single father buddhist vegetarian lover of the outdoors 41
 While watching some evening news this evening... Aspen "Daddy? If someone's at war, why don't they pretend to surrender then sneak up on them from behind?" Daddy "Because you can't do that in war. If you say you surrender, you have to surrender." Aspen (looking confused) "Why?" Daddy "Because thats the rules in war" Aspen (looking even more confused) "War is a game?" Labels: aspen quotes |
 Check out that view! Not only were we blessed with great tunes all night, there was also a sweet breeze coming off Lake Michigan keeping the evening comfortably cool. That's a newly renovated Soldier Field on the left of the stage and the Chicago skyline on the right (that's the Sears tower popping up behind the stage). See the lake on the far right? These bleachers were only feet off the beach itself. Click on the pic for a better view, don't be afraid! If I had never been to shows at Red Rocks this would be my favorite venue about now. But nothing competes with Red Rocks. And thanks to 'Chuckles' for letting me borrow her camera that night and emailing me the pics I took. |
| Aspen's mother has been kicked out of her place (her ex husband #4's lakeside house, with whom she was living until last week even though they had been divorced for a few months). She has no place to live (on her own that is) and will not be able to qualify for her own place. She has no job (and hasn't held down a job for at least 3 years). She has no car (the one she is currently driving will be taken back from her on the 10th of September when its insurance runs out). She has no money saved (in fact she has destroyed the credit of at least 3 ex husbands in the last 12 years). I, Aspen, her parents, her son, or anyone else we've talked to have not heard from her since Thursday night. She told Aspen she was taking a vacation (makes sense, better than looking for a job right?) before she 'vanished'. Her cell phone (which her ex was paying for) has been cut off by him. As I'm typing this I just got a voice mail message on my cell from a private # (I don't answer private #'s!). It was her. She informs me that she has secured some temporary work out of town and I will have to watch Aspen the rest of the week. She doesn't know when she is going to be back but promises she will let me know as soon as she knows. It is specualted that she was already out of town anyway and this is her way of being 'on vacation' for a few days more. David (Aspen's mother's ex - who loves Aspen dearly) has offered to pick up Aspen from school on days that I work late. I have legal consultation next week to secure what is obviously in Aspen's best interest. That ball will start rolling in just a few days. A new day on the horizon. |
| Left Sunday morning, shared a futon with a drunk Miguel who for some reason was leaning over me at 3:45 in the am, waking me up with nothing much to say (first Tish does this now Miguel?). Went to a concert at an incredible amphitheatre on the shores of Lake Michigan with the city skyline behind the stage (pictures coming hopefully) then spent hours walking in the rain and sitting next to potential Jon Benet Ramsey murder suspects on an hour long subway ride. Sure, sure, there are tales to tell of a drunken Pablo G. arguing with the taxi driver (and the rest of us) that 24 S. Morgan St is the same as 2403 S. Morgan St. Of us not being able to find a deep dish pizzeria open at midnight (in Chicago?!?!?!). Of Puerto Rican Rum having to be mailed to Pablo's house from Charlotte (for $75!) because Miguel didn't think of putting into his check on bag. Of planes being delayed. And of us getting lost walking in little Mexico. But I won't bore you with all that. Instead, I'm happy to be home (the reason I don't live in a big city and rarely visit them is because they are depressing as hell!) and to be in a place where I can begin work on the Autumn saga. So instead, enjoy some pics  Pablo G., Brico, Pablo H. y Miguel... before the show  I'm all for bizarre forms of art but when it includes kids being spit on by giant robotic humanoid faces... i gotta draw the line!  Millenium Park (see 'giant robotic humanoid spitting face' above) is the most visited tourist site in the U.S. every year. I had no idea there was such an interest in enormous chromium bean shaped objects that reflect city skyscapes. Who knew? THAT'S 40 million dollars well spent! |
| First off: Thanks to Tish, Tracy, Doc, Addict and the rest of you for the words of support yesterday. I'm gonna be in a bit of a funk for a month or so as this thing uncurls itself. I don't like negative vibes but there is no way to go head to head in a court proceeding without negative vibes oozing out everywhere. I wish there was a way to secure Aspen's best interests without going this route but there simply isn't. It's been building to this point slowly for the last year and now it's here. The trick will be get from point A to point B as quickly and painlessly as possible. But when it's all done, when the smoke has cleared I will rest more peacefully knowing that I am the sole decision maker in my daughter's life and not some unwell, manipulative, delusional, parent wannabe (and I chose each of those words carefully, they are accurate). Sunday morning I head to Chicago for a small Peace Corps reunion (10 years) and a Ben Harper concert. This is terrible timing. It was a hard decision to not cancel my plans. Aspen is staying at a friend's house for the next 3 days while I'm away (her mother is not in a position - or a home for that matter - to watch her). I am making every effort to keep Aspen's life at my house as normal and routine as possible but this little trip had been months in the making. I look more forward to getting back into town where I can pick her up and tuck her in in her own bed again then fall asleep knowing she is safe in the room next to me than I am to the trip itself. Hopefully when the dust settles, there is no change in Aspen's daily life and her mother will use this as a giant wake up call rather than a call to arms. |
