The Flux Capacitor

Hop on board - you don't even need 1.21 gigawats or a room at Biff's Pleasure Paradise to join in on the fun!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Olivia videos

Testing this YouTube thing,,,





Friday, December 22, 2006

2006 - Year In Review.

This past year was something else, wasn't it? I still cannot believe all the stuff that happened, and the fact that I actually survived it all. Let's recap by month, shall we?

January - After getting my incredibly shitty raise from my old company, I find out that my boss is leaving. I have to interview for this position that I basically have been doing for the past two years - 3 hours with 6 people. But also, my "ex-friend" L also interviewed for the same position. She only knew about it because her boss and the VP of finance are friends.

Also, we revealed to everyone that Melissa was pregnant!

February - So they didn't give me my old boss' job. And they gave it to L instead, very undeserving. So for the next couple of months at my old job, I am basically a ghost. I try to talk to as little people as possible. I tried to be civil to L, especially since we still had classes together, but I could not forgive her for what she did. Even though it was all for the best.

I started the interview process, which was mostly a lot of recruiters and some regular interviews. Seemed like the whole process took forever!

Other news - we found out it was a girl!

March - L started at work. We barely spoke. We did have lunch one day to talk about the situation, and she really tried to defend her position but it sounded bad. Her best line: "if you were my best friend in the world, I wouldn't have taken the job, but since I just knew you from school, I had to think long term." That just told me how we always stood as friends. I do know that if it was me, I wouldn't have gone for it - didn't matter if we were best friends or not, we were friends.

I do know that the people that I worked with the closest there all were in my corner, and they all knew that I got screwed over. Too bad the finance department didn't think that way. Assholes.

April - Started looking for a house, and put our place on the market. And more interviews. And more avoiding all of the idiots in the finance department.

Dane Cook at the Garden! That was a good time.

My second to last semester of grad school ended!

May - This is where all of the fun begins! First, the Pearl Jam shows. Two shows at the Garden, which were awesome. One show at the Letterman studio, which was an amazing experience. And the new album came out, which of course I LOVED.

And I finally got the new job! That was a big weight lifted off of my shoulders.

Only one more month of school!

And we got a new house! Still trying to sell our condo though!

June - New job started, and it's great!

Moved into the new house, and it's great!

Sold our condo, and even though it was a big pain in the ass, it was great to be done with it!

Classes ended, and that was GREAT!

June was an insane month - so much happening in just one month. And all while Melissa was big-time pregnant! But somehow we survived it all.

July - OLIVIA! OLIVIA! OLIVIA!

She made her appearance on July 21. And she was perfect (and still is). It was so nice to be done with all the other things we had going on (school ending, new house, new car, selling condo, new job) and focus all on the baby.

We also got central air, which was a big thing!

August - More fun times with Olivia. But also very tired. And my commutes to work were sucking big time because of the heat of summer somehow effecting the tracks.

And I had my graduation ceremony, which put some closure to school. L wasn't there becasue she didn't graduate yet, and that was a good thing.

September - Things are still great. Melissa, Olivia, work. And Olivia loves her "Olivia song" that we sing to her and make her dance to.

October - Melissa went back to work, and Olivia spends most of her days at her grandparents, who love her so much.

I also got sent to our NY office at work, which was fun. Nice to be around the Times Square area and see my dad and my friend from my old job, who was also in town for work.

We got a new garage door!

November - Olivia continues to be awesome. She smiles and laughs, makes all sorts of funny noises.

And I keep hearing reports from people from my old job that L has been doing a crappy job and that they are so behind in their billing there now. Gee, what a shock, right? :)

And Britney split up from K-Fed!

December - The end of the year is finally upon us. Got to see a free Guster show, Olivia is now eating cereal and bananas with a spoon. Good times!

So that's it... 2007 couldn't be as crazy as this, could it? :)

Thursday, December 21, 2006

My top 20 albums of 2006.

Gee, big shock - I chose PJ as my #1. But it is a great album. The Killers and Guster albums battled for the #2 position, but I think it was the Killers' bonus disc that I got from Best Buy that had "All the Pretty Faces" and "Daddy's Eyes" on it that won me over (I consider that as part of the album since it's at the end of the "Sam's Town" playlist on my iPod). The Guster album was awesome as well, which featured two of their best songs ever - "Satellite" and "The New Underground." All of the albums in the top 10 I was obsessed with at one point in time, which was pretty cool. I hope 2007 will be a good year for music, and I hope that my friend Jack can introduce me to some more good new bands as he's been trying to for the past few years.

1. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
2. The Killers - Sam's Town
3. Guster - Ganging Up On the Sun
4. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
5. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
6. Audioslave - Revelations
7. The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth
8. Lostprophets - Liberation Transmission
9. Head Automatica - Popaganda
10. Tenacious D - The Pick of Destiny
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
12. Rise Against - The Sufferer and the Witness
13. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
14. Damone - Out Here All Night
15. Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal
16. Editors - The Back Room
17. Heavens - Patent Pending
18. Rock Kills Kid - Are You Nervous?
19. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
20. Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely

Monday, December 18, 2006

Olivia's tale...

Who is this boy? Boys are yucky!! Go away! Shoo!

How can I get him to stop bothering me? Hmmm?

I know, I will tell him I have to ship out! Thank goodness my mommy bought me this little sailor outfit!

Ok, I sure fooled him! Now what is on TV? Ooh, it's the Phantom Gourmet! Uh oh, this show is making me hungry. Mommy?? Daddy?? Food now please!

Oooh bananas! Keep it coming!

I love bananas!

