Tuesday, September 29, 2009

TNG-The Next Generation

Something to add to my Most Memorable Moments in my life. Yesterday, the Lovely One and I went to the ultrasound clinic. Well guess who is going to be a father again, boys and girls? The Lovely One is 13 weeks pregnant. Our due date is April 4, 2010. There is nothing like seeing that little heart beating on the monitor. She is really excited, and so am I, but still getting over the shock. Previously, she had a miscarriage in early June. Apparently, conception was a couple of weeks after. Hence the shock, plus some other factors that raised some eyebrows. So now we are debating baby names. I like conventional names, the Lovely One doesn't. We went for a drive in the country on Sunday, by ourselves, and we were trying to come up with the most outrageous celebrity names. Pretty funny stuff. So I have to say, excitement is more the feeling now than shock or worry. We still can't agree on names yet. We have a boy's name picked out, but the girl's name is a little tougher. She doesn't want anything on the "Top 100" or any names that a celebrity has chosen. No problem. I didn't want to name my child Audio Science, Pilot Inspektor, Moon Unit, Rumer or Scout, Speck Wildhorse, Daisy Boo or Zuma Nesta Rock. What is it with celebs anyway? The Lovely One and I were trying to come up with the most outrageous names.
Some of the better ones were Nuclear Fallout, Solar Radiation, Minor Annoyance etc. I was holding out for Nuclear Fallout (Nuke for short). Mulva was suggested numerous times, and my personal fav "Hemi" as in the musclecar. Would work for a boy or girl. C'mon!!! Ya gotta love Hemi!! And then some Indian names were suggested, but that went nowhere fast. Hmmmmm...
I'm sure we'll figure something out soon, but for right now we are pretty happy and excited and if anyone has any legit responses (note to you B. I'm sure you could come up with some weird ones!) let's hear about them.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Memorable Moments....

Because of my BFF's blog http://life-in-quotations.blogspot.com/ I have decided to try and come up with, not necessarily great, but some memorable moments in my life. I decided to use BFF because I hate it so much and my BFF knows it bugs me. So without much further b.s. by me, here they are in no particular order.

Met and chatted with BB King
Met and chatted with Bill Cosby
Met and had a fairly lengthly conversation with Space Shuttle Astronaut Chris Hauk. He was the first pilot after the Shuttle disaster in 1985.
Met and had a funny conversation with Kevin Smith.
Travelled to England when I was 11 years old.
Visited, while flying, the pilot's cabin coming back from Florida.
On the same flight, survived a several thousand foot drop because of very severe turbulance. It was freaky, alarms going off, stewardesses were freaking out.
Being robbed at gunpoint in Washington, DC when I was 15 or 16.
Survived a T-Bone collision. The person hit the driver's door at full speed.
Received many autographs from some of my favorite sports and entertainment stars.
Fathering a beautiful healthy child who is now 9 years old.
Being step-dad to another wonderful kid.
Meeting The Lovely One.
Seeing a former star baseball player, who was attending a convention I was at, come in and use the washroom at the same time I was, and not wash his hands. Glad I got my autograph BEFORE that.
Driving way up north, to go see one of my favorite bands, with nowhere to stay on a holiday weekend, and getting to hang out with them after the show, and hear the new songs for their next album.
Moving to a new city, knowing only 1 person.
Knowing some wonderful people who had taken their own lives.
Knowing some wonderful people who died too soon.
Knowing and being friends with wonderful people right now.

That's about it, I'm sure I'll be able to come up with more if I ponder this topic some more. I guess my life hasn't been as boring as I thought.



Tuesday, September 15, 2009

RIP....Icons of My Youth

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling this way. The people I enjoyed watching and listening to, are passing on. It makes me realize my own mortality, and that our idols are as vulnerable as we are. And it has been people who were very talented, and that have left us way too soon.
Some of the people on my list that I miss

Patrick Swayze
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson (yes, admit it. You liked him back in the day)
Jeff Healey
John Ritter
Robert Palmer
John Hughes
Christopher Reeve
Stevie Ray Vaughn
John Candy
Michael Hutchence
Chris Farley (never really a fan, but still he left us too soon)
Phil Hartman
John Belushi
Gilda Radner
George Harrison
Roy Orbison
Brad Delp (lead singer of Boston)
George Carlin
Kirby Puckett

There are of course many others who have passed on. While it is also sad when older stars die, such as Johnny Carson, Bob Hope etc., I think when celebrities reach a certain age, say over 70, the public figures that it is "just a matter of time" and that "they lived a good life". But it is harder when a celebrity is closer to our own age. It seems more tragic when a star is relatively young. And we look back and see photos, and clips and we think "How can he (she) be dead?"
If you look at the clip of Patrick Swayze on Saturday Night Live, doing the Chippendale's sketch, or in "Roadhouse", you think "How can he die of cancer?" How can someone that seemed so vital and full of life die at such a (relatively) young age? Fortunately, for us we have the music, the performances and the benefits of their careers to enjoy.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Getting caught up

