autumn winds

Wow, it’s really windy in NJ. It has been windy for the last week and today the wind was blowing like crazy.

Saturday I met Sara at the Quakerbridge Mall. I got some jeans and a jacket at JC Penney. Sara wanted to go to the mall because she wanted more ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ stuff at the Disney store. She got the plush dolls a few days ago and yesterday she got the other plastic dolls and the plastic covered mug (it’s nice) and a cool baseball cap. She is really into that movie and Corpse Bride. I prefer Corpse Bride but I only saw part of Nightmare so it’s hard to compare. She is totally into Jack Skelington and it’s really neat. She has been carrying around the movie in her portable DVD player for weeks now. We left the mall and got Chinese food and came back here to watch ‘Nightmare’ and then we watched some Simpsons (Treehouse Of Horror Vol 7, The Itchie and Scratchy and Poochie Show). Sara played pinball. We had fun. A nice start to my vacation.

Sunday Sara and Genie came over. We got a pizza and watched some of ‘Corpse Bride’. We played pinball together and Sara was playing guitar and singing which I was videotaping (she makes up lyrics in Japanese by singing random Japanese sounding words, and she just bangs on the guitar). I am not forcing her to learn the guitar, I just show her how to play notes and tell her that she should start playing the notes. She is smart and when she decides to play the notes, she will. We changed the headlight in Genie’s SUV. Nothing special but then again the simple things are really special to me. It was windy but not very cold and when we drove to get the pizza it was really nice to see the colors and feel the fall air. We listened to some Renaissance (Camera Camera, Time Line) and some Clammbon (Lover Album) and a bit of (Annie in Wonderland) and we were joking around. We were joking around a lot inside the house and tickling each other and Sara was laughing a lot. She is really happy. They left and Sara went to Girl Scouts and I just talked to her on the phone for 35 minutes. We talked about some things and then she was reading me Halloween stories and she made up her own Halloween story. I told her that she is a really good girl which is true. She really is. She is perfect.

I did some computer this weekend and home improvement stuff and I watched ‘When Harry Met Sally’ which is an ok movie. It’s a romantic comedy so it’s more of a girls movie but it had some funny scenes in it. Billy Crystal does his ‘Did you see what I did there?’ line which he perfected in ‘Mr. Saturday Night’ later.

It will be nice weather tomorrow, I hope the wind stops blowing so hard. I am looking forward to Halloween. Well, to sum it up it’s been another great weekend thanks to Sara. And Genie is also special to me. She is a good soul and it’s easy to get along with her. I am lucky. Life would be terrible if I could not get along with her. So again, I am lucky.

vacation, all i ever wanted . .

I am on vacaton. wow, cool.

I don’t have to go back to work until Nov 6. Then I will have another four day weekend at Thanksgiving. Then we will be in December and holiday yuletide.

Last week was pretty typical. I had class on Thursday and we are finally going to get the photoshop end of things starting next week. We have no class on Halloween and I will be on vacation all this coming week. So I am feeling pretty good.

It got pretty cold for a few days. It also rained last night and this morning but it is warming up. Next week the weather should be good. I am starting to plan my goals for this vacation. I want to get a lot done.

Last night I watched ‘The Electrifying Conclusion’ DVD by GBV while I was doing things around the house.

Well, I guess I don’t have much to write at the moment. I need to get busy around the house now.

clammbon

I am really into Clammbon right now. I am listening to ‘The Lover Album’ in the car daily.

This week is rolling along. Monday night I went to Sara’s soccer game. They played under the lights and Sara played Offense in the first and third quarters. I took some video, no pictures. I came home and went right to sleep.

Tuesday I went to class and we reviewed our project two in front of the class and then we worked on our project 3. Illustrator is cool. I am just not in the mood to work with it at the moment because I am so burned out from work everyday. The drive, plus waking up early. I came home and went right to sleep after work.

Wednesday (tonight) I came home after work and went to get my car re-aligned. It was pulling to the left. I hope it is ok now. Then I came home and watched disc two of ‘The Civil War’. Wow, it is really interesting. Someday I want to visit some Civil War sites. I would also like to learn about the Revolutionary War. I live so close to all those spots.

