Spider Web

We've been having a bunch of rain lately, so I was really amazed to go outside today and see this GIANT spider web that must have spanned two feet at least and was about 12 feet off of the ground in our Red Maple tree on the side of our house. I'm hoping it will still be there tomorrow and that I can catch some better pictures of this.

Tagged by Lindzy (and others)

Things That Scare Me
~Freak Accidents
~Being falsely accused of a crime
~Cancer

People Who Make Me Laugh
~Me
~My Kids
~Seinfeld
~My blogger friends

Things I Hate the Most
~Litterbugs
~Bad Drivers
~Hate

Things I Don't Understand
~Why bad things happen to good people
~Why good things happen to bad people
~Religions

Things I Want to do Before I Die
~Live
~Vacation in Greece, Italy and Ireland
~See my kids graduate college

Things I Can Do
~Play guitar
~Play the banjo rather poorly
~Put up with pain

Ways to Describe My Personality
~Humorous
~Humorous
~Humorous

Things I Can't Do
~Draw or paint
~Write poetry
~keep my opinions to myself

Things I Think You Should Listen To
~Your gut instinct
~The sounds of nature
~Your kids

Things You Should Never Listen To
~Gossip (sure, why the hell am I blogging then?)

Things I'd Like to Learn
~To read music better
~To make ceramics
~To sing

Favorite Foods
~Ice cream
~Grilled chicken or a nice cut of beef
~Fresh fruits

Beverages I Drink Regularly
~Water
~Cranberry/Grape juice
~OJ
~I love a good Ale but I'm not supposed to drink

Shows I Watched as a Kid
~Leave it to Beaver
~Rat Patrol
~Bugs Bunny cartoons

Martin Guitar Tour

Last week I went on a tour of the Martin Guitar factory in PA. I don't own a Martin, I own a Gurian which in my opinion is comparable in the price range ($1500- $2000) but the factory that made my guitar burned down in the early 1980s so there goes that tour. I've never been to a guitar shop like this before, it was a wonderful experience. They take you around and show you all of the steps involved in making a guitar. The normal process is roughly 60 weeks from start to finish although they can fast track it to about 10 weeks. They make about 300 guitars a day too and the average price is about $3000. One thing that was very cool is that while you wait for the tour to start, they have a bunch of guitars that you can play. Many of them are in the $7000-$8000 range. Those were real nice. They also have a pickin parlor that they keep locked where they have even nicer guitars. I was able to get in there too. The factory is about 1 1/2 hours from my house, there is no charge for the tour and they also have a museum there that has a bunch of vintage guitars plus some of the special edition ones they made. All in all it was a fun time.

No Soup For You!!!!

The Original Soup Nazi has opened a franchise of his Soup Kitchens. This one is on Lexington Ave around 55th street in NYC

This billboard could only appear in NYC

Are you SURE you want to remove that?

I bet he gets a lot of dates.

I keep thinking of the joke:
Did you hear about the guy with 5 penises?
His underwear fit him like a glove...

Grif

I'm sure this may sound strange to some and to others it doesn't, but I kind of feel that Dylan was put on this earth for Dana to learn from and Grif is here for me to learn from. Not that I don't love Dylan because I love him so much, but I think there's a slightly different connection that I have with Griffin. It's also possible that it's late, I had a beer so I'm babbling a bit. I don't think it's unusual for parents to have a favorite child. I know our love is supposed to be equal and unconditional but it sometimes isn't. The thing about Grif is that we often have a lot of fun together. I did with Dylan too but now it's different. I suppose that I have grown a lot as a man/father and that could be why I feel this way now. Today, Dylan was playing with one of his friends who is a little bit older. Usually they include Griffin but today was not one of those days. Dylan is at that age (nearing 13) where he doesn't want his kid brother around (nor his Dad either) and I can respect that. So Grif and I went swimming (the water is cooling down to about 77 degrees) for a while. I have been teaching him to swim and today he did the length of the pool, 24 feet, doing the doggie paddle. He's taken off over the past two weeks with his swimming. He went from being afraid of the pool to being an otter. After an hour of swimming we went to the Castle, a place for mini golf. They have other things there but we like the golf. After a round of that, we went to the snack bar, then off to get some pizza. We hit the supermarket next then headed home. It was getting late and it has been raining but he asked if we could go swimming, the Magic Words for me. I said sure, let's go. So I lit all tiki torches and off we went. Dylan and Tyler didn't want anything to do with it. Grif doesn't bat an eye, he approaches the pool deck and off he goes. I of course, have to just follow him in. I can see him swimming with me near the end of September in 62 degree water. I just feel we have this bond. Of course, there was one point when I was watching Runaway Jury that he's begging me to make him a roasted marshmallow on our electric stovetop. I kept trying to divert his attention to one of the other fine snacks like Fruit by the Foot or Oreos. Bascially, something that didn't require me to get up off my lazy butt in the middle of a movie to make something that I never really tried myself doing on an electirc stove. As it turned out, I caved in and made him the best looking golden brown toasted marshmallow that there ever was in the entire world. He hugged and kissed me and told me this was the best day he's ever had and how he loves me so much and how I'm the best Dad in the whole wide world. He always tells Dana he loves her infinity, but tonight he said he loves me infinity too.
Boy, can that kid work me or what... :-)

