Happy Holidays

Last night Dakota had a High School Choir function for us to go and watch. For her solo she performed The Carpenter's "Merry Christmas Darling" and it was so beautiful it brought tears to Ana's eyes and beams of pride from mine. I think we're going to YouTube it so I'll let you know if we do.

THere were other beautiful singers there, including a girl with a wonderful voice who, from her wheelchair, brought tears to everyone's eyes.

Pretty cool reminder to look for something to be happy about.

I love you all and wish you the best for the holidays,

Eric

Beautiful, no matter how far away I get.

I still love the Jemez Mountains. I still love the Indian Bread made by Indians or Native Americans or Jemez Pueblo dwellers. Remember that big round loaf of white bread, shaped like a kiva oven? Yeah, that's my favorite. Dipped in red chile.

I have to say I am very happy with the intelligent disussions legacy we are building here. Hopefully these conversations will stick around as long as my Enchantment for New Mexico.

And who knows, maybe in time I'll be able to fully understand what Alex is saying :^)

Eric

When you have a minute to think really hard...

Someday we'll know how all this stuff works at some metaphysical level.

I'm watching Dakota, actually listening now, while I type this in a separate window.

A while ago, as a younger man with a more agile brain, I became convinced that life is a tapestry of sorts, and that each of us is a thread through time, and that part of 'heaven' will be stepping back far enough to see how our thread was woven into the tapestry. I figure that friends and relatives and coworkers will be threads we were woven with to form some pitcure that would mean something to the higher power. Whether woven by the higher power or what, who knows. Different topic, different day.

Today I'm sitting here and my brain just broke through another wall. Over the last month I've added the new Linkin Park song, the new Public Enemy song, and especially the new Sixx A.M. song to the high frequency rotation in my mind. I realized the other day that the Sixx A.M. song Life is Beautiful was playing continuously in my head.

So the breakthrough moment is this: When I watch Dakota's video / listen to her song, she bridged a gap between "external thought being made internal" and "reality." In other words - LP, PE, and Sixx A.M. don't exist to me except as I allow them to exist in my mind. (No offense, guys.) I create a space for them in my mind. As such, the thread of me in the tapestry doesn't necessarily change or interact with anything else by virtue of my experience of those songs. My thread might change colors as I change from a LP to PE mood, but that's abouot it.

Here's the mind-expansion moment: What if that's not true? What if, like I feel closer to Dakota by virtue of watching her video (and thus presume her thread and my thread are somehow interacting in this tapestry), what if I actually am interacting with the others when I experience them? Does their thread actually move to interact with me by virtue of my thoughts? Or am I creating threads that are somehow part me, part LP?

Perhaps that's the value of the time after death wherein we see the tapestry, seeing the threads attributed to you that you never even knew were there. I anticipated seeing pictures I was part of that I didn't know, whether the damage done by choices made, such as on the freeway when I blow by someone and he fumes at me and spills his coffee and misses the interview and loses his house and so on, or friends who remembered me long after we stopped talking, or whatever.

The next logical step is, what if the thread of me changes in additional dimensions? The tapestry may become three dimensional, instead of just a flat, perhaps really wide and long, tapestry, what if there are layers to it? The upper layers are our spirit / soul, the lower layers are dreams, the middle layers are where the meat I lived in actually was...? Imagine seeing yourself as a want that your parents had before you were born, or seeing your influence on the world after you passed on. And, obviously, the interaction of my thread with Dakota's thread and LP's thread may be at different levels than just the "real world" or meatspace thread.

What I need to know is: Do people know what it happening to their thread in real time? Are there levels of transcendancy that allow you to see the tapestry before you die?

I don't know much. What I know is confusing. What I believe is dynamic. Don't try to run your life or save your soul with my musings.

Here's three things I absolutely know:
1. The Sun will set on you. (Linkin Park)
2. It's Harder than you think. (Public Enemy)
3. Life is beautiful. (Sixx A.M.)
And one I think is true and await the proof:
4. I'm stuck on you. (Dakota)

An Early Moment in "Proud Papa" Development

Having trouble keeping up with the videos of Dakota since she does so much... put up a Youtube Page for her.

