Happy New Year -2006

Edwin - Alive

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It feels so good to breathe the air
Another spin around the sun
On this speck of life
In the universe
The gift of love
Is there for everyone

Angels working over time
Day or night to hold the hands
That play all alone
A baby's born pure to the world
As the old man lays down his head and closes his eyes
With nothing said

Every year another promise is made
A pint of beer raised towards a better day
Lets find a star, a star to call our own
And make a wish, maybe we can make it home

Ain't it good to be alive?
To feel the sun, strong against your face
Strawberry blonde waves of silky hair
Spills over me like the Milky Way

Ain't it good to be alive?
Ain't it good to be alive?

Alive, alive…

Ain't it good to breathe the air
Another spin around the sun
On this speck of life in the universe
A little piece of life in everyone
Ain't it good to be alive?
Ain't it good to be alive?
To feel the sun strong against your face
It spills over me like the Milky Way

Alive, alive…
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You are in my thoughts....much love to you....and success and happiness in the year to come...

v

Just Added!

Radio Announcer: "It’s the White Collar Computing Tour, coming to a venue near you! You've seen them on Commodore Central...now see them LIVE!"

Bill: "I couldn't stop myself. I said, 'Forget your password?' GAAAAH! Too late! In a picosecond, he looked up. 'Nope. Just thought I'd practice my typing...Here's your Pop Up Warning!'" (Crowd Laughing and Applauding)

Radio Announcer: "Featuring Larry the Ethernet Guy…
‘Git ‘er Downloaded!’

Bill Firewall….
‘Here’s your Pop Up Warning!’

Jeff Diskworthy…
‘…YEWWWW might be a Web Geek!’

And Rom Wireless…
‘Are you Rom…Tech Salary…Wireless?’"

(Assorted "Live Show" comedy clips)

Rom: "I had the right to reboot...I just didn't have Control-Alt-Delete."
Larry: "That’s FUBAR, right there - I don’t care who you claim to be."
Jeff: "If YEW order pizza AND your date online, YEWWW might be a Web Geek!"
Rom: "Turns out they were firing everyne surfin' the 'Net that night. That's DOWNSIZING...and Downsizing's WRONG!"
Bill: "So he comes up and says, ‘Computer locked?’ I said, ‘No, you dweeb, I’m giving it a breather…’ Heeerrrreee’s your Pop Up Warning!"
Rom: "’How far will this USB cable get us?’ ‘All the way to the scene of the Hard Drive Crash!’"

Announcer: Tickets on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets…or - DUH - you can order them ONLINE at Ticketmaster-dot-com.

Rom: "’I’ll bet we’ll beat Support by a half an hour!’"
Jeff: "If YEWW think 'The Great Escape' was a movie about the birth of the PC.....YEWWW might be a Web Geek."

Announcer: "Get yours soon - This is SURE to be a SOLD-OUT event!"

Bill: "Here’s your Pop Up Warning!"
Larry: "The IT Administrator asked, 'You been drinking?' I said, 'Why - am I running Windows 95?'"
Rom: "I didn’t know how many viruses it was gonna take to wipe my files…but I knew how many they were gonna upload."

Announcer: "Be there or BE….well….YOU know!"


Rom: "That’s some useful data to have!"
Jeff: "If YEWW have both 3.5 AND 5 inch floppies….YEWWW might be a Web Geek!"
Bill: "She thought 'Pod People' were employees of Apple..."

Announcer: "Produced by Microsoft…isn’t everything?"

Jeff: "There is NO KEY labelled 'ANY!'"
Larry: "Git ‘er DOWNLOADED!!!!" (Crowds cheering)

(Originally published at www.strollerguy.com)

"Even if they chase me away......"

"......I will have done them good."

- Gustav Mahler

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Christmas 2006

He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.

- B. C. Forbes
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Christmas...another year gone by, and so many things have come and gone over the year that it is difficult for me to even enumerate them all. I have come to a place in my life where all the good things are coming together and I have much enthusiasm and optimism for what I see coming in the next several years, for the ones I love as well as for myself. I have things I want to accomplish and so much I want to see happen...it will challenging but rewarding, and I am more excited about the future than I have been in a very long time.

