Time For Fun (and sometimes Life)

Wretched Ass Teenager

2010-12-27T22:55:00.003-05:00

I've borrowed that phrase from one of my friends and we use it to lovingly describe my teenage son. The friends who have given me that phrase have raised three children to adulthood and survived the teenage years. There is hope for me as well. And, my daughter who is now 21 - she proves to me every day that there is life after the teen years and that your children do turn back into loving human beings.

I remember when I was a pre-teen and a teenager. Do you remember when the world was so clearly black and white and you mocked the hypocrisy of adults? In our day, for the most part, we didn't openly mock or talk back to our parents or other adults. Today's world, it is more common for the teenagers to tell their parents exactly how they feel without censor.

We squabble most of the time and find it hard to talk to each other. Although the moments when we do connect, we really do connect. The times that we don't connect, I know that he hears me even if he refuses to acknowledge it. He is listening and I find him acting on it later. But, Lord, do I need to pray for patience constantly!

Final Days

2009-12-12T20:16:00.002-05:00

A friend is losing her husband. It really sucks because she was in a very unhappy marriage that took her years and much pain to get out of. She went it alone for a few years with her two boys who are now grown men. She became involved in local politics and met a man who was a long-term bachelor. They became friends and then they became lovers and were married. She was happier than I've ever known her to be. Not very long after their marriage, he was diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal cancer.

Last Sunday, I went over to her house to watch him while she went Christmas shopping. Hospice had provided them with nursing visits, a feeding tube and a hospital bed. At that point, he was sleeping most of the time. About every hour, he woke up and tried to sit up and asked for his wife. Like a child, he was comforted by the news that she would be home in a few hours, each time asking me what time it was now and how long until she was expected home. When she got home, she gently woke him and told him she was home.

That night he was admitted to Hospice. I was not able to go visit her until Friday night. I spent several hours with them Friday night. He was not able to speak anymore; experienced quite a bit of what they call terminal restlessness; and needed to have her in his sight most of the time. It is hard to know what he is thinking as he is not able to talk. He seemed to recognize voices and he certainly tracked his wife with his eyes.

Saturday morning, I went over again. She tried to lay with him in his bed, but because of the way he was laying, it upset him too much. He could hear her voice, but could not see her. So she moved to the chair to hold his hand. Watching her with him these last week has been very moving. She speaks to him in a firm quiet voice, telling him that everything is ok, he shouldn't be upset, he should stop fighting, she has taken care of everything. It is hard to know how much he understands of what is going on around him, but today he smiled at her and lifted his head off the pillow so that she would kiss him. After she kissed him, he smiled again.

Friends come in and out to visit him. Some are not able to visit - it upsets them too much. This morning, his former neighbors came to see him. A young couple with a teenage daughter: The wife was able to visit with him but her husband began crying as soon as he came into the room. He fled quickly for the hallway and did not return. The teenage daughter was awkward and nervous in the face of death. She said hello and then also began to cry.

Hospice here is a wonderful place. The facility is beautiful and the nurses are so kind and helpful. But as my friend said today, no one should have to go thru this process.

Still Around

2009-11-22T21:19:00.002-05:00

Sorry for not blogging much these days. Spend too much time on Facebook or getting other things done.

Will return soon.

Journey in Atlantic City

2009-09-05T16:39:00.003-05:00

I told one of the directors at work that I had won tickets to see Journey in Atlantic City. He said, "What? You're going on a journey?" Every time I go to a concert, he has no idea what or the band is. We went to a conference and the entertainment event was Don Henley. He sent me an email and said who is Don Henley and would I like his music?

Anyway, I won a radio contest and received two tickets to see Journey Friday night. Asked around and one of my friends was able to go with me. We wanted to leave around two, but due to work, we didn't really get going until 3:30.

We got to the Borgata in time to grab a quick bite to eat before the show. If you haven't been there before, it is a small theater, about 1,000 seats. I was happy to win the tickets, but I wasn't overly eager to go see Journey. I honestly didn't know much about them other than hearing their songs over the years. It was funny a few months ago, my now 14-year old son was telling me about his favorite song. He played it for me and it was the Journey song, Don't Stop Believing.

That is what I thought of when I thought of the band Journey - love songs - Faithfully; Don't Stop Believing; Anyway You Want It; Loving, Touching, Squeezing; Open Arms.....

The band came out on stage and my first impression was, they are old which means I am old. Weathered faces, mature bodies, holding their guitars and winking at the people in the front row, putting on their "hot rocker" gestures and expressions. Then their new lead singer came out. (I say new, but he's been with them since 2007.) He was little, Filipino, and leaping all over the stage, playing the air guitar, throwing his cordless microphone from hand to hand or flipping it up and catching it. He looked in his early 30's - a sharp contrast to the other band members. He sounded like Steve Perry. He overly emoted his facial expressions along with the lyrics and my first thought was Karoke! I felt that disconnect for almost the first half of the set. But by the end of the show, I wasn't thinking about the age of the members, their expressions or their gestures - I was immersed into the music. And, the band members seemed to warm up as well. I have to confess at the end of the night, I wasn't thinking that Noel and Jonathan were old and trying to look like younger rockers. I was actually thinking they were pretty hot and they could wink at me anytime.

But at the same time I was experiencing the disconnect with Arnel, I was struck by the expertise of the band members - Noel Schon, Deen Castronovo and Jonathan Cain. The live version of their songs allowed for much more extensive instrumentals than what a radio allows. We couldn't remember who their lead singer used to be - knew it was Steve... but couldn't think of the last name - so I googled Journey from my phone. We were shocked that Arnel, the new lead, was 41 years old. He doesn't look like he is in his 40's! But I also learned that Noel picked up the guitar for the first time when he was 5 and was professionally touring as part of Santana when he was 15. At 55, he is still incredible on the guitar and had many solos last night.

Deen, also sang many of the songs last night. Arnel cannot sing every song, not with the intensity of how he is singing the songs. (I liked it better when he was not trying as hard to sound like Steve Perry, but he is very good. Can you believe they found him on the internet by seeing some YouTube videos of some cover songs?) Deen is an fantastic drummer and it amazes me how someone can be as vigorous a drummer as he, while singing at the same time. Or, likewise, be jumping and running all over the stage, but at the same time singing without sounding like you are out of breath! Deen and Arnel got quite a workout during the set, but at least Arnel got the chance to run backstage every two or three songs. Vocals were alternated by Arnel, Deen and Jonathan. Every band member had the opportunity to perform at least one solo, generally more, to showcase their talents independently.

They played about two hours or so. Their tour schedule doesn't seem to be giving them too many nights off - they play again tonight, and two more times this week.

Commuters and Regular Drivers

2009-08-06T21:02:00.002-05:00

While driving to Philadelphia to see Billy Joel/Elton John last week with two friends, it occurred to me that I am no longer a regular driver. Actually, re-occurred or maybe just verbalized by me, because I have thought about it before.

When I was a child, we would go on family vacations and spent days in the station wagon on the road - to Florida or to Canada. Often we would go with another family and would follow that family in our car. Mr B was a traveling salesman. He flashed his lights at people who didn't drive fast enough or stayed in the left lane too long. He gestured a lot and was impatient. We tried to keep up with him, often times driving too quickly or switching lanes too often for my parents' liking.

Since I have become a long-distance commuter, I have become Mr. B. I don't flash my lights or gesture, but I am increasingly impatient and angry at drivers who drive the speed limit or slightly above the speed limit in the left hand lane. How dare someone go into the EZPass lane and slow down or God forbid, stop in the EZPass lane?!? My carpool members are also the same way. We take an evil pleasure in blocking someone from passing us on the right when we see them weave in and out of the lanes behind us. We mutter under our breaths when someone is driving too slowly in the left hand lane and refuses to move over to let us on our way. We glare at other drivers who cut us off and then later end up beside us.

Some of us react more strongly than others. One man in my carpool is by most appearances, very mild-mannered, and old-fashioned. He doesn't drink, doesn't swear and doesn't like to talk about 'questionable' topics. But behind the wheel of the car, he demonstrates a very strong road rage. Flash your lights at him and he is going to block your way in the left lane and refuse to let you pass. Cut him off by passing on the right and he is going to ride as close to the back of your car as he can.

I'd like to rig up my video camera as a dashboard cam so I could show some of the horrible driving we encounter. And, as we joked yesterday morning, our carpool stories and banter could make for a very successful comedy sitcom. A dashboard cam could pick up those stories as well!

Doesn't Seem Right

2009-06-27T15:29:00.002-05:00

When he was alive, the headlines were about how strange he was, how strange he looked, how strange he acted.... Now he is dead and all the people are being interviewed, saying they knew he was abusing drugs, they knew there were problems and they desperately tried to save him. Did they really do all they could? Now the headlines are all about him, news coverage 24/7, praising him, but at the same time, sensationalizing his finances, his lifestyle, his manner of death....

Millions of people are mourning his death, gathering in large crowds across the globe, buying tributes of flowers and other gifts to mourn his death.

Protestors are dying in Iran. Children are dying in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Darfur. Where are the millions protesting and spending money on tributes or aid? Is it that as individuals, we feel there is nothing we can do?

Political Unrest

2009-06-24T19:36:00.002-05:00

Heard today that North Korea is going to annihilate the US. Why? Because inspecting one of their ships would be considered an act of war.

Heard today an Iranian protestor beg a tv correspondent to help the Iranian protestors. She cried and screamed on the phone, pleading for help, saying that they were being destroyed by the regime, asking why wouldn't anyone help them? He didn't know how to respond to her and there was an awkward silence after her pleas.

Heard today, the Iranian government say that Neda was shot by terrorist conspirators who set it up to look like the government killed her and then I heard them say that the government may have shot her, but it was an accident because they thought she was the sister of a terrorist.

Heard today a governor ask for forgiveness from his wife, his children and his constituents for deceiving them and for cheating on his wife.

Heard today that Cheney is going to get about $2 million at least for his memoirs. Profiting again from his mis-deeds.

Heard some of the Nixon tapes today where he coached Bush Sr. on getting more women (attractive women) involved in the Republican party.

With everything I have going on in my life and all I have to do, I can't stop checking Twitter and other sites to see what is happening with the Iranian protestors. My prayers are with them.

Bad, bad blogger....

2009-06-03T18:27:00.002-05:00

I've been too overwhelmed with work and other stresses to properly blog. I can't write about work on-line and that's been the biggest part of what's been going on. I have done some concerts since Feb (my last post!!) but mostly work with a lot of business travel.

I also have gotten a little too involved in Facebook and that takes up a lot of my online fun time. But I will try and do better in the future. I see I get some regular hits on here so I don't know if anyone is still really checking here or not!

Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer!

Check out this article on the new healthcare proposal. I'm really concerned about the amount of debt the US is taking on. I wouldn't be as concerned if I thought it was worthwhile debt. But, it seems that most of it is wasteful and ill-thought out. For example, the rush to approve the economic stimulus bill - what has that really done for us? And, how much pork was in those bills? We are making some really bad decisions and the fear that was used to get us into an poorly executed war is the same type of fear that is being used for the economy and the healthcare situation....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124398857510379561.html

Basketball Game by Text Messaging

2009-02-18T22:58:00.002-05:00

Jason had a tournament game tonight. The weather was rather iffy today - first it snowed, then it rained, then it hailed and then it got very foggy. The game was over in the next county, about 50 minutes away. My mom and her husband were going to go to the game but decided not to because of the weather. My daughter also didn't go. We were late to the game due to the weather and rush hour traffic. We got there before the game started, but Jason was so upset in the car because he wasn't going to have time to warm up and he didn't want to play anymore anyway, blah, blah, blah...

So I kept my mom and daughter in the loop by texting.

6:22 pm (me) CMS 12-10 /*CMS is his team*/
6:25 pm (Mom) Good is Jason playing
6:26 pm (me) Yes, he just got in, they're only up by 1 pt
6:27 pm (Mom) Good
6:28 pm (me) Jason just scored
6:28 pm (daughter) Cool
6:29 pm (Mom) Yea
6:30 pm (me) They're up by 8
6:30 pm (daughter) Okay I dont need every update :)
6:31 pm (me to daughter) Should've come
6:31 pm (Mom) Great
6:34 pm (me) Scored again, end of first half, up by 7
6:35 pm (Mom) Thank you
6:36 pm (me to Mom) Other team has 2 tall boys; rest are tiny
6:47 pm (daughter) Sry
6:48 pm (me) Almost 3Q, up by 7, he hasn't been back in yet
6:49 pm (daughter) that's why I didnt go. He never plays when I go
6:52 pm (me) Beginning of 4Q, he's going back in
6:55 pm (Mom) Good how is Ty playing
6:55 pm (me to Mom) Ok, he's alternating the two of them it seems
6:56 pm (me) Tie game
6:57 pm (me) Jason just broke the tie with a 3 ptr
6:57 pm (daughter) Nice
6:57 pm (Mom) Wow
7:02 pm (me) Was tied again, Ty broke it and got an add'l foul pt. Ty just got fouled again,
we're up 3
7:03 pm (me to Mom) Ty and J are in together
7:05 pm (me) Jason was fouled; got 1 of 2
7:06 pm (Mom) Score
7:08 pm (me) Tie game, 17 secs to go
7:09 pm (Mom) Wow
7:11 pm (me) 2.7 sec, we're down by 2
7:16 pm (me) Lost by 2
7:17 pm (Mom) Bummer
7:19 pm (daughter) That sucks

Should explain that in the beginning of the season, while his father and I, and several other parents thought Jason played extremely well, the coach didn't put him in for more than 5 minutes a game. As the season went on, he got more playing time and in this game, he played half of the game, the 2 and 4th quarters. The other night I was late in picking him up for practice and it was just him and the coach hanging out for a few minutes. I spoke to the coach and told him how much Jason liked the game and he told me how much he had improved over the season. We talked about possible summer camps for basketball and then I got in the car where Jason was waiting. I said something about what the coach had said and he snorted and said, yeah, he told me I was getting to be almost as good as Ty. Shows how badly he thought of me. I said, well, there must be something that Ty is doing that the coach likes and maybe you can learn from him. (That comment didn't go over well.) In today's game, he alternated Ty and Jason except for the last few minutes where they played together.

It was a nailbiter at the end of the game, but well-played by both teams. We fouled too much and that's why they lost the game.

New Computer

2009-02-13T19:45:00.001-05:00

Got a new computer earlier this week. Now comes the joy of transporting files, photos and music from the old one! I am also finding software incompatibilities and the need to either upgrade or see if I can make the old versions work with the new computer....

New Beginnings

2009-02-07T23:05:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine and her husband have bought a small restaurant. I went there this morning for breakfast taking my son and two of his friends who had slept over the night before. When I walked in the door, a couple, who were my parents' best friends and who are still close to my mother, were sitting at the first table. I hadn't seen them for a while so it was great getting caught up with them. They are regulars at this place and told me that on the first day that my friends took ownership of the restaurant, my friend was so nervous and anxious, her hands were shaking.

I think she is still nervous, but excited over this new endeavor. Her husband has lost his job a number of times in the last few years. He has always loved cooking. It was his idea to buy the restaurant - said that he wouldn't get laid off and it would be up to him to fail or succeed. It's a very small place, almost like a diner, open from 5:30 am to 2:30 pm. I had never been there before, but had driven by it many times on the way to somewhere else. There are always cars parked anywhere possible so I knew it was a busy place. We were able to get a table when we got there but I heard that before we were there, you had to wait to get a table, and shortly after we got there, there was a line of people waiting.

Today was the first day that their son, my son's friend since first grade, was working at the restaurant as a bus boy. He was so proud and happy that his friends came to see him on his first day at work. He took a break and had lunch with us while we ate our breakfast. The boys had been at a middle school dance the night before. They talked about the girls they danced with and the sports they were playing. I watched their faces, noticing the changes that have started to come more quickly now as they move thru puberty. The bus boy who had always been a somewhat heavy boy, has lost weight, is taller than his mom and his face is thinner now taking on more of a man's face than a apple-cheeked boy. My son is almost as tall as me. The four of them have been close friends since first grade. There would have been five of them, but one was sick this weekend and missed the dance and the sleepover.

Time For A Change

2009-01-19T22:46:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow, my countdown to the inauguration goes to zero!! I started it a few years ago, counting down to the time that GW would be out of office. Watched DL Hughley the other night. He said he was trying very hard to say something positive and honest about GW on the final show before his farewell. What did he say? Something, like "George W Bush, you are our 43rd President...."

I am afraid of Obama's election. Not that I think he is a bad man or a bad choice. It's just that so many people are counting on him, depending on him, and worshipping him. It makes me feel uneasy. I am praying that he stays safe and that he can fulfill half of what we are asking him to be and do.

My daughter said to me a few months ago, "Why is everyone talking about this being such a big deal? Why wouldn't a black man be President? I don't understand, why is it such a big deal?"

Yesterday, in a church Sunday school, an adult said "Why are they calling him the first African-American President? He's not black. He's a half-breed."

Both statements make me want to cry. The first, because we are moving toward a world that is racially-mixed and more color-blind. The second, because we still have so far to go. (I could agree with the sentiment that he is not 100% black; he is multi-racial. But how many of us are 100% of one race? even if we think we are...)

But 2009 is a year of change for me. I am determined this year to decide what I want to be when I grow up. I may need my current job until my son graduates high school. But what do I want to be when my children aren't relying on me for support anymore? A better description would be, not when I grow up, what do I want to be when I don't have to be a grown-up anymore?

Why are we so cruel?

2008-12-06T22:05:00.002-05:00

My son told me Wed after school that a boy in his school had died. The boy killed himself because he was being bullied in school. My son told me about two incidents: He said that he was knocked down in the hallway and kicked by other kids in school. A girl told him that he should go away and just kill himself. There was more, I'm sure. My son didn't know him well. He is very upset about what the other kids did. I asked him if the boy told anyone about what was going on. He said no, but that the teachers knew about it and some of them tried to stop it.

A GREAT RECIPE...

2008-11-29T21:17:00.001-05:00

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today. I am thankful for______________'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll be smiling before you know it.

Latest Updates

2008-11-15T23:12:00.003-05:00

Can't believe it has been so long since I've made a new entry! I've been very active on the net - just not on my own blog or even in visiting others.

So will write more later in case anyone still drops by, but the latest updates are:

Puppy is still not housebroken. In fact, she just went in the hallway. I need to figure out how to clean my son's one bed as she pee'd all over it the other day and he didn't tell me about it until about 8 hrs later. She has other bad habits as well and is proving to be challenging.
First dog and puppy get along very well now and enjoy playing tug of war with a knotted rope.
Work is still insanely busy.
My son's football team got into the playoffs and just lost their final game tonight.
My car was broken into and I lost a bunch of electronics that were not fully covered by insurance.
I'm thinking about getting a new car - decision may be accelerated a little more due to the break-in and the fact that I need to replace my GPS, my satellite radio, and my radar detector.
My daughter just celebrated a birthday and is working two jobs and going to college.
Went to the Who concert in Philadelphia at the end of October and had a great time with other Wholigans and a friend from work.
Had many spirited political debates in the last few months. Am hoping that Obama lives up to his promises and that the world will be a much better place in a few years (or at least heading in a better direction!)
My uncle who had a lung transplant is doing so well! Most of the family will be in town for Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. I will have a house full - 2 cousins, another dog, and at least one sister, maybe two - plus I'm sure the five cousins will be in and out for the week. And, he and his family will be here as well (not staying with me, but at my other aunt's.
I redid my family room, but still need to finish up a little more painting. Looks good but the sectional couch I bought is a little big for the room. First quarter next year, I want to re-do my bathroom and replace a broken dishwasher, but I'll have to wait for my bonus to do that.

