see ya 06 hello 07

It’s New Years Eve. 06 is outta here. I just talked to Skip on the phone. As always he is a great guy and we remain close. It would suck if we drifted apart. Sometimes we don’t talk for a couple of months, but that is normal. We are both busy on on different time zones. We ended up talking about movies, as usual. We always end up as Siskel and Ebert. I talked to the Eck earlier, and Dave Brown and the Duck. I hope I see her tonight for the countdown to the new year.

I worked today. It was a chance to make some overtime money. I am at Panera in Moorestown, near the Moorestown mall. It’s my first time here. I had to go to Circuit City to return Sara’s iPod shuffle and so I am here typing this and listening to ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ in my new Grado cans.

leading up to the new year

Who knows what 07 will bring. Will I last the year at Lockheed? I doubt it. I can’t wait for spring, but that is normal. It has been very warm (relatively) so far this year. Today I took a long power walk around the lot at work. It was a good workout. My goal is to do at least that amount every day. I was watching the Star Wars bonus disc today. It has a long feature on the making of the Trilogy. It’s really good. I am in the mood to see Star Wars again now. There is a lot to see. I added some cool stuff to my Netfix queue today also.

I did not sleep much last night so I am tired. I will need to nap before the countdown tonight.

Yesterday Genie and Sara came over in the early afternoon. Sara brought some games with her and so we opened her Sponge Bob Monopoly and played. We took a break to get a pizza and go to the Ewing library. Sara got some Veggie Tales DVD’s and I got ‘Raging Bull’. We also went to the Ewing park near the municipal building and smashed her Halloween pumpkin on the ground. Genie videotaped it. We had a good time playing Monopoly and then we played some ‘Deal or No Deal’ DVD game. We had lot’s of fun as always. Sara played pinball and we watched some youtube videos also. The usual day with Sara. I could spend everyday just hanging out with her. We watched one Simpsons episode from season 3 – ‘When Flanders Failed’. Sara has been hitting me a lot in playing but she has a good punch and kick. So I have been taking some blows. She beats me up pretty good. I don’t mind and I like the idea that she learns to fight a little to defend herself. I take at least a dozen, usually more, good punches and kicks on one of our days together.

I think my next post will be looking back at the first 3 or 4 months of this year. Because I did not start blogging until around April or May. So I will get it down while it is fresh in my memory. Then I will start going backwards through the years and eventually have my life story down. I think everyone should record their life story. It is history, each of us. I have a reason to record my life. And the reason is my daughter. I want Sara to know about me. There is so much that I don’t know about my parents and I can find out some things, but not the details through their own words. I like to look back also and put things in a timeline. Plus I want to remember all the things that Sara and I do together, down to the small details. That is why I am so detailed about the small trivial things. It is the small things that make us remember the larger things so well and really take us back to the moment. Much like a movie will pay attention to small details to capture a time or a scene. It’s the small details that count.

I think I will drive home now. I am tired, but running on overdrive. I also want to set some goals for 2007. Everyone needs a resolution. I need about two dozen.

cheap trick and grado is a rocking combo

Listening to Cheap Trick – ‘Dream Police’ album in my new Grado SR80 headphones. Man, these things sound really great. The best phones I ever had by far. They arrived yesterday.
I also got a nice storage/travel pouch for them which was made by listeningstation.com. The case is cool. The headphones are awesome. They are comfortable, have a nice thick cord, gold connector.
The bose triport are probably a bit more comfortable but they cost more and I doubt they sound this good. ‘Dream Police’ is also a great album. Cheap Trick in their prime. I love it.
The bass in these phones is nice and full, but not muddy. The highs are crisp and clean, but the mid’s are also very even. The sound is very clear, very well balanced. I cranked them up once and they hold up loud (although I don’t plan on playing them loud very often).
I have not tried mp3 yet, only .wav files on this cd. I boosted the bass in the eq just for some extra warmth. It boosted well without getting muddy at all, the highs are still intact. Grado rules!

