tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31934457947880965832012-01-02T21:27:14.856-08:00...the most significant thing"I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
-Isaac NewtonSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comBlogger5901100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-23974110840564343812010-10-18T12:00:00.000-07:002010-10-24T22:36:59.111-07:00I was the favorite.It's an in-joke with my brothers and sisters. I'm not sure I get the joke. It's possible I was favored somewhat because I was the quiet one. When you have six kids, the quiet one is the favorite.It was nice to be back at the old church, though it's changed somewhat -as we all have. But when I was young, the place was like a second home to me. I remember my mom trying to get me SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-65895157114732968242009-12-31T12:29:00.000-08:002010-02-25T09:05:51.118-08:00Last PostBecause it's time. Because CHANGE is in order! Well, ain't it? Oh, it's a new year. I resolve to redirect these energies elsewhere. Not that I abhor the blog, or anything like that, but I think the effort has been fulfilled. The title feels used, the opinions, redundant. There's no further need to clarify things. You know where I stand. I've done enough damage to my reputation. And now's as good SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-41624114126445613332009-12-30T07:32:00.000-08:002010-01-20T20:11:17.064-08:00The past few days have been a diverting series of misadventures, unlike life back home only in the sense that we are surrounded by some life-affirming, invigorating, astounding beauty. We hiked a bit, explored various gift shops, and sampled local dining fare, leaving a wake of broken crumbly crackers, drinking straw wrappers, and shattered tree ornaments wherever we go. Restaurant servers SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-55629746317644438472009-12-29T07:21:00.000-08:002009-12-30T08:53:39.066-08:00Year-end salutes and salutations from Zion National Park!~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-52846952967520143332009-12-28T07:33:00.000-08:002010-01-03T18:55:11.462-08:00Greetings from behind the Zion Curtain! I ordered two large beers at a restaurant last night and all I got out of it was a series of trips to the men's room. It was a nice men's room. Tidy and fresh. They must give them extra attention here from all the extended use, since 3.2 percent is the maximum alcohol content legally allowed in the beer, if you didn't know. This amounts to little more than SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-74469237772329975442009-12-26T13:55:00.000-08:002009-12-27T09:21:54.711-08:00A terrific Christmas -the first one we've celebrated at home since we were married, since we usually party down in Vegas. But our Little Ditchman is at that wondrous age where The Magic Man will actually, expectedly, slide down her chimney and dispense the annual reward for twelve long, hard months of niceness. She spread reindeer food on the grass (ingredients: oats, glitter, etc.) and when SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-87772523835045022492009-12-25T09:12:00.000-08:002009-12-25T09:15:19.203-08:00When the song of the angels is stilled,When the star in the sky is gone,When the kings and princes are home,When the shepherds are back with their flocks,The work of Christmas begins:To find the lost,To heal the broken,To feed the hungry,To release the prisoner,To rebuild the nations,To bring peace among brothers,To make music in the heart,And to radiate the light of Christ,Every day,In every waySeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-88621101745703088002009-12-24T09:50:00.000-08:002009-12-25T09:53:58.698-08:00In case you're wondering about our ongoing neighborhood saga, tonight my neighbor found a baby on his doorstep. No note. Just a simple, friendly little Christmas miracle. Merry Christmas.~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-49760465752534726602009-12-23T16:47:00.000-08:002009-12-23T18:28:28.048-08:00Other influences:Star Wars.I only mention it because I spent my blogging time today watching this, which is SPOT-ON BRILLIANT:When you have the time, check it all out. Parts 2-7 are here, every second of which illuminates, enlightens, and gives you the closure you have longed for. The analysis of light sabre duels in Part 6 alone is worth [what I'm still spending on] a USC film school tuition (SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-8380281732318341142009-12-22T17:44:00.001-08:002009-12-22T19:52:20.165-08:00Here's something you might not know about me.Influences:Garrison Keillor. Yes, I'm a fan. And yes, I listen to NPR from time to time (though I admit nowadays it's mostly Car Talk and Prairie Home Companion.) I like writing that sounds like it's being read to you. I like it when I'm reading a book and I feel as though I can hear the author telling me the story. Now, I know a lot of people don't SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-697644748027395152009-12-21T17:40:00.000-08:002009-12-21T22:37:23.040-08:00First day of Winter. (The Winter Solstice! It's the reason for the season!)I suppose it's possible that the miscreant who stole my neighbor's baby Jesus was just too poor to afford his own baby Jesus, but in my mind it still ain't right. (See here.) I'm as saddened by that priest as I am by my local cul-de-sac shoplifter, but maybe I'm just Old School Religious, like where, hey man, stealing is SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-69279866022547253732009-12-18T07:57:00.000-08:002009-12-21T22:32:53.551-08:00Here it is folks. Every year I cart it out and prop it up, and every year I laugh:Still can't imagine what went into the making of that album cover. "Stand right there, Ray. Now hold this. You look great!" (**snicker, snicker**) The thought of those horses getting suddenly frightened by the likes of the Ghost of Christmas Past and then just racing off into the snow with a blind musician at the SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-9937856892533942592009-12-17T17:08:00.000-08:002009-12-23T17:55:57.112-08:00Christmas beer! Yes, Virginia, there is such a noble thing.I'm drinking the Jubelale from Deschutes Brewery. Last year it was horrid, undrinkable. Tree sap hopped with the pine needle nests of four calling birds. This year, mmm not so bad... Actually