Crimson - Exiles (20 Mar 1974)

Townshend!

If you have albums, tapes, CD's, mp3's, or whatever you listen to music on nowadays (8 track, anyone?), there are albums that you can return to over and over again, without getting tired of them at all. I recently revisited one of my favorite albums, Pete Townshend's "All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes," issued in 1983, and recently remastered with 3 bonus tracks.

I will admit first off, that I am a sucker for remastered versions of albums, and especially bonus tracks. So when I heard that Townshend's entire solo catalogue was going to be re-released, it was quite a delight. And this is the album I was looking forward to the most. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed in the result.

With "Chinese Eyes," as it's often shortened to in conversation or in writing, it's not that every song on the album is a hit, or just destroys me when I listen to it, but it is truly the total package of how the album builds, never hitting a wrong beat, always keeping the mood right where it should be.

The first four songs on the album, "Stop Hurting People," "The Sea Refuses No River," "Prelude," and "Face Dances Part Two," really do well in introducing and setting the tone for the rest of the album. It's almost like these four songs make a mini-ep all of their own, putting the listener in the right place for what follows.

I've always thought of the next 5 songs as part of a piece that fit together for the body of the album. "Exquisitely Bored," "Communication," "Stardom in Acton," "Uniforms (Corp d'esprit)," and "North Country Girl" all fit together to create a reflective, wistful mood. Even the "up" songs like "Communication" have a thread of melancholy running through them that make the music match the content of the lyrics well.

The final two songs, "Somebody Saved Me" and "Slit Skirts" round out the album with the perfect conclusion, perhaps the best ending of an album that I've heard. "Somebody Saved Me" reflects on friendship and loss, while "Slit Skirts" focuses on the ennui of love faded to the point of not feeling even the shadow of love. Not the most happy of songs, but it works. And music doesn't have to be happy to be uplifting. I finish listening to this album always feeling reflective, and like I've heard a true masterpiece of art. As an album, a complete whole, I don't have many albums that beat this one.

NP: Ten Seconds - Nightwebs

Photo...

I took this looking out our living room window, looking east on the evening of September 11th.

Access!

Ah, the joys of computing in the modern age. I'm having massive slowdowns on the speed of internet access here in our apartment, I think because some people may be engaging in activities that take up massive amounts of bandwidth. I leave it to the brilliance of the reader to deduce what I am talking about.

I actually have a lot to write about, but I fear that it may get lost in the ether, if I try to post it during this slow internet period. But, I try, because that's what humans do.

Perhaps I will put a list of upcoming blog topics here. Yes, that sounds good...

• The brilliance that is the Pete Townshend album "All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes"
• Continued genealogical updates
• Items of New Jersey interest
• Brisco County Jr.
• Some photos
• Musings on friendships (good stuff, don't worry, friends)
• Old work stuff
• New work stuff

Seems like a full plate. More to come as I can write about this...

NP: Eric Idle - Paranoid Jails

Slow!

The internet connection here right now, since about Sunday, is VERY slow... I'll post some more stuff once the problem gets resolved...

Rest!

A night with no duty obligations. Wonderful.

Of course, I'll be on duty again tomorrow, but one night away is good for now. I believe next week, I'm on for the full week, but then it'll be about 5 weeks until my next duty, so that's really not bad.

I'm watching the 2 hour "Dirty Jobs" special on Discovery right now, so not much more to say...

Labor!

Happy Labor Day everyone! I can't wait to see what I got this year!

I have been "on duty" yesterday and today, so I haven't really been able to enjoy the long weekend, although I have been sleeping late, which is always a good thing. Duty is about as much work as I feel I should have to do on Labor Day.

Back when I worked at Dartmouth, we often had to start our UGA Training on Labor Day. I was often one of the sole voices against starting on Labor Day, as working on this day seemed anti-thetical to the whole idea of the day. That's why I don't like the whole Labor Day sale idea. Some poor worker is getting screwed and has to work, so that people with the day off can shop and save money.

Personally, I'd like EVERYONE to have off on Labor Day, but I understand that some jobs, like Police, Firefighters, etc, probably have to work today. So, I hope they get mondo amounts of overtime. They deserve it, for working on Labor Day.

In other news, I updated some genealogy stuff on my Mom's side of the family tonight. I got some info from Poland recently that gave me the names of two sets of G3-grandparents. They're Wojciech and Agata (Obuch) Drozd, and Wojciech and Marianna (Dziki) Stachura. That information was in a little note I got with some birth records from Poland. I wish the clerk had written where he had gotten the info, but I'm happy to have it, whatever the source.

I have a bit of a headache tonight, so it's time to sign off...

NP: George Harrison - Dark Horse (Dec 1991)

Compare!

Below, you will find a photo of a sharply dressed gentleman, who is Robert Lord, my Great-great-grandfather.
Now, below this text, is a photo of Elizabeth Lang, and her husband Matthew Cook. Elizabeth Lang is Robert's aunt, but is only 7 years his senior. She was born in about 1846, and Robert was born in 1853.

I think there's quite a resemblance in their facial structure. I guess Robert took after his mother's side, the Lang's, more than the Lord's. I have no photos of John Lord (Robert's father)to compare him to, unfortunately...

NP: Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, Op. 58, Rondo: Vivace

89!

This Saturday, my grandmother is turning 89 years old. That means she was born in 1917, for all you math oriented folks out there.

Sue and I should be heading down to the NJ Shore area, to go to lunch with her and other members of my family, so it should be a good time.

In other news, I've been in contact with a 4th cousin once removed on the Lang side. My G3-grandmother, Jane Lang, had a sister named Elizabeth Lang. Elizabeth married a Matthew Cook, and they had a daughter together named Sarah. This woman I'm in contact with is descended from Elizabeth and Sarah. She sent me a photo she has of Elizabeth, who died in 1875. Elizabeth was an aunt to my G2-grandfather, who I do have a photo of, and there is a real family resemblance there. I'll post the photos here soon, for your own review...

NP: Pink Floyd - Hey You

Cale!

Tonight, in my own little celebration for getting through RA Training this week, I listened to my new copy of John Cale's "Paris 1919," his album from 1973. This is a new release of his old album, with many bonus tracks and freshly remastered.

The album has never sounded better, with songs such as "Antartica Starts Here," "A Child's Christmas in Wales," and the title track being revealed in all of their glacial splendour. Cale has said of this album that it's all about ugly things, said in the prettiest possible way, which is a fairly accurate assessment of the music. It is a very "pretty" album, but the lyrics have an undertone of darkness, but with a wistful, longing turn in places. I love the album, and it was good to just sit and listen to it, letting it wash over me.

Too much, I'm listening to music as background, while I'm doing something else. It's good to be able to take some time and really focus on the music. Not to let the musical journey be in the background, but put it to the foreground, to have it be the experience itself. It's rare when we have the time to do it, but I try to make time to listen to music I find worthwhile.

I have to thank Joe McGlinchey for my John Cale fixation, as he introduced me to his music back during my senior year of college, with the album "Fragments of a Rainy Season," which I recommend to EVERYONE.

Of course, I was listening to this, as I mentioned, because of the end of RA Training, and I finally had some time to just sit and relax. Between the 18th and today, I presented a total of about 21 sessions, with each one lasting at least 30 minutes, and with most being an hour. One of my co-workers asked me today if I had ever thought about being a teacher, as he thought I was very natural in front of the group.

I think that if I hadn't gone into Higher Education, I would have enjoyed being a teacher, perhaps in History. That would have been fun, but I like what I'm doing now, so it's all good.

