Lucy and the camera

I think the Easter candy was kicking in.

Easter Mural

We are painting our bedroom. We tore off some wallpaper and now Lucy has a wall she can draw on.

Lucy's Giant Joke

One joke told twice

Dog Bite Joke

Help me fight cancer

Click here to visit my donation page

Relay for Life

If you are a regular reader of this page (and I know there are at least seven of you - Hi Dad!), you know that I spent most of last year being treated for rectal cancer.
It marked the second time in five years that I have gone under the knife for cancer.

This year I decided that something good should come of this. I volunteered to help out in the local American Cancer Society Relay for Life event.

I thought I would go to a few meetings and help with publicity.

After meeting with some of the volunteers I decided that I wasn't doing enough. So, I have formed a team and am now actively raising money for Relay.

I was talking with one of the organizers and she was asking me about my treatment. I told her that my chemotherapy was mostly a drug called 5FU (or Fluorouracil, but 5FU has such a better hidden message). She told me that 5FU was developed with money from the American Cancer Society.

That hooked me.

I formed a team at work, but because I work for a large corporation there are many restrictions in how I fund raise. I am really looking for help from my friends and family (again).

Click on this here line to visit my Relay for Life donation page and send a few dollars to fight a good fight.

Perhaps this will keep me so busy I won't have time for annoying videos.

Hot Air Balloon

I can't believe this was really last fall.

We've tried nothing

Our parent-teacher conference is this week. We will undoubtedly find out that we could have done so much better with such a sharp little girl. But we have followed Homer Simpson's parenting philosophy: "Kid's pretty much raise themselves these days, what with the Internet and all."

Talented Kin

Marly has a small part in this one. He stabs a guy!

Memories

This just happened like this.

Lucy's Funny Math Problems

We re edited this with Lucy's narration. She is kind of hard to control.

Our cats don't sound like cats

Everybody's joining Revver

One of the ones that started it all

The birth of my awareness

I was driving back from a Village of Chateaugay board meeting one
September night in 1991. I was listening to the Canadian Broadcasting
System on the radio. I believe the name of the show was, "The Radio
Show." It was mostly talk but they played a couple of songs at the end.
That night I heard for the first time, "If I had a $1,000,000" by the
Bare Naked Ladies. What a moment to remember.

All time Favorite

The Truth is subjective.

Remember this one?

The end makes it worth it.

An oldie but a shortie

Gone commercial

YouTube is great because it is a pirate's paradise, but it doesn't pay.
I have joined a new video sharing site called Revver. They are real strict about using copywrited material, but they pay you for putting ads on you clips. So click away and let's send Lucy to boarding school.

Gary the Banana

Saturday night football

I went to see the Marion Mayhem football game Saturday night, by myself.
Last
year I took Lucy to three or four games. But, this year she and her mom
are off on their spring break trip to Chateaugay.
I started a message board on the Mayhem at Marionstar.com
to see what kind of action I could get. There were more than 2,000
people at the game, maybe close to 3,000. Pretty good considering the
game started just as the Ohio Statebastketball game was ending.

Otherwise I have been eating frozen hamburgers (I cook them, I don't eat them frozen) and watching the Deadliest Catch reruns... Life is good.

Alone for Spring Break

Mary and Lucy went off to New York for Lucy's spring break. Hard to belief that they need a break from Kindergarten, but I guess the teachers need to recharge for the home stretch.
They left Saturday morning and I have not done much since except eat every leftover in the house.
Fortunately I still have a copy of "Tom's Heat Until Hot Bachelor Cookbook."
I am trying to decide if I want to make a movie without Lucy.... Anyone have any Ideas, cause I got nothing.

Spirit week at school

It is spirit week at Lucy's school. Each day the
kids dress up differently. One day it was wear something fancy, another
day it was dress alike, another day it was dress in sport clothing.
Today it is dress up like your favorite story-book character. Lucy
chose the Cat in the Hat.

Here is a little video to commemorate the event.

Best Cover ever

You don't hear many covers of Tragically Hip songs. The individuality of Gordon Downie is a big reason why. His personality is such a part of each song that it is hard to separate him from the music and still have something.