Foxy - a New Addition

2008-08-08T20:53:00.003-05:00

We have a new puppy, Foxy, a 3-month old mixed Labrador. Foxy is supposed to be housebroken, but she has christened my bedroom twice already. Once, right after she was outside and had already gone outside. She is very attached to my son already and cries when he leaves the room. In fact, because of my fear about her making more messes, I have a baby gate across the steps to the lower levels (have a split-level house) but to get to him, she has jumped over the gate three times down the stairs. She's learned now, I think, that I'm going to yell and bring her back upstairs, so now she's sleeping at my feet while I visit blogs and update my own.

I'm not used to puppies anymore. She jumped up on the kitchen chair and then onto the table. I have to keep an eye on her constantly!

So Far, So Good

2008-08-08T20:44:00.001-05:00

For those of you on Rachel's community site, you know that my Uncle Mike had his transplant last Friday night. Today is a week and he is hoping to be out of the hospital in a few days. He is no longer on oxygen, is walking and doing incredibly well!

God is good!

Not This Time

2008-07-17T22:49:00.002-05:00

They were not able to do the transplant yet. At 3:45 am, they decided that the donor organ wasn't suitable. So, he'll continue to wait for a better chance. Keep him in your prayers that his health maintains until another opportunity arises.

It May Be Time. Say a Prayer.

2008-07-16T22:08:00.002-05:00

Uncle Mike was called in tonight for his lung transplant. Keep him and his wife and daughters in your prayers tonight and in the upcoming days.

I'm praying that they are able to do the operation and that it is successful.

What are you thinking? Do you really know these people?

2008-07-16T21:04:00.002-05:00

Went off to Los Angeles last Wednesday afternoon for the VH1 Rock Honors show. The concert was awesome, far beyond my expectations. I got to meet many of the people I've been talking to on-line, some for over a year. Disappointingly, some were either not able to be at the show or I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I hoped.

My daughter and I stayed with my sister. Thursday, Sam and I spent most of the day at Santa Monica exploring the Third Street Promenade, window shopping, checking out the pier, and then having dinner with a friend of mine who left Johnson & Johnson and is working at Lion's Gate. Had blisters on my feet after that day! I also lost my camera in one of the shops there, so no pictures.

Friday, we spent the day at a state park near Huntingdon Beach. Colleen arrived and she and I went to meet some of the thewho.com bloggers for dinner. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other over dinner. Rob Lee, the webmaster, joined us for a bit, squeezing in a visit with everything else that he had to do. Mike Robbins, who organized our summit meeting, filled us in on the last minute details that needed to be done. Ken and Sara filled us in on their meetings with Dave Grohl and others. Kubacheck was there all the way from the DC area. Steve and his wife, Jen, filled us in on the various festivals in the Chesapeake Bay area, like HarvestFest. Joanne, who had the joy of seeing The Who play in the UK when they were first starting out shared her stories of the Monteray Festival (sp?) and going to see our favorites in bars and clubs, most of us have only heard about, but never experienced. Horace, from the San Francisco Bay area, was a fantastic person who has done a lot for the charity fund that we put together. Anna and her family from Long Island were a loud, crazy bunch - a lot of fun. And Dan and Melissa from Oklahoma were also there.

Rob Lee had to leave our dinner to go to a meeting that had been arranged between a thewho.com board member who was a fan of Roger's. Suffering from MS and basically confined to a wheelchair, other members had arranged to get her a ticket and to get her to the event. Rob and two of the members arranged for her to spend about 30 minutes with Roger. From what I understand, Roger was very tender and the meeting was a dream come true for Alyce.

Saturday was brunch in Huntingdon Beach and then off to the Summit. This was a party that started off in the planning stages as a tail-gating party, then turned into a much more organized event with a room rental, catering and a bar. We said everyone would chip money in and if there was extra monies, we would donate it to the Who charities. We then changed our focus to be a fundraiser for Meg Fox's children. People started donating items to be sold to raise funds. Horace donated quite a bit. It was so much fun getting to know the other bloggers, some from Rachel's site, but most of them from thewho.com. Rob Lee said a few words and Mark Wilkerson presented a letter from Happy Jack. He was going to speak more about his book, a biography of Pete, when we had a surprise guest, Pete Townshend who arrived to say a few words to us and also to sign some of the items that had been donated. These items will be put out on eBay to raise funds for the trust fund. Pete spoke to us about Meg and also the joy of our get-together and our warmth for each other.

From the Summit, we went to the concert. Unbelievably the show was not sold out. Colleen and I moved up quite a bit and if we would have been more daring, we probably could have gotten stage-side. Others did and one or two even talked themselves backstage. Security was so-so. Some of the guards were very vigilent. Others, if you presented yourself as knowing what you were doing, let you go without question. UCLA students waiting outside were basically allowed in free to fill the seats. Some people I know were purposely moved down into better seats to fill the camera sights. Others, I know, were disappointed that people were let in free to have better seats then they had paid good money for, but no one was sorry they had traveled far and spent quite a bit to be there to see the show.

The crowd was on their feet dancing the entire night and all the bands (Incubus, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Tenacious D, Flaming Lips) gave their all to honor The Who. Adam Sandler was very funny in his tribute to the boys. The taped tributes from various musicians and other artists, plus interviews with The Who members, were very touching and heartfelt.

And then The Who came out. The sound system at the Pauley Pavilion is not designed for music shows, but the boys rocked the stadium. I've only seen them in their last tour so can't compare them to their earlier years, but I have never seen them perform before where they were all so energized and playing as a group. Pete and Zak had such a rapport and worked off each other's energy and spirit. Pino and Simon stepped forward from the shadows. Rabbit was there. Roger's voice was strong and Pete's guitar playing has never been so driven and passionate. I understand he ripped off a fingernail early in the show, but he never let it stop him. They were not going to let any younger band outshine them, not on their night!

After the show, we met up with ChrisCapp for some drinks and to get to know him. Another person, I've talked to only on-line. It was so nice to meet him finally. Chris, I hope to meet up with you again sometime.

Sunday, my daughter and I went to Long Beach for a champagne brunch with my sister and her two friends. Well, my daughter became our designated driver since she is underage, but we all had a good time. Then it was an afternoon by the pool and dinner then with Gary and Stephani. My daughter and sister can't believe that I was going to meet people for dinner that I've never met in person and only talked to on the 'net. "What are you thinking? Can you really say you know these people?" They come along for dinner to see just how crazy I am. But we had a great dinner. Stephani has such warm and caring eyes, full of laughter, and tolerance for the blogging world Gary and I sometimes live in. They are such a great couple. I really enjoyed meeting them and spending some time with them, even though I only had less than four hours of sleep and felt barely coherent. Guys, I will definitely give you a call when I am back in LA. Don't think I'll make it to the Nokia shows, but if you want to come to the Philadelphia shows, just let me know!

Monday, it was lunch at the Hotel Bel-Air with a friend. We were hoping to see some celebrities, but if they were there, we didn't recognize them. After lunch, it was off to CBS for the taping of "So You Think You Can Dance." Little bit of confusion with our tickets and for a few moments, I was thinking we would not make it into the studio. But we were finally seated and Sam really enjoyed the taping. Quite a different experience, but not too different from what I had expected.

Tuesday, back home. Totally uneventful flights so all in all, a great time!

Farewell to the Mini-van

2008-05-24T18:22:00.002-05:00

When I divorced my husband in 2000, I had a four-year old son and ten-year old daughter who had four best friends. The girls traveled in a pack and often went to a youth group meeting on Friday nights. My car was not in good shape and after putting several thousand dollars of repair into it, I decided it was time to go car shopping. Somehow, I ended up with this very sad car salesman. This man had a black cloud over his head - felt like crying whenever I left an appointment with him. His wife had died, his furnace stopped working ... one bad thing after another. He called me to tell me that he had a minivan he wanted me to look at - preowned, in good mechanical shape, just came into the lot. It was a good price and I ended up buying it. When I went back for its first service check, he no longer worked there. With his run of bad luck, he had probably been fired.

The minivan hauled lots of kids around. The five best friends managed to stay together until middle school and then gradually the numbers dropped until there was only one best friend who also was lost in high school. But there were church youth group trips to chauffeur and my son's friends.

And, then there is the carpool. We've grown to two cars now, but in my group, there are five of us who share driving to the Philadelphia office. Sometimes, when people are out on business travel, we combine the two cars into one and being able to have seven in the van is a good thing. Although, I have to admit, my van is not built to hold four men over 6'4" as well as three regular-sized people. On those days if I'm the driver, I generally squeeze into the third row and let one of the men drive my van.

I prefer to drive my car instead of the van and on the days in our carpool when there are only four of us, I drive the car instead. It is also a smaller car and squeezing five in it would be uncomfortable.

The van, however, needs repairs to pass inspection. So I am bidding it farewell. Am trying to donate it to charity - filled out the form a few minutes ago - honestly stating what repairs it needs. Hopefully they will accept it. If not, I guess I explore the junkyards.

Question is now, do I buy another car? The carpool and I will talk about it the next time we are all on board. We've been trying to get our work to buy us a van. They could cover it with advertising to promote our company's consumer products - thousands of people would see it every day on the turnpike. So far, the company has been considering it on and off, but has not been very forthcoming about doing it. They question whether they would be setting a precedent. Our argument is that this is the type of precedent you want to set - we say we are a green company who cares about the environment - why wouldn't you encourage car-pooling?

You Must Take Your Seats, We're Landing!!!!

2008-05-09T21:40:00.003-05:00

I was in Orlando, FL, last week for a conference. Taking a flight to and from Orlando is hardly ever a fun trip. Planes to that airport are generally filled with children. Children who are excited about going to see Mickey. Children who have never flown before or babies that cry throughout the flight. Flights coming home are filled with tired children and families who have brought back way too many souviners and parents who are exhausted.

I changed my seat when I printed out my boarding pass for the trip down. I changed to the exit row as it appeared to be an empty row. And, it was until a man came up while we were boarding and decided to sit there until someone else came along. This plane had an extra row of legroom at the exit row so I know why he chose to sit there. I didn't really mind, but I am hoping the flight attendants didn't think I was with him. During the flight, he ate a bag of those individually wrapped miniature candy bars. As he unwrapped each piece, he dropped the wrapper on the floor and eventually the bag followed suit. The flight attendant asked him 2 or 3 times if he had any trash he wanted to throw away, like his newspaper, and he refused. He never read it again but he left it on the seat beside him as well as a trail of candy wrappers when he left the plane.

The center lavatory was near my seat and it saw pretty constant use. I fly at least 5-6 times a year, some years more, and I have never seen the bathroom events I saw on this trip. Apparently very few of the people on this plane knew that when you went into the bathroom and locked the door, the light above the door turned red. Many people tried to push open the locked door and were confused as to why they couldn't get the door open.

And, at least five people didn't know you were supposed to lock the door. One mother took her child to the bathroom and didn't have her lock the door. The mother stood guard outside the door, until I guess, she got bored and she went about four seats up and started looking thru the overhead compartment. When a man brushed past her to go down the aisle, she suddenly realized he might be going to use the bathroom. She goes tearing down the aisle after him trying to reach the door first, reaching over his shoulder to try and keep the door from being opened.

At one point in the flight, there were probably ten people lined up by the bathroom area (in my exit row). One guy, I thought, must have been drunk as he seemed rather unsteady on his feet. We hit turbulence around then and I thought he might land in my lap. As he turned around again, I realized he had a prosthetic leg which may have accounted for his unsteadiness. Although I later learned he was having an active, loud conversation with a woman two rows ahead of him and he was drunk. (I had a friend who was sitting near him on the plane.) At a later point in time, he returned for a second visit to the bathroom and also did not lock the door. A young boy came down the aisle and opened the bathroom door on him, looked inside for a while, and then shut the door. I only hope he had his back to the door.

We then approached Orlando and began our landing descent. While we were coming down, a woman and her child got up and went to the bathroom. Again, the mother did not lock the door and kept it partially open. Her child is in the bathroom. The flight attendent starts yelling over the intercom, "You must take your seats. We are landing!" The mother tells the child to hurry up and go. The flight attendant again, says, "You need to take your seats!" Finally, before we touched down on the runway, the mother and child returned to their seats. We were not that far off the ground - I was wondering if the pilot would abort the landing because they were not in their seats.

While taxing to the gate, again, a child got up and went to the bathroom. Again, the flight attendant told him to return to his seat. Again, he ignored her.

Can't Get No Recognition

2008-05-08T22:45:00.002-05:00

I saw Eric Clapton last Tuesday at a private corporate concert. It was an awesome show that got better as the night went on. He played for two hours without hardly any break between songs - the band transitioned from one song to another seamlessly.

Chris Stainton on the keyboards was exceptional and the band provided him many solo opportunities, as they did Doyle Bramhall II on guitar. He didn't play many of his classics until the end. The crowd was so involved when he played the song "Cocaine" - Clapton actually laughed at the first refrain of Cocaine as the audience just screamed along with him.

I was only disappointed in that they gave no attention to Pino Palladino - I don't think he even introduced him, although he introduced the other band members as they did solos. I had heard Pino was playing with Clapton but I wasn't even sure he was on stage until about 3/4s of the way thru the concert. From where I was sitting I couldn't see him, and they didn't show him on the video screens until a brief shot appeared after the midpoint of the concert. Clapton and Doyle did some acoustic songs about mid-way thru the show sitting down on stage together. They really seemed to enjoy themselves during the show. The entire band did - they seemed to have a great time playing together. Although, they only did a 1-song encore even though the audience was screaming for more.

My only other disappointment with the show was that I had a reserved seat up close to the stage but due to some communication issues, I didn't find out about it until the next day. So a great seat went empty and I didn't like where I ended up sitting. But I could hear just fine, so I guess all was well!

Another Bird's Nest

2008-04-12T16:51:00.004-05:00

Did yard work today and was in the process of cutting down a tree that had fallen over. I have two evergreen trees, one on either side of my deck. One fell over and I arranged for a tree service to put it back up. They did and right after that, the other fell over. The one that had been replaced is not looking so good, so I've decided to cut them both down. As I was cutting branches off the tree, I found a bird's nest with two eggs in it.

On a side note, I notice I've been getting a tremendous number of hits on blog. The majority of them are from google - people from all over the world looking for "bird's nest." Here's another picture for them. The eggs from last year's nest were destroyed, probably by a cat. Hopefully, this year will be a better year.

Upcoming Concerts

2008-04-12T13:35:00.002-05:00

Early May, I'm going to the SAP and ASUG conferences in Orlando - Eric Clapton will be the entertainment at the conference. Am looking forward to that.

In July, I'll be heading (hopefully) to LA to spend some time with my sister, see some west coast bloggers and go to the VH1 Rock Honors concert honoring the Who. Any other bloggers heading west for the concert? Am hoping that Rachel might do something while they are out there.

A Taxing Season

2008-04-12T12:09:00.004-05:00

Hope you all have your taxes done! I did mine late for me, but federal and state for myself and my daughter were sent in last month. Still need to do my local taxes, but they generally get done the day or two before the deadline. So, I'll do them this weekend. I'm one of those who overpays the government each year so I get a refund back. I know I should just bank that money throughout the year rather than "lending" it to the government, but I know if I have it, I'm not that likely to save it anyway, so...

So much uncertainty in the economy these days, and I see it first hand in my work at my church. Not to give you the impression that I spend all my time doing charitable work, I could do far more than I am doing now. But as I've mentioned before, I serve breakfast once a month at a local city church. The number of families with children coming to that breakfast is increasing all the time. Now, it's not mostly men with some occasional women, we are seeing more and more families coming to the breakfast. We ran out of food this month - including cereal which we usually have plenty of leftover. We kept making pancakes until everyone got at least something, but we ran out of eggs, sausage, milk, juice and cereal. Food bank contributions are down and the number of recipients has increased. I notice we get less from the local stores in terms of food donations, like juice, bread and pastries. We used to fill a long table with loaves of bread and rolls that grocery stores gave us - you know, the day old bread they would probably throw away.

As I pay attention to the presidential election, I was shocked to learn that Obama and his wife give very little to charity. Maybe, to give them the benefit of the doubt, they didn't claim their donations, but I find it intriguing that their charitable giving ratio went up around the time he started his presidential bid. Personally, however, I think, he's been planning this bid for years, probably since his college years. The more I learn about his history, the less it matches his public speeches. Some of us are ambitious and I don't necessarily hold it against him, but it does conflict with his public statements. I find it amusing that many of his re-interpretations of his past are not pounced upon with the same glee that Clinton's re-interpretations cause. The Bosnia trip is an example and there is no excuse for her re-interpretation of that event. In some ways, though, I find that more acceptable as I know she is going to do things like that, but I also think she has the knowledge and the attention to details and can make more changes than he can. Maybe it's the fact that she doesn't claim to be as virtuous as he does.

But in general, I find it very intriguing how much people give to charity. It is always surprising to me that the poor give far more in percentage of income to charity than the middle-class or the wealthy. And I was shocked to learn this about a man that I personally find accountable for many of the poor decisions made by the US government in the last 8 years: Dick Cheney and his wife gave 78% of their income to charity in 2005. They made $8.8 million from book royalties and investment income and donated $6.9 million to charity.

I got this information from a tax blog:

This time next week, I'll be sitting on the beach. Can't wait to lay there and listen to the waves come crashing in. Speaking of the wealthy, this is a resort that I wouldn't be able to afford to go to on my own. They rent the cabanas on the beach there for $1000/day. But I'm going with a friend who won a 4-day trip as a sales reward. The ocean always rejuvenates me and after this year, it will be a welcome time away. Am going to be sorry to leave after only 4 days, I know!

Not So Conservative

2008-04-02T21:34:00.003-05:00

Was talking to my new manager today. I was telling him about my Who/Fuller mania and the concerts I've gone to over the past two years. Don't remember how the conversation came up, but he was very surprised. Somehow, he had the idea I was super conservative and all into work. I don't know how he got that idea as my road trips are fairly common knowledge. I have one of my Who backstage passes on my desk next to a Who ticket. But, we're still getting to know each other.

I am hoping to get out to another Who concert in July - the VH1 Rock Honors concert in Los Angeles. A bunch of bloggers are also planning on going so it should be a great time. If any one is planning on going, let me know. I'll spend some time with my sister as well.

I am also going to Florida week after next for a 4-day getaway. A friend of mine won a sales trip at the Breakers in Palm Beach. I think the time away will be way too short, but I'm anxious to see the ocean again. I find it very renewing to sit on the beach, watch the waves and hear the sound of them rolling into shore. I can't wait to go walking in the wet sand, wading in the waves.

March 19 - Fifth Anniversary

2008-03-17T23:00:00.002-05:00

United Church of Christ 100,000 Lights for Peace

IN THE MORNING
Light a candle and begin the day with a Prayer of Lament, based on Psalm 130 and the UCC’s Pastoral Letter on the War in Iraq.

AT NOON
Take action for peace. Be a light for peace, and light up the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to speak to your elected Members of Congress. A Meditation for Mid-Day Action is provided to undergird your spirited witness for:
- an end to the war in Iraq;
- greater responsiveness to the needs of returning soldiers and their families;
- greater U.S. aid for Iraqi refugees and others displaced by the fighting and bloodshed.

AT EVENING TIME
Join others for a candlelight vigil and tolling of church bells. “Open the way to peace in Iraq” will be our shared petition in our Evening Prayer of Hope.