Back to the present job, it's going to become very busy this week, with new students arriving on Monday, and upperclass students coming back on Tuesday. It'll be fun, but hectic. I also need to start thinking about more longer term issues with the work, now that I've got RA Training under my belt.

NP: Steve Hackett - The Silk Road

Brisco!

So, I started watching the DVD set of the Complete Brisco County Jr. series I picked up a few weeks ago. For those of you not in the know, Brisco County was a show on Fox that started back in 1993, starring the talents of one Bruce Campbell, one of my acting heroes.

This show started the same year as the X-Files, and was in fact the lead in for the X-Files, starting at 8pm on Friday nights, while X-Files came on at 9pm. It was a great night of television for nerds, as Brisco County was a western with a twist. It incorporated elements of science fiction into the plot line, with futuristic orbs, odd happenings, and glimpses of the "future," from a world set in 1893.

The show, as Bruce Campbell says in the liner notes, was just "one notch below over the top." The second episode of the series has one of my favorite moments in it from television ever. One of the bad guys on the show has appropriated a futuristic scuba device, and is diving in a lake to retrieve some sunken booty. The female guest star of the show, hiding in the bushes with Brisco watching all this, says to him, "Aren't you going to do something?" Brisco replies, "What, you want me to dive in the water, engage in a life or death struggle while gasping for air, while he's safe in a pure oyxgen environment, smiling safely behind his glass helmet? No thanks, I'll wait here on dry land for them to come back."

Of course, through some plot devices, Brisco finds himself wrestling with the baddy underwater, while the baddy laughs at Brisco, airless and drowning. Brilliant stuff...

I'm glad the show is as fun as I remember it.

In other news, we're about 3 days into the RA Training here at Saint Peter's. I was concerned about today, because I was presenting 3 hour long sessions in a row, and I might get sick of hearing myself for that long, let alone a room full of 25 college students on a nice day. However, we got through it, and it appears to be a productive day. The staff is responding well to the presentations by myself and the other staff here.

Tomorrow (Monday), I have another 3 presentations to do, but they're not in a row, so I'm not as worried about the staff getting bored with me as I was for today. I believe I was doing 18 hour long sessions/presentations during this training, and by the end of the day tomorrow, I will be done with 10 of them. Thursday will be busy again, but after the day tomorrow, I think I'll only have 2 presentations per day, instead of 3. What a country!

I'll give more updates about Training as we get deeper into it. Overall, I have to say it's going well...

NP: Frank Zappa - A Pound for a Brown (1982 Summer)

Duh!

It took me two days to realize that Brian's comment to this blog of mine referenced Futurama...

I knew I *should* know where the line was from, but was just too stupid to actually recall it in the moment.

Now, I feel much better...

NP: Yes - Give Love Each Day

Music!

Last night, I fired up my Digital Audio Workstation (fancy name for a computer hard drive home studio) for the first time down here in NJ. I had wanted to record a percussion piece that I would just improvise as I go along, but I ended up recording a piece that's basically a keyboard solo on top of some jangly chime like sounds.

Not bad, but I need to work on it some more. Perhaps I'll do something with it tonight...

My website still exists over on the Dartmouth site, but I'm a bit worried about trying to update it, as it may signal something to the server that it shouldn't be operational anymore, if my passwords are deleted... At some point I'll try it out, but not yet. I do want to find somewhere to post my music. We'll see how the future pans out...

This was my last three day weekend, and this week, I'm basically going into my month or so of heavy duty work. RA training begins this coming Friday, and ends on the 28th. Working every day in that time frame, and lots of work into September. It'll be busy, but fun, I'm sure...

On Friday, Sue and I visited some cemeteries in the area, looking for plots of old family relatives, part of my ongoing genealogy search. Here's a photo of a headstone...

This is the stone for Lizzie Cook, whose maiden name was "Lang." Lizzie was the sister to my G3-Grandmother, Jane Lang. Jane married John Lord. This was in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, NJ, a very well kept place.

We visited some other cemeteries that weren't as well kept up, and didn't have a lot of success, but it was a good day to be outside. And, I'm a lot closer now to visit some of these places, so I can make more casual trips to them.

NP: Ben Folds - Brick (13 June 2003)

Go to this site for more inspirational goodness...

NP: Brian Setzer Orchestra - Gloria

Liberty!

A photo journal of Sue and my trip to Liberty State Park last Saturday...

Sue in the old train station at the Park, where immigrants from Ellis Island, and Castle Gardens before Ellis Island was used, moved on to other parts of NJ and the rest of the US.

The inside of the station... Neat!

The inside of the station, with me!

Sue!!!!

Outside the train station, on the Hudson, with the most phallic building in Jersey City standing in the background...

Looking across at NYC...

Part of the view across the Hudson. Some old docks in the foreground, where ferries from NYC or Ellis Island would tie up.

Ellis Island, at a distance...

Idea!

Brian had a great idea about some edited Battlestar Galactica, with Seinfeld bass music cues in it. I'd enjoy seeing that, and am smiling just thinking about it. Quite funny...

Everyone Loves Baltar would be a good show also, although perhaps not as much as Everyone Loves Hypnotoad.

Had a good chat on the phone tonight with Don Lord, who's a cousin of my grandfather. He's in his early 70's, and is really interested in the genealogy work I've been doing. Don's a real talker, so it's fun to just listen to him go on about a variety of things with the family, his early memories and all that. He's on e-mail now, so I may be able to just shoot him some questions to get him to think about old relatives, see if anything jogs his memory.

In other news, I got an e-mail from Ancestry.com's "Connection Service," from someone who is descended from a G3-Great Aunt of mine. Elizabeth Lang, this person's G2-grandmother, was the sister to Jane Lang, my G3-grandmother. I wrote back through the Ancestry interface on Thursday, but have heard nothing back yet. It makes me nervous, that perhaps the person didn't get my e-mail. I'll have to try again, and hopefully the person will write back soon. I don't like sitting on these things...

NP: Frank Zappa - Fine Girl (6 July 1982)

Adventures!

Today, Sue and I had a multitude of adventures. I'm still off of work on Friday's, so it's continually nice to have these three day weekends.

Around 11ish, we left to go into NYC on the PATH trains. Sue is going to start looking for work soon, and she wanted to see how it would be commuting into the city. From leaving the apartment, to setting foot in NYC at the 9th Street Path stop was 45 minutes. Walking in a roundabout way to Washington Square Park made the total travel time about 1 hour.

So, very doable as a morning commute. We headed back to Jersey City the way we came, and were back at the apartment slightly less than 2 hours after we left. It's nice to be able to just drop into the city like that, with no real commitment to do anything real. It was a good test run, with no pressure to do anything else.

Taking the PATH train back, it's always interesting to see little things in the underground tunnels as we're traveling. I remember in Boston, Brian and I always would see some sort of stuffed animal (perhaps a tiger) between the Harvard and Central Square Red Line stops, with a sign on it saying "Privatization! It's a Weld scam!" This was back in the 90's, but besides William Weld being the governor of Massachusetts at the time, we could never really figure out what the whole privatization issue was about. Something with the T? Eh, who knows...

Our second adventure of the day was going to the Palisades Mall, off of 87/287, the road that runs from the Garden State Parkway to the Tappan Zee Bridge. I know that Sue and I had talked about stopping there, but I never really wanted to when we were in the middle of a 6 hour drive to New Hampshire. Now, it was about a 45 minute drive away. I think Brian and I had talked about stopping there also, on drives to and from Boston, but of course, we never did.

