So there you go. Budweiser (and I had wine!), the usual beer fencing, an ATM machine, a port-a-potty (to the left), and some decent music by a national band all right next to us. Free music -- expensive alcohol -- and a great spot. Talk about perfect!!!

For the last few songs, we got out of the beer tent -- they had stopped selling beer anyway -- and we ran to the stage, and managed to edge in at the front.

 

Frank was very impressed by the accordion player. He was great, and you would never have known they had an accordion player if you hadn't seen it. Well, we wouldn't have, anyway.

After Cracker was over, we ran from that stage over to the main stage.

Everclear

Everclear played on the main stage (sponsored by Overlook Hospital) at 8:30 PM.
They started out a bit off in my opinion. The first few songs, including one of my favorites, "Father of Mine", sounded off key or unbalanced or something. But as the show went on, Art Alexakis(the lead singer)'s, voice got better and the mixing got better and everything started sounding right.

One of the highlights for me was when they did "The Girl with the Faraway Eyes" by the Stones. The other cover I knew was "Brown Eyed Girl." They also did "AM Radio", "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom", "Wonderful", and that song "I will buy you a new life," which Art said is a song about love, not a song about money. I love that song.

I tried to take video, but everything I took had audio that was so bad that I couldn't post it. Too much bass, it sounded great in real life, but on the little tiny camera speaker it was grating. I grabbed this video off Youtube -- it isn't the right concert, but it was just like this, and it's one of my favorite songs.

At the end, everyone started packing up. We figured the show was over. There is usually a curfew for these shows, right? Especially in a neighborhood park like this.
The lights were partially up, and people started packing up their gear and getting ready to run.
Then, the band came back out. "What about one more song?" And the lead singer stared pulling girls on stage.
From the back of the festival, little teenagers started running forward -- and the lead singer was quite demanding. "You. You. Not you. Ok. No drinks or cameras or I'll through your ass off the stage. You. And You. Anyone else?" More and more girls were pulled up on stage. It went on for quite some time, and it was interesting and funny and rather uncomfortable all at the same time. I felt really bad for the girls he told NO, NOT YOU!
Finally, when the stage was jam packed, he said to them all that for tonight, there name was Jenny, and that they had to DANCE -- but no stripping! (Although I forget how he worded it!) And then he launched into "Jenny - 867-5309."

 

At one point, he stopped the whole show, and yelled at someone for not dancing enough. "You're over 25, aren't you?" he asked the girl. "Keep dancing!"

Since it's a really popular song from the 80's, and most people know it, it was a really rousing ending. I was ready to go, though. I did what my Dad would do -- I grabbed Frank and started running while the attention was still on the stage. We got out before most of the crowd.

Happy Birthday, Cupcake!

 

Here's Thor, and today's his birthday! He's a wonderful guy, and I decided I'd blog about him on his "SPECIAL DAY" (most of which is being spent at work and in meetings and not so much fun.) (Being old is no fun.)

I met Frank when I was 17. I remember the first time we met, I was hanging out with one of his friends, Mac, and Mac wanted to go to Burger King. Frank worked at Burger King and they were having a scratch off lottery contest thing. Frank wouldn't give us extra scratch off ticket thingies. I thought that was just mean.

I met Frank on other occasions hanging out with his friend Jimmy, but Frank was dating Karen. In fact, Frank and Karen went to the Senior Prom together. They sat at the table behind us. Then, later, when we all were signing year books, Frank wrote his phone number in my girlfriend Annie's yearbook. He only wrote something short in mine.

But during the summer, I had a party at my house and he, Mac, and Ray were the last to leave. We started dating after that, and we've never been apart since. That was in 1981.

The best things about Frank are his sense of humor, his love for music (although he hasn't got any more talent than I do, we both love it) and his intelligence. We have really great conversations. (Sometimes. Sometimes we just sit on the couch and veg.) And of course the fact that he is so hot. (Wait... did I say that out loud?)

