Books Read in December
8 months ago
Sunday, January 18, 2009
New Blog
I have a new blog site up at http://zachkatagiri.com/blog… I'll be updating things there from now on…
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
What Makes Me Happy
My nieces are amazingly cute, I think.
No.
Wait.
I think that's objective.
My nieces are amazingly cute.
Ellie is now at a point where she can actually hold a conversation with me, which is awesome, and Cara, while not quite there yet, is a master of the call and response uttering, listening, responding, and so forth.
And while this, in general, makes me happy, I had a recent conversation that I found to be particularly hopeful.
It was shortly after the election, and I was talking with Ellie, and asking her if she had heard about the election - did they talk about it at her school? She said yes, and we talked a little bit about how Obama was our new president.
Adrianne had told me that her teacher had explained that this was a big deal because he was our first African American president, and, more than that, the first time that a minority was in such a visible position of power. Blah, blah, blah. So I asked Ellie about this, and in her kid-like agreeability, she affirmed all the things I was saying about how important that was, and what a big deal this was for society.
"Uh huh."
But it was in talking to 3-year-old Ellie and understanding that she didn't really grasp the gravity of what had just happened, that I found the most poignant reason for feeling hopeful: realizing that she was part of a generation that would grow up to accept the concept of a black man running for, and winning, presidency of the United States, as common, the simple reality that they've grown up with and accepted as life.
I just really think that's inspiring. Thanks, Ellie. I can't wait to watch the steps your generation takes to help move the world forward with open minds, open arms, into a wide-open future of possibility.
No.
Wait.
I think that's objective.
My nieces are amazingly cute.
Ellie is now at a point where she can actually hold a conversation with me, which is awesome, and Cara, while not quite there yet, is a master of the call and response uttering, listening, responding, and so forth.
And while this, in general, makes me happy, I had a recent conversation that I found to be particularly hopeful.
It was shortly after the election, and I was talking with Ellie, and asking her if she had heard about the election - did they talk about it at her school? She said yes, and we talked a little bit about how Obama was our new president.
Adrianne had told me that her teacher had explained that this was a big deal because he was our first African American president, and, more than that, the first time that a minority was in such a visible position of power. Blah, blah, blah. So I asked Ellie about this, and in her kid-like agreeability, she affirmed all the things I was saying about how important that was, and what a big deal this was for society.
"Uh huh."
But it was in talking to 3-year-old Ellie and understanding that she didn't really grasp the gravity of what had just happened, that I found the most poignant reason for feeling hopeful: realizing that she was part of a generation that would grow up to accept the concept of a black man running for, and winning, presidency of the United States, as common, the simple reality that they've grown up with and accepted as life.
I just really think that's inspiring. Thanks, Ellie. I can't wait to watch the steps your generation takes to help move the world forward with open minds, open arms, into a wide-open future of possibility.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Spa Treatment!
So one of the clients I work with doesn't have that much money - so I only do a little bit of work for her here and there when she gets paid. Usually at some point near the end of the month with her saying that she has x amount and was hoping I could so y and z. And she's a wonderful woman, so I always say yes, even if it's below my normal rates. I've got a soft spot for good people, I suppose.
Anyway - recently she said that, since she knows she underpays me a lot of the time, it was the least she could do to give me an hour at the spa she worked at with the person who was, in her opinion, the best there… so we booked a day - which happened to be today, and I went out there to have my massage. Tip was included… so I just had to show up, and relax.
Very nice.
So I get there, and the woman (my masseur) has me strip down and get under this blanket (so I'm covered - nothing sketchy, guys) and begins giving me my 45 minute head-to-foot massage.
Now, I've both given and received a lot of massages in my life - and when I think of massages, I think of kneading out knots, hitting pressure points, lots of hard pushing and pounding (well, not pounding, but you know what I mean). And this was far from that. In fact, there were time when I wished I was being handled a little more firmly - but she spent a lot of time just kind of running her hands over my back, arms, legs, etc. Some massaging, sure - but a lot of it was more just comforting, rather than satisfying, if it makes sense to use those words.
I don't know. Maybe this is not a typical massage - but, as I was lying there, feeling her hands gently on my back - what it made me think of… esp. because I was under a blanket, was getting tucked in at night as a little kid. You know? Your mom tucks you in, says good night, and, perhaps, runs her hand along your back as she walks away. As I said: comforting.
And I wonder - if this is other people's experience, is that the point? Is the point of a massage not really about getting your body worked - but about just feeling that sense of "I'm in your hands, take care of me…" that bring us back to feeling secure in the wombs of our childhood beds?
Just throwing that out there.
Anyway - recently she said that, since she knows she underpays me a lot of the time, it was the least she could do to give me an hour at the spa she worked at with the person who was, in her opinion, the best there… so we booked a day - which happened to be today, and I went out there to have my massage. Tip was included… so I just had to show up, and relax.
Very nice.
So I get there, and the woman (my masseur) has me strip down and get under this blanket (so I'm covered - nothing sketchy, guys) and begins giving me my 45 minute head-to-foot massage.
Now, I've both given and received a lot of massages in my life - and when I think of massages, I think of kneading out knots, hitting pressure points, lots of hard pushing and pounding (well, not pounding, but you know what I mean). And this was far from that. In fact, there were time when I wished I was being handled a little more firmly - but she spent a lot of time just kind of running her hands over my back, arms, legs, etc. Some massaging, sure - but a lot of it was more just comforting, rather than satisfying, if it makes sense to use those words.
I don't know. Maybe this is not a typical massage - but, as I was lying there, feeling her hands gently on my back - what it made me think of… esp. because I was under a blanket, was getting tucked in at night as a little kid. You know? Your mom tucks you in, says good night, and, perhaps, runs her hand along your back as she walks away. As I said: comforting.
And I wonder - if this is other people's experience, is that the point? Is the point of a massage not really about getting your body worked - but about just feeling that sense of "I'm in your hands, take care of me…" that bring us back to feeling secure in the wombs of our childhood beds?
Just throwing that out there.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Here's to hoping
This is the latest entry that I wrote for the PeachyHost Blog.
As my last post commemorated, November 7th was PeachyHost's official launch date. On the 9th or so, I talked with a good friend of mine and told her, "So… guess how many sites we have on PeachyHost?"
She thought for a minute and ventured, "100?"
"Nope," I replied, coyly… "zero!"
And we both had a laugh.
But I was only laughing on the outside. Inside I was thinking, "I gotta start pounding some pavement, and getting the word out, because clearly, the word isn't running all over town by itself. It's much too modest."
So the next day, Keith, Nam, and I made a concerted effort to start hitting up people we knew and really spreading the word in a contagious way. By the 11th, we had our first official customer, and are proud to be hosting Thymos.org, a northwest-based Asian American Activism organization. Byron Wong, who writes his own blog, the Big WOWO, focusing on Asian American Activism and Intellectualism, was the first of our friends to get his act together and get his site completely transferred over to us. Thank you Byron, and thank you Thymos.