Here is a video of our rising star... before she started rising :^)

The Cult

Did we all know that The Cult has a new album out? I like Dirty Little Rock Star so far, but I am not done listening...

http://www.myspace.com/cultmusic

It came out on Matt's birthday!

A Little Movie for Halloween

Starring - Matt Wade!

Actually, if you want to be able to leave a 5-Star rating for it and maybe a snappy comment, then go to XYZfear on YouTube and watch the movie there.

We also have it on GOOGLE VIDEO and could use some high ranikings there, too.

What I don't understand about Evolution

I'm a pretty big fan of Charles Darwin (especially his awards show) and his theory of natural selection. (IIRC it is his Theory of Natural Selection that evolutionists use to bolster their case, but the theory of evolution is not specifically due to Darwin. Correct me if I'm wrong.)

In any event, I was watching a fascinating show called Planet Earth which I highly recommend if you can find it. (Below is an example of the sights you'll see on Planet Earth, but it is a home-made video from some fan of the show so the music is not part of the show).





One episode was about shallow water and they talked about a salamander in Japan (Dragon Salamander???) that was like 2 meters long. That's big. They explained that the salamander has poor eyesight and lives in murky, cold water, so it has developed (through evolution and natural selection) this phenomenal electrical impulse-measuring system that allows it to sense other prey (fish) as they come near based on the infinitely small electrical pulses the fish give off simply by being not dead.

Wow! That seems like a VERY HANDY adaptation that makes a lot of sense.

Except, why didn't the salamanders also evolve into salamanders with good eyesight? Its very confusing to me, if the salamanders did, indeed, evolve, why did only the most esoteric and one-purpose trait get better? Isn't good eyesight the least bit valuable?

Sheesh... very confusing to me.

Bringin' The Noise

I hope Alex isn't the only one who recognizes the title but I wouldn't be s'prized if he was. I want to share with you a 2007 release by Public Enemy called "Harder Than You Think" on their own label. Yes, it's that Public Enemy and they are ROCKIN on this song. Give it a minute and then listen up. Chuck D raps about the current state of the Hip Hop culture and blasts it out in a way that proves he deserves his spot in History, but even better, the tune is catchy.

If it wasn't for me playin you this, would you have ever heard it? Unlikely. I hope you like it and I hope you comment.

Oh, and by the way, here's a worthy diversion. BLOGGER PLAY

It's a real-time slide show of all the user pics being uploaded to various Blogger blogs.

Eric

Here's Something I Don't Understand about Bass

I love listening to music. For a while I've been trying to decide if I like the little ear-bud headphones, over-the-ear headphones, or big speakers better.

And I realized that big speakers make music that you can feel in your whole body. So how do those ear-bud things do that? When I listen to ear-buds, it doesn't SEEM like something is missing.

Now I'm confused. Does the body compensate for no real bass with fake bass stimuli or something??

Eric Wade's HealthCare Solution, with BONUSES

Here is Eric Wade's On The Record HealthCare Coverage Solution.

There will be an extraordinary amount of coverage and debate in the next few months / years about HealthCare. Who has it. Who doesn't. Who should pay for it. Who shouldn't. Whose responsibility is it? What changes should Americans make in order for this to work? Which countries plans should we copy? Which should we avoid copying?

I have answers for all of that. Let's call it EWHC for simplicity's sake.

It is the eventual goal of EWHC to make coverage available to 100% of Americans who desire coverage. It is assumed by EWHC that this will be an optional, voluntary program that will not take the place of any private programs that Americans have access to through work or privately owned Healthcare Policies.

Also, to make sure the system provides the most benefit to the most families with young children, we will limit the initial enrollment class to individuals 42 years old and younger for EWHC. Once in EWHC, a person can stay as long as they wish or leave whenever they wish, but EWHC does not guarantee reacceptance once a person has chosen to leave EWHC.

All Family members will be immediately eligible with full benefits, including preventive care, dental, vision, prescription, maternity, surgery, hospitalization, etc. There are no loopholes. Copays will be minimal to make sure access to care is not limited to income.