| Brico is tired... nay, exhausted. Mentally, not so much physically (though Tish's weekend visits aint helping matters with that either!). Brico should be writing another chapter in The Autumn Story but having to live through it every day is draining enough, trying to type out what he's living through simply adds to the stress. He hopes to get in touch with a lawyer today and begin to finally put this matter behind him once and for all. Brico is falling short on patience at the end of the day and is trying really hard to not take it out on Aspen. But he has slipped from time to time lately and his temper has spilt over into a loud voice. And that doesn't help matters any since Aspen needs to be fully aware that everything is safe and sound and normal and secure at daddy's house (because, thanks to a selfish and shortsighted mommy, her other house and family sure as hell no longer exists!) So if you stop by The Nut and there isn't a new post or the posts aren't as humorous & uplifting, well... that's life sometmes. |
| ...Soon we'll be making another run. The Love Boat, promises something for everyone! Well folks, you all apparently headed my request and wished me luck for Tish's visit. The Sea Weeder had no problems whatsoever, I drank lots of Gatorade and the boat was 'christened' for the first time so to speak (thanks for the idea Red!). In fact I couldn't keep Tish's hands off me while we were on the water! The conversation at one point went something like this... "Brico, you know what would be a great idea to do out here on the water?" "Um, I think I know what you think would be a 'great idea' but I'm not sure I feel comfortable with that babe." "Oh, come on! No one can see us out here! What are you afraid of?" "For one, I'm afraid of that police boat that passed by a few minutes ago. For two, it's broad daylight and those houses over there are only 50 yards away!" "But baaaaaabyyyyyy, I promise you'll enjoy it! I'll do that thing you like!" "Hey! Put your clothes back on Tishy! Seriously, I have to man the helm here!" "There's a helm right here that needs manning now don't be such a wuss! Seriously, you're making me wonder if these four hour drives on the weekends are worth the cost of gas!" "Baby! Don't be like that! Okay, fine, where do you want me?" The other fun part of the trip is when I convinced Tish to put on a life jacket and go tubing! Keep in mind that she can't swim so this was a big deal! I'm very proud of her courage! Sorry about turning sharply and throwing you off the tube babe! Oh, and not realizing I had thrown you off for another 45 seconds. My bad. You did great though doll! Love ya! Hmmm, Blogger is being a cockdoctor again and not letting me post pics of our fun. I'll try again tomorrow. And hopefully next time Tish is out we can 'christen' the jet ski! |
| 1- The Sea Weeder is running perfectly. Perfectly, that is, till I put her in the water again. Wish us luck this weekend. 2- Tish is coming in today for the night. Aspen is away at girlscout camp. I'm gonna need lots of Gatorade. Wish me luck this evening. 3- An 'Autumn' update should be coming soon. It probably won't be a good one. Wish her and her daddy luck next week. 4- The ransom note found in Jon Benet Ramsey's house was signed off as S.B.T.C. Police could never figure out what that meant. An old high school chum of John Mark Karr's (the confessed killer) has shown police an old year book that he had signed with the same letters which are now understood to mean 'so be the conquerer'. How many people have ever used those letters before? Coincidence of staggering proportions? 5- I'm boring lately, and for that I apologize. I'll try to get in trouble with Tish while she's here so you all have something interesting to read on my site and hers. Wish me luck with that. |
 I gotta tell ya, I was sure that Patsy Ramsey was guilty! And most of the people I talked to about the subject felt the same way. But apparently John Mark Karr isn't just looking for publicity. He has already given police details of the case that were never made public.I guess that should be a reminder for us why we have a justice system that looks for evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. I can't imagine loosing my child and being sidetracked in my anger and grief and mourning of having to defend myself to the press and police when I should be attending a funeral and being left alone with loved ones. Oooops, sorry Patsy. |