I am at work, testing an RF lens (filter) in the mmic lab. I need to take literally hundreds of measurments on these five lenses. I am considering coming in this weekend to finish it off before next week.
I could use the money and they want these things done so I may do it. Genie has off Saturday so I would come in early (just roll out of bed, quick shower and come in). Then I could get out early and still have time for Sara. It is tempting to go back to NYC this weekend but it would cost too much.
Maybe we can do Philadelphia. That would be cool. Maybe go to the Rocky apartment or something. It’s in North Philly.

Last night I went to a physical. I did fine. Everything is working. I went home after that and Sara and Genie came over. We then went to Langhorne, PA to Guitar Center. I think it was the first time that Sara was inside a music store. Before we went I showed Sara the Mitchell guitar that I got for her for Christmas.
She tried the guitar and then she decided that she liked the Washburn that she got on Christmas day (from Santa) better and so we would return the Mitchell.
It was a nice guitar but there are always others. While we were there Sara exchanged her guitar stand and she also saw a pair of blue sparkle drumsticks which I got for her. She liked the drum section and we played a lot of the keyboards in the keyboard room.
We left and went across the parking lot to Target. Sara was looking at the Hello Kitty stuff in the clothes section. We then went to the toy section and Sara found the ‘Tickle Me Elmo’ Barbie Doll and the iDog. We got them both and had some fun in the store.
the iDog lets you plug an iPod into it and it blinks in time and wags it’s ears. We came back to Ewing and got Chinese food and then we went home to watch the Simpsons. We watched two episodes from season 7. Including the last episode ‘The summer of 4ft 2′. It’s always great to see that episode.
We then loaded songs onto Sara’s iPod. They were all Japanese songs. Shonen Knife, Cibo Matto, Puffy, and lot’s more. She likes Seiko’s ‘Akia Sweet Pea’ and a lot more.
We had a lot of fun yesterday just being together. It was great. I pretty much went to sleep after they left.

Today I worked nine hours. I got to watch more Degrassi High and some other DVD and listen to NPR and World Cafe (Tom Waits, etc..) I was checking out some of the new Tom Waits album. It has a lot of songs, some old, some new. It sounds really good.

the man with all the toys

Christmas eve Genie had to work during the day. I went to Barnes and Noble and I saw Rocky 6. Rocky 6 was good. There was some funny scenes and some moving moments.
Some of it did not work, but it fits well with the first movie. A good bookend to the first Rocky. I have been going back over the first Rocky in my mind a lot. It takes me back to my childhood. It takes my back to a simple time.
I also liked ‘The Bad News Bears’ at that time and ‘The Sting’. These movies take me back to the 70’s, when life was much more simple.

I went to see Sara at 5pm and I wanted to go to Mastoris diner but Sara did not want to go. She was not hungry. We went and got a pizza. Then we watched some cartoon network. We watched the ‘Fairly Odd Parents’ Christmas special and the old ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ with Fred Astaire.
We had some Egg Nog and Sara was ready for Santa. Sara put out her milk and cookies and a little note for Santa. The note was to remind Santa about her little stocking upstairs. I went home and slept pretty early because I had wrapped most of the gifts the night before.

Christmas day I woke up at 5am and got ready, packed up the car and arrived at Genie’s at around 6:30am. We put all the stuff under the tree and I fell asleep on the couch. Sara got up around 9am. I was surprised that she can sleep so late knowing that Santa was coming. She first saw the Hello Kitty stocking that we put in the doorway to her play room.
She opened the present in that stocking first. It was the iPod nano. Then she started to open gifts and it was great. I had the video camera going and I was taking pictures. She was having so much fun. I missed the very begining on tape because I was asleep when she first walked down.
We had a nice morning opening presents. She got everything that she wanted and she was not disappointed. I left at around 12:30pm so that Sara and Genie could take showers and get ready. I went to the cemetery and to my parents and my grandparents graves. I cried a little at my granparents grave. So many emotions. The feeling that life is short and it just passes you by.I get very emotional on Christmas day. It seems like the one day when family is really together. I went home after the cemetery and got some food and listened to the commentary track for Jersey Girl. The commentary with Jason Mewes. It was OK. I just needed to take my mind of the emotional day for an hour. I went back to Genies around 3:30 and we hung out and played with Sara’s new stuff.

