I sit here on this day thinking about so many things going on in my life. Trying not to think about work, but rather the important things in my life. I'm finding that I want to blog about these things as a way of sending them out into the world. To what end? I'm not sure. I'm not sure if it's just a way that I can get things out of my head, or if I'm hoping for an audience, or I'm looking for answers.
A year ago today, my son was born. My life is forever changed for the better. Not to say that life before Christopher wasn't good, but it has more meaning these days. Everything is seen in a different light. The trivial things I used to spend time doing, seem much more trivial. The desire to have those close to me, even closer, has certainly grown. My life feels simpler than it once was, but the joy in my life is overflowing.
I've struggled with who I should be writing these posts to. Who should I imagine is reading them? I think I've decided that I have to stop thinking about that because I think it hinders my willingness to write anything. In fact, I know it has hindered my writing. There have been, and still are, numerous topics floating in my head that I've wanted to blog about but haven't. Is that because there are people that I don't want to read them? Alternatively, is it because there are people that I want to read them (and might) so I want to ensure I say the things that accurately reflect my thoughts. Yes, there are people in my life that I want to read these, but I can't let that enter my head. I think the important thing is to write. My intention is to make a concerted effort to do just that.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson R.I.P.
The King of Pop died yesterday quite unexpectedly at the age of 50. No specifics of his death have been made public at this time. For the next generation (my son's generation), I'm thinking he'll be like Elvis is to my generation. Our kids will hear his music and see videos of him, but never have a real understanding or appreciation. With the advent of the internet and improvements in technology, there will be more footage and the like available of MJ as opposed to Elvis (I'm using his initials out of laziness only, not disrespect). Elvis died in Aug 1977 (8 months after I was born) at the age of 42 so the math works out pretty close ("adjusted for inflation" according to my wife). My son is nearly a year old now so it's very close indeed. [Side note: It just occurred to me that MJ was married to Elvis' daughter for while.]
It's certainly easy for me to say that my kids will be exposed to his music because I've always been a fan. At the same time though, my mom was a big Elvis fan and I can't say that I grew up listening to him. I do, of course, know quite a few of Elvis' songs so maybe I'm not giving my mom enough credit with exposing me to him. Maybe I need to give him a closer listen. I'm getting off topic.
It's difficult to write anything about MJ and feel like I have anything to offer. I have no intimate knowledge of him and only know what the media has allowed us to see over the years. I can say that his music has been a presence throughout my life. I'm sure it sounds corny, but I can remember listening to Thriller over and over with my brother Jess in Montana (that would have been in 3rd grade I think). Some of my favorite songs of all time are by MJ ('The Way You Make Me Feel', 'Billie Jeane', 'Smooth Criminal'). I can also remember anxiously waiting for his next video to come out... seems like it was always a big deal (like after the Super Bowl or something). I can't confess to ever being able to successfully do the moonwalk, but I will confess to trying it.
There was a lot of controversy and oddity that came with MJ as well (the allegations, bizarre interviews, mask wearing, dangling his children over balconies, etc). I can't comment on any of that except to say that none of that should take away too much from his legacy, which should be the music. Growing up with his dad and the child star lifestyle must have had an impact on him for sure. Outside of his music, from what I understand, he also did a lot to raise awareness of poor human conditions throughout the world (like in Africa as well as terminally ill children). Again, I really don't want to comment too much on anything outside of my memories of MJ. It will be interesting to see how people choose to remember him in the years to come. I definitely think that we'll continue to hear his music forever.
For me, I'd like to think that I'll try to listen to some more MJ in the coming months and years. I'm sure there's quite a few gems that I haven't heard or may have forgotten about. If you're someone that hasn't listened to too much of his music, I'd certainly recommend it. I just learned that he made his first recording at the age of 8. That means he was making music for 42 years.
As I've said, I hope people remember and enjoy the music. I know I will.
