OK, time to give a shout out to the SuperBowl(R), excuse me, the "big game." I am rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it has nothing to do with the NFL. It really all goes back to my college days. First, I attended LSU at the same time as Alan Faneca, the All-American offensive lineman. He has changed the way I watch football. I suddenly understand that those 300-monsters in front of the quarterback do more than just stop the blood-thirsty opponents from destroying any person foolish enough to hold the football. I actually watched Faneca and saw how he could create an advantage for the offense by eliminating more than one opponent. Suddenly the game grew more interesting. So, I would like to see the guy do well.

Secondly, I like Shaun Alexander. I am glad to see a former SEC player do so well. However, I was also at LSU and in Tiger Stadium in 1996, when Alexander rolled over LSU for 291 rushing yards in a single game. The highest total EVER by a Tide running back. That still stings. I wouldn't mind if he has to wait for his ring.

Ultimately, I just want a game worth watching.

For my fellow fans of Comic/Superhero/Geek movies.

Yesterday we headed out to Starved Rock to go eagle-watching. This year was our second time out there. It is amazing, because there is this one island with a bunch of bald eagles roosting in the trees, just chilling. You can see them from a distance and occasionally they go frolic/hunt in the water. However, the most remarkable eagle experience is when you are just walking along the river on top of the bluff and all of a sudden an eagle soars past you over the river within a dozen yards or so.

Remember being 8-years-old, when the world was your stage and everything you had to say was a secret?

Eric and Pablo - You guys might not remember last night, because it happened in the dreamworld. However, we were at our apartment watching the College National Co-ed Kickball Championship between LSU and Vanderbilt. Although LSU was down 8-3, we decided to head to the stadium and watch it. After Eric managed to get into a 3 foot parking space we headed to the game. Which was now tied 18-18. The stadium was great; we never sat down, in fact we watched some of the game from the edge of the infield dirt, watching the outfield. (Good thing we did not get hit in the back of the head.) Despite the exciting game, we went back home. Pablo and I were trying to find the game on ESPN, but ended up watching a nature show on lemurs. Suddenly, we remembered the game. We flipped and flipped, but no game. We went to find Eric, who was folding laundry. He said LSU had won 14-13 in a kick-off. (Not sure how the score went backwards.) For those of you not familiar with dreamworld kickball rules, apparently if the score is still tied after 9 innings, you have a kick-off, a la soccer. Each team sends one person up for a kick, to see if he/she can kick it out of the stadium. If a team does get it out, and the other team fails, then that team is victor. The accepted form of defense is to build three, three-person human pyramids in the outfield to try and block the homeruns. Well, LSU won on the 7th kick. We were very excited. Then I walked to Australia. I love dreams.

I just bought my copy, did you get yours yet?? Get it here at Amazon.

Lego and photo courtesy of Sam Engle. Lockheed Martin has seen his work and he has an interview after finishing 4th grade...

i-Doctor. Mary and Sam just went to the eye doctor. I am thinking this is probably a good profession to get into right now. I mean it won’t be long until people just sit at their computer while the optometrist sits at his/her computer in their respective pjs for an examination. Maybe head into the clinic two days a week for some procedures… Hmmm, do I have to take the MCAT or the GRE?

New perspective on the world though my eyes…

Officially an eBayer. Well, it took me a few years but I finally completed an eBay transaction, and I have to say: it was great. So incredibly easy. I have actually completed three in the past couple of weeks. I enjoyed the thrill and strategy of auctioning and can see why so many people do eBay and other types of auctioning. My only previous experience was the occasional silent auction, where I got things like a pair of New Orleans Saints shot glasses or props from Bell Elementary production of The King and I. This was great. This was stuff I really wanted.

I was a bit nervous after completing my first auction and exchanging a few messages about shipping and costs, etc. Because I was lying in bed a few nights later suddenly remembering I had first looked seriously into eBay while I lived in Dallas. I pictured my Batman graphic novels ending up on the doorstep of Big Tex as he turned them into target practice to spit his wad a chew at the Batmobile on page 8. However, I had updated my address and everything arrived in tip-top shape.