Sunflower - Inspired by Paula

I took this at the Farm last Sunday.
These had to be at least 9 feet tall

Old Meets New

This poor deer is probably saying WTF? A few months ago there were woods here. Grif and I threw a bunch of apples from our tree over there and I saw two deer eating them.

Griffin Takes the Plunge

I know Dogga noticed the name...

WTF is This?

I remember when they used to be chocolate covered...

South Street Seaport - NYC

We went to the South Street Seaport in NYC yesterday. It was great. It was a beautiful day to begin with. The boys haven't been there before for starters and it's been years since Dana and I went there. We had a tour of two masted ships that was interesting. We also went into the Museum that is there but it was so cold, we left. One thing that is playing down there is the Bodies exhibit where they have preserved bodies that reveal all of the muscles and circulatory systems and such. We will save it for another time. Griffin had a hat, sword and sheath made from ballons and we voluntered Dylan to be this street performers assistant. The guy was good. So as justice will prevail, the guy needed two other assistants so Dana and I went up there too. He needed people to had him objects while he rode a unicycle and juggled. When he first called me up, I was tempted to ask him if he had three balls so I could juggle (which I'm pretty good at) but I restrained myself. Now I wished I did ask because I think I could have gotten a laugh. I never realized I'm such an exhibitionist but I am (or have become one). There was another act there too. A ventriloquist. He had a sign that read"Working to pay rent" All I could think of was I hope he's in a rent controlled apartment. There's something about ventriloquists that seems very strange to me. I have no problem with people talking to themselves, especially in NYC.

After the shows were over, we walked over to Chinatown and took in the sites. You really get a feeling you're in China. Then we headed to Little Italy after seeing this place to eat. We found a great place that had incredible fresh brick over pizza. We had dinner on the sidewalk which is always cool because you can people watch. After dinner we walked over to Greenwich Village and looked at the building where Dana used to live. She was living there when I met her 20 years ago. It was a great place to hang out, I miss the city. I've gotten to really love it which is a switch because there was a time when I didn't. I couldn't live there unless I had a million dollars and even then, I would only have a place to flop now and then. It's not where I could live full time but it has so much to offer. So all in all, it was a great day. The boys, plus my nephew Ryan loved it. Another great memory I have with Dana and the boys. It's been a good summer so far. On a side note, Griffin and I went swimming this evening. The air temp was about 65 and breezy but the pool was 80 still. Tomorrow is supposed to be another great day.

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What's the Story?

NYC - Fuller Building on 57th Street

• I was in NYC this past Monday as I have been for the past 2 1/2 years or so. I try to make my visits as interesting as possible. I have a friend at work who enjoys Art Deco architecture as much as I do and has made me more aware of it too. So when I head to SK, I have been passing by the Fuller Building which in on 41 East 57th St. and was built during 1928-1929. This past Monday I decided to go in a get a better look. I walked in from the 57th St entrance and immediately saw the mosaic on the floor (see picture left) I didn't know that it was the first steel structure ever built. I took a picture of the floor mosaic and right away I was yelled at by a security guard and told that I am not allowed to take pictures (fucking terrorists). The rest of the inside had the most incredible ornate metal doors on the elevators along with very ornate edging on the ceilings. I wanted to take so many pictures but I guess those days of taking pictures in Manhattan are over. the great thing about NYC is that almost every street has interesting buildings on it. Whether it's a fancy entranceway, gargoyles on the sides, or wrought iron metalwork they are all fantastic if you take the time to look. This little excerpt below is from an article I found on the web.
  
  Completed for the Fuller Construction Co., the leading construction firm of the early 20th Century. The Fuller Company previously occupied the Flatiron Building.
  
  
• The lobby has mosaic floors with ornamental and decorative themes similar to the building logo medallion.
• The lower 12 floors of the building were designed especially for art galleries with their high ceilings.
• The top of the tower is built in high Art Deco style with zigzags, stars, and sun-like patterns.

This is REAL Scary

Dylan took this picture of me and I played around with it in Photoshop