This is from a few months ago, but the cuteness is still relevant. This pretty pink card may appear to just say ‘Ella’ on it, but when she gave it to me, she was very clear that it actually says: “Happy birthday mommy and daddy. I made you a birthday note.” She even corrected me when I said, “So, this says ‘Happy Birthday mommy and daddy’?”. She very angrily replied, “No dad, it says: ‘Happy birthday mommy and daddy. I made you a birthday note‘!”

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Click the four corner arrows button to make the film full screen, press play and enjoy an astronomically accurate view of our universe.

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Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) is a charity organization that is dedicated exclusively to the conservation and welfare of whales, dolphins and cetaceans. And they’ve prepared an incredible original size photo of the 108 foot long blue whale.

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Here are a few of the most creative excuses Ella has used to explain why she can’t fall asleep and should be allowed to stay up instead of going back to bed:

“Bugs are biting me.”

“My butt hurts.”

“My hands need lotion.”

“My stomach’s not full yet – I need a snack.”

“The bumps are back.” (Trying to use an excuse based on the hives she had one night)

“I want to watch the Pacers” (She knows dad can’t resist this one, variations include “star wars”, “daddy show”, “house hunters”, “mommy show”, “my show”, and “cooking show”)

And my personal favorite:

“I can’t sleep, because my dreams aren’t coming true.”

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Don’t Even Reply

A guy answers ads with outrages emails and posts the funny replies he gets.

Hyperbole and a Half

A hilarious off the wall blog with foul language and funny drawings.

Film Drunk

Actually I have known about this one for awhile, but seem to repeatedly forget about it and rediscover it.

DadCentric

English blog by “smart, edgy, and talented writer-dads”

Awkward Family Photos

A classic photo blog of bad family photos

This is Why You Are Fat

Pictures of grossly awesome food, the tagline: “where dreams become heart attacks”

The People of Wal-Mart

A photo collection of all the wonderfully odd people that shop at America’s favorite store

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It is a weird feeling to meet someone that knows they have only a few month left to live. It is even stranger to have that meeting take place at a Sam’s Club, but that is exactly what happened to me yesterday. I was loading up my cart with candy for my vending machines, and so was this guy with his daughter and grandchild.  We struck up a conversation about vending machines and he said he was selling his since he has pancreatic cancer and less then a year to live. Whoa, what do I say to that?

So, we chatted for a few minutes and I know he was hoping I would buy his machines and I actually feel bad that I can’t, because I am sure he has better things to worry about then unloading his side projects (I know about those).

I can’t imagine the feeling of knowing how limited your remaining days are. I think I would be the type to start ignoring all the bullshit day-to-day stuff I normally worry about and just try to enjoy my family as much as I possibly can. But then I ask myself, if I would stop doing that stuff then, why do I do it now? Because who knows how many days any of us really have. Obviously I can’t stop paying bills or start living recklessly, but I do wonder if I am wasting too much time doing things that are ultimately not important enough to be wasting my life with.

One of my quotes, in my Random Fave Quotes at the left side of this blog, is:

‘Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.’ —  Albert Einstein

I feel I did learn from my chance encounter yesterday. And I always have hope for tomorrow. I guess I just need to figure out the living for today part.

I was always a huge fan of Carpe Diem, which I am sure I first learned about from Dead Poets Society. (I remember I wrote a paper about it in high school and misspelled ‘Seize the Day’ as ‘Cease the Day’ throughout, yet somehow the teacher didn’t catch it. I still struggle to understand how ceasing the day made any sense to her?)

I even had a good number of years where I felt I really lived by it – its amazing the power that confidence, optimism and a mindset for seizing the day can provide. But I wonder if its even possible in today’s world to maintain that beyond your youth? Once a recognition of our mortality begins setting in, that sense of invincibility vanishes and with it much of the confidence and optimism that makes “going for it” so easy.

Not sure how to end these thought on a happy note. I guess I will just have to be glad for every day I get and make sure not to waste my opportunities to be with friends and family … and eat good food! (Can I use  this as an excuse to quit dieting? Please.)

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I recently changed my “About Me” blurb to include calling myself a “serial entrepreneur”, because those that know me are aware that I always have a million ideas rattling around in my head and even manage to make a few into reality now and again.