Brick and Mortar sellers are disappearing more and more from my world.

City of God Cameron. We watched The Constant Gardner last night. That Fernando Meirelles can direct sub-equator poverty like nobody's business...

What do you do when your fresh garlic starts sprouting? Well, plant it of course! Mary brought life to a plant that would make Dr. Seuss proud.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow... Unfortunately, the sun came out immediately afterwards. Now, we just have chunks of ice falling from the trees. Actually, Mary even saw a squirrel (did I spell that right Eric?) lose footing and fall two stories. The mild winter continues, and yet our last heating bill was still over $300, despite the house never getting above 70 degrees. So, keep that sun coming!

Adam is the office doormat...

Here is some research I am doing soon. Do you know anyone who would be interested in participating? I will be the one conducting the research...

Help Starbucks create a better Web site, and we’ll reward you with $75-100

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The research will be conducted during the weeks of February 6th and 13th. So if you live in the Chicago, New York or Seattle area, and would like to earn some extra money while providing valuable feedback, please click on the following link (http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224W26PWFPF) to see if you qualify for participation. Information gathered in the survey will be used for this study ONLY and destroyed thereafter.

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Just a train ride photolog

Don't mind me, just trying something out...

I am immensely fascinated by the ability to be completely connected at all times. Being able to reach out beyond my borders… Being Argus and watching 100 things at once, doing my best to avoid Hermes’ boring pipe-story. However, I do suddenly find myself quite drawn to those stories of places out of touch: such as Lost, Batman: No Man’s Land, Robinson Crusoe and Into the Wild. These places are becoming a paradise, aren’t they? Allowing us to have a self-contained environment, peering into the interactions of a human Petri dish (without the brown crusty stuff on the side).

Finally, I'll be able to play at the Box, like I always wanted to... Another brilliant game from EA Sports, bring on the aluminum bats.

Sam meet Batman, Batman Sam ... I'm glad you guys have now met. Enjoy.

To do another flashback to the summer...

If someone had told me 5 years ago that I would honeymoon in Michigan, I would have told them they were nuts. However, looking over these pics again reminds me what a great idea that was... 8 pictures from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The morning was an exercise in irrational behavior. One of those times where absurdity took over and dreams were vanquished. A time when I appreciated how lucky I am and what a wonderful world I live in. And no one really lives in the same world, do they? We each create our own world. Perceptions are realities. Differing view points. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder… all that.

I remember a Mardi Gras float with Grover on it. It ran down the streets of Lafayette, Louisiana, sometime in the mid-80s. There may be a handful of people that remember this float (mostly the people who rode it or have it captured in a photo album). The startling blue plastic leaves that made up Grover’s perfectly round head. After the float had passed, I picked-up a fallen piece of Grover and stuck it in my mouth. On my tongue. The chalky taste of fine dirt. I don’t think anyone remembers that float the way I do.

And I am very thankful for that. For the views of the world I have been given. The appreciation of the fantastic and the fascinating, the sacred and the silly, the lovely and the lonely. It was a good day to take a deep breath and appreciate everything I experience.

Kid's grow-up so fast... Last night at the dinner table, I half-assed explained Zeno's Arrow paradox to Sam (age:8). It was fun to watch his face as he quickly got it... I did not get into explaining how space therefore is continuous, because I barely understand that as is. Plus, it is best to sit and ponder it for a decade or so...

Later in the evening, we watched the Kevin Costner Robin Hood. I wondered if he was thinking about our discussion while the arrows were shooting across the screen. I hope not. He is a kid and should just enjoy the spectacle of the flaming arrow embedded in the executioner's head, or the two arrows shot at once taking out the charging horsemen. Man, I sure did when that flick came out.

