Posts from the ‘lazy posts’ Category
People were shopping and wrapping like mad
So today is Christmas eve and I am with the fam [family]…watching us all wrap presents and shop at the last minute because what else would we do? Well actually we do usually do something else on Christmas eve as a tradition every year. We go to the casino!
No kidding. So how is this make for a good family tradition? We spend it together as family, having fun as families should. For the past few years we have created a wonderful family tradition of spending time laughing and gambling. We set a time to meet and we have dinner together; sitting at a large round table. Some of the wait staff knows our name – but they all remember our faces. Very year it’s new stories of life and what is new, but it’s the same discussion about how some people might think it is funny to do on Christmas eve. Last year we saw more people –families- at the casino then ever before…our secret of a casino all to our family was out!! Other people were now seeing that something you can enjoy with your family any time of the year can also be fun with your family at special times in the year.
There has been many times where my father and I have sat in an almost empty casino floor at a roulette table – just he and I. We laugh about our numbers coming in; I cheer him on and he cheers me on. Unlike a normal table where you clap for the other players out of fun and sometimes for show – we clap out of real joy. I love seeing my grandparents face when they win just five dollars. I can usually find my mom by listening for the shrieks and screams of excitement…she loves the bonus rounds on the nickel slots. This to me is fun and fun with family.
This year things are different. Two days ago my grandfather fell in the store while shopping with my dad for last minute gag stocking stuffers (another family tradition). He used a shopping cart to help him get out of the store because he could not support his own weight on his own. Later at the emergency room they found that he had broken his knee and they believed he would need surgery. Yesterday the orthopedic doctor said for sure he will need surgery, but rather then fly home to Florida they will pin his knee next week on Tuesday. Today he is using a walker to get from a recliner chair to bathroom or to the table when it’s time to eat.
I have never seen my grandfather (now in his upper eighties) ever need assistance from anyone. This is the same guy that was excited when I would come visit him in Florida because he “finally had someone to ride the roller coasters with!” I remember one year when he was so excited for me to visit because Bush Gardens had been running promotions for the park showing the new ride the “Koomba!” He was ecstatic to finally get a chance to ride one of the new famed “best in the US” roller coasters.
Yesterday and today there was one thing my grandfather was upset about: the family not going to the casino. He wanted us to leave him at home and go without him. None of us cared. This tradition we had been keeping up for years really didn’t matter because we all know we can do the same thing here at home. Tonight we had dinner together, just as we usually do on Christmas eve. I wrapped the presents my grandfather could not wrap. He and I talked for hours about his life growing up in the armed service and working for Ford. Most of the stories I have heard more times then I recall, some of them I know better then him…but I listen anyway as history is sometimes best told by the person that experienced it; this was his history and his story to tell.
Tonight we’ll play cards or watch a movie. We’ll still laugh and still remember it as a good night – hell we will probably laugh at it next year. I’ll still tease my grandfather that he fell on purpose just so he could get everyone else to wrap his presents and help him into the bathroom.
In the end, today would still be about family and fun and that’s what it should be about.
Happy Holidays to everyone…may your time be spent with family and friends be fun times.
– bd
Knowledge is power
Yea I know another damn entry about books…when will it ever stop? I bought a massive quantity of books recently – BIG shock! :)
“Tuesday’s with Morrie” a Mitch Album book…I read a few pages last night, so far so good. “Fermat’s Enigma” by Simon Singh…this is a book about the world’s most complex math theorem and the story behind cracking it. I read another book by the same author (The Code Book) and thought we was pretty decent. Since he is known for this book I thought I should try it out. “The Essential Tao” and “Book of Five rings” by Thomas Cleary; I have a few Cleary books, so I trust his translations and I like his notes. A collection of Confucius sayings/quotes – actually I think it’s is a
collection of all of his sayings…I don’t recall the title at the moment :) Then I bought 3 books on leadership, leading, business stuff…I don’t recall all the titles. Of course they will all be listed correctly in the “On the shelf” list!