Several other of our friends and family are in the process of transferring their sites, and we are happily awaiting the opportunity to help them along in this process.
I'm sure that, at some point, all of these technical motions will become mundane, but for now we are savoring every moment of each transfer while we plant the seeds and water the roots of PeachyHost. I'm excited to see the list of sites hosting on PeachyHost grow, and proud to be able to deliver honest and open service to them.
Which brings me to what I really wanted to talk about in this post… and that is the principles upon which PeachyHost was founded. "They" (whoever they are) say that brands and names need to be heard a certain number of times before people will remember them in any sort of meaningful way. I'm sure that the mission, vision, and passion behind an organization also has to be voiced multiple times for them to be apparent as well. And I will be the first to say that I rarely read all the small print - so if a company wants to get something across to me, they better hit me with the big.
So with that as a disclamatory preamble, I am resolute in talking about PeachyHost as, not only a wonderful collaboration of friends (and not just Keith, Nam, and myself, but also Byron and anyone else who wants to join in and Peachy-Power their sites), but as a company that is curious to find out how a company that is open and, more importantly, honest, can fare in a society and an age that is becoming more and more technologically and informationally savvy.
A good friend of mine asked me today about the specs on our plan, and pointed out that 5GB of space wasn't as much as some other hosting sites will promise for comparable prices. And this is true, I told her - she had done her research in terms of what plans advertised well. BUT, as Keith aptly pointed out, "those jokers will shut you down long before you use that allowance."
The idea is this: most people don't use more than 5GB of space, and that is precisely what some other hosting sites bank on when they advertise their specs. And I've heard many a horror story of people who approached their quota and were shut down because at the specs that were promised, it's not actually worth it for the companies.
To make sure I could back this premise up, we did only a quick search and found these:
http://corlan.org/2008/10/13/my-nightmare-monday-thanks-to-godaddy/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-fendelman/why-i-dont-owe-godaddy-65_b_129276.html
The second story was picked up by consumerist and discussed here:
http://consumerist.com/5056063/perhaps-you-dont-owe-godaddy-6579
These companies hope to make money on a false sense of "value" since they sell you things they hope you won't use.
PeachyHost is a reaction to that kind of business model, and we hope to "fight the good fight" so-to-speak, and be straight-up about what you will get for each penny you invest in your company and in your website.
If you need more space then we've allotted in our initial plans, then talk to us, and we will work out something fair. If you purchase an initial plan and start to find out six months down the road that you've grown and need more of everything - that's fine too. We will not shut you down when your usage increases. We will simply contact you and figure out what kind of plan would now suit your bigger business.
This is the first of, I'm sure, many iterations of this ideal. But I think it's important to get across. PeachyHost is not simply trying to provide a cheap alternative to already cheap alternatives. And you should not join up with us just because we are a smaller company that won't have over-saturated servers.
PeachyHost is a reaction to slimy business practices, and an attempt to bring honesty to that invisible hand that runs a capitalist market. Because while the best man may not always win… wouldn't it be nice to hope that he could?
Raise a glass, or pick a peach. But here's a toast to hoping.
As my last post commemorated, November 7th was PeachyHost's official launch date. On the 9th or so, I talked with a good friend of mine and told her, "So… guess how many sites we have on PeachyHost?"
She thought for a minute and ventured, "100?"
"Nope," I replied, coyly… "zero!"
And we both had a laugh.
But I was only laughing on the outside. Inside I was thinking, "I gotta start pounding some pavement, and getting the word out, because clearly, the word isn't running all over town by itself. It's much too modest."
So the next day, Keith, Nam, and I made a concerted effort to start hitting up people we knew and really spreading the word in a contagious way. By the 11th, we had our first official customer, and are proud to be hosting Thymos.org, a northwest-based Asian American Activism organization. Byron Wong, who writes his own blog, the Big WOWO, focusing on Asian American Activism and Intellectualism, was the first of our friends to get his act together and get his site completely transferred over to us. Thank you Byron, and thank you Thymos.
Several other of our friends and family are in the process of transferring their sites, and we are happily awaiting the opportunity to help them along in this process.
I'm sure that, at some point, all of these technical motions will become mundane, but for now we are savoring every moment of each transfer while we plant the seeds and water the roots of PeachyHost. I'm excited to see the list of sites hosting on PeachyHost grow, and proud to be able to deliver honest and open service to them.
Which brings me to what I really wanted to talk about in this post… and that is the principles upon which PeachyHost was founded. "They" (whoever they are) say that brands and names need to be heard a certain number of times before people will remember them in any sort of meaningful way. I'm sure that the mission, vision, and passion behind an organization also has to be voiced multiple times for them to be apparent as well. And I will be the first to say that I rarely read all the small print - so if a company wants to get something across to me, they better hit me with the big.
So with that as a disclamatory preamble, I am resolute in talking about PeachyHost as, not only a wonderful collaboration of friends (and not just Keith, Nam, and myself, but also Byron and anyone else who wants to join in and Peachy-Power their sites), but as a company that is curious to find out how a company that is open and, more importantly, honest, can fare in a society and an age that is becoming more and more technologically and informationally savvy.
A good friend of mine asked me today about the specs on our plan, and pointed out that 5GB of space wasn't as much as some other hosting sites will promise for comparable prices. And this is true, I told her - she had done her research in terms of what plans advertised well. BUT, as Keith aptly pointed out, "those jokers will shut you down long before you use that allowance."
The idea is this: most people don't use more than 5GB of space, and that is precisely what some other hosting sites bank on when they advertise their specs. And I've heard many a horror story of people who approached their quota and were shut down because at the specs that were promised, it's not actually worth it for the companies.
To make sure I could back this premise up, we did only a quick search and found these:
http://corlan.org/2008/10/13/my-nightmare-monday-thanks-to-godaddy/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-fendelman/why-i-dont-owe-godaddy-65_b_129276.html
The second story was picked up by consumerist and discussed here:
http://consumerist.com/5056063/perhaps-you-dont-owe-godaddy-6579
These companies hope to make money on a false sense of "value" since they sell you things they hope you won't use.
PeachyHost is a reaction to that kind of business model, and we hope to "fight the good fight" so-to-speak, and be straight-up about what you will get for each penny you invest in your company and in your website.
If you need more space then we've allotted in our initial plans, then talk to us, and we will work out something fair. If you purchase an initial plan and start to find out six months down the road that you've grown and need more of everything - that's fine too. We will not shut you down when your usage increases. We will simply contact you and figure out what kind of plan would now suit your bigger business.
This is the first of, I'm sure, many iterations of this ideal. But I think it's important to get across. PeachyHost is not simply trying to provide a cheap alternative to already cheap alternatives. And you should not join up with us just because we are a smaller company that won't have over-saturated servers.
