Eh...

I'm in one of *those*moods tonight... Just kind of bleah...

I've found that when I get like this, I just have to let it ride out. If I actively try to combat the mood, I end up annoying and depressing myself. But, if I just take life as it is, and try to relax, it generally does get better.

These things don't usually go on for more than a few hours, or a day. Sleeping usually helps. I may be subdued the next day, but it's not horrible. It's just getting through stuff.

I think one of the things that I'm thinking about is what I want to do with my life. I enjoy my work, but is it really what I want to be doing? Is it enough? If it is, that's great! But, I want to make sure that I'm doing the right work for the right reasons. I'm trying to keep my eyes open, and my brain open, to different possibilities out there. I'm certainly not actively looking for another job (I'll be here for at least another academic year), but it would be interesting to see what may be out there for someone with my work history.

I'm using this blog to think out loud right now. Don't take this all as me being in a horrible funk or that I hate my job. I simply want to feel like I'm doing what I should be doing with my time. I generally think that I am, but days where I get a bit down, it leads me to question a lot of this surface/work type things. At my core, I'm a generally happy person. I like my life, and I have a lot of good people around me. So, I analyze and question, to see where I am at, and where I might think about going.

If I come up with any ideas, I'll let you know.

NP: Genesis - The Cinema Show (1976)

In other news...

What else is going on in my life besides talking about comedy? Here's a quick lowdown:

I got tickets late last week to see Genesis at Giants Stadium in September. I wasn't happy that there wasn't going to be a show at Madison Square Garden, which I thought would have been a better venue, but I'm not scheduling the tour. So, I buy where the show is.

It should be a great tour. Our seats are in Section 110, so we'll be on the side, with a good angle for the whole stage. I've also been posting a lot on the new official Genesis message board, and have somehow made my way up to being the number one poster on the board (for now). I think this makes me king of the Genesis nerds, or something, a crown I will proudly wear, as a Genesis nerd myself...

Work is gearing up, I'm going to have busy evenings next week, I'll be on call, and have evening commitments I think almost every night of the week. That's fine though, I'd rather have those meetings when I have to be around anyway. The following week is our Housing process, I get to be a worker bee then. Tomorrow, Residence Life is attending a meeting of the Board of Trustees, so we get to answer whatever questions they have about Residence Life. Should be fun...

It was Sue's birthday this past Friday, which made everything we did this weekend special for her birthday. We have fun together, two geeky peas in a pod.

That's about it for now. More to come later!

NP: Catherine Wheel - Kill My Soul

Richard Jeni and the Art of Comedy

I wanted to write a bit more about Richard Jeni, and his comedy. A bit of background on me.

When I was in late elementary school, I discovered a few old Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby albums in the closet in my house. I recognized both of them from TV, and said to myself, "Wow, I wonder what's on these? TV shows?"

I played the albums, and was amazed to find people talking, telling funny stories, and getting laughs. I thought this was great! Here was something that I could listen to, and laugh over and over again! Comedy, on demand.

I remember one of my friends coming over, and I make him listen to one of the Bob Newhart albums. After finishing it, he left. We did remain friends, but the comedy album format didn't really do anything for him. I couldn't get it.

After listening to them once, some people would ask, "You know the jokes, why do you listen to them again? How can it be funny all over?" For me, the answer was about listening to the nuances, the timing, the rhythm of the words. The word choice. The way the jokes were intoned. Accents. Pauses. All in the art of comedy. What do you do, and what don't you do?

After those classics, I got into Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and really delved into comedy with meaning, with subtext, and with purpose. Did I get all this when I was in Junior High? Nope, but on repeated listenings, I got the ideas behind what they were saying.

This brings me to Richard Jeni, again. When I first saw him, probably on the Tonight Show, doing his Jaws bit, where he talks about watching Jaws 4 late at night, and his body revolting against him for watching such a dumb film, it got me. The imagery, the timing, the thought, and even the animals (in this case, the Shark, and his spinal column) in the story.

Jeni made the comedy look easy, as all the great performers did. But I was in amazement, as I *knew* that he had honed this bit to within an inch of its life, and it *worked!*

When I saw that first Showtime special, I was continually amazed, and delighted, by the amount of effort Richard put into his show. The wording, the phrasing, all showed signs of an intelligent guy, going for it. One thing that continually amused me in his routine was his use of animals. He would mention the indignancy of the lobster tank at "Fred Robster," and how, at the steak house, you guessed it, no cow tank!

In the bit, there was a little line where the cow, crying, says, "Why don't you try the lobster," and the lobster returns the quip, "Why don't you mind your own damn business..." It was a subtle thing, but he used animals often enough in his bits that I had to believe that there was something more to it. Something about us as people. Because, of course, the animals are just substitutes for us. Jeni wasn't as overtly subversive as a Bill Hicks or a George Carlin, but in his own way, he could turn the mirror on ourselves, and make us laugh a bit...

That's as maudlin as I'm going to get in this.

Jeni was also great at weaving his bits into each other, having little references come back from previous bits, culmunating in a big laugh at the end of the show. I saw him live at least twice, and perhaps a third time (those years living in Boston seem so long ago in a lot of ways), and he never disappointed. I regret not having made an effort to go to some of his shows more often, in those intervening years.

I deleted a comment from yesterday's post, saying that Richard Jeni was just a D-list celebrity who didn't make it, that the suicide was the biggest news that he had made in years. And I think that shows just what's wrong with the culture of celebrity. Jeni was a steadily working comedian, playing probably over 100 shows a year, and doing great material. I'm not in his head, so I don't know if he thought that he should have been a bigger "star," or had a better film career. All I know is that he did stand up great, and had a lot to be proud of with that. If this was suicide, and if it was caused by despondency over his career, I'm really sad to hear that, because I think that Richard Jeni had nothing to be ashamed about with his career in comedy. He was a true comedian.

Richard Jeni

I just read about an hour or so ago, on AOL News, that Richard Jeni, one of my favorite comedians of the past 17 years, died by an apparent suicide.

I first discovered Richard Jeni from 30 minute Showtime special from 1989. I still have it on tape somewhere. I showed that tape to so many people, making fans of him when I was in college. I think I was having some friends over to watch Evil Dead II in the summer of 1989, and while waiting for a few more people to show up, we caught this special on cable. We all laughed, but I really connected with his humor.

Later that summer, I taped it, thinking that it would be good to bring to college with me. It was, and the following summer, I taped his second 60 minute Showtime special, and those tapes became regular viewing in our room in Shaw House at Boston College.

I saw Jeni live at least once during college, and a few times while living in Boston before departing for grad school in 1996. I even have a tape of every episode of his short lived TV show on UPN, Platypus Man.

While in grad school, I picked up Jeni's CD, Greatest Bits. The tape I made of it is still in my car, and gets played often on long car rides.

I don't know what may have driven Jeni to suicide. Did he feel that he deserved bigger success? Did he have health issues? I don't know, and it almost doesn't matter, as we've lost a good comic voice.

So, Richard Jeni, I'll miss your comedy. And, I'll miss the potential that once was...

NP: Genesis - Behind the Lines

Ahh, Florida...

It's Wednesday, and we've been back from Florida since Monday, so it's time for a report!

I'm going to bullet this, to make it streamlined. Don't like it? Imagine there are paragraphs here...

Thursday:

• Flew out from Newark. Arrived in Jacksonville at about noonish. Got our rental car, a red Ford Mustang, convertable. Drove it out of the parking garage with the hood down. Drove for 5 minutes, it started raining. Hood goes up...
  
• Got to the hotel, got checked in, and got to our room on the 14th floor. Of course, it's actually the 13th floor, but that's an open secret.

• At around 5pm, Sue and I went to eat at The Landing, a collection of restaurants just a short walk from the hotel. Ate at a Mexican place, that was pretty good. Not outstanding, but a solid place to eat. We ate outside, where there were birds (sparrows and pidgeons) all around. I said to Sue, "If these were rats, we'd be disgusted, but since they're birds, we think they're cute."


• Back at the hotel. Rested. Brian, In, and Rowan came down to the Landing to eat, Sue was tired (and knitting, I believe) so she stayed in. We ended up going to the Mexican place again. I just had a coke since I had eaten. Had fun with the three of them, along with Rowan's sister (Maggie, if my memory serves me right). And, that was Thursday...

Friday:

• Breakfast with Brad, the groom. A good time. You can never really talk deeply with the bride and groom at their wedding, so it was good to have some time to talk with Brad before everything got nutty.