Certain enrollees may be eligible for cash bonuses when they sign up for EWHC. These cash bonuses are variable and will run from a few thousand dollars to as much as $25,000 depending upon the individual. In most cases, this upfront bonus cash will more than cover years, if not a lifetime, of copays.

EWHC will provide guaranteed global coverage as long as a member remains in good standing.

EWHC will require some members to participate in health and wellness exercise programs in order to keep members in good health and the costs down.

EWHC will offer nutritional guidance as well as skills training and job placement for members in an effort to maximize health and happiness of members for it is a widely recognized fact that health and happiness are related.

EWHC will provide many members with the option of receiving prepared, healthy, balanced meals at no cost.

If a member stays in good standing as well as completing their required exercise, health, nutrition, and skills programs, then their family will not only continue to receive EWHC for no cost, but the member can become eligible for rebates and cash payments for remaining healthy and remaining an EWHC member in good standing. These payments can start as high as $20,000 per year or more, and will increase with each year that the EWHC member continues their membership. Although family members receive free EWHC coverage, they will not be eligible for these payments unless they choose to enroll in EWHC independently when they reach their 18th birthday.

With free coverage, family benefits, up-front cash payments to cover future expenses, free food, free exercise programs, international / global coverage, and ongoing cash payments for members in good standing, it seems that EWHC, if possible, is the perfect solution for the millions of Americans currently suffering from having no healthcare coverage.

Well, EWHC is possible. It's called the US Army.

Just think of the SERIOUS BONUSES America and Americans would get if everyone who needed Healthcare Coverage joined the Army.

1. Recruiting goals would be met immediately.
2. More Americans would exercise.
3. The unemployment rate will drop.
4. The Army would have plenty of people for any job they needed.
5. More Americans would get job training.
6. More Americans would get money for college.
7. When reports about our Army getting overwhelmed with new recruits are heard by hostile countries and terrorists, it should serve as a warning that America is STRONG and that in itself will serve as a detriment to future hostilities.
8. More Americans will travel abroad.
9. The Army will be able to take expensive private-contractor no-bid-jobs away from companies like Halliburton and BlackWater.
10. More Americans will feel that they belong to something bigger than themselves and possibly work to improve our communities.
11. Fewer Americans will have to commute long distances to work, cutting down on traffic, greenhouse gasses, traffic fatalities, and the overwhelming influence of conservative AM radio.
12. More Americans will learn manners, discipline, organization skills, and many other beneficial attributes.
13. More Americans will be eligible for retirement at an early age.
14. EWHC will not discourage research and development by pharmaceutical companies.

This is not a joke. If you think this is a ridiculous idea, try comparing it to the other "solutions" that will be bandied about in the next few months.

I've never had a Harley

And perhaps I'm worse off for it. I do know that I've come close a few times, so there must be some Harley blood in there somewhere. And I'm really keen on eventually getting a Sportster 883 or 1200. Pretty cool to me.

Specially when I come across this:

http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/Riders/Creed_Video.jsp

I like this one:

I borrowed the pic from BikerNet.com, so thanks a bunch to them.

Ethics

Just a quick note to let you all know that I got the results back from the MPRE (Multi-state Professional Responsibility Exam) and I am ethical enough to practice in a little over half of the states, most of the Territories, and the District of Columbia. I am not ethical enough to practice in Texas or New York, but California, New Mexico, and Wisconsin are all on the OK list. (Actually Wisconsin doesn't even care...)

I can take the test as many times as I want (without penalty or averaging of scores), and in fact some states make you take it within a certain amount of time of taking their Bar Exam, so I'd have to take it again for those states if I moved into them anyways...

I'm sure that I could have smoked the test and could have appeared to be ethical enough to practice in all the states, but I thought that it would be unethical to study for an ethics test! At least I know that I am truly ethical, and not just talking the talk, right?

Oh, don't worry, if someone in NYC wants me to come work for them, I'll talk the talk. I just wanted to see how I measured up without pretending first...

Blast From The Past!

I'm making a pictorial history of my cars to someday share with Gibson.

(Went to the Kickapoo County Fair today, there was a tractor exhibit - I didn't know there used to be a tractor company named Gibson!)

