Nickerblog

charge

Last night, my wife and I dropped the kid off with my sister and had a good old-fashioned night out.   After all, it's close to our ten year anniversary, and rather than wait for the actual date (Aug 16), we seized the opportunity...three weeks early.  Why risk future, unknown commitments that might preclude us from taking advantage of the perfect storm? 

The perfect storm of:

a) a willing, dependable babysitter 
b) a mutual weekend off
c) dwindling time with only one child (Oh yeah, we're having a boy in November...FTW!)

So, we made reservations at a nice restaurant and I got us tickets to the 8pm performance of Wicked at the Pantages Theater, in Hollywood.  I am embarrassed by how seldom I see live performances these days, and lately I've been longing to get back to it.  I began my so-called "Entertainment Career" in Musical Theater, and even though I tend to find the form a little hokey, I do still love to see a good Broadway Show (even if it's in the heart of Hollywood).  I always find myself inspired and breathless during a great performance.  It's invigorating to watch other artists defining themselves, exposing a bit of their souls, and owning the stage for the time they are on it. It is a feeling I can relate to and a feeling I sometimes miss terribly. 

Last night though, I was content to watch and enjoy the show without selfishly pining for my own spotlight, nor yearning fruitlessly to one day achieve the success of the amazingly fit, triple-threat dynamos inhabiting the theatrical world of Oz.  The music and the voices brought chills and tears to my eyes.   I'm not much of a believer in church or the people that sell it, but hearing a beautiful voice or chorus belting to a full house and moving an entire audience to gasps and applause is about as close to a religious experience as I'll probably ever get.   It is pure beauty.

I've been lucky lately.  Good things have been happening this year, and rather than wonder what bad things lurk around the corner or question how much good fortune I actually deserve, I choose instead to savor the good times and enjoy them without apology.  Last night, sitting in a darkened old theater in the heart of Hollywood, watching Wicked with my wife of TEN years, and feeling as happy now as I felt during the month or so it took us to fall in love back in 1993 (rehearsing for a college musical), I smiled to myself.  I'm 35 years old (a month away from 36), and it suddenly hit me that the life I once imagined back when I was young and clueless doesn't even compare to the one I'm actually living.  I'm not sure if it was the swell of the orchestra and the perfect voices blending in triumphant climax, or that sudden, simple realization that gave me the chills, but my eyes welled up quite unexpectedly.

As I sat there overwhelmed with emotion, my usual urge to hide sneaky tears that manage to leak through their constant suppression, seemed not to exist and so I let them run, weakly, down my face.  Once cynical and afraid of slipping into my later thirties, I'm pleasantly delighted to discover that I am catching up to my age, one realization at a time.  All my life, I've trusted that my future will be fine if I just stick to what I love.  I looked over at my wife, who sat there next to me staring at the stage with tears of her own, and understood clearly that I have been right all along.

No spoilers...

I traveled from New Hampshire to Los Angeles today.  They were selling the new Harry Potter book in the Manchester Airport book store.  I've read all the books, faithfully, so of course I bought it and dove in at 4:45 EST. 

I just finished it now, at 11:18 PST.  Wow, awesome.  It was like getting sucked into a 759 page pensieve.  I couldn't stop reading.

Have you read it?  Thoughts?

(Don't follow the link to the comments if you don't want to risk spoilage.)

inside the park home

88 degrees in the Bleachers of Fenway park, mere feet away from the Red Sox bullpen.  Is there anything better than baseball, beer and Fenway Franks in the heart of the summer?

Rob & Big Pictures

As we wrap up season two of Rob and Big, I thought I'd link you to some of the best still photos of the first 16 episodes. Ruben Fleischer (one of the creators of the show) took all of those shots, and the above fantasy-scape was airbrushed onto the mini-horse trailer by Noah.   If you've yet to see the show, you may want to check it out on iTunes.  I know I'm thoroughly biased, but it's a pretty great series T to B.

I'm gonna wait on that iPhone.

When the iPhone was announced, I bowed my head and thanked Father Jobs for finally merging all of the things I do into one device; a device that would surely be the perfect piece of technology.  I told my friends that I didn't care how much it might cost...I'd be getting one the moment it was unleashed onto the world.  Best of all, I had a new false Apple Thing to worship and count down the days to.  I was sated.