My family is doing well and is successful in the ventures of their lives; as with all of us, they are facing obstacles, and overcoming them, and the growth I see in them is exciting and inspiring...they are, at times, confronted with tasks that seem to be gargantuan...impossible...with grace and confidence I watch as they overcome them...it is impossible to express in mere words how proud and happy they make me every single day.

I have been blessed to discover, in the most unusual way, how many loving and caring friends I have. It has been one of the most humbling and amazing experiences for me to know that there are so many folks who feel the same way for me as I have always felt for them...the love and concern that has been shown me and my family, I can truly never ever repay, and there is no way in the world that I could ever tell you how much it means to me.

My thoughts are with you today, my dear one, and with your family, your friends....I wish for you happiness, contentment and love, during this holiday time and throughout the year to come....and all the love in my heart I send to you....God Bless...

v

Unpublished Excerpt from "Zero Main Street"

“Kyle, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“Sure. Why not? I don’t think there’s anything good on TV this evening.”
Carrie lost her concentration.
“What!?”
“Yeah. Besides, it would be nice to be LEGALLY allowed to make someones’s life completely miserable. I mean, that’s what this is all about, right Father?”
The minister smiled and nodded knowingly.

Carrie was dumbfounded. What the hell is going on here? She turned around and looked at the assembly in the almost endless rows of pews. As far back as she could make out the faces, no one registered any indication that something might be amiss. Maybe I heard all this wrong…

Kyle was beaming at her almost expectantly. She turned her attention to the pastor.
“And Carrie, do you take Kyle here to be your merciless master, catering to any and every whim of his and politely averting your eyes each time he has a sordid affair with one of your contemporaries?”
“WHAT!?”
“Honey, everyone is awaiting your answer…” Kyle smiled nervously and looked back to the minister, expecting some level of continuity and conclusion.

Carrie looked wildly about, hoping for some clue that her senses were not failing her. Everybody was looking at her, faking suspense that the possibility of a deviation actually existed. One gentleman feigned checking his watch and winked at her. What the fuck…? Who is that bastard?

“Are you out of your mind?”
Both the reverend and her groom to be appeared genuinely baffled.
“Honey, c’mon. Folks are waiting. This is what you wanted, right?” The father nodded his head with Kyle, as if the combined effort would have a greater chance of moving the program along.

“Okay, wait. Did you just say, ‘avert your eyes every time he has an affair?’”
“Babe, we’ve been over this time and time again. We rehearsed this just last night. Can we just get on with this and have it over and done with? Please?”
Carrie shook her head. This was like a bad dream.
“I am NOT agreeing to any such thing. You change that vow right this minute or I swear to God I will NOT marry you. Not now – not ever. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!”

Kyle looked at the pastor. They both shrugged as there eyes met.
“Whatever you want, honey. As long as you’re happy.”

The reverend shuffled back to a ceremonial table and retrieved a book. Carrie glanced back at the congregation. Excited whispering and murmuring pulsed through the crowd. Eschewing harmony for controversy seemed to have an electric effect on the attendees. Routine yawning and distracted looks had been supplanted by rapt focus and the tendency to lean forward.

Returning to the imminent newlyweds, the pastor cleared his throat and proceeded to read from the tome:



Hooked yet? Start from the beginning at www.strollerguy.com

I Just COULDN'T RESIST......

Check out the "Mini Movie" link on the right side...this one is one of those "new classic" types, especially since it went from internet sensation to pain in the community's butt to a majorly cool holiday advertising campaign. I am sure the man that conceived the whole conglomeration is not doing it anymore, so thank goodness for responsible file archiving, which made it possible for me to share this great piece of artistry with you again this year....

Enjoy...till later, much love to you....

v

No Longer an "All Honda" Shop.....

Yesterday, the firstborn was able to finally return to his roots....his first auto a GM of substance to protect his newbie driver butt from harm (and well it did on many occasions, I might add!) He now owns the lovely car shown in the photo left, dubbed "Gunhaver", in deference to its deriving its name from the Beretta handgun. It is in very good shape and has many factory accessories and options that you will not see on every Beretta still sliding down the street. For a FULL photo set with commentary, see the current entry on ironduke.net, internet home to many nice websites, including but not limited to BuddhaofDrumming, Monsters I Say and davidwayneblack.com.