This is the best I have every seen. I know you guys are sick of me talking about the Hip, but you should watch this video.

Latest fromthe Hip

Long time no movie post

So, we have not been messing with the camera lately. Lucy was sick last weekend and this weekend it was miserable and cold and since we couldn't play outside we sat around the house and did nothing.

I have been telling everybody what a good reader Lucy is. This was taped about two weeks ago. She has improved since then. This was a book that she had read previously so she was familiar with the hard words.

On Saturday we played Operation for the first time and I opened up a sealed plastic bag containing the cards for the games. Lucy read each one the first time with very little trouble.


Here is another one of those videos where Lucy was using the camera.

Ties

For a guy who wears a tie almost every day to work, I am a terrible tier of ties.
Never got the hang of it and frankly just don't care.

Imagine my surprise to find that there isa way to tie a tie that is called the "Plattsburgh Knot"

Voila:

Warm day

I bet it was almost 70 yesterday. All our snow is gone and our yard is a mess... I will have to do yard work this year.
Meanwhile, on this very warm day in Ohio, I was sent two photos of nephews enjoying the snow elswhere.




This is Austen, taking a nap in a snow bank in Saratoga Springs, New York.





This is Bill, possibly about to take a surpise nap in a snowbank, somewhere in Colorado.

Blast from the past

I played nose guard on the defensive line, but I was most effective as the holder for extra points and field goals. We didn't have very consistent kickers, so my job was to draw the other team offsides. Then we would go for two or get a first down.

I did block a punt or two that I remember. I don't recall any sacks but I did chase of lot of quarterbacks. Here is the only one I have on film.

multicultural moment

"Bull Durham" the much beloved baseball movie that features Asheville's much beloved McCormick Field for about 30 seconds is, in Germany, called "Annies Männer" (Annie's Men). Thanks Dirk!








Here is an aerial view of McCormick
field and below is a short video from the current Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It is a lot nicer (newer) than the park featured in the movie, which is still in use in Durham.

Even the editor gets edited

I wrote a column for Sunday's paper that had two paragraphs about my aborted plan to have a rendition of El Greco's "View of Toledo" tattooed on my calf.
I included my own sketch of the famous painting with my column. Both the paragraphs and the sketch got axed.

Have a Great Weekend

This photo is on the cover of Snapshots this week.

Nickname

The best thing about the Internet is for the first time you get to pick your own nickname. Up until the emergence of message boards and e-mail addresses and the like, you had no say as to what your nickname was going to be. Someone chose your nickname for you.
In the posts below I came up with a nickname for my daughter Lucy. I have been calling her Pickles Van Pelt for the last few days and she has not asked me to stop ... yet.
I, of course, immediately thought that Pickles Van Pelt would make a great name for a band.
Then I thought, "I think there is a band called Van Pelt."
And there is -- only it is called The Van Pelt and they are no longer in existence (I think)
Here is a picture:

Addendum on the nickname.

I believe her nickname will be "Pickles Van Pelt"

Nickname

I predict that in high school, Lucy's nickname will be "Van Pelt."

Talented Kin

That's my niece who is at RPI. Oops I mean RIT. Oh, I don't know anymnore, which is it?
I am a horrible uncle.

I am not sure what I will do with this

I cut out Lucy's Tinkerbell interpretation. I think it would make a good cartoon.
Another reason to learn Flash.

The meeting

You need to click on it to read it. Thank you for your kind indulgence.

No bloggy long time

Was watching a show called "How It's Made" on Discovery last night just
before bedtime. Lucy had me write down the steps in making a piano.
Seems she has some big plans.
She later said my scribbles (I had to write fast, a piano is a large, complicated apparatus)were fancy writing that she could not understand.

Time for a little Hip

This is worth watching for the very last camera shot.
This is the Hip live with Gord Downie ad libbing between verses.

Latest from Lucy

We went to see Peter Pan last Saturday at the Palace Theatre. It was a local production done very well.
Lucy was very excited and after the show met all the characters and got their autographs.
When we got home she made a book of the autographs with pictures of the characters below.
She is fearless when it comes to spelling, which is a good thing. It doesn't interfere with her train of thought.

