Miles.

Today at 5pm my son Miles was born. I'm officially a dad, and LP now can see the baby sheep that has been in her tummy for all that time.  I cannot even begin to explain how I feel... but it is best feeling I have ever felt.

Catching Up. Tank Girl.

It seems like I am playing catch up on all the pop culture movies I have missed in the past twenty years. Last night's flick was 1995's big screen gem "Tank Girl." Two words: AW FUL. I know... that's one word, but the movie was so bad I really need to make the point and break it into two.  Why was this movie popular?  Was 1995 that bad that we thought this was good?  Or was 1995 so exciting that no one went to the movies?  I just do not understand the popularity of this movie.

Yes... I have seen"Howard the Duck" so that will not be written about.

Weekend At Bernie's.

I have a confession.  I have never seen the movie "Weekend At Bernies" - until this weekend.  Yep.  I knew all about the movie, but just never sat down and watched it.  So Sunday afternoon (after the Bear's game) I plopped in from of the TV and watched it.  It's not so good.  But it reminds me so much of 1989 (the fashion... or lack of it).

I see there is a sequel.  Hmmmm....

iwrestledabearonce.

Thanks to my pal Jason and iwrestledabearonce for my favorite new t-shirt! ...And the show at the Beat Kitchen was an over the top great time.

The Beginning and The End.

Since LP has been pregnant I have had so many thoughts about life. More so how life ends. Sure, I went through my goth phase in the 80's listening only to The Cure, Diamanda Galas, Sisters of Mercy, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Bauhaus... and wearing lots of black and knowing that no one really understood the inner me. But now in my thirties I have found myself really thinking about what a moving part of life that birth is, and also death. Both parts happen to all of us.

We all have our own thoughts, beliefs, faiths about the end. But put that all aside and really think about it. If you spend way too much time trying to grab hold of the idea that life is really short, even if you live to 100, you will see that a good chunk of us do nothing with our lives. Nothing. We grow up. We get a job. And then we work, go home, eat, sleep, see a movie, etc. We don't push ourselves. Or we push ourselves so much we forget to enjoy what we are doing.

LP's grandfather passed away this morning and it sparked more of this thinking about how life is really short and how we should all get more out of it. How much time we waste that we could be spending to become better people... we could help those who are in need. LP's grandfather was a great man. He was a soldier in WWII. He was a die hard St Louis Cardinals fan. He loved his family, and could tell a great story. He was completely welcoming of me and treated me as family from day one.

Sure, I'm just rambling - but these are things we can all think about. Life is short. It really is.

Otis.

My brother's kitty Otis died yesterday. It was not expected... and the little furball left us way too early. It's a complete bummer.

When animals in our lives pass on it shocks most of us how much it effects us. They are the constants in our lives, but sometimes we can forget about what kind of bond there is with our pets. Life just does not seem the same when they leave us.

The world is a lot less fluffy without Otis in it.

Waiting.

Lately I seem to be surrounded by waiting. Waiting for baby to arrive. Waiting to hear from companies I've applied for jobs with. Waiting for the final day of my job to come, or a miracle to happen so I will not get laid off. Waiting for my Mac to get fixed. Waiting for LP's grandpa to get better. Waiting for the leaves to turn. Just lots of waiting.

I guess I need to look at what I am doing with my time when waiting. Am I sitting around wasting time and not being productive? Could I be getting more done? Am I using my time well? Am I using my time?

Guess we'll wait and see.

Obituaries. Pinot.

I have always read the daily newspaper. Where ever I lived. I picked it up from my father starting with the comics at an early age, and sealed it by my time as a paperboy. There is something about starting my day by flipping through the paper. In this day of immediate breaking news on the television and online I turn to the paper for other stories, or more in-depth looks at stories. And starting a few years ago I tended to read the obituaries first.

I am not a morbid person, but I often find the most fascinating stories about people in the obituary section. Most of the people I've never heard of, and some I just knew the name. For example, this morning one of the obituaries was on David Lett. I knew his legacy, I knew his winery, but I honestly did not know the name behind it. After living in Portland and being exposed to so many bottles of amazing pinots LP and I learned much about what we loved about pinots, but I never recall hearing the story of David Lett.

A couple weeks ago the Chicago Tribune change the look of the paper, a complete overhaul. The paper now looks more like the USA Today. Sad. The one change they did make that I like is the obituaries are also called Legacies. This seems to be such a nice fit since these stories have so much life to them.