8.5 VH1’s Nocturnal State, etc.

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OK, I guess I’m officially getting old, to be interested in a show on the “more mature” music video channel. Or am I just incurably immature for watching music videos at all? Age is so confusing these days. Is 40 the new 30? And 30 the new 20? Or do we all just remain children in today’s consumer-oriented society?

Anyway, I recorded the show on the MythTV box and it is actually watchable if you turn on “auto-skip commercials” (otherwise, definitely NOT). The following have me humming all day:

  • Audioslave: Doesn’t Remind Me
  • Nickelback: If Everyone Cared
  • John Mayer: Waiting on the World to Change
  • Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc.
  • Sophie Ellis-Bextor: You Get Yours
  • Paulo Nutini: New Shoes
  • Juliet: Ride The Pain

I guess some of that comes from MTV, so I guess I’m still young (immature? delusional?)… and some comes from elsewhere… whatever… :P

Wind at my back…

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With the wind at my back on the way to work this morning, I covered the 7+ miles in 25 minutes, my fastest time ever, for an average speed of 17.5 mph. Not bad! :>

Soccer time

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The next half of the soccer season has kicked off with brisk weather. I’m assistant coach for both Wren’s U8 Waves team and Reiley’s u12 Sirens team. I have backup assistants for both teams, since I am not sure of my down time, but I’m ready to be there whenever I can, don’t want to miss the fun! We’ve already had a great practice for each of the teams, I think this season is going to rock! :>

I am going to try to get the Sirens and Waves websites updated with the latest schedules, news, photos and videos (since I have so much free time on my hands, ha!)…

Ryan stars in “A Numb3r”

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Andrea and I went to see another great performance by my coworker buddy Ryan Brock, again with The Raleigh Ensemble Players, who tend to put on the more interesting material in really intimate settings – you can’t find better entertainment. This one dealt with cloning, challenging Ryan to play three different characters differentiated only by their accents (which were great and enough reason alone to see the show). Ryan’s intensity made the hour fly by, leaving you wishing for more. Enough said. One week left, don’t miss it!

Reiley and I play war

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Yesterday we decided that Reiley was old enough to play a Real Time Strategy war game with me. She and Wren have been playing multi-player Age of Empires ][: The Conquerers for a long time now, and they’re very skilled at map building and playing in a friendly mode. So Reiley kept up with me just fine. And it’s fortunately not too graphic, especially compared to many, many other games. You get to choose from a variety of actual civilizations, so it’s educational, too (yeah yeah, that’s the ticket).

I sent over a few soldiers to attack her early, and she sent a sneaky counter-attack around the back of my colony. She’s a great opponent, and a really good sport to boot. There’s a little bit of guilt on my part, for 1) letting her play wargames and 2) for not holding back more when I’ve played the game a lot more than she has. But I guess there’s plenty of time for her to surpass her old man (and whip his butt). :>

9.0 The Office

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Watching the Office is like watching a train wreck in slow motion: it’s too disturbing to look away. Tons of awkward pauses and inappropriate behavior will keep you squirming. Hurts so good.

Wren And Dad hang time

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Reiley had a youth group “lock in” and mom and gram went shopping, so Wrenny and I got to hang out tonight. We watched Dreamer and had pita chips and raspberry tea, we played animal yatzee (and both won with a tie of 42-42!), and told stories before I tucked her in. I tried to turn a “prissy princess” into a more-respectable girl who sold her jewelry and pink clothes for a couple of horses (she shared one with her new friend named Wren, of course), while Wren stuck to the “dainty death” stories of prissy princess that, instead of finding redemption, met untimely demises. Oh well, there’s no reigning in kids’ imaginations. :> Thanks for hanging out, Wrenny!

Poker passion

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The local tournament-style Texas Hold’ Em poker game last night was great fun – I knocked a couple people out and ended up in 4th place. Keith made it to 2nd place, which is typical, and Chris was the first one out, definitely NOT typical. Just goes to show – even though it’s a great game requiring both strategic and bluffing skills, you can’t remove lady luck from the equation. :>

Pop has a publisher!

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This is BIG news! My pop has gotten to the point where he’s pretty happy with the polish he’s applied to his first novel, The Boxcar Kid. He’s been working hard on it for quite some time now, and he has serialized it into three separate books. He’s taken the job of finding a publisher very seriously, researching the “right” way to go about it, attending writer’s conferences to get networked, and even working up an extensive marketing plan.

It’s finally all paid off, as he’s been approached by ArcheBooks Publishing with a serious offer to get published! I really like the look of the publisher – they’re targeted at helping new writers establish long-term careers. They publish only nice hardcover editions, but complement that with ebooks with generous licenses, and have lots of other smart approaches to publishing. Way to go, pop! I’ll update this as more news rolls in. In the meantime, check out the website I set up for an introduction.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! Love ya! Hope that free lunch at Iguanamia hit the spot!

UPDATE: Not content to share the spotlight with me mum, my dad decided to smash his car into bumper-to-bumper traffic, causing the three cars in front of him to take damage. Poor guy! Talk about your roller coaster day. He’s recovering now, with a sore chest thanks to hitting the seatbelt and airbag pretty hard. I know you’re on a roll, pop, but slow down and take it easy for a bit! Hope you feel better soon.