One of the great things about winter is the snow. Sure just like every other adult New Yorker I cringe when its more than an inch, when it happens 30 minutes after I have washed my truck, or when it sticks around any longer than a day.
Yet there is something magical about it.
It’s whiteness… as if the clouds themselves have fallen from heaven.
It’s purity.
It’s ability to cover up a dirty gray reality like a blanket of goodness.
It’s authority to close schools.
It’s power to put smiles on the faces of children… everywhere…
Somedays… like today… I just wish it would snow.
categories: Personal Memories Remembering DJ
So yeah… it’s a new year… a new decade… time for new things! Right?
Here’s my summary of what I did this past weekend:
Friday January 1
- • I drove BGITW to the airport after getting home from work at 5:30am so she could visit some relatives in the great north
- • I went to Walgreen‘s a paid $10 for a coffee maker
- • I got home and attempted to make my first pot of real coffee so I could chill it and make my own ice coffee
- • I spilled the entire pot of burned hot coffee all over the sink
- • I brewed a second pot of coffee, still burnt a bit
- • I went to bed at 8:30am and was awakened at 5:30pm by the sound of a ringing phone
- • I spoke to Poppy and then proceeded to dump that second pot of burnt coffee out as well
- • I brewed by third pot of coffee which came out okay
- • I fed the kittays their treat
- • I watched Jersey Shore
- • I ate macaroni & cheese
- • I watched wrestling
- • I said goodnight to Poppy
- • I went back to bed
Saturday January 2
- • I was woken up at 8:30am by Georgie who insisted that I was late for treat time
- • I went back to bed
- • I got up at 11:00am and at a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich
- • I said good morning to Poppy
- • I started working on my rasberry mastery in Farmville
- • I started working on an e-book product
- • I finished working on an e-book product and had a call with my business partner
- • I started working on site upgrades on a WordPress 2.8.6 installation
- • I ate more macaroni & cheese
- • I started catching up on Heroes (7 episodes unwatched)
- • I upgraded the installation to WP 2.9 and had a critical failure that I then began fixing
- • I stopped trying to fix the WP issue because my brain was numb
- • I did some graphic work
- • I finished the graphic work and went back to the WP issue
- • I continued trying to master rasberries
- • I had a good night phone call from Poppy
- • I finished watching all the Heroes episodes
- • I finally got the WP installation to work right as SNL was ending
- • I wrote two e-mails that were on my to do list
- • I went to bed
Sunday January 3
- • I got up at 11:00am and gave the kittays a treat
- • I talked with Poppy
- • I continued trying to master rasberries
- • I watched Hackers
- • I authored a blog post for Monday
- • I then began watching The Painted Veil
- • I gave up on mastering rasberries and started working towards cranberries
- • I then decided to write this blog post to show that if my year is going to be anything like this weekend… I’m going to be spending alot of time eating macaroni & cheese and harvesting rasberries
- • I then finished this blog post and took my first shower of 2010
So it’s New Year’s Eve 2009. At midnight tonight 2009 ends along with the decade that will forever be known as ”The Naughts”. As usual, I’ll be working, but you shouldn’t feel bad for me for this… it is a conscious choice and just part of the vocation. It’s something I came to grips with over a decade ago so it’s just normal for me to celebrate it a day late.
Now I know there are those who believe that 2010 is actually the last year of the decade, and while mathematicians may support this concept, I have to then question why we consider 1990 as part of the “90’s” and 1980 as part of the “80’s” etc. Therefore, for my own sanity, it’s the end of the decade known as ”The Naughts”.
Time magazine considers it the worst decade of all time. I can understand that based on these occurrences:
- • The 2000 Presidential Election where we learned that the most votes doesn’t really matter
- • The September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack
- • The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
- • The current econcomic recession
- • And my own personal apocalypse, losing DJ
Wow. It really was pretty shitty… and that’s not even half of the things that occurred. Of course, it wasn’t ALL bad… because there was definitely some good this past decade too…
- • When DJ was born in 2001
- • Being able to call myself a homeowner
- • The invention of the iPhone which prompted the release of the Droid
- • TequilaCon(s)!
- • Meeting BGITW
And of course…
- • Discovering blogging, the proliferation of Social Media, and meeting all of you
I don’t know if in fact this was the worst decade ever… because as with all things there was quite a bit to be thankful for as well. It’s the good with the bad… the bad with the good… hand in hand… time seems to be more and more like people to me…
“In each of us, two natures are at war - the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose. What we want most to be we are.”
