UPDATE: It would appear that someone is powerful enough that they stopped this site from continuing to host/post this page concerning the good 'ole Holiday Special. Luckily I picked it up from the Google cache and will be posting what I can here on my site as soon as possible.
Man, these kids are annoying, ... but in a way, they brought back some good nostalgia for these good old games. I especially smiled when I read the one kid..
I noted the other day that September of 2004 was a busy month on this blog, especially for posts relating to the Star Wars DVD release. Archive: 09.2004 There were a few posts that I had started but didn't publish. More recently I went back and finished these entries. Included are my essays on the the Anti-Star Wars Movement as well as two quotes from instant message conversations that I had that week about the DVDs.
I can't believe it, but my little brother is getting married. My baby brother is getting married to one of the grandest women I have ever met - Kelly Stumm. And about the whole fact of the matter I can think of only one thing to say.
About friggin' time!
Kelly & Jon seem to be perfect compliments to each other from my perspective. I realized the other night that I couldn't recall when it was that I first met Kelly. But she's been with Jon for years now and has slowly become part of the family. Now she really will be part of the family. My children will get an "Aunt Kelly" and they could not be happier.
Congratulations on your engagement, you two. We love you and God bless you!
[Take a look at this image gallery featuring Jon, Kelly and others]
My little brother Jon and his girlfriend Kelly bought a house over the past summer ('04). When Lisa & I moved into our new house earlier spring '04 Jon was there quite a lot and I'm afraid that I wasn't there quite as much as I'd wanted to when it was their turn to move. Regardless, I think they got quite a lot of work done with everybody else's help, and their house is really impressive. I'm going to probably be updating the images there as soon as I can get around to it.
I'm moving the link to this image gallery off of the Arconati home page soon to make room for a new announcement (coming soon!).
Here is a style option I want to use for a redesign some day. In the links on this JS / CSS feature, the "title" tag shows up as a special colored pop-up when you rollover the link. Nice titles
The Night Before Christmas At QU
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the dorm
Maintenance fucked up the heater, and no one was warm;
The place was ice-cold, and foggy with pot,
Despite the complaints, Amy didn’t do squat.
JB was drinking by his fireplace with haste,
And knowing JB, not a drop goes to waste.
Next to JB, sat a man who was flaccid,
Sure enough it was Gates, having fun droppin’ acid.
The Plaid Brothers were nestled all snug in each bed,
Chardy was giving Randy good head;
Schulzee was drinking, and making a pun,
He also decided to bang Angie for fun.
Outside the door, I thought it was mamma,
He wore his hair long and rode on a llama;
This guy was nothing, but a magnified cum-stain,
Yes, poor little Winget, strung out on Accutane.
When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter,
Darren was eating and holding his bladder;
Away from the window he ran with a flash,
So no one would see him smoking his hash.
Gary was at North using toys on poor Mel,
Cock rings and dildos make him feel swell;
When what to his wondering eyes would appear,
But a fat, Chinese kid who we all thought was queer.
After the chink, followed a gaggle of queens,
One of them shouted, “I brought the beans!”
This odd little bunk, who had all but a sink,
Brought Oreos for Santa, and milk to drink!
Then entered the abominable snowman, covered with hair,
It was Jay, armed with a shovel and bullshit to spare;
Another one entered and the party guests shook,
But then we all realized this mass was named Book.
Then there it was, a pudgy guy in a sleigh,
I knew in a moment, I knew it was Dave;
As reindeer pulled it, he shouted with scorn,
And read through magazines, mostly all porn.
He read “Flasher” and “Lap Dancer” and “Prancer” and “Hot Vixen,”
And “Cum-it” and “Cupid” and “Dil-Donner” and “Clitzen;”
In front of the bathroom, Gary stood in the hall,
He pushed drunken Darren into a thermometer on the wall.
Schaefer was eating a 20 pound roast,
While Jonesy was chanting, “One piece of toast;”
A freak show was there and with Dave did she flirt,
She spoke of cheese sandwiches and a hair shirt.