PeachyHost is a reaction to slimy business practices, and an attempt to bring honesty to that invisible hand that runs a capitalist market. Because while the best man may not always win… wouldn't it be nice to hope that he could?
Raise a glass, or pick a peach. But here's a toast to hoping.
Monday, November 10, 2008
And the rich get richer…
There's a saying, right - something like: Life is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Well, fine. I know what that saying is saying… but I think that life, from the point of perspective, is 99% inspiration and 1% perspiration. This is not to say that you don't have to work to keep perspective - but that in keeping a positive perspective (inspiration), you can be a lot happier without having to quantitatively change anything…
Example.
I do a lot of stupid shit. I don't even know where to begin talking about what kinds of stupid shit I do - but I feel like I do a lot… all the time. Take the case of forgetting to pay a bill and getting slammed with a $35 late fee for a $10 balance.
Now. Someone with the wrong perspective might be really upset by this… thinking - How the hell is it right that my bill should increase by 350% just because I was late paying it? And that someone would be mad.
I, on the other hand, prefer to take this in stride and say: that was my stupid tax. I should have paid my bill, but I didn't because I'm stupid. So life taxed me.
And because I'm socially liberal and believe in the good of all people, even at the expense of the individual, I always gladly pay taxes. So this is no problem.
Another example.
On a date last year at an outdoor bar in Union Square, I was sitting across from this girl, drinking margaritas. She was soooo pretty. Soooo pretty, I just let her talk. And talk and talk and talk… and it didn't matter. I was just stoked that she was talking at me. And she was talking at me. I was mesmerized by soft, red, lips, and intoxicated (literally) by tequila. And I can vaguely remember hearing, in the heat of the moment, something clatter near my feet… but didn't think much of it. I didn't want to break my own trance…
Anyway - she closed the place down, and, after walking her home (not even getting a kiss goodnight!), I made my way to the subway… and reached for my iPod, which normally hangs from around my neck.
And realized just what that clattering was…
Long story short - I went back to where we had had drinks, jumped the fence (because it was closed) had a run in with a cop who seemed dubious that I was just looking for an iPod… and, after some fast-talking and earnest pleas, went home in-and-with silence.
The next day, I bought myself a new iPod for a couple hundred dollars, and chalked it up to my being-a-boy tax. And… if I am to believe what all my female friends say about boys - this is the same as, yes, a stupid tax.
Anyway.
Now that I have moved up in society to my swanky Wall Street abode, I would be happy to pay a graduated stupid-tax. And sometimes I do. I bought some jeans the other day, for example, because they were on sale for $30. I then brought those jeans into the local tailor, and when I picked them up, was asked for the $40 hem fee…
Next time I'll just buy the jeans that fit in the first place, even if they are twice as much. I'll still come out ahead, and it will probably be more stylish(!)…
But the tax isn't actually graduated, outside of a few isolated examples, like the one recounted above - because within the warm walls of 63 Wall Street, I am "safe." Whereas I've forgotten countless things around New York, returning minutes later to find them gone… here on Wall Street nothing is ever taken by lucky opportunists. Laundry cards with $50 on them can routinely be found sticking out of the machines they were last used in - and people just leave them for the rightful owner to retrieve at their convenience.
I left my iPod in our building's gym this morning ALL DAY, and came back to find it still at the same machine I had used earlier… By all means, I felt like I should be buying myself one of the new nano-chromatics. But instead I can use that money on margaritas.
In the laundry room, I was loading in a machine, when an older woman came up to me and asked if it was safe to leave the laundry in the machine and come back when it was done, or if she should wait while it went. I kind of laughed and told her no one was going to take anything. She shook her head and said, "This is so weird. I am visiting my daughter, so I don't know these systems - but where I am from, there is no way I could just leave something."
I just smiled, patted her on the back, and said, "Welcome to Wall Street, where the rich get richer, and no one pays stupid-taxes."
Well, fine. I know what that saying is saying… but I think that life, from the point of perspective, is 99% inspiration and 1% perspiration. This is not to say that you don't have to work to keep perspective - but that in keeping a positive perspective (inspiration), you can be a lot happier without having to quantitatively change anything…
Example.
I do a lot of stupid shit. I don't even know where to begin talking about what kinds of stupid shit I do - but I feel like I do a lot… all the time. Take the case of forgetting to pay a bill and getting slammed with a $35 late fee for a $10 balance.
Now. Someone with the wrong perspective might be really upset by this… thinking - How the hell is it right that my bill should increase by 350% just because I was late paying it? And that someone would be mad.
I, on the other hand, prefer to take this in stride and say: that was my stupid tax. I should have paid my bill, but I didn't because I'm stupid. So life taxed me.
And because I'm socially liberal and believe in the good of all people, even at the expense of the individual, I always gladly pay taxes. So this is no problem.
Another example.
On a date last year at an outdoor bar in Union Square, I was sitting across from this girl, drinking margaritas. She was soooo pretty. Soooo pretty, I just let her talk. And talk and talk and talk… and it didn't matter. I was just stoked that she was talking at me. And she was talking at me. I was mesmerized by soft, red, lips, and intoxicated (literally) by tequila. And I can vaguely remember hearing, in the heat of the moment, something clatter near my feet… but didn't think much of it. I didn't want to break my own trance…
Anyway - she closed the place down, and, after walking her home (not even getting a kiss goodnight!), I made my way to the subway… and reached for my iPod, which normally hangs from around my neck.
And realized just what that clattering was…
Long story short - I went back to where we had had drinks, jumped the fence (because it was closed) had a run in with a cop who seemed dubious that I was just looking for an iPod… and, after some fast-talking and earnest pleas, went home in-and-with silence.
The next day, I bought myself a new iPod for a couple hundred dollars, and chalked it up to my being-a-boy tax. And… if I am to believe what all my female friends say about boys - this is the same as, yes, a stupid tax.
Anyway.
Now that I have moved up in society to my swanky Wall Street abode, I would be happy to pay a graduated stupid-tax. And sometimes I do. I bought some jeans the other day, for example, because they were on sale for $30. I then brought those jeans into the local tailor, and when I picked them up, was asked for the $40 hem fee…
Next time I'll just buy the jeans that fit in the first place, even if they are twice as much. I'll still come out ahead, and it will probably be more stylish(!)…
But the tax isn't actually graduated, outside of a few isolated examples, like the one recounted above - because within the warm walls of 63 Wall Street, I am "safe." Whereas I've forgotten countless things around New York, returning minutes later to find them gone… here on Wall Street nothing is ever taken by lucky opportunists. Laundry cards with $50 on them can routinely be found sticking out of the machines they were last used in - and people just leave them for the rightful owner to retrieve at their convenience.