So I spent a few days with my Mom and Dad. It was nice to have a break, spent some extra time with my daughter. I had to visit my family doctor, get some immunization shots for school this month. I still have to go back next week, and stay for a couple of days.
I decided to go and visit my Grandfather at the cemetary, since I hadn't been there for awhile. As I was standing there for a few minutes, gazing upon his marker in the Memorial Wall, I happened to notice a pot of flowers at my feet. Someone visited one of their loved ones who had passed, obviously. As I looked up from the flowers, I noticed another marker and it was someone I knew, but I never knew that he had passed away in 2008. I had to think for a bit, first to get over the shock, and then to figure out if it really was the same person. Doing the quick math, I realized it was the same person. It was the son of my former boss. And he was 22 years old. I was very upset by this, as my old boss and his wife are great people. I quickly phoned my former place of employment, and spoke to the receptionist who is a friend of mine and she told me the story. It turned out that he had a brain tumor and by the time it was discovered, not much could be done about it. She told me that she thought I knew about it, but nobody told me and I had been a my former work a few times in 2008. But then I guess, it's not exactly the way to start off a conversation. "By the way guess who died...". I felt really bad, and wasn't sure if I was able to go and visit my boss. I wouldn't know what to say now, I thought about sending a card, but it has been over a year now, I don't want to open any wounds. I know how I would feel if it was one of my children. Actually I don't. But I'm not sure I would want to be reminded of it, after a year, regardless if it was well-meaning. I guess you should be thankful for every single day, and if you have children, love and cherish them, and be thankful for all the joy in your life. It must be horrible for a parent to have to bury your child.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Stalking

I'm very happy with myself. I have been stalking this guy for months. I would see him when I was out walking my dog. Sometimes, off in the distance. Sometimes up close. Always trying to get a picture. I would run back to the house, and grab the camera, yelling "I saw him!!" The Lovely One shook her head and rolled her eyes. So off I went. And then on the way back, as soon as I got close enough to take a picture, he would take off. It was like he could hear me turning on the camera, hear the shutter opening. Turning his head as I zoomed the lens in closer, then high-tailing it out of there. Once in a while, I would go to his hang out and just observe. It was usually in the early evening when he would appear. Sometimes it was mid-afternoon. A couple of times, he was standing there taunting me. Daring me to try and get closer. As soon as I took the dog back home, because if I approached him with the dog in tow, the dog would probably bark and scare him off, I would be off to try and take a few pictures. I was partially successful earlier this summer. As I approached my elusive prey, off he would go. Then I tried getting to him from the other direction. No luck there either. I ended up taking a few pictures, but I was too far away. And he looked like a greyish smudge in the pictures. So on Thursday this week, I was out on my afternoon stroll with the mutt, and there he was. Standing there, so regal and proud. Unaware that his stalker was gazing upon him. I quickly took the pooch back home, grabbed the camera. Hopefully, he was still there. I got back to his favourite spot, and as luck would have it, he was still standing there. I quietly made my way up to him. Cursing the camera to be quiet, I got him on screen, and he turned his back on me. Standing there sweating in the afternoon sun, I was whispering "Come on, you S.O.B. Turn around!" Finally he did. I zoomed in once, and snapped my prize. Then I zoomed in closer, and was blessed with another picture. Because of the bright daylight, I couldn't really see the pics on the camera until I got back home. Once I did, I was very pleased I had captured my prey. The elusive Blue Heron.



Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Feeling OK

OK, so after that last post, and getting rid of all that negative energy, time to start feeling postive.
I never realized how exhausting, being around bad feelings, and negative thoughts and energies, and how it affects your body, spirit and mind. Blech!!!! I have never really believed in that stuff, auras and whatever. But Dayum!!! I felt like crap, after dealing with everything. One good thing, for two consecutive days, two totally different people, whom I just met, commented on how positive my aura was, and how positive my energy was.
I was at the same location both days, but it was two different people, who didn't interact at all. Yay for me!!! I feel good....da da da da da da da (James Brown eat your heart out). So after everything, the Lovely One and I just wanted to hibernate at home, and go off the grid for a while. Plus we were kid-less, yippee!! Ate too much junk food, stayed up late watching movies. But best of all, the Lovely One and I just had a chance to hang out together, which was great. All in all, it was a good weekend.
The Lovely One attended a Body Works session which I think will be really good for her.
She has been having a rough time lately, being very emotional and stressed, and not exactly feeling up to par. She seems to feeling pretty good and feeling relaxed. It's a good thing.
Positive====Good. Negative========Bad!!!
Anyway that's it for now guys and gals. Yap at you later