DadJack.com Blog

As I sit here, the kids in bed, the TV creating background noise, I think about the last 10 years, how they started… and how they will end.

On this day, at this time, 10 years ago I was sitting at the Dalt’s bar with one of my best friends discussing our trip to New York which we would be leaving on tomorrow.  Our co-workers were with us, they were trying to convince us not to go, between the Y2K fears and threats of terrorism against NYC everyone was sure we would not return.

True to form, we had a few drinks before the car picked us up to go to the airport, I didn’t really remember packing, but I ended up with everything I needed.  When we got to the airport we had a few “doubles for a dollar more”, we were flying the red eye, we were pretty “happy” when we boarded the plane, the flight attendants were actually mildly amused by us (It was a different time), and they didn’t have much to do anyway, there were maybe 40 of us on the whole flight… I had been on empty flights like that to Vegas before, but never across the country, it was pretty weird.  At some point I fell asleep and awoke in New York at about 6a.  We grabbed a cab and headed to Times Square where we would be staying, when we got there they were already celebrating, because of the whole year 2000 thing they were ringing in the new year in the tradition style of that time zone, so there was something exciting happening on the hour all day long.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and went to grab a bite to eat before we got ready for the night.  It was pretty amazing just being in time square during the day, it is something I don’t think I’ll ever get to repeat in my lifetime.  We walked around a little, hit a bar and went back to the hotel to rest and get ready.

At the time we were still really good friends with Carson Daly and were going to watch the ball drop from the TRL studios, we had to arrive early, security was tight.  In fact, we were held up at the screening point in the MTV building because Puff Daddy’s security (He was still Puff Daddy then) had guns on them and MTV’s security would not let them enter with them.  We finally got up to the studio and in true television form it was hurry up and wait.  There was a nervous excitement in the crowd as we stood at the window and looked over the tens of thousands of people below, what everyone had been warning for weeks was in the backs of our minds… And then it happened, BANG!!!  The room went silent, and then everyone laughed, a light bulb had burst… That seemed to relieve the tension, and from that point on it was one of the best nights/mornings/next afternoons/ into the next nights I have ever had.

That Long weekend kicked off a pretty good run for me, things really started to go my way in the early part of the decade. Great job, I married a woman I really loved and there was a bright future for me.

Today, Dec 29th, 2009 I spent the day with my children.  We awoke and did one of our favorite things, walk to Panera and have breakfast.  It was just the three of us, we ordered our regular, sat inside by the window because it was too cool to sit where we like on the patio.  Lucy refilled my ice tea, making sure I had the 6 year old approved number of lemon wedges in it (which is roughly 10, in case you wondered).  Bing pointed out the random P.T. Cruiser or Mini Cooper that passed… On a good morning we’ll see a Smart Car or a Limo!

When we were done, Lucy and Bing took there respective seats in the double stroller and we started out on our way to walk some errands.  First was the post office, so I could mail some bills… It’s always the same drill, I ask Lucy if she wants to hold the letters I have to mail,  She says “yes” and then proceeds to ask if she can open them, when I say no, she then asks why not and I explain how the whole bill thing works.  She hands them to the lady at the post office, I pay and Bing asks if I can pick him up so he can look through the glass, which I always do… and he is always fairly underwhelmed at the action behind the bullet-proof glass.

Next we trek to Target, it’s about a mile away, so we have lots to look at a discuss… and who knows what random cars we’ll see along the way, today we walked past the Ford dealership, Bing is partial to Mustangs, so this was a treat.

At Target, which was a mad house by the way, apparently people lose their minds as soon as Christmas crap is marked 50% off, the kids had some Christmas money to spend and I needed Polka Dot Diapies (As Bing likes to call them).  I cut a deal with the kids, half their money for cloths and the other for toys… They both did a great job, I was very proud.

