The Noting of Nothing

Working for a company that deals in Information Technology integration, I'm typically not overly impressed by new bells & whistles. However, our new Cisco IP Telephony system with Unified Messaging and it is admittedly very cool. It looks like IPT technology really has finally reached the cutting edge instead of the bleeding edge.

Okay, it's Friday night and I'm done talking about work. I just got back from lovely Milwaukee, Wisconsin on a business trip, and it was fairly unremarkable. I guess when you live in the midwest, all of the cities look basically the same. I did get to catch a Brewers game at Miller Park, which sports a nifty retractable roof which happpened to be open that night. Long story short, they played the Colorado Rockies, who absolutely suck buttermilk, so it wasn't much of a game.

In another baseball related note, my hometown Cincinnati Reds will be electing two new members to its prestigious Hall of Fame. This year's inductees, Eric Davis & Jose Rijo, are two of my all-time favorites. Eric Davis in particular is the one player that made me love baseball. He will never see the hallowed halls of Cooperstown, but #44 will always hold a special place in my baseball-loving heart. Plus, that stock footage they used to show on "This Week in Baseball" of Eric the Red robbing a homerun is money.

March Sadness

The rain outside is a good reminder of how dreary the Spring can be here in the Ohio Valley. I know, it's damn pathetic to start my first blog posting in 2 months with discussion about the weather, but it was the first thing that popped in my head.

So, earlier tonight my Wildcats ended up on the losing end of what I consider to be one of the best NCAA tournament games in recent history. Unfortunately, the Big Blue came up on the short end of this one, but frankly Michigan State was the better team on this night. However, I refuse to resort to the finger-pointing and issuance of blame that are commonplace among the Blue Necks. I know it's a real faux pas for Kentucky fans to root for Louisville, I would rather see them win than any of the other 3 teams moving on to St. Louis.

Well, now that my rooting interest in basketball has been ousted, my full attention will be turned to the recently maligned world of Major League Baseball. Even with the controversy of "Juicegate" I'm still pretty exicted by the start of the baseball season. Even though I am enamored with most sports, baseball will always hold a place in my heart with me growing up within earshot of Riverfront Stadium Here in Cincinnati the baseball home opener is an unofficial regional holiday. I was lucky enough to score tickets to this year's first game so I could take my daughter to her first opening day here in Ohio's Queen City.

I'm breaking my 18 month movie boycott this Thursday since I won some free passes to go see Sin City. Even though I was a comic reader in my younger days, I never did get a chance to read any of Frank Miller's work. So, I'm going in with an open mind. I'll probably post a review over on Travis' boards.

Oh, happy birthday to me, by the way. Hopefully 28 will be more substatial than the last few b-days. At any rate, onward & upward.

-B

'Tis not quite the Season anymore

I'd like to thank the folks at the J.C. Penny's photo department for the tactical snowball placement.

It's going to sound absurdly cliche`, but Christmas really is about kids. I mean, on a larger scale it should be about giving to those who cannot give to themselves, but I'm a realist. I know that we as Americans are a veritable consumer locust swarm beginning the day after Thanksgiving and continuing to ruin the lives of retail employees up through the end of December. Never was this more apparent until my first Christmas post-fatherhood. I'm currently typing this in the third bedroom formerly referred to as "My Office." That is until the grandparent buying consortium unloaded a dumptruck of baubles and playthings into my livingroom. So, "My Office" is now being painted Luau Lavender and rechristened as Olivia's Playroom. All further correspondence will be done from my less than partially finished basement.

-B

Icecream in the Winter

So, this is my first foray into the trendy world of the weblog. I keep thinking that I'm going to end up typing mundane and esoteric crap about my life that noone really wants to read, and then I realize that is really the essence of the blog.

Year one of being a parent is almost over, and so far I would call it a success. It really is hard to believe that this time last year my wife and I were living out of a hospital room wondering why something that seemed so easy for all of our friends was so damn complicated when it came to be our turn to join the fraternal order of mom & dad.

At any rate, Olivia Rose is almost one, and here's to hoping she keeps her mother's nose and her father's eyes. I'll post a picture as soon as I figure out this whole "hosting" thing.

-B