Hope to be back with more later, but if not till tomorrow, enjoy the photos and check out the new Gameheads photo links from the wrap party last Saturday....in the meantime also, much love to you.....

v

As an aside - In 1975 on this date: The Altair 8800, a do-it-yourself computer kit, goes on sale for $397.

A Very Gameheads Weekend

Last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of spending time with the cast and crew of the indie movie Gameheads, as they celebrated wrap on the recording of raw video. Post production has been occurring for a while now, and all of the staff involved showed enthusiasm and excitement at the potential that the movie definitely has for success, pending some good exposure when the time comes.

I was included in this celebration by merit of my friendship with one of the actors, David Black (jeff/strollerguy/davidwayneblack.com). Our efforts on his website, davidwayneblack.com, and his prominent display of the Gameheads trailers on his site and outposts, hosted by our own ironduke.net garnered the entire "tekkbabe" clan an open invitation. The young one and the firstborn bailed on the trip due to responsibilities to sig others here at home, but I traversed the 500 miles to the home of the Gameheads production to participate in the celebration of a job completed by some, just beginning for others, and for all a great accomplishment to be proud of.

As well as meeting Gwen and Dan (also known in internet circles as Bad Buddha from Bad Buddhist Radio fame), the driving force behind the creation of this promising production, I made the acquaintances of many of the folks that worked both in front of the camera and behind the scenes during the months of rehearsals and shooting for the movie. I was also pleased to meet Karen (david's sig other) and his children, Sierra (who had a small part in the movie) and Lars (who is just darned cute). I also got to see a friend from my previous visit in July, Tim, who was also an actor in the movie.

The trip, though an eight hour drive, was sooo worth it...it was great to finally put voices and real faces to all the people and places that I have been exposed to over the time that the movie has been in production. It was also nice to spend time with David and the people that mean so much to him...I am grateful that they were willing to share their time with me, considering the unusual way we all became connected.

All in all, IMHO, good times were definitely had...the folks earned their celebration...the sneak previews proved that lots of promising footage was captured during all their months of hard work...now, after the Bad Buddha finishes post, the real challenge will present...getting this indie film exposure so that it can get the recognition it deserves. I think it will happen...there are certainly enough dedicated folks around to get the job done....

So, thanks to all Gameheads...I had a great time! You can count on me to represent for Gameheads whenever the opportunity presents itself!

Much love to you all....

v

PS - please be sure to check out the link at right for the official Gameheads wrap party photo set, hosted on flckr.com

Anything worth doing is worth doing well....

My mother...such a fountain of wisdom. There are so many times throughout every day that I harken back to all the little pearls she interspersed throughout the comings and goings of the lives of my sister and I. In my head, she has been my calming influence, and my advisor when things got a little questionable or frantic....today, as I walked the young one through the monsterous maze of acquiring a drivers license in the State of Ohio, I heard her whispering in my ear more than a few times, helping me keep my frustration in check and focused on the goal, which was to facilitate one more step in his perpetual growing process.

The afternoon began with a sprint from my work to the Social Security Office, in an effort to acquire proof of the young one's social security number. The young one, that lovely person, informed me that the SECOND COPY of the card that I had helped him acquire when he got his job this year had gone missing, and we both knew that without one, even in passing the driving test, no license was to be had.

I arrived at the SS Office, noting with pleasure that it was not extraordinarily busy...good news! I thought I had all the appropriate documents, and I am his birth mother after all...assumed it would be a done deal once my number was called....but alas...it was not to be. That mean old Father Time had dealt me the raw hand of making the young one turn eighteen a little more than a month ago...he is his own man now, and his mommy can no longer access his personal private stuff; he has to do it himself. Frustrated and agitated, I called the high school and told them to have the young one in the office; that I was coming immediately to pick him up.

My old friends there did just as I had asked, and the young one was waiting for me as I wheeled up the driveway at the school. He practically had to jump in the car, "Dukes of Hazard" style, as I slowed only slightly as I passed the big front doors. Once the young one was secured in the car, I sped back down the street to the office of Social Security, this time with the "adult" in tow, so he could make arrangements for the documents he needed himself. While we awaited our turn (again), he filled out all the paperwork to request a new card.