Zero Tolerance

2008-03-17T22:26:00.002-05:00

At a local high school, a teenage boy wore a t-shirt to school that showed a picture of a gun and words to the effect that he was a licensed terrorist hunter. He was suspended and his parents are suing the school for freedom of speech.

One of my son's friends had a pocket knife in his backpack that his cousin had put there. He was caught trying to throw it away and was suspended.

Another boy in a neighboring elementary school threatened to stab his teacher with a pencil. He was suspended.

There is a boy in my son's school. A very troubled boy who alternates between being an average kid and an extreme bully. He scares me at times and I am strongly disappointed in his parents. My son overheard this boy calling some children of color the N-word. He went up to this boy and told him that it was inappropriate to do that and that he shouldn't do it anymore. Some of the teachers found out about it and asked the kids what happened. My son told the truth, as did some others.

Later, the boy ranted at the other kids for telling the teachers what happened. He told my son and the black and Puerto Rican kids to stay 10 feet away from him at all times or he would bring his gun to school and kill them all. And, from talking to a child who has slept over at his house, the boy does have access to a gun at home.

Nothing has happened. I've talked to the principal twice as has another parent. He told that parent that there were no witnesses and it was the boy vs. the two children of color and they were unreliable because they have lied in the past. He has never spoken to my son although he better tomorrow. He said he hadn't talked to my son because the teachers had told him it had been resolved. To me, he said that he was taking action, but needed to maintain privacy out of respect for the boy and his parents. I hope he has taken action, but the parents of the boy refuse to believe anything bad about their child and in many ways, I think the father encourages his son's behavior. I'm also upset that they told the kids not to tell their parents about the incidents because they hadn't been verified yet.

I don't necessarily want this boy suspended. I want him to be given help and counseling. He is a ticking timebomb - the kind of boy that shoots up his high school for past grievances. I'd like to think it is not too late to help him, but I am not sure he will get the help he needs.

I am very proud of my son for sticking up for what is right. He could have looked the other way and done nothing. Others probably did. I've told him how proud I am of him and he's seen all the emails I have sent to the school. He is worried about having to talk to the principal and having the boy find out about it.

I thought with this new principal that things would be different at his school. The last principal did not like children - it was very obvious - and the kids would come home and talk about how racist she was. From the very early grades, my son and his friends, mostly white, would come home and talk about how if a white kid does something, they don't get in trouble, but if a black kid does the same thing, they lose recess or other privileges.

There was some incidents with the old principal where she thought the kids were being too loud at lunchtime, so she would make the kids put their heads down and stop eating as punishment. Some of the kids didn't get to eat depending on when they got to the table. I wrote letters of complaint, called the superintendent of the elementary schools and was told by the superintendent and the principal, that the kids made it all up and were lying. I asked them how all these children, and I talked to many of them at football practice, would independently tell me the same story, consistently the same story, could be liars. They swore they investigated and no adult who was present would collaborate the story. I told my son if he wasn't finished eating his lunch, he had my permission to eat his lunch and not put his head down. After I and others complained, they stopped that practice though so he was luckily never put to that test.

The new principal likes children and I was hoping that he would make positive changes. Until this incident, I thought he had been. And, maybe he is, maybe he is doing something to help this boy, but the different explanations to the other parent and to myself give me reason to doubt.

Happy Birthday, Jon Bon Jovi

2008-03-06T19:59:00.004-05:00

Even though I wasn't feeling all that great, yet, I went to the Bon Jovi concert in Philadelphia last Sunday. It was a great show and Daughtry was the opening act. I hadn't done any research on the concert so was surprised who was opening. Also didn't realize until our drive down there, that it was Jon's birthday that day.

On the way to the concert, I felt really bad and was tempted to say turn around and take me home and then go on by yourself. But, once the music started, I forgot about how I felt and had a great time. I've liked Bon Jovi's music but don't have any of their albums and haven't been a major follower of their music. But I saw them perform at LiveEarth and thought they were great. So, when I saw their tour was going thru Philadelphia, I bought some tickets.

Our seats were actually behind the stage, but both Daughtry and Bon Jovi remembered we were back there and played to us for a great part of the show. I really liked how Jon mingled with his audience members. He constantly reached out to them from the stage and halfway thru the show, he disappeared from the stage during a song that Richie Sambora took the lead. He reappeared in the middle of the audience and sang two songs from the back of the Wachovia center, dancing with one lucky fan he picked from the audience. While surrounded by security, he made his way back to the stage, still shaking hands and hugging audience members.

Chris Daughtry also came up in the middle of the concert and sang a song with Jon. Of course, near the end of the concert, before the encore, the audience sang Happy Birthday to Jon - twice actually. The Philadelphia Soul team and cheerleaders came out on stage for the birthday song complete with a cake.

Afterwards, as I look at the band's website, I'm pleased to see that the set design was created by a company local to my area.

http://www6.islandrecords.com/bonjovi/blog.php?uf_item_id=1-104867&uf_system_id=0

I took some pictures with my binoculars which have a digital camera inside them. Most of them did not turn out as they don't do too well with motion and no one on stage stayed still very long. Reading the comments on the band's website, I picked one of the better nights of the concert tour so far.

Here is a copy of the setlist. Unlike some other bands, they mix it up for different nights. This is what they played last Sunday night.

LOST HIGHWAY

BAD NAME

RAISE YOUR HANDS

RUNAWAY

BOUNCE

SLEEP w/ Dancin' In The Street & Jumpin' Jack Flash

BLOOD ON BLOOD

IN THESE ARMS

BLAZE OF GLORY (w/ Daughtry) w/ Knockin' On Heaven's Door intro

WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'

BORN TO BE MY BABY

WE GOT IT GOIN' ON

IT'S MY LIFE

BAD MEDICINE w/ Shout

I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU - RICHIE VOX

(YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY

BED OF ROSES

WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME

HAVE A NICE DAY

FAITH

PRAYER

ENCORE:

OLDER

WANTED

I LOVE THIS TOWN

Not Tonight, Dear, I Have a Headache

2008-02-18T17:21:00.002-05:00

I've been having severe headaches since mid-December. The doctor thought it was a sinus infection, but after two bouts of antibiotics with no relief, he sent me for a CT scan. No infection, so he sent me to an ENT. The specialist said I have a deviated septum and he thinks the headaches are caused by the sinus membrane touching the septum triggering the headache. The sinus medicine helps only because it shrinks the membrane, not because I really have sinus congestion.

I've always had problems with sinus headaches, but this has really gotten to be a major issue for me. I think it has as much to do with the deviated septum as it does with my thyroid levels. I had my thyroid taken out in high school. Took the same dose of replacement hormone until a few months ago when my doctor lowered my dosage. Now, I am in the low range of normal, but I'm having symptoms like really dry skin. During my research on the deviated septum, I found internet reports that lower levels of thyroid hormone can cause swelling in the sinus tissues. Now, I'm thinking that my past sinus problems were due to the deviated septum, but the recent long-running bout of headaches is really caused by my thryoid level. So far my doctor is resistent to increasing my dosage. Have another appointment with him tomorrow so am planning on pushing the issue further.

Surgery is scheduled for Feb 25 and I plan on going ahead with it. But, unlike all those other celebrities who have a new nose after their surgery for a "deviated septum", my surgeon says the outside of the nose looks unchanged after this type of surgery.

Great news is that my sister and her boyfriend narrowly escaped a tornado in the rash of tornado strikes this weekend. They were shopping at a Walmart and went home when the sirens went off. The tornado hit the Walmart, but her neighborhood and her house were not within its path. She doesn't have power or her phone, but she's safe and her family is safe!

Some Time in New Brunswick

2008-01-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

Had to spend the week in New Brunswick attending a management training course. The class was good even though it was a lot of topics I've had training on before - you know, we all have different personality styles and we need to manage and interact accordingly and not negatively judge someone who has a different style than yourself. But the best part of these classes is that you get to meet other managers from sister companies all over the country and exchange stories and information. This class bonded very well and I hope to stay in touch with many of the people I met this week.

A highlight of the week was that Wednesday night we went out for dinner to Makeda, an Ethiopian restaurant. Colleen and I had planned to get together ourselves Wed, but instead she joined us as a group. We had a great time.

Most of us had never had Ethiopian food. Makeda is supposed to be one of the top ten restaurants in NJ. It was very good. Here is a URL to tell you more about it if you are interested in it. http://www.ardore.com/listing.asp?r=makeda12 I do have to caution you, however, that two people in our party, the same two people who shared a dish, were very sick on Thursday and while we were out drinking that night and didn't get back to the hotel until 1:30 am, we didn't attribute it to a hangover. However, it could have been the alcohol.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very intimate, and while crowded for a Wednesday night, it was not too crowded to interfere with our conversations and enjoyment. After dinner, we went on what was advertised as a pub crawl. Unfortunately, there weren't too many pubs to choose from and we only went to two bars, one of them twice. One bar had a DJ and the other a band. I preferred the one with the band. Although we danced at the bar with the DJ and didn't dance much with the band. Part of that was the style of music as well as having the room to dance.

Interesting to see the South Carolina results come back tonight. Although it can be rather alarming to listen to the press babble about what all this means. They change their stories frequently, it seems, to make the story more dramatic. The other day, their story was that Hilary was going to lose SC and had in fact, basically abandoned that state to focus on the Feb 4 multi-state (20) primary. Today, it is the death of her campaign because she came in second place. And it is fascinating to see how they pick one snippet of a statement and frame the story one way, and then someone else will use the other part of that statement and frame a totally different argument. And, most people who are voting don't seem to pay much attention to their choice in terms of researching their position or candidate. That is, unless, you are in Iowa and had the chance to have coffee with the candidates or even have them in your home campaigning to others. Here in PA, it will be decided already by the time they get here in April. I'm still torn as to who I will vote for in the presidential election, but since I haven't changed my party, I'll have to vote Republican so I'll probably vote for McCain in the primary. My area is predominantly Republican so I stay a registered Republican so when I write to my representatives, I figure they'll pay more attention to my opinion. If I was a Democrat, I think they would just ignore me completely. I'd rather be an Independent since I never vote straight party but Pennsylvania does not allow Independents to vote in primary elections.

Rank the Candidates

2008-01-13T22:21:00.000-05:00

I was very surprised by the candidates that came up on the top of my list.....

This is a short 11 question quiz that ranks the candidates by how much you agree with their stances.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

Homeless Breakfast

2008-01-13T22:07:00.000-05:00

I think I've mentioned before that I help serve a breakfast ministry the first Saturday of every month. This month, the person who does the eggs wasn't there so I scrambled and cooked 36 dozen eggs. We had a full crowd this time, serving over 236 people before our counter lost count of the people there. We serve eggs, pancakes, sausages, donuts, cereal, coffee and orange juice. And, we try and gather the baked goods from local grocery stores that would otherwise be thrown away and put that out for them with them.

Not everyone is homeless. I think many of the people there are stretching their food stamps or their budgets. You can tell the ones that seem to be really homeless by the number of clothes they are wearing and if they are carrying stuff with them. You get to know some of them, the ones who are there every month. There is a man in his 40s who tells me every month, how many months he's been clean, and how he won't use anymore because he's been clean now for 13 months and he would have to start counting all over again. This month, he told me he really wanted to go to an NA meeting that day, but the location is in a bad neighborhood for him - one he used to go to to score drugs and he would run into too many former acquaintances who would try and lure him back into drugs. He was going to try and find someone to go with him who could help keep him strong.

There is a woman who is usually there every month. She wasn't there this time. It made me wonder where she was - was she ok? Did she just skip that day? Did she move or find another job? She had been employed by the city school district, but was let go because they didn't think she was efficient enough.

It was sad to see how many children that were there this month. Usually there are a couple, but this month, there were probably over 20 kids there, ranging in age from infants to pre-teenagers. I was wondering if maybe the parents spent money on Christmas presents that left them short in January for their grocery budgets. Or is this the start of a worsening trend in the local economy.

Five Balls

2008-01-08T21:47:00.000-05:00

Work is changing from one day to another and it is stressful. Tonight, around 8 pm, I got a phone call that things have changed again. This time the pendulum has swung to the positive side. But I've decided it's probably not a good idea to blog about work and the transitions. Nothing on the internet is private and could be dangerous career-wise.

But someone sent me this today - someone who didn't know about what was going on. Things happen like that if you pay attention; when you need a message, it comes to you.

From the book "Suzanne's Diary to Nicholas" by James Patterson

Five Balls
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - Work - Family - Health - Friends - Spirit, and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls -- family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How?

1. Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

2. Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

3. Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

4. Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

5. Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

6. Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us together.

7. Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

8. Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

9. Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.

10. Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

11. Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

12. Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

Crazed Cleaning Woman

2007-12-29T16:13:00.000-05:00

Christmas was very nice this year. Both kids were thrilled with their gifts. Jason's were mostly Playstation 3 related. He also liked his skateboard - a pretty cool one that I picked out for him - had to pick the board, the trucks, the bearings, the wheels and a bunch of other parts I can't describe to you. A 20-year old skater dude told me what size board to get, but the rest I did myself (although he did put it all together for me!) Jason is a little upset that I won't let him use it unless he has his helmet on, but that's life. ;-)

Sam, being in college, got a laptop as her big gift. I am so proud of her - she barely made it through high school, but earned a 3.75 in her first semester of college. Don't see her much these days as her other friends are home for semester break and she is hanging out with them as well as working.

My job is really stressing me out. I'm probably worrying more than I should about, but I even dream about it at night. Need to take a yoga class or something. Was talking to one of the guys in NJ who is working on a project with me. He was taken out of the office the other day on a stretcher because he had chest pains - turned out not to be cardiac-related, but probably just stress the doctor said. We talked about how we should just try and relax and go with the flow because there is nothing we can really do about it anyway.

So, what can I control? My surroundings - so I am cleaning out everything this week. I'm going to start the New Year with a clean and organized house. So far, today, I've done the computer desk, kitchen junk cabinet, the oven, one bathroom, two closets and a general clean-up of the kitchen. I think I've mentioned before I can be a bit of a packrat. People say my house is clean, but I'm finding things that should have been thrown away a long time ago - medication that is outdated, toddler aged computer games, even set-up CDs for the computer I had years ago.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Christmas Traditions

2007-12-24T14:43:00.001-05:00

When my ex-husband and I were together, we at first tried to keep both sides of the family happy for holidays. That meant we would drive 3 hours to his mom's house and have Thanksgiving and/or Christmas there and then drive back home to my mom's house and do it again. Of course, that meant that Santa also made the dual visits which got trickier as the kids got older.

We eventually stopped the dual Christmas visits, but kept up the dual Thanksgivings until we divorced. When we separated and during the first few Christmas' after our divorce, I offered to let my ex sleep on the couch so he would be there Christmas morning. I have full custody so don't have to worry about splitting or alternating holidays if I don't want to. As I look at other people's custody arrangements, I am glad that one, I have full custody, and two, that my ex and I have kept things very positive for the kids. I see so many parents fighting over their kids and making everyone's life miserable.

My ex never did take me up on that offer, but he would generally come over around 6 am and make coffee and anxiously wait for the kids to wake up. Most years, we had to wake the kids up although there was the one year, they woke up at 2 am and refused to go back to sleep until I let them open presents at 4:30 am. When the kids woke up, they opened their stockings and waited for their grandmother to drive over to watch them open their presents.

The year before last, my ex asked for the children on Christmas. He had asked for them the year before, but the kids didn't want to go with him. This year, he asked for them again and they decided to sleep over there and then come to my house in the morning. I was instructed to stay in bed until they got there and woke me up.

Last year, we went to the Pittsburgh Steelers game on Christmas Eve. We went out the day before the game and spent the night in Pittsburgh. We watched the game, had a great time, and then drove home Christmas Eve. That year didn't quite feel like Christmas as we changed our traditions that year.

This year, my ex and I have bought some shared presents and also built on each other's presents. So my son can't open my gifts until he opens his father's. My daughter can't open her gifts from her dad and some of my gifts until she opens the shared gift we bought her. So, this afternoon, I took all the presents and stockings over to my ex's house. After church tonight, I will drop the kids off at my ex's house where they will spend the night. In the morning, they will call me when they wake up and I will drive over there to watch them open their presents. My mom will not be with us this year as she has gone to California to visit my sister and niece for Christmas. Again, Christmas won't feel quite the same. But we are all well and happy so we will have a great time regardless.

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year!

Forecasting

2007-12-15T20:20:00.000-05:00

Predicting the future doesn't seem very easy these days. Week before last, the weather forecaster predicted a dusting of snow for our area - we got 3". I was the carpool driver that day. The turnpike was ok, but the main highway I take to get to the turnpike was miserable. Lots of cars were sitting in the grassy median, rather topsy turvy as they slid off the road.

This week, I was also the carpool driver, on a day when they were predicting freezing rain and terrible conditions. I had chosen that day as I had a farewell luncheon to go to. Turns out the woman of honor didn't come in that day as her child was sick. Also turns out that the weather forecaster got it wrong again - just rain, not cold enough to freeze the road, although there was ice on the trees.

Took a vacation day Monday to finish (start) my Christmas shopping. Didn't pick a good day as I see meetings are being scheduled throughout the day to share the results of the latest reorg at work.

Also didn't predict the re-org end results very well. Was surprised to find that my boss, his boss, and the boss above him are all "impacted" by the re-org. By "impacted", I mean they no longer have jobs. The impact to me has also been surprising and perhaps, alarming. I have three new direct reports who I don't know and they are located over an hour from my home office. I lost a direct report and responsibility for that particular area. While I don't mourn that loss, it may impact the global project I was doing that I've become rather attached to - put a lot of time and effort into it, thought I was finally making some headway after some major setbacks and am reluctant to see it turned over to someone who is having difficulty completing two other global projects he is responsible for right now. I really wanted that project to succeed and will be sorry to lose control of it if that means it will not be implemented. Of course, that may just be my personal feelings of not wanting to let go of it.

My new boss is someone I already know and have worked with in the past. That is not the alarming part. The part that really concerns me is that they are breaking things into Demand and Supply. What that means for me is that Demand builds the IT applications or new functionality and hands it over to Supply to support. That may work well if Demand and Supply are tightly integrated, but the way it has been executed in the past is that Demand builds it and then throws it over the wall to Supply to fix it and keep it running. I don't want to be responsible for fixing someone else's issues or for maintaining a system to certain standards if the Build team is not also invested in those standards and levels of quality. As an FDA-regulated environment, they won't be the ones standing in front of the auditor answering the questions about how something was developed and implemented. I'll be the lucky one.

The environment I am inheriting is currently going through four main project releases. The project release was a relatively minor implementation - the Supply side had over 200 change controls submitted to fix the Demand team's incomplete or incorrect implementation in the first 8 weeks of the go-live period. Release 2 also had issues. Release 3 has been pushed back in timeline several months, but Release 4 is still "on schedule." But Release 3 and 4 will be extremely large implementations, definitely prone to difficulty in supporting them. Release 4 is officially designated as being out of design mode and already into build mode. But at the meeting I went to last week, the build team couldn't tell me how they were going to pass my company the data we get today nor could they tell me how they were going to build a data warehouse repository for the data we access today or even if they were going to do so. Yesterday, that build team insisted to our management that we had all the answers we needed to develop our own concurrent implementation team. I had to be the one raising my hand saying we didn't. The high-level PR spin for this Build project is that they are on-time, on-schedule and doing extremely well. The word on the ground is that they are struggling, throwing planned deliverables out of scope, pulling all the Release 4 resources back into Release 3, and that things are not being done correctly.