The mall certainly wasn't bad. It's 4 levels, but not as long as Monmouth Mall is. I guess there's just as much commerce in Monmouth Mall as the Palisades Mall, but just shaped differently. It's also newer, so there's more mall amenities there, like a decent food court, and a big movie theater. Both things that Monmouth Mall has only sprouted in the past 5-10 years...

One thing I did not like at all about this mall is that the escalators going up the levels are all in the same areas, so as you're going from level 3 to 4, you could look all the way down. Generally, I don't mind heights. Planes don't bother me, and enclosed spaces in tall buildings are fine, but those big open spaces in malls, taking escalators where you can look down 3 or 4 levels just freak me out. But, I was a trooper, and took the escalators. It doesn't lessen my anxiety at all, but I try to not let it rule me either.

There are times I don't even like standing by those open middle areas in malls, where you can look down. I used to joke that I thought someone might run up behind me and throw me over, but I don't think it's as logical as that. I simply don't like open space heights. Ferris Wheels have bothered me in the past, and maybe that's another reason I don't like roller coasters.

While at the mall, I bought a few books:

• The latest Harry Potter in paperback (Book 6)
• Star Wars on Trial - Edited by David Brin and some other dude. Brin is a fairly vocal critic of the Star Wars movie, so this book is a series of pro/con essays about different aspects of the Star Wars mythos. Should be a fun read.
• The Pirate Coast - A book about the battle against the Barbary pirates during Jefferson's administration. Should be a good history read.

Speaking of pirates, we also saw the second Pirates of the Carribean movie while at the mall today. It was a lot of quick action fun, but did feel a bit like a 3 hour preview for the next movie, especially with the ending. My friend Lou thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but that didn't really bother me that much. The Pirates movies are fun, I don't look for too much from them.

In other viewing news, we finished watching disc 2 of the 2nd season of Battlestar Galactica tonight. It's a really good show, although I do have some critical issues with it. Here are my issues, I'll talk about the good stuff too...

• For a separate society, albeit a human one, everything in the culture (clothing, written language, cars on Caprica, guns) looks a bit too "Earth-y" for me. It's not the end of the world, it's just something that bothers me a bit.
• For a smart guy, Baltar certainly does act pretty stupid at times. Just in the middle of the 2nd season, he finally figures out he can do a brain scan with the doctor to see if the Cylons have planted a chip in his brain. Of course, his personality is so self involved that he could have just avoided thinking of it, but it's still a bit annoying, because he thinks of it when it's convenient for plot, not as something that might occur naturally.
• It appears that a fleet of 48,000 some humans has about 20 reporters in it, but only one doctor. Galactica itself, a ship of what, about 2000 crew, has ONE doctor? Granted, it was going to be decommissioned, but still, they had a full compliment of Viper pilots, maintenance crew, and others. And it's been heavily implied that the doctor on Galactica may be the only doctor in the fleet.
• Actually, it's the reporter issue that gets to me more than the doctor issue. I can rationalize it, saying that it's more likely that there's going to be more "professional" workers caught in transit during the Cylon attack than some more blue collar types, but it still seems a bit off.
• I do think it's funny that the civilian population isn't more thankful for Galactica. Granted, early in the 2nd seasion there's issues with Tigh causing civilians to be shot, but even before that, there's kind of a mentality that the fleet doesn't really *get* that their civilization is decimated.
• The zoomy camerawork still annoys me, although I do understand it's very hip to do that type of stuff now. That's my worry, that the style is going to *really* date the show. Subtlety is usually better for the longer term than being stylish. But, that's just me.

On the positive side:

• The plot, continuity, acting, and just about everything is miles ahead of the original story/series. But, there's enough nods to the original series to see that the writers took the good aspects of the original, and have incorporated better storytelling methods into the mix.
• Baltar cracks me up. Great characterization by the actor, and great writing. I actually don't think there's a weak link in the cast, although I do think the Tigh character is a bit too much like Garibaldi from Babylon 5 for my taste. Not a big issue though.
• I'm fascinated as to what the Cylons are really trying to do. It seems pretty obvious that they know where the human fleet is at pretty much all times, but are allowing them the freedom to travel on their own for awhile. Interesting...
• I remember Brian saying in his blog awhile back that he was hypothisizing that Baltar may be a Cylon. I think it's possible, but doubtful...
• I noticed on the season 1 discs that most of Boxey's scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. What a shame...

Overall, a good show, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of season 2.

NP: The Who - Christmas (27 June 1989)

Insurance!

My car insurance is up for renewal at the end of this month, and with the move down to NJ, we're looking at new rates. NJ is also known for having VERY high rates of insurance. We've received quotes from Geico and Met Life so far, along with our present company of State Farm, and Geico is in the lead by a little over $300 per year.

We're waiting for one more quote, from NJ Manufacturers, which may actually be lower than Geico, so we'll see what happens with that. Fortunately, the cost for two cars is not as much as I thought it would be, although it is higher than the rates in NH were. But, that's to be expected, with more people in NJ.

Work continues to go well. Today was a day to work on RA Training, and I feel like I made good progress. I have to keep plugging away at it, as it's starting in 18 days. Yeech!

Also, it's hotter than balls here. Fortunately, the apartment doesn't retain heat, and the cinder block walls do a good job of keeping the heat out. So, sleeping's been good, and living is easy...

I have to make some calls soon, I've been out of touch a bit since the move, and it's time to return some calls, and make others.

NP: King Crimson - Thela Hun Ginjeet (14 Oct 1981)

Back!

Sorry for the absence of blog posts in recent days. I was down in Monmouth County (I can no longer say, down in NJ, as I'm here all the time now) at my Dad's house for the baby shower for my stepsister. We were gone from Friday to today. I could have written a blog from home, but I was too busy getting sucked into "Spider Solitaire."

I didn't actually attend the shower, but was able to hang out at a pool with some family friends while it was going on. It was more of a female only shower, so about 6-7 guys hung out at this pool. A good time, I got to swim a bit, which is always a positive thing.

That's about it for now. Longer entry tomorrow, I promise

NP: Pink Floyd - Sorrow (Aug 1988)

Music!

I've mentioned on here before that I listen to a lot of music off my computer, with random tunes playing through Windows Media Player. It's always a bit odd when one of my own songs comes on.

Right now, "Never Again" is playing. It's a little instrumental meditative piece I did at the end of last year, in an evening. I really like how it just goes along, with a neat pre-programmed drum pattern that just nicely floats on top of the whole thing. It's not going to change the world, but I like it.

It does make me think that I need to get to recording again, but with the move, I've been a bit busy. Work is keeping my mental energy focused on stuff other than creativity, but maybe one evening this weekend I'll fire up the ol' keyboard and see what comes out...

NP: Mike Lord - Never Again

Movies!

Sue and I made our first foray out to the movies today. We went to a theater in Secaucus, I believe it's at Harmon Meadows, right off of Route 3, about 15 minutes from campus. We saw Clerks II, the new Kevin Smith movie.

I really do have a general infatuation, as many in my generation do, with Kevin Smith movies. I mentioned the other day about Brian and I seeing Clerks for the first time in Boston, at the BU theater. Part of the mystique was that the films were made in New Jersey, and Monmouth County to boot!

I was thrilled a few years ago, going to visit my cousin in Leonardo, that I passed right by the Quick Stop. I was glad I finally found it...

Secondly, Clerks, and the following films, really nailed the attitude of my circle of friends. Did we speak in extended monologues on all subjects related to sex, Star Wars, and other idiots around us? Well, maybe not in monologues, but we did talk about it all...