 Aspen and I worked together on the Sea Weeder after school last night (yes, school begins in early August here). Earlier in the day I picked up the proper solenoid at NAPA and even got .53 cents (too lazy to look for the cents sign) back in the exchange for the wrong solenoid I bought the day before. With Aspen's help, in about 20 minutes I had the wrong one removed and the new one in place. So I turned the key and pushed the 'up' button on the motor trim (again, what makes the motor go up and down in and out of the water; kind of vital if one hopes to tow the boat on a trailor)... and nothin! No whirring sound, no vibration, nothin. And now the down trim button isn't working either! WTF!?!? The words that Aspen learned last night coming from daddy's mouth! Then I take a close look at the wires under the dashboard. Hmmm, a red wire and a blue wire are laying open beside their connections. "Thats odd" I says to myself, "Those shouldn't be like that." I unhook the positive connection from the battery terminal and reconnect these loose wires, wires that sit right exactly in a little nook corner by my feet; the same nook corner where I tend to carelessly plop down my beer bottle when at the helm. Reconnecting the wires took about 20 seconds, not each, that's total reconnection time. Rehooking the positive terminal post on the battery took about 5 seconds. Turning the key and pushing the up button on the trim control took about 3 seconds. Hearing the trim motor whirring away like she did a week ago was instantanious. "So what good came out of all this?" I asks myself. Well... I have learned that having Aspen along seems to be good luck. I now have two perfectly good back up solenoids for when the real ones do indeed eventually go bad. I have learned that it's always a good idea to check wire connections before going and buying replacement engine parts. I have learned that dropping my beer bottle in this particular convenient nook is probably not a good idea from here on out. So all in all, I'm gonna spin it just like Joe Lieberman did earlier this week... "SUCCESS!!" And the rest of you negative nancies out there can bite me! * the picture above is of the two solenoids attached to the trim motor. the black one is the one that was needlessly replaced. |
| 1- Steely Dan: Fairly boring if you ask me but a free ticket so I can't complain. 2- Bruce Hornsby: Not bad but not nearly as good as I remember his last show being. Maybe it was the real small formal venue that brought out the quiet, serene, melodic side in him. Aspen fell asleep about 3 songs into it. Hell, I nearly did too. THERE was $90 well spent! 3- The Solenoid: Replacing that small bit of hardware took about two hours. Then I find out that it was not quite the right replacement piece. There are three solenoids in the boat. Unbeknownst to me there are three different kinds of solenoids in the boat! I thought there were only 2 different kinds. Turns out I bought the replacement part for the solenoid that rests right next to the one that is bad, the one I couldn't get a decent picture of. I assumed that since they sat right next to eachother and looked identical that they were the same thing (and if any of you blog geeks try to be cute and ask in the coments "What do you get when you 'assume', Brico?" I swear to god I'll revoke your permanent free standing invite for a ride on The SeaWeeder without even thinking twice!). So after two hours of back breaking work I realize I have the wrong part. I am getting the correct one this afternoon so I can spend another two hours of back breaking work this evening. If it still doesn't work... I swear to god I'm putting her in the water in the morning without the intake plug in as I watch her sink to the bottom without even thinking twice! |
 Miguel surprised me by grabbing me a ticket for this show tonight. I'm looking forward to awesome renditions of Deacon Blue and Bodisahtva. Maybe Mcdonald will play a tune or two from his Doobie days! And check this out! Hornsby is playing at a small formal theatre downtown tomorrow night! I'm taking Aspen to that shit! Last time I saw Hornsby he let people come up on stage and dance right next to him. The whole time I thought "Man, Aspen would love this!" And tomorrow night she will! Speaking of Aspen, look for chapter 3 in the Autumn saga in about a week. It doesn't look like it's going to be any happier unfortunately. But that's for another time. Tonight, it's about good music and relaxation for awhile so I can prepare for the mass amounts of stress and headache coming my way. |
| Original Boat Purchase: $3,200.00 Registration Fees: $200.00 Rebuilt carburetor: $250.00 New Shifter Box & Cables: $730.00 New Belt & installation: $75.00 New Boat Battery W/ Proper Cold Crank Amps: $85 Plugs & Wires: $40.00 New Water Pump Installed: $200.00 Tube & Rope for Tubing Fun: $90.00 Water Skis & Rope: $350.00 Finally having a problem free starry night on the water with skis & brewskis: Same as the cost of a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean with complimentary wetbar and buffet! Miguel and I took The Sea Weeder out for the first time just him and me (the owners) last night for 4 hours. We tried to convince ourselves that all the extra unforeseen investments and time having to wait for her to be in good running order only made this problem free voyage all the more