Home Alone With Elijah

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ROFL!!!

Elijah "faked" being sick so I got him home alone. I did it. I survived. He napped for two hours. We went to the park. He ran up and punched a kid in the face who was being an ass. The kid deserved it. He was 10. I mean it was a closed fist, which is a new thing this week. Right to the cheek.

He didn't drop a deuce.... (yet...)

The above video is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. Enjoy.

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own...

Well...

Finally happened. After all this. 34 years and a couple of months later, I finally hit a challenge I could not pass on my own.

Something happened this weekend and I just couldn't handle. I searched every way to find the answer. It was like a loose connection. I just couldn't find a way to get the power back on in my life. I mean, I had power... But it seemed I couldn't get all of it. It was like there was no energy... The lights weren't on... I finally saw the darkness I could not take.

And with the advice of my friends and family, I only had one answer. I had to seek professional help, finally. On Monday, I made the call to explain my grief and my sorrow. And today at 2pm I had my first appointment... With a professional...

A professional electrician.

And $200 later, and some re-routing of some shoddy wiring....

The power is back on in our home.

Sanity Is A Full Time Job!

"Sanity"

There's a watch in my pocket and its hands are broken.
The face is blank but the gears are turning.
Confusion is a fundamental state of mind.
It doesn't really matter what I'm figuring out.
I'm guaranteed to wind up in a state of doubt
And sanity is a full-time job
In a world that is always changing,
And sanity is a state of mind
That you believe in, sanity.
There's a shadow on the wall where the paint is peeling.
My body's moving forward but my mind is reeling.
Depression is a fundamental state of mind.
It doesn't really matter how my day has turned out.
I always end up living in this world of doubt
And sanity is a full-time job
In a world that is always changing,
And sanity will make you strong
If you believe in sanity.
And sanity is a full-time job
In a world that is always changing,
And sanity is a state of mind
That you believe in, sanity.

Wonder What It Is Like...

To write a song and have nearly 100,000 people sing it back at you while you play your guitar.

Unchained

Discovered this video on Youtube last night. Johnny was the man. I have the live version with Willie Nelson on my iPod which if you don't own the unplugged Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash album, you are missing out. (You have my permission to steal it Lawryde :) )

Waiting for the Daytona 500 to start. Only race I watch all year. Busy week ahead...

Would You Ride In This Car?

Uh...........no?

3:10 To Berkeley...

I took a day trip to Arizona. I waited and waited for my plane on the way back this afternoon to show like the train did in the movie. (At least that train was only minutes late) An honest man, left at the station a hero... speaking of heroes:

So what the fuck is up with Berkeley?

Y'all see this? Stop... I don't pretend to know anyone that lives down there but what I can do is take a sensible position on this despite disagreeing politically with people from time to time.

I stop dead sharing an opinion of Code Pink or what have you and their right to protest (ironically defended by said Marines HoooRAH!) I don't care what your position is on the war, Bush...Obama kicking Hillary's white ass around the country or whatever.

However... I do care when a City Council like Berkeley's calls a Marine Recruiting office "uninvited and unwelcomed intruders". Uh... okay. So are they ceding from the Union too? Are they gonna bring the "naked guy" back to life to lead an army of conscripted engineering students and emo-fraternity slackers down the hill from Cal to Shaddock, armed with leaflets, forming drum circles to fight the Marines? I mean, gimme a break. Secondly... I think the city council should be recalled along with the mayor for allowing such an insensitive statement that panders to these kids protests. Be against the war, fine. I bet only 8% of the population in Berkeley is for the war anyway. But to take it out on a Marine recruiting office is quasi-blasphemy, (yeah I know "God" doesn't appear in the Constitution) but seriously it is scary and really reminds me of that archived footage of the 1960's Vietnam protests when my parent's generation had people attack the soldiers who were conscripted into the war against their will. The Marines and other Armed Forces recruiters can't all be located in Kansas or Wyoming where you'd stereotypically find gun happy rednecks. They gotta be welcome in all of our cities despite what we think about our President and the Iraq War. The city council is completely obtuse, and I actually feel sorry for Code Pink and the others, even though I disagree with them because this totally makes their cause look pretty sappy.

Bravo Berkeley!!! California, the land of fruits and nuts.

Invincible...

