The Surf Is Calling

The time is upon us, quite literally. We’re heading out the door to pile into our minivan and take the accustomed 12-hour drive to the Holy land… also known as “The Beach.” In our tradition, this is the most blessed of times and we wish it to be no other way, except possibly sans kids, but I digress. Wish us all of your wonderful thoughts and prayers and we’ll return the favor.

Onward and upward!

February Snapshots

Ice Storm Caught on Film, Er… Hard Drive

I bet you all were fearing for safety, right? Honestly, I know things are tough all over as they used to say in the 60′s. But I’d be remiss to not post some candid shots of Louisville’s recent ice storm. It’s a doozy! Turns out this is “…the worst ice storm in a long, long time.” Wow. Such inspired writing by our own CJ. Pulitzer here we come!

The sad part is that there are about 525,000 homes without power in the Kentucky. Which wouldn’t be too completely horrid if it weren’t for the fact that just last September there were 600k out from from Hurricane Ike. Ouch. Is it time to build the bunker?

Anyway, here are some shots I took yesterday take my brother and his wife to the airport. Get this, they are now laying on the beach in Key West and we’re all stuck here… in this.

Paladin’s Imaginary Musical Career in Rock Band

As a father, it’s built-in that I want my kids to enjoy the things I enjoy and avoid the things I dislike. But there’s a catch. What if I do like something but am so horribly inept that it borders on freakshow status? Well my friends, that’s where Rock Band comes in.

You see, I love music. LOVE it. If I could have been anything in this life it would been to trade places with Eddie Van Halen. I mean really, dude had it all. (Well, before the drug problem, the divorce, the breakup… you get the picture.)

Now back to the “inept” part. I bought a sweet, red Yamaha electric guitar when I was 16. When I tried to play it, it was as if some past dosage of nitrous oxide took control of my hands (more likely my ears and brain) and what came out was anything but musical. I tried and tried but to no avail. Simply stated, I sucked.

(This is all the more troubling that my friend Todd was so incredibly gifted that he picked up the piano in about a month. I’m not even exaggerating.)

So when I was able to play Guitar Hero a couple years back at our friends house, it was all I could do to restrain myself from ordering the game from Amazon on my Blackberry on the drive home. I was hooked like a wide-mouth bass.

Now, I’m not good like my son Ben—he’s a phenom—but I can hold my own. So the purpose of this post is for me to keep track of what I’ve conquered thus far in my music (non-musical) career.

“Oh no, don’t pity me babe
I know I’m alright
O yeah, I’m alright.” -Neil Young

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Copper Mountain Ski Trip Photos

Here are some of our first ever ski trip. The boys and I had a great time in Copper Mountain with very little crowds, almost perfect weather and plenty of the white stuff. If only my back hadn’t gone out on me. Ahh… you can’t have everything. Cheers!

Born To Die

The baby in this picture is not dead. He was just born into a very tough life.

Another baby arrived on planet Earth some 2000 years ago with a heart-breaking mission—to die for humanity. Literally Jesus was born to die.

On this Christmas morning, take a second and remember that without his death and resurrection, Christ’s birth would be meaningless.

The greatest of all possible Christmas gifts has always been offered to you… have you received it?

Our 2-Year Old Is Hopelessly Addicted to Rock Band

Barret can’t write his name or say the alphabet but he can throttle some Angels & Airwaves on Rock Band.

Photos of Ellery in Her First Month

“Yes,” we still love Ellery. And “yes” she cries more than a French soccer player. Therefore, we haven’t taken as many photos as we might normally would have wanted to.

I mean, how many pictures of a crying baby do you need (even if she’s as cute as she can be)?

So, here are a few that might be considered noteworthy.

Unknown Tomorrow

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown tomorrow to a known God.”
-Corrie Ten Boom

Election Day in America

Given the non-stop media barrage, I’ll be glad when this election is over. Not because I’ll be happy with the outcome, mind you, but because I won’t have to watch the endless stream of hateful ads and obvious liberal bias in the media. They can’t even disguise their slants any more.

