Category: Personal
The life and times of John Fontana — personal blog posts about things John is dealing with / going through / thinking of / experiencing.
Bitter Singles Day
“Blah!” to hearts filled with chocolates!
“BAH!” to flowers and romantic dinners.
“Humbug!” to extra commercialism of a day devoted to showing yoru admiration, fondness and love and appreciation of a special person out there.
Happy Bitter SIngles day people… Â For the bitterly single (such as myself) the day that highlights the fact more than any other is almost over.
Gambling Domain name on Ebay
I’m trying to ditch BlackJackSlots.net on Ebay — I have yet to receive an offer on Sedo.com where it’s listed and have yet to receive a VIEW of the ad on Ebay…
If you’re looking for a gamblign domain name or want a better name for your site — it’s not like I’m trying to get 20 thousand dollars for this thing…
Lucky Hat
I bought a hate in early 2004 — before I officially launched Boltsmag, before the Lightning had cemented the fact they were on a run to immortality and the Stanley Cup. A tan hat by Nike with the Lightning emblem on it, a velcro fastener in back with “LIGHTNING” embroidered on it and the Nike logo sown into the bill.
It’s a little small, I almost think it’s a woman’s cap… Never the less, I wore that thing from January until I attended game seven of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and saw the team hoist Lord Stanley chalice. This is my good luck cap for the Lightning… Or it was at least… or is it still?
Back in March 2005 I was dating Jenna and went with her to Target to pick out another hatt. After all, my Lightning cap was soiled terribly and really bothersome due to it’s size. I picked out an Orange County Chopper’s hat and wore that from March until just a few days ago…. On rare occasions — like opening night – I wore the Lightning hat. The Lightning won on opening night but have been lackluster for most of the season.
So when Madeline chewed up my O.C.C. hat, I threw a shit fit and went out shopping for a new hat. I couldn’t find something I wanted at Target and couldn’t get down to the Mall to buy a new sports orientated hat… I sulked… I was wearing my smallish Lightning cap at the time… I’m still wearing the cap on a daily basis now…
…And the Lightning are winning again…?
They’ve looked like a different team in the last several days… I disregarded their victory over Los Angeles, was a bit surprised when they beat up Marty Turco and Dallas… Tonight’s game versus the Thrashers makes me wonder mightily about the powers of this ballcap… I know it’s not a can’t-lose cap, but there’s something to it. I’m sure of it.
Just how far would you go to defend your beliefs?
Just out of curiosity, just out of wanting to know how strongly people stand behind their ideals —
would you stand up militarily for your beliefs? I don’t mean support the troops being sent to a foreign land… I’m saying that if you stand on different political sides here int he country — would you take up arms agaisnt the other side if the cross the line with their acts?
Case in point right nwo is the power grab by the president — at what point, with lack of checks and balances in play, do the people of the United States start reacting physically to the injustic3s going on?
Conversely, when does the RIght start physically reacting to judicial decisions they on’t approve of that doe snot let them push their moral beliefs on the rest of the masses?
Just when and where is the boiling point? Unfortunately, it’s getitng close right now. With goverment corruption at an all time high, with the country divided like never before and with the Executive Branch grabbing all the powers that are possible to grab – damning the United States Constitution along the way…. Soemthing’s got to give. And I don’t know if it will simply be difused with an election.
Back in the Saddle Again
Hope everybody had a great Christmas.
Well, it’s been over a year since I left Netflix and what did Santa bring me but a one year gift subscription. Ho Ho Ho… I’m trying to build up my queue again and there are a number of films I have flat out forgotten about over the past few weeks and months that I would like to see.
At the top of my queue is War of the Worlds and Sahara. I’ve also got Seaon 3 of 24 in there, Murderball, March of the Penguins, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Team America – World Police, Crash, Constantine and a few others… But I know or sure I’m forgetting a lot of flicks and can us some recommendations. I’ve seen a few thanks to cable and owning the DVD’s (so please no one suggest Batman Begins or the last Star Wars sequel)…
A rare update
I haven’t really been in the mood to blog lately – on here or elsewhere. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in a bah-humbug mood with my life and stuff. Maybe it’s because I find myopinion or other things I say nonsense because even if you agree – it doesn’t really change things…?