hoppy, with a very nice color.I'm behind on my tour of the Christmas beers this year. For one, they all seem to have gone up in price. This is suckySeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-382278255308228472009-12-15T08:24:00.000-08:002009-12-18T09:00:13.021-08:00Beer and coffee may prevent prostrate cancer. Assuming that this research hasn't been done by climatologists or the Beverage Marketing Board, this is good news! Especially since it specifically lists hoppy beer, my favorite kind. Stick with me kids, we'll live forever!Did I mention we got a new car? We got a new car! This was supposed to be last Wednesday's news, but somehow that day never made SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-58840853511223239572009-12-14T16:22:00.000-08:002009-12-15T07:21:53.628-08:00WHAT A WEEKEND! Okay, I exaggerate. I humbly admit my unqualifiable enthusiasm. It was ho-hum, a December weekend like most other December weekends. One filled with the high hopes of year-end accomplishments, and yet only a paltry few were fulfilled. I made a list. There were eleven tasks. As of right now, only four are crossed off, and two of those were crossed off on the hasty side, as minor SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-20275524297444309682009-12-11T15:57:00.000-08:002009-12-12T07:52:48.894-08:00I can't take it anymore so I'm making a list. Will check it twice. Not going to be nice about it, but things need to get done around here, as it's all just piling up. I can see on the calendar that next week has me fully occupied, so now's the time to get everything else done. It's raining. You're stuck in the house for the weekend. Take advantage of it.I don't think I've ever been more worn out SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-12918449549795849852009-12-10T07:24:00.000-08:002009-12-10T20:28:55.351-08:00Have you been following this story? It broke yesterday.That's an actual, unretouched photo, by the way, and I find it supremely cool. There are more on the link, as well as video. So: aliens? Yes, yes, aliens, yes of course! Obviously! Either that, or the twelfth imam or Jesus or [your deity here] has returned from the heavens, arriving in Norway. Who cares that the Russian military denies any SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-5112047661656385752009-12-08T09:03:00.000-08:002009-12-08T19:25:28.477-08:00Can it be repeated? I kept asking myself, out there on the run this morning. I ran my own little 5K around the suburbs, the one I contrived years ago, the one where it all really started. "My 5k", I call it on my little running calendar. It goes out across the mighty intersection and tours the suburbs. Past the elementary school where the kids will go in a few years, up and over some hills, pastSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-20299403471872104372009-12-07T08:39:00.000-08:002009-12-08T19:32:25.256-08:00The Good Sean of the North's Las Vegas Marathon write-up is more interesting and informative. Here, there's merely this humble offering.At Mile 17 I was feeling like Wayne Newton with a full house, and my sister caught this great action shot of me, high-fiving my brother-in-law:Marathons. What more can be said about them? Well, a lot, actually, but it all sounds redundant to a non-runner. Okay, SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-82181761129234930222009-12-04T09:33:00.000-08:002009-12-04T10:11:59.060-08:00Friday News Roundup:How could they?"As a precaution, he was wearing a full-length stinger-suit, a lightweight version of a wetsuit that covers everything but the face."All men watch porn. ALL OF THEM."The World's 18 Strangest Roadways."Jon Stewart: “Poor Al Gore: global warming completely debunked by the very Internet you invented. Oh, the irony.”More irony.Toy Hannah Montana doll says, "..later SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-86331508166961477982009-12-03T07:58:00.000-08:002009-12-03T12:30:57.963-08:00Oh, no. I hope it's not going to be one of those Christmas's...I am a third of the way through putting up the Christmas lights on the house. Also, we still have the ornament boxes piled around the living room. It's been that kind of week. Putting up the decorations is fun. Dragging the boxes down from the attic and then cleaning up the mess of empty boxes and crumpled newspaper afterward is half SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-69235541085208088702009-12-02T10:53:00.000-08:002009-12-07T22:31:04.075-08:00Christmas!I love Christmas! But so many people find so much about Christmas so upsetting. I fall into that category of people who catch themselves loathing so much about the holiday, who realize their criticism curbs the joy of others, and who then backpedal furiously -No! I love it! I love the holiday! I love the music! The presents! The time with family! I love decorating the tree!- and then SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-54277220608231736662009-12-01T08:26:00.000-08:002009-12-01T22:32:12.495-08:00Last month was National Novel Writing Month, and I failed miserably, again, although last year I didn't even try. This year I actually tried -I signed up, I had a plan, I started a new blog, and then I quit on Day 1. How did you do?I was really going to do it, too. Years back I wrote a lengthy, ambitious screenplay with a dumb, pretentious title and I always thought it would make a fun book. SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-90426228363760828542009-11-30T21:32:00.000-08:002009-12-01T22:28:59.179-08:00Mrs. Ditchman has not had a full night's sleep since before we were married, six and a half years ago. I know this for a fact, since we've not been apart more than a month's time, total, in all those collected nights. I treasure them.I don't think it's what she agreed to, when she said yes to me seven years ago today on the edge of that Grand Canyon, both literal and otherwise. For that matter, SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-73199379381920821992009-11-27T10:44:00.000-08:002010-01-03T19:58:18.735-08:00Thanksgiving accomplished. We won.The slump is history. Now we shall slink into December with all its shimmering promises of a celestial wintertime beauty. Okay, it's Southern California. Let's not overstate things. I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas.But we're feeling good, now. Nothing like piling on the relatives in close quarters and jamming food and wine down their throats to upturn recent SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-48190372785574097312009-11-26T10:13:00.000-08:002009-11-26T10:26:48.821-08:00"None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy. " -Fred De Witt Van AmburghHappy Thanksgiving!