Thoughts of Last Evening and this Morning

Got home yesterday and JAG was on, I suddenly remembered why I had such a huge crush on Catherine Bell, makes me want to watch Army Wives regularly.

Here is to hoping all my students pass their exam today! I don't really feel like failing anyone.

-tw

Quote of the Day

Pain is the payment for each precious thing.

-sheldon hawkes

If you want it, work hard for it

Last Night's Dinner @ Honey Pig

A Day of Learning

sometimes i am genuinely surprised at things i learn at work. I don't usually learn them because I'm looking for the information its more b/c people ask questions and I decide to seek out responses. A couple things i learned on saturday;

when setting up a Verizon email account on an iphone the outgoing port number has to be 587 and no the default of 25 (learned attempting to help a customer)

you can make a directory in apple address book by going into the print settings and selecting lists. then click the boxes next to the data you want you printed (learned attempting to help a customer, as told to by Suess)

while google contacts and address book can sync and communicate all fields are not able to be synched

coda may be the next great web development tool, its made by panic software, VMWare 3.0 due out in November is smoking fast (customer, vmware employee)

yes... yes i learned a lot, most of it very dorky

nite world

-tw

Guess What I Got

Liberal Lion

It would be nice, but at this point almost unthinkable for me to get to go a week without going to cnn.com and seeing that someone famous died. This morning it was Sen. Ted Kennedy, 1932 - 2009. Hopefully his efforts of bipartisanship are not lost on those he served with.

-tw

Pork Ribs

Fried Green Tomatoes and everything after

So Im writing you from good old Hampton, VA sitting in my parents kitchen having eaten too much today and starting to feel a bit drowsy. The soundtrack is turning into a mix of Corrine Bailey Rae and Tom Petty (I know its a weird mix). Despite the hour and tiredness I am determined to finish my writing and attempt to get back on track with my new years resolutions.

4 day weekend this week and its started pretty good. I got home from work on Thursday and my new Esquire magazine had shown up and there was a great article with Mary-Louise Parker (MLP) about pie baking, mind you she was baking this pie in some lingerie for the pictorial so yes I'm a little biased.

I have had a crush on MLP since Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) I saw her again when she had a small part on the West Wing as Amy Gardner and then on her current show Weeds. I can't really tell you what it is about her, but I will watch her act in anything, she and Lauren Graham. I mean the list of women whose presence alone is enough to make me go watch a movie is way too long, listing them would make this blog way too long. But hey.... it is what is and I am who I am and I like beautiful women.

Tomorrow I have a picnic to go to and I'm hoping to gets some good pictures. I haven't shot much recently so I think I'm going to turn monday into a photo day head downtown or to the national harbor to take pictures of the awakening.

I took the lackadaisical route down to Hampton from Fairfax. Partly my own doing and also influence by the fact that the traffic on I-95 between Woodbridge and Fredricksburg was horrendous so after that delay I decided to drive slow. If you are ever driving through the Richmond/Ashland area stop at Ukrops its like a big country grocery store but they have an awesome grille and cafe, its a staple stop for me on slow treks down.

My driving entertainment was mainly the ESPN channel on XM radio, which sometimes feels like a waste. Its the same thing they broadcast of free AM radio with all the commercials. The only plus is that the station clarity stays the same all the way through the ride. XM has really been faking on the stations they have been replacing my channels with piped in radio channels I don't want to pay for stuff I can get for free. But the better part of the drive was my Jay Z mixtape of my favorite Jay-Z tracks;

1. American Dreamin: Track from the American Gangster soundtrack

2. Lucifer: Always loved the beat behind that one

3. Change Clothes: Nice party track

4. Regengade: Duet with Eminem who proceeds to blow Jay out of the water with his verses

5. Song Cry: Mad emotional

6. I Did it My Way: Jay-Z with an assist from the Frank Sinatra

7. N***a Please: Everytime I hear this song I think of strippers it's Gabby Union's fault from Craddle to the Grave

8. Meet the Parents: Jay-Z does it Slick Rick style and tells an awesome story

9. Lost One: Rumor has it the girl discussed is Rosario Dawson

10. 3o Something: Getting old is not so bad, 2 more years till 30

11. Can't Knock the Hustle: Classic Jay and Mary J

12. Do it Again: Another party track

13. Death of Auto Tune: Please, please, please...... will T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Akon, and Jamie Foxx listen to this track and get the message.