Our walk home was equally as interesting, things to see and discuss, only on the return trip we were sporting a fully packed stroller… The box of polka dot diapies riding proudly on top of the canopy.  When we arrived to our little apartment it was time to play with our toys and have some lunch.  It was sometime after Lucy complaining that Bing took her toy and Bing requesting a second peanut butter sandwich that we realized “Baby” was missing.  For those of you not in the know, Baby is Bing’s blanket that he could not fathom living without.  Baby is a monkey wearing a red beret with long arms and a blanket body…Whenever Baby is missing Bing will tell you “Baby can’t walk away, she doesn’t have legs”, and he’s right.  We scoured the apartment, but Baby was no where to be found, so it was time to backtrack.  We grabbed the stroller, Lucy gathered her “doctor’s set” in case Baby required medical attention and we started back out.  Not in the hallway, or in the elevator, nor the walkway out our building.  We continued on our earlier path and about three blocks down I caught a glimpse of Baby’s red beret.  There she was (Baby’s a girl), in a mud and trash filled gutter, having fallen out of the stroller when I told the kids we were crossing a big muddy patch and lift their legs.  Lucy, not known for her beside manner, decided baby was way too disgusting to treat and vowed to give baby a proper exam after washing.  Bing was a nervous wreck during the whole gentle cycle, but when Baby emerged clean he was over joyed and would not allow her a spin in the dryer.

Drama over, we went on with our evening, making dinner, watching Up and just hanging out together.

It was an amazing day, in a very different way from ten years ago, but still on par with being in Time square with countless people… Being with the right two people can be just as thrilling as a party of millions.

The decade has ended for me so differently than it started, I am not on my way up the ladder, but am actually below rock bottom, everyday checking to see how much drilling has been done and trying to figure out if I’ll ever be able to climb out?

10 years doesn’t seem like long, but in that time I have seen love turn to a lie, gone from making a good living to having to check my balance to see if I can afford bagels, bought and lost my own home and now, at almost, 40 have not been able to find a job for over a year and a half.  But it all wasn’t bad, I have amazing friends and family that have stuck with me through the thick and then of the past decade, I have done and seen incredible things and most importantly, without a doubt, I have two of the greatest kids, who challenge, amaze, inspire and on occasion lose their “Baby’s”…  And for that, 2000-2010 was the best ten years of my life.

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!

Rock on, Jack

If my day today was made into a film the first third would be without dialogue.  Christmas morning started not with the excitement of little voices and the sound of paper ripping, but as I rolled over in my darkened room and looked at my alarm clock, it read 9:47.  I rose from my bed and walked out to the kitchen counter to check my cell, one message, I listen it was my sister.  I looked at the little tree sitting in the corner, gifts wrapped and stacked underneath, sitting in silence as they have for the last couple days.  It’s into the shower, I glance in the mirror, an old, disheveled, haggard man stares back.  I get dressed, jeans, thermal shirt and a button up over it, nothing fancy, festive only in it’s green color.  A granola bar makes breakfast, while I check my email and watch some Disney World Parade on TV.

My gray messenger bag doubles as my diaper bag, I stock it with 2 hoodies ( One for each kid, just in case it gets cool), a couple extra diapers (the polka dot kind Bing prefers), Camera, Flip-Vid and some wet wipes.  I put a couple gifts from under the little tree into a Target bag for the kids to open at my sisters.  I survey the apartment one more time, just to make sure it is kid ready, it passes my visual assessment.

As I walk the hallways of my building there is an unusual silence, well, unusual for any other day of the week, but holidays in apartment mega-buildings mean people leave, not stay.  I walk across the parking garage and see no one, past the main entrance, which is closed for the holiday and out into the real world.  The neighborhood lacks it’s normal foot traffic and bus chaos.  I get to the Orange Line station and about 20 people are waiting for the bus, it arrives early and we all board, there is ample seating for us all.  A woman sits by me and says “Merry Christmas”, I reply in kind, but then she asks for a dollar, I explain to her that I have no cash (And I really didn’t), she moves on to ask others on the bus.  My guess is drug addict, she was jittery and had that nervous energy that addicts have.  I started to think about if I had cash would I give it to her, I think yes, she only wanted a dollar and it’s Christmas, so I think I would have?  But then she comes back and asks if I have a cell phone, I say no, which was a full on lie, but it seemed sketchy to let this strange person use my phone… I don’t know why, but it just felt wrong.  The bus slowly emptied as we traveled it’s route and by Reseda it was totally empty, save for me and the driver.  It was strange to be on a huge bus all by myself, on Christmas, watching the sunny valley suburbs pass by the windows.  In L.A. no one uses mass transit by choice, we drive here, if you’re on the bus something has gone wrong in your life, you just know this when you board, you know this when you look around.  It is very different from other cities that way, when you ride the bus here it is your only option, and the only way it could be worse is if you don’t have the buck twenty-five it costs to ride.