~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-69059677099707293222009-11-25T14:17:00.000-08:002009-11-26T10:40:01.681-08:00The Inspector signed off on the cover yesterday -the cover with the big, deep holes filled with concrete, a ton of steel in the posts and headers, and a thousand bolts into the house- so I can finally put that all behind me. More or less. A friendly man is coming to install solar panels atop the overwrought aluminum edifice next week, so I may have to field a few questions. Otherwise, the permit SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-81356906036182397842009-11-24T06:52:00.000-08:002009-11-24T22:49:29.605-08:00We're still in that slump slumping slumpiness, as delineated in yesterday's post. It has to do with old sicknesses and ailments segueing into new ailments and sicknesses with no remarkable transition points. Like when I was on a bus in Europe going from Paris to Amsterdam. At one point we stopped for a pee break for 5 minutes and then got back on and kept going. Someone asked me how I liked SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-65659837865428170872009-11-23T08:07:00.000-08:002009-11-25T19:31:29.185-08:00Spent the weekend learning several new functions on Photoshop. It takes a good long time to learn new Photoshop functions, then experiment with them, and then -finally- administer them to your project. But it takes an inverse amount of time to forget said functions, and, since you won't have to use the functions again for a few months, nay, a year, you will live out that Saturday afternoon all SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-18210873050524775962009-11-20T08:37:00.000-08:002009-11-20T20:28:33.441-08:00Dear Sean,You made some off-handed remark yesterday about not using recycled plot points, but your blog is the same whining and complaining every day about work and kids and not having money and stuff. It's the same every day! All you do is recycle plot points! Get it together! Use some effing creativity! Try writing something of substance! You're better than that. Or, at least, you were once.WhySeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-44575033622581099352009-11-19T10:23:00.000-08:002009-11-19T19:32:30.128-08:00Life is like a comedy sometimes. But it's not like one of those Jim Carrey comedies. It's more like one of those offbeat comedies with a cult following, where some people find it all-out hilarious while the rest of everyone wanders around, intellectually bumping into one another, not getting it.The kids are sick with colds, and it's been cold, and last night the heater failed to. So I spent the SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-90454949244153045652009-11-18T08:10:00.001-08:002009-11-18T08:57:41.177-08:00Okay, enough about the holes. ENOUGH! They're filled, already. I know I've been whining about work a lot lately. I admit it. (Now I know where my 3-year-old gets it.) But, man, I am sore. Seems to be my lot in life. I just can't get these jobs finished. They're dragging on like daytime soaps. (As The Concrete Trailer Turns, The Guiding Shovel, or, my favorite, General Contractor.) Enough!At leastSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-69781922015769149342009-11-17T09:39:00.000-08:002009-11-18T09:00:45.195-08:00In case you're wondering, it took two full trailer loads.
(And cleaning the thing was a b!tch.)~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-85320770838502000552009-11-16T08:38:00.000-08:002009-11-17T09:50:58.508-08:00I was supposed to be up with the concrete guys, but I'm running behind. And "running" is an overstatement since I ran 28 miles yesterday. So I'm lagging behind, with a bit of joint pain. The individual pains aren't too bad, it's just that it's everywhere. But I have to pour 10,000 pounds of concrete today, which involves me renting a concrete mixing trailer and then wheelbarrowing it out back a SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-13442913780980389372009-11-13T09:55:00.001-08:002009-11-16T20:11:10.944-08:00I don't really hate my job. I hate doing the same dumb thing over and over and OVER, day after day, without anything passionate and spectacular happening. I suppose "passionate" and "spectacular" happening day after day would eventually lead to some boring redundancy too, but at least it once was. I'm not sure my job ever was anything. At least, I don't recall in the early days of contracting SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-83032659054318017782009-11-12T07:12:00.000-08:002009-11-13T19:30:50.152-08:00More lampreys.Seriously, the headache won't let up. I think I've had it for a week now. This happens every so often, the headache that won't let up. At first I think it's a side effect of my nightly three-beer regimen, or a lack of fluids after a long run, or perhaps the combination of those dehydrating elements and a long work day without Gatorade. But then the headache lasts through a beer-lessSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-31525317364288872672009-11-11T08:14:00.000-08:002009-11-11T08:32:16.832-08:00I can't blog today. I just can't. Did I mention that I have a headache? Oh, that's sounds so trite. What is happening in my head is more than an ache. It's a week-long pounding of voracious, burrowing brain-lampreys, is what it is.Here's something funny: "I Never Believed the Letters I Read in Penthouse Until it Happened to Me". (It's not what you think.)The lamprey:~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-68220666574894232532009-11-10T07:24:00.001-08:002009-11-10T17:23:20.266-08:00The old 2002 iMac, our downstairs computer, has finally given up the ghost. It's one of the last of the pre-nuptial possessions, so I guess it just never felt like it fit in. The little beast was a workhorse, as I must've burned DVDs in the hundreds on it, and then there were all those times I dragged it out over the ocean to that dusty desert island every summer. In its final days it served as SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-22480805135102246402009-11-09T08:38:00.000-08:002009-11-13T19:38:42.824-08:00I