I’ve been slow to update Boltsmag lately also because I feel out of place doing it. I don’t cover the team well, I am not in a position for inside information with the franchise or in a position to write the news regarding the team. It’s a good site with a bad writer and little input from readers.
I had hand surgery on my firght hand back in Novvember… It was actually a good thing in tha tI got rid of some painful nuiscance tumors but it slowed me down for a while – trying to get by with one hand (my left) which I am not strong with…
Madeline – my little Whippet pup – is over seven months old now. She’s extremely active still, and still hard to contorl in social situations as she gets excited when anyone new is around…
I’m trying to help Carl Zimmermann with his campaign website… As of current he cannot take online donations and the page is incomplete, I would like to upgrade the entire damn thing but life continues for Carl even as he runs for office – makign things slow in development. I tshould turn out ok though.
The Zimmermann campaign and contributing to Sticks of Fire with news scoops and articles are aobut the highlights of life right now – it’s been grim for the most part.
Where the hell did the Reilly's go?
First and foremost to anyone who knows me and actually visits Stonegauge from time to time to see what’s on my mind or what else I am up to… I’ve stayed off here a lot lately because I’ve been bored with it a bit — Boltsmag gives me a topic to focus on while Stonegauge asks me to focus on me and my life is rather boring.
Oh yeah, and the fact I don’t want to bitch about personal things knowing people know this is my personal blog.
But I gotta bitch today because I’m looking for an old family friend… Or friends more like it.
In 1984..? I think that was it… I moved into a house in Blue Point, New York with my family… Nice ranch place with cedar shingles and brick accents. There was a nursery next door and it was a quaint, small town on Long Island… There’s a plethora of details about Blue Point or that house but none are pertinant to this tory besidse what I want to talk about.
One afternoon after moving in, I was inside doing one thing or another and my brothers were out back — giggling and acting really weird by the back fence. I went to investigate what was going on and I found out they were making a fuss about a girl (and her friend) in the next yard. Mike and Andy were acting anti-social in one way or another and I thought “What’s the big deal?” and started up conversation with the girls… This was the begining of a great neighborly friendship between the Fontana family and the Reilly Family.
The girl in question was Shannon. Shannon H. Reilly if I do so recall her middle initial. She was about the same age as my older brother and went to Blue Point elementary school (while me and my older brother were attending Sylvain Avenue Elementary in nearby Bayport)… Shannon was basically the fourth child of my parents while me and my brothers became children of Shannon’s parents. We really were interchangable children and would spend time playing at each others houses all the time (except when I got tugged into some type of disagreement between my older brother and Shannon). I believe her parents names were Mary “Mussy” Reilly and Rich.
Shannon would later have a little brother, Brian, who became the fifth partner in crime. Of course, Brian would be too young for most of the -adventures that we’d undertake but he was none the less part of the equation when we did something.
At any rate, I moved away from New York to the Tampa Bay area in January 1989. The Reilly’s were there to send us off. They’d later take a trip from their home in New York to Florida and make sure to stop to see us along the way.
But time and distance made things fade. We did end up visiting the Reilly’s after they moved to Massachusetts during the 1990’s (not far from Foxboro if I do so recall) … But after that I can’t recall much of anything – news or what not – of the Reilly family. I did not see Shannon at that mid-1990’s get together because she was still in New York, finishing school while staying with relatives. I do remember Brian was playing offensive line in football but… eh.
I wanna know whatever happened to Shannon? I want to knwo what’s up with the Reilly family and I hope everything is ok. It’s a shot in the dark trying to write a blog entry about them — but after I did research on various platforms trying to find them and failed… I thought this was at least worth a shot….
Took'em long enough
Tycho and Gabe have finally updated Penny Arcade. Been a few years since the last overhaul… Looks great!
Speaking of trying to make money…
You know, I’m intersted in trying to sell domain names now. I don’t mean as a registrar but as a domain name re-seller. I don’t know if it will pay off in the end but seeing I just secured something rather cheaply and think it could get more on the market, I’ll keep gambling at this game for a while.