What I think keeps me coming back to Kevin Smith films is that he really gets male/guy friendships. The heart of so many of his films revolves around two friends dealing with whatever is going on in their lives in the immediate moment. Clerks II continues to mine that vein, and continues to work for me as a viewer on a personal level.

There's a scene in the film where Randall and Dante go to ride the go-carts, perhaps in Keansburg. That was my mental image of where they went, even if it wasn't the actual location. It was a great moment, and what hit me, and probably most people in their 30's watching the movie, was Randall's converation with Dante afterwards, where Randall talked of the go-carts for him representing a more innocent time, when there was hope for the future.

Perhaps a bit overwrought, but it worked for me. I remember, as a kid, my grandmother taking my brother and I to Keansburg one day, and I think we managed to convince her to let us ride the go-carts. What's funny is that I don't remember if we actually rode the carts, but I remember the convincing. I *think* we managed it, but I couldn't bet money on it. We all have moments that we remember fondly, even if we don't remember all the details, and that's one of mine.

Of course, there's a lot of inappropriate humor in the film, and one totally great segment talking about trolls that live in odd places. Fantastic stuff. The Star Wars and LOTR references were actually pretty focused in one scene, much like the original film. A good cameo from Jason Lee, and Jay does a good "Silence of the Lambs" reference... Komedy!

It's something I'd love to see again, but I don't know if I'll get to see it in the theaters in this summer. Of course, it'll be a DVD I get. No doubt.

NP: Mike Keneally - Here Is What I Dreamed

Comments!

So, when someone replies to something in the comments section, sometimes I reply in the comment section also. However, then I don't know if the reader ever goes back to check if there's a response to their comment.

I know I get an e-mail when someone comments on my blog. Do you get an e-mail if someone comments on your comment? I don't think so...

With that said, Mr. Brian commented yesterday:

I don't remember the music from that last bit. I've only seen the movie two or three times, I think. I feel like I may give it a screening soon, in the wake of CLERKS 2 Mooby madness =)Do you remember hitting CLERKS in Red Bank? Was that us? With some of the old school usual suspects?

I feel like I was working hard at trying to convince a few of our posse that they were watching Goodness. Okay, a bit raw, low-budge, aesthetically, not-so-pleasing, one-note acted Goodness, but Goodness nevertheless.

Independent contractors on the Death Star! C'mon!

I can confirm for you, Brian, that in fact, I was at that screening at Red Bank. We were with Geoff and Alex (Geoff, do you read this at all?). I seem to remember them both generally being okay with the movie, but they didn't enjoy it as much as we did. I think Alex was ranking on the acting in the film.

Now, you and I saw Clerks first up in Boston, at the BU theater, with Stephanie Gaus. She *really* didn't get the movie, but you and I ate it up.

We were even two of the lucky few who saw Mallrats *opening night* in Boston, whenever that came out. And I know we saw Chasing Amy together, although I may have been in grad school at the time...

If you watch Chasing Amy again (do you own it?), you'll recall the music when you hear it...

And, season 2 of BSG should be arriving soon from Netflix, so I'll be all caught up. I did see the second half of the Season 2 finale when it was shown, so it's kind of interesting, knowing where the show is headed, but not seeing the details in between yet. Fun stuff.

In other news, I went down to Trenton today to do some genealogy stuff. I confirmed the discovery of another sister for my Great-great-great Grandfather, Richard Coulson. He had a sister named Martha (after their maternal grandmother), who was born in 1829 or 1830 in Ireland, and married a guy named John Jameson. They all immigrated to the US, and lived in Jersey City (a few blocks from here) in the latter part of the 19th century.

If there's any Jameson descendants out there, feel free to drop a line! John and Martha had three kids, Samuel, Sarah, and Martha. It appears that Samuel probably died before having kids, but Sarah married a guy named Agustus (correct spelling) Harper, and Martha may have married a guy named James Kay. I still need to confirm that Kay connection.

NP: King Crimson - Soundscapes 1 July 1995

Hot!

It's a simple subject line, but hey, I'm a simple man...

Fortunately, it's not too bad here in the apartment, but it's a wee bit hot and humid out. The weekend was quite nice, but now, the heat is slamming. But, nothing's to be done about the weather until they build that big solar shade in space, so, we move on.

I've been doing well at work, I feel. I keep seeing little things I can do to improve things in the near term, and larger initiatives to do in the longer term. It's good to be in a place that's able to utilize what I know in positive ways.

When I came home today from work, Sue was watching "Chasing Amy," a great movie, and I think Kevin Smith's best work. Emotional in all the right places, funny in a pointed way, and a lead character who just does all the wrong things, not being able to get past his own issues. It's hard to go wrong with most Kevin Smith movies, but this is one that just gets me.

Does *anyone* have the piece of music that plays over the scene right near the end, between Holden and Banky, a wordless scene from across a room, but masterfully played, with a great score underneath it. There was never a soundtrack for the film, I would have dealt with all the alternative rubbish to get that one piece of music.

NP: Queen + Paul Rodgers - Hammer to Fall (9 May 2003)

Hangers!

Today, Sue and I spent some time going looking for hangers that we could use to hang pictures on our walls. With cinder block walls, no matter what the color, we need special hangers. I've had them before, they're plastic items, with three metal pins in a circular top area, to drive into the cinder block. They're great for these residence hall walls.

Anyway, we had been to some art stores, but I couldn't find them there yesterday. So today, our mission was to go down to Route 440 in Jersey City, and check out a Lowe's store to see what they had.

No luck was found there. Grr!

Then, driving further down 440, we found a Home Depot. We thought we might be 2nd strike losers, but NO, we found what we were looking for! The company that puts them out is called "Ook," oddly enough. They're my heroes!

So, for those keeping score, it's Home Depot ONE, Lowe's ZERO. Gotta work harder, Lowe's...

In other news, I watched the last episode of season 1 of Battlestar Galactica tonight. The end was quite surprising to me, something happened I didn't expect. I need to make sure that I watch Season 2 as soon as possible...

The apartment's coming along fine, 98% of books are on shelves, and Sue and I are both continuing to do the little organizing that needs to be done. We're really almost all there, but there's just a bit more to do... I'll then take some photos, so you can see what the place looks like all decked out...

NP: Ian Wallace - I Can't Breathe

Flow!

I listen to a lot of my music on my computer (82 gigs worth), and I enjoy having the random play just put whatever it feels like into my ears/head. It's a fun way to listen to music, that works for me.

This evening, I got Pink Floyd's "One of These Days" go right into Peter Gabriel's "D.I.Y.," and it was a surprisingly good segue.

NP: Page & Plant - Thank You (Aug 1994)

Rectify!

To rectify an omission from my last blog, here's a Lou photos for all you salivating readers out there...

Alright, it's not the best photo in the world, a bit too blurry, but it's the best I could do, really!

Today, Sue and I went down to the "waterfront" area of Jersey City to do some shopping. We needed to get some stuff for the apartment, and it was also just time to get out of the apartment and do *something!* We got some storage units for the kitchen, some paper towels, a "hub" for our computers, so they could both be online at the same time, and some other various and sundry items.

We had lunch in the Newport Mall food court, and it being a mall, there was a Panda Express, and there being a Panda Express, I had to have some! It was about normal for Panda. Nothing great, but it hit the spot.

Getting back here, I had to go around in the neighborhood a bit, to find a place where I could switch some bills into quarters. There's no bank right at our intersection of Bergen and Montgomery, or in the "McGinley Square" area, so I ended up going into a store to get 7 dollars worth of quarters. It was more than enough to do our laundry here, which is only a buck for wash, then another buck for dryers. Life is good when you have clean laundry...