After about fifteen minutes had passed (which was really not bad, considering) we finally approached the counter and explained our intentions. The very nice clerk there took all the young one's information, had him sign the form to authorize the sending of a new social security card to our house, and generated that irreplacable paper that we needed to prove he has a social security number to the lovely State of Ohio.

As we were walking out of the office, the young one froze in his tracks. I asked him what was wrong and he replied, "You have the papers from my temp packet, right?" I looked at him incredulously. Of course I did not have them...I had watched as he had torn up my car looking for them over the weekend, and observed as he finally entered the house, papers in hand, indicating that he was going to put them in his room "for safe keeping". Obviously he had kept them well, because they were still in his room at home, so rather than heading south to the license testing agency, we headed west to our house, so he could pick up the errant paperwork. By this time I was more than a little on the ticked side, and all I could really hope for at this point was that we would make it to the testing agency close to on time, and that on the way there we would be able to outrun the bad karma that was surrounding this endeavor so far.

For all the "fiddly-farting around" (a great mom phrase) we arrived at the license agency in South Toledo with more than an hour before the young one's appointed driving test time. He approached the counter with his heart in his throat and all his paperwork in hand and offered himself up to the bureaucratic process that is getting a drivers license. In retrospect, he and I both noted that the atmosphere in the office on this day was much different than what we had been accustomed to in the past visits. There was an almost festive feel in the air, and the testers and staff were laughing and jovial. I wonder now (I did not look at the time) if there was a dentist's office in the strip center where this office was...perhaps a nitrous oxide leak in the ventilation would account for the easygoing attitudes.

Almost immediately upon checking in, the young one was called upon to drive. The state highway patrol tester was a friendly looking woman with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she smiled and chatted with the young one as they proceeded out the door. I settled in to wait, checking email, and IM, then plugging myself in to my iPod, which is my constant companion. I shuffled through a few songs to find the group I was interested in listening to, and having enjoyed less than two songs, I looked up to see that the young one was already standing in front of me, papers in his hand. His face was impossible to read...I had to ask him for the results. With no change in expression whatsoever, he looked at me and said, "So, what do I do next?"

I said, "Depends...did you pass?" He pushed the papers toward me....I could see no markings to indicate one way or the other....finally, seeing that I was not "getting it", he sighed and said, "Yes, I did pass....now, what do we do next?"

Next was, of course, the paying of the money, the taking of the photo and the getting of the actual plastic card that he has been sweating bullets for for such a long time. He was stoic through the process, cracking a smile only once or twice for our State of Ohio license bureau representative, Les, who also must have observed that the young one was being way too serious about this whole process. Photo taken (by Les) and license sent to press, we were guided to some seats toward the front of the office in which to plop our rears, to wait for the card to be finished, at which point we were to check it for accuracy and then leave. The wait was again very short (what kind of government agency is this ANYWAY?!) and before we had time to even get comfortable or chat a bit, the license was done, then in hand of the young one, who immediately indicated that HE would be driving us home.

Before we left the parking lot of the bureau, the young one called his Sara (***aawwww!***) and I called his brother to let him know that there was another menace on the road, and that he should beware. The young one finds that kind of comment only marginally amusing, so once spoken is more than enough on that little bit of good-natured ribbing. Now we have the challenge of finding a place for him to keep his car (which he has thanks to the firstborn), should he decide to start driving himself to school; we are looking into getting permission from some friends who live close, since our opportunity for an on campus parking pass slipped away a long time ago. I think that although he is playing it low key he is happy...it is something that has hung over his head for a long time, and he has taken care of it. He will be able to drive his Sara on dates, instead of her doing all the driving. He will be able to drive himself to work, instead of relying on Ann or the firstborn for lifts. He will generally be entering a new stage of independence and responsibility in his life...it will set in fully the first time he drives the car alone, and realizes that there is noone in the passenger seat to nag him, correct him or tell him what to do....it will be all him from here on in....

except....for that little voice in his head...the one that imparts those little pearls of wisdom and tidbits of guidance...the one that you can't get out no matter how much you want to...and the one that in your adult life you are grateful for, and if you cannot recall the sound of it, you can always recall the message....



