July 03, 2008

[niv.elscorcho.org] -- baseball can be awesome

steve, you dug mlb.com's new gameday, so maybe you'll dig baseball boss. from techcrunch:

You create a team using real major league players from 1907 or 2007 (the more years will be added over time). To start you are given 40 players, displayed as baseball cards. The game will auto-create a team for you based on your best players, or you can go in and tweak each player individually, including setting the pitching roster and batting order. You then challenge other teams. If they accept, the game is played.

best way to experience it is to try it out of course, and techcrunch has the info on a code you can use to get into the beta, so hop to it.

let me add my own review: this is awesome, this is totally awesome, this is the coolest concept ever and a great new direction for fantasy games, and i'm not sure if i'd actually spend money on it, but it is awesome.

July 02, 2008

[revjim.net] -- a typical day

Every day goes pretty much like this for me, it's just the details that are different.

I went to bed last night with the goal of getting up this morning, publishing a photograph or two, and writing something interesting, at least to me. I probably should have forced myself to do it last night, but the long day I had was wearing me thin and I was already starting to fall asleep. So I just went to bed.

I was wide awake at 3:30am. But, forced myself back to sleep knowing I have an even longer day in front of me. My alarm went off at 4:45am, just like I asked it to. I hit snooze. I thought I hit snooze. At 6:30am I get out of bed.

Knowing that I've lost two hours of my morning I can choose between A) being to work much later than I'd intended, B) not publishing anything, or C) just being a little later than planned and publishing something quick and easy. I go for option C. As I start to search for a photo I realize I haven't done a quick cleanup operation in my photo catalog in quite a while so I kick it off. Of course it gives me trouble. It should take 5 minutes. It's been running for over 20. And then, the software crashes and the clean up is lost. Of course.

So now I haven't written anything (except for this). I managed to get the software back up and pulled a photo out of it. Of course, I had to edit it even quicker than usual, which means I'll probably end up redoing it. If I wait much longer, I'll be stuck in traffic and end up at work a lot later than I want to be.

Welcome to my life — every day.

Send love, encouragement, excitement, distractions, and anything else you can muster. I'm going to need it today.

As she looked upon him seated on the other side of the table wearing a suit that looked so expensive she couldn't even imagine the cost, her eyes filled with tears and panic. She knew what was coming next.

"So, Sarah, in return, I have only one favor to ask of you."

– OneWord // FAVOR

July 01, 2008

[revjim.net] -- upon a stranger's time

She's wearing sandals and her toes are painted light blue. The sun catches her golden hair making it radiate. She's obviously searching for something.

I take a deep breath and stop her. I'm not from here either, but, maybe I can I help you find something? "Well, I was just looking for a little cafe to sit and have a cup of coffee." I am too, shall we look together? We laugh at the idea, our arms folded awkwardly, our eyes searching. Then we walk down the street together, laughing and talking.

I hold the door open for her. She walks in first. It's nothing special, nothing extraordinary, but it's ours. Our first house. Completely ours. We laugh at the sheer possibilities and end up laying side by side in a pile of undress in the middle of the living room floor, the door still open to the hallway. I get up to use the rest room.

As I enter the living room I notice she looks even more beautiful today than yesterday. Has she done something different? Is it my love for her, ever increasing? Is it our unborn child inside her? Does it even matter? I sit next to her on the couch, kiss her growing belly, and sigh a sigh of happiness and content. We sit for a moment hand in hand, words unspoken, before she heads off into the kitchen.

"Supper's ready!" she calls out. She's made an early dinner for just the two.  Our two children still at home are off doing other things this evening. The table is decorated, candles are lit, wine is poured, and she looks as incredible to me as she did the day I met her on the street in New York City. We eat while talking about our day and playing footsie under the table. Even after all these years, her smile can still bring that burn to my chest. I clear the table after dinner as she goes to get herself ready. We're supposed to meet my daughter and her husband later that evening. They've got some news for us.

I walk into the living room full of Christmas gifts. All of the grandchildren stare at me with hungry, glistening eyes knowing that Christmas doesn't start until I begin handing out the gifts. So, of course, I take my time watching them squirm with excitement and burst with protest. We have a wonderful dinner that evening. No matter how old we get, it's the one ritual we simply won't give up. I love having all of them under my roof all at once. I feel complete. As the last of the family heads home I put on my coat and decide to go for a quick stroll in the evening light.

