2005 January

My Brothers And Sister

I realize I don’t talk about my family too much, and I really should. I tend to take them for granted, when I really should appreciate them more than I have. I have 2 half-brothers and 2 half-sisters. One half-sister is from my dad’s side, who married a woman who was not my mother, and had Amanda, who is now 20 and is going to University of Florida to major in Fashion.

My other siblings are from my mom, who married a man and had Josh and Amber, who are twins and 17 years old, and a little later, Joey who is 14. Josh and Amber have grown up fast. I remember, very clearly, holding them both in my arms when they were babies. It was such a joy to hold them, knowing they were so fragile, and my new brother and sister. Now they are both taller than me (their dad is over 6 feet tall.) Amber is most like me at her age, very compassionate and understanding. Josh and I were really close when growing up, and since Joey was too young, him and I never really were close. Now Josh is more interested in girls and sports, and I feel like I’m closer to Joey.

What amazes me though is that Joey is 14, yet is very mature and understanding for his age. He is very polite and has impeccable manners. He is sensitive to people around him, which belies his appearance, as he’s a big boy for his age, as he still retains his baby fat, which I believe will disappear when he reaches 16 or 17 years old, as it did for my former stepbrother Joel.

Being the oldest, I am forced to be a good example to them, to provide wisdom to them, and be the one they can talk to and trust for any problem, whether it be for a relationship (puppy love), school, and of course our favorite, peer pressure. It was a good thing they weren’t around me when I was a teen going to high school. I would’ve been a really bad influence, as I was a rebel back then. Now I feel like I am wise and mature enough to impart on them good advice, to be a good big brother, and I enjoy that role now. I’m only (almost) 26 years old, and yet I feel like there’s so much they should learn and appreciate in life.

They came by today, except for Josh who was with a friend, to hang out with me. I cooked dinner for them, and we had a good time. One of my top priorities, is to get pictures of them up and available in the gallery. I’ve realized I don’t have many pictures of them as they are now, and I really need to get a bunch, so I can look back and remember them as kids, because they are growing so fast.

Free Programs Replace Commercial Software

For every commercial software you can’t afford, or don’t want to spend money on, there are free software out there that are equal, and in most cases, better than their paid counterparts.

No, I’m not talking about illegally downloaded programs, I’m talking about freeware (or as some like to call them, pricelessware.) There are a couple of new sites where you can find out where the good freeware programs are at. There’s The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities and then there’s the new online magazine, Free Software Magazine.

Some other great sites for freeware:

• TinyApps - All the software that can fit on a simple floppy.
• Clean Software - Software with no adware or spyware, and are simply clean and free.
• Pricelessware - All the best freeware voted by free software geeks.

Invasion of the Mp3 Blogs

If you’re looking for a place to start finding MP3 blogs where you can download all the free, and legal, music out there, this site compiled a list of them from most popular to least. I’ve bookmarked it, as there are so many, and a lot of them post up some really fantastic music.

A great way to check out MP3 blogs is by using Playr’s bookmarklets to listen to all the music on the blog, and if you find one, you can directly download it. Saves me a lot of time, and makes it easy to find the songs I like.

Do the Whirlwind

Inspired by Keith over at Asterisk, I’ve decided to do a song of the week, where I post a free, and legal, MP3 that I consider worthy enough to be piped into your ears for great enjoyment.

For the very first song, I’ve chosen one that I’ve been looking forward to having since I first heard it on their homepage. Architecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band, and the song I chose, Do the Whirlwind, is based on a dance move that doesn’t even exist. Made up of 8 people, the amount of talent they have with instruments is mind-boggling. From the Pitchfork review:

… xylophone, flute, four different kinds of guitar, glockenspiel, trumpet, tuba, trombone, assorted synths, melodica, thumb piano, clarinet, recorder, bass, and various drums, their tinny din augmented only by a mess of vocals (including contributions by some craggy-voiced kids), handclaps, tap dancers, and finger snaps.

It is infectious, upbeat, and unique. Even though the dance move doesn’t exist, you’ll find yourself wanting to create it as you listen. It doesn’t get more bubblegum than this.

Why, Oh, Why …

Why does my roommate always ask me to cook dinner when I’m too tired to cook? Is it female intuition to get you to feel annoyed? She wants me to make meatloaf. I hate meatloaf, don’t know how to make it, and to add insult to injury, she doesn’t eat beef so I have to use ground turkey. Turkeyloaf, anyone?

Missing Daylate

I like to visit Ultragrrrl’s blog and the other day she posted that her dog went through seizures, and later died. That post capitalized on what I’ve been thinking a lot about the past week, because my dog, Daylate, died a year ago on January 3rd, 2004. He went through a similar experience as Ultragrrrl’s dog did.

Not too many days go by when I don’t think about Daylate. He was an extraordinarily affectionate, obedient, and fun dog to have around. When I needed a break, to relieve stress, or just to smile, I could always count on him to fix me right up. Even though he was 12 years old, he still acted like he was a 1 year old puppy; he never lost his exuberance for life, of seeing his loving masters, and finding joy in the smallest things. He taught me that you don’t need a lot of money to have fun.

The worst part when thinking about him, is I remember exactly how his fur felt when I’d pet him, or how his right rear leg would jerk when I’d scratch him around that special place on his neck, or how he’d look so forlorn when I was eating a juicy hamburger. The memories are crystal clear, and that is the part that hurts the most, even though they are very good memories. I’ve lost family members, but since Daylate was a big part of my daily life, losing him was much more difficult than losing my grandfather, who I loved a lot too. Kind of odd, how that works out.

Site Updates (Again)

Okay, I lied, I decided to change the layout entirely, although the color scheme and some presentation remains the same. Thus I dub this revision of goodblimey.com as 2.5. The major change I made was highlighting what I’m listening to with a larger album cover. Since music is a big part of my life, why not emphasize it in my design?

A couple of changes, as you may have noticed. The sidebar is now on the right, before it was on the left. No particular reason for this, just thought I’d keep you on your toes.

The other change is the addition of the awesome Now Playing section in the sidebar, that shows you what’s playing at the moment on my iPod or iTunes. If it doesn’t change, then I have it on pause. If nothing shows up, then that means either my computer is down or iTunes isn’t running.

This is a neat way for you to see what is currently being piped into my ears the moment you visit the site. Oh, and if you buy the album on Amazon, or the song on iTunes, I get a commission, so that’s a nice bonus. Click the ? link for info on the plugin.