• Left for St. Augustine. Nice place, the oldest city in the US, settled by Spain in the late 1500's. Very quaint. Brian, In, Rowan, and Maggie met us there in the early afternoon, we ate at the White Lion Inn, which had nothing to do with the band. Good times...


• Toured an old fort. $6 to get in, which I felt okay about since it went to the upkeep of the fort. It was raining most of the day, but it got really heavy in the afternoon, and a bit cooler, so the fun slowly disappeared.



• Then, went to the rehearsal dinner at 7:30pm at The Chart House in Jacksonville. Good place, sat with In, Rowan, and Brian again, and a good time was had by all... Also talked to Tami, the bride, which was good, and saw Brad's brother Ryan who I hadn't seen since about 1990. He actually recognized me, which was impressive.

Saturday:

• Had breakfast with Don Lord and his family, Don's a cousin to my grandfather. I got in contact with him through my genealogy research. He was a talker, and fun to listen to. Sue talked with his wife and daughter, who were also at our table. A great guy, and it was a pleasure meeting him and his family.


• Then, for lunch, met up with my friend Kim and her husband Charles. Another good time had by all. It was actually the third time I had met Charles, but really the first time I was able to talk with him. A good guy. It was fun to talk with Kim again too, it's like one of those friendships that just picks up where it left off the last time you saw each other. Which, I think, was actually our wedding... Is that right? Thanks also to Kim & Charles for treating Sue and I to the meal!




• Then, the wedding at 4:30pm. Catholic ceremony, very nice, but you've seen one, you've seen them all, not a lot of creativity in those. But, it was all good. It's always nice to see friends be happy!



• Reception at The River Club, on the 35th storey of a building by the river. A good location. The reception was your standard fun, I enjoyed myself, talking to Sue, Brian, In, Rowan, and two others at our table, the husband was from Ocean Township, so there was that connection.
  
  
• Stayed at the reception till the end, then met up with others in the hotel bar till about 1:30am. Thanks to Rowan for my coke drink! Farscape was on the TV in the bar, which I thought was curious...

Sunday:

• Went to Jacksonville beach. Sue collected shells, was attacked by birds, saw jellyfish, and got some small shark's teeth. I lay on the beach, relaxing, getting sunburned. Fun!



• Wandered around the town, seeing some little shops, and enjoying being outside. It was a great day, so the top of the car came down. Very cool tooling around Jacksonville in a convertible. Worth the extra money.

• Back at the hotel, got room service for dinner. Was very tired, both of us were asleep by 10pm, I think...

Monday:

• Back on the plane, back here. Did laundry.

And that's our adventure! More little stories may come out over time, but it was great fun to be away with Sue, and to see so many friends all at once. It's not often that group stuff like this happens, so when it does, it's a good time.

NP: King Crimson - Groon (11 Feb 1972)

Return from the sun...

Back from Florida... I'll do more writing soon, but here are some photos...

Hotel Room, first day (Thursday)


St. Augustine (Friday): Me, Brian, In

Saturday, Sue and I. After lunch.

Brad and Tami, wedding...

A bunch of Jokers... Saturday Night....

Attacking seagulls... Sunday.

View out our hotel window, to the right. Sunday evening.

NP: David Sylvian/Robert Fripp - 20 Century Dreaming

Migrating...

Heading south tomorrow, to Florida for a wedding. We'll be back on Monday, so most likely no blogs till then (unless the hotel has some public computers.) We shall see.

Tally Ho!

Sandwich of confusion...

Today, I had a sandwich from the faux-Subway eatery on campus. I've worked here at SPC for 7 months, but I hadn't gotten a sub from this place yet. (I'd usually go to the real Subway right off campus if I had a hankering for subbish goodness.)

I was tempted today because they had a buffalo chicken sub, and I'm a sucker for buffalo chicken. I asked for no blue cheese, and they said, "We don't do blue cheese, we do ranch." No way to the rancho, I say! I'm not a big condiment person, so any gooey food product generally stays away from me.

So, I take my sub (with lettuce and green peppers) back to my table, and dig in. I then discover that there's bacon in the sandwich.

Buffalo chicken and bacon.

Interesting.

It actually was okay, I just didn't expect it. I'd order it again. Although I might actually ask them to hold the bacon, as I try to avoid a lot of heavy salted meat products. It's my way of being healthy...

In total other news, while in Florida, this Saturday, we're going to have a lunar eclipse! I hope there's good clear sky to see it...

I'm probably about 100 pages from finishing Cell, so Brian, you better get on the ball! It may be a plane finisher, but I can't see not being done with it by the time we reach sunny Florida. It's a good read, and just gut-wrenching in some spots, which I always like about King's writing. He really does know how to get to a reader emotionally, in very simple ways...

More about that once I'm done with the book.

NP: Adrian Belew - Hot Zoo

A New Start...

I'm beginning to get tired of my one word subject titles to these blogs, so, I begin again. If there's a relevant one word title, I'll be happy to use it. If not, then life moves forward.

I received my cell phone in the mail today. After a bit of a chore on ye olde landline getting the new doo-hickey activated, it is now working well. I've put some numbers in it already, and Sue and I were being adorable texting back and forth from our phones, as we sat next to each other on the couch.

I still think I'm going to keep it off most of the time, and use it for brief calls more than anything else, but we shall see how usage develops over time.

There's a Dana Gould bit out there, where he talks about the banality of most cell phone calls:

Guy In Store: Yes! It's amazing! I bought a comb! For two bucks! I didn't realize that they were so cheap. What was that? Yes, a comb, I'm NOT KIDDING!!!

Et cetera...

Is reading a comedy bit as interesting as listening to it? Discuss.

It's interesting seeing the comments on Cell. It's very readable right now, and I'm enjoying it. Although, I want to know what Tom did for a living. I don't think it's been mentioned yet. Or if it was, I missed it...

I agree with Queenie about King's endings sometimes falling flat. My friend Lou and I have discussed this. King likes to whip out a miraculous ending a bit more often than I'd like. I can take it in The Stand, as that's totally about Good vs. Evil, but in other places, it seems a bit rushed. I think his newer books don't suffer from that as much as his 80's-90's output did, but there are still aspects of that approach in his writing.

Although, he did get the ending of the Dark Tower series right, and that can make up for a lot in my book.

I managed to get tickets to The Police for Sue and myself this morning, for the Giants Stadium show. Granted, we're in nosebleed land in the upper tier, but there are really only two kinds of seats that matter, those inside of the venue, and those outside. And, we're in, baby!

The upper tier were also the cheapest seats, so that worked in my favor. If the middle tier pricing wasn't $90, I might have been willing to do the middle pricing, but $180 for two tickets to a rock show seems a little steep for me. The highest price was $250 for a single ticket, and that's just too much.

Genesis should be announcing their North American tour soon. I'm willing to pay a bit more for those tickets, as I'm a bigger Genesis fan than I am of The Police. Also, I'll be able to pre-order those tickets through the Genesis website/message boards, and not pay $100 to join, like The Police were asking for to join their fan club.

NP: Tony Banks - An Island In The Darkness

Books!

I finished the book I was reading, "The Ghost Map," by Steven Johnson. It's a book about a cholera epidemic in London in 1854, where it was finally discovered that cholera was transmitted through tainted water. Doesn't sound like much of a story, but Johnson does a good job of outlining the actual process of the individuals involved, which makes it a compelling story.

Like a lot of non-fiction books I read, I skimmed over the final chapter, as those chapters tend to be a lot of the author making modern relevance to the story told in the previous pages. What I read of the concluding chapter I enjoyed, but I can get the meat of it by picking and choosing what looks interesting to read.

So, I picked up the book that Brian mentioned in a previous blog post comment, Stephen King's "Cell." Starts right off with a bang, in Boston, and I'm already 100 pages into it. I like books where I actually know the locations the author is writing about. King sets the start of the book on Boyleston Street, right near the Boston Common. I thought, "Right near the Mister Softee ice cream truck," and what do you know, the truck gets a mention... Truth in writing, right there...

I may finish it before leaving for the Florida trip on Thursday, we shall see how quick of a read it is.

And it's snowing lightly outside, for you weather nerds out there...

Refund!

We got the first of our tax refunds deposited into my checking account today, from the great state of NJ. We're still waiting on the Federal refund, and the NY State refund. Half of the Federal refund is basically paying for our trip down to Florida for the wedding, which is convenient timing.

I made a huge plunge today.

