Dave's Headblog

I wonder if people embrace all those "end times" prophecies because it's easier to think about all the chaos being wiped clean, than trying to figure out a way past their every day problems. After all, if the world ends you won't have to worry about paying off those credit cards... You don't have to worry about losing your job or keeping a roof over your heads. Don't worry about putting your kids through college... they'll complete their education with the angels when the rapture comes. It kinda makes armageddon sound attractive. Of course, the "end times" have been coming since sometime very shortly after the dawn of Christianity. Banking on judgement day seems like a sucker's bet at this point.

Today my head is going in several different directions at once. Wrestling with some weird little Adobe Acrobat display issues, some weird little cgi issues, and then all the non-work related issues. Money, the near future, the less near future, the distant future. Some of it excites me and some of it makes me want to crawl under my bed and hide. But that never really works does it.

Last night Liz and I had dinner with my old friend Matt Brown. I think I've known Matt since the sixth grade... so a I guess that's about 23 years. We haven't really lived in the same city for about 20 of those years. It's funny how time and distance sometimes don't matter that much. Always nice to see Matt.

Last night we had a little Chanukkah celebration at Casa Liz y Dave. Liz made her delicious and now world famous latkes. We also had some bagels that Jenni overnighted to us from Manhattan, some nice smoked whitefish and fresh lox. A nice small gathering with a few old friends and a few new. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring out the pickles until the end of the evening. These are no ordinary pickles... they're straight from Gus's pickle barrels on the the Lower East Side in NYC. Liz's grandfather used to buy pickle from Gus. Best pickles ever.

I spent most of the weekend glued to my computer printing wedding pictures so that they'll be ready to be brought to Milwaukee for Christmas. Not my favorite way to spend a weekend, but I procrastinated on it for weeks so I have no one to blame but myself. Next project... "thank you" cards for the wedding gifts.

Update on the Ipod Saga: We picked up the Ipods this weekend... sadly it turns out that my decrepit old mac will require the addition of a PCI ATA card before I can load another Hard drive into it. So now the whole process will go like this:
1) install PCI ATA card in Jurassic Mac.
2) install new 40gb Hard drive, attached to PCI card
3) install OSX (10.2)
4) update 10.2 to 10.2.6
5) update 10.2.6 to 10.2.8
6) install latest Itunes software
7) finally get to plug in the Ipod and pray it all works

Depending on the whims of Amazon and UPS, I might get this thing running before 2004. I am VERY impatient when it comes to new toys. Liz's is up and running so I've been enjoying it vicariously.

This year, Liz and I spent a very nice Christmas in Wisconsin. I grew up in Milwaukee, and have always enjoyed coming home to it. It's an interesting city, one that has evolved in interesting ways since I moved away 12 years ago. Seeing family and friends there just reinforces the positive draw that it has for me. This year, the visit was different in some intangible way. Maybe because this year it may hold the future as well as the past? I don't know. Yet.

2003 has been a very good year. I travelled, I made new friends, I learned a lot about myself, and most importantly, I married the most incredible woman. That in and of itself would be enough to make this one of the best years of my life.

2004 is going to be interesting... I think there are a lot of changes on the way. There need to be, in order to move forward.

I'm not really one to make New Years resolutions... but if I was going to make one this year, it would be to dedicate myself to positive momentum.

Everyone have a safe and Happy New Years Eve. Don't drink and drive or I'll smack you.

Today I've been listening to the songful stylings of Mister Nick Cave. Maybe it wasn't the best choice. I find that my mood is easily influenced by music for better or worse. On a day when I'm over tired and a little stressy, "Murder Ballads" probably isn't the right tone to be setting. I switched over to the "Until the End of the World" soundtrack, which I find much more upbeat and uplifting, despite the fact that it's mostly about the end of the world.

It's been a busy day at the book mines, but busy is good. It keeps the day flowing and maintains the forward momentum. I didn't sleep well last night, and right now it feels like momentum is just about all that's keeping me vertical. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion.

I did find time today to hoof it to Central Square to pick up our Marriage Certificate at Cambridge City Hall. It's kind of nice to have that piece of paper in my hands. I know it's just paper and doesn't really mean anything... Except that isn't really true, is it? It means quite a bit, legally. It means that if something happens to either of us, we are legally able to take care of each other. It means that Liz can receive my benefits if she needs to... It means that she can change her name if she wants to...

Yesterday, at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco, Apple announced their new line of Ipods Minis. They are physically about a half inch smaller in length and width than their predecessors, come in a variety of pastel colors, and only hold 4 gigs. At a price tag of $250, I can't think of a single reason that anyone would go for this deal. For an extra $50, you can get a regular Ipod with 15gb of storage... that works out to a more than 3.5 times as many songs (1000 vs. 3700 according to Apple). So maybe it's a half inch bigger and doesn't come in different colors with a silly spandex arm band... So what? I'll be interested to see whether that takes off, or whether they just drop the price to something more reasonable.

All this brings up the real point of this post... the 15 gig Ipod. When I heard this was announced yesterday, I felt ill. Just few weeks ago, we got the 10 gig Ipod as a Christmas/Birthday gift to each other... for exactly the same price as the new 15 gig version. I figured that we were out of luck, until my friend Zubby suggested trying to exchange it. He even called the Apple Store and asked if it would be possible. To our surprise, Apple Dude said, "Sure. No problem. You just have to pay a $30 restocking fee." An extra 5 gigs of space for $30 sounded pretty okay to me...