I am so full! I think I will take a little nap next to daddy. My parents are the best!

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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Behind the Music.

I was just talking with a couple of the youngins that I work with, and they have never heard of Leif Garrett. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, but I was still shocked that they have never seen his episode of Behind the Music on VH1. That still remains the best episode of that show ever. So dramatic. And the reunion with his old buddy Roland - classic.

That gets me thinking: why don't they have more episodes anymore? Do they? Does anyone even care anymore? Were all of the good stories done already (Leif, Vanilla Ice, Motley Crue, etc.)? How many times can they tell the same story: artist/band gets famous, drugs and alcohol sent his/their career into a tailspin and near death, and then the big comeback. Here are a few episodes I am sure no one wants to watch (with a little help from Melissa):

Sting - Behind the Music: he was famous, and then he stayed famous. and then he was respected. And then everybody seemed to like him but nobody could quite explain why.

Phil Collins - Behind the Music: he was boring when he was in genesis. Then he wasn't in Genesis anymore but he was still boring. He then explains why he wrote sususudio for a half hour. And the following questions will finally be answerwed: who, exactly, is the easy lover? Who is Billy, and why dont you want him/her to lose that number? Is the number 867-5309, by chance? Are Billy and Jenny cannoodling? Does Tommy Tutone know about this?

Clay Aiken - Behind the Music: is he or is he not gay?

Will Smith - Behind the Music: he was the Fresh Prince. He had a TV show. He made movies. And he never did any drugs. And the question the world has been asking: do parents ever understand?

Shakira - Behind the Music: watch as she shakes her hips for one hour straight. Do hips always tell the truth?

Good Charlotte - Behind the Music: they sucked, and then they sucked some more.

And maybe there are still a few that they could cover:

Britney Spears - Behind the Music: how she went from a virginal fantasy of every dirty old man and going out with Justin Timberlake to her TWO failed marriages, and how she left K-Fed to resurrect her career but was spotted partying with Paris Hilton without any underwear.

Kevin Federline - Behind the Music: watch as he procreates and makes a fool out of himself trying to rap. He reveals all of the secrets to being a successful freeloader.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Oh, Dane.

You know how Britney Spears has been recently photographed by the paparazzi with no underwear a numer of times? And you know how there are many ways to describe her, um, privates? Well, here is a quote from Dane Cook, courtesy of his website:

"By the way has anyone noticed that in all of the pics of Britney Spears getting out of the car with no underwear her vagina looks like a stroke victims mouth?"

Priceless.

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Weekend.

This weekend my dad came to visit - not really to see me, but to see Olivia (obviously). And Olivia put on a wonderful show. What I am really proud of is that she has been eating cereal with a spoon like a champ.

Last weekend was our first attempt to feed her with a spoon. It was the wrong time - it was one of her late bottles, she was a little cranky, and she cried and would take anything. On Friday, Melissa tried again, this time with a morning bottle, and she was great. I was able to witness this on Saturday morning, and she was even better this time. And yesterday was also a fun time - she was even giggling during her feeding! I captured some of yesterday's feeding on video (I would post it, but I was having some trouble last night).

And what was also great yesterday was that Olivia went to bed at around 9:45 PM, and slept through the night without any problems. That is one amazing little girl.

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Sunday, December 10, 2006

You're my satellite.

On Friday, I played hookie from work for a few hours (don't worry, my boss knew) to go into Boston and check out a free show at the new Borders on Boylston St. - Guster. I got there an hour before they were scheduled to perform, and the place was already packed - mostly high schoolers skipping out on third period French class. They only played for a half hour, but it was fun. For their last song, "Jesus On the Radio," they decided to play somewhere other than their stage setup, and they played the song right in front of me. After their performance, they hung around to sign some autographs. I had them sign my CD to "Melissa Joe and Olivia." When I got up there, this was our conversation:

Ryan Miller: And who are these other people?

Me: That's my wife and four month old daughter.

Ryan and Joe Pisapia: Congratulations!

Me: My wife wanted to thank you guys for helping her get through her labor - we listened to your albums in the delivery room.

Joe P.: Didn't she get an epidural?

Me: Well, yeah, but the music helped, too!

Adam Gardner: How old is your daughter?

Me: Four-and-a-half months old.

Adam: Congrats! That's awesome.

That was it, really. Nothing to write home about, but they were really nice guys and I had a fun time. Here are some pics:





Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Stupid commuters.

For all you commuters out there - when going to and from work/school/wherever, do you always see the same group of people, some of which annoy the shit out of you? Do you sometimes wish you could give them a shoulder block or at least slap the stupid looking grin on their face? Well, I do.

There is this one guy that I see almost every day - mostly when I am heading home. This guy gets off at the same station as me. And every day he is sitting in the same seat next to the doors. And every day, right before our stop, he gets up as the last person is getting off that stop just so he can make sure that he is first to get off the train. And when he gets off, he flies across the street where he has a waiting SUV. I suppose it is his wife picking him up, except it appears like he makes her scoot over to the passenger side so he can drive. They never kiss, and I don't even see them look at each other when he gets in the car.

There was even one day when I almost got in front of him, and he somehow slithered his way to the front anyway.

I remember when I was working in midtown Manhattan, I used to see the same woman get on the 4 or 5 train at Atlantic Avenue. She would basically push everyone out of the way so that she could get on first, and would fly to the first available seat that she can find. Unfortunately for the people sitting next to her, that seat would usually be the smallest space in history - a space that even Nicole Ritchie would probably have to squeeze into.

Sorry, just venting a little bit. That's what this blog is for though, right?