I had a bit of trouble getting our laptop to have good internet access. It kept on being very funky with me, although our other computer was giving no problems with accessing the web. It was annoying me a bit, because there was nothing obviously "wrong." Finally, after doing other stuff for a few hours, I came back to it, and compared the connection in the Control Panel on the computer with EXACTLY how Control Panel settings were on the working computer. Obviously, I had done this to some extent before, but not to the level of detail I did this time.

And sure enough, I found the issue. There was some "hidden" stuff in the Control Panel that was still set up for the Dartmouth network, and it was probably enough to mess up the consistency of the ethernet connection. But now, both computers are alive and well. Fantastic!

NP: John Cale - All I Want Is You

Update!

Work continues, and is going well. I continue to see that this was a good professional move. It is taking a bit of getting used to, being an "Assistant Director," and being looked to make decisions, have an opinion, and be listened to seriously. All in all, a very good start.

On this past Saturday, I went into NYC, in order to figure out how the trains work, and how long it takes. I brought my camera with me, so here are some photos...

This building is 486 Broadway, where my great-great-grandfather, Robert Francis Lord, worked as the manager of the Stewart Hartshorn office in NYC, around 1900. The Hartshorn company made roller shades for windows, which I guess was quite the innovation back in the day.

The night before going into NYC, I e-mailed my friend Lou to see if he'd be free at all on Saturday. He replied that he was going to be meeting Greg, a mutual friend of ours from college, in Central Park around 3ish to play softball, and that I could meet up there. I wasn't sure about playing softball, but as you can see from this photo, I did get pulled into the game.

I started playing in the 2nd inning, when they needed someone to even up the teams. By that point, I had seen that the folks playing weren't the best in the world, so I felt comfortable sitting in. I was at bat 4 times, and got on base the last time. Woo hoo!

All in all, a very "New York" afternoon, hanging out in Central Park, and playing softball. Good times!

Here's Sania, Lou's wife. She's pregnant, and due in October, so playing softball unfortunately wasn't in the cards for her on Saturday.

I'm trying to get a photo of Lou up here, but blogger continues to give me some issues with photos. Very odd...

NP: Brian May - Headlong (15 June 1993)

Work!

Sorry for not posting a bit more recently, but the move takes a lot of energy, unpacking and getting settled in. Sue got here on Sunday, after the movers dropped off all our stuff, so things are going okay.

I missed Sue when she was still up in NH, so it's nice to have her here now.

I'll be posting some photos from my trip into NYC on Saturday. I met up with some friends in Central Park, and was convinced to play a bit of softball. Fortunately, it was a pretty casual game, so there wasn't a lot of pressure to perform. Of four at bats, I got on base the last time, but then the next person got out. Ah well. More to come on that front.

The apartment here is still a mess, but some things are slowly coming together. Our "office" room is getting there, as is the living room. We'll have to figure out some kitchen stuff, as I think we actually have a bit less cabinet space than before.

Today was, of course, the first day at the new job, and it seems to be fitting me rather well. People enjoyed my presence, and I got a lot of praise for arranging the desk in my office in a more friendly manner. Tomorrow, there will be more "real" work, which will be fun.

The evening here was spent pulling some stuff out of boxes, and arranging some furniture. I'm a bit tired now, but not "sleepy" tired, so I'll be up for a bit more... Not very long though, I think...

NP: Frank Zappa - Opening Night Party at Studio Z

Directions!

Go to the blog entry marked "Jersey!," and read up from there. For some reason, I couldn't post a lot of photos in each blog, so I had to break it up a bit... But if you read from "Jersey!," you get a coherent (I hope!) story.

A final photo, my humble bed!

NP: Still the Graham Chapman, it's a long cut...

Continued!

Okay, here's more photos... Perhaps St. Peter's internet connection is a bit different? Who knows...

Here's the other side of the kitchen, with more counter space, and a sink. Always a necessity.

A little further into the apartment, looking back towards the door...

Here's the bathroom. It's ORANGE! Very ORANGE!!! The last person living here painted it that color. The College may repaint it, but if Sue likes it, I'm happy to keep it this way. Or, if there's another color she wants, we can talk to the College about it...

The walk in closet off of the larger of the two bedrooms.

Here's the view of the larger bedroom, from the doorway of the walk in closet. I like the shelving on the walls of many of the rooms.

And the smaller of the two bedrooms, from the doorway into it. I moved a chair from the living room into here, so I could type all this to you, Gentle Reader. Again, note the shelves. And the windows all face east. Good morning sunlight. Once Sue gets here, we'll decide which bedroom to put our bed into it. Personally, I'm leaning towards this room...

So, there you have the little travelogue of the new apartment. Not a bad place. I think now I'm going to go out and walk around a bit, get a sense of the neighborhood, and all that...

NP: Graham Chapman - A Six Pack of Lies

Apartment!

Here are photos of the new apartment! It's a bit more "institutional" than our last apartment (cinder block walls, lighting, etc.), but it may actually be a bit bigger than our last place, or perhaps just set up a bit better...

This is the view into the apartment from the front door. You can see a bit of the doorjam on the right hand side of the photo. The chair on the left, I'm using to keep the door propped open. The carpets were cleaned before I arrived, and there was still a bit of that "carpet cleaning smell" to the place when we (Carla, the Director of Res Life) and I opened the apartment yesterday....

As of right now, there's no chairs with the dining table, on the left, but those will be arriving soonish...

View after walking into the apartment, looking into the living room. You can see the access to the kitchen on the right hand side of the photo.

A little further into the apartment, looking right, you see a bit more of the living room, and a bit more of the kitchen area. The kitchen area has a view of the living room, and yes, that is my penguin sitting in the window...

Here's a photo from in the living room, looking into the kitchen...

And here's the kitchen, from the entranceway. Some little snacks are there, left as welcoming gifts. How nice!

Blogger seems to not be letting me post any more photos, so let me start a new post, and continue this little photo montage...

NP: Graham Chapman - A Six Pack Of Lies

Jersey!

I arrived in NJ yesterday, after a MUCH longer drive than it should have been. For those of you in the know, you know that driving from Hanover, New Hampshire, to Jersey City, NJ should take about 4.5 hours, if there's no traffic.

For most of the drive, there was no traffic. I was having smooth sailing, and life was good.

However, at about 2:30-3pm, Interstate 95 started being backed up. And when I say backed up, I mean it was slow to the point of being totally stopped for periods of time. However, this first backup cleared up after about 20-30 minutes.

Then, the slamming began.

I think it was about Exit 10 in New York, where traffic was slowed like it was before, except even worse. It felt like I was actually in reverse for part of it.

Also, did you realize that Interstate 95, one of the main superhighways in the US, actually narrows down to ONE LANE at one point in the approach to New York City? Incredible.

Anyway, I had left Hanover at 11:35am or so yesterday. I arrived at the parking lot here at St. Peter's at 7:26pm. The drive that should have been 4.5 hours ended up being a bit shy of 8 hours.

Upon arrival, I gave the Director here a buzz. I was concerned that they were a bit worried about me, since I had e-mailed before I left that I should be arriving around 4ish, the Traffic Gods willing. Needless to say, there was much sympathy expressed about my travelling issues. But, that's in the past now, and my arrival couldn't have been nicer. Besides Carla, the Director, a number of other people were there to help unload my car. These people include Sara (one of the people I'll be supervising), Mike (an Operations person, if I remember my job responsibility breakdown correctly), and John, one of the Resident Assistants here, and who was one of the student interviewers when I was here back in early June. With their help, we unloaded my car in about 10-15 minutes, I think...