I was doing some reading tonight and some computer stuff also. I talked to Sara on the phone, she is happy. She was at the mall tonight to get new glasses and she went to the Disney store to buy some things with a gift certificate that she got for her birthday (From her friend Shrea). She got some ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ stuff, she told me on the phone. She is really happy. Genie and I are not very happy because Sara’s left eye has gotten worse rather than better. She has some ‘fuzzy’ vision in her left eye. But her right eye is fine. Her new glasses are very strong in the left eye so we hope she will be able to wear them. I never wore glasses, I am lucky. I wish I could help Sara more with her vision. I would sell everyting I have in a minute if it helped her even one bit. We will need to make some decisions about where to take her next for her eye. It is making me upset, but we just have to help her as best as we can. The glasses are expensive at $350 but I would pay any amount to help her. She is the number one priority in my life.

It got cold this week and very windy. It is supposed to warm up a little bit next week. We will see. The wind has been making it seem even colder but it is definitely heading for winter. My heat is on in the house. Fall colors are in full bloom but the wind and cold are making it hard to stay outside. I am considering some vacation time but I may just hold on to it so I get the pay when I get laid off.

the rat who serves cheese

Well, let me catch up on last week and this weekend.

The big news: I got the Nikon D80 and the Nikon 18-200 lens. Wow, what a combo! I have upgraded. This is my second Nikon DSLR and it turned out to be a blessing in disquise that my D70 broke which made me get the new D80. I have not used it much yet but it will be getting a lot of use in the coming weeks I am sure.

I went to class on Tuesday night but it was cancelled.
Johnny stopped by briefly on Wednesday to pick up copies of his resume which I printed out for him.
I went to class on Thursday night and we are still working on Project 3 in Illustrator.
Friday was Sara’s 10th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. It was great. She was really really happy. She had six friends with her and she laughed and played the whole time. I had a great time also. I got a lot of it on videotape. She was all smiles and the whole thing was a success. I got her some presents like a Hello Kitty art/sticker set, ‘Over The Hedge’ DVD and the ‘Miyazaki St.’ street sign. Also a Hello Kitty Halloween card with doorknob hangers on it. I also gave her ‘Shonen Knife – Let’s Knife on CD. I wrapped some of the presents in Hello Kitty wrapping paper. She was a very happy 10 year old. And I was too.

Saturday I met her at her soccer game. Genie showed up a little late and then she sat with her mom so I did not see Genie and Sara until after the game. I waved at Sara from the side at the beginning so she knew I was there. I took my first pictures with the D80 and the new lens today. After the game I drove Sara back to her house to get changed. Then we went to Ewing library (Sara stayed in the car, it was already 4:45 pm). We got Chinese food and came back to Ewing to eat and watch ‘Over The Hedge’ on DVD. I liked it again, it’s good. After the DVD (most of it, we did not watch the very end, because Sara had already watched it that morning) Sara played some pinball. She is getting good at ‘High Speed’. Then Sara was in my room and I showed her the stack of Japanese CD’s. She went through them all. Taking them out and pilling them on the floor and asking questions about some of them. She took 3 Shonen Knife cd’s and asked to borrow them. She then only decided to borrow two (Pretty Little Baka Guy and Genki Shock). She took the Genki Shock with English Lyrics (the pink one). She loves Let’s Knife and a lot of other Shonen. We then watched some YouTube videos of Shonen Knife and Clammbon. I was playing and singing ‘Wind Your Spring’ on guitar for her in my room so then we watched the live version from ‘Blast Off’ which is on YouTube. I am slowly getting her into Clammbon now. Which reminds me, I found a cool English Clammbon site here which is very cool. The same guy who made that site likes Shiina Ringo who is someone that I want to hear more off. I am aware of some of her stuff which sounds like it may be good.

