Summer of Dan

Waking up is the hardest part

Summer is winding down. At this point I always ask myself if I've been to the beach enough, stayed outside long enough, enjoyed the outdoors as much as I should. The answer is invariably no. Interesting.

• When I hear anything by Creedence Clearwater Revival I always think of my dad. And I get sad. I am lucky enough to have him in my life still. I see him fairly frequently and keep in touch all the time. We do lunch at least every few weeks when our schedules matchup but anything by CCR brings me back to when I was a kid. Growing up my dad always listened to it, as well as Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Allman Brothers, James Taylor. He was always around because of his epilepsy. I have very vivid memories of our first house with him listening to music and writing or reading, and having a shitload of world maps up on the walls and him doing his thing. It's one of my happiest memories I have. So I do get sad. I get sad because I know one day he won't be around anymore and when I hear CCR on the radio I'll get a lump in my throat and need to pull over. He just turned 54 and I've been around for 30 of those 54 years. I am thankful for that.
• Friends don't just help friends out when they need it. Good friends are proactive about helping you. I'm learning a lot thanks to Mark. Great information.
  
  
  
  
• A funny thing happened a few weeks ago - the only pair of glasses I had started getting a bit wobbly on the bridge. They were about 15 months old so I called Lenscrafters to see what they can do. While I was on the phone, they fell apart in my hands. Literally.
  
  
  
  I was pretty shocked that they fell apart like that. They said they were out of warranty by a whopping almost 4 months. I told them I would come in and see them. I saw the manager, explained I've never dropped them and it seems odd they would break there because they are made of titanium. She proceeded to tell me that titanium is a very soft and lightweight metal. I told her I knew how strong it was, my facemask is made up of it, but they shouldn't break. And then she seriously asked me, "Oh, so you wear these when you play football?".
  
  Wait, what? Did you just ask me that? I laughed at her, I told her if facemasks can handle high speed collisions that my glasses shouldn't have fallen apart in my hand. She didn't care. She said she could give me a deal maybe on the frames. I told her I had no interest in spending anything on glasses that were defective. They cost me over $400 and lasted me 15 months. I asked her if she knew a brand new car would die after 15 months would she buy it? Or a computer? Or a brand new TV? She said of course not, but did nothing. I told her I would buy my glasses online and left.
  
  I got my prescription from the eye doctor and my PD from Lenscrafters (Pupilary Distance is how far from the side your pupils are, usually your eyeglass maker has this measurement. They take it when the draw a dot on the lenses to see where the center of your eye is). I went to Zennioptical.com. I filled out all the information and bought 3 different pairs of glasses, all prescription, with shipping including, for under $40. They all fit beautifully, I can change them as desired, and I saved a shitload of money. Best thing I ever did.
• Tomorrow night I get together with the boys for some good old fashioned fantasy drafting. Kraig will most likely have the most questionable moves, Mark will most likely have the most elaborate rating system for his players, Flack will unquestionably sit way too close to me so he can stare longingly into my eyes between picks, and Steve will absolutely try his best not to drink too much, lest he have a bad draft like he did last year.
• We are over halfway through my football season and we are sitting at 5-0. We had our first big test last weekend and passed. We have two more games before THE MOST BITTER RIVARLY IN NEFL HISTORY:
  
  
  
  It's always a good game. Let's just hope we can settle on the spelling of 'rivalry'.
• Just as the weather seemed to be changing into fall like temperatures it spikes back up with this summer-ish humidity always-sweaty-as-hell crap. I want 50s please. Stat.
• Speaking of summer/fall, I've amounted a wee bit of progress towards my conquering all the 4000 footers in New Hampshire. The Niff and I trekked up Mount Major (all 1786 feet of it) to get a little pre-4000 footer work in.
  
  
  
  The wind up top must have been close to 40 mph but felt like 100. Awesome view as always.
  
