Liloia.com

Country Girls Down on the Parm...

That was the title of a spam I received today. Is there no quality control in pornographic spam these days?

Science Day

Yesterday Trevor and I spent some time after school working on a science experiment. We learned a little about how water molecules stick to each other and to the surface of other things using cohesion and adhesion.

The experiment included a large plastic test tube filled to the brim with water. Then we took paper clips one at a time and dropped them into the tube.

As expected, the paper clips displace the water, but it does not actually spill over the edge of the tube. As the tube is filled with more and more clips the water is being displaced. The cohesion of the water molecules to each other and the surface tension causes the water to bow out and make a solid bubble at the top of the tube.

We were able to fill the tube half full of clips before the pressure of the water below the top of the tuber overcame the surface tension at the top. An excellent lesson in science. Or as Trevor described it "cool dude"!

w00t

Tara got a last minute pass to the DNC for tonight!!! That means she is going to be home for the weekend!

She just called and said that they are over-filled at the Fleet Center so she can't get in. I am going to pick her up now!!

Don't take it for granted

I was over at Julie Leungs weblog today tooling around and I found this post:

The Sound Of The World Splitting Apart

I know it isn't very masculine to say so, but I read this post and it made me cry. Please read this story. We hear about tragedy all the time, but I am not sure that it is ever used in the right context. This young couple truly knows what pain is, and my heart goes out to them

It is very easy to take for granted the gift that I have been given in being allowed to be Trevors dad. To think about how I would feel (knowing the great person that he is) not ever being able to know him is devastating.

I promptly hugged Trevor after reading this and then tickled him until he screamed uncle. :)

First Tattoo

I have decided what I want for my first tattoo.

This is a rough drawing of it, although it includes all of the elements of what I am looking for. The picture is of an atom (in this case it is Deuterium or Heavy Hydrogen a naturally occuring isotope of Hydrogen)

Here are some details about the tatto
- I want it all in black or dark blue
- Approx 2-3 inches across

Now I just need someone with artistic ability to take a crack at drawing it up for me.

Projekt Revolution

Ok, so because I am Mr. Mom I can't go to the Projekt Revolution show this Thursday as planned. So, I have 4 lawn seats for the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA that I need to get rid of.

They were $10 each (purchased through a radio promotion) with a $2.50 handling fee each.

On the Bill:
Linkin Park
Snoop Dogg
Korn
The Used
D12

If you are interested or know someone who is interested, IM, e-mail or call me. This is a great bargain for a festival style show that starts at 2:30 PM and lasts until midnight.

Dave Speaks

That which doesn't kill me....should have tried harder.

Groucho

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx

Shift in business

Some interesting observations came out of my issues of getting Tara's care package this week to her.

I finally was able to send her package from a Kinko's. I inadvertantly found out that FedEx very recently bought out Kinko's, creating some weird hybrid called FedExKinkos. Yes, it is all one word.

For $4 bucks I was able to send a decently large box from Norwood to Burlington overnight. Unfortunately since Tara didn't have a chance to get to her mailbox, and I decided to come up for the weekend, I actually saw her before she got the box.

This new company shift was very impressive. Now FedEx has an instant "Brick and Mortar" network of facilities where consumers can access their services. Previously, the services of companies like this were focused on the business market and this change makes them much more accessible for people like me.

Then I realized something. When Tara came up to Burlington a few weeks ago she had to setup a mailbox. The place she has a box, is a UPS store. While sitting in the parking lot I noticed the following sign on the ground.

So I checked out the UPS website and found out that:

"The UPS Store
UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc. in April 2001. In 2003, over 3000 Mail Boxes Etc. locations in the domestic US and Puerto Rico adopted the UPS brand, becoming "The UPS Store", with new low rates direct from UPS."

While the quality of thier rates is yet to be seen, the overall change between these two shipping giants emphasizes why our local post offices are going the way of the dinosaur. They are not adapting quickly enough (or at all) to meet the needs of their customers. Instead, they cling to the standards of the past where they controlled the market on shipping, and could dictate the terms of use.

Bye bye post office.

I miss you

For obvious reasons this is my new favorite song. I heard it for the first time when I was sitting in the hotel bar of the Trumbull Marriott on Cinco de Mayo. There was a DJ there, although Pat and I were the only ones in the hotel bar, which was kind of pathetic. The song played and I didn't recognize it as Blink because it was very Emo and a lot like something that would be played by the Postal Service whose music I love.

What grabbed me about the song at first, aside from the sound, was the cool reference to The Nightmare Before Christmas. TNBC was the movie I took Tara on our first date.

After it was over I approached the DJ and asked him who it was and was pleasantly surprised. I am a decently big fan of Blink, and I have this CD, but didn't realize it was on there.

