new theme again

I know October is still a few days away and it's going to be over 70 next week, but I was getting bored with the green theme anyway.

Speaking of green, I've made no secret that I've had a thing for green in the last few years, which was a gradual shift out of my lifetime of blue. But just as I've stockpiled my wardrobe with everything from shamrock to chartreuse, I'm noticing my affinity for green fading. While I still wear a lot of green, I'm finding myself gravitating toward more deep, bold colors. I'll combine dark blue jeans with a deep maroon or purple shirt, or go for a striking contrast with a bright lime.

Why is this significant? It isn't really, but as my description in the column to the right indicates, this blog isn't really for the world's entertainment. That, and it's after midnight, so I'm less inclined to edit.

In other fashion news, I've decided I'm tired of the longer hair. I'm getting it buzzed short again this weekend. It's less maintenance and I happen to like how I look with it.

bryan with a baby

That's Chloe Landes and me on a tire swing in the kids' area at Cedar Point. If she looks unhappy, that's because she was looking into the sun. Or at least, that's our story. Don't worry, girl; it wasn't the most comfortable episode for me either, especially considering you had just spit up not long before that. (And why yes, I am letting my hair grow out instead of buzzing it. It still sticks up like a pipe cleaner around the top unless I mat it down with hairspray, but I'm trying to convince myself to be patient until it grows longer.)

So what else is new? Work is going better, or at least, I feel better about it now. If the shareholders really follow through with their latest plan, I think things will start to turn around. They were impressed with the job I've been doing the past two months trying to handle shipping, customer service, and whatever all else (very little graphics work though, sadly). But if they really do get this business manager and marketing person in there, I should be able to go back to doing mostly graphics, hopefully with more help and direction than before, as far as marketing materials is concerned.

It seems like I have a lot of quasi-cultural events going on. This past Friday, I went with Allen to see Kalliope Stage's production of Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, a show I've been wanting to see for several years now. It was an awesome show (literally, at times I was in awe of the sound coming from the lead actors) and I'm glad we went. Lippa is one of the up-and-coming young Broadway composers, so I'm sure we'll be hearing more from him as the years go on.

This Saturday, I'll be playing my digital piano outside at the Lorain County Historical Society's All-You-Can-Eat BBQ. They're serving from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m., and I'll be playing as much as I can during that time frame. I'll do my usual dinner music selections as I do for the church spaghetti dinners, but I'll throw in more upbeat numbers, since it's outdoors and you have to catch people's attention. Tickets for the BBQ are $30 -- it is a fundraiser, after all, and it's all-you-can-eat. Big Dog is catering the event, and their ribs and chicken are awesome. Really. They even catered my brother's wedding rehearsal dinner. Edited to add: Looks like rainy and cold for Saturday. It's probably going to be held indoors at Jack Matia Honda's showroom. Oh well.

On Sunday, I'm going to hear the Cleveland Orchestra perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 (along with some Mahler and Strauss). Next Tuesday, it's Spamalot at Playhouse Square. I'm considering driving to Bowling Green to hear The 5 Browns, since I missed their Cain Park concert back in August. Then the Sunday following that, I'm going to see The Marriage of Figaro at Stocker Center, as I know several people in the production and we're getting a group ticket rate with the Elyria Musical Arts Society. Then the weekend after that it's time for Camelot auditions.

In other news, I think I'm coming down with a cold. I didn't get my annual end-of-August/beginning-of-school cold this year, and in fact I haven't had a cold in quite some time (March or April, I think?), so I figured I was due. I first noticed symptoms tonight, so I've started using Zicam. I've found that using Zicam cold remedy right away (within the first 24 hours of noticing symptoms), and using it every 4 hours as the directions state, really does reduce the severity and duration of the cold. It also seems to work better than Cold Eeze, because you squirt the gel right into the lower nostrils, which is where cold viruses breed the most. Plus, you don't have to endure the nasty metallic aftertaste of the Cold Eeze lozenge. :)