After work I rushed home, grabbed Lizzie and the hardware, and headed for the mall in Cambridge. The moment we got into the car, the previously quiet skies immediately started to dump a blizzard of snow on us. It was so strange... an instant white out. I started to drive in it and turned back, thinking no Ipod was worth dying for. We blamed Steve Jobs and his Weather Machine. He was clearly trying to prevent us from obtaining our upgrade. Fortunately, he must have been running his weather machine on an old Ipod battery, because within 10 minutes the storm had ended almost as quickly as it began. We proceeded to the Mall.

We walked into the Galleria ornery and itchin' for a fight. I was already over tired and starving, and was convinced that nothing good could actually come of all this. Wrong! The Insanely Great sales guy really took care of us and was very friendly about the whole thing. Go Apple!

We celebrated with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Speaking of which, their leftover meat loaf is calling me to lunch... So thus ends my tale.

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Addendum: I just got a call from my dear friend Meryl!!! She was calling from the airport in Bangkok, where she had just arrived after fleeing a bad teaching job in the armpit of China. She and her boy Gary headed to greener pastures and tropical paradise in Thailand. She says there is plenty of work for them there, so they won't have a problem finding employment. Go Meryl! It was really good to hear her voice.

Today is Lizzie's birthday! Stop by her blog and say "Hi!" Tonight we're going to be celebrating the blessed anniversary of her birth by going to our favorite Ethiopian restaurant with some friends, followed by the drag show at Jaques. Should be lots of fun! The weather is even cooperating. It's up to a balmy 32 degrees F today... A nice (if brief) respite from the arctic blast. It'll be back later in the week though... and probably even colder than before. Looks like we're getting payback for the last few mild winters...

I just had a very nice lunch with my friend Nicole. She's someone that I definitely don't see often enough. We talked a lot about the perils of adulthood and our constant struggle with chronic laziness. We talked about how Boston drives out talented and educated young people (like ourselves... heh) with it's exorbitant housing prices and cost of living. Hell, we talked about a lot of semi-sorta dreadful things. Sounds really cheerful, huh? Actually it really was. For me anyway... and hopefully for Nicole too. She's a good egg.

In other news, Spalding Gray is missing. The news stories are not making it sound like there will be a happy outcome. Depression, suicidal inclinations, a death fixation... It sounds like everyone involved is expecting the worst. I'll keep my fingers crossed for him though... He's a talented guy, whether you love or hate his monologues.

The brutally cold weather has finally left for awhile.. ironically it took our hot water with it. We woke up this morning to find that our shower running cold. A quick inspection of the basement found that our water heater was spraying and a small lake was forming. We called the land lord. No answer. We called the plumber. They said they'd call us back, but there was quite a backlog. Six hours later I called back to check in...

The guy almost bit my head off! It was pretty clear that he'd been answering angry phone calls all day. I was very friendly, told him I knew that they where busy and working as fast as they could, and that I just wanted to know if he could give me a rough estimate on when they might get to us. He calmed down right away, took down the info on the water heater and said he'd call my landlord and get back to me as soon as he could. I got a call back ten minutes later. The end result: probably no hot water until Tuesday. They need to order a new unit and then get it installed. They're still getting to calls from LAST Tuesday, but if they have another job in our neighborhood sooner, he'll try to get them to work ours in. I got the feeling that he appreciated not being screamed at, and would honestly try to get us taken care of.

On the bright side... we DO have heat. And our friend and neighbor Beth lives just two doors down and has kindly offered us the use of her shower until ours works again. At least we won't stink!

Liz has a job interview next Friday... in Milwaukee. She's already booked a flight for a week from today. This is a good and positive thing, but also terrifying. Things seem to be moving very fast, and I'm not very good at dealing with fast and major changes. This move is something that we both want, but the logistics are daunting. Just the packing alone is a nightmare. Even harder is the idea of leaving a decent job that I enjoy to try and find a new job in a new city during a lousy economy. I know that I can do it. I'm good enough at what I do that I should be able to find someone to hire me. It just feels like a lot at the moment. We haven't even got our wedding "Thank You" notes done, or all of our wedding pix printed. I'm freaking out a little.

Just a little though. This stuff will all work itself out, and it will be a positive step toward the future that Liz and I both want. I just needed to vent and this seems like an okay place to do it. I need to kick myself into gear and start getting stuff done, to ease this transition as much as possible.

This is me... feeling somewhat uninspired and listless... but still trying to make a journal entry. Lets see how it goes.

All in all, it was a good weekend. A party at Sue's house in Stoughton on Saturday night, made extra nice when our friends Ryan and Amy showed up. Sunday Marty and Tanja drove in from Worcester for a movie and dinner. We saw the new Tim Burton movie "Big Fish". I wasn't really expecting to like it, based on a few reviews from friends. I was pleasantly surprised. Great Tim Burton visuals and an interesting look at storytelling and father son relationships. It does a little bit of over the top heart string pulling, but not so much that it bothered me. After the movie, we went to Addis Red Sea for the best darn Ethiopian food in Boston. Just can't get enough of that stuff.

