LAD the Third

Are you a fatso too?

2009-05-12T07:55:00.000-05:00

I'm a fatso!

2009-04-27T10:25:00.002-05:00

I've tried to stick to the weight watchers points system for 4 years, and have cheated every single week except for one. I've started a public accountability weight loss plan, which you can join me in if you're interested: fatso.diberard.com.

I'll be publicly keeping track of my progress in hopes that the accountability will scare me out of cheating on my diet and scare me into working out.

Science Project!

2009-04-04T21:25:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: There's a third frame that got cut off. Please click on it to read the rest!

My dad found this comic in the paper he was reading on our flight back from upstate New York on Monday. I think it will be quite applicable to Louis and I in the future... hopefully I can set aside my perfectionism to let him make the project ;-)

Review: Stainless Steel Sharpie

2009-04-03T08:35:00.001-05:00

Seeing as how my mom works for Sharpie and hooked me up with some, and how @sharpiesusan tweeted nonstop about how they're available at amazon.com, I thought I would give a review on the new Stainless Steel Sharpie. First, I'll give my initial thoughts before I obtained one, then the review once I got my hands on it.

I have to admit, I thought the idea of a SS Sharpie was cool as hell when I first heard about it. I mean, like most guys, I like metal. Plus, my dad is a welder, so I'm into that kind of stuff. I almost picked a stainless (or titanium) wedding band before I realized resizing them would be a pain. That's about as far as I thought about it though, as I didn't really seek out any pics or specs (I knew my mom would eventually get me one anyway). The one negative thought I had in my mind (which has since been contradicted) was that refilling this SS Sharpie would probably be a mess. Anyway, on to my first meeting with SS Sharpie.

Actually having the Sharpie in my hand was great. It looks amazing. The best part is probably the laser etched, raised "Sharpie" logo. I guess I never realized it before, but the cool new logo brought to my attention that when I hold the marker, the logo is upside down since I'm left handed. Granted, this is no knock, but I'll be trying to convince the higher-ups (i.e., mom) to make some lefty SS Sharpies! It writes great and it looks really cool and professional. My one concern over messy refills was unwarranted. The refill is actually the entire marker, and the SS part is basically a screw-on sheath and cap. Again, amazing. That about sums it up, like I said, amazing. Definitely worth the ~$6.

For a review from an actual expert, check out Office Supply Geek. They were nice enough to send me their review via twitter (@OfficeSupplyGee) after I had mentioned I was going to write one, and they have some great pics I was too lazy to take.

Busy

2009-03-26T23:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry everyone. Life has been extremely hectic. I'm so busy at work that I have no time for anything else besides hanging with my family. Well, and updating Twitter. I highly recommend you follow that instead of this blog, as it's gone by the wayside unless I have something really great to talk about that a few tweets can't handle. Anyway, once I get some time I hope to pick the blogging back up, but for now, you're stuck with endless status updates.

Anyway, for a life update, all I really have to talk about is my family. If you didn't see on my website, I graduated with a combined BS/MS in mechanical engineering this past December and am currently working toward a PhD in the same field. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm real excited about my PhD research because it's a little more mathy (dynamic modeling) than kinesiology (for my MS). Linnea is great, she's got 2 part time jobs, one of which she works from home to spend more time with Louis. Louis is amazing. Every day something new happens, and it's so exciting. He recently learned to crawl and can pull him self up to stand. It's been very exciting (and scary) watching him move around and become more independent. Unfortunately, he'd rather play with the dog's toys and food bowls than his own toys. If you'd like more of Louis' updates, let me know and I can add you to the list. We're too chicken to un-password protect his blog for now...

Which ones? Please help!!!

2009-03-01T06:56:00.006-06:00

Which glasses should I choose? I really like the plastic frames but all my glasses have been wire frame, so everyone I know prefers the second pair. I need outside opinions!!! You can reply here or on twitter. Thanks!

Great T-shirts!

2009-02-28T10:35:00.000-06:00

I saw this ad on Facebook for a really cool t-shirt. It's a "you're killing me Smalls" t-shirt. Seeing as how "The Sandlot" is one of my most favorite movies for-e-ver, I couldn't pass up sharing this.

Oh, but it gets even better! If you go to the link for the shirt, they have the whole scene quoted. THEN, on the "related products" list for this shirt, nothing other than a Rick "the Wild Thing" Vaughn jersey, Jamaican bobsled team shirt, and yes, from one of my favorite trilogies, an Adam Banks jersey.

For those not hip to these movies, they're respectively: "Major League," "Cool Runnings," and "The Mighty Ducks." The dude who thought of making shirts from these movies is a pure genius. If I had money I'd buy one or two, or three.

Oh, how things change...

2009-02-28T10:25:00.000-06:00

I started writing this post about how I realized the differences in my class taking habits between undergrad and grad school, but it started sounding real lame. Here's a recap:

Undergrad: Get A or B while skipping as much class as possible and never starting assignments early.

Grad: Actually learn what's being taught.

I was writing a bunch of stuff up on this when I realized that while I am trying to learn more rather than just pass these days, my classsroom work ethic hasn't improved too much. I still usually start homework the night before it's due, and if I have an afternoon test, I'll usually start studying that morning. There are exceptions. When I'm in a very time consuming class (where we get 2 weeks to complete an assignment), I'll actually start the homework 2 days before it's due. I guess that's a big improvement...

Gainsville Photobooth rental!!!

2009-02-21T21:15:00.001-06:00

Oh yeah, and if you're planning an event, I highly recommend renting a photobooth. Linnea had one at our wedding and used it as our guest book. Guests went in, then the attendant glued their photos in the book, and our guests wrote to us next to their pictures. It was one of the biggest things at the reception, right up there with the dance floor and the hosted bar.

So anyway, you should especially get one if you live around central Florida. One of my good friends Taylor just helped start phobooth.com. They even have props and everything!

Thanks, Delta

2009-02-21T21:05:00.001-06:00

I was going to post about this a while ago, but I've been extremely busy with class and work. I haven't even been keeping up with my photoswap scavenger hunt. It's unfortunate because anyone who was by chance keeping track of it probably isn't anymore... Oh well. Anyway, back to the post at hand. Linnea, Louis and I went to Atlanta on December 26th to visit her Dad's side of the family. It was a really great trip, and Louis was really great on the plane, but that's not the point of this post either. So what the heck am I posting for? I'll tell you...

We're walking through the airport, I can't remember which at the moment, when I see these Delta people signing travelers up for something. I spot a teddy bear being handed out, so we walked over to their little table to check it out. That's when I spotted the travel coffee mug. Bingo! They hooked me with the teddy bear (for Louis), and they reeled me in with the coffee mug. It wasn't a big deal though, as they said it was a sign up for sky miles. Awesome, no harm in signing up for that, at least until they made me put my SSN on the form. What? They said something about confirming my citizenship, and I think that's awfully strange for an airline miles program. Oh well, I went with it for the mug.

Well I SHOULDN'T have! What do I get in the mail a few weeks after we get home? A "skymiles rewards" Discover card. A credit card, not a frequent flier membership, a credit card. That sucks, I don't need a credit card with +10% above my other cards. So I sighed in disgust, and since I'd have to inconvenience myself by calling and cancelling the card. Luckily it was really easy since I hadn't activated it yet. At least I still have the bear and the mug, and they didn't get any money from me...

Unfortunately it didn't end there. After I got that card in the mail, I remembered the previously forgotten travel mug. Woo hoo! So I used it. The first time I used it some coffee was dripping down the side as I briskly walked from the parking garage to class. I shook it off. I do tend to walk hard, if you can describe walking as hard, and I also thought that it was on account of me trying to drink while walking hard. But no, what happened the next time I used it? It freaking spilled EVERYWHERE!!! This is coming off a long night. I needed that coffee to make it through class. I tried my best to fix it while walking "hard," but nothing was working, and I was making even more of a mess. Oh, I had gloves on too, so that was great, they're now mocha black instead of black. I finally determined that the o-ring wasn't seated properly. I was fed up at this time. I threw the cap in the next garbage can I passed, dumped some coffee to avoid splash-over (on account of my hard walking), and tried drinking as much as I could before getting to the last garbage can before class, in hopes that it would keep me coherent enough to at least copy all the notes down.

That sucked! I don't even want Louis to play with that bear anymore. I think I'll throw him away (with his bomber jacket too, stupid Delta bear...). Moral of the story: Don't be an idiot. If they hand out free stuff, it's a credit card.

Tweet, tweet.

2009-01-23T00:50:00.001-06:00

I just signed up for Twitter today. I figured since I can get an app to easily update it on my iPhone, and I always want to blog about random things throughout the day but don't get around to it, that Twitter would be the perfect solution.