Oral History

It is important for young folk to talk to and listen to old folk so they can learn how the world works.

A bad joke

We are a good team when it comes to poor performance. I first heard this joke, nigh unto 40 year ago.

Movie #10

The last movie in our 10 movies in one day project. If you listen closely, especially towards the end when I cranked up the volume, you can hear the little angel snoring.

Movie #9

This one is a little long. It is a reading of "Joey Runs Away" a book Lucy brought home from the school library.

Movie #8

Note to self: Don't let Lucy have the camera unsupervised.
This was the unplanned movie number 8 in our 10 movies in one day project.
Some viewer discretion is advised. But, if you have kids, this is just normal life.

Movie #7

It was getting late and this is the seventh movie in our 10 movies in one day project. Lucy is eating dinner.

Movie #6

The sixth movie in our 10 movies in one day project. Lucy wanted to be a turtle that dances. She talked about it all day. finally, we did it.

Movie #5

This is the 5th movie in our 10 movies in one day project. Lucy is baffled by the fact that I bought some disks for the computer that didn't work. I never took them back to the store and she asks me about them everytime she sees them. Which is everyday. I have to throw them out.

Movie #4

The fourth movie in our ten movies in one day project. Lucy and I went to Lincoln Park to do a little sledding. Watch for the trip down the hill where she bangs her head on some debris. She laughs and laughs each time she sees this.

Movie #3

This is the third movie in our 10 movies in one day project. Lucy made me leave the room while she was filming this. She calls it the dumbhead dance. She is six and thinks that name is hilarious.

Movie #2

This is the second movie in our 10 movies in one day project.
Lucy said she had a joke to tell. When it didn't pan out the way she thought it would, she tried to distract me by pointing at the cat.

10 movies in 1 day

this is the first of our 10 movies in 1 day project movies.
We started with Lucy waking up.
We decided on Friday night that this was what we were going to do. She must have forgotten. She wasn't too happy.

10 movies in 1 day

Lucy and I completed our 10 movies in 1 day project. We will start posting them soon.

Syracuse (Actually Liverpool) Snow

These pictures in front of my brother's house are pretty impressive until you realize that he is only 3 feet tall and his two-story house tops out at just over 10 feet. He lives on a cul de sac in Liverpool with seven other "small" families. They refer to themselves as Liverputions.

Kind of proud of this one

Click here to link to a video I did for work. A reporter shot the footage, I did the editing.

snow scenes

We ended up with just under a foot of snow. It is all cleared up. Her is a movie I shot downtown



Here are some pictures of snow.

My entire family from Evergreen, Colorado to Plattsburgh, New York were visited by the same storm.
Here is a photo from my sister's backyard in Colorado:



And here is a photo from the backyard of some friends in Marion. Caden is King of the Mountain!

snow

We came in at just under a foot.
Here is an image that Bill Sinden took for the newspaper
Check out marionstar.com for more

Lucy's Math Problems

This is a simple one - House plus People equals Home


This one is more difficult - Girl in pajamas (notice the yawn) plus Getting dressed minus Pajamas equals Dressed girl


Eggs plus Bacon equals Breakfast - it's yummy


While this one is obvious, she is a unclear on the concept.


Now we are back at the beginning, only this is the transverse. Home minus People equals House.
She is a clever little girl, isn't she?

Weather

Walked into work yesterday. There was about 3/4 of an inch of snow on the ground. Word was that is was going to keep snowing. I didn't want to get my car stuck at work, so I walked.
I got to work about 5 a.m.
I walked home at about 8 p.m. with more than 6 inches of snow on the ground.
Six inches is a lot.
I hope to post some video later tonight to tomorrow.
Probably tomorrow. I have to get ready to hoof it in again today. I am sure that fewer people will show up today than did yesterday.
It is sort of fun. But not too fun.

1 plus zero does not equal 100

Here is a book that Lucy is working on.




I will post some of the problems later this week.

Enaman

I was checking out the Colossal Colon Web site this morning. The Web master is Molly McMaster who is from Glenns Falls, NY. The Colossal Colan was the cause of me discovering my cancer. Molly works for the Adirondack Frostbite, a hockey team in the United Hockey League. That's the league that the Asheville Smoke played in.
Anyway, I ran across a weird photo while cruising the site. It was an Enema Man. I thought I would share it with you.

