Today, I took Alya and Marcus to the Midwest Gaming Classic over in Brookfield. First time for them, but my third visit. It's a fun show with lots of great classic video gaming.
This is a place for the oldest of the old school - with a few modern splashes - and is a veritable museum for those who started young.
Now the kids have been playing the original Super Mario Bros on the Wii, they have not seen the rest of the old stuff I've got sitting around. However, this was the best place to show my roots without digging through a pile to stuff.
First priority was pinball, as that is something they cannot experience at home, nor most places we go to play games. While both of them got a thrill out of playing pinball - and we tried at least six tables, if not more - Alya summed it up with "I liked the video one best." The video one was a screen built into a pinball cabinet. Obviously, the physical game did not appeal to them.
On the flip side, Pong went over well. They quickly adapted to the paddle controller and proceeded to play two games against each other. But they both like air hockey, so it wasn't too far of a stretch for them to get into it.
Beyond that, there was lots of bouncing around from console to machine to old school controllers. Alya spent a lot of time with the Atari Jaguar playing first Rayman (which was still gorgeous to look at) then a little Tempest 2000. Marcus was playing a Super Nintendo game called Megaracer, which was much more basic, but Alya eventually joined in to play.
Super Smash Bros (Wii) was another Marcus favorite - but anytime you have characters fighting, he digs right in. Meanwhile, Alya watched a guy playing Mario Sunshine (Game Cube) and she really wanted to take it for a spin.
The cool thing was watching what games captured the kids attention. If there was fighting or shooting, Marcus was interested. Platforming and adventure, Alya. Which leads to their picks of the show.
Marcus was extremely excited playing the classic shooter by the Japanese studio Treasure, called Gunstar Heroes (Sega Genesis). The boy was bouncing up and down blowing robots up left and right and caught up in a gleeful rapture. Alya played for a bit, but then the siren call of Sonic CD (Sega Genesis CD) right next to it and soon she was sending that blue hedgehog around at warp speed, clearing levels like nobody's business.
So instead of buying anything at the convention, we came away with two games to get downloading this week. Games they selected and fell in love with - something I can relate to very well myself. Yeah, I'm a video game dad and I'm happy to share it with the kids.
So if you're in the Milwaukee area in March and want to take a stroll down memory lane, I would suggest going over to the Midwest Gaming Classic. It's a fun time, the games are free, and sharing those memories with others can rekindle a joy.
Be seeing you.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Plague's got me!
Ugh, I hate being sick.
Aside from a few hypochondriacs, most people don't like being sick. You're tired, weak, nose running, coughing all over the place. And gods help you if the digestive system gets hit. Eww.
Often I'm a little under the weather. Surely some of it has to do with carrying a little more than my fair share of weight around, in addition to the lack of exercise and sedentary job. But through out the sniffles and coughs I usually am missing one thing. The fever.
I don't know how many times I've asked Sasha to feel my head and she says all good. Then I grab the thermometer and it agrees with her assessment. Until this past Thursday.
99.7
Friday morning
101.3
Saturday morning
100.2
How annoying! I feel like utter crap, just want to sleep all day long and don't even have the desire to play games. [gasp!]
However, I have discovered several good ploys to be "active" with the kids, without having to spend much energy. But still, this sucks.
It makes me extra grateful for Sasha (who's currently spending a little, much deserved, time out of the house with out the kids) for taking care of them and me as well.
No, I am not getting pampered. But she has cleaned up my dishes and is primary on the kids these past couple of days. And that is the miracle of family.
We all need a support system, and a family does all of that. Sometimes I feel that we Americans push kids out of the house too quickly. Or worst yet, absolve them of responsibilities that we might have had ourselves.
In the past days of snow, Marcus has often come out to help me shovel. He grabs his kids size, long-handled spade and goes to town. I leave him a patch to work on while I clear the rest of the driveway. It's fun and something to do with his dad and I really enjoy it, too.
And then later I went over to my mom's place to uncover her car, which was rather buried on the east side of Milwaukee. Something I haven't done nearly enough, but it was very satisfying to help her out.
It's the family support system, and sometime it really works well.
Now I'm going to go off and fight sleep a little longer.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Aside from a few hypochondriacs, most people don't like being sick. You're tired, weak, nose running, coughing all over the place. And gods help you if the digestive system gets hit. Eww.