And I stumbled across this picture.

It needs a roof rack, of course. Fold down the back seat, toss some suitcases down, and some blankets, and you have appropriate sleeping quarters for two 5 year old boys!

Mom used to leave for Merced from La Cueva with 20 bucks, we'd drive to Kingman, pay $6 for a Motel 6, and then drive the rest of the way to Merced. Figure about 50 mpg with gas at $0.29 per gallon, and it's about 7 buck for the gas to go from La Cueva to Merced!

Holy Cow!

Granola bars, potted meat, Vienna Sausages, and those chewy stick things that sort of remind me of tootsie rolls but not really. What the heck were those?

Turns out I've owned (at least in part) 20 cars (except 3 were motorcycles). :)

Spend a Few Minutes Getting To Know Each Other

I just came across a couple songs I REALLY like and I wanted to share them. I think its time we start another thread for music tastes... so we can all benefit from the different paths we are on.

Here's #1: Roisin Murphy

The song called "Overpowered" is a very nice blend of electronica and pop with a hint of the stuff I love about Bjork. YES, I love Bjork.

And # 2: The Ting Tings

The Ting Tings - first off I like it from the name of the band, but then there's something cool about a song they have called "That's Not My Name". For one, it seems to be structured perfectly (which really means nothing to me since one of my favorite songs is Angels & Airwaves "The Adventure" and I suspect they tried to follow no structure.)

So how do you participate by putting snazzy links in?

Add links like this:

So what do you think of Roisin and Ting Tings?

Why they Say Freedom is Hard

For a long time I've been a libertarian, maybe even so much as "Objectivist". Not that I object to everything, but that I agree with a lot that Ayn Rand writes about. (more on that in another blog).

I don't know why, but I have a hard time picking a side in the debate about an "official language" of America. ((I do believe that American English would be a difficult "official language" to manage based on the fact that it is the most flexible language and is literally changing every day.)) WARNING: this blog is not about Zenophobia or legal vs. illegal immigration.

On the one hand, I like freedom enough that I truly feel that no one should have the right to tell others what language to speak. Even further, would we ever want to punish people for speaking the wrong language? And what about dialects? What about English people speaking English? Or Aussies? I sure know I don't want anyone telling ME what to speak and by extension, I wouldn't tell anyone what to speak. Plus, I always kinda figure that the invisible hand of the capitalist market will make sure there's always a shopkeeper able to speak my language. ((this is an old debate, but a local LEGAL immigrant radio DJ named Bill Handel hade a new take: let 'em speak any language they want, but believe me, if they want to be doctors, lawyers, or scientists, they'll learn English, too))

On the other hand, America has successfully grown for centuries because all of the wonderful people coming here in the past have added their knowledge to our society, which requires that we be able to communicate. In the past, Immigrants have come to America in small enough waves that the society could absorb them while allowing them to integrate and also remain themselves. So maybe there should be an official language.

But recently I got the honor of spending an hour in a LA courthouse for supposedly driving 86 mph in a 55 Zone. ((Damn those 55 Zones!)) It was an hour in court because I spent 3 minutes in front of a judge and 55+ minutes listening to the same "instructions" in English and Spanish.

So by my estimate, NOT having an official language ((where else would you use it if you didn't use it in court?)) cost me about 27-30 minutes. By my calculations, that half hour is worth about 25 phantom bucks. ((Wherease the three minutes I spent NOT driving 55 mph turns out to be worth about $361.))

So I lost a half hour, my company lost $25 of my productivity, and the other 100+ court attendees lost some time, too.

But since I hate to lose and I hate to waste, I listened to the Spanish part of the tape, trying to turn this into a government subsidized Spanish lesson, decreasing my losses.

Furthermore, during the Spanish part, the guy next to me lamented that he was in court for missing a previous court date for a jay-walking ticket and now, all told, he was going to pay MORE for jay-walking than I did for NOT driving 55 mph. The dude was like 50+ and didn't know where he was going to get the money...

And perhaps that was the most valuable lesson I was able to get during that "no official language" timeout: that I'm glad I don't STILL make dumb-ass mistakes like I did when I was 20 ((like not going to court and turning a tiny fine into a big fine.))

