Halfbrown

As a long-time PC user I have to admit that Apple’s new OSX is interesting… and Apple wants to know what it would take for someone like me to switch to a Mac. How about 50% off of my first PowerBook?

Is it bad that I actually enjoyed the movie “Josie and the Pussycats” ? It was so over-the-top with product placement, poking fun of pop culture, and made fun of itself so well that I couldn’t help but love the movie.

Yes… he is mowing my lawn. I have not asked him to do this, I have not hinted at it, nor is our grass so long that it should make someone decide to cut it just so their own property value won’t go down. He’s just mowing it. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s kinda weird. Not “sideshow” weird, but more like “what the…” weird. And this isn’t the first time he’s done it either. In fact, the day we move in he mowed it. I thought it was a “welcome to the neighborhood” gesture, but apparently he’s serious about this. I’d venture a guess that he’s mowed my lawn at least a dozen times in the last ~6 months.

At first it made me a little cranky. I mean, it’s my lawn, not his, and I’ll mow it when I’m damned good and ready. But after much consideration and advice from others about it, I have come to terms with the fact that I have a neighbor who likes to see fresh-cut grass and there’s preciousl little I should do about it. And lets face it; I don’t really like mowing anyhow…

I just hope he rakes it all up, too.

I love my son so much, but let me tell you something: 4.5 month old babies drool like there’s no tomorrow. I can’t believe how much saliva can come out of someone so tiny.

Am I the only one who remembers and/or loved that show on MTV called “Austin Stories“? You gotta love any show that popularizes the phrase “neck ‘furters” (as in the part of the back of your neck that, when looking up, appears to be frankfurters). Classic television, lost to the cash whores that run cable TV programming.

And speaking of cancelled shows on MTV, I miss “The Jenny McCarthy Show“.

Last night was our “date night” to go see Diana Krall at the Paramount. What a great concert! Not only is she a very talented musician and Grammy award winner, but she’s so funny as well. In between songs she would intro the next number by telling bits about how she came about hearing it for the first time or who the song was written by, sung by, what album it was on, etc. Of course, she admitted that perhaps not all of her facts were straight (eg- the specific albums), but she made it very light and fun nonetheless.

She truly has some great fans out there, and a few odd ones as well. At one point in the show, after the second (of three) encore I believe, some gal yelled out something to the effect of “Take it off!”. Unfazed by such an out-of-place remark, Diana replied “I’m high maintenance, but thanks for the thought.” Actually, after she said “I’m high maintenance…” I was laughing so hard I couldn’t exactly make out what she said, but it was something like that. Anyhow, she’s playing to another sold-out concert tonight at the Paramount, and if you’re going I know you will have a great time! This is the second time we’ve seen her, and we had a great time at both concerts.

A few things about the Paramount, and theater/concerts in general that I’d like to address:

• It’s one of the most beautiful theaters I’ve been to. If you ever get the chance to see something or someone playing there, just go.
• The restrooms off of section 4 on the main floor have ceilings that are about 6′ high, so if you use them you will feel like a giant in them.
• In said restrooms the mirror cuts off right at about your nose if you are of average height as I am. I figure it would cut off somewhere around Shaq’s bellybutton.
• If you spend more than, oh, say $100 on a pair of tickets; why do would you wear faded jeans to the show? Maybe it’s me, but in a pseudo-upscale concert like Diana Krall (remember: she’s high maintenance) I like to dress up a little and not look like I’m heading out to the garden to do some weeding.

Just a few things I thought you should know.

My car is covered pretty good with snow in our parking lot at work, and it looks like we’re gonna keep getting more snow tonight.

To me, this is a good thing. A lot of people are afraid to drive in the snow, but I’m not. Hell, my little white Honda Civic DX has taken me up and down the mountains to go snowboarding or skiing, plus with the front wheel drive I rarely have a problem getting anywhere.

I’ve been without a father for ten years.

It still doesn’t feel right to say that after a decade of being without him. The story of his death is a long and involved tale, one which I’m still not too comfortable with re-telling. Suffice to say that he died of an aneurysm in his mid-forties and he was loved, or at least very well liked, by every one who knew him; people who hadn’t seen or heard from him in over twenty years called and/or wrote to give their condolences when they found out about his death. He was a great man who loved his family, made everyone around him feel comfortable, and who loved to laugh, even at his own expense.

As I was growing up my family was, and is, a close knit group. Me, mom, and dad, to be exact. Now that I have a wife and child as well as my mom and I, we are all just as close. We haven’t really been too involved with either of my parents families for many reasons (idiocy being the main component of our disaffection) so we only ever really had each other when it came to holidays and other events that families gather together around. All of this was fine with me; I’ve never suffered from any feelings of want when it comes to family because my parents and I always loved each other and got along very well. Were there problems, did we have fights? Sure. What family doesn’t? But the core of our relationship was built on love and we always enjoyed being with one another.

My dad was everything you could ask for in a parent… funny, caring, compassionate, forgiving, and most of all: inspiring. Both my parents were that way. And now that I have a son of my own I hope that I can be at least half the man my dad was. It’s been ten years and I’m worried that one day I will forget how he smiled when he’d see me, or the way his hands felt when I grasped them as a child. I hope that I can remember all of the stories and jokes I shared with him. I hope that I can share with Evan the life of a man whom he will never meet, but who loved him even before he was born.

I miss you dad, and I still love you; and nothing will make me forget that.