That is, unless I never sell the two domains that I am trying to sell to begin with.
Checked out
Sometimes, the happiest moments a person can have in his or her life is being physically admired by a passing stranger…
…It’s sad it doesn’t go anywhere, but the admiration is a definate pick-me-up.
Featured!
I’m officially the father of “the definitive online source for local hockey news.” So Sayeth the St. Petersburg Times in their online blog list which puts the spotlight on Boltsmag this week.
I almost expected this featured status last week, with the opening of the Hockey season on Wednesday but it was for naught — damn you TampaBlab! 😛 🙂 ) — suffice it to say, I am fine with having the featured status this week instead…
…Well, except for the fact I am going out of town and my focus is not on hockey this week. 🙁 Oh well, I’ll live… And so shall Boltsmag!
Where are you, oh glorious Gabe and Tycho?!
Where the Hell is Penny Arcade?? They’ve been down for more than a day now… 🙁 I need my PA fix…
EDIT: Brett in comments has the facts here…. It’s an internet backbone issue for Road Runner users such as myself. If you have access to a third-party access point (say, AOL) you can indeed access Penny Arcade just fine…
Change in Seasons
It would seem the higher elevations are starting to have snowfall… Yes, Winter is forthcoming and fall is here…
Now if it would only get cooler outside in Florida 🙁
Thank you, Times!
No, not for putting me in the Perspective section this week …
The real Jim Morrison
Re: Mary and Jim to the end, Sept. 25.
In high school I was a fan of Jim Morrison not because of his brooding rock-star act but because of a book of poetry I found in my high school library (An American Prayer).
Over the years I’ve read several books about Morrison and the Doors including the fan-must No One Here Gets Out Alive and John Densmore and Ray Manzarek’s respected autobiographies, Riders on the Storm and Light My Fire. All of these books had references to Jim’s “girlfriend from Florida” and his time in Clearwater but they were often simply filler lines without substance.
Thanks to the St. Petersburg Times and Mary Werbelow, part of this void is finally explained. Not only that, but you pass over the Morrison mythos of excess and glamor to find out more about the young-man-come-down-to-Clearwater.
Every time I read a lyric by Morrison from now on I know what to look for. Mary and Tampa Bay both are part of the equation.
John Fontana, Palm Harbor
But bringing back Calvin And Hobbes in repeats in the Floridian!
I BEAT IT!!!
It took me close to 20 years but, with thanks to a friend and a web site she sent me, I finally beat The Oregon Trail!
That Virtual Apple web site has tons of Apple II games to play… Very much worth a look if you played games on an Apple II during the 80’s.
Bigotry against Hearing Impaired: Performance Computer Group of Tampa
What decade do we live in? The 1950’s or the 2000’s?
I’ve got a laptop computer I basically can’t use not because it’s not in working order but because it doesn’t have the capablity to do what I need it to do and thus it makes the machine expendable. I’ve been looking for a way to move the laptop without losing a ton of money on the deal.
I looked on the Tampa Tribune‘s website and through their classified ads in an effort to look through the Laptop market and see if anyone was trying to purchase laptop computers in Tampa. I found www.tampanotebooks.com which is operated by Performance Computer Group. They’ve got a shop on Dale Maybry and they say that they buy used laptops – working or not.
I figured to call them up and see how much I could get for my machine… A phone call isn’t such a painful thing after all. Even if it is Voice Carry Over through the Florida Telecommunications Relay Service.
So I called up Performance Computer Group of Tampa — three ring slater a man picks up and the text that comes across my TDD phone reads thus:
“Uh, we don’t do any Relay calls. OK, thank you.”
*Click*
Some people don’t get what a Relay call is… It’s when someone deaf is calling you through a carry over service. It is not an excuse for you to treat a caller like a complete piece of shit. I’ve dealt with that from Bright House Customer Service and Capital One customer service as well. Usually I call back and get a representative that isn’t such a moron.
But in this case? The company just lost my business and came off like he was against the Relay system to begin with. “Why bother? Just some deaf clown trying to hassel me.”