Since we've basically grown up together, we have alot of similarities, I guess, but we have way more differences. The good thing is that Frank has learned to be tolerant of my peculiarities, and my messiness, and my general dopiness.

He's a great husband. I couldn't ask for anyone better. So even though neither of us really believe in "soulmates who were destined to be together," I also don't believe that I could have found anyone else who was a better husband and father and partner.

I love you, cupcake. Have a great 45th year!

Back to School...

Frankie and Nicky... I think Frankie was in 5th grade and Nick in 3rd.
(They think this was a long time ago.)


Nicky and Frankie... Nick is a Sophmore and Frank is a Senior.

Time flies when you are having fun.

Burning Man

I mentioned my Burning Man obsession? Yeah, this is it. I wanna go.
Although I must say -- it does look painful.
But we must suffer for art, right?

The psychological end of summer

 

It isn't really over. And Frank and I've been working all summer anyway. But it feels like the end because the kids are going back to school this week.

So we had a small fire to observe the occasion. And I bought some cool lights -- aren't they great???

New Neighbors Coming Soon!

I grew up in the house I'm living in now. I've never lived anywhere else. I never even went away to college. The longest I've ever lived in any other building is when Frankie was in the hospital and I stayed with him for a few months. But it wasn't like I'd moved.

When I was a kid, the next door neighbor that I grew up with was Mrs. T. I love Mrs. T. She was a great neighbor, and really more like family than anything else. Of course, the day finally came when she moved. She went south to live near her daughter. We still miss her.

This is her house. It's gone through a few changes of hands, and it's for sale again. I'm hoping that the new people are friendly.


The houses in our neighborhood are tucked rather close together, and it's hard to be a good neighbor. You can never really know what the other family is expecting in a good neighbor. I've heard the saying that good fences make good neighbors, and I think that there is a certain amount of truth in that.

I am hoping for a family to move in next door, with similar values to ours. I'm hoping for people we can be friendly with, but not necessarily best friends. I'm REALLY hoping for people who can put up with our quirks. We aren't always quiet... sometimes we have parties, and sometimes we play music way too loud.

Our neighborhood has changed a great deal since I was a kid. The ethnic diversity here when I was young was limited to which section of Europe your grandparents came from. Now, we have people from all over the world... some of them recent immigrants, some of them via New York, some of them whose ancestors came over in the 1600's. It's something that appeals to me a great deal. My only hope is that whoever lives here, they play nice with each other, and try to get along.

So keep your fingers crossed for me and my new neighbors!

Driving in New Jersey

 
We went to visit the Jacksons. They've moved an hour away, which is very depressing...


I decided to blog the drive.

Driving in New Jersey is a standard Jersey Joke. The joke goes, "I'm from Joisey." "What exit?"

There are two main highways. Tons of smaller highways, but mostly it's the Parkway or the Turnpike. I won't drive north on the Turnpike if I can help it, but I'll drive south. Mostly, I prefer the parkway. This is the parkway. We were lucky that we didn't have to deal with much traffic on the way down.

The way back, on the other hand, was worse. I was the designated driver, and my glasses weren't working too well. We hit a ton of traffic coming back, stopped because of a fender bender. To be clear, I wasn't IN the fender bender. I was just trying to drive past it. I wasn't even rubbernecking. Anyway, that's another story. This is the way down to Jackson's house.

It's not a very exciting blog entry. But for anyone who's never been to Jersey, and wondered what it's like, this is what it's like.

The New Jersey Parkway. A Toll road.

 
At various times, people object to the tolls on the parkway. EZ pass has made things easier. You don't even have to slow down. At least, Thor doesn't. Your money is automatically deducted as you speed through. I remember when I was in College, and going to visit my sister in college in Rhode Island, and sleeping in the back seat of the car with Jan and Beth and Ann -- was it all four of us going to visit her? But every few miles, we had to slow to a stop, hand crank the window down, throw in a quarter, roll the window back up, pick up speed again. I remember wishing that there was a way to avoid the aggravation. And now there is.

