Hi There,
Ed, Farrah, MJ, and now the OxyClean guy, Billy Mays; what a week it’s been.
Here’s the latest on Michael Jackson; he’s still dead. Now Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are circling the family looking for their latest injection of pop culture relevance. What are they going to be doing for the family, and if I were that family, I’d ask, where were you when he needed you? If you’re already sick of hearing about it, get over it, because this is going to carry on for a long time.
What’s going to happen to his kids? That’s what I want to know. Talk about out of touch with reality. Who knows what their life has been like, or will now be like. We’ll see what happens there. They don’t even know if he had a will. There’s one thing for all us parents out there, if you don’t have one, get one, and keep it updated.
I need to do that myself actually.
Any advice or counsel from anyone on that? Rev. Jackson, or Sharpton?
Rest in peace MJ, wherever that may be.
Ciao.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Social? Media
Hi there,
Here are we are mid way through June, can you believe it? Where does the time go?
Haven’t posted in a little while due to a fascinating conference on social media and all the things people are doing with it. Makes me think I’ve certainly got my hands full when it comes time for the girls to get phones next year?
Next year you say, but aren’t they only two? Why yes they are, but more and more, according to some of the research presented at this conference I attended, kids are growing up on line, literally, and I don’t like the thought of my girls not having an emergency contact for mom and dad. Next year may be a little early, but surely by the time they get to school they’ll have their own phone for use outside of class, right? Any thoughts on that from anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Okay, showing the age now.
I don’t get it though, all this talk of Social media. Its useful and intimate in a digital sort of way, but I’m not sure if its for me. My parents were both very public figures in our little town and they taught the value of not answering the phone, or calling anyone, after 7 p.m. on a Sunday night, or being at home and not being bothered. Not that this stuff is bothersome, but I’m not sure that I need to be involved in this newer part of the human experience. I’m curious for all you other parents out there, how many of you are using this technology to keep track of you and yours?
BTW, the new iPhone software update is worth it. Haven’t had any problems yet. Not going to rush out and get a new phone, because I don’t need one. And to those of you who’ve yet to make the switch, get an iPhone and buy a Mac, you’ll be glad you did.
Here are we are mid way through June, can you believe it? Where does the time go?
Haven’t posted in a little while due to a fascinating conference on social media and all the things people are doing with it. Makes me think I’ve certainly got my hands full when it comes time for the girls to get phones next year?
Next year you say, but aren’t they only two? Why yes they are, but more and more, according to some of the research presented at this conference I attended, kids are growing up on line, literally, and I don’t like the thought of my girls not having an emergency contact for mom and dad. Next year may be a little early, but surely by the time they get to school they’ll have their own phone for use outside of class, right? Any thoughts on that from anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Okay, showing the age now.
I don’t get it though, all this talk of Social media. Its useful and intimate in a digital sort of way, but I’m not sure if its for me. My parents were both very public figures in our little town and they taught the value of not answering the phone, or calling anyone, after 7 p.m. on a Sunday night, or being at home and not being bothered. Not that this stuff is bothersome, but I’m not sure that I need to be involved in this newer part of the human experience. I’m curious for all you other parents out there, how many of you are using this technology to keep track of you and yours?
BTW, the new iPhone software update is worth it. Haven’t had any problems yet. Not going to rush out and get a new phone, because I don’t need one. And to those of you who’ve yet to make the switch, get an iPhone and buy a Mac, you’ll be glad you did.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I can't believe it's June already, but enough about me ...
Hi there.
So, as I was thinking about what to post the other day, it occurred that I have yet to reveal any personal information. That’s probably not going to change. As much as we live in a public world that I wish to take part in, there are just too many idiots out there with strange, scary, dangerous, stupid motives for me to get too revealing. I will however give you some background.
As Bob Dylan once said, "Oh my name it ain’t nothing my age it means less. The country I come from, is called the Midwest.” I grew up in Missouri, in about as Mark Twain a setting as one can get. I played by the river, ran in the woods, lived in a small home with my family, in our small town that was never enough for me. I got a scholarship to college and joined the Navy after a year because I was bored. For me, the first year of college was simply another year of high school in terms of subject matter, and it was not very interesting. In fact, for all you high school Seniors out there about to start, good luck, work hard, and stick with it, but don’t think that its all going to be Animal House and American Pie. But you know that so I’ll move on.
