FYI, to my friends, family and others.  Life is a challenge.  Sometimes as hard as it is we have to make hard choices.  Some we regret, some we are glad we make.  From time to time I look back at my own life and realize that I could have done things better.  Some things.  Other things I know I can only be a part of the ride in life that sweeps us up and carries us along.  While I'd love to get into specifics I'm here to tell you that as I move forward things are good, but not perfect.  We all have things and people that make life harder for us than we may deserve and that is life.  You do your little dance, pick up the pieces and move on.

Have a great day everyone.  My life is not rotten or miserable but things are not perfect and I have my own troubles like every one of you.  Wish me the best as I wish the best for you.  I'd like to close with this.  I forgive the people in my past for what they have done to myself and those I love.  I don't live in the past other than to listen to old music. My goals are to raise my two boys and be a father they can count on to have a catch in the back yard when they want to, help them with homework and be mentor as they grow into men.  Everything else is details. God bless you all.

Thursday and Friday evening I was invited to two concerts.  My date/friend and I had a great time where we met up with other friends, met strange characters and witnessed some silly behavior to put it mildly.   I won’t go on about us, I’d rather tell you about the concerts.

Thursday night’s concert was the Police at Citizens Bank Park where the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team calls home.  I was wondering right off where the group would play and how people would be allowed on the field, as we walked up to the stadium I saw hundreds of plastic narrow pallets stacked, I thought to myself those must be extra from placing over the ball field.  Sure enough when we got in the entire ball field was covered by these pallets.  I commented that the seats at floor level must be expensive and my date told me there were in the neighborhood of $200.00.  Whatever the price they were the best seats as all the stadium seats where just plain far from a good view of the musicians.  It was a good thing they had closed circuit video cameras and huge projections screens.

The concert stage was in center field facing home plate.  Our tickets were off to the side of home plate.  Good seats but as we approached them I saw that there we had an obstructed view of the concert stage.  I mentioned this to our seating attendant and she said check our seats out before we took it further.  We sat down and I was very sure we had a blocked view.  I sought out a representative of the concert and he agreed we needed something better.  We ended up with new tickets ...   more »

You know as much as I love to write, write lyrics and read into them when I hear them, I really must say that these stuck out to me last night at the concert...

No I'm not the man I used to be lately
See you met me at an interesting time
If my past is any sign of your future
You should be warned before I let you inside

Hold on to whatever you find baby
Hold on to whatever will get you through
Hold on to whatever you find baby
I don't trust myself with loving you...

Someone told me that John Mayer must have really been screwed over when he wrote this album.  I get this song for certain.

We are all on the same planet and human nature is part of us all.

WHAT IS POSITIVE ENERGY?

To know me is to know I believe in the power of positive energy.  It’s more than just positive thinking, a key element.  Positive energy for me is about the “mood” or “state of mind” you bring to the situation.  Positive energy is a belief system that manifest itself into action and attitude.  It is a spirit in mind that goes beyond "can do".  It is "will do". 

ADVICE

While many of my articles are written in the hopes that you the reader can reflect and take something away from what I’ve experienced or think into your own life, today I want to give you all some straight out advice.  Today’s article is advice.

HOW I CAME TO IT

I recall years ago going to work for a person that I thought was very smart.  He said once, “I can’t work around her; she brings into the room so much negative energy.”  It was then I realized that people affect people in every day life.  Then I thought about how I could affect me with “positive energy”.  

IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Positive energy is what makes the difference in your day, situation or task.  One person can make a difference in other people’s lives when they enter a room with positive energy.   In reverse, a person or people with negative energy can bring a whole team of people or a family down.  But that is my point; the energy one person brings into a situation can positively or negatively affect  those people they are direct contact with.  And I like to think that we can make things better, so I take the ...   more »

Great days seem like moments of solace in a lifetime of pressures, duties and work.  They are brief respites from the hardships in life.  While 2007 has been a rollercoaster on the tracks of life, it has been a magical year for me with amazing moments, great change and now, one of the greatest days in my life, July 11, 2007. 

Yes, yesterday was on of the top ten days in my life.  Well, maybe not in the top ten, but maybe so.  And while I don't want to say what happened which was so special, because in many cases in life, on man's fortune is another man's loss, I don't want to be hurtful.  So, sadly I won't tell you dear reader just exactly what made it so special. 

Rather, I will say that in life there moments and instances that hang with you for a long time, or lifetime.  Some of mine that stick out are both happy and sad. 