Before the re-org, in my company, I had both Demand and Supply responsibilities. In the future, I'll only have Supply and I'll have several companies to support in that area. If they execute well and we have a tightly integrated Demand/Supply, it could work. But for the five years that I have been here, we have proven execution is not necessarily where we exceed. We are known for our ability to succeed in a crisis. But crises have a way of burning you out when they become a way of life. I also want to be in a position where success is possible based on your own results and your own hard work.

Guess we'll see how it all shakes out. More news is coming out every day.

Bad Blogger

2007-12-11T23:02:00.001-05:00

I have been too busy lately to do much fun things on the computer. To add to my overload, I just realized how close Christmas is!

The other hindrance to my blogging more regularly is that my son has found MySpace and he wants to spend all his time checking his MySpace to see what mail he's gotten and who is online. It is all the rage now with his friends. Had to kick him off the computer this evening so I could work on my church website and since I finished that up, I figured I would check out my site and some others.

We did some more downsizing at work today. I think everyone in my group was spared, except for one. I have referenced someone in the past who wasn't doing his job very well causing more work for me. I believe he was downsized today, but I am not 100% sure. One of my good friends had been hoping to get downsized and she got her wish today. She hadn't been happy with how things were going at work, particularly in her area, and she was thinking it might be better to get back into consulting and teaching. Another woman I work closely with has submitted her resignation and will be leaving at the end of the year. I will miss her, but she is going off to better things - moving to Texas and spending time with her family and maybe changing fields, from IT to perhaps Marketing. There is a mandatory meeting for us tomorrow to learn about the latest re-org in our area. They did a re-org last year but didn't get the efficiencies and synergies they thought they would, so they are re-orging their re-org. I told my VP the other day that I knew the people at the top were smart people, but I was having trouble understanding what they were trying to do and it was rather difficult at the tactical level to try and execute upon their decisions. He just laughed and said you hope they are smart people and know what they are doing.

I'm starting my New Year's resolutions early this year. I'm starting to do more for me and acting on what I say is important to me. I say I want to get in better shape. And, I say I want to play the piano better and perhaps pick up the guitar next. But I don't always make the time to exercise and practice. Now, I'm forcing myself to do both every day. I'm organizing my house better and getting rid of things that I don't use. Simplify! I'm doing more volunteer work. Next week, I'm spending the night at a overflow homeless shelter. It's at the same church where I help with the breakfast once a month. I'm starting a new worship service at my church - a praise and worship service. That will take 6-9 months to get off the ground.

Hope everyone is well. Haven't been visiting people's blogs lately. Need to do that, maybe tomorrow. And,maybe I'll start doing my Christmas cards tomorrow.....

Home For the Holidays

2007-11-25T22:27:00.001-05:00

My family generally gets together for Thankgiving. This year, though, my brother and his family won't be coming until March. My sister from California did not come in for the holidays. My mom is going there for Christmas. So, only my sister from Alabama came up for the week with her kids. But surprising news, was that my Uncle Mike came down from Long Island for the holiday. My aunts and cousins were also there. It was a great time full of fun and laughter, and of course, football!

My Uncle Mike did well, but there was a moment at the dinner table, when it was obviously very difficult for him to breathe. My niece had accidently set the level on his oxygen bottle to the lowest setting. It is sad to see how sick he has become and I hope that he is able to get a lung transplant in time.

Went to see the movie "Dan in Real Life" on Saturday. I heard so many good things about it on Rachel's blog from some bloggers and had to see it. It was a great movie. Think it has been overlooked. Anytime I told someone I was going to see it, they said they had never heard of it. The theater was pretty empty although the rest of the theaters at the complex seemed busy.

Where Does the Time Go?

2007-11-19T21:01:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy - some fun stuff and too much work stuff! Work is driving me absolutely insane! Too many projects, not enough resources or money or more importantly, TIME -- worse of all is the fact that we have undergone so many re-organizations in the last year, that no one knows who is doing what, who should be doing what and who now has the power. So, I spend all my time re-doing things and re-justifying my numbers and project estimates. One of my peers is not doing his job so my boss has re-allocated his work to me. I'm not sure what they are going to do to him, but I am supposed to make him feel involved while overseeing his work (ie. doing it for him) and giving final approval of his work. I told my boss I don't have time to do that, but here I am forced to do it so that the work gets done. We're going to save $15 million a year so it's not something I can let slide.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this post for a long time but haven't had time to put it in words. A few weeks ago, my daughter turned 18. I remember when I found out I was pregnant. I wasn't married and had no plans to get married, was going to school for my second degree, had my own house, a dog I had rescued who was overly aggressive to everyone but me, and I had never wanted to have children. In fact, I had been told I would find it difficult to get pregnant and that was fine with me. As the oldest of four, who babysat her sisters and brother and then babysat most of the neighborhood for pocket money, I had no desire to have children. I worked different shifts and liked to go out too much. Having a child was not in my plans.

But, when I looked at the results of the pregnancy test and I realized I was pregnant, I was so happy. I was very surprised at how happy I was. Even telling my mother, who was not happy with the news, was not difficult. And, she got over it by the time the baby was born. Naturally, she loved being a grandmother.

I had a supportive family and my mom helped me out a lot when my children were younger. Before Sam went to first grade, I lived not too far from where my mom worked so if I had to work late, she could pick her up from day care for me. I did end up marrying Sam's father when she was two, but family responsibilities were not high on his priority list. Part of the reason we didn't stay together. And, when she went to first grade, we moved to about a mile away from my mom's house. In fact, her brother was born a few weeks before Sam went into first grade. We bought a house a block from the elementary school. Sam did not like change as a child, even good changes bothered her. Right before school was to start, they found mold in the school so the kids had to be bussed to different schools. Sam was not happy about that. The first day of school, I walked her to school and while holding her brother, stood by the bus, while she cried in the window of the school bus looking like a refugee child being shipped away from her family and her village. The bus, for some reason, took over a half hour to pull away from the school. I had to stand there and wave and smile for what seemed like an eternity. Every morning, it was the same tragic scene although her teachers told me she was fine in school. Of course, when the school was cleaned up and she came back to the original school in January, she cried because she no longer took the bus to school.

I think I've done ok by Sam. She is not as independent as I would prefer, but she knows her own mind and does not bow into peer pressure. She has always gone her own way regardless of what her friends do and never participated in what she called the "drama" of high school. She knows who she is and doesn't change for anyone else. When I say she is dependent, I mean, more on me than I would prefer. But we have a very close relationship and she tells me pretty much everything, even things she thinks I will be angry about. She is still finding her own way. The girl who hated high school and barely scraped by grade-wise is getting A's in college. Yes, it is a community college and she is still living at home, but she is studying and working hard at her classes. She is also working two jobs -not saving as much as I would like - the girl likes to shop! She doesn't get that from me although I can spend money as well, but I hate going to the mall.

I look at her and I can't believe she is 18. She tells me she is not sure she is ready for the adult thing. I know she is, but I can't believe 18 years have gone past. But I would not want to relive any of those years. People tell me they wish their children were little again. I've never felt that way. I'll be 45 next month. I also don't feel like I'm that old either. Where has the time gone?

Concert Tonight

2007-10-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

It rained this weekend. Good news as we needed the rain. Better news, because now I am free to go listen to one of my favorite local groups, Grey Eye Glances. They are playing in Delaware for the first time. It's about an hour from here so definitely commutable.

I thought I was going to be spending my Saturday watching football games. But the rains made them postpone the high school football games which in turn postponed my son's football games. So instead of watching football in the rain, I'll be off to a club listening to a great band. Sunday, instead, I'll be doing the football scene.

Sunday night, I head off to a global meeting I am leading Monday and Tuesday. It is going to be a busy weekend getting ready for that plus some work assignments my boss requested to be completed by Monday. Better get to work!

Prayers for my Uncle Mike

2007-10-23T20:02:00.000-05:00

My Uncle Mike talks tough and is a typical New Yorker. But he hides a big heart and would do anything for his family and friends. He has worked hard his entire life and retired a year or two ago. He worked for Pan Am in various jobs until they went out of business and has had a variety of jobs since then. He loves his two daughters and his wife and feels he has had a good life. Last Spring, while enjoying his retired life, he began going to the gym twice a day in an effort to get healthier and lose some weight. Suddenly, he began having trouble breathing and underwent a series of tests. Turns out all the chemicals he was exposed to during his years at the airline have irreversibly damaged his lungs. He needs a lung transplant or he will probably die in the near future.

Things were looking good for Mike. He's undergoing tests for his transplant; the tests were started in time for him to make the age cutoff for the transplant list. The doctors were optimistic about his chances. I found out tonight that he is in the hospital with a lung infection. Any illness is obviously dangerous for him.

Mike loves children and he likes to "torment" them. When my children were younger, my daughter was afraid of him and didn't want to go to Gram's or Aunt Julie's if Uncle Mike was going to be there. He used to pretend to chew her hair. After a few years, she realized he was not anyone to be afraid of. Above you can see my niece getting the best of Mike.

Mike is a very open and honest man who sees things clearly in black and white. That doesn't mean he doesn't have compassion. He believes that family and commitment are the most important things in life and he lives life that way. If a man gives his word, he needs to honor that pledge. Being ill is hard for him in that he is used to working hard and doing for himself. Not being able to do things like work on his cars or paint the fence is very hard for him. He is accepting of his fate saying he's had a good life, a happy family, beautiful daughters, a good wife and a year of retirement. He's made amends with who he needs to and is at peace no matter what happens to him.

I pray that we keep him around a little longer. We can use more people like him.

Another Monday, Another Ambulance

2007-10-15T21:28:00.001-05:00

Every Monday night football game, it seems, we have to call an ambulance to the game. Usually it is for one of the opposing team players - we've had several possible spinal injuries - and it is scary to watch them get strapped into the boards and carted off in the ambulance. Once it was for a spectator who somehow tripped and fell into a street sign, smashing up their nose very badly and also possibly injuring his neck.

Tonight it was for one of our players and the initial thought is that he messed up his ACL. He was having a great game up to that point and had scored a touchdown. We won 33-6 and there were a lot of great plays by our team. My son scored a touchdown and had some other great runs. One of his friends was the boy who got hurt. His parents took it very well, but I thought his grandmother was going to have a heart attack. She was shaking uncontrollably and had an anxiety attack.

Two more weeks of football and then we go into the play-offs. After football, basketball starts fairly quickly. Last year, Jason broke his collarbone about this same time and missed the end of the season and the beginning of basketball. Last weekend, my nephew broke his arm badly playing football down in Alabama. Dangerous game, but they love playing so much and enjoy the physical contact. My son is not a very big kid but he is very tough and can lay out the biggest opponents. I wonder at myself sometimes when I am proud that he's "flattened" another player and the other player has a hard time getting up. And, I wonder how they can tell the other player, after they've been flattened, that it was a good hit and he did a good job.

The Great Decider

2007-10-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, President Bush was in my hometown the other day. Luckily I was at work 80 miles away and didn't have to deal with him and his entourage. He came here to announce why he was vetoing the Children's Healthcare bill.

From the newspaper, I got a list of Bushisms that he managed to say while here. It's enough to make you cry that this man is the President of the United States.

My job is a decision-making job. And as a result, I make a lot of decisions.

I always tell Condi Rice, "I want to remind you, Madam Secretary, who has the Ph.D. and who was the C student. And I want to remind you who the advisor is and who the president is.

I got a lot of Ph.D. types and smart people around me who come into the Oval Office and say, "Mr President, here's what's on my mind." And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered the device (sic), I decide, you know, I say, "This is what we're going to do." And it's "Yes, sir, Mr President." And then we get after it, implement policy.

When talking about cutting taxes, he said

You know, when you give a man more money in his pocket -- in this case a woman more money in her pocket -- to expand a business, it -- they build buildings. And when somebody builds a new building, somebody has got to come and build the building. And when the building expanded, it prevented (sic) additional opportunities for people to work.

Foy Vance and his new album, Hope

2007-10-06T23:07:00.000-05:00

Don't think it has been released in the States yet, but I got a copy that Foy sent to my cousin. Great album! I really like the quote that Foy put in his cover notes. It came from a book called "Music Lovers Quotations" that he found in a thrift store. I understand why Foy said it took his breath away.

I tell the story of love, the story of sorrow, the story that saves and the story that destroys...I am the smoke which palls over the field of battle where men die with me on their lips.

I am close to the marriage altar, and when the grave opens I stand nearby. I call the wanderer home, I rescue the soul from the depths; I open the lips of lovers and through me the dead whisper to the living.

One I serve as I serve all, and the leaders I make my slaves as easily as I subject their slaves. I speak through the birds of the air, the insects of the field, the crash of waters on rock ribbed shores, the sighing of the winds in the trees and I am even heard by the soul that knows me in the clatter of wheels on the city streets" -- Anonymous

The Looming Tower

2007-09-27T20:48:00.000-05:00

Where did September go?

I went to San Francisco for a business conference. While on the plane, I read Lawrence Wright's book "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11." It was a fascinating story about how Al-Qaeda evolved and the personal histories of Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"Not content to cleanse its own country of the least degree of religious freedom, the Saudi government set out to evangelize the Islamic world, using the billions of riyals at its disposal through the religious tax -- zakat -- to construct hundreds of mosques and colleges and thousands of religious schools around the globe, staffed with Wahhabi imams and teachers. Eventually, Saudi Arabia, which constitutes only 1 percent of the world Muslim population, would support 90 percent of the expenses of the entire faith, overriding other traditions of Islam.

Music disappeared in the Kingdom. Shortly after the 1979 attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Umm Kalthoum and Fayrouz, the songbirds of the Arab world, were banished from the Kingdom's television stations, which were already dominated by bearded men debating fine points of religious law. There had been a few movie theaters in Saudi Arabia before the mosque attack, but they were quickly shut down. A magnificent concert hall was completed by Riyadh in 1989, but it never hosted a single performance. Censorship smothered art and literature, and intellectual life, which had scarcely had the chance to blossom in the young country, withered. Paranoia and fanaticism naturally occupy minds that are closed and fearful.

For the young, the future in this already joyless environment promised even less than the present. ... Despair and idleness are dangerous companions in any culture, and it was inevitable that the young would search for a hero who could voice their longing for a change and provide a focus for their rage."

Injury TimeOut

2007-09-15T12:21:00.000-05:00

Went to pick my son up from football practice Thursday night. As I got there, I saw a group of people huddled around someone laying on the ground at the far end of the field. One of my friends was running across the field with a colored afghan she must have grabbed from her car.

My son and other boys were running around the near part of the field so I was instantly relieved to see it wasn't him. Another father came up from the concession stand area calling for his son. I asked him who had been injured and he said I think it is Zach. Zach is the son of my friend who had been running across the field.

I walked across the field to find Zach lying on the ground with a coach (who is also a paramedic) also lying on the ground holding his helmet to keep his head and neck still. Zach's mother was sitting on the ground talking to her son. The ambulance soon arrived and drove across the field. Zach was moving his feet and hands so I felt sure he was going to be ok, but it was still very emotional to see him strapped onto a backboard with his head immoblized and then strapped onto the stretcher. Zach's mom drove in the ambulance to the hospital with her son and I arranged with her that she should call me when they were ready to be picked up. My ex-husband and another friend took her car home for her. She called me around 11 that night to say that they were done at the hospital and he only had a cervical strain.

This weekend, Zach is trying to take it easy. Not so easy for him considering Friday night, one of his friends had a sleepover party with 20 boys. He was there with my son for a few hours and then Zach went home rather than sleeping over. Today, Zach is here with my son and four other boys and they are trying to find things to do that Zach can also do.

My son asked me why Zach's mom was crying at the football field, even though she did her best to hide the tears from her son and the other people. She didn't cry in front of Zach but as she came back down the field to get in the ambulance, she was wiping her eyes. My son noticed that. Jason wanted to know why she was crying and when he hurt his knee, I was making jokes and I didn't cry. I said I didn't want to upset him and wanted him to feel ok - that if I cried in front of him or acted like it was serious, he would be more scared and anxious and it would hurt worse for him. May not have been the best explanation because he said he would know in the future and not believe me when I say that it is fine and not a big deal.

Eight Things About Me

2007-09-09T20:38:00.000-05:00

Sully tagged me so here it goes:

1) I have a crooked face. The one side of my face is slightly smaller than the other. Most people don't notice it at all and even if I say something about it, they don't see it. Others notice it right away. At one of my jobs, I had to take a physical exam by the company doctor. As soon as I got into the exam room, the company doctor asked me what happened to my face and suggested that I have surgery to correct it. He was very rude and it didn't seem strange to him that he would suggest I have all the bones in my face broken so they would align up a little better.

I also can raise my one eyebrow (like Spock on Star Trek) which can really bug some people. I could never do Botox because I wouldn't want to lose that ability!

2) I am always surprised by my outward appearance and presence as compared to how I feel in the inside. When I see myself on video, it never seems to sync up to the inner person. Today, I was also thinking to myself that while I turn 45 in December, I don't feel 45 at all. At times, I feel more like a gawky teenager trying to figure things out.

3) When I was about 2, my family moved to Japan and lived on a naval base while my father served in Vietnam. When we left Japan two years later, I was speaking half-Japanese, half-English. Of course, now, I can't speak any Japanese. Always wondered if I would be able to pick it up easily or not. I spoke German fairly fluently in high school and college. When I was in Germany a few years ago, I could understand those around me, but could not speak as much as I used to be able to.

4) I learned how to drink Guinness beer in Germany at an Irish bar from a Scottish salesman who was dating the Croatian barmaid. They took us to another club where friends of their's were playing in the band. The lead singer of that band was a brain surgeon who had operated on the Croatian woman's son after a bombing.

5) When I was in elementary school, I was placed in a gifted program, an advanced studies program that took me out of class one day a week to go to a different school. I didn't like the program because it made me feel too different than the other kids. One week, I didn't want to go to the program because my class was doing something else I considered to be more fun. Since my parents wouldn't let me skip the advanced program, I decided I would miss the bus so I couldn't go. I walked the mile to school taking baby steps the whole way. It didn't work however. The school held the bus for me. When I got home, my mother wanted to know where I had been all day. Apparently the school called her and said I wasn't there. But they never called her back to say I was there.

6) My father was in the Navy so we moved around quite a bit. After Japan, we went to Rhode Island where I learned to read in nursery school. We then moved to Pennsylvania and I was asked to leave kindergarten because I was disruptive. They were learning the alphabet and I already knew how to read. We lived with my grandmother for a while in PA in a small coal mining town, Nesquehoning. I used to roam the streets and talk to the neighbors. There was one man, I called him the Onion Man, because I would talk to him while he was working in his vegetable garden. I told him that my grandmother could take her teeth out and kept them in a glass. He said, like this? and pushed his false teeth out of his mouth. I ran home and I'm not sure I ever talked to him again.

7) I graduated from college with a degree in business and a concentration in personnel management. I changed my major several times in college, starting out as a journalism major, then to social work and then to business. Before I graduated, I did my internship at Three Mile Island working in their personnel department for a summer in college. I remembered back when the accident happened at TMI. I lived nearby and my father was the town manager. As town manager, he was in charge of evacuating the town if it came to that. A 16-year old at the time, I decided I was not leaving. We argued about it but we were never evacuated.

After college, I took a temporary job at a trucking company that turned into five years. While there, I went back to college and started earning another degree in computer science. My daughter was born and I quit the trucking company to focus on school. My first computer science job was for a company who hired most if not all their employees in mid-June. They would have 200-300 people start every year at the same time. My IT team (10 of us) spent that summer in orientation together. They were all very early 20s and I was almost 30, married, and with a two-year old child.