was pleased to see, when I got there, that they had kept that old, high slide, up on that stainless scaffolding. It was always high and steep enough to scare the bejeezus out of a junior high kid, and yet thrill him all the same. Of course, it seems smaller now, but it retains a certain bold highness.It's at Forest Home, where my church held their annual Family Camp this past weekend. A couple SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-91426637943290173892009-11-06T11:35:00.000-08:002009-11-06T12:38:23.238-08:00Oh, thank heavens, the weekend has arrived. It was something of a week of FAIL, but at least I lived to dwell on and regret it. Next week, it's back to digging, so there will be plenty of time for my low self esteem then, as I race to the bottom of a hole, digging deeper, if not to China, then at least to the Great Wall of China footings, which none consider. (I can only imagine how deep they runSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-88512784959481080452009-11-05T08:17:00.000-08:002009-11-13T19:44:24.278-08:00Does your home have a door that sticks? A door that leans open, if left unlatched? Is there an amalgam of dirt, insect corpses and hair from neighbor dogs and the cat that died last year piled in the slider track? If so, then your home is like mine.Nearly every door in my home has something small wrong with it. The pains are too small to warrant a half hour fix, with most of that time devoted to SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-7491937418699504032009-11-04T07:39:00.000-08:002009-11-04T18:48:00.310-08:00Look! It's a werewolf cupcake! (And the one astride it is an owl.)My neighbor, the architect of the brilliant Halloween cupcakes, was no doubt Dammit. I just got up in the middle of writing that sentence, returned, and now I have no idea where I was going with it.Anyway, she befriended me on Facebook yesterday, saw the blog, and then sent me the pic, justifiably proud of the accomplishment. I SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-52504304741114330962009-11-03T08:47:00.000-08:002009-11-03T09:19:14.855-08:00Busy day. But I can stop and point out to you the vast global conspiracy to hide the truth that STAR WARS WAS REAL. It's all documented at www.iswwr.com. (IfStarWarsWasReal.com)Don't believe me? Check out the site's photo archives. The stuff on Palpatine Oil I found especially compelling. Why the forces of darkness want to keep us, er, in the dark, is beyond me. Here are some samples:The truth isSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-72546491581951694622009-11-02T07:32:00.000-08:002009-11-02T18:54:13.011-08:00Tired of the mire of unaccomplished things, I was going to make a TO DO list for November. I keep putting it off. I begin, but I pause, and consider the things this month that will get in the way of the list: Christmas decorations, Thanksgiving, unexpected burst water mains and wrecked or broken transport vehicles. The calendar already shows every weekend filled, and I don't know how it happened.SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-34335364143563323532009-10-31T21:31:00.000-07:002009-10-31T21:32:06.073-07:00~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-36883701003126596012009-10-30T08:52:00.000-07:002009-11-01T07:37:48.036-08:00Happy Halloween. It's that great American holiday where you get to dress like an idiot and bribe people to give you candy, as opposed to Easter, that great American holiday where you have to dress nice and you get candy for doing nothing, or Christmas, where it's just candy for a month and no one really cares what you wear.It's all princesses and carnivores here in the cul-de-sac, though I did SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-52574104650058429802009-10-29T08:18:00.000-07:002009-10-29T09:33:18.741-07:00Well, this explains our marital success. A recent study showed that the couples who were happiest and had the lowest divorce rate were those where the woman was at least five years younger than her husband -- and when she's better educated.Mrs. Ditchman happens to be five years younger than me, and put that extra year of college under her belt to secure the diploma. Lucky me, today the statisticsSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-79227602631230440182009-10-28T17:30:00.000-07:002009-10-28T19:33:15.602-07:00I am feeling pretty good today, thank you for asking. The knee pain went away just as soon as I stopped running on it, and my understanding is that it comes back when you start running again, which is what makes the healing so tricky. And my fist feels great until I start pounding nails with it! (Maybe that's not a good metaphor.) Anyway, I'm going to have to talk myself into a couple days off, SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-22806729877274514732009-10-27T13:27:00.000-07:002009-10-27T18:39:12.871-07:00Blew out my knee today.Okay, not really. I think I'm fine. But I was at Mile 21.5, just a few paces past the Here Be Dragons! sign when something in my left knee went pop! I hesitated, limped a bit, and then started into it again and there was a pop-pop-pop-pop, like a flat tire on the freeway. So I quit right there, and walked the rest of the way home. I'm man enough to know when far is SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-47490865792910229682009-10-26T10:34:00.000-07:002009-10-26T14:44:39.001-07:00As Mrs. Ditchman headed out the door for work this morning I said something like, "I feel that everything is a mess right now, from the house all the way to work, and I don't know how to make sense of it." She was in agreement, but that's the way it's always meted out to us after one of our great-gatsbyian party weekends. There are no servants.Her side of the family rolled in on Friday, stayed, SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-89767547800807819922009-10-23T07:35:00.000-07:002009-10-27T18:44:37.622-07:00DRYER UPDATE: It was the thermal fuse, for those of you wagering from home. The ignitor is fine. I found an ohmmeter for $15 at Home Depot and looked into it myself. Further research online showed that this was the most common culprit of Whirpool dryer failure. I put on my Construction t-shirt and went down to the appliance parts place, were I was surprised to find a collection of extraordinarilySeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-31042867377858956452009-10-22T05:49:00.000-07:002009-10-22T18:47:11.727-07:00Attention