Stuff I love...

In no particular order: (Except for numbers 1 and 2)

1. Holly Jeanne
2. Myra Beatrice
3. Vanilla Iced Cream with Fudge Syrup
4. The Two Man Gentlemen Band
5. Jack White
6. Spider-man
7. Dancing with either Number 1 or Number 2. (Although Number 1 will not dance with me)
8. Dancing alone.
9. Led Zeppelin
10. Walks of varying lengths.
11. Reminiscing about my father.
12. A really good game of D&D.
13. The Muppets
14. Watching the Cubs/Bears/Bulls win. (Especially in person)
15. Frank Sinatra.
16. Buying Local.
17. The Outlaw Josey Wales.
18. Spending time with my friends (Too many to list here individually)
19. Working on a good film with talented people.
20. Steven Page.
21. A really good drumline
22. Tapdancing
23. Theater (Musical or otherwise)
24. The Simpsons
25. Barney Fife

That is a pretty good start.

That is all.

I am still pissed about a lot of stuff.

Life in general...

So, Myra is awesome. She has completely consumed my life and it is wonderful. I never realized how great being a father could be. It is also very hard sometimes but it is totally worth it. Totally.

That is all.

One not as pissed-off Hobbit

Just some stuff...

So, near as I can tell, Bilbo is doing well. He/She has been keeping the Wife up some at night or at least waking her up with all of his/her acrobatics. She said that Bilbo had the hiccups as we were going to bed last night. I can only imagine how that must feel.

Since the last time I was here a lot has happened. I got the chop from Finelight but fell right into another job. Finelight decided that they did not really need anyone in their production department so they let me go (along with several other people from different departments). Now, there is no one in the department in Bloomington at all. No one. You see, the photographer left of his own accord because he was offered a much better job and the other two people in the department work in Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky. Does that make any sense to you at all? Because it does not to me. Anyway, the new job I fell into is with Markey's Rental and Staging. We are the people who set up all the audio and video equipment at events like conferences and bigger meetings. We are based out of the Convention Center and we do a lot of work there but we also do events around town. It seems like it is going to be a pretty good job. They are totally willing to work around my schedule and are going to be super flexible when Bilbo arrives, God willing.

The meeting with Kathryn and Mr. Mongoose (John) regarding what kind of web-based project we would like to do went well. We have basically decided on an idea but I am still working on specifics and scripts. I will let you know when I have something concrete. I will give you a hint, it involves Martin & Lewis and Dungeons & Dragons.

Lost is the best show on television again. Bar none.

I am really in a pretty good mood right now so I have no specific rants other than the standards: animal cruelty is stupid, human discrimination is stupid and Alex Rodriguez is stupid.

That is all I have for now, people.

Thank you for your time.

One Pissed-Off Hobbit

Projects...

Okay, I do not know if any of you have watched either Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog or The Guild but I will give you some time to go do that now. I would suggest watching Season 1 of The Guild before watching season 2.




So, what did you think. First, Neil Patrick Harris is dreamy. Second, he is incredibly talented. I really like Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog but I identify more with The Guild. As a gamer, I can relate to thinking of things not in real-world terms. Sometimes it is a little hard to differentiate between the two. Eh...

Anyway, the reason I bring these two programs up is that they are of great inspiration to me. They were both made with no money and very little equipment. Both were totally created as labors of love and went on to blossom into really wonderful things. Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly fame, started getting the idea for DHS-AB during the Writers' strike last year. He wanted to do something totally web-based to prove that it was a viable medium to work in. He wanted to do something without the help or hindrance of a studio. At the same time, Felicia Day, was already writing and starring in The Guild, a moderatly successful web-based comedy. The two met by chance on the picket line and thus, DHS-AB was born.

You see, with my TComm production degree and access to many wonderfully talented people around me, not to mention production equipment, I see no reason to not create some sort of Internet series of my own. So, this Sunday, Kathryn, Mr. Mongoose and myself are meeting to start brainstorming ideas for production. We are thinking of following the The Guild format and making them about four to six minutes long. I will let you know what we come up with. Feel free to leave me your ideas.

Also, today's music, films and television sucks. I miss the old days of television when there were programs worth watching. Now, it is all reality bull-shit that is not the least realistic. No one really acts or talks like that, do they? What a bunch of morons. God, and the music is getting even worse, if you can call it that. What happened to real musicians playing real instruments? Or real singers singing real songs? Now all you need is the right program and you are a "musician." What a crock of shit. Give me Frank, Dean, Sammy and Ella any old day. You can keep your Britney, Young Jeazy, Lady Ga Ga and Justin. What a bunch of crap. And, there is not one thing at the theater that I am remotely interesting in seeing. Not one thing. I do not think that has ever happened in my life. Could there be a worse crop of garbage? I think I am officially old. Is that possible? Can you be over the hill at 30?


Thank you for your time.

One Pissed-Off Hobbit

No idea...

Well, first of all, Bilbo is fine. We found out this morning that it is developing normally. It has a fully formed brain, four-chambered heart, lungs and stomach are working appropriately, etc. Also, the Wife is progressing well and her blood pressure is very good. So, there you go.

