./janella.com

I got up late this morning, around 10:30. I was up too late trying to figure out what is up with the web site. I still haven’t figured it out yet.

But I also think I’m a bit in vacation mode.

OK. I am still not sure what happened, but I was able to recover March entries. Worse case scenario is everything is lost. I don’t think that is the case though. I’ve done monthly backups so the content is somewhere.

Anyway, it is very very late. I’m going to bed now. I think with more rest I will be able to figure this out.

Photo no longer available

My sister sent me this mobile photo of the kids, who I have not seen in a very long time. I was surprised to receive the photo by phone.

Unfortunately, AT&T does this very funky thing with multimedia messages received for an iPhone. Instead of just sending you the image or item, they send you a text message saying you received a message. They require you to go to a web site, viewmymessage.com, and input a username and password that you receive by text. The site is pretty lame as it only stores the photo for a short time.

So sis, next time you send a photo just email it to me from your phone. I can then view it in my email.

I’m not sure what just happened.

If you visit this page with any frequency, you would know there were many posts here. I was messing with the site and now those posts, about 470 or so, are no longer visible. This teaches me not to mess with the site at such a late hour.

Interesting.

Yesterday, we celebrated Rex and my birthday with a small dinner at Nana’s house. The other birthday boy this month, Big Gordon, is in Nebraska. Of course, he couldn’t make the celebration.

We had an early dinner. I tried to BBQ some steaks, but they didn’t turn out their usual juicy selves. I decided to rely on a meat thermometer while BBQ-ing instead of my instinct. Next time I’m going to rely on my gut feeling.

Cake on Fire

Rex received a few gifts, the big surprise being the Wii! Me? I got some water pistol underwear and a lovely shirt. Since my bday is later in the month, I think the other presents will be given closer to that time. At least I hope they will.

Of course the big gift this year is a trip to New York City. The reason I bring this up (again) is that I purchased a new camera for the journey, a Canon G9. I’ll write more about my experiences with the G9 later. In the meantime, head on over to photo gallery to check out pictures of last nights celebration, and a video, taken with the G9.

I wasn’t sure what to title this post. What I’m thinking is that as of April 1, 2008, I am going to disable comments on the blog. This will effectively make this blog a tumblelog instead. If you read my previous post about tumblr and tumblelogs, then you know what I mean.

The reason I thinking of going this way is: (1) the amount of spam comments I’ve been receiving lately; (2) my inability to approve comments; and (3) I’ve been lately doing quick posts which fit the format of a tumblelog better than a blog. Believe me, I love it when people comment on something I’ve written about or posted. I just feel bad about never getting around to either replying or approving the comment until way after the fact.

I could disable comments now to avoid anyone writing humorous comments about my upcoming milestone birthday, but I won’t. The ability to comment will still be available my photos pages. If you wish to post a thought or two on a photo, then please do not hesitate.

Farrah let me in on my birthday gift early. It is quite a gift: a trip to New York City!

Hesitantly, she revealed my present to me a couple of weeks ago. My mindset regarding flying, and traveling in general, made her feel that it was best to let me in on the gig sooner rather than later. Also, she wanted me to be part of the planning.

I readily admit I didn’t jump on the planning bandwagon right away. It definitely needed to sink in that we were going to New York City. Farrah was good at trying to fool me on my present.

Farrah knows how much I love my tech toys. She is always hesitant on buying me such gifts for fear that (1) I will have bought it already, or (2) that the tech toy would not be up to snuff. She had me work on giving her specs on electronic presents I wanted for my milestone birthday. I gave her the specs on a 17" MacBook Pro, a Sony LCD television, and a Nikon D300. All of those gifts are very pricey. I felt very guilty giving her that as my wish list items.

But this trip to New York City is something special, something that can live way beyond the lifetime of a tech gadget. The memories of our trip to England and France are still very fresh in my mind. I think NYC will be a blast. I’ve already spent time on several sites trying to figure out what to do. Let me tell you, there is no shortage of things to do in NYC.

More to come as we plan our trip out for five days, four nights in NYC.

