LIGHTS... CAMERA... ACTION!

Seems there's a plethera of potentially good movies on the immediate horizon. 1- Doubt (Phillip Seymore Hoffman rocks!) 2- Frost/Nixon (another addition to 6 degrees of Kevin bacon) 3- Valkyrie (Cruise is still a brainwashed deuge!) 4- Slumdog Millionaire (!) 5- The Reader (!) 6- Seven Pounds (Will Smith in a rare movie without monsters) 7- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (even though there is no naked Jennifer Aniston in it) 8- Rock n Rolla (has Guy Ritchie made a bad movie? other than his private bedroom collection I mean)

ODDS & SODS

Aspen leaves on Saturday for AZ to be with her mom older brother and younger sister for the holidays. That will allow me to do my x-mas shopping after the holiday when the real deals appear. Thanks for all the recommendations on the facial junk stuff. I still am petrified that without a significant female presence in her life as the teen years approach, she will be an awkward outcast who doesn't know a... uh... um... well, I dunno, some-kind-of-item-that-only-a-woman-would-know-what-it-is from some-other-item-that-only-a-woman-would-be-able-to-identify-which-is-completely-opposite-in-appearance-and-has-a-very-different-function-as-well. See?! See?! I'm going to end up raising the main character in 'Carrie' for Christ's sake!! I don't want to die of a heart attack beside a bathtub in an old run-down house while trying to put my child out of her misery!!* I can raise a child and teach him/her values and math and how to floss but I have no business trying to raise a pre-teen girl into womanhood. That would be criminal. Anyway, I was able to ignore all those red flags long enough to trek up to Denver last night with Sean (Colorado version of Miguel) at the last minute to go The Black Crowes show. It was my first concert since moving out west. It was somehow karma's reward for my having to sell my BC tix I had waited in line for back in Charlotte many months ago. Although, Karma had me drive home at 1am in a snowstorm for an hour. Speaking of snowstorms: Aspen absolutely loves the snow. She never got to see much of it in the south. She got her first snowboard for her birthday and looks forward to going out and getting good at it. That I can help her with. *in case my ex tries to use this 'confession' in a future court case citing my tendencies of homicidal thoughts in order to regain custody... that was a joke and was meant for entertainment purposes only!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETY!

Today Aspen turns a decade old. I am a better person thanks to your presence in my life. Thank you for all you have taught me. Kissees for my Snugums!! I love you, Daddy p.s. And stop growing already! Shoes and clothes aint free!

HEY BRICO, WHERE YOU BEEN?

At work!! But it's all good. I'm on the fast-track to a promotion... the optimistic side of me would think. My mentor had someone who has more time on the job than me shadow me on Friday to give him pointers. That would be a good sign, right? And what's more is I kinda like the job. I defininately like the people I work with and the company itself seems fairly dedicated to it's employees. I'm way ahead in all the marked areas of expectations for someone in my tenure. But I don't want to get too cocky or sound like I'm blowing my own horn... Heh heh, hey Kalani! I said 'blow'. Where else have I been? Aside from buying X-mas gifts at Sears at 5 in the a.m. on Black Friday, you mean? Then I have been preparing for Aspen's best-friend (Natalie)'s and step-dad's visit for her B-day. They flew in from SC on Friday and leave Monday. Today we had Aspen's party at a bowling alley... And might I take a moment to preach that 'RSVP' means 'Respond So Very Promptly'. And that's whether you plan on coming or not! Party planners need a head count, folks! If you get an invitation that says 'RSVP' then YOU FUCKING RESPOND, people! You pick up your god damned phone and call the number and say 'Thank you, yes we will be delighted to attend.' or 'No, regrettably we will be unable to attend this year." This is one of my pet-fucking-peaves! there is absolutely no excuse in the world to not be curteous enough to respond to an 'RSVP'. So Aspen was able to invite 3 friends (other than her best-friend visiting from SC). One was ethical enough to let us know she could make it. The others... never said a word and didn't bother showing up. So, we could have invited 2 others in their absence IF THEY HAD BOTHERED TO CALL!! There, I'm off my soapbox... until next year, I reckon. Tomorrow we take our guests on a tour of Garden of the Gods then head up to Denver to Casa Bonita (the restaurant that is cool enough to have a South Park episode based on it). Fortunately, it snowed 3 inches the day before our guests landed and over the weekend it is 55 degrees. Perfect.