Sitting calmly, working away on my computer I reach up and brush my upper lip, hunting an elusive tickle that is afflicting my every breath. Fearing some phlegmatic detritus, I brush away, looking for the fearsome boogers. But none are discovered. There must be another source, another bur under my saddle. I reach up again, making sure no one is looking, and brush the actual nostril. Now I know what you are thinking. No, I am not picking, just brushing. The distinction is not only i...

Sitting calmly, working away on my computer I reach up and brush my upper lip, hunting an elusive tickle that is afflicting my every breath. Fearing some phlegmatic detritus, I brush away, looking for the fearsome boogers. But none are discovered. There must be another source, another bur under my saddle. I reach up again, making sure no one is looking, and brush the actual nostril. Now I know what you are thinking. No, I am not picking, just brushing. The distinction is not only i...

It's true! My wife and I can hardly believe it, but it is true. I saw it with my own (somewhat trained) eyes! A twig and berries to be sure. We had ourselves convinced we were having another little girl. The last thing I wanted to feel was disappointment, so I thoroughly convinced myself that another little girl would be the best thing in the world. But deep down I wanted a boy. A little guy around the house, a little more testosterone in the mix. And it looks like it is going to ha...

I am fed up with it. Every morning I awake feeling worse than I did the night before when I reclined and rested my head upon my blessed pillow. The dreams won't leave me alone. I can't call them nightmares. I don't awaken full of fear, dread, or even unease. But I awaken. Multiple times. I toss and turn. I probably even make noise. My wife is tossing and turning as well. At least she has a good excuse, right? I don't. I wish I did though. Every day I go into work (because t...

I like hot fudge. Quite a bit actually. While I'm not a chocolate freak, hot fudge really does something for me. But nothing like what it does for my daughter. She's 5, she is in kindergarten, and she is amazing. I don't give her the credit she deserves often. But she really is. And there is a lot she can teach me. Like hot fudge. Life isn't all roses when you are five. You have homework, have to put up with two busy parents, a little sister who is old enough to play with now, b...

You just blabber. And sometimes it actually works out. I honestly believe that the at times simply the act of writing gets the creative juices flowing, allows your brain to actually think about something that, while it may not be entirely worthwhile, at least is more fun than sitting here and writing about nothing. But the writing about nothing is important as well. I like to think of it as an exercise of matter over matter. Yep. Not mind over matter, because in this case the matt...

I have a problem. It is really a simple one, but one that has plagued me all of my marriage thus far (only 6 years and change). And I have recognized this problem for some time now, so it isn't news. Heck, my wife and I have talked about it as well. So she is privy to the problem. The truth is, I am a mechanic. And it infuriates my wife to no end sometimes. I understand why as well. My wife is a very emotional person. It is one of the things that attracted me to her in the first ...

Last night my wife turned on "The Bachelor". It is one of those shows that we have watched in the past in occasion out of some sort of sick fascination. It is like watching a train wreck, that twisted, macabre attraction that pulls you in. You know you should turn away, you want to turn away, you feel dirty watching it. But you can't. *shudder* As the end of the episode was drawing near I noticed something that set me back a bit. Perhaps it was because I hadn't really thought about...

I love PC gaming. Really. I do. I promise. Or am I just trying to convince myself? Cause, see, I really don't play games that much anymore. I try to. I download some demos these days, but many I cancel even before I finish downloading the file. Not too long ago I downloaded anything and everything and at least gave it a go. One of my favorite ridiculous things to do was to go to the local EB Games or Gamestops and browse games. Window shopping for pimply faced geeks, if you would....

My classmates and I are celebrating. We are now third year medical students at Duke. Many of use are doing research, and actually working normal hours. After our clinical year, the thought of working normal 40-50 hour work weeks is scrumptious. Simply delectable. And the anthem many of us have been repeating daily is "No call for ten months!" However, I was painfully reminded that that isn't necessarily true. You see, being a parent really is being on call every night. You never k...

Today I opened up my Political Meter widget , and to my surprise saw that www.electoral-vote.com has projected that, as of today, Bush would win the election 311 electoral votes to 223. *Gasp* Why is BlueDev so taken aback by this you may ask. Well the answer is simple. I live in Liberalville. Yep, I live in this incredible bubble of nearly manic liberalism. Heck, even the liberals here think Chapel Hill is a little far to the left. It is an interesting situation really. At s...

Ahoy lads and lassies o' JoeUser. T' time quickly approaches for us t' let our true pirate selves be known. 'Tis right, me mateys! Sunday the 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Little boys and girls who have all grown up have yet another chance t' pull out their cutlasses and swash some buckles on this joyous day o' days! Now, talkin' like a pirate might not be your thin'. In fact, you might find it downright juvenile. T' those who think thus, I simply say. . . Arrrr, you bil...

My daughter was very quiet this afternoon when I picked her up from her friend's house. I asked her what was going on and all I got was some silly answer. I could tell there was more, but I didn't want to push. It was a rough evening. She told me "No" more times than I can recall. Fortunately I didn't get upset. When I asked if I she would lay down in the bath so I could get her hair wet and she answered with the word of the day I quietly said "Okay" and left the bathroom. I went and...

Weather widgets are all the rage. Just look around at the OS customization websites. Desktop X has just short of 100 objects (plus lots of widgets as well), Konfabulator has some, Samurize does as well. Avedesk has them as well. And then there are the stand alone programs that check the weather for you. Weatherbug, The Weather Channel's little toy, Netscape's new Desktop Navigator, and a host of others all sit on your desktop. or comfortably tucked in your system tray and tell you the te...

I hate soup. I really do. I can't stand the thought of eating soup. But once I start eating it I don't really mind. Yeah, it is weird. I don't think I could ever actually want to eat soup. My wife loves it, so she makes it when she wants to or when we have the stuff for it. She knows I don't like it, and it has become a regular inside joke between us. But I eat it. I even enjoy it. Home made chicken noodle, black bean and rice, chicken and dumplings, taco soup, all of them are...