A little update!

Hello blog.

I've added my Twitter updates on the upstairs of this page.

Also, my recommended albums (available for purchase) over on the right, in my links section.

I'm doing well. Got that "promotion", which isn't so much of a pay raise, as much as it is a huge upgrade in the flexibility of hours and the amount I'll likely enjoy the new position.

The new job involves listening to cds and writing about some of them.

Also, The Dark Knight is awesome.

That's all I have time for now.

Perhaps I'll change the picture up top, too.

I'm not dead!

Hey everybody. I am fully aware that I've neglected the crap out of this blog. But don't take it personally. I've virtually ignored all but the most important websites altogether. The reason being that my new job actually gives me stuff to do, so I don't quite have the time to devote to the old (arbitrarily named) Ice Deck. I hope to blog more soon. For now I will just say that I love my job and heard a nasty rumor that I'm getting a promotion (or maybe just moved to a more desirable position) tomorrow.

Stuff and Stuff

I think I've got proof that Simon is the cutest boy ever. That's him giving Curious George a big hug.

Moving on, this Friday I'll be singing:

That's right; I'm leaving the office job I've been at for about 8 years. I've had periods of full-time and periods of part-time work here. I had about 8 months off when Moz and I moved to Seattle and back in 2001. And of course my short-lived career as a full-time professional drummer/instructor. And my even shorter career at Torrefazione Italia, over by Lloyd Center, under the management of an Italian bastard. Seriously, he was physically and verbally abusive to his staff. He was fired immediately upon Starbucks acquisition of the company. Besides those stints, I've been at this job since the week after I got married, May 5, 2000. So now I'm leaving.

I don't really want to talk about my future employment plans here, but I am really looking forward to it. Of course, I can sort of picture myself, 4 years from now, reading this post as an archive and thinking, "You fool! You have no idea what horrible workplace atrocities you're about to encounter!". But for now, I'm excited about the future.

Jesus walks! ...as does Simon

That's right. My boy, after months of stumbling and crawling and taking one or two steps at a time, has finally reached another milestone. Yesterday, he took seven steps towards the remote control I was holding. I told him how proud I was of him and what a strong and smart boy he is. Shortly thereafter, he walked across the entire kitchen; probably 20 or more steps. I consider that walking. He's not totally fluent in it yet, but I'd say he can do casual walking now. I'm so proud of him and can't help but give him rave reviews on this, the only public forum I have. Also, he's getting really good at strumming the guitar. And standing on it.

Lithp

Why, oh why, do so many NPR commentators have lisps? I mean, I like "This American Life" and the dry, droll insights into ordinary life, pop culture and white people, but it seems that many of them have a gentle (or harsh) lisp. I'm just saying.

Look over there. That’s my son. You see? See? You see him? You don’t tell me how to raise my family.

Lately, I've been honestly surprised at how much I can't wait to get off work to go spend time with Simon. Not that I ever didn't want to spend time with him, but the past few days, he's taken his playfulness to a whole new level. He's started eating bean burritos, and working on saying the word "beans". He's also gotten pretty good at saying "Lola", as Moz wrote about the other day. Plus, you've got to admire his approach to new challenges:

He puts his hands around it and tells it who's boss. I believe it's the same approach taken by Al Pacino in Godfather II, before giving Fredo the kiss of death and I think by The Joker in the 1989's Batman, telling someone "You are my number one guy!", only in a very creepy, insane Bugs Bunny way. It's a way of living that I find admirable and highly deserving of mimicry, in many walks of life. When someone questions your judgment, put both hands around their face, and then while they're transfixed by your gaze, either a) stare them down, b) questioningly lick their face, or c) knee them in that special spot. It'll get the job done.

Crap pile, or, How life is.

As we blindly try to climb our way out of the seemingly endless pile of guano into which we are born, we sometimes see some light at the top of the cave, and a little joy comes into our life, and if we can just get over this next mound, we'd get a breath of fresh air, and maybe get out of the crap heap. But then, a hundred thousand metaphorical bats show up and dump a ton of steaming dook on you. Like when your new car breaks down and it costs more to fix it than you paid for your last 2 cars combined. And then you start trying to climb again, with your head down, hoping to not get dumped on again. But you know it's coming. What form it's coming in, exactly, you don't know. But the crap will dump on you for the rest of your life, and it never stops.


Wow, that's a downer of a paragraph. I try not to keep this mindset, but sometimes, life sure feels like this. Today, I'm fretting over a phone call. If it goes one way, I'll be giddy. If it goes the other way, I'll start thinking about the mile high pile of guano again.