wrap up

weekend wrap... went trick or treating with twins (pix later)... went to FRAT mini retreat.... cleaned up around house.... Watched Clemson game...had people over on Saturday afternoon/night... Today(sunday) i plan t watch the race and clean up the bedroom of random clothes, and get these halloween pics downloaded.

other stuff

i think perhaps the greatest tool invented by man is the.... leaf blower.

Hooked back up my wireless access point here in the house. i hadnt had it running since we moved, and I had forgotten how convenient it is to be able to chill out withthe CPu somewhere other than at the computer desk. Now perhaps i can sit downstairs with jessica and still be able to keep up with work email and even keep up with sports tickers, etc...

Tigers faced with a decent challenge on Saturday. I am interested to see how they fair.

uh...ice/sleet forecast for hell?

the Red Sox won the Series. I watched about 2 outs of the 4 games. Yippee....

Man, my son can be a tad bit moody. I think he gets a little bit of it from daycare, where he has become the oldest/biggest within his group, and he gets home and wants to have his way all the time and doesnt understand why when he wants something, it isnt automatic. so its."I can't wanna!!!!" all the time....

wow...now this is starting to get a tad interesting...

So...now it seems that the RUSSIANS!!! moved the Iraqi weapons in the days before the US entered Iraq. Good grief! this is starting to sound like a Tom Clancy novel.... at any rate, i cant wait to get up tomorrow and hear what ol Putin has to say about this one.....

Halloween!!!

they say the number 1 costume this year is Spiderman. And that the second is a Princess. I AM SO GLAD OUR KIDS WONT FOLLOW THE CROWD AND BE DRESSED LIKE THAT! THEY ARE GOING TO BE DIFFERENT! THEY WILL BREAK THE MOLD!!!!! THEY WILL FOLLOW THEIR OWN PATH!!!!

In other news... we are going to buy a leaf blower tomorrow. Awesome... those things kick butt.

Man this election carp is getting a little ridiculous. And despite my leanings toward Bush, I think it is safe to say that Kerry is way too obviously trying to court the dumb and stupid vote by repeating obvious midsleading statements, knowing full well informed people know he's full of crap, but that the idiots will take what he says a face value. of course, the same can be said for Bush....but, i think the absolute hatred and bias that has been demonstrated by the so called news media is a little shameful.....

oh, by the way...Ian is dressing as Spiderman and Rylee is a Princess for Halloween

Random

Lynn Sparks? Can you AIM me when you get a chance?

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Most people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions."
- Anonymous

FACT OF THE DAY
The most productive day of the workweek is Tuesday.

The freaking Bengals were on Monday night football? Wow, i remember when the Bengals were my favorite team back in the 80's.... when they would go 12-4 one year, 4-12 the next... but of course, I know pull for the falcons and the Panthers, who seem to do the same thing now....

and down the stretch they come!

8 days til election...FINALLY...I am tired of hearing about this stuff.....lets have the elections and get some winners and get a new set of stuff for the left wing wackoos and right wing zealots to complain about....

i think we have officially decided to have a Hallowen get-together here on Saturday night. I dont know how many people will come, especially since most of the people i know will be coming into town from elsewhere, etc. So , whoever comes by...cool. but i also understand if a lot of people cant come either. Babies, long drives,... whatever are the most important things right now...

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I've been to Canada, and I've always gotten the impression that I could take the country over in about two days." - Jon Stewart

FACT OF THE DAY
In the last 6 months, over 4,000 Americans registered to vote at strip clubs.

Weekend, again...

Ellen and Kenneth came to town again. stayed here. We went over to a fellow teacher of jessica's last night with the twins. Had dinner, etc...Tom actually taught me real quick how to play the bass quitar and I played Louie Louie with him on guitar and his son on drums. I have been wanting to learn how to play bass for a while now. i may try to pickup a cheap bass guitar somewhere and learn a new instrument.

Clemson wins in a squeaker. All these yahoos are calling into the radio and internet complaining about the game and the team. Dude, i'm just glad to win. Period. rather WIN 10-7 than LOSE 43-42 any day. But...while I like the Purple uniforms, the purple top/Orange pants combo does NOT work. gotta do one way or the other...purple tops, white pants (cool)...orange tops, white pants(cool)....White tops, Purple pants (real cool)...White tops, Orange pants (cool).... the rumoured Black jersey, Black helmet, with orange trim and purple piping for Halloween...way cool....