Sunday weather column

This was my regular Sunday column. I don't understand why we overreact to the weather.

Now, when I was a kid, it was really cold
I can think of no better way to get people to stop reading your column than to start off with a description of a New Yorker cartoon.

But, I'll take the risk.

A woman is speaking on the phone in the cartoon: "We'd love to visit, but the weather mongers have us paralyzed with fear."

I thought about the cartoon a lot this week as we reported on delays and cancellations because of cold weather.

School superintendents face an impossible situation.

For years the TV weather mongers have been dialing up the fear of weather.

This week it was windchill.

You can't expect the superintendent to let the kids wait for the bus when the TV is talking about dangerous wind chill conditions.

Before I start, let me tell you that I know a little bit about cold weather.

I spent my teenage years on the fringes of the Adirondack Park in New York.

I spent many winter weekends skiing or camping in the high peaks region of the park. When we camped we usually had tents but occasionally we slept in open lean-tos.

Skiing is just downright fun and the cold was rarely a factor. We did our skiing at Whiteface Mountain. On days when it was below zero they handed out wool blankets at the chairlifts that brought you to the summit.

We never heard about windchill. The temperature was the temperature and you dressed appropriately.

But the temperature is not good enough when you need to scare people to keep them interested.

Why say it's 5 degrees when you can say the wind chill is 25 below zero?

So what does windchill mean? Here's the definition from the National Weather Service:

"The windchill temperature is how cold people and animals feel when outside. Windchill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold. As the wind increases, it draws heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it FEEL much colder. If the temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, the windchill is -19 degrees Fahrenheit. At this windchill temperature, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes."

The key term is "exposed skin."

If you jump out of the shower, forget to put your clothes on and run out of the house when the wind chill is 25 below zero, you could be in trouble.

If you bothered to get dressed, are wearing a hat, scarf, gloves and a coat of any description - no problem. The wind chill isn't a factor.

Remember, also, that the wind has to be blowing at a constant rate - which it rarely does.

Does it feel colder when it's windy? Yes.

Is it dangerous? Not really, not unless you are naked.

If it were dangerous, skiing would be impossible.

Soon the TV weather scarers will be turning to thunderstorms.

Anything to make you afraid of the weather.

One day spring will come and you'll be home, watching TV, when the scroll will come across the screen warning you about a possible thunderstorm.

You're already in the house. What are you supposed to do?

The only thing I can think of is to turn off your TV.

It might not make you any safer, but it will make you feel safer.

I never thought I would get to the age where I started bragging about how much tougher it was when we were kids. My dad says he walked 5 miles uphill to and from school in three feet of snow year round.

I tell my daughter that it took us so long to walk to school that we had to get up a half hour before we went to bed.

Now she sits at home in the morning and waits for it to warm up a bit before she gets in the car for the a block-and-a-half ride to school.

Again, I'm not blaming the schools. They have to do what they have to do.

I'm just worried that my daughter will have nothing to brag about when she discovers that her kids have it even easier than she did.

My Cancer Column

My Saturday Cancer Column

This is the column I wrote for our Saturday Health section. The topic was cancer

Don't be afraid to talk cancer
If there is an upside to being diagnosed with cancer it's that you get to meet a lot of nice people.

It's really not surprising. There are plenty of opportunities. I spent nearly a year visiting doctors, treatment centers, hospitals and imaging centers. I never encountered an empty waiting room.

I have said since the beginning of my cancer journey that people don't talk enough about cancer.

Let me clarify. People don't talk enough about cancer publicly.

People talk to you individually.

As soon as I let people know about my diagnosis, I started to hear stories.

"I was given three months to live and that was 15 years ago," was one of the first stories I heard. It was followed by several survivor stories.

It wasn't just local people, or friends, or business acquaintances.

One night, while I was home alone, the phone rang.

On the other end of the line was the aunt of a friend. A woman I had never met before.

It turns out that 11 years ago she had the same cancer I had and wanted to tell me that she got through it and I would, too.

Believe me, it was great to talk with someone who had been there before.