Once everything was in, we went out to dinner at a local Appleby's. (Am I spelling that right? I'm not sure...) First though, I called Sue to let her know that I got in okay. She had just gotten in from work a bit of time ago, and was shocked to hear that I had just gotten in... But, all was well, and today's her last day at work. Hopefully her travels on Sunday will be better than mine from yesterday!

For dinner, we were joined by two other students, and a former employee of the College. One of the students was named Brian, and I'm blanking on the names of the other two people. Horrible, I know...

Then, after dinner, I came back to the apartment (probably around 10ish), and started putting some stuff away, at least temporarily. Permanent decisions will have to wait for Sue's arrival.

I'll be posting some photos of the place up here soon. I've been trying to do it with this post, but they're not showing for some reason. Once I figure out the problem, they'll be right up here...

NP: Pink Floyd - Fearless

Fireworks!

Fourth of July! Yeah!

However, no fireworks seen by me tonight, although I heard some in the distance about an hour or so ago. I enjoy a good fireworks show, but unless it's a really good one, it's always a bit anticlimatic to me.

When I was a little kid, I really didn't like fireworks. The noise bothered me. I remember going with family to see 4th of July fireworks shows at the boardwalk in Asbury Park, and keeping fingers in my ears and my eyes closed. Part of it might have also been people making a big deal out of the shows, so I just didn't want to show interest. But initially, I think it was fear more than anything else, those loud booms!

Living in Boston till about 1996, I really got spoiled with fireworks, the shows there were so good, on the Charles River. I'd go with friends from college, and hang out most of the day on the Cambridge side, having fun till nightfall and the start of the show. They'd always end with those loud blasts, that would light up the sky like it was almost daylight. The first time I saw it, it was almost overwhelming because there were so many going off at once, and the blasts were so bright. After that first one, I never thought the later shows matched the intensity of that first time, but I'm guessing that's more about perception than reality.

Of course, we're just a few days too late to see the NYC shows, so we'll have to wait until next year. I saw a bit of it on TV tonight, but watching fireworks on television just isn't the same...

And as per Lou's comment on the wrestling matches basically being science fiction themselves, in my blog below, I think that's as good a reason as any!

NP: Spirits Burning - Red

Wrestling?

Can someone explain to me why ECW Wrestling is on the SCI-FI channel????

NP: The Twilight Zone, on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Zone!

So, Sci-Fi Channel is having a Twilight Zone marathon. I think they do it most every Fourth of July, and in its own way, I really do think showing this show is a celebration of freedom. Freedom of thought, and to make people think about issues that are beyond themselves.

Sure, many of the episodes are "spooky," or that traditional "wow, that's weird" ending. However, many of them are critical looks at government, society, religion, just about anything that's worth thinking about.

I watched the Twilight Zone often as a kid, and I think that for storytelling, great writing, and to think about "big issues," it's a great show for young people to watch. I'll also include the original Star Trek in that category, with the added benefit in Star Trek of having a regular cast of characters for people to identify with.

Of course, I watched the Love Boat as a kid also, so not everything has to be educational...

In other news, I hung out with some work people today, ate lunch (courtesy of CD Dan, thanks!), talked to some students, and went out to eat with Sue to Molly's, one of our favorite places to eat in Hanover. All in all, a very good day.

Tomorrow, we have no real plans. There's some stuff happening in town in the late morning that I/we may walk on down to, and I may do some packing of some of our final items. That'll also happen on Wednesday, as the movers are coming on Thursday.

I also got some good news about the move today, it's going to be cheaper than I expected. That's always a good thing!

Back to Twilight Zone now...

NP: Of course, the Twilight Zone...

End!

So, today was my last day at work at Dartmouth College. It's always sad to leave a place, but at the same time, exciting to be going to the next step in life. I mentioned to Sue the other day that if it wasn't sad to leave a place, that means that there's some sort of problem... Just my belief...

I spent the morning walking around to offices here, wishing people well, and generally just connecting with people who it's fun to connect with before leaving. Of course, sometimes you see odd things that just make you laugh... Like this:

At first, I thought, "Someone's buried a bike in the ground!" However, then I realized the true purpose of this.

It's a seat for the Earth.

After visiting some offices, I got to take a Community Director candidate on a tour of the campus, which basically meant that I got to show her East Wheelock, my (now former) cluster. When we got here, I discovered that my ID, which is used to gain access to the building, had been turned off! Ouch!

Fortunately, there was a painter in one of the lobbies who was able to let us in, so the tour could proceed apace.

After the tour, I left to go to our ORL end of (academic) year cookout. Always a fun time, I just relaxed at it, chatted with some people, and continued to NOT WIN ANYTHING in the raffle that happens every year. I thought with this being my last year, I would win something, but unfortunately, I continued to be a loser. My number was 634, and both 633 and 635 were called. Not that I'm bitter or anything...

At around 7pm tonight, I met up with some co-workers to enjoy a "last day" dinner with them. Thank you to CD Daniel for pulling this together, it was appreciated on my part. On the way out, I noticed this sign at another local restaurant:

Really, there's just something I find comical about the phrase "Beat the Pump."

I should have something philosophical or deep to say about this transition in my/our lives, but I don't know if I'm ready for this yet. I mean, I've been here at Dartmouth for 5 years, so it's a good chunk of my recent life. I got married while working here, met a lot of great people, and have gained good experience. I think because I'm used to transitioning, this is just one more, for right now, but I also think there's more to it, that I'll see with time. Maybe in a few days, maybe in a longer period of time. I'll digest this a bit more, and let you know what I come up with...

NP: Bill Nelson - Fellini's Picnic

Pics!

Awhile ago, I wrote about Sue and I going to see the Tony Levin Band down in Northampton, MA. Sue just got her photos off of her phone, so away we go!

Here's her photo of the stage, from our seat up at the front of the balcony. It's a photo from a cell phone, so unfortunately, the quality isn't great, but you get the basic layout. Pete Levin (Tony's brother) on keys and Jesse Gress on guitar are at the far left. Jerry Marotta, the drummer, is in the center of the photo, wiht his back to the audience, Tony Levin is behind Marotta (I think!), and Larry Fast is sitting behind his keyboard on the right.

Here's a photo of your hero, Mike. I believe this is from us sitting at our table, before the show.

After the show, the band was happy to hang out and sign CD's/albums, or whatever the audience had. Photos were also encouraged, so Sue got this one of Larry Fast (Mr. Synergy), myself, and Pete Levin. I thought Jerry Marotta would be in the photo also, but I guess he was out of view. Sadness...

And finally, here's myself with the man of the hour, Tony Levin. Great bass player, great musician, and all around good guy.

My eternal thanks to the wonderful Sue for taking these photos. She's the best!

NP: Jon Anderson - Naturemusic

Rain!

Raining all day here in Hanover. Not cold though, so at least that's going for us. Not steamy either.

So, with that weather stuff out of the way, what's up? Packing continues, and we're doing well with it. Work during the day is nothing earth shattering, just making progress with preparing for my last day on Friday.

I did receive a package of stuff from St. Peter's today, which included some t-shirts, a mug, some stickers, and information about both the college and local "stuff" in the Jersey City/Hudson County area. It was very cool of them to send a package like that. In my work history, they're the first place to do something along those lines. I'm feeling good about working with these people, which is a positive start.