8) I have always loved music even though I can't sing and my kids laugh at my dancing attempts. I played electric guitar in elementary school, then took drum lessons (got kicked out of the school band), and taught myself piano and some violin. When my daughter wanted to take an instrument in elementary school, I suggested she also take piano lessons. When she started, I started taking them as well. Figured I should learn to play the right way. So, now I take piano lessons one day a week, in the morning before I leave for work. My instructor comes to my house before 6 am - only time I can be sure that I have the time. Work and kids take up all the rest of my time. :-)

So now I have to tag eight other bloggers, so I'll tag:

ColleenM
Nabonidus
GreekZoe
Rich Greiner
Whooligan
Mermaid in MN
Suesjoy
Delbut

End of Summer

2007-08-25T20:22:00.000-05:00

College started last week for my daughter. She is finding it easier than she expected. That's good. School starts Tuesday for my son. He is not excited about going back, but I am. He's been running pretty free this summer and I'd like him to have more structure in his life.

We spent a night this week in the ER with a football injury. My son sprained his knee badly when he got tackled during practice. He was in a lot of pain for two days, but today, it seems back to normal. The doctor didn't want to release him for football until next Friday, but I expect he'll be back at practice before then.

Work has been incredibly busy the last few weeks. I am kicking off a global project to implement SAP security tools for all Consumer operating companies. So I had people in from all over the world for a week to begin the planning and design work. We got a lot done during the week and I've gotten kudos from the project sponsors and my boss. I spent a lot of time getting ready for it and then spent every day leading the discussion and the evenings documenting our accomplishments. By the time the weekend came around, I was exhausted. Plus, we have another project we are working on that has a critical deadline, will save us $15-20 million a year ongoing, that is behind schedule. The project manager is, in my view, not doing a very good job and I've had to step in too many times to try and get it back on track. It was stressful for me because I don't like having to tell my boss this person isn't doing a good job and trying to intercede tactfully, but effectively, has been draining.

I am also teaching myself FrontPage. My church has asked me to take over the church website. It was redesigned recently by someone, but no one has been able to keep it up to date. The task was assigned to one of the church secretaries, but she didn't really have the time or the skills to update it. It has been a little frustrating, because some of my changes appear to the public, but others are not showing up. As I look at the different files, they don't seem to be connected the way the manuals tell me they should be. And, errors are present in most pages when I look at the error reports. I've finally gotten the contact information for the person who redesigned it and hopefully once I sit down with him, I'll be able to make more sense of it. Any FrontPage experts out there can feel free to send me some tips 'n tricks!

What does the future hold?

2007-08-11T21:12:00.000-05:00

Several of us went to a psychic fair today and had our fortunes told and underwent a reike healing exercise. I thought my reading went very well. I've done this before and had some readings that turned out to be extremely accurate - sometimes they would mention people in my life without any way of knowing about those people. Once I had a reader tell me something about my Uncle Charles. I told her I didn't have an Uncle Charles. She insisted I did. And, actually I did have an Uncle Charles, but we always called him Chuck and I never thought of him as Charles. Other readers took my comments and created a future based on my words and comments.

This reading was from tarot cards and I spoke very little so the reader was not feeding my information back to me. She started out by saying that I was working through an issue with my mother. I said I didn't have any issues with my mother. She insisted I did and that I was working through it and was beginning the separation process from her. That I needed to separate from her before I could have a permanent relationship with anyone. I asked her if possibly she was talking about my daughter. Since she is in her late teens, of course, we are working through the normal separation process. But in our case, we have always had issues with my dating ever since I left her father eight years ago. As she moves onto college and is dating herself, we are working through this.

My reader identified a number of issues I am currently working through and said she saw positive resolution by year-end. She also had positive things to say about my career. She had some messages from my father and said that he is trying very hard to contact me and is frustrated that I am not hearing him. My father died when I was 19 and after his death, I felt him and heard him quite often, but now, not so much. She said I need to start spending a few minutes a day opening myself up to him to try and let him get his messages through.

She had a lot of information about my daughter, that without my saying anything about her, was very true. I regret now I didn't ask about my son. Although another reader did say positive things about my son to my mother who was also at the event.

Next year, I am to have a stronger sense of stability and will be striving for balance in all aspects of my life. Since I feel more stable, I will have more peace and more relaxation and fun in my life.

On a sadder note, I have learned (not at the reading) someone I care about very much is probably going to die in the near future. He is at peace with this news, says he has had a good life and has done whatever reconciliation he needed to do with the people in his life. He is not an old man and should have had many more years to enjoy his life and family. He is going to live his days out the way he wants to and with the people who mean the most to him.

Vote for Amanda Kaletsky

2007-08-03T18:41:00.000-05:00

On the radio to the left, vote for Amanda. Voting is through Sept 18.

For those of you who haven't heard Amanda, check out her website (link on my site) and give a listen to her music. She plays on the east coast and I think she's pretty good. The song she has entered is not one of my favorites. I really like her song "December" and the song "Never Enough"

Dress Makes a Man

2007-08-01T18:15:00.000-05:00

I had to go to NJ the other day for work to visit the home office. While driving home, I was listening to the BBC on my Sirius radio. They had a news item where they referenced a British saying that dress makes a man. That's probably not the right phrase - my memory doesn't retain as much as it used to... but it's very similar to our saying in the States.

But anyway, they were doing a segment of three incidents that happened in the world recently about the style of dress. I only listened to the first segment because they were going to report on them in separate parts of the hour's show. The first incident they talked about occurred in South Africa. A woman wearing pants was attacked by a mob who were unhappy about her wearing such modern, urban attire. They stripped her of her pants and made her parade half-naked in front of them and then they burned her house down. On BBC they were debating whether this was done because they feared the pants as being an urban symbol or because they viewed pants as being too modern. Such attacks are unfortunately not uncommon.

When we were in Niagara Falls the other week, there were a large number of Muslim visitors. I'm assuming they were tourists since they were in the tourist area, but maybe they were residents. It was a warm day, but not overwhelmingly hot if you were wearing light clothing. Several of the Muslim women were wearing the full burkas, including only a small slit for their eyes to see through. Dressed all in black, it must have been extremely hot for them. Others were fully covered and wore head scarves, while a few had decorated black burkas without the full headcovering, but only a scarf covering their hair. Most of the young Muslim female children were wearing less clothing, but I did see one or two very young girls wearing full coverings and head scarves. I also saw a few families with several generations where the older women wore the full coverings and the other generations were less covered, the younger they were. Grandmothers in almost full burkas, mothers fully covered but only with a head scarf, teenage girls fully covered but with their hair uncovered. The fathers however, all were wearing short-sleeve shirts and shorts, much more appropriate for the weather.

I remember trying to leave my house as a teenager and my father would stop me and tell me to go change because no daughter of his was leaving the house looking like that. Young girls today, like my daughter, dress in a sexier fashion than I would like at times. As Chair of the Worship Commission at church, I sometimes get complaints about the attire of the young female acolytes. At the later service, which mostly older members attend, we ask the acolytes to wear a robe. Short skirts can cause problems when lighting the altar candles. I remember arguing with my parents that people should judge us by our character, not by our clothes, makeup or hairstyle. Problem is people don't see your character, they see your appearance.

I can understand dressing modestly, or wearing certain clothing styles, as part of your religion. I can't understand covering yourself up from head to toe in black with even a black net covering your eyes.

A Wall of Fire

2007-07-24T20:03:00.000-05:00

I am a fireworks fanatic. The week of July 4th is spent going from one fireworks display to another. We have good shows here.

When we got to the hotel in Niagara, I was excited to see a flier lying on the check-in counter advertising a half-hour long, Wall of Fire, a kilometer long, most spectacular fireworks display you will ever see. The show was supposed to start at 10:00 on Saturday.

Saturday, we went over to the Falls and walked around. Of course, we did the Journey Behind the Falls, and then picked up the Peoplemover to go to the Butterfly Conservatory. We got off unexpectedly to walk the trails down to the river. I hadn't done that before and it was a neat experience. Also discovered how badly out of shape I was - I would rather do this type of exercise than go to the gym, but of course, spending more time at the gym would have helped with some of those steep climbs.

After we were done exploring, we headed back towards the Falls area. We found an outside table at a restaurant overlooking the Falls. It was supposed to be a good spot to observe the fireworks and we thought we would get thrown out to make room for people with reservations. But we lingered over food, drinks, dessert, drinks, and more food until the fireworks started.

Crowds began to gather below, staking out their space on the lawn or the sidewalk. There was a band playing outside who sounded pretty good. Fathers were dancing with their young daughters. Children were jumping, running and laughing with each other. Moms were spreading out blankets and leftover ponchos as seats.

I have to confess though I was so disappointed with the fireworks show. The crowds that were below me were ooh'ing and ah'ing. Photographers and videographers on the balcony with me were trying to get every shot. It was not what I would call a wall of fire. I had expected something more like a constant finale for a kilometer down the street. Instead, it was a boom, pause, a boom, pause, boom, boom, pause, .... Yawn...

But all in all, it was a great day and spending dinner overlooking the Falls was a pretty good evening. As the sun was setting, you could see the rainbows over the Falls where the sunlight hit the mist.

Butterfly Man

2007-07-24T19:24:00.000-05:00

We went to Niagara Falls for the weekend. I should say the day, because we got there Friday night, had Saturday at the Falls, and came back Sunday. Schuyler wanted to go to the Butterfly Conservatory. We got there at a bad time - several tour buses had just dropped off which made it a little crowded.

I've been to Niagara before and to the Butterfly Conservatory. I remember the conservatory more fondly in the past than this weekend with the crowds. They tell you over and over not to try and touch the butterflies but to let them land on you. People were continually trying to touch the butterflies and to force them onto their fingers. I felt stressed watching them. When I saw a little boy pick one up by the wings, I had to say something. When I told him he would hurt the butterflies like that, he threw it behind one of the bushes and walked off.

There were some pretty blue butterflies there from Costa Rica. I was chasing them around with my camera lens but they wouldn't stay still. And when they were still, they folded up their wings which were a unattractive brownish color on the other side. The one here I finally got right as we were leaving. It landed on this boy's sleeve while at the same time, another landed on his hand. One little boy had four butterflies on him at once.

Priorities

2007-07-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

According to the National Priorities Project,
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/home/index.php, Pennsylvania has or will spend $17.4 billion through 2007 for the Iraq War.

Instead of war, we could have chosen to spend that money to provide:

4,040,849 People with Health Care

OR

287,581 Elementary School Teachers

OR

2,466,634 Head Start Places for Children

OR

5,135,438 Children with Health Care

OR

176,723 Affordable Housing Units

OR

1,210 New Elementary Schools

OR

1,510,938 Scholarships for University Students

OR

296,911 Music and Arts Teachers

OR

400,989 Public Safety Officers

OR

20,911,444 Homes with Renewable Electricity

OR

267,352 Port Container Inspectors

OR......

What could you have done with the money to better the world? And, what could those who died, all who died, have done with their lives?

Great to see Mac again

2007-07-08T21:40:00.000-05:00

Schuyler and I packed up the kids and went to NJ Friday where we met up with Colleen. Leaving the kids in the hotel, we headed into New York City to see Ian McLagan and the Bump Band at BB King's. Colleen and I had seen Mac in Austin at SXSW. First time for both of us, but we made sure we caught their act three times.

Our table at first was off to the side, but fortunately for us, some people left the center table so we asked to switch seats. We were looking for Lynne who is Mac's assistant - turns out, she was sitting right below us in the lower level. Our new seats were perfect.

The show was too short, partly our fault because we got there a little late. Hotel had no restaurant due to renovations so we had to feed the kids before we could leave. But after the show, we had the opportunity to meet Mac again and spend a few minutes talking to him. Like a past experience with Pete, it was deja vu when the guy behind us in line had an armful of old record albums that he wanted signed. We let him go in front of us so we would have more time to chat with Lynne and Mac.

Mac and the boys are touring this summer so if you have the opportunity to catch up with them, have a great time!

America - What's Happened to Us?

2007-07-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

That's what Melissa Etheridge asked during her performance at LiveEarth in NJ Saturday. She sang a song, "Imagine That" in which she talked about the power of change and how we can become agents of change. She stopped in the middle of the song to ask "America, what's happened to us?" She talked about the past and how when there was an unjust war, people stood up and raised their voices against it, some giving their lives for the cause.

She referred to a time in the past when we had a criminal for a President. Said that democracy was important to us and we stood up and raised our voices against him. "America, what's happened to us?" She said that maybe our credit cards and our desire to consume is taking up our time.

Imagine if Monday morning, we would raise our voices and say Enough! She has faith in America, that when Americans see injustice, they rise up and speak the truth...

You can see part of her performance and all the LiveEarth performers at http://liveearth.msn.com/

People Who Live in Glass Houses

2007-06-25T21:16:00.001-05:00

I paid attention to the Paris Hilton drama only because I thought she was going to get special treatment because she is famous for being famous. I was angry at her parents' reaction when she was sentenced to jailtime. I thought they were making excuses for her behavior and encouraging her not to accept responsibility for her actions. When she was released from jail early, I was disappointed but not surprised. I was very surprised when she was sent back to fulfill her sentence and also surprised that she managed to complete it outside of the hospital cell. I'm not sure she should have gotten 20+ days but after spending a day in NJ traffic court, I can't say it seemed unusual. Traffic court judges hear all kinds of stories and excuses and at times, they seem to enjoy their ability to hand down sentences. I was lucky in a sense - I felt strongly enough that my ticket was unjust and I was able to get the prosecutor to reduce my penalty. In the past, when I got a ticket, I paid the penalty without question. This time, however, I wanted my day in court.

But, I'm getting away from the point of this post. It now appears that the prosecutor had some sins of his own that are now putting him on the hot seat. It is alleged that his wife not only drove on a suspended license; she, as he did, drove for long periods of time without insurance; she crashed his city-issued car and he allowed the taxpayers to pay for the repairs; the company she owned failed to pay taxes and he had his city staff run personal errands for him as well as babysit his children. While he was screaming for Paris to fulfill the legal penalty for her crimes, he seemed to have no compunction to follow the law or to fulfill the ethics of his office himself.

There was a family killed recently in a town a few miles from my home. A man, his wife and his son were stabbed in their home located in a small peaceful community where people often didn't even lock their doors. It scared everyone. There was a run on security systems. Neighborhoods were lit up at night. People formed neighborhood watches and luckily no one was shot accidently as nervous residents either bought firearms or brought them out of closets and locked boxes. The police brought in the FBI as they had no clues and no suspects. It recently turned out that a young high school boy committed the crimes, killing the family of what was supposed to be his best friend. He also killed his best friend.

Who turned in the killer? It was his parents. I cannot imagine how difficult it was for them to take that step. They loved him. They provided a good life for him. He was never in trouble before. While his parents were divorced, they had joint custody of him and lived close to each other. It seems he spent his time between the two of them and they seemed, from the news and from community reports, to be a good family. After the murders, the boy experienced what seemed to be extreme grief, what was to be expected when your best friend is mysteriously and tragically murdered for some unknown reason by some unknown assailant. The boy threatened suicide and was eventually committed to a psychiatric institution for his own safety. While there, he confessed the murder to his father and told him where the weapon was. After what must have been a terrible 48 hours, the father and the mother went to the police and turned their son in. They have not abandoned him, however, they seem to be supporting him without making excuses for him.

In today's world, that parents would do that, turn their son in to the police is amazing to me. I'm used to the parents like the ones who denied up and down that their children smashed the mailboxes in my neighborhood even though they were caught standing next to the smashed mailbox with a baseball bat. He was just standing there at 3:00 am when the mailbox just fell over by itself. Someone else must have done it. Not my son!

I can't imagine having my child tell me that they have done something so horrendous, so awful as to purposely take someone else's life, to take three people's lives. What guilt you must feel, what shock and horror, as you watch your child's life and all the dreams you had for that child fall away to what will most likely be life in prison. And, your life, the position you had in the community, your friends - it's all changed for those parents. Just as their son's life is destroyed, they will have to rebuild their lives and change their dreams for the future. They continue to face the scrutiny of the press, from CNN to the local news. How do they find the strength to move forward, to help their son through this, to get themselves through this? But then again, they had the strength to do the right thing.

Men in Kilts

2007-06-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

Went to the Celtic Fling with my boyfriend and his kids. Lots of men in kilts and women in costumes walked the grounds. We sat down at one stage and they started recruiting men for the kilts competition. The kids said they wanted to stay, but that's because they didn't really know what it was. After the third man strutted down the stage and hitched his kilt up slightly to show his legs, they decided they had had enough. Below is a picture of the men gathering courage for the competition.

Lots of fabulous Irish music and Irish step-dancing. This was the Wood family who appeared last year on "Who's got talent" - that may not be the right name of the show, I've never watched it. But apparently they were in the top five. They have six children and the entire family is in the show. The girls play violins, as do the boys who also played other instruments. There was a seven-year old boy Aiden who occasionally ran out and did some step-dancing and then ran backstage again

Roller Coasters

2007-06-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

We have season passes to a local amusement park. I took my son and his friend on Saturday for the day. If he wouldn't have scheduled the day with a friend, I would have skipped going as I woke up with a bad headache. But we went and I mostly sat by the exits waiting for the boys to get off the rides. When we went into the water park section, I took a nap in the shade for an hour or so while the boys played on the water slides.

I thought I was rid of my headache and went on a roller coaster with the boys. My headache came back with a vengence so once again, I was sitting at the exits waiting. I have always loved roller coasters, but lately I don't know if it is because I am getting older or if the new coasters have gotten too wild for me, but I'm not as excited about them as I used to be. My son only started enjoying coasters last year.

This year, he wanted to go on a coaster he hadn't been on before - it goes from 0-60 in 2 seconds and the entire ride only lasts 60 seconds. I couldn't go on because of my headache, plus I didn't want to leave his friend alone for the time we would wait in line. My son pleaded and begged his friend to go on with him, but his friend refused. My son decided he would go on alone, but was wavering in his decision. He finally strode off to the end of the line and we waited for him to return. Would he go on the coaster by himself or would he return telling us the line was too long...

He went on the coaster and is so proud of himself for doing so. And, I am surprised and proud as well.

Growing Up

2007-06-12T20:50:00.000-05:00

It has been a busy month so far. My daughter and her friends graduated from high school, my cousin got married and I had a business trip to Chicago.

Graduation was something my daughter has been waiting for for a long time. She has found high school to be too full of drama. I am happy that she has always been self-confident enough to get through high school without succumbing to peer pressure, not letting the cliches get to her. Teenage girls can be so mean to each other. I thought I would avoid that with my son, but I'm finding even 11-year old boys can act like that.

The weekend after graduation, we had her graduation party. Immediately following the party, we drove to a harbor city where my cousin was getting married. About 30 of us had dinner there and then spent the night. The next morning, we went to the cruise ship for the wedding. They got married on the ship and then sailed to Bermuda for their honeymoon. Some of the wedding party and guests joined them on the cruise. I had to race to the airport to fly to Chicago for a business trip.

Most of my pictures from the wedding were horrible. The room was fairly dark and even though it was cloudy and overcast outside, the windows were very bright. So my pictures were either too light, too dark or too blurry.