Keep an eye out, one of these days I'm thinking of having a Twitt-a-thon where I would update just about every single thing I was doing on a given day. It would be interesting to see how awesome or boring that day is...

UPDATE: See it on the sidebar --->

Patience is a virtue

2009-01-15T10:35:00.001-06:00

Sorry to Taylor, or anyone who in the future feels the urge to comment on one of my posts, but it seems to only be Taylor. He's probably the only one who has my blog in a feed reader, so he's the only one who knows that I actually started posting again. Oh well...

Anyway, "gooooood girl" keeps posting about how amazing she thinks my blog is, but I've uncovered her dubious scheme. Her picture is a fake! I thought it looked cartoonish... Well, it's all a ploy to promote full tilt poker's website, as that's the only information on her profile. That's funny, because I've used full tilt poker. But, I got sick of seeing her fake-pictured comments on my blog, so now I'm moderating them.

I know, it sucks when you post a comment and can't get the instant gratification of seeing it on the page, but I'll try my best not to take too long screening them.

Facebook

2009-01-10T11:18:00.002-06:00

I just realized how amazing the facebook iPhone app really is (oh, besides the fact that it always crashes). So for those who don't have it, if one of your friends changes their phone number in fb, the newsreel on the app will tell you, and also says "it has been added to your phone book."

At first I thought there was some fb phonebook I've never used, until one day, when someone who actually mattered changed their number. I went to my phone's contacts to change the number and it was already done! Facebook did it automatically!

Holy crap. That is phenomenal. Maybe one day after I delete all the "friends" I've never even spoken to in my whole life (for another post...) I'll actually add my phone number to fb so iPhone users can enjoy automatically receiving my contact updates.

Commencement?

2008-12-23T22:25:00.001-06:00

Since I'm so awesome and finally deposited my thesis this December, I'll be graduating with my B.S. and M.S. all in one shot. I participated in commencement on Saturday. What are we commencing though? Is it simply the cliché "rest of our lives?" I'd rather think of it as an ending to all the crap I stressed about, because if it's a celebration of new beginnings, then I'll just get more stressed about all the crap I'll be getting stressed about while trying to earn my Ph.D.

Oh well. I "commenced" mainly because my Mom wanted to see, as I never graduated after my undergrad since I was in a combined B.S./M.S. program. I would have been completely fine with the whole thing had the guy not completely butchered my name. I mean, it was unrecognizable. I don't know how he turned 5 syllables into 2, and he forgot "the third," which made it even worse.

I guess the one consolation I have is that I got to wear this sweet-ass hood for being a M.S. graduate.

Trying email posting

2008-12-18T23:30:00.000-06:00

Okay, so the LifeCast app blows. You can only do either text or pic,
and it stopped working! So, I'm trying direct posts from email instead.

Done, kind of...

2008-12-16T08:10:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm finally finished. It took 6 1/2 years, but I'm finally a college grad. Oh yeah, and throw in a MS too! Turning in my thesis on Thursday was one of the best school related feelings I've had. Too bad I followed it up with an incomplete final on Friday night. Oh well, that will count toward my PhD, so it doesn't really affect my happy feelings, since I rocked a 4.0 MS GPA. Anyway, life goes on and I have to pick back up with getting some manuscripts publishable and workng on my PhD research, but I took a relaxing extended weekend. That was nice.

Also, I'll be resuming my photoswap scavenger hunt today, so make sure to check out the pics I find!

Happy Birthday Linnea!!!

2008-12-16T08:05:00.002-06:00

Movin' on up

2008-12-03T22:55:00.004-06:00

I'm 6/10 of the first page of google links for "Louis DiBerardino" right now.

I say "Ha!" to you Louis DiBerardino the architect and Louis Diberardino the accountant without the capital B!

Now back to the thesis :(

Photoswap scavenger hunt!

2008-11-24T14:35:00.005-06:00

I noticed a lot of people like to do scavenger hunts with the Photoswap app on the iPhone. It inspired me to make my own. It's not a competitive thing, rather just me seeing what pictures I'll get in return. I plan on creating a series of themed hunts (after the first one, "40 things"). Have fun keeping track of the things I find here!

Testing, 1 2 3

2008-11-22T22:53:00.001-06:00

Testing the "LifeCast" app on my iPhone.

Posted with LifeCast

Parenting tip:

2008-11-22T01:05:00.000-06:00

Do not make your child laugh after eating cereal (like the mushy rice cereal infants eat, not "grown up" cereal). They might spit some up, and cough, at the same exact instant you're leaning toward them to make them smile more, and a tiny little piece of regurgitated cereal mixed with applesauce (thank God, but it still tasted bad) will fly right into your open mouth. You'll freak out because it tastes so bad and because you'll think "what are the odds?"

New one

2008-11-21T14:45:00.001-06:00

A guy from my class was talking on his cell phone during our break. He was peeing in a urinal at the time, his phone wedged between his cheek and shoulder. Then he left without washing his hands.

I know, you know how to pee without gettng it on your hands, but that doesn't mean all the germs on your hands don't exist.

Too long...

2008-11-16T14:15:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the huge gap between posts. I guess it's been a busy month. I assume that since I haven't posted in a while, nobody will read this anymore, except the possible few who might subscribe to the feed. I find my free time dwindling, and when I do get some, I'd rather just relax or hang out with my son. There have been countless things I've experienced since my last post that I really wanted to write about, but just didn't pick up the computer. Maybe I'll add a list at the bottom of the post. Anyway, my iPhone is still great, a month later, except that it needs to get charged at least every other day. That's a little annoying. Man, that just reminded me of something else I've been putting off. I have $50 from my birthday to buy music, which I haven't done for 2 weeks. I really need to re-stock my collection.

Ok, so as a recap of the last month (since my last post), I gave 2 conference presentations (that took up way too much time, now I'm behind on my thesis), Linnea was Matron of Honor in Angela's wedding (where Brandon and I made quick friends with bartender Tom, and got free shots for trying a "cement mixer," and my iPhone rocked it out so we were able to keep track of the Illini tear it up against Indiana), We went to a Chinese Halloween party (where Louis dressed up as a horse, and Linnea and I dressed as babies, diapers and all), we had a great birthday dinner for me at a decently cool pizza / arcade place with ok pizza, started going to a bi-weekly bible study / dinner with people our age at church, witnessed the Change (we'll see if I believe in it, but at least the next Pres is a Sox fan!), turned 24, Louis got baptized, Illini football sucked, Louis went to his first Illini basketball game, and most recently (i.e, right now), waching the Bears blow chunks against the Packers. Absolutely horrible. Oh yeah, and I told Linnea not to let me buy Call of Duty: World at War until I finish my thesis. I'm thinking now that that was a big mistake.

Finally, a list of random thoughts that have popped in my head since last time. Why do I see some girls riding their bicycles wearing skirts? Why do people talk on their phone while riding their bicycle, in the middle of the road, almost getting hit by cars? Why do people cross the street without looking, assuming the drivers see them, rather than being safe and waiting for them to stop? Why does EVERYONE constantly talk on their phone while driving? Why doesn't my iPhone have a video camera? Why did I see a girl driving a sport motorcycle with a dress on? Why are people dumb? Is it a stereotype if it's true? And finally, why do some girls ride their bicycles wearing skirts?

That was quick...

2008-10-12T00:15:00.000-05:00

So 2 days after I start writing a post about how I long for an iPhone, what happens? Linnea cracks and we go get an iPhone! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. It's sickening that I'd rather read web pages on the little iPhone screen than my computer right now, but I'm completely infatuated with it. I guess I should plug it in and put some songs on it, but I'd rather browse the internet or whatever else with it. Plus I never re-installed iTunes after my last reformat. Hopefully I'll get around to adding music to it before I actually find myself wanting to listen to music...

iWant iPhone

2008-10-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

I've wanted an iPhone since the first commercial I saw on TV. I still remember it. It was some brief teaser ad, and it confused me more than anything. What? An iPod phone? How does that work? Get me one! Too bad once they finally came out it cost $400 with an extra $25/month on the cell phone contract. I resigned myself to the idea that I couldn't afford one until I left school and got a real job. But I still wanted one...

Anyway, with a recent budget making session, Linnea and I have figured out how much weekly "allowance" we can have for random spending. I can easily cover the now $30/month ($35 if I want to text) with part of this allowance, but how do I get the $200 to buy the phone in the first place? Now the excitement is brewing and I try to develop schemes to get that money. Luckily my birthday and Christmas are coming, so I can just ask for cash. I still want it NOW though, ever since we learned I could afford it, I've noticed myself in multiple situations per day where I could really use the email/internet the iPhone offers. Not to mention my dreams of watching movies on it on a plane, for example.