I'm making a list of things to include in my car for the drive down to NJ. Most of it is stuff that is sensitive to moving, or at least things I *consider* sensitive to moving. Like my home recording computer, some musicial instruments, an old clock I have, stuff like that. Most of it could probably be moved by the movers with no problem, but I have the car, and it'll give me something to do while I'm down there.

Move guitars from room to room. Fun stuff!

NP: King Crimson - Improv: The Savage - 30 Mar 1974

Test!

So, in cleaning out stuff for the move, you never know what you'll find. Here's a photo of one of my archeological nuggets...

This was something I had on my white board outside of my Freshman year room out at Boston College. The Steve in question, nicknamed "Slammer," for appropriate reasons, was a bit, shall we say, tense. VERY tense. So, when I stumbled upon this survey for stress (that's what the little print is on the paper taped to the white board), I made it into the Steve Test.

And, I have kept it for 17 years.

But now, it's in the trash outside of our apartment. All good things must come to an end...

In other news (but not really), packing continues apace. We're doing quite well, especially with having about 10 days before the movers come. Sue and I used some of those SPACE BAGS, where you vacuum out the air from a bag, in order to condense the stuff inside. It works a charm with pillows, blankets, and other poofy cloth. Sheets are a bit less condensable, mainly because they're already pretty flat.

We did take some time in the afternoon today to get some ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. Sue had some coupons, so not only was it a good break, but it was cheaper than it normally would be. I got a Cherry Garcia shake, and Sue got some sort of uber-Chocolate ice cream. I can't remember the name.

I'm about 100 pages out from finishing the Truman Capote book "In Cold Blood." I was inspired to read it after seeing the film "Capote." I really enjoyed the movie, but I'm seeing that perhaps the movie was a bit fictionalized in it's storytelling. It got all the major parts of the novel right, but the film mixed a bit of things up (notably the confession of the two murderers) in order to make the film a bit more dramatic.

Definitely a recommended read.

NP: Chris Cornell - Follow My Way

Shuttle!

In case you haven't been paying attention to the latest space news like I have, the Space Shuttle Discovery is set to launch on July 1st, I'm not sure what exact time. As a strong supporter of space exploration and travel, I'm glad to see NASA getting it's manned space program back on the right path.

The plans are to have the shuttle fly until 2010, and then by 2014, have a new vehicle ready to make the next leap back to the Moon, by about 2017 or so. Very doable, from what I've been reading, as long as the budgetary support is there.

I've always wanted to go see a shuttle launch. I don't know if I'll be able to do that, but if not, maybe I'll be able to see a launch of people to the Moon, which would be just as interesting...

In more Mike and Sue related news, packing continues apace. I've packed away some old family photos I had on display here, and have boxed up a good amount of my clothing. I'm leaving some stuff out, obviously, to wear for the next few weeks. Also, some of the clothes I'm leaving out I'll carry in a suitcase, to have for my first week of work in the new job. I don't expect it would take long to unpack clothes, but I'd rather not have to be rushed with digging for clothes when our stuff arrives.

Work here is steady, but not overly hectic. I'm speaking of my actual Community Director job, not the work of packing up! I'm trying to prep a bunch of stuff for the next person to come along to this job here in East Wheelock, and tomorrow, I'll be organizing my staff room, which is a bit of a mess right now. I have no other real appointments tomorrow, so it'll be a good way to spend the day.

Today, I got a package in the mail of some cheese/meat mix from Hickory Farms, from Ruth, the former AA for our office. She's from England originally, and lived in Australia for quite some time before coming to NH. Last year, she moved back with her family to Australia, but we've stayed in touch, and it was really nice to get that from her. She also e-mailed me the song/dance audio for "Puttin' On The Ritz" from Young Frankenstein, as we used to joke about that quite a bit during her time here... The comedy never stops!

NP: Mike Keneally - Manhattan

Thunder!

Crazy intense thunderstorms today, right in the 4-5pm block! I tried to get some photos of lightning in action, but I was never pointed in the right direction. It actually interrupted the farewell gathering for the Dean of the College here, which was too bad, but the event moved inside with no real trouble.

Tonight, Sue and I went to dinner with my/our friends Theresa and Thor, who I know from my BC days. Theresa was a freshman when I was a senior, and we were connected through the CCE, the murder mystery group we were both a part of. They have a condo in the Queeche area, just about a 20 minute drive from Hanover, so when they're up here, it's good to get together.

We went to Molly's, a local restaurant, which I'm sure I've mentioned here before as just a good, solid place to eat. We met at 6:30pm, and ended up staying till about 9:15, which was fun. I enjoy hanging out with T&T, as does Sue. Hopefully they'll be able to find their way down to the NYC area when we're there. Theresa mentioned to me that she just saw Lou and his wife (Hello Lou and Sania!) a few weeks ago while she was in NYC (although I may have the timeframe wrong, don't hold me to it!).

Updates on ending up here at Dartmouth: My last day of work will now be June 30th. I wanted to work till the 5th, but I guess it doesn't make sense to keep me in the new fiscal year, when I'd only be working for 5 days. Ah well...

Movers will be picking up our stuff on the 6th, and delivering it to Jersey City on the 9th. I then start work on the 10th. A whirlwind few days, to be sure... I feel good about the packing we've done already, so we'll just have to keep the pace going.

NP: Jeff Buckley - Yeh Jo Halka Saroor Hae - 1993 07/08

Boxes!

Here are photos I promised the other day, of our packing, and of our helping we did for my departing colleague...

Ah, guys and trucks... We like to try to all play jigsaw man, and put everything in the truck perfectly. Sometimes it works, and here, it actually did. This is also what I call a "back of head" shot, as everyone is not looking at the camera. CD Brian is in blue, CD Fouad in maroon, Wilson, partner of CD Dan in green, and CD Krista is in white. She's the one who's leaving, although Fu and her will be living together down in Amherst in a few weeks. He's leaving too. *sniff*

CD Dan and my wonderful Sue, both avoiding work... Of course, there's no photos of me avoiding work, as I had the camera...

Here's Sue, plotting her next packing move, with some boxes in the foreground, and even the tip of my foot/sneaker in the frame...

And again, the wonderful Sue, with an empty bottle of a Romanian dish detergent, called Fart. Can someone please explain to me why this is funny?

NP: The Who - Baba O'Riley (30 June 1989)

Packing!

Today was a very moving-centric day. It started off with me bringing a small piece of exercise equipment to a friend's yard sale, to see if it would sell. I tried to see if it sold, when I stopped by their home later in the afternoon, but no one was around. I'll give a call tomorrow to see what's up.

I then went to buy some boxes for our forthcoming move to the Garden State, and even got a start on some packing before I went around 11:30 or so to help two of my colleagues, who are also leaving Dartmouth, pack up their moving truck. Fortunately, we had about 10 people there to help, and I brought two dolly carts from my cluster, so the loading up actually went fairly quickly.

Of course, it was hard to see my colleagues head out of here, but I know I'll be on their end of the departure day soon enough, so I can empathize on how it'll feel for us. Krista was leaving "for good" today, but Fouad will be working this last week here at Dartmouth, so there's still time to drag the departure out...

In the afternoon, I bought some more boxes (besides finding some boxes for free around town, and in the building), and Sue and I have a bunch of stuff now packed. All of our CD's, DVD's, and about 60-70% of our books are now in boxes. Tomorrow, I'll get the rest of the books, along with some other stuff packed. The movers won't be coming until around July 6th, so we still have plenty of time to get stuff ready.