My new job as a Sailor was and still is amazing. The first thing they did after teaching me journalism was send me to live in Sicily for two years. I worked at a Navy base’s local TV and radio station. Awesome. Maybe I’ll get around to posting some pictures of that someday but we’ll see. For all you prospective travelers to Sicily out there I’ll give you my two cents. Palermo is gorgeous if not a bit scary. Take in an Opera, skip the village of Corleone. Head for Taormina on the east coast of the island, and if you have time and want to see some great ruins, they’re everywhere, (it is Italy after all) but I’d recommend at least a day trip to Agrigento. The ancient Greeks ran aground there after being blown off course and so they built some temples that still stand 2,500 years later because, hey, that’s what you do.
So, to keep this brief, I’ve lived in Europe, Asia and California, a world unto itself. I’ve been to several different parts of Africa, and let me tell you, from an American mid-westerner’s perspective, that place can use all the help it can get, but it’s tough to know where to begin. For anyone interested in Africa, I’d recommend either the nation of South Africa, or some of the northern countries bordering the Mediterranean. If you’re not a seasoned traveler, or someone with a good sense of adventure, Sub-Saharan Africa is not for you.
I live back in the States now and am pretty darn happy about it, though I don’t know if I’ll finish it all up here. It’s nice to be back home after so many years abroad, and I wouldn’t have started my family any place else, but America is really having to re-make some friends globally. I’m not much of a politico but know all ye this; I have an awful tendency to get long winded when answering questions so, if you ask me a question, I’ll give you an honest answer. As you may know if you’ve read more than this post, I’m married, and proud father of twin daughters, who are doing great by the way.
Now, for those of you who may piece together these snippets and figure out the man behind the curtain, good on’ya but I would ask that you keep the mystery just that. For those of you whom I’ve alerted to this cause, please take this as just another anonymous citizen engaging in a public dialogue with absolutely no point whatsoever.
Ciao
So, as I was thinking about what to post the other day, it occurred that I have yet to reveal any personal information. That’s probably not going to change. As much as we live in a public world that I wish to take part in, there are just too many idiots out there with strange, scary, dangerous, stupid motives for me to get too revealing. I will however give you some background.
As Bob Dylan once said, "Oh my name it ain’t nothing my age it means less. The country I come from, is called the Midwest.” I grew up in Missouri, in about as Mark Twain a setting as one can get. I played by the river, ran in the woods, lived in a small home with my family, in our small town that was never enough for me. I got a scholarship to college and joined the Navy after a year because I was bored. For me, the first year of college was simply another year of high school in terms of subject matter, and it was not very interesting. In fact, for all you high school Seniors out there about to start, good luck, work hard, and stick with it, but don’t think that its all going to be Animal House and American Pie. But you know that so I’ll move on.
My new job as a Sailor was and still is amazing. The first thing they did after teaching me journalism was send me to live in Sicily for two years. I worked at a Navy base’s local TV and radio station. Awesome. Maybe I’ll get around to posting some pictures of that someday but we’ll see. For all you prospective travelers to Sicily out there I’ll give you my two cents. Palermo is gorgeous if not a bit scary. Take in an Opera, skip the village of Corleone. Head for Taormina on the east coast of the island, and if you have time and want to see some great ruins, they’re everywhere, (it is Italy after all) but I’d recommend at least a day trip to Agrigento. The ancient Greeks ran aground there after being blown off course and so they built some temples that still stand 2,500 years later because, hey, that’s what you do.
So, to keep this brief, I’ve lived in Europe, Asia and California, a world unto itself. I’ve been to several different parts of Africa, and let me tell you, from an American mid-westerner’s perspective, that place can use all the help it can get, but it’s tough to know where to begin. For anyone interested in Africa, I’d recommend either the nation of South Africa, or some of the northern countries bordering the Mediterranean. If you’re not a seasoned traveler, or someone with a good sense of adventure, Sub-Saharan Africa is not for you.
I live back in the States now and am pretty darn happy about it, though I don’t know if I’ll finish it all up here. It’s nice to be back home after so many years abroad, and I wouldn’t have started my family any place else, but America is really having to re-make some friends globally. I’m not much of a politico but know all ye this; I have an awful tendency to get long winded when answering questions so, if you ask me a question, I’ll give you an honest answer. As you may know if you’ve read more than this post, I’m married, and proud father of twin daughters, who are doing great by the way.
Now, for those of you who may piece together these snippets and figure out the man behind the curtain, good on’ya but I would ask that you keep the mystery just that. For those of you whom I’ve alerted to this cause, please take this as just another anonymous citizen engaging in a public dialogue with absolutely no point whatsoever.
Ciao
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