I hooked up her new Phillips stereo. We tried out her ‘Zoom Box’. We watched some movies on the ceiling. We played her ‘Cranium’ game. It was fun. Sara was laughing so much. It was like paradise. Just to enjoy playing with her and see her so happy. I was in heaven. I wish every day was like that. I just want to see my Sara happy. That’s all.
The Cranium game is the Whonuu game. We tried to pick each others favorite things. It was a lot of fun. we had a great dinner that Genie and her mom made. Then they opened presents under the living room tree. Sara has her own tree in her playroom and then there is the family tree in the living room. Sara got some more nice stuff. All together she got around 50 gifts. That is a lot. I don’t want her to get too spoiled. It is hard to hold back when it comes to her. I just want to give her things. We had some great apple pie and egg nog and it really felt warm and happy. A perfect Christmas thanks to a perfect daughter. My heart belongs to Sara. I have a strange situation because we live apart and Genie and I are really undefined in terms of our relationship. But they are still my ‘family’ and we are as close as a family can be in our hearts.

I left her house Christmas night and I just wanted to cry. I just wanted it to stay Christmas day forever. I was feeling like these days slip away forever. In while she will be getting older and she won’t believe in Santa and it makes me sad.
I missed her so much when I was driving away. My heart was breaking so much to drive away from the house. I just wanted to stay with her. I wish we lived together and I could take the week off and wake up everyday and be with her. Am I lonely? I think yes, I am. Because I miss my Sara so much. That is the reason that I feel lonely.
I would be fine to just be alone. But to miss my Sara this much. That is what breaks my heart.

The next day (Tues) I returned to work. I worked eight hours. I watched ‘Punk Attitude’, the Don Letts film at work on my macbook while I was working. It is a cool documentary.
I missed Sara very much. When I talked to her, she was happy but she did not want to talk much. I did not get to talk to her at night either. I fell asleep after work and slept for a couple of hours. I got up around 9pm and then slept again at around 12:30.

Wednesday I worked 9.5 hours. I need to leave early Thursday for my yearly physical. I watched ‘The Buddy Holly Story’ and part of the first episode of ‘Degrassi Junior High’ while testing at work. Degrassi is a Canadian show that Kevin Smith likes. He talks about it with praise. It seems ok, I will find out how good it is by watching Disc 1. It is cool to watch something from the 80’s. The styles and the quality are very 80’s. I think the show became popular in Canada, but I am not sure.

I watched ‘You, Me and Dupree’ last night when I got home. It was good. The scene with ‘Carl’s Camping Equipment’ was very, very funny. Owen Wilson sort of re-vists his ‘Dignan’ character to a degree. Not exactly, but there are traces of that character. It is probably as close to ‘Dignan’ as he has come in any other movie since ‘Bottle Rocket’.
Owen has some magic in this movie. When he falls through the ceiling and breaks out his “B.F” badge it is very funny. The line about ‘It’s your name, Carl, with “ness’ on the end’ is also funny. Owen carries the movie, big time. He lays on the ‘Dignan’ charm and it works.

I played some guitar and sang for a while. Then I was on the computer for a while and crashed. I did not sleep much and I am not in the mood to be at work today at all. Luckily it is not a full day because of my physical and also I am happy because I will see Sara today.

Last night I was singing and playing ‘Don’t Hang Up’ and ‘Sometimes’ by Frank Brown on acoustic guitar. I went down to the basement and got the ‘Flight Of Mavis’, ‘Spools’ cd and brought it up. This morning I listened to it. I have been checking out Frank’s stuff a lot in the last few days. What a great songwriter! I remember when he came to my house to jam. It seems like a very long time ago, and it was! Probably around ten years ago. Wow, time flies. I ordered Frank’s new album from amazon.com and I have the feeling that it is great based on reviews which I have seen. The also have the first ‘Flight Of Mavis’ cd which was issued on cd in 2003 (original LP was from 1988 I think). They were very cool. Philadelphia spawned a lot of great music. Hopefully I can still keep in touch with Frank and even play with him or help produce something or something.

piano morningly

Every morning while taking a shower and getting ready for the day I listen to ‘Akiko Yano – Piano Nightly’. It is such a great album, it really grows on you. It sets a great morning mood. I like the way the piano sounds bouncing through the house.