The best thing she told me was that, while she would tell me everything she knew, she would only tell me things she knew from personal experience.

She wasn't going to tell me stories she had heard or read or offer any speculation.

It was going to be straight up truth about what exactly happened to her.

She gave me tips on diet, let me know what to expect and most importantly, gave encouragement when I needed it most. She constantly reminded me that my experience would likely be different.

We talked almost weekly through my treatment and right up to my surgery. I don't know if my friend on the phone knows how important she was to me.

Her influence lingers. I talk

about my cancer a lot. Some might say I won't shut up about it.

As an editor of a newspaper, I don't like it when we refer to someone by their disease. I cringe when I see phrases like, she is a diabetic, or he is epileptic. You can't define a person by an affliction or a disease.

But, in a way, my cancer has defined me. My cancer is there when I make decisions. My cancer makes me treat people differently. My cancer affects the way I do my job and the way I feel about my family.

And, even though I won't shut up about my cancer, I am sticking to the lesson my telephone friend taught me.

I only talk about things I know from personal experience and I will always emphasize that everyone's experience is different. You might get chemo and have no side effects. Mine for the most part were mild, yours might not be mild. You can't tell how anyone is going to react and I can only tell you what happened to me.

So, here is what I learned from my personal experience.

# Don't be embarrassed to talk to someone about things that might be happening to you.

I kept my symptoms to myself for more than a month because it had to do with what was happening in the bathroom.

If I hadn't finally said something to my wife, who knows what might have happened to me.

# If you are a grown up, you have to have a relationship with a doctor. You might not need a yearly physical if you are young and healthy, but you need to have a medical professional that knows you. You need to have someone you can go to when you notice something going wrong.

# Don't be embarrassed to tell or show your doctor anything. You make your doctor's job a lot easier if you are open and honest. Don't make them figure out what is wrong with you, tell them.

# If you notice a change in how your body works don't assume it is a normal part of aging.

# Don't be afraid of medical procedures no matter how invasive. Nothing hurts for very long and you can get used to most anything.

This is the second time I've been cured of cancer. In each case I had only passing knowledge of the disease before I was diagnosed.

If someone was trying to send me a message, believe me, they got their point across.

I know, from personal experience, that cancer can be beat. But, it can't be beat, if we don't talk, if we don't ask questions, if we don't share our experiences.

3 Saturday afternoon movies

Lucy and I went to Lincoln Park to sled on the "Big Hill." Lucy did all of the sledding, I just stood around at the top and got cold.
Here is her description. Notice how she can't stand still.



While we were at the park Mary had nothing to do but watch the cats indulge themselves.



Late, Lucy decided she wanted to make her own movie, despite my objections.
I don't know what we are going to do with her.

Saturday

Lucy wrote a book today. It's called "1+0 does note equal 100, Lucy's Funny Math Problems."
The math problems are like this.
Lucy plus cat equals mad cat.
Of course, she does it in pictures. Clever girl.
We also made a video. It is Saturday, after all.
It's all Lucy. Her idea. Her Direction. Her Editing. She even typed in the titles.
I tied the knots in the string and manipulated the hands (badly).
Lucy hid under a blanket and only popped her head out at the end. Patient girl.
Here it is:

Haven't blogged in a while

I think that I have not been blogging because I have been feeling good. Actually, I have a cold, but it is just a cold. It is not knocking me flat on my back like it might have a few weeks ago.
I have also been busy with work, so here is a Tragically Hip video about work.
I think of it as the copy-editors song.
It's starts out
"Everything is bleak, it's the middle of the night, you're on your own and the dummies might be right."
If you work at a newspaper, you know what I mean.



The Hip almost always refer to themselves as another name when they appear as a band in their videos. In this one they are "The Filters."

Nephew is funny

Here is my Nephew Marly and his funny college buddies mocking authority.
Excellent work you private school snobs (Just kidding, I love you, you crazy bastards).

Not everyone likes The Hip

I respect everyone's opinion, even when they are not as appreciative of the Tragically Hip as I am.
Take my buddy Chris's fiance who is a photographer.
She recently got a chance to photograph a Hip show in Canada. You would think she would be thrilled. At the foot of the stage with the Tragically Hip!!!???
Take a look at the photo. Does she look thrilled?
Still, I respect her opinion. Maybe it was because she was there for work and not for fun. Yeah, that has to be it. Everyone loves the Hip. I do. Don't you?

