I was doing crunches this morning—I can do 1000 now—when I started thinking about what I'd viewed adulthood as when I was a boy. The very first thing that popped into my mind was a scene from the movie Star Trek Generations. There's a particular moment when Captain Picard is enveloped into the "nexus", a science fiction version of heaven, and he comes to in a magnificent home surrounded by his many children and a caring wife. It's Christmas, the children are all opening presents around a decorated tree, and Captain Picard simply sits on a sofa, sipping a bit of wine as dinner is just finishing up. It's all very ethereal, but the sense of a perfect the writers were undoubtedly trying to communicate came through loud and clear to my 11-year-old mind.

Ah, I thought to myself, so this is what the good part of adulthood is. I saw what essentially is still my goal in life, to have a family that I absolutely adore with my whole being, caring for them, providing for them,...

This morning I woke up to my alarm clock playing a song that was stolen from the original artist by another artist via "sampling". I stepped into the shower and used shampoo and soap with god knows what in them. I use a plastic sponge thing. When I get out, I put some crap in my hair that I couldn't even begin to describe beyond "white stuff". I call it "shmutz" to friends and family. I grab some cereal and pour soy milk on it. It's tasty, but again I don't really know what any of the ingredients are beyond wheat and soy. Maybe some salt? I'll have to go back and read the labels.

I put on running shoes made from plastics and rubbers and cloths. They're supposed to give my feet support, but I've never seen anything to suggest they're better than going barefoot other than stepping on something sharp. I put on pants made mostly of plastic, and put my headphones in my ears. I'm listening to a song that couldn't be replicated with any kind of existing,...

I finally got rid of my 17" eMac.


She served me well for over 5 years, which is unbelievable for any computer. The disc drive finally started to go around mid December, so I decided it was finally time to upgrade. I had We Fix Macs put in a new superdrive and I gave it to a low income family from work so the eMac will still be in service.

I was going to get a 20" iMac from the store, but I found a Mac mini on craigslist for an incredibly low price. 1.83GHz Core Two Duo, 2GB RAM, etc, ready to go. I figured that with the low price of the computer itself, I could just buy a decent LCD monitor and get basically the same performance as an iMac for hundreds and hundreds of dollars cheaper.

I did a bit of research and found that the Acer P221WD was probably the best bang for my buck. I wanted something bigger than a 20", with decent enough stats and that...

It's an old cliche that youth is wasted on the youthful. And it's so damned true.

I wasn't adequately prepared for my teenage years. Neither of my parents have particularly good teenage years, and the social development that one normally goes through during middle school and high school, for them, was postponed until college. They deny it now, but it's obvious. Their development translated to a parenting style that expected I wouldn't really come out of my shell until I was 19-22, and it's something, looking back, I rebelled against with every fiber of my being.

At the age of maybe 7 or 8, I grew up. This meant I was always the responsible one in my group of friends, I got on better with older kids and adults, and had trouble connecting with kids my age until my early 20s. In a way I'm really lucky, because I was able to infuse my adult self with a ton of inner child, which has helped me to stay happy even during very dark times in my life. Unfortunately,...

As some may be aware, beluga caviar was made illegal for about a year and since then the quality has been considerably lower. I was concerned about this because I like being a rich snob, and having lower quality caviar gets in the way of that.

Problem solved.

California White Sturgeon caviar, hand picked, sublime. I got some as a gift from a family friend. It's complex, rich taste attacks your sense from all directions. The texture is better than Beluga. The smell, too. And I mean better than pre-2007 Beluga. I've found myself a new favorite caviar, and it's from my own state.

/pride