Journal

Went down to get a Butterfinger from the vending machine the other, and it spawned a whole set of memories. The vending machine was one of those old spiral ones where you punch in codes, and it drops the candy bar in the tray.

When I was really little (maybe 4?) my dad used to take me to swim practice. We were in Sherbrook, I believe. I want to say it was the local YMCA, but Google Maps tells me there aren’t any in Sherbrook.

I don’t remember much about it… I remember there was this a pretty blond instructor who thought it was cute when I tried to speak French. She would put big black tire tubes around us and instruct us to kick with are hands against the drain. The pool was large one, with a stainless steel drain that ran all the way around the edge and a highdive diving board at one end.

At the end of evey class we would have free time, where we could cease the ordered calisthenics and do as we pleased. The shallow end was pretty shallow, and most kids were content to splashing one another or spinning in their tubes to make themselves dizzy.

I had my eyes on the deep end.

A number of spare tubes were drifting about, discarded by some girls who were clinging to the ladder off to one side.
When I was sure the instructor wasn’t looking, I slipped low in my tube so that only my nose was above water, and moved slowly toward the deep end. I looked like one of the spare tubes!

The pool was divided by a spare plastic Olympic lane divider, the kind that doesn’t use rope. Because of that, the water in the high dive area was sheltered from the rowdiness, and was glassy smooth. I slipped under the barrier and floated put into the middle with my tube.

It was magical. The tile of the pool was deep blue, and looking below me, it seemed to go on forever. The vaulted ceiling was criscrossed with corrugated tin and steel beams, with aluminium mercury vapour lamps dotting every 50 feet or so.
The water below me was so warm, clear and smooth, I felt like I was floating on nothing, suspended in the very center of this great expanse.
It was both thrilling and terrifying.

Eventually of the kids spied me and yelled, and the teacher fished me out with a long pole.

Afterwards, I would go to the locker room. They had a giant shower with dozens of nozzles. I would stay in the pool as long as possible. Partly because I loved the water, and partly because I was shy.
When I finally did get to the showers, it was usually empty.
I’d point a couple of the showerheads at one spot and sit on the floor in my swimtrunks, water coming at me from all sides. I would just stay there, crosslegged, feeling the water all around me.

One time a teenaged boy came by concerned and asked why I was crying. I explained that I was fine, and what looked like tears was just the water coming off my eyelashes.

When I got out, I would dry off with my sailboat beach towel and stand under the blowdryers.

My dad would be waiting out in the lobby, a large open space that reminded me of an airport. Though, I guess everything was really big at that age…
They had the spiral vending machines off to one end, and he’d always let me buy something. He’d let me hit the buttons, and I’d always be afraid I’d get the code wrong.
Usually got Bounty (it’s like Almond
Joy, but their whole thing is this island theme) or Rolo, my dads favourite.

So crazy. I hadn’t thought about it for years.

So, this morning, Nya climbed out of her crib, went into the bathroom, plugged up the sink with the toothpaste tube, then left the water running. The water covered the bathroom floor, then spilled down, soaking the kitchen ceiling, then the kitchen floor.
Then she took out Tamika’s makeup, smeared it all over herself, then dumped and smeared the rest all over the no-longer-cream-coloured carpet.
We then caught her, cleaned up the mess, and put her back to bed.

She got up again.
This time, she went into her brother’s room, climbed in a storage bin of his clothes, and threw them all over the floor. The. She took all the blankets out of another bin, threw them in Arion’s crib, climbed in, and as a finale, dusted herself and her brother, and the entire vicinity with baby powder.

Lord help us.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-fWDrZSiZs

Video’s kinda corny, but the lyrics are powerful.

I’m trying to pull it together. I’ve got a lot of things to do, and I’ve got to kick it into high gear. I’ve been going to bed early and everything, but I’m still tired. I kinda feel like all that me going to be early has been doing is letting me procrastinate from the things I’ve got to do. I’m not quite BEHIND on anything (except maybe Moment), but I have the nagging feeling that if I don’t work hard, I won’t stay ahead.

Brightline is going really well. I’m working on this amazing kiosk for a big car company. They’ve been letting me do some pretty cool stuff, and I sent off the final designs to them this afternoon. My boss, Erik, was out with his laptop at a meeting, and gave me a call complimenting me on the designs. It felt really good!

Just polished off a turkey club at Della Rosa’s, a restaurant bar in the 1st Mariner Bank building.
Tamika had a lacrosse game this morning (playing, not coaching), and the bar sponsors the team, so we all came here for lunch.
Wasn’t the best game, the team struggled for the points they did get. Think I got some decent shots, though, I’ll put them up if they’re any good. Hopefully the camera card won’t go corrupt this time… Last time we were at one of their games, I took a beautiful shot of the team but the whole card went bad and I lost all the pictures. 🙁

The show went really well!
The place was packed. 50? 60 people? Not sure, but it was standing room only.
A lot of people. Steve Wilkes (my former coworker) showed up with his girlfriend, as did Barry Liebowitz and his wife.
Tamika had it pretty rough the first hour… Normally Joe Squared gives the band a massive free pizza, but it didnt happen. Tamika hadn’t eaten all day. But once our set ended, we scarfed down a crab pizza and a pair of Natty Bohs and she was fine.
We all played well. We probably needed to turn down a bit, but all in all I think we sounded good.
I set up my 7D on a tripod and tried to film it, but I think I only got 12 minutes. If any of it is decent, I’ll YouTube it.
Benji, the guy who did our demo recordings was also there, and recorded the show on his handheld audio recorder. He said if it’s any good he’ll send it to us.
I’m beat! Time for bed.