One of my greatest days was the day I first held my son in my arms.  Declan was over a month old and at that moment every moment prior to that moment rushed up on me.  I was overwhelmed by the epiphany which occurred at that moment.   I understood my purpose from that moment forward.  To be the best father to my son.  I saw me teaching him to avoid all the mistakes I made in school, or with other kids.  I saw us playing baseball one day.  I saw us growing together and I saw me smiling at him always.   Now he is ten years old and when I walk into his bedroom in the mornings to wake him, I see how long his legs ...   more »

WHERE AND HOW IT ALL BEGAN

VIDEO: Skating At Home

Some time ago when I was a boy of 14 I learned to roller-skate.  I had to.  Every friend I knew was at the roller rink.  I didn't consider the learning curve, I just did it.  By the age of 16 when I could finally drive and didn't need my parents to drop me off at the skating rink I almost didn't have much use for it.  But I continued as it was a great place to meet girls. Let's face it, I was 16.  But eventually even the lure of the female persuasion couldn't keep me at the skating rink, there was a lot of world to see and I hung up my skates for some time.  Eventually I'd learn to snow ski and later on water ski.  My strong ability to skate came in handy.  I once tried to ice-skate and found that it was not the same as skating on four wheels, this made me wary when the a new type of skate came along... the inline skate or rollerblade as many people will call them still.  They are called inline skates because the skate wheels are inline, centered under your foot.  Believe it or not an out-of-line skate has come on and they may be my next purchase, just two wheels and they are on the side of the foot.  I've listed at the bottom of this article some good skating resource links.  NOTE: Remember you don't need speed skates for recreational skating.  You don't want to jump barrels in speed skates, you only need good pads and a helmet.  You should also own wrist gaurds too if not round out the whole set with elbow pads IF you intend to jump, grind or slalom.  If you are learning, these are must have investments.  But I'm getting ahead of myself... let me tell the story...

Family, what does it mean to you?  Memorable moments around the dinner table?  Trips together?  Parents that love each other?  For me family is all this and so much more.  From time-to-time I’m reminded how much I value it.  They say you don’t appreciate what you have until it is gone, I don’t know if that is true.  It isn’t for me. Somehow from a young age I learned what family could do for you and I never let go of that notion.  I recall my brother making fun of me at dinner and me getting in trouble for it, but somehow that never really upset me.  I was glad for that time because at least I had a brother.   I never had a sister but I’m sure that would have had an immense impact on me as a person too.  Who knows what I’d have become had I a sister in my home.  

I recall my older brother bringing girls home when I was about 9 years old, he was 19 and I remember him bragging on my mom’s tacos, “You have to try my mom’s tacos.”  I somehow remembered that always.  Funny thing is my mother cooks some amazing southern dishes, black eyed pees, fried okra, cornbread and more.  Tacos?  But it’s true, she taught me how to cook an authentic taco, deep fried shells with the cheese melted in.  But that is another story.

Eventually I too brought girls home and I too wanted them to try my mom’s tacos.  

Then there is my father.   He was someone I always thought of as SuperMan.  He had a speed boat and he used to take ...   more »

It's Wednesday the 4th of July... What do you do?  Have people over!

Dalton and friend helping wash cars.

Some of the neighborhood boys playing wiffleball.

Life can be so unfair and what I’ve lost

I’ve had my share

But you can’t face forward looking back

It’s time I forgive you and get mine on track

I remember you, and know your heart

Time has given my mind back to me

I see beyond time there’s not future or past

I free you now you’re forgiven at last

Love was a phantom burning in ash

With nothing to feel since nothing was real

Love is a shadow in your memory

But you’ll always remember what sets you free

Love has a legacy it remembers the hurt

Love is forgiveness could one be much worse?

I forgive you sincerely you must see

But my forgiveness is a ghost haunting your destiny

What happens to you now is not up to me

My only advice is to feel what you didn’t feel for me

Feel it with someone or you’ll never be free

Because you can’t fake pain if you don’t feel

You can only fake feelings you once felt

Like a card you can’t cheat you dealt to yourself

I should have known better from those empty eyes

They looked like nothing I ever felt.

My cards on the table I trust myself

I no longer trust the eyes that looked through me

They were dark like a shark that could care less what it swallowed

They showed no emotion empty and hallow

No reaching for memories since nothing was real

I know what love is still deserve it I feel

Life indeed can be so unfair so its time to accept

You’ve had your share

Of taking what you didn’t deserve

Now take this, forgiveness.

You can’t hurt a man that’s gone on living

It’s time you know, you ...   more »

What a fun ride! Even while the first 30 to 45 minutes established the plot and characters there was enough action for the kids to stay interested.  But when the action began in earnest, the action fan in me was intensely rewarded with extended action scenes, excellent detail and realistic dialogue for a completely unrealistic story.  And in a nutshell that is what we are dealing with here. An extravagant story, with no plausability but a fun family ride none-the-less.  It's juvenile in every way but still works as a family friendly action movie.

Once again Director Michael Bay (my age born in 65)  does it big, I mean real big like his movies The Rock Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and Bad Boys.  What I mean is the attention to action scenes. They are completely detailed and roll on long enough for you to feel like there is action, not just a cut scene in a video game.  If you want an action movie this one is high octane joy ride. The CGI (computer generated imagery) was honestly flawless; I give the nod to Industrial Light and Magic on this one. 