Eddie sings the blues

So I got my shiny new iPod Touch 32 gb all loaded and ready. Been playing with it off and on all day. Such a trip when you drive because you can see the name of the song and album over so clearly. One of the things I enjoy on my iPod is watching the move Invincible with Mark Wahlberg. I have seen the movie like 20-30 times on my iPod. If I am on a long plane ride with nothing to do or if I can't sleep or if I am feeling down in the dumps over something. If you haven't seen it, it is based on the true story of a guy who got a shot at trying out for the Philadelphia Eagles at 30 years old and he makes the time. Some of the facts are bent in the story (like the way he tried out) but it went down the way the movie portrays what this guy Vince Papale did. He got a shot... A once in a million shot, took it and succeeded. Yeah it's a Disney flick reminiscent of movies like Rocky or Rudy. These are great because you know how it is going to end so you don't have to pay attention to details to enjoy these movies. But I always look for the tricks and hooks that make them so great, even if down right cheesy. Rocky stands out in my mind though because he lost in the end of a couple of those movies. I digress.

What gets me about Invincible is the way they surrounded the character was real, likable people. Most of it is in a pub and how friends interact. They also laid the movie out in sense that during that time in the late 70's, times were tough. (It was the Carter years!) Every character has a struggle to survive. That wasn't the case in Rocky (except for maybe Paulie) or Rudy. In Glory Road, another sports movie about the first All Black starting 5 in NCAA championship history it was a team of people and then a school that had it bad. But in Invincible it was a town, a city. a team... all in a struggle. So why did it take all that for a Vince Papale character to rise to the occasion, at that time and that place?

Ambition, desire and persistence are things I would say I do not lack. I may despise the fact that I turned out the way I did some days and really free lucky and blessed on others. I open myself up for new challenges, new projects and things... sometimes whether I like it or not. I struggle and crawl my way out or succeed with the greatest of ease. Lately though, I think I do it find my center... To find my inner peace. It's a continuous slap across the face, reality is... All that you want to have... with what you should have. When you are low, it's tough to beat yourself. When you are high, no one can beat you. But I think, if I truly found the center, found what ground me to earth... the middle. I'd be invincible. And I wouldn't trade it for anything knowing everything I know now.

There is a scene in the movie, Invincible... where Vince is driving through the neighborhood. He had already accomplished his goal. He made the team. He defied all odds. He was a hero to his friends, his coach and his father. But something was still missing (at least in the movie). Whether it is movie magic or not.... life does really work this way. Vince still was incomplete with what he had. He's driving through this neighborhood contemplating everything... And drives by a playground and kids are playing football. And a kid runs to the street to get a ball and on his green t-shirt, he had painted number 83: Vince's number. For me, the movie ends right there. Nothing would do me finer than to see a pile of people look up to me for something. Especially making a good impression on someone I didn't know.

Life is diabolical. Life is a sport. Life is like standing in a batter's box. To me I hope it's like the 4 inning in a meaningless game when you get up to swing and not always the bottom of the 9th, base loaded...even as ambitious as I am. We all want that chance to take that next big swing. Better off in the 4th inning when no one is looking and you swung at a bad pitch. But in the big game... you chase a bad pitch your done... as easily as not swinging at all. Wow! How screwed up we are? I thought I could hide this week, being home and not on a plane. Sometimes it is always the 9th inning. We chase our tails or we embrace it. It's a powerful game.

But there is the center, the middle... I want to get there everyday. I was there before. I'd like to be back... To come back. And hope someone looks up to me while doing so.

Steve Touches Himself...

The Unofficial iPod Touch Song

Although the move was highly unpopular around this explosively named household, I took my part of gambling winnings from the infamous 22 on the Roulette wheel (to which I contributed unspent birthday money) and went and got the new 32 GB iPod Touch. Infamous 22 is my future band's name by the way. Has a nice ring and kind of rebel charge to it.

When this thing came out, I thought cool... Needs more memory to be practical for me and my 4000 plus songs (which already takes up 14 gigs). It is highly unlikely that I would double my size of song volume on my current playlist unless I stole them all from free download places like a Democrat entitled to "free" shit. I am going to remove some songs too because I skip over them and add the rest of the Pearl Jam/U2 collection which I do not have on now. I think I top out at 6000 songs leaving 10 gigs for play. Movies can go on and off at my choosing as well. Need to handbrake the rest of my DVD collection. I need Fight Club on this! Fight Club is this generation's Catcher in the Rye. (Handbrake is the coolest apple application for scrunching DVD's to iPod format so you don't have to buy them off iTunes. Such entitlement you get with Apple products, Steve Jobs must be a Republican... I mean if you are a billionaire you should be a Republican or Hillary is gonna come gank that shit from you in January)

Plus the browsing the net from bed will make my back better! I can't wait until this thing finishes syncing so I can play with it. Apple will have some cool document readers as well.