View from the Parkway

 
The Jersey Pinelands are a natural feature of New Jersey. The pine trees, being very pitchy and flammable, catch fire periodically, which is probably what nature intended. Driving down the Parkway you go through the pinelands and occasionally see areas that are growing back after fire damage. It's a real part of Jersey.

Destination: Barnegat

 

That's it. I didn't take any more pictures after this. Barnegat is a very nice neighborhood, and they seem to be very happy down there. But it's too far away.

Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd in CONCERT at PNC

Sweet Home Alabama

Spontaneous Concert Attendance

Michelle (Booth's mom) called me yesterday and said she wanted to go to a concert, to see Kid Rock, and wondered -- did I want to go too?

At first I wasn't sure. I go to a few concerts, not a lot, usually Pearl Jam related... at least that's the way it seems! I wasn't so sure I even liked Kid Rock. I looked up the concert on the internet, and Lynyrd Skynyrd was playing too. It was being held at the PNC Garden State Arts Center, which is an indoor/outdoor concert, and lawn seats were available. And it's the holiday weekend, and I've been jonesing about Burning Man all week -- but that's a whole nother post. I'll try to talk about that tomorrow. But anyway, an outdoor concert seemed like the perfect thing. Frank was up for it too.

So imagine... I got to see Freebird in concert. I never imagined I would see Freebird live in concert by Lynyrd Skynyrd - especially since it was popular when I was a kid, and many of the original band members had died years ago. But it was a great show.




And Kid Rock was AMAZING. I had no idea how much I liked by him. He is almost like a split personality... he goes back and forth between some serious rap music and southern rock. I don't know how he makes it work, but it does.

And his most recent hit samples "Sweet Home Alabama" from Lynyrd Skynyrd, which was cool because from the beginning of this summer, I've been liking that song. (I mean the Kid Rock version.) I'll post that video, too. Which means it will be the first post, so if you haven't watched it you can go back.

So he went from rap, to rock, to gospel, to country, and back to rap. I won't post the rap, but I loved "Bawitaba." And he had a special guest, Rev Run, who is a rapper -- I guess the guy who played in the old Aerosmith song that was remade into a rap song. Because they did that one too.




Other interesting aspects of the concert... I have never smelled so much weed in AGES, possibly ever. I was afraid I was exposed to so much second hand smoke that I was going to be... contaminated or something. Interesting.

And then randomly, towards the end of the concert, some guy dressed in a gorilla suit walks through our row. I have no idea why.

Watch it!

This wasn't one of the rap songs, so if you don't like rap, you should still watch it. This was the gospel type song. LOVE IT! Watch it!

I WIN~ :D

Cool! ANg had a contest on her blog, and I entered and I won! I get one of her artist trading cards (also known as an ATC) and a kit to help me get started making some of my own!

Thanks ANg!!!

Long time, no see...

Sorry, I've been slacking again. I haven't been doing much blogging lately because... I'm not sure why. I haven't had much to say, but I have had a lot to do. Work is crazy lately. School starts soon. I've cleaned my house (a little bit) and done a bit of shopping... What else have I been doing?

I've been watching the Democratic National Convention. This is turning out to be some horserace, huh? Very interesting. I wish I was less cynical. Everytime any politician says anything, I have to admit, I immediately assume it's a lie.

I've been playing video games with my kids. Well, not actually with them all the time; we can't play at the same time, because it's a one player game. I mentioned it before -- Animal Crossing. It's a cute little game. We hadn't played for a while, and we restarted everything. We take turns. It's a real time waster, which I love to do.

I've been getting back into Scouts... a meeting here and there, planning, eagle stuff, whatever....

Anyway. What have you been up to?

Mom sent me this picture

This is the same house!

Frank and I took a drive.

Can you guess where we went?

 

Here is your first clue... does this look familiar? It looks the same as I remember it from about 30 years ago.

Driving down the street...

 

This hasn't changed too much... it's your second clue...

Does this look familiar?

 

This is right next door. It used to be falling apart, but someone who appreciates Victorian style must have bought this one.

Gram Rodger's Old House!

