What’s The Point?

You have random thoughts. You talk to yourself sometimes, too. That’s where it started for me. Over time you build up a list of people that you follow and who are following you, and perhaps you say things that they would appreciate as well – funny anecdotes, inside jokes, news articles, etc.

I find that I like sad songs. I don’t think that I am a sad or melodramatic person. I think the music is pretty and pure. It also taps into real feelings. This type of music is not typically the over-produced mass-marketed stuff you hear all the time on the radio. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that music, so all my friends with Top 10 songs can settle back down.

This was a big weekend. I’ll list off the highlights and then go into more detail on some of the bigger points: - I took a personal day Friday to prepare for the MS150 and spend some time with my family

I love a good MixTape. It was the Beastie Boys who proclaimed that a good mix tape can put you in the right mood. They were right. I am in the process of wrapping up MixTape 3, but before that I never posted anything about MT2.

My wife’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago (1/9). Her birthday usually gets sort-of overlooked because of the rush of the holidays and our son’s birthday (1/3). This year I wanted to make a fuss, and I did. One of the things I did was make a mixtape (CD, actually) for her. I love making mix tapes – there is an art to it. I like to create something that captures a mood or a theme, and it has to flow.

Christmas is less than a week away. We are all gearing up to celebrate. This means gifts, parties, and traditions. What makes Christmas special for you? What has to happen for you to feel like you have celebrated Christmas (or Christmastime)?

This past Sunday I ran in my first marathon relay. We had a team of 5 people - all from work. The route was broken into the following mileages: 6, 4, 5, 5, 6.

I took the fourth leg, which started at mile 15.

This is another introspection sort-of post. I was talking with a friend the other day who challenged me on something. It’s something that I had already been mulling over.

Go the whole weekend without getting online.

OK people. Everybody in the world is on Facebook. We get it.

My wife and I drank the kool-aid a few weeks ago. It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve reconnected with all kinds of people.

So, for those keeping score:

I just found out this past Friday that I made the Top 100 Club again for the local MS 150 Bike Tour. I was the 49th highest fundraiser out of about 3000 riders.

It’s something that I am very proud of, but also feel a little weird bragging on. Fundraising isn’t something that you can do on your own - it takes the support of a lot of people. I have been fortunate to have some generous friends and family members who have helped my efforts, and I am very grateful.

I am a registered Republican with strong Libertarian tendencies. I was originally excited to see that McCain was running for President. I had actually liked him when he ran against Bush.

I could not vote for him this time around, though. For several reasons.##The GOP Has Been Hijacked##

This past week marked an anniversary for me. We are in the midst of launching a massive project at work, and on October 22, 2007 I made a binder to help with testing this big system. Around that same time my coworker convinced (tricked?) me to learn ruby.

I think that education is the cornerstone of everything. I’ve enjoyed lots of discussions around this subject with people over the years. My wife and I had one the other night that spooked us a little. More on that in a bit….##A Little Backstory##

Today was my oldest son’s first day of first grade. He’s getting so big, and it’s just really amazing to me. My wife blogged about the day here.

So I recently discovered Twitter, and am actually into it now. I found some news tweets and some rubyists too. I’ve even reached out and received help on something I was working on.

So I did a Google on top tweets to see if there are other interesting things to check out. This is a blog that was at the top of the list:

So I still don’t really get the point. Does the world really care what I have to say in 140 words or fewer on a regular basis? I don’t know, but it’s kind of fun to troll around and see what people are up to. There are lots of random thoughts that just float off into the ether, so why not put them somewhere?

I am an Apple fanboy, and I readily admit it. I drank the juice.

We have a Mac Mini (single core - old skool) that our kids use and a shiny iMac for us. I use a MacBook Pro at work (G5 prior to that, and a purple iMac before that). Before the Mini became our kids’ they had a really old G3 iMac that finally died after about 10 years of dutiful service.

I live under a rock. I was just listening to a NYT Front Page podcast that told me that Jay Leno’s last day is X and he went to an NBC press conference wearing a disguise to harass the executives at NBC.

We had a really good time seeing an old friend play at a local outdoor arena last Friday night.

I am cross-posting with my family blog for this entry. Go check it out!

I was like a kid on Christmas morning this past Friday. I took off early and my wife and I met up with another couple for a date. At the Apple store. The line in the afternoon was at least 2 hours in the hot sun, though. Bummer. I was thinking the line would have died down by then. Lines the next day were still multi-hour waits, though.

So there is this other blog that I frequent a lot (redundant much?). One of the topics that comes up sometimes is the “Great Debate” - top 3 songs from a given artist. Discuss amongst yourselves sort of thing.

Alton Brown did a Good Eats recently on Popovers. He claimed it to be the most versatile or useful recipe ever. Or something like that.

So I whipped out my “Baking with Julia Child” cookbook this morning and made some. The recipe is really easy - flour, milk, eggs, butter, salt. You mix it up in a blender. You can bake them in muffin tins.

I like to cook. Mostly I like to bake, but time in the kitchen where you can create something that is good is always rewarding. I just spent my lunch hour going through a handful of blogs that I like to read. One is the 37Signals “Signal vs. Noise” blog. They had a link to a cool cooking site: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

A (new) friend is returning from a tour of the Holy Land. She has been posting regular updates to her blog about the adventure.

Her posts got me thinking back on some of the thoughts I’ve had over the years. There are a couple of people and a couple of books that have really affected me.

Welcome to my side of the tracks. I really enjoyed doing the recap last night.

I made a lot of notes, and got a lot of them out in the recap. I was concerned about it being too long. There was a lot of gravy in those 2 hours.

I have 2 young boys. One of them listens better than the other one. The “other one” is our “spirited” one. We’ve taken to counting to 3 a lot lately when something isn’t getting done.

I’m going to count to 3, and if you don’t put the pick up all the laundry that you just unfolded you will choose to have 1 less story tonight.

I have to thank someone very special for the reference: Haf-Haf. Those are long a’s, btw – not to be suggestive of a diminutive person.

So I took a departure from reality to discuss reality TV the other day. I have another departure to make. This balances things out, too, methinks.

I am training for another MS 150 Bike Tour. This is a fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis society. I ride in honor of my father-in-law who was diagnosed several years ago.

This will be my 4th ride. I have to admit that my training is not as fervent as it has been in years past. Life gets busy, and you have to make choices. I really love riding my bike. A lot. I LOVE my bike. I feel guilty missing so much time with the kids, though. My yard also suffers greatly.

I have to take a brief departure from reality into reality TV for a moment.

My wife watches The Bachelor, and I love my wife. I like spending time with her. So I usually watch along with her. The show is entertaining enough because it brings the crazy extra hard, at least in the beginning.

Are there any flavors that just go together for you - like chocolate and peanut butter? I have one that got started by chance after a meal - probably something from Sonic. They give you peppermints with your food, you see.