14. Jockin Jay-Z: Noel Gallagher should keep his mouth shut.

Sports and Retail

I'm beat tonite long night at the fruit stand not enough workers too many customers. I've decided that retail brings out the worst in people; the desire to spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need and somehow they get it in their heads that b/c they are spending money at the store I work at that they are somehow better than me. They aren't maybe they think that because I work retail that I'm some guy making $10 bucks an hour selling stuff that this is my life; it's not, I work there because I enjoy it not b/c I need the money. Everybody wants something and nobody has any patience, and it makes me want to throw something sometimes, at inanimate objects or at the people in front of me, but I resist the urge.

I've been debating my red sox jersey, going back and forth between my favorite players and those players with longevity. Initially I thought about David Ortiz but at the beginning of the year he stunk up the joint with his terrible hitting. I went to John Pappelbon a beast of a closer, and he does the riverdance on the baseball field, but he may leave via free agency. I'm not a big Pedroia or Ellsbury fan and Bay hasn't been there long enough. I would really like a Wakefield jersey but they don't make one so I'm settling on the man behind the plate Jason Varitek a lifer whom I hope retires a Red Sox.

Steve McNair's story should be laid to rest, he's dead b/c his mistress killed him. He left a wife 4 boys and family and friends. He is the perfect example of a flawed story, a warrior on the field, a giver in the community, but lacking at home. None of us know the exact situation at home, maybe his wife knew maybe she didn't. He wasn't perfect but lets not let his flaws overshadow all the good about him.

-tw

Construction

I have been absent; so here is a small comeback. I should be sleep but I'm up watching FF Rise of the Silver Surfer, that Jessica Alba and Beau Garrett. So  I got a lot done today; built a bookcase moved some books and cleaned up my room, did some laundry, watched a couple of movies, fired up the grill and made food for the week and ended the evening at the gym getting some exercise. But here are a couple things from this week that are still stroking my thinking;

• They need to let MJ rest in peace, I cant take it anymore between crazy fans and his crazy family add to that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton showing up please get him in the ground so world can turn on its axis again

• Sarah Palin the former Governor of Alaska is always full of surprises. I don't know what she is doing but then again I never have.

• The GOP maybe the Christian  right should move away or vice versa. Why is that every time there is a sex  scandal or an affair on congressman running around with kids its someone from the GOP. The party of morality seems to be missing theirs. Here is to hoping that they turn down their rhetoric until they stop being hypocrites.

• Transformers: Rise of the Fallen rocked, don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. It was so good I bough a big Optimus Prime toy. click here

• Steve McNair is gone too soon; people talk about Brett Favre being tough but no one calls him a warrior, that was McNair, look through the tributes and recollections from his coaches and teammates its a word that keeps coming up time and time again. He was a guy from Division I-AA who became an NFL MVP and was within one inch of a Superbowl win. He was a great QB.

Well that was a bit longer than I planned, oh well hopefully I will stay on track with the posts.

BDay Weekend

1 Michael Jordan jersey card price to be determined pulled from a $20
box of cards

217 pics at Willy's BDay party

30 days later I had my first piece of meat, a piece of chicken from
Kim's BBQ

Events of my actual birthday still to be determined. They should
include but are not limited to; finding a great steak and seeing the
new Terminator movie

Want to hear a great song check out

"Lay it Down Slow" by Spiritual or "Soldier's Lament" by Sonya Kitchell

Writing from Before

Brad said its been a long time since i blogged and it has, so here are a few lines from before b/c I dont feel like writing something new. I wrote this for a class in college but its one of those things I come back to when I'm looking for an example of something I wrote that I liked. Not b/c I liked the topic but the flow and the connection at the end. I hope you like this one Brad and I hope everyone else does too. Tell me what you think.

Heredity 

Written 11/10/03

Untamed fury caused his hand to graze her face.

It was a scene replayed from his childhood.