So no matter what language I have to use, I'll keep trying to see the message put in front of me.

I had this, once...

For 21 days one summer, with thrills galore, and a lifetime of heartache, and the biggest lesson of all:

Make sure you have insurance.

1986 Suzuki GSX-R 750R (Limited Edition). 55 imported to North America (one for each state, 5 for Canada). The guy who sold it to me said he kissed the ground every time he got off of it. I kissed the ground the last time I rode it, through the chin guard of my helmet.

I wish I had video of that wreck, maybe it would keep me from wanting another motorcycle!

My Awesome Husband

It's a little after 8 pm on this quiet, sticky evening here in San Antonio. I am drinking a beer searching Myspace for an old high school buddy when in walks my husband with not one, but TWO trophies. After spending over 6 hours at a golf tournament, my first assumption is, WOW he really did well. That was until I read the inscription and really looked at each one. The first is a smaller sized, i'd say about 6 in tall. The base is white marble, while the pedestal holding the golden figurine is silver and rainbow in color. The man that sits atop this pedestal is not a golfer but a bowler. The inscription reads, 2007 SAYLA SCRAMBLE "LEAST BEST AWARD".
Before I begin to laugh hysterically, I decide to take a look at the second trophy. This one is much larger, almost 2 feet in height . It is adorned with a cup in the center and two small, but noble eagles on the second tier. The third tier however hold a large gold bowling pin. My first thought was, "did they not realize this was a golf tournament?" Once I read the inscription, Matt's fate was sealed! It read : "FARHEST FROM THE PIN" yes, farhest! Not only, did my wonderful, athletic, intelligent husband score very last at this tournament of mentors and fellow legal brains, but he managed to roll a golf cart while immersed in this intensely challenging round of golf. At first I didn't believe he had rolled it over but alas he had the scrapped up arm to prove it. This is what makes my husband so incredibility awesome. While the majority of the players are going home tonight with nothing but a bruised ego, my husband showed up with TWO bowling trophies and a bruised arm!!!!!

Who knew golf could be so enthralling?

If you haven't seen this yet, check it out...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=D6ZYcBocfQo


by the way, this is Matt setting up Megan's account.

50 seems to be the new Plateau

50 Pushups, started with 50 and counted down... getting easier, but can't mentally get myself to start with 51...

Alex, are you at 100 yet?

Matt, can you be a worker-outer with that tennis injury?

Sara, still busting them out in the closet?

Eric

Let's See If I Still Have It

Or, Why I went 25% Cash on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007.

In my retirement account I am appropriately invested, which means 100% equity, and probably 50% of that "international" or global or world, and at least 50% of the whole portfolio in small or mid-sized companies.

I can't say that the past year has been particularly stellar for any kind of investment, and most indexes are at or near their highs (except for NASDAQ, which will take a decade to hit it's high) but at least everything is at or near 5 year highs.

That part doesn't worry me at all. In fact, most of the money ever made in the stock market was made when investments went above previous highs. (The very nature of an upward-sloping investment means that overall, time makes you more money than timing.)

So why did I move 25% into "cash"? Because I don't like how the market keeps sputtering at the top.

So why didn't I move 100% into "cash"? Because even with all the fear and bad news floating around, the market is actually chugging along pretty well.

So I'm looking for a buying opportunity if the market dips or corrects a few percent.

I own a mutual fund named Capital World Growth and Income (CWGIX) from American Funds and when you see the picture below, you'll know why I use the Dow Jones to see how well CWGIX is doing. So, therefore, we'll see if selling some of this when DJIA was 13,645 is a good idea or a bad idea...

By the way, www.BigCharts.com is a great resource for stock charts and performance info, that's where I got the chart above.

Eric

OMG!!! I SO look like Colin Farrell!

Hi,

I thought you'd like to take a look at MyHeritage.com.
This website has a *cool* demo of face recognition.

To see the celebrity results I got on my photo, click here: http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/face-recognition-results.php?temp=8e4d5764rwxevo10&server=Server28&database=2&startYear=1800&endYear=2005&loadMethod=myFiles

Take care,
Eric Wade

Fwd: Rainbow Room

In case you wanted to see some dark, quiet, hard-to-see videos of a future superstar, you can preview these on Rebel Channel...

