I'm sure...

...your family isn't like this. I'm sure that if you replied to say, hypothetically, an email from your mom, in which she subtly complains about not being able to reach you on the phone, and you patiently explain that this is because your mom happened to choose in two, different weeks the two hours you had left your house at all to walk amongst the people and run your humble errands, and that's why you weren't there to answer the call, oh, and by the freakin' way, this is the 21st Century now, and if it was so blasted important to reach you, she could have called your cellphone, which, as she well knows, you have on you at all times. And I'm sure that if, in said email reply, you mentioned there was no reason to call anyway, as you had ABSOLUTELY no new news, and what drivel that could be passed off as "news" you included in said email, well, I'm reasonably certain that your hypothetical mom would not still feel the need to call you the next day, acknowledging right off the bat that she received and read the aforementioned email and then ignored its central treatise and called anyway to -- I kid you NOT at all -- to see what was new. And surely I must be correct in believing that if all this somehow did hypothetically happen to you as well, Dear Reader, that certainly your mom would have believed you the first three times you patiently explained that, no, seriously, there was nothing new, it was not in fact raining here, you did indeed have your rescheduled party on Saturday and not the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend as you'd already told her, and yes, people came to it, and no, you weren't about to list every person who attended and what they were wearing, because what are you E!'s red carpet coverage? And if all that, against incomprehensible odds, did occur along with, at rough estimate, four dozen additional questions and their patiently offered answers, surely there would not have been -- 28 or so minutes into the conversation and during the inevitable, 10-minute "wrap-up" phase of the call where she says goodbye a few times and then still manages to get out another dozen or so random questions, well, I'm just CERTAIN that one of them wouldn't be, "So, nothing's new at all, huh?"

Because really, what response would satisfy at that point to that question? "Okay, ya got me -- I wasn't going to mention it in the email or any of the first, three times you asked, but since you asked the fourth time and added the 'huh,' you broke down my willpower... It's true, I've been elected Czar for Life of the Secret Shadow Government. Oh, also, I'm a werewolf." I mean, seriously...

I guess my point is, my mom... excuse me, YOUR hypothetical mom, should have been a CIA interrogator (Hi, to our friends reading the ECHELON server feed...)

That has nothing to do with today's link (or perhaps, since the theme was repetition, it does?), which I believe I got from @Alyssa_Milano's feed (which is incredibly clever and thoughtful much of the time, and I'm sorry for being a little surprised about that...) like a month ago (and yes, I just got around to reading it today... for someone with nothing to do, I sure don't seem to get much done.)

*exasperated sigh*

Rumors of her demise...

(Forgive me, this post was delayed by my trip to St. Louis earlier in the week).

I'm not 100% sure as to the how or the why, but apparently there were some rumors after my last posting. MLW is fine, though she did have a bad (non-atypical for her) reaction to the antibiotics that they put her on.

Yes, this necessitated a visit to her doctor (who gave her a new and NON-hive-inducing antibiotic), but no, she didn't have to go back to the hospital. No, her leg didn't fall off, and no, she hasn't caught any strange, cat-borne diseases. (She did, however, manage to skip work one day this week...)

We thank you for your concern, but she's healing up nicely (and was showing her wounds to all concerned when we were at the shelter on Tuesday).

In a related story, pictures of the kittens coming soon, along with names, I imagine.

But first, a multi-part series inspired by my trip to St. Louis.

Why am I up this early on a Saturday?!

Why NYCC, of course! Saturday is likely to prove a BUSY day, since they announced last night that the Saturday and Weekend passes are already sold out (supposedly for the first time, but I thought the same thing happened last year...) Saturday is usually the "anchor day" around which they center a lot of the "name" guests. And finally, since we know we have to trek across the river and have dinner in NJ tonight with my family, it's going to be a long day... But before we get to the joys of Saturday, let's talk Friday...

* * *

As you may have already read, I was felled by a migraine last night, and MLW was kind enough to post a guest post for y'all. However, as she pointed out, I wanted to include slightly more detail than "JAM is nauseous," so...

Friday, Part 1:

The Con is for "professionals" (read: industry and retail) people only for the first half of the first day. So we knew we couldn't get in until 1 pm. So what do two people in New York City do when they have an entire half day to work with? Well, if those two people are MLW and myself, you sleep in, of course!

Whoops! MLW is giving me the "Come on, YOU're making us late!" look (I know it well, because I always am). I'll have to continue this later. (Yeah, yeah, I know... I tell a mean story...)

So Cousin Zach...

...might have a future in opera...

