I-Man showed no fear....

I-man and Ryles went to birthday party the other day....

Noggin

How do my kids know EVERY show that is on Noggin? And they sing all the songs....

by the way, I have an XBOX 360 that my mother dropped on me for xmas, and I can access the internet on it and actually connect to my pc at home and play video and music off it, etc. But I was wondering if anyone who reads this has an XBox 360 too... if so, drop me a message on Xbox live...my userid is cubari

Its goin to SNOW!!!

ok...snowed some this morning. Big deal... but Ryles and I-Man did get to go out and slide using their Bass Pro Shops snow slider/discs before it started pretty much raining. And I noticed that the creek run off was a kinda mustard orange color...I guess from the snow. kinda makes you think about what Ryles was eating when I asked her to not eat the snow this morning....

I love Dr. Dre....

Did I fall off? Got you in your room rippin every "Chronic" poster on your wall off
Just cause I put away the sawed off
Now I got you sittin back with a smirk;
listenin with your arms crossed
Questionin Dre's credibility {What?}
Wondering if it's still in me to produce hits

same ole same ole....

ah...Tiger Woods!!!, Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!! still kickin tail where he left off a couple of months ago... twins are sick with some sorta stomach something or another... both were throwing up all day.

Goodness

...Ok...so i NEVER watch tennis. But I caught the end of the Australian open a few minutes ago. Kinda had to check out Serena Williams... she put the royal beatdown on Maria Sharapova. I mean...it only took an hour. Sharapova was in tears at the end. Kinda funny... i will repeat. It was a butt whoopin....

oh..uh..yeah..uh...my bad!

so...NOW...they say they made a mistake in the clock. The ACC admits it made a mistake and gave Duke back too much time. of course, i wonder why that wasnt obvious when they actually made the error.... and of course, the results arent changin....

Tigers got screwed over

...last night the Tiger Basketball team got screwed. Clemson guy hits shot and the put far more time on the clock than was warranted. of course Duke goes the length of the floor and scores.... sigh... whatever... motivation for the return game @ Clemson.

Ok...there is a God.

Down go the Patriots...down go the Patriots!!!!....sigh...Thank God. FINALLY...i dont have to hear Tom Brady this and belichick that and hoody this... and dynasty that.

...and it might be more interesting to find out who is NOT running for President by the time this all shakes out....

...took down the picket fence from around the front of the house. Actually, Jessica, Ellen and Nanna took down the fence. And the appliance upgrades continue with Papa putting in a garbage disposal...

...and as an afterthought, above are a couple of classic photo from Brown's visit....

Uncle Erik and Aunt Pam come to town....

Brown always does this for his pix....
They were visiting family and took the time to swing thru Greenville....
Pam was gracious to take time and read to the twins....

MAKE SURE TO RECYCLE!!!!

trash people came real early today. perhaps because of the supposed ICE STORM OF THE CENTURY today. But I noticed that the trash guys hopped off, took all the bags of trash, then proceeded to take the recycle bins of bottles, plastic and cardboard, and toss that stuff in the trash truck too.... makes me wonder why we devote so much space to recyclin when it is going in the trash anyway. Go figure....

things happen so fast

I think that the fact that I see my kids everyday kinda hides the fact that they are growing up so fast. This morning as Ryles dressed i noticed that she took her shirt and smelled it to see if it was dirty. I wondered to myself "no one taught her that...where did she learn that?" or watching I-man rip through a level on Lego Star Wars. I did not even teach him what buttons do what. he figured it out on his own. And he plays with a purpose. not a "big picture" purpose, but he still realizes that things are attacking him, and that he must attack.

Its been 72 degrees here up until last night. Suddenly its a tad bit colder. callin for snow tomorrow morn, although I cant see it being too much.

I threw away the twin's boombox. It was the boombox that virtually played 24 hours a day in their room when they were born for over three years. Finally it started actin strange and now is headin for the street for some random person to come pick it up. Yes, if we put furniture or electronics out by the street, it is gone in abt 5 minutes.... of course, bags of trash might stay there for days, but that another story...

in addition

ok...so I guess a lot of people really didnt post too much over the holidays, so I dont feel that bad that i neglected to post for a couple of weeks....

...clemson basketball seems to be doing well this year. Ok, I probably jinxed it the same way all my other teams seem to have a dark cloud following them....17-0 so far. ok, they'll probably finish the year like 21 and 11 or something, but the NCAA's are looking possible.

Jessica got me a pedicure for xmas. I was a notch skeptical at first when i went, but it was actually not that bad. left my feetsies all tingly and stuff...

its been a month without the jetta. seems the insurance company and the body shop are in argument concerning the fact that the body shop couldnt get my brakelights to work once they fixed the other stuff. They actually had to put it on a flatbed and take it over to the Volkwagon dealer, who got the problem resolved, but the insurance was not wanting to pay for it saying that it wasnt crash related or something like that. Anyway, I aint paying for it so I guess they will get it figured out sometime this year. meanwhile, I continue to drive the rental from Hades.

Xmas was truly good. the twins got so much stuff I dont know what to say. Between their birthday and xmas, its a constant stream. I guess I should really just count blessings and be fortunate that the twins have grandparents and friends and family that are great benefactors.

well... 2007 is here. lets see what happens...

uh...you have a blog?

yes..it has been a while. Xmas and New Years have passed. It was a great time with a boatload of stuff for the twins. I think my usual blogging time has been taken up by new videogames for the twins and myself. But...tsk, tsk, that is no excuse. more tonight....

just thinkin...

was listening to XM the other day when someone brought up a good point...somebody like Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles would never be a star today. Wouldnt even get a sniff...and thats sad.