Since I want it so bad, it's really easy for me to rationalize getting it now: I need it so I'm not bored between sessions at the conference this week, we need it so we have GPS going to Angela's wedding next weekend, etc. We'll see what happens I guess.

NOTE: This is post dated because I literally wrote all but one sentence on the date it says, and I finished it right before the next post, ironically.

8:00 AM

2008-10-09T08:05:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I make my Eight O'clock Coffee brand coffee at eight o'clock every morning.

Thanks, White Sox

2008-10-07T11:45:00.001-05:00

Well the season is over for me. While a first round elimination is a little disappointing 3 years removed from a World Series Championship, I can't complain too much about the White Sox this season. Yes, they lived and died by the long ball (chicks still dig it though...), but they were only expected to finish 3rd or 4th in the Central this year.

So thanks, White Sox for exceeding expectations. Thanks, White Sox for stumbling into AL Central champions in stellar fashion. Thanks for Swish even though he slumped. Thanks for the true ROY Cuban Missile. Thanks, White Sox for the beautiful sight of The Kid in your uniform. And absolutely most important of all, thanks, White Sox for staying in the playoffs one game longer than the Cubs! But please trade choker Javier Vasquez. Ozzie was right. You know he would have lost 3 in a row if you made it to game 5.

Aside: sorry to the two readers I have left for not posting. It's been a crazy hectic semester. I'll try harder once I get through these two presentations I have to give at a conference next week, and the midterm right after them!

Welcome to St. Paul

2008-09-17T00:45:00.000-05:00

My friend Adam just moved to St. Paul, and had a wonderful "welcome" by the police:

I had a "run-in" with a cop in full body armor last night in downtown St. Paul. Jana and I went to see the taping of the Daily Show at the Historical Museum (this is all during the RNC), and just outside the building we were in (across the street and down about a block) is where all of the peaceful protesting was going on. We went out for dinner after the show got out, at about 7:30p or so, and on the walk back to our car after dinner some bicycle cops came up behind us and started telling us where to walk. We ignored them and took a right to get to our car and they freaked out and started pushing me (actually physically pushing me) to go straight instead. I threw my hands up and went "woa man, just walking to our car here" and in response, he waved his mace at me telling me to get moving in his direction. We walked up about a half a block to where a news van was (FOX) and Jana walked up to their open door telling them that innocent people are getting pushed around and maced just outside their van completely unprovoked and they should be filming it. I had continued walking forward and was yelling at Jana to hurry because the bike cops were just about to get up to her again (they were riding VERY slow so they could ride next to the walkers). The cop that had pushed me earlier got to where I was standing and waved his mace in my face again and told me to keep walking. I then looked him in the eye and said "Thats my wife right there and I am waiting for her". He ignored me, and I yelled "Thats my fucking wife, you just wait a second ass whole! You're out here pushing us around and we were just out to dinner and we are walking back to our car". By that time Jana had got to where I was and we grabbed hands and continued walking. We were with 3 other friends that were at the show with us and at dinner with us. Two of them were way ahead of us because they walked very fast to get away from it all, and the other was holding up his phone the whole time yelling "this is all on tape! You're on video right now!"

Needless to say, it changed the way I look at cops completely. I felt like I was in a video about the 1960s. I have never seen so many guns, mace cans, or tear-gas rifles in my life. Just walking to the Daily Show at 2:30p (we had to get there early to get a seat) I must have seen 250 cops in full body armor. If anything, Jana and I felt LESS safe with them being there, and as it turns out, we WERE less safe. The only harm that I received both verbally and physically all night was from a police officer. AND I WASN'T EVEN AT THE PROTEST. Even if I was, it should not have mattered. I was walking peacefully to my car holding my wife's hand and strolling along. How these officers thought we were some kind of threat is beyond me. What kind of judgment is he using pushing me around?

Jana and I got home last night (9/4/08) at about 9:30 and were just happy to be home and away from it all....

Comcast SUCKS

2008-09-13T13:05:00.002-05:00

OK, I take back all the good things I ever said when I found out that Comcast was going to carry the Big Ten Network. Why, do you ask? Let me tell you. This morning, while video chatting with my mom so she could see her grandson, I noticed the clock said 11:00, so I swore, jumped up and switched the channel to Big Ten Network HD. I didn't want to miss kickoff for the Illini. Anyway, what was on TV? The Northwestern University Wildcats versus the Southern Illinois University Salukis.

WHAT? Last week they showed a few seconds of another game and then it switched to the Illini, so I waited. Then I waited longer. Then I went online to see if they actually kicked-off yet, and it was already like 3 minutes into the game! I called BTN and they said they were already on the phone with Comcast, and Comcast was just showing the wrong game in our area.

So I waited. Sat in my chair, watching the crappy Wildcats, the butt of Big Ten Football, play the "Football championship subdivision" Salukis. What the hell? So now it's halftime, and I already tried talking to Comcast. Local numbers were busy, and I was on hold for 15 minutes with their nationwide 800-number before hanging up, since I'm sure they were aware of their HUGE MESS-UP. I was also 95th in line for online chatting, but then I had to feed Louis. Anyway, it's halftime and I call BTN back since they answer their phone in like 2 rings with no automated menus! Yeah, you heard right, BTN had no automated menus. Bravo, BTN. Ok, so the lady who answered after the 2nd ring said they got ahold of Comcast right after everyone called in at kickoff, and that Comcast said they were "working on it." YOU CAN'T PUT THE RIGHT GAME ON AFTER A WHOLE HALF OF FOOTBALL??? Somebody needs to get fired.

It's now almost through the 3rd quarter and the only Illini I've seen is the updates they give in the NW game (which proves their equipment is actually working since they showed clips, so someone really does need to get fired, because it's airing somewhere out there, but not 2 MILES FROM THE STADIUM).

One Fine Face

2008-09-02T12:55:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting at work humming the same tune in my head that I've been humming in my head since I woke up this morning. What is it?

"One Fine Face" by Ernie and Elmo on Elmo's Greatest Hits.

Ocho Cinco

2008-08-30T14:24:00.002-05:00

I can't wait to see "Ocho Cinco" on the back of Chad Johnson's, oops, I mean Chad Ocho Cinco's jersey again this year. I love that he legally changed his name to stick it to the NFL for fining him when he did it before.

Never mind the fact that it should really be "Ochenta y cinco."

Boo State of Illinois

2008-08-26T22:25:00.001-05:00

I just found out today that my only reason for voting has been non-existent this whole time. Frank Calabrese, a senior at the UI, is running against incumbent Naomi Jakobsson for State Representative. I have been really excited about this because Frank wants to fight for increased University funding, among other things I strongly agree with. Not to mention he's an Orange Krush member. ANYWAY, I was perusing his website today to find out that his district, 103, which includes most of C-U falls about 500 feet short of my house! Well, it's really a little bit more than that, but literally 4 seconds in the car. CRAP. He's the only reason I was going to stroll into my polling place this year. Forget the Presidential election, this is a major catastrophe. Oh why did I buy a house in district 105? I've even disliked Jakobsson since the last time I voted (when I still lived in 103).

The worst part about it is that Jakobsson thinks Calabrese is a joke, and they're even spinning some crap about how since he wasn't elected student senate president, the students must not like him. Exqueeze me? Baking powder? I love how they exclude the fact that most of the 30,000+ students don't even know when that election is, not to mention that those who do know when it is only know about the candidates from their names written in chalk on the quad! They're also claiming Jakobsson has a record of strong support for the UI. Yeah, so much support that our funding has been dwindling recently. Good job Naomi, I guess I better vote for you since you have my best interests at heart. OH WAIT! I can't even be sarcastic about that BECAUSE I'M IN THE 105TH DISTRICT BY 2 FEET!!!

The moral of this story is that you should vote for Frank Calabrese on election day since I can't.

Update: One of my friends says he lived next door to Frank, and didn't think too highly of him, so I don't feel so bad for living outside the district anymore. I still don't like Naomi Jakobsson though.

NEW WEBSITE!!!!!!

2008-08-22T20:35:00.001-05:00

I made a website last weekend. I'm so excited about it. Hopefully it makes up for my recent crappy blogginess a little bit. I would blog about why I decided to make it, and how I made it from scratch basically, but I talk about it on one of the pages, so you can check that out there. You wouldn't believe how much of a pain in the ass it is to make rounded corners!

Anyway, I guess some day I might make this blog's layout match my web page, but maybe not, because I'm sure I'll want to change my website's look every now and then. Oh yeah, there's also a link on this sidebar to the site. So, let me know if you like it, or if you have any suggestions.