enjoyable. I'm not sure if either of us bought that. I for one would be willing to have enjoyed it just a little less if it meant not having to incur all those above costs. And it wasn't totally problem free. When pulling her back in last night the motor wouldn't 'trim' (raise up so it could be towed without the prop grinding on the asphalt. So here we were, both of us having consumed a 6 pack, damn tired from sun and skiing and unable to go anywhere. It was 10:30 pm. My only hope was to call Jayson, the marine mechanic whose son's college fund I've now funded in full. And would you believe it? He was still at the shop. Of course he had downed a 6 pack as well by that time. So it's pitch black out, I'm stuck half in the water half out holding a flashlight in one hand, a screw driver in the other and a cell phone in the other trying to get a crash course in mechanics from a guy 5 miles away. Bottom line is miracle of miracles he talked me through a neat trick of touching the screwdriver to the proper celanoid post and a positive charged line to get it to raise on its own. Oh yeah... New Celanoid: ??? TBA Fuck! |
| Leave your answers in the comments anonymously if you want, but we ask for your answers all the same. We appreciate your honesty. 1- How many years have you been sexually active? 2- How many partners have you had in that time? 3- How many of those partners have been 'one time hookups'? 4- What's the longest 'dry spell' you've had to endure? 5- Are you male or female? Thanks for your help in this 'project'. |
| Red (god bless her soul) tagged me. I never do tags. But I also never turn down a red head for anything, even if she's asking me to clean out her shower drain (especially if shes asking me to clean out her shower drain!). So I'm in a catch 22. Better to err on the side of doing what the red head wants than the sticking to your guns about not doing tags. So here we go... 5 weird things about me. 1- I am terrified of driving along a cliff road in a car yet I have NO qualms whatsoever of hanging by a thin rope tied to my harness from a 500 foot cliff wall. 2- I can make a funky very loud popping sound with my lips while suddenly expelling air from my lungs in a large burst of air (despite what you ladies might be thinking, apparently it isn't enjoyable in any circumstances). 3- I think its only inviting bad luck to believe in supersticions (think about it). 4- Viagra gives me a splitting headache (think about it). 5- I have memories of when I was two years old. Seeings that I am anti tags, I will refrain from forcing this on anyone else. Take it if you want it. |
| "Now, if you two will excuse me, I'm going to go in my room and hide until you're both gone." I have my mom meet very few of my significant others. Mainly because I'm neither a sadist nor a masochist (sorry Doc!). But I felt pretty safe that Tish would put up a good first impression. Tish is not full of herself or phony or plastic or over opinionated about crap she knows nothing about or pretentious or loud like the last significant other of mine she had to meet (my ex wife, Aspen's mom. Attention Aspen: by the time you read this you will be in your late 20's and will have figured all this out for yourself so I don't hesitate in saying it here). Tish is friendly but not phony, she's knowledgeable and educated but not overly opinionated, she's real to the core, nothing phony about her that I have seen anyway, and she's better described as shy and modest more than 'pretentious'. Anyway, the only reason I make this comparison is because these are the last two women my mom has met (at least the last two women that want anything to do with me that is). During the visit Aspen made it very clear that she is nuts about Tish (practically breaking into tears when it was time for Tish to go on Sunday night). The meeting was pretty uneventful. Mom, is hard to read and I'm not one to pry any further than asking "So, mom, she's pretty hot right? Did you see those sweater pillows?" Mom agreed with my assessment and thought Tish "seemed nice". Other than that the weekend went well. We saw Clerks II, went for a midnight walk around the lake, I broke out the 'L' word, we took The Sea Weeder on the water and we all played a game of Sorry (I won!). So all in all it was a nice weekend. Tish will be back down in two weeks when my chaperone has departed back to Colorado and we can continue with the REAL 'interview' process. |
| 1- Anyone else seen those lamo 'HeadOn' commercials? The 15 second spot that simply says "HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead" but it says that same thing 3 damn times in a row and thats all the ad says? Yeah, lets all shoot the guy who came up with that ad technique. 2- Everyone knows that when you have a few drinks in you that what comes out of your mouth is pretty unfiltered and in fact more honest than when you're sober right? Anyone care to explain that to Mel Gibson? He's trying to do damage control by saying that when he spouted off in his inebriated state the other day that "All the wars of the world have been caused by the jews!" isn't how he really feels. Anyone buying that? 3- By the time you read this Tish will be an auntie! Her brother had their first child on Wednesday (that is to say Tish's brother's wife is having Tish's brother's baby). Congrats ever'body. Hmmm, why does he look just like me?? 4- It's hot as a mothrfuck! 5- Hot Damn! NFL season starts tomorrow!! 6- Oh, Tish comes into town today! (I probably shoulda mentioned that one before #5 huh? Oh well, she needs to get used to football taking precedent over everything else at some point. No use in frontin' yo!) 7- People who can not seem to park their vehicle within the white lines that are painted on the asphalt which indicate their alotted space really tick me off! It's not that difficult ladies! That's all I got. Mom is still in town till. She and Aspen are having a grand old time. |