Today I'm back at work... I should have worked on Saturday, but I find myself less driven to impress folks at work, now that we've made the decision to move. Not that I'm slacking off... I'm just not so motivated to go the extra mile. Today is busy, and I'm multitasking my butt off. Rearranging my workload on the fly to compensate for broken printers and confused editors... Rock and roll.

My biggest fear about this upcoming move is that I'll have to take a fairly large step backward career-wise. As I search the job listings, it occurs to me that part of the reason I always said that I couldn't move to Milwaukee was that there are almost NO publishing jobs there. There are PRINTING jobs... but it's kind of a different ball game with different skill sets that I haven't yet acquired. Living in Milwaukee is probably going to mean starting over at the bottom in some regards, and that's a problem. Of course, the alternative is commuting to Chicago. That would be lousy, but doable for the right job at the right company. All academic, since so far no one is calling me back anyway. The worst case scenario would be having to take a job at the crazy print company. Good company, but a bit of a creepy cult-like corporate culture. The hours are evil too. Mandatory 12 hour night shifts for half the year. Not too compatible with having a family, or even a significant other that you like to spend time with... But if it came down to survival, I'd have to do it. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Enough about me... what about you?

It's been a very long day, full of plumbers and long hours at the bookmill, and missing my wife. Fortunately, it ended with some much needed El Salvadorian (I think) food and beers (I know) with Mike at the Brendan Behan. Drink and good conversation is always an excellent way to turn a bad day around.

On the way home, a strange hispanic man pulled over and tried to entice me into his chevy. He might have just been a nice guy offering a ride to a neighbor on a icy cold night. Or he might have been after my goodies. We'll never know. I was a little drunk and in a good mood, and decided that I'd be much better off enjoying the walk through Jamaica Plain. Safety Pup says "Never get into cars with strangers, kids!"

Now I'm back at the crib, missing Lizzie, but I'm warm and I have a purring cat on my lap, so things could be worse. Tomorrow will be another hectic work day, followed by a party at a co-workers house. That should be a kinda fun. More fun if Liz was here.

Job hunting in a city that you don't live in is a little daunting. I'm building lists of potential employers, firing off my resume to companies that aren't even hiring, and crossing my fingers that someone eventually reads it and gives me a chance.

My current job is keeping me very busy at the moment, and absorbing a lot of my energy. We are in the final days of a social studies project that must go to print by the end of the week. It's been difficult to come home and spend more time looking at a computer screen. No one seems to be posting job listing for the kind of stuff that I do on the big job boards. That means that I have to scour every individual publisher's corporate web site over and over until something materializes. Plus check 4 or 5 of the major job sites... plus the Milwaukee and Chicago on-line classifieds. It makes my head hurt, but it's got to be done.

Liz is getting closer and closer to finding a good job in Milwaukee. She's got another interview this week. When that happens, we'll be moving fairly quickly... Possibly by April 1st. We'll both be moving whether I have a job or not. Financially, we just can't afford two apartments in two cities. So me getting a job quickly is an imperative. Scary stuff.

Tonight I'm going home and forcing myself to spend the night in front of the computer, whether it makes me crazy or not. Because it's getting to the point that NOT doing it will make me crazy. I am bad at chaos and uncertainty. I know that this is an important and necessary move that we are making. I know that it is a GOOD move. It still makes me jittery and stressed out. I can't do much about that, but seeing me jittery stresses Liz out. Stressing out Lizzie stresses me out. It's a nasty cycle, based entirely on the fact that we love each other so much that we hate to see each other wig out about anything. I have no idea how to break out of it, other than forge ahead until we get resettled into our new and exciting life together.

I apologize for subjecting you all to my little stress party. Please don't take it too seriously. I tend to vent in this blog more than I rejoice, so you aren't seeing all the good and happy things that light up my world on a daily basis. Writing has always been a good way to purge my frustrations, and unfortunately this seems to be where I occasionally purge. I'll try to include some of the good stuff occasionally too.

Fred, one of my supervisors at work, just gave me a 70s era Parker Brothers Ouija board. He's getting ready to move and is cleaning out his house. It's the traditional William Fuld design on a heavy (nonwooden) board, and is in beautiful shape. I've always been both fascinated and creeped out by Ouija boards. I'm not sure that I want to hear from anyone on "the other side." I'd rather keep my metaphysical phone number unlisted. Still, I like the design, and the idea that something so simple and "low tech" could open a gateway that none of our technology could unlock. Not that I particulary believe that... I just like the idea. So I'll hang on to the Ouija board, and maybe I'll find a non-supernatural decorative use for it.

Last weekend was exactly what I needed... 3 days of "hanging" out in Providence with a bunch of really good people. No matter where we move, I hope we'll always be able to make it to Providence for these events. Spending time with those folks is good for both my head and my heart.

This week has been all about work... I feel like I complain about that too much. It isn't a bad thing. I'd definitely rather have the work than not, and we need the money pretty badly right now. Liz and I are both itching to get the next phase of our lives started, and doing this extra freelance stuff now will help make that transition a little easier.

Hopefully by the end of this weekend (or at least early next week) I'll have this freelance job finished and I can move on to the other things that desperately need my attention.

We have a visitor from the Great White North coming to stay with us next week. That should be fun... Liz has lined up a "judaica crawl" in Brookline on Sunday for the "Boston Jew Crew" followed by a feast at our house. I might need to stay home and work for the "crawl" but there's NO WAY I'm missing the feast!