Something that I've been putting off for a long time.

I had said I would do it, but there was no real time frame for doing it.

I ordered a cell phone.

Yes, I've finally entered the mid-1990's.

It's actually a bit tied into the wedding trip. My friend In, who will also be at the wedding, asked me for my cell phone number so we can contact each other down in Florida. I wrote back to her, saying I didn't have one, so I gave her Sue's number.

Those of you who know me, know that for the past *cough cough* years, I've said that I wasn't going to get a cell phone until some time in the indeterminate future. This e-mail exchange was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Something just clicked in my head, and I said, "I'm going to order a cell phone."

I went with Verizon, and I ordered online, because there was a good discount on phones. I got a $90 phone for $40, which looks like a good deal to me.

Sue asked me what the phone does. I said, "I guess I can talk to people on it." She meant, did it have games, a camera, e-mail, or other features. I knew it had a camera, but I already have a digital camera, so I think I'll be surprised if I use it much as a camera.

I think that it would be a great seller if they made a cell phone in the shape of a Communicator from the original Star Trek series. I know I would have gotten a cell phone much earlier in life, if something like that existed.

My plan is to keep the phone off most of the time, and only use it for short conversations or checking in from a distance where there's no phone. That's my main plan. Of course, we'll see how reality plays havoc with plans...

In other news, for you Harry Potter fans, there's a special "web only" episode of Pseudocertainty, where Joe and I share our thoughts on the HP series. Of course, he hadn't read the sixth book yet, so I couldn't share my Snape/Judas theory, and some other ideas I have about the conclusion of the series with him. Watch for another episode coming up in March, where we'll blather on more about being total nerds about these books.

NP: The Dude of Life and Phish - King of Nothing

Sales!

I'm having a few good sales over on E-Bay right now, feel free to take a gander.

Muchos thanks go out to good friend Lou, who has kindly offered to try to get me Police tickets on a presale. Kudos to Lou! I hope he got my e-mail.... :)

These weeks where we have Monday off are quite nice, because you feel a day behind all week (Tuesday feels like Monday, etc), so now it's Wednesday, feels like Tuesday. Tomorrow is Thursday, and then there's just one more day of the week.

A week from today is Sue and my three year wedding anniversary. It's one of those dates that seems both longer and shorter than that in the perspective of time. But either way, it feels fine.

I have to look into the price of long term parking at Newark Airport, to see if it's worth driving/parking there (it's less than 15 minutes away), or if it would be better to pay for a car service. I have a gut feeling that the long term parking will be cheaper, but you never know...

That's all for now... More soon!

NP: The Cross - The 2nd Shelf Mix

Rental Car!

I just reserved a rental car for the Brad Factor wedding down in Florida we're heading to next week. I splurged, and got a convertable. I mean, it's Florida, so you've got to be able to take the top down, right? It's a little more money, but it's worth it.

Spontaneous, eh?

I enjoyed both Lou's and Flo's comments on my blog from yesterday. I didn't want to make it sound like I was railing against the world or anything, but it just hit me that I wasn't sure if *I* wanted to read my blog, let alone have anyone else read a pretty dull (on its face) entry.

Routine is good, it's just that there are times when I want to break away from the routine. Granted, work keeps the schedule pretty fixed, but there's ways to work around other time-killers, like television.

You know, I think that's how people in the old days got so much done. There wasn't TV to sit and stare at. It was a way to get people out of the house, and active. Granted, most people back in the past had to do a lot more work themselves just to survive, so the comparison's not necessarily a fair one, but there is some legitimacy to it.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my TV. But there are times that I think that I watch way too much. And I watch less than average, I would think.

The main thing, I think, is to enjoy the life you have, do what you can to improve it, enjoy yourself, and help others.

In total other news, I wasn't able to get tickets for The Police this morning. I tried as soon as they went on sale, but wasn't able to get 2 tickets. I think the shows were totally sold out in less than 15 minutes. If another goes on sale, I may try again. If not, then life goes on...

NP: Frank Zappa - Drowning Witch

Dull!

There are times (this is one of them) when I think I must be one of the dullest people alive!

I mean, I blogged about going to see GHOST RIDER, of all things!

It was fun, a nice day and all, but nothing that turned my life around.

Then, I do realize that most days are pretty average. You talk to people, you have some good conversations, you influence lives, you interact with the humans, and all is generally right with the world.

I'm a pretty mellow, even keeled person. Even when exciting stuff happens, I tend not to get overly worked up about it. I do think this is a change from the past, I used to be more excitable about life in general. I'm not sure if it's a good/bad thing, this change, but I acknowledge it and accept it.

It's funny, but happiness and contentment don't make for good writing topics. That's why I sometimes dig up old stories about High School, college, or other things to put on here. Other times, I'm happy to do the more diary-like entries that I usually write. This is at times a more leisurely blog than anything action packed. But, that's okay.

I should be clear, I'm not railing against anything here, this is more of an observation than a complaint. I'm happy with my life, I have fun with my lovely Sue, and have a lot of friends who I keep in contact with (although I should and will do a better job with that). Sue and I are traveling down to Florida in less than two weeks to attend a wedding, which will be an adventure. I enjoy my job, although like with all work, there are ups and downs with it, I tend to think of it as more up than anything.

I do think I fall into patterns very easily. Generally, Sue and I watch the same shows on TV after work, she goes to bed early, I exercise, write a blog, read a bit, and then go to bed. Very routine. I enjoy it.

I think I have to plan some spontaneous activity soon.

Of course, I enjoy the delicious irony of the above sentence.

NP: Peter Gabriel - The Family and the Fishing Net (1 Oct 1983)

Movie!

Today, Sue and I went to go see "Ghost Rider," a movie starring Nicholas Cage based on a comic book. I'm not big on giving a synopsis of a film on these little reviews, there are plenty of better sites out there, and people who can actually do it better than I. Here are my quick impressions of the film:

• Nicholas Cage's character and his love interest (Roxanne) are the same age at the start of the film. Then, we see them together later on, and she's probably in her late 20's, while Cage is what, in his 40's in real life? This is something you see a lot of in films. Older men with younger women. Why is this? Ideas in comments below. I have some ideas, but I want to see what others say first.
• My friend Lou sent out a message to a bunch of us when the preview for this movie first hit the internets awhile back, perhaps in the early summer. We all thought the effects looked really bad. I think the effects improved in the interim. They still weren't great, but they weren't totally cartoonish.
• Plot was minimal, but enough to hang a movie on. Peter Fonda was an interesting casting choice as the Devil, but he really didn't get to do much in the movie besides stand around looking semi-menacing.

Overall, it wasn't a bad movie. A good matinee on a day off from work. I can't give it a huge recommendation though.

Each day this weekend, I woke up around 6am, and was awake on and off for the next 2-3 hours. It would have been great to sleep through till 9am, but our windows in our bedroom face east, and we get a lot of sunlight on these mornings. Not a bad thing, but it does cut into sleep a bit much.

NP: Pink Floyd - Bike

Labs!

While tucking Sue into bed tonight (she's a very early to bed person, for those of you not in the know), she likes me to regale her with stories from my sordid and sorry past. So, tonight, I took the leap back to High School.

Oddly enough, I could remember who I had for every class, and stories were pouring out. I was recalling the time Freshman year, in Honors Introductory Physical Science (HIPS), where I semi-orchestrated a change of lab partner. I was partnered with a friend, as was my friend Brian. For a big project (the Sludge Test, perhaps?), I knew that working with my present partner just wouldn't work. Brian may have felt the same way about his partner, so I think one morning, before we started, I just said, "Brian and I are working together, you two can work together on the Sludge Test."

I don't remember there being a lot of personal hub-bub about changing partners, although I could be just blocking that out. I do know that Brian and I remained lab partners through sophomore year Honors Biology. We might have remained lab partners throughout High School, had it not been for Honors Algebra II during Sophomore year.

In our High School, like many, if you were in 3 honors classes, odds were you were going to be in the 4th. That's how I ended up in Honors Algebra II for my sophomore year. I was generally okay at math, but no superstar. However, that year in Algebra II, I didn't get a quarter ending grade above a 78, I believe. I didn't fail, but I came pretty close (failing in our school was 69 or below).

Admittedly, I was not the best at math, but the teacher I had that year just was not good at explaining the material. I know this, because the next year, when I was in level 2 pre-calc, the teacher I had (Mrs. Mechura, the best math teacher I ever had) explained everything I didn't get about Algebra II in the first 3 weeks of the review of material from the previous year. I went on get 90's and above each quarter senior year in Calculus, and getting a 5 on the AB Calculus AP exam. So, take that!