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-mistake.htm

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-minutes.htm

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-goindown.htm

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-unwritten.htm

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-superstar1.htm

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-whoknew.htm

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-beforehecheats.htm

http://www.RebelChannel.com/rr-screenname.htm

Teen wins American Idol Underground

Entertainment

Teen wins American Idol Underground

Dakota Dawn Wade of Newport Beach gets first place in worldwide singer/songwriter competition.

By Yvonne Villarreal

Hours before her performance at Hollywood's Rainbow Room on Friday night, Dakota Dawn Wade planned to stand in front of the bathroom mirror with a hairbrush, practicing various poses as she rehearsed songs. It's become a ritual for the Newport Beach teenager so she can make sure she doesn't make any mistakes on stage.

But singing in front of the club's relatively small crowd wouldn't be the first time she was judged; 15-year-old Dakota won first place last week in the American Idol Underground singer/songwriter competition with her original song, "Mistake: Sampleman 7 Remix."

" 'Mistake' is my favorite song to perform," Dakota said. "It's really fun to do, and the crowd really gets into it. So when the remix for it won, I was very excited." Her winnings included $5,000 and many other prizes.

"It was nice to win, Dakota said. "But the most important thing is that I just want my music out there to help and inspire people."

American Idol Underground is a worldwide competition and Internet radio station, Idolunderground.com, that serves as a musical outlet for emerging artists. Music enthusiasts can upload their work to the site, where it is reviewed by Web listeners and celebrity judges, such as Isaac Hayes and one-time American Idol contestant Kimberly Caldwell. Although Underground is an official licensee of the American Idol brand, it is not directly affiliated with the show.

"Dakota was our highest-rated electronica artist," said Justin Beckett, the site's executive producer. "There were hundreds in the category … it was fairly competitive. Thumbs up to Dakota. She put together a very catchy and powerful track. It's was all in her performance."

But Underground isn't the only website where Dakota's music can be heard; the teen also has a MySpace music page, myspace.com/dakotadawnmusic, where she has more than 850 friends, many of whom have created their own Dakota fan sites.

"MySpace has helped a lot because it allows me to connect with my fans," Dakota said, "I get to share my music with people; it's amazing."

Many comments on the site are from fans eagerly awaiting her upcoming album.

"Hopefully it will be done by Christmas," Dakota said. "We're trying to figure out if we want to release it or shop it around."

The work to become a music star requires Dakota to do homework on her way to dance classes or show performances.

"She works really, really hard," said Ana Montoya-Wade, Dakota's mother. "She started this so long ago that it's nice to see it just kind of gradually work itself out."

Dakota, a fan of Lilly Allen and Christina Aguilera, unofficially began her music career when she was 5 years old, singing a self-penned ode to her mother entitled, "The Mother's Day Song," although she considers writing her first "real" song at age 9 as her true indoctrination.

"I love the whole writing process," Dakota said. "It's fun going into recording studio, brainstorming, and writing lyrics. I hope to do it for a long time."

Shoulda Learnt More Grammar

I'm thinking that (like all generations before us) its time for our generation to rant about the use of IMPROPER GRAMMAR.

I am throwing my hat in the ring on the side of let's at least TRY to keep our grammar somewhat correct.


Yes, I truly appreciate the uniqueness of the American-English language that comes up with "lite" and "EZ" and "Strategery."

And I totally think G2G and BRB and AFAIK are welcome additions to the lexicon. I'm going to break tradition and NOT rant about 'those damn kids' and their mucked-up language skills. No, the young people don't bother me...

What really chaps my hiney is when I see advertisements that say somehting like "Your Gonna Love It!"

Sheesh...

Try To Find This Feature

I found a way to have Blogger email me when you post...

Kinda cool feature.

Eric

45 The HARD and Easy Way

I wish I had figured this out sooner. Actually, I used to know this, but I had forgotten.

I count DOWN when I do push ups. That way, you have to REALLY want to stop in order to stop before you're done. That makes it easier to get done.