Without spoiling the story, the concept here is that sentient robots from another world are brought to earth by a fated past.  The twist is that the robots can identify a mechanical device around them and transform into it which are a vehicle, but mostly cars. They also choose to be aircraft. As the movie reaches the two-thirds mark the back story and current story are tied together.  There are a couple disposable characters in this movie which could have trimmed down the length of the film from 2 hours and 44 minutes for those of us that don't like long movies. 

The robots of course are based on ...   more »

The past two days I've been playing some hooky from work.  Not entirely but some.  I'm about to take a break from the full time dad job for a vacation.  So until then... I've been ducking work a bit.   My boys have been home with me at work the past two weeks and that has been great but sometimes when you know things are winding down, you overcompensate. LOL  For instance yesterday morning me and the boys played baseball in the back yard for an hour because I got the "Daaaaad" treatment.  Then instead of waiting until 4:00 to end my day, me and the boys went to the park to skate and ride.  Declan and I inline skate while Dalton rides his bike.  And boy can he tool around on that thing!  I can't wait to take the training wheels off, that is one of the special moments I don't want to miss.   I'll have the video camera out like a dork I'm sure.

Today I'm bailing from work early to take the boys to see... dunt da da da!!! Transformers!  LOL

The next 24 hours will be me and the boys doing dopey stuff that only a bunch of kids could think of.   Helping the boys with their tree fort, whiffle ball in the back yard (Dalton can really smack a ball like his big brother now!) In fact Dalton now runs the bases in order!  Tonight is movie night at home too, the boys pick the movie and I make the food, it's a good time.   Tomorrow is the 4th of July and we are meeting bunch of friends early for a picnic under the stars.  Alas the week will end with the boys going off to their mothers and my kid stuff will end. 

Off to Manhattan ...   more »

Proven! is a song that is powerful and edgy.  Raw and loud,  dance worthy and flat out fast paced.  The idea of Proven! is that after you are tested by cruel and tough love,  after you are tested by every other trial in life, you are time tested and proven to be worthy of love.  

Yeah, if you think I've only recently been on this "worthy" of love kick recently (2007),  that is a big mistake.    Proven! is gutsy and confident, but if you are "worthy" of love you better damn well be confident.

PROVEN!

Proven is the state in which you currently reside
Proven by my faith in which you currently confide
Proven on a plain in which I'll fail to resign
Prove it to yourself your Hard To Get but will be mine

Proven in image, proven in deed
Proven is my name, I'll satisify your needs
The reputations there, you'll be no less aware
Don't ignore my demands.

Proven I'm effective, all you need is call
There's no risk or chance, there's no way you'll fall.
Proven I'm effective, all you need is call
There's no risk or chance, there's no way you'll fall.

So don't scratch and claw for a lousy releif
Dare to walk away, fate will bring you to your knees
So prove to prove your moving, an absolute solution
How can you lose? How can you lose?
Proven I'm effective, all you need is call
There's no risk or chance, there's no way you'll fall.
Proven I'm effective, all you need is call
There's no risk or chance, there's no way you'll fall.

So tell me how can you lose?
Proven by default misconstrued as a game
Proven that in time you'll call out my name
Proven by default left alone to die ...   more »

This song was high in my playlist today, Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder. 

The razzy 70's disco vibe is great, I love how Maroon 5 experiments in so many sound styles.  Luv it!

It’s easy to be a food critic when you eat out.  Last evening I was privy to a meal at home that for a change I didn’t fully prepare.  So I was not a food critic, but sleeping on it, I’ve decided, why not be a food critic today?

I’ve been at times thought of as a picky eater, which I know to be untrue holding pure disdain for that title.  I am a particular eater in that I have some basic eating rules; I stay away from complex carbs when not fine dining.  I’ll eat raw fish, mushrooms and snails, frog legs; I love the taste of onions but only minced.  Outside of that I’m ready for most anything.  Last night was:

Fresh Crab and Brie Bisque

 

Baby Spinach salad with toasted Pine Nuts and Warm Pancetta Vinaigrette

 

Orange Roughy en Papillote with Fresh Oranges over Orzo.

What was best here was the combination of light and heavy.   The fish with cut asparagus, oranges and red pepper over orzo was light.  It was lightly steamed in white wine.  What was fascinating was how it was steamed.   Each serving was prepped  and wrapped in heart shaped parchment paper.   How was it steamed?  In the oven.   While I didn’t participate in the food preparation I did admire the care of which the oranges were cut for presentation.  Each bite was best enjoyed with fish, pepper and a slice of the orange.  The tastes did not compete, they only mingled and enhanced…  Nicely done.

Next was the Crab in a Brie Bisque.  Brie is fascinating cheese.  If you have not tried it, I must say just experience it ...   more »