Reading 4 books at once isn’t that bad for me. It’s when I read more then one book on a subject or similar school of thought that all the information turns to mush in my head. Hopefully I’ll be on a roll when I start classes again this summer…
Yes classes. I am trying to work the kinks out with my college classes and I am planning on going back to finish the 7 or 8 classes I need for my bachelors degree. After that? Well it will be MBA time of course…I’m sure at that point I’ll be going crazy.
“A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us.”
– W. H. Auden
Saturday night’s concert was awesome!! I got to see Natives of The New Dawn and they have a great sound…good vibe and they really got the crowd pumped up. I was surprised at how many people jumped to the floor and started dancing so early in the night…but since I was one of them; I know it was the band that pulled us. They are still a little wet behind the ears, but keep an ear out for them. I picked up their CD: The Sunshine Chronicles for $5.00 and while some of the recording quality could be better, the studio songs are just as fun and happy as they were live. “Sunshine” [Track 9] is good, but way better live. I’d pay to go seem them again just to hear this tune live.
Tamara Bedricky played a great set as usual. There was a little bit of trouble with power for her guitar a few times, but she kept going. Out of the nine tracks, she played all but two of my favorites. She found a few new fans that night as I heard some people saying they really liked her style, others loved her voice. The only downside was I thought the volume on her mic was too low, but it could have been the acoustics in the front of the stage because I noticed the same problem with the other bands.
Jody Raffoul can rock! Holy shit!! One of his songs is being played on local radio 93.9 and I am pretty sure I have heard it before. I didn’t get a chance to pick up his CD, but rest assured I will be getting it sooner then later. He’s a far cry from the male acoustic guitar players we have been seeing since 2000 (Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Jason Miraz, etc) he has a rock sound and can really sing well. His band plays a great set and the collection of musicians each has a personality you can see on stage. Very impressive! Jody can been seen at The Post in Ferndale on Wednesday nights.
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
– Aldous Huxley
Another good blog
This site deserves it’s own post because it’s a great design…in my eyes. Unfortuntely I am not a designer so my eyes might suck. :)
Why do I think it’s good? Because the concept is exactly what I want for my blog I am just too lazy to take it to that level at the moment and too cheep to pay to host it some place. However, when I stop being cheep and start getting real {gross: MTV Pun/Rip} this will closely mirror my design. I love the fact there is a current postings listing on the first page, however, there is classifications or subjects for each type. So music is music and movies is movies and random nonsense is well, random nonsense.
Cheers for a well done design and a good blog at that!
– bd
“The best ideas are common property.”
– Seneca
What more could you ask for in a weekend
Yesterday, just like Thursday I saw more people who were connected with people I knew. This is just getting crazy! Maybe this is a week in my life I am supposed to find out that all of my friends are actors and that’s really how they all know one another…damn I need to steal the script for this movie I call: my life.
I had a Caipirinha (keye-pereen-yah) for the first time last night and I have to say not only did it rock, it knocked me over! It’s a Brazilian cocktail that roughly translates to “little peasant girl”. How do you make it? Here are some instructions! The first few sips will make you think you are drinking Tequila, but then you’ll taste a little sugar…by the third sip you’ll know something is up and it’s not Tequila. Very good and I highly recommend trying it! Not a lot of bars carry the correct liquor, nor do they know what this is. You might have to visit either an upscale place or a more worldly venue.
I am headed to a concert tonight to see Tamara Bedricky and Jody Raffoul so I’ll have to let you know how it goes!
“Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy.”
– Sarah Ban Breathnach
Lots of friends
It’s amazing how small the world is sometimes. Yesterday I went out with a few friends and found that a few of them are friends with some of my friends…some I hadn’t seen in years.
It’s like a six degree of separation mixed with small world syndrome; you couldn’t ask for much better then that!
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
– Dale Carnegie
.: the babbling dweeb :. 