Not sure what is up today. Perhaps going to Mall somewhere.... meeting with FRAT tonight.

also, we're thinking about having a Halloween party on Saturday night for people who might be in town...

babysitting...

...had a couple of girls (young women?) babysit the twins last night from the FRAT. We havent had anybody except family, Brandy and Lea keep the kids so far, so this was sorta new in regards to that. But we trusted miriam and renata because they have shown maturity in the past and have experience dealing with their own family members of the same age. So we felt very comfortable leaving them behind.

So we went to Sobys downtown in Greenville for dinner. It was actually very nice, and the food/service was excellent. Jessica didnt like her crab cakes and didnt eat them, and they didnt make her pay for them, which was a 20.00 rebate off our check...which is always good....

it was nice not have to feel guilty asking my mother or jessica's parents to sit twith the kids while we went out for a change. Sometimes they should be able to not be babysitter at times....

Yankees go down in flames....ah yes...I agree...what price hubris?.... been there... remember the Raiders of recent past? the lakers recently?...yep.... done that...

Clemson girl in Playboy

Has anybody seen the current Playbot coed of the week? its a girl from Clemson. you can see the link at

http://www.playboy.com/on-campus/pictorial/biancajames/

warning, there is a little bit of, em, nudity.....

Weekend was ok...

Past weekend was OK. Went to game at last second, sat up in a box seat. Pretty cool...have food, dricks, etc. there for you. Was kinda cold though.... Saw several brothers..always good to see everyone doing well. Jessica's parents came up...Aunt Ellen and Uncle Wes came up...James Clemons dropped by... pretty typical Fall weekend...

Clemons drops by for a visit.

Kenneth and Aunt Ellen. They seem thrilled to be here.

TellyDawg (Wesley's Dog)

Uncle Wes

Rylee ans Ian playing out back

Rylee with one of her...let's see.... 4 barbies?

Doin rylee's hair... she doesnt seem thrilled.... come to think of it, she never is.

Rylee with finished hair....

Ian rollin....

Quote for the day....

"He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today." - Tyron Edwards

well, that was pleasantly surprising...

...meeting tonight went very well. I honestly think that a segment of brothers may have reached that point where they are starting to get ...IT. And this is really good news, for it will be another upturn for the chapter if i am correct in my observation from tonight. And what I believe will happen is that this group will bring the last MEP class with it. Some things got talked out and i think the future holds some good things....

..i have got to figure out what the deal s with the thingy on the side there. i will work on it during lunch. If i cant get it to clear, i am going to remove it....

This weekend brought better results sportswise, for a change....

I also took some pictures that i will probably wait till tomorrow to post up...

Here's a interesting link.

Here is an interesting link that we will probably all need come Election day. It explains how the elections and the electoral college works.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/electoral.college/more.html

Just how important is this fraternity stuff?

Back in the day, I was pretty involved in the FRAT. Still am, but as an advisor to the current group of brothers...but my involvement isnt nearly what it was when i was active, or a National Officer. i look at how life and death the current group makes EVERYTHING. I remember how we did the same thing...how slights, percieved and real, became so important that they clouded the true purpose and meaning of the fraternity. How one "they did this to me and i lost" turned into "i'm going to get them back eventually"... How pledges didnt become brothers simply because somebody got done wrong at sometime in the past. How people would profess to love each other, and not even try to show that love. how peope would talk about each other and what they were/were not doing and how that effected the fraternity. But somehow...somehow...never actually talked to the person who was doing the supposed wrong things.... about how people did really crappy things to fellow brothers, under the guise of bettering the fraternity. Dont get me wrong, the FRAT was all good far more than it was all bad. And it still is. The FRAT, its old version, and its newer version is awesome. But people take this WAY too seriously.