But, I'm still trying to get them all done in one set.

I'm thinking Alex is a genius for getting us started on this... my back pain is actually going away -- something that a couple years of physical therapy wasn't accomplishing.

Ha! (Thanks, Sara.)

Well, it looks like the problem was that Eric's invitation had never actually arrived. Now I'm all set.

I am currently at work, so I'll keep this short. Jennifer had asked me what the difference was between this and just sending an increasingly long email around. I would say we gain in linear-ity what we are losing in simplicity - we all know how to check our email, as opposed to adding 'check the blog to make sure mom's house hasn't gotten knocked over' to our daily to-do list.

When we add a comment to a post, it sort of hides there where someone would have to really be looking for it to notice it. So we should all agree to post only irrelevant things in the comments of the already-irrelevant posts. VFR 1000-R pictures should be their own post, so they are not buried or hidden from view.

The attached picture is the view from my office. Well, not really, but is a picture of the hospital, and it is on my screensaver. If you haven't been to La Crosse, you should come.

In the words of Dennis Hopper - Once we get out of the 80's, the 90's are going to make the 60's look like the 50's.

Peace Out!

Alex

Sara's Exploits Continue

I am taking a photography class to learn how to use my awesome new camera...

As always a little part of the ongoing search for some career where I can be creative, enjoy myself, and make money - ha ha ha - someday I guess.

Mostly I just love it, I have so much fun with my camera, and I learn new stuff every time I use it!

I had to try the picture attaching thing, so if it doesn't work for me either then this post won't make as much sense...

recent family photo

By the way -

 

The Wisconsin Wades just got back from a great vacation touring Wisconsin. Here's an attempt to attach a photo.

 

Alex again

A little more to the story...

The way I remember the free hot water story:

 

We moved into a place with a beautiful atrium, an elevator, and a spiral staircase, knowing it would be a boon to our social lives. It also had a gubmint subsidy because they used passive solar to preheat water that went into a giant boiler under the building where the water to refill your hot water heater came from, so as to make the tenant's hot water heating bill low.

 

That summer, Eric worked nights at (my) Waffle House and I worked all the other hours, so pretty much no one was home AND awake at night. It was a west-facing place with a gas stove, and so the rare evening one or both of us were home, we could cook and dine by sun light. Somehow or other we decided to turn off the electricity (to stick it to the man) to save money.

 

One morning, while getting ready to take a cold shower, I had the sink running for some unknown reason, and the water started to warm up. We both immediately realized that our room-temperature water was draining out of our water heater and was being replaced with hot water.

 

From then on, we would get up a few minutes early, turn on the hot water in the sink, and go back to bed for a few minutes. Viola! Hot showers.

 

Eventually PNM got a nasty letter from the Rio Grande Conservancy District telling them to turn our power back on before we depleted the aquifer. Heh.

 

Alex

Justin Bruno Wanted

I need everyone's help to encourage or incite Justin Bruno to participate in this.

I want to hear from Justin.

Re: An easy way to post

You can leave my name or change it - either way, probably shouldn't be Locke though :)

A few random thoughts to get things started

WANTED:

Dead or Alive

For unwarranted bottle licking, accessory to bottle licking,

conspiracy to lick bottles, promotion of unwarrented bottle licking, licking while having a blue tounge,

unlicensed blue tounge usage within city limits (multiple counts),

Excessive chest hair exposure, and looking too much alike.

Is that an abnormally large beer in Eric's hand, or was he just that small that many years ago? It's hard to tell because the frames on his glasses make his face look so much smaller as well. Alex looks normal size, but he is behind Eric, so he could actually be way bigger and much further back than it appears, holding the same size beer. Did you two go through a period where one grew quicker than the other? Actually, as a serious question, did you, or have you always been the same size (sans waistlines!)? On that note. I stuck to the push-up plan for all of like 3 days. I am going to start again, maybe right now. OK, just did 15. wow, that was amazingly hard considering I'm not even 28 yet. Megan and I have been playing Racquette Ball lately, and swimming. I'm trying to work some Tennis in there too, we'll see, but we're trying to get into shape, at least get active together.