Today I went to the library and got some biographies. Among them Patti Smith, Simon and Garfunkel, Gene Simmons, Kiss. Just some fun reading for now. Then I went to some stores and I bought Sara a yellow ‘life is good’ long sleeve shirt. I met up with Sara around 4pm at her house and we wanted to see the 3-D version of Nightmare Before Christmas but it was not playing around here. So we went to Party City and I got her a Halloween Costume and some Hello Kitty thank you cards for her party guests. We then went and got a pizza at Maninnos on Rt. 33. We ate the pizza there and we had a great time. We were laughing at the table so hard that Sara could not drink her soda through the straw or she would shoot it out from laughing so hard. Our humor is pretty out there but it works for us. At first Sara wanted pizza, then she changed her mind to Wendy’s. We asked her why and after some persistance in asking she said ’so we can throw the ball against the wall’. She wanted to throw tennis balls against the side wall of Home Depot next to Wendy’s. So told her we would do that first and then go to get pizza. She really likes to throw the ball with me and we have done it 3 or 4 times now. It is a tradition. We played ‘hit the daddy’ and she tries to hit me with the ball as I move on the wall. Today she hit me and I played ‘Hit the Duck’ and I hit her too (not hard of course). The game ended today when I threw the ball all the way onto the roof. Sara liked that, she dared me to do it. Today is my birthday and it is a good one because Sara is so great. She knows that being with her is all that I want for my birthday. If I ask her what I want for my birthday she says ‘me’. She is correct. So today I told her that it was a great birthday because I was with her. All true.
I talked a bit with The Eck today and my Aunt Marge in Florida. I was busy around the house also. I also took some nature pictures today with the D80 (in the development across from Lawrence library). This morning I also watched ‘The Birth Of Studio Ghilbli’ which is a bonus feature on Nausicaa Of the Valley Of The Wind. I had that in the player to check out the dub I made for Skip. I am also watching My Name is Earl, season one.. very funny.

I have a lot going right now. My interest in Japanese music and music in general is as strong as ever. I am getting into new stuff daily and always checking out stuff with a passion. It is wild to now realize that my passion for music is still going strong. I have to think that it will always be that way. It seems stronger than ever. I get so much emotion and energy and such a connection from the music. Sadly I am not doing enough of my own at the moment but I am getting the energy from others music. I really hope that I can push myself soon to get back into recording my own stuff and performing. Between working and Sara and stuff around the house (construction and daily stuff) and photography and computer stuff and taking a class in college it seems like my plate is very full. There is so much going on and I drive so much everyday. I am on the road for 1.5 to 3 hours every single day. I go to work early (long drive) then drive home (long drive) then go to Sara’s house or Sara’s soccer game or class at MCCC (more long driving). Many days I drive more than 100 miles a day. Most days I drive over 85 miles.

I will bounce back. I have to. I was not meant to just watch my life go by.
But at the same time I am relatively happy. Sara is the main reason.

nikon D80

I have been looking at the Nikon D80 and also some new lenses. It’s time to upgrade my photo gear. My D70 is broken and there is no immediate need to fix it if I get the D80. I am not sure what to do with the D70. Maybe I should get rid of all my old camera stuff in one shot. Sell everything used. I won’t get much.

Last night Johnny came over and I helped him type up his resume. I have been watching DVD’s of ‘My Name Is Earl’ which is very funny.

I went to the library today. I went to class but it was cancelled, teacher was sick. There was a note on the door. It was raining all day today. I got a lot of stuff done but nothing special. I was listening to ‘Clammbon – The Lover Album’ today. I like it a lot.

As I type this I am downloading a ton of music from newsgroups. Like the Pet Sounds sessions, some Cheap Trick, some Bleach (amazing to see them on newsgroups), and early Alice Cooper (Easy Action). Newsgroups still rule.