... and after having to wait in line at Walmart the other night, I still gotta wonder why there are people who still write checks. I know their are times it would be warranted, but....

my car is missed. At least i miss it. It was supposed to take 4 days to get it fixed. took it in last Monday morn, got a Chevy Cobalt. Boy...there is a car for you. This car shouts "rental". about the only thing this car has going for it is that it has that automatic light option, where your lights come on automatically... and off too. I never even touch the light switch. might have to investigate that option on my next vehicle. i think my tartget for the jetta is 200,000 miles.

The twins birthday was yesterday, and so began the birthday/xmas toy o rama. But i am struck more about the fact that some people had the nerve to imply that our kids wouldnt make it that far 8 or so years ago. I will always remember the people who talked of what of the kids, etc as if they would meet doom and gloom. Instead, Disney reps are asking to take pictures of my daughter at Disney on Ice in her Cinderella outfit... i dont know ...whatever...and to those of you who doubted...tsk tsk...like I said back then. the good ship Happy set sail, and those who were on board have had a good time. those who chose not to be on board have either been left behind in their own sad worlds, or have been playin catchup ever since... yeah i know, some of you are probably saying something like "let it go" or whatever. In this case...I dont think so.

more random stuff

Does anyone play tennis anymore? and perhaps more profound...does anyone care?

Been getting to sleep a little earlier recently, and it certainly feels better in the morning.

With the impending delivery of bikes from Santa to the twins, look s like Jessica and I will have to get our bicycles down from their hanging perches in the garage. Which will be a good thing.

Its a Barack Star!!!!!

cheapest Nintendo Wii i see for sale right now are at $400.00 and that is ...uh... a tad ridiculous. it sells for 249.00 but you cant find one in a store...ANYWHERE.

Ryles posing again

While getting ready for our Xmas card picture thingy, Ryles thought she would mug for the camera.

Just for the heck of it...

I think sometimes I get too bogged down with lighting, etc. when trying to take pictures and sometimes simply just dont take the picture. but some pictures arent meant to be hung up in a gallery, but i thought that I-man might find this one interesting one day in the future. he's wearing my Peppers #90 Carolina Panther jersey....

sigh...

got into a car accident. got rear-ended by a 77 year old man. messed up the right rear corner or my bumber. not really that bad, fortunately and the card is drivable. No frame damage but about $1700.00 in damage. takin the jet into the bodyshop on Monday. get a rental and all that and the guy says it will take him a week. Thank goodness it was the old mans fault, and his insurance is forkin tha bill... should be good as new..well...good as a five year old car soon...

still wonderin how police keep shootin and killin black people and seemingly nothing happens to them.... how can these guys justify shooting those guys in New York 50 times? how many shots does it take to kill somebody? i mean, one officer completely unloaded his pistol into the guys, and... RELOADED and started shooting again. and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police. and dont give me that "they rammed the police van" crap...New York police policy is to only shot at moving vehicles if they are being shot at themselves. And there were no guns on the guys, and they werent shootin. New York police are trained to aquire, identify and fire twice, then evaluate. what?!?!...i guess after the second shot, the guys weren't down on the ground enough? had to put bullets in the bottom of their feet? (holes were found there)... and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police. Most of the people reading this, if they get pulled over by the police, they are thinkin, "frak, gotta pay a ticket for speeding". If i was to get pulled over, i would be thinking "is this just a traffic deal, or are they going to pull me out of the car, beat me down, search my car, beat me some more" and i have to hope somebody captures in on tape. Think about this. how many tapes have we seen of police putting a beat down on people.? you would think the police would know they might be filmed. Ever wonder how many times this actually happens and we dont see it on Foxnews? and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police... oh, the cops in new York will probably get off, as well as the police in Atlanta that killed the 92 year old black woman in her own home after busting through her door. . Oh and those guards in florida too.... and in a year, we'll see it happen again... and nothing will be done about it.... and people wonder why i have such a low opinion of the police.

???

some thoughts

Went to the last informational for the Frat tonight. weird seeing how young those kids are. as i was driving back, I was thinking about all the alumni I saw yesterday...Danny and Sara, Kevin and Holly, Andrea and Will, Spacholtz, Tariq, Crowell, Claire, Melanie Muldrow, Chris Sloan among many. But i was also pondering others like i have said before. Kim and Jeremy had to miss the game due toa last second change of plans, and i really missed getting to see them. And Wyatt and i werent able to sync plans either. But sometimes things happen and you gotta roll with it. And that is only from that era of friends for me. certainly hope that Lynn realizes that I kinda ponder what shes doing too, as well as the whole high school crew. man...time is smoking along, isnt it?

Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving saw my family come into town for a visit. It was indeed good to see all again. Ryles has shown an ability to wipe out a drumstick of any size.

Playing

Seems like any trip to the grandparents (or in this case, great grandparent) means an endless supply of tos readily available

I-Man starting to wind down after a long day of crochet and driving bigwheels..

Jessica's side o' tha family

I posted this picture unedited or anything because while the lighting isnt great, there are some subtle things abt this picture that I feel gives it a different quality. Some one once said "a picture is worth a thousand words" or something like that.. I was looking for a specific effecr once the lighting got a little darker than I wanted for the original. i thing I was able to get it with the wide angle at its longest length. Of course, Ellen was all freaked out because she felt the camera was too close to her or something....

Ryles

Ryles in her Cheerleader outfit at USC game

I-Man

he's a little ticked about having to leave

I-Man at his talent show

I-man at his Talent show... taken with my Treo.

oh, and another thing...

