Gettysburg For The Grismores

I got a comment for a previous post about the bad time Lisa and I had at Gettysburg. It was from my brother's best friend and college room mate, Gary. I've known Gary for a long time and have been trying to steal him for my own best friend for awhile now, that is to say I really like Gary and his wife, Amy. I responded to the comment with a long explanation but while taking a shower I got to contemplating like I'll do in the shower and started feeling bad. Gary commented that he was disappointed to hear about Gettysburg because the Grismores were going there for vacation. Crap! I really put my foot in my whiny mouth this time. I feel bad that I put even a seconds doubt in someone's mind about something they are looking forward to. While I'm sure Gary doesn't hang on my ever word as Gospel I would feel better if I clarify a little.

First, the town and the National Historic Park reek of history. The downtown is gorgeous and filled with great little shops and restaurants. It's an easy place to walk around. There are a few different ways to see the park as it's stretched over a few miles and winds through town and the country side. There are several tour companies and quite a few Haunted Gettysburg tours too. You can buy a self guided tour audio CD at the park gift shop for $20.00 also. It's a little pricey for something you'll probably get use out of only once but it may make a nice souvenir.

Second, the visitor's center is big and spacious so even though it's crowded it doesn't feel cramped. The biggest problem we had was the exhibits and museum. From what we could tell, they had a lot of relics on display but we didn't feel like going through the crowd to get in. I think it all had to do with our mood and the fact that we've been through about ten civil war battlefield parks in the last year.

And lastly you get to see cool things like this -

TMZ

Have you seen this shit? I can't believe I'm about to waste time writing about it. To acknowledge it's existence is like giving it some credibility and worse than that, I'm admitting I've seen it. Unfortunately, I've seen it enough to form an opinion. First there's this jack-ass with a high tech see through board writing down action items with a glowing green marker. He grins manically and feigns extreme disbelief whenever someone talks about some D list celebrity's inane ramblings outside of a club at 3 in the morning. They have some young version of Fabio who's about the smarmiest fuck I've ever seen. On one segment Jennifer Love Hewitt was filmed through the window getting a manicure. After she waves and smiles at the camera, young Fabio comments that she's looking sweet and adorable, probably because she's sitting. A bottom feeder attempting to gleen his own celebrity by being a dick to an apparently nice person minding her own business. There is a "news room" packed with hungry young producers discussing such exciting Hollywood glamor as Ashlee Simpson (or maybe the Spears girl) and her husband coming out of Walmart with a cart of groceries. One of the smug producers points out breathlessly that the shopping cart "is just full to the top with chips and soda". He actually sounds stunned that Ashlee Simpson is doing something so normal. It's beyond pointless. It's a shopping cart! This show actually succeeds in doing what no PR person could and that's making me feel sympathy for David Caruso.

I've just decided right this moment I'll never watch that show again, even by accident. Thank you for helping me sort that out.

Worst Photo Ever?

Cumberland Steeple
Originally uploaded by brian glass

I posted this thing on May 2nd and it hasn't had one view. I feel sorry for it. Is it that unlikable? It seems to capture the moment I was going for. It was a cool sunny day with a storm front moving in and the sun on the dark back drop really made the colors stand out. I guess the composition isn't all it could be and the steeple is crooked. As I've said before, I'm no Ansel Adams. I'm not even Gomez Addams but still I don't think I've ever had a photo go this long without a single view.

I Love Dogs But...

...Really?

The Next Day

I gave my formal notice to quit today. It was pretty emotional for me. Telling Al, my boss wasn't too bad. He knew it was coming. Telling Tim, my former boss, was a lot harder. I did start welling up. Tim helped bring Lisa and me together. I told the crew too which I hated because I don't want any attention, I'm the guy that likes to stand in the corner trying to melt into the wall. Of course everyone wants to ask questions about it. It's nice that they want to congratulate me and are curious but I'd rather not talk about it, for all I know I'm making the biggest mistake of my life right now.

Beginning Of A New Chapter

Well, today is the day I was offered the salary for the new job and I excepted. It was more than I had expected and part of me was hoping the offer wouldn't be any good. I've been with my current (soon to be previous) employer for 10 years now. I have a lot of time and equity put in to this job and it's been surprisingly difficult to think about leaving. There's no doubt I'll miss it and I'm hoping I won't cry like a baby when I say good bye.