  The second little part of my insane adventure was I bought a map:
  
  
  
  According to Steve aka Mr. Map this is THE map to have. This doesn't guarantee I won't get lost a few hundred times like in Blair Witch but as long as I don't kick it into a stream I think it will be helpful.
• Samsung is keeping the Tab hush hush, but this time next week we will know more about whether the iPad has some serious competition or not. Running Android 2.2 and supporting Flash, the Tab has a chance to pull some attention and dollars away from the iPad, which in turn could drive down costs for the iPad. I swear to God, if the smallest iPad was $199, every single person would be walking down the street with one.
  
  

I really need to make a special trip to Minado. Stat. All you can eat sushi buffet for the win.

Be thankful every single day

Random fact of the day: It's fucking December. It's starting to get cold out and I love it. This means the Niff hates it. When it's cold out, she hurts because she isn't a whale monster like me. This is why she has 31085139805130 winter jackets and will surely get another. I am ok with this as long as she is warm. But don't tell her because she'll buy 10 more instead of one. 

Thanksgiving came and went without me having a chance to list all the things and people I am thankful for so I'll do it now in abbreviated form:

The Niff - 3 years ago last week we got engaged. I'm still crazy in love with her and she's the perfect match for me in every way. Except that she doesn't watch General Hospital. But that's ok because I don't want Tyra with her. Anyway. Just because we haven't gotten married it doesn't mean we don't want to, it doesn't mean we aren't in love, it doesn't mean we don't talk about it and think about it. I've never had someone so perfect for me - she's super smart, super funny, and super pretty. I can't think of one more super quality to have that would make her better.

My siblings - my brother is a toolbag and I love him for it, my sister is the female version of me. It's ok that my brother "looks like an uncle seven times removed from Germany that no one has ever seen" and doesn't look like anyone else in our entire family. I'm sure he's my brother...yeeeeah...aside from that, he'd be the first person to help you stuff a body into a suitcase and drop it in the river and you'd never even need to tell him "not to talk about this". That's the kind of brother everyone needs.

My sister will do anything I ever ask of her. She's easily one of the funnest people to be around and I laugh every time I think of her, the Niff and I are always laughing whenever she is around, and I don't ever forget the great lengths she goes for mer when I need it. Like putting together shitty IKEA furniture and being over 2 hours late to hang out with her girl friends. It means a lot.

My parents - my mother makes the best green bean casserole in New Hampshire. I'm sure of it. Kind of. She is one of the hardest working people I know and I am always happy to see her on the holidays with the rest of the family. We may be a divided family as far as a family tree is concerned now but a stranger couldn't tell. My dad makes the meanest Yogi Tea Turkey. Just ask him. That fucker was juicy as hell this year. I mean the turkey, not my dad. If there is anything to say about my dad it's that every time I come home he is always trying to get me to leave with something I left when I moved out: comics, sheets, books, random computer parts. I mean, THAT is love: "here Danny, take your shit, I'll see you next holiday! Save room in your car then too!" Always something to look forward to. 

The rest of my family -  I hate the term "extended family". WTF, are they just really long limbed human beings? Like aliens? Awful wordage. My aunt and uncle are like an extra set of parents, and my cousins are like sisters to me and my siblings. My uncle is my dad's brother, my aunt is my mother's sister. 

Digest that for a second...

Ok, see? It's not incest. Only sounds like it.

My aunt is a wonderful cook and I'm always thankful when she doesn't burn the buns or asks me and my uncle Pat to move the treadmill back down two more flights of stairs for her "because I'm around" and she needs new treadmill scenery. I'm thankful for that because every time without fail Pat always loses grip or the treadmill opens up and breaks 3 of his fingers or smashes him against the wall or he drops it on his foot or all of the above. Without fail.

My friends - I have far too many to list, but I will say this: good friends are easy to find, great friends are very hard to find. That's why they are called great. Get it? My great friends know they are my great friends, my good friends know they are my good friends, and everyone else knows their place. I know my great friends know they can count on me and I can count on them. And that is all that really matters when the zombie wars start. For real. Don't be a dick because you'll be left behind. Safety in numbers afterall.

My job - I love it, I love the people I work with, the work I do, the experience I'm getting, the technology I am exposed to, the trust I am given, the gorgeous building I work in. Yeah I'm one of those assholes that likes to go to work. Oh well, screw you too.

