Yesterday was good for a number of reasons…

1. I went for my first run in 4 months… finally my back is feeling well enough to get outside and kill myself some more. Damn, I missed this.
2. Jan kicks ass at guitar… I love teaching Jan, she has great taste in music (ergo I get to learn lots of cool songs to teach her – this week, I Will Follow You Into The Dark) and her ear is great, I gave her a new strumming pattern to use on Handshake Drugs that combined a nice little palm mute rake and she pulled it off within minutes. Go Jan!
3. I cut my Mom’s lawn… Mom was having trouble starting her mower when I got over there. I started it and then cut her lawn, which I should have done anyway. There are days I’m actually a good son, I swear.
4. I played a million innings of wiffle ball with my son… he made me tell him who he would be on the Phillies based on their line-up order. I think “Chase Utley” had about 40 homeruns yesterday in my Mom’s front yard, FWIW.
5. Bubs saved a dragonfly’s life. This little fella landed on his back while he was swimming. The dragonfly’s wings got wet of course, Bubs held him on his finger until the wings dried and then the grateful dragonfly flew off…
   
6. I went swimming with my kids… something in my right knee went pop while underwater, but hasn’t hurt since. I fucking hate being 38.
7. I helped out Porn Site Terry quickly when one of his sites went down. I like to keep my partners/customers happy.
8. I put up a new feature for Sageth.
9. I hung out with LarryMac, chatted about a new design for Wheelies and he loved seeing my furiousCMS. Can’t wait to get started on redoing his site.
10. I got to take this picture of LarryMac right before he left my house on his longboard… you gotta love the guy…
    
11. Hung out with Rachel and Rich and talked about creating Rich’s Landscaping business web site. They also really dug the furiousCMS. I can’t wait to add Rich (and Larry’s) site to my What I’ve Done section of my  design page and more importantly make two of my good friends very happy.
12. All my buddies got to meet Bowie, the greatest cat ever. Nobody successfully stole her.

I really needed the time with my kids yesterday. I really needed the visits from friends. I sincerely hope no one wants to watch the soul-crushing time I’m fighting through right now. I don’t want to be the slumped-over silouhette in the passenger seat of the car-crash for the rubber-neckers to stare aghast on their way to Starbuck’s. I am going to be the guy you pass that is running on the side of the road on your way to run errands and an hour later, you pass me again on your way home. You think, “wow, that guy is working hard”. But mostly, I want you to see the smile on my face. I’m proud of the grey in my beard, I’ve earned this. This is me.

• Sarah’s Smash Shack
• Toilet Restaurant

It’s amazing how lucky I am to have such great friends…

• The Slo’Reilly Factor
• Cats I am Near
• Giant Ice Penis
• Support Our Poops
• Seth McFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
• How you can tell you pissed off an engineer – thanks Cynnie

• The End of the Internet, The End, Go Back
• Paul Westerburg’s 49:00
• Christian Sex Toys

This weekend was good. The only complaint was some rain ruined Saturday as being the sand the back deck and front porch day. The ride to Forked River was awesome. I stopped and took some shots of Lake Chatsworth, a shot that captured my relief of getting to Route 72, and a really nice shot of some sunshine piercing through the canopy of pines onto the wild bushes below. Road kill is a shitload more intense on a bike. Eau de deer carcass had me retching for a good solid 5 minutes after pedaling past it as fast as I could muster. Some where around Toms River a dead corn snake (I didn’t know it was dead) on the shoulder nearly caused me to soil my bike shorts.

My folks passed me on 72 before the Garden State Parkway and they stopped for a second to see how I was doing and get my lunch order. I got to the State Marina in Lacey Township on the Forked River just after noon. We had lunch and we got underway. The Bay was fairly crowded, but the day’s weather really couldn’t be better. A lot of sailors savoring the last good weather of the season. I still am confused why you see so many butterflies in the middle of the bay. I don’t think of butterflies as being sea hardy creatures of flight, yet we saw so many of them. I took a lot of macro photos of parts of the boat. We tacked around the Bay for a few hours and then headed back to our slip. We went to The Dutchman’s Brauhaus for a heavy German dinner.

I got home around 7pm (my parent’s didn’t make me ride home the 55 miles in the dark thankfully) and I was greeted by a very pouty Yogi, who knew full well that Sunday is swimming in the lake day. I’ll make it up to you big guy, don’t worry.

But aside from the reward of riding that bike all that distance and achieving a goal of mine, the real prize was the time with my Mom and Dad. They’ve been worried about their boy. They appreciate my time so much and that feels good. There aren’t many that do in my life right now…well, many in my life close to me. It’s only a couple weeks until I head down to Atlanta to see Van and Viv again. I miss them so badly. I can’t wait to read with them and just hold them. I go about everyday with so many things that I wish they were here to see.

• Simpsons Scenes and their Reference Movies
• Worth1000 Guide To Looking Like A Millionaire On A Hobo’s Budget
• Only a Paper Moon
• Kim Keever – photography of weird landscapes created in a fishtank

I am doing a rain dance this morning in hopes that the effects of Gabrielle will bring some rain thusly, removing my obligation to shovel more rocks. I moved 11 wheelbarrowfuls yesterday and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m very happy my high school guidance counselor didn’t suggest rock shoveling as a career. I tried to do the math of what each 4 cubic foot load of rocks weighs and I think I ended up shoveling /hauling 11 loads of 200 lbs worth of rocks. Which is exactly 11 loads of 200 lbs worth of rocks more than I recommend anyone plan on shoveling/hauling…ever. The detachable shoulder is holding up fine, but my back is very hurty. God bless biofreeze.

I’ve gotten through about half of The Celestine Prophecy and it’s pretty good. There’s some good ideas in there for sure, I’ll withhold judgment until I’m finished with the book.

Sunday was tiring (the rocks and a 20 mile bike ride out into Shamong), but I had hoped to enjoy an Eagles game and take Yogi swimming at halftime. Well, the Eagles looked like crap, but Yogi thoroughly enjoyed the swim. I’m still trying to figure out what J.R. Reed was thinking in fielding that punt. I’m guessing he was still in kick returner mentality and honestly, he should have never been put in that position by the coach. At the same time, the special teams coach should have sent him out on to the field while repeating, “It’s less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, unless you can field the ball cleanly, get away from the ball and let them down it.” It’s basic fundamentals, and I’m unsure who deserves more blame in this situation, but it just stunk. The Eagles defense actually looked ok, but the Packer’s offense doesn’t have a lot of weapons really. The offense looked flat, but Green Bay’s defense is better than people give them credit for.

Back to the good stuff, Yogi has discovered a new thing he loves – chasing frogs. These little green frogs make this chirping sound when they are alarmed and they go apeshit hopping for cover when say…a 120 pound Golden Retriever comes bounding into their area. All of which makes for an extremely funny scene to watch. Yogi was running, splashing, and swimming up and down the shoreline chasing these guys. I also spotted a beautiful red dragon fly, but he wouldn’t sit still, so all I ended up with was a blurry shot of him hovering near my head.

After the game, my Mom took me to dinner at La Esperanza, which is the greatest Mexican food ever. Sunday night ended perfectly, I got a call from Van and Viv. Bubs didn’t stay on the phone long, but Viv laid down with the phone and I read her a princess story.

• BrainPaint
• The History of Naugahyde