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

Lisa and I are spending the Memorial Day weekend in Virginia this year. So far we have visited three national parks, traveled about 400 miles covering three different states and saw Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. It has been a mixed bag of delights and disappointments.

First we went to Gettysburg National Park. It's one of the places Lisa has always wanted to visit. It's only a two hour trip from Stafford to Gettysburg so we got up early and headed north. It was a nice cool day with light traffic so we were in high spirits. I have already been to Gettysburg once several years ago and was looking forward to seeing it again since I really liked it the first time. For some reason the minute we got there my mood sunk immediately. They have a new visitors center and grounds and the place was packed. The first thing I noticed was how it looked like the new Jamestown visitor center. I knew right away that the government was attempting to impose uniformity in National Park visitor centers. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice building designed to handle the large number of tourists that were there. It's good for National Parks so many people visit that parks have to expand to meet the demands for space. The old building was centrally located next to General Meade's headquarters and across the street from the cemetery where Lincoln gave his address. You could basically park and walk a huge portion without the need for a shuttle bus or driving from one crowded parking lot to the next. All in all it wasn't a very fun experience. Lisa was a little disappointed too, and worst of all their passport stamp was broken and we couldn't stamp our books. Granted we should have expected large crowds on Memorial Day weekend but that wasn't even my issue. It just didn't have the uniqueness it once had.

The next day started off much better. We rode up to Baltimore and Fort McHenry. As with most National Parks there was a movie (which unlike a lot of parks these days was still free). The film was reminiscent of a Simpson's spoof. Some guy in a powder wig turns to the camera, feigns being startled and says, "Oh, I didn't see you there!" Cheesy, I know but the film had a lot of neat facts and a little old time political incorrectness. Dr Beane (a friend of FSK) smoked a pipe and had a little snort while he gave us our history lesson. The best part was at the end when Dr Beane explained the writing of the National Anthem and as the music started playing the curtain along the entire side of the wall pulled back for a panoramic view of the fort and the American flag flying above it. It was pretty stirring to think that that was a very similar view of what Francis Scott Key saw when writing it in 1814. We also went to Hampton National Historic Site, an old mansion that has supposedly been pretty well maintained since the late 1700's. I learned a few interesting things but something I realized long ago is that I always forget the stuff I learn the next day.

After a good start the day ended in tragedy. We went to see Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. All I can say is that I can't believe the same people from the first three movies were involved with this one. My inner child felt violated and I believe Steven Spielberg has been hanging out with Michael Bay too much.

Get More At ManBabies.com!

Wrong on so many levels.

GET MORE AT ManBabies.com!

courtesy of Bryce

May 15 thru May 18, 2008

I ran home this weekend for some chores and a little visit to my nephew, Edison. I haven't seen him since about February and it's been too long. He's an awesome little dude. He spent a lot of time walking from the kitchen to the living room just because he can, which is a good place to be in life. He's smiley and reserved, a little bashful but friendly and he made up to Lisa. But even more impressive is that Lisa made up to him. It was great to see Edison.

Then we prepared for our moving sale (or garage sale as I mistakenly kept referring to it). Late last year we gave away a small warehouse of stuff to Goodwill. We were kicking ourselves not because we could have made money from it but because our sale was a little sad. We kept getting the "Is this it?" question from everyone. It got to the point where the minute someone walked in I lied and told them we had already sold everything.

After that we saw Iron Man. Not sure what the fuss is about. It was okay but pretty much the same as all the comicbook movies. It was good, I like Robert Downey Jr. and he was pretty entertaining. Lisa wasn't happy that I made her sit through the credits to see the lame little scene at the end.

Finally, I got back to Virginia in enough time to see Valentino Rossi win his 90th race. He's now the second most winning racer in Moto GP history.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend. I'm tired though.

Three Years And Counting (Like A Drunk Backwards From 89)

This is about the longest I've ever committed to anything but my job. I would like to say something pithy and clever about all of this but why start now. I noticed that on the first anniversary I acknowledged it with an entry but in the second year I completely forgot and had just one lame post the entire month. That was apparently a rough year as I only had 11 entries. 2007 was just mildly entertaining. I actually have a hard time writing this thing. I'm glad I have though, every six months or so I go back through old posts and reread my favorites. It's a happy set of circumstances that I started this close to the beginning of my relationship with Lisa. Well kind of, it was actually about two years later, but it's closer to the beginning the longer we're together (sure that makes sense).