Anyway, at the end of sophomore year, when I met with my guidance counselor to go over my schedule for junior year, she told me that I was going to be in Honors English, History, and Chemistry. Great! But then, she said that I was also recommended for Honors Pre-Calc.

Hold the phones! I barely passed Honors Algebra II! Why would I be in Honors Pre-Calc?

Well, it was what I was recommended to go into, and if I was in the three honors classes, there was no Level 2 pre-calc class to enroll in. So, I made the choice, sadly, to forgo the Honors AP Chemistry class, and took Level 2 pre-calc and chemistry. And did quite well in each class, thank you very much.

I can't recall, but it is possible that it was also the same teacher from Honors Algebra II, who was going to teach Honors Pre-Calc. That may have also played into my decision to not be in that Honors level class.

Brian, any memories from that HIPS lab partner changeover that I'm missing? Did I make anyone cry? Was I a good lab partner? I need affirmation for stuff from 20 years ago. Really.

Actually, I don't. But it's fun to talk about this stuff. I like to talk about the past, to focus on the future. It's not to be maudlin or depressing, although sometimes it can go in that direction.

Generally, I enjoyed Junior and Senior year of High School more than Freshman and Sophomore year. Freshman year, people were still kind of immature, and we're freshman, so we get the short end of the stick in everything. Sophomore year was fun, but it was really the last two years where I felt like things were firing on all chambers. Good times. Glad it's over.

NP: The Mars Volta - Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus

Snow!

So, today at work, we got a delayed opening until 10am, so I could rest/sleep a little longer...

Then, at 10:45am, we get a call at work that the College is closing at 11am because of the snow. Was it even worth it coming in for a short period of time? Did people in charge not realize how the roads were?

Living in VT/NH for the past eight years, this is minimal snow, but I can see it being hard for people driving who are not used to it. I will certainly take the afternoon off, and be all good with it. I've cleaned up a bit, listened to some music, and am reading my book, "Monster Nation" by David Wellington.

It's a good fun quick read, but if "World War Z" is a meal of a book, this is a good snack. I think Brooks in his zombie world thought through the zombie issue a bit more thoroughly than Wellington in his. I am still unclear if you have to be bit in order to become a zombie, or whether you can "catch" the zombie sickness in some other way.

In other news, I'm going to shoot for getting tickets to see The Police at MSG this coming August. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, so we'll see if I can get some. The most expensive ones are in the $200 dollar range, I'm going to shoot for the $55 range tickets. You could join the Police fanclub for $100, and get access to a presale, but that seems a bit much to join a club. At least when Genesis tickets go on sale, there's no charge for members of their message boards.

More later!

Taxes!

Just finished doing our taxes on Turbo Tax tonight. We're getting refunds on all three returns (federal, NY, and NJ), so yippee for us!

The state ones are tiny, but they usually are. This is the first time we're filing state taxes since 2001, since we've lived in New Hampshire since then, and there's no state income tax there.

It helped that our moving expenses were deductible. That's a big chunk of cash right there.

It's snowing out. Yay!

NP: Led Zeppelin - I Can't Quit You Baby

Show!

Joe and I recorded a new episode of Pseudocertainty last night. Included this week are reactions to 1-31, Atlantis news, the aurora spacecraft, the Doomsday Vault, and a long discourse on the Harry Potter books.

Joe has been reading the books for the first time, so we were able to have a good discussion about aspects of the books that we both recognize, as fans of epic storytelling. We had prior phone conversations earlier in the week, that we should have just recorded for the purposes of the show, that dealt with a lot of the Potter stuff we discussed yesterday.

If the show's not up at the site already, it should be up pretty soon...

I finished reading "Monster Island" by David Wellington, the most recent book about modern day zombies that I've finished. It tells the story of DeKalb, a UN Weapons Inspector in Somalia, who has to bring a group of soldiers to the zombie-fied city of New York, to get AIDS medication for the leader of the group of people who are holding his daughter as a "guest." While in NYC, DeKalb meets Gary, a med student who intentionally turned himself into a zombie, figuring that he'd get eaten if he didn't. He did this by infecting himself, and then keeping himself on life support while the transformation occurred. In this way, he kept his brain from lacking oxygen, so he didn't get stupid like all the other zombies.

The book overall was a good quick read, and I'm starting the sequel today, "Monster Nation," which actually tells the story of the outbreak, so is actually a prequel. I think I still prefer the zombie approach that Max Brooks takes in his books "The Zombie Survival Guide" and "World War Z," where the zombies don't have any glimpse of humanity, but it's good to read something that is a different flavor than what I'm used to in my zombie literature.

I actually didn't even realize, before reading Brooks' books that there was a zombie genre of writing out there, but I really shouldn't be surprised.

Yesterday, Sue and I went to go see Smokin' Aces. I won't bother summarizing the plot here, there are plenty of other sites that do that type of work. We did both generally enjoy the movie, although the ending got stretched out a bit longer than it really needed to be. I did like how in the first 20-30 minutes, you leared that any character could get killed at any time, because it's usually so predictable who will live to be the hero to the end of any film.

More to come! Battlestar Galactica is on tonight, so I have to get ready for that...

NP: Fish - Institution Waltz

Ack!

Have you ever pulled a boner move so STUPENDOUS, that you marvel that you can tie your own shoes in the morning?

I did one of those yesterday.

I'm married to a wonderful Sue, and periodically during the day at work, we'll drop little e-mail notes to each other, just reminders that we're out there, thinking of each other. Romantic, eh?

Well, yes, it is romantic, until you send one of those messages to your boss by mistake.

With the subject line "I love YOU!"

And then you get the reply, "re: I love YOU!," and it's not from your lovely wife, but from someone NOT YOUR WIFE.

The first words out of my mouth when I got the reply were "Oh f*ck." With a laugh at it, because it, obviously, is very funny.

I pictured my supervisor sitting there at her computer, wondering what to do with this strange e-mail addressed to her, from me.

We did get a good laugh about it, and Sue did also. All was right with the world.

But, I'm still laughing about it now. What a dunderhead I can be!

NP: Steve Howe - The Collector

Exercise!

Ah, just finished exercising. I don't exercise on the weeks that I'm on duty, so it's a nice break. I just did 20 minutes on our elliptical, which is better than nothing. I'm not looking to be hard core, I simply want to have some basic activity every day. If I drop some weight, that's great, but I really started doing this because back in 2001 my cholesterol was higher than it should have been. So, the doc said eat better and exercise.

Strangely enough, it appears to have worked, cholesterol-wise. My number is consistently 100 points lower than it was at its highest point, so no medication needed here.

I still eat some of the same crap I used to (pizza, bread, pasta, etc), but now I make sure to not have those foods as often as I used to, and I eat some salad in my diet. Simple stuff can make radical changes.

Granted, if I was looking to lose weight (I'm about 185 now), I'd do more, and eat less, but it's not that much of a priority now. Sure, it'd be nice to be back down to 170-175, and hey, it might happen, but it's not really a goal. It'll be more of an accident if it goes on.

On a totally different subject, about a week ago, Chris, one of my friend from high school, invited me to join this "linkedin" website. It's supposed to help people network and reconnect, both personally and career-wise.

Generally, I shy away from these things, I figured, why not... So, I joined up. No cost or anything. I didn't really expect anything from it, but what do you know. About 2 days after I join, I hear from Sharon, a classmate of mine from Boston College! We've e-mailed back and forth, and it's fun to be back in contact with her, since I think the last time we spoke was back in 1994. It's so easy to lose contact with people, but easier now to get back in touch.

So, thank you Chris, if you're reading this. And thank you Sharon for writing! Perhaps some other long lost people from my past will write in too.

Today in the mail, I got two CDs I ordered from England. Steve Hackett, former guitarist from Genesis, just had two of his solo albums remastered, Cured and Highly Strung. I have these on vinyl (ancient technology), but never got them on CD. I took quick listens to them today, and they sound much better sonically than I remember. I'll give a more careful listen sometime in the next few days...

NP: Adrian Belew - The Rail Song

Return!

I have an announcement to make!

The lovely Sue has returned to blogging! Read her adventures, and enjoy!

In other news, today was a cleaning day, I did laundry, and vacuumed up around here. I still need to hit the kitchen floor, which is a mess. The bathroom needs some work also, but nothing too heavy duty.