Today was a pretty long day, but most Saturdays are in spring. Tamika is coaching and playing lacrosse, and with her band, free time is a luxury.
Most Saturdays these things all happen at once, so I stay home with the kids. It’s a little rough, but Tamika deserves it.

Now I’m about to take a shower, and then we’ll be going out together to MY show with The Black Marks. We’re playing at the pizza house Joe Squared tonight, and I can’t WAIT to get out of the house. If you’re in the Baltimore area, come check us out. We take the stage at 10.

I am officially registered to ride a motorcycle, thanks to the state of Maryland, Victor Ponte (my instructor), and Old Glory Harley Davidson!

I past both the written and road tests with flying colours (only 1 mistake on each).

Just got home about half an hour ago. The training was fun, but really long! 2 four hour days, and 2 ten hour days. I am beat!

I picked up my motorcycle from my friend Adam Scott’s house, then rode to Home Depot for some supplies. Our neighbor agreed to let me use their abandoned tin-and-steel shed, but it didn’t have any locks on it. I installed two heavy duty padlocks on the steel doors on the front, and then also padlocked the bike itself to a steel cable wrapped around the center beam of the shed. And there’s a inGENIOUS alarm system I built that’s so secret I just can’t tell you about it (unless you email me).

I am sore everywhere. Never mind that drilling through steel takes a lot of work! I clocked nearly 12 hours on motorcycles this weekend.

But it was worth it. Tomorrow, I’ll be able to get suited up, and thunder down to work.

I’m slowly catching up with emails, projects, and phone messages, so if you haven’t heard from me yet, you will soon. But now, right now, I need sleep. 🙂

OH. Before I forget, I need some help! I’m going to name my motorcycle. Any suggestions?
My old bike was named “Wiskichan” (the Naskapi word for Canadian Jay). If you’ve got any ideas, I’ll translate them into Naskapi.

As I write this, I’m driving up to Harrisburg in the middle of a snow squall with my coworker Jannah.
We’re on our way up to Messiah Village (a retirement community affiliated with Messiah College) for a training. I helped Merrick Towle with a branding project, with one of the goals to introduce them to the world of blogging, and set up a WordPress blog for them. They’ve got a group called The Golden Mouse Club, which are tech-savvy (or tech-interested) residents, who I’ll be teaching how blog. Apparently a number of them are already prolific writers, and I’m really excited to read their stories!

Next week is my last at Merrick Towle. I’m very very sad to go. It’s been nearly 3 years since I took the job, and it has been one of the best jobs I’ve had yet. I couldn’t ask for a better boss, or a better set of coworkers. It’s probably one of the most difficult decisions I’ve made in my career. But God has a plan, and I’m definitely going to a really really good place.

I got an offer for a job in Alexandria that’s going to be much better for our finances, and also affords some really cool opportunities for growth too. On the 8th, I’ll be starting at Brightline Interactive, an interactive design agency. The founder, Erik, seems like a really really nice guy. Their office is really cool, full of vintage stuff like huge Cold War era TVs turned on their sides as end tables, interspersed with top-of-the-line Apple equipment, and even their own sound booth!
They do a lot of government contracts… one of the coolest things they showed me was this massive kiosk they did for the Air Force. They got this massive rear-projected screen set up, and then set it up so you could actually move things around on it by touch, a la Minority Report.
Erik seemed really interested in my Flash animation and illustration, and I’m really hoping to be able to get stronger experience with motion graphics with After Effects, Premiere and Motion. I’m taking some classes on my own, just because I’m really interested in it. I actually started up a kinetic type blog. I haven’t posted in a while, but maybe I’ll start it back up again.
I know what you’re thinking… Alexandria is pretty far away, but Erik said that after the first month or two, he’d let me work 2-3 days from home. My Mac at home is pretty powerful, so that could work out pretty well.

Now, Tamika is starting her lacrosse season, which always presents a challenge because we have only one car.
But, as some of you know from Facebook, I had put a motorcycle on layaway this winter, an all black Suzuki Intruder 800, and now it’s fully paid off.
I enrolled at Old Glory Harley Davidson for some motorcycle classes, and come Monday (Lord willing), I’ll be cleared to ride the bike! The classes are long (they take nearly the entire day for 4 days), so I’ve had to shut everything else down for a little bit. The bike will become my main transportation. I’m very excited to be riding again.

Nya and Arion are doing really well. Nya has become a really good conversationalist. Arion still isn’t walking yet, but he can stand on his own for a few seconds. That is, until he realizes he is standing, and sits down. 🙂 He’s been talking, though, and has learned a lot sooner than Nya did. He says “Thank you” every time you give him something.
Being home, Tamika takes lots of pictures of them, so definitely check out her new blog for more.