family: I believe there would be a substantial increase in domestic productivity if everyone would stay in bed until there is at least some semblance of daylight outside. The reasons for being up before the crack of dawn are few, and I see no reason to repeatedly exploit them. The daddy is tired, and the mommy, moreso. Daylight Savings is coming in a week and if we persist in the whimsySeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-91011192835403040722009-10-21T08:48:00.000-07:002009-10-27T18:47:52.459-07:00How do you like our new washer and dryer? Nice, huh! Okay, so not really. But it would be, if we had found $2000 in change within the old dryer casing. Our dryer broke, which surprised me, because my money was on washer failure. (Dryers are known to last a century, but washers not so much, the way men don't live as long as women. Anyway, you need both. You could get by without one or the other, SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-18713924897848025372009-10-20T09:44:00.000-07:002009-10-21T07:19:12.465-07:00How was the Home Show? It was like most all the other Home Shows, and thank you for asking. After sitting and staring at the booth filled with granite and stone, on the other side of the aisle, Mrs. Ditchman got bored and got up, went over there and started pricing stuff out for our bathroom. Mrs. Ditchman! Get back to work so we can afford that stuff!Some weekends of business are trial and errorSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-11195479464279161182009-10-17T07:22:00.000-07:002009-10-17T21:25:42.960-07:00Home Show. Home Show! Oh, I was trying to be enthusiastic, there, but what's the use? Ditchman Aluminum, and all associated bank accounts, are approaching desperate levels, and that right before the holidays. It happens sometimes. Questions arise: if I put that extra coat of paint on the display, will it attract that one necessary customer who will provide work for the family for another week? IfSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-55105908944303038182009-10-15T20:28:00.000-07:002009-10-21T17:47:21.400-07:00Does this concern you? The Chinese have created a Black Hole. A Black Hole! It sucks in and warps space-time! Light cannot escape! What do you do with your own black hole? I don't know. Hide things in it? Destroy the earth? Jump in, escape, forget everything.And Al Qaeda has infiltrated the LHC which can't be good. What the terrorists will do when they get their dirty bomb hands on the elusive SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-76144155423449948782009-10-14T18:14:00.000-07:002009-10-15T07:49:58.624-07:00Jonathan said it was a "negative split", which is a term I'd never heard before. I'm not inclined to the "negative split", and, I suspect, neither are most people, which is probably why I've never heard of the term. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it was my first. I like the idea of it, and it seems perfectly profound: a negative split. As if running was a way of turning and fighting.And no, really: I SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-39875899368881672172009-10-12T09:05:00.000-07:002009-10-12T22:03:35.863-07:00I indulged in the running of the 25th annual Long Beach Marathon yesterday, which was perfectly enjoyable, and I have little pain today as a result, as if to prove it. And I say "indulged" because it is tough on Mrs. Ditchman to get up pre-dawn and drag the children a hundred miles to a lesser-known city, and then haul through traffic and road closures, embattled with 50,000 other spectators and SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-56927903133423593862009-10-09T09:48:00.000-07:002009-10-09T11:41:11.418-07:00Yesterday.Morning:Afternoon:Day's end:Of course, you can see the subtle difference in height that was originally problematic and required adjustment. By "adjustment" I mean I had to hack off that one corner of the roofline, there. It wasn't pretty. But, I guess you can't see the damage now, and everyone is happy. The inspector comes today, and I won't be there. I'll be here. Doing today, what I SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-36943731019479975692009-10-08T07:33:00.000-07:002009-10-09T08:10:29.266-07:00Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that job I was on where the general said the inspector could "bite him"? Apparently, he did. I got a panicked call yesterday that the patio cover was too low, by about a few inches. Now, I had called the guy before I installed it to tell him that there would be an issue with the height, and that's when he said "height is not an issue on this job" and "theSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-88326331657369482782009-10-07T09:05:00.000-07:002009-10-07T19:50:22.884-07:00I'm just digging the new Dylan album. I respect those who can't stand Dylan, can't understand Dylan, and just don't get him entirely. I used to be like that. And then one day, some trickster angel flipped a previously unnoticed switch in my brain, and I suddenly changed my mind, and fell for his music.The old minstrel is 68 now. In 1988, when I graduated from high school and hated him, he went onSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-68367892755786410012009-10-06T08:49:00.000-07:002009-10-06T19:37:39.026-07:00Neither will I be running today. I am still experiencing soreness, though I suspect that it's from that episode of incidental digging yesterday. Seems I've been digging a lot lately. No good reason, really. I dig. Dig? When was the last time you dug? I mean really dug -throwing your back into it, quickly-blistered palms, earth-rising-around-you digging? You envy me, don't you?I suspect not. Get SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-11285350655135463312009-10-05T08:52:00.000-07:002009-10-06T19:41:59.435-07:00I will not be running today.And, thank Jehovah, it is a relief. My hip flexors and iliotibial bands are ready to abandon the tour altogether, and leave me in a slump here at the house. I've run 31 out of the last 34 days, in some vague attempt at peak performance, or, at least, fitness, discipline, and consistency. I succeeded! Well, okay, somewhat.I read Half-Fast from time to time, and it is SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-10263502254351631562009-10-02T10:37:00.000-07:002009-10-02T16:40:53.628-07:00It's