october is getting cold

Thursday I met Sara after school at Models sporting goods (Rt. 130) and we got her some new shin gaurds for soccer and also a net which you put the soccer ball into and kick it yourself (I am sure this thing has a name but I don’t know what to call it). When I met her at the sporting goods store she had her speaker-pillow and the portable DVD player watching ‘Corpse Bride’. Then I drove her to practice and it was a lovely night outside. It was sort of cold and very windy. My plan was to drop her off at practice and then go directly to school. I knew I would be a few minutes late for class. When we arrived at the practice she looked so cute out there practicing and she was having such a great time. I was watching her and not wanting to leave so I stayed for about 10 minutes. Finally I went to leave and she kept waving and I was waving back. I started driving to class but I realized that I would be over 20 minutes late for class and plus, I really wanted to stay with Sara so I stopped at Dunkin Donuts and grabbed a coffee and went back to practice. Sara was playing goalie when I returned (they were playing half field sideways so they had cones up for the goal). She looked at me and said “What are you doing back here?” I told her I missed her. After practice they had to run around the track and very few of the girls where really good at running. I drove Sara home and we listened to ‘They Might Be Giants – Flood’ and we talked. It was nice. My priority had to be with Sara over school. I can always learn but I am very aware that my time with Sara is the most important thing. I treasure it. Sara has another ear infection which upsets me because she gets them often and it worries me.

Friday I had off from work. I took a sick day. I could not see Sara because Genie worked late. I went to Allens Camera shop and bought a camera bag and also some lens caps for my D70 and lenses. I also went to ‘Positively Records’ in Levitown PA which is an amazing store. They have all the cool records. They stock tons of NRBQ, Laura Nyro, Loudon, Country, Oldies, Rock, you name it. And they have a killer used section. They make me flash back to the old days when it was exciting to go to the record store because you could find stuff. I walked out with ‘Renaissance – A Song For All Seasons (Japanese pressing, not the best sounding but that’s fine with me because it’s mostly a nostalgia listen for me)’, ‘Cheap Trick – Dream Police (has some bonus live cuts and a version of Dream Police without the strings which is cool, long overdue to have this on CD)’ and I got a used George Strait cd for 4 bucks. They were all cheap and the Renaissance was new for $10. I must return to this store often. When I mentioned the new Robert Pollard album they said they would have it next week. The same dude is in there from way back. A very cool guy who is into Waits and Dylan very heavily. Long Live Positively Records.

After I got home Friday Johnny came over and we played some asteroids. He only stayed for less than an hour and he was gone early. I went to bed pretty early also.

Saturday morning I went out to Robbinsville for another of Sara’s soccer games. It was a little bit cold but not too bad. She made some nice plays on defense. She needs to be more aggresive but she will learn that with playing more. She only started this year so she is still getting the hang of it. Their team lost again so they are now due to win I hope. After the game I came home and did some things around here and Genie and Sara joined me here later. We got some Chinese food and watched ‘The Corpse Bride’. It was cool. They left pretty early and I crashed pretty early also. I am trying to rest a lot this weekend. I want to recharge the battery.

Sunday morning at around 10am Genie called and said they were going to Sesame Place. They came here first and we went together. It was a great day there. It was not too crowded at all. We parked very close because the lot was not full at all. We went on a hayride first (nothing special, just parking lot). Then we entered the park and went on the roller coaster three times in a row. We then went around collecting candy at the spots that are on the ‘list of clues’. There are about 5 spots around the park where you collect candy and the person will check that spot off your list. We saw the show ‘Halloween Story’ and Sara played in the high nets. We went on the ‘Flying Fish’ and the ‘Bug ride’ in Elmo’s world and the ‘Blast Off’ in Elmo’s world and we had a great time all day. I was taking some cool nature shots and shots of Sara with the D70. Sara was dressed like a witch today with her old Halloween costume from last year. She always wanted to keep the hat on but we made her take it off on most of the rides. My D70 stopped working after Sara had it and she was turning the lens. I am not sure if she was forcing the lens while it was in ‘AF’ mode or not. It is not her fault if she did, it’s mine for letting her hold the camera and not explaing to her about that. So she took some pictures of me and then when I got the camera it was not working, it just diplays the ‘Err’ message. I looked online tonight and it does not look good for the D70. I need to repair it.

We hit a traffic jam coming home (construction on rt. 95) and we listened to Juliana Hatfield – In Exile Deo while we inched our way along 95 North. Sara decided to take a nap in the back seat during this. She looked so cute, our little sleeping duck dressed as a witch. We stopped and got a pizza at Ninos on Parkway Ave and we ate it while watching some of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. I miss Sara right now, it was such a great day. I have a pumpkin here that Sara made at Sesame Place. It has some stuff stuck to it and some glitter glue on it and a feather on top. It is worth the world to me. I did not even ask her for it. She just gave it to me as she was leaving.