All praise the sabbatical. My friend Heather Lefevre (formerly of Mullen) is switching jobs and cities. Before she embarks on this new endeavor, she is taking some time to do a Spanish language immersion program … in Peru. If you know Spanish, you can follow her time and experience here. I took French in high school and college. So I can not follow what is going on, but in case I miss an announcement in the Olympics I can catch it the second time.

Taking a sabbatical to re-set your brain is an incredibly good idea. The summer I worked at Wrigley Field was amazing for clearing my mind and giving me perspective. I met people I never would have met and experienced situations I never would have known existed had I not ventured away from the desk. My analogies and vision are much more precise because of that summer. It also provided me with a lifetime of stories.

Like when Tommy Lasorda informed me that when an Italian man offers you pizza, you do not say no. That is an important lesson.

So, I was thinking about the issue of all these darn computer passwords that I have to keep in my head. Ugh. Possibly the thing I dislike the most about the internet is keeping track of all of them. The sites that require case-sensitive, special characters, numbers and letters really 'get my goat.' ... Not to mention trying to label "my favorite pet" for my secret question. Do I really need to compare the qualities of Ms. Muffin to Max just to look at a database and see how many career hammering Sandburg had? I like exploring too much to keep track of these passwords. I would say I create a new password at least twice a week.

I was figuring how it would not be long until computers are able to recognize us as people, through fingerprints or retina scans or DNA analysis or whatever.

Then I saw this article about computer chip implants (linking to print-friendly versions is a good way to avoid many bad ads). Silly me, I was thinking of helping the computer to recognize ME as a HUMAN ... Why not just become part computer...? These are questions we will be facing more and more every day. The first step towards Cyprus nation begins with annoying passwords. (Prediction: In five years, I have the following thought, 'I've been think how annoying it is to get a match/lighter to light a candle. I may get one of those fire-starter finger implants...)

Photo courtesy of Jef Richards, UT-Advertising professor extraordinaire

This morning Sam breathed life (courtesy of a lot of batteries) into a Roboraptor
The fierce beast follows a laser around and can "stalk" when it finds prey...
Roboraptor is quite frightening. He has a "free-roam" ability; we are thinking of locking him in the basement at night.There already was a confrontation, which ended in a stand-off. We aren't sure who will end up eating who...

Hook 'Em Horns!! Wow! Both of my alma maters winning the national title in football in the past 3 years (Yes LSU won the national title 2 years ago - Not USC. The AP designated USC as the national champs; if I remember correctly, the press also designated Al Gore as the U.S. President in 2000. We have to stick to the process people ... even when it is painful.)

Anyway, very cool. very exciting. Vince Young is incredible (I wish the Bears could borrow him for the next three weeks, although Rex Grossman is "good enough.")

(Photo credit, right: AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Yum ... fried bananas breakfast. This is from a cool site that offers step-by-step instructions on how to build things: like breakfasts, treehouses, amps ... Marshmallow guns.

Great way to share information.

In what year do you think Pulitzer will recognize the blog? I just read this release on the Pulitzer site:

The Pulitzer Prize Board announced today [12/7/2005] that newspapers may submit online material as well as print content in all 14 of its journalism categories, starting with the 2006 competition.

"The Board believes it has taken a significant step in recognition of the widening role of online journalism at newspapers," said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. "The Board will continue to watch the evolution of this medium."
"Consistent with the historic Pulitzer mandate," he said, "eligibility for entering the competition will continue to be restricted to newspapers published daily, Sunday or at least once a week during the calendar year."

Mind you, I am not looking into this subject for any self-interest. I recognize that I have a boring blog developed simply for self-reflection. Look at the url- I don't deny this fact.

While on the subject, when did "he keeps his own counsel" disappear from our general lexicon or contemplative? See how positive and outdated those things sound? Now, it is introvert or loner (the lucky ones get lone wolf). It will be interesting to see the tides turn in the terms as more and more of these "self-reflective personalities" gives themselves to blogs and online communications. Just a thought heading into the new year.

That and a picture of Sam excited about Christmas...