 

I took a scenic tour of Elizabeth to get these shots! Frank drove, and I hung out the window of the passenger seat snapping the photos. It doesn't look the same, does it?

For Sale. Hmmm.

 

It's a rather sad looking house now, in my opinion, because all of the old fashioned trim and style was taken away from it. It is still for sale... that is the same sign that was on it last time I drove past, maybe 6 months ago. But now I have the number, so I'll see how much! (Not that I'm buying, mind you. But it would be cool to look!)

Reading in the evening

 

We spent the entire day cleaning cleaning cleaning, and here we are this evening relaxing. The three of us read.

Frank is reading a book called "The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design," by Leonard Susskind. He was reading about the theory that at every given moment, there actually exist an infinite number of alternate realities, with different variables. But they all exist at this exact moment.

And I was reading "The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightment," by Eckhart Tolle. I am reading about the fact that the past and the future are only constructs of the ego. The only reality is the now, and what is exactly happening at this point in time.

(Nick, of course, is reading "Flush" by Carl Hiassen, about some kids trying to help their dad who got in trouble for trying to expose someone who was polluting the environment.)

Good Morning

 

Isn't this pretty? Usually I don't get up early to take photos, but yesterday I decided to take pictures of the glory of morning glories in the morning. But I never got around to posting yesterday.

Let's just leave it at that, shall we?

This was harder than it looks

 

because I don't have the feature where I can just automatically hold the shutter open; the camera decides when the photo has enough light to be a picture.

Irie

1. irie
to be at total peace with your current state of being. The way you feel when you have no worries.
Everyting is irie mon

2. irie
I-rie \I ' -ree\ adj Rasta/Jamaican patois 1: powerful and pleasing
2: excellent, highest n 3: the state of feeling great.
RESPECT man live life irie and you will lead a happy life.

3. irie
Feeling good, Everything is alright
Steel Pulse: How you feelin' out there?
Crowd: Irie!

From
The Urban Dictionary

It's a beautiful night. Not peak leaf day, but just beautiful. I'm listening to Sirius Radio -- the jam band channel -- and a Dave Matthew band song came on. It's sad, but the sax player died. He was a great musician, and I never really listened to him as clearly before. His music lives on.

The music is irie, and I've had some lovely malbec wine, and I'll be taking a walk in a minute or two.

So, irie mon.

The last pictures of Chadwick Island, I swear.

I couldn't post these pictures before, because even though I took them, I took them on someone else's camera. I had to wait until I got the memory card to download to my computer. And of course, they are my favorite photos of any of the ones I took.

So here is an amazing sunset, just as an actual black swan swims by.

 

I used to listen to really loud music and still hear later. Now, I listen to my ipod and can't hear as well as I used to. I also used to be able to look at the sunset without dots swimming before my eyes. Now, I can't even read for long before my eyes hurt and everything gets really fuzzy.

So I went to Sears and got my eyes checked, and sure enough, I'm getting old eyes. I need reading glasses. I didn't order bifocals, because I'll probably wear them over my contacs. But I ended up with new glasses AND reading glasses AND contac lenses.

The reason I mention this is because the swan pictures, which are below, remind me of getting my eyes checked. I purposely blurred one, because I liked the effect. It doesn't look as cool here on the blog because it's too small. But I liked it on my own screen.

It's beautiful out, and fall is beginning to begin.

This one?

 

Or this one?

 

It's music video night, I guess.

I've spent the entire night on you tube, surfing the music videos. I didn't intend to, but there ya go.

So I posted tons of them. Of course, I don't expect anyone to actually WATCH them all. But you should. They are all really good.

Of course, they are posted in a backwards progression. I started at the bottom. I'm not sure how it flows.

Later.

This one is for Nick.

The Saw Doctors

In honor of the fact that they're playing at the Surf Club this week. And we're not going. This is what we're missing. :(

The Avett Brothers. My new favorites.