I don’t care about the camera being broken. I mean, I do but it’s not a big deal. I had the greatest day once again with my family. I can replace the camera or fix it. The important thing is the time spent with Sara. I would not trade it for anything. I would not change a thing. Today was again ‘The best day ever’. It always is with my little Duck.

I spent some time on the couch tonight just in an emotional state of tears. Just missing Sara and thinking back on our perfect day. The tears were joy and sorrow combined. The joy of my love for Sara and our great times together and the sorrow of getting older and her growing up and the fact that our time on the planet has a limit and these days just pass by until there is no more. And Sara will grow  up so fast and we will grow old and the whole thing seems overwhelming. Just our sheer mortality. It can really get to me. I treasure every moment and I really treasure the time with Sara. I wish there was a way to be with her all the time under the same roof. It is very hard for that to happen. Many complications.

I told Sara that I loved her many times today. She told me ‘I know’. She does know. I am sure of that.

double digit duck

Well, I have been a dad for 10 years. Wow, time is really officially moving on. I can’t believe it has been that long. My Sara is growing up and she is perfect in every way. Yesterday was her 10th birthday. It started with her calling me at work on my cell phone. I wished her a Happy Birthday and then I said “Are you a double digit yet?”. “No, I’m still a single digit” she would tell me because she was waiting for 7:2o pm which is the time when she was born. So she went off to school and Genie brought cupcakes to school. The night before she went to party city to get stuff for the school cupcakes and she got some cool balloons including two big ‘Hello Kitty’ balloons. I left work early at 12:30 so I could do some last minute shopping for her. I went across the street from work to Target and ‘Justice’ (a girls store). I got some cool stuff at both places (Target – wrapping paper, bows, necklace, Hello Kitty hats and gloves, Hello Kitty pants, etc..). At Justice I got a nice pair of blue pants, a blue shirt, and a speaker pillow that is a blue flower. I then went to the Burlington Center Mall and to a store called ‘Claire’s Accesories’ and I got Sara more Hello Kitty stuff (3 necklaces, a folder, a pocketbook). I then went to Sara’s house and Genie and I wrapped a bunch of presents quickly because Sara was coming home from school soon. We wrapped and then we saw Sara’s bus pull up so Genie kept wrapping upstairs while Sara’s grandmother went to the bus stop to get her. It had started raining and Sara got picked up by the SUV and they went around the block a few times so we had more wrapping time. Sara came home and I hugged her and wished her a Happy Birthday and I kept teasing her about the ‘double digit’. She was happy to see even more balloons and her gifts (on the steps) and she said she had a good birthday at school.

On the t.v. was a report of a plane crashing into a building in NYC. It turned out to be a small plane and not a terrorist attack but they had the t.v tuned to it loudly and Sara was even watching it. Eventually we turned it off but Sara was a little upset by the plane crash (not much, be she seemed concerned). Sara opened a few gifts (a necklace from grandmom, a gift from Genie’s friend Gail, a huge Hello Kitty card from me and a card from my Aunt Marge). Then we just hung out for a while and eventually we watched some of ‘The Corpse Bride’ which Sara opened (from Auntie Lucy). We went out and got a bunch of Chinese Food from Great Wall. Then we came home and ate and Sara opened presents. From Lucy she got DVD’s (Wallace and Gromit Were Rabbit, Little Mermaid Special Edition, ?) and from Genie’s brother Ed she got a nice Nike soccer ball and air pump. From Mom and Dad she got a Cars Xbox game, clothes, Japanese Language book (My First Thousand Words in Japanese), a stuffed lion/cat doll, and some more stuff. She is also getting more stuff next week at her Chuck E Cheese party. I have more DVD/CD and stuff to give her. I got her Wallace and Gromit and Corpse Bride and so did Auntie Lucy so we duplicated some stuff. Auntie Lucy gave her the same big Hello Kitty doll as me also.

