Haiku
Juggling things above
my head. Some are of my own
making, some are not.
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Frustrated with life
at times. Then I think about
what I have and breathe.
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Season's over now.
Made a really good run. Can't
wait to start in Spring.
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Life in a child's smile.
It could be for you if you
just pay attention.
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Growing up so fast
When did they get so big, so
old? I am lucky.
What do I know?
A little about a lot of things.
Baseball:
- I got to watch a lot more baseball postseason than I was expecting to. With all of the injuries Boston had to deal with, I really thought the Angels would pulverize them. Shows what I know
Some exciting stuff too. Not looking forward to the postseason because I'm afraid of what will happen to Varitek (their catcher, his contract is up, and a lot of people don't think they should bring him back - I am NOT one of them, he's the heart and soul, even if his batting blows chunks) - I'm glad Manny's gone, and I really hope he stays gone. In fact, I hope the Yankees go after him, they'll never know what hit them
- Love the Rookies - Lowrie & Masterson. They're going to be phenom's next year. Hope Elsbury uses the post season to dust off his issues.
- Put the blackberry down, and close the laptop. They go to bed earlier than you do, you can check your multiple email accounts after they're asleep. You're the adult, act like it.
- Read to your kids at bedtime. So what if they're 9 & 11. They love it, and you know you love it too. Especially when you get to read them your favorite fantasy novel by Raymond Feist.
- You will deliver all 300 boxes that your determined little girl busted her ass and sold, and you will do it with a goddamned smile.
- Focus, plan, and execute. See the 40,000 ft picture as well as the 4 inch picture. there is plenty to do at all levels.
- Meditate before you leave, it helps you keep your head straight.
- That loosening in your shoulder and the lack of pain in your elbow? Yeah, that's from working out regularly.
- The lack of backaches is because your gut is slimming down (don't throw a party, it's not that great, but it's some)
- Take time for you, but not at a cost to other things that are important to you. Learn to glean the enjoyment and clearness from the small things.
- Don't blame yourself for everything, but don't shirk responsibility.
- Don't try to make everyone happy.
Still, it's my blog, right?Oh my god, oh my god you guys
Yes, I will be singing that in my head for the next 1000 years, please shoot me.
Gillian's bday is coming up, so to celebrate it, we decided taking her to see a show on Broadway would be a really cool idea. Little did I know how it would turn out. Before I continue, I will fully admit in front of witnesses, that I had a great time.
There was a show on MTV a while back that showed the musical for Legally Blonde and followed the star through from beginning to end. This in turn led to a Reality Show that Gillian started watching (thank you DVR) and totally fell in love with. She was really happy when Bailey won the part, and mentioned multiple times wanting to go see the Broadway show. So Fae and my inlaws got together and got tickets to a show last night.
We went to a pizza place on 23rd that serves Gluten Free food/pizza/pasta. It's called Mozzarellis and it's worth the schlep. Really good regular food, and some of the best that Gillian has had that is Gluten Free. Hung out there for dinner and then headed to Time Square for the show. I forget how awesome Time Square is. The lights, the people, *ugh* the traffic!
So we saw the show and I had a really good time with Fae and the kids and my inlaws. Gillian was dazzled the whole time I laughed my ass off, there's so much in there that flew right over the kids heads. The neat thing is that as we were leaving, we got to talk to Heather Hach, who I believe wrote either the original book or the Musical, I couldn't figure it out. Very sweet.
So we went outside and stood outside the stage door waiting for the actors to come out. We got to talk to some of the cast as well as some of the principle actors and after waiting about an hour, got to talk to and get signatures, and the finally met Bailey, the girl who won the show and played Elle.
A quick stop at the Hershey store in Time Square and we were on our way home after a wonderful family night together.
Happy Birthday BabyGirl.
Never count em out…
So I'm in my office yesterday and a fellow Sox fan tells me 'no way'. He's speaking of course about the streaking Rays and how they're gonna win last night.
"Maybe, but it's never over with them...I'll believe the 3rd out in the 9th inning."
Am I psychic?
Kazmir was the pitcher, so I thought the Sox would have a better chance because he didn't pitch well in game 2(or was it 1?). He shut them down last night, so much for wishful thinking. They didn't hit doodley. By the 5th inning, Dice K was already gone, they were up by 5 already, it was looking really bad.
7th inning they get two more. Oye, well at least Fae will be happy, she won't be a baseball widow. I got a late snack, put on my hat, and watched as they took the Sox down batter by batter.
And then they got a few hits. Pedroia gets up and singles and brings one home. "Good, at least it's not a freakin shutout. Come on guys, don't go out this way."
El Senor 'MyBatIsn'tWorkingInTheOffseason' Ortiz decides he's had enough with the strikeouts - three run homer. Dude, the stadium went crazy. I think I heard them in NJ. Now it's 7-4. Okay, this is better. It's reachable now. Lets see what happens.
