Anticipation
Mood:  energetic
I've had so many things which have been fun to anticipate this summer!

• The boys' return from college.
• Sarah's graduation.
• Leah's graduation.
• The trip to Yosemite.
• The Lake.
• And now, this weekend, the visit from Paul!

I am so excited!

I wish I had a way to forgo sleep for about 5 days straight!

Cooking
What meals can I cook?

I think, when I got married, there really weren't any. Now, like many men, I am the designated grill chef. I make a pretty juicy hamburger, a fine steak (as long a you don't ask for "well done" -- you just shouldn't do that to a good piece of meat), and several varieties of chicken -- and I can even whip up a barbeque sauce which goes really well over a cut-up fryer. In fact, the grilled salmon I've done has been pretty good.

But, additionally, I've had to learn to cook meals over the years, and though I don't do it often any more, I have a decent repertoire:

• "Dad's Macaroni and Cheese" -- while not gourmet, the kids like it, and it has a secret ingredient.
• Spaghetti and Meatballs -- with the emphasis on the meatballs. Again, secret ingredients -- some of which come from my mother, but I've enhanced this over the years.
• Baked Chicken -- one of the first things I learned to cook as a married man. And if you're baking a chicken, baking potatoes to go with it is practically required.
• Scalloped Potatoes - the kids may not remember, but I used to construct these when Sherry was doing a ham. Hers are still better, but I can do it.
• Grilled Sandwiches -- a "father's meal" if ever there was one. My specialty is grilled peanut butter, though I make a mean grilled ham and three-cheese sandwich, if we have three cheeses available!
• "Orange Julius" and Popcorn. A traditional movie-night meal. The "Julius" is, of course, not really the trademarked drink, but close enough that the name has stuck.
• . . .
• and ???

Is that it? I remember learning several others -- from Teriaki Steak to Sweet and Sour Chicken, but I haven't done them in so long!

Perhaps this is something I should revive -- helping out with meals. I'll have to think about this.

Accomplishments
I am not a "handy" guy.

So, when I set aside time to build something -- as I did this past weekend -- I know I'm going to have a challenge.

Well, this time, things went very smoothly. On a project such as this, I often have at least one point at which I realize I've done something very sub-optimally [that mean's "stupid"]. At that point, I have to decide if I can back up and do it right, or if I just have to live with it.

This time, I was building shelves in the basement. I had done shelf-building once before, so I had a bit of experience to draw on, and I think it helped. I only had one minor situation where I needed to undo something and try it differently, and one other plan that did not go quite as envisioned because I forgot to take some ductwork into account.

So, the ultimate result was a very sturdy, very useful set of shelves. Design to purchase of materials to building to clean-up -- it was MY project. And it worked!

It is really satisfying to do something like this -- to accomplish, in a short period of time, a task with a tangible, useful result.

And the sore muscles I get when I'm done? A gentle reminder that, perhaps, our bodies were meant to work a little each day -- not just sit at a desk. I wonder if I will remember that lesson?

Yosemite Photos
I have a small photo on-line album covering the Yosemite trip. Digital pictures are huge (I would like to find a way to reduce the size of these, since they consume ALL my website space), so be sure to have a high-speed connection if you view the bigger pictures. They are worth it!

https://www.angelfire.com/mn/stevewill/yosemite_2005/

Random thoughts
Now Playing: "Curious Thing" by Amy Grant
Topic: Random
I'm listening to "King Tut" by Steve Martin as I type this. Retro-funny!

I'll cover Yosemite in another entry, I think. I wish I had a tool which easily re-sized these huge, beautiful digital pictures we took.

Tomorrow is Day 1 of vacation, and Day 1 of "Operation: Clean Sweep - Basement."

The latest Magic set can be used on-line today! I will try to play some tonight!

I stayed up too late last night -- playing Magic: Online and watching "The Princess Bride."

How do you get the job of "movie reviewer"? I think that's my new dream job.

Have I said that before?

I think if I close my eyes, I will fall asleep on my keyboard. Time for some more caffeine?

I need to find "Don't Worry, Be Happy" for my song collection.

Coldplay's latest CD has already topped 1.5 Million copies -- is the recording industry really in trouble from music downloads?

And now I'm listening to Steve Martin's "Banjo" bit -- again, so funny! "You just can't sing a depressing song while playing the banjo. You just can't go (singing) 'Oh Death, and Grief, and Sorrow, and Murder.'"

Hearing this always makes me want to get a CD of banjo music. "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is so fun! But Martin only does a piece of it.

Getting Over It
I suppose there are people in the world who are not like me.

OK, I know there are, but bear with me.