[Photo by Flickr user 708718 used with permission per Creative Commons.]

Dirty. Nasty. The dirtiest hotels according to TripAdvisor (TripAdvisor.com)

We Are The Ones. New Obama inspired video by will.i.am. (Dipdive.com)

Enjoy More Picnik. Once premium features are now free, but ad supported. There still are premium features, but for only $24.95/year it’s not a bad deal. I just wish they could interact with Smugmug. (picnik)

Python vs. Dog. Guess who one? (CBSNews)

Rocking the Kids. Kids’ songs sung by rock stars. It runs about three minutes too long, but funny. (Break)

(Better quality version available directly at Dipdive.com

Interesting Presidential race this year. Choices seemed plentiful earlier in the year, but they are narrowing quite rapidly. At the least, get out there to vote this November.  Me?  I have yet to make up my mind.

The choices come down to three at this point: John, Hilary, or Barack (Please, Ralph Nader doesn’t stand a chance).  Read about them, pick them apart, and then decide at the least to exercise your right to vote.

A few things to look at for today.

A sad story without words. You can figure it out, can’t you? (Imageshack) [Update: If you can’t access the Imageshack link, please try this link)

Turtle soup. What do you have in your fridge? via steveny (DailyMail)

Guilty! But of what? (GuessMyCrime)

Cool invites. Evite is cool, but Pingg is looking interesting. via Techcrunch (pingg)

This is a new type of blog entry for me, at least on the main blog. It is simply a collection of links that were either IM’d to me or I ran into through my daily browsing. This type of entry takes the place of my now dead Tumblr account. I like to call these entries “Around the Horn” (another baseball term).

Obama Hype or Substance? Well researched write up on Obama versus Hillary. “In my eyes Obama is the superior choice in every way. ” Food for thought. (Daily Kos)

I guess the NRA send their kids to college in Utah. “Utah is only state where students, professors can carry guns at all public colleges.” (CNN)

Stairs Bookcase? I got vertigo just staring at the initial photo! (Gizmodo)

If I ever get plants, I should get this thingy to keep them alive - hopefully. (ThirstyLight.com)

Show me the money. Who’s on the the $10,000 bill? Link provided by steveny. (PurpleSlinky)

Lindsey Lohan poses in the nude. You can find the photos on the Internet if you do a simple search. I’m linking to the article in the New York Times about the sitting. (New York Times)

The 40-40 club.

In baseball, it is an exclusive club. You need to have stolen 40 bases and hit 40 home runs in a single season. Currently, only four players have done it. First was Jose Canseco. (Yes, I don’t believe it either.) Next was Barry Bonds. I’m pretty sure this was the pre-roid-juiced-up-mofo Bonds. But if Canseco was taking the juice back then, I guess you can never be certain.

But the 40-40 club holds a different meaning for me. It means I will be 40 years old in about 40 days. (BTW - I make this baseball reference mainly for Scott, a baseball fanatic who made me aware of the 40-40 club, and who will be joining me in this club shortly. Also to follow is BossaNova later this year.)

Ah, 40-40.

I am not feeling anxious as the fateful day approaches. At this point, it feels like any other impending birthday. But in my mind, I run through my life assessment checklist.  It’s a short checklist, starting with the big question, “What have you done?” and ending with “What would you like to do?”

Suffice it to say that I am very happy with my life.   I tend not to regret the decisions I have made. After all, the sum of the choices I have made represents the person I am today. I am pretty happy with myself - minus a few extra pounds.

I try not to look too far back, not wishing to question the choices I’ve made. I also try not to look too far into the future, not wanting to miss what is right in front of me.  So I try to stay grounded in the present, living in the moment.

There is still a lot of time for things to happen. 40 isn’t that old. Heck, 50, 60, and 70 aren’t old either. I have a co-worker who has parents in their 90s and they are still running around enjoying life. But when I look back at times, and it isn’t often, these 40 years can seem to have flown right by. It’s time to start checking off some of these items from the checklist.

I have done so many things, but there is so much more to do.