Happy 2 years!!!

2008-08-12T11:05:00.001-05:00

Happy 2-year anniversary honey. I love you so much. It's been the best 2 years of my life, by far.

p.s.: I made that heart myself!

One Month

2008-08-07T22:55:00.001-05:00

My son is one month old today. If you never got a link to his blog, let me know. That's where all the pictures are. Anyway, I had a bunch of cool stuff to talk about here, but I either forgot about it, or I'm too tired to type it out right now. I've really been concentrating on keeping Louis IV's blog updated so that everyone knows what's been going on and who he's been meeting, so my blog is kind of riding the pine right now. It's really hard too. I don't know how many times each day some random thought pops in my mind, or something neat happens, or I read something amazingly cool, and I just don't have time to write about it. I would say it eats at my insides, but if it really ate at my insides I would just blog instead of playing Call of Duty 4 in my free time. Speaking of that, I'm really kicking butt. I don't know what happened, but something just clicked one day. That's for another post though, that will probably not get posted. Excluding my brother and brother-in-law, I'm pretty sure there's only one other dude who even cares. He knows who he is.

I guess I'll just ramble quickly about some other things since I don't really want to post anything else after this post for a day or two, since I don't want to overshadow a post about my son, even though it was only about him for a second. How about those White Sox? I don't know what to think anymore. Every time they start winning, they just go back to losing (see: tonight). Oh well, hopefully they can hang on until October. It's almost like the collapse of 2005, except that they had about a 16 game lead before tanking in the second half. I remember it well, I was scared for my life. Luckily the game I picked to go to was when they broke their longest (7 games) losing streak of the season by hitting 4 homers in a row against Randy Johnson. That was amazing to watch. That season turned out o.k. though... Oh, and what do you think about that Brett guy? I dislike the Packers greatly, but I've always had a great respect for Brett's playing. Unfortunately this month long stink has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Alright, I'm up for feeding the little dude, hopefully I'll get my posterizer ramped up again soon.

Throne

2008-07-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

My new rocking recliner. Main purposes: rocking the baby, watching TV, PS3

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

2008-07-18T10:35:00.003-05:00

Since my last post about fiction novels, I completed Patriot Games, and just yesterday I completed the next-in-line Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin. I didn't think it could get any better than what I've already read from him (especially since this book was not made into a movie), but man, was I wrong. I'm pretty sure Cardinal is my favorite so far. It deals more with "spy" type stuff rather than military. It has a hint of special-ops, which is cool because Clancy introduces some of the characters that were in Rainbow Six. Clancy is an absolute master at weaving characters that seem to have nothing in common together, and eventually having them meet in later books.

Overall, this book was awesome and I recommend it. But you know, I recommend all his Jack Ryan / John Clark books. While they're all intricately woven together, each one can easily stand on its own without any loss to the plot. Next in line for me is Clear and Present Danger. I'm hesitant to go get it from the library because they take a while to read, and my little "vacation" is just about up and it's business time again.

Things I found 02

2008-07-16T18:40:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, well not unfortunately for me the new dad, but unfortunately for the new thing I started a couple weeks ago called "things I found," having a baby kind of hindered my ability to peruse the things I normally peruse online. Well, here are some stale things I found the week before my son was born, and one from today.

If you're lucky, they'll make a sign for your name, instead of spelling out the letters. Did any of your students do this Grandma? [Kottke]

I guess they make "cat"s out of some pretty expensive metal. [Tribune]

This stuff does happen. Straight out of Clancy... [Tribune]

Viva Watermelon! [Sun Times]

Line cutter!

2008-07-16T18:10:00.000-05:00

Kottke posted about a guy who encountered a line-cutter at an Apple store when the iPhone 3G was released. I linked to Lance's site to read the entire entry, and it was absolutely amazing. Not only was it written with a great attention to his thoughts and details, but I started getting mad at the line-cutter myself! This blog entry is probably how I would envision my blog if that's what I did for a living. Unfortunately when I post, I get too excited and try to get it published quickly rather than being patient and adding the details that made that post so wonderful.

Read it! You'll be happy.

5 days

2008-07-12T13:35:00.001-05:00

I've been Dad for 5 days. It's finally sinking in that I have a son. It's still a little weird for Linnea and I to refer to him as "Little Louie." It's not that he doesn't look like a Louis, because when I look at him it reminds me of my grandpa (Louis Sr.). We had been calling him "Little Guy" for about 5 months, so it's been hard, but we're getting used to it.

In case you hadn't figured, my posts here will be more sporadic for a little bit with the baby, and trying to update his blog. Also, if you have experience with private blogs, any ideas how I can get around the 100 reader limit?

It's a boy!

2008-07-08T23:38:00.001-05:00

Well, it happened. We thought he'd never come, but Louis IV was born on Monday, July 7th 2008, on his due date ironically enough. He was born (naturally, with medication thank God) at 4:08 pm, 10 pounds 11 ounces, 21 inches. I'll talk about him more after describing the events preceding his birth.

It started on Sunday night, well Monday morning. We went to bed around midnight, planning on sleeping in since we had to go to the doctor as Monday was Linnea's due date. Linnea was up constantly with some more pain than usual, but nothing as regular as contractions. We should have thought something was up; for a change I was waking up when she would get up. I usually sleep through her midnight bathroom breaks. She started feeling strange and called the Labor & Delivery nurses at the hospital. They said it was probably nothing, but she could come and get checked out if we wanted. As soon as she hung up the phone she started getting strong pains about every 4 minutes. Contractions 3-5 minutes apart is the usual go to the hospital time, so I guess we were lucky she wasn't feeling strong contractions before then. Most people feel them for quite a while (5-12 hours) before going to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 5:00 a.m. on Monday. She was at 3 cm. Later in the morning her doctor showed up (just back from vacation, fortunately. We gave her another day away from the office), and Linnea was almost at 4 cm. The doctor decided to get things moving along and gave Linnea something to strengthen the contractions. By noon she was set up with the epidural and ready to go. We got a scare when it stopped working for about an hour, but it started working again just in time. Linnea was fully dilated around 2:30 p.m. and with only an hour of rock star pushing, we had our son.

I can't even describe the moment my son came into this world. I was overcome with unexplainable emotion and started crying. Not sobbing, but they were definitely rolling down the cheek. I couldn't even say a thing, maybe a squeak, but no words. It was all I could do to even smile at Linnea. The moment was easily in the top two of my life. I can't choose between my wedding and my son's birth, because they're totally different. In a way they were both an affirmation of overwhelming love for somebody, but the indescribable nature of watching your child come into this world sets it apart somehow. I still can't believe he's ours when I hold him, but big things tend to take a while to sink in for me. I'm sure bringing him home tomorrow will help. I really can't wait.

Back to the little guy. If you don't know babies, he is absolutely HUGE. Babies are about 8 pounds on average. He looks like he's 1-2 months old already! Every time I walked by the nurses station yesterday I heard some mention about the "big boy" or heard his weight being mentioned. One nurse told us that he had the biggest hands she's ever seen on a newborn. I guess we're going to be throwing away all the newborn diapers (up to 10 lb) we already opened... We had a couple of slight scares, but he is absolutely fine. Right after he was born they needed to take him to the nursery to monitor him. The reason was unclear at first (I think the nurses don't realize the terms they use are way over everyone's head), but since he was so big he had trouble adjusting his blood oxygen levels. Unfortunately that means we couldn't hold him until about 8pm. By that time my anxiety had definitely built up, but it was a huge release to hold him for the first time.

Everyone was here when we got to bring him to our room for the first time (Grandmas Krista and Laura, Grandpa Lou - Louis Jr., and Uncles Dylan and Christian). We passed him around and took pictures of him with everyone (email me if you want the link). We fed him and convinced the Grandmas to change his diaper. We chose to have him sleep in the nursery so we could take advantage of our last two solid nights of sleep. This morning we got the second scare. The pediatrician who checked out all the babies in the morning came in at 8:30 a.m. to inform us that the murmur she heard last night (normal for newborns I guess) hadn't gone away by the morning (not normal). My heart sank as I stared blankly at the doctor trying to not look too much in shock. Linnea and I were pretty bummed, and we couldn't get him from the nursery yet again. The doctor came back at 10:00 a.m. to let us know the eckocardiogram (sp?) showed no holes in his heart (which would cause a murmur), so we were sufficiently elated and went to get him! Everyone came back today and we all hung out with the little guy. Unfortunately, my family had to go back home, but will be back in a few weeks. Grandma Krista was pretty sad to say goodbye to her grandson. I'm sure Grandpa Lou and Uncle Christian were too, but they didn't express it as much. Grandma Laura will be staying for a week to help take care of everything, and Uncle Dylan is in charge of Bailey.