It's certainly easy for me to say that my kids will be exposed to his music because I've always been a fan. At the same time though, my mom was a big Elvis fan and I can't say that I grew up listening to him. I do, of course, know quite a few of Elvis' songs so maybe I'm not giving my mom enough credit with exposing me to him. Maybe I need to give him a closer listen. I'm getting off topic.
It's difficult to write anything about MJ and feel like I have anything to offer. I have no intimate knowledge of him and only know what the media has allowed us to see over the years. I can say that his music has been a presence throughout my life. I'm sure it sounds corny, but I can remember listening to Thriller over and over with my brother Jess in Montana (that would have been in 3rd grade I think). Some of my favorite songs of all time are by MJ ('The Way You Make Me Feel', 'Billie Jeane', 'Smooth Criminal'). I can also remember anxiously waiting for his next video to come out... seems like it was always a big deal (like after the Super Bowl or something). I can't confess to ever being able to successfully do the moonwalk, but I will confess to trying it.
There was a lot of controversy and oddity that came with MJ as well (the allegations, bizarre interviews, mask wearing, dangling his children over balconies, etc). I can't comment on any of that except to say that none of that should take away too much from his legacy, which should be the music. Growing up with his dad and the child star lifestyle must have had an impact on him for sure. Outside of his music, from what I understand, he also did a lot to raise awareness of poor human conditions throughout the world (like in Africa as well as terminally ill children). Again, I really don't want to comment too much on anything outside of my memories of MJ. It will be interesting to see how people choose to remember him in the years to come. I definitely think that we'll continue to hear his music forever.
For me, I'd like to think that I'll try to listen to some more MJ in the coming months and years. I'm sure there's quite a few gems that I haven't heard or may have forgotten about. If you're someone that hasn't listened to too much of his music, I'd certainly recommend it. I just learned that he made his first recording at the age of 8. That means he was making music for 42 years.
As I've said, I hope people remember and enjoy the music. I know I will.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Easter Tip
A helpful tip for the season:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=5247&Extcode=L9DN1AA00
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=5247&Extcode=L9DN1AA00
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Cross site advertising?
I just had a thought for a quick post, so while my build is running, I thought I'd throw it up.
Following is a list of sites or blogs I currently have my hands in:
Following is a list of sites or blogs I currently have my hands in:
- fmpthoughts.blogspot.com - this site
- personalblogsite (url not shown) - I have a personal blog that I write to as well.
- flickchat.blogspot.com - a movie review site I setup in hopes of getting some of my friends to write some movie reviews. I'd like to get enough traffic on the site to see if we can actually get a check from google for the ads.
- d5ee.blogspot.com - this blog is related to engagedencounter.org with the intention of being a better way to track district 5 news.
- utahee.blogspot.com - this blog is related to the local community portal on engagedencounterutah.org and is where the local community news ends up.
- retiredartandcollectibles.com - this is the beast that will maybe make some money one day.
- engagedencounterutah.org - this is the local engaged encounter site for the SLC community. I could go on and on about Engaged Encounter, but essentially it's about marriage preparation. This site consists of the public site and the community portal.
- engagedencounter.org - I'm only responsible for a small section of this site, but this is my newest adventure so I'm sure my role will grow over time.
- slc2009eeconvention.com - another Engaged Encounter site. This one is for the convention that the unit (set of communities) is having here in SLC in Aug 2009.
- heavytruckmanuals.com - this site is actually making money, but not directly through the site; this site is setup to help my mom sell truck repair manuals
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Time to Write
Oh where does the time go, and how can I find some to write? Is it more important to write, or to write something well thought out and informative. I can't tell you how many posts I've started and then aborted because I don't feel like I can get my complete thoughts out. But then what happens is that months go by and I don't post anything. Another issue I have is that I have multiple blogs, this one and a "quote" personal one. Some topics are borderline personal so I tend to post them in the other blog because I want this blog to have a different feel.
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