Headvoice

A tree grows in Port Credit

Picture from last October, before I knew how to clean my camera's sensor. There are artifacts on all the shots from that day, and it pissed me off enough to learn how to do it myself.

I am picking away on endless tasks for the new company, which will oddly never be linked to from this site. How I do resolve the self-induced balkanization of my own presence on the net?

How do the parts fit?

I've let it go as much as I will.

The parts will fit. The 80/20 rule applies.

Financials for the business plan is my weekend. Sexy, eh?

And in the kitchen sink

Day three of business plan immersion, and I'm feeling excited rather than overwhelmed. The very process and focus of it is already rewarding.

And it is amazing how much is right at my fingertips to use for this endeavor. Each job I have had has been leading me to this very moment. Every step (and misstep) of the way is providing useful tools for creating this company.

There is one more batch of files and folders to go through, from my time at large multinational ad agency. It's been five years now, but I am sure that this afternoon will produce even more fuel for the fire.

Everything but the kitchen sink is going into this plan.

Business Plan Land

There are folders and books stacked pretty high on the dining room table this morning. My office looks like it has been ransacked, especially since the laptop is gone, now resting in a ratty old black bag from Ron Jon's Surf Shop in our basement corner that functions as a retired electronics graveyard.

It is business plan-a-palooza here! Put on another pot of green tea... we have a deadline to honor.

I should throw the bag in the pool...

Dear ex-laptop,

You have served me well, HP Pavilion zx5000, but it is now time we part.

When we met in that quiet corner at Best Buy in January of 2003 you were a real godsend, what with the numerous USB2 ports and that flashy wide screen display. And yes, we have surely have spent many long days and nights together; here there and practically everywhere. And when the input connector for your two power supplies crapped out last year, didn't I gladly pay $300 bucks to get it soldered back so you could be useful again? Well, didn't I?

But today, when I struggled to make sure that all the data on your hard drive was backed up on the other two computers as the power input connectors failed again, my patience with you had evaporated. It was time I killed you. Computricide was in the air.

Do you remember the scene in "2001: A Space Odyssey" when HAL, the defiant rouge computer, was disassembled in space? As the memory panels were removed by his human superior he started singing, and as the panels floated away in weightlessness, his voice became slower and more mechanical, eventually grinding into silence.

So it was similar for you zx5000 today as gigabytes of files and applications were deleted after backing up to other computers; your identifying persona as my helpful assistant was removed step by step.

"Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do, I'm half crazy..."

Rest in peace my friend. And now, what should I replace you with?

Walking it off

The task list goes on and on, and the weekend feels more like a trap than a couple of days---at least the weather is conducive to another walk with Luigi.

Spiced Wafers

I ate the last one today, from this holiday tin that I found on an end-cap display in a local market when I was on the island for Christmas. Ah, the unexpected memories that a simple cookie can bring back.

A very little time searching the web reveals that they have been made for 96 years, and are only available in the greater Philadelphia region on retailer shelves in the fall and winter. Now they can also be bought online.

Normally they were found in orange and black cardboard boxes and we always seemed to have a couple of boxes in the pantry during the fall when I was a kid. I don't recall my Dad or brother eating them; it was my Mother and me that crunched on them, mostly at night.

They are very much like a classic gingersnap, but darker, with more heat and a molasses base. The texture is very crisp and crunchy on the tooth. It is very difficult to only eat one or two.

These regional food products are too often disappearing, and I even suspect that this cookie was a reformulation of the product that I remember. It seemed sweeter and less spicy, but then it has been a couple of years... and it will probably be a few more before we meet again. If ever.

Happy Birthday Mark!

Click here for Mark's pimped out myspace page...

Fish Dish

- Catch two striped bass. Thanks, Dad.

- Scale, skin and fillet the fish.

- Chop a large bunch of fresh oregano, one clove of garlic and half a bunch of flat leafed parsley. Combine with two cups toasted bread crumbs and enough extra virgin olive oil to moisten.

- Salt and pepper the fish fillets and place on an oiled baking sheet.

- Cover the fish with an even coating of the bread crumb mixture and bake in a preheated 425F oven for 15-25 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish fillets. Approx 10 minutes per 1/2 inch.

- Pour a good dry white with this, either a dry white Burgundy or a good Pinot Grigio.

Twenty O' Zeven

Friends forever...something to strive for.

So here we are in 2007. Now the endless din of the "holiday season" is blissfully behind us.

Listen, you can actually hear yourself thinking. Last year was a little too bi-polar for my liking frankly. Not that I suffer from that condition technically, but the events of last year left me feeling buffeted and confused.

Time at home on the island was good for me. It is so quiet during the holidays; the details are brought into the forefront quickly.

I miss my parents and living in New York. Having years spent having both close at hand is providing even sweeter memories now. Another piece of the big puzzle looked at closely.

We shopped. I cooked. We had friends over for dinner, some for the first time in the new house. The food, wine and company were all great. And the sun shone on the beach as if it was early spring instead of the end of December.

This tulip is probably ready to bloom soon now...