Anyway, my battery is about to die, and I don't feel like reaching for the cord. From now on, baby updates and links to all his pictures will be on his own blog site. We're paranoid, so it'll be private and you'll have to get invited to see it, so email me if I don't send you an invite tomorrow.

- Dad (Louis III)

Thanks for a good 4th, CU

2008-07-05T10:32:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July. Happy birthday USA! Anyway, Linnea and I got pretty lucky this year. Usually, we head up to her Grandma's house on Lake Geneva and hang out with her family, and go out on the boat to see the fireworks on the lake. We couldn't do that since Linnea's ready to pop. Luckily, due to the construction at Memorial Stadium (usual fireworks venue), they put on the fireworks right down the street from us! It was awesome, we sat on our patio with our mosquito candles and had a perfect view. Then we just walked inside when done, and watched the line of cars behind the house for about a half hour.

For those keeping track, the Little Guy still doesn't want to come out yet. We have no idea what's going on anymore, because we've already had all of the "signs" that tell you you're supposed to go into labor soon.

Things I Found 01

2008-07-03T23:55:00.002-05:00

Taking inspiration from something on kottke.org, I've decided to post an almost-weekly entry linking to really interesting articles or information I found online over the week. Enjoy.

Even Bill Gates hates Windows. [Endgadget]

Don't swat the honey bee. [News Gazette]

Maybe they'll make "anti-matter" like in Angels and Demons. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Nick Swisher really is that awesome. [Chicago Sun-Times]

People in my building are hanging with Harry Potter. [Chicago Sun-Times]

You can sell your life on eBay (including friend introductions) for $380,000. [Chicago Tribune]

Good thing I didn't play PS3 this week. [Endgadget]

Segways to protect Olympcs. [Endgadget]

Tiger hurting 10 years = new, SUPER TIGER. [Daily Illini]

According to Uni Watch, White Sox were the first team to put names on back of uniforms, use separate batting practice jerseys, only MLB team to wear shorts, and celebrate half-way to St. Patrick's day. [ESPN]

I love Armor All

2008-06-30T10:52:00.003-05:00

I just cleaned the inside of my car yesterday for the first time since I got it over a year ago. That's about the only productive thing I did this weekend. But man, it was all worth it when I got in this morning and my butt slid on the shiny black leather and the dashboard was gleaming in the sun as I drove to work. It was amazing; it made my weekend feel a little more productive than it was. Now, if only I had washed the exterior... Oh well, I can't really see that when I'm driving anyway.

Joe Crede

2008-06-28T22:25:00.006-05:00

So for the past 3-4 years (except when injured last year) I've said that Joe Crede is perhaps the most talented defensive 3rd baseman in baseball, and a pretty damn good clutch hitter too. Here's what Mark Grace (longtime Cub) had to say on the Fox broadcast of the Sox-Cubs game today:

Not a better defensive third baseman in all of baseball.

Thanks Mark! Now go tell all the people who keep giving Eric Chavez the Gold Glove!!! Joe should have had at least one by now, and if he doesn't get one this year I'll have a serious problem respecting the Gold Glove awards in the future.

Another decent book...

2008-06-28T01:12:00.002-05:00

I wrote a detailed list of my favorite authors a couple days ago, but I left out Raymond Khoury. He wrote The Last Templar, and I think he has another book out, but I'm not buying the hardcover. Anyway, Templar is similar to some of Dan Brown's work (historical thriller), and I recommend reading it also if you're looking for something to grab you.

Proof that I rock

2008-06-28T00:57:00.004-05:00

Here's some proof that I officially rock. Apparently, two-thirds of the last 6 presidents have been left-handed, and McCain and Obama are both lefty's too (thanks Kottke). In fact, in several of the elections both major candidates have been left-handed. You should read the article, it talks about how you only use half your brain, and I use all of mine!

I'm done jumping up and down now

2008-06-26T12:38:00.003-05:00

I'm back in my seat. I can't believe the stuff I missed being behind reading my RSS feeds. If you click the title link you'll read a wonderful article, perhaps the most wonderful article I've read in quite some time. On August 15th, just in time for football, Comcast will be carrying the Big Ten Network! That's like 30 football / basketball games I won't have to miss anymore. Ahhhh, a sweet sigh of relief.

Warning: gaydar may be faulty

2008-06-26T12:30:00.001-05:00

I was trying to catch up on some of my Google Reader feeds that have been neglected, when I came across the article linked in the title of this post. It's an editorial about an article the writer found in the LA Times about a study that found some interesting things regarding sexual orientation and genetic traits.

The story mentions one study that found that the hair of gay men was 3.5 times more likely to grow in a counterclockwise fashion.

Still another found that men who were left-handed were 34 percent more likely to be gay. That figure grew to 90 percent for women.

Holy cow! So if you don't know me, my wife and I are both left handed (and heterosexual). So we notice other leftys, and I really doubt the lefty remark above is true. I'd love to see who they actually studied to come to these conclusions, and would hope they try and look at people from all areas of the country.

Anyway, besides the lefty thing, and depending on how the media twisted their results, this could be a pretty ground braking study that could essentially prove that being gay is not always a choice, but genetic. If they can prove it, that would be a huge step toward certain people (and church denominations) becoming less homophobic. Granted it would take a while, and these results could be totally wacky. The editorial author does bring up a good point, that if they can find pinpoint accurate traits, what if someone doesn't want their orientation known, but has those traits?

Remember: "90% of statistics can be made to say whatever you want, 50% of the time." What a great commercial...

The Hunt for Patriot Six

2008-06-24T22:55:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering, this will be a post about books I've read, and recommend.

If you're like me, you rarely read anything (including required high school literature) until Harry Potter came along. It even took me until after I saw the second movie to start reading them. That was good though, because the first two books were pretty juvenile (I read them after getting through 5). Anyway, for those of you out there who need constantly thrilling / intense plot to stick with a book, I thought I'd share my experiences with books / authors who easily grabbed my attention, in the order I discovered them, obviously.

1) Harry Potter series. These are easily some of the best books I've read. I'm sure the books I was supposed to read in high school can compare, but when I'm supposed to take notes in them and find the oh so obvious metaphors, it loses my interest (except for Crime and Punishment). Back to Harry, J.K. Rowling does an awesome job keeping you hooked through all 7 books (about 3000 pages). If you haven't read them, READ THEM NOW!!! I'd skip the first 2 if you've seen the movies.

2) Dan Brown. Granted I don't believe the conspiracies in his stories AT ALL, but all of his books make for great entertainment. I got hooked on him after stealing Bob's DaVinci Code on the ride home from Arizona / Las Vegas. I read them all quickly. Extreme mystery / thrillers.

3) John Grisham. I really have no idea how I got into Grisham's work. By chance I picked up The Broker, I think it was for a plane ride. I liked it's legal-thrilling plot so much that I decided to read The Firm, and The Street Lawyer. I recommend all of them, but The Firm is heads above the others, throwing some mafioso-ness into his usual lawyer themes. You know the books are good when just about all of them have been made into major motion pictures. The last time I was home I found out my mom has basically all of his books, so that's nice. I'll just "borrow" them from her. Too bad they're hardcover. I prefer the lighter, smaller cheap little paperbacks that always come out a year later.

4) Tom Clancy. Like Grisham, the major motion picture thing holds true for Clancy, plus a video game series. It's even a bonus because of Harrison Ford. For a guy, Tom Clancy books are the best. They are CIA/military thrillers. I started with Rainbow Six, another airport buy I think. As you can tell, the title of the post is a Clancy mash of the two I've read already, Six and The Hunt for Red October, and the one I'm currently reading, Patriot Games. Once I read Six, I looked up all the books he wrote. I decided to start at the beginning (by publish date) with Red October. I was going to stick to the publish date, but his second book was not a Jack Ryan novel, the protagonist in a handful of his novels. So I skipped one and went to Patriot Games. Unfortunately, it takes place before Red October, and I don't know if he meant to write them in that order, or it was an afterthought. Anyway, I'm sticking to the publish date. I plan to go through all of the Ryan novels in this manner. Ryan eventually works with John Clark, who is the main protagonist in Six, so I'll continue with those. Then maybe I'll read his other couple of fiction works without either character.

I would highly recommend all of the above. Be warned that you will get hooked quick.

If you have any suggestions on where I should look after Clancy, please let me know.

"In the garage where I belong."

2008-06-22T20:55:00.000-05:00

-Weezer.

I used to poke fun at my dad with that song. Now, I find myself getting more excited at the possibilities of my own garage. Granted, it's not a welding shop / online poker room / cigar lounge for one, but it's mine. I've just started organizing it, and getting everything up off of the floor. Check out the album below. I know, I'm a dork, but I can't help it. Go find Weezer's "In the Garage" and you'll know what I mean.