You see, people go to college to learn. There are so many arenas to learn at college. Leadership positions... student teaching... Co-op...the actual classroom.... but those are not the only places....Huddle House, Tiger Town, the Amphitheater, the Dike/levee...on long bus rides, trips to the Mall, late nights talking in the dorm.... parties at 4AM, or on AIM at 9AM...standing on a ladder in front of 80,000, or being one of the soldiers way out on the 35 yard line... being a section leader or just being... those are but some of the arenas for learning....then there is the FRAT.

if you are in the FRAT, you are offered so many avenues to learn things such as leadership... and also how to follow. you learn things like trust, and also how to communicate...and how NOT to communicate. Some people lead one way, some people lead another. Some people learn that they are effective. Some people learn that what they are doing is not being effective, and figure out what IS efective. Some people eventually get IT. Some people never do.... My outlook is that the college experience, and especially Kappa Kappa Psi is engaged learning. That it is an excellent training ground for so, so many things....

but you have to have perspective. And you have to learn at some point to look at the big picture, and not just at where the party is this weekend. Do you act like you are in the 10th grade, or act like an adult? Do you approach someone who is having a problem or you have a problem with ,take them aside and have a meaningful conversation? or do you lay in wait and drop the bomb on them, ruining not only a valuable experience for them, but your own experience?

Oh, i know how difficult it is to look down the road when you havent even seen the road to look down. been there.... but at some point, the best of the best have to. You gotta look at where this puts everybody. And trust me, if you dont you simply end up wasting a lot of time and 5 years down the road you are left wondering what might have been....

Over the past year i have seen so many babies born to people 5 or 6 years ago i was sitting in the circle with arguing over whether or not to let this or that person join our precious little band service organization. Or some other CRISIS of the week. I spent time at my little brothers wedding a couple of weeks ago. Not much, if all, was even spoken of the fraternity, but it WAS THERE. THAT BOND. you dont drive 13 hours for just anybody. She knew that, i know that. You dont even have to speak it. The FRAT is bigger than that. i spent time with another brother in the CITY. He bought tickets for me to see John Coltrane's son play tenor Sax in a little dive on Time Square. this is the same guy who once threw chairs in a meeting because he was having a coniption over some silly constitutional something or another...so insignificant that i doubt we could ever remember... he was the best man at my wedding and the GODFATHER of my son... The FRAT is bigger than that. It is everything, and it isnt. It is truly special because it is part of Music.

To simply blow somebody out of a position because you think they are a jackass is wrong. Especially if people havent sat down and talked with that person. especially if you havent walked up to that person and asked them if you could sit down somewhere quiet for 5 minutes and express your concerns with them. No one is perfect, and sometimes people need to learn from their mistakes. if you dont give people a legitimate chance to take criticism and change, then you havent lived up to the Oath that you took. If they are stil a jackass, then you have a right to tell them that they dont have to go home, but they got to get the hell out of here. But you gotta talk to them. You cant just say "here is a list of stuff you havent been doing, so you got to go, depspite the fact the the rest of us have been slack too."

oh i dont know...maybe the FRAT has passed me by. I am sure some of the current brothers think so. But i dont think so..but i do know that the FRAT was the basis for many changes that I made years ago...changes i feel made me a better person...not better than you, but a better person...not a perfect person, but a better person.

You gotta look at the big picture. And the big picture is that if you want to use this valuable learning tool and leave it for others to use, you have to use it for the betterment of yourselves and the band program. if you blow your trust out of the water, then in a couple of weeks...NO-ONE will trust anyone.

ah hell...what do I know....

recent sports tally

OK, the last round of games, matches, whatever of the past weekend was ...well...interesting.... Braves? Crash and burn....Tigers? the same.... High School team?Lost... Panthers? Lost... Falcons? Lost....Ohio State? Lost... Furman? Lost..... Dallas Cowboys? Lost....Oakland Raiders? Lost....Hell, even the Gamecocks lost. Anybody notice a trend here?

Perhaps a positive swing....USA beats Panama last night 6-0 in soccer.

And, Kristen gives birth to a healthy baby boy on Monday...gotta say thats probably more important than the aggregate losses my teams suffered...

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' -- the pig was 'committed'."
- Unknown

???

my little doodle pad thingy wont erase...i keep erasing it and the same virginia stuff keeps coming back. So..if you read that...substitute Utah state instead of Virginia. of course, the results will probably be the same.

Oh, and is anybody going to show some gumption and actually talk to the person? or do you have actually do something to warrant suspension for you to be popular? And i certainly hope that the Oath everyone took to work with people in office was taken..i mean, i thought I remembered hearing people recite it...sure as hell havent seen people following it. Have a problem with people, ya gotta go talk to them. if you dont go talk to them, then ya cant be acting as though you are better than them.

does anybody....

