Bon Appetite!

Cooking is now my new passion. I became obsessed with preparing culinary cuisine after watching an episode of Jacques Pepin: Fast Food My Way on PBS a few months ago. I'm currently reading his autobiographical book, The Apprentice: My Life In The Kitchen. Now I've gone through the TV food channels and cooking shows many times for loads of recipes, but for some reason, Jacques' charisma and his idea of 'cooking as an art' struck me deeply enough to get me going in the kitchen.

Want a quick classy delicious dessert, try this: take some fruit (preferably frozen berries), place them in single serving bowls (oven proof), crumble some chewy cookies on top, and bake for 10-12 min at 400 degrees. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

Teach them well.

It's always been my worry that despite the 'best' upbringing, kids can still end up doing drugs and other harmful things.

Band concert

I went to a Christmas band concert at my old highschool this weekend. I hadn't been back to my teen stomping grounds in years. It felt surreal looking at my highschool from a grownup's view. I pictured myself as I was in the band, playing the sax ... or clarinet ... or piano (I changed instruments over the years). I remember having lots of fun hanging out with all the band geeks. They were a bunch of good guys. I miss it all, especially playing the music.

Anyway, the band is now more than three times the size of ours compared to way back when. They even have special wind sections. But to me, the most impressive development is the addition of a glee club. A chorus or choir, that is. Way kool.

You go, boys!

Pee-pee in bed

Mindy, my 2nd oldest, wet her bed tonight. She's been potty trained for almost 2 months now, but still has her 'accidents'. I'll need to do some heavy cleaning in the morning just after the kids wake up. Thank goodness we have one of those 'wet' vaccuums to remove practically all the mess. This appliance is probably the greatest gift any parent with a baby could ever ask for.

Hiatus

Sorry for the long delay between entries. I have another blog that I had been obsessing on recently, although that too had been suffering from a lack of posts. Nonetheless, hopefully this week I'll make time for more entries to summarize these past couple of months.

Happy 4th Bday!

Tina turned 4 this week. Yea! I get the feeling that she seems very proud of it as she always looks forward to being considered as a grownup. Undoubtedly, she does mother her younger siblings. In fact, Mindy -- our 2nd oldest -- calls her 'mommy' when they're playing together.

We celebrated Tina's bday early on July 4th with my wife's and my families (or should the grammar be "...my wife and my families" without the possessive in wife?). The town fireworks are held right across the street in the park so we get a great view from our backyard just by looking almost straight up. It's that close as well as loud. (Note that this year's show was aweful as it was cut short due to some likely mishappening -- we heard fire trucks halfway through and the cumulative showy ending never happened.)

Nonetheless, we still had our traditional Carvel icecream cake (with bonus crunchy chocolate sprinkles in a cup).

I miss my daughter.

My oldest one is on vacation away from her immediate family (ie, me and my blood posse). She's staying with her relatives, a half hour's drive south of our home. She's been gone for 2 days and I do miss her very much. I see it as a sign, though, to focus my love on my other 2 kids. So tomorrow we'll go shopping, visit the playground, and get some nice edible treats.

Back From Vacation

Finally returned early Monday morning from a trip to the Philippines. Wow, what a nice experience. I'm currently suffering from some jet lag and have been awake since 2 am. It's best that I try to get some sleep now in order to return to my normal hours.

On Vacation

Hey there, all. Gonna go on a long trip trip in the South Pacific. See you back on the 28th. Bon voyage!

Who created the Web?

The founder of the World Wide Web (WWW) is Tim Berners-Lee. It's interesting to read what he has to say about then, now and tomorrow. What I find even more attractive is his writing style. It's very appealing to me--simple, but not condescending. I have this narrowminded preconception that physics guys, visionaries and other 'high level' thinkers can't jive on the same level as the commoner such as myself. Tim seems the exception. Anyway, here are some links to FAQ's on his website:

Questions from Young People:
http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/Kids.html

Questions from Older People:
http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/FAQ

Recently, Sir Tim was recognized for his Web contribution:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5217598/

Stereoscopic Moon

Stereoscopic images are very interesting. Here's a sample using the moon. It's easiest for me to see this in 3D when I'm very tired since it requires the ability to NOT focus--kind of like crossing my eyes.

http://www.moon-phases.com/3d/3d-pairs.html

Ray Charles (1930-2004)

Ray Charles died yesterday morning (6/10/2004), and I couldn't help but keep thinking about him throughout the day. You see, he was one of the celebrities that stuck in my head as being someone whom I would've liked more had it not been for some insight into his personality through reading articles and another musician's opinion.