Then armed with a knife, a man buttered the door,
First entered his girlfriend, a bitchy fat whore,
Buttering again, and assisted by Maul,
A fat man squeezed in, and we saw it was Paul!
And then in a twinkling we heard on the roof,
A dancing buffoon, a blundering goof;
A drunken old soul who we did believe,
To be our nutty pal, that goof we call Steve.
Farrby was mackin’, and slinging the lines,
No one would oblige him, except for the swines.
But then there was silence, except for some cryin’
Nobody knew, but some chick slapped Bryan.
The cryin’ was muted by the playing of spoons,
Then thumped some bass, and entered Doc Tunes!
He was bumpin’ and thumpin’ and calling Dave “Dawg”
Then out came the pen to write in the log.
Now back to Dave who was dressed in all fur,
He got really pissed at each stupid cur;
A bundle of porn on his back in a sack,
His housemate lit up a pipe full of crack.
Huber and Sarah talked over vermouth,
But Huber couldn’t handle the stench of that tooth;
Orrhe and Lisa both danced totally nude,
At Dave’s little party, they set the mood.
The egg nog got spiked by a jolly old fella,
All that we know, is he sported Gonnella;
I didn’t hear much, but I heard what I could,
I swear that the guy said “These Hi-Ho’s are good!”
Ed unexpectedly drank wine by the gallon,
All while being insulted, by a bitchy Italian.
Ed didn’t know, but he was taped in his room,
And Mama Luigi sounded off like a bassoon!
Fr. Eugene came in, followed by his chief,
We were amazed, when we saw that it was our Queef;
Klimczak emerged and then with a bow,
Introduced his new woman, a big old fat cow.
Beav sprang to his sleigh after spreading some cheer,
Everyone applauded and hoisted a beer;
As Beav flew away and out of the ‘hood,
Nat on the lawn shouted, “Christmas, Very Good.”
Seventy six trombones led the big parade,
With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand.
They were followed by rows and rows,
Of the finest virtuosos,
The cream of every famous band.Seventy six trombones caught the morning sun,
With a hundred and ten cornets right behind.
There were over a thousand reeds,
Springing up like weeds,
There were horns of every shape and size.There were copper bottom timpani in horse platoons,
Thundering, thundering, all along the way.
Double bell euphoniums and big bassoons,
Each bassoon having its big fat say.There were fifty mounted canons in the battery,
Thundering, thundering, louder than before.
Clarinets of every size,
And trumpets who'd improvise
A full octave higher than the score!Seventy six trombones hit the counterpoint,
While a hundred and ten cornets blazed away.
To the rhythm of Harch! Harch! Harch!
All the kids began to march,
And they're marching still right today!Seventy six trombones led the big parade,
when the order to march rang out loud and clear.
Starting off with a big bang bong on a Chinese gong,
by a big bang bonger at the rear.Seventy six trombones hit the counter point,
while a hundred and ten cornets played the air.
Then I modestly took my place as the one and only bass,
and I oompahed up and down the square.
These lyrics, this song and the attributed link are posted here for educational purposes and due to the fact that I happen to play Trombone and I like this song. If anyone is offended or objects to the use/posting of this copyrighted material, please contact me directly and I will remove this entry along with a personal note of apology.
My home page is starting to look a little bit outdated. I haven't changed anything since September. I want to make time to fiddle with it and make some changes, but first I'd like to get straightened out with where I am going to be hosting it shortly. For reasons I won't go into, my earthlink hosted home page will soon be unusable for my purposes. I have two possible options on where I will be going/moving, but my hope is that at that point, my domain name for the home page will actually stick rather than redirecting.
My MonsterCommerce v4.0 test site is gone, but I have moved the subdomain to my second v4.1 test site [update: down]. Not sure how much longer that will stay up as tech support was supposed to be using five staging IPs that for my reference I set up 5 sub-domains. Update: ...and then much later removed. 