So Brown's boy from NY wants to bring back the draft, huh? smooth move, bruh.... real smooth. Keep floatin that stuff out there and we'll see the majority swing right back where it came from... real smooth, Rangel.

The holidays, they are a comin....

Aunt Ellen was in town for a job interview... went to a Talent show at I-Man and Ryles school on Friday night. They sang "This little light of mine...I'm goin to let it shine" with the lights out and little flash lights making lights on the ceiling. in case you are new to this, I-man and Ryles attend the little catholic school that could, and attend Mass once a week, dressed in white shirt/blue pants/black Dickies boots (for I-man) or White blouse, Blue skirt, white tights and blue mary janes ( for Ryles). what...somebody asked me what they wear, so I figured I'd describe it...

Saturday saw a failed attempt at a last soccer match, where the Clemson team didnt bother to show up..IN CLEMSON!!!!. So we then shopped around in Clemson, got Ryles a Clemson cheerleader outfit and a couple of other x-mas gifts for people. Came back, blew some leaves off the driveway, watched part of the Ohio State/Michigan game then went to dinner with Jamie, Ben Aunt Ellen, the Twins and Jessica. Went to Fatz where I ate 47 of those little rolls they have. Afterward, ellen stayed with the kids while Clemons, Ben, me and Jessica went and saw Casino Royale and I ate some buttered popcorn. Actually, it was double buttered. It was pretty good eats and the movie was above average, except for the lovey, dovey stuff towards the end for about 20 minues...

Turkey day events will include my mother and brother here on thursday, Columbia on Friday for jessica's family, hopefully back here to meet up with Wyatt Friday evening/night...then going to USC game and meeting up with Kim and Jeremy and maybe hanging with them a little afterward, depending upon schedules.

just kinda wonderin....

we have this small space heater i used to use at work. i placed it downstairs and the damn thing is pretty much warming the entire downstairs. go figure....

...running some errands today and went to skins for 3 chili dawgs...noticed a couple of horses standing in a couple of parking spots and one cowboy/marlboro man lookin dude holding them while another younger woman was talking to him. What struck me is why is it everytime (well, its pretty rare now) i see some people with some horses, the chicks all seem to be some version ( larger, smaller, taller, shorter, older, younger) of Lynn... kinda strange.

I-Mans last soccer match of the Fall on Saturday. Will break out the videocam and will try to post a small clip perhaps...

makin a cd.... here is something that i thought profound, after hearing all the talk about O.J. today....

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some
Oh, but just for everyone.

Ugh

Usc game at Noon. oh boy... want a spot atthe brooks center. gotta be there by 9am is my guess...

By the way, can somebody

By the way, can somebody please redesign the Panthers logo? I've been complainin for years now. Don't change colors or uniforms. Just the logo.

My man wins at PHX...

My man wins at PHX... Looks like the 29 will finish 3rd. Can't really complain about that... Now gotta have the Panthers pull thru tonight...

the weekend that was...

...this just in. Clemson's QB sucks. yeah, i know, he's cute and all that (supposedly) Ever notice that they dont ask him to even try to throw the ball downfield anymore? Although I did notice a couple of rollouts and tosses to the fullback. still< itsobvious that the coachs have no confidence in him other than he is a 5th year senior and is probably a better option right now than the backup....

...we puchased a new xmas tree on saturday. got a 299 tree for 199, and this one is far easier to put together and light...

...really interesting watching my daughter reading her book and listening to country music in her bedroom....

...oh, the and twins both have a small tree in their room already. no decorations, but they are lit up...

Jessica is looking forward to going up and seeing Brown dance at his club. Im not so sure i want to...

I-Man crashes the bed

The twins love these two

The twins love these two tv channels. Boomerang and any version of Jetix. Sorta like me only watching Law and order and Battlestar Galactica.

oops?

I just actually looked at my blog and noticed that my posts from my phone have not been making it here. So I guess the last two are lost out in cyberspace somewhere...

note to police: if you are beating someone, assume that it will show up in video on msnbc or cnn soon....

Went to a Parent/techer conference yesterday to I-man and Ryles. It was interesting to see how they got along with their teacher(s)

I'll post more tonight, tomorrow and Sunday...

Ryles as Tinkerbell for Halloween

This year I-Man was the Green Power Ranger for Halloween....

Homecoming!!!

Ok...It was great to see everyone. As usual, the time was WAY too short visiting with several people, and I felt the abscence of several...including Kim, Avolio, jdwyatt and Brown. I did break the news to some that Brown is dancing for some extra cash in NYC these days and the news was taken well by everyone...Of course, more news that some are expecting additions to their families from Ohio to New Jersey.

in many ways, things have changed..in some, nothing has changed.

i think my daughters hair is getting a tad long....

Brandy and Tariq at tailgating....

Andrea at tailgate

Clemons, Crowell and Lisa at tailgate...

here are Lisa and TJ, right before heading off to Aluminum Band

just saw

...the new Jay-Z video on Monday night football, of all places. And wasnt he supposed to be retiring? it was kinda interesting, with Dale Earnhardt jr and Danica Patrick in the video.

speakin of football, I think i am going to wear my new Czech Republic soccer jersey to work tomorrow... pretty slick.

...wanted to go to bed early tonight, but Battlestar Galactica replays at 11 and i messed up my time in tryin to vcr it the other night. so...GOTTA watch it now.

you gotta wonder...