We babysat for the second time in his life and well, I think it was... um... well, actually jury's still out on whether it was "better" or "worse." The first time, Zach screamed for half an hour and then MLW picked him up, he fell asleep, and stayed that way until his parents came to claim him (fun side note: the power went out about an hour later, so we had no choice but to literally watch him sleep after that...)

This time, he started crying three minutes after he realized his parents weren't in the room (they were at the Bon Jovi concert). By comparison, it was more crying than screaming (maybe his voice changed and he can't hit the high notes any more?) He continued for about and hour and a half, and then MLW picked him up and, you guessed it; he fell asleep.

I just wind up feeling like we're lousy babysitters... nothing we do seems to help. Toys, TV, reading to him, food... hell, I even enlisted Loki to help at one point (and he tried). Ah, well, maybe it's the separation anxiety phase he's in.

* * *

In other news, an awesome new Iron Man Trailer brought to my attention by MLW.

* * *

And a way overdue addition to the links over on the side. OriginalWeb's blog, which is updated far more frequently, and is much more amusing than mine. Also, more talk of squirrels on average...

* * *

And finally, some ret-con posts that have been sitting around waiting for me to finish them. So if you want to step back in time a couple of weeks, you can hear me yappin' about something and whining about something else. Also, stayed tuned, as we'll shortly be having more info on the whole "stuff stolen from luggage" story...

Awesome!

So many things to deal with... movie nights, parental visits, etc. But hey, in the meantime, check this out...

2007: A Year in Review

The following was intended to be 2007's Xmas letter, but I got put in charge, and you know how those things tend to turn out... Thus, we sent NO cards this year (see? Told ya... so no need to be offended, we didn't send to anyone...) Anyway, for those of you that are actually curious as to what's happening in our little, localized section of reality, well, feel free to read on...

* * *

Well, 2007 was another busy year for us (isn't it always, though?). We started new projects, added to our family and traveled quite a bit.

We started a monthly movie night, with a full, old-fashioned schedule of cartoons, serials, and two features (sometimes classic, sometimes contemporary). The nights seem popular, and we certainly have enjoyed watching old favorites and experiencing new entertainment.

We welcomed JAM’s 1st Cousin-once-removed, Zach, to the world, and have been amazed at how quickly he’s grown (and grown and grown). By the holidays he was walking – sort of – and clearly has a mind of his own. Allyson and Ricardo will have their hands full with him!

We had the great excitement (Woo. Hoo.) of redoing our master bathroom, and having our pipes replaced. We now love our bathroom. The re-pipe was… challenging, and we got into a legal dispute with the company. But, thanks to a wonderful lawyer friend, we’re now done with them. (If you plan to have any plumbing done, please ask for the name of a company to avoid...)

We saw Phantom of the Opera, and Avenue Q. Both were wonderful, although in very different ways. Phantom was exciting and the special effects were wonderful (and we hadn't seen it in like 15 years...), Avenue Q was dirty and wrong and hysterical.

We went to not one but two comic conventions this year. New York ComicCon (we LOVE NY!) was huge and exciting, although bitter cold outside made traveling a little unpleasant (OMG it was cold! And so windy!). We stayed in Weehawken, and took the ferry across the river, met lots of interesting people, bought way too much stuff and in general had a great time. Philadelphia Wizard World (in June) was a lot of fun. The Reading Terminal Market provided wonderful lunches, and we got to see both the cheerleader from Heroes and Number Six from BattleStar Galactica. We continued our new "con hobby" of collecting art and again came away with large quantities of stuff.

We traveled to Philadelphia a second time to see the King Tut exhibit with Debbie and Jim. The exhibit was wonderful and our time with Debbie and Jim was, as always, enjoyable.

We also traveled to North Carolina to visit Jenny and Andy before they had their son (back in March). Andy took a group of us on a walking tour and we got to learn much about Durham’s history. We went to see the Lemurs, and ate gelato (Mmmm... gelato...), and had lunch with Brian and Katie.

For our anniversary we went to Niagara Falls. We stayed in a wonderful hotel with a view of the falls. It rained the first day there, so we did all the wet tourist stuff – the boat to the bottom of the falls, walking under the falls. We also went to the local zoo and saw a magic show (where we got our picture taken with a tiger!).

For the holidays we hosted Jennifer’s parents here. Allyson and Ricardo wanted Zach to spend his first Christmas at home, so we all stayed here. Allyson hosted Christmas Eve dinner and Jennifer hosted Christmas Day dinner, and good food was had all around. (After Xmas we went to NJ to see JAM's relatives.)

In October Jennifer left her job of six years and took a position at the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. She’s the Manager of Information Services, essentially the entire IT department, so is learning a lot about everything related to computers. An office with a window certainly is a step up and having budget control is fun.