Exile

2007-05-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

I just finished Richard North Patterson's book, Exile. It was a fascinating read set in current time exploring the relationship between Israel and Palestine and the other relationship in the Middle East, including the US relationship with the Middle East. It is a raw depiction of the hate and pain on both sides and how it has affected multiple generations, continuing today without cease. A Jewish man and a Palestinian woman fall in love in college. But they cannot be together due to their cultural backgrounds. He is not a religious Jew, but still shaped by the Jewish destiny. She feels an inescapable draw to her family, her cultural upbringing, which he can not understand as he is more American than Jewish. Most Americans do not have that undying connection to their families, to their history. They try to shape their own destinies, not adapt to a destiny that was shaped for them by others. Most do not understand sacrificing your own desires to fulfill someone else's, to meet your obligations to your family and your village.

After 13 years, they meet again. This time she is accused of murdering the Israeli Prime Minister, an act of terrorism. He defends her, losing his fiance, his political career and most of the life he had built since college. In his search for a defense, he goes to the Middle East and sees the pain and the hatred first hand.

I have read much of the history of the Middle East. I get daily emails from the Christian Peacemaker Teams, but the depiction of the current existence shown through the eyes of two lovers who cannot be together made it seem more real. My mother who gave me the book hadn't realized the way it is. She couldn't believe that a woman in labor could wait for hours to pass through a border crossing even if it meant that she or her baby would die in the car waiting for permission.

There is so much hatred and wrong done by both sides. Will we ever find peace and acceptance?

Back from NJ

2007-05-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

I was in NJ last week for work. Long meetings all day, entertaining at night, and no internet in the hotel. Got back Friday night and spent the weekend working on the yard - cutting grass, putting soil around the foundation of the house and then spreading mulch. Ran out of mulch and have about 5' left to go.

My daughter had her Prom Saturday night. The girls were ready around 3 and weren't supposed to leave until 5. So they went out for ice cream. Limo and their dates arrived around 5 along with all the family members for a photo shoot in my backyard. She was beautiful and her boyfriend also looked very dapper. They had a very good time.

Update on the bird's nest: Only one egg remains and Momma bird has apparently flown the coop. Haven't seen her for a while, so we think something attacked the nest.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.

Ruth Hart

2007-05-05T20:26:00.000-05:00

Ruth Hart died on Wednesday. I didn't know Ruth very well. I learned more about her in her obituary than I did from her in person. She didn't talk about herself, but showed her love for people through her actions.

I met Ruth when teaching a fifth-grade Sunday School class. Ruth ran the food bank at our church. I arranged for my class to meet Ruth. She told them about the food bank, how it was organized and who used the food bank. She explained to them how bags of food were provided to people or families who needed food, how much and what types of food were put into the bags, and explained how she distributed food based on her knowledge of the family. For example, based on the number of children, she might put extra fruit or juice in the bags. My class conducted a food drive for the food bank.

After that, whenever I saw Ruth, she greeted me with a hug and told me how happy she was to see me. She told me in words and actions that she thought I was special.

The Saturday before she died, I ran into her at a local restaurant. Again, she gave me a hug and told me how happy she was to see me. She told my date how much she enjoyed seeing my smiling face at church and how special I was. I didn't see her at church the next day although I'm told she was there. She must have come to the later service. I thought about her many times that week for some reason.

This morning at our Homeless Breakfast, I learned the news that she had died earlier in the week. We all talked about how much she had done for people. After the breakfast, I came home and looked for her obituary. I had missed it in the paper. I learned in her obituary that she was a nurse, married for 51 years before becoming a widow, had lost an infant son, and had a surviving son, several grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. She worked in public health and also was a long-term volunteer in serving the underprivileged. Her work with the Food Bank was only one of the many things that she did.

I've been thinking about Ruth and other people like her a lot today. While Ruth did many things for people, one of the things that she did most was make people feel special. When she saw you, she was happy to see you. She hugged you and focused her conversation on you.

There are other people I've felt that way about. Jim, one of my former managers, was like that. When you walked into his office, no matter what he was doing, he made you feel like he had been waiting there just for you and was so happy to see you. This guy goes on vacations and makes life-long friends while on vacation. He has traveled with these new friends, gone to visit them at their homes on future vacations, and stays in touch with them.

Monica, also from church, welcomes people into her home all the time. She collects strays, mostly teenagers, but sometimes adults, and takes them under her wing until they are able to stand on their own. She represents Mother Earth to me - stable, understanding, comforting, nurturing - a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend.

I think about how I interact with other people. I do a lot of community service, but do I really touch other people like these people do? Do I make them feel special and show them that I am happy to see them? Do I talk about them or do I talk about me in our conversations? Do I focus more on my list of to-do items rather than enjoying my time with these people?

Thank you, Ruth, for making me feel special. I will miss you.

Bird's Nest

2007-04-29T18:04:00.000-05:00

There is a perfectly formed bird's nest in the tree next to my deck. My dog is going crazy with it constantly trying to get to the tree, either through the railing or from the ground. She stands on the deck pointing to the nest. Wonder what she'll do when the eggs hatch.

We were sitting out on the deck and mama bird was missing for a long time. After cooking on the grill, the bird still hadn't come back so I was afraid we scared her off. But when I went out to put the grill cover back on, she was sitting on the nest. Of course, my putting on the grill cover scared her off again.

Atlanta Update

2007-04-25T15:40:00.000-05:00

We had over 17,000 people at the conference which ended this afternoon. Forgot to mention that our entertainment Sunday night was the Georgia Aquarium. We took it over Sunday night and hosted a party for 5,000 of the attendees. Unfortunately, we weren't able to accommodate everyone, but there are always enough parties to go around during our conferences. Vendors set up numerous dinners and other events for their customers, actual and prospective.

Tuesday's night concert was John Mayer. John is a much more accomplished guitarist than I had thought. He failed to interact with the audience who was down in the aisles dancing and cheering for him. He had to little to say other than, "Are you having a good time?" He said that about three times. He did mention that he used to live in Atlanta and loved the city. His band members did not interact very much with each other either. One of the vendors had given out glow necklaces to the attendees. During the concert, people in the stands connected their necklaces so that there was a long glow rope twisting throughout the entire Phillips Arena. It even draped down from the higher level seats down to the lower level seats and looped around the entire stadium. John didn't mention this until during his encore when he said it showed we were a symbiotic corporation. I don't think he got the purpose of the event/conference.

Because I'm one of the volunteer leaders, I was able to get floor seats for my group. We had a good time, but it wasn't one of the better concerts I've gone to. I heard a lot of people, however, raving about how good the concert was. And one of my group chairs was in heaven because she is such a JM fan.

Now, I've got to get back to work and then head home Thursday afternoon.

Taking Over Atlanta

2007-04-23T21:06:00.000-05:00

Arrived in Atlanta Saturday afternoon for our Spring Conference. Over 15,000 people are here. We've taken all the hotel rooms near the convention center and some of us have to stay over in the Buckhead area. I think I have walked over 50 miles since Saturday. I thought my feet hurt at SXSW - boy, was I wrong!!

Weather is beautiful. The conference is going well. Usual complaints about the walking within the convention center and having too many sessions to choose from. We've changed how we do meals and it seems to be causing some problems. In the past, we've had sit down buffet-style lunches. Now they are grab and go so the lines are very long. As I stood in line, I heard many complaints from people.

Like Jerry Lewis, we are already planning for our next conference even before this one ends. The next conference, smaller and more hands-on, will be in San Francisco in Sept. We won't have more than 2,000 at that conference since we'll be focusing on Supply Chain and Manufacturing, Product Lifecyle, and Plant Maintenance (renamed Enterprise Asset Mgmt).

Entertainment for tomorrow night is a John Mayer concert. We're angling for backstage passes, but it probably won't happen. Instead, we'll go for front row seats!

I have never seen so many beggers in my life as I have experienced in Atlanta in the blocks around the convention center. Even not making eye contact doesn't help - they still ask for money. They've even come into the convention center and pan-handled the conference attendees. They go through the trash pulling things out for later re-use. They comb through the cigarette butts in the ashtrays and pull the longer butts out to smoke later.

For every begger, however, there is an Atlanta ambassador. Someone from the visitors' center dressed in a bright uniform walking the sidewalks and manning the information booths offering help and assistance. Also, an equal number of police officers strolling the streets in a constant manner.

I'll come back home Thursday afternoon. It will be nice to be home.

Who Do We Notice?

2007-04-18T18:22:00.000-05:00

The killings at Virginia Tech have captured the world's attention. People throughout the US mourn for people they've never met. South Korea is expressing a sense of national guilt. Other nations follow the news in sympathy and sometimes in judgement.

Thirty-two people were killed in VA on Monday and the 24-hour news channels have not stopped reporting on the incident. I have cried as I watched the news and as I hear parents talk about their child who is no longer here. I have a daughter entering college in the Fall and as we've had a school shooting and other incidents nearby, the possibility is near to home. It could have been a different college. It could have been a different building. It could have been a different day and the people who died would have been different people. There was no logic, it seems, for most of their deaths.

Not to take anything away from that tragic incident, but over 170 people died today in Baghdad. It didn't get much attention in the news:

The Interior Ministry said the dead and injured included:
• 122 dead, 150 wounded in Sadriya market in central Baghdad;
• 28 dead, 44 wounded in an attack near an Iraqi Army checkpoint at one of the entrances to Sadr City, the official said;
• 11 civilians were killed and 13 others wounded when a parked car bomb detonated in central Baghdad's Karrada district. The car was parked near a hospital and a market;
• Four police officers were killed and 6 civilians wounded when a suicide car bomber exploded at an Iraqi police checkpoint in southern Baghdad;
• Four people were killed and eight were wounded by a bomber targeting a police patrol near a checkpoint in Saidiya, in southwestern Baghdad. Two of those killed were police and the other two were civilians;
• Two civilians were killed and 9 others wounded when a roadside bomb detonated at a busy intersection in central Baghdad.

Do we only notice the deaths in Iraq when they are our people?

Since 2003, over 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur and over two million people are homeless. And, we do nothing. The violence is spreading to Chad and the Central African Republic. We watch and do nothing; sometimes we don't even watch. We ignore the situation.

At the end of 2005, over 24.5 million people were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Two million people died of AIDS that year leaving over 12 million children as orphans.

In research on trafficking of Togolese girls into domestic and market work, Human Rights Watch interviewed forty-one girls trafficked when they were between the ages of three and seventeen. Thirteen had been trafficked internally, while the rest were trafficked across borders to Benin, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, and Niger. All of the girls Human Rights Watch interviewed were from poor agricultural backgrounds with little or no formal schooling whose parents handed them over to known or unknown intermediaries, sometimes for a price, with the understanding they would be receiving formal education, professional training or paid work. Instead, the girls’ descriptions of being recruited, transported, received and exploited revealed a pattern of abuse resembling child slavery. Almost none received any remuneration for her work.

Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/

Virginia Tech, In Our Prayers

2007-04-16T22:10:00.000-05:00

The true way to mourn the dead is
to take care of the living who belong to them.
-- Edmund Burke

Don't Ya Wish Your Boyfriend Was Hot Like Me?

2007-04-14T08:52:00.000-05:00

To compliment Rachel's photo of her and Arabella having a small snack...

Brrr

2007-04-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe it is April, the middle of April, and we are still talking about snowstorms! Windchills are low here in PA and Sunday, we are expecting a Nor'eastern. My town will probably only get extremely heavy rains, but some places could get some serious snow.

I commute 80 miles each way to work and Thursday's commute was extremely rough. Heavy rain made it very hard to see. At one point, I was driving under a bridge and so much water was pouring off the bridge, I could not see anything for about 5 seconds. Was driving next to a tractor trailer so it was a little nerve-wracking for my passengers. I'm in a carpool so we share the driving.

I cut the grass last weekend and this weekend, I wanted to work on my flowerbeds. Don't think that will be happening!

Some concerts to look forward to in July - Ian McLagan will be playing in NYC at BB Kings on July 6. If you haven't seen Ian and the Bump Band, you have to go! And, then July 7, the LiveEarth concert will be held in NJ. I've already told ColleenM to expect a houseguest that weekend!

Are you totally sick of the Imus story yet? I think what he said was horrible, but I don't think he should have been fired over it. I really don't care for Sharpton and find it very hypocritical that he would call for anyone's firing based on a negative slur when he has repeatedly slandered numerous people and never apologised for his words. On the news today, the minister for the team's coach compared the Rutgers basketball team to the Duke lacrosse players saying that the basketball team had been victims and were judged negatively while the lacrosse players also victims were held up as noble and honorable. How can you compare a group of talented, intelligent and gifted young women who were referenced in a passing comment (sexist and racist, as it definitely was) by a shock jock to innocent people who were convicted in the press, spent thousands of dollars in legal fees, had to leave school for a year, and had their faces and names splashed over every local and national news station for months? If those Duke students had not been able to afford the best legal defense, they would most likely have been convicted. I'm convinced that there are many innocent people in our jails.

Hopefully this weekend will be last touch of winter! I'm ready for Spring.

Changing Times

2007-04-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

Good Friday used to be my most favorite church service of the year. At least at the church I've been attending for the last 15 years. (I can't believe I've been there for 15 years now, actually.) The youth of the church do a Tenebrae service where they "re-enact" the crucifixion. It was the most moving service of the year for me and sometimes I would even cry by the end of the service.

I say, past tense, because a few years ago, in the absence of having a Youth Director, I was asked to help the Youth do the Tenebrae service, the Easter Sunrise service and a third service. Ever since I began leading the youth with the Tenebrae service, the service itself has lost its meaning to me. Now, I worry about the right kid doing the right thing at the right time. I worry about the candles being in the right position, the script being ready for everyone, the cloths and the cross being found and made available, and I worry about how the slinky Jesus looks. Yes, I said, slinky Jesus. Sometime, years ago, decades ago, someone made a man-like figure out of wire that we use as our Jesus that we put on the cross as part of the service. I think they coiled wire around an actual person and the slinky Jesus used to look somewhat realistic. But, this year, he's looking a little compressed. I think we're going to have to explore different options next year.

We have new Youth Directors for our church now but since they are new, they have been asking me a lot of questions and asking me to help out at these services. Last night, I went to church at 4 so I could help the youth rehearse and walk through the service with them and the directors. Actually, they didn't need me. The kids know what needs to be done better than me since it is their service and they've done it for years. Of course, they did a great job. But again, the service did not hit me emotionally as it did before I got involved. I wonder if it ever will again.

I should say that our new Youth Directors, a husband and wife team, are awesome people. They are doing a great job with our youth and hopefully, they will be able to regenerate what used to be a very active and large youth program. The wife is going to seminary school and asked me last night to be on her seminarian-in-care committee which means I have to help her evaluate her sermons and other interactions with the congregation.

Saturday morning, my son, his friend and I went to our monthly homeless breakfast. Our church serves breakfast the first Sat of the month. This month, there were so many volunteers, I ended up mostly socializing before leaving.

After we left the breakfast, we went to the Verizon store where I bought my 11-year old son his first cell phone. I never expected to get either of my children a phone that early. But, my son is not very good at letting me know where he is. He has lots of friends in the neighborhood and they are very fluid about what house they are at. They will start out at one friend's house and move on to another's, but forget to call home to say where they will be. So because he is irresponsible rather than responsible, I've bought him a cell phone so I can call him and find out where he is. I put the chaperone functionality on it as well so I can track him if need be. Not because I think he will wander far on his own, but in today's world, it seemed reasonable in case he would be abducted or some other natural disaster would occur. My 17-year old daughter has a cell phone and I've told her I want her to keep it with her at school. We've had school shootings locally and her school has had four bomb threats in the last few weeks. The bomb threats are hoaxes because the kids have learned that they can get out of school if they write a note on the bathroom wall, but we never know these days what can happen. If school would be evacuated due to a tornado or storm, or a real bomb threat, whatever, I would like to be able to reach her or have her reach me.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter season, regardless of their religious affiliation. Spring is a time of rebirth and regeneration for all of us. I think our Sunrise service tomorrow will have to be held inside since as I look out the window, it is snowing again here in PA. Hard to believe it is April, my grass needs mowing badly, and it is snowing....

My Son Hates Me

2007-04-02T21:50:00.000-05:00

My son is mad at me because I have to work tomorrow. I work away from home four days a week, but generally his sister is here when he first gets up. I leave for work very early and she won't be home tomorrow to wake him up later. So, it's my fault. I'm a horrible mother and he hates me. But tomorrow, he'll love me again.

===========================================================
According to this internet quiz, I'm actually a pretty cool mom.

You Will Be a Cool Parent

You seem to naturally know a lot about parenting, and you know what kids need.
You can tell when it's time to let kids off the hook, and when it's time to lay down the law.
While your parenting is modern and hip, it's not over the top.
You know that there's nothing cool about a parent who acts like a teenager... or a drill sergeant!

Would You Be a Cool Parent?

A New Addition to my List of Music Acts, Amanda Kaletsky

2007-03-31T10:35:00.000-05:00

Went to see Grey Eye Glances at Chaplin's: The Music Cafe, a pretty cool club in the booming metropolis of Spring City (actually a very quaint small town) outside of Philadelphia. They, as usual, were awesome. I haven't seen them for about two years and they've made changes to their older songs, adding a lot of depth to them musically. Could just be an incorrect memory of my part - haven't seen them in a while and have just been listening to the CDs - music live is always so much different than the recorded version. The crowd and your current emotions always change the experience dramatically.

I found the Grey Eye Glances because they were the warm-up band for a nationally-known group. At that concert, I hated the headliner and loved the three warm-up bands they had. I fell in love instantly with GEG's sound and have followed them ever since. They've been together since 1991 and I can't believe they haven't made it further than they have, but again, I'm probably happy in a selfish way, because I prefer going to these smaller venues to see music. Chaplin's seats about 80 people, serves sandwiches and salads and is a BYOB place. So last night, my date and I took a bottle of wine and headed off to Chaplin's. It's about an hour ride from my house. He had never heard GEG before so we played their CDs on the way up and he liked their music as well.

We found a seat on the balcony and ordered sandwiches. The first singer, Skip Denenberg, was good. He plays locally and from what he said, he does a lot with the Philadelphia Phillies musically. But, the second act, Amanda Kaletsky, was extremely good. A recent college grad from the University of DE, Amanda started playing violin at age 4 and then added piano and guitar. She's studied voice since 8th grade and began songwriting in high school. She's only 23 and I think if she continues, she will make a name for herself. Go to her website and take a listen to her music. My date bought me one of her EPs and she autographed it for me. He got one too.

I love her songs December and Never Enough. I think she said Never Enough was one of her first songs and that she wrote it in high school.

Lindsey Buckingham

2007-03-29T22:38:00.000-05:00

I hadn't heard Lindsey Buckingham solo before and was blown away by his performance. The show was to start at 8:00 and it took us about an hour longer to get to South Street than I expected. An accident on the PA turnpike loaded more traffic on the Schuylkill (also known as the SureKill) so we crept along in bumper to bumper traffic.

We didn't get to the Theater of Living Arts (TLA) until 7:50 but the show didn't start until 8:30. So we didn't miss anything, but we also didn't get dinner before the show. The theater was small but very nice. It had several levels with some seats being stackable chairs and others more like bar stools. Most seats had a good view of the stage and the acoustics were good. There were some rowdy fans in the audience but rowdy because they were such fans of Lindsey.

I noticed one woman in the third row who stood for most of the show. She clasped her hands as if in prayer in front of her face, swayed to the music and looked as if she was in the presence of almighty God and in awe of his grace and power. Another man in the fifth row continually thrust his arms up in the air to the beat of the music. By the end of the show, many were crowded down by the front of the stage. The bouncers tried to stop it for a while, but eventually gave up.