We reached my stop and I got off, a man on the platform served as my replacement as “only guy on the bus.”  I walked through my sisters neighborhood to her house, shoulder bag on, target sack at my side.  The day was so beautiful, the sun was warm and embracing as I strolled thought the desolate streets.  I arrived at my sisters and the first line of dialogue of my day happened, Ethan said, “I don’t know why our door is locked?”  I responded “Mom does it.”  And I was in.  The day gets so much better from this point.  We cook and prepare as we wait for the kids arrival.  I make fettuccine Alfredo, my Mom veggie meatloaf, Angela pie and Ethan bread.

The doorbell rings, standing there are the kids and their mother, the exchange is made and Christmas officially begins.  There is food, gifts, game playing and Bing running around like a mad man.  This is the end of my Christmas season, which really was less than 7 days between Thanksgiving and today when the kids were actually over, and we are having a really good time.  The kids are beat, this is the second of three Christmas celebrations they will have today, the final was gifts at my apartment.  I wanted them to see my place as home, and have some sort of Christmas here too, so I didn’t want to bring everything to my sisters.  It was time to leave, we drive back, Bing falls asleep in the car, Lucy and I re-cap the day, she tells me all about the Barbie Pet Vet set she got at her Moms, and all about Christmas at their house.

We opened gifts here, they were excited and they loved everything and we had to try and play with everything… Bing is remarkably good at “Don’t Break The Ice”, the kid loves anything that involves a hammer.  But they are beat, so I convince them that the toys will still be here tomorrow and get them to bed.

And now I sit here, again no dialogue, in my quite apartment, littered with toys.  Knowing that this is now the rule and not the exception, thinking about how much it sucks when a good day ends, and you want to keep it going even when you know it’s over.  Like when you were a kid and you didn’t understand why your parents were making you leave the party.  They would say things like “everybody is tired” or “They have to clean up”, but you just wanted to stay and keep everything going like it was.  Taking in that weird feeling that tomorrow is not Christmas, it’s just another day, and the chance at recapturing this feeling is a year away.

I guess if I learned anything today, it’s that sometimes you have to take a sad, lonely bus ride to get to a place filled with joy and love, and when you arrive enjoy every moment.

I pushed the coffee table into a corner… Although, I don’t know why I call it that, I hate coffee, it’s more of a coloring, sippy cups really aren’t spill proof, “dad, the yogurt dripped” table.  Turned on the TV and found the ABC comedies, Modern Family (Very funny, really in the vein of true situation comedies), In The Middle (funny, but not super original, it smacks of Malcolm In The Middle, but with a weaker cast) and Cougar Town (It’s hard for me to believe Courtney Cox is struggling with love, I’ll take her!) and sat on the floor.  I surrounded myself with all the tools of the trade… transparent tape, the best wrapping paper Big Lots has to offer, scissors, self adhesive gift tags (remember those little cardboard tags with a string attached we had when we were kids… Well, now like stamps, you just peel and stick ‘em!)  and the gifts I think my kids will love.

It was very important to me to not have one child appear to get more gifts than the other… Especially with money being so tight, I couldn’t get all the things I would have wanted to for each of them.  It was easier when Bing was still a baby (Not a “Big Boy” like he is now, he had no clue how many gifts he received… And to be honest, he still doesn’t care, but it bugs me if things are not fair! The challenge of being broke really made me focus on what they really would like, it was actually a benefit, I had to get them things they really, really wanted… Not that I don’t always do, I love gift giving, and always try to find the perfect gift that says “I wholeheartedly thought of you and picked out what I thought you’d love.”