Often I'm a little under the weather. Surely some of it has to do with carrying a little more than my fair share of weight around, in addition to the lack of exercise and sedentary job. But through out the sniffles and coughs I usually am missing one thing. The fever.
I don't know how many times I've asked Sasha to feel my head and she says all good. Then I grab the thermometer and it agrees with her assessment. Until this past Thursday.
99.7
Friday morning
101.3
Saturday morning
100.2
How annoying! I feel like utter crap, just want to sleep all day long and don't even have the desire to play games. [gasp!]
However, I have discovered several good ploys to be "active" with the kids, without having to spend much energy. But still, this sucks.
It makes me extra grateful for Sasha (who's currently spending a little, much deserved, time out of the house with out the kids) for taking care of them and me as well.
No, I am not getting pampered. But she has cleaned up my dishes and is primary on the kids these past couple of days. And that is the miracle of family.
We all need a support system, and a family does all of that. Sometimes I feel that we Americans push kids out of the house too quickly. Or worst yet, absolve them of responsibilities that we might have had ourselves.
In the past days of snow, Marcus has often come out to help me shovel. He grabs his kids size, long-handled spade and goes to town. I leave him a patch to work on while I clear the rest of the driveway. It's fun and something to do with his dad and I really enjoy it, too.
And then later I went over to my mom's place to uncover her car, which was rather buried on the east side of Milwaukee. Something I haven't done nearly enough, but it was very satisfying to help her out.
It's the family support system, and sometime it really works well.
Now I'm going to go off and fight sleep a little longer.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Life - Oh precious life
A friend recently posted on Facebook the question, "If you could go back and do it all over, what would you change? And you can't say you'd change nothing!" That friend does not have children, and children make a hard stop in one's timeline. I would never, ever want to go back to a time before Marcus was born.
Because I do not want to even conceive of him never being a part of my life. And three years is not much time to find an item to change. And whenever you think something is a good idea to make different, the movies always tell you there are consequences.
The 1998 movie, Sliding Doors, stars Gwyneth Paltrow and shows how whether she catches a train or not lead her life in two entirely different directions. Who knows how often that happens in the real world, but we've all stood on the cusp of those decisions.
- My father could have died in a studio fire where he lived, if he had been there the night it burned to the ground. I would completely lost contact with that side of the family if he hadn't dodged that one.
- I could have stayed in Minneapolis, after a impulse to leave Milwaukee struck me. Nearly happened, but fate and my complete lack of planning brought me back. (Special thanks to C.R. for telling me to buy a round trip bus ticket.)
And the big winner is:
When I graduated college, I took the lazy route. After seeing my good friend sending out hundreds of resumes trying to find the right job, I decided to take a week off, then go to Manpower and get working right away while I tried to find a "good" job.
They hired me on the spot to work for them, and that's the week I started working with Sasha.
If I had decided to pursue a radio/TV job, or traveled to Japan to teach English, I would have lost so much. I cannot begin to consider any past choices beyond something like, "I should never have bought that Balterspace CD."
And while I don't think it would have had an impact on the rest of my life, fixing the mistake of my 2nd worst impulse buy ever, would have robbed me of a kind of fun story.
In my life I've made a lot of choices, 40 years of existence will do that to most everyone. And I would never change a single thing before the birth of Marcus. Things are too fragile to mess with that at all.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Because I do not want to even conceive of him never being a part of my life. And three years is not much time to find an item to change. And whenever you think something is a good idea to make different, the movies always tell you there are consequences.
The 1998 movie, Sliding Doors, stars Gwyneth Paltrow and shows how whether she catches a train or not lead her life in two entirely different directions. Who knows how often that happens in the real world, but we've all stood on the cusp of those decisions.
- My father could have died in a studio fire where he lived, if he had been there the night it burned to the ground. I would completely lost contact with that side of the family if he hadn't dodged that one.
- I could have stayed in Minneapolis, after a impulse to leave Milwaukee struck me. Nearly happened, but fate and my complete lack of planning brought me back. (Special thanks to C.R. for telling me to buy a round trip bus ticket.)