8th inning, nothing for the Rays. Okay, lets see what the boys can do. DUDE!!! THREE MORE?!?!? JD Drew hits a two run shot, Kotsay gets a double and Crisp, after a 8 or 9 pitch count, slaps a single to bring Kotsay home and tie it up. Granted, he gets tagged out at 2nd, but all of a sudden, it's a VERY INTERESTING GAME!!
Masterson pitched a beautiful 9th, didn't let anyone score. Youk gets a double on a bad throw to Pena. They intentionally walk Bay to get to Drew. WHy? I know the force out, but he just hit a two run shot! Well, he hit a nice shot to bring Youk home - game over Sox win 8-7.
Sorry Yankee fans, you'll have to wait at least one more game to have your big laugh. Problem is, this is what the Red Sox do. Hope you start praying, because the bats are awake, the boys are psyched, and we're headed for another game.
Josh Beckett, savior of last year, I'm praying for you my friend. You are now the man, don't let me down.
Maddon and the Rays - you have been unbelievable all season. Tho I do hope you're a little nervous now
Papi - you know I love you man. You've been hurt AND you lost the threat behind you so they're pitching you different. Heal up and figure them out again. You're amazing!!!
BFHT – Facebook defense
Facebook as a rape defense? Um, yeah, okay. Here's your Big Fat Hairy Tomato.
http://news.cnet.com/the-disgrace-of-a-facebook-rape-defense/?tag=rtcol;pop
Getting credit
I want to go on notice as saying I brought all my stuff in to work out at the gym today, but we can't start using it till Wednesday. I even tried to corral two of my coworkers into coming with me.
I also started the Hundred Pushups Challenge, and I'm a lot further ahead than I had at first thought. They have you do an initial trial to see how many you can do in a row and I did a solid 30. You have to do them correctly for them to count, so thank you Kendo for having pushups in the warmups 
Got to skip to week three :)
For those of you who have been whining about doing something, this is so easy. I even closed my door at one point to make sure I did them last week.
How far have we come?
I wonder what the founding fathers would think of our decisions, our process, our government and way of life 200+ years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
I just reread parts of it, and I truly wonder how many people in government are patriots. How many of the truly believe in what they are doing, and that they are acting in the best interest of the people.
The constitution starts with "We the People". Do any of you feel particularly listened to? Do you feel part of the WE in "We the People"? I wish I had more time to get into politics, to understand more of our freedoms and rights, because truthfully, I am not sure how many I am slowly losing. Sure, I think I can blame a lot of it on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass, our current VP and President. I think we can blame a lot of the state of our nation, our great image now in the international stage, and the general decline of pride and goodness in saying "I'm American". It feels to me that that notion has gone from something to be in awe of, to something to be sickened by. I'm not embarrassed to be American, far from it. I love this country, but I hate what has been happening slowly over the last 8-10 years.
Maybe it's just that I am a lot more aware of things. Maybe it's because I am a father and responsible for a family and their well being. I'm not ignorant enough to think I would make a good politician. Why is it so necessary to 'be a politician' to be involved in politics? Why does the last 4 weeks of a presidential campaign have to get so nasty and petty? I wish they'd stop spending so much time on telling me why I shouldn't vote for the other guy, and concentrate on their own plans. In fact, wouldn't it be really nice if we could get a test drive?
They win the nomination for their party. Cool. Now you all have projects. Democrats, you have to come up with 5 ways of cutting 20 million dollars from the budget. Republicans, you have to talk to 5 different countries and find ways of improving relations between us and them - and it can't be anyone that the last Republican talked to last election. Independents, Green Party, and Various other peoples - you have to come up with ways of getting rid of lobbyists and changing our country away from a 2 party system.
I don't think that's all that much to ask, or too outlandish, do you?
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
RagingDad did it again, he made me think. YA BASTARD!
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from Seth Brau on Vimeo.
stuff thats happening
What's going on??
Well, yesterday was a rollercoaster emotional ride at work- one of my coworkers got a well deserved promotion. I'm really happy for him, but a part of me wanted to jump up and down and whine:)
Again tho, he's worked his butt off, but rather than be jealous, I'd rather be happy for him and work my butt off to get one of my own:)
Went to gillian's soccer game this morning. It was really tight for a while, very exciting back and forth. They ended up losing at the last minute, but gilli kicked butt.
We ended up going home talking about skateboarding. "I keep falling!" Was the most repeated complaint. So I ducked into the attic and grabbed my old board, pulled off the trucks and put them on his wide board. Lots of sweat, and a few bruises later, I think he's got the hang of it. Nice thing is, I still got it
To give, or not to give
Dooce posted an interesting question that got me to thinking:
"let's say you're given the opportunity to donate some money to a desperate family who would use it to feed their children, but were only able to do so if you donated the same amount of money to someone you knew would use it to buy crack. Would you do it?"
I'm curious to see what y'alls reaction would be to this question before I throw in my .02$