I made an interesting observation yesterday while on my daily noon walk. I head for a 3 mile loop around Duke's campus during my lunch break, and this, of course, gives me the opportunity to pass lots and lots of other students and people who work on the campus. Now, I assure you, I am not a maniac. But when it is a nice day and I am out for a walk I feel good. The sun is up, I am listening to great music, getting some exercise, and just generally having a good time. So I smile. N...

Well, after a couple of weeks of little progress, I was astonished yesterday to hop on the scale and see what my weight was at. I was down 20 pounds! I was astonished, excited, all of the above. It was great to have reached that milestone, and in under 6 weeks no less. It has been very motivating to see the loss in terms of numbers, as well as in terms of my clothing. It is also a little difficult, as I don't think I often notice the change as much as others. But my wife has been ...

I don't know what it is, but monkeys make me laugh. Every time. Case in point: the new Careerbuilder.com ads. They crack me up. Monkeys in the boardroom, monkeys in the conference room, monkeys in cubicles. But my favorite is the conference room one. Seriously, what could be more funny than monkeys with laser pointers, pointing at a guys butt and crotch. My wife just shakes her head as I laugh myself blue in the face. Must be a guy thing. Monkeys with laser pointers. Classic. ...

Perhaps I am just a bitter old man. Valentine's day is coming and all I can say is: Who cares? When I was a kid, Valentine's didn't mean that much. Sure, take some cards, some candy. Big whoop. As a teenager, I never had a serious girlfriend at that time of year, and so, more than anything, it was Single's Awareness day. Yeah, that's loads of fun. But now it should be different, right? After all, I have a wonderful wife, whom I love dearly. We have a pretty great relationship, ...

I have a real problem with Valentine's Day. Always have. I must just be a cynic. It isn't exactly difficult to find out that the average class size in Elementary school in the US is 23.5 kids. Add in a teacher (or two) and you have right around 25.5 people. Take away the child sending the Valentine's Day cards (they don't need to send one to themselves, and if they do perhaps there are bigger problems), and you have a safe average of 25 people in school that your youngster has to tak...

While not to the exact day, it just hit me that I created this blog just over 2 years ago. Wow. That actually astonishes me. I haven't been a regular at any internet site for that long of a time. I usually find some reason to wander off and find new electric playgrounds. And while there have been times I have left for a while, I actually find myself feeling more 'at home' here than ever. I suppose it all boils down to one thing: The community. I am convinced it is that interacti...

The Black Halo By: Kamelot Year: 2005 Click here for the artist's site I have to admit up front, this band is very new to me. Thanks to the wonders of the internet and internet radio, a track from Kamelot showed up on one of my Pandora radio stations (my Fates Warning station). It started slowly, built nicely, and then erupted into a marching, anthemic, powerful song. This was a band I needed to hear more of, and their most recent release "The Black Halo" seemed like ...

This week was all right. Nothing big either way. Down about 1.6 pounds, and the clothes continue to fit more and more loose. I already have some I need to retire as they are simply way too big and bulky to look decent. I felt mostly hampered this week by continued sickness. Whereas last week it was all in my sinus (and draining down my sore throat), this week it decided to migrate south and park itself firmly in my chest. This sucked. If I started to push it and really get going I al...

I had seen this weird grids (9x9), but never really knew what they were about. During our trip to New Hampshire, my wife finished her book before our first layover, so we went in and browsed a book store. She picked up a beginning Sudoku book to see what it was, decided to buy it. And has been hooked since. It really is a fascinating game. Often called a crossword puzzle without words, it simply involves filling the entire 9x9 grid with all numbers from 1-9 across and up and down, as...

G3 Live: Rockin' in the Free World By: Satriani, Vai, and Malmsteen Year: 2004 Click here for the artist's site Since 1996 guitar god Joe Satriani has organized and spearheaded the G3 tour every year or two. And occasionally we get a CD from the show. I was out of the country when the first two went on, but I found the first G3 disc and ate it up. After all, what guitar fan could pass up an album with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson playing live and together? I...

Octavarium By: Dream Theater Year: 2005 Click here for the artist's site 2003 was an interesting year for Dream Theater fans. It saw the release of "Train of Thought", DT's heaviest album to date. Some critics loved it, calling it their best work yet. But many fans were left with a bit of a cold feeling in the pit of their stomachs, wondering what had happened to their beloved progressive metal band, and who were these angry guys who had taken their place. A three disc l...

I can't believe it has already been four years. Living in Utah in 2002 was a fun experience. No, I did not get to go to any Olympic events live. Not only did I live a ways away, but it was notoriously difficult to get time off and tickets for folks like me (read: students supporting families). And so we had to enjoy them through the miracle of television. Still, seeing places I had been, recognizing city streets, buildings, even mountain peaks I had climbed, biked or gone skiing on was...

A long while back Dharma had a really fun article entitled "Show and Tell" in which many of us posted photos of ourselves or our families. Something personal and fun. It was a great thread that allowed a lot of us to place a face to the nick name and the writing voice. Well, it has been a while and there are lots of new, pretty regular folks who blog here so I thought it might be fun to start up a similar thread. I will give it a go, with one of my current favorite pictures: Me ...

Think back a few years. Michael "Nutjob" Jackson leans over the railing of a hotel balcony in Germany, dangling his small son over the edge. Outrage erupts. The man (very loose application of the term there) just may be unfit to be a parent! I am sure that those of us with a modicum of common sense say it all and said, "No kidding." Well, it has happened again. This time the perpetrator is pop princess (aka attention whore) Britney Spears. She was seen "fleeing" paparazzi in her SU...

Our last two children have been very slow to get their teeth. I am not saying I mind, the less I get bitten the better. But it is something that we have noticed, and compared to other kids his age, Alex is way behind in that regard. My wife was over at a friends house yesterday. Their youngest is a month or two younger than Big Al, but already has a pretty full set of teeth. I was just teasing, and said that it was because his father was a dentist (now in Orthodontic residency). The...