Josh Got Ink
Oh a proud day indeed. Josh got his very first ink in a local paper. It the review of To Kill a Mockingbird in the Syracuse New Times. It's all the way down at the bottom but it's there.
Click Here for the New Times Review of To Kill a Mockingbird
Concise Physicality - Mentally Challenged, WOW, I'm on cloud nine. What father wouldn't be ? Of course I had to look them up. Websters offers this....
CONCISE; Expressing much in a few words; condensed; brief and compacted;
PHYSICALITY; preoccupation with satisfaction;
MENTALLY; in thought or meditation; intellectually;
CHALLENGED; a contest of any kind;The first one I'm not sure I understand even after the definitions, but the second one. WAIT A MINUTE ???? HE MUST GET THAT FROM HIS MOTHER........
ha ha
ba
Pack Mentality
There's a gas station that I drive by every day (I'll try and get a picture) that has a sign out front. The sign is like those political poster sign that get stuck in your neighbors lawn. You know the guy with the perfect lawn but the signs are still there 6 months after the election. If your like me you've probably thought about late one night replacing all his signs with the political opponents signs from across the street.
This particular sign isn't advertising anything and simply says "Tax Free Cigarettes Hurt Our Schools" Now I thought cigarettes hurt people, tax free or not. Cancer right, heart problems, stroke, emphysema ?
You see I live near the Oneida Indian reservation and they've built a fair number of Savon Gas station type convenience marts. The Oneida's sell cigarettes more cheaply because they aren't taxed. The fact is nothing is taxed and it's funny there are no signs that say "Tax Free Gas Hurts Our Schools". We as a nation spend $157.4 billion per year in medical costs related to smoking. New York state in 1998 spent $ 6,379,000,000 according to the CDC in Atlanta.
hmm I've yet to see a sign protesting that.
ba
Heavenly Springtime
The quad is full of the signs of spring. No not robins, no not leaves on the trees or even buds, not the sound of a rake scraping across the grass. Rather it's students all over the grass. Right now we have a football being tossed, a Frisbee, two guys with lacrosse sticks tossing a lacrosse ball and some would be soccer players playing the equivalent of hacky sack with a soccerball. There are numerous young ladies vying for the how little can I wear and get the guys to stare grand prize. But what amuses me the most is the 4 guitarists with at least one playing Stairway to Heaven at any given point in time.
Stairway to Heaven the right of passage for anyone who has ever learned more then three chords on a guitar. I'm proud to say I strum the guitar and I do know more then 3 chords but I have never learned the StH pick progression. I made a solemn promise to myself to go to my grave not knowing how and I have vocalized this to my friends and family.....and yet the other day I found a sheet of paper in my house that had the chart, handwritten on how to play the opening to Stairway to Heaven. Traitorous children. I'll have their heads for this. Leaving this temptation. I was alone no one would have known. aarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh
I threw it away after ripping it to shreds.
ba
It's been a bicycle day or two....
For those who don't remember the image it's in the archives, see the Feb 19th entry.
I've finally figured out one thing I don't like about memories. It is that they are also reminders and that means they can be both good and bad. Very good times can make very good memories but also can make lousy reminders. I've decided my brain needs a Windows Explorer like window for memories. Highlight a year, a month, a day or whatever and then click the delete button. Wouldn't that be great? Pick the stuff you don't want to remember anymore and it is gone. Of course you would have to remember to empty the recycle bin or you could just go undelete them. Drugs, alcohol and other forget-me-almosts are only temporary distractions and usually just make things worse. I wonder sometimes if some forms of dementia are brought on by an inability to handle the incessant cascade of bad memories/reminders.
Sorry, I guess you have to take the bad with the good in this Blog.
-ba
To Kill A Mockingbird
Whew, been very, very busy with tech week for To Kill a Mockingbird. It opens Tuesday morning at 10AM for a couple of hundred school kids. The show is for schools to use as an educational opportunity. My work graciously allows me to shift my hours to accomodate the performances. For those in the Syracuse area there are 2 public performances. Saturday April 3rd 7:00 pm and Sunday April 4th 2:00 pm call 449-2134 for tickets.
It's been a long time since I read the book so the story is really new to me again. I find that each time I watch the rehearsals I get angry thinking that these attitudes and behavior were accepted just 70 years ago in this country. The characters Ewell and Gilmer really irritate me. It is a very sad reflection on the human race. Here's a few shots from the show.
CAUTION - POSSIBLE STORY SPOILER BELOW IMAGES (read if you already know or don't care)
Josh (my son) is playing the role of Boo Radley which of course makes doing the show that much more enjoyable. I watched the final scene rehearsed for the first time on the stage with the all the tech added (lightning flash, thunder, etc..) and I dunno maybe because Josh is Boo and Boo saves the Jem from the knife of Ewell and then kills the representation of vileness I found myself with tears in my eyes and a knot in my stomach while watching. It was really very well done. It's going to be a great show and I hope some local kids learn that we as a society are so capable of being so morally corrupt. I find myself humming DC Talk's
Colored People lately....