Lindsey started the show with two solos. His voice was strong - never cracked once, nor did I hear him hit a wrong note. I've heard that he is 57 but he didn't appear to be older than 35. After two songs, he was joined by his band, friends that he's known for over 15 years. Lindsey's guitar playing was extremely good and got more flamboyant and exuberant as the night went on. I have never ever seen anyone slap a guitar before. There were times that Lindsey was slapping his guitar, like a girl fight, but he was still making music.

Lindsey is releasing a new album, pictured above. It is his first album in, I think, 17 years. If you get the chance to listen to it or to see him in person, I would highly recommend it!

Another Beautiful Day

2007-03-27T13:27:00.000-05:00

Today is absolutely gorgeous outside. Blue skies, a few white puffy clouds and temps in the 70's. I'm working from home today and I keep taking my papers and planning materials out to the deck, occasionally popping inside to check my emails. This is the way to work!!

Tonight, I'm heading into Philadelphia to see the Lindsey Buckingham concert. Have never heard him solo, only with Fleetwood Mac. Friday, I'm heading back to the Philadelphia area to see one of my favorite "local" bands, Grey Eye Glances. I am looking forward to both concerts. Have to find something to fill my time now that Pete and Rachel are heading back to Europe.

The Sun Has Finally Come Out

2007-03-25T16:02:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful day outside for a change. Yesterday was cool, overcast and intermittently rainy. Today is sunny, blue skies and very warm. Just came back from a brisk hour-long walk. My daughter is out playing soccer at a tournament and my son is out at the park with his girlfriend and other friends. Sitting here, I can hear the neighborhood children out playing and birds chirping.

Tuesday, I had to spend the day at SAP Headquarters in Newtown Square. With ok traffic, it is about an hour and a half from me. Unfortunately, there is seldom ok traffic in the morning - it is usually bumper to bumper for a fair number of miles adding on about a half hour. That day I left early and was making good time.

I wanted to stop at a convenience store and grab a soda, but kept passing stores instead of stopping. A few times I thought about turning around since most of the stores available to me were on the left hand side of the road. But I kept going and telling myself I would stop at the next one. This repeated several times, and then I stopped at a small store about 8 miles outside of Newtown Square. I thought to myself, why bother stopping now? They'll have coffee and drinks at the meeting. But I pulled into the parking lot and parked. As I got out of my car, a young man came up to me and said, "I've never done this before and I'm really embarassed, but could I ask you for $2 for gas so I can get to Newtown Square where I live? If you don't believe I need it for gas, you could go into the store with me and watch me pay for it or you could pay the store yourself." He looked like he was about 19.

I gave him the money and he thanked me. I followed him into the store and went to the cooler to get a soda. He met a guy he apparently hadn't seen for a few years at the counter. He told the guy that he was working at UPS and had just gotten his first paycheck that day, said he was living with his mom and dad since he came back from Iraq. While talking to his friend, he paid for his gas, thanked me again and went outside. When I heard he just came back from Iraq, I wanted to offer to fill his tank, but I didn't. He didn't mention to his friend that he had to bum money off me and I didn't want to embarass him. Guess I could have offered to do it and say it was a thank-you for being in Iraq but didn't think fast enough on my feet. When I got outside, he was gone.

Thursday night, I had a date after work. He was supposed to pick me up at 7:30 which would give me just enough time to get home, feed the kids and get ready. When I got to my car at the carpool dropoff point, I saw my tire was low. I headed back down the road to a Turkey Hill to put air in it. I tried putting air in it, but it seemed as if it was getting flatter rather than filling up. In principle, I know how to change a tire, but I've never done it in real life. So, since it was raining, I was dressed up, and I've paid for AAA for four years and never used it, I decided it was time to place that call. I called AAA and arranged for someone to come out to change my tire. I called my date and told him I would be late. Sweet guy that he is, he offered to come change it for me. It would have taken him a half hour to get to me so I just told him AAA was on their way. The tow truck driver came out within 45 minutes and changed my tire in less than five minutes. I had a nail in my tire. While he was there, a woman came up to me and asked if he was AAA. She said that her car broke down there earlier today but AAA refused to send someone out because she didn't know her exact location. That was a little surprising to me since we were at an intersection and it was easy to see the road signs. She had left her car there and gone home, coming back that night to call AAA a second time. Wonderfully for her, he was already there helping me and could tow her car for her.

I had a debate with someone a few weeks ago about my belief that things happen for a reason. He disagreed with me saying that life was chance or self-determination, that things didn't happen for a reason. That just because you think it was better that you went down one path instead of another, you really don't know because you didn't take that other path.

I could have very easily driven home on the low tire - I'd been putting air in it for a week and probably shouldn't have been driving on it as long as I did. It was unusual that I went to that side of the car to put my bags into the car - I usually go in the driver's side. My deciding to take care of the tire situation that day helped that woman out in taking care of her own car situation. When meeting that soldier who needed help, I passed many stores on my way and for one reason or another didn't stop until that particular store. Would he have asked his friend for money? I'm not sure - he didn't ask him for money to repay me - I think he was too embarassed.

I'm glad he came back home from Iraq apparently whole, at least physically.

We Can't Make It Here

2007-03-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

(James McMurtry sang this at the Rajiworld Party)

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics (c) 2004 by James McMurtry
http://www.jamesmcmurtry.com

RajiWorld Blogger Party at SXSW

2007-03-19T20:35:00.000-05:00

Attic sign marking our spot

Charlie, Ashley, Tana's husband and son
Colleen, Lynne, Susan
Michelle, Cathy

Burton and Colleen dancing

Mother Truckers - awesome sound - she has a fabulous blues sound and he can make a guitar wail like you've never heard before

Michael Des Barres

Ian McLagan and the Bump Band

Nakia - awesome blues singer - plays weekly in Austin

Burton

Tana and her son

Charlie and Ashley (Susan's son and girlfriend)

Doing the Texas Two-Step

Attic Show

2007-03-18T23:22:00.000-05:00

Waiting outside for the doors to open

June holding spaces at the front of the stage

Lauren at her usual concert spot - front center rail

Rachel

Alexi Murdoch

Martha Wainwright

Mika

Willie Mason's brother, his drummer

Joe Purdy plays piano

Pete Townshend

SXSW photos

2007-03-18T23:18:00.000-05:00

Colleen at one of our lunch spots, Fodo's

Crowd shot at SXSW on 6th Street

Pictures from Muzak Party

2007-03-18T23:03:00.000-05:00

Our Austin hostess, Susan (AustinGal)

Rachel at the intro

Rachel shining at the keyboards

Pete reclaims his guitarist spot

Bloggers enjoying the music

Rachel's guitarist, Joleon

Last Day of SXSW

2007-03-18T01:59:00.000-05:00

How to describe SXSW? An Austin native told me before I came down that SXSW was like Spring Break for grown-ups. In a way, it was. But, it also seemed to be spring break for quite a few of the college students that were here as well. Walking down the streets of 6th Street became more difficult as the festival went on. Tonight was very crowded - almost like walking through the French Quarter at New Orleans albeit with cleaner streets. (You don't want to wear nice shoes walking through the French Quarter.) People jostle you constantly and you have to weave in and out of the oncoming crowds.

Police are out in full force, mostly standing and watching, some on horseback. The crowds are generally good-natured. And, the people watching has been entertaining. I had wondered what type of clothes to bring and I've seen everything from women wearing bra tops and skirts, a man wearing only a zebra-patterned thong, a bright green kelly corderoy suit (not on St. Paddy's Day), hot pink hair, and more mohawks than I could count. I thought the mohawk had gone out of style? And, of course, an occasional cowboy hat and lots of cowboy boots in various styles.

Overwhelmingly is the sound of music. It blares at you from every doorway, from people sitting outside on the street corners playing their own instruments for spare change, and I even saw a group of people playing the metal fence, the trashcan and clapping their hands outside the parking garage tonight. Every style of music imaginable can be found at SXSW.

Our last day started with the Blogger party at RajiWorld. It was a beautiful day with the temps in the 70s, a nice breeze and a few clouds so the sun was not in full force. Susan and her family had spread out a blanket for us under the trees. The strong scent of rosemary was in the air since the party was being held at a nursery. There was an outside stage with lots of space around for people to put their chairs and blankets. The first act was not that impressive, but they got better. We heard mostly solo acoustic guitar, but we also heard some great bands, including the Mother Truckers and Ian MacLagan and the Bump Band. Other performers, I really enjoyed, included nakia (awesome soul/blues) and Jameson McMurtrie - he did some great folk-type songs.

Bloggers who attended were Susan (AustinGal), ColleenM, Michelle (LifeImitatesArt), Burton, Tana, Lynne, and Brandi (JunebugTX). Some brought their families and their partners. We had a great time talking and learning more about each other. We also talked a lot about Pete and Rachel - how they've built a community, the obvious love and respect that they have for each other, the encouragement and support they give each other, and the future possibilities we see growing out of this partnership. The bloggers got their picture taken with Ian MacLagan who is such a nice guy. We enjoyed his show every time we saw it here in SXSW. He plays every week here in Austin and also performs outside of TX. He will be in NJ in the Fall. Check him out if he comes to your area.

After the Rajiworld party, Colleen, Burton, Michelle and I went out for Mexican food. Then back to SXSW where we caught Alexi Murdoch and then Eliza Gilykison. Michelle and Burton then took off and we listened to a little bit of Peter Case. His music was solo guitar and we wanted something with a little more energy. We went back to 6th Street and waited for a band to set up. Their sound check was a little scary - "Check 1, Check 2, SCREAM" As they were ready to start, their lead singer came on stage - white puffy strapless prom-type dress and she had long black hair - she gingerly comes on stage and then the music starts: loud, angry, and lots of screaming. We stayed for the first song and then headed out.

We would like SXSW to be longer and are sorry to be leaving tomorrow. But, we are already making plans to come back next year.

In addition to the music, we have made some new friends in Austin. Susan has been such a great hostess to us. Brandi and Tanya - it was so nice to meet them and to get to know them better. Michelle and Burton - we had a lot of fun hanging out with them and hearing their stories of Who concerts and being part of their Austin Attic show. Lauren - she was always on the move with a clear agenda of what she wanted to see and do at SXSW and she had the best tips on how to get to first row, center. June had some great tips on bands to see at SXSW. It's late so if I've forgotten anyone, I apologise. Lynne - although she was busy working for Ian MacLagan, we still managed to run into her and see her a little bit.

Again, Rachel has made a new community. We're all connected on the grid, but it is so nice to meet people in person and to really get to know them.

Day Three - SXSW

2007-03-17T02:45:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that SXSW is almost over. Colleen and I have been having a blast!

Today, we had lunch at the Spaghetti Warehouse and then headed over to the Convention Center. We walked through Flatstock - exhibits of music artists - very creative folks. I understand that Austin music poster artists created the greatest poster art anywhere in the country. Some famous Austin artists include Michael Priest, Jim Franklin, Harry Gonzales and Gilbert Shelton.

Then we went through the vendor exhibits. There is supposed to be a great music blog at http://club.kingsnake.com. Haven't checked it out yet, but the vendor gave a great sales job about it.

After checking out the convention center and making sure we knew where Rachel would be performing at her DirectTV show, we headed over to Brush Square Park to the Muzak Tent Party where Susan (AustinGal)had set up a table. She decorated the table with Who targets and In the Attic symbols. Other bloggers who joined us were Burton, June, JunebugTX, and Lauren. We had a great time getting to know each other. The weather had cooled off some, but was still nicer than what I hear the NorthEast was getting - we heard PA and NJ were getting inches of snow.

A funny thing happened as we were waiting for Rachel. We saw a line forming and at the front of the line was a young attractive guy who looked like he was a lead singer in a band. People at the front of the line were talking to him and it looked as if people were lined up to talk to him. I wondered who this guy was and Burton said he would ask. He got up and asked the people in line what they were waiting for. He came back and told me "His name is John." Everyone was waiting in line for the PortaPotties. Burton is a good man!

We had a good time waiting for Rachel to arrive. Sitting outside, listening to the other bands, both at our tent and at the tent next door, drinking beer and margaritas and getting to know each other better. Susan brought an "In the Attic" sign and we all signed it with a message to Rachel.

Also, while we were waiting, Sean and Joleon (Rachel's guitarist) were walking around looking for the rest of the crew. I had a nice conversation with the two of them. Joleon had played with Rachel back in 2004 and ran into her at the Reno Who concert and she invited him to play with her at SXSW. He was very sweet and nice to talk to.

Rachel arrived and we went into the tent to watch her. All the bloggers were in the front row. She looked beautiful (pictures to follow when I get home). She played many of the same songs she later played at DirectTV - Cigarettes & Housework, Pleasure Seeker, Sir Walter Raleigh, Blue and Sunrise. As she walked off stage, we handed her our signed Attic sign.

After the Muzak Tent Party, Colleen and I went over to a place called Bourbon Rocks. It was fairly empty but we saw a good band called LoneLady. Because the place was pretty empty, we had lots of room to dance. We walked to the Rio after that to meet AustinGal, but by the time we got there, she had already left for DirectTv and we got a call that the line was forming so we headed over there. We got to the Convention Center, got in line for about 15 minutes and then headed into the studio.

Rachel was charming and on target for the DirectTV show. At the last Joe's Pub show, she said she had been told that her piano playing was tentative that night. She was not tentative on DirectTV. Her piano skills were very evident as were her singing skills. I was really surprised that she played "It's a Motherfucker" but she said that the TV had cut away for that song and it would be played at a later time. Rachel invited Pete to join her for the Sunrise song and he explained that he wrote that song for his mother, the first song that he had ever written. Martha Wainwright and Pete also joined Rachel for one of Martha's songs. I enjoyed the three of them better than when Martha plays alone. Rachel's piano playing added quite a bit to the song and it definitely was not tentative!

Rachel explained at the DirectTV show that Pete had helped her overcome her stage fright about singing. And, Pete said that Rachel used special sign language to talk to old deaf rockers. They talked about how they wrote the In The Mix song for Pete's 59th birthday. They sang it together, with Rachel away from the piano singing and using "sign language" along with the song. For example, she tapped the inside of her elbow when saying he was her fix.

As we left the studio, we saw on the monitor that Rachel was being interviewed but we were not able to hear it. For some reason, they have big TVs outside the DirectTV studios, but there is no volume. People were sitting outside watching concerts they were unable to hear. Why, I don't know.

Burton, Colleen and I headed back to the clubs but because Burton did not have a badge, we were not able to get into the first club we tried. So instead, we went to a margarita place and sat out on the deck with margaritas. SXSW is a good place for music, but it is also a good place for people watching. Rachel - people need to listen to your Fashion Tips webcast!

After our rest and a margarita, Colleen and I headed back to Bourbon Rocks. We saw a great UK band, Ron Sexsmith. JunebugTX had told us to go see them and she was right. They had a great sound and I am going to look them up on iTunes. The next band was from Chicago and we were told they were a Beatles band. They looked like the Beatles, but in no way, did I think they sounded like the Beatles. Their name was The Redwalls and they were also very good. Colleen and I danced for two hours before the lights came on and we had to head home.

Blogger party tomorrow afternoon as well as a full slate of other bands and activities. But tomorrow is the last day for me as I go back home on Sunday. I think there are a few events Sunday night that I will miss but for the most part, SXSW ends tomorrow. Colleen and I are already making plans to come back next year.

Day Two - SXSW

2007-03-16T03:02:00.000-05:00

Colleen and I headed back into Austin between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. Once there, we found a great little Irish Pub, Fodo, for lunch. At the restaurant, there was a singer/guitarist named Frank Turner who was pretty good. We ate outside on a small patio enjoying the sunshine and the warm Austin weather. Yesterday had been overcast and rainy. Today is supposed to be the warmest day of the week. We heard it was snowing or supposed to snow in PA and NJ even though yesterday it had been 75 in PA.

After lunch, we walked down to the Attic site. It was about 4:00 p.m. and there were two other bloggers already waiting, Michelle and Burton. They did not have badges or wristbands, but were hoping for a general admission ticket. We went around to the other door to start forming the line. It was a warm day standing in the sun and the guys came to start setting up the crowd control barriers. While they had the gate open, we took the chance to move into the patio area and get out of the sun. It felt much nicer under the shade! Burton was kind enough to go get some waters for Colleen, Michelle and me.

Lauren and June arrived shortly thereafter and more people started drifing in. Lauren took charge of the situation and was directing people where to stand in the different lines. The manager kicked us back out into the sun and the lines got longer. We had a line for badge holders, a line for wristbands and a line for General Admission. As the time got closer to 5:30, the lines got longer but everyone was fairly organized and pleasant.

At 5:30, they opened the doors and started letting us in. We went right to the rail by the front of the stage and sat down on the floor leaving space enough for Michelle, Burton and one other gentleman who did not have badges. As Lauren will tell you, and she told us several times, you need to sit down and spread out to reserve enough space around you so you are not crushed up against the rail and have room for the others to join us later.

Our spots were ideal for the show even with the numerous photographers in the pit in front of us. I won't get the order right because it is too late, but Pete started the show off with a song. He was in a good mood and was cracking many jokes and clowning around. Willie Mason's band was excellent although we swear that his drummer was about 10 years old. His drum set even looked like a starter drum set for a child. Willie, himself, didn't look like he had started shaving yet, and their violinist looked about 16. But they didn't play like teenagers - they were very good. I had not heard them before.

Joe Purdy played and it wasn't until his last song when he had Pete and Willie Mason and band join him, that I saw the Joe Purdy I saw the night before. When Joe played solo, he stood still and was very laidback. When he had others on stage with him, he was doing a two-step and really got into it. He seems to feed off the energy of others on stage.

Mika was introduced by Rachel as a number one artist in the UK. His style was very different. I could see his songs being used for commercials and other jingles, and I liked it but I don't think I would buy his album or listen to his music on a regular basis. He was funny and comical on stage, and used his voice as a comedic tool.

Alexi Murdoch played and he was also good. I love his song, Orange Sky. The song he chose for his finale was a mournful song. He is also a solo artist and as I see more and more bands at SXSW, I've been really noticing how the band members feed off of each other's energy. It is unusual for a solo performer to get the energy up and to pull the audience in to that sense of excitement.

Martha Wainwright did not wear the horse pajamas this time. She wore a short dress that showed off her beautiful legs. Rachel had been joking about how she did the Attic shows so she could kiss all these young men, and when she introduced Martha, she said she also liked the girls. When Martha came on stage and kissed Rachel hello, she grabbed her ass. Martha played great as usual.

Rachel also played and sang well - she replaced her normal guitarist, Pete, with a new young guitarist, I'm not sure what his name was, but it sounded like Joelin. Rachel played It's a Motherfucker, Walter Raleigh, Blue, and Pleasure Seeker.

Pete played In the Ether and Can't Reach You, but his set was cut short because they ran out of time. He performed with each of the artists as did Rachel.

After the Attic show, we headed over to see the rest of Ian McLagan and the Bump Band's set. Again as yesterday, they did a great show. The club was packed but we pushed our way forward to the front of the stage. Lynne was there and we got a chance to say hello to her.

From there we went to another club and saw the end of the Hacienda Brothers, definitely a country band. I haven't seen anyone play the accordian in real life, only in movies or tv. We then saw the Mother Truckers and let me tell you, that guitarist made his guitar wail like I've seldom seen before. I had heard they were good but had never seen them before. I'd like to see them again. Speaking of a band feeding energy to each other, this band was rocking and having a blast with each other.

We tried to go see the Frattellis after that, but ended up going down to West 6th St instead of East 6th St, and then ran into a new friend. By then, their set would have been over.