I'm actually watching the "Puppy Bowl" on Animal Planet right now. It's puppies gallivanting around on a fake football field. Brilliant programming for tonight. I'm really waiting for the Kitten half time show, but really, who isn't?

That's all for now, perhaps more to come later...

NP: Brian May - Back to the Light (the TV is on mute...)

Visit!

Today, Sue and I went down to Asbury Park to visit my mom, since her birthday is tomorrow. She and we figured today was a better day to visit, as trying to go out to lunch or dinner tomorrow would probably have been interrupted by a bunch of yahoos out watching the Super Bowl.

Personally, I may actually watch the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet instead...

We got down there around 11ish, and Sue and my mom went out to a yarn store, to check out the local wares there. I believe the store was up in Colts Neck somewhere. While at home, I ran some updates for my mom's computer, and tried to make friend with her cat Daisy.

Daisy isn't really used to other human beings besides my mom, so she doesn't react well when I'm in the house. She never comes out, or if she does, I can't get close enough to pet the kitty. And that's no fun for me, the cat lover. All I want to do is be friends, but she prefers to hide...

This isn't her hiding, but I wanted a visual representation of the kitty for readers.

After the return of Sue and Mom from the yarn store, we went out to lunch at a place close by to her house. A good time was had by all. I had Chicken Quesos, which were okay, but I should probably stick to having Mexican food at Mexican restaurants. We had some good conversation, and Mom enjoyed her birthday lunch.

I think tomorrow's going to be a big cleaning day. I've been meaning to clean around the apartment for awhile, I just haven't gotten around to it. Tomorrow's a good a day as any to do it.

Nothing else too exciting to report out there today. More to come soon, I'm sure. I'm also a bit sleepy, so writing isn't the top thing on my mind. Tomorrow, I'll write about hearing from long lost friends over e-mail.

NP: David Gilmour - Blue Light

Weird!

Reading Florence's blog, she did this thing about listing 6 weird things about you that nobody knows. Never one to overlook a good idea, I think I'll try this out. Feel free to do this yourself on your blog, if you have one...

1. When I tie my shoes, I still do the two rabbit ears thing. I remember being shown as a kid, that there's a way to tie shoes by doing one rabbit ear, and then twisting the other lace around it in some magical way, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. I always feel a bit kid-like when I tie my shoes because of that...

2. When I was in school (elementary through late High School), I had this thing that I couldn't be friends with people outside of the year I was in. I don't know where it came from, but until really late in high school, like during Senior year, I really didn't have friends outside of my own class. Sure, there were people I talked to in class who were not in my year, but that was about it. During Senior year, mainly through my friend Brian, I got to be close to people outside of my year. Then, in college, most of my close friends ended up being in the year ahead of me, or the year behind me. Oh, how times change.

3. While I really enjoy the company of people, I think I can go long stretches of time without human contact, with little to no problem. Maybe it's from living on my own from 1994-2001, but there were some weekends (especially when I was living in Vermont) where I realized I would go a whole weekend without speaking to another human being. I think part of it is because my job is pretty much totally about talking and relating to other humans, that when I get some time off, sometimes disengaging is a good way to recharge my batteries.

I am trying to be better now in staying in contact with friends, without being overwhelming. We'll see how that works. With this job, I don't have to pay for long distance, so if you want me to give you a call, just say the word!

4. I have a thing about litter. I mean, I *truly* dislike it. It annoyed me when I lived in New England, because if you live in a pretty area, why litter? And I dislike it here, because if you're living in an urban area, wouldn't you want to do everything you could to keep it neat? This leads into number 5, which is...

5. Sometimes I really don't see why people think differently than I do. I mean, we're all the center of our own universes in some way, but I can't imagine people doing truly stupid things, without realizing they're stupid. This is one reason why I could never really write anything that was satisfying to me, as a piece of narrative fiction. I always found it difficult to have characters do things that weren't "right," or "good," because it's almost impossible for me to concieve of someone not realizing that they're making a bad decision. When I'm talking to students sometimes, I want to say, "Don't you get that this is a bad idea? How can you not see that?"

And it's not just because I'm "older and wiser," I thought this way back in elementary school. Either I was tremendously advanced, or I haven't grown mentally since then...

6. If I don't like someone, I can totally ignore them in the presence of other people, and not feel the least bit bad about it. I first realized this in college, when my friend Joe pointed it out to me. Or maybe Brian and I talked about it in High School. If I didn't like someone, I really wouldn't harass them or anything, but I could really just tune them out entirely. If I was directly addressed by the person, I'd respond, but in the most limited, short fashion possible. Joe did say in college that it was great to watch, because I would be quite rude to people, and not think anything of it.

From my perspective, I thought I was being more polite, because I wasn't leading anyone on. If I liked you, I'd make fun of you forever, but it was all in fun. I wouldn't make fun of the people I didn't like, because then that would feel like I was picking on someone. And that's just not right in my book... But, from the outside, me poking fun at someone could look like I don't like them. But, nothing could be further from the truth...

For those of you out there, feel free to add any other weird things you know or remember about me. I'd be curious to see myself from the point of view of others...

Cheers!

NP: Pete Townshend - I Don't Know Myself

Lunchtables!

Tonight, before Sue went off to bed, I was regailing her with stories from High School. For whatever reason, I got onto our Lunch misadventures, and was thinking back on who I sat with at lunch for 6th through 12th grade.

At least for me, it was very uncommon to sit with different people back then for lunch. It was all about consistency. However, outside of a few of the "core" people I sat with (Brian Paik, Erik Lynch, Mike Pohl, Albert Mark, and some others), I really couldn't remember the consistent people all that well.

I went looking to my photo albums, to see if I had photos from lunch, and surprisingly, I don't have a one! I rememeber Senior year lunch pretty well, because, as seniors, we were able to leave the cafeteria. About 20 of us took over a room in the math wing of our high school, eating and causing "trouble" there for most of the year. But before senior year, it's mainly a blur.

I know this is just a symptom of ageing, but isn't it amazing that things that mattered so much then (who you sat with at lunch, even at the SAME TABLE each day), you can barely remember now. Not the most original observation in the world, but a valid one nonetheless.

Generally, I have to say that after 9th grade, I enjoyed my High School years. I'd change a few things now, if I could go back, but not much. I'd get rid of the glasses I had senior year, that's for sure. What was I thinking??? Tinted glasses were kind of in, but I looked like a cop from the 70's. I'll try to get a picture here to post as a warning to future generations.

I was also incredibly shy around girls. I'd change that now, as looking back on things, I realize I was what you'd call a TOTAL IDIOT about some situations. Those are probably best left unsaid for now, but lets just say I never dated at all in High School, and I know that I could have at least gone out with some girls if I had had the guts to say hello, or "Want to go out?" at some point.

Ah, but such is life, you live and learn. If I hadn't done that stuff, or not done that stuff, then, who knows where I'd be now, and one thing is for sure, I'm very happy with how things are as they have turned out.

You know, I could fill a full blog with "Mike's an idiot around girls" stories, but I don't know if I need to relive that portion of my life. And, the stories are much more fun to tell in person, anyway.

I guess what this post boils down to, is that if you sat with me in lunch during Junior High or High School, please write. I'd like to be reacquainted. Brian, as a reader of this blog, is already here, and I think Baron (still around Baron?) may have sat with us a few times, but I could be wrong...

NP: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - The 17-Year Cicada

Genealogy!

It's been awhile since I've given a thorough update on my genealogy research, so tonight's a good a time as any, I guess... Also, I can't think of much else to write about.

• I've been in contact with a gentleman who is a cousin to my Lord grandfather, on his mother's side, so the common last name there is Riepe. We've just started corresponding over e-mail, so we'll see how this goes. But, as always, it's good to find people who are connected by family.


• I've gone to the Jersey City library for the first time in the past two weeks, even though we've lived here since July. I was busy with other avenues of research. While there, I saw that in their New Jersey room, they have lists of all the Jersey City high school graduates. I found some offshoots of the Coulson line in there, which I'll have to go back and photocopy for complete-ness sake. The last name in question was Jameson. I didn't find any Coulson's in the one list I was looking at. I really think that at least of my ancestors on the Lord side, my grandmother was the first person to complete High School. (It was my mom on my mom's side.) I've also dug up some Coulson obits from the local paper, which will help me find living descendants of those mentioned in the obits. For example, I just got an obit for a Harry Coulson, which lists the married names of his five daughters. I only knew the married name of one of them before, so now I can try to find if any of these daughters are still alive, or if they're not, then if the daughters had living relations.