a Friday, end of the work week, first Friday in October, and the only day of the week that begins with F -as if any of that mattered. I went to sleep last night with a thousand plans for Friday, and then awoke this morning with the will for none of them. Could barely make it through the first cup of coffee. I am pressing on, however. It's 10:30. The morning is half over, and that's half of aSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-27523965451589049612009-10-01T08:45:00.000-07:002009-10-04T21:23:39.316-07:00I believe the family has fully adapted to the automatically-opening, motion-sensing trash can in the kitchen. It was not difficult, though I admit there are side effects. Sometimes, late at night, when I'm tired, I wave my hand in front of the toilet seat and wait for it to pop up. This always ends the same way: with me looking around to see if anyone noticed.But it appears that we are not the SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-83355084543663330452009-09-30T09:19:00.000-07:002009-10-01T09:27:37.816-07:00I think that I shall never see,A stump as lovely as a tree.But in my attempts to loose it free,It seems the tree has stumped me.Rented a stump grinder yesterday because, well, I have stumps, which are a common side effect of chainsaws. The stumper is a helluva thing. A big ugly combustion engine bolted to a spinning metal disc with large toothy claws that will rasp their way past the centre of SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-82022817857063101062009-09-29T10:05:00.001-07:002009-10-01T22:17:52.512-07:00So I installed Mac OS X Snow Leopard AND HAVE SEEN NO NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE. It cost me forty dollars. What did I get? Peace of mind? Rounder, fuller periods? Well, I did notice the ON/OFF switch seems to work a little faster. In the past, if you put the computer to sleep, it seemed to take a few minutes to fluff its pillows and toss in the sheets before it could find that sweet spot on the cyberSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-25001284235964749402009-09-28T09:31:00.000-07:002009-09-29T19:16:02.756-07:00Making some changes around here! CHANGE! And the many definitions of the word are not lost on this household. It's a grand, fluid word, change, and brings to mind the hope of newness, fresh beginnings, and clean diapers. Think of change and you consider those spare coins in your right pocket, wondering if that will cover the autumnal landscaping you have in mind. Change! Because, well, you're SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-86294070228161505752009-09-26T07:08:00.001-07:002009-09-28T19:42:41.562-07:00Man, I flopped out this week on the blog. Significant things befell me all week, and yet most of the significant befalling was reserved for me and this blog. What can I say? I built an aluminum patio cover. It was hot. Mrs. Ditchman had to work and there was all manner of child juggling. I got a few runs in. I was busy. I was bothered. Same old stuff.Then again... I met with a man about SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-13993464613215459142009-09-22T22:17:00.000-07:002009-09-23T19:33:40.405-07:00Just watched the House season premiere. What's that? How could I watch House when you just know we were busy watching Dancing With The Stars last night? Through the magic of DVR, that millennial fetish cult that so many have been sucked into. Yes, first the iPhone, and now DVR. We are sad. But sad and hip!House! I hear you asking, "Is there really room on television for another medical drama?" SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-39790050006843669852009-09-21T07:10:00.000-07:002009-09-22T22:16:04.839-07:00The president went on all the news shows on Sunday (well, all but that one on that top-rated cable news channel -the one that rhymes with "pox") to sell his Health Plan, er, Program, or, System, whatever he calls it. Anyway, it's not a tax, though even George Stephanopoulos on ABC seemed to think it was a tax. So sure, was George, that he pulled out the Webster's Dictionary definition of "tax", SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-11247563608674953762009-09-18T20:33:00.001-07:002009-09-18T22:49:29.827-07:00Avast and arrr, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day! Again! Has it been a year already? I guess if you talk like a pirate all day, every day, like I do, a year goes by pretty fast. Anyway, it all means HOME SHOW, which is a work weekend.I set up the new display booth today, down at the harbor. "New" in the sense that the old one was dinged and scratched beyond repair, beyond belief, beyond the scope of SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-5029802552833620942009-09-17T20:19:00.000-07:002009-09-18T11:32:12.885-07:00What is it like to have your own home, family business? Let me count the ways.Everything that goes wrong is your fault. Everything that goes right, must be profitable. If it's not profitable, it went wrong somewhere and you are to blame. You must have a myriad of phones, all with slightly different rings. They can all ring, at any and all hours, every day of the week, and no one will answer them SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-72998068709299550922009-09-16T16:55:00.000-07:002009-09-16T18:52:05.289-07:00I really should change that "Posting M-F" quote down there on the sidebar. Seems I just can't keep up nowadays, what with this new schedule and all. I've been hitting work earlier, which I despise, but there must be something else occupying me. Not sure what it is... Anyway, I'll get around to changing the sidebar one of these days, as my readership drops off.I had the time to blog last night, SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-9409451833747250862009-09-14T19:27:00.000-07:002009-09-16T16:52:14.971-07:00I am getting the itch to rip everything out of the house that I don't like. This includes certain cabinetry, flooring, random sections of drywall, some clothes, selected computer equipment, and, in some cases, entire rooms. (But not, I promise you, people.) I'm not sure about this itch, but I want to scratch it, and scratch it hard. I will draw blood if that's what it takes to relieve the itch -SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-53159538872311353102009-09-11T18:57:00.000-07:002009-09-20T14:49:21.019-07:00Man, what a mess I've made of my daily routine! 