Blink 182 - I Miss You
Hello there, the angel from my nightmare
the shadow in the background of the morgue
the unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley
we can live like Jack and Sally if we want
where you can always find me
we'll have Halloween on Christmas
and in the night we'll wish this never ends
we'll wish this never ends

(I miss you, miss you)
(I miss you, miss you)

Where are you and I'm so sorry
I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight
I need somebody and always
this sick strange darkness
comes creeping on so haunting every time
and as I stared I counted
webs from all the spiders
catching things and eating their insides
like indecision to call you
and hear your voice of treason
will you come home and stop this pain tonight
stop this pain tonight

Don't waste your time on me you're already
the voice inside my head (I miss you, miss you)
don't waste your time on me you're already
the voice inside my head (I miss you, miss you)

Don't waste your time on me you're already
the voice inside my head (I miss you, miss you)
don't waste your time on me you're already
the voice inside my head (I miss you, miss you)

Don't waste your time on me you're already
the voice inside my head (I miss you, miss you)
don't waste your time on me you're already
the voice inside my head (I miss you, miss you)

(I miss you, miss you)
(I miss you, miss you)
(I miss you, miss you)
(I miss you, miss you)

Zonk

Holy crap, Trevor just fell asleep in like 45 seconds. I finally got him to put away his toys and lay down in my bed. Between the time that I saved the last entry and when it posted to the site he passed out.

Who knew that all it took was the song "Robot" by Tatu to know a 5 year old out?

BTW - I received my copy of the new EP from Union City Blue today. Their band manager mailed it out to me last week. It is awesome!

Mr. Mom

My friend Amy at work today approached me and asked "How is the Mr. Mom thing going?" For some reason it hadn't occurred to me that this is a pretty accurate description of what my life is currently like.

I have always shared in our responsibilities and I haven't lost my job, but in many other ways the situation is the same.

- Tara got a great job
- She is away from home (permanently)
- I am taking care of 100% of the house/kid-let

So far this hasn't been that bad, a little tiring but not bad. Trevor and I are enjoying our time together and actually getting along better than previously. I am finding more patience with him and focusing more attention to him that I had been before. It's almost a shame that it took Tara going away for me to build a stronger relationship with my son.

Now all I have to worry about is if a creepy Martin Mull is going to fall in love with Tara while she is away. :P

Poach Office

Seriously, did Satan develop the hours that our local post office is open? Or perhaps do they still think that they are in the 1950's?

I have been trying to mail a package up to Tara for 4 days now without success. They are open from 8:30 AM until 5PM. Who is just sitting around waiting to waltz into the post office after 8:30 during the week?

I really wonder how many of us, double income professional (ok that part is questionable) parents are out there trying to get things done in their lives without much success because banks, post offices, and every other store besides the supermarket closes before 6.

Not to mention that I am doing all of this on my own! Grrr.

Thought for the day..

Do you ever wonder if the people you work with are clinically insane; or if they are just crazy enough to function normally in society without drawing too much attention to themselves?

Just a thought.

Conan

Watching Conan O'Brien right now and he has Arnold Schwarzenegger's head on the TV screen behind him.

I am laughing so hard that I am crying.

Foreman Grill

Tonight I tried out the George Forman grill for the first time. This one had been handed down to us from a friend of ours who wasn't using it anymore.

We have had it sitting in the kitchen for about two months, and I happened to walk past it with a pound of beef this evening. Seriously, I was just walking around the house carrying beef. Ok, well I was going to throw it into the frying pan because I didn't want to fire up the charcoal grill. So I figured, what the heck.

Trevor took the first bite, spit it out and said "I'm full and this burger tastes yucky". I should have taken that as a red flag but I went ahead and ate mine too. The burgers were like quarter pound hockey pucks with crunchy outsides. They weren't juicy at all and had little if any flavor. My assesment would indicate that the design of the grill siphons off more fat/liquids which reduces it's flavor and texture.

I will probably give it another shot or two, but for my money I would rather hit the real grill.

Not Mommy

Friday was my first full day alone with Trevor. Sure Tara had been gone for a day or so before, but this was the first time that it was 100% my show, and I wanted to do it all correctly.

All morning Trevor assaulted me with statements like:

"Mommy doesn't put my clothes for the day on the chair, she puts it on the bed."

"Mommy lets me pick my breakfast before she gives me cereal" - Trevor
"Ok, do you want the cereal that I put out for you?" - Dave
"yeah" - Trevor
"Ok, then" - Dave

"Mommy puts my lunch box inside of my backpack, not next to it."

Well guess what boys and girls. I'm not mommy. As it turns out it doesn't matter where your underwear is, or that your lunch is arranged counterclockwise. The boy is still alive.

We are spending the weekend here in Burlington with Tara. It looks as if it will be at least two weeks before we get to see her again so it seemed like a good choice. We miss you mommy!

Get your own.

Dave's the kind of guy who calls a wholesale distributor in Tennessee to buy out his entire stock of a certain Goody hair brush that doesn't make me look like Roseanne Roseanna-danna.

Dave's the kind of guy who cheerfully, but sadly, let me take a job 200 miles from home in another state.

Dave's the kind of guy who put thirty "I love you" notes into every conceivable piece of luggage I own, so that I'm still finding them a week later.

