Summer of Dan

Awesome Random Picture Friday - Part VIII

 
 

 
 


  

What Michael Jackson did for me

I grew up in the 80s and when I think about my first musical memory the first thing that comes to mind is Michael Jackson. I had all his cassettes and knew even then that his music was different.

Quite simply, Michael Jackson opened my mind to new kinds of music. He was amazing because of his musical range - his songs still invade my head and once they are there they hang for some time. It's far from a bad thing.

The thing that saddens me most about his death is he didn't get one more go around. Weeks away from his comeback tour, there was one more chance for him to see what kind of an impact he's made on people. It's sad because all Michael wanted was to love and feel loved. And I think this comeback tour would have helped him make peace with some of his demons.

It disgusts me when people talk about him as if he was a piece of shit pedophile and that they are glad he is dead. Whether he did or didn't do any of that we'll never know, but I do know that no one should be ridiculed in their death, no one should be torn down like that.

For me, Michael will always be about expressing yourself shamelessy in all facets of your life. 

I'm not the type of guy that can dance, but listening to his music, from the time I was a kid dancing in the kitchen to one Flack's wedding a couple years ago, made me feel like I could, or at the very least didn't have to be ashamed with my extreme lack of rhythm. 

He'll always be the King. Always.

Awesome Random Picture Friday - Part VII

 

 

 

Awesome Random Picture Friday - Part VI

 

 

Awesome Random Picture Friday - Part V

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your best crazy face

I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit lately and that's always a good thing.

• It's always good to get fresh perspective. Starting a garden does that for people that have never done any of that horticultural stuff before. I'm looking to grow the biggest pumpkin ever. I have 3 shots. We'll see how this turns out.
  
  
• In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him. ~Dereke Bruce
  
  
• It's been five years since I got my last license and I decided to shake it up a bit. A lot has changed in the last 5 years: the Sox won the World Series not once but twice, we elected the 1st African-American President, gay marriage was just signed into law here in New Hampshire and I got a new license.
  
  Before:
  
  
  
  Note the hair, the half smirk, the general look of content written on my face.
  
  After:
  
  
  
  This is my temporary license, I assure you the color version will be much better. Note the hair is gone, I have that wide eyed look and am grinning like a serial killer that was trying to get caught.
  
  Like I said, a lot changes in five years.
  
  
• I realized the other day that, perhaps because of a pack rat mentality, I have a lot of items that I've had for over ten years: my first pair of basketball sneakers (Garnett's  actually, almost mint condition which I've worn no more than a dozen times), my Nike Triax watch I bought in high school over 12 years ago (still wear it), my first stuffed animal I was given when I was a baby (Beary, he is the shit), 2 pairs of Oakley sunglasses, one is almost 13 years old, the other is almost 9 - these are my only sunglasses and I wear them all the time), a letter from sophomore year given to me from my girlfriend when she broke up with me (yes she handed me the letter and watched me read it rather than tell me out loud). These are just a few things. When I think about purging stuff and being free from all the excess crap I have I am inspired by this site: http://www.goodbyewafflemaker.com/ which was featured in a tech blog about someone using the web ala Craigslist style to get rid of everything she owns. I love the idea.
  
  But I'm not getting rid of everything.
  
  
• When you are depressed, check out this site. http://theanimalblog.tumblr.com/ If that can't make you happy then you have serious problems and I am guessing you are already in therapy.
  
  
• I came across this site that is an advertising campaign albeit an old one where Adidas puts up trashcans 10 feet in the air to advertise for their shoes.
  
  
  
  The only person that I know could put my trash away for me would be Flack. And I would like to see that. Live in person. And I would make him do that for me.
  
  
• Another site that I love - Terrible Yellow Eyes. It's a site dedicated to art that is inspired by Where the Wild Things Are. AWESOME.
  
  
  
• I really need a new camera. The one we have is over 4 years old and does the job for your normal snapshots but nothing spectactular. We can't add lenses, it can be super slow sometimes, and although it's a good camera we both feel weighed down by the lack of features. I want to be able to take pictures like these:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sometimes the Niff hits the nail on the head
  
  
  
  
• OK...what?!??!?
  
   
  
• Techie Toy not yet invented that would own all music players - the P3 or the Portable Pandora Player. Not an MP3 player, but a music player that streams wirelessly using free cellphone technlogy (think Kindle's Whispernet) that connects to your Pandora account so you can always have random music. If I could invent anything I'd shut the hell up about it but I can't so the idea is out there for someone to make millions off.
  Enjoy, think of me when you are swimming in it, and just give me a free one, that's all I ask.

Another year and I'm still here

I had a fantastic birthday yesterday - lunch that was supposed to be just with my mother ended up being lunch with my mom, dad, brother, and sister. So unexpected which made it even better. Times like that make me miss the meals we had when we were growing up. For the most part I have memories of eating at the dinner table with all of us and there are very few times I can recall when we got older and just didn't eat together. It's a dynamic I want to pass on to my family. Well...I sort of have I guess since the Niff and I eat together in the living room (our kitchen is kind of small) and the cats hover while we eat, so that's sort of like that, right?

The Niff gave me a Youkilis jersey which I will proudly wear when I get my license renewed tomorrow. Hell yes, Red Sox Nation representing on my license for the next half decade! If I could wear a shirt with a picture of Flack on it and the word WOMAN on it I would. Maybe in 5 years I'll have a shirt like that.

We had dinner at my favorite restaurant in Manchlanta. It was fantastic as always, aside from the 50 year old coked out former stripper whores all smoking on the way in and the chairs that just couldn't seem to get close enough to the table (seriously - fat guys should never sit in a wicker type chair...it SCREAMS at you).

Dessert was a batch of custom cupcakes the Niff made just for me...so fucking tasty.

And you can tell they were made with love (see what I did there?).

It was a great birthday, and today is always like a funeral - waiting 365 more days until the next is always crappy, but seeing how the big 3-0 is just 365 days away maybe that will change how I think.

Goodbye 28 - you were a good year for me.

You can call me tons of fun

A couple things I am stoked about:

• I love when it's your birthday month and places shower your with coupons and kickass stuff like this:
  
  
  
  HELL YES
• Microsoft just unveiled they are going to soon offer the ability to download entire games through XBox Live and pay with your credit card. I see this failing ONLY if they have a record of your transaction and let you redownload it if your hard drive dies. Other than that, KICKASS. They are also making it so people like myself that watch Netflix through XBL to be able to browse the entire Netflix online catalog. Can it get any better???
• This weekend the Niff, Mark and I hit Minado for sushi. Awesome as always. Already wondering when we can venture back down there. 90 minutes really isn't that insane of a distance to drive just to eat. Right?
  
  While we were there I got these new cleats (the silver part is blue):
  
  
  
  The most comfortable cleats I've ever had. No lie. Feels like I am running on clouds and the front toe doesn't pinch down on my toes. Pure awesome.