• I've really reached a bit of a wall on my Mom's side, the Polish side. Until the state and church records are a bit more easily accessible, I'll have to plan my requests to different Polish agencies carefully. I wish the civil Polish records were accessible like the Scotland records are, on the web. And speaking of the Scots records...


• The ScotlandsPeople website, link found on the right hand column, has recently made all their pre-1855 records available on the web. There is a fee for using the site, but it's quite reasonable. I found some records I've been holding off paper copies of, as I knew that there'd be online access at some point, at a cheaper price than ordering paper. However, the one issue is that the records aren't printing properly. I have to drop a line to the website, to see if it's an issue with the site, or an issue with my printer. In the meantime, I'm simply glad to have access to the records in a very easy form.


• I've gotten a lot of records on the James Coulson from Iowa, who I think was a brother to my G3-GF Richard Coulson. However, I do need to find his elusive death record from 1894, to prove that his parents were Richard and Sarah (Shield) Coulson. I'm going to try one more library out there, and then go the state government route again. I spoke of that agency previously, when they wouldn't issue me the record because I couldn't prove relationship. But, I need the record to prove relationship. Catch-22.

And, as a little bonus, here's a photo....

The white haired guy at the center of the photo is, I *think*, my G2-GF Robert F. Lord. I found the photo at the Kearny Museum, and it was labeled "Officials of Kearny, circa 1900." Robert was a town officer at that time, and would have been 48 in 1900. Of the guys in the photo, this person is the closest looking to another picture I have of Robert, taken probably in about 1885 or so. Here's the full picture, for context:

Of course, just my luck, there's nothing written on the back of the photo. Such is the life of a genealogist. However, I think the odds are better than 50-50 that the close up above is Robert.

So, that's the excitement on that front. For a roll call, here's a partial list of surnames in my direct ancestory:

• Father's side: Lord, Partridge, Riepe, Nixon, Coulson, Lang, Schulze, Fegan, Houston, Lindsay, Gibb, Love, McLeod, Crawford, Blackwood, Taylor, Laird
• Mother's side: Sanecki, Moskwa, Gac (anglicized to Gatz), Drozd, Kawa, Stachura, Flaga, Kluska, Ruszala

That's it for now. Enjoy!

NP: Yes - I'm Running (Demo)

Update!

I was thinking, it's been awhile since I just did a general update of life on this blog. However, isn't a blog by its very nature a general update.

I'll leave that question to the philosophers out there. But, what have I been up to recently? Here's news:

• I have a NJ driver's licence for the first time since probably 1996 or so. And, amazingly enough, I was still in the DMV computer system, so I have my original drivers licence number. The photo didn't turn out bad, and even though I had to get a new licence and update my title and registration, my total time at the DMV was less than an hour. Not too shabby, for a place known for eternal lines.
• I also have a Jersey City public library card. I know it's a small thing, but I think it's important to support the public libraries. I went there last Friday, to do a bit of genealogy research. Found a lead or two on some possible Coulson descendants who might still be out there. More to come as I follow those leads.
• Sue and I went to see Curse of the Golden Flower. A good movie going experience, although that's when my lip swelled up (see previous blog). Chow-Yun Fat is one of my favorite Chinese actors, and he did well with this film. In some ways, the role of Emperor was a bit sedate for him, but he used his screen time well. The movie, like many Chinese films, doesn't really have a happy ending, but that's okay, because you got told a compelling story along the way.
• I'm all set with my travel plans for heading to the ACPA/NASPA Conference in Orlando at the end of March. It'll be my second time in Florida in one month, as Sue and I will be heading down to a friend's wedding in Jacksonville at the start of March. Plans for that travel will be made, most likely by the end of this weekend.
• I'm trying to exercise at least every other day. Generally, it's working.

I think that's it for an update now. There's not a lot of "exciting" stuff going on, but we're keeping busy.

NP: King Crimson - Asbury Park (28 June 1874)

Lip!

I have recovered from my allergic attack, although I did have this recurrance on Satuday:



My upper lip swelled up on Saturday, perhaps as a reaction to movie popcorn salt? Maybe I'm having an iodine reaction? Who knows...

Just a short update today, to let everyone know I'm alive. Longer posts tomorrow and towards the end of the week. Not because of anything big happening then, I just don't feel like writing a lot now...

NP: Simple Minds - Big Sleep

Recovery!

Ah, it's strange when you have something so physical happen to you, and then the day later, there's no real evidence of it.

Well, except for THIS!

This photo is from yesterday, probably around 3pm or so. That redness is the rash/hives that I had. I didn't want to put this up yesterday, as I wasn't sure if my readers, delicate souls that you are, could handle my bare chest area. Now, for scientific purposes, I'm willing to put it out there for your adoring gaze.

So, here's the story since yesterday: I went to bed around 10pm, after my chest and back started to fade, but my legs then developed the hives. I slept soundly till about 12:45am, when I woke up after I thought I had slept till 4 or 5am. Needless to say, I was a bit annoyed that I had only slept for 2 hours. I proceded to get very little sleep after that, as I kept having to get up to have a teeny bowl movement (Number 2, for those of you who like to number these things), or pass some gas.

I was trying not to inflict the odor on Sue, as I'm a kind folk.

Anyway, I didn't sleep very well, and finally got up around 7:30am to shower. My eyes were a bit bloodshot, but I think that was from lack of sleep as opposed to anything else. However, my left foot was a bit swollen, as were my hands. I wasn't able to put on my wedding band for the first time since Sue and I got married, which was a bit strange. I probably could have forced it on, but I didn't want things to get worse, and have to deal with a purple finger.

I made a few calls to local doctors, and around 10am, got a callback to go to a doctor in Bayonne, about 20 minutes away. I was there quickly, and was in the exam room after only waiting for about 10 minutes, so good service. The doctor came in after waiting for about 10 minutes again, as I was getting progressively itchier, a mental thing perhaps? I had printed out the above photo, to show him what it looked like before it had faded, but there was also enough splotchyness on my body to show him what it was like.

The doctor concluded from his observation that it was most likely some sort of allergic reaction. We went over the past few days, and tried to think about what it could have been, but the only obvious culprits was the ginger ale and potato chips I had had the night before. However, I've never been allergic to either of those two things before.

There is a blood test that can be done, that identifies if someone is allergic to about 20 of the most common allergies. I passed on that for now, as I figure this is probably one of the more obscure allergies if I'm just having my first reaction now. I will be avoiding ginger ale and the certain brand of potato chips for the near future though, just to be safe.

Personally, with the rash/hives having covered most of my body, in an almost transformational way, I'm going to be on the lookout for any developing superpowers. Or, perhaps I was invaded by nano-machines. You never know, it could happen...

Thanks to Lou and Brian for providing helpful/reassuring comments in yesterday's blog, and of course to Sue for taking care of me.

NP: The Beatles - Oh! Darling

Sick!

In a rare occurance for me, I actually left work sick today. I wasn't physically feeling ill, but I did have some strange rash over a lot of my arms, torso, and a bit on my back and legs. I don't know if you can see it on this photo of my right arm, but here it is...

Can you see the redness there? I had that all over my front, some of my back, and in other various places. It isn't really spreading anymore, but I can't really tell if it's fading. If it's not on its way to being gone tomorrow, I'll give a doctor a call, and see if I can set up an appointment. I haven't found a "regular" doctor around here yet, so I'll have to see what the options are, if I can...

So, I've just been hanging around, reading, relaxing, itching every once in awhile, and that's it. I don't know what's caused this, but it does look a bit like when people who've had the chicken-pox in their youth, get a recurrance of a rash later in life tied in with the pox... That's my barnyard medicine diagnosis....

I'll keep you up to date on my status.

Silver!

Okay, the dime is silver. Does no one out there know their numismatic history?

What is the world coming to these days? Dimes and quarters from 1964 and before were made with silver. Half dollars also, although those *may* have continued to be silver for a few years after 1965. Can't remember the details offhand...

So, I haven't checked the value of the 1961 (Philadelphia mint) silver dime I found. Probably 11 cents.

My last sessions for training ended today, so I'm officially done. I get to help out with our Behind Closed Doors tomorrow, but I don't have much to do with that, as I assigned the planning of it to my two supervisees. I know they'll do a great job with it, so that's all good.

Other than that, I look forward to getting a good night's sleep tonight. I slept well yesterday, but just not for long enough! That's what I get for having to work weekends.