And the big winner is:
When I graduated college, I took the lazy route. After seeing my good friend sending out hundreds of resumes trying to find the right job, I decided to take a week off, then go to Manpower and get working right away while I tried to find a "good" job.
They hired me on the spot to work for them, and that's the week I started working with Sasha.
If I had decided to pursue a radio/TV job, or traveled to Japan to teach English, I would have lost so much. I cannot begin to consider any past choices beyond something like, "I should never have bought that Balterspace CD."
And while I don't think it would have had an impact on the rest of my life, fixing the mistake of my 2nd worst impulse buy ever, would have robbed me of a kind of fun story.
In my life I've made a lot of choices, 40 years of existence will do that to most everyone. And I would never change a single thing before the birth of Marcus. Things are too fragile to mess with that at all.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Force of Will
One of the things that really strikes me as a parent is how precious "alone time" is. I love my video games, my scifi/geek movies, my gaming stuff, but I love my family more - so they take priority and that is right.
But when I get those couple of hours, man do I want to sink my teeth into some PS3 game that's been sitting around for a while and lose hours to it. If there's an active book, it gets devoured in the wee-hours in the space of a week, two if it's really big.
But then there are moments when the two come together. And those are great.
Marcus loves swordfighting. So getting that 20 minutes of running around the house with Nerf swords is a proud papa-geek moment. Especially watching him learn/imitate "moves" like spinning around for no good reason and grabbing my blade so he can swing away freely. Pure awesome.
Alya may not like the fighting, but she loves the story. Tonight the three of us watched Star Wars Episode One - The Phantom Menance. (Sasha was off at the annual xmas cookie exchange.) Marcus was not interested for most of the middle of the movie. But he got a kick out of the good action sequences. Alya paid attention throughout most of the movie. She wanted to know who Anakin was (they've both watched a lot of Clone Wars) and thought that Obi Wan looked funny. And Queen Amidala confused her so much, that I paused the movie to try and explain what was going on. She really wanted to know what was going on.
My squirrel is also the one who like to play Peggle on the computer - but wants someone in the room with her. Alya really "gets" computers and can use a mouse and a touch pad with great ease. Marcus, well he was kind of hitting the keys a lot today, just to try and get something to happen. The two of them may play like a couple of peas in a pod, but they are quite different.
And each day they impress me more.
Be seeing you,
Jon
But when I get those couple of hours, man do I want to sink my teeth into some PS3 game that's been sitting around for a while and lose hours to it. If there's an active book, it gets devoured in the wee-hours in the space of a week, two if it's really big.
But then there are moments when the two come together. And those are great.
Marcus loves swordfighting. So getting that 20 minutes of running around the house with Nerf swords is a proud papa-geek moment. Especially watching him learn/imitate "moves" like spinning around for no good reason and grabbing my blade so he can swing away freely. Pure awesome.
Alya may not like the fighting, but she loves the story. Tonight the three of us watched Star Wars Episode One - The Phantom Menance. (Sasha was off at the annual xmas cookie exchange.) Marcus was not interested for most of the middle of the movie. But he got a kick out of the good action sequences. Alya paid attention throughout most of the movie. She wanted to know who Anakin was (they've both watched a lot of Clone Wars) and thought that Obi Wan looked funny. And Queen Amidala confused her so much, that I paused the movie to try and explain what was going on. She really wanted to know what was going on.
My squirrel is also the one who like to play Peggle on the computer - but wants someone in the room with her. Alya really "gets" computers and can use a mouse and a touch pad with great ease. Marcus, well he was kind of hitting the keys a lot today, just to try and get something to happen. The two of them may play like a couple of peas in a pod, but they are quite different.
And each day they impress me more.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Late Night Ramblin'
I'm going to open with what should be the closing. Because it's the most important thing about this post.
Typical BSer house evening ends with me moving Alya out of our bed and into hers. Tonight, when that happened, she woke up a bit to check she had the correct woobie in the bed (bear, not pink) and I confirmed that it was indeed the correct one. Satisfied, she curled up and went back to sleep as I placed the important stuffed animals next to her. As I walked out I said, "Good night, Squirrel." and closed the door.
Often I don't speak when putting either kid in bed, but Alya had already pulled a response on woobie, so I knew it wouldn't hurt the sleep process.
