I have been catching up on a few blogs recently. Mostly friends' blogs. This exercise reminded me that I haven't posted for a vey long time.

Lately, the question has been raised, "what is the purpose of a weblog?" I would say its an outlet. Its a place to express [whatever]. Its not a place to build a brand. Its not a place to sell things. Its a place where people go to read candid information about anything from "How to fix mp3 headers for iTunes" to "the modern definition of kosher for the non-Jewish" (hey, how do you get tyhose really pretty urls with dasblog?)  Its a place to express and proliferate your personal opinion and / or stream of consciousness to the outside world at large. So there! If you were curious or you were confused, chill out and enjoy some useless information coming...

So I haven't posted for a while. Its not because I have nothing to say, quite the reverse: Its because I have been busy. I am no longer an independent contractor. I am now a regular employee of [My Employers Company). Yes, I used to work for them. I then resigned and hung out my consultant shingle. They were the first to snatch me up. I worked a couple of small gigs but mostly just consulted (contracted) for [My employers company] (see, I don't want Google to think this site is relavent for their name, Google is important). They hired me back on. Now I get to participate in Sexual Harassment training and be included on major business discussions (up front rather then after the fact). That's good because I am working toward an architecture role. I have been working in that capacity to some extent, as most senior developers do, but now its official. Actually, its not official. Its that thing that no one says that everyone knows but can't admit. The position of Architect is not yet available. That's an HR thing. Regardless, I am focusing on Architect subject matter and trying to find my proper place within a very strange organization. ...and here is where that blog question comes into the spotlight. While a blog is a personal site, it is public and readily available. You have no idea who will read what, when. That is why some of my friends have struggled to find their blog "sweet spot" recently. You have to be respectful to the subjects of your posts. So I will not say anything funny here about my employer (though I would like to make jokes because jokes are fun) because they are a very effective company that does not suffer from any deficiency of corporate irony. Anyone reading out of context could be confused or mislead and get the wrong idea. So, corporate jokes withheld.

I have been spending lots of time with my wife and son. This is absolutely fantastic. We've had a great summer. We just delivered baby girls A and B to our in-laws via a very exciting surrogacy and now we get to be a simple family again. Everyone is doing great.

I have been playing in a band. That band hasn't gotten together for a couple of weeks due to schedules but its coming along nicely. The music is great, we alll jive like a band should. I'll let you know when there's something to hear.

There's a second band in the works. This one is a smaller project with different objectives. While the first is all about fun, the second is all about music and gigs. Neither are trying to get a national tour. With the second project, the musicians are very motivated. They are a little more focused on results. The first is focused on having a good time, playing out for some friends, having some laughs, and producing a few cd's along the way. Between these and my personal home experiments, my three years of draught should be followed with a Sunami of new material. More to come...

I lost a cat, Leia. It is unclear the cause of death but it was either dog or car. I'll leave it at that. She was a sweat cat but as dumb as a box of rocks. I once went out to the car during a rain storm and heard a horrible squealing. I looked down to find that she had gotten stuck in the chain link fence. At first I thought she had gotten pinched under it but she had actually pushed, with some force, her head through the middle of the fence. She couldn't get it back out and was very upset. The rain had been coming down on her for a while and she could only flail with her head completely immobile in the fence, which she had been doing. I cut the fence and brought her inside. She didn't care to go out for some time. I wish she didn't care to go out at all but, once they taste that freedom, its difficult to convince them to stay inside. We'll miss her. Her sister, Luke, is very lonely. We'll probably stop by the shelter soon and find a friend.

I had a break in, two actually, cell phones stolen from cars in my driveway. Ironically, yesterday, I drove down to the edge of the hood to purchase my cellphone back from the thief for $50. The police refused to help. They wouldn't even take a report over the phone. Nice, eh? First the whole courtroom shooting on national television and now this. My confidence in them has reduced to a number less then zero. Nonetheless, It was a fun experience, very exciting. Only now, the excitement has turned to anxiety. The most logical response to repeat criminals threatening my sense of safety and security in my home when the cops won't help is clearly to arm myself. Sorry, anti-gun folk, its time daddy make absolutely certain that, should one of these crack-smoking, desperate, thoughtless, useless, wastes of perfectly good oxygen decides to come inside my house, they will leave with more holes in them then they came out with. No uncertainty is acceptable here, I have a son and a wife. Yes, I will keep it and the ammo locked separately and get trained with it. I'll also purchase the laser site to make doubly sure.

Let's find something on a happy note to end with. I just came back from a trip to Rosemary Beach, FL. If you haven't been there or seen it, check it out. Its fantastic. The weather was perfect. The company even better. I can't wait to go back. My tan is better this year then its been since I was 18 and worshipped the sun. ...and that's with spf 15, baby. Not that it matters when I'm tanning a fat belly and flabby love handles. At least I'm in the gym regularly again. Maybe I'll get on top of it...

There's so much more to tell but I'll save it for another post.