Update on a few things:
First off, I saw a little bit of a web-documentary with Penn & Teller as hosts, where they suggest that the 'damn'-Bible is wrong, inconclusive and contradictory of itself at best. I used to like Penn & Teller, as I like magic tricks and their brand of humor. Unfortunately, I don't agree with them on this one, especially when they were presenting it as a documentary, but then having segments where they felt the need to punctuate their points while quoting the Bible out-of-context by DROP KICKING one across the room. I prefer if they are going to present an argument that they do it in a reverant way more similar to Mysteries of the Bible or something else you might see on the History Channel. This was done in a way that seemed half-serious, half-way to wannabe-like-Jon-Stewart's-Daily-Show-satire. I won't post a link to it here, but it probably aired somewhere.
That brings me to my second paragraph, which is really a question. If I post a link to something, it seems like I'm promoting it. Search Engines, especially Google, judge a site's importance partly on it's content and partly on how many other sites/people link to it. Even if I link to a site and say "OMGosh! This is the worst site ever! Their content and design are crud!", the very fact that my site links to theirs means that I have given them some intangible listing. Furthermore, there is something to be said against ..."OMIGawd! This tastes terrible,... here TRY IT!"... and yet it is just human nature.
Lastly, I'm none too happy with $ears right now. We bought a dishwasher from them and I took the day off because the delivery date said 22nd, but as it turns out, they were waiting for me to call and schedule it. I wasted a day off (my last for the year) and still have no dishwasher.
Ah, the holidays. Every year at about this time the cold weather starts to set in (although not today) and the Christmas holiday approaches.
The Christmas Carol that is tightly connected for me is "The Little Drummer Boy" by the Vienna Boys Choir. I love that song. The part that always strikes me funny about it is the fact that here is this little drummer boy going to meet the baby Messiah -- THE ONE -- true Son of God sent to save the world from itself and he feels disturbed that he doesn't have anything to bring. For us now, this seems silly and selfish maybe, as none of us ever got to see Jesus during that tim. Go to the baby, we want to say, See the good news of His birth and touch the hem of His garment and move on! I mean seriously, He has stuff to do and that right soon.
What is silly about it is that here the Little Drummer Boy is there with himself and his drums and his ruminations that he has nothing much to give the new born King. He strikes upon the brilliant idea of going and playing for the Savior, since that is all he has... or at least, that is what he thinks. He forgets that he does indeed have a DRUM. This is the King of the World, the SON OF GOD! Why didn't this brainchild of a drummer think to GIVE HIM THE DRUM? Hmph.
Of course, perhaps this was wiser to keep the drum for himself in retrospect. I mean, granted, Jesus brought into his flock, Lepers, Romans, the sick, the dying, the unclean, criminals... so it would logically assume that He would naturally extend his hand to the next lowest element of society: drummers. 
Can you picture it? Mary & Joseph, with irritated concern, call down their steps to their grown-up Son as He plays on his drum. "Hey Jesus, you ever gonna go out and get a job or something, I don't know, save the world?" his mother would shout. "No mom! Just leave me alone and let me play my drums!" rat tat tat tat... Then where would we be without a savior?
Considering today is election day, I was of course paralyzed by indecision. I first consulted my faith, but the lesson should be that Our Lord has much more important matters in store for us. Who wins the World Series, the Super Bowl, even the Presidential Election matters little in the big picture, like it or not. I have a long spiritual path to tread & I will never be perfect. But voting my conscience is really the only thing I need to start with for today, but this was just a starting point. Time to look towards my favorite movie (oh now I AM going to hell).
There is not much political discussion in Star Wars. Of course, there is a lot of talk about evil empires, rebel alliances & royalty (queens & princesses) that were apparently elected? But there is not much deep politics. Of course, there is this one brief conversation between Anakin & Padme during the Meadow Picnic Scene of Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
Discussions of Politics in Star Wars
::Padme::You really don't like politicians do you?
::Anakin::I like two or three, but I'm not really sure about one of them.
::Both laugh:: ::Anakin:: I don't think the system works.
::Padme::How would you have it work?
::Anakin::We need a system where the politicians sit down & discuss the problem, agree what's in the best interest of all the people, & then do it.
