Ramblings, Incoherent Thought and Family

April 1, 2009. A day that will forever live in Infamy. When the news came down last week about Time Warner's plans for Internet Capping in Rochester...I remember feeling outraged and a little ambivalent at the same time. On one hand I sit and think "Man...that sux. I'm furious..." and then I think "They won't do it...they can't do it...that's nuts right?" Fast forwarding 9 days...I'm seeing now the truth. It's probably gonna happen...at least for awhile. Which has only infuriated me more. Time Warner is made up of people who's only goal is to make money. That should surprise ABSOLUTELY noone. To hear the words monopolistic, and unfair makes sense. It is...but they've got us by the short hairs here. TWC is made up of shareholders, corporate raiders, and executives who are being hit in this time by the 'economic downturn' (and by 'hit' I mean may need to only take 10 weeks of vacation in Bora Bora). So having them lo...

I woke up this morning...thankful for my friends. Such an odd statement coming from me. Especially given how little sometimes I truly know about being or having friends. Yet here I am...thankful for 'em. Most of my life...I've gone through my days thinking "why can't I have friends?...what's wrong with me?" I've said it before but I was a VERY AWKWARD geeky kid. VERY hard to get to know. I seemed to revel in being unlikable at times. Sure I desired it more than anything...but my actions and outlook seemed to cloud that. I'd make a stupid joke here that could be insulting...I'd ask a stupid question...I'd play dumb for a cheap laugh. I'd throw an insult at someone so then I'd then be backed into a corner where I usually tried to fight my way out (very badly I might add...I was NEVER a good fighter...I got one good one in once...with John Stambach in 7th grade...in Mr. Y's class...he was busting on me...pushes me and I punched him in...

Hey all; I went and saw Watchmen on opening day. There may be some spoilage here...so if you haven't seen it and want to...don't read further. OK now that that is out of the way... Watchmen as directed by Zach Snyder is NOT a comic book superhero movie. No matter what you read, see, or hear...this is NOT a movie that you should EVER EVEN CONSIDER bringing a kid to. It is based upon a 12 issue mini-series published in 1986 by DC Comics. However...it is NOT Superman, Batman or even Doom Patrol. It is a dark, gritty and very thought provoking drama using Heroes and masked vigilantes as a looking glass into a world teetering on the edge of nuclear armageddon. The heroes are not 'white hats' and not without their own hangups, issues and motivations for being 'heroes'. The book is 23 years old...and for me still very readable and relevant today (unlike much of the 80's comics). It's not a 'feel good' or uplifting story...but a morality play and...

Ya know...I didn't think it would happen to me. I mean I'm a very young at heart kinda guy. My office has Battlestar Galactica miniature ships on top of one of my monitors, I have a Green Lantern Postage Stamp Picture my in-laws got me for Christmas, I game, I watch Cartoons still. I genuinely thought I was still with it. Nope...NOT EVEN CLOSE. The below is a snippet from a friend of a friend's kid who friended me on Facebook. They replied to their Dad in their doing status...and it just made me realize how unhip I am. Below is the response to their father: "y should i b nicer 2 others while others r bin mean 2 me!!!!??? yea ik im not @ skool but i have u dat keeps tellin me 2 clean n borin stuff like dat no wonder y im bored!" WHAT IN THE SAM HILL OF DAMOCLES DOES ALL THAT MEAN?!!?!?! I've seen the commercial with the kid texting her Grandma...and Granny is a hip granny dropping an idk on her son. But man...I just don't get it. I mean I can understand wha...

7 Years. I remember being a kid thinking that was a long time. When you're in 5th Grade and someone says it's only 7 years till Graduation...or when you're 14 and it's only 7 years till you're 21 and legally an adult. It'll only be 7 years till Lake Avenue is FINALLY finished...before they tear it up again. It has such a mystique to it. Yet here I am. 7 years have passed since what could possibly be defined as the best day of my life...and it feels like yesterday. I can remember everything. Waking up in the hotel room with my friend Mark in the adjacent bed snoring away. Feeling like I should be nervous...and yet...not. Looking out the window at the city skyline still awed by the way it just seemed to envelop the area...while knowing that Rochester's 'metro area' probably spans about 3 city blocks...but it's perspective is one of a much larger city when you're in the heart of it. Having breakfast in my t-shirt so I don't get anythi...

Wow...yesterday was a jumble of emotion for me. I get a call at 7:30 in the morning that my Mom is being rushed to the Hospital with symptoms presenting a heart issue. I get dressed and make like a small aircraft toward the hospital. After clearing myself for landing with the tower...I park in emergency parking and begin to get things ready. I do what I always do when I'm at the hospital...I grab my vial of Oil and church ID badge. See...as a deacon and now as an elder of a church...I've been ordained as clergy. A heavy idea if you think about it. However...while having my Church ID has let me get out of paying for parking a few times at various hospitals...I've always felt it's my obligation to wear it when I'm in the hospital for anyone...just in case there's an opportunity to pray with someone who needs it. So I just grab it out of my center console in the truck and my vial of oil is always in the front dash board. I put em on...and go in to see whomev...

I've heard it often since I was a kid. "Man you were born on Christmas? That must suck". Most times I smile and nod. I may make a statement like "Yeah...it sucked having only 1 day of presents as a kid. If I didn't get Laser Tag...then I had 364 days to go to try my luck again"...etc. What I don't tell people is how blessed I was to be born on Christmas...and how God ordained it not for me...but for my Grandfather (on my father's side). What I didn't know till I was older...is that my Grandpa Ed hated Christmas when my Dad was growing up. The reasoning was sound I guess. See my Great Grandmother (Grandpa's mother) I guess passed away at 10:02 AM on a Christmas Day when he was still a boy. For every Christmas after that...the holiday was tainted. My Grandpa Ed was a hard man to know. I learned that later with all the poems he wrote. I like to think that's where I got any talent for writing down my thoughts into words. He was able...