My health - generally speaking, I'm a healthy guy. Except when I got the swine flu three weeks ago. I'm fine with that, it tested my immune system and dammit I'm still here. I'm ok with a few mother nature curve balls thrown at me. I can see, I can hear, I can breathe. I can't complain.

My life - I do what I want. I read great books, watch terrible television sometimes, listen to awesome music. I workout with the Niff and enjoy it once I'm actually at the gym. I play XBox with my sister and we scream at fake zombies. I watch Curb Your Enthusiasm with the Niff, even though we're almost a decade late on the start of that one, and we laugh. A lot. I have the ability to say "I don't want to do this today, let's do this". I can drive anywhere I want to go. I can connect with my family and friends in a million different ways. I'm living the life I've wanted all along. It's all the pieces pulled together that makes it so great.

So yes, even though it's not Thanksgiving, I'm thankful every day. I truly am. And in case I haven't said it to all of you, thank you for being you. And if you don't think I'm talking to you, I'm not, but thank you for reading this anyway.

The best home defense system

The Niff and I were talking about the best home defense systems, which we believe need to include at least a couple dogs, some machetes/swords/axes, and more guns than Rambo.

And something else...

 

If you haven't thought about moats you won't survive long in the Zombie Apocalypse. 

Never die alone

The summer is flying by, summer nights in New England are the bomb - breezy, cool, and before long I'll wake up in the morning and use the word 'crisp' to describe the air. I love it. You can't beat New England. You can't.

• I find my random pictures I post on Fridays all over the net from a million different blogs. I try to average 12-15, sometimes I post more. I find at least 30-50 a week and post the ones that sort of capture the way I feel that week.
  
  
• Pandora One kicks serious ass. Everyone knows what Pandora is, Pandora One is just the optional service you can pay for ($36 a year). It allows you unlimited listening time, free of advertising, has an awesome desktop interface so you don't have to have a browser open all the time to control it. Not only that but you have the little fade in bar that comes up over all apps on your desktop for a second to show you the artist and song title. Awesome. Free is good, cheap is better.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Football season is going awesome so far. 2-0 with a shot to be 3-0 as we come back to Concord for our home opener next week. Offense is clicking, defense is just getting started. This season has a different feel to it than previous seasons. Hopefully that's a good thing.
  
  
• Whoever invented pound cake should be shot. Or declared a genius. I can't decide which.
  
  
• I was really enjoying this summer until the humidity recently started. WTF. I can handle the heat, just not sweating all the time. I do that anyway, I don't need any help.
  
  
• Life as a Blackberry user is mighty fine. I fucking love this thing. It has all the apps I wanted with my Dare but never got and even more than I could ever use. Amen to Verizon for getting the Tour before everyone else.
  
  
• I really want these Lightsaber Chopsticks. Seriously.
  
  
  
  
• I feel the need to address some of my self-directed fatty comments: I know I'm not "fat" physically. Sure I have a load of laundry on my washboard abs. Sure my doctor called me obese. But I don't honestly fully believe I am. I just have the mentality of a fat kid. I've always been husky and it's hard to shed the image/mentality of it. Maybe some day, it's just my self-deprecating way of explaining to myself and others of how I feel and the way things appear to me. 
  
  
• I haven't said it in a while but I will reiterate it anyway: the Kindle is still the best gift I've ever been given. Just sayin'.
  
  
• Last Suppers is an artistic website dedicated to last meals of Death Row inmates to show you the vast differences in food choices people make when they know they have one final meal. Freaky but interesting I think.
  
  
• Walking into Wal-Mart the other day I saw someone walk in, past the carriages and almost to the old door greeter guy while still smoking. What the fuck dude? Seriously, when was the last time you could walk into any place while smoking and keep doing it? He only realized it when the door greeter looked at him funny at a loss for words.
  
  Another thing to note on any Wal-Mart bingo cards you may have that might have it missing: find a pregnant teenager walking around in pajamas with her bulging stomach sticking out of her shirt as her boyfriend rubs her stomach. I bet you'll get that one pretty quickly but add it anyway.
  
