Wacky Wednesday 9 - CONTEST WINNER!

First off all let's get to the contest.

Here was how the random winner was picked (and all approved and over watched by Isabella)

1. All entries were placed in a spreadsheet. Number of total entries were calculated by user and then they were all given a span of numbers for the number entries.
   
2. 


3. Then I went to the wonderful Random.org and had them generate a number between 1 and 81. AND BEHOLD WE HAVE A WINNER!
   

!!! BUSY-DAD-E !!!

(clap clap clap clap)

I'll be contact you soon with a bazillion questions.

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Niamonster pooped on Isabella's hand today. I treated her like she had the plague for the next 30 minutes and didn't want her touching me. 

Poop really has lost its disgusting factor since Niamonster has been born though. Really, any bodily function (or dysfunction) has little to no effect on me anymore. Vomit used to... pooping used to... 

Now it's just "meh, whatever"

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And now some links to far off places because they're funny and I'm really not right now. (I know... Wacky Wednesday and I'm not wacky.)

This link is a collection of IMs, Emails, and postcards from mothers. It's funny because as you read them it is SO easy to see how all mothers are alike.

http://www.postcardsfromyomomma.com/highest-rated/

And finally a tribute to the greatest 4$ your mom ever spent on you.

http://www.laserportraits.net/

Have Friends. Get Music. - The Final Day!

Welcome New Friends!

What is this Have Friends. Get Music. contest, you ask? Read about it here.

Where's the standings?

Well, there are none for two reasons. One, it adds a bit more tension as to who has the most... though, I think we all know Liz has handed a complete ass kicking in terms of entries. The second reason is because I'm not writing this Saturday evening... I'm writing this immediately after I finished writing Saturday's post. 

Isn't the "schedule" option great?

As stated in yesterday's post the final days we'll be talking about music. 

Music. Is. Amazing. 

My art professor would drop kick me in the head for saying something like that. She hated generalizations when critiquing thing. "How is it amazing? Amazing is a cheap word, describe what you mean." 

Fine, professor, this is what I mean:

Think about how intricate sound is in general from a physics stand point. Vibrations in the air shaking the air molecules between 20Hz and 20000Hz or... the frequency a peak and trough(cycles)  happens in one second. This vibration hits our ear drums and is converted to an electrical signal that our brains know how to process. 

But combining complex combinations of these frequencies over a time period creates a pattern our minds can recognize and remember. Simple vibrations in the air can elicit strong emotion... be it love... sadness... anger... angst. 

From vibrations. 

See, this is how my mind works. I like to take things most people take for granted and find the beauty in their workings and in their complexity. Finding out how complex some of the most common things are actually makes them more beautiful.

And you wonder why music means so much to me.

It means so much to me, not just because of it's complexity, but because it also reminds me to never stop looking for deeper and inner complexities of everything around me. To slow down a little bit and notice things around you that have always been there but that you've never noticed. 

Bring in the daddy reference...

I think it's also why I love watching Niamonster grow up. When she was born she was a constant tone, a wave that was unchanging - but the minute she entered this world is also when that wave started getting more complex. Little by little more instruments, more melodies and sub-melodies are added to the symphony of her life and who she is. When people see her and listen to her life I hope they are moved emotionally in many different ways - I pray she continues to always look for new and intricate ways to add to her pages and pages of ledger filled with musical notes of growth. 

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What common thing's complexity do you find beautiful?

Have Friends. Get Music. - The Final Countdown.

Welcome New Friends!

What is this Have Friends. Get Music. contest, you ask? Read about it here.

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Contest Update (Liz continues to dominate!)

Name	Comment Entries	Friend Entries	Total
Alix	1	0	1
Andrew's Daddies	2	0	2
Andy	1	0	1
Apok	2	0	2
Bella daddy	2	0	2
Busy-Dad-E	2	0	2
c3	1	0	1
Call Me Cate	4	0	4
Ciara	4	0	4
Daddy Files	1	0	1
DaddyKV	1	0	1
Jason	1	0	1
Jeff	3	0	3
Jim and Garret	4	0	4
Joanie M	3	0	3
Joel	1	0	1
KWG	1	0	1
Leticia	1	0	1
Liz	5	16	21
Mary Ellen	2	0	2
Nancy	1	0	1
Nbauer	1	0	1
Otter Thomas	5	0	5
PJ Mullen	1	0	1
Rob	1	0	1
WeaselMomma	1	0	1

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These final two days we're going to talk about music since the contest is coming real close to the end and since the contest is about music anyway.