...just thinkin about the whole thing with the NBA player shooting at someone outside a "nightclub"... this is what I think of when i hear about this sorta thing...if you feel that the place you are going to requires that you have to take a pistol with you, then perhaps, just maybe, you might wanna reconsider if it is really worth going. When i think about going out for some entertainment at a gentlemans club, the last thing I want to be worried about is where my gun might be and if I have enough ammo to hold up in a shootout. And since i dont own a gun (well, I have a 30-30 and a couple of other shotguns at my mothers house), I am already behind in the argument. Lets see, go to gentlemans club, drink a beer or 2, smoke a cigar and then shoot my way back to my car. I dont think so.

gotta get back into the groove

...my new work schedule has kinda changed when I do posts to this blog.

last night it was interesting that Ryles (when time for bed) stomach was hurting so bad (suddenly) that she was rolling around in uncontrolled fits of pain. Then suddenly, it was her mouth that was hurting. Then jessica said that she could sleep with us. suddenly the pain seemed to go away...then she got up and ran to her room, and shows back up with her pillow.... meanwhile I-Man, long ago banished (again) for not eating dinner, was snoring loudly in his bed. I think I-Man has not slept in his bed a total of maybe 1 time (when he had a true fever) , while Ryles goes thru 2 or 3 day spells of wanting to come into our bed at 5am.

rare anger

I rarely get too upset about stuff, but this deal with all these guys ( notice that they are always hard up white guys?) going into schools and shooting kids, then shooting themselves annoys me. I think what really gets me is that they shoot themselves, and dont have the balls to face up to what they did. that is just plain cowardly....

ya know...i think this Merideth Viera chick is starting to grow on me. At first, i was like..."She aint Katie..." but now I am starting to warm up to her....
...and i am pondering a layout change for the blog. Not sure though...

more random musings...

It is kinda nice to just wash 5 pairs of blue pants and white shirts for the twins every week. sure does simplify things...

... and it is amazing to drive down the road and only hear a faint videogame sound from the back. the twins have gameboys (with headphones) and they get in the car, turn them on and i dont hear anything from them..except.."hey Ian, lets switch games. Ok Rylee. let me get this last mail from Blue"...

...why is diesel still 2.35 a gallon while regular is under 2.00? this is highly annoying, even if i still only put gas in my car once or twice a month....

..."Oops i did it again....."...ah yes, old school Britney Spears... and following that up with a little n
Naughty by Nature.

Fall is here...again...

temps have fallen. leaves all over the driveway/porch. Fall always brings back flashes of memories of times past. Always kinda sad, but the memories are all good. The Harwoods have had their daughter, and it reminds me that time just keeps moving forward. Who would have thought at one time that Harwood would have a kid. Wow...but..its a good thing, and i think he's going to be a fine father.

I am seriously contemplating going to the Charlotte game (Temple/Clemson)...

I-man scores

I-Man had his first soccer match of the season on Saturday. he scored his teams only goal against the obviously older, wiser, experienced mexican goalie. After a scrum outside the penalty box, the ball was kicked to the far side of the net, where I-Man was patiently waiting , and blasted a 1 timer into the goal. Look for the report in the easley paper, as I-man was his teams Man of the Match. I forgot to mention that the other team scored like 6 goals or something....
..Ryles is doing dance again, and was actually promoted after a couple of classes to a higher class, and also placed into Tap class. So, she is now taking 2 dance classes....

Tigers took North Carolina to the woodshed on Saturday. looks like another 2 weeks of blowouts before Wake Forest, who might present a challenge., meanwhile the Panthers seem to have stopped the bleeding for the moment

did I mention that it is virtually impossible to find blue pants for girls size 4t or 5t?

what am i listening to?

...Tupac...

We gotta make a change...
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
and let's change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive.

then Clint Black...
Your mind is made up you won't even try
You didn't even cry this time
You say that we could never see eye to eye
And one of us just must be blind
We have our differences
We're still the same
See what we want to see
But you take a second look
And maybe things wouldn't seem the same
If you could see what you mean to me

Put yourself in my shoes
Walk a mile for me
I'll put myself in your shoes
Maybe then we'd see
That if you put yourself in my shoes
You'd have some sympathy
And if i could only put myself in your shoes
I'd walk right back to me

Goodness.... its those types of songs that always make me at least stop and take a listen to country music every once in a while...

then... The Gap Band ( Burn Rubber on Me ) here is a song that is basically about as rock as rock can be.

next up..Everlast...

on to Califonia Love (Dr Dre and Tupac)

then I hear Michael Jackson in I Want You Back. That song gives me chills when i listen. I hear innocence, pure joy of performance and raw, unbridled talent. So sad what it has become....

Folson Prison Blues is next. Ah..Johnny Cash.

The some Kelis and Too Short in Bossy.

Finally I am at Evanescence with Call Me When you are Sober. Here is a song that I actually like more for the music than the lyrics. pretty rockin...well, about as rockin as you can get with an orchestra and piano mixed in with you. i do like that they changed meter some and just basically mixed things up a little

And who can be heard singing this?

We've all seen a man at the liquor store beggin' for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
"Get a job you fucking slob," is all he replies
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues

What was God doing?

...Last night, we were watching a thing on PBS about God and 9-11 and people pondering about how God could have let that happen, etc. Well...I was only kinda half watching and reading a magazine at the time, but I kinda thought that those people were all kinda off track somewhat. What about the thousands of other people who died that day in the world. From Cancer...Aids...Car wrecks... killed by guns... all sorts of stuff. Was God supposed to ignore all those people and only save the people in New York? was it any less a tradgedy for the families of all those other people who dies that day? I dont mean to lesson what happened to those 3000 people. But if God is the All powerful entity he supposedly is, then the events in New York were a small peice of the puzzle in the whole scheme of the universe that day.

Wow...five years...