I think I'll be adding a work bench where the tools are right now, and just sliding the golf stuff onto the side wall. Suggestions?

In the garage...

Chik-fil-a, I mean McDonalds chicken sandwich...

2008-06-18T18:33:00.003-05:00

I drove past a McDonald's on the way home today, and the message under the Golden Arches said "Try our southern style chicken sandwich." Now if you're from the midwest like me, you may not have known this, but the great, grand, new McDonald's southern style chicken sandwich is an EXACT CARBON COPY of Chick-fil-a's chicken sandwich! Same bun, same breaded chicken breast, same pickle(s). And did I mention Chick-fil-a has been around for quite a while, so this is nothing new. Did I also mention that McDonald's even newer breakfast chicken biscuit is an EXACT CARBON COPY of Chick-fil-a's chicken biscuit? Yeah, you can google chick-fil-a vs. McDonald's and you'll get a shit ton of blogs and articles comparing the two. IDENTICAL! McDonald's should be sued.

Come out already!

2008-06-17T23:41:00.002-05:00

For at least a few months (probably when they changed our due date from 7/16 to 7/7) Linnea and I have thought that we would have our baby quite a bit earlier than the due date. Well, it's less than 3 weeks away, and Linnea is feeling just about as normal as usual, besides the fact that we know he's in position to go. The window is closing I guess, and we're getting the feeling that he's not going to come early at all. Obviously this is fine if he's not ready yet, if not everything is fully developed yet. But based on his size, we thought that he was, and it would be nice to have him soon, as we're dying to be parents and Linnea is ready to sleep on her stomach and back again. Also, I'm ready for my 2 week vacation from work. Oh well, he'll come when he comes I guess.

Congrats to the Celtics. I was absolutely disinterested in this series, but man, the Celtics laid a beatdown tonight.

We found this little par 3/4 9 hole course right down the road from us today! I'm so excited, it only costs $8! There's a range there too, with heaters for cold weather. It looks like a tiny, crappy course, but for the money (and the location), it looks to be an easy option to go swing the clubs within an hour.

Weekend recap

2008-06-17T23:40:00.001-05:00

I guess I forgot to post about all the awesome stuff that happened this weekend. First of all, my parents and brother came down to visit, so that was cool for Fathers' Day. We went golfing on Saturday, and I won! Granted, I shot a 104, but hey, I still won. Oh, by the way, that's a 104 playing by all the rules, like the actual rules in the rule book, unlike everyone else I know who says they shoot in the 80's and suck worse than me. O.K., so I accidentally dropped my ball on the green once and didn't give myself the 2 strokes, but it rolled down the hill and I was putting up the hill, so I saw no gained advantage there.

Sunday was eventful too. First we went to church, then had my dad's famous fried eggs. In case you live in a hole, this thing called the U.S. Open was going on, with a dude named Tiger in the lead after Saturday's round. He's never lost the lead in the 4th round of a Major tournament. Never. Well, he sort of lost it during the final round, but fought back and made a huge birdie putt on 18 to force an 18 hole playoff on Monday, messed up knee and all. It was crazy. So Monday it was Tiger vs. Rocco Mediate, a 45 year old with a bad back. This dude is awesome. Now normally playoffs are sudden death, and EVERYONE crumbles under the pressure of playing against Tiger. This playoff was a whole extra round, and Tiger was up 3 on Rocco at one point. It's in the bag. But no, Rocco somehow jumped back ahead of Tiger by one stroke by the last hole! How awesome is that dude? At this point I'm torn between rooting for Tiger or Rocco, but I stick to my guns and root for Tiger and his messed up knee (almost made him fall to the ground after shots). So what happens? Sand for Rocco, and Tiger birdies to tie it back up! Now, after 90 holes of golf, they're going to sudden death. Tiger wins the first sudden death hole as Rocco hits the beach again. Too bad for Rocco, but he might be the only 2nd place finisher everyone remembers, a truly awesome performance when most would crumble. Anyway, congrats to Tiger. He won his 14th Major and set a record for most wins at a single course (7 at Torrey Pines, I played there - 98 I think).

FINALLY, Dale Jr. won! For the first time in over 2 years. He won on a fuel mileage deal, but I don't care, HE WON!!! He's got enough top 10's this year to prove he's as good a driver as anybody in NASCAR, and this win is a huge morale booster for a team already 3rd in points. I can't wait to see what happens now.

Golf

2008-06-14T00:00:00.001-05:00

So I was going to write a post on how amazing Tiger's second nine was today in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines (the front nine, but played after the back; I totally played this course - South - a year an a half ago and broke 100 right before the Buick Invitational), but then I thought about how I posted so excitedly about the White Sox, who then lost 3 straight. But then they won again today, so I said "what the hell."

Tiger Woods is freaking awesome. Flat out amazing. He didn't play a full round between the Master's (April) and earlier this week, due to knee surgery. He didn't even walk that 18 holes earlier this week. His first round pretty much sucked (for him), finishing +1. The interesting topic all week was the top 3 in the world paired together (Tiger, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott). They were all mediocre yesterday. But today, they were even worse! All three were about +3 after 9 holes. Then what happens? Tiger shoots one shot off of the lowest score for 9 holes EVER to end the day -2 and T4. Obviously Lefty and Scott continued mediocrity in the face of greatness. Gosh, I wonder what would have happened to them had Tiger been healthy and about 5 shots in front of everyone else? This is his most successful course after all.

In closing, lets just think about how freaking awesome Tiger Woods is one more time... O.K., great.

Time management?

2008-06-12T11:38:00.003-05:00

Who knew such a thing existed? If you know me, you know I obviously didn't. Below is a piece by Linda Stone (no idea...) via Taylor, via someone else. She doesn't take into account that habitual procrastinators like myself need poor time management in order to start things dangerously close to the time due in order to maximize efficiency. That's my excuse at least...

1. Each evening or morning before you start your day, make a short list of your intentions (the result and feeling of something you want) for the day and by each, write the related to do’s for that day. Try to keep your list to 5 intentions. Consciously choose what you will do and what you will not do. Keep a different list of what you will review for inclusion on other days.

2. List only what you really expect to do that day. As other things come to mind, write them on a separate list. By putting these items on a separate list, you are creating the space to be in the moment with each of your day’s priorities. Review that list as you plan for the next day and determine how they fit in to your plans. Give yourself some down time, enjoy your successes at the end of the day.

3. Give yourself meaningful blocks of uninterrupted time to focus on each intention. Turn OFF technology each day during those blocks and focus on your intentions.

4. At home, be clear about what technology you’ll use and where. Computer in the kitchen? Maybe not. A friend of mine just removed the computer from her kitchen and said she is now far less likely to stop to constantly check email or news. In the kitchen, she pays attention to her family and prepares food. Sometimes they do group family activities at the kitchen table. When she heads into her office to work on her computer, her children know not to disturb her while she works. Untethered technology gives us the freedom to do nearly anything, anytime, anywhere. It can also enslave us - we feel compelled to use it where ever it is. Technology is neutral. How, when and where we use it is up to us.

- Linda Stone — who coined the terms “continuous partial attention” — writes about her tips for time management, based on her survey of successful, busy (and often powerful) people about their strategies for managing it all.

I guess I'll never be a successful, busy (and often powerful) people (as I write this during work). My to do lists are always too long and only get half done at best, and we have a computer in the kitchen. I like point 3 the best though. If I don't have more than an hour to do work, I usually waste time.

I know, but I can't help it

2008-06-08T23:55:00.000-05:00

I know you're probably sick of hearing about the Sox, but I just can't help it! They are just stomping on the Twins. They're through 3 of 4 games with the Twins, and we'll just say the Twins are lucky the AL central is down, because we just put them under 0.500 and they're still in second place by about 4 games over the Indians. Anyway, it has got to be the best feeling in the world when your team plays the team they are fighting with, and just cleans up with them! Here's some of the awesomeness that's been going on, but don't worry, I got it all from one article, I'm not that devoted to the stats:

6 game winning streak
33 runs in the last 3 games
Gavin Floyd (HUGE acquisition, thanks Kenny) 9 Ks tonight
15 or more hits in 3 straight games, first time since 1932

Man, I can't get enough. As side sporting notes: did you see that almost comeback by the Lakers tonight? That was almost crazy. I'm also happy to see Kyle Busch finish dead last at Pocono today. Junior's still in 3rd (4th place finish today), but about 120 points closer to first.

We basically stole it...