Speed Stack challenge

I look a bit short busish in this.
Aunt Babs gave Lucy the speed stackers for Christmas.We haven't practiced that much.
But we are still getting ready to challenge Aunt Babs this summer.
I have a hunch she is not too worried.

Lucy's Cancer Ball movie

Lucy conceived this video while in the car on our way back from Columbus. She was listening to Joe Jackson and really liked the song. She was playing with the ball and decided that it would make a good symbol for cancer. She drew the background and edited the video herself.

Thanks to Dirk!

Here's a clip from a band called Catnap
They kind of sound like The Damned a little cleaned up
Dirk aus Germany sent it to me
Thanks from Catnap aus Ohio!

I might be armed

Read this story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal: Officer assaulted with colostomy bag

What a creative kid. Probably misunderstood.

Speed stacks

Aunt Babs bought Lucy some speed stacking cups and we have done a little practicing. We have set a challenge date for this summer so we need to practice a bit more.
We need to get as good as this guy:

We so funny

We had to stop at the office Saturday afternoon because I needed some photo files. We turned the camera on my new IMac on and Mary showed off some of her fine parenting skills.

We have had some requests to get Mary on video because she always seems to be missing.
Believe me, she is here and not someone I made up.

If you doubt me, here is the proof:

A quiet Saturday in Graser land

Not much up. We are contemplating a trip to Columbus to use up a gift certificate at a restaurant.

Otherwise, it has been pretty still this morning after Lucy and I had our eggamuffins with our new eggamuffins machine.

Oh, and I made this video

My Friend Dirk

I don't know if I have mentioned the friendship I have developed with a fellow from Germany named Dirk. He has a daughter named Lucy - she has a twin name Leah. That's them in the photo below.

He found some of our Lucy videos on Youtube and started corresponding.
We have a more in common than daughters named Lucy.

Fortunately he speaks English very well. My German is non-existant. I know how to say good night and taste, Guten Abend and Schmeken respectivley. I am always asking Lucy to at least have a shmecken of her peas - she is not interested even when so provacatively asked.

I told Dirk about how I love to smoke pork shoulders in the summer. I get to sit around and drink some beer and play with fire all day long.

Here is a clip from his latest e-mail describing his summer gilling

"In summer we are standing with a few beers (I don't drink too much) and talking about our favourite themes. And we light our grills. He has a brick-built one - very nice and good for normal german bratwurst and some pig steaks. But that grill is not so big. Our grill is round ... and a little bit bigger - with 65 cm diameter and a smoke cover dome. He is good for bigger parties, but he is also very fast with a great heat. I gave him the name "Fast breeder reactor" and I think he comes from Tschernobyl.
I think in summer you can give me some special tipps for some great american flesh slices called steaks!"

I love the last line and will now refer to steaks only as Great American Flesh Slices.

Great name for a band or a butcher shop.

It is a very interesting relationship because there is so much to talk about. Our cultures are surprisingly similar but very different at the same time.

we both have young kids and jobs and houses that need repair and we have both been ill recently.

It's good to have friends from other places. It makes you see your place a little differently. And it is fun. Almost as much fun as grilling up some flesh slices.
I can't wait for summer.



Okay so she is not cooking steak! But what is a discussion about cooking without a little Rachel Ray?

Normal Care

My oncologist now considers me to be a normal care patient. That means I see him every 6 weeks for blood work.

From now on I am to call my GP for everything and then fill him in only if symptoms become persistant.

It's funny, I have spent almost a year visiting my onocologist at least once a month and it seems most of the time, once a week.

I have seen my GP once in my life. I got a finger up the butt and a colonoscopy appointment.

I aslo had dinner once with the GP at a charitable function - But that was before our doctor - patient relationship and we just sat at the same table and barely talked.

So, the big news is that I am no longer a cancer patient!

Let's hear a big Whoo HOO!

Our favorite German Twins

It's Lucy and Leah!