She stood where his mother once did,

He where his father still does.

He swore he would never be his father,

That she would never be his mother.

The sins of his father show in his personality.

The effects are apparent in her beauty.

He remembers the sounds;

Screaming, Crying, and the muffled sound of bone against flesh.

He stops and realizes that this is not a flashback, it's the present.

All he wanted was a drink

All she wanted was to love him.

Alcoholism is a disease, it gets in the genes.

Love a universal cure, it gets to the heart.

Love stood between him and double malted bourbon.

Her face between his hand and his father's.

My Sweet Tooth: Brownies and Cookies

Vegetarian Day 2: I think whole foods is gonna get alot of my money. I have to learn to cook my own veggie meals. I filled up on brownies and cookies today (thanks nessa), I'm prolly going to gain 10 lbs over the weekend from the sweets. But I feel lighter I think meat really weighs you down.

Pandora: This is what I will say its customizable radio station that plays what you like. Check it out here.

Office Chair: Last night while writing this blog my chair broke. It had given good service 5/6 years it was time. Well I decided to go get a new one today, I found a nice ultrasuede chair at Office Depot that was real comfortable., it might be my new lounge chair. Hopefull it doesn't do with this chair did to its owner

Katt Williams: Is my funny man, if you have never watched the Pimp Chronicles you need to. If that's too much cursing for you watch First Sunday he is a bit more subdued. Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan robbing a church. If you grew up in a black church it will be hilarious to you. My sister convinced me to watch it easter morning, I couldn't stop laughing. Haven't laughed that hard since watching Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins for the first time.

Throwback Movie: If you like film noir check out Devil in a Blue Dress. The movie stars Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, and Jennifer Beals. It's based on a Walter Mosley novel of the same name with Washington playing the protagonist Easy Rawlins and Cheadle his crazy friend Mouse. It's also one of the last times the world saw Lisa Nicole Carson of a Ally McBeal fame, apparently she has schizophrenia.

Here is to hoping this cold subsides in the AM I need a rest from sickness.

Meat Free

Vegetarian: Today was my first of 30 days meat free, well occasionally I might have some fish. It felt good and I felt much lighter at the end of the day. I hope I can hold out, this should be good for me. My last meat meal, POPEYES if your gonna go, go out with a bangin bucket of chicken. Tonite's meal consisted of string beans, rice, and roasted corn all courtesy of Whole Foods.

Mac vs PC: I am somewhat amused my the Microsoft answer to the Mac vs PC ads. They have fixiated on whats called the "Apple Tax" basically meaning that you pay more for a mac. So they send these people out to see if they can find a computer that they want for a certain amount. They usually end up with some PC that will supposedly meet all their needs. I think people have become conditioned that their computers only need to do certain things, and they put limits on their expecations allowing them to paint themselves into a small box. I also dont think people consider the life cycle of a computer and the costs that come with it. Plus the built in software that come standard that just works out of the box and the plethora of resources that apple makes available to help you learn to get the most out of your computer and a lot of those resources are free. Yes I'm a fanboy, but their are reasons why.

Netflix and Hulu: The ability to instantly watch media on you computer or tv depending on the service is amazing. it almost makes me want to get rid of cable. I can stream media to my computer watch it on the 24 inch or in the case of Netflix watch instantly I can use my Xbox 360 to stream to my tv.

John Madden: The best play by play man of my generation called it quits today, football season won't be the same without him. He bought us Madden the best sports game of all time, not since jordan vs bird has a game captivated a gamer audience. He was everyman in the booth, no highbrow commentary but he called the game in language and terminology that all could understand. Here is hoping that they can find an acceptable

Mail Merge: Is making my life easier, I'm using it to auto complete forms for work, so that I can type less, its saving me hours upon hours.

nite world

-tw

Sick Day

Being Sick: So I took a sick day today, I started coming down with something on my way to Hampton for Easter on Saturday. Thought it was gonna be cool but I woke up this morning feeling worse and didn't want to infect people at work so I stayed home and slept. I slept so much that now I'm actually worried about being able to sleep tonight. Im hoping that all the turkey from Chutzpah Moiche I ate tonight.