Well, it is Christmas Eve as I write this. Christmas is so great. It takes effort and there is a lot of emotion involved so it is good that it comes once a year. It can take a lot out of you (and your wallet) but it’s totally worth it. I will go now to see ‘Rocky Balboa’. I will see it in the morning show. I have ‘Rocky Fever’, I admit it. It’s a Philadelphia thing I guess. I saw rocky when I was twelve years old. It really moved me then and left an indelible mark in my brain and heart. Watching it again now, I can really appreciate it on another level. The first Rocky is great. Rocky 2 is not nearly as good. I did not see any of the others. Rocky Balboa just came out Wednesday.

I will write more later. Time to drive to the theatre while listening to ‘Buzz Zeemer – Delusions of Granduer’.

christmas time is here again

This week just kind of rolled on by. I talked to Skip on the phone and he was in the middle of moving. He is getting divorced. That surprised me a lot. I thought his marriage was really strong this time. I got my stitches out of my back on Thursday. I finished up some last minute Christmas shopping today after work (Friday 22nd). I got the ‘deal or no deal’ DVD game and I got Sara a ‘Hard Day’s Night’ poster. I also got two iPods. I got the shuffle (1GB) and the Nano (2GB). I will see which one she likes and maybe I will keep the other or return it. I may also give her my old iPod. It is 20GB. We will see.

I got some Senheisser headphones today also. They are PMX200’s. The go around the back of my head. They sound ok, but they hurt a little bit to wear. I may return them. I ordered the Grado SR80 headphones today so I am hoping that I like them. They always get the great reviews.

I am at Panera right now. It is 4:30pm Fri 12/22 and the parking lot is madness. Totally packed. Long, non-stop lines to get out of the parking lot. I am glad that I am done shopping. I got the last iPod shuffle at Circuit City today. And it looked like Best Buy was selling out of the Nano. I am guessing there will be no iPods by tonight or tomorrow.

I got some mail from Kevin in Colorado. He sent me some books and a VHS tape and some magazines.

I have been hit with Christmas spirit. I feel it. My mind is on Sara. I love my Sara and I am pretty sure that this is the last Christmas that she will believe. I am very emotional about this and I am filled with Christmas emotion. I want the duck to have the greatest Christmas ever. I always do, every year. This is my tenth Christmas with the duck and my eleventh with Genie.

I am in love with Christmas. It is a hassle sometimes. It can be expensive. It can be hard to track down and chase down items (this year the zoom box almost killed me). But despite all that it really is the greatest. I remember my holidays so well from childhood. I miss my family. I love my Sara. I did not pull any decorations from the basement this year. I should bring some stuff up and see what’s in the boxes. Those boxes are filled with memories. Some of the happiest memories of my life are in those boxes.

I will wrap some presents later and hopefully tomorrow morning or late tonight I will go to the theatre to see ‘Rocky Balboa’. I have Rocky fever. I love the first movie so much that I am really in the mood to see this last one.

Sara is at the doctor right now, getting a physical. I wonder what the result will be. I am always worried about my little one. I am looking forward to 2007. It is getting close. It is ten days away. Wow. Another year falls to the wayside.

Last night Genie came over to get some of Sara’s presents. I put them in the back of the car while Sara and Genie watched a ‘Hamtaro’ DVD. Then we went to Shop Rite to get some croissants for Sara’s class. They could not stay long because Genie had to get up early for work. We had fun at the store and at home. We were joking around a being silly. I was happy just to be with Sara for a while.

I was watching ‘Gene Simmons Family Jewels’. It is not great. I could not watch all of it. I saw about 5 episodes and then sent it back.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Dig it.

crusin’ toward 07

Today (Dec 15) I had some surgery on my back. It was not too bad. It was a piece of fat under my skin that felt like a small golfball. It was called ‘Lipoma’ and it was harmless but I got it removed anyway. So, I had the day off from work and I just took it easy. I got the surgery in the morning and I went to Dunkin Donuts after and then I went home and watched ‘Forest Gump’ and fell asleep halfway through and I slept for about three hours. The surgery was not bad. I was awake and after I got some shots in my back to numb it, they cut the thing out and then stiched me up.