The blog is a lot like the the Kodak picture books I started making for us. We have a book for each year we've been together. The purpose is two-fold. 1) We have a keep sake of our life together 2) I have a record of how long we've been together. I just count the books and I know what anniversary we're on.

As I'm always mentioning, it gets harder to write for various reasons. For one thing I'm just not that creative and I find myself regurgitating old jokes and trying to force them down your throat like a Momma Robin to her baby. Second is the old stand-by everyone has, time. No need to elaborate on that one. I also get self-conscience. As I've regurgitated before, I know people are reading this. It seems an odd, slightly self-centered pursuit to think that other people give a crap about what you have to say. I guess there is always the hope that you'll get some responses from readers that will lead to an interesting dialog. Doesn't really happen though. And then there's the new job. Even though I don't mention it I still fear that someone from the place I'm interviewing will find this site and think I'm serious about half the hogwash I write here. As much as I would love to pretend to be brave and act like I don't care I'm well aware of the fact that employers do look at these things and judge an applicant based on his or her web page. At least I haven't posed nude on my myspace.com page. Yet!

So looking ahead what can you the reading public expect? (Isn't it cute by the way how I still write this like someone besides me is reading it?) Well, what you can expect is more winning lotto numbers like this one 09-12-39-24-18-29. And a clip show of all my high lights. Oh and more full frontal nudity!!!

You Know What I Oughta Do?

I should get focused. This blog is boring because it's about my life and let's face it, your life is boring to everyone else. I like the blogs that are about something. J. Caleb Mozzocco has a good one based on comics. Every Day Is Like Wednesday is chocked full of witty comments on all things comic. I go there every once in awhile and check things out even though I don't read comics much, just the ones I borrow from my brother and Josh, a co-worker. I'm intrigued by Mr. Mozzocco's life. He writes some pretty lengthy discourses and I wonder what he does for a living. I have to admit, I'm a little envious.

Than there's The Kneeslider, which despite the sound of it, is not some Swedish sex aid. It is a pretty good site devoted to motorcycling.

Of course I do have my site about something, Riding, which like The Kneeslider is about motorcycles. Unfortunately I haven't been able to ride in many months so I haven't had anything to write about. There's nothing I love more than to take an all day ride and come home and write about it while it's still fresh in my memory. I'm getting the bike worked on this coming weekend so hopefully it'll be ready to go.

And than, just in case my friend Dan reads this, here's a little something for him. Don't think I don't notice you trying to goad me into a global warming debate whenever I visit.

Wet!

Man! I'm still in Stafford, Virginia and it is WET! It's been raining for about three days. Not just a hazy drizzle but a full on down pour. I'm surprised there's not more flooding then there has been. This is biblical. The hotel swimming pool is overflowing. I don't really have anywhere to go with any of this but it's something you don't normally go through so I thought I would just make a little note of it.

Another Demo Day

You would think things like this would make me happy. Usually they do but today during demo I got a little sad at the thought that I may not get to do this much longer. The job I've applied for doesn't involve high explosives, not directly anyway. Up until now I've had a few reservations about leaving but it's usually outweighed by the fact that I'll come home every night to Lisa. Today was the first day that I actually started thinking about what I'm going to be giving up. I've joked about it before but my life is as close to perfect as a non-millionaire can get. With ten years time invested in my current employer I guess it's natural that I'm having second thoughts. But I've really had so many great opportunities because of the job. I've spent a year and a half on Wake Island and as a result got to see Hawaii as well. I've road-tripped through Canada and been from San Francisco to New York City. And let's not forget all of the sweet places I've got to ride the motorcycle. I once received a book on the 25 greatest rides in the US (from the American Motorcyclist Association) and reading through it I realized that I had been on about 15 of them. And lest we forget, I get to do things like this...

Does This Sound Familiar?

Clinton raised questions about Obama's ability to connect with working-class Americans while dismissing economists who have said her plan to suspend gas taxes over the summer would do little good.

"I'm not going to put my lot in with economists," Clinton said when asked to name an economist who backed her proposal.

"We've got to get out of this mind-set where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans," said Clinton, a former first lady who would be the first woman president. -- By Andy Sullivan (Rueters)

I think Clinton may be the female Bush. She's her own man and to hell with experts in their given field telling her that something is a bad idea.