7:00PM and I'm sitting down to blog a bit, while the kids are getting some dinner, wife in the shower. Me, I got back from a run at about 5:00. This is all wrong. See what happens when all the phones ring at once at 8:00AM?Messed with me, it did. We have FIVE phones in the house, by the way, if you count the fax machine. Seven, actually, since two SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-38168140662101840542009-09-09T15:39:00.000-07:002009-09-11T21:03:05.748-07:0009/09/09! Awesome! Life hasn't been this great since 08/08/08! To celebrate, at 9:09:09 AM this morning I drank 9 cups of coffee and tonight at 9:09:09 PM I am going to pound 9 beers, watch channel 99. According to this article, [the date 09/09/09] represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we'll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium (mark your SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-40557682462901936812009-09-08T19:18:00.000-07:002009-09-08T23:13:36.077-07:00An excellent Labor Day weekend was had, and thus, the summer ends, as so many summers have at this age. There are another couple of weeks left, of course, and if the public school system kept your kids 24/7, those last two weeks of summer would be duly enjoyed by all the parents in the land, but alas... what a waste.Still... excellent all the same. Mrs. Ditchman and I connived our unsuspecting SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-1958966008226097482009-09-04T12:15:00.000-07:002009-09-04T23:26:34.957-07:00One more pic of good ole' Larry's house in La Canada. Not much can be said about it, as it speaks for itself, eh? Pretty sure it's the same view from a lot of houses in La Canada, La Crescenta, Tujunga, Altadena, et al. Moonscape-ville. Welcome to Tranquility Base. If I had a helicopter, I would fly over my house and take pictures all the time. Does every pilot do this? Fly over, circle once or SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-34934662828271274152009-09-03T09:31:00.000-07:002009-09-03T10:08:24.701-07:00Where have I been? Oh, who cares. Work, that's where. WORK. Yesterday was hot and busy, through and through. Got home after the sun went down, and almost sat to blog about it in one big, extended complaint, and then thought the better of it. I mean, who wants to hear about that?Monday I have no excuse for. I was home for most of the day. I had a bit of time here and there, but I just didn't sit SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-16087096900398472842009-09-01T09:47:00.000-07:002009-09-01T17:49:30.039-07:00If you live long enough, eventually you see your old high school turned into an evacuation center for some local disaster or another, as I have this past weekend. I mention the Southland wildfires every year, and was gearing up for it again come October, but the annual conflagrations have lit up the night sky a bit early this season, and without the wind.No wind! Which is the greatest blessing ofSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-11398756957447695132009-08-28T09:13:00.000-07:002009-08-28T15:05:24.999-07:00BUTTERFLY GARDEN - FINAL REPORTI saw a butterfly, actually, sweep past a week or two ago. He glided over the yard and shook his little entomologic insectoid head. Oh, well. At least we've got pumpkins!No time -no more time today. Gotta get out and sell patio covers. Good day for it, as it's hotter than a...Have a lepidopteran weekend. Last one of August.~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-51751273447951203542009-08-27T07:52:00.000-07:002009-08-27T09:53:53.586-07:00In my dream I was installing some large, lighted signs on the roof of a new local business, a pizza restaurant. They were having a big party, and guests as well as customers began to arrive. Things were getting more frantic with all the people showing up, and the owners were becoming insistent that I get the job done quickly. I was having trouble finding my helper, who was supposed to be out SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-25116528041980792552009-08-26T09:38:00.000-07:002009-08-26T10:49:53.435-07:00Something boring: I am currently pained by the Apple iDVD program. Why must it switch around my menu photos? Why won't it stick with the background music I ascribe? Just because a DVD can hold 4.7 gigabytes of data and I've assigned 4.699999 to it, what seems to be the holdup? Is the OS upgrade that arrives on Friday going to make a difference? Do I need to upgrade my old video card again? SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-75706318498140101862009-08-25T17:59:00.000-07:002009-08-26T08:21:41.278-07:00Ergh. I am annoyed by passwords. Who knew that the future would hold so many passwords? When you were a kid it was fun, barring the door on the treehouse. What's the password? you'd blurt between the paneling. "Weenersnot" someone would reply, and you'd snicker and let them in. (Or alternately: "Buttscab", "Poopnipple", and "Koochpube", depending on the day of the week.) It was the only password SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-72968805937000160752009-08-24T16:16:00.000-07:002009-08-25T07:56:41.744-07:00Jambo! I've taken to posting in the late afternoon recently, if you hadn't noticed. I guess it's better than not. Seems I've been working early, which also is better than not, I guess, (depending on the work and depending whether or not it merits and wins appropriate pay, one supposes.) Jambo all the same. How can you make it through the day without a blog-friendly Tanzanian greeting?It was a SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-9190292208043452942009-08-21T10:20:00.000-07:002009-08-21T16:16:09.991-07:00Oh, damn. I'm late for work AGAIN. But at what cost? I finished copying files from the old, cow-graffitid Gateway! Windows 98! It wouldn't recognize the USB thumb drive to save its life, (which I guess it knew I eventually wouldn't) but I finally figured it out. It was like explaining an iPhone to Mr. Edison. So, down to the garage the old beast goes. That's 2 square feet of office space we couldSeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-70299922609311906132009-08-20T16:56:00.000-07:002009-08-21T08:28:52.097-07:00I woke at 10:15PM on the couch last night and thought I can still sleep a bit more here and get up to bed at a reasonable time without Mrs. Ditchman chiding me for it. She'll just think I'm watching tv. Woke again at 