I am now at Panera on Rt.1. I met Sara for a few minutes over at the Mall. She got her hair cut and then we met for only a few minutes. After she went home I went back into the mall to a store called ‘Hot Topic’ and got her some ‘Jack Skelington’ (hooded jacket / thick shirt with hood, carry back with skull heads everywhere) and also a Hello Kitty necklace (big Kitty head). I am getting more and more sad at the limited time that I get to spend with her. Panera is closing now. They close at 9pm which is way too early. I will go home or maybe to Barnes and Noble. B+N stays open to a mighty 11pm, but they have no free internet like Panera. Life is full of trade-offs.

Today was pretty uneventfull. But today I am not very happy. Somehow I can’t get in a good mood today. It is mostly because of my limited family time. And it feels like I am not really living my life the way that I would like to. I must try to look at the bright side. It takes effort to do that sometimes.

Ok, today is Saturday Dec 16th. I will continue to look back on last week. Thursday night was my last night of DMA105 (Illustrator / Photoshop class). I presented my final project (DVD cover for the movie Ghost Rider) and took the final test. The test was easy, 20 multiple choice.. I got 100% correct. The project came out nice also, I thought mine was the best in the class. I got an A for the semester. The instructor gave us our grades before we left. He was a cool guy. I will probably take next semester off. I might go back later next year for more classes. I wish I did not have to pay for it however. It is expensive.

Wednesday was my 9 month anniversary at Lockheed. Tuesday I had class after work. Monday I got the zoom box from Target. I called the Target store in Burlington and they had gotten one in the night before. I left work at around 9am and I was able to grab it off the shelf. I was so happy about that. Otherwise, my Sara would not have gotten one for Christmas.

Thursday Genie took Sara to the orthodontist for a consultation. The woman told her that Sara’s upper jaw is too far back and she will need to wear a brace for 15 or 16 hours a day to correct it. This is making me depressed. The only other option is surgery. This has me in a bad mood. I am so upset about this that I can’t really express it very well. It kept me up most of the night Thursday night. Sara is taking it well so far, but I don’t think she realizes how much she will hate the brace. I imagine it will be bery painful and not comfortable at all.

I wish there was some way around this.

Today (Dec 16) I talked to the Eck on the phone.Sometime this week we will organize Sara’s presents and start to wrap them (I hope). We will try to see ‘Charolettes Web’ this weekend. Now I am at Banres and Noble. It is early afternoon. Enough for now. Out.

It is Sunday evening, I am at Panera. I feel like I did not get much done this weekend. I was in a funky mood all weekend. I need to break out of this mood. It will take effort and focus. I know I can do it but it won’t just happen, I need to make it happen.

This morning Sara called me early and we made plans to see ‘Charolettes’ Web’ at AMC Hamilton. We went to an early movie and it was good. Sara was in a strange mood. Very rebelious. After the movie we came home and she played some pinball. She also was watching some old video with me. I need to label my video more

We were watching clips from 2004 and some Christmas of 2004 also. We went and got some food and we came back and watched three Simpsons episodes together. Now I am at Panera and I am playing aroud with iPhoto on the macbook. iPhoto is really cool, I have not used it much yet. Now that my class is done I have some website, music and photo goals.

We listened to Utada ‘Ultra Blue’ in the car. Sara is changing a little bit I feel. She is growing up. She does not let me hug her as much as before. She likes to hug her mom more than me.

It makes me a little bit sad that she is growing up. I was looking at some pictures last night from earlier this year. My hair was much shorter. This has been a strange year indeed. I still have goals. I am not sure how well I am pursuing them however.

