Another year, another chance to change. I guess. New Year has never been a holiday that had much meaning to me. I understand the symbolism of a beginning anew, I suppose it is just the timing that makes it sort of a snore. January 1st doesn't have any real significance in my life. Yes, I have to start writing 2006 instead of 2005, but that is really about it. Oh, and the time I go to church changes. However, seeing that I am STILL a student, the end of one school year and the beg...

I don't normally hit my children. I don't think it is a good discipline tool, and rarely really seems to be effective. But sometimes you have to make exceptions. Like last night. I had little other choice than to really wallop on our oldest. She needed it, no doubt about it. I smacked her, and I smacked her good. You see, she was choking. Now, I know, I could have put her on her back and administered abdominal thrusts, but she was small enough and the adrenaline was pumping, so ...

I just wanted to briefly wish everyone here a merry Christmas, a happy Holiday, or just generally a great day. If you are celebrating something at this time of year, I hope it is wonderful. If you aren't, I hope your day turns out better than the others. May you find peace, happinees, and joy to fill your lives.

According to the little sidebar, this will be my 300th article here at JU. While this certainly isn't my first blog, it has definitely become the most enduring and even I am surprised that I have stuck it out here as long as I have. Much of that has to do with the great people I have e-met here who have helped this become a 'comfortable' place to call home. There are many, too many to list, but some I would like to thank specifically. Please don't feel bad if your name isn't on the list, ...

I realize I have had little of substance to post lately. Perhaps I have just been saving up . There are two new album reviews up over at our music site. Stop by, check them out, and throw a few tomatoes if you disagree! G3: Rockin' in the Free World : Put three guitar gods together on one stage and you should get an amazing show for sure, right? Well, it certainly becomes a guitar wankfest, but is that a good thing? Check the review to find out. Kamelot: The Black Halo : ...

Perhaps this reveals just what a loser I am, the fact that I have to come here begging for e-friends. Nevertheless, here I am, doing just that. I received an invitation to participate in the beta for Windows Live Messenger, the next generation of the whole MSN messenger and such. The thing is, since I don't use my MSN email address that much, I don't have that many contacts who are on MSN (or Hotmail, you know the game). I would like to actually test this new software, so I am humbly as...

My brother has his first album review over up at our blog. Check it out. It is a great review of an album I had been torn over whether or not to get. Now I know the answer! "Adam and Eve" by The Flower Kings

And so it goes, on and on and on. Bloggers going bonkers. It seems to be a cycle here, one that repeats itself not infrequently. They often take the same form. For a week or two prior to the big bang a certain blogger engages in more atypical behavior. They are more vocal, more aggressive, more chaotic in their actions. They post to the forums, then to their blog, they open articles for comments, they then close them, then they open them again, then they start blacklisting people. ...

My brother and I have decided to work together on a music blog. It will be a repository of sorts for reviews, rants and raves about anything musical we desire. I know that some here enjoy music, and may find it remotely interesting, so I will be linking here when there is an update, but I won't be cross-posting the reviews. I may cross post articles, but that will be about it. So, to start, we have a new review up. The album is "Ocatvarium" by Dream Theater. Check it out here ...

They are out! The announcements of the Grammy nominees! Yeah! Not. Every year the Grammies are announced, the music industry spends countless hours and dollars flattering themselves, and we, the masses, are willingly force fed some of the most shallow, insipid, and vacuous music that has been created. We eat it up, rushing to purchase Grammy nominated tripe, tuning in to see the artists, adding to the general buzz and bluster. Idiotic. Every year I lament the state of mus...

Medical miracles occur daily. People are alive far longer than the could have been even just a few years ago. Diseases that were death sentences in the memory of many who may read this are now thought of as minor speed bumps in life. The volume of new medical knowledge is amazing, and the unexplored horizons seem even more vast than they did prior to this explosion of understanding. With this knowledge has come the ability to stave off Death. This dark and minatory specter still lurk...

I found this while surfing earlier tonight and thought it was interesting. Now, I have no idea how these figures are calculated. But hey, have fun with it. My blog is worth $1,129.08 . How much is your blog worth?

My blog has served as an outlet. Even at times something of a confessional. The time has come again. I must confess. Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned. I am addicted. To email accounts. Note, I didn't confess to being addicted to email. I don't think I really am. Yes, I check it regularly, particularly a few weeks ago when it was high time for interview invitations to be sent out. But I don't spend inordinate amounts of time reading or writing emails. In fact, if a...

Ghost Reveries By: Opeth Year: 2005 Click here for the artists site With the release of "Blackwater Park" Opeth did something that has damaged the careers of many other bands: They released a perfect album. Other bands release what is often considered their greatest work and then spend the rest of their careers trying to recapture that moment. Opeth, wisely, refuses to do that. They have continued to evolve, to experiment, and to craft excellent music. Each new album sin...

My love of music is certainly not unknown. As such, I have decided I will start posting my album reviews here at my main blog, rather than at my blog group, simply because there they are easy to miss. Enjoy or not, either way is fine by me.