I will always remember standing in front of my TV in my office watching the second plane hit live. I remember thining immediately..."well, I guess I aint flyin to New York for kristen's wedding"... I also remember thinking that this was going to screw up a lot of stuff for a lot of people forever....

This is the New West End Zone seting...didnt really add too many seats..but i would love to have some of those wih the cover over them....

this is a little bit clearer look at how it is constructed...

One of Ryles new past times (and they change from day to day) is tosit and blow on this toy trumpet they got at the fair the other day....

..until I-Man takes it away and starts blowing...

dude, where did the time go?

looked up and a week had passed.... found my old Canon Rebel SLR and while looking at it noticed that it has my old lense still on. it is a 70-300mm lens. Now...NOW...I'm cookin with gas.... that is the lens that allows me to zoom in from way back that i used primarily back in the 90's. And it fits my current digi SLR.

Ryles has started back dance lessons and I-Man starts soccer again on Saturday...

ah yes.....

the morning routine of 6:20am wakeup isnt sitting too well with Ryles and I-Man. this pretty much sums it up for the two of them right now...

dude...you gotta go see this place...

...well, went to Bristol. Only took 3 hours to get there. Straight up I-26, past asheville and thru the mountains. I-26 has been extended past Johnson City and runs past bristol. It was actually everything people have always said. very loud, but you can see the entire track because it is so small ( the track). Maybe some other might can go up on a Friday next year. i definitely plan to take jessica with me next time.

jessica told me abt this...

Jessica showed me this on the Lego website yesterday. go to the screening room and watch the Revenge of the Brick.

Ok now...

Scanner...Check. Headphones...check. Extra scanner for somebody who can afford a 60,000 Dodge SRT, but cant drop 50.00 for a scanner...check. Extra batteries...check. Tix...check. HEADIN TO BRISTOL, BABY!!!!!!!

Maynard Ferguson passed away. tsk, tsk...all the great are slowly leaving us. and who do we have left? Ludacris? Pdiddy?... sigh...

Went to Target during lunch the other day...they have band instruments there. a trumpet can be had for 199.99. same for a clarinet. and they look to be of decent quality for beginner instruments... also a flute and a violin

Watchin USA basketball

Been watching the USA mens team at the World Championships (basketball)... still amazes me how some random Euro's can stay in the game with Lebron, Carmelo and Wade.

Spooling up to head to Bristol on Friday. weather is supposed to be hot.

Have you seen that video of Britney Spears? click here

Its kinda strange...

...to be driving along, with XM on and the kids in the back and this song comes on, and suddenly, I-Man starts singing along to the song...and its not the silent sorta whisper he does at times...he's like...singing. And all into it. I'm like..."what they hey?" this is what he started singing and thats why i was caught a little off guard. You dont normally think you will hear your 4 1/2 year old singing this....

We’re soarin’, flyin’
There’s not a star in heaven
That we can’t reach

Anyone know what this is from?

twice now Ryles has mentioned that she wants to play the drums...this is akin to Tommy Bowden's son suddenly saying that he wants to play Tuba in the band.... kinda goes against the grain a tad..but if she ultimately wants to do that I'll suck in my pride and...point her toward the pit. I could bear seeing her in the pit for the Cadets or Blue Devils one day. Oh well..gotta get her on those piano lessons first....

more on the docket

...looks like I will only do 2 football games @Clemson this fall. Possibly another one. def are the Homecoming and USC games. might slip over to another game at Clemson in November, depending on if people are in town or not. Also am considering the Tempe game that is a Thursday night in Charlotte. Need to know what my work sched will be like then before deciding on that...
...wish I could figure out why i am getting double, sometimes triple, emails to my treo. I am determined to figure that out today.

also seems like the frakkin hotwater heater pilot light keeps going out. thats twice in the past 3 days. However,i think i solved the problem by following the procedure correctly...I hope.

FINALLY!!!!!!!

Today is the first day of the next section of....EVERYTHING!. while its not officially the first "real" day of school, to the twins its the first day of "big boy/girl school". They are off to a little catholic school in Greenville for 4k, at least. And this marks the end of preschool daycare. They are excited and I am curious to see how they are going to find dealing with the sure to be stricter rules, etc. than they have enjoyed from the lolitas at daycare. Especially Ian, who I suspect has had his run of daycare over the past year or so... Lets see if he starts coming home with a shell shocked look. Although I suspect both of them wil do fine. It will be good for both of them. Here is an informal pic with their typical catholic "uni". They are fixin to hop in the car and head off to school for the first day.

Been Quiet

...nothin much goin on except work and sleep over the past few days...

The twins start going to the little catholic school in Greenville tomorrow. Its 4k, but to the twins, its big school, so I think they are excited. I'm excited too, because while we are still paying for school, its FAR less than the 185.00 a week for daycare we have been shelling out for over 3 years...

Wonder Bread

Is Will Ferrell Ricky Bobby or George Bush in his nascar movie?

And who sang this?

I found out long ago
It's a long way down the Holiday Road

And as a bonus, what movie is this famous in?

Gotta plan early

Started lookin tonight at....DISNEY WORLD, 2007!!!! prices are not even close to being as bad as I thought they would be. Should be quite doable given expected budgeting and planning. Of course, National Convention is in Orlando that same week, so that would be convenient too... But I really only forsee Nat Conv being time consuming for a couple of days, and perhaps even then, a couple of times on those days.