The gears are definitely turning in the weird Rube Goldberg machine that is our life. Lizzie is off to Milwaukee again this afternoon for an very promising job interview. I have a feeling that she'll get one of the two jobs that she is interviewing for... If so, that will pretty much cement May 1st as my last day in Boston.

Thanks to the guidance of The Dad-in-Law, we found out today that we're going to be able to afford a home in Milwaukee with payments much cheaper than our rent here. Room enough for Liz and I, the cats, and eventually our future offspring... It's still somewhat heartbreaking to me that the same amount of money wouldn't buy a 1 bedroom apartment in a crack house in Boston. But that's why we're leaving... following so many other people we know who finally cracked under the financial strain of the most expensive city in the Americas.

Is it weird that I already miss Lizzie? She's only going to be gone a couple of days, and she hasn't even left yet! I just don't look forward to going home tonight and not having her there. When I was single, I never minded being alone and having time to myself. Now,I've apparently developed a serious Lizzie addiction! Not that that's a habit that I EVER intend to kick... :)

I haven't been felling very "bloggy" lately... not sure why. I think maybe because I'm waiting for the big news. Things seem to revolve around waiting lately, and it makes everyday goings-on seem less than noteworthy. That's not really a good way to experience life, so I'll try to shake the mindset.

Liz and I went to see a free sneak preview of "Hell Boy" tonight. We both thought it was fun. Lots of action, cool effects, and a story that did a good job of explaining the characters while keeping the momentum going. I have to admit that while I'm a little bit of a comic geek, I've never really read Mike Mignola's HellBoy" books. I don't know how the fanboys will react... probably like fanboys usually do. "Hey! That's out of continuity! In issue 17, Abe Sapian said he prefered macadamia nuts to rotten eggs..." Oye.

New York was a very good time, as it usually is. Jenni was the hostess with the mostest!

We took the Fung Wah bus from Chinatown Boston to Chinatown New York. What an amazing deal. Ten dollars each way! Nice big busses with fairly comfortable seats. Last night it got us home in less that four hours... I've rarely done that driving myself. If we sere sticking around Boston longer, I'd take that suckah all the time.

We rolled in to Chinatown Friday night, dropped off our bags at Jenni's place on the Lower Eastside, and then headed out to meet Liz's old room mate Amy. The three of us went to Decibel, a cool downstairs sake bar for some really delicious cold saki and a table full of tasty Japanese appetizers. I really like that place... kinda dark, dingy and atmospheric, with good food, great saki, and a thumping sound system. Afterward Amy took us to Lit, where she's apparently a regular because they let us in without paying the cover. We staggered home soon after, since poor Lizzie had only had about an hour of sleep the night before

Saturday we went to Brunch with Jenni at 7A. Did some shopping, stopped by Sacred to say "hi" to Brian, and then eventually met up with Lauren, Cora, and Samantha for some Italian food at Frutti Di Mare. We finished up the evening with a long night at Motor City. Somehow I always end up at Motor City... this time I was slightly tipsy and singing along to the Pixies with Amy. Go figure.

Sunday we slept in a little (since we didn't really get home until 3am) and then met up with Cora and Samantha for some feasting at Katz's. Best corned beef sandwich in the known world... it will destroy whatever you thought you understood about corned beef. After brunch we headed up to 23rd on a bagelquest... Liz bought extra luggage specifically for the bagels... Now why didn't I have one of those for breakfast this morning? Dang.

All too soon it was time to climb back on the Chicken Bus and head back to Boston. Moving to the Midwest is going to make these NYC trips much more difficult. But never impossible... It's Liz's hometown, so I'm sure we'll always go back for visits.

I'm battling a nasty cold that has left me foggy and useless. My manager is telling me to go home... I'm just trying to hang in for a 2pm meeting concerning a project I'm working on. After that, I'll probably bail out and head home.

I've finally become fed up with my email spam situation... I've started investigating some spam-filtering options for my Mac. Right now, it looks like the best solution will be Eudora 6.1 (with SpamWatch), If that doesn't work well enough, I can always add on SpamSieve later. Hopefully that will save me from of the frustration of the 150 or so spams a day that I'm currently receiving.

Anyone have other suggestions for someone working in a Mac environment?

Life has been busy in all sorts of ways lately. There was a beautiful wedding in Philadelphia full of friends from all over the continent. There was a nice day trip up to Newburyport. In between, there has been a lot of craziness in the bookmines. Work and play, and occasionally sleep.

Still no news on the Milwaukee move. Liz just had a very good 2nd interview for a real estate marketing firm in Boston. Hopefully that will help pay the bills until we can find work in the Midwest. More importantly, hopefully it will mean that Liz won't be so unhappy with her work situation. Plus, we might even get to spend weekends together.

I love this picture of Liz and I, taken at Shawn and Leah's wedding rehearsal in Philly, by master photographer Phil Barbosa.

Speaking of weddings... a big congratulations to the many couples who are finally getting legally married in MA this week. It's long overdue. I've ranted here enough about that subject, so for now I'll just celebrate with quiet jubilation. It was pretty amazing to watch the 10,000 people celebrating in Central Square Sunday night, when the City of Cambridge started issuing licenses at Midnight. I hope each couple finds as much joy in their marriage as I have in mine.