Easter: Easter @ home was good. Went to church with the family Pops preached a good sermon about encouragement (Luke 24 13-35), and that sometimes we have to encourage ourselves when no one else is around to do it for us. And I took photos, sister ended up being my main model which is funny because she hates having her picture taken. I did notice that my G10 likes the outdoors way more than indoors, and that I also really love natural lighting with this camera and not flash, no flash lets you get more candid photos.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: It was a good show that got better down the stretch, but in the end was too expensive without enough viewership I guess I will have to scratch my Terminator itch with the movie this Summer. On a side note can I tell you how much more respect I have for Brian Austin Green as an actor now. Well its gone but Fox better do right by Fringe and Lie to Me, it all I have left with them.

Video Games: So the other day I was at work and made the remark to my coworker Paul that if they released a game to go along with the movie that I would be all over it. Well my Gamespot magazine came out today and their was a preview for it and I'm psyched for it. There was also a preview for a new Punch Out game for the Wii, that brings back a lot of memories. I need to play my Wii more. More golf, and some Super Smash Bros, I definitely will when I have no tv shows to watch this Summer when everything is on hiatus. The cool thing is that you will be able to play old school with just the regular pad, should be tight.

nite world

-tw

ps. it strikes me as odd that in 2009 we are still dealing with pirates, and using the term, i mean really, why don't we just call them terrorists and get it over with. its

It's about to be Friday!!!!!!!!

Jewish Deli: Well its not really a Jewish deli but its that style. It's called Chutzpah and the sandwiches are amazing.  I like the moiche, its spicy turkey with cole slaw and swiss cheese. They call it the Ruben's brother and I love Ruben's but this sandwich is in a class all its own. All their sandwiches are huge, they stack meat on top of meat until the sandwich barely fits into your mouth and it comes with steak fries and they have these pickles that aren't fully pickles yet they are more cucumber with a vinegarish taste (yes I know that vinegarish is not a word) but its great food its not cheap but its good. You can eat it for brunch and not be hungry the rest of the day.

House and Obama: So if you watch House the big twist for the week is that Kutner played by Kal Penn killed himself rather abruptly because of depression that was never seen on screen. It was a shocking turn of events but what is even more interesting is why they killed him off.... thats right Kumar is going to the White House. He is the new Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. Apparently Penn worked on the campaign and liked it so much he decided to take a pay cut and go work in the White House. I think it says something about him that he is leaving a high paying job in Hollywood and the perks that go with it to go do some public service (you read that Kimmy.... lol), although he is going to work with political rockstars.

Organization: My life is entirely too hectic, between two jobs and some semblance of a social life, I need to keep things organized. At work im in charge of teaching a class from planning to testing and materials and I have to keep it all straight. As much as I love my iPhone it cant do it all by itself  so I'm testing out organizational software. On the books right now is iBank the mac answer to Quicken, because Quicken for mac is terrible and Hit List which is task organizer and iCal I'm hoping these keep me on the straight and narrow, but the truth is that in order for these programs to work for me besides them being good i have to continuously use them.

Time for the showers, nite world

-tw

Musings as Usual

Sports Night: Along time ago before Aaron Sorkin wrote the West Wing he wrote a show called Sports Night that was one of the most underrated shows of its time. Nobody watched and it was sent to cancelled television show heaven. Joshua Malina (West Wing, Big Shots), Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), Peter Krause (Dirty Sexy Money, Six Feet Deep), Josh Charles (S.W.A.T.) and Robert Guillaume (Benson). It was a great show about a Sports Center type show. If you ever watched Studio 60 Live on the Sunset Strip that is what Sorkin was trying to recreate. Its on Netflix check it out, you will love it.

NY Yankees: Glad to see the Yankees tank it on opening day. For all the money the spent on free agents it was all for zero, zilch on the investment at least for a day. Tonite at 7pm they have the Orioles away Wang on the mound. I hate the Yankees and the big red B on the top of my new Red Sox hat proves it.

NCAA Tourney: The men's and women's tourney had two things in common the team that was supposed to win won and the loser looked as if they might as well ahve not shown up for the game. UConn and UNC handed it to Louisville and Michigan State... and they made it look easy, sorry Haze and Aaron.