 On Tuesday one of our worker drones who specializes in slacking off with some intermitant physical labor decided that it would be a fine idea to jump his 320 pound frame off of the dumpster after he was done stuffing it from the top. That's about a seven foot drop. Now I'm no physicist or nothing but I imagine if you weigh more 300 pounds and 250 of that is lard, it aint a real bright idea to do anything that puts undue pressure on your joints, like a seven foot drop for instance. I'm quite sure there is some formula that brainiacs know of where you can plug in one's weight and the height of the fall and it will tell you how much pressure is put on the joints upon impact. In this case I gotta believe the equation result would be something close to 'are-you-a-fucking-idiot-and-a-half?' The guy's lower right leg snapped in two places. He rolled around on the ground in pain until someone managed to roll him into a car to take him to the 'I'm-an-idiot-can-you-see-me-right-away' doctor. An of course, at the time I was in a client meeting and didn't get to see it! |
| I have long had this little rule about relationships: It is unacceptable to make plans with your significant other for a date that is further in the future than the relationship is old. In other words, you shall not make plans for an event six weeks from now if you've only been dating a month (4 weeks). I mentioned my 'rule'/philosophy to Miguel yesterday while we were BSing out on the kayaks (damn that water was warm!) and he laughed. As it so happened, he has long had the same line of thinking on that matter. The reason I brought it up to him is because earlier in the day yesterday I, for the first time that I can recall, broke my iron clad rule. I invited Tish to come down for Thanksgiving weekend. That is 16 weeks in the future! Tish and I have only been 'involved' for nine weeks! By my own governing hand I should have waited another 3.5 weeks to extend the invite! I'm starting to sweat profusely just thinking about it... or is that the heat? I guess I felt comfortable breaking my relationship laws because I'm quite sure it's a safe bet that Tish and I will still be bumping uglies at that point. But then I realized that the reason I had applied this bill to law in the first place was because I had originally felt that to set dates in stone too early was not just a bad idea, it was a jinx on the relationship! But it was too late. The invite was out there and had been accepted. The jinx is now set, it can't be undone. Only time will tell if I am rightfully precautious or just a class A supersticious dork. Keep your fingers crossed for me. But only on the right hand!!!! |
| Since No One Of Note stopped by here yesterday inquiring about the music on The Rusty Nut soundtrack, I thought I'd stop by to give him (her?) the info she (he?) sought. While I was there I found This Post. Funniest thing I've read in a while (sorry Dawn, you're still aces though!). So if you're looking for a laugh check it out! |
| There is a nice little memorial-slash-tribute dealy going on over at 2996. It's a rememberence of sorts to those who had their lives taken from them in the 9/11 attacks. See the link on my right sidebar there? If you care to, click on that or here and you can get assinged a victim's name. On September 11, 2006 you will post a nice little memorial to that person on your blog based on the research you conduct on their life. I got assigned David Tirado and quickly found some info on him, including a page where his friends and family (and fiance) left him notes saying goodbye. I gotta tell you, it was difficult and eye opening from the very first seconds. This is an awesome way to harness our power as a blogging community and to show their families that they are not forgotten. The list of 'available' victims is dwindling quickly so if you're interested in being a part of the project you best hurry and sign up. Tish and Fyrchk have already signed up as well. It seems that alot of the bloggers who are signing up are based in Italy. While that is excellent that the world community is participating in this, what kind of statement will it make if U.S. participation is not the majority? Food for thought. |
| 1- Got rid of the sheep 2- Performed my bi-annual sheet changing routine a month early 3- Flossed 4- Cleaned out the fridge of all items that expired in 2005 5- Hid the Hookah 6- Put my manifesto away (noone's allowed to read that until 9/11/2011) 7- Took Tish's panties off my ceiling fan 8- Took Crimson's bra off my bedpost 9- Bought toilet paper (mom is so old school) 10- Dismantled the hidden camera in the guest bath (that would be traumatizing beyond words) |