But, the shopping process is over, tonight is all about wrapping.  I sit in my zone and begin the process of cutting and taping… And I am swept with an incredible feeling of sadness.  Alone, in my little apartment, on Dec 23rd, taping and cutting.  This was time my wife and I spent together, this was our project.  I won’t lie, there were times when I was out shopping for the kids that I saw things that I wanted to buy for her, gifts I would have given.  It makes me hate myself, I know who she is now, I know what she did to me, and yet I still saw things I thought would make her smile, would let her know ” I knew who she was,” or that I had listened to her.  My stomach turned a little, I want to be done, I want to walk through the mall and think of the kids, my Mom, My Sister, Ethan, Stench, my mail person, anyone but her.  It’s been a year and a half, the pain should subside (and much of it has), but tonight on this floor in North Hollywood, I remember my old life, my past wife, who would sit with me on the floor wrapping the gifts that I deemed beyond my paper folding and taping skills.  It was our family time, kids asleep, dog curled up on the couch watching the insanity, she making each package look like a work of art and me folding and taping like a butcher named Art. Me building a gift or two, she sitting back sipping tea making fun of my swearing and frustration, tools flying, directions being read and reread.  finally going to bed, her warmth next to me, knowing we’ll be up in just a few hours to watch all our work be admired by tiny eyes and ripped apart by equally small hands.

But tonight, I wrap alone, packages roughly assembled with love.  My heart in every fold and taped corner.  Alone, I place them under the tree (The kids won’t be here until after Christmas morning, so I can stage the scene early).  By now I have switched the channel to Conan and sit on the sofa in my empty apartment.  I miss my old life, I miss my past wife, I wish the kids were here to spill juice on the “coffee table” and there was a dog to curl up in its space.  I wish the holidays were about stress and being busy, instead of loss and loneliness.

That Christmas Eve is tomorrow!?!?!  Where did ’09 go?

Apparently, there was a flood of Zhu Zhu Pets released yesterday… I bought a pair at the Toys R Us in Burbank, but heard reports of CVS and Target having them in stock too.  At first I was kind of upset about it because it seemed kind of cruel to create this false demand causing people to pay triple for them from resellers, but then I started to think it was cool, because it gave people like myself, the thrill of getting that hard to get gift at the last minute, it lifted my spirits a little knowing I found something exciting for my kids at the final hours.  I had trouble finding good Christmas candy, the big stores were sold out of the stuff we really want and only had crap left… I ended up finding a decent selection at my local Ralph’s.

The Balloon Dad ended up getting some jail time (so did the Mom)…  I’m so glad, a message had to be sent that it’s not alright to scam emergency services in your quest to get a television show.  I’ve written blogs about it, but I really am turned off to fame and famous people.  It’s become way too easy to at least have the appearance of being famous… I want to strive for something bigger, like being great!  I was reading the advice and thoughts of some great people tonight and I started to think, that’s what I want to be, Great.  Not famous, great is so much more than famous, so many mediocre to horrible people are famous.  I heard the argument tonight that Tiger Woods is a great golfer, in fact he was voted athlete of the decade, but I do not think he is great… He had the potential, but not the strength, not that the truly great are without flaws, but I think they are without malice.  I believe they know right from wrong, and try to be as right as possible.

There are a few things I have to consider: one, what can I be great at? and two, can you be great without people knowing?

I really don’t think I’m a great photographer… I look at other peoples photos and am blown away by their vision and talent.  As far as radio goes, I am far from great… I am real and I give 100% of myself, but the best I am not even close.  Then there is being a Dad… I think it’s too early to tell, I’ve only been doing it 6 years.  Now I have read on court papers and been told in great detail by my Ex that I am far from being a great father, but I am willing to see what happens in the years to come, I think time might be in my favor.

The amazing thing is, I know so many great Dads!  So many of my friends or my friends husbands are the best Dads.  They inspire and impress me on a regular basis.  If you watch television or read the news you would not think this was the case… The deadbeat and neglectful fathers seem to get the bulk of the attention, but let it be written here, there are so many Great Dads out there and they don’t get the credit they deserve… So here you go, Good job guys, You Rule!!!

