Thursday, November 29, 2007

I'm Back ... Both New and Improved

I'm back.

What do the kids say? I was “out of pocket” or “off the grid” for awhile, but now I think that I'll be able to devote a little bit of time to the blog. Just a brief message, I don't think that any kids say “out of pocket” or “off the grid”, unless those kids are corporate suits in training.

The last time I wrote, I believe that I was in the air going from Seattle to New York for a conference in late July. Well, I landed. Aly and I also had a dog at that point in our lives, his name was Dave. Unfortunately, he died a few days after that entry. He had distemper, which is an extremely rare disease. Sucks, because he was a good dog too.

Since then I've gone toVegas for a few days (work stuff) and went to a killer party at a club called Pure that Selma Hyack may or may not have been there for. I was completely wasted and some buddies from Amesbury got me in. Also, I lost my job at TechTarget, was unemployed for a few months; which was probably the best thing that's happened to me in awhile as I saved a lot of money during that period and my sanity (I actually hated TT). In March I started a new job that I like very much.


Also, my grandmother passed away in February, which was pretty difficult and there are times when it still hurts to think about her and how I'll never see her again.


In late March, I learned that Aly was pregnant and on October 28 (on the day the Sox won their second title in two years) Giuliana Rose (after my Nina) Magrane was born. She was five weeks early, which was expected as Aly began to have complications (coleostasis – not sure if you spell it like that, probably not) and their was a need for an early birth. Anyway, she weighed at 5 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. She's been awesome, but at the same time it's been a tremendous learning experience for both of us.


Mainly learning how to survive on very little sleep.


Also we went to Puerto Rico in July for our annual summer vacation. Pretty good, not great. And I added another stadium to my growing World Tour of Baseball Stadia. I went to Shea Stadium for the first time, as the Mets played the Dodgers in a late August battle. The place was a complete dump, good thing that they're getting a new park in 2009. I also went to Camden Yards again.


So that's what I've done in the last 16 months since I've last written. In the next few months, I'm going to completely retool the blog and focus on pop culture and some sports. Gone are any musings about my comic strip (that went down the toilet due to lack of time) and I'm really going to try and cut down on the personal stuff.


What I want to do is write a couple of essays a week about things that are either going on right now or stuff that I have percolating in my brain. My next entry will be about my personal top 56 television shows. Some entries will be long, some short, but they should be fairly interesting as I'm going to cover a wide range of stuff.


To whet your appetite, here's a list of shows that I'm going to write about:


    1. The Honeymooners
    2. Leave it to Beaver
    3. Arrested Development
    4. Mr. Show with Bob and David
    5. Tom Goes to the Mayor
    6. Undeclared
    7. Freaks and Geeks
    8. It's the Garry Shandling Show
    9. The Larry Sanders Show
    10. The Wire
    11. The Sopranos
    12. Curb Your Enthusiasm
    13. Seinfeld
    14. The Simpsons
    15. Get A Life
    16. The Office (UK and USA)
    17. Scrubs
    18. WKRP
    19. Newsradio
    20. South Park
    21. Car 54, Where Are You?
    22. The Daily Show
    23. SuperRock
    24. The State
    25. 30 Rock
    26. Rocky and Bullwinkle
    27. Dragnet
    28. The Odd Couple
    29. The White Shadow
    30. Magnum PI
    31. Good Eats
    32. Diners, Drive Ins and Dives
    33. Jeopardy
    34. The Monkees
    35. Austin Stories
    36. Moral Orel
    37. Beverly Hills 90210
    38. Early Adult Swim catch-all
    39. Law and Order
    40. King of the Hill
    41. Grosse Pointe
    42. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    43. Head of the Class
    44. 24
    45. Justice League
    46. Deadwood
    47. Entourage
    48. In Search Of ...
    49. The Banana Splits
    50. Gilligan's Island/Brady Bunch
    51. Chappelle's Show
    52. The Andy Griffith Show
    53. Action!
    54. Late Night with Conan O'Brien
    55. Andy Richter Controls the Universe
    56. Mission Hill


Two things, this list is obviously not in any kind of order, that will be determined in the weeks to come and a few were sort of just added on to the list so that I could have an even 56. If a show or two comes to mind, they may be bumped off. As they say, check your local listings.


So that's where I'm at. Come back for more, I promise that there will be stuff here.