I left my iPod in our building's gym this morning ALL DAY, and came back to find it still at the same machine I had used earlier… By all means, I felt like I should be buying myself one of the new nano-chromatics. But instead I can use that money on margaritas.
In the laundry room, I was loading in a machine, when an older woman came up to me and asked if it was safe to leave the laundry in the machine and come back when it was done, or if she should wait while it went. I kind of laughed and told her no one was going to take anything. She shook her head and said, "This is so weird. I am visiting my daughter, so I don't know these systems - but where I am from, there is no way I could just leave something."
I just smiled, patted her on the back, and said, "Welcome to Wall Street, where the rich get richer, and no one pays stupid-taxes."
Yes, and…
So this past Saturday I went to my first in a series of eight improv classes… classes that normally would cost over $300, but that I get to take for free because my friend Jessi is completely awesome and won them in a raffle, and then gave them to me.
In-as-much as the class is geared toward teaching us how to interact in spontaneous ways to create comedic sketches, the things we learn about, and perhaps, I guess, out of necessity, teach us to listen and respond in ways that affirmatively move dialogue and plot forward. To this end, one of our main exercises was doing three line exchanges with a partner. It worked like this:
Two people stand up (just first to stand get to do it - but the unspoken rule is that no one goes twice until everyone has gone once) and take the stage.
Someone (anyone) yells out something (anything). Could be "outer space" or "shovels" or "scared."
The two people on stage then take turns taking that idea somewhere in three lines.
The point is not to be funny - but simply to respond in a logical, affirmative way (no questions because it puts all the creative onus on your partner!), building on what the other person gives:
A) Wow. These shovels sure are dirty!
B) Yes. These shovels are dirty. And the dirt is awfully stinky.
A) Yes. It is stinky. And I think I see the pile of shit that is to blame!
It was a really fun time… and I'm looking forward to my next class…
In-as-much as the class is geared toward teaching us how to interact in spontaneous ways to create comedic sketches, the things we learn about, and perhaps, I guess, out of necessity, teach us to listen and respond in ways that affirmatively move dialogue and plot forward. To this end, one of our main exercises was doing three line exchanges with a partner. It worked like this:
Two people stand up (just first to stand get to do it - but the unspoken rule is that no one goes twice until everyone has gone once) and take the stage.
Someone (anyone) yells out something (anything). Could be "outer space" or "shovels" or "scared."
The two people on stage then take turns taking that idea somewhere in three lines.
The point is not to be funny - but simply to respond in a logical, affirmative way (no questions because it puts all the creative onus on your partner!), building on what the other person gives:
A) Wow. These shovels sure are dirty!
B) Yes. These shovels are dirty. And the dirt is awfully stinky.
A) Yes. It is stinky. And I think I see the pile of shit that is to blame!
It was a really fun time… and I'm looking forward to my next class…
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
If Only
I was talking to my buddy Keith, with whom I'm starting up PeachyHost.com with, and we were just kind of talking about entrepreneurship in general and, in particular, all those things that you totally could have done yourself if only you'd thought of it.
Jackson Pollock is a great example of this. Everyone looks at his artwork and says, "Well, gee whiz… I can do that!"
I just did a quick search for a link to job your memory - but, you know, amazingly, I couldn't find one that had some good high quality renditions of his famously splattered paintings. You can read about him on wikipedia, or, better yet, click here to have your own Jackson Pollock experience (just click your mouse to change colors). Kinda fun. Get those screen shot keys ready and you can make your own artsy screen-saver.
Anyway - the example that we got caught up on, since it also had its roots on the web, was the Million Dollar Homepage. The basic premise was that this guy, Alex Tew, 21-years-old, made a homepage that hosted an image, 1000 pixels by 1000 pixels (one million pixels total). For the price of only $1/pixel, you could buy space on his page to advertise. Because he got so much attention - people went to the site - and people wanted to get their name on it.
Well, gee whiz… a page with a one million pixel image? I can do that!
Of course that's not the point. He had the idea - and it was worth one-million dollars.
Jackson Pollock is a great example of this. Everyone looks at his artwork and says, "Well, gee whiz… I can do that!"
I just did a quick search for a link to job your memory - but, you know, amazingly, I couldn't find one that had some good high quality renditions of his famously splattered paintings. You can read about him on wikipedia, or, better yet, click here to have your own Jackson Pollock experience (just click your mouse to change colors). Kinda fun. Get those screen shot keys ready and you can make your own artsy screen-saver.
Anyway - the example that we got caught up on, since it also had its roots on the web, was the Million Dollar Homepage. The basic premise was that this guy, Alex Tew, 21-years-old, made a homepage that hosted an image, 1000 pixels by 1000 pixels (one million pixels total). For the price of only $1/pixel, you could buy space on his page to advertise. Because he got so much attention - people went to the site - and people wanted to get their name on it.
Well, gee whiz… a page with a one million pixel image? I can do that!
Of course that's not the point. He had the idea - and it was worth one-million dollars.
Monday, November 3, 2008
PeachyHost.com
Hey guys - I just posted a blog for a company I'm starting up with a couple friends - it's supposed to document the experience - you can check it out here. Even though it's a blog for PeachyHost.com (a site that, if you click that link will still be in early stages of construction) it'll give you a pretty good update on a project that's been taking up a fair amount of my time… and I really do intend to write more up here soon… not just one-liner links to other sites… :)
Monday, October 13, 2008
Roaming Teaser…
I finally finished up shooting Roaming… the movie that I included some stills from a couple posts back. I have a trailer up on my website… you can check it out here! Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
New Website Launch
Just a heads up that I just finished up re-designing Sight Sound and Sentiment! Come check it out!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Another School Year
So I just started up another school year… still in New York, still at NYU… and, because it's my degree, still focusing a lot on Music Technology.
I'm pretty excited about a website I just put up for a company I started called, Sight, Sound, and Sentiment. I'm hoping that I can use it like a digital business card accessible to anyone who wants to see the work I do.
I've also started doing a lot more with film, like from behind the camera. I just bought a Panasonic DVX 100B and have been playing around with that. Most recently, I finished up a short film called Roaming, written by Steve Burton. Now I'm working on a short(er) teaser for it, and he is planning on submitting it in festivals.
I've also been doing some projects for myself. This summer, I entered this Tea Commercial into a contest. I didn't win, but it was fun. The handsome devil in it is my dad! I'm also finishing up a screenplay that I hope to shoot later this winter that I'm sure I'll post up here when it's done.
Still doing music as well… most of my more recent (as in, from the past few years) stuff is up on the sound page of my website. I'm hoping to continue updating that site more frequently than I remember to blog!
I'll leave you with a couple stills from Roaming…
I'm pretty excited about a website I just put up for a company I started called, Sight, Sound, and Sentiment. I'm hoping that I can use it like a digital business card accessible to anyone who wants to see the work I do.