Meanwhile, during the 5 months it actually took to build up sufficient hype for the new Immaculate Apple iPhone Child, I sort of became addicted to the BlackBerry.  As the coming of the iPhone approached, I started to wonder what the iPhone would REALLY have over my Blackberry Curve (other than a way better name).  After all, I have an 80gb iPod loaded with movies, tv shows and music, so why did I REALLY need an iPhone.  My BlackBerry also plays music and movies, has a memory slot allowing up to an 8gb MicroSD card, and works flawlessly with my emails and text messages.  I type emails and text quite a lot, so a reliable keyboard is important to me.  Plus, the more I thought about it, the less I saw a need for touch screen scrolling or picture widening and shrinking.  It seems neat, but sort of gadgety for the sake of being gadgety.

So I passed on the iPhone.  I decided that my BlackBerry works perfectly for what I use it for, and that there is no real need to leap into the unknown fancy world of the overpriced and over-hyped Phoney Grail.  Function over form for once, I deciced.  My fellow MAC Disciples shunned me.  They told tales of a golden perfect wonder phone with magical healing abilities and future powder.  "You'll regret it!" they chortled.  The flash of their Intel-based Macbook Pros made me feel like a G4 Powerbook, slumming loser.  I questioned my decision to stay with RIM (BB) over Apple, but their single-buttoned smugness strengthened my resolve.

And then it occured to me.  I finally know how the PC crowd feels like every time they are forced to listen to some holier than thou Macaholic like me.  It seems we are ranting douche-bags most of the time, and we say stuff like:

"Okay!  Stick with your HP.  Good luck AUTOMATING."
"I get it.  You're too dumb to get that Apple is better."
"Let's just put it this way:  PC's are retarded and you hate simple, yet proprietary!"
"Apple INVENTED awesome."

I feel like a shell, an easy to dent (and thus the warranty is void), softer-than-normal aluminum shell, has been lifted from around my head.  First of all, who cares enough to argue about which OPERATING SYSTEM is better.  I curse myself for ever uttering anything to do with a computer argument. 

So, to all you PC users out there, I apologize for being one of "those Mac assholes" for so long.  Don't get me wrong, I'll probably stick with Mac, and I can't say I'll rule out ever buying an iPhone, but for now I like to:

-Have a removable battery.
-Use Mp3s as ringtones.
-Cut and Paste.
-Type on an actual keyboard with plastic buttons.
-Not have to rely on Applecare if something goes wrong with the phone.
-Not have to be the dude opening and closing my hand on a touchscreen in the Starbucks.
-Add games or third party software to my smartphone.

You know, simple things that I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO WITH AN iPHONE.

But, I get it.  It's a neat toy.  I suppose it's just odd to be on the other side of the standard arrogant Mac douchebaggery, instead of being the dickhole who's been dishing it out to PC folk for so long.

30 random ways to a happier life.

1. Learn early on to enjoy warm soda.  Trust me, it comes in handy.  While you're at it, learn to drink black coffee.
2. Let go of your need to make all the choices all of the time.  Other people have better ones sometimes.
3. Learn to play guitar, juggle, ride a unicycle, do a backflip and play Scrabble.
4. Avoid trends.  Go for timeless fashion.
5. Skip the iPhone.  Get a Blackberry.
6. Learn to enjoy warm beer. (this one is more advanced, but well worth it).
7. Pick a team in any sport and be a hardcore fan.
8. Combine all of your e-mail addresses. 
9. Own a car that doesn't own you.  There may be no bigger waste of stress than worrying about the looks of a car.  Let it go.
10. Love what you love.  Don't trick yourself or others.
11. Cut out people that bum you out.
12. Find joy in condiments.  Similarly, acquire tastes just for the hell of it.  Like Sauerkraut and Whisky.  But not together.  Unless you're high.
13. Stop imagining that people are saying things about you.  They're mostly just worried about themselves.
14. Ignore social constraints if more convenient or sensible than abiding by them.
15. Learn to play D&D.  If you're already laughing this one off, learn it immediately.
16. Feel free to simply let parts of your past go.
17. Get rid of the stuff you're hoarding.  It's an emotional drain.
18. Don't get too attached to any one material thing.  It's just stuff. 
19. Learn the basic rules of the major sports.
20. Get good at frisbee. 
21. Whoever makes you happy most of the time, that's "the one."
22. Change is unavoidable.  Embrace it, on every level.
23.  Learn how to use a gun.
24. When it comes to parking, pay the most for the closest once in a while.
25. Treat yourself to nice underwear.  Life is too short.
26. Get a passport, even if you never plan on leaving the country.
27. Learn how to play poker.
28. Don't be too afraid of "street meat."
29. Always be ready to let go of your original plan...

Kwik-E