Put a bullseye on E.L. Woodlands Publix
East Lake Woodland’s Publix has been around for… Oh, I don’t know how long… It’s on the cusp of the ritzy and posh Pinellas suburb of East Lake and draws shoppers form East Lake, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor and Saftey Harbor…
…in the smallest Publix in the area.
The store is almost always under renovation — every couple of years things are re-painted, re-aligned and what not. The only problem is that these renovations don’t do much to fix the flaws of the building in general and how Publix is trying to operate the store on less floorspace than most standard Publix supermarkets.
Crowded aisles, support beams int he middle of aisles, lack of selection due to lack of space… It all factors in to simply hurt the location and can’t be remedied by simply white-washing the building over and over again.
I’m counting the days until I hear this store is to be closed, demolished and then rebuilt… And trust me, it will happen. Tarpon Springs (US 19 and Tarpon Avenue) Publix just underwent such a change. Us 19 / Curlew Publix was a former Grocery store – but after the store was leased it resulted in a all out demolition of the where the store would be and renovation of the shopping center. Dunedin has a store that was totally demolished and rebuilt, and Coral Landings Publix (Palm Harbor on US 19 north of Tampa Road) was built just to the south of an existing Publix that served the Highland Lakes retirement community (that stoer is now a Stein Mart).
The biggest problem facing Publix, I would think, replacing the building is the lack of space for them to play around with in the shopping center. They are next to a key driveway for the shopping plaza and a high tension power line cooridor.
Tricky to work with – not impossible though.
Losing the location for a couple of months would hurt but I would think the windfall would be well worth it. A superior store to local rivals and a death grip on North Pinellas as the MUST Super Market with superior quality staff, service and selection…
I've Lost You Again Today
The conversation closed and the good Lord only knows
When I’ll speak with you again
You’re leaving today, winging ‘way on a plane
And I’ve lost you again today
We’ve known each other for quite a few years,
Shared our laughter, anger and tears
We’re lovers of past
Friends of today
Yet something’s been missing in things we say
I lost you once when you needed space
I lost you twice when you moved away
I’ve lost you to another man
Now I’m losing you to a foreign land
But away, you’ve gotta go
The life you chose is the life you know
And your life’s heading in another direction
We’d only crossed at an intersection
Each time you’ve gone, you’ve come back to me
And I hope that’s how it’ll always be
I know you’re happy with the plan:
You’re path in life, your future, your man
But something in me’s been gone a long, long time
The joy you bring and the way you can–
Fill me up with hope and glee
Honey, you’ve always completed me
But the time grows short and the rhyme grows long
I look again and now you’re gone
You’re on your way, with part of me
It seems that you have some secret key
You unlock my smiles and my zany side
Ignite my passions and calm my mind
But you’re not mine — yet you’ll always be
I’ve lost you again, you’re flying free
I’ve lost you again, as you glide ‘cross the sea
© 2005 John Fontana
"The Definitive Lightning Fan blog"
Tampa Bay Times (tbt* ) calls Boltsmag the definitive Lightning Fan blog and all I can say is cool! Now if only I wrote something worth a damn on there… :-p 😉
The Myth of Rain
It is SO FRIGGIN’ HOT!
September in Tampa Bay is supposed to be just like August, or July, or June — hot, humid, and wet… The wetness is supposed to come from not only tropical showers but the chance of a tropical system (Tropical Storm or Hurricane) coming through the area. On average, Tampa Bay gets almost 3 and a half inches of rain in September.
In 2005? We’ve gotten two hundreths of an inch of rain.
Things are drying and dying out at an incredible rate and you have to wonder just when we’re goign to go back to severe drough warnings and conservation in the area…. We’ve grown since the early and mid 1990’s when we were last stuck in a drought and water consumption must be at an all time high…
The reason it’s so dry and hot? Thank both Hurriance Katrina and Hurricane Ophelia. Katrina sapped the moisture in the region as she headed for Louisiana and then Ophelia formed and not only absorbed moisture but blew dry winds from the Carolinas right over Florida…
With that wind pattern — all we have is heat and haze… It’s disgusting, it’s painful and there is no end in sight despite Tropical Storm Rita’s projected forray across the Strait of Florida.