I recorded a lot of the birthday on video and I took pics so it will be nice to watch back someday. It really was special. After dinner we cut the cake and sang Happy Birthday to Sara and then she opened her presents (above). Uncle Ed was showing her some soccer tips in the living room and she was happy. I gave her big hugs and I was happy and sad at the same time. So happy and proud of her, and yet so melancholy sad at the passing of time and her growing up. I don’t want to get old, no one does. It happens to all of us, If we are lucky but it still is a sad thing. I just think back on the ten years since Sara was born and it is filled with so many memories of her. So much has happened. Ten years is long time. This was a special birthday. It was a big day. I love my duck more than any other thing in the world.

Thursday I felt sad driving to work and all day at work. Just remembering the birthday and how it just goes by and these moments in life that mean so much . . they just go by. Even though I am enjoying them at the time. . there is no way to stop time and hold on to them forever and then all we have are memories which fade and are replaced with other moments. Although we hold these memories in our hearts and minds forever. They are what we are. They make us up as people.

I thought of Sara all day at work today (Thurs) and after work I met her and Genie at Models Sporting Goods to get her another pair of shin gaurds for soccer (blue of course) and she got one of those ball nets which let you kick the ball while holding it on a string in the net. I drove Sara to soccer practice and then I was going to drive to class but I just hung out and watched her for a while. Then I started driving to class but I ended up turning around and going back to the practice. I missed her too much (and I was late for class anyway) so I decided to go back and see more of the practice. She was in goal when I returned and after practice I was shooting the ball at her in the goal. She is supposed to play goalie in the next game (for the first time) so we are practicing her in the goal.

We listened to ‘They Might Be Giants – Flood’ in the car (she likes a few songs on that one) and I drove her home. She is the greatest. The very greatest in the world. It was worth missing class just to be with her. I would rather be with her than doing any other thing.

I only think about two things these days. The first is Sara. The second is getting back to music, photography and being creative. It is killing me inside to give up my creative side. I am doing it to make money and to save money for a secure future for myself and Sara. It is necessary and it requires great sacrifice. I am trying very hard to get through this phase of my life. I know 2007 will be much different. I have plans to change things next year that will enable me to get back to the things that I should be doing.

I have no choice. I must return to being me. I can never forget who I really am. I feel so much is about to bust out of me, in a good way. I am re-charging the battery by staying away from creativity for a while. I will be back and better than ever. It is a promise I made to myself and I intend to keep it. I have no choice.

Yesterday was cloudy but nice and then it rained later on pretty heavy. Today was cloudy but nice. Tonight was windy and even a bit cold as it got closer to 8pm. But around dinnertime it was really perfect. Colors on trees and a real nice autumn sun. Beautiful.

october rolls along

Sunday I spent just doing stuff around the house and then shopping for some stuff. I went to the Library. Nothing special.
After Genie got off work she called me and I was at Mercer County College. I just went into the back campus to take some nature pictures. There was some nice colors and I took some pictures of the squirrels too. They seemed to be busy planting their nuts in the ground. They barely worried about me.

I met Sara and Genie at Target (Nasau Park) and we went to Red Moon for a pizza. Then we went to Chuck E Cheese to check on party arrrangements and invitations. I was pretending to freak out at the ‘Rat who serves cheese’. I kept screaming and pointing at the ‘rat’ and Sara was dragging me toward him. Every time I saw the rat (sign, window, doorway) I would pretend to freak out. And Sara would grab me and say ‘It’s not a rat’. I even tried to warn the birthday party that was going on ‘Watch out kids, he’s a rat’ and Sara was holding me back. I think she really thought I was going to ’spoil their party’. She said ‘You’re gonna ruin their party’ and I was almost loud enough for them to hear. We were all laughing a lot. It was funny. When they left I ran beside the van waving through the mall parking lot like I always do.