Second of all, I have no idea how I feel. I am very excited and very scared at the same time. I was showing the ultrasound to a few friends at work and I actually became somewhat of a proud father. Somewhat. But, then it hit me again, "Holy Shit, this thing is coming." There is no pause button, there are no rerolls, come Hell or high water, this baby is coming. God willing. We are pretty bright people and I am sure we will be fine but we have no experience at this. She helped take care of younger cousins and stuff but nothing with this kind of duration. I think I watched my nephew all of twice when he was growing up and never for more than a few hours. This is going to be a learn-on-the-job type of deal. Again, no time outs, no do-overs, just keep going and learn from your mistakes. I am very happy and excited because there are a lot of things I want to do with this child and a lot of things I want to teach it. Conversely, I do not want to screw it up or have it hate me. Both very possible outcomes. So, there you have my baby rant. I promise I will not do that again.

In other news, I continue to hate people. I had a co-worker tell me all about how he went to a breeder to buy a several hundred dollar dog that his wife just had to have. He could not remember what kind it was because it was MADE UP! It was one of those damned designer dogs like a Labrodoodleoodlepug or something. Really? Your wife 'had to have" one so you just ran out and bought it? Really? Did you do ANY amount of research at all or did you just blindly say, "yes, dear", wipe the drool from your lip and shuffle off to buy it. Are you that unthinking that you just follow directions regardless of their outcome. He was actually proud that he was able to get it so cheaply. Proud. It made me sick and I excused myself back to my office to seethe. I considered explaining the breeder/animal shelter relationship but the damage had already been done. He was glowing with pride at his accomplishment. What a waste. If it ever comes up again, which I am fairly confident that it will, I will take the time to explain how the humane association would have been a much better choice. Until that time, I will just follow up on the dogs health and make sure everything is okay with it. Hopefully they did not get a sick or diseased dog. Hopefully it is healthy and they dodged a bullet. Hopefully.

Okay, well, I hope everyone is doing well in the new year. Good luck and take care of each other.

Thank you for your time.

One Pissed-off Hobbit

Okay...

The Wife is about 20 weeks along now. She is doing well and has been feeling the baby "kick" for a few weeks. She said, "I am not sure why they call it kicking because I am sure it is doing more than that. At least it feels like it anyway." Or something like that. Also, that baby appears to really like Beck. We were at the Nickless-Gourley's the other night enjoying some Rock Band and she was playing drums on Beck's "E-Pro." According to the Wife, Bilbo* was having a great time.

I am off from work this week. In stead of monetary compensation in the form of a bonus, FL** decided to give us this week off with pay. So, I left work December 24th and do not return until January 5th. While I do enjoy not working, I would have preferred they give us cash. On the other hand, I was able to get a lot of things done yesterday that have been needing to be done for a while. Maybe time off is a good thing.

The holidays have been fun. Exhausting but fun. We have finished rewatching Lost season 4 and are about to start on the Extra Features. Man, Lost is a wonderful show. I forgot how good last season was. I am very excited for Season 5 to start on January 21st. I believe it is going to be a three-hour event-thing. The first hour at 8 will be a recap type show and then the two-hour premier at 9. I plan on watch all three hours.

So, do you have any resolutions? Yeah, me neither. Well, good luck, be safe and God bless. See you next year or some other lame expression.

Thank you for your time.

One Pissed-off Hobbit

*For future reference, the baby will be referred to as Bilbo.
**For future reference, my place of employment, Finelight, will be referred to as FL

Everything is going to change...

The wife is pregnant. She is about 19 weeks along, give or take a few days. I/we have waited to tell everyone for a few reasons. First, we wanted to wait until she was at least out of the first trimester. There is a much higher chance of miscarriage/problems during that time so we wanted to wait until we were out of those woods. It would be difficult to tell people and be all excited and then have to explain if something were to happen. We did not want to go through that nor put anyone else through that. Holly is doing very well and is very healthy, as is the child.

Second, it was/is kind embarrassing to talk about. There is only one place babies come from and we did not really want to discuss that with other people. I am sure you understand. Our reproductive life is really no one's business.

And finally, we agreed to take a pretty religious approach to it. It was mainly my doing but she agreed. From the Jewish faith (which I am not but respect greatly) there is such a thing as not presuming on God's will. Any time I refer to the would-be child I use the phrase, "God willing." It is not a superstitious thing, it is a religious thing. I do not want to speak or act in such a way that presumes on God's will. As such, we are not discussing names with anyone else and we are not accepting gifts from anyone until right before or after it is born, God willing, depending on the gift. I know this may sound weird or cold but it is not. I find it very liberating, actually. Also, we do not have a very big house and we would not have a place to store it before the child is born, God willing. People like to smile and say, "well, I am going to give you a gift for the baby anyway." Why? Why do you not want to honor our wishes regarding our child? Just like with our wedding, people tried to horn in and tell us how to do it. Why, is it your wedding? Are you having the baby? Please, let us do what we think is best for us and do not tell us what we ought to do. Thank you. Oh, we are not going to find out the sex, either. We like surprises.

So, there you go. Just to recap: Holly is about 19 weeks pregnant, she is doing very well, we will not learn the sex, please do not buy us anything until we ask for it.

Thank you.

One Pissed-off Hobbit