This thing is on!!!

When Elmo Visits: The Dark Side of Parenting

Yep... Elijah turns a year and a half and Sunday and we are corrupting his young life...

Elmo videos...

Netflix and Elmo are a bad combination. So we got one that talks about hands... DW flips it on and holy crap... Elijah can be a wild child, running around the house, getting into shit he doesn't need to and chasing the cats... but as soon as the music starts and it's Elmo's world, Elijah stops in his tracks and the world stops. He's fixated. We could leave the room, hell, even go outside... and Elijah is sitting there glued. The world has stopped and he is gone...

What is it with Elmo and the kids? I watched it for 15 minutes and it sounds like one of my buddy's at work from South Philly after 7 or 8 beers. Elmo actually laughs at shit and in a way he his making fun of it. There was this one seen and he was like, "This is my fish Dorothy" and the goldfish just sat there and Elmo gave a little stoner laugh at it like, "Heh". I almost fell over because in a way those belly busting laughs sounds like a bit of Mickey's with some Jack Daniels chasers. Wow!!! Maybe I can finally take up World of Warcraft.

Story Of My Life

Hard to sleep sometimes... Things jumble in your brain!

27 Hour Day...

I got up at what would be the equivalent to 1 AM PST. Showered... I think. Packed the suitcase and jumped in the rental car, which I fueled up the night before. I made my way back to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport, with the window open to keep me awake and also because it was like 70 out still.

Checked in, got a terrible latte made by some Haitian chick with an attitude and sunk into my seat to wait for the plane.

Plane was totally full but lucky me, the middle seat was open and I got the hottie sitting in the other seat. The only middle seat on the plane that is open is between us and the hottie... Who could ask for more? Right I am married... (Us?)

Once above 10,000 feet... I popped on my iPod and curled up against the window as I watched the sunrise over the Atlantic. Nite nite... I thought...

BAM!!

What was that? Nothing... back to sleep... sort of...

BAM!! BAM!!

Okay, now dude what the fuck? I turned around and a 7 year old kid off his meds is jumping around on the early flight. Great I thought...

BAM!

So much for sleeping... I got a cup of coffee and watched that movie with The Rock as a football player getting surprised by his long lost daughter... Heh... Why me?

BAM!

Also read the Economist. I love this magazine so much. Great topics on foreign affairs and the world economy...

BAM! This time right in the lower spine which hurts like hell already.

I jumped up and gave the father the "I'm gonna fuck your shit up" look. He was busy reading the Book of Mormon or something.

Then they gave this kid sugar.

It got peaceful toward the end of the movie. Ah... 2 hours done in a 5 hour flight.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!...

This time the kid is opening and closing his tray. So I leaned the chair all the way back...

Ah, the father catches on and starts paying attention to the kid...

I popped my second vike and watch my left hand shake for 15 minutes or so and listen to my iPod. I doze off...

BAM! It's 15 minutes later or something...

What do I do? Do I be a prick and wake everyone else on the plane? After all he is 7 and someday Elijah is gonna kick the chair in front of him.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The beatings continued the rest of the flight. I sat all the way forward with my head on the chair in front, leaving my seat all the way back.

We descend into Salt Lake City. This kid is all giddy and really bouncing around because of the snow he now sees everywhere. He tells stories to his sister... on and on...

Of course, now we move our chairs to the upright and locked position (whatever that means, they lock in any position) and we glide down, sit on the tarmac for like 15 minutes because snow is everywhere and finally we pull to the gate and the kid is rocking kicking and pulling my seat. I am about to snap but I give one last glare to the dad and he calms the kid down.

It's taking forever to get off and the kid is again hanging all over the back of my seat now. Pulling, tugging... rocking... all his weight is on it...

Finally I say "Fuck it" and push the recline button and watch my seat fall all the way back slinging the kid back into his chair. He totally fell down and I said to the Dad, "Oh shit! I am sorry, I accidentally hit the button."

I'm such a dick...