Don't know why, but I haven't felt too inspired to post here lately. We're still playing the "wait and see" game, but it looks like we'll still be in Boston (or at least the Boston area) for little while. Despite a constant search and many resumes sent, I've yet to get a single call for a job in the midwest. Meanwhile, my job here seems to be going really well, with a promotion just around the corner. Liz has done somewhat better with the process, but still no pay-off. We haven't given up trying, but we're also reinvestigating possibilities in New England. Possibly Providence. We're just trying to keep all of our options open and see where it takes us.

We've got a busy weekend planned... drinks with friends, visiting my bro and sis-in-law, hopefully seeing some old friends in Western MA on Sunday. Lots of groovy goodness all around. Happily, Lizzie has the whole holiday weekend off. That makes it extra-nice.

Liz and I just got back from a day spent wandering around the Pioneer Valley with my old friends Matthew and Michelle. I've known them both for about 17 years now... back when we were first-year students at a small liberal arts college nestled in the bucolic hills of Amherst, Massachusetts. That seems like a long time ago and a million miles away... and yet somehow.. not. Both of them, in there own ways, have always had a way of kick starting my brain and sending it off in new and interesting directions. In fact, (and I've probably never said this to him before) I think Matthew might have had the single greatest influence on my reading habits for a lot of my adult life. Looking at my walls of book cases right now, I'm seeing Steve Erickson, Kenneth Patchen, H.P. Lovecraft, John Crowley, Lucius Shepard, William S. Burroughs... just a few of the authors that Matthew pointed me toward over the years that had an influence on my young adult brain. Of course those books led me in pursuit of others, and so on and so on...

I'm sleepy and nostalgic, but the "lesson to self" this evening is one that I should carve in stone: "Spend more time with old dear friends."

Tonight I'll be picking up Lizzie at the airport after her return flight from Virginia. We'll have about enough time to pack, play with the cats, collapse, and head back to the airport for our trip to Chicago tomorrow morning. My old friend Ari is getting married on Sunday, so we'll have a couple of days to catch up with my Chicago posse before rushing back to Boston on Monday morning. It's going to be a couple of days of busy booked-solid funtime. Sadly no time to make it up to Milwaukee, but it'll still be a rocking good trip.

I was digging through some old folders and found this little blast from the past...

That always makes me laugh. It is good to be easily amused.

Having lived so far from the shores of Lake Michigan for so long now, I sometimes forget what an amazing, vibrant, yet down to earth city Chicago can be. This weekend was an excellent reminder. It was also much too short.

We were there Saturday through Monday for the wedding of my old friend Ari and his very cool fiance (now wife) Gail. Ari and I lived together (with about 6 other people) for a couple of years during college. Ari is an amazing chef and for at least a year of that time Ari was my personal cook. I was his personal dishwasher, so it worked out fairly well for both of us. About 12 years later, and we've each found newer and cuter cooks and dishwashers (sorry, Ari).

We had the excellent good fortune of being able to stay with our friend Matt for the weekend. Not only is he a great host, but as a life-long native he's one of the greatest advocates for the city of Chicago that I've ever met. Mostly he's just a lot of fun to talk to, and he understands the joys of drinking pints in the sun on a summer day. Thanks for being such an excellent host, and also for giving us some new tunes.

Our friends Sammi and Bill also came into the city to join us for pints in the sun. Last time, they were meeting us for pints in the snow at the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. This time we went a little more urban stylee at the Pontiac Bar in Wicker park. Bill had three different types of digital camera with him... I just have to admire that in a person.

The wedding itself was quite beautiful. It was an outdoor ceremony at the the Garfield Conservatory, with the reception held inside. The Conservatory seems (at least at the moment) to be a weird mix between a botanical garden and Jurassic Park. Weird installations of dinosaur skeletons, often in artistic arrangements where scattered throughout the gardens. Beautiful and yet a little creepy, but fun. It was nice to reconnect with so many old college friends that I don't see often enough. It's funny how many of my friends from both Hampshire and Boston have ended up in the Chicago area. There has been a slow but definite migration. Who knows, maybe we'll be next.

This is normally the time that I’d try to recap in detail the events of the holiday weekend and the days that followed. Lately, my laziness at online posting has created a vast backlog of “points of interest” that I then feel compelled to try and capture in writing a bit too long after the fact. Because I use this blog as a personal journal, I’ll take a second to make a list for posterity, then I’m just going to move on. In no particular order:

• BBQ’d lots and lots of meat on the grill. The highlight was the fresh cheesy brats simmered in beer and grilled to tasty perfection reminiscent of my Milwaukee childhood.
  
• Spent a lot of time hanging out on the roof deck with various good friends, enjoying the weather, the company, and the joys of minty lemonade spiked with vodka.
  
• Our friend Jason was in town visiting from Philly. He's good people. We miss him when he's not around.
  
• Saw Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. Definitely a film worth seeing, no matter where you stand in the political spectrum. It has it’s own bias, that’s for sure. He asks you to make a few leaps of faith, but not very large ones. A lot of the information included at the very least begs further investigation. If you’re a Bush supporter, I’d encourage you to go see the film, and then write an intelligent article debunking it. I haven’t seen too much of that lately. I’m open to reading it. Convince me that our government isn’t as deeply corrupt as it seems. Please.
  