- Dr. Henry Jekyll
So with that said… I refuse to make some sort of “resolution” regarding canceling one of my many vices or some sort of dieting regiment I have zero intent on keeping too… but instead for the next decade I am going to try and remember that the bad times go with the good… and while not every time might be good, I have more power over how I look at it that may actually change its nature.
I wish you and your families a very happy and safe New Year.
Traditions.
My family has always been big on traditions. At least my mom is. I honestly never truly appreciated their value until recently. Still, there were sometimes when I was as tradition compliant as possible.
In 2005 I took DJ to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas Tree. It had been a pretty rough year for us, especially considering the time I had to spend away during September and October of that year. As a parent, you have certain ideas about what a traditional moment like this should be like. Part daydream, part fantasy, and based on past experiences you have certain expectations of the day.
So that Sunday morning we had french toast for breakfast, courtesy of grandma, got bundled up, and headed to the subway station. DJ loved trains… and planes… but he got to ride on the train this day and that was a big deal. Watching his cheeks flutter with the rush of the wind as the train rolled into the station, I knew it was going to be a good day.
Coming out of the subway we were met with a nice brisk cold wind. The weather was quite cold, but we were pretty well bundled up. When we got to Rockefeller Center, we took some time wandering through the plaza looking at the window displays before coming to the big attraction itself. There were oohs and aahs… and exclamation at the seeming miracle of the hot dog street vendors.
Once we got to the big attraction itself… well there was alot of oohs and aahs about that too! Unfortunately, Rockefeller Center isn’t entirely kid friendly with all the bustling adults around… so for awhile I had to pick DJ up so he could get a better view. Standing off to the side was when I noticed the photographer. That was one of the serious drawbacks about when we went to go do things… we rarely got pictures together. The photographer was employed by NBC, would take your picture by the tree, and then you could order prints online. I saw this as a win-win! So we went to get our photo taken.
75 minutes later I had the slip in my hand with a number to order the prints.
75 minutes.
In the cold.
I admit, I’m not the brightest bulb, so being half frozen when the photo was taken is one of those memories I’m sure would have been exaggerated later on in life… kinda like when my mother whipped my hands for lighting a firecracker.
After that I had decided that we would go to my favorite mid-town restaurant… Jeckyll & Hyde‘s. Once again, I’m not the brightest bulb, and didn’t pay attention to the continued infatuation with hot dog vendors on the walk up 6th Avenue. Once actually at the restaurant… well we were there for 5 minutes. Taking a 4.9 year old to Jeckyll & Hyde‘s isn’t the brightest idea.
At this point, the day in my mind hadn’t gone the way it was supposed to. Inside I was a bit hurt that it wasn’t as good a day as I had hoped, and so we went straight to the subway and headed back to Queens. I ignored the pointing finger to the hot dog vendor across 6th Avenue, and instead opted for the safety of a McDonald’s chicken nuggets happy meal. My ignorance in his enjoyment of the simple things… my ignorance in remembering what it was like to be 4.9 years old… haunts me to this day in hindsight. The rest of the weekend was spent playing Lego Star Wars, watching Hellboy (because that is the greatest love story ever told), and just relaxing with each other.
During the week I was able to look at that photo… a photo of a memory that in my mind at the time wasn’t the greatest memory I would make… but I ordered prints anyway. Of course, for Christmas I gave DJ an 8X10 print of the photo… and he was ecstatic! “It’s me and daddy!” he would tell anyone who listened that night. Of course, he was ecstatic about pretty much everything he got that year… and to be honest I was pretty sure the picture wouldn’t last through a day before finding itself in a heap somewhere because I didn’t think it was really that good of day… having been half-frozen and all.
A year and a half later I climbed into the lower bunk that he called his bed… and I laid on my back where he had the night before but would never lay in again… and there on the bottom of the top bunk was that 8X10 picture staring right back at me.
It was him.
And his daddy.
And it really was a good day.
So MTV has a new show.
The Joisy Jersey Shore features a group of “guidos” and “guidettes” spending the summer on… you guessed it… The New Jersey Shore! So last week they showed the preview for this week where the guidette from Westchester Snickers gets knocked the fuck out by a man at a bar.
MTV pulled the clip even though all the other news agencies have been showing it.
So yeah, MTV is oficially a sell out pitching a reality show that won’t deliver what’s real.
Before anyone says, “Oh it’s showing violence on television against women! And continuing the cycle! And it’s evil!” I highly suggest you check out Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History… specifically his last episode titled ”Suffer The Children”.
It’s only 60 minutes… and if you really think about what he’s saying… it’s an eye opener.
Stop hiding the ugliness.
Shine a light on it.