Jonathan is still the President of the Art Deco Society of Washington, although he did not stand for re-election so is stepping down in January. Jennifer is still the secretary of the home owners association, and still enjoying the interpersonal drama. We both are volunteering at the Alexandria animal shelter, working as cat companions. Spending two hours a week petting cats is much more relaxing than either of our jobs (or other volunteering work...) As an outgrowth of that work in November we fostered four kittens. None of them had been socialized, so we spent several weeks convincing them that people are actually pretty cool. In the end we gave three back, and kept a little girl (totally didn't see THAT coming...) So Loki now has a little sister named Morrigan. He’s taking the changing fairly well, although is clearly upset that she’s touching all his stuff and doesn’t let him nap as much as he’s used to. She believes 3am is the best time to run around and play, and he believes that 6am is the best time to beat her up. So far there has been no blood or broken bones, although several tufts of grey fur have floated past.

Stay in touch in 2008!

[Please note: for those interested in such things, I highly recommend looking at the entire set of photos on the fliker account -- we linked to as many as we could, but there's many, many more...]

36

Not really sure how this happened, but that's the age I turned today. It seemed oddly appropriate that this blogthing was on the "new" page:

You Are 46% Misanthropic

You're somewhat misanthropic, but you're not willing to write off the human race (yet!). There's a few people you like, and even them you like at a distance.

How Misanthropic Are You?

So anyway... it's been an odd day. Props to MLW for trying to make the day special (though I really didn't need to hear "it's your birthday!" one more time... -- I'm kidding, dearest, I love you. (Actually, I'm not)). Some strange items in the news: some oddly apropos and others not so much.

The usual folks sent in well wishes by e-card or snail card (that's a phrase, right?) -- thanks usual people... MLW made me a nice dinner and we sat and watched Star Wars on video (yeah, that's right -- video, VHS, tape -- I haven't bought the DVDs yet because I'm waiting for the inevitable box set that has all six -- I've given Lucasfilm enough money already, I don't think I need to buy multiple versions of the whole saga (especially since the first half kinda blew...)) I opened some presents and cards (I save them all for my birthday as a rule) and fielded the usual calls from home. All-in-all as nice a day as a random birthday year and a day spent working can be.

While I never intended to give it much thought I found myself compiling a birthday Wishlist (and no, not the nigh-300 items on Amazon.com...) This would be things I really, truly want.

• I want the smokers driving in front of (and alongside and behind) me to stop treating the world like it's their personal ash-tray. If it's so great, keep it in your car, and while you're at it, keep the window rolled up too; I don't need to be sucking in the second hand smoke through my vents...
  
  
• I want the news media to remember what journalism is. That's journal, not sensational -ism. I understand how they might confuse those two. If aliens arrived on Earth yesterday, they would have had to conclude that Anna Nicole Smith was a world leader or great thinker or something. And don't give me that crap about how "well, if it didn't sell people wouldn't buy it or watch it or read it." I'm pretty tired of other people deciding what we're capable of. Admittedly, I haven't traveled all over this nation of ours, but I suspect that people are smarter than we give them credit for. At least individually....
  
  
• And speaking of our once great nation, I want our government to realize that not every problem can be solved with a stick, no matter how big. Sometimes we need other methods. And likewise not every problem can be solved by throwing MORE at it, be it more money, more men and women, or more bombs.
  
  
• While we're at it, I want America to realize that More is not always More. And New is not always Improved. And that you can't have your cake and eat it too. And then have a pill that makes the affects of that cake disappear. You can't have a job you can do from a reclining position, like on the Jetson's, and you're far more likely to be struck by lightning or killed in an automobile accident than you are to win the PowerBall jackpot (for gods' sake put the money into a fund, a savings account, even under the mattress, or if you insist on throwing it away at least throw it at a charity...) Put down the fries, America, and don't drive around and around looking for the closest space -- you need the walk.
  
  
• I want everyone to realize that the Greenhouse Effect is not just a headline, and the clock is running out on the time we have to fix it. And this clock has no snooze button. And I want the energy companies to apologize for using Big Tobacco tactics and positioning this issue as one open to debate or interpretation or I at least want them to pay.
  
  
• And hey, while we're at it, I want people and the government to realize that with a few notable exceptions, Big Business does what Big Business has to do... and that's watch the bottom line. And any shortcut they can take to get there (whatever the quasi-legality of it) they will use. Because when you're single-minded of purpose and goal, morality tends to evaporate. So we have to make them accountable.
  
