Vanity Wins.

So I have an appointment with our family physician tomorrow. He’s not really family in the FOD sense but he is your typical piece of hunk family physician. I haven’t seen him in a while so I thought I’d schedule an appointment and stir up some conversation. I like to call him “Dr. Lance”, what with Lance being his name and all. He’s scruffy. Maybe I should call him Dr. Scruff. I doubt he would answer.

Actually I’m going to him for a specific reason other than lively conversation about cholesterol, lipids, heart disease and whatnot. I have a rash on my forehead. This rash has come and gone for the past two months or so. I had a similar rash a couple of years ago. He gave me some meds, I paid, I wiped and and voila the rash was gone. Before our trip to Ireland it came back so I socked it with various lotions and potions. It’s made occasional appearances since. It’s a little itchy and more importantly, it’s on my face where all can see so I need to get it taken care of. It’s most likely dry skin that’s beyond the help of anything I can buy in a drug store hence the visit to the doctor.

On the bright side it hasn’t spread and it’s not contagious so it can’t be anything too serious. I’m betting on the dry skin run amok theory. Hopefully I’ll be pretty again by the weekend.

29 January 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 1

Maybe.

I am sitting in our local Panera enjoying a late lunch and some surfing. This is the perfect time to come to the otherwise “alternate reality” Panera as it’s between typical meal times and rather empty. I’m able to sit in a strategically placed corner and watch people, one of my favorite pastimes.

A rather handsome gentleman just came up to me and asked if my name is Ron. In the right circumstances, it could have been. It’s funny but I’ve never considered whether I look like a Ron or not. My mother wanted to name me Christopher John but my father thought it sounds too gay. He wanted to name me Wesley Walter. I’m glad they compromised on the easier to remember J.P. after famous foul-mouthed comedian Jaye P. Morgan.

The weekend has been a whirl of activity aside from sleeping at odd hours. Last night we went to Albany for their semi-monthly bear night. It was “Gear Bear” and I wore gear that would make a bear and hundreds of Village people fans proud while simultaneously making my family blush. We opted to not spend the night and got home around 3:15 this morning. We would have been home sooner but we stopped for a quick nap at the desolate “Pattersonville Service Area”.

Last night I met a few people that I’ve only chatted with online in the past, including fellow roadgeek Mike. The usual suspects were out as well, including the D-List bears from Albany. We’re rounding up a bunch of people for bear night on March 1. We tried to get Eric to tag along with us last night but he was busy being a homebody.

As I type my way through this blog entry I’ve just had a group of senior citizens plop down at the next table wear they are discussing the futures of this “new electronic mail”. They are apparently going to their country club afterwards because they’re all discussing the upcoming vote regarding women wearing slacks at club functions.

Our latest adventure at the house has been a leaky toilet. I just completed my third run to Lowe’s to fix it. I told Earl the next time we are looking for a place to live we are not buying a home that has trap doors installed in the ceiling under the second floor plumbing. We should have seen the signs before. When we are done with this toilet project we will have fixed all three toilets, the washing machine connection, three out of five sinks and the dishwasher connection since buying the house in December 2003. So much for good plumbing, considering the house is only 10 years old.

27 January 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 1

Gig.



Back At Work., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Earl snapped a photo while I was spinning at the local bar tonight. I’m am officially the house DJ on Friday nights. It’s all done off my PowerBook now; I don’t use CDs and I don’t use vinyl. I keep busy during the week recording my vinyl records in the computer.

Word has hit the street that I’m back DJing again and the crowd was appreciative. I forgot the high that I feel when I’m able to fill a dance floor by picking a good music selection and keeping the beats aligned.

Doing this full time at the radio station back in the day was good and it made me a small celebrity, but if the truth were to be known, I much prefer to be in a club in a DJ booth doing my thing. I can’t say “fuck” on the radio, I can say it over the mic in a bar (though I rarely do).

If you’re in the area, drop me a line and I’ll give you a special tour of the DJ booth.

I also snapped a photo without a flash so you could see the cockpit.

Cockpit.

Earl and I also went to the Toronto Marlies @ Binghamton Senators hockey game here in Utica tonight with my sister, mom, uncle and cousin. My sister’s boyfriend is an aggressive hockey player and is the left wingman for the Marlies. It was our first time watching him do his thing on the ice and I must say that I was quite impressed. We snapped a few photos in the stands and they can be found on my Flickr account. I love this picture of my sister Jennifer and Earl.