One Hit Wonders

I don't mind one hit wonders when referring to "one hit song", but I'm really bothered by one hit wonders when referring to "one hit album" and by bothered I mean, "mad they didn't make more". Like New Radicals - their whole album was amazing and, for the time period, was cutting on the edge of a lot of new territory. It made me really sad that they only came out with one album. The opposite side of that would be a band like Europe. What is the one and only song you can name from them? The Final Countdown, obviously. You ever listen to anything else on any of their albums?

I bet if you did, you only listened to it once - cause it suuuuucks. 

I don't want to be a one song hit wonder.

I don't want to be known for one song forever and a day. I would love to have people talk about multiple albums and what their likes and dislikes were about each one... to look forward to the next one coming out... to pass the music around to their friends for free (yeah... we're not the bad kind of band... we make music to be listened to, not to make money). 

It takes dedication and beating the crap out of yourself to constantly push you and your fellow band members to be their best and hit everything right. It also takes an understanding and love to the people you play with so that no one hates you and wants to kill you at the end of the day. Criticism needs to be had and pride should be checked at the door. Did that key part suck or were your vocals flat? Do it again. And we'll keep doing it until you get it right. 

It sounds so depressing but it's not. It helps you, not just as a musician but as a person, when someone is constantly pushing you to be your best. 

I don't want to be a one hit wonder dad either.

That's what I love about Isabella, she constantly pushes me to be a better dad... a better person. I don't want you to think that she's naggy, because she isn't - she just has an expectation of what she knows I can do and what she knows I can accomplish. When I don't live up to my full potential as a father and a husband she'll let me know how disappointed she is. Not to guilt me, but because she knows that I'm doing an injustice to myself by not striving to be the best I can be. 

The last thing I want in life is for Niamonster to grow up into a beautiful adult and have her look back and only remember me for one thing... for one "song". She deserves more than that. I want her to look back and analyze all aspects of me... what I did really right as a parent as well as the things that I could have done better. I'm not perfect and I know I won't play every parent card at all the right times. I'm preparing myself for the "Leave me alone"s and the "I hate you"s while she grows up... but if she can someday, maybe even when she starts a family of her own, look back at me and think, "the way my daddy raised me is how I want to raise my kids"... that's when I'd know that I succeeded in being what I know I can be. 

Don't be a one hit wonder. 

---

90 miles outside Chicago, can't stop driving I don't know why.

What is your favorite One Song Hit Wonder?

-or-

Did the Captain of the Titanic Cry?

Fatherhood Friday 8 - WAR!

Welcome New Friends!

What is this Have Friends. Get Music. contest, you ask? Read about it here.

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Contest Update

Name	Comment Entries	Friend Entries	Total
Alix	1	0	1
Andrew's Daddies	1	0	1
Apok	1	0	1
Bella daddy	1	0	1
Busy-Dad-E	1	0	1
c3	1	0	1
Call Me Cate	3	0	3
Ciara	3	0	3
Jeff	2	0	2
Jim and Garret	3	0	3
Joanie M	2	0	2
Leticia	1	0	1
Liz	4	14	18
Mary Ellen	2	0	2
Nbauer	1	0	1
Otter Thomas	4	0	4

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Happy Fatherhood Friday! Welcome to all the dads who know they're awesome and blog about it and hang out over at dad-blogs.com - check them out they're all a really great bunch of people. 

The Battle of the Parents

This has been an on going battle for generations and I am proud to say that our family is gladly carrying on the tradition. I'm talking about the war that wages between the mom and dad to constantly want the child the choose you over the other. The battles that happen where mom and dad are sitting on opposite ends of the room, both cooing and coaxing trying to win out as the "best" parent by having the child crawl over to them first. 