News about Dan the Robot

Sadly, but expectedly, Dan the Robot stopped functioning three days after being brought to the Graser household.
It was an "accident."
Turns out if you wind him real tight his clockwork goes Kablooie and he can only work for a few seconds before falling over. Kind of like daddy. If only Dan had some change to jingle.

Dan the Dancing Robot

He likes Madness Midis... funny robot

Grandpa's book

We donated a book to Harrison Elementary in honor of Lucy's grandpa Ted as a Christmas present to him.
Here is a video about it.

From the Associated Press

Castro should have called me. The colostomy is no big deal and a great ice-breaker at parties.
I'm wearing one now!

MADRID, Spain -
Fidel Castro himself told surgeons not to perform a colostomy, opting instead for a course of surgery that produced a complication leaving the Cuban leader in far worse condition, according to a newspaper report Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT

After removing an inflamed piece of Castro's large intestine in an operation last year, the doctors connected the remainder directly to his rectum, rather than attaching a colostomy bag, El Pais said, quoting two medical sources at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital. The operation failed when a suture burst.

No Doctors

It is Friday and I have spent the entire week without one visit to a doctor's office.
I can't recall the last time that happened.
I do have an appointment on Monday but it is just a check up.
I feel like I am getting stronger everyday. I wish it wasn't winter. I would love to get out of the house for long walks or even possibly a bike ride (not sure how my bottom would respond)But it has finally turned cold and I don't get home until after dark and I am not interested in dealing with the cold and dark.

Time for some more hip

Ahead by a Century



Best line: With Revenge and Doubt, Tonight we Smoke Them Out.

Here is the Hip U.S. tour schedule

THE TRAGICALLY HIP: LIVE 2007
*note: all times provided are local to each city

Monday February 26, 2007
Long Beach, Ca
Long Beach Arena

The Who with Special Guests The Tragically Hip


Tickets: $47.00 - $152.00
On Sale: Monday December 11th @ 10:00am (pac)
February 28. 2007
Phoenix, Az
US Airways Center

The Who with Special Guests The Tragically Hip

KSLX & KDKB Present The Who with Special Guests The Tragically Hip

Tickets: $47.00 - $177.00
On Sale: Monday December 11th @ 10:00am (mtn
March 1, 2007
ipayOne Center at the Sports Arena
San Diego, California

The Who with Special Guests The Tragically Hip

KGB 101.5 Presents

Doors: 7:30pm
Tickets: $55.00 - 180.00
On Sale: Saturday November 18, 2006

March 5, 2007
Hoffman Estates, Ill
The Sears Centre

The Who with Special Guests The Tragically Hip

Tickets: $54.00 - $99.00
On Sale: Monday January 15th @ 10:00am (ctl)

March 06, 2007
Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, Indiana

The Who with Special Guests The Tragically Hip

Tickets: $53.50 and $83.50 with a limited number of gold circle seats.
On Sale: Monday December 4th at 10am

March 8, 2007
Rochester, NY
Harro East Ballroom

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $35.00 Adv, $40.00 day of show
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ Noon (est)


March 9 & 10, 2007
Buffalo, NY
Town Ballroom

Age : All Ages (under 16 to be accompanied by parent or guardian)
Tickets : $45.00
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ Noon (est)


March 13, 2007
Atlanta, Ga
Roxy Theater

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $25.00
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 10:00am (est)


March 15, 2007
Houston, Tx
Scout Bar


Age : 18+
Tickets : $25.00
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 10:00am (ctl)


March 16, 2007
Dallas, Tx
Palladium Ballroom

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $25.00
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 10:00am (ctl)

March 19, 2007
Denver, Co
Gothic Theater

Age : 16+
Tickets : $30.00
Tickets Onsale : January 20th @ 10:00am


March 21, 2007
Las Vegas, Nv
House of Blues

Age : 21+
Tickets : $35.00 Reserved Adv, $25.00 GA Adv, $30 GA day of show
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 10:00am (pac)


March 26, 2007
San Francisco, Ca
The Fillmore

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $25.00
Tickets Onsale : January 21st @ 10:00am (pac)


March 28, 2007
Portland, Or
Roseland Theater
Age : 21+

Tickets : $25.00 Adv, $28.00 Doors
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 10:00am (pac)