Arc

I haven't posted an Eddy Vedder video in at least a week. So here ya go. WATCH IT, I'm tellin' ya! Well, you might not like it. It's very tribal, chanting. He samples his voice and keeps looping it back.

When we went to the NJ PAC last week ... was it just last week? Or two weeks ago? Anyway, he did Arc then. It was way better than this one. It was a total goosebumps experience. But this is good too.

I don't know why noone is allowed to post videos for that show.

Anyway, I'm in a music mood.

addiction

 

I seem to have become addicted to walking. I can't understand why I've never done this before. I've started NEEDING to go for a walk everyday. I grab my ipod and head down the street, along the creek. Today, I took Thor for a walk, but his back was hurting, so we turned back halfway through the normal trek. Plus, we weren't going too fast. I didn't feel like I'd had my walk. After dinner, I had to go again.

I don't know about those endorphins, or the hormone issues, or any of that stuff. But I find I need to leave and to sweat and to breathe hard. And I used to walk with friends all the time, to be social. But I never got the same rush out of it that I do now. I just got home, and I'd like to go walk again. I have other things I need to do

I've had other "addictions". Most notably, an addiction to the internet. It's morphed over the years. I'm still addicted. I check sites, email, pages, compulsively. Addiction to reading. I can't get enough. I can't put the book down once I've started. Addictions to people. I'm working on that one. Addiction to sugar. I start eating sweets, and I eat every single one until they are gone from the house. I've toned down my wine/Jack consumption, because I didn't want that to become an addiction. And because I hate hangovers.

I'm not trying to make light of other people's addictions to harmful substances. I'm just saying that I'm noticing this tendency in myself to get so consumed by the need for... _____ (internet/wine/books/sugar/whathaveyou) that I don't stop, until way past the time has come to stop.

At least the sugar addiction is being balanced out by the walking addiction. Of course, the sugar addiction has had the upper hand for many years now. I've got a ways to go to catch up.

ChaCha.com

CHACHA

Frankie goes on the message boards for Pearl Jam all the time, and he heard about this new thing called ChaCha over there, and he's been having a great time playing with it ever since. It's a text messaging thing. If you have a question -- any question -- and you text it to ChaCha, the people at ChaCha will do their best to get you an answer.

When I say "do their best," I mean that assuming there IS an answer, they do the research on the web and send it back. Of course, some of his questions didn't really have answers. His first question was "What is my name?" which of COURSE they couldn't answer. But so far they have given him answers to sports trivia, random questions like when a store opens, and they have even texted him jokes and things. It's getting to the point where any question that comes up becomes a text to ChaCha.

Which is fine with me, because he has unlimited text messaging and they are free except for text message costs.


It's a whole new world out there, isn't it? I feel so old sometimes.

Click here if you want more info about it, or you can text message your question to 242242.

A reason, a season, or a lifetime

Did you get that email that goes around periodically about a person being in your life for a reason, or a season, or a lifetime? It's about the nature of friendships?

I hate that one. :P

Well, I hate it today, anyway. I'm sure the first time I got it I read it and appreciated it, maybe even the second or third time. But today when I think about it, I get queasy. How are you supposed to know? If it is a reason or a season or a lifetime friend? And how are you supposed to decide that a friendship is worth holding onto? Or not? Or that it should be allowed to die a nice natural death from no contact? Or what if you think it's a lifetime friendship, but for the other person it's only a friendship for a reason, and maybe that reason has expired? What if you have to be hit over the head by someone before you get the idea that your friendship is unwelcome? I'm very conflicted about some things right now.

And it's all just too confusing.

The good thing about blogging is being able to write about these deep thoughts and express your feelings. I like to vent. I like to talk out issues that bother me until I can get a handle on them, and understand how I'm feeling and what I should do. The bad thing about a public blog is that since people you know read it, you can't really say EVERYTHING you'd like to about things.

So. That is all.

Rub-a-dub-dub...

 

...three men in a tub, and a kid on a surf board (with no surf to speak of.)

There is a lot going on here. Everyone has a lot of energy and their own priority. In a very confined space.

This picture totally cracks me up.