Maybe it's just with first time parents. Obviously I can't speak from any other experience as I only have one little rascal crawling around, but I think it's safe to say that it happens even with more the one child. 

Oh... Shank... We don't do that. 

Pfft. Don't lie to me. Never? Who doesn't love to be number one? Obviously when it comes down to the real love and feelings the winning doesn't matter... but I'm not talking about the deep down rooted love, I'm talking about the surface stuff right now. 

And on the surface it RULES to be number 1!

The Battlegrounds.

Warzone #1: Church

The war wages fierce while sitting in the pews of church. Trying our silent and stealthy attacks against one another to get Niamonster to reach out for the other parent. Victory is audibly silent but pridefully loud as it is custom for one parent to shoot a blazing sneer of triumph at the other parent.

Warzone #2: The Grandparents House

While the gaze of grandparents is upon us, we keep our smiley, lovey, game faces in their perma-grins. But around the corners and in the guest bedrooms it's a cacophony of destruction as Isabella and I blast Niamonster with affection and love so as to be the lucky one who gets her affection when the grandparents are back in view. 

Warzone #3: Amongst Friends

Since we were the first couple out of all of our friends to have a child, this warzone can oftentimes be the deadliest. Without the silence of church and the necessity of being behaved around the grandparents, a friends house can often lead to vile and sarcastic remarks, forceful espionage, and covert operations to sometimes avoid "gaining affection" to simply all out "stealing" it.

I'm thinking of invading her home base.

I literally mean home. With Isabella being a stay-at-home mom, she has conquered the home and turned it into a dictatorship. I'm setting forth a plan to usurp her vile authority and bring peace and democracy to this fine country... er... home. Then, through hidden agendas, secret organizations, and lobbyists I will gain ultimate control and bring in wiretaps, 24 hour surveillance, and "home"land security - but mask it all as necessary to prevent a "home"land invasion of pure and vile motherhood. If all fathers unite, we will prevail as the ONLY source of comfort and love for all of our children.

I'm going in. Who's going to join me?

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Where are your bloodiest warzones?

Have Friends. Get Music. - Thursday

Welcome New Friends!

What is this Have Friends. Get Music. contest, you ask? Read about it here.

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Contest Update!

First off... people... this is a contest... and Liz is DOMINATING! Good job so far Liz!

Name	Comment Entries	Friend Entries	Total
Alix	1	0	1
Andrew's Daddies	1	0	1
Apok	1	0	1
Busy-Dad-E	1	0	1
Call Me Cate	2	0	2
Ciara	2	0	2
Jeff	1	0	1
Jim and Garret	2	0	2
Joanie M	2	0	2
Liz	3	10	13
Mary Ellen	1	0	1
Nbauer	1	0	1
Otter Thomas	3	0	3

Here are 3 easy steps to give Liz a run for her money (not that I don't want you to win, Liz, but I do love me some competition)

1. Make a post on your blog about how awesome it would be to have a song written just about you.
2. At the end of the post tell your readers they can make your dream a reality just by coming to my blog and referring you. 
3. Tell your readers that they too could have a song written about them by repeating steps 1 through 3 and have them reference both you AND themselves. (double points!)

See? Easy. It's like a pyramid scheme... but for a little slice of awesome!

Also, some reminders. (we'll go unordered this time... Mmm. Lists.)

• Drawing is still randomly chosen, however the more entries you have the more likely you'll win. 
• Comments are only allowed on the day of the post. I am disabling comments on previous days so no one cheats. Though, Joanie M. snuck past that one the first day (sneaky girl, you).
• References only count once for 2 entries.

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I can't believe how tough it is to post everyday of the week. I thought the 3 times a week thing was tough... this is brutal. So painful that I'm half tempted just to copy the Apache server configuration text that I'm working on right now... doesn't that sound like an awesome read?

But alas, I would not do that to you... so instead I shall talk about nothing at all. Just pictures from a recent photoshoot with my Niamonster.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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Which one is your favorite?

Have Friends. Get Music. - Wacky Wednesday 8

Welcome New Friends!