Dukes of Hazzard: As I was falling asleep last night I saw Dukes of Hazzard on and was taken in by Jessica Simpson. I know I know, but really after watching that movie is their any wonder why Romo can't play well when she is in the building.

nite world

Tommorow: Jewish Deli, House and Obama and what they have in common, plus me learning to get organized and the ways in which I plan to do it.

-tw

Why do I blog so late at nite?

If you have an answer to the above rhetorical question let me know. I really need to figure that out. This was going to be a long blog nite but its late and I want to go to bed. So I will be brief but blog again tomorrow.

Top Case: For once I have used an extended warranty. I took my laptop into Apple on Sunday b/c my click button was acting wonky, they had to replace my top case. The price of the repair covered the price of my warranty. It does pay to have Apple Care.

Old Men: So Saturday I was out at the pool hall with Vanessa and we met these crazy old men. Who proceeded to grill me about what sports teams I followed and wouldn't stop until I settled on a team I liked even in sports where I don't follow a particular team. The only team that I could be concrete about are the Philly Eagles, the only sports team I live and die with. The were nice guys though, they bought Vanessa a shot of Jack. You can meet some interesting people in bars.

Learning w/ iLife 09: I have decided to teach myself something new. I'm a mac enthusiast, in case your couldnt tell by the blog title, but there is certain software that Im just not that familar with. Namely iMovie and Garageband. So Im being proactive. Check out my first effort at www.jaydimes.com this is the new video professing the always forthcoming website..... lol. It will be functioning by my birthday I promise. Speaking of that, there is a chance that the blog may move to www.jaydimes.com instead of being located at blogspot, but I haven't quite settled on that one yet.

Val is on gChat: So my sister has finally joined me in the wonderful world of chat. She bought herself a new computer, that was unfortunately not a mac. But she has found her way to using gChat so that we communicate through the internet. Next task is getting the webcam working, followed by convincing her to get on facebook or at least twitter. We will see.

Tomorrow's news, the Yankees tank opening day, Michigan State forgets to show up, a forgotten show called Sports Night and why Jessica Simpson is the only reason to watch The Dukes of Hazzard movie.

nite world

-tw

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

weekends dont quite feel like weekends anymore. i think it has alot to do with me working two jobs. the part time is taking 3 days in a row so im trying to make it to Sunday a day of absolute relaxation.

a couple of weeks ago i found out that netflix has renegade on dvd. its a cheesy show but i love it. its the fugitive on a bike with long hair. lorenzo lamas is harrison ford is david janssen, if you don't know who david janssen is and how he relates to the fugitive check out imdb.

i used to read all the time but i havent read a book in a while. i started reading something by chuck klosterman but never finished. a few weeks ago in anticipation of the movie i picked up the watchemen, everyone that i know thats read it loves it, and i cant put it down. its a comic book that is more like a novel with pictures.... lol

im amped that kings dominion opens starting this weekend. i believe that what i need in my life is a roller coaster, that pulls me in mulitple directions at high speeds and then randomly stops. its really cathartic.

-tw

DMC4: yesterday i got the feeling of accomplishment. i had put down devil may cry 4 because i couldn't get past a particular level. so yesterday i set out to beat that level so that the game was no longer useless to me. i feel so good now, only 17 more levels to beat

Going Green: if you know me well you know that i am a collector of music. for the longest time i have been stedfast in my desires to continue to buy CD's i like the feel of them the concrete space that they take up. i liken them to the record collection my dad kept that at some point i can share with my kids. but in effort to become more green i am making a change and hoping that hard drives will back me up, from now on if the mp3 album is the same price or cheaper than the hard copy CD then im going with the mp3 album. i hope this works out.

Eating my veggies: every day for the next two weeks at least on of meals will consist of a salad with green leafy veggies (potato salad doesn't count). just trying to get healthy.

24inch Imac: last week i received my new imac in the mail. at 24 inches its huge and has made me appreciate my desktop again, i've begun watching movies on it and become addicted to hulu.com. it so nice i moved my room around to accommodate it.

Hulu.com: if you have never used it you should check it out. it may make you get rid of you cable subscription.

-tw