NP: King Crimson - FraKctured (4 June 2000)

Training!

I've been a bit silent this week, I've been very busy with RA Training, and will actually be working through this weekend also, so this is one of the first spare moments I've had where I've felt like sitting down and writing a blog. No idea how long this one will be, but at least I'm here.

We started RA Training on Thursday, and it will conclude on Sunday. Monday, the residence halls open for students to move back for the start of classes on Tuesday. So yes, this means that I'll have to be working on MLK day. I believe that next year, the college calendar will be adjusted so that this won't be an issue. So, I think I'll get a comp day sometime this coming week. If it's up to me, I'd take off on Friday, the 19th. That way, I still get a nice three day weekend. I'll discuss that with my boss when I get a chance...

In the meantime, a benefit of the holiday I still get is that my paycheck has been deposited in my bank account already. Yay, I get to pay bills!

I think I'll try to e-mail some of my friends whose Christmas cards I got returned in the mail due to incorrect addresses. If the e-mail bounces back, I'll track them down somehow...

Right now, one of the songs from the band I was in during High School is playing on my computer. Our drummer (John Rogers, where are you!) was quite good, as was the guitarist. I think I was the weak instrumental link in the trio, but we did have fun anyway.

I'm a bit tired now, so I don't have much more to write at the moment. I'll see about contributing a more substantial blog tomorrow or Sunday...

NP: King Crimson - Elephant Talk

Dime!

What's so special about that dime! Well, I got it as part of my change from Chinese food tonight (Orange Flavored Chicken and Fried Chicken dumplings, thank you very much Peking No. 1!), and it's from 1961.



Those coin collectors out there know what's special about dimes (and quarters) from 1964 and before. Can anyone tell me what it is? Comment below...



I noted this coin when I went to put it in our little piggy bank we got as a wedding gift (thanks Bill!), the reverse side was a bit more worn than usual, and didn't look like a regular dime.



In other news, I've been trying to get rid of some stuff that I have, that I don't really need anymore. This item was one of those things:

This is an old message board I had back in BC. Friends into chemistry wrote the equation/molecule on the board, and some of the other messages. I just liked it, so I always stuck it on whatever fridge or microwave I had in whatever apartment I was living in at the time.

Looking around, I realize I don't really need this anymore, so I took a picture to memorialize it, and now, it's somewhere in the trash. A bit sad, but not the end of the world.

In the weeding category, I have a bunch of CDs listed on E-Bay now. I've thought about doing what Queenie does with the home postage pickup and all that, but living where I do, that's a bit impractical. And when the post office cash registers don't crash, I actually kind of enjoy the social aspect of the post office. It's one of those places where pretty much everyone has to go, and you see a lot of interesting human dynamics while there.

But, in the E-bay world (which is where I was going with this in the first place), I have 33 items listed, and 3 have bids on them already. I expect one of the CDs to go for about $50, which will be a nice chunk of change to throw at my credit card, as we're on the tail end of paying off my car repair from November. Any bit helps. That's why I pick up loose change (even pennies) when I see them. I figure, I'm a penny richer, and those do accumulate over time. Not much, but they do.

Really.

While flipping channels today, I came across a program on Rome on The History Channel. And oddly, actor Peter Weller of Robocop/Buckaroo Banzai fame (a movie I never really clicked with) was not the narrator of the program, but was actually a cited expert during the course of the show!

This surprised me, so I checked his listing on the Internet Movie Database, and sure enough, Weller has a Masters in Roman and Renaissance Art, and is working towards a PhD. And, he's still acting!

It was a weird moment, where I was like, "Peter Weller?! Expert on Rome???" Perhaps it was a switch to an alternate universe, where Weller was never an actor, but was actually a Roman expert. Would have been cool.

Got a haircut today. Not as short as Mr. Brian, but it's much neater than it was. I'm also just combing it all straight back now, as the hair's getting a bit thin on top, and parting it on the right or left is beginning to feel a bit too much like a combover for my liking. I'll get a self-portrait tomorrow, and perhaps post it up here.

NP: Riabinouchka - The Stars of St. Petersburg

Sorry!

A bit long since my last post, I hope you all survived out there. Happy new year, and all that.

First week back at work, and things are generally going okay. I'm pleased with where things are going, and we're all developing a good relationship to jump off of for this semester.

I'm not a big person to spend a lot of time talking about work. My general thought is that I spend 8 hours a day at work, I don't necessarily want to spend a lot of time at home reliving/reflecting on the day. However, I'm trying to be a bit better with that, as Sue does like hearing about my day. I think recently, I've fallen off that wagon, and I need to get back on it, to the extent that I can feel comfortable doing so.

I'm actually on call this week, meaning if anything happens on campus that an administrator is needed, I'm the guy to call. I have a walkie talkie, a cell phone, and a bunch of keys at my disposal. Fortunately, there's not too many people on campus now (the residence halls don't formally reopen until the 15th), so it should be a quiet weekend.

I think that's about it for now... Sorry it's not the most exciting post in the world...

NP: The Beatles - Love Me Do

Day!

Ah, the first day of the new year. And a fine day it was, hanging around indoors all day, as it was foggy and rainy outside, looking very unappealing to those of the dry persuasion.

So, I read. I finished off the "World War Z" book mentioned two blog posts ago, and a fine read it was. I had been reading a few pages here and there, but being able to sit for a few hours today allowed me to polish it off in no time. I recommend it highly, a good read to enliven the human spirit, and get some good zombie stuff in there at the same time.

Sue was on the phone with a mutual friend for a good portion of the day, so that kept her busy, connecting with people. The new year is a good time to reconnect, I think. Of course, the reconnection should be mutual, so that it's not just a one sided conversation. Fortunately, the people I/we're in contact with are pretty good about keeping up communication.

And, of course, tomorrow is back to work. It's a shorter week, just 4 days since we were off today, but alas, it's still work. It's not that bad though. I enjoy my job, but I also enjoy being at home and getting paid, so there's a dilemma...

NP: Richard Lewis - Dates from Hell

Last!

Ah, the last day of the year... Where does the time go? Where does the time come from, that's really the better question.

Deep, eh?

Sue and I did our traditional pizza on the last day of the year, but instead of going to Pizza Hut, our normal place to go on this fake holiday, we decided to go to Pizzeria Uno's, to at least have some quality. It wasn't bad, but their pizza generally feels good before you eat it, and then when you're done, it's a bit much. But, it was fun.

Sue's asleep now, she's not really a night person. I'm still up, but not because of the new year, it's just because I'm generally up. I've never been that big into New Years as a holiday. I've had some good times on this night, for sure, but it's generally just an excuse to have a party. I say, just have the party!

Good new years are all in Boston, in general. For the Y2K event, my friend Bill had a party, that was fun. A few years before that, some of us did one of those, "Pay $85 for the entire evening, food and drink" events, that was fun also. When I was a kid, I never stayed up for new years. It wasn't until I was in my teens, I think, that I actually stayed awake for a transition into a new year. Looking back on it, I realize I should have been a bit more willing to stay up and do family stuff when I was little, but I can't change it, so there you have it.

I've been going through a collection of letters between my fraternal grandparents from during World War II, when my grandfather was in the Pacific. They wrote multiple letters to each other on a pretty close to daily basis, so it's a great look into their world of big events (the war), and little events (paying bills, working with money, etc). Also, my dad was a little boy of 1-2 years old, so there's lots of news of his early events, which is great to see.

I'm trying to not be too voyeuristic in reading these, as I realize that they didn't write these letters with the intention of them being read 60 years later. However, they were writing knowing that wartime censors would review the letters, at least the ones my grandfather sent, so that nothing too, well, "sensitive" is in the letters. Generally, I'm looking for mentions of other relatives, to see what the family relations were like, for my genealogy research. It's fun, but like I said, I'm approaching it with a fair level of respect for their privacy.

Tomorrow, we have no real plans, but then it's back to work on Tuesday. Ah well, all good things must come to an end. When can I retire?

NP: Moody Blues - House of Four Doors

Books!

Sue and I had a nice day out today, but unfortunately now her stomach is bothering her, so she's off to bed. Hopefully, she'll be feeling better tomorrow...

Here's some photos of our day out!

Sue with NYC in the background, at a park on the riverfront in Hoboken...

Hey, this looks like our Christmas Card!

I think this guy was practicing for something, or he was just waiting for a big gust of wind to come along and take him away...

