So, taking advantage of the cool new Photo Album feature at my Wincustomize page I decided to upload a few photos of our new addition, Big Al. Taken with an exceedingly cheap digital camera, they don't look great, but they work for the moment. You can see them in my Wincustomize photo album here: Link

Perhaps it is the joy of having our new son with us now. Perhaps I just mellowed out. Perhaps I grew up a bit (I certainly hope so). Whatever it is I just wanted to say that, as of today, I am starting with a clean slate. There have been bloggers here who have pissed me off, to be sure. But today I just want to forget all that. My blacklist is empty, and I hope it will stay that way. Here is too a new life in our house, and a new start for me here.

The birth of a child is a miraculous experience.  I have been fortunate enough to have been a party to more births than most people experience in their lives.  It never gets old for me.  The joy, the feeling of hope, the instant connection I feel with a new life. It doesn't even come close to when it is your own though. And so, today I just want to tell my wife what an amazing, strong, courageous, heroic, loving and powerful person she is.  She blows my mind, and the fa...

My wife and I watch "The Apprentice".  We find it amusing.  This season the twist was a competition between "book smart" and "street smart" people.  It has been interesting to see the difference in the approaches the two teams take, and amusing to see in what ways each group is stonger/weaker than the other. But every once in a while you get a timeless comment.  Tonight's loser had one final, absolutely incoherent word of advice to us all: "Those of us who walk away win...

I recall reading the book "Grendel" and being introduced to stream of consciousness writing.  It was interesting, unsettling, and difficult to wade through.  I always wondered if my stream of consciousness was that random, that jumpy, that incomplete.  Consciously, I tend to think in pretty complete sentences.  But am I just making myself think that way?  Or do I suppress real stream of consciousness by forcing my thoughts in a particular direction?  I wonder. So...

I don't really consider myself a gamer anymore. It is a stage of my life I am just not actively engaged in anymore. But I still play games from time to time, and still enjoy them. Especially when feel wound up. There is just something cathartic about blowing stuff up. I have always been fascinated with explosions, fire and other forms of destruction and mechanical mayhem. Life and circumstances now dictate I don't blow up quite as much stuff as I used to. But virtual destruction is...

Some days I play nice. Some days tact comes easily. Some days I really make an effort to not offend. Today was not one of those days. I really do try to hold to the idea that tact is important. I am not one who thinks that just being honest and brutally blunt all the time is a good thing. There are times when it really is the only way to go, but far too often I see folks use it as an excuse to forget anything they may ever have learned about human decency (I could name some names. ....

Multi-tasking can be quite a pain With windows all open it becomes a real strain Chatting in one, homework in another Composing an email, perhaps to my brother? Update my system, snag the latest file The desktop is crowded, ain't seen my wall in a while These programs must go, far too many I say! Click the upper-right corner, make them all go away Then, like a brick, the thought enters my mind One of those windows had a blog, at least a few lines But alas, it is gone now, I closed i...

Untitled I have a confession to make. I don't relish doing this, but I must be honest. I am narcissistic. Did you catch that? Yes, it is true. I am narcissistic. Hopefully not to a terrible degree, but I have realized that I do like who I am and my writing, and won't complain about a little attention now and then. What brought me to this epiphany? Good question. Well, the category is blogging, so it has to do with that. I have, on occasion, seen folks recommend other ...

Untitled When you can't put together a decent blog from a solid thought, why not just through together a crappy one with a whole lot of random thoughts? Seems like a good idea to me. Bon voyage! Reading the first few hundred pages of "The Stand" while sick is a bit of a surreal experience. Reading page after page in which the slightest sneeze or sniffle is a harbinger of doom does funny things to your mind. *Sniffle* *Ah-Choo!* Uh-oh, am I going to die? Nasal deconge...

Is there a guide anywhere on how to make shadows for WindowFX? I have looked through the OD documentation (but may have missed it). I have looked in the folders of shadows I have, but don't know what the .wbd or .wfs files are or what they do. Any pointers would be appreciated.

2:30 am. She has been sitting in the triage area of Labor and Delivery for 2 hours now. She doesn't know it yet, but she is going to have a C-Section. It was deemed an urgent C-Section (but not EMErgent, an important distinction). She also doesn't know she is going to be waiting another hour and a half until she finally finds out, literally as she is on her way to the operating room. Why doesn't she know? And why must her urgent operation wait until 4 am? Simple: she speaks Spanish...

Yes folks, I am a full week late with this Alias rundown. Last Wednesday was my brother's last night with us, so we were up late watching movies and playing Unreal Tournament. I even forgot to record Alias. Thanks to torrents, my wife and I were able to watch it (without any commercials!) on our DVD player Tuesday night. Technology rules. Nocturne was a bit of a darker episode. I enjoyed it quite a bit actually. The episode starts with a women teaching and English class. Suddenly ...

Link According to CNN.com, this year's celebration of musical mediocrity and sales figures were the second lowest in history. Very interesting. As I read the title I was filled with hope. Could this possibly mean that, even to a small degree, the masses are catching on? Could they finally be opening their ears and minds to realize that so much of the music we are spoon fed by the industry is simply uninspired (and uninspiring), formulaic, pre-packaged marketing? Could we all final...

Time. As it rolls on it carries many things in its wake. Memories fade, pain eases, hope passes away. Relationships strengthen as time continues its eternal press forward, or they flounder and are lost. And in its constant, relentless advance we may gain some knowledge and understanding. With that understanding comes new insight. In my life (both on and offline) I have met some very interesting people. It is fascinating for me to see how time has changed my perception of those peop...