I walk down the street remember each event of my life as though it had only just occurred. Each moment leading to the next. I am so fortunate. I am so happy. I am so loved. I try to imagine it any other way and it simply doesn't work. I make my way around the corner and begin walking along all the shops, closed for the day, when I spot another person walking toward me.

She's wearing sandals and her toes are painted light blue. The sun catches her golden hair making it radiate. She's obviously searching for something.

As a tourist, I'm sure I can't help her find what she's looking for in a place as large as New York City. I pass her with a smile on my face considering the possibilities and then wander into a cafe alone for a cup of coffee.

[revjim.net] -- vacation?

We leave in two days with what is probably the most hectic "vacation" schedule ever. On top of that, it'll be the first time Celeste travels anywhere more than 4 hours away. Of course, we're crazy, so she'll make 7 different trips to places more than 4 hours away over the course of 3 weeks. In the words of Tim Roth from the movie Four Rooms, "I haven't got a problem. I've got problems. Plural."

If everything goes as planned it will go something like this:

Thursday(7/3) morning we leave for Syracuse by plane with one connecting flight.

Friday(7/4) morning we drive 6 hours to see my family in Vermont. We're staying at my brother's house with his wife and my two nieces.

Saturday(7/5) we have a big get together with whatever family my Grandma manages to round up.

Sunday(7/6) afternoon we drive 6 hours back to Syracuse and meet Jess' parents there.

Monday(7/7) morning Jess, Celeste, and Jess' parents drive 9 hours to where her parents live. I stay in Syracuse to work. No, I'm not happy about my poor little girl making her first very lengthy car trip and adventure into another country without me, but, this is the way it works best for Jess. Otherwise, she'd have 3 days less time to spend in Canada.

Friday(7/11) morning I make the 4 hour drive to Toronto by way of Rochester, Buffalo, and, generally, taking my time taking photos. I hang out with Kim for the evening and spend time having as much fun as is allowed by law in Toronto.

Saturday(7/12) morning I make the 5 hour drive to where Jess and Celeste are.

Then we spend all most two full weeks at a summer camp on the lake in the middle of bear infested woods using an outhouse and generally lazing around and, for those who like that sort of thing, enjoying doing nothing or, for those who don't, trying to find activities and adventures to occupy your time. Mobile phones barely work here and Internet access is unheard of so, connection to the outside world will be nearly non-existent.

Thursday(7/24) morning we make the 9 hour drive to upstate New York to see the other half of my family. We'll either be staying in a hotel or with my Grandma, depending on who else comes up for the weekend and how well my Grandma is feeling.

Friday(7/25) we have a big get together with whatever family my mom manages to round up.

Saturday(7/26) afternoon we make the 4.5 hour drive back to Syracuse.

Sunday(7/27) morning we get on a plane back to DFW with one connecting flight.

Monday(7/28) I go back to work because I need to save my vacation time for a trip back to Canada for Christmas.

Yeah. We're crazy. I know. I wanted to break it up into smaller trips and combine the time in New York and Vermont into one 4 day event in order to save on the travel time, but Jess gets more time in Canada this way, even if it makes the trips to see my family a little shorter and more hectic.

[revjim.net] -- one word photos

A few days ago I asked for one or two word ideas for photographs. Something abstract to allow me some creativity, yet defined enough to be a challenge. Some fantastic words were provided. Oddly, almost everyone gave exactly two words. I got more words than I could possibly take in one day, so I've stretched this project out a bit to give myself more time to accomplish it.

These are the words I have so far. If I missed any, I'm sorry. Most of them came through Twitter and Text Messages, so they get lost easily. Please give them to me again if I did.

If you'd like to add to this, please leave a comment.

Em: Quiet. Glistening.
Justin: Ursine. Renal.
Jess: Beautiful. Carefree.
Nic: Angular. Angry.
Mary: Pricey. Steamy.
Whitney: Irreverent. Felicity.
Mario: Buxom. Penguin.
Ian: Sensual. Being.
Morgan: Hi. Dark. Bounce. Here. Why. Smile.
Sara: Tasty. Messy.
Tony: Ominous. Evil.