I've also started doing a lot more with film, like from behind the camera. I just bought a Panasonic DVX 100B and have been playing around with that. Most recently, I finished up a short film called Roaming, written by Steve Burton. Now I'm working on a short(er) teaser for it, and he is planning on submitting it in festivals.
I've also been doing some projects for myself. This summer, I entered this Tea Commercial into a contest. I didn't win, but it was fun. The handsome devil in it is my dad! I'm also finishing up a screenplay that I hope to shoot later this winter that I'm sure I'll post up here when it's done.
Still doing music as well… most of my more recent (as in, from the past few years) stuff is up on the sound page of my website. I'm hoping to continue updating that site more frequently than I remember to blog!
I'll leave you with a couple stills from Roaming…
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Long time comin'…
Sooo… with the best intentions to write up here once a month, I’ve forgotten for the past few. My bad.
In any case, I’ll give a quick update. First… I’m finally happy with my abode. I brought back my electric and bass guitars to keep my acoustic company… and have been getting lovely artwork from Ellie to make me smile. So, for anyone who’s curious:
So that’s that.
I’ve been working a lot doing some audio recording and video production for online video tutorials for a company called Finney Learning Systems. The bulk of the videos I worked on are on their Excel page, and the videos all come complete with cheesy music I wrote (aesthetically guided by my boss – so don’t judge the style!). I also did some of the coding for the site but the bulk of its architecture was done by a real programmer.
Outside my work there, I’ve also been keeping busy with sound design for films/music and have even started getting to the point where I get a lot of offers for paid gigs, which is really sweet. With any luck, I'll be putting together a website with some examples of some of this sound stuff, which will, no doubt, be up here too.
As for school – I just wrapped up another semester. I took a class on music editing for film from Tim Starnes which was really fun, and am gearing up for some intense classes on live recording this summer.
I’m also going to be in the city for most of this summer (though I’ll be back on the west coast during July) so I’ll finally get to do all the fun summer things I haven’t gotten to do yet. I think it would be funny if I ran into my friend, the exotic dancer. Maybe I’ll spy her from across the way, smiling and laughing with all the new friends she made…
Aaaanyway - to continue with my commitment to including as many visuals as I can on each post - I'll leave with you with an image I did for this video production company that's starting up. I got hired on to do sound work, and then randomly got to talking about photoshop and then they asked me to make them an image… so this is it… keep an eye out for it :).
In any case, I’ll give a quick update. First… I’m finally happy with my abode. I brought back my electric and bass guitars to keep my acoustic company… and have been getting lovely artwork from Ellie to make me smile. So, for anyone who’s curious:
So that’s that.
I’ve been working a lot doing some audio recording and video production for online video tutorials for a company called Finney Learning Systems. The bulk of the videos I worked on are on their Excel page, and the videos all come complete with cheesy music I wrote (aesthetically guided by my boss – so don’t judge the style!). I also did some of the coding for the site but the bulk of its architecture was done by a real programmer.
Outside my work there, I’ve also been keeping busy with sound design for films/music and have even started getting to the point where I get a lot of offers for paid gigs, which is really sweet. With any luck, I'll be putting together a website with some examples of some of this sound stuff, which will, no doubt, be up here too.
As for school – I just wrapped up another semester. I took a class on music editing for film from Tim Starnes which was really fun, and am gearing up for some intense classes on live recording this summer.
I’m also going to be in the city for most of this summer (though I’ll be back on the west coast during July) so I’ll finally get to do all the fun summer things I haven’t gotten to do yet. I think it would be funny if I ran into my friend, the exotic dancer. Maybe I’ll spy her from across the way, smiling and laughing with all the new friends she made…
Aaaanyway - to continue with my commitment to including as many visuals as I can on each post - I'll leave with you with an image I did for this video production company that's starting up. I got hired on to do sound work, and then randomly got to talking about photoshop and then they asked me to make them an image… so this is it… keep an eye out for it :).
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Happy Birthday Ellie!!!
Ellie turned 3-years-old yesterday! Yay for Ellie!
To celebrate, I hopped on a plane and flew from London to New York, so that I could be a little bit closer to her (and also in a country where my cell phone worked) to call and wish her a happy birthday!
Before that, I'd been in London for two weeks, taking an intensive course on Global Music Management: a class in the music business department that looked at how music companies expand internationally. The course was interesting, and we got to meet (as guest lecturers) Alan Ridgeway, the CEO of International Business at LiveNation, Julia Jones, the woman who started the (now international) BritBus tour, and Keith Jopling, a music and media consultant, currently working with Guy Hughes, CEO of the EMI record label. We even went to a few required rock shows and were given $50 gift cards to HMV so that we could get international music!
I also had a fair amount of time to sightsee (check out the pics below)… it was a really fun time… a great way to start the new year… and enough to make me think about perhaps moving out there one day (although in London, I think I’d found one of a few cities in the world that was more expensive than New York).
Happy 2008 to you all!
xo
The Crave - the best band I saw while I was out there. Going to rock shows was part of class!!!
Tower Bridge
The Eye
Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery
Inside the Windsor Castle
Stonehenge!
To celebrate, I hopped on a plane and flew from London to New York, so that I could be a little bit closer to her (and also in a country where my cell phone worked) to call and wish her a happy birthday!
Before that, I'd been in London for two weeks, taking an intensive course on Global Music Management: a class in the music business department that looked at how music companies expand internationally. The course was interesting, and we got to meet (as guest lecturers) Alan Ridgeway, the CEO of International Business at LiveNation, Julia Jones, the woman who started the (now international) BritBus tour, and Keith Jopling, a music and media consultant, currently working with Guy Hughes, CEO of the EMI record label. We even went to a few required rock shows and were given $50 gift cards to HMV so that we could get international music!
I also had a fair amount of time to sightsee (check out the pics below)… it was a really fun time… a great way to start the new year… and enough to make me think about perhaps moving out there one day (although in London, I think I’d found one of a few cities in the world that was more expensive than New York).
Happy 2008 to you all!
xo
The Crave - the best band I saw while I was out there. Going to rock shows was part of class!!!
Tower Bridge
The Eye
Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery
Inside the Windsor Castle
Stonehenge!Thursday, November 1, 2007
Laughter
Oh no! I completely missed October! I had planned to write at least once a month… but, as my dad just wrote me (quoting from the movie U-Turn, I think): Nothing makes the Great Spirit laugh harder than men's plans.
Ain’t that the truth.
Anyway – the quick update is that things are busy but good. I just got back from a 6-day film shoot out in West Virginia (beautiful!), doing production sound mixing for an NYU Student Film. I’m hoping that I get a chance to work with the film in post-production as well. It was a lot of fun – really awesome people and a great experience. Doing sound for a movie, it turns out, is extremely different from doing studio music recording, but there were a lot of really experienced people on the set to help me figure stuff out. AND… turned out that one of the people on the shoot was from Portland… went to Lincoln High… and was in the same graduating class as Nick!!! He was like, “Nick Katagiri? Yeah, I know him. We used to party together. Football player. Really good too. And a great artist. We all loved him!” So that was a trip.