ANYBODY?...ever stop and stand up and ask?" why do we spend so much damn time dividing ourselves? "

sigh...

..my kids are cool. I have been blessed to have two seemingly healthy normal children..a boy and girl. but....

but... I think the terrible 2's might have arrived a year late. Constant noise, getting into EVERYTHING, running around screaming at each other, the "I CAN'T WANNA" response to any direction given. Its starting to get annoying, to say the least. But I cant really complain too much. It is indeed a blessing to have 2 children. And they do seem to be advancing normally.

but.... they sure can whine.

Come on now...

...a shooting at the Freaking STATE FAIR? what next? by the way, Braves pull out a nail-biter and get to game 5 tomorrow.

nothing can right a disaster

..of a sports weekend like an upset loss by the Gamecocks. I can hear Dixie playing right now.

well,

...i guess circling the wagons had its usual effect. destruction...offense has got to move the ball more. The defense is playing well, but cant be on the field all the game. Og well... at least the Braves pulled it out last night. our drunk driving shortstop put one out in the 11th....

a long day

today has been a strenuous long day.

Braves have salvaged a tie a the moment, but gopher ball Aphonseca is now pitching.... the outlook is NEVER good when he is pitching. NEVER.

Tiger kick-off momentarily in Va. night games there are never good...the drunk frat guys were always a problem.

...OK...Braves pull it out. Now, lets ee how Whitehurst perfoms tonight.

Rylee has discovered pizza

Ian...after pizza, and after haircut...the hair is itching him....

hair cut time....

Ian has decided that he now likes Pizza. Suddenly..out of the blue...pizza is now good.

Grand Central Station... oh the humanity.

Brown looking over menu at a cafe in Manhattan

Jessica and Brown in "the Village"

touring around the city...seeing the usual stuff....

The Chair dance thingy, part 1. Not sure what the proper Jewish name for this is. But it looked pretty fun. Jessica, Jason, the mothers fathers all got a turn.

Jessica doing her chair dance...its a Jewish Thang

a quick run down....

..of the past weekend..... dropped kids off on thursday morning at daycare and bolted out of town by 8:45am. arrived in New jersey by 7:00. ate dinner with Kristen and Michael and sat around talking til 11ish. Got up on friday morn around 6:30 and went to breakfast with kristen at a local diner. After breakfast, we took off for white plains, new york...arrived there around 11ish. room wasnt ready so we went to the big mall connected to the hotel and actually got some Xmas shopping done. Came back to hotel, checked in and chilled out till the rehearsal dinner that night. Did rehearsal dinner, then bolted for NYC around 10pm, arriving at a jazz club at 51st and Broadway (TIMES SQUARE) where Erik had purchased us tickets to see John Coltrane's son play. very good music... stayed there till about 2:am, returned to hotel...sleep by 3:15ish....AM

wake up at 10:30am friday morn...catch 11:56 express train into the city. Meet Erik at Grand Central Station...catch subway for lunch in the Village, catch subway back up to 5th Avenue...window shopped and picked up a couple of Xmas gifts. Back to Grand central where we caught the express train back to White Plains.... JUST IN TIME to catch the shuttle to the wedding site. Wedding was pretty slick, and there was an abundance of beverage and food. More than i have EVER seen at a wedding. It was a grand celebration, to say the least. botlted wedding just after the desert course was served and got to sleep by 1:00am...woke up on Sunday morn around 7:30, go tpacked and car loaded, met Jessica and Jason at their morning brunch, then bolted White Plains around 9:20am...arrived back in Easley by 10:10pm

Up for work at 630am Monday morn....

I have a few pix, as i have mentioned and I will post those tomorrow when I get my cable in my office. It was a fun weekend, and a very tiring weekend. Its 9:00pm right now and i think Jessica and I are heading to bed....

sorry no pix yet

...my download cable for my diggy cam is in my laptp bag, which is at work.... I will have to post them all tomorrow by mid morning.

...

back in town..finally....

whew... 12 and a half hours yesterday. New york, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina...and FINALLY, South Carolina. That was a haul. Not as long as my 16 hour drive from Stillwater Oklahoma a couple of years ago, but it gets more difficult everytime. I have picture, etc... but I need to get caught up here at work before I dicker with this anymore....

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Never explain -- your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway."
- Elbert Hubbard