LyricLinkba
Accidental Patriotism
First I'd like to apologize for the lack of posting, Josh and I have been hard at work building this message forum site.
www.CNYTheater.comTake a look and register if you'd like. Comments are welcome.
Now what you've been waiting for.
Every now and then I see something that is odd. I know your thinking every morning right ? ha ha ha... so you've seen my oldest daughter ? Actually no, I mean interesting odd not scary odd. Working for a large university provides a lot of things (the most important of which is free tuition) among them is a liberal dose of diversity. It's in this light that I present you a picture of accidental patriotism due to the laws of diversity.
Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue displayed on the sidewalk in chewing gum.
ba
Statue of Imitations
Ever in a hurry ? As I've mentioned before in this blog I'm a digital personality, incessantly aware of time. Being in a hurry does not bode well on Saturdays if you happen to need to shop in any discount warehouse. This time it was BJ's, because as their slogan goes "Everybody loves BJ's". I was on my way to the theater for the third and final saturday matinee of Annie and I wanted to pick up something for the orphans and the rest of the cast. The place was chock full of statues or more correctly people imitating statues.
You have the Thinker Statue. 
Depending on the gender, age and product aisle you can usually figure out the thought process.
Male, 40's, Video Section - "I'll bet if my wife would like Monty Python and the Holy Grail on DVD ?"
Female, 17, Frozen Foods - "I wonder if these cream puffs will make me look fat?"
Male, 75, Any Aisle - "What did I come here for ?"
Female, 14, Cookie Aisle - "Does Billy really like Amanda ?"
Female, 35, Frozen Foods - "I know Jim hates broccoli but doesn't everybody else like it ?"
Male, 21, Greeting Cards - "$3.95 why do I have to buy her one of these anyway ?"
There are other statues.The label reader statue. Product in hand, reading in a whisper the entire label.
The forgot my glasses label reader statue. Same as above but with arm extended fully.
The what am I looking for in my purse statue.
The my wife/husband wandered off somewhere statue.
The why did I have children statue?
The cell phone statue.
THE PERSON ON THE OTHER END OF THE PHONE IS DEAF STATUE.
Now I wouldn't mind most of these statues except they usually have one ability in common, to find the exact center of the aisle. arrrrgghhhhh
ba
A Case Writers Blog
Been a slow couple of days wonderment wise which has brought upon a severe case of writers blog.
I thought about an entry as I noticed a bunch of gloves and mittens appearing all over. These hand garments obviously lost in the snow were now making their re-appearance due to the recent thaw. I toyed with some comparison to socks lost in the dryer but it didn't work out to much. You can see why.
Spent a wonderful hour yesterday talking to Dell technical support in New Delhi, India. It went something like this. Before you read on I was wondering something as I was on the phone. Why is it so easy to imitate the Indian accent ? Have we all seen too much of the Simpsons ? Anyway while your reading this please in your head add an accent to the lines marked dell:
me: This clients hard drive is bad and it is still under warranty. We've talked with 3 service reps already can we just get it replaced?
dell: I'm very sorry sir but we have to have the diagnostic BIOS error code.
me: The BIOS doesn't return an error code, the BIOS says it can't run the drive diagnostics.
dell: Sir could we please try to re-install the operating system.
me: We've tried that twice and it won't format the drive past 70%.
dell: Well sir, I am very sorry, but if we cannot install the operating system then we have to get the diagnostic BIOS error code.
me: Can you spell dejavu ?
After a conversation with a supervisor that was laced with the best NJ sarcasm I have ever spewed. I finally got them to agree that we were in a logic loop that only they could release us from. Aaron agreed to ship a drive to the client as fast as was humanly possible (you're doing the accent in your head again aren't you?). Before I get maligned as an insensitive politically incorrect jerk, this is humor okay people ? I'll leave you with a bust of Apu.
ba
Oh I understand now.....
Stopped at Sams Club Sunday on my way to the matinee performance of Annie and as I was leaving I saw someone attempting to do this....
with one of these....
I noticed around the car various piles of things you might find in a car. Repair ramps, fire extinguisher, a sleeping bag, spare tire, a few boxes of assorted stuff and a baby carriage. All this had been taken out of the trunk in a vain effort to see if removing the stuff would some how make the opening of the trunk bigger. It didn't, so now they had removed the freezer from it's box (hey it's 4 inches smaller all the way around now) and were attempting to pry it onto the front seat. I wish I had noticed exactly what kind of car it was. Trust me when I say that it was no bigger then a Ford Escort and there was no way it was going to fit in the front door let alone allow the door to close at all.