In my college days at the School of Music quite a ways back, I'd often talked with fellow music students about other celebrity musicians. It seemed like a natural topic to always touch on since our future careers would likely have some connection to our instruments. Ray Charles was one of the topics.

I remember sitting at the student lounge with two friends, one of whom had played a little with Ray Charles on one of his tours. He commented on how much of a dick he was to the band members and how he treated and talked so much trash of women. Of all the stories on how Ray was a dick I honestly can't recall (I think I remember one having to do with a plane flight). But I do remember strongly feeling very disappointed in Mr. Charles's personality since I had equated it with his talent. I certainly shouldn't have made such an assumption, although I do think many people do the same with celebrities. But since that day, I've always been reminded of that feeling whenever I see or hear him mentioned.

For reference, here's a link to a summary of Ray Charles's life, which also mentions him as being a legendary womanizer.

I never tried to expose myself to any of Ray Charles's music ever since that lounge conversation. But perhaps I should put his personality aside and give his talent a try, as I should with all people, yes? After all, it was just someone's opinion, right?

May Mr. Charles rest in peace. And may his family and friends find comfort swiftly in each other.

Pomp and Circumstance

My oldest one graduated from nursery school today. Ceremony, cap and tassle (ie, paper and string) and all. I was very touched and so very proud of her.

It's only nursery school and of course, there aren't any report cards. Nothing but fun fun fun. Nonetheless, any step is a big step.

(I'll edit this post and add more later. I need to hurry and watch "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" downstairs with my wife. The kids are finally asleep and we desperately need some quiet time alone before the zzzz's get the best of us. After all, it's 11 pm and it is a 3 1/2 hour movie. Finally, a date. Yahooooo!)

I likes my new pad.

I finalized my blog-move today from my home page to getwell.blogspot.com. I didn't like having my original blog url associated with my domain name. With things like automated search engine spider crawlers and such, I envisioned my family name being googled and showing a link to my blog because of our domain name (www.ForExample.com). I prefer the almost anonymity of using blogspot.com.

Blogs are Nice Reminders

I kept reading my previous GRRRR! post. It bothered me incessantly throughout the day that I had been such a jerky dad. So today, I was more mindful of any potential stressful moments and tried my best to keep things upbeat. Seemed to work quite well. Geez, these journal logs do offer a more effective reflection than just keeping things in memory.

So my lesson learned: never forget to be good to those I love, especially the younger ones. Duh, that goes without saying. But to those that have had their 'bad' days, I guess they must have forgotten.

Grrrr!

Frustration is the root of all evil. It occurred to me today when I yelled at my kids. Yes, I know, I'm a horrible parent, but I'm working on it. Thank goodness that my annoying holler was enough to make me conscious of my 'meanness' and step back to take a breather. I'm really sorry, kids.

I know that it's my 'unaccomplishments' that frustrates me and causes my ill actions. I can see it in all my past negative behavior. Things like 'I didn't eat well today' or 'I didn't workout' or 'I didn't get enough sleep' make me all funky for the entire day. It's a mild sampling, yet goodness knows that there may be bigger frustrations that can contribute as well. Save those for another entry.

Still, the kids are easy targets for venting and rightly should not be. So now that I see my actions from the outside looking in, I can deal with those aggravations before they get the best of me. Certainly that's the ideal solution and I likely (humanly) may not always follow it, but I can only do my best and hope I never lose my self awareness.

Tonight, I gave all the kids a nice warm bath, and more hugs and kisses before I put them to bed. Tomorrow, I'll do my best to do the same, minus the frustration.

May goodness bless those with infinite patience.

Counter Removed

I removed a visitor counter located on my home page. I prefer not to know who or how many people are visiting my site and reading my blog. It'll keep my entries sincere. If anyone sees any more counters that I've overlooked, feel free to make an anonymous comment.