  
• And speaking of accountability, isn't it about due for a comeback of some sort? I want our leaders, and hey, just ordinary people to say, "Yeah, that was me. I did that. Maybe you disagree, maybe you condemn me, but I will at the very least admit that the issue was my responsibility." Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't you be able to respect someone like that? And if you respect them and find them capable, wouldn't you vote for them? Could they do a worse job than the usual suspects? And it's not just leaders, parents blame teachers, schools, TV, music and video games for their kids bad behavior. (You know what? I had all those things and I've never done something horrible, never shot up a strip mall or a school. You know why, because my parents (and other people) taught me there's right and there's wrong -- it's a choice and you know it when you make it. You can pretend afterwards you didn't, but unless you're a sociopath, you most likely were aware of the choice when you made it...) Everyone seems to look to someone else to blame for their problems. Hey, I have problems, we all do, and some aren't even of our own making, but that doesn't mean they don't need to be dealt with. And wishing or hoping or praying isn't going to make that glass slide across the table, you have to get up and get it.
  

Wow. Listen to me... "I want, I want..." always about me isn't it? Might as well wish for a pony as I think we all know I stand a much better chance of waking up with superpowers, so I guess I'll just get a PS3 instead... And now to steal a page from JADO's book...*


* = The preceding rant was brought to you by to you by Old Age and Crankiness®. That's Old Age and Crankiness, now with extra Bitterness®.

First Cousin, Once Removed!

So, lots to talk about in terms of work, and other exciting developments going on.

But trumping all that was today's development as My Dear Cousin A, gave birth to a bouncing baby boy (well, okay, he wasn't bouncing exactly... mostly he just kinda slept -- so it's nice that he and I have so much in common already) who we'll refer to as Baby Z. He was born at 4:07 p.m. EST, and weighed in at 8 lbs., 4 oz., and was 21 inches long.

Herewith are the photos, which have not been doctored to make anyone look nicer, I swear.

Cousin A with Baby Z. See, he's sleeping.

(L to R): My aunt (Cousin A's Mom), Baby Z, and Cousin A. (Note how he's still sleeping).

A disheveled looking JAM (I meant to shave, really), Batman shirt and Green Lantern ring and all, holding my first Cousin, Once Removed, Baby Z. I think I'm just going to let him call me Uncle. It's shorter and easier to explain. I did tell him I'd always have comic books for him, though. (Note how you can just sort see his eyes in this picture. They're really dark blue, not red as they might appear in this light...)

So, anyway, that's all for now. I'm tired. And I wasn't even there all day. Or in labor. Or really anything. But he seems cool. He made me laugh at this one point with a funny face, so that was cool.

We'll see how Day 2 goes tomorrow...

2006 in review

The following is an edited version of the Holiday Letter MLW and I sent out this past year, put into blog-code as necessary (which reminds me... I need to update the scorecard in a big way...)

2006 seemed to have a theme of Change. While many things stayed the same, we enjoyed many new things as well. The year began with JAM still unemployed (since Nov. 2005 – those of you who read the blog know this painfully). Curiously, this wasn’t quite as stressful to either of us as we’d thought it would have been.

In January, we headed south to North Carolina (the hurricane state!), where we witnessed the union of ToasterGirl (MLW’s former roommate) and GPSBoy(another Drewid of our acquaintance) in a moving Quaker ceremony in Durham, followed by a delightful reception at the oddly named Tobacco Warehouse. While in Durham we were able to take in some of the city’s sights and also visit with Ultimate Brian & Penultimate (?) Katie (still more Drewids… who knew the area was full of ’em?) And best of all, JAM didn’t use any days off…

February was very full (as it tends to be) for such a short month. We made our annual trip to DC’s Chinese New Year parade to celebrate the year of the Dog (woof!). Following that we had a small-scale birthday gathering for JAM, which was preceded by Birthday SNOW! (It is such a rarity in Virginia!!). Certainly not the worst way to greet 35. This, in turn, was followed by a visit from the GSM. Sadly, they were both pretty ill, thus we have declared a moratorium on birthday visits (or at least visits during Winter Olympic years, since the prior one in 2002, resulted in a broken hot water heater and a serious cold for JAM). Around the same time, Eva was in town for a church music conference, and we were able to visit with her and catch up.

March found MLW summoned for Jury service. Like a teeny-tiny minority of Americans (which JAM is happy to consider himself among), MLW is one of those rare few who was actually looking forward to jury service. Sadly, each day as she checked to see if she was called up the next day, the court was closed. She was very disappointed.