What is this Have Friends. Get Music. contest, you ask? Read about it here.

First off, the standings since 8:34pm 4/7

Name	Comment Entries	Friend Entries	Total
Andrew's Daddies	1	0	1
Apok	1	0	1
Call Me Cate	1	0	1
Ciara	1	0	1
Jim and Garret	1	0	1
Joanie M	2	0	2
Liz	2	6	8
Mary Ellen	1	0	1
Nbauer	1	0	1
Otter Thomas	2	0	2

I think it's pretty clear who really wants to win this.

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On to the meat and potato salad!

Holy Rollers

My wife and I are the religious type of folk, but we're not the kind who vomit our beliefs on you. No one likes to be puked on, so why is it so many people are brainwashed to think that vomiting God all over people is the best way to win them over?

But that's for a different time. The reason I mention this is so that this story doesn't make you go "mwah?"

Isabella and I read devotion every night. If we are too lazy to get to that (did I just hear a collective *gasp* from the holy rollers?), we at least pray. However, we've noted that reading devotion at night together is a lot like sitting in church. 

It's stupid easy to get the giggles.

Oh, you've been there. Maybe not the church part, but the "you're supposed to be somber and behaved" part. There is something about the "behave" aura that makes you so susceptible to laughing and not being able to stop. 

Last night Isabella was getting all up in my grill to start reading devotion. "Read! Read! Now now now nwo nwo nwo nwo wnow nwo nwo wnow". But I couldn't. I can't start until she says 3 words that are tradition before any devotioning can be had. 

"Devotion. The End."

Yes. At the beginning. 

So she was bustin' my balls (wait a minute... didn't he just say he was religious? and he just said "balls"?) and I finally just blurted, "Cripes woman! Are you that antsy to get devotion started? Are you that big of a holy roller now?

She proceeded to start rolling and almost flipped herself off the bed. 

Holy. Roller. (ba-da-dump)

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Snot Rocket

I was sort of mean the other night. Isabella has this thing were she can't go to bed without first checking on Niamonster, tucking in her blanket, making sure her binky that has mysteriously found itself under her left leg is easy accessible again. The only problem is that I like to do this too. 

It was about 11:30pm, we had finished brushing our teeth and Isabella has already run off to our bedroom. Our bedroom is connected to Niamonsters bedroom via a Jack-and-Jill style bathroom. So I, being the last one in the bathroom, went to go check on Niamonster. 

As I was walking back towards our room, Isabella starts walking in... I whisper, "What are you doing?". She responds, "I'm checking on her" and I retort, "I already did".

But she proceeded to try and push past me. 

I have this thing. I'm not home as much but I still want my actions with Niamonster to be "good enough". Like if I feed her, I want my style of feeding her to be good enough. If I tuck her in right before I go to bed, I want that to be good enough. Having Isabella copy me or re-do what I did makes me feel "not good enough". (such complex logic here)

So she crosses my path... I quickly turn around and give her a little shove and run in the other direction giggling. 

I hear "thud thud" as her feet catch her balance... and a few moments later a "snnnnerk" and then she starts giggling. She runs back into our room and we're both laughing our tails off. But alas, she fired off the nasal rocket of laughter and that was enough to wake up Niamonster. 

She didn't go back down for another 30 minutes, but it was SO worth it. 

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What places do you find yourself struggling to stifle the giggles?

"Have Friends. Get Music." Day Two.

Welcome New Friends!

What is this Have Friends. Get Music. contest, you ask? Read about it here.

The Standings

After the first day of the contest, here is where we stand.

As of 10:40pm on 4/6

Name	Entries
Andrew's Daddies	1
Apok	1
Liz	1
Otter Thomas	1

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For those friends who are new to this site today, you should know that I normally don't post on Tuesday... so this is a little weird for me. Be gentle - I bruise easy.

Work May Suck. But Coming Home Never Gets Old.

Any parent worth their salt hates to leave every morning to go to work. Isabella is a stay at home mom so I'm the unlucky one who gets to wake up in the morning and head off to corporate America to bring home the bacon so that my wife and my daughter can eat healthy, have warm clothes, a roof over their head, and modes of transportation.