2:00AM and went upstairs.Brushed my teeth, climbed into bed, and laid there for a moment wondering why I was too tired to bring myself up to bed in the first place. It was colder SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-36914011935208193622009-08-19T14:46:00.000-07:002009-08-22T09:12:42.037-07:00"Armadillo" is the word my group of friends have used as a code word in conversations with third parties to quietly inform the friend (usually drunk, depending on the friend) that he has crossed the line of social acceptability with the third party, like a conversational kick under the table. I consider the word something of a dumb choice, in that it's hard to work into a conversation SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-52103252762520426472009-08-18T08:53:00.000-07:002009-08-18T21:33:59.553-07:00Lately, I've been obsessed with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment in that never-ending pursuit of a clearer understanding of The Self. The MBTI has been around for fifty years or so, and you probably remember taking it in high school or college or for some lame office job you had once. It's the psychometric questionnaire that breaks down your entire personality into a four-letter word; SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-72939418532258320742009-08-17T15:25:00.000-07:002009-08-17T20:49:20.258-07:00Well, I feel like an unenthusiastic failure , and unburdened with optimism. The Burden of Optimism might have been the title of Obama's bestselling book, if he had wanted me to read it, but he settled on The Audacity of Hope, which was clearly a wise move. The subtle difference between the two titles delineates the difference in character between us. Don't ask me to explain it. And unfortunately SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-15590711341625221792009-08-14T08:53:00.000-07:002009-08-14T13:06:04.557-07:00Today is the birthday of The Most Significant Thing! TMST turns 2 today, which isn't particularly significant. What is significant is that it is the same day as little Grace's birthday, which makes it all easy to remember.I'm going to be celebrating these high and holy holidays by continuing the 2-week long TMST hiatus through Sunday, and then diving back in with my 500th post on Monday.MAKE IT SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-7852719370301568112009-08-12T09:55:00.000-07:002009-08-15T07:37:26.313-07:00Just thought I'd mention that I'm still alive. Home, though not entirely back, from camp. It was an amazing week. What can one say about it?Well, a lot, actually, but I'm late for work, surrounded by mess. If you demand more about last week's happenings, you can check out some of it on YouTube, here.Superb, unmitigated adolescent fun!~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-36593795563465165472009-08-03T06:04:00.000-07:002009-08-17T20:52:39.782-07:00Unretouched, Monday morning sunrise out at Camp Fox, Catalina Island:I'm at camp! It is beautiful here, and I won't be posting much at all this week, sorry to say. Summer camp! It's where the season crests, and for a moment you're forever young. It's quite a sight, and really something.~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-73801847012455413202009-07-31T23:19:00.000-07:002009-07-31T23:29:52.724-07:00Is it too late to blog? Is it ever too late to blog? A few minutes before midnight and I thought I'd click here and plug in, for no good reason but to say I was still alive, for those who were wondering. Wonder no more -I'm just keeping busy, and keeping my distance from the interverse.Just looked up "interverse" on Google. Seems I made the word up.Okay, good night.~SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-20389750969911944352009-07-30T07:25:00.000-07:002009-07-30T09:44:16.277-07:00The president has finally touched a nerve. WARNING: Politics ahead!How could he?Because Bud Light is the most popular beer in the world, and he felt it was a safe pick. Because our president is not a beer drinker and sadly knows nothing of the stuff. Because, because, because, because! Bud Light is also not owned by an American company, so there's an offense there as well.Officer Crowley, easily SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-4165177668532874062009-07-29T07:43:00.000-07:002009-07-29T10:26:13.069-07:00We are a fully integrated Mac family now, for better or for worse. For better! (I see your eyeroll and raise you.) After waiting some months for the corporate gods to announce their new product upgrades at the WWDC, we got in touch with our connections and placed the order for the new family laptop. Well, business laptop. Okay, Mrs. Ditchman's laptop. (It's a tax write-off all the same.)Our "SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-24548305712682257972009-07-28T20:07:00.000-07:002009-07-28T21:47:37.989-07:00Well, this is interesting. I mean, interesting in the fact that of course there are underwater aliens! Everyone knows that! I doubt a bunch of men in close quarters in a Russian submarine would ever hallucinate after a while. And who knew that Russian subs had windows? Let's see the government try and write these perfectly legitimate sightings off as undersea swamp gas, or experimental ocean SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-71449633297597208042009-07-27T08:35:00.000-07:002009-07-28T21:51:19.177-07:00Woke this morning a tad melancholic, which would make me angry if I let it, since I have no truly legitimate reason to be either melancholic or angry, but it happens sometimes. One reason: I didn't have a good dinner last night, nor much of a lunch yesterday. And then I had a dream where I was living in Pasadena again, with Carey. It was a nighttime dream, which is an atmospheric occurrence used SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193445794788096583.post-86509649648612676372009-07-24T08:04:00.000-07:002009-07-24T18:03:46.646-07:00OH, I've been beat down all week by the merciless Ramona heat. Ramona, which is where I'm working, is a stone's throw from Hell's doorstep, and I feel like a cauterized blotch on the southland desertscape. It's where all the fires start down here in Southern California. It's that hot. Things just catch fire spontaneously. No, really. I was admiring a sunflower in someone's backyard and it caught SeanHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060867976078244800noreply@blogger.com