When you have to meet a new person, would you rather just leave the room? When called into a meeting where there will be conflict, would you like to develop a sudden illness and go home? When a new, tough assignment gets dropped on you, would you rather just quit your job, cash out your assets, and move to desert island?

Yeah, me too.

It's amazing to me how many people see me as confident and decisive.

Why am I amazed? Because I have to push myself so hard to act that way.

The thing is, I think most people feel like I feel, given similar situations. I suppose there are people who are honesty as decisive as I act; who feel no fear in facing new people, even people considerably higher on their corporate ladder. Swimming with the sharks comes naturally for them. Me? I have learned to Get Over It, take a deep mental breath, and dive in.

Admittedly, I have an advantage. I am pretty confident in my intelligence, and usually in my knowledge. I know there are people who don't have that confidence.

But when it comes to true fearlessness, it's something I have to coax, summon, or just plain fake.

Then again, if they can't tell you're faking, then they assume it's the real you. And then they treat you as if you are confident. And that makes it easier to pretend.

Then, truth be told, pretending becomes reality for some situations. After a few repetitions, a reputation gets developed.

And then you have to live up to it.

And it starts all over again!

Movies and games -- and then life
The graduations are behind us, and now we get to focus on, well, nothing. At least nothing of import. That was the plan, at least.

So, we finished "Paper Mario." That game started out very boring, but we ended up enjoying it a lot, and got more than 50 hours of play time out of it.

We've watched quite a few movies lately, and last night pulled out Signs again, since we had seen Joaquin Phoenix recently in Ladder 49 and The Village. It's a movie you have to watch -- you can't really have it on in the background and get anything like the full effect.

Until we go on our trip to Yosemite, this is what our life is supposed to be - relaxed summer; movie watching, nice weather -- that sort of thing.

So the news that Sherry's dad has a carcinoma in his esophagus changes things. Sad news. We don't know much at this point, so will think optimistically, and will pray.

Be well, gentle reader.

OK, I've seen it . And, the 3/4 explanation.
Well, I saw it. Saturday night, May 21, 2005. Clearly the best of the prequel trilogy. I will not talk about plot points yet. It was very well done.

And, since someone asked, I will explain the "3/4." It's really rather bland, but it does recall a simpler time.

As I said in my previous entry, we had one theater in town in 1977, and it had one screen. So, when a movie was showing there, it was the only thing showing. On Saturdays and Sundays, the movie would be shown four times.

For someone like me, who had fallen in love with Star Wars, this provided a great opportunity. I could buy a ticket to the first showing of the day, and just sit in that dark theater until they were done showing it the last time. And, at that point, I had to pay, what, $2.00 for a ticket?

Those were the days. Sure, I felt a little guilty paying only once -- but I suppose it provided somewhat of a thrill. It's the sort of thing teenagers do, and we adults are supposed to disapprove of. But really, teenagers need this sort of minor sin to commit, to help them satisfy their rebellious urges. This is my rationalization, anyway.

So, I was there one Sunday afternoon. I had planned to watch all four showings, and many of my friends showed up for the third showing, with a commitment to watch through the final showing with me. But, guess what? Yep, some of them decided they had had enough after 3/4 of the final showing. I was torn, but ultimately, I decided to leave with my friends. I'm not sure what viewing that was, but I do know I saw the film at least a couple more times after that.

Nevertheless, I now have a memory associated with that film -- my friends deciding other things were more important than seeing the movie through to the end for the second time in a night, and me deciding to go with them. In the end, it's a better story. And it shows that, no matter how obsessed I was with Star Wars I at least had some priorities set right.

No. I have NOT seen it. Yet.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith opened at midnight last might. It makes sense that people would ask me if I've seen it. I have not. I hope to see it very soon. Friday, perhaps?

I am, after all, the guy who saw the original Star Wars movie 23 and 3/4 times. In the theater. Back in the days when each movie house had only one theater.

If anyone asks, I will tell them why "three-quarters" exists in that personal record.

The summer of 1977 was a magical time. The thrill I got from seeing that film -- it can still surface in my memory and make me tingle.

Firefox - your alternative to Internet Explorer
I have converted to using Firefox from work instead of Internet Explorer. In the past, I would use Netscape for all financial transactions, because of the pervasive nature of spyware which attaches itself to Internet Explorer.

Now, the open-source Firefox browser is finally to a point where, functionally, it feels every bit as good as Internet Explorer.

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

OK, there are still some things I have to get used to -- I'm not quite sure how to order my bookmarks in a non-alphabetical way. The drop-downs are a bit more sensitive to cursor position than I am used to.

But all-in-all -- this is a good browser.