June 27, 2008

[revjim.net] -- 6 months old!

Celeste's pediatrician (and my sister as well, who is an Occupational Therapist working with children) is constantly saying things like "your daughter should be doing blah blah by the time she is blah blah months old". It's kind of annoying. If there's a manual that came with her, I'd like to read it. Otherwise, really, how do you know.

I think Celeste, who turned 6 months old yesterday, agrees with me. In an act of pure defiance instead of slowly achieving each goal, one by one as the unseen manual dictates she should, she just decided to do them all with amazing proficiency within the course of 2 weeks.

In fact, here are the things she did in the past two weeks that she couldn't (or wouldn't?) do before.

Eat Solid Food
With Nic and Emily as our witnesses, and the video camera rolling, her first adventure into solid foods was a solid one. She didn't gum the food a bunch and then spit it out. She didn't decide she didn't like it and stop bothering to eat. She didn't flat out refuse to eat at all. She didn't play that fun spitting game she likes to play while eating her food. She just opened her mouth greedily and took spoonful after spoonful of Avocado until I was afraid to upset her stomach by giving her any more. She loved it.

The Fun Spitting Game
Constantly. It never ends. The more spit, the better. And don't laugh while she does it. If you open your mouth too wide, you'll end up with spit in there too.

Sitting Up
She sits on her own. Every now and then she'll topple if I'm not near by to steady her. Other than that, there's really no limit to how long she'll sit. She actually enjoys sitting.

Her First Words
Write it down in the record book: her first words were "Da Da". Well, actually it was more like "Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da". In fact, she pretty much doesn't stop saying "Da Da" now. I don't think it means what she thinks it means. We're working on that part.

Fake Cry
Yup, she's one of those. She knows if she cries she gets attention. So, when she wants attention but she's not actually upset she fakes it. Thankfully, she's not a very good faker, so the difference between the two is quite obvious. Her cry is a blood curdling, hair raising, heart pumping scream. Her fake cry sounds like a cat that is puking up and trying to meow at the exact same time.

Toes in her Mouth
She found her toes. She likes her toes. She's just not quite sure what they're good for yet. So, like everything else that doesn't have a clearly defined purpose (and even most of those that do) they go in her mouth.

[revjim.net] -- the trouble with being home

I decided that every weekday morning where I didn't have to leave the house prior to 7am, I would write here and that would be enough. Flipping back through these virtual pages I see that has not been happening. Not even close. When I'm out of town on business, the time at which I arrive at work is rarely a set thing. Additionally, traffic is usually not something I have to contend with. So, if I intend to be at work at 9am, and I leave my hotel at 9am, that's not really a problem.

At home, however, this is a different story. If I intend to be at work at 9am, I have to leave the house at 7:30am. And, while being slightly late to my job here isn't a big deal, coming home late is, because the traffic only gets worse and worse. Additionally, getting in to work at 9am is rarely an acceptable thing unless I was working from home before hand. So, really I'm aiming to get to work at 8:30am, which means I have to leave at 7am and the deadline that I set for myself is begging to be missed.

On top of all that, I do work from home. When I'm out on business I only have my laptop. Because of certain limitations, I can either do work stuff or my stuff, but not both at the same time. At home, however, my work is sitting right next to me, constantly begging for more of my attention.

In summary, 7am is a terrible deadline to set and only results in me not writing at all. So, I've got to work out something else.

[niv.elscorcho.org] -- mlb.com is awesome

major league baseball continues to set the standard for major sports leagues utilizing the internet. their latest roll out is gameday 3d. go check it out - it is brilliant, and i think now even if you are watching a baseball game on tv you would be well-served keeping gameday open.

June 24, 2008

[revjim.net] -- why New Yorkers are awesome

New Yorkers are awesome. On more than one occasion I've seen them work together toward a common goal without any kind of authority requiring them to do so or organizing them in any way, simply out of respect for one another. Here's an example.

While in Manhattan on business last week, I used the 50th Street C/E Subway stop every day to get to and from work. The downtown platform is split into two levels, E on top, and C on the bottom. At some point along the way, it matters which train you get on. But for a lot of people, either train would work just as well. Many other subway platforms have multiple trains stopping at the same platform (opposite sides or even the same track sometimes). But not the 50th Street C/E Downtown platform. E is on top, and C is a curving flight of stairs below it. In other words, it's a very poorly designed platform that leads to some annoyance and difficulty.