I’ll post some pics from the shoot.
Other than that, I’m just doing the school thing and trying to make the most of that. I had to miss some class to go to West Virginia, but I figured that opportunities like that were the reason I was in school in the first place.
I also got into a study abroad seminar that will take me to London for two weeks in January, before the Spring semester starts, looking at the music there in particular and thinking about international music management in general. Part of the curriculum involves going to concerts that the professor will set up for us. I’m pretty excited about that – sounded like she’s got a good track record of finding good up-and-coming bands.
And… I hesitate to write this because I realize it’s kind of cliché, but I’m in the process of writing a book. I’m half-hoping that this declaration will ensure that I don’t leave it on a back-burner. It’s been a lot of fun so far and I’m really enjoying the process, if nothing else. I hope I can finish it… but at the same time I can already hear the Great Spirit laughing.
I hope you are all well!!
Sound stuff…
Location at mid-day…
Scott, our director, talking with two of the principal actors…
At sundown…
Ain’t that the truth.
Anyway – the quick update is that things are busy but good. I just got back from a 6-day film shoot out in West Virginia (beautiful!), doing production sound mixing for an NYU Student Film. I’m hoping that I get a chance to work with the film in post-production as well. It was a lot of fun – really awesome people and a great experience. Doing sound for a movie, it turns out, is extremely different from doing studio music recording, but there were a lot of really experienced people on the set to help me figure stuff out. AND… turned out that one of the people on the shoot was from Portland… went to Lincoln High… and was in the same graduating class as Nick!!! He was like, “Nick Katagiri? Yeah, I know him. We used to party together. Football player. Really good too. And a great artist. We all loved him!” So that was a trip.
I’ll post some pics from the shoot.
Other than that, I’m just doing the school thing and trying to make the most of that. I had to miss some class to go to West Virginia, but I figured that opportunities like that were the reason I was in school in the first place.
I also got into a study abroad seminar that will take me to London for two weeks in January, before the Spring semester starts, looking at the music there in particular and thinking about international music management in general. Part of the curriculum involves going to concerts that the professor will set up for us. I’m pretty excited about that – sounded like she’s got a good track record of finding good up-and-coming bands.
And… I hesitate to write this because I realize it’s kind of cliché, but I’m in the process of writing a book. I’m half-hoping that this declaration will ensure that I don’t leave it on a back-burner. It’s been a lot of fun so far and I’m really enjoying the process, if nothing else. I hope I can finish it… but at the same time I can already hear the Great Spirit laughing.
I hope you are all well!!
Sound stuff…
Location at mid-day…
Scott, our director, talking with two of the principal actors…
At sundown…Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The Old New Apartment
So I've had these pictures up on my desktop for a while now, but keep running out of time to post about my new apartment - and the apartment doesn't really seem "new" anymore. I've been here for almost a month now… and like it a lot. I keep telling people that it's probably the nicest place I'll EVER live, which probably just says more about the kind of lifestyle I expect to have as a starving musician. But maybe if I visualize hard enough I can live like this forever. ;)
Anyway - the place, as I said, is nice (at least for me). It's down on Wall Street, a couple blocks from the NY Stock Exchange, so I see a lot of suits and get to be part of a lot of reverse commutes, which is nice. There's a 24-hour doorman who knows all our faces and names, and there's got to be a lot of us since there are 15 or so rooms on each of 30+ floors. They have all these valet services that I'll likely never use, and there's a pretty new gym that I hope to use more than I'm sure I will. Anyway - here are a couple other perks…
The roof-deck… would have a nicer view if ALL the buildings out here weren't so tall…
And the movie theater where they show movies every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday…
Anyway - the place, as I said, is nice (at least for me). It's down on Wall Street, a couple blocks from the NY Stock Exchange, so I see a lot of suits and get to be part of a lot of reverse commutes, which is nice. There's a 24-hour doorman who knows all our faces and names, and there's got to be a lot of us since there are 15 or so rooms on each of 30+ floors. They have all these valet services that I'll likely never use, and there's a pretty new gym that I hope to use more than I'm sure I will. Anyway - here are a couple other perks…
The lounge, complete with couches, wireless internet, pool tables, card tables, private study rooms, board games, and a grand piano.
The roof-deck… would have a nicer view if ALL the buildings out here weren't so tall…
And the movie theater where they show movies every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday…
Anyway - so that's where I live. Other than that, school is going well… I'm only taking two classes, one on Digital Audio Processing and another on Music in Film. They are technically and theoretically over my head, respectively, but I'm enjoying the challenge, and meeting a lot of really interesting people, many of whom are older and already have a lot of the kinds of work experiences I would be stoked to have.
Aaaaaand, I'm still working at Grand Central, though we're hoping to be done-done by the end of October. I still think it's a good gig, but I've had just about enough of my windowless dungeon to last me for this life.
Aaaaaand, I'm still working at Grand Central, though we're hoping to be done-done by the end of October. I still think it's a good gig, but I've had just about enough of my windowless dungeon to last me for this life.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Good girl!
Adrianne is with Ellie one day and asks, "Is Ellie a good girl?" Ellie responds, "No. Zach… good girl."
Haha.
Okay - here are some pics…
The family!
Proud Uncle
Mommy and her girls…
Cara!
Ellie monkeys around!
Tummy Time!
Haha.
Okay - here are some pics…
The family!
Proud Uncle
Mommy and her girls…
Cara!
Ellie monkeys around!
Tummy Time!Friday, August 17, 2007
Adrianne and Steve make such beautiful babies!
I'm up in Everett again for about two weeks trying to spend as much time with my nieces as possible since I'm not sure when the next chance I'll get to spend this kind of extended time with them will be.
Cara is so much bigger than she was the last time I saw her, and that seems like just yesterday! She's spending a lot of "tummy time," where we put her on her front so that she can work out her muscles in her neck (holding up her head) and strengthen up her arms for crawling. She's super alert and really likes to look around the room. Sometimes I think she could do that forever. I remember that the last time I was here, I remarked that Cara helped me understand where the phrase "sleeps like a baby" came from. That has completely changed - or else, maybe Cara's just not a baby anymore…
Ellie is also cute as can be and is talking more and more. She seemed to remember me and all the things we did together last time I was here (and seemingly enjoyed the games we played enough to want to do them again), which was really nice. I think that this is the first time that I haven't felt like we were getting to know each other all over again.
Anyway, there will be more pics to come, no doubt, but here are some to whet the appetite:
Tummy time!
Ellie shows off all the art projects she did with Mommy! Adrianne, you and Ellie are so creative!!!
