All I Want For Christmas!

is this useless USB gadget

Oh Captain My Captain

While waiting for trials to finish at Penn (see below), I was intrigued by the artificial table with its faux oak grain and the fake flowers. Used my wife's digital to snap these purely for my own enjoyment. In addition, I am starting a project on alternative views for everyday items.

Proud Dad Moment - Part II

We cut our vacation to OBX short this summer so Nik could attend Team USA tryouts in UnionTown, PA. A 9:40 hour drive turned out to be 12+ hours due to a tunnel closure in VA (30 minutes) and nightmare traffic in DC (1.5 hours to go 8 miles). We made it there late Friday; albeit, only for the last 30 minutes of the first days interviews.

Saturday's competitions were very tough. The participants were competing against the best of the best from NAFMA. I was nervous. Nik is good; but some of these kids were unbelievable.

Nik did not do as well as he expected in weapons (4th place) and did not qualify. He was crushed! I tried to give him a pep talk. It was falling on deaf ears. I thought he gave up.

Forms were next and he got up and nailed it dead on. As I watched him, I could not believe how good he had done (ok - I am a bit biased). His scores placed him in the top 3 (2nd) with just a few competitors left. Jenny and I watched nervously as the following competitors ran through their katas. One competitor scored higher and pushed Nik to 3rd place. "HE MADE IT!" echoed in my mind as I saw him step into the 3rd place position; Jenny and I could breath easy again.

Needless to say, Nik was bouncing off the walls of the hotel all night and into the next day and was still glowing when we finally got back home.


Time spent driving: 19 hours
Gas: $89.00
Hotel: $200
Meals: $118
Nik making Team USA: Priceless!

I have been weirdly drawn to the Weird, NJ e-zine. I have lived in New Jersey for most of my life and have run across several of these sites and heard several of these stories. If you have time, check out their page (I am not being endorsed for this).

One From The Archives

Proud Dad Moment

Above is Nik competing in weapons for the 8-9 year old group. He ended up taking first place.

my-kus

bib
biting mosquito -
in his next life he shall be
buddahhh

---

acw
amorous cricket
chirps in unison
with the cell phone

---

aom
a dragon fly
over a blacktop river
motionless

it is done

okay - a week has gone by and i really do not feel any different. nothing has changed with the exception of the little sheep skin (which is not really sheep skin :P).

graduation was interesting. i was mixed in with fellow cs majors who had no idea who i was and we played 20 questions for a while. i walked to my seat (complete chaos) i listened to NIN. the downward spiral did not seem appropriate, but i played it anyway.

it seemed to take forever to hear my name called, but it happened. and over the noise from the crowd, i heard a young voice say "Yeah Dad!". that made it all worth it. i shook hands, smiled, walked across the stage, and i officially entered the world of the graduates.

some things i noticed/realized during before, during, and after :

1. i should have "kicked it" for Jenny and Nik.
2. you are not that damned important that you need to be talking/texting on your cell phone during graduation.
3. as an "outsider" who had no real affiliation with anybody in the graduating class, it was interesting to see the social classes that existed, i.e., the 4.0 crowd congregated together, the alternative lifestyles crowd congregated together, the geek crowd congregated together, etc.. there was very little interaction between the groups, but ridicule to the perceived lower social class. be warned, the person you snub today may be hiring you tomorrow.
4. air horns are really loud.
5. i have a huge noggin (curse of the irish).
6. there were commercials on the overhead screens pre and post graduation (tacky).
7. i love my wife and son. they stood by me through all of this and they still love me (even when i was a complete ass).
8. i wish my parents would have come to see this.

well, graduate school is at least a year away. i wonder how much i will forget by then?

a little late, but here it goes

kick it!

i did it

what took me so long?!?

flash back (far back) end of summer 1986 - plymouth champ filled with clothes, bed linens, food, a tv, and a ton of dreams. i can still see the tears in my mother's eyes as she said goodbye (like i was dropping off the freaking earth). off to be the first in my family to tackle college.

2 hours later - i found myself in camden, new jersey unloading into the brand new student dorms. i was the first to arrive so i got my pick of room in the quad (3rd one down the hall - far enough from the living area and the next door neighbors). and across the street, an abandon building that doubled for a crack house at night (real world 101).

3 years later and 3 classes shy of graduating - i take a summer internship. HUGE mistake. summer ends and the firm makes me an offer i can't refuse. hmmm, let me think, go back for one more semester and make next to nothing, become a full timer and make a cool $36k. the dreams of avarice go reeling through my head ... game over, where do i sign?

flash foward through a few jobs and consulting gigs to after the dot com and telcom busts - i decide to finish my collegiate career. what the heck, it is only 3 courses, i can do that in one semester. famous last words. well, three courses turned into six (gotta love the RU screw). during the six, i pick up a minor (why, i don't know, but he is on third) and start to consider grad school. i am never going to graduate.


today - grades are finally posted (thanks to all who listened to me bitch) and i am golden for graduation from RU. Jenny (wife) and Nik (son) are eager to see me walk the walk and flip the tassle; but deep down, so am i.

celebrities

ok - this is a bit rantish so ignore it.

i want to be a celebrity! i can do ANYTHING and mea culpa to the press and paparazzi and get away with it. money and fame tend to get people out of mistakes/errors in judgement/etc that the normal citizen pays out the nose for and for many years.

imagine if i got up now and started yelling racial slurs, HR would be inviting me to a meeting that would end in my dismissal. how about getting liquored up and driving home, driver please step out of the vehicle [and say goodbye to your license]. how about driving erratically on the way somewhere, er um, nevermind.

why the difference? pretty babies get more attention from the parents so i guess pretty people [celebrities] get to get away with murder.

now where is that rosegarden i was promised?

rant over

checking in

i thought it was about time to dive into the blog world. not that i have anything to say; more like i want to help fill the cosmos of the internet.