April found us in NJ (for our first visit of 2006) to help JAM’s Gram celebrate her 91^st birthday and catch up with the folks. Before we left town, JAM’s high school friend thefirstNoel came to town for a conference, and we were able to have dinner together before she fled back to lands northwards. On the way home, we got to meet Son-of-a-JADO for the first time -- What a cute and drooly child.

In May we made our next visit northward to mark the first communion of MLW’s Godmother’s grandson Joey – who does a great (the late) John Denver (?! - he sang "Rocky Mountain High," but then you know how the lids today love their John Denver...) impression. We also got to see the in-law’s first apartment (which was effectively the first place that MLW ever lived). Oh, yeah, also in May, JAM got a job at a small IT consulting firm in DC. Before he started he spent the last weekend at Six Flags America with ODFA.

The (fortunately unseasonably cool) month of June found us celebrating the wedding of the Huge’s in beautiful outdoor setting in Centreville, VA (wow! A wedding we didn’t really didn’t have to travel for – we love those weddings most of all!) While the promised fireworks between certain participants never materialized, the weekend gave us an opportunity to catch up with various and sundry New Jerseyians of our past association. Later in the month, MLW celebrated her birthday with friends and the in-law’s came to visit. We visited the WWII Memorial, and enjoyed DC despite the summer heat.

In July, Drewids OragamiSlayer and Tina (who live out in Fairfax) invited us to join them at a performance of the RSC (the Reduced Shakespeare Company) in their still funny, no matter how many times we’ve seen it, The Complete History of America: Abridged. Dinner out with friends and an evening of laughs are a wonderful way to pass the time. JAM’s cousin A and (her husband)R announced they were pregnant, and JAM has been steeling himself to be a first cousin once removed.

In August, we had our first ever overnight visit by a family. Mr. Township Manager, HLWJ, and cute as a button Sabina came to visit on their way back to NJ from Williamsburg. While our house is certainly not childproof, we are happy report that everyone left intact. While it was a short visit, it was a fun one.

September went by without much event, while JAM decided he needed to get a(nother) new job, as the one at [company deleted for legal reasons] was just not working out. We tried to have many dinners with all our local friends, so had lots of good food and great conversations.

October was a month where a whole lotta stuff happened. First – on our 8^th wedding anniversary – JAM decided to give notice to the company he’d been working for (for about five months). While he gave 2.5 weeks notice, they decided he could leave that day. By the time MLW arrived to drive JAM home he was waiting in the lobby chatting with the security guards. That night he addressed the membership of the Art Deco Society of Washington, giving the first “state of the society” address in several years. The next day he received a job offer from Plateau Systems, LTD. – one of two offers he would receive that same week – and after some thought decided to accept it. Also, in October we were able to finally catch up with the O’Ciommo Ninja clan and then met up with the JADO’s at the Philadelphia Zoo, where much fun was had by all and many photos were taken. The following weekend, we went off to Staunton, VA where we saw not one but three Shakespeare plays at the Blackfriar’s Playhouse. On the way back, we drove along the scenic Skyline Drive and enjoyed the fall foliage (also, many photos were taken). While this was the first year in a while that we did not have our annual Halloween Gala, we did have the annual neighborhood Trick Or Treat block candy give-away (yeah, the name really sings). It was also JAM’s first day at his (new) new job.

As November came around, we found ourselves starting the month with yet another trip to the zoo, this time the National Zoo and this time with friends OriginalWeb and CH. Later in the same month, we went up to NJ yet again, this time for MLW’s father’s “retirement party” (MLW’s dad has been retiring for the entire 15 years JAM has known her…) Since we were up anyway, we decided to join in-laws and the GSM for day before and Thanksgiving for much, much eating. We were able to catch up with Mr. Township Manager & family, and with college friend GWEK, and with high school friend Jeannine.

And so December found us in the midst of our usual holiday madness. We had MLW’s work holiday party (first time I’ve had my picture taken with Santa in about… um, I’m going to guess 25 years...), my work party where I ran into Chuck Schmoyer from West Milford Twp High School (Freebird!) and of course, our own annual holiday gala, that this year featured snow. Yes, snow. Even if we had to make it ourselves. The holidays themselves involved a short trip northwards to NJ, and while they involved the third annual Xmas Eve Morning Brunch (a chance for us West Milford ex-pat’s to catch up) it was somewhat muted due to a family sitch that I won’t get into here.

So the year was filled with new beginnings, and new opportunities, but also filled with old friends and the best traditions.

Happy Holidays!

Let there be peace on earth, but most especially let there be peace for each of you
(and perhaps a little left over for each of us).

-- J & J

So that's the letter. Back in a day or two with what's in store for 2007!