I’m upset I am heading to Los Angeles early next month right now — I’ll be going rom dry and hot to dry and cooler… I’d like MOIST. I’d like RAIN… I’d like WET…
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Writing re-assurance
I haven’t tried this in a long time – the last story I published in part on this blog was never competed (“Peter’s Problem” just rambles on and on) and never got any opinions on pieces fo the story I DID publish.
At any rate, I told people about this story in an earlier entry… There is no title to it as it stands right now and it’s just a few hundred words… Let me know what you think if you think anything about it… Just click on more to view it.
I'm Down
You telling lies thinking I can’t see
You don’t cry ‘cos you’re laughing at me
I’m down (I’m really down)
I’m down (Down on the ground)
I’m down (I’m really down)
How can you laugh when you know I’m down
(How can you laugh) When you know I’m down
Man buys ring woman throws it away
Same damn thing happens everyday
I’m down (I’m really down)
I’m down (Down on the ground)
I’m down (I’m really down)
How can you laugh when you know I’m down
(How can you laugh) When you know I’m down
We’re all alone and there’s nobody else
You still moan: “Keep your hands to yourself!”
I’m down (I’m really down)
I’m down (Down on the ground)
I’m down (I’m really down)
How can you laugh when you know I’m down
(How can you laugh) When you know I’m down
Don’t you know that I’m down (I’m really down)
Don’t you know that I’m down (I’m really down)
Down on the ground (I’m really down)
Don’t you know that I’m down (I’m really down)
Down, down, down
Madness of Madeline
Madeline is going to be 4 months old tomorrow, which still shocks me… It’s felt like ages since I got my little Whippet and yet it hasn’t been that long at all. That’s actually a good thing because usually certain instances of my life can seem like only an hour ago — let alone something feeling like years removed from actually happening a couple of weeks / months ago.
Maddie’s been pretty good at times and annoying at others. She’s teething of course – has been since I got her in July — but it’s a little worse now because it’s her mid teeth and back teeth and she’s trying to gnaw on anything she can. I can deal with that by picking up chew toys and such… That’s no problem.
What is a problem is her social skills. Madeline is extremely friendly and extremely over-excited to meet people. I mean REALLY over-excited. If she sees a human, she wants to run up to them and say hi. She’ll jump and run circles around them (and when she is on her leash, this can cause problems), or run away for one reason or another… I’m never sure what causes that but it’s usually when she sees someone from a distance.
I’ve enjoyed when I’ve been able to walk her around the block — only twice total. Two factors usually keep me from walking her that far, the first being the Florida heat and my own desire to stay out of it. The second factor is Maddie herself. Not because of her hysterics act but… Well, her hysterics act. I’ll start walking her down the block and I won’t even be able to get her 300 feet from my house before she wants to go back and investigate something she wants to chew. Other times I get her half way to the end of the block and she gets scared off by the sounds of dogs barking (the sad thing is, the dogs barking are a 3rd of her size).
I’ve had more social interaction when I’ve been out with her, which I like… But at the same time I have GOT to get a handle on her social skills and I need to socialize her more — among dogs and humans. Unfortunately no one wants to go to the Dog Park and I’m not entirely interested in walking the 3+ miles with the dog to the nearest park (across 6 lanes of highway and next to a 4 lane highway).
I’ll figure something out, I hope….
Aspiration of Romance
Enchant me
Rise up over me and engulf me
Through your sensuality and softness
With your intellect and your persona
Show me the reason to care again
And give me a reason to want
Entrance me
Captivate me so I
Can think of nothing other than
Your very existence while
The world spins its uncontrollable revolutions
Leaving each man to cope with its maelstrom
Intoxicate me
Make me wish for nothing more than your
Warm and unblemished flesh
Held close against me
Where desire takes us into the
Unfamiliar territories
Of bliss and contentment
Save me
Find my cynical and sarcastic person
And convince him there is still good in the world
Simply by being yourself
Simply by pointing out in your everything
That not all is corrupt and lost to lust
Lost to insanity
Lost to the malice mankind unleashes on itself
Teach me to love again
Be my purpose in life
The purpose being having and holding you
Wanting and loving you
Supporting and caring for you
Until the sun sets on this world
© 2005 John Fontana
Web good deed…sorta
Witht he disaster in New Orleans – I’ve donated money through the Red Cross in hopes that I might help out even a little bit…
Yet I felt sorta lost with it… There are tons of bloggers out there and there is no uniting symbol with regards to the need for donations and support towards the disaster down south…
So I created an image and posted it on Boltsmag, I also sent it to several hockey bloggers in an attempt to start something and of course show unity.