...so it is penciled in. Disney World Resorts will be the first of the Grand Summer Vacations to be taken. On the tentative list are.... Grand Canyon (2008), New York, Boston, Vermont, Maine (2009), Yellowstone/Devils Tower (2010), Disneyworld (2011), Ireland/England/Olympics(2012) Plan is to RV the stuff out west and north, and swim across to England.... that should take us out to the kids @10 and a half years. Of course, i hope to still do other stuff, but this is what i have plans for. lets hope we can do it.

all this time i didnt think i had a macro lens. Come to figure out that..well..I do.... what kind of plant is this?

Why name your child this?

Talked to a woman today at work. her first name was Detail. ???????

My car is starting to annoy me. The door lock/alarm mechanism is acting strange and the key isnt unlocking the door remotely (well, the battery is dead, so that is part of the problem). But I can get in the car and drive down the road and the driver door will randomly lock. probably a fuse issue

Ok, I am not sure about the brokeback guy as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" He isnt what I would picture to be in that role. i guess Jack Nicholson kinda ruined that for me...

Shaq..Kobe...Christmas day...AGAIN

and why do I keep getting football gear catalogs with the Patriots on the front. I suspect that someone familiar with my hatred of the New England patriots is making sure I get catalogs with pictures of a tom brady jersey on it, knowing full well that ever since he stole that Super Bowl ( and they would have won) from the Raiders, it just hasnt been the same. Although I did see a interesting Brady throwback somewhere else the other day....

The drums... they are abeatin....

late during the week, I could hear off in the distance (actually about a half mile away) the Easley High School drumline warming up. Another bandcamp is beginning...always brings back memories...

August will be here way too soon. And i just as well skip August and go straight to September. I hate the month for it is just too hot, and the forcast for Aug 1 thru 3 is high 90's with heat index of over a 100. yep...lets just skip this month...except for the birthdays that come in the month. Thats about all that is good about it.

Watchin CNN or MSNBC...ISRAEL IS WRONG! THEY SHOULD BE CONDEMNED!!!! ...turn to FoxNews... HEZBOLLA ARE TERRORISTS! THEY SHOULD BE CONDEMNED!!!! ... This getting old, especially the bias so blatant from every news source. but...I am adding Air America and America right to my XM presets (well, at least the 10 I listen to on a constant basis). This adds to THE POWER and Fonews that I will be rotating thru as Politics are going to slowly start pickin up....

Oh, and DCI is going to be in the movie theater. i think they are going to show the Quarterfinals or something. I might actually have to go see that and see how that plays out in a theater. Its amazin how far that has come. i remembe they used to always show an edited gig in November or so, then it evolved to showing the last 6 live, but now they are have interviews withthe drum majors and directors right after the shows and streaming contest online.

Guess i will have to do the fantasy football gig. crowell sent me an invite. i hadnt intended on doing it, but since the gauntlet has been put down, well...gotta answer the bell...

...went to the park today. Recently we decided that Ryles would not join I-man in soccer this Fall, because the 2 of them together is a recipe for disaster right now.This is an example of what happens when they are together, which, of course, is...always.

I-man has a new fav activity, which is jumpinf off anything, be it couches, beds, or picnic tables

Of course Ryles had to show her mettle....

justice served?

I am going to go on a picture taking spree over the next couple of weeks. Of course, i will get all of about 5 pictures taken because no one will let me take a picture of them. It's kinda dissapointing at times, but I understand why people generally dont like having their picture taken. So i end up with a billion pictures of my kids, not that i dont like taking pictures of the twins... but I'll ry to post the best ones here sporadically...

so...hmmm...black man goes in and kills his five kids, I bet he hardly gets 2 days in court before he's sittin on Death Row. White woman kills her 5 kids, by drowning them brutally in a bathtub, while the others watched and waited their turn, and she gets to go to a comfy hotel for what, maybe 10 years before she will be "sane" again? Oh, I'm sorry...its a mental hospital. Hmmm... and shes declared NOT GUILTY???!!!! of killing her own 5 kids. Wonder what her kids have to say about that. oh wait...they're dead.... wonder what would have happened to my mother if she would have killed me and my brother? here's betting that she would have gotten the needle or shock treatment a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG time ago. and sadly, there's people reading this who still dont get it.

Who sang this?

Life is a highway 
I wanna ride it all night long 
If you're going my way 
I wanna drive it all night long 

or as sung by I-Man...
Life is a highway 
I wonna wide it all wide wong 
If you going my way 
I wanna drive it all wide wong 

more random crap

I think I'm going to just keep a wary eye on the Braves till they reach .500, then I'll start thinkin wildcard...

...saw the trailer for Rocky Balboa. it actually looks like it is a throwback to the original... might have to pony up some cash and see that one too...something about these movies from the seventies this summer. First Superman, now.... ROCKY!!!

I occasionally jump over and see what Old Man Brown is talking about in his alter Bohemian world. He talks of a book he is reading and ponders some questions...

Is everything on Earth made for our consumption? (me, well i am a survival of the fittest sort a guy..so..right now, YES!)
Is humanity the only thing on the planet that matter? (me, well...no...the other stuff matters because we need it for the previous question)
Is everything on our home subject to our whim? (me, well...thinking... no. )
Is it OK for us to live outside the balance of every other part of our planet? (well, the prophecies say one will bring balance to the force...so if we are outside the balance, nature will bring it back eventually. if that means out downfall...so be it. I guess that speaks to what you say below)

So far these are the questions that The Bottomless Well ( the book he is reading ) does not address. It doesn't have to, because from page one, word one, the answer is an implicit and bellowing YES! The sad fact is that they'll never have to really address any of those questions, because we're so concerned with media exposure and market placement that we won't, can't, or don't want to make them.