::Padme::That's exactly what we do,the trouble is that people don't always agree.
::Anakin::Well then they should be made too.
::Padme::By whom,who's going to make them?
::Anakin::I don't know...someone.
::Padme::You?
::Anakin::Of course not me.
::Padme::But someone?
::Anakin::Someone wise.
::Padme::Sounds often alot like a dictatorship to me.
::Anakin::.......Well if it works.
Sinister Dane ©1994
Music by D. Williams, Lyrics by J. Sears
Wave at the people
Smile at the people
Lie to the people--Looking through me...
Sit down to a breakfast
Sprinkled with bitterness
Choke then puke up the rotting fruit
The seeds they poorly distribute
Are harvested by the few
Chorus:
48 months is a long time
Punch out the squares
And leave the line
Now it's too late
To change your mind
48 months
We must be invisible
Searching for pennies
While their counting all their gold
We lose our souls
With the bony fingers round their throats
They'll realize pain is powerful
Chorus
We must be wise
With our choices
'Cause life's hard enough to live
While they're lounging having fun
Nothing gets done
When the time comes 'round
To choose again
Will the better party win?
For those of you too young to remember the days before Google, there were other search engines, such as Altavista (the first big one) and Yahoo. The reason Google became the most popular is that they do a very good job of ranking the interesting items first, which is important when there are 39000 hits for your query. The Search Engine Promotion business, when it's not just a scam sold by spammers, is mainly about doing artificial things to make Google's robots think your page would be interesting to humans; it's much better to actually make your page interesting to actual humans, and hope Google's robots pick up on that.
How Google Can Make or Break A Small Business Couldn't have said it better myself. Of course, every web site promotion company will tell you that is exactly what they do.
Concerning the Star Wars vs. Star Trek debate, this is really an unfair comparison. Star Trek is and has always been a television show that used Science Fiction as a vehicle for Drama. Granted it crossed over into film media and it did very well. But Star Wars is classic epic cinematic story-telling. Classifying the saga as mere Science Fiction is a misnomer because these movies are really Fantasy Tales. If you look closely and peel away certain layers, you will see that there are wizards, dragons, emperors, knights, princesses, nobility, swashbuckling, courage, but most importantly there is MAGIC - called the Force.
Star Trek on the other hand, has none of these larger elements. It is one of the greatest stories of adventure and space exploration with drama in all forms in all time. However, it is unfair to compare the two as they are like apples to oranges.
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate;
The first one said, "My it's getting late."
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."
The fifth one said, "It's Halloween fun."
"Wooooooo" went the wind,
And out went the lights.
These five little pumpkins ran out of sight.
CNN.com - Christopher Reeve dies at 52 - Oct 11, 2004: Superman
actor known for activism in spinal cord research
A 'systemic infection' pretty much means that his body finally gave up. What a heroic, painful, long, tragic, but inspiring fight he put up. My favorite thing recently was seeing him on the SMALLVILLE television show. He and Margot Kidder (who played Lois Lane) both had related cameos. I will miss him.
* ArcoJedi straps on a cape and flies around the room, just like when he was a kid, in honor of the fallen "Superman"...
Jim, I am a bit disappointedin Star Wars ??? [DVD]yeah, how'd you guess?It was the common conversation thread today...Our sound system was too good for ittoo good for it?and you were able hear lots off hissing n' stuff off and on, the soundwork was so patchyReally? This complaint, more than any other... really bothers me... that LucasArts missed this... I disagree with a lot of the whiners ..."they shouldna changed mah movie!"but obvious crap like that?bad sound?!When Lucas is so... I mean he revolutionized sound for movies with the THX thing*heavy sigh*yup, the sound was all patched, and I understand that you can only do so much with sound that is 30 years old, but it was so un - uniformed, that it got irritatingPicture quality was beautiful, but sound, I give it a "C"90% of the original dialogue had a bad hiss in the background, and you could tell that things were patched.and when for example, Leia would have a line, she would say something to Solo, and he would respond, and when she responded back, it was LOUDER....things like that...sound quality was actually more comfortable on the VHS releaseI think I'm gonna cry
Ideas for next Star Wars Release:* Replace Luke Skywalker with animated cat - Meow Skywalker* Replace Chewy with a large black man who is Han's Gay lover* Luke and Leia don't realize their relationship until it's too late ...* Luke Joins his father and rules Universe with Iron fist ...I'm not sure I'd pay $40 for those DVDs!yea but some of them are good ideas ...