It’s working so far as I’ve gotten Eric McErlain of Off Wing Opinion and Lyle Richardson of Spectors Hockey involved with this. Eric is guiding people to the image for their own posting…
And the image in question?
Of course, linking to an image does little. They’re also guiding those who click ont eh image to Redcross.org where you can donate to the disaster relief.
If YOU would like to post this image somewhere on your blog or web site, here’s the code…
< a href ="http://www.redcross.org" target="_blank">< img src="https://photos.stonegauge.com/albums/userpics/10001/NODonate.jpg"/>
Just change the link to the redcross to whatever you want if you have another charity in mind.
Also remember to remove the spaces before < a href> and < img>
Poem: “If It’s All The Same to You”
If it’s all the same to you
I’m gonna’ talk a while
See where the rhythm leads me
Or if I can forget your smile
If it’s all the same to you
I feel left for dead
Solitary Avenues
And a cold, lonely bed
If it’s all the same to you
I think I’ll hate the world
Where you’ve gone, loved, lived, moved on
And I can’t find another girl
If it’s all the same to you
I’ll cry myself to sleep
Self-esteem is running low
And shallowness reigns supreme
© 2005 John Fontana
The Martyr's of Rock and Roll…
I was taking a Zogby poll the other day and a question surfaced within the poll that actually made me freeze and think long and hard before I cast my vote. It’s something that can come up in idle conversation at any time and you might throw out an immediate answer but I took this question real seriously…
What dead rockstar best epitomizes the spirit of rock and roll
Jim Morrison (The Doors)
John Lennon (the Beatles)
Janis Joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Freddie Mercury (Queen)
Duane Allman (The Alman Brothers)
Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead)
Frank Zappa
Buddy Holly
Ronnie Van Zandt (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Elvis
It really made me stop and think. I’m not sure why… I mean, the first thought I had was Lennon but John — for all the good he gave to the world as a musician just didn’t feel like the guy who represented Rock in life and death. One could say Elvis but he didn’t live fast and die young…
I thought of Jim Morrison and his glory days that people remember him for and Jimi Hendrix and how he was the genius on guitar that everyone strives to be. I thought of Kurt Cobain who wrote and sang, lived fast and died young leaving the beautiful corpse — and how his insecurity (a trait with almost all musicians) was a profound attribute to his personality.
Just who best epitomizes Rock?
Edit April 24, 2019: This was written so long ago and without giving my own conclusion for a very deliberate reason: Reaction and response from potential site readers. A lot of my personal blogging early on with this site has the habit of doing that.
I also must say that I didn’t give depth or seemingly truly admit with some of these:
John Lennon did live in excess and glamour like rock stars are known to do, but his fast-life was different with thanks to his marriages and children.
I never mentioned Mercury, Joplin, Allman, Vaugh, Garcia… Janis best fits what’s known as The Stupid Club — live fast, die young. Mercury died of AIDS, Garcia was around and I don’t know Allman or Vaughn well enough to have concluded by voting for either.
And Holly? ‘The day the music died’ was his passing (with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper); what could he have brought to music if he hadn’t left in such a tragedy?
There are so many stories with all these acts, and the title of this blog post does accurately fit: They ruled music, they embodied what Rock was known for on and off stage… And their end made them kings and queens in musical martyrdom.
In The Neighborhood
Taking my buddy Tommy’s cue, I decided to sign up Boltsmag onto the Blog Feed map:
It’s sorta cool to see other blogs around me but at the same time — some of those blogs are troubling.