Cara is so much bigger than she was the last time I saw her, and that seems like just yesterday! She's spending a lot of "tummy time," where we put her on her front so that she can work out her muscles in her neck (holding up her head) and strengthen up her arms for crawling. She's super alert and really likes to look around the room. Sometimes I think she could do that forever. I remember that the last time I was here, I remarked that Cara helped me understand where the phrase "sleeps like a baby" came from. That has completely changed - or else, maybe Cara's just not a baby anymore…
Ellie is also cute as can be and is talking more and more. She seemed to remember me and all the things we did together last time I was here (and seemingly enjoyed the games we played enough to want to do them again), which was really nice. I think that this is the first time that I haven't felt like we were getting to know each other all over again.
Anyway, there will be more pics to come, no doubt, but here are some to whet the appetite:
Tummy time!
Ellie shows off all the art projects she did with Mommy! Adrianne, you and Ellie are so creative!!!Sunday, July 29, 2007
To my friend, the exotic dancer:
Since coming to New York, I’ve heard friends talk about the many fun, summer activities here. As I sit at my laptop, once again on the west coast, in my email inbox are literally half-a-dozen emails from friends with lists of things to do in the city during the summer. Passport Fridays, for example, are a series of events out in Queens where, every Friday, you can go to a museum and celebrate a particular culture with dance lessons, movies, and music. Shakespeare is constantly playing in the park… and outdoor movie showings are frequent frequents. I know it’s small but having never spent a summer here, after two years, almost feels like unfinished business.
I guess that’s what “next” summers are for. Siiiigh.
As if the city didn’t have enough to do in-and-of-itself, I had to spend some of my short, two weeks there (all the time I’ve been in New York since late May) packing and moving into what will be my new apartment on Wall Street (which I will go into more detail about when I finally move in and can provide pictures).
In an attempt to move the least amount of stuff, I’ve been selling unnecessary things. I posted some items on craigslist, and others I described on flyers that I taped up in the laundry rooms in our apartment complex.
So. My friend, the exotic dancer.
Friday, mid-day, while packing/moving my stuff, I get a call. It’s a woman’s voice, energetic and excitable, like a young person, but with a certain rough, weathered, hint of gravel.
“Hi, is this Zach?”
“Yeah.”
“Hi. I’m Laura…”
…
“Uh… hi, Laura.”
“Hi. I saw your flyer in the laundry room. I think I want to buy your air-conditioner.”
“Oh, yeah? Cool. Ok. I’m actually in the middle of things right now – are you around later tonight? I could drop it by, or you could pick it up… I don’t know how late you stay awake, but I’m usually up pretty late.”
“Mmm… no… I can’t do that. I work the graveyard shift.”
“Oh, ok.”
“I’m a dancer.”
“Oh… ok… well…”
“An exotic dancer.”
“Oh… uh, cool. Umm… well… tomorrow is my last day here, so, if tonight doesn’t work, then how about tomorrow morning? My lease here is up and they kick me out at 1, so does anytime before then work for you?”
“Perfect. I’m up by noon for sure. Call me then?”
“Great.”
“What else do you have? I need all sorts of little things…”
“Hmm… I have a broom… you want that?”
“Oh yeah! It’ll save on parking.”
“Mmm.”
“You didn’t get that at all did you?”
“Huh? Get what?”
“Like a witch. Flying on a broomstick? Saves parking? It’s okay.”
“Oh. Heh. Sorry, I’m just having a hectic day, so it’s hard for me to focus. Why don’t I just call you tomorrow around noon and we can talk more then.”
Saturday morning… I call as promised at noon. We agreed to meet up in the courtyard so she could show me how to get to her room. She was a self-described petite, blonde, “couldn’t miss me” kind of girl… and she was. I’d even go so far as to say she was pretty cute, though there was something definitely a little off about her. Not necessarily off-putting, just off. All she wanted were the AC unit and broom. In return, she gives me $20, all in ones…
As we’re wrapping up our business together, she starts asking me a little bit about myself: where I’m from, where I’m moving to, what I do in the New York… turns out she’s a recent transplant from Florida, loving life in the city. The subways, she tells me, are her favorite part.
I begin saying goodbye when she tells me:
“It was really nice meeting you.”
“Oh. Yeah…” and for lack of anything better to say, “best of luck…”
“Yeah… you know, it’s funny. Even though I work in a place where I meet a lot of guys, I don’t really ever make any friends.”
“Mm-hm. Well… (shrug)”
“No normal guys there, you know? Plus they all like to drink, and I don’t… (nervous laughter)”
“Mmm.”
And as her eyes began to water, she blurts out, “I’m really just looking for a friend. I just need a nice, normal friend.”
Yikes!
I didn’t know what to say. My heart began to break a little, and, out of pity, I almost offered to be her friend. But to what end? I didn’t really want to be her friend. And to be completely honest, I was a little weirded out by where this interaction was going.
But I couldn’t just leave her like that – tearing up and "just wanting a friend". And seeing her start to cry like that made me begin to WANT to help her. So I told her, “Well, you know… I’m leaving the city for a while, but there are all these things that I would have wanted to do had I been here. You should check them out…”
I began to tell her about passport Fridays, Midsummer’s Night Swing (dancing) at Lincoln Center, and all the other summer events I was sad to have to leave behind. As I did, I could see the sadness evaporate from her body as she excitedly jotted down a list of things to look up.
I, too, felt a certain sense of relief thinking about how, even if I couldn’t personally enjoy some of these events myself, I was at least able to pass along the potential for good times to someone else – someone who probably needed them more than me.
I attempted to leave again and I wished her luck once more. She responded, this time, with a smile and a thanks. As I walked back to my own apartment, I felt overwhelmingly cheesy thinking that, just then, a lot more had been exchanged that a few dollars, an AC unit, and easy parking.
So this one goes out to Laura. I hope you find some friends tucked away somewhere in this great, big, city. With complete sincerity, best of luck.
I guess that’s what “next” summers are for. Siiiigh.
As if the city didn’t have enough to do in-and-of-itself, I had to spend some of my short, two weeks there (all the time I’ve been in New York since late May) packing and moving into what will be my new apartment on Wall Street (which I will go into more detail about when I finally move in and can provide pictures).
In an attempt to move the least amount of stuff, I’ve been selling unnecessary things. I posted some items on craigslist, and others I described on flyers that I taped up in the laundry rooms in our apartment complex.
So. My friend, the exotic dancer.
Friday, mid-day, while packing/moving my stuff, I get a call. It’s a woman’s voice, energetic and excitable, like a young person, but with a certain rough, weathered, hint of gravel.
“Hi, is this Zach?”
“Yeah.”
“Hi. I’m Laura…”
…
“Uh… hi, Laura.”
“Hi. I saw your flyer in the laundry room. I think I want to buy your air-conditioner.”
“Oh, yeah? Cool. Ok. I’m actually in the middle of things right now – are you around later tonight? I could drop it by, or you could pick it up… I don’t know how late you stay awake, but I’m usually up pretty late.”