Hockey Game: Jennifer and Earl.

26 January 2008 by Flickr 1

Journey.



365 Days: Day 24., originally uploaded by iMachias.

When I was part of the traditional American work force I was faced with the same challenges day in and day out. Go to work at 8:00, feed my face at 10:00, break for lunch at noon, back to my desk at 1:00, feed my face at 3:00 p.m. and out at 5:00 p.m. Interspersed with the fun were telecommunications emergencies and countless pee breaks. And maybe some surfing on the internet if I was feeling daring.

It was a good job, but the challenges stayed pretty routine from day to day. I didn’t feel “movement” in my career. Hence, the return to college.

One of the exciting things about being a college student is the complete rearranging of my schedule each semester. My homework schedule that worked well for fall isn’t going to work for this semester and I couldn’t be more pleased. So far my professors are reasonable with expectations: Professor Frightful doesn’t collect homework at all this semester, he’s just going to quiz the hell out of us. My engineering classes allow at least a week to complete a given assignment and I don’t know what’s going on with my physics homework yet but I’ve heard rumblings that the instructor is “excellent”. This typically translates to “easy homework”, among other things.

I think I’m excited because I feel like I have a whole new set of challenges on the path ahead of me. The path is still the same and I’m still headed in the same direction, it just has some new additions and deletions along the way. I feel like the pavement has changed color a little bit. My new school schedule along with my “gigs” and whatnot along the way are giving me a feeling of contentment. It’s good to feel great.

To get all philosophical on you, one of the most important things a person can do is find the path of their life journey. There’s going to be detours and dead ends along the way, but when you’re not following your path you’re just wandering aimlessly.

I wouldn’t write it on a fortune cookie (too long), but it’s workable.

24 January 2008 by Flickr 1

Play In The Snow.

365 Days: Day 23.

365 Days: Day 23.,
originally uploaded by iMachias.

I’m not as disciplined with the “365 days” photo series on my Flickr account as I thought I would be. I’ve already missed seven out of 23 days.

This afternoon I decided to get some fresh air after successfully completing my first round of homework for school. I resisted the urge to make a snow angel but I did go for a 1 1/2 mile walk.

I’ll probably have a video to post later tonight.

23 January 2008 by Flickr 0

Financially Responsible.

So I just got back from running errands: delivering Earl his lunch (he calls it a lunch kettle, I call it a lunch pail) of a sandwich, chips and other goodies and whatnot and then dashing off to the AT&T store to pick up a charger for his latest cell phone from work. (He didn’t know why he had all these extra chargers in his desk, so he chucked them. Turns out he chucked one too many). While I was out and about I stopped at Best Buy and couldn’t help but take a walk through the computer department. I enjoy drinking in the scent of geek.

I haven’t been paying much attention to PCs for quite a while. I’ve been quite content with my PowerBook and the other Macs strewn throughout the house. However, the PowerBook is starting to show it’s age and Earl’s Mac Mini setup is pushed to the limits nightly so I’m thinking we might need to do some computer upgrades soon. I’ve had my eye on an iMac for Earl and that clocks in around $1400 after all is said and done.

Looking through Best Buy I spotted an impressive Dell desktop computer. While not as sleek looking as a Mac, I have to admit that Dell is showing signs of “getting it”. With this particular computer we get triple the RAM, double the hard drive space, double the hard drive speed and double the video card RAM for $599. Throw in a 19-inch widescreen flat panel monitor and we are talking $894. The only drawback? It runs Windows Vista.

Now, while I’m primarily a Mac guy these days and I often preach about the beauty of all things Apple, I do have a soft spot for Windows as well. Most Mac fanboys are anti-Microsoft but I really don’t subscribe to that (unless I’m swearing at Windows for it’s latest WTF moment). Back when I was a baby geek I “grew up” with Windows having first run the software back with Windows/286 in 1988. I have Vista running on the lone PC in the house and it does what I need it to do very well. I support Windows on many of the computers throughout my family. It might be clunky at times but it’s functional and it’s comfortable.

I would absolutely love me some Mac but I find it hard to justify the price (especially as a struggling college student) when I can get three times the computer for half the price.