That little verbalization choked me up a bit because I'm thinking that to them both every night, and eventually I won't be tucking these small ones into bed. And they mean the world to me. Everything else I've done, does not come to this level.
Which leaves the question, "What next?"
---
I started reading The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks a day ago. The main character is a game player. Like someone who is a professional chess player, only with as many games as he likes and that's all he does. Only he's at a crisis point because he's bored. What's next in his path because he has played and beaten just about everything.
Meanwhile, my world of games has been odd. My board games are getting dustier. Magic cards are floating around all over the place, but a change would be needed to really hone my skills on that one. I have many miniature games in foam trays, needing assembly, paint and a chance to fight on the battlefield. But there's no gaming passion. Nothing that pulls my attention constantly like a mongrel on a bone.
While sitting on the basement step, I couldn't help but see my stack of Japanese language instruction loaded on a shelf. It defines me, but the motivation is no longer present. Perhaps I should be clearing that all off and resign that goal for now. Like the guitar in the close, learning either would be a major growth undertaking, but both are also previous paths that were never finished.
---
The final item of the evening - a year book from Pius XI High School. 1988 to be precise.
At Manpower I walk through the building and know about 1/4 to 1/3 of the people. Not personally, but recognize them either through my own times there or through Sasha's work.
That ratio is much lower in my yearbook. Then again my class had well over 400 students in it and I was never a true social butterfly.
Things that kept cropping up in the words written by others, "I didn't really know you until this year." "You're funny and strange." "Sorry I hit you in the head with a pen." Okay, that last one not so much. Some of the words written triggered a small bit of sadness. Relationships unexplored. Relationships explored and ruined at a latter time. Friendships that were acquired a little too late in the game to be able to maintain. Or distances, written by one as "We are going our separate ways in search of... A PARTY", creating that gulf making the connect difficult to maintain.
But no regret.
High school (and soon college) is half a life away for me now. While knowing where people are today (thank Facebook) is neat, that's over 20 years ago. I've got too much future going on to keep living in the past. (Although a few ghosts do loom from time to time.)
---
There's a song out now called, "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros that has really grabbed my ears. I was playing it for the kids on the drive to their daycare, and during the speaking portion (listen to the song, it's that good) I talked to Alya and Marcus about what was happening that day and night and how I love them both so very much.
The line from the song that sticks is, "Home is where ever I'm with you." So when I went to Manpower Saturday where Sasha was putting in extra hours, Alya told her, "I'm happy to be home." Sasha was a little puzzled and asked if home was Manpower. "No, home is when we're all together."
That's my squirrel.
And that's my "What's next?" for the next 20 years of my life.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Typical BSer house evening ends with me moving Alya out of our bed and into hers. Tonight, when that happened, she woke up a bit to check she had the correct woobie in the bed (bear, not pink) and I confirmed that it was indeed the correct one. Satisfied, she curled up and went back to sleep as I placed the important stuffed animals next to her. As I walked out I said, "Good night, Squirrel." and closed the door.
Often I don't speak when putting either kid in bed, but Alya had already pulled a response on woobie, so I knew it wouldn't hurt the sleep process.
That little verbalization choked me up a bit because I'm thinking that to them both every night, and eventually I won't be tucking these small ones into bed. And they mean the world to me. Everything else I've done, does not come to this level.
Which leaves the question, "What next?"
---
I started reading The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks a day ago. The main character is a game player. Like someone who is a professional chess player, only with as many games as he likes and that's all he does. Only he's at a crisis point because he's bored. What's next in his path because he has played and beaten just about everything.
Meanwhile, my world of games has been odd. My board games are getting dustier. Magic cards are floating around all over the place, but a change would be needed to really hone my skills on that one. I have many miniature games in foam trays, needing assembly, paint and a chance to fight on the battlefield. But there's no gaming passion. Nothing that pulls my attention constantly like a mongrel on a bone.
While sitting on the basement step, I couldn't help but see my stack of Japanese language instruction loaded on a shelf. It defines me, but the motivation is no longer present. Perhaps I should be clearing that all off and resign that goal for now. Like the guitar in the close, learning either would be a major growth undertaking, but both are also previous paths that were never finished.
---
The final item of the evening - a year book from Pius XI High School. 1988 to be precise.
At Manpower I walk through the building and know about 1/4 to 1/3 of the people. Not personally, but recognize them either through my own times there or through Sasha's work.