It was a long night, but extremely fun. I did take pictures but unfortunately did not pack my cable connection so cannot download them from my camera. I will post them when I get home.

More to come tomorrow. My feet hurt :-(

Day One - SXSW

2007-03-15T01:14:00.000-05:00

I got up at 3:00 am this morning (actually, yesterday morning) to finish packing and head off to BWI to catch a flight to Houston and then to Austin, TX for SXSW. Trip to the airport went well. Security, even at that hour, was a little backed up and I have to say they were not so thorough in their screenings. Get on the plane on time and everyone is ready to go. The pilot, however, announces that we have to wait because they forgot to put fuel in the plane. Since I have a very short layover, 45 minutes, in Houston, I'm a little concerned about this delay. Thirty minutes pass before we take off and get on our way to Houston. Somehow, we still manage to land in Houston 15 minutes before we were supposed to arrive. My connecting flight is on the other side of the airport so I make my trek over to that gate where we should already have been boarding. It is another 15 minutes before we begin boarding what will be a very full flight. Lots of guitars and other musical equipment are carried on board the plane and it is obvious, we are heading to SXSW.

The pilot for the Austin flight announces that we are going to have a very bumpy ride and that we are to keep our seatbelts on and that the flight crew will not be serving drinks due to the expected turbulence. The flight to Houston had been bumpy near the end. However, we have a very smooth flight and no turbulence at all.

I meet Colleen at the hotel and we head off to AustinGal's parking garage where she has thoughtfully provided a parking space for us. She gave us maps and showed us around the general area. We head off to the Convention Center to register thinking it will be quick and we can head back to the hotel and get ready for Pete's keynote address. Over an hour later, we finally get our badges and can head back to the hotel. Took us longer than expected because traffic was heavy and we unfortunately got off at the wrong exit and circled around for awhile. We arrived back at the Hilton at 6:00 p.m. with the keynote to start at 6:30. We had feared crowds that would prevent us from seeing Pete's talk, but we were able to get seats in the 8th row. The Ballroom filled up by 6:30 so Pete had a full house.

As Sully posted, Pete talked about the differences in the band's interactions based on the different personalities; his realization one day when he heard the Who's music on the local radio station that he was not an artist anymore, but rather was a something he couldn't describe, (a celebrity, a persona, a performer, ...); his early vision of The Method and his long wait for it to be realized; his new joy at performing live at small venues like the Attic shows - to have the freedom to play as he wants, not how others want him to play. It was a wonderful exchange between Pete and his "interviewer".

We hadn't really planned on it, but Colleen and I then went to the Music Awards. We were so happy later that we did, because there were some awesome performers at the Awards, including Pete who did a surprise appearance with Ian McLagan and the Bump Band. I say surprise, but there were lots of rumors flying around the room that Pete was going to play with Ian. When we saw Alan setting up his guitar on stage, we knew the rumors were true. They obviously enjoyed themselves during their performance and as Pete described in his Keynote, they were in the Zone.

After the awards ceremony/show, Colleen and I went to see Joe Purdy. He and his band, particularly Brian Wright (guitar/singer) and Albert (keyboards) were also in the Zone. Joe appears somewhat laidback and more quiet in the Attic shows. With his band, he is all over the stage and very alive. I had bought his album after seeing him at the Attic show, but this was a new Joe Purdy that we experienced. He and Brian had a tremendous amount of fun in their set and played off each other's energy.

After Joe's band, we saw Ari Hest who has a small band, but tonight played by himself. I have never heard him before but I was very impressed. He would make a great Attic performer! He has a new album coming out in May and is from NYC. I would recommend all of you checking him out.

It is after 1:00 am and the music is still going on at SXSW, but we decided to come home and post quickly before crashing. More to come over the next few days.

One thing I do want to mention is that Susan (AustinGal) told us that the Grid that Pete talks about is not only between Pete/Rachel and their fans, but the Grid connects the fans to each other. I have met a lot of great people through the Attic and she's right. We are all connected to each other, even though we may not have met each other in person.

Rachel Fuller Events at SXSW

2007-03-08T22:37:00.000-05:00

Rachel Fuller w/Special Guests - *BADGES/WRISTBANDS ONLY* - (and Gen. Pub. if ANY room is left over.) - Thursday, March 15th, 6:00 pm. La Zona Rosa - 612 W. 4th Street Austin, TX

MUZAK North by Tent Party w/Rachel Fuller - Friday, March 16th, 5:00 pm - Brush Square Park, 5th St. @ Neches - Free margaritas & taco bar - bring a blanket and sit on the grass! Also featuring The Alternate Routes, The Hot IQs, Scott McCurry, Andy Zipf, and Sarah Marince. This is an RSVP event -- go to www.muzak.com/sxsw and email a "RSVP".

Rachel Fuller @ SXSW Live - Friday, March 16th, 10:00 pm - Lone Start Lounge area at Austin Convention Center. *COMPLEMENTARY TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ALL FESTIVAL ATTENDEES AND GENERAL PUBLIC - SPACE PERMITTING* - (which means line up early). These 40-minute performances are being filmed for broadcast on DirectTV - so check your local listings!!

Ian McLagan Events at SXSW

2007-03-08T22:35:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, March 14 - Austin Music Awards (7:55pm)
Austin Convention Center

Thursday, March 15 - Lucky Lounge (8pm) - FREE!
Four guys walk into a bar... Join us for 'Happy Hour' with the Bump Band.
*NOTE: Special late set for SXSW week only from 8-10pm.

Thursday, March 15 - Whiskey Bar (1am)
Official SXSW/Rajiworld showcase

Friday, March 16 - SXSW Trade Show Events
Austin Convention Center, Trade Show & Exhibition

South By Bookstore signing with Ian McLagan (2pm)
Mac will be meetin', greetin' and signin' copies of his highly acclaimed CD, Spiritual Boy, An Appreciation of Ronnie Lane and his rock 'n' roll biography, All The Rage. Don't miss out!
Hosted by Barnes & Noble.

Studio SX featuring an interview with Ian McLagan (3:30pm)
Studio SX is located at the northeast corner of the Music Trade Show & Exhibition.

Visit SXSW.com for more details.

Saturday, March 17 - Big Red Sun (Bumps 8pm)
Rajiworld +1 party (3-9 pm)

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us! Featuring performances by Adam Carroll, A.J. Croce, Billy Harvey, Hacienda Brothers, Jeff Hughes & Chaparral, The Mother Truckers, Nakia, Miss. Pamela Des Barres, Skyrocket featuring Kathy Valentine, and our very own Ian McLagan & the Bump Band. Come on down!

Yee-Haw - - Blogger Party at SXSW

2007-03-08T22:29:00.000-05:00

Bloggers in or near Austin, TX on March 17:
We are meeting at the Rajiworld party on Saturday, March 17, from 3-9 p.m. AustinGal will mark our spot with a flag with an Attic symbol(s) on it. Look for us near the stage. Party is open to all, regardless of whether you are a conference registrant or not. $10 donation requested at the door to benefit GenAustin.

Breakfast, Anyone?

2007-03-03T17:37:00.000-05:00

Last night, I took my son and five of his friends to our church for Open Gym Night. He won the prize for bringing the most friends. We are trying to grow our Youth Group back up to where it used to be in the past. (Another story sometime is how our church imploded on itself a few years back and we lost half our membership and our pastors in a theological split.)

Anyway, the kids had a great time playing basketball, eating snacks and listening to Christian rock. Don't think they paid much attention to the music, but our eventual plans are to have some praise worship mixed in with the Open Gym.

Two of his five friends slept over and this morning, very early for them since they were up all night, I dragged them out of their sleeping bags to go serve breakfast to the homeless. His two friends had not gone before and I learned afterwards by listening to their comments, they had been worried about going. Luckily my kids and their friends do not censor their comments (well, I'm sure they do), but they seem to talk about everything in front of me and I can learn a lot by quietly listening to their conversations.

We ran by McDonalds for a quick breakfast before heading to the church we serve breakfast at, not our church, but a downtown church. The boys set up the tables and put supplies out while the adults cooked sausage, pancakes and scrambled eggs. We scrambled 36 dozen eggs and cooked over 500 sausage links and everything was set up and ready to start serving in 45 minutes. The line for breakfast starts forming by 8:00 am and we have the doors open by 9:00, but we open early if we are ready.

The boys rotated between three stations: handing out trays to the people as they entered the serving line; serving orange juice; and serving sausage. I had pancake duty.

People are so appreciative and thankful for the breakfast. Not all are homeless, but most seem to be. Others, I think, are trying to stretch their grocery dollars. There are some children present, but the majority are adults and of the adults, most are male. A few have obvious handicaps, but most seem able-bodied. They wait patiently in line for breakfast, sit at crowded tables we have set up in a small all-purpose room in the basement of the church, and eat in a slightly smoky haze that develops from the kitchen's inadequate ventilation system. Many of them return for seconds and even thirds. One told me this morning that he hadn't eaten for quite a while and was very happy to get breakfast that morning.

Ages seem to range from late teens/early 20's to older people in their 60s. All smile while in line and thank us profusely for their food and for our service. One little boy, who was probably my son's age, came up for his third serving. He spoke very quietly, so quietly, I had to lean over close to hear him and even then it was difficult.

'My' boys, as we left the church, spoke about how amazed they were at how nice the homeless were to them. I think they had been expecting strange scarey people who would be far different than themselves. They had lots of questions for me afterwards about how you eat when you are homeless? how do you sleep? where do you stay? how do you keep warm?

They had fun and felt useful at the same time. I think it was a good learning experience for them and for me even though I've done it before.

Acts of Kindness

2007-02-25T14:12:00.000-05:00

Busy day yesterday and things did not quite work out as I had planned. Isn't that how it usually goes?

I started the morning with my son's play-off basketball game. It did not go well. His team was keeping even with the other team, but the refs seemed to be playing for the other team. No fouls, even blatent fouls, by the other team were called. One of our coaches got yelled at by the other league's coordinator and one of our spectators was told to leave the gym. Testosterone was flowing in full force, but all calmed down. We lost, but our boys felt they had played well and they had played honestly.

After the game, I had told my son that before his friends could come over, I needed to do some errands. I dropped him off at the house quick so I could make one stop. As I was coming back, I saw one of his friends going into the house. That's not allowed for starters - having friends over when I'm not home. As soon as I got inside, he had arranged for another friend to come over. "But, Mom, I didn't know that's what you said that I had to wait until later..."

My daughter then arrived home and was able to watch the boys for me. My house is usually full of 11-year old boys on the weekends. I generally don't mind since I work too many hours during the week to host them here then. I ran out to start my errands. Shortly there after I got a phone call from home saying I needed to come back home. My son had a 3-inch splinter in his hand. I thought my daughter was exaggerating, but no, it was a 3" splinter - biggest splinter I had ever seen. I should have taken a picture of it. I could not get it out and I knew even if I got part of it out, that part would still be left in his hand.

Act of Kindness:
I called my doctor but he was not on call. He had a referring doctor covering his calls. I was picturing about 5 hours sitting in the ER waiting to be seen. But, this doctor opened her office for me to bring him in. She was so nice and helpful. My son was worried about how they were going to take this chunk of wood out of his hand, but she made it very easy for him. Still took about 3 hours, all said and done, since I had to take his friends home and drive 30 minutes to her office.

Act of Kindness:
After he got home, he went off to show his war wound to his friends. I went outside to try and chip ice off one of my sidewalks. I was not making much headway when my neighbor came out and offered me the use of an ice chipper. I had been using a flat metal shovel. His tool made things much easier even though I did not get it all off. I did make a path at least for people to get through. I have blisters on my hands though!

Act of Kindness:
I've been exchanging emails with two fellow Who fan/bloggers about the SXSW festival. One who lives in Austin has offered Colleen and I so much hospitality and advance information, it is overwhelming! Both have gone out of their way to give us inside information and to help us prepare for what is going to be an awesome time in Austin. We are so looking forward to it. Susan has offered us help with parking, to show us the city and to introduce us to some historical music figures in Austin. The best way to see a city is with someone who lives there! We have never met and she has gone out of her way to help us out.

It's snowing again. I was out on the deck with my dog Britney watching the heavy snow thinking about all the acts of kindness I've seen or been part of in the last few days. Bloggers holding vigil for Hotel Cafe tickets even if there was no chance of their attendance - they were looking out for each other. Neighbors helping each other. A sister looking out for her younger brother, comforting him and calming him and his friends down. A doctor opening her office on a beautiful Saturday afternoon so I didn't have to go to an emergency room. Coaches who spend their free time teaching young boys and girls the art of sportsmenship. My son who went out willingly and tried to shovel some of the ice off the sidewalk. Too many more to talk about here. We all make a difference in each other's lives.

Joe's Pub, Show #3

2007-02-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

The third time is the charm! What an awesome show, totally amazing, as so many of the other bloggers have said. Their postings on Rachel's blog or on their own sites are far more eloquent than I can be. Found two new artists to add to my ipod collection - Rachael Yamagata and Amos Lee. That's one of the best things about the Attic shows. I always hear an artist that I might not have found otherwise. Even if I was familiar with the name, I may not have heard their music.

Again, it was a very intimate show. This time I didn't have a front-row table, but I stood in the back by the door. I had a perfect view of the entire stage and a counter to lean against and put my drink on. It was also not as crowded in that section so we had room to move around. One benefit of not being at a table! At the tables, you really had no room to move your chair and have any space.

I didn't recognize many celebrities in the table section, but I heard Matt Dillon was there. I wasn't spending much time looking for celebs though, was more interested in the music. Jimmy Fallon was great and I understand he went on Conan this week and talked about the show. Would have liked to hear that clip. There was someone behind me that must have been from the music industry. People kept coming up to him asking him if he was ok and if he was enjoying the show.

Pete played some classics and his partnering with Lou Reed and J Mascis was fantastic.

Off to the SXSW festival in March. I am really looking forward to that and hopefully the Austin Attic show!

Bob From Sesame Street!

2007-02-22T21:52:00.000-05:00

Went to NYC for the weekend. On Monday, I went to the Barnes & Noble store in Lincoln Center where Melissa Riggio, Rachel Fuller and Bob from Sesame Street did a show to highlight Down's Syndrome. I forgot how much I loved Bob from Sesame Street!

The show went really well. Melissa was nervous at first - who wouldn't be? All those people staring at you and a microphone stuck in your face. I remember the first time I had to talk to a crowd of over 100 people. Public speaking had never been much of an issue, but I stood in front of about 600 people and I totally went blank and my opening didn't go as smoothly as I had planned. It happened once again when the group was about the size of about 130 people.

When she was with Rachel, though, singing, she began to relax and I hear when she did the TV interviews, she was very eloquent.

After the event, it was great having lunch with Jon, Lisa, Lin, Colleen and Bryan. We were all heading to Joe's the next day. And, everyone was psyched because they had the opportunity to speak with Pete and have their photos taken with him. Despite having some woman hand him a pile of albums to sign, Pete was in a relatively good mood and very gracious to the bloggers.

Wild Winter

2007-02-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

We got snow Tuesday night into Wednesday, followed by sleet and then more snow. Couldn't make it into the office Wednesday so worked from home. Thursday, I also worked from home. I usually work from home on Fridays so it will be three days at home. School was cancelled Wed & Thurs. as well. Friday and Monday are holidays, so the kids are enjoying a 6-day weekend.

Spent way too much time shoveling, but the kids are really enjoying it. The neighborhood boys have been in and out, spending many hours outside sledding down the hills in our neighborhood. They don't mind the bitter cold or the blowing snow. They are having the time of their lives.

I leave Saturday to go up to New York. I'm going to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin on Long Island for a few hours. Then I'll leave my car at their house and take the train into the city. An old friend of mine is in town for work so I'll spend a few days getting reacquainted. Monday is Rachel's event at Barnes & Noble. My cousin works there so I'll see her there. Tuesday, she and I are going to the Attic show at Joe's Pub. We'll meet up with ColleenM and have dinner before the show. I'll head home sometime on Wednesday.

Sorry to say that three, and hopefully all the mice, have met their end. Gave up on the Havahart trap and used the old-fashioned spring loaded traps. My son was not happy but he accepted it.

Hope everyone is surviving the cold and staying warm.

Mouse in the House

2007-02-11T20:11:00.000-05:00

At least I am hoping it is a mouse - could be several mice, could be a rat or some other type of rodent. I haven't seen it, but we've heard it and we've seen the droppings. We used to have a cat so I've never had to deal with a mouse in the house before. Our cat, Freddie, developed diabetes and while I tried very hard to keep her healthy with the condition, I could not keep her blood sugar levels stable. She was a very brittle diabetic. I used to have to test her blood several times a day, give her insulin shots and she still seemed to be in pain or sick. So we finally put her down. The dog does not seem to know there is a mouse in the house.

My daughter is terrified of the mouse - she is rather dramatic about most things and this is no exception. My son has thrown my own teachings back into my face. But, Mom, you said that we should treat all living creatures with kindness and respect. You can't kill the mouse. We have to catch it and let it free outside.

We went to the hardware store and instead of spending $2 for a simple but deadly mouse trap. I spent over $20 for a HavAHart trap. So far, however, the mouse is winning. He or she has taken the bait and not been caught in the trap. I'm using peanut butter. And the trap seems very sensitive to me, but apparently not to the mouse.

Is this world everything God created it to be?

2007-02-09T21:06:00.001-05:00

Sometimes we don't know the effect we have in the world or on other people. Small or big acts have consequences and can change the world for the better or for the worse.

Bee's Knees

2007-02-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

This month's edition of Discover magazine had a page devoted to 20 Things You Didn't Know About Bees:

When the drones mate with the Queen, they die afterwards from a ruptured abdomen. Their endophallus becomes detached and gets stuck inside the queen. She, however, continues to mate until she collects more than 70 million sperm from multiple males.

Australian researchers discovered that honeybees can distinguish between human faces and Los Alamos scientists have trained bees to recognize explosives.

In April, 1984, 3,300 bees were sent into space on the Challenger space shuttle. They built a near perfect hive in zero gravity, but did not go to the bathroom for seven days. Bees will not go inside their hive and since they could not get out of their holding box, they held it for a week.

American cartoonist, Tad Dorgan, came up with the expression, "bee's knees", "the cat's pajamas", "the flea's eyebrows", "the canary's tusks" and "Yes, we have no bananas."

ATTIC JAM_JOE'S PUB N.Y 14th SEPT 2006

2007-02-06T21:57:00.001-05:00

This is a sampler from the first Joe's Pub show in Sept 2006. I am heading back to Joe's for show #3 in two weeks. I can't wait. Rock the Fuck On!

My Blog is Turning Political

2007-02-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

I've always had strong political views, but this blog was not intended to be a podium for those. I started this blog to be able to post on Rachel's original blog rather than just be a 'lurker'. She's moved sites a few times. And, I've traveled the country to see her Attic shows. I've downloaded her podcasts and I'm planning on buying not only more of her music, but those of the artists that she's had on her shows - artists that I probably wouldn't have explored since I tended to listen primarily to classic rock and/or the rap that my daughter and son prefer.

My first post says I probably won't put much out on the blog. But, then I started posting my Fuller/Who travels. But there was a long hiatus between shows. Instead, to fill my blog airspace, I've started voicing my political and sometimes slightly philosophical, maybe sophomoric viewpoints.

Good thing that Rachel, Pete and the rest of the Attic gang will be coming to Joe's Pub in just 15 days! I have another concert to go to before that, but I'm looking forward to NYC. The month after that, I'm headed to SXSW for four days of music, with of course, another Attic show.