Earl and I will probably end up sticking it out with our current computing setup. However, if the winds blow the right way and money falls from the tree in the back yard, I can say that it would be much easier to justify buying this Dell computer over an iMac when I made my pitch to the big guy.

23 January 2008 by Geek 2

Back On Track.

So it’s official. Today I started up the Spring 2008 semester at school. As I remarked to Earl earlier today, I’ve officially made it through more college than I did the first time around back in 1986. The feeling is quite pleasant.

My schedule is not unpleasant, I only have classes four days this week with Wednesdays being my “run errands, clean the house, visit friends, do homework” day. This schedule coupled with my DJ gig and freelance sound engineer jobs should work out quite well. I’m excited about the challenge. I feel like I’m going to do well this semester, despite the tougher courses. Let’s check that again in a couple of weeks.

The first class I had today was Math 122, “Fundamentals of College Mathematics 2”. Translation: “Calculus”. I’ve never had calculus before. My head is already swimming in imaginary numbers but I think I’ll have a handle on it once I review my notes and do the suggested reading. The professor is the infamous Professor Frightful and his Cast of Blackboard Voices again. There are several students that went through his class with me last semester and like me, they had a knowing look on their face when our other classmates heard the voices for the first time. Another unexpected delight is taking the class with First Earl’s niece Nanette. We took a couple of classes together a year ago and helped each other out on a couple of projects. She’s good fun and the only female in the class. Since there’s only a few of us from last semester’s all male math class, there’s a whole bunch of new eye candy going on.

So now I’m sitting in the library building working on homework and catching up on blogs. This is my favorite spot to do school work, as I can see across the quad and the people walking back and forth in the snow. I snapped a photo with my iPhone.

School.

22 January 2008 by College Kid. 2

Back On The Beat.

There’s an old saying about running around in circles or maybe that life is a cycle or something like that. I don’t remember the details. Perhaps I’m making it up. I don’t remember, but there is a point to be made and I’ve completely forgotten what it is.

That being said, I spent part of yesterday working out a deal with a local bar to become their Friday night DJ. So starting Friday I’ll be in the new booth at the old bar I worked at from 1992 until 2001 doing the DJ thing. If Earl and I are unavailable on a given Friday night, I’ll provide the music for the evening through modern technology (custom mixes on an iPod or flash drive).

Ain’t computers cool?

I’m excited about returning to the (virtual) turntables for a couple of reasons. First of all, it allows me get my hands on something that I enjoy doing very much. While I admit that I didn’t really enjoy that experience in a corporate venue (i.e. radio station management), I must say that I do enjoy spinning up music that packs a dance floor, prompting hunky guys to take off their shirt and sweat while they dance. I’m an equal opportunity sweat maker, if the girls want to do that they can as well (they usually don’t though).

Another reason for my return to the turntables is that it’s going to give us some much needed pocket cash. In today’s economic climate and financially driven world, cash is good.

When talking with the owner of the bar, we also discussed putting a bear night together for the first Saturday in March. Now this I find equally exciting. I’ll share more details when they are available.

I’m looking forward to the new little side job and to compliment my school work. I have another sound engineering gig in the works that I’m even more excited about so I’m feeling good about the path that lies ahead. I think it’s important to find your path in life, it makes the journey so much easier.

21 January 2008 by DJ 1

Good Audience.

Earl and I went to see “National Treasure 2” this evening. We both enjoyed the movie very much and will probably rent it on iTunes when it becomes available later this year.

There were a couple elements of this cinematic experience that I found pleasantly surprising. First of all, when the theatre showed the “please turn off your cell phones” message, several people surrounding us did just that. Let’s score one for technological common sense!

Secondly, the feature presentation was preceded by a good ol’ traditional Disney cartoon clip starring Goofy: “How To Hook Up Your Home Entertainment System”. What a delightfully modern take on the old Disney films that were common place when I was kid! I was not aware that this was included with the “National Treasure 2” experience. I hope that Disney follows suit with more of their movies.

A pleasant distraction from Nicolas Cage’s hairpiece is sidekick Riley, played by Justin Bartha. Here he is in a geeky hunky glory. He’s not my usual type but he has cub possibilities.

19 January 2008 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 1

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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