Oh and by the way, gas was $1.99 at Sam's Club today. WTF, mates?

work mini-gripe

It amazes me how we can ship items to Germany and Australia via U.S. Postal Service with no problems, yet packages to Canada are routinely delayed. "4-10 days"? Yeah right. I'd be better off putting it in a giant bottle and sailing it across Lake Erie.

review of paris hilton's new CD

I read this last week, but decided to pass it along for those who haven't seen it yet. This is the entirety of Aidin Vaziri's San Francisco Chronicle review of Paris Hilton's new CD:

The donkey not only has longer ears than the horse but also typically eats much less. Also, its fur is not waterproof. The domesticated animal, Equus asinus, can defend itself with a powerful kick from its hind legs. While present in early American society, the donkey's popularity was not widespread until the Gold Rush, thanks to its social disposition and ability to carry tools. Many people consider the donkey a cute and comical animal, but it has a reputation for being stubborn. A popular German proverb contends that a donkey can dress up in a lion suit, but its ears will always stick out and reveal its true identity. The donkey is helpful in herding sheep, cattle or goats. The animal is also commonly known as a jackass, burro, jennet, hinny and ass. It has a loud, brassy voice that goes, "Hee-haw! Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"

Zing!

where was I...

As I'm sure many will do today, on this fifth year after 9/11, I'm going to share my little vignette of that day.

I had just started the third week of classes of my senior year in college. I was doing my usual morning routine of cinnamon Pop Tarts and orange juice, checking my e-mail, and probably finishing up an assignment for my 11:30 class. A few minutes before 9:00, Tim Kingman instant messaged me that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. Not long after, a second plane struck. I turned on the TV, but the cable wasn't working on my side of campus. I tried checking any number of news websites, but they were all overloaded with traffic. I settled for the radio. A few BG students and I started an instant messenger chatroom to keep each other apprised of the news.

I suddenly remembered that I still had my old rabbit-ear antenna squirreled away in my dorm room, so I hooked that up to my TV and attempted to get a signal. At last, I had a visual... and that's when the enormity of the situation hit me. I didn't know what to think. I didn't even know what to believe, as there were reports of other planes hitting the White House and/or Pentagon. At one point, I was told that an entire wing of the White House was gone. People in the chatroom were already saying things like "NUKE THEM ALL!!" even though we didn't know who "them" was and the earliest reports were that terrorists, not a specific country, were responsible. A message board I frequent has people from all over the world, so I went there to see if any of the New York City members had checked in.

When my friends Nick and GT came back from their morning class, they hadn't yet heard what was going on. I shared the news and pointed them to the TV. Nick, not realizing that just about every news website in the world was flooded with traffic, started up his web browser and, out of sheer habit, immediately started typing www.thegia.com -- the Gaming Intelligence Agency, a wry-witted video game news site. Nick realized the unintentional crassness of his maneuver, but that didn't stop him from sharing his little faux pas with us, nor did it stop us from recalling the incident for years to come. (As it turned out, by coincidence, The GIA's website was also down.)

Even though I wanted to continue watching the news, I went to my 11:30 class. Both towers had fallen, the Pentagon was on fire, and all air traffic in the country had ground to a halt. My computer art professor, ever known for her displays of genuine emotion (*ahem*), made a brief comment about trying to get through our scheduled critique despite the events of that morning, then proceeded as if nothing happened. I heard reports from other students about professors who went a step further and accused students of being lazy in attempting to get out of class -- which, to me, would be akin to telling an employee they should come to work on Memorial Day because they personally didn't have any relatives who were veterans. I imagine these were some of the same professors who attempted to continue classes during the big city-wide Bowling Green blackout a year earlier, even in classrooms that had no windows and would have been pitch black had it not been for the tiny safety lights.

My afternoon drawing class had only seven out of about 20 students show up. We sat in a circle and the professor engaged us in a discussion of what had transpired and what our thoughts were, then let us go. It was actually rather cathartic, and I'm glad he did that.

