Archive Title
Yoshimi 6/28/2008
Marriage 4/15/2008
American Dreadnought? 3/19/2008
Valentine's Made Simple 2/17/2008
Set Sail in '08 1/20/2008
The Last Thing I Needed 12/25/2007
The Wait is Over 12/16/2007
Boat Show Baltimore 10/14/2007
Waiting... 9/15/2007
Where to Live Part 2 8/21/2007
Energy Efficient Locations 6/12/2007
Dog Park Birthday 5/19/2007
Family Reunion 4/13/2007
Green Score 3/18/2007
NYC Comicon 2/27/2007
What I hate about America 1/21/2007
Suit Shopping 12/16/2006
Life Update 11/20/2006
Motorcycle Course 9/25/2006
A day in the life of Gwen 8/23/2006
WWJD Rant 7/16/2006
Buying and Selling Houses 5/17/2006
Going to Dallas 4/20/2006
Coping with Loss 3/23/2006
Jodie's Gone 2/23/2006
Goals for '06 1/13/2006
Prepping for the Holidays 12/15/2005
Lichen's Goring 11/14/2005
Getting Geeky 10/19/2005
Wedding and Reception 8/19/2005
A Column is Born 7/15/2005

American Dreadnought?

"I'm all here, but not all there." - Cowboy Jack

Since my last entry I've really been tossed about on some rough surf. Work is building up in stress and workload which is normal for the spring thaw and welcome in a way. I think we're really accomplishing great things and getting noticed.

I got a column published in the local paper so I'm famous again. If only Pawpaw could see me now.

My cousin Anthony came up here for Spring Break and we did a lightning road trip to Iowa City, going through 6 states along the way with Dixie in the backseat constantly trying to climb in someone's lap and getting her feelings hurt when we wouldn't let her. Anthony finally broke down to those puppy-dog eyes and let her sleep in his lap for a bit; it was really sweet, you know, a big tough Texan guy cradling this little fur ball. Chicks would swoon.

We also got to jam a little bit in my music studio, with him showing me some bass licks on the upright and me playing piano and guitar. If we had 6 weeks in the same city I'm sure we'd have something recorded.

Somewhere in the last month I wound up in Allentown, PA and I apologize for all the Allentown residents that are forced to live there. It's really not a pretty place and I don't recommend anyone move there, however a couple things did stand out.

Martin Guitars is located there, which is mega cool and worth the trip, so plan on doing a factory tour and picking up a dreadnought, but then get the heck out. I also toured the art museum, part of my self-development plan (remember Crow-X?), and it was mediocre at best, but it did have a reproduction of Wright's library from the Little House. They attempted to be true to even the wall hangings which I was surprised to see were all Japanese woodcuts of feudal Japan, just like I would have hanging in my library. It was cool, but not worth a special trip. I took some photos and hope to get that up in the photos section later in March.

Today we passed the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq so once again I'm bummed and I know that when I do my taxes next month, I'll be even more bent out of shape. How can we sustain a war this expensive? How can America sit back and watch as our leaders steer the ship into the rocks? Without getting too in to this, I would just ask people that think the war is a good thing (if there are any left), to look at some of the world news reports about conditions in Iraq. From what I have seen, there has been recent success with the new troop surge, but in terms of the situation for the Iraqi people, conditions are worse today than two years ago with raw sewage in the streets and electricity running for a couple hours a day, hardly any potable water. It's terrible.

Here I sit alone in my house (Dixie is out with her friends) with heat, water, internet, cable, sewer, electricity, my music studio and computer banks living high on the hog while people suffer all over the place. Am I the only guilty American? I applaud the Washington DC protesters from today and I truly hope we see a local regime change next year.