One Phrase Amazing
“Hockey Rumors”
That’s all it takes right now. Stick the phrase “hockey rumors” somewhere on you site and presto – you’re going to have a dumpload of hits.
I’m saying this while Boltsmag / Raw Lightning nears it’s first 400 hit day. By “Hit” I mean how many site visitors the site has had. 400 Visitors is almost half of what I used to get at Beatle Lyrics.com (now Fab 4 Lyrics) which set the bar for me on the web.
Boltsmag / Raw Lightning are setting a new bar for me though.
I got a Wiki
I never knew how addicitng Wikipedia can be.
No, not reading — but filling in information. I’ve put up a couple of things and edited a couple of things so far.
Shots
So Maddie is 11 weeks old this week — a little Hazard as I like to call her – and she’s getting her next set of shots tomorrow.
I’m not that much of a dog person (that’s Jenna‘s thing ) but there is some significance to having Madeline get her next set of shots.
I can start walking her out of the neighborhood and taking her to the dog park and such.
Now if only I could keep her from going completely ape-shit happy when she sees people and keep her from wanting to run across the street to greet them and such…
In the Lap of Apple
I just bought a Laptop…. An old one at that but it’s an atempt to move forward in the mobile generation.
And it’s an Apple.
As someoen who’s been a PC user since his old man bought one about 15 years ago, I’ve only had brief interludes with Mac’s. Not just that but I’ve had zero to no experience with laptops as well. I’ve wanted to try out laptop technology but I haven’t. I’ve wanted to take advantage of wireless access points when traveling but I haven’t had the chance.
With plans on doing Press stuff at the St. Pete Times Forum this year, having a laptop will be a necessity. i’m just hoping this little baby is going to work out great.
Laurel (oak) and Hardy
The acorn planting experment has been a big success. Basically all you need to do with Laurel Oak acorns is pick them / harvest them, make sure they are clean and good (drop them in water and if they sink – they are good) and refridgerate them to keep them fresh. The acorns won’t last forever int he ‘fridge but they will last much longer and remain potent.
So now I have several Laurel Oak sapplings in pots and don’t know what to do with them or where to plant them. I’d be more than willing to sell them off — but they are still very young (all less than 8 months) and very small.
To plant them on public property is to suscept them to being mowed over. To keep them is to simply put off their dying. I’d like to move some of these (the tallest ones i have are 18 inches or so) but where and how – I am not sure.
The Saddest thing about the NHL Lockout ending…
…..Is that I will have to start actually writing something worth a damn at Boltsmag / Raw Lightning
Where ya been, Johnny?
I guess this has something to do with my absence…
Madeline… Just under 9 weeks old:
Real Estate
It’s scary to find that there are more places I can afford rent wise in Los Angeles than there are in teh Tampa Bay region.
Unless I suddenly win the lottery that is :}
Roving Yeti
Hand it to Matt over at Defective Yeti… He takes the time to break down the entire Karl Rove / Valarie Plame scandal and show why it’s a scandal.
Usually a comedy blogger, Matt shows his chops on something much more meatier.
Wordsmith
It’s happened a lot before, I start drawing conclusions on any situation that I’m told about and those conclusions — be they correct or not — could be the synopsis of a story. It’s only occasionally I sit down and decide to hammer out the idea that crosses my mind isntead of letting it pass into oblivion. Tonight was one of those nights.
I’m chatting with Jenna and she informs me about finding two little black kids peering into her van at Sabal Walk. She asks them not to get fingerprints on her windows and they ran off screaming. I think about it a minute and then tell her that the kids could have been made to think bad things about her and the cages (dog cages) that are in the back of her van…
From one brief spark, a fire is born.
In 15 minutes I write an ultra short story — just under 900 words — talking about the kids and what could have led them to react like they had. There were racial issues and social issues and just flat out childhood reactions that all come out. I’m not all happy with the length but I am happy I wasn’t so lazy with putting the story down that I didn’t do it. It was a solid concept and it was supposed to be brief in the telling. to begin with. I would have liked 1000 words and I might try to edit the story up but for the time being I’m happy with what I got.