  
• I've been thinking a lot about my musical tastes and came to the conclusion that 6 people in my life have had a profound effect on the types of music I have been exposed to and are fully responsible for what I listen to (in no particular order):
  
  My dad - I have very fond memories of growing up and listening to the Beatles, Zappa, Hendrix, CCR, the Allman Brothers, Dire Straits, and Tom Petty. This extended into my teenage years when he started listening to Pearl Jam, Green Day, and the Cranberries.
  
  Tom - Tom Chan changed my life. Seriously. He gave me my first CD ever (Rage Against the Machine). He gave me Def Lepard's Hysteria and told me to listen to it. He got me into Guns 'N Roses and Metallica. When I was 11. His taste in music greatly changed my life, as well as the way I listened to music and now he is creating his own. Just like back then, more awesome music courtesy of Tom. Check his band out, Forget the Girl. Don't just take my word for it, give it a listen. I'm not just pimping a good friend's music, I'm pimping music that I listen to every damn day.
  
  PJ aka Paul Bauer - around the time I was listening to Pearl Jam and Green Day and my dad was borrowing my CDs Mr. Paul Bauer Jr introduced me to his multi-thousand CD collection. Rush, 311, KoRn, Marley, Wu Tang, everything really. Rush was almost a religious experience for me, especially because we'd listen to a ton of live stuff while playing copious amounts of Playstation in his bedroom.
  
  Steve - much like PJ, Steve is a CD/music maniac. He has thousands of CDs, has burned me 100s of albums and encouraged me to listen to a ton of random stuff. Without him I would just be figuring out who O.A.R. were, he really turned me on to Coldplay at a time I was shying away from what was on the radio, gave me a shitton of Dave Matthews. This doesn't do justice to all the random artists he's exposed me to, that would take forever but Rusted Root, Keane, and Snow Patrol are all favorites of mine and it's because of him.
  
  The Niff - she's opened my mind about a lot of things in general, music being chief among them (as well as food). Listening to Sting, The Police, Counting Crows, John Mayer, even hardcore rap, it all sounds differently because of her. For one reason or another (maturity?) I hated Sting with a passion years prior, but now seeing The Police at Fenway is at the pinnacle of best concerts I've ever been to in my life. 
  
  Jessie - my sister. She listens to a lot of stupid crap, but she also listens to a lot of different stuff I'd never hear of without her. She's always been ahead of the curve in the emo-band department, but she also likes a lot of the lesser known bands and has exposed me to those as well.
  
  
• I love Kashi products: their bars, their cereal, their oatmeal/warm cereal. But dammit, I hate their healthy dinners. They are awesome for you, but I can't choke down the 7 grain mix they have in all of their dinners. Tastes to me like it's like gravel.
  
  And yes, I am whining.
  
  
• I've come up with a list of reasons why I need/want a house:
  
  I want to have a couple dogs.
  
  I want to grow a garden that is within 20 feet of my backdoor.
  
  I want to be able to better prepare for the Zombie Wars.
  
  I want to build things in a wood shoppe.
  
  I want to build an outdoor brick oven so I can make awesome pizza.
  
  I want to be able to paint whatever the fuck I want whenever I want.
  
  I want to be rid of my shitty neighbors that scream everything at their little kid, including things like "WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR BREAAAAAAAAKFASSSSST??! PAAANKCAAAAAAAAKES OOOOOR CEREAAAAAAAAAL??????"
  
  I want a library.
  
  I want to have a hammock.
  
  I want to get Rock Band and play it as loud as I want whenever I want.
  
  
• I only got 7 hours of sleep last night. I woke up exhausted. And then realized that it's because I've been averaging almost 10 hours of sleep a night. For the last year.
  

Summer is almost over. Enjoy every minute of it. It's funny, you think when you get older that time slows down a bit more but it doesn't. I remember summer vacation flying by. Now before I realize it's summer it's already over. Enjoy the beach, enjoy the sun, enjoy the water.

And don't forget to enjoy each other.

Swine Zombies

It appears that the swine flu is triggering zombie happenings out in California.

It's ok though, because let's face it, it's California.