• Watched most of Wizard People, Dear Reader, a very funny alternate soundtrack for the first Harry Potter movie. “A paradox of baby-ness and power!" Fun!
  
• Enjoyed a very good breakfast at the S&S Deli in Cambridge with Jason, Zubby, and Larissa.
  
• Skipped the fireworks on the Esplanade.
  

So that was the weekend… this week has been so far mostly unremarkable, accept for the awful and random earache that I got yesterday for no apparent reason. When I was a kid (4 or 5 years old maybe?) I used to have constant ear infections. Then my adnoids were removed and drainage tubes were put into my ears. The problem disappeared and I don't think I've had one since. Until yesterday. The pain got progressively worse throughout the day until I finally gave up, left work, and called my doctor. The doc said, "Are you running a fever?" No. I wasn't. "Take a hot shower, some Actifed, and some Afrin nasal spray. If your ears still hurt in a few hours call me and I'll get you some antibiotics. Then you'll need to come see me first thing in the morning. Actifed and Afrin? We had that. I gave it a shot. Sure enough, my tubes opened up, my ears drained, and presto! No more pain. Neat! Of course I spent the rest of the night knocked out on the couch by prescription medications. Just one Actifed leaves me in a haze for about 16 hours… Luckily I had no heavy machinery to operate this morning.

Today is my dear bonehead Katrina's birthday! Happy Birthday, dear Bonehead! Katrina claims to read my blog, but she never posts comments... She is a ninja lurker. Happy birthday, Ninja Bonehead!

Saturday Mrs. Lizzie and I went down to Providence on a whim. Providence is a nice little city, with good restaurants, beautiful old New England industrial architecture, ivy coated college campuses, and plenty of urban grit. We spent some time wandering around Thayer Street, were all the shiny young college kids seemed to be hanging out, spending their summer looking cool.

Next we went downtown to University Tattoo where our friend Joy is one of the resident artists. It was nice to have some time to just hang out on the grass and catch up. I also spent some time talking to Dooz, the other artist at the shop. He does some asian-style work with beautiful shading that I quite admire, and he's a very friendly fellow.

We let Joy get back to work, and then grabbed some tasty indian dinner before heading over to our friend Frank's house. Even more friends over there, so more shooting of the breeze insued. We were introduced to jaw-dropping technological wonders that left my geeky little heart green with envy. All in all, it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday.

Sunday was a lazy day... despite the beautiful weather, I think I only left the house because our arugula had wilted. More was needed for Lizzie to create her wonder salad, so I shuffled off to the Stop n Shop. Otherwise, it was a much needed day of sloth. Sometimes, after much busy-ness and running about, sloth is the least deadly of the seven deadly sins.

Last night, I finally got a chance to sit down and watch Bubba Ho-tep, starring the always amazing Bruce Campbell in the role he was born to play. Campbell is a 70 year old rest home resident who may or may not be Elvis Presley. The King teams up with his only friend, a fellow resident (Ozzie Davis) who believes that he is John F. Kennedy, to defeat an ancient mummy in cowboy boots who is devouring the souls of the elderly.

Not exactly a brilliant film, but a good solid B-movie effort. Campbell and Davis make it worthwhile, taking occasionally lame dialog and spinning it into gold. I’m going to let this one stew in my brain awhile… then maybe I’ll rent the DVD and watch it with commentary. There have to be some fun extras packed into this one...

The Democratic National Convention is only days away. By all accounts, the city of Boston is about to be turned into a nightmare world of gridlocked traffic, security checks, random searches, barricades, striking police officers, and drunken delegates swaggering around like they own the place. The media has been warning us for months that the only sane response any Bostonian can have is to "get the @#%$ out of dodge."

So do we listen? Heck no! Lizzie and I are like the old couple in the hurricane that refuses to evacuate. "It's our house and we ain't leavin'!" I have a suspicion that the hype and clamor about the coming DNC hardships is a little overblown. I'm one of the fortunate folks who live south of downtown Boston, and won't be too affected by the closings of North Station and 93. My particular stretch of the Orange Line should have full service, and will probably even run more often.

With that said, I'll probably still try to leave work a little early and avoid the heavily Convention-infested parts of town as much as possible. The News tells us on a nightly basis that the DNC could be an attractive target for terrorists attacks. Then they show us all of the precautions that are being taken to protect us. Does that make me feel safer? Not really. Like most of Boston, I suspect I'll be on edge next week. Loud noises are likely to make me jump. I'll steal suspicious glances at my neighbors as I ride the train. Then I'll feel guilty about it, and I'll try to remember what it was like when we never worried about attacks on our own soil. Weird times.

So far, the much dreaded DNC has had a mostly positive effect on my quality of life. My commute on the Orange Line has been speedy and uncrowded. I have yet to see a single bag search, although I’ve heard that they are happening closer to the Fleet Center. The trains and stations are weirdly unlittered and shiny. Even the streets are squeeky clean, despite the fact that anything even resembling a trash can has been removed.