Out

zoom box in the house

Got the zoom box. I had been calling a list of Target stores every morning all through the weekend and into the week. Finally today I found one in stock that had come in on the truck the night before. It was at the Burlington Target. I called around 8:30 am and after trying a few stores I was told by the sales girl that she had one in stock. She would not hold it for me. I left work right away and flew down 295 and it took about 20 minutes to get to Target. When I got to the aisle I could not believe my eyes. I got the zoom box. I was so happy. I swear, I wanted to cry. Not because the zoom box is so great. But because I know Sara wanted this thing as the main present this year. I was so worried that I might not be able to get it for her. I am so obsessed with getting her a perfect Christmas. I love her more than anything. I was so emotional when I got the zoom box. Just knowing that she would have it on Christmas morning. I was walking on air. I also got a Kodak digital photo frame. They were also sold out at other Targets and they had one in stock at this one. I was on sale so I grabbed it for $30 less.

a week rolls by and it turns to winter

Zoom box. The quest for the zoom box. I spent so much time this week trying to get this  projector for Sara. It is hard to get and I could have gotten it easily a week earlier. Urghh.

Monday I left work early to find the zoom box and it was nowhere to be found. Tuesday I went to class after work. Wednesday I left work early again to find the zoom box, no luck. Thursday I was so tired from chasing this thing that I did not go to school. Friday I spent an hour after work trying to get the zoom box. It is really hard to get. I came home Friday and ate and I had no energy. I just crashed.

Saturday Genie and Sara came over and we did the usual. Eat, watch some DVD, play some pinball. We went to the dollar store and Sara got some Christmas ornaments and some Christmas decorations.

Sunday (today) I worked on the computer finishing my projects for school. This coming week is the last week of school. I met Sara at Justice in Hamilton (Genie had a 20% cupon and I got the difference put back on my card, from a purchase last week for Sara). We went to Panera and Sara got her hot chocolate and brownie. Sara was on the internet looking at E.T. dolls and then playing cartoon network. Then we were playing with the Isight camera in my macbook. I was looking at notebooks for Sara. I think I will wait until the spring and get her one for Valentines day or something. I think her and Genie could use one now.

This coming week is going to be busy. Looking for the zoom box still and finishing school. Wednesday will mark the three month mark until my milestone and Thursday will be the last day of class. I will be off Friday and Monday for and then I will have a four day week until I am off for Christmas. I was going to take holiday time off, but I am not sure. It would be nice to save that time for the warm weather. I am undecided.

Today I got Sara a guitar (Washburn) and a nice Phillips stereo system with a separate docking station for an Ipod. I will give her my Ipod.

I am listening to the Clerks 2 commentary (The podcast commentary, one of three commentaries). I watched the deleted scenes tonight. I love Clerks 2. It is really good. I have nothing but praise for it.

Today was actually pretty warm in the middle of the day and tonight. It was nice. But the last few days were kind of cold. Tuesday night (Dec 5th) was freezing cold after class. I was walking to my car and freezing. Sara has a cold but she is taking it well. It is making her tired. The temperature is dropping. There is a chance we will get some snow in December, if the temperature keeps dropping.

quest for the zoom box

Today is Wednesday Dec 6. I left work a couple of hours early today so that I could try to get a ‘zoom box’ for Sara. No luck. I tried three targets and they were sold out. They are on sale. I hope I can get her one before the big day. I am so happy with my little duck. she deserves a great Christmas. I am back at Barnes and Noble again. I like this place. It has books and coffee. The only thing lacking is an internet connection. I can live without that by working in Photoshop and Word and Dreamweaver, etc.. (offline programs). The Christmas season is really here. People are bustling about. Today was a little warmer, not freezing. But last night and this morning were freezing. I walked back from class last night and started freezing.
I am working on my final projects for class. I am glad that it is ending because of the running around and the work but I am glad I took the class. I had a Japanese lesson today with Waka at MCCC. I ran into my friend Connie in the student center. I have not seen her for around four years. that was a surprise. Monday after work was spent shopping for Sara and then I ended up at Barnes and Noble. Last night was class and then I came to Barnes and Noble. I was tired last night when I got home. I will work on some homework now. Yukari Fresh plays in my headphones at the moment it is the ‘Eurobic remix of ‘Raymond’. So very cool. Yukari rules.