"On Writing" by Stephen King

I'm currently reading "On Writing" by Stephen King. I'm enjoying it very much, although it's taking me forever to finish it. It's the kids, need I say more? The book is part autobiographical and part writing tips. I have it as an e-book on my PDA (downloaded from www.peanutpress.com). I could rant and rave so much about reading ebooks versus physical novels, but I'll just summarize and say that it's a really neat thing for anyone to try.

But oh, how I wish I could set aside long sessions for reading. Instead, because of the needs of the kiddies, I could only spare moments taking in paragraphs. Paragraphs and sentences, mind you. Not even pages. If I ever come across a parent that can average one or two novels a month, I'll ask him or her how they do it, because I certainly can't at this point.

In conclusion, I'd appreciate anyone's wisdom on better personal time management while juggling the responsibilities of 2 toddlers and a baby.

Thanks in advance. :-)

I didn't bike today.

I've learned that the road to consistent workouts lies not in motivation but in habit.
--self

Years ago, I used to exercise regularly to the point that if I stopped for a week or so, I'd get this horrible withdrawal feeling. Ahhh, those were the days of a good habit that no longer exists. So these days, I need the motivation that'll eventually help my exercise sessions evolve into a habit. Hopefully, I'll have better results tomorrow. And I must remind myself to wake up to "This Love" by Maroon 5. It just might give me the right push.

"This Love" by Maroon 5

It's the latest song that reverberates in my head -- "This Love" by Maroon 5. This group is a nice breather from others that I've listened to lately. Cool funky sound and nice rhythms. Songs are like prayers to me: reflective, moving and motivating. I hope to go cycling tomorrow on my bike trainer in the basement. I haven't worked out in too long of a time and need to take a best friend's advice on taking better care of myself. "This Love" will be part of the workout routine.

I saw a movie on DVD

I saw “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!” yesterday. Nice romantic movie that reminded me of “Some Kind of Wonderful”.

10 Days Since My Last Post

It's been over a week since my last post. Been too busy with the kids and house to get back online. It makes me wonder why I bother to use my free time to blog. In fact, I've been wondering this ever since I started these entries. Initially, I wanted to create a journal to read over after a few months or years have passed, quite along the lines of why I've created photo albums.

However, after only a few entries, I see that blogging is more than what I originally intended. More importantly, it's become a form of reflection. I organize my thoughts and convey them in text as best as I can. I read what I'm thinking and think about what I've read. And perhaps it would cause me to better myself for the next day.

Mostly, I enjoy my blog. I like it, therefore I keep doing it. So does there really have to be a point at all?

Nick Berg

I viewed the entire execution of Nick Berg today. I did a search using Limewire (a file sharing program similar to Napster) and found an uncensored copy. His death was beyond horrifying to watch. The nauseating feeling in my stomach is still there. I can't fully describe my thoughts on this other than to just keep shaking my head in disgust. It's a very harsh reminder for me to keep hugging my kids and pardon the now relatively minor frustrations that parenthood brings. Today, I said 'I love you' to them more times than usual because of what I saw. I just hope that I never forget this feeling from watching that video clip; it'd be one of my more vivid reminders to help me be thankful for the good things in my life.

A memorial website has been set up here.

May the comforts of Nick Berg's family be many. May he rest in peace.

Just the 5 of us

Ah, the family! Mommy & I. Tina, Mindy & Miguel.

Ahhh those soothing songs.

This song plays incessantly in my head: "Why Don't You and I" by Santana. I've heard two versions -- one featuring Chad Kroeger and the radio version featuring Alex Band. Chad's version is a bit gritty and sung with seemingly more feeling. However, Alex Band's version has a smoother tonal sound, blends better with Santana's guitar and is my choice for listening; Chad's sound is less soothing and just doesn't do it for me. Nonetheless, my point is that I'm repeatedly amazed how the subtleties of music inspire my moods. It makes me want to search for the old songs that've moved me in the past and to see if they still bring about those same feelings today.

Hello world!

Hello there. This is my first post. Been thinking for a while of pasting my thoughts onto a ‘blog’ – I believe that is the correct usage of the term, although I should look it up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the reads. Please feel free to comment on anything.