It's what I do. I hate being away, but every family member plays a role and this one is mine.

What I DO love is coming home every day. There is never a doubt in my mind that Niamonster misses me just as much as I miss her during the day. She's one smart cookie and she knows around the time daddy gets home from work everyday. She'll wait and listen, and the minute she hears my car pull into the garage she starts looking around for me.

The minute I open the door I hear a "squeeeeee!". If she's on the floor she'll come crawling towards door or if she's in mommy's arms she wiggle so much that Isabella has to struggle keep a hold of her.

And that smile... my god... that smile.

No matter how bad my day was. No matter how good or terrible work is being... I always have someone waiting for me who thinks I'm the cat's pajamas.

Everyday I see that. And everyday I think to myself, "this... this is why I can make it at work and why I go back." Don't get me wrong, I love my job... but nothing compares to being with my babies. (yes... Isabella is my baby too)

When does your little one (be it child or cat or dog or fish) "Squeeee!" for you?

Meaningful Monday - A Contest!

First of all... I'm listening to Andy Samburg singing "I'm on a Boat" to me, and while I realize that it's one of the most ridiculous songs in the world and lyrically it's demeaning to any word that rhymes with another... yet... I find myself constantly singing it... it's a disease that's stuck in me head. There is something about T-Pain's autotuned voice that embeds itself into my brain matter like an alien who has laid it's eggs in my head. 

Anyone else want it in there head? Here. (this is the R rated version)

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On to the real purpose of this post. 

You have followers and I want them. I also want to follow those people you follow. You have people's whose blogs you like to read and I want to read them too. 

So here's the deal. 

I play music. I like playing music. I also write it. 

And I want to write a song about you.

Here's how it's going to work. (i.e. Rules of the Contest)

1. I will make a post everyday this week with a question at the end of the post (just to give you something to comment about)
2. You will comment on every post. Each comment = 1 entry every day. Only one comment entry will be counted per day.
3. I will keep track of the number of entries per person and will post them each day in my blog (adds a little spice of competition... yum yum!).
4. Tell your friends/followers/readers to come here and comment and have them reference you. Each follower/reader/friend that references your name will count as 2 additional entries for you.
5. Contest starts today (4/6/2009) and ends a week from today (4/13/2009).
6. On 4/13/2009 I will randomly choose a winner, Isabella will be my witness to the randomness.

What's the deal with the song?

People like free things and I want to give you something for free. I graduated with an Art major but I haven't really used it since obtaining it, so my art would be no good. I write code for a living, but that's one heck of a boring prize. Music was the final choice since I still actively play and write and it doesn't seem like there are a whole lot of people giving that away. 

About the song if you win:

1. It can sound however I want it to sound and the final product will be a mystery to you until you get it. 
2. The topic of the song and lyrics will revolve around you or, if you're shy, a topic or theme of your choosing.
3. I get the write the lyrics.
4. Give me at least a month to write it, compose it, produce it, and publish it.
5. It may just be me... it may be our band... who knows?!
6. I'll contact you if you win and ask you a bazillion questions for inspiration.

It'll be fun because you will have no idea what you'll get... can you handle the anticipation?

About me and music:

While I may just decide to throw a pan down the stairs while screaming your name out loud and using that as a "song", I probably won't. So why should you tell people to come to this blog and make comments?

• I've been playing piano for 20 years.
• I'm a classically trained vocalist.
• I'm in a band: Leo Loves Virgo. (album out in June)

I fully intend on your song not sucking.

And when the song is finished...

I'll send you an high quality version in MP3 format. I'll also post it on my blog so that all of my new friends will hear how awesome you are through music. Legally, I'll own the rights to the song (read: I get to play it anywhere and anytime I want and don't have to give you money. Sorry.)

Contest begins... 

NOW!

Today's question for commenting:

What are the top 3 music albums you own that you are ashamed to admit?

Mine:

1. Chumbawumba: Tubthumper
2. SheDaisy : The Whole Shebang
3. Fall Out Boy: From Under the Cork Tree