That ratio is much lower in my yearbook. Then again my class had well over 400 students in it and I was never a true social butterfly.
Things that kept cropping up in the words written by others, "I didn't really know you until this year." "You're funny and strange." "Sorry I hit you in the head with a pen." Okay, that last one not so much. Some of the words written triggered a small bit of sadness. Relationships unexplored. Relationships explored and ruined at a latter time. Friendships that were acquired a little too late in the game to be able to maintain. Or distances, written by one as "We are going our separate ways in search of... A PARTY", creating that gulf making the connect difficult to maintain.
But no regret.
High school (and soon college) is half a life away for me now. While knowing where people are today (thank Facebook) is neat, that's over 20 years ago. I've got too much future going on to keep living in the past. (Although a few ghosts do loom from time to time.)
---
There's a song out now called, "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros that has really grabbed my ears. I was playing it for the kids on the drive to their daycare, and during the speaking portion (listen to the song, it's that good) I talked to Alya and Marcus about what was happening that day and night and how I love them both so very much.
The line from the song that sticks is, "Home is where ever I'm with you." So when I went to Manpower Saturday where Sasha was putting in extra hours, Alya told her, "I'm happy to be home." Sasha was a little puzzled and asked if home was Manpower. "No, home is when we're all together."
That's my squirrel.
And that's my "What's next?" for the next 20 years of my life.
Be seeing you,
Jon
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Biting the Bullet
So much has been happening that there has hardly been time to write a blog post about it. So, here's there elevator pitch of the past couple of weeks:
- Managed to finally see Avatar. Visually mind-blowing, but it was hard to keep from laughing at the story.
- Took Alya and Marcus to Great America for the first time. Alya and Marcus rode the Whizzer. Alya loved it and rode another kid-sized coaster seven times.
- Loaded the kids up in a bike trailer and went for a ride. They like the little journeys even if Daddy maintains the bad habit of pushing himself too hard initially.
- Determined that an appetizer is mandatory with Calderone Club pizza, and french fried eggplant fits the bill very well. Marcus likes the pizza crust more than anything else.
- Video gaming has been falling off, until Super Street Fighter IV arrived. Sounds dorky, but is great fun.
- Still haven't hooked up that old Atari 2600.
- Took the kids to Six Flags Great America again. Alya and Marcus rode the Whizzer again. Marcus loved the Scrambler/Hometown Fun Machine. Alya rode the Whizzer three more times. Then Alya rode the Demon four times. She is a coaster fiend.
- My little sister and her husband had their baby boy, Asher Cohen, and we're so happy for them. Congrats to them and to my Mom for her third grandchild.
- The Roos family had their baby boy and we're so happy for them. Congrats guys! The adventure begins again.
- Sasha's been on a working spree that has led to a lot of late nights and a little bit of travel. Single parents, you are so strong.
- Tried to get the kids to relax with Star Wars. Marcus fell asleep, Alya fought to stay awake. They later watched most of the first Clone Wars cartoon. They will like Star Wars, this I give them.
- Replaced our digital camera that died with a new Panasonic camera. It's not bad, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Sorely disappointed with a new Sony model and had to return it.
- Went to a cook out with my work team and had a great time. The kids got to play with other little ones around the same age and really loved it. Thanks Patrick.
- I really need to get into the shower. Not because I'm smelly, but because I need to get ready for work and get the kids out the door and pack a lunch and... and... and...
Yeah. Time to stop blogging.
Jon
PS - Was singing "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros to the kids in the car yesterday on the way to school. (great song if you haven't heard it yet) And while singing, I made up my own words for the speaking segment of the song about the kids and what we were going to be doing that day. It was very emotional for me, but the kids are a big part of my "home".
- Managed to finally see Avatar. Visually mind-blowing, but it was hard to keep from laughing at the story.
- Took Alya and Marcus to Great America for the first time. Alya and Marcus rode the Whizzer. Alya loved it and rode another kid-sized coaster seven times.
- Loaded the kids up in a bike trailer and went for a ride. They like the little journeys even if Daddy maintains the bad habit of pushing himself too hard initially.
- Determined that an appetizer is mandatory with Calderone Club pizza, and french fried eggplant fits the bill very well. Marcus likes the pizza crust more than anything else.