“Mmm… no… I can’t do that. I work the graveyard shift.”
“Oh, ok.”
“I’m a dancer.”
“Oh… ok… well…”
“An exotic dancer.”
“Oh… uh, cool. Umm… well… tomorrow is my last day here, so, if tonight doesn’t work, then how about tomorrow morning? My lease here is up and they kick me out at 1, so does anytime before then work for you?”
“Perfect. I’m up by noon for sure. Call me then?”
“Great.”
“What else do you have? I need all sorts of little things…”
“Hmm… I have a broom… you want that?”
“Oh yeah! It’ll save on parking.”
“Mmm.”
“You didn’t get that at all did you?”
“Huh? Get what?”
“Like a witch. Flying on a broomstick? Saves parking? It’s okay.”
“Oh. Heh. Sorry, I’m just having a hectic day, so it’s hard for me to focus. Why don’t I just call you tomorrow around noon and we can talk more then.”
Saturday morning… I call as promised at noon. We agreed to meet up in the courtyard so she could show me how to get to her room. She was a self-described petite, blonde, “couldn’t miss me” kind of girl… and she was. I’d even go so far as to say she was pretty cute, though there was something definitely a little off about her. Not necessarily off-putting, just off. All she wanted were the AC unit and broom. In return, she gives me $20, all in ones…
As we’re wrapping up our business together, she starts asking me a little bit about myself: where I’m from, where I’m moving to, what I do in the New York… turns out she’s a recent transplant from Florida, loving life in the city. The subways, she tells me, are her favorite part.
I begin saying goodbye when she tells me:
“It was really nice meeting you.”
“Oh. Yeah…” and for lack of anything better to say, “best of luck…”
“Yeah… you know, it’s funny. Even though I work in a place where I meet a lot of guys, I don’t really ever make any friends.”
“Mm-hm. Well… (shrug)”
“No normal guys there, you know? Plus they all like to drink, and I don’t… (nervous laughter)”
“Mmm.”
And as her eyes began to water, she blurts out, “I’m really just looking for a friend. I just need a nice, normal friend.”
Yikes!
I didn’t know what to say. My heart began to break a little, and, out of pity, I almost offered to be her friend. But to what end? I didn’t really want to be her friend. And to be completely honest, I was a little weirded out by where this interaction was going.
But I couldn’t just leave her like that – tearing up and "just wanting a friend". And seeing her start to cry like that made me begin to WANT to help her. So I told her, “Well, you know… I’m leaving the city for a while, but there are all these things that I would have wanted to do had I been here. You should check them out…”
I began to tell her about passport Fridays, Midsummer’s Night Swing (dancing) at Lincoln Center, and all the other summer events I was sad to have to leave behind. As I did, I could see the sadness evaporate from her body as she excitedly jotted down a list of things to look up.
I, too, felt a certain sense of relief thinking about how, even if I couldn’t personally enjoy some of these events myself, I was at least able to pass along the potential for good times to someone else – someone who probably needed them more than me.
I attempted to leave again and I wished her luck once more. She responded, this time, with a smile and a thanks. As I walked back to my own apartment, I felt overwhelmingly cheesy thinking that, just then, a lot more had been exchanged that a few dollars, an AC unit, and easy parking.
So this one goes out to Laura. I hope you find some friends tucked away somewhere in this great, big, city. With complete sincerity, best of luck.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Kids say the darndest things…
A lot of books that Ellie reads depict families similar to hers. They have a mother, a father, and, usually, at least one kid. She is very good at pointing to the mother and saying "Mamma," pointing to the father and saying "Daddy," and pointing to the child and saying "Ellie." She can do this with any familial set of things. She can identify a particular fish on one of her plastic cups as either the "Momma," "Daddy," "Ellie," or "baby."
So. The other day, Adrianne is reading to her and comes to this page:
Ellie points to the child on the left and says, "Ellie." Next she points to the cat on the floor and says, "Mommy."
Then she points to the baby dumping cereal on his own head and says, "Zach."
Adrianne laughs and says, "Don't you mean Cara?"
Ellie shakes her head and repeats, definitively, "No. Zach."
What?! Admittedly, I'm a little goofy sometimes. Especially with my nieces… but really?! =)
Mom and Dad came up for the weekend - it was so nice!
Fun at the park!
So. The other day, Adrianne is reading to her and comes to this page:
Ellie points to the child on the left and says, "Ellie." Next she points to the cat on the floor and says, "Mommy."
Then she points to the baby dumping cereal on his own head and says, "Zach."
Adrianne laughs and says, "Don't you mean Cara?"
Ellie shakes her head and repeats, definitively, "No. Zach."
What?! Admittedly, I'm a little goofy sometimes. Especially with my nieces… but really?! =)
Mom and Dad came up for the weekend - it was so nice!
Fun at the park!Sunday, June 17, 2007
Play time!
Just got finished feeding Cara… there's something so peaceful about a baby and a bottle. I felt mesmerized…
I should share this though: usually the drill is, Cara wakes, diaper change, feed, rock to sleep… HOWEVER when I've done it, it's more like: Cara wakes, diaper change, feed, feel her poo while she eats… finish eating, diaper change, rock to sleep, but hear her poo again! So diaper change again, and then finish rocking to sleep… I'm going to have to ask Adrianne and Steve is that's normal.
Anyway, here are some videos of good times with Ellie… she gets really loud when she gets excited, and while I don't want to be the cause of unruly commotion in a house with a sleeping baby and exhausted parents, it's just too much fun!
Adrianne says that when I get older and have my own kids it's gonna be payback time. Even though it's out of character for her, and her own kids will probably think she's gone mad, she says she's going to run screaming through my house getting my kids as excited as possible… lol… can't wait to see that! Bring it on!
Tickling Ellie (click to view movie)
It just doesn't get old for me… (click to view movie)
Ring Around the Rosie (click to view movie)
I should share this though: usually the drill is, Cara wakes, diaper change, feed, rock to sleep… HOWEVER when I've done it, it's more like: Cara wakes, diaper change, feed, feel her poo while she eats… finish eating, diaper change, rock to sleep, but hear her poo again! So diaper change again, and then finish rocking to sleep… I'm going to have to ask Adrianne and Steve is that's normal.
Anyway, here are some videos of good times with Ellie… she gets really loud when she gets excited, and while I don't want to be the cause of unruly commotion in a house with a sleeping baby and exhausted parents, it's just too much fun!
Adrianne says that when I get older and have my own kids it's gonna be payback time. Even though it's out of character for her, and her own kids will probably think she's gone mad, she says she's going to run screaming through my house getting my kids as excited as possible… lol… can't wait to see that! Bring it on!
Tickling Ellie (click to view movie)
It just doesn't get old for me… (click to view movie)
Ring Around the Rosie (click to view movie)
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