It would take far too long to explain my views on life and the world and how they were affected by 9/11, but I'll offer up this snippet of a sermon given by Rev. Dr. Allen Grothe (my church's minister) in 2003:

Currently, there is a country-western song enjoying a fair amount of play on the radio, but it is a song which I am not sure is helpful to anyone. The song is entitled "Have You Forgotten?" and it refers to the events of September 11, 2001. Perhaps the most telling verse is this one: "They took all the footage off my TV, said it's too disturbing for you and me. It'll just breed anger, that's what the experts say; if it was up to me, I'd show it every day. Some say this country's just looking for a fight. Well, after 9/11, I'd have to say that's right." In other words, television should keep showing footage of September 11 precisely in order to breed anger in us and keep us looking for a fight -- keep us looking for ways to repay evil with evil.

It goes without saying that none of us can ever forget September 11, and, actually, it is a bit insulting to have anyone imply otherwise. Yet what I choose to remember is different from what the singer chooses to remember. I remember the way the world rallied around us in our sorrow and, yes, in our vulnerability. In the words of the Invocation [...] shared this morning, I remember the way we ourselves began to see ourselves and understand ourselves not just as individuals but as individual members of one body, individual citizens of one country... In all honesty, despite what television announcers told us in their self-appointed wisdom, the world did not change on September 11. The world did not become any more dangerous than it already was. However, I was glad to see that people seemed to change, at least for a while. People seemed less isolated and less self-centered. People seemed to realize far more deeply both their need of God and their need of one another, and I continue to find peace in that remembrance.
[...]
Whether we are in favor of the war or against it [the war in Iraq, mind you, not Afghanistan; this was 2003, remember], hopefully, we all ultimately seek peace and not just self-interest or vengeance. Yet we still need to ask ourselves what we consciously choose to remember.

Amen to that.

new autumn pics

My rant about Septoctnocember (below) inspired me to upload my new fall photos from last October, which I didn't get around to editing until May. It seemed inappropriate to publish them then, but I'm in the mood now, so here 'tis: Autumn Scenes. (Some were there before.)

Too bad it's going to be 80 tomorrow. Lousy Smeptember weather [sic].

don't you dare break my Fall

Septoctnocember? Give me a break. Honestly, who goes Christmas shopping in September? If you're one of those people, please stop. You're sending a message to the retail industry that we don't need autumn, that we can jump right from the beach to the snow banks.

I've made it no secret that fall is my favorite time of year. It's the one context aside from Reese's Pieces where the colors orange and brown actually make sense (with apologies to my alma mater). I love the smell of a freshly-raked pile of leaves, a mug of hot apple cider and a bowl of chili with cornbread and honey. I love the crisp air that's just cold enough for a light jacket. I love carving pumpkins. I love how Thanksgiving is a day devoted to delicious food without all the pomp and preparation (and subsequent relief and letdown) of Christmas. Plus, turkey cookies. I mean, come on.

I even love the allure of Cascade Park's foliage, only to discover that the leaves covering the rocks and paths actually make for a rather dangerous hike.

I Christmas shop based on wish lists I get from people. Our tradition is to exchange these lists on or shortly after Thanksgiving, so I really can't shop any earlier.

Further, I'm tired of this "we need to get rid of our current stock three months before the season ends" nonsense. Gone on vacation in August and forgot your swimsuit at home? Too bad -- the retail stores are already stocked with sweaters and jackets! Need a new winter coat on February 28 -- when, in Ohio, there are still two more months of snow left? Good luck!

OK, so maybe it's not quite that bad, but I am one of those crazy people who only buys clothes when he needs them rather than by "season." You know, like, "oh gee it's March already and I don't have anything new for the summer season!" Ehh?? I guess that's the sort of folk the retail industry is targeting.

But that's no excuse for Christmas shopping in September. Please don't take autumn away from me, people.

  Thanks.