- Video gaming has been falling off, until Super Street Fighter IV arrived. Sounds dorky, but is great fun.
- Still haven't hooked up that old Atari 2600.
- Took the kids to Six Flags Great America again. Alya and Marcus rode the Whizzer again. Marcus loved the Scrambler/Hometown Fun Machine. Alya rode the Whizzer three more times. Then Alya rode the Demon four times. She is a coaster fiend.
- My little sister and her husband had their baby boy, Asher Cohen, and we're so happy for them. Congrats to them and to my Mom for her third grandchild.
- The Roos family had their baby boy and we're so happy for them. Congrats guys! The adventure begins again.
- Sasha's been on a working spree that has led to a lot of late nights and a little bit of travel. Single parents, you are so strong.
- Tried to get the kids to relax with Star Wars. Marcus fell asleep, Alya fought to stay awake. They later watched most of the first Clone Wars cartoon. They will like Star Wars, this I give them.
- Replaced our digital camera that died with a new Panasonic camera. It's not bad, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Sorely disappointed with a new Sony model and had to return it.
- Went to a cook out with my work team and had a great time. The kids got to play with other little ones around the same age and really loved it. Thanks Patrick.
- I really need to get into the shower. Not because I'm smelly, but because I need to get ready for work and get the kids out the door and pack a lunch and... and... and...
Yeah. Time to stop blogging.
Jon
PS - Was singing "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros to the kids in the car yesterday on the way to school. (great song if you haven't heard it yet) And while singing, I made up my own words for the speaking segment of the song about the kids and what we were going to be doing that day. It was very emotional for me, but the kids are a big part of my "home".
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Just Past Midnight
That's it. All done. My 40th birthday proper has ended.
I am now 40.003 years old.
And I'm good with that.
Today was more marvelous than I could ever ask for. And nearly all of it is due to the hard work of my wife of nearly 10 years, Sasha.
She and the kids made me breakfast, cut flowers for the party, made a birthday cake from scratch (lemon bundt), cooked up 25 lbs of barbecue ribs. Plus a salad, potatoes, chips and guacamole, shrimp cocktail. Just crazy stuff, that was delicious and a delight.
Then family and a couple of friends who are family came over to deal with the food. It was on both sides and that meant a lot to me. We sat outside (fantastic weather) and talked and laughed and ate. One cannot ask for more, but I got it.
Alya squeezing a glass of fresh orange juice just for me. Marcus playing "Happy birthday" on the kazoo. Being able to play the role of guest of honor instead of host. Pure fantastic.
And on Facebook, I had tons of people wishing me a happy birthday. Friends from long ago, family that live outside of Milwaukee, co-workers, and friends that I see on a frequent basis. This is the kind of thing that makes Facebook great. (Although I hear "Farmville" is pretty cool.)
Alas, 40 also wears on the bones and the brain. Sleep calls and while I don't want to pick up the phone, I really don't have much choice in the matter.
Good night folks!
Jon
I am now 40.003 years old.
And I'm good with that.
Today was more marvelous than I could ever ask for. And nearly all of it is due to the hard work of my wife of nearly 10 years, Sasha.
She and the kids made me breakfast, cut flowers for the party, made a birthday cake from scratch (lemon bundt), cooked up 25 lbs of barbecue ribs. Plus a salad, potatoes, chips and guacamole, shrimp cocktail. Just crazy stuff, that was delicious and a delight.
Then family and a couple of friends who are family came over to deal with the food. It was on both sides and that meant a lot to me. We sat outside (fantastic weather) and talked and laughed and ate. One cannot ask for more, but I got it.
Alya squeezing a glass of fresh orange juice just for me. Marcus playing "Happy birthday" on the kazoo. Being able to play the role of guest of honor instead of host. Pure fantastic.
And on Facebook, I had tons of people wishing me a happy birthday. Friends from long ago, family that live outside of Milwaukee, co-workers, and friends that I see on a frequent basis. This is the kind of thing that makes Facebook great. (Although I hear "Farmville" is pretty cool.)
Alas, 40 also wears on the bones and the brain. Sleep calls and while I don't want to pick up the phone, I really don't have much choice in the matter.
Good night folks!
Jon
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