At least better than Greedo shooting first!
So folks have been asking me a lot lately if I have the new DVDs of the original Star Wars Trilogy yet. The answer is currently no. Shocked? Here has been my standard explanation.
No, I don't have a copy right now and I feel a little outside my own personality because of it. But in reality I can wait until Christmas for this one. Lisa suggested that I wait until the holidays so people have something to buy me. Apparently, I'm hard to buy for? [ Here's my Wishlist ]
Lucas waited on DVD technology and also wanted to hammer down what some of the things in Episode III were going to look like before he released the DVDs so the look would match and gel with what comes later in Episode IV. And did you hear that there have been some changes to the films for the DVD release? Yes that's right this is Star Wars: the Extra-special Special Edition. Changes include altering the ghost image of Anakin Skywalker at the end of Episode VI to appear as Hayden Christensen next to the ghosts of Obi-Wan and Yoda rather than the other guy who played Vader behind the mask. Goofy and unnecessary.
There are so many people upset at Lucas right now... people who I would consider Star Wars fans. I admit that some of it is valid, but largely I can't help but think that this is Lucas's way of getting rid of all those people who made fun of Star Wars later into the 80's and get down to base core fan group.
Eventually, I will be the only TRUE fan left.
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In tonight's "You-never-know-what-you-can-get-unless-you-ask" moment, I'd like to tell you about something great that happened tonight at Walgreens. My daughter is sick and the doctor prescribed a certain anti-biotic. We picked it up at Walgreens yesterday night. Then today, we get a call from the Doc and further tests revealed that this specific strain is resistant to the specific type of medicine originally prescribed. So the Dr. called Walgreens Pharmacy to get us something new instead. The prescription was ready when I got there but I'd also brought the old medication with me. I asked the nice lady behind the counter what I should do with it. Should I just throw it out? Could they properly dispose of it? They wouldn't be able to refund the $10 I paid for it, would they? I mean, they can't sell it to someone else, so it has to be thrown out. Would you believe that the nice lady behind the counter actually offered me the discount! I got the new medication for the same price and therefore paid nothing. Say what you want, but I thought it was impressive and great customer service. |
I've also discovered a few webmaster downloads that can be used on Star Wars fan pages and I plan to use them eventually. The first is listed below.
Lisa's group from work has a work-in-progress copy of what I am looking to do for their website.
http://b.arconati.us currently down
I stayed up pretty late getting it done last night and am dead tired. Also, mom now has two Ebay listings for old stuff/toys of Frank's that she is getting rid of. It will be easier to find a collector on Ebay rather than the local garage sales she does. We probably set the reserve price too high and no one has bid on them yet, but I am hopful.
German scientists have discovered a pharmaceutical method that will overturn that old adage; You can't fix stupid.
Apparently the drug biologically alters the chemical/biological makeup of a person in such a way as to prevent people from being stupid moments after ingestion. Test trials are going well, except for the few test subjects who are not taking the pill properly. Case study #3952-C was quoted - This thing you gave me isn't working and I stuck it pretty far into my ear. What gives?
Here's an interesting bit of history, adapted from an article in Computerworld sent to me by my Dad with some editing to include his personal experiences.
Thirty-five years- not a long chunk of the timeline we call 'history.' But it was 35 years ago this month that the Arpanet -- the initial piece of today's Internet -- began to go live. Sure, that's a fuzzy way of saying it. But it took a while.
On Aug. 30, 1969, the first Arpanet node was set up at the University of California, Los Angeles. The second node wasn't ready at the Stanford Research Institute until Oct. 1. And the first attempt to log on across the Arpanet didn't happen until Oct. 29. (For the record, it crashed the network.)