Here is what i was listening to while writing above... anyone remember who crooned this stuff?
With a little love, and some tenderness
We'll walk upon the water
We'll rise above the mess
With a little peace, and some harmony
We'll take the world together
We'll take 'em by the hand

'Cause I got a hand for you
Oh, I want to run with you

Yesterday, I saw you standing there
Your head was down, your eyes were red
No comb had touched your hair
I said, get up, and let me see your smile
We'll take a walk together
Walk the road, awhile

Starting to rev up Fall plans....

OK...once July ends, i officially go into Fall mode, even if it really doesnt feel like it till October. While still forning plans for the Fall, i already have an event on the docket. ...headin to Bristol Speeday on friday, aug 24th the see nextel cup practice, qualifyin, busch practice, qualifyin then the Busch race. all for $65.00. that is a steal.

my schedule doesnt change till Oct 1st, so i am not sure if i will get to a game at Clemson before then, unless I take a vacation day, which I might. So nothing else big will be planned till then, but i plan to try to have a Halloween party here, and see about a short Fall break trip somewhere this Fall. Always want to have something to look forward to....

And how about this...who spoke this profound quip?

Well, the years start comin'
and they don't stop comin'.
Back to the rules
and I hit the ground runnin'
it didn't make sense not to live for fun,
your brain gets smart, but your head gets done,
so much to do,
so much to see,
so whats wrong with takin' the backstreets.
You'lll never know if you don't go(GO!),
you'll never shine if you don't glow....

just wondering

...is there a special company over in the middle east that makes flags especially for them to be burned? I mean, it looks like they are special flags ( the ones of the US and Israel) and its not like flags are a common commodity just sitting around everyones home. And even if they were, i doubt people have US flags just sittin in their houses. Doesnt there have to be someone making a profit (and isnt that a western idea?) and selling the "Easy light, super-long-so-you dont-burn-yourself-yet-you-can-show-it-to-CNN" flag?

guessing game

Can anyone guess you said this?

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans ,

There is a prize to the person who guess this correctly.

kids...sigh....

why do my twins now sleep in a tent on the floor in one of their bedrooms? how ironic. perfectly good beds right next to thm, yet they are sleeping on the floor

from one loin

Brown sent me an email today, and it was strange, because i had been thinking about pretty much the same thing earlier in the day watchin foxnews/cnn/msnbc before headin to work.... his simple statement was 3 words...Isaac and Ishmael. Now I have copied below a very simplified explanation of this, which basically explains that the Jews (and Christians/Protestants/Catholics) and Muslims (Islam and its offshots) come from the same damn place. This is copied from the Bergen Record, i believe.

Who was Abraham?

Abraham (or "Ibrahim" as pronounced in Arabic) is considered the patriarch (or father) of the Jews and the Arabs. He had two sons: Isaac and Ishmael. Jews trace their ancestry through Isaac. Arabs trace their ancestry through Ishmael.

The story of Abraham is well known to Jews and Christians as well as to Muslims. In Islam he is remembered as one of the great Prophets, and the father of the Prophet Ishmael who was the ancestor of Prophet Muhammad himself.

Long, long ago, a child was born to the Prophet Abraham and his second wife, Hagar. The baby's name was Ishmael and, when he was born, he was Abraham's only son. In those days, it was not unusual for a man to have two wives. Abraham's first wife was named Sarah. She had no children, and this made her sad. But God told Abraham that one day, Sarah too would have a son. He would be named Isaac. Ishmael and Isaac were to be the ancestors of two great nations and three great religions. The nations were the Arabs and the Jews.

The prophet Abraham, revered by Jews and Christians, is a model of faith for all believers in God. He was born in Babylonia (present-day Iraq), during the rule of King Nimrod. He was persecuted for preaching against idol worship and astrology. He invited everyone toward the worship of the one true God.

God tested Abraham's faith by asking the great prophet to sacrifice his son Ishmael.(NOTE: The version in Genesis of the Bible is different in that it is Abraham's son Isaac who would have been sacrificed, not Ishmael.) This test was even more severe because Abraham did not have any children until he fathered Ishmael by his second wife, Hagar, at a very old age. Ishmael exhibited the qualities of prophethood from a young age, urging his father to obey God's command to sacrifice the young man.

Because Abraham and Ishmael were willing to carry out this difficult command, God was pleased; therefore, Allah provided a sheep for Abraham to sacrifice in place of his son.

After passing the great test, Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt the Holy Kaaba, a house dedicated to the worship of the one true God. The Holy Kaaba, which stands at the center of Mecca's Great Mosque, is the most sacred place for Muslims.

Condensed from The Record at http://www.bergen.com/home/mirza25199903259.htm

So...if you beleive what the ancient scriptures have to say, on both sides mind you...we are all chasin the same god, and descendent from the same man. 2 brothers, from 2 different women, who, according to which side you are on, were the good guys. And probably, as most sane adults know, the truth is probably a mixture of boths sides of the argument. But...what we have now is a family spat, that has grown from heated words, to throwin rocks...to... firing uranium tipped rockets at each other. And probably everyone reading this knows that the worse spats can be family spats. sigh.... and this is a difference of opinion (taking sides) that will quite possibly take over the world.... and it is amazing to read on the web about this story. even the excerpt above is biased. depends on what side of the family you are on as to how the story is portrayed.

hmmm...lets see here....

cnn has a picture of a family stranded in beirut on its homepage. they went there for a month long vacation, so they could baptise their son in lebandon (husband is from there). lets see....places to take wife and kids... Disney World? check. The beach? check. Grand Canyon? check.... Beirut?????...uh....well...uh.... no. dont think so. I dont care that stuff was relatively quiet....quiet in beirut is just people reloading their guns.... I just dont think I would be taking my kids to beirut, even if i was from there. Once i left, I think i would pull up Google Earth if i wanted my kids to see the ole homeland.