2008-06-08T23:45:00.001-05:00

So Linnea and I went to buy our Baby Bjorn strap-on carrier thingy at Target, and we saw this new model called the air carrier (more ventilated, supposedly cooler), but it was only $25 instead of the $80 for the original carrier. Anyway, we know from previous research that good carriers just aren't that cheap, so we didn't buy anything and decided to go research this new model. Well, it turns out that it's really like $100. It's even $100 ON THE TARGET.COM SITE!!!!!!! What did we do? Of course I'll tell you. We went back to Target and bought that sucker for $25! Don't believe me on the price? Check it out here. Totally awesome, we saved 75%! I wanted to capitalize on this and buy them all, then return them (without receipt for a store credit) to another Target, but Linnea wouldn't let me.

Crashing the top 10

2008-06-07T00:55:00.003-05:00

I just thought I would mark this day in history as the day the White Sox crashed the top 10 plays on SportsCenter tonight:

Top play #8: Orlando Cabrera charges in hard and makes a bare-hand play to first.
Top play #7: Paul Konerko makes a jumping/diving catch of a line-drive down the line.
Top play #2: Jermaine Dye makes a diving catch near the line to end the game. Sox win.

I don't think I've ever seen one of my teams get 3 plays on the list in one night. Awesome. They also hit 4 homers tonight. I think they did that a couple of games ago too.

Side note: The Sox have won 4 in a row (granted, 3 against the Royals) since Ozzie's last antics. Personally, I think it was over-hyped, but hey, I guess it worked if he did it on purpose.

You can put it on the board.....Yes!

2008-06-05T08:20:00.003-05:00

Thanks Hawk and D.J. for that oh so exciting homer call over the years. Back to the post at hand: Go White Sox! Hopefully that amazing walk off homer by Paulie will bust him out of his .200 BA slump, because it's pretty pathetic. I guess a previous post was proven about needing Tums for Bobby Jenks after he blew the 2 run lead in the 9th to send this thing 15 innings. It's not often you can turn the game on in the 7th inning and still see a 9 inning game. Grueling. I almost fell asleep.

Side notes: Welcome back Esteban Loaiza, I guess. I haven't heard anything about him in a while, so I don't know whether to be happy about returning one of our former All-Stars or not. We'll see I guess. Also, too bad Alexi Ramirez is basically the best thing since sliced bread, maybe even better than acquiring Carlos Quentin, because I really like Juan Uribe, but it looks like he may not be starting anymore. Dude made 4 bare-handed last second plays at second base last night! How about writing him into the All-Star ballot along with Quentin??

I guess so

2008-06-04T09:06:00.004-05:00

Well it's a good thing we didn't try to sleep in the basement, it would have been pointless. Shortly after the last post things died down and there was only a little bit of lightning in the distance. So we went to bed. The fence is still up, my grill is still there.

Too precautious?

2008-06-03T23:00:00.000-05:00

I guess when you're expecting a baby you're more precautious than normal? I guess Linnea and I are at least. Central Illinois has been getting hammered with storms all day, extremely bad storms with tornado warnings and sirens and all that tonight. So what did we do? We set up the extra tv with the bunny ears, moved the futon across the basement, and are hanging out with all our extra crap as we speak. Oh yeah, we even have a battery powered radio, LED windup flashlight, bottle of water and our dog, just in case. It looks like the tornadoes are over, but more may be coming from the west. I guess we could go upstairs now, as there's not too much lightning any more either, but Linnea's already taken 4 Tums (not due to Bobby Jenks), so I guess we'll continue our basement party a little longer. We're not fooling around here, we've even got pillows in case the shit keeps hitting the fan all night.

Heroes in a Half-Shell

2008-06-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

So what do you watch when presented with handfuls of movies on TV, many of them very good? Well let me tell you...

If you were a kid in the late '80s - early '90s, watched the cartoon all the time, even bought the cartoon movies, saw the actual movies (the first two anyway) in theaters, had 4 cases full of pristine action figures, Donatello's blimp, the sewer, the Technodome, the sewer boat, etc., this is what you would watch:

Of course I'm talking about the double feature of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on ABC Family! Obviously they weren't the best movies I had to choose from, but man was I sucked into them. I don't think I've seen them for about 10 years or more. Wait, let me clarify that I'm only talking about the first two, the original and "the secret of the ooze." The third one was kind of crappy and I did not go to see that in theaters. Anyway, it was amazing; I forgot how great they really were.

This reminds me that I need to find all of those Ninja Turtle toys from my parents' house. Too bad I gave the blimp away.

Now to the sports

2008-05-28T17:56:00.002-05:00

It's been a pretty awesome week in terms of the teams I root for. First off, the White Sox have been playing decently well, at least they've been winning games and are in first place. Carlos Quentin is the best thing since sliced bread. Too bad Paul Konerko is tanking horribly, and I still love Swisher's attitude even though he's struggling at the plate too. Final White Sox thought is, does anyone else get heartburn watching Bobby Jenks throw? I mean, the guy is great (14/16) but he ALWAYS lets runners on and then has to work out of the jam with K's or popups. Where's my Tums?

Bulls: Besides the Noah crap, the Bulls are still looking good with the #1 pick. Hopefully they don't trade it.

Illini: So I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who never turned on Bruce Weber. For real, you can ask my dad. I've been sticking up for him the last 2 years, telling people that his recruiting will get back on track and he'll be more than fine. So now all the bandwagon jumpers can EAT IT, because ESPN.com just ranked his 2009 class as #2! Go Bruce!

NASCAR: Yes, I'm slightly redneck. And yes, I like Dale Jr. See my first ever post for my defense on that. Anyway, by the slight chance anyone reading this watched the race last Sunday, Jr. was leading the race, looking like he'd win it when he cut a tire and rode the wall for about half a lap. Thanks to some awesome pit work and last minute top-off he cruised from about 21st to 5th as others either crashed out or had to pit for fuel. He's still sitting pretty 3rd in points. Awesome.

P.S. My wife just confirmed to me that I literally said "Bruce will be fine, just look at his 2009 class." Oh yeah, the class they just ranked second in the nation. Granted, the standings will shift, but hey, (I'd say "Bruce is back" here, but I know that he never left).

Drop it like it's hot

2008-05-28T17:51:00.003-05:00

I was just going to post about all of the great sporting news that's been happening this week in Illinois, but I noticed that I haven't posted since Saturday.

So, first thought: Is it really Wednesday already? Monday holidays really mess things up (in a good way).

Second: According to those experienced with the childbirth process (not me, I wouldn't have noticed), Linnea "dropped" somewhere between Sunday night and Monday morning. That means we could have the baby any time from soon to about a month. A lady she works with said it took her 2 weeks after dropping.

Holy crap. My chances of taking the Ph.D qualifiers (since I haven't finished my Master's thesis yet) look to be dropping quickly. Oh yeah, and holy crap.

Umbrella!

2008-05-24T22:05:00.002-05:00

OMG, I almost forgot. My dad and brother gave me an umbrella today as kind of a "gonna be a dad gift." I know it sounds dorky that I'm excited about getting an umbrella, like REALLY excited, but hey, this isn't your grandma's umbrella. We're talking about an umbrella I've wanted for like a year. I've wanted a golf umbrella for a while, but Linnea will never let me get one because they're too expensive. Anyway, what do I unwrap in the garage today? Not only was it a golf umbrella, or even a huge golf umbrella, but a red, white and black Odyssey (they make putters) umbrella, complete with wind vents and the actual putter grips they use as the handle! You could say I was ecstatic about this. It gets sweeter when you consider my 2-ball white steel Odyssey putter has the same EXACT handle. YES! A joyous day. I'm actually hoping for rain tomorrow while we're golfing during the shower. Ooooh, no pun intended, but hopefully it's fate. Please do a little rain dance for me.

Addiction

2008-05-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize exactly how addicted to call of duty 4 I was until we came back home this weekend for Linnea's baby shower. We're staying with her mom, and unfortunately her brother is one of those Halo-playing types, so he's got an Xbox 360, with no COD4. Even if he had it, I couldn't get my fix. I absolutely HATE the Xbox controller. Some may argue it's more ergonomic than the PS controllers, but there are NO button configurations more logical than the PS controller, which makes an engineer like me happy. Anyway, we were at my parents' house this afternoon since some of my family is in from out of town, so I got to play on my brother's PS3. All I have to say is it was joyous, but short-lived. I really wish I had brought my PS3 with me so I could be playing right now. Maybe I'll just go grab a beer and take up finger nail biting as a hobby.

Busy week...