I had been at AT&T about a year, and the actual implementation of Arpanet was barely recognized in Big-T's internal bulletins. I doubt that any of the designers ever imagined what we know today as the Internet.
1969 was an all-around great year for technology. Ken Thompson at AT&T's Bell Labs wrote the first version of Unix that year. Ted Codd defined the relational database. Three IBM researchers -- Charles Goldfarb, Edward Mosher and Raymond Lorie -- lent their initials to GML, a distant ancestor of today's HTML and XML. Xerox's Gary Starkweather combined photocopier technology with laser imaging to create the first laser printer.
They all changed the face of IT -- and the way IT is used in business. But none has had as dramatic an impact as the Arpanet. The rest changed how we do what we do. The Net changed the paradigm.
The Arpanet's impact really is qualitatively different from those of the other technologies. Unix, relational databases, markup languages and laser printers proved their value by replacing existing operating systems, databases, text-coding schemes and printers. They let us do the same things as before, only better.
But the Arpanet -- and the Internet -- changed the way we think. With the Net, IT went from being about number crunching and data processing to being about communications -- between machines and between people. After 35 years, the network isn't just the computer as Sun Microsystems used to say. With Web services, the network is the application. With network-attached storage, it's the disk drive. With voice over IP, it's the telephone. Add the Web, and the network is the radio and the TV. It's the conference room and the office. It's the retail store and the research library.
With the Net, physical collocation is no longer required (and physical security is no longer enough.) And off shoring of information jobs becomes possible. Criminals halfway around the world attacking our systems became inevitable. And on the Web, every design flaw in our systems is exposed to customers, with no sales clerks or customer service agents to cover for us.
But the Net also lets our companies do business with customers they would never have approached before. It opens up new ways of cutting costs and adding value. It has dragged IT out of the back office and the glass house and made it indispensable to every step in the business process – from supply chains, logistics and manufacturing to sales, cross marketing and customer care.
After 35 years, the Net really has brought us a long way. And all along the way, I got to be not only an eyewitness, but also a player (admittedly a bit-player, but a player nonetheless.)
I hope you can find time, every-so-often, to stop and notice your part in history.
--♥--Dad
I thought it poignant enough that I posted it to an announcement board at work. It's interesting to see how far it has come.
I have a daughter in kindergarten!!! Reese started on Monday and I was there with both camera AND camcorder. I couldn't possibly be more proud. Lisa wasn't so sure about the camcorder as she didn't think that it was fair to other parents that may not have had a camcorder and Reese might get picked on because her parents were all over her with the camera. Sensitive to this, I still kept the camera rolling for part of the time but stayed more unobtrusively out of the way.
Lisa's thing was that kids -- girls especially -- can be mean and pick on other girls for the smallest of things. I think that all kids -boys & girls- will find anything to pick on, but that it doesn't happen all that much to Kindergartners. Also, Lisa was the one - and I have this on camera - who was kissing and hugging Reese all over! 
Other news: My blog has been around for one full year! There is so much in the works (in my head) right now, that it should be busting at the seams by next year.
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| [Image by Markus Schille - *Permission Granted*] |
I have been taking on or supporting a few new projects for personal webspaces and non-profit in my spare time. I'm very excited about them.
Firstly, I have my last name as a domain name. This is my personal space, just for anything i want, but I am also wanting to keep other members of the Arconati family connected through email, subdomains or anything else that would be needed. Currently, this redirects to my Earthlink space.
Secondly, I have my MonsterCommerce test store redirected to a subdomain [updated: down]. Right now, I have many of my Star Wars ideas up on this site. I am also uploading some of Frank's statues as products. For other test products, I am going to get some products off of Shop.StarWars.com & Office Depot.
I also have this blog on a subdomain.
For a while, I was using a separate blogger account to manage a role-playing environment for some family and friends. Now, I also have a message board hosted through Proboards. Create a character and come visit the Seamist Inn. Just watch your coin-purse.