March 29, 2007
Seattle, Wa
Moore Theater

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $33.50
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ Noon (pac)


April 12, 2007
Detroit, MI
State Theater

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $45.00 & $35.00
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 10:00am (est)



April 16 & 17, 2007
South Burlington, VT
Higher Ground

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $40.00 adv, $45.00 day of show
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 11:00am (est)



April 18, 2007
Clifton Park, NY
Northern Lights

Age : All Ages (under 16 to be accompanied by parent or guardian)
Tickets : $20.00
Tickets Onsale : January 20th @ 10:00am (est)


April 20, 2007
Boston, MA
Avalon

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $28.00
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ 10:00am (est)


April 24 & 25, 2007
New York, NY
Irving Plaza

Age : 16+
Tickets : $25.00 adv, $28.00 day of show
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ Noon (est)


April 28, 2007
Philadelphia, Pa
Theater of Living Arts

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $25.00 adv, $28.00 day of show
Tickets Onsale : January 19th @ Noon (est)


April 29, 2007
Washington, DC
9:30 Club

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $25.00
Tickets Onsale : January 18th @ 10:00am (est)

Martin Luther King Day

We had a caller at the newspaper the other day who couldn't for the life of her figure out what MLK stood for and didn't understand why the schools were closed.

We did take a video at Christmas

Lucy grabbed the camera in Liverpool. Chao ensued.

new video of me and Lucy being crafty

I really did feel bad about this

Goo Goo Dolls Saved my brother

where have I been?

I have been lying on the couch.
Since last Thursday I have had diarrhea, which is an altogether new experience with an ostomy bag.
I
became seriously dehydrated and spent two days getting IV fluids pumped
into me at a doctors office. It is believed that I have a bacterial
infection in my colon.
I have barely had the strength to get to the computer to check work e-mail, let alone blog.
I
will be back, next week... Hopefully I will start to feel better this
weekend. but I am finding that increasingly hard to believe.

Back from Christmas in New York

We took no video, shot few pictures... to big and fast moving to capture..so to sum up .... we had a great time, saw all the family, had a big fat visit from Santa and will be weeks in recovering.

New topic.
I was watching Jeopardy last night and I was wondering what I would say after the first commercial break if I were ever on that program.

I think I would either tell the story about the time my colostomy bag fell off in the airport and I got shit on my shirt and had to buy a new one.

Alex: "I understand you had an interesting experience in the Columbus Airport once."

Me: "Yes, Alex, I had just passed through security when I noticed a suspicious odor ... and I still have both shirts, hahahahahahah."

Or perhaps the story of my daughter being born on my birthday.

Alex: "I understand you daughter was born on a special day."

Me: "That's not in the form of a question Alex, but I will answer anyway. Yes, she was. But did I ever tell you about the time my colostomy bag fell off in the Columbus Airport?"

I don't know, the chemo is hooked up again and I think I am delerious.

what would you tell Alex?

In Syracuse

terrible sore throat.....but we had a nice drive yesterday and now it is just a short hop to Chateaugay.

I wear the chains I forged in life

Christmas has us by the throat. We are going home this year. First time in about 10 years. That is my sole reason for not posting more. That and not much happening. Chemo has me down in the dumps and I believe I am addicted to my sleeping pills...mmmmmm sleep. droooool.

Hip video

This is Lucy's favorite Tragically Hip video. It always reminds me of my friend Melissa, cause I am always wondering what that poet is doing.
Lucy likes this because we have a tape of her dancing to this when she was a curly haird 18 month old. Also it has cats. When we play the song in the car she always points out the spot where Gordon hits the light switch. We have it on DVD, but this guy stole it from TV

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 5 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

famous ostomates

Humbling list of famous people with ostomies

fake tree, real music

this came out pretty crappy

I am trying to learn Imovie for work, and I realy truly think it sucks. Windows movie maker is way more intuitive, easier to manipulate and, as far as I can tell, offers more features.

Sorry about that all you Mac fan, but the stuff Apple brags about in its commercials is bs stuff, that other programs and platforms generally do better. And Macs, in my experience crash more than PCs.