Till tomorrow...much love to you...

v

PS - If you get the urge, stop in at the young one's blog, BuddhaofDrumming and offer up your "attaboys" on his passing his test!

Holiday Orchestra Concert - NVHS

I realized as I walked into the Little Theater at NV that I did not recall having been to an orchestra concert in the almost eight years that I have had students in the music program. I feel sure that really is not the case, but for some reason tonight, the feeling was different, a strange unfamiliarity that I had never experienced.

The building was the same, and the same group of parents was there that I had grown accustomed to seeing at all the other music performances, but I felt a "disconnected"-ness from the proceedings, and it seemed to me as though I was looking at the whole of the situation with different eyes. I will not share my impressions here, as they are not wholly very positive, but I will indicate that I am grateful that the young one is a senior at this school and will be graduating soon.

When Seth's Ann and I arrived, the students were filtering into the seats near the front and on the side, where they were to remain when they were not on stage performing. The young one was in the first "sitting" group; the orchestra he was to play with was the more proficient and experienced of the two, and as such always saved for last in the program, which made it necessary for parents of that group to listen to the first group before their own students performed. In a rude and ironic twist, the parents of the first group, regular as clockwork, stood at the end of the first group's performance and left the venue....a typical behavior; I'm not sure why I was surprised, or even mentioned it, except that it irks me so.

Once the young one was on stage, I set about the impossible (for me) task of trying to get photos that were in focus; you would think that there would be plenty for me to focus on, considering the fact that the entire percussion section decided to wear RED ties with their "concert black". The percussion staff stood at their stations to cover their instruments looking for all the world like a pack of mobsters, the only thing missing, their black fedoras.

This orchestra was obviously much more mature and better practiced, their ensemble sound resonated with much more depth. The percussion, woodwinds and brass added to the fuller, more complete "feel". They played through their selections with confidence, and the program that the conductor had chosen was enjoyable.

At the end of the event, the orchestras combined on stage to play the holiday favorite "Sleighride" (the link, left, is to an .avi file of over 60MB in size; if you wish to save it you can, if you view from online, please be patient). The audience gave all the students a standing ovation of appreciation at the end of the program, and then the folks that were left dispersed to collect their students and head out into the pouring rain to go home. Oh, did I neglect to mention that it has been raining ALL DAY? We are extremely fortunate that the temperatures are rising; with this much rain we would be knee deep (at least) in snow by now!

Well, that was the extent of it...a very nice concert, and the young one pleased with the result. He is making an early night of it (first one in a long time!) so hopefully he will be well rested tomorrow when he takes the plunge into testing for his driver's license. Keep him in your good thoughts as the afternoon slips away; by then he will be behind the wheel proving to some authority figure that he is deserving of being able to get himself around.

Till later...hopefully with good news...much love to you...

v

"I am hitting my head against the walls,......"

".....but the walls are giving way."

- Gustav Mahler
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An exciting (to me anyway!), all text entry....

Thinking a lot about new things that are coming in my work life and getting very charged up about them...opportunities are presenting to participate in some projects because of my current skill set, that may add some value and promote the business, which would be very exciting for me, considering how TOTALLY COOL a place I think this is to work, and that kind of thing does not often happen for someone who works in IT. The folks here are very attuned to maximizing people's skills and encouraging them to stretch and grow, and with that in mind, I look forward to the new experiences that I will have and working with my companion and friend during my hiring process. As these new things are fleshed out and exposed for public consumption, I will give you a heads up on it, as I will be proud as a new parent when the whole thing finally comes to fruition.

Other than that, a very busy day, prep being done for an all company meeting that will pull folks from all over the organization into the office to participate. I will be meeting some of the "phone voices" for the first time, and seeing some folks that are only periodically in office, so that will be cool. The IT department has big goals for the day tomorrow, so the pace will be hectic; it will be a very quick and hopefully productive day.

Hope that your day was well....much love to you till I post again later....

v

PS - Here is a link to an article by one of my favs on WIRED, Lore Sjoberg titled "World's Worst Superhero Names", which I neglected to post the link to when I found it a few weeks ago....enjoy!

OK.....