With my loss of hair, I think I'm going to just start combing it straight back...

We hit a restaurant called The Pita Grill for a late lunch. It's a natural food place that we haven't been to before. I found it ironic that the natural food place had Z100, a top 40 radio station cranked WAY up, so we could listen to music with no human/natural interaction in it.

Then, we hit Barnes & Nobles in Hoboken. It's a smallish store, but not that bad. I had a $50 gift card from my mom, so I knew it was time to load up on a few pounds of book. Here's what I got... (with links to the books on Amazon, a delicious irony!)

• Redemption Ark, by Alastair Reynolds. A good SF writer I've gotten into recently. I hope to enjoy this one...


• Cell, by Stephen King. I'm always up for a good zombie book... And yes, Brian, it's now out in paperback!


• Spider Kiss, by Harlan Ellison. An old novel that's just back in print from a really terrific writer.


• The Planets, by Dava Sobel. In my look at the Science section of the store, this one jumped out at me. I've heard good things about it, and I recall enjoying "Longitude," one of Sobel's previous books.


• The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. Recommended to me by a reader of this very blog! Honest! Don't tell me I never listen to you all!


• The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson. A non-fiction book about a cholera outbreak in London in the 1850's. It seemed interesting to me, I'm always looking for some good non-fiction out there.


• Fragile Things, by Neil Gaiman. A collection of short stories and other work, by a writer of uncommon goodness. I recommend pretty much anything he's written for those of you out there who are looking for good writing.

I also got World Changing: A User's Guide for the 21st Century from Sue for Christmas. I have been breezing through it, and it's a good book to read for a few minutes and then put down. It's a compendium of ideas on how individuals can take action to make the 21st Century a better place to live for us and our descendants. I think it'll be my gift of choice for people coming up during this year...

And, I'm reading World War Z, by Max Brooks right now (also a gift from Sue!). It's a fictionalized (HA!) account of the War against the Zombies that happened back, oh, back then! Don't you remember it? It's a good read so far, I'm sure I'll continue to enjoy it...

But, let me recap the last week or so. We did Christmas dinner here with Sue's family and my mom. It went quite well, Sue was really the driving force behind the dinner, so full kudos to her for that work. On Christmas Eve, I was over at my Dad and stepmother's place for the traditional gathering there.

We had gotten some bad news, that John Grant, one of our family friends, and an old neighbor of ours, had passed away earlier in the day. He had had MS for at least 24 years or so, so he hadn't been healthy for awhile. John was a good guy, who I always enjoyed talking to. I mowed his lawn when I was in junior high/high school for some money, and looked forward to our chats afterwards. He'll be missed by us, and by many of those who he connected with throughout his life.

Yesterday, I went to the NJ State Archives in Trenton, and got some more info on some of the side branches of my family tree. It's harder now to find information on my direct ancestors, as I've tapped most of the "easy" sources of facts. I'll have to keep digging though, and see what turns up with these side lines, the siblings and descendants of my direct ancestors. It continues to be fun, so that's really what it's all about. I found information on my Coulson, Jameson, Graves, Riepe, and other relatives. I was trying to make a connection with some ancestors on my mom's side, but my guesses on what to follow up on that side have been coming up zeros recently. Gotta keep plugging away.

The day after Christmas (I'm jumping around a lot here, I know), Sue and I went down to see my family who we hadn't seen together on Christmas Eve or Day. It was a good time with everyone, visiting my grandmother, my Dad and stepmother, and my Mom. Then, we met up with my friend Brian for some good Chick-Fil-A eats, and a movie (Night at the Museum, a fun movie for kids).

I even have a photo to prove it!

Don't worry, Sue's not eating chicken, she got a salad!

After the movie, we went back to Brian's house for a bit to hang out with him and his sister In. A good time was had by all.

I should also mention that Sue got me the Clerks II DVD, and we watched it on Wednesday night. Good times.

NP: Magma - Theusz Haamtaak

Cookies!

Today, I made some of the Lord (although it may be Partridge or Nixon, I think Nixon family) traditional Christmas holiday cookies, merengue cookies. Very tasty stuff. And quite easy to make, although everyone thinks they're hard to make. It's just three egg whites, a ton of sugar, a bit of baking powder, some vanilla extract, and stick 'em in the oven. Easy peasy.

Well, there's a bit more to the prep than that, but I can't give all my baking secrets away, can I?

This is also about the 5 year mark of me doing research into my genealogy. Here's a status report, a "now" versus "then" (or actually, "then" vs. "now") list of how I've pushed the generations back in those years:

• Lord: Before, I only knew to John Lord, my G3-GF. Now, I know to Robert Lord, my G4-GF. Not a great push, but oddly enough, the Lord line has been a tough nut to crack. Also, I know more about the Lang family, Jane Lang married John Lord

• Sanecki: I was topping out at my great-grandfather, Josef Sanecki before, now I know to my G3-GF, Marcin Sanecki, from Poland.

• Partridge: I knew to William Partridge, my G2-GF, and now I know to Thomas Partridge, my G5-GF. It's a bit of guesswork when it gets that far back in Ireland, but it's not bad.

• Moskwa: I knew to Wojciech "George" Moskwa, my great-grandfather, and now I know his father's name, Anton Moskwa, and his wife, Annie Furgas. I'm not 100% on that last name spelling of Furgas, but that's what I'm going with for now, until I can get some real info from Poland on the Moskwa's.

• Nixon: No direct relation to the President, thankfully! I knew to my G2-GF, Robert Nixon, and now I know to my G4-GF, Robert Nixon. There's a lot of repeat of names in those old families.

So, you get the picture. I also know of a whole bunch more last names in my direct genealogy that I didn't even know about when I started, including: Fegan, Smith, Zimna, Kawa, Flaga, Maslak, Drozd, Stachura, Dziki, Obuch, Zlotek, Ruszala, Kluska, Blackwood, Houston, Crawford, Lindsay, Dyer, Barr, Kirkwood, Gibb, Laird, Taylor, Fleming, Love, Rodger, Scott, Cunningham, McLeod, Rosebotham, Alderdice, Marcker, Hafner, and Shield.

I also know so much more about the offshoots of the family, I've gotten in touch with some great distant relations who are into genealogy, and have been happy to share info. I'm hoping in the new year to find some more connections, I'd really like to crack open some stuff on the Polish side, and get a bit further with the Lord name itself...

We shall see what the future holds.

NP: Bill Bruford's Earthworks - Forget Me Not

Mail!

Today, I had to go to the Post Office, to send off about 20 packages.

I had a very good e-bay weekend.

However, when about the 16th package was weighed and postage printed, my postal worker's computer crashed.

I've never had this happen at the Post Office before, so I figured the computer would reboot, there might be some inputting of old postage that had been printed already, and we'd continue on our merry way.

Not so.

What happened was this: The computer took at least 5 minutes to reboot. Then, the Postal Worker had to rip off all the old postage that was already done, and reweigh/reprint all the postage that had already been done.

I'm actually amazed that there is no way that the old postage can't be scanned or input back into the system in a case like this.

The Postal Worker was a real trooper through all of this. I would have been drop-kicking the computer out the door, but she just plugged away at it. I made a comment to her about the situation, I can't remember exactly what, that gave her a big smile, and that made me feel better for her about it.

On the second round of scanning, I thought of asking about halfway through if she wanted me to pay for what had been scanned already, in case her computer went south again, but I didn't want to tempt the Postal Computer Gods.

Needless to say, we had no further problems, and the mail was successfully posted. However, that ate up most of my lunch hour, so I had to grab some quick pizza at a local pizza place, and head right back to work. Not the most restful lunch ever, but it was okay.

I sold a bunch of my old Yes Magazines, a fan magazine from the late 80's through the 1990's. I was hoping to get a bit more than I got for them, but that's life. I have a bunch of old Babylon 5 magazines I was looking to sell, but they're big, and there's not a lot of buyers for them, from what I saw on e-bay. So, I was going to chuck them out today, but when push came to shove, I couldn't do it. I'm going to try again later, but they may end up back in a trunk for a period of time. Perhaps they'll go up in value? Maybe?

Sue and I are both going to do some serious weeding of stuff during the winter break from work. It'll be good to do a big purge. I'll continue to weed through CDs I have, I'm getting ruthless at culling stuff now, especially since I can have the music without the actual disc, if you get my drift.

Memories, I'm talking about memories here! I'd *never* illegally copy music.

NP: John Williams - City in the Clouds (Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back)