I’ve been going out for long walks at lunch just to see what’s going on. Yesterday I hung out and ate my lunch around the massive Falun Gong demonstration in Copley Square. They had some disturbingly realistic recreations of the torture techniques used by Chinese Government to persecute Falan Gong practitioners. I also caught the tail end of one of the anarchist marches down Boylston Street. It looked like maybe fifty people followed by about 30 cops on motorcycles who where stopping traffic for them. There were apparently no problems... the protestors were peaceful and the police seemed respectful of the whole thing. Aside from that, there wasn’t a lot going on except an above average number of tourists with convention passes wandering the streets of the Back Bay to shop and ogle the FAO Schwartz teddy bear.

Today I took a different route, passing through the Public Garden and the Boston Common. The Really Really Democratic Bazaar was going on in the Common, with bands playing on two stages and lots of booths set up by... well, basically anyone who felt like setting up a booth, I guess. There didn’t seem to be too much going on. It was early, so maybe it got revved up later. On my way across the Common, I ran into Dan P., an old friend from college. He’d come down to see the sights, and was on the look out for our mutual friend and ultimate hotshot power-librarian Jessamyn who is in Boston this week as an official blogger at the DNC. Nice to catch up with him a little bit. As it turned out, I had no Jessamyn sightings today. I wonder if Dan did.

The one thing that I’ve found weirdly menacing this week are the unmarked helicopters that have been hovering over the Back Bay. I watched one hanging fairly low over the corner of Boylston and Berkeley for about five minutes before it wandered off, only to be replaced by another one that seemed to be just over Newbury Street. Maybe the Clintons where shopping...

I know... I'm a bad blogger. Things have been crazy lately and are only getting crazier. I promise to be better at regular posting when things calm down.

In a nutshell:
-Lizzie has started her exciting new job. She's going to be putting in long hours for awhile, but I'm sure all that hard work is going to pay off for her.

-the bookmines have been hectic, but I've managed to get all my projects under control and deadlines are being met.

-in a couple of weeks we're up moving to Salem, MA.. Salem is an interesting town. Lots to do, lots of actual history, and boatloads of psuedo-history and legend. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about all that, but I want to wait until I actually live there and can do my research before I start editorializing.

That's all I've got time for... gotta run home and pack!

things on my mind lately:

1) I'm not really a baseball fan, but it's hard to live in New England and not absorb some of the unbridled joy that has infused this region since the Red Sox won the American League championship Wednesday night. People around here are passionate about this stuff and have been waiting a long time for the Sox to get this far. The possibility that they might even win the World Series for the first time since 1918 seems to be right up there with the second coming of Jeebus Chrikey.

2) None of point 1 excuses the insane orgy of drunken destruction that occurred during the riots around Fenway Park after Wednesdays game. Flipping cars, setting them on fire, trying to toss trash cans through bank windows, and throwing bottles at cops is not the way to celebrate a victory. As it turns out, it IS a good way to get heavy fines and to probably be expelled from whatever area college you happen to attend, thanks to the post-DNC surveillance cameras that were mounted all around the ball park.

3) None of point 2 excuses the irresponsible use of "less lethal" weapons by some Boston Police Officers, resulting in the death of a 21 year old girl.. I understand that they were trying to control a riot, but firing pepper spray loaded hard plastic pellets randomly into a crowd at head level is just foolish. According to the papers, the Boston Police Department takes full responsibility for the girl's death, and the officers involved are personally devastated. Maybe this will result in a re-examination of how they use they "less lethal" methods. Apparently they aren't all that much "less lethal.."

Other Stuff:

1) We got real furniture delivered on Wednesday. An actual (non-salvation army) couch and love seat set. Very comfy! The cats seem to like snoozing on them. One of these days, Liz and I will actually have time to enjoy them.

2) Salem Halloween should be kicking in to high gear this weekend. That probably means I won't be going downtown very much. S'okay. This weekend the rock stars are coming through Boston, so we'll probably be in the Big City hanging out with them. Next weekend we'll indulge in the hard core Salem craziness at our friend Leo's party down near Pickering Wharf.. Should be pretty whacky. Close to all the Haunted Happenings events, but with a nice fire in the backyard to keep warm. That should be rocking good fun.

My Friday isn't off to a great start... I've got a nasty headache that I don't seem to be able to shake and I didn't have the pleasure of Lizzie's company during my morning commute. We usually ride the commuter rail in to Boston together, but this morning she had to drive in later for a trip to Restaurant Depot. She's working so much right now that I cherish every moment I can spend with her, even if it's on a crowded MBTA train.

Liz's new workplace, Limelight Stage and Studio should be opening on Monday. It's a really cool concept. Chock full o' fun! If you're in the Boston area stop by for some sake cocktails and full-on hi-tech karaoke madness. They've got a public stage and private rooms that you can rent with a bunch of your friends... record a CD, a DVD... theme-nights... Good stuff. You should check it out.

This weekend we have the double-whammy of Salem Halloween and the Boston Red Sox World Series Victory celebrations. I'm not even going to try to come in to Boston for the parade on Saturday. I'm happy for Red Sox fans all over New England, and I shared some of their joy when the Sox swept the Cardinal for their first World Series victory since 1918. Not so happy that I feel like braving the insane crowds and cold rain predicted for tomorrow though. I'll be saving my energy for Salem Halloween celebrations on Sunday. I don't even have a costume yet.