Anyways, Kudos Eric for setting up the blog. And as for your affinity for Google, have you seen this picture? I laugh every time I see it. I don't know where I saw it first, but that's just plain funny.

Another thing that I have been meaning to ask you, Eric, is, since I know you're a Tool fan, now that you live in LA, what do you think of the song, "ænema?" If you're not familar with which song I speak of, here are the lyrics:

Some say the end is near.

Some say we'll see armageddon soon.

I certainly hope we will.

I sure could use a vacation from this

*Chorus*

*Bulls*** three ring circus sideshow of

Freaks

Here in this hopeless f***ing hole we call LA

The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.

Any f***ing time.

Any f***ing day.

Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.*

Fret for your figure and

Fret for your latte and

Fret for your hairpiece and

Fret for your lawsuit and

Fret for your prozac and

Fret for your pilot and

Fret for your contract and

Fret for your car.

*Chorus*

Some say a comet will fall from the sky.

Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves.

Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still.

Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.
Some say the end is near.

Some say we'll see armageddon soon.

I certainly hope we will cuz

I sure could use a vacation from this
Silly s***, stupid s***...
One great big festering neon distraction,

I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.
Learn to swim.

Mom's gonna fix it all soon.

Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be.
Learn to swim.
F*** L Ron Hubbard and

F*** all his clones.

F*** all those gun-toting

Hip gangster wannabes.
Learn to swim.
F*** retro anything.

F*** your tattoos.

F*** all you junkies and

F*** your short memory.
Learn to swim.
F*** smiley glad-hands

With hidden agendas.

F*** these dysfunctional,

Insecure actresses.
Learn to swim.
Cuz I'm praying for rain

And I'm praying for tidal waves

I wanna see the ground give way.

I wanna watch it all go down.

Mom please flush it all away.

I wanna watch it go right in and down.

I wanna watch it go right in.

Watch you flush it all away.
Time to bring it down again.

Don't just call me pessimist.

Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't

Welcome any change, my friend.
I wanna see it all come down.

suck it down.

flush it down.

An easy way to post

Hi,
I made it super easy to post to the Wade blog.

send an email to:
**your-username-here**.4wades@blogger.com and it will be a "post" to the blog. Or you can save this email in your gmail and "reply to all" and that will work, too.

If you want to initiate a conversation, you can!

Eric

Fwd: trees

Roberta Idzorek wrote:

Here are a couple of photos of the trees behind our house. One of the larger, still green, pines was blown over in yesterday's high winds (40-60 mph). For comparison, the other photo is taken May 2002, 2 years after the fire. Things are greener this year, we have had more rain.
Life goes on.

Roberta

Slow Pitch Softball - I just got it!

I was just watching a video on YouTube or something and I saw some guys my age playing "slow-pitch" softball and I thought "lame!" Too bad they can't play REAL baseball or softball! I mean, these guys were hitting just about every time they got to bat! Those big arching, looping pitches... easy easy easy!

Then I thought about it a little longer and I thought-- that's the softball for me! Seriously, I'm 39, never was GREAT at baseball like Matt, and if I was gonna go out for a few hours and have fun, it sure would be funner not to go 1 for 3 at bat.

Man does your perspective on life change when you realize it would be nice to get some pitches thrown your way that you could actually hit!

Here's something I'll bet Sara and Matt didn't know:

While Alex and I were in college, for a while we lived in an apartment that had solar-powered hot water. We liked it a lot.

Especially since it allowed us to go three months without turning on the electricity.

The only thing we missed about electricity was Alex's massive Kenwood stereo system that he had. Buy was it tough to get along without music.

Will Other Wades Actually Post to This?

Hi Family,
I created a blog to see if I can get some family interraction.

I thought it would be cool to set something in motion that, if it works, will start to build a somewhat permanent record of our communications between ourselves.

If it doesn't work, then at least I created a blog.

This morning I set a new personal (adult) record of 40 pushups. I know Dr. Alex kicks my ass at this, but I am okay with that because he has a lot of time to think up new strategies for pushups because he only sleeps a few hours each night, whereas I try to get 6 hours of sleep, thereby robbing myself of valuable push-up prep time.

Have At It!