So...it snowed yesterday...finally! It is already December, after all...but I personally am not all that thrilled. I am not really a "winter" sort of person; fall and spring are more my style. A sweater or hoodie and tennies is good with me, but this digging out the gloves, scarves, boots and heavy coats really is getting me down.

OK, so I know that it is not much in comparison to what has been going on around the country, but I am still not happy with the cold temps and the whole having to clean the car off thing, especially since I could not tell you the last time I saw my scraper, let alone ANY scraper in ANY car that sits in my driveway!

I will get over it, I know; it is part of the whole Ohio in winter thing....the first one always pisses me off a little though....here is one last photo of the parking lot, just for effect...it is kinda pretty and not all that dangerous, considering the humongous amounts of snow and ice that everyone else is getting...

Back with more later...hope you are keeping warm and are safe...till I get back, much love to you...

v

Time Passages....

.......Well, I'm not the kind to live in the past
The years run too short and the days too fast
The things you lean on
Are the things that don't last
Well, it's just now
And then my line gets cast into these
Time passages
There's something back here that you left behind
Oh, time passages
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight........

- Al Stewart
____________________________________________________

Today was a slow day at the homestead...slept late (NICE!) It was a cold morning this morning, the air in the house a little crisp because of my practice of heating economy. The bed was warm and comfortable, which made it easy NOT to get up.

Once up, I decided that something to eat was in order; some cereal and milk seemed to fit the bill. When I went downstairs to have my fav (Golden Grahams...mmmm...sugar) I found that the box contained a marginally sized serving for me, which would have been an appetizer for either of the boys. I finished that off, but out of curiosity, I checked out a couple of the other boxes of cereal that had been holding places on top of the frig, only to find that they as well contained nothing more than small, girl-sized servings. In the interest of cleaning up the kitchen just the tiniest little bit (I know! can you believe it!) I chucked the boxes with their meager contents into the trash, and feeling very pleased with myself, proceeded back upstairs to take a shower.

The shower was hot and welcome on the chilly morning. As I am so fond of doing and so seldom get to do with all the folks needing to hit the shower during the week, I spent a lot of time in the hot hot water, running the water heater out...so nice, and so foggy in the bathroom when I was done! After drying off, I set about drying the hair, and of course it was about the time when the young one finally decided he was hungry and drug his butt out of bed. After quickly drying hair, we took a look in the kitchen, hooked him up with some food, and then he got a phone call from his Sara.

She was calling to see if the young one still wanted her to come with him and I to the UT Marching Band concert at Savage Hall on UT campus this afternoon. Of course, a silly question and indeed he did, so they talked out all the plans and she popped over to our house at about 2 so we could all go down to the concert together.

There were not a ton of people at the hall; my guess is from the talk in the stands was that it was mostly parents of folks in the band. The band started out with the standards, introducing the band and the fight song then started into the music from the halftime shows of this year. The first little bit was directed by Dr. Jason Stumbo (follow the link to see photo)

While the band played the drill team performed for some of the numbers...check out the drumline in the background of this photo, doing the stuff that only the drumline can do. The band also has a very talented majorette who has been with them for three years and has won many awards. She also had several routine that she performed to showcase her talent and skill.

The highlight for us was the drumline feature, where they came forward and played the fabulous and well known to UT fans "Funk on the Ottawa", UT drumline cadence extraordinaire..the link is to an .avi file of the performance; it is over 100MB so if you decide to try to take a peek, please be patient...if you really want it you can click on the link, select "Save target (source)(as)" and copy it to your computer to look at at your convenience. When the drumline looks like this, however, I can't imagine why you WOULD NOT want to check it out!

All in all, except for the cold walk to and from Savage Hall (and the young one's Sara in SANDALS!) the concert was exceptional, and everything we had hoped for. It was the coolest thing to look over at the young one's face during the drum feature and see the pure pride and pleasure...he is already in the UT mindset...these are his people and this is his school...he is looking forward to the fall of next year, with excitement and confidence, not afraid or intimidated (which is FANTASTIC!)

Hope you enjoy the stuff from the concert and that you are much warmer than we are here...as I type, I am actually glad for the heat coming off the computer, as lame and sad as that sounds; at least my fingertips are keeping warm!....back with more probably tomorrow....till then....much love to you....

v