Monday I left work early and I was going to do some stuff but when I got home I crashed on the couch for an hour. I was tired. This week I feel drained. I then went out to Robbinsville for Sara’s soccer game. Before her game I went out to her soccer field to take some pictures. I went down the road of the field and past the field to explore. I found some cool country roads. I found a road just past the fields (adjacent to Robbinsville school) which has big power lines running over a
Tuesday I did not go to school. I cut the grass and after that I watched the ‘civil war’ disc one. I got a Rachel Sweet cd in the mail. I mostly got it because Sara and I used to listen to ‘Fool Around – The Best Of Rachel Sweet together when she was around 5 years old. I was curious to see if she remembered any songs from it and to enjoy it together again. The new ‘best of’ that I got does not have ‘Shadows Of The Night’ unfortunately.

getting chilly

Yes, it’s getting a bit cold in NJ. Yesterday was Saturday, it was nice out but a bit cloudy and a bit breezy and chilly.

Sara had a soccer game at 2pm in Robbinsville. They lost again. Now they have 2 wins and 2 losses. Sara was playing defense and she did good but she needs to follow through to the goal more and dribble more. She will get used to it, it is new to her. She got a lot of contact with the ball. She does really good on the field. She has played in the first and third quarters in every game so far. The coach is ok, he has his ups and downs but he generally ok. If he had more practices and worked with the girls more they would do better, I think. We watched from the sidelines. I moved to the other side to be closer to Sara. It was breezy more than cold but the summer is leaving us for sure.

Later Sara and Genie came over. We met at the Chinese restaurant and we went home and watched ‘Hoodwinked’ and ate. The movie was better than I thought it would be. Sara played some pinball and then we went to home depot and sara left from there.

Today is really nice out so I not going to type much. I am going outside now.

NP: Eminem – ‘Marsall Mathers LP’

early october

September has changed to October.

it is officially my favorite time of year. the colors will begin to change and the weather will have the crisp autumn feel.

as September turned to October it was still hot during the day in the direct sunlight. I usually walk across the street (Marne Hwy.) at lunchtime to get a salad at the acme and it felt like August when I was walking in the sunlight. Then at night it would get cool.

Tuesday was uneventful for the most part. I came home after work and then went to class. I was tired and I did not feel like going but once I got there I woke up and we reviewed and critiqued our project 1 in front of the class. Mine was just ok compared to some of the ‘artists’ in the class (some students can actually draw and use the pen tool well). Wednesday I talked to Johnny A who got fired from the Whole Earth Center (health food store in Princeton). That sucks for him because he was comfortable in that job. I went to the Library, returned and got new dvd’s. I also worked on my school project some. I am not being as productive as I could be. But I am getting some things done.

Thursday we had a good lecture in class and learned a bunch of new tools. I turned in my project 2. It was a long class and I crashed when I got home.

Friday (last night) I worked 3.5 hours overtime so I got home after 8pm. I talked to Sara from work and she was funny. She got frustrated over something and she said ‘Don’t talk.’ If I tried to talk she got upset and threatened to hang up on me. Then she calmed down and went back to normal. Something happened at school and she did not want to tell me about it. I don’t think it was a major thing. I watched ‘The 40-year-old Virgin’ last night and then crashed on the couch. I watched an episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Season 5, first episode on disc 2. Very funny as usual. I am getting to the end of Season 2 and then I will have no new ones to watch. Bummer.

Today Sara has a soccer game. It rained all day yesterday and it was colder on Thurs and Fri. Last night and this morning are especially cold. It really is changing. I can see many colors which came in on Thurs. I saw them driving home Thurs. Friday I barely saw daylight because I worked 7am to 7pm and there was not much sun because of the rain.

I am listening to Paul Westerberg – ‘Folker’ as I type this. Now I will go take Sara to her game. It is cold, damp and cloudy  it feels like a rainy day but the rain has passed. The sun may come out and make it really nice out. Time to break out the Fall jackets.

Sara turns 10 on Wednesday. Wow.  A milestone. It’s a big deal. She is my world. I got her a bunch of stuff and also I will get her more stuff as well as a party at Chuck E Cheese. I keep teasing her by calling Chuck E ‘the rat who serves pizza’. She says ‘First of all he’s not a rat! and second of all, he does not serve the pizza, a human serves the pizza’.  Even though on a lot of days I only get to talk to her for 10 minutes on the phone. It is always the highlight of my day. It is the best feeling by far that I have in any day. The next best feeling is, as always, music. Everything else pales big time in comparison.