So, I thought I would take a moment and think about what all I currently have going on and what I currently am plotting. I do not mean this as a plug in any way, just reflecting out loud.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Right now, besides my full-time day job, I run my own web development/marketing business that has been growing over the years: www.imaginemediastudio.com

Here are some side businesses that have evolved out of Imagine Media and include some partners:
www.emailmarketingstudio.com
www.localseostudio.com

We recently purchased a coin candy vending machine operation, nothing big, just 30 quarter machines. Its fun, but I’m already looking forward to Ella taking it over someday. www.deucevending.com

A few years ago I fell in love with a little betting game, and a partner and I had some made and sell them at www.put-n-take.com

My brother-in-law needed a custom spreadsheet made to keep track of his trucking IFTA taxes, so I thought if it works for him, others might like it too. www.iftasoftware.com (site is not completed yet)

I get teased about this one, but I think its a clever little product. www.100caloriesnackbook.com

Before the credit crisis/mortgage disaster, this site of mine was busy: www.closingcosts101.com

I also manage a few dozen random websites and blogs that make a little bit of residual income off advertising. Such as www.bestmusicvideos.org

CURRENTLY IN THE WORKS
I recently hired two additional offshore programmers to help me out with some of my many personal projects and here are a few they are helping me turn into reality:

Familygab.com (which is almost ready for public use) is a site for families to privately share photos, videos, and just “gab” about stuff, where just the family is invited instead of the whole world, like Facebook.

A directory for alternative energy services: greenenergyservicesdirectory.com

Since I have a hard time keeping track of all the sites I manage, I am working on building a web service for other web site entrepreneurs like myself to help them manage their many websites.

ON THE DRAWING BOARD
I will spare you the full list, but here are some that are getting closer to reality each day:

A couple sites that will let the site’s community vote on things, one for marketing purposes (i.e. which logo is better) and the other for fun (i.e. settling Marriage Ref type arguments )

I am working on a non-profit idea aimed toward helping teens and kids spending time in hospitals here locally.

MAYBE SOMEDAY
There are a few longtime dreams of mine, that I would love to see come true one day.

I have been daydreaming a sci-fi story for years, the plan was to develop either a graphic novel or an online animated comic. www.roguechronicles.com

I have been gathering thoughts for two books, one fiction and one covering all the web marketing knowledge I have amassed.

Lastly, my lifelong dream is to have a piece of land with a nice lake to live on. I was spoiled for the few years I lived in the woods and would love to have a cabin resort type place to call home, even if just for summers.

Geez, I am tired just thinking about it all…I better get to work on something.

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Here are the movies I missed in the theater before 2009 was over, but am determined to see asap:

The last two standing:

Brothers Really good remake of a really good film. Has some unique elements to it, such as developing characters in conflict where you pull for all of them instead of picking sides. I will try to write a review post about it.

An Education Not to bash on the Sandra Bullock Oscar more, but Carey Mulligan gave a much better performance. And I wish Peter Sarsgaard did more films, he is one of my favorite actors out there.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans How did I not know this was a Werner Herzog film! Very entertaining.

Precious Saw it, great film!

Avatar Saw it (in the theater), review here

Paper Heart Saw it, review here

Adventureland It was ok, had its moments, but I have seen enough awkward teen movies to last a lifetime, and am getting too old to relate

The Blind SideSweet, true story. review here

Crazy Heart Saw it (in the theater), love Jeff Bridges!

Boondock Saints 2 Could not live up to the first one, but had its moments

Gentlemen Broncos Hilarious, obvious Napoleon Dynamite influence

Antichrist Saw it, whoa!

The Road Saw it on hotel pay-per-view, very good, very depressing. I found it funny how the same world can be created in this and Book of Eli but treated so differently in the story.

So, I’m getting there! I will update as I go.

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My folks read my blog, and why wouldn’t they – it’s awesome!

Seriously though, knowing that my parents will read many of my posts does prevent me from being as crass or profane as I may sometimes tend to be, if for nothing more then a laugh. But I guess it is a good rule for everyone in today’s digital age to “Never post anything on the internet you wouldn’t want your mom to read.”

Anyways, my mom commented to me the other day on one of my posts – she said that it was reassuring to hear that I thought they did a good job raising me. Huh? I guess I had just assumed that my parents knew how great of a job they did and that all of us kids are eternally grateful that we grew up in a happy home. But I guess I never told them that directly.

So here it is: Mom and Dad you were and are great parents!

One of the biggest eye-openers for me going away to college (way back when) was how many of my friends came from broken and/or unhappy homes, or simply were not close to their family. I feel truly blessed to have had the childhood I had and the loving care of a mom and dad that were both actively involved in my life – even the times that know-it-all 12-year-old me thought you were too actively involved.

I may not have gotten everything I wanted as a kid (what kid does?), but I always got anything I needed. And I know that to provide everything all of us kids needed meant sacrifices, so thank you.

I learned many valuable lessons from you both, including many of my very core values in life. And as I get older and take on parenting and family life myself I continue to discover how much I learned about that too.  I continue to use your example as my guide in much of what I do.

So thanks. (Now don’t give me any grief if I drop a few f-bombs in a post someday.)

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