Everyone needs a Dave.

And it begins

Last night, Trevor and I took Tara up to her new place in Burlington, VT. The day overall was a major pain in the neck but it was nice to have the time with Tara. Because of how late it was by the time we were finished moving her in, Trev and I stayed at her place for the night.

This morning we took her to work for her first day and said goodbye. It was tough, but not awful. Trevor and I then played "3 Clues" for the next two hours on the way home. This game entails giving the other players three clues about what you are thinking of and they have to guess it.

Playing with Trevor is usually pretty easy though. All of his clues are like this:
- This persons name begins with "Spong"
- This toy Slinkies down stairs
- This type of food is very "marshmallowy"

I usually win. :)

1602

This is wicked cool (as they say up here): a Marvel comic by Neil Gaimain called 1602. This is a Dave comic meets a Tara comic; his favorite characters written by my favorite author. (Actually, my second favorite author. Neil recently was bumped out of the top spot by Chuck Palahniuk.) The story follows the same fantastically talented Marvel characters that we all know and love -- only 400 years ago.

"Well, the idea of 1602 was to do something that Marvel people and non-Marvel people would enjoy, in different ways. You don't really have to know that these characters are versions of characters (like Daredevil, or the X-Men) who were meant to have turned up 400 years later, to enjoy the story. Or at least, I hope you don't." — Neil Gaiman

Blogging, Packing, Moving On

I dislike blogging about blogging. Does Sean Connery stop short in the middle of a film to say, "I know I haven't said it in a while, but I'm still James Bond"? Yeah, whatever. Get on with the action.

But here I go, breaking my own rule.

I haven't been posting much recently. My time has been filled with online apartment searches, poring over unfamiliar bus schedules and MapQuesting the route between Boston and Burlington. Then there are exit interviews, school searches and yard sales. I've been sorting bookshelves instead of posting. I've abandoned my RSS reader in favor of daily email alerts from a roommate matching service. Want a couch or a toddler bed? Glow in the dark Jedi knights are up for grabs. A stack of aging videocassettes were donated to the library today. The wine glasses are going tomorrow.

It's strange to collect four years worth of furnishings, decorations and souvenirs, then spend the weeks before a move getting rid of them. I'm swapping my cosy spot in Norwood for an apartment near an immense lake. Exchanging the publishing business for the business of politics. My last day at work is Wednesday the 14th and on the morning of the 15th, I start my new job at Democracy for America. They have a Web site, you see. And I'm pretty good with those...

New Doctorow with a Killer McKean Cover

Cory Doctorow teases us with an excerpt and cover photo from his new book, "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town."

CDisplay

Much in the same way Will has been watching movies using DivX on his computer (which I can't get to work right by the way), I have been collecting comic books and viewing them on my computer.

In most cases, this is a pretty annoying task as each page has been scanned in one at a time and the images are seperate files. On Tara's computer there is a "view as slide show" option, which works great, but that means I am only able to view them on her machine.

Now that has all changed.

One of the files I downloaded when extracted showed files with the extension ".cbr", thankfully Google is always at the ready to answer all of my queries! .cbr and .cbz files are from an awesome tool called CDisplay. This free tool was developed by comic fans so that they can view comics without having to open each file and then resizing it to fit. It acceps various file types as well as their own proprietary file types. There are plenty of options for customization and the download was small (1.1 MB)

If you are a fan of comics, give it a shot.

Strange Situation

This weekend we took a ride up to Burlington, Vermont to get Tara settled in her new apartment there for the summer. She has taken a job in Burlington and is moving up there at the end of next week. This was just the first step in her transition to Vermont. I'll let Tara discuss what the full details are, I just wanted to comment on something strange that is happening.

Everything is fine, we are very happy about this occurence. In fact today is our 7th wedding anniversary. (Happy Anniversary T!) The problem is that we find ourselves splitting up all of our belongings as if we were getting divorced or something. It is kind of strange.

The only point of contention so far was who gets to keep the Firefly - Season 1 DVD's, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and The Matrix Trilogy (w/Animatrix).

Tara made it very clear that I am keeping Law & Order Season 2. :)

Spider-Man 2

Friday afternoon we went to see new Spider-Man movie in the Boston Common Loews theater.

This theater is awesome. I have been there a few times so far and each time I am very pleased with it. Plenty of concession stands, new seats, tons of showtimes and comfortable chairs.

The movie was (as Will states) a "9 out of 10". Lots of great shots, laughs, inside jokes, etc.

A few tidbits that I loved:

Stan Lee's cameo (as in every Marvel movie)
Bruce Campbell's cameo (Raimi directed him in the Evil Dead movies)
Chainsaw in hospital scene (another Evil Dead ref.)
Dr. Connors apprearance in this movie (Spidey fans know why this is great)
The perfect portrayal (acting and visual) of Doc Ock
Harry Osborn's decay into the next Green Goblin
Reference to Tobey McGuire's bad back

All in all a great movie that I will definitely buy when it comes out on DVD.