2008-05-23T22:59:00.005-05:00

I guess it was a busy week, because I didn't even think about blogging, and when I did, I had absolutely nothing to talk about. Oh well. I did give myself a buzz-cut this week, so that was nice. It's funny how whenever you get a haircut, the usual response is "oh, did you get a haircut?" Now, I can understand that with a simple trim or something, but I've been getting it with the buzz. Yes, I got a haircut. Obviously. There's like 1/4" there. It used to be like 1 1/2", now it's 1/4". Quite noticeable. I guess I'll accept excuses from my friends whose second language is English, and may not know how else to bring up my new cut. But otherwise, I'll give you a funny look.

This week was pretty big in sports for me too. First, unfortunately, we must say goodbye to Deron in the playoffs. Too bad he had to meet the machine that is Kobe. Anyway, first floor Scott '03 still loves you Deron. I'm so happy the White Sox have turned it around. They won 8 in a row, 3 of which to the slumping Indians, solidifying their AL central lead. Carlos Quentin has to be the best move EVER. Also, congrats to the Bulls for the first pick in the draft, and all 1.7% chance they had to get it. Not sure who they should get though. Beasley would be a good front court addition, but Rose has more star potential.

Little Guy!

2008-05-19T14:37:00.000-05:00

We had an ultrasound today and got to see the little guy again! Everything looks good and healthy, so that was nice to hear. The funny thing is, we're at week number 33 and he measured 6 lb, 4 oz, which is a 36 week size!!! I think the 33 week average is around 4.5 lbs. So he's either going to be really early, or big. It looks like he'll live up to his mom's genes in that all her family's babies are quite large at birth, and the little guy is supposed to keep gaining about a 1/2 lb every week. Another exciting thing we learned was that he's already head down and butt out, in the perfect position for birth, so Linnea can feel less nervous about that. Check out the images we got at the appointment in the album below.

Little Guy

2008-05-18T22:43:00.002-05:00

It was a plain Sunday today. That's why I couldn't think of a title for this post. Anyway, we went to church 2 weeks in a row. That hasn't been happening a lot, but now that we've finally found a church we're comfortable at, we don't seem to have that problem anymore.

Right now I'm dying for Linnea to stop watching TV downstairs so I can play Call of Duty. I had to do some work this afternoon, and help Linnea at a concert she managed tonight, so I didn't get my fix today. Yup, I'm still addicted to that, and I don't think it'll be getting better soon. I've even had frequent dreams about it. I'm hopeless.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

2008-05-17T18:32:00.001-05:00

It's our dog's birthday today. She's 1.

Other random stuff today:

So I was driving home and had to take a detour for some reason. You could say I was at a stop sign I'm not usually at, since I hate waiting at stop signs to turn left onto busy roads. It's out of the way too. Anyway, I had my windows down and this semi-old lady gave me a "hey baby." Maybe it was a "hey sugar," I don't remember, it was quite traumatic. I didn't know what to do, but luckily she was on the right, and the traffic coming from that direction was minimal, so I focused my search for an opening to go in the other direction and prayed she wouldn't say anything else, or come over to my car.

Oscar Pistorius

2008-05-16T20:10:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to Oscar Pistorius. He won a long battle with sport's higher powers and he is now allowed to attempt qualification into the Olympic games as a double amputee sprinter. Yes, he has no feet, and has a chance to be in the Olympics this summer. The debate over whether he should be allowed to run or not has been hotly debated. Check out the old articles on ESPN.com or something. Anyway, a researcher in Germany conducted "research" that proved his carbon fiber blade prosthetics gave him a metabolic advantage over normal runners, so the IAAF banned him from competing. That's why I got so interested in this. I personally do research in human locomotion, and I can tell you for an almost fact that this "research" probably only proved he consumed less oxygen than if he had feet. So now everyone thinks they're an expert in biomechanics and think that this German dude is the be-all end-all and think that Oscar is "cheating" by having this so-called advantage. They forget to realize that HE HAS NO FEET, or calf muscles for that matter. Have you ever realized how big sprinters' calf muscles are? I would assume anyone who didn't have to power their calves would consume less oxygen. And no calf muscles = MUCH less running power. So think what you will. Anyway, an even higher power (CAS) overruled the ruling, and he can now compete. The only problem is that his past times wouldn't qualify him into the Olympics. Anyway, I wish him all the luck to compete for the equality of disabled athletes.

Yogurt anyone?

2008-05-15T21:35:00.001-05:00

Hopefully today is a sign that I'm not as addicted to this blog as I seem. I only checked it out once at work today! It was even after someone told me they posted a comment and bashed my love for ballroom dancing. You should try it. You'll love it, and if not, you probably suck at it anyway...

So to the real reason of this post. I definitely looked down after eating my lunch and what was there? A 2 inch long streak of strawberry banana Yoplait light! It was so long because I didn't even notice it for about 15 minutes. 15 minutes of yogurt on my chest. Good thing I'm talented at making fun of myself, or that would have been really embarrassing. Unfortunately it had some time to soak in, so I've been smelling the aroma all afternoon. The shirt is crusty now too.

Other random things today: I almost got smashed into by a P.O.S. Taurus wagon running a red light. That was 5 seconds after I almost got smashed into by a P.O.S. Accord hatch back coming out of a parking lot. It was fun, let me tell you. I think the damage to my car would have cost more than buying both of those cars 5 years ago, combined.

Kiss Kiss

2008-05-15T00:07:00.003-05:00

I was uploading some pictures of our dog, Bailey, and I couldn't pass this up...

Random

2008-05-14T14:10:00.007-05:00

Since I only started my blog yesterday, I find myself checking on it about every 3 minutes even though I have nothing to add to it. Some times I look at it just to look at it (I know, it's not that great, but I've only got so much time to make shit look good, and right now it's focused on my back yard). Other times I look at it and add some random thing to the layout (like my new links or my signature at the bottom of the page - I haven't decided if that's tacky yet).

I guess I'm addicted already. I'm not surprised, I have the hereditary addiction gene. Yes, it's an addiction gene. I don't believe in just alcoholism being passed down (which is one -ism I don't have, phew), but a predisposition to be addicted to anything and everything seemingly enjoyable. For example, I'm addicted to golf, gambling, diet coke, Call of Duty 4 (the worst one right now, I can't stop playing), and obviously this blog.

It's too bad I'm not hopelessly addicted to writing my Master's thesis, or that shit would be in the bag already. Oh well. It'll get done, I'm just not dangerously close to that deadline point yet to where my all-star, procrastination-overcoming, last-minute ass kicking comes into play. I guess that's for another post... Maybe I should make a "thesis writing" thread in here, but not right now. I am working on it though, believe me. It's just hard because in the gait analysis world it seems something else that I have to write new Matlab code about always comes up when I think I'm at the point to actually write my papers and be done with the damn thing.

I guess it's back to work on a literature review I don't have time for, for something I just want to skip over and ignore...

Dance!

2008-05-14T08:32:00.004-05:00

Check this out. These kids are 13, and they can dance way better than all of the stars that made it to the finals of Dancing with the Stars this season.

Kicked in the face!

2008-05-14T08:26:00.005-05:00

I've been used to feeling baby kicks and flips for a while now, but last night took the cake. I was totally talking to the baby and he kicked back right where my mouth was! He responded to my talking, it was amazing. If I wasn't already in bed I would have jumped around or giggled like a girl or something. It was truly the coolest thing that's happened so far, after hearing his heartbeat for the first time.

Welcome

2008-05-13T08:46:00.005-05:00

Hey to all those 2 people who may read this because I told them to. I guess this is really more of a welcome for myself into the blogging world. I've always been interested in starting a blog, but have been resistant until recently. I guess all of that unfruitful posting on ESPN.com message boards to semi-morons is finally getting dull... I really brought that upon myself by being a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. I know what you're thinking, but I've actually liked Dale Jr. since before he started even racing in the Busch series, and I have the AC Delco hat to prove it. Reason being my dad was a Dale Earnhardt fan, so naturally I followed. Anyway, being a Jr. fan means that you're interested in the most insane posts on ESPN.com. His haters are retarded, and a lot of his fans are too, and they all post their extremely misspelled and utterly retarded comments, arguing back and forth about who is king shit of fuck mountain, when really, it's me, so they should save their breath. (That was kind of a joke, but if you know me, you know I don't think not highly of myself.)

Anyway, I have to help with a test in the lab today, so I better go before my whole life gets sucked into this. Also, I apologize to those offended by my use of the word "retard." In no way do I use that to describe people who have *insert PC word for mental handicappedness here*, I reserve "retard" only for those I feel are stupid by their own doing. Since the phrase "king shit of fuck mountain" is freaking awesome, I should probably credit my friends Thom and Bob for it, as I think it was a joint collaboration over some Keystones back in the day.

Later dudes,
Louis (or Louie, or Lou, just don't change once you stick with one)