Then you have the doofus academic elites doing pathetic pranks; acting more like students than professors.

In his blog post, Busse said “yanking out the signs and running like a scared rabbit back to my idling car was one of the single-most exhilarating and empowering political acts that I have ever done.”

How enlightened. This kind of behavior isn’t limited to one side of the aisle.

Democrats are criticizing a 38-year-old man who parked a trailer load of manure across the street from Whitehall’s Democratic campaign office to protest presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Just plain silly.

No, the saddest part of things, at least to me, is that our culture is becoming increasingly secular. More and more people don’t see God as relevant to our lives. Our obsession with celebrity, our constant striving for more money, our unhealthy addiction to the pleasures of this world… all of this will ultimately leave us empty.

Instead, we should all be working towards the day, when at the end of our lives, we’ve built a relationship with the One who can lead us on to the next life.

Blogged.com, Traffic Whore?

I don’t know what to think. One minute they’re telling me I’m “good” but bury me on page 4,685 or something. Then I learn I’ve been upgraded?!?

Is this like parent who are sick of hearing their kids complain so that throw some ice cream at them and change the change to Nickelodeon?

I’m not sure. Anyone out there know the truth?

Ellery Is Now on Planet Earth

Hello everyone!

I’ve returned from my dark, dank cave of an office. I had hoped to merely add some photos of our new “little one” with the cool Lightbox scripts to this ongoing endeavor I call a blog but one thing led to another and *boom* there goes 5 hours.

I needed to update to a newer version of WordPress. Sounds good in practice, but even as easy as they make it, it doesn’t always fly. I couldn’t log in. Turns out there’s a work-a-round for this bug:

Of course, in order to do this you need to backup the Db. Since I do it so rarely, I had to re-remember how it’s done. Then I there’s the site itself. Ugh. We’ve been on this design for years! It’s just so 2004, isn’t it?

I was just going to update the site quickly. I kinda had a plan. But the tweaker in me wouldn’t let me stop. SOMEBODY MAKE ME STOP! Ok, I’ll shut up now. Here’s what’s really important.

TEMP: Site Swap Happening

Weirdness of all sorts. Hopefully short term.

We’ve Arrived!

Well, I have to admit… I’m a bit speechless. After more than 12 years (3 domains) and 5,000+ posts I’ve been handed an award. Not just any award, mind you, but a “Good” or “Very Good” depending on who you ask. A moment to yourselves, like Linda Richmond, I’m a bit veclempt.

Apparently, the esteemed folks over at Blogged.com, feel I’m worthy of a 7.4. A freakin’ 7.4!?!? Ask me not how ratings are determined but that must be some serious crap because it places my site on the 46th page of Technology Blogs. Since when did this become a technology blog?

Lest I seem ungrateful, I’ve prepared a speech.

To begin, I want to thank the search engine wonks over at Blogged.com, without whom I certainly would never have received this award. That and the rodents on my treadmill of an Internet connection, who keep my upload times at a screaming 46k/sec.

Second, I should thank WordPress. Honestly, they’re legit. Not like those lamos over at MoveableType. (You know who you are!)

And most assuredly, I should thank you, my loyal readers, all 14 of you, who click Refresh and Refresh to the song of melodic birds and rushing fountains, all for the mere opportunity to bask in my greatness. I say, “It’s my pleasure.”

Lastly, I should thank Amy Liu of ye ole Marketing Department. It all comes down to the endless hours that she puts in, most of them at sweatshop wages all for the opportunity to bestow this gift of kindness upon unworthy souls like myself.

And for that, I am eternally in your debt. (If you could potentially send any traffic my way, there’s a ten spot in it for you.)

Peace out and au revoir.

rb2

cant talk… plyaing rb2… more to follow… or not