We took some pictures today, I'll post them up here tomorrow, so you can see what the life in boxes will be like for the next few weeks.

NP: The Black Crowes - Remedy

Job!

So, I accepted a job offer today! In order to save time rewriting things, here's the e-mail I sent out to friends today:
----------------------------
Hello All!

Yes, it's a group e-mail, but I have some good news to share...

Yesterday, I received an offer, and today I accepted said offer, to be the Assistant Director of Residence Life for Community Development at St. Peter's College, down in Jersey City, NJ.My start date is Monday, July 10th. The job provides housing, so we'll still be living in an apartment in the residence halls, but that's okay, as housing costs in the area are quite high, since we're right across the river from Manhattan. It's an hour from "home" down in Ocean Township, where I grew up, and is close to many members of Sue's family. Also, since this job allows me to supervise other professional staff members, it is the natural next step in my career progression.

Besides supervising two other professionals, I'll be working to develop student staff training programs, working with other campus offices to develop and grow a variety of initiatives, and other interesting stuff. St. Peter's College is a Jesuit institution (like Boston Collge, where I got my undergrad degree), and has about 1700 full time undergrads, with about 700 of them living on campus. I'll also be someone who hears judicial/behavioral issues and issues sanctions, which isn't necessarily fun, but is a way to help influence students in positive ways. I could list other job responsibilities, but that's kind of boring... :)

Sue and I will be packing up here for the next few weeks, and my last day at work at Dartmouth will probably be right around the 4th of July.What's coincidental/funny, to me at least, about this job, is that the campus is about 10 blocks away from where a pair of my great-great-great-grandparents lived (Richard and Eliza Coulson) in the mid/late 19th Century, after they came over to the US from Ireland. Maybe I'm a big nerd for knowing these things, with all the genealogy research I do, but there you have it.

For those of you in the NYC/NJ area, since we're relocating, Sue will need to find a job. Right now, she's working as an administrative assistant for one of the academic offices here at Dartmouth. If you know of any good jobs she can apply for, let me know!

Hope all is well with you, I'll write more individually in the coming weeks.

Mike

-----------------------------

So, there you have it. I wasn't really comfortable going into details on here before accepting the position, but I've been looking forward to talking about this for awhile. I'm just very glad that it's working out. I've been looking for a new position that would be a step up for awhile now, and it's finally come.

This job will give me the experience necessary to either move laterally from there in the future, or move up to another sort of position (Director, or other level). I've been getting a lot of well wishes from people, which has been great.

Of course, I will miss the people and location up here. Including my time at Landmark, I've been living up here in the "wild woods" for 8 years. I met Sue up here, fell in love, and all that goes along with that. But now we get to build something new, in a new location that has different things to offer, which will be a good experience.

I really enjoyed the people I met at St. Peter's, and already am looking forward to working with them. In speaking to my future supervisor on the phone today, I think we're going to have a great relationship. It'll be hard at times, to be sure, but that's what is good about change. New challenges to shake off any cobwebs in the brain...

More to come!

NP: Yes - The Ancient (18 Feb 1974)

Show!

On Sunday night, Sue and I made our way down to Northampton, MA, to check out the Tony Levin Band live in concert at a place called the Iron Horse. The show started at 7pm, and we got to the town at about 4:15pm or so. It was about a 100 minute drive from Hanover, so not horrible...

Since we were way early, we went to a nice little vegetarian restaurant to eat. Even though I'm not a vegetarian, I enjoy this place, we've eaten there before when we were in town. I had the vegetarian stir fry, which was quite tasty, if a bit more greasy than I'd like. But, it wasn't in a bad way. After eating, we wandered around the town for a bit (it was *quite* a nice day), and Sue went into a store while I enjoyed sitting on a bench on the street. I noticed a guy with a guitar case standing in front of the store asking passers-by for change. I can only assume that he had played enough guitar for the day that he didn't feel the need to perform any more. I'm always willing to throw in some change, if I have any, to street musicians. But, they do have to be playing when I throw my change in.

We got to the Iron Horse around 6pm or so, and it was pretty full on the floor. It was set up for dinner, and most of the tables on the stage level floor were filled. There was a deuce (restaurant talk for a two person table) right at the top of the stairs to the balcony, so that's where we ended up. It was a good location as we could both see the stage, and not have to share our table with other people. Not that we're not social, but I just didn't feel like sharing my space. You could end up with some cool people, or not... I didn't want to run the risk of the second option.

The Tony Levin Band is made up of 5 people. There's Tony Levin himself, who plays bass and a number of other bottom end instruments (the Chapman Stick, and an electric cello), and sings. Jerry Marotta plays drums and sings, Larry Fast is on keys, Jesse Gress on guitar, and Pete Levin (Tony's brother) also on keys. Those of you into odd music trivia may realize that Tony, Jerry, and Larry were three members of Peter Gabriel's touring band from the late 70's into about 1983. Levin still plays with Gabriel, but Marotta and Fast have moved on to other things. Larry Fast has a number of albums out under the name Synergy, which are all instrumental albums done on synthesizers. Cool stuff! I picked up two of those Synergy CD's at the show, as I already have all of Levin's stuff that was on sale.

Sue and I didn't eat, since we had already eaten, but I did get a coke, and Sue got coffee.

The opener was a duo from Australia called "The Kin." At first, I thought they were a bit too "pretty boy" for me, but they could sing well, and their songs were quite good, actually. I'm not running out to buy their CD's, but they were a good warm up, and performed for about 40 minutes. During their set, I saw some members of Levin's band, including Levin himself, moving in and out of the club.

When Levin and Company came out on stage, they first did a barbershop quartet which mimiced Levin's old King Crimson quartet piece from 1984, except this one was all about his own band. Very fun! The first "real" piece was an instrumental song (Pieces of the Sun, I believe), which started out with Levin on the aforementioned electric cello. The low end was deep enough to vibrate my seat!

I should mention that during the opening act, I got a dessert which was a brownie sundae, which was quite excellent!

Levin's set consisted of a mix of newer songs from his latest CD, other music from his recent albums, and covers of songs from bands or musicians that he's been involved with. He played two King Crimson songs (Sleepless and Elephant Talk), Black Dog from Zeppelin (just for fun), Genesis's "Back in N.Y.C.," Larry Fast's/Synergy's "Phobos," and Peter Gabriel's "On The Air," which was fantastic. The band all seemed to be really enjoying themselves, although Marotta seemed perhaps a bit under the weather, although he sang very well on Sleepless, Back in NYC, and On The Air.

Afterwards, the band was freely available to chat, sign anything that was put in front of them, and just be generally pleasant to talk to. Sue got some photos of me with the band members, which I'll get up here at some point. I talked with Larry Fast about being from NJ, which was a bit of "old home" stuff, and with Tony Levin about coming down from Hanover for the show. He wished us a safe drive back, and all was well. I didn't want to take up too much of their time, I could have really geeked it up with music questions, but chose not to, as they had a good drive back to Woodstock, NY, once the meet and greet was done.

All in all, a very good show! I'd recommend any instrumental music lover to go to their show, or if you're interested in progressive rock in general. Even Sue enjoyed it!

NP: Cheap Trick - Goodnight

Levin!

Just a quick post to say that Sue and I will be heading out soon, to Northampton, MA, to see the Tony Levin Band, tonight at a place called the Iron Horse.

Levin is a bass player who has played with John Lennon, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, and many others. He has a few solo albums out, mainly instrumental work, that are quite good. It should be a fun show... I will post an update tomorrow to share what the show was like...