So what do New Yorkers do? They wait at the stairs. From there, they can see the E track. Someone waits down below at the C track. If the C train comes, he calls out and all the people waiting rush down the stairs to catch the train. If the E train comes, the people call down to the one waiting and then hold the door for him so he can make it up the stairs in time.

I was at this platform on three different occasions. The first time I was confused and not sure what to do. I saw people waiting at the top, so I waited with them and ran when they ran. I was shocked to see it happening again the next day and even more shocked to see it on the third day.

New Yorkers are awesome. And because of that, I always managed to catch the train even if arrived downstairs first.

June 23, 2008

[niv.elscorcho.org] -- awaiting #3

first mr. russert, then mr. carlin. rest in peace.

June 19, 2008

[niv.elscorcho.org] -- dear boston, this is what i've been saying

i think i have used these exact words (well, the first paragraph) as recently as yesterday.

[revjim.net] -- the need for rest

Many things are useful, not because of what they are, but because of what they are not. A vase, for instance, is useless without the hollow inside. A window would serve no purpose if it were not transparent. A door would be pointless if it did not open. A piece of music without silence is simply a tone.

I often get down on myself when I find I'm not doing everything I can with every second I have. I feel as though I'm wasteing something precious. I fail to realize that rest is needed in order to absorb those moments. Not rest, as in sleep; Rest, as in that moment of pause between two measures in the most beautiful song you've ever heard.

I can't take credit for this analogy. It is one of the many, many beautiful lessons our associate minister taught before she left for Canada. She, of course, said it much more beautifully than I ever could. I've simply adapted it to myself.

June 18, 2008

[revjim.net] -- daniel in the box

I spend so many hours of each day filled with worry. For a change it's nice to just live and not worry. It's not really in my nature to not worry, though, so it makes me at odds with myself. Especially when I look back and worry about the impact those actions might have on my future.

Ultimately, I think a blend of the two would be best for me.

Forcing myself out of my box and spending time with friends who will help keep me out is a constant challenge to loosen up. A reminder that, while it's okay to pour over numbers and finances and vacation plans and future goals, sometimes the best way to spend some time is making out in the park late at night like high schoolers.

June 17, 2008

[niv.elscorcho.org] -- hooray, firefox 3

go get firefox 3 now

much faster, and the history is implemented better. you'll see what i mean once you use it.

[revjim.net] -- all a blur

With so much travel occupying my weeks, my weekends can get quite blurry. Here's my last one in a nutshell.

Last Friday I got off the plane from Providence and headed home. As I pulled up, so did a few friends. Another friend showed up later that evening. We had dinner, a few drinks, played crazy card games (Fluxx is awesome!), and watched a couple of really warped movies. I went to bed somewhere around 4am.

8:30am on Saturday and I'm up, of course. We lounged around the house quite a bit. Towards the afternoon we did a little shopping, stopped by a friends house, changed clothes, and then went to a housewarming party. A few more drinks, a stripper pole, lots of people dressed very nice. Jess and I left early and headed home. I think we went to be around 11:30pm.

7:30am on Sunday and I'm up again. Jess and I bum around the house a bit and then head out around 10:00am. We stop by Fry's for a little shopping then go to my dad's for Father's Day lunch. We had a great lunch and a couple of beers outside as my nieces and nephews played on the water slide. Then my dad and my brother and I played poker over a bottle of Don Julio. Jess drove home. We got home very late, threw some wash in, started packing my bags and then went to bed.

6:30am on Monday I woke up, finished packing and got ready to leave. Jess brought me to the airport at about 8:30am. I get to NYC that afternoon, check in to my hotel, wander the streets a bit, and get rained on. Then I meet up with a couple of friends, have too many martinis, followed by my first ever oyster experience, followed by sushi and sake. Finding my way home on the subway and then trying to remember which side of Broadway my hotel was on was fun. I made it back to the hotel before 12 and was in bed before 1.

Which brings me to now.

When I think back over it all it seems very busy and very rushed. But, in reality, I enjoyed every minute of it and, except for feeling like I was rushed Monday morning, never felt as though I was doing too much with too little.