and what makes you , while going up stairs, suddenly try to take 2 steps at once, not on purpose, but yet, your leg goes up and you kinda hiccup. or, when you are going down steps, and you think you have another step before the bottom and you kinda slam your foot down....

more random

Not sure totally about this Israel/Lebandon tiff.... i'd like to say that I'm all on the side of Israel. But something in the back of my head keeps whispering ..reminding me of that twilight zone episode where humans land on this alien world and find human like people , who are supposedly being attacked by these bad "monsters", only to eventually find out that the "monsters" are actually the good guys, and the humans not as innocent as they made themselves out to be. Now, i understand I'd be a little prickly too if I was surrounded by countries full of people who simply want you ...GONE...and I dont mean that they want you to move to Liberia either. They want you dead. period. And I have to admire the Israeli spunk...they are what the US and British wish they could be at times. Actually, Israel is like the Raiders, always throwin the ball deep, throwin care to the wind, sayin, you mess with us, we're going straight to the root of the problem, and takin you out. The US is kinda like the Colts...calculated offense, superior firepower, moving the ball all up and down the field, but a tad cautious at the time to go for the kill....

The twins have a larger pool. this one is one of those with a filter and all that. have to put chemicals in it and everything. its kinda cool, but we really dont have a flat spot for it, but we found the flattest spot we have and its workin out pretty good. it also keeps I-Man from wantin to go find sammie and sid down at the creek, although it seems that "the truth" made a difference a few days back. havnt seen them out since then.

My mother went on another cruise, this time to Canada, out of New York. Seems like she goes on a ruise about 23 times a years now.

I'm startin to warm up to baseball again. The Braves are showing a little life, and I have come to the realization that we wont win the division this year, and that the world wont end. But it still amazes me that there are people 15 years old who have never known the Braves to lose the division. But if we can get to the wildcard, I'll be satisfied. And I feel confident that they will contend next year, the foundation had been laid for another run of titles. they just need to find some relief pitching. Of course, they hav eonly had it when Smoltz was there in the pen

Seems like the summer heat has arrived. I have moved the thermostat up to 76 and it still feels really cool, compared to outside in the sun. its still sad to hear the stories of people dieing in cars, etc. while people go into Wal-mart

I'm startin to think about what to do about the frat this Fall. I think I am going to go totally positive this year. And I am going to get some more alumni involved, perhaps having local alumni come to every meeting and speak for 5 minutes, then field questions for 5 minutes. kinda add something to the meetings.... if anybody reading this wants to participate, let me know. I also am going to see about getting t shirts printed this year that say NO DRAMA on the front. yeah, i know what youre saying....."no way in hell with Kappa Beta" last year had a very negative pall over it with several incidents with brothers casting a negative light on everything. I hope they have learned from these things and are ready to move forward.

Had a great time in New York.

...been back at work for since Sunday. I had a great time during the whirlwind tour of New Jersey/New York/Brooklyna few days ago. And the conversations I had with kristen and erik were somewhat interesting. Kristen and i had a interesting conversation about friends and who do you keep and who do you let go.. I have recently had a somewhat closed group of people i consider to be my Tier 1 friends. jessica, erik, lisa, josh, brandy, kim, lynn, kristen ( in no particular order, except for jessica, so dont anyone start reading into this sorta listing) occupy that group right now. And different people fall into different types...some people i dont ever talk to, but I know that when I see them all is good. (the no news is good news approach) some i talk to more regularly than others... then there are other people like John/Pam that I long to see/talk to...or Cayce and Beth (what are they up to? hows life these days?) and budding friendships, like with the Harwoods. What i think is even wierder is what people you meet in college, then somehow become good friends with after college.

Need to start plans for the Fall activities..."things to look forward to" as Kristen might say

"Trust in Allah, but tie your camel..."

Kristen first born playin with bubbles

Ok...this should make you gals happy....

This is Brown, with his girlfriend Pam. This picture makes me think of a narration in th ebackground of City Confidential on A& E..."Brown graduated from the prestigious design school and eventually found romance with Pam. But soon we would all find out the dark secret of the raspy TV..."

Today in The City... Saw

Today in The City... Saw Kristen yesterday... Grabbin lunch with Brown here shortly...

Fireworks and baseball

Ok...went to the Greenville Drive game...OK, not sure when we will be going to another sportin event anytime soon. Well...it will probably be soon, but i need to have the area scouted first. I didnt notice the BIG playground located directly behind where we would be sitting when i got the tix...but...I-man spotted the playground from OUTSIDE the ballpark...across the entire field, outside the outfield wall as we were walkin to the park. So.... we enter, and the previously starving and hungry twins make a bee line to the playground, where they proceeded to play for the HOUR we were there before the game even started, then into the second inning, another 45 minutes. The only reason they stopped was that I pulled them away and went from the 3rd base side, to the OUTFIELD of the first base side. They then watched the railroad tracks for the next 7 innings while I kinda kept an eye on the game. But they were impressed by the fireworks, although I-man thought that they were loud, probably a good omen if I want to keep him away from the drumline or anything. but then again, I sat right in front of the drumline, so...well...whatever.... Watched fireworks then picked up some ice cream, then headin home.

Upcoming for the week... 4th fireworks, i guess, then the tail end of the week will find me in NY/NJ for a quick look/see with Kristen and Ole Man Brown, while Jessica and the twins are headin back to Florence and, this time, the twins will be seeing beachtime....

Not sure I'm happy with the pic below...a tad under exposed, i think...

gettin ready to head to the ole ballgame...