One year ago today, Lizzie married me and made me the luckiest guy on Earth. I couldn't ask for a more perfect partner, friend, lover, cheer leader, or center of my universe. Every curve ball that life has thrown at us so far, we've faced together. It's only made us stronger. I love you, Sweetie!

It's cold out. Cold, windy, and a little snowy. "Stay home, camp out in front of the TV with a hot toddy" weather. This would have been a good day to use on of my stacked-up and soon-to-be-lost-forever sick/personal days. But no... I'm a conscientious employee. I dragged my butt into work today. Employee of the year, right here.

It would be nice if this weather would pay off in the form of a "white christmas" but forecasts call for temperatures in the 50s Thursday and Friday. Sounds like it's going to be more of a brown and grey "earthtone christmas" this year.

This is going to be the first holiday season in over 12 years that I won't have to travel great distances to be with family and friends. Usually we head to back to the olde sod (well, okay, Wisconsin) to celebrate with my parents and extended family. This year my parents are coming to New England instead, partially because my sis-in-law in New Hampshire is too preggers to fly right now. Should be a fun way to surf the yuletide.

I haven't posted for awhile, and I think that's probably because I find the "first post of the year" a little daunting. The longer I wait, the more noteworthy things happen. At this point, so many things "of great import" have happened that the idea of trying to write about all of it has become vastly intimidating. The only way to get past that mental obstacle is to just forget about it and move on, without trying to recap in detail the last few weeks of my life. So basically, if you weren't there you're probably out of luck.

Nah... I can't get off that easily.

Here's a few brief snippits, just so I can move on:

• Lizzie got laid off from Limelight.
  
• Lizzie very quickly got about another job with normal hours and more security.
  
• My folks came to New England for Christmas. It was really nice to have them here, and to spend time with my bro, sis-in-law, and the kids as well.
  
• I got a weird stomach virus thing that made me feel like a big pile of crap for most of a week.
  
• found out a friend's cancer went into remission.
  
• spent a very quiet New Years Eve with a few good folks, eating , drinking, talking, and xboxing.
  
• went down to Providence to welcome a friend to his new home in New England. Got to spend time with some folks that we never see enough of in the process.
  
• crazy busy at work. May get promotion soon... or not until April. Depends on the whims of corporate budgets, I guess.

I know that it's been far too long since I posted here... for some reason I've been feeling really uninspired to write about my life lately. I've been working a lot, but I'm hoping that will pay off in the end. I suspect I'll know soon enough. Big changes are in the air. Hopefully they'll be more for the better than for the worse. I know that's all very cryptic, but I'd rather not give out too much info in public until I know what's what.

Last weekend I had a hideous case of something or other... fevers and aches that eventually just bottomed out into really awful cold-like symptoms and a bad cough. I'm mostly over it now. This bug seems to be sweeping my office, leaving a path of fallen sniffling bodies in it's wake. We had big plans to visit New York City last weekend, but I was way to sick, and poor Lizzie stayed home and took care of me. She also cleaned and unpacked the entire house. She's a superhero! And so cute!

A couple of weeks ago, on my birthday, I was blessed with a beautiful new baby niece named Jessica Grace. She's an amazing little peanut.

That's about it for the moment... I'll try to write more often. Winter is almost over... right?

I'm very very bad at blogging. I haven't been inspired to write... or when I DO feel inspired, I'm nowhere near a computer or too busy at work to do anything about it. Hopefully things will ease up in a month or so and I'll get back to it.

Right now, things are busy at work. And a little frustrating. But one of the problems with public blogs is that it's never really wise to talk too much about your job. All I can do is make cryptic posts about how I'm hoping for something positive to happen in the next few weeks. Corporate gears grind very slowly, but April brings change as cycles begin anew. There. Now I sound like a fortune cookie.

Next weekend, Lizzie and I get to spend a 3-day weekend in Providence with a bunch of friends from around the country (and Canada) that we don't get to see very often. Can't wait! I need a little getaway.

This is a little frustrating... I got some really really good news on Friday, but I'm not allowed to make it public for another week or two. I CAN, however make cryptic statements that will be understood by those of you who are "in the know."

The situation that I've been on pins and needles about for over three months has finally resolved itself... with the best possible outcome. It's a huge step forward for me and I'm looking forward to the new opportunities it will bring.

Since cryptic statements like that almost always spin wildly out of control, here's a few things that I'm NOT hinting at (at least at the moment):

- Liz isn't pregnant

- I'm not pregnant

- we didn't buy a house

- I am not going to be the new Pope

- I have not been called to testify in the Michael Jackson trial

- my album has not yet gone platinum.

I'm not denying that any of those things could happen in the near future... but none of them are what I'm alluding to above. Maybe I'll be able to say more next week.

Now that it's been publicly announced within my company, I can finally say it... I've been promoted to Supervisor. It feels really good to be recognized for my hard work. It's a big move forward for me professionally and I'm really looking forward to the new challenges and opportunities it's going to bring. The extra cash will also help Lizzie and I put other plans into motion. I'm feeling really good about things right now.

Today we're cleaning the house in preparation for the arrival of our Canadian friends Rachel and Jill. Rachel is running the Boston Marathon on Monday, so she, Jill, and their partners and/or friends are driving down from the Great White North to crash at or quaint New England pad. This means a weekend of beer drinking, giant pasta dinners, and standing on the Marathon route screaming our heads off. Should be rocking good fun!