After I stopped chuckling to myself I took pity on their plight and as I was walking by I asked the women who looked 50(ish) which direction they were headed. She responded by saying "Kenwood". I don't which direction Kenwood was and she obviously thought I knew where the street was. I didn't so I asked "north, south etc...." She said Kenwood again and this time added "Court". Yea we're making progress since I know where Court St is. I offered that I had a pickup and a few minutes and would deliver the freezer. She seemed to nod acquiescence and so I walked to my truck and drove it over to the entrance where this parody was playing out. Her son (I found out later) and the SamsClub guy re-boxed the freezer and put it on the back of my truck. We bungied it and I looked over to the young man (maybe 20) and said "are you with the freezer?" He said. "no I'm with my mom". What we had here was a failure to communicate. I said "mom's freezer ?" he nodded and now we understood each other. I noticed mom looking at me a little funny and I realized that this had all happened pretty fast and she was probably wondering if I was some kind of appliance thief. Someone lurking around parking lots of department stores offering to help bring home the goods and instead stealing them and hawking them on the lucrative black freezer market or is it freezer black market. So I said to the son, "why don't you ride with me." Instant relief across the face of mom as she realized I might steal the freezer but probably not the son.
So off we went up to Kenwood and dropped off the freezer. I said so long to the son and headed for the truck. He says "hang on a minute" as he's walking toward the house. I say back "I don't want any money" he says "I know" but promptly re-appears with a $20 bill. I give up !
No, I didn't take the twenty.
ba
Werdz !!
My wife is a talker. The Farmers Almanac reported once that women speak 25,000 more words per day then men and I'd be the last one to argue with that statement. Her talking alot is okay because I’ve become in the recent years a listener, however once in awhile this symbiotic relationship fails. It fails because sometimes she wants more then the guttural or one word responses I offer. It fails due to my not wanting to listen at the moment or like this morning it can fail due to subject matter.
We often slip down to our hot tub early in the morning to enjoy a soak, wake up slowly and sip our coffee while enjoying the sounds and sites of nature(careful now!) which of course includes the cheerful chatter of my wife. Here's a picture just in case you need one.
Lately life has been kind of stressful. Some side consulting work is keeping me running, I’m sick of winter, I have a head cold that won’t go away, my back got wrenched and hasn’t stopped feeling sore, I’m doing some local theater, plus the worries of life, etc…. This morning I had decided to deliberately relax. I know deliberate relaxation sounds oxymoronic on a few levels but that’s what I decided to do. I was going to slow down, purge my mind of all my worries and concerns. So with that thought I slipped into the water. I usually don’t even move to drink my coffee for the first 3 or 4 minutes, I just relax and focus on the goodness of the hot water covering 90 percent of my skin and the cool air on the part that has to remain out so I can breathe. Excuse me a minute while I relish the memory. Ahhhh….
Right about now is when the symbiotic relationship described above fell apart. I use my few words to casually mention that this morning I’m going to try and slow down and leave the hectic, stress of my life behind for a few minutes and think about nothing. I forget her exact question but it was something like “So what have you been worrying about lately?" hmmm I wonder if she’s trying to kill me.
Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
ba
Help.... help.....
Thank you for calling XYZ Computer Help Center. May I have your name please ?
I'm sitting in the Computing and Media Services Help Desk phone room after offering to cover a POD (don't ask) vacancy. The latest variant of the netsky virus is hitting the U pretty hard and so I give you a representative picture of the typical client calling in......
It is days like today that I genuinely feel bad for those who are technologically challenged. Oh wait I'm over it.
ba
Stupidity Should Be Painful
I've come to the conclusion that we all have our own special stupid habits. No, not silly, not cute, not anything but stupid. This weekend I had an epiphany and figured out one of mine. Sadly (or stupidly) I'm sure I'll continue on doing it despite having discovered, analyzed and detailed it.
It involves the dashboard of my truck. You see I throw stuff up on my dashboard all the time (by the way after realizing this tendency I've checked numerous dashboards and have concluded that it is a rare stupidity indeed) The stupidity comes in because every day I drive up and down one of these.....
....and everyday the stuff on my dashboard ends up on the floor of the passenger side of my truck. It doesn't take a turn like this to accomplish the stupidity but I do traverse a similar road every day and every day I reach up in a vain effort to catch whatever I've tossed up there. Sometimes I realize what is going to happen and I slow down or soften the turn. This is just proves more maddening as I watch the pile of stuff slow down as it crosses the expanse of my dash, mocking me as it hits the roof strut on the far side and laughs as it falls to the floor. So I bend over and pick it up from the floor as I mutter some invective and try to stay on my side of the road. You've probably seen me, I'm in the red pickup that has no driver that is swerving toward you.
Day after day I've done this, year after year. Envelopes, CD's, my cell phone ear bud, if it's small enough to toss up there it ends up on the floor. So the next time you see a small red pickup with no driver..... that would be me... being stupid.
ba