Through my wife's work, I have volunteered to help their group update and manage their Gateway Grandparents/Kinship Network website. Here is the working copy [updated: down].
Besides all the work I have to do at work, ... ah, but it's all fun.
Update: Many of the links mentioned in this post are outdated at the moment or temporarily down. However, the link to find shopping cart software is still valid.
The title of the next episode of the Star Wars Saga was released on July 24th, 2004. Check out the official announcement.
The circle is now complete...
http://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/
Frank Barker came to my attention sometime between 1996 & 1998. My little brother, Jon, was calling me for something else while I was living away from home. He filled me in on the news that Mom was going out with someone – someone special to her. This was a big deal because up until this point to my knowledge, my mother had never dated anyone. Since my parents’ divorce, my mother had devoted herself mostly to her children & her work. For her to be interested would mean that the guy would have to be something special.
Jon was about 16 or 17 & he certainly thought so. He's cool,
Jon said. He smokes. He's a recovering alcoholic & a drug abuse counselor. He tells really funny stories from like the 60's & get this, Jimmy, he cusses.
In my mother’s house? I thought. Now I knew he had to be something special because of all the anti-smoking lectures we'd gotten as kids. Suspicious & – as most boys are – protective of my mom, I went to meet Frank & find out more about him.
Frank talked. A lot. He made good on Jon's description with the stories. He'd had four ex-wives & been a recovered alcoholic for more than a dozen years. He also loved movies & we immediately found common ground talking about Star Wars, Star Trek and other sci-fi stuff. He'd seen thousands of movies & this was the common date he took my mom out to see the latest summer blockbuster at the Cineplex. Later I found out he made sculptures & abstract paintings. Space ships or time machines or alien creatures often influenced his work.
He had grand ideas about politics & the world. He wanted to go visit Hawaii, but was horribly frightened of flying. So he described a floating bridge constructed of recycled milk cartons that should be built from California. He wrote letters to George Bush saying we shouldn’t waste time & American lives trying to find Taliban terrorists, but should just level the country completely from outer space.
He also told me on many occasions how much my mother talked about me. Without realizing it over a long period of time, he was helping my mother & I become closer again. Whenever he cussed or told dirty jokes my mother’s eyes would just roll & she’d chide him. Oh, Frank!
she'd say, because there was nothing else that she could say. He'd just look at her, smile innocently & say What?
Later on, I came to find out that he had two children whom he had not seen in the flesh since they were 2 & 3 years old. He didn’t know where they were but still loved them very much. There were other family members he had lost touch with, brothers & sisters. Still, our family would wish him a happy father's day every year with gifts of cards or little found objects to add to his collection. When they were born, he loved my children instantly & started bringing them toys.
One of my favorite Frank-isms – which I don’t think is in the book yet – was Life's short, eat dessert first.
And he certainly did in an almost hedonistic way. Not just in food, though, but in everything Frank did for the time that I knew him; he savored all the good things in life. Though he was in pain & it worsened in later years, Frank smiled & laughed & told jokes & made practical jokes & brought joy & happiness & a welcome addition into our family.
Most importantly, though his past demons in life had separated him from family & friends, he had no bitterness. He used his experiences to help others & fight back from their abyss. He touched so very many lives and put the 'good stuff' first. We are truly blessed to have had him.
Where have I been all this time? Well, I got promoted (twice), got my marriage vows renewed in a marriage ceremony and I bought a house!
Whoa, am I tired.
I wish I had some pictures of any of these events to show but I just got the computer set up properly in my new house and haven't found the card reader for the digital camera. I also can't find the cable for the scanner (or printer). Hey, wait, here's one:
Oh, hey and do you like my Castle?
The job is going well, I got promoted to a team leader position and trained about a half-dozen new techs. Then I got promoted laterally to a consultation position.
I have so much more I could talk about, but... that is enough for now. I want to go back farther to my grandpa, my heritage and bring it up to speed. Life is progressing faster than I can type and will continue on ever on.
Now, est finitium.
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