As for if it is required for people to know who you are to be great, I think ultimately if you are truly great, someone will know… It might be your mate, or your kids, co-workers, your family,  someone will realize that you have done your best.

I’m not holding my breath, but I hope this catches on, because the world could always use more great people…  We have plenty of famous people!

I hope you and your family have a great holiday season!!!!!!!!

Rock On, Jack

The kids and I are taking a mid-day relaxation break, we went for a walk by the mini cooper and smart car dealerships… Bing loved it, Lucy was only slightly interested, but I figure that makes up for all the visits we’ve made to the aquarium that Bing could have cared less about.

Yesterday we had a few holiday adventures.  We started at Angela Channels house where the kids decorated her tree (OK, Lucy did… Bing played outside), then it was off to the Christmas tree lot at Pierce College, where the kids met Santa (Well, again only Lucy, Bing did not want too and I refuse to force him), rode ponies, a little train and a merry-go-round.  After dinner we loaded up in a couple cars and did the woodland hills Christmas light tour (Just north of the 101 freeway at the Winnetka exit)…  Bing enjoyed yelling “Merry Christmas!” at people as we drove by… It really a fun thing to do, either driving or walking it. And we ended by watching the Charlie Brown Christmas dvd… It was a good day.

Bing actually went wee-wee on the potty last night…. It was a celebration on the level if we had just won the lottery!  He’s getting closer to no more “polka dot diapies!”

It’s weird to have no podcast or CRN show to do today…  We are really excited to make some improvements to the podcast in 20-10!!!  Can you believe we’re going on our 3rd year (in March) and have almost 700 shows in the archives?  Time flies when you’re playing radio.

It’s a tough time for Tiger…  Nothing like a party on your yacht to make you forget screwing over your family!  Enjoy the shortest day of the year…  Each one gets a little longer after tonight!  R.I.P. white rhino.   We had Rob on the pod.  Look who brought a gun to a snowball fight.  Interview with Santa.   You don’t want this guy to love you.  Maybe that’s how her brain got sucked out?  I sadi “This screwdriver really went to my head”, not “I want one in my head!”

Rock On, Jack

I remember how exciting the last day of school before Christmas break was!  Lucy wasn’t sure if they were doing anything special today? When I was in kindergarten I remember Santa stopping by for a visit… But I’m guessing they don’t do that anymore.

Tonight is our unofficial Christmas Party at the CRN from 8-10p…  It should be a lot of fun!

I can’t believe now beautiful it was outside today, it was in the high 70′s and crystal clear.  I took a nice long walk along Ventura Blvd…  I saw “Chuck” (Zachary Levi) eating lunch at an outside cafe.

Still not really not in the holiday mood, but I am excited to get to spent time with the kids over the break… We have all kinds of adventures planned.

I thought they might go with a “Time To Cheat” campaign!  You know I love crime fighters. Talk about “Not in the Christmas spirit.”  I hope this means we can stop caring about them!  Pre-decorated trees!  Look who will be hosting “America’s Best Prison Crew.”  At least we’re not #1.  Now if we could just keep idiots off the tracks.  You can’t let this cow get away with this!  Naked guys hate Christmas!

Rock On, Jack

Lucy had her holiday show at school today!  She did a great job, that kid is a natural performer.  Bing was excited to see his sister on stage… But that wore off and then he just wanted to play with my camera.  My Mom was there to see Lucy rock and see her school for the first time.  It was packed… no one misses their kid on stage belting out holiday classics.

Can you believe there are only 9 days until Christmas… Time flies when you’re having a crappy year! I guess it’s time to start thinking about 20-10… Hopefully it’s better for us all, although I hoped for that for ’09 too and that didn’t really pan out.

Rest in Peace Roy, he was one of my customers when I worked at the photo shop, he was always very kind and friendly, just a normal guy… A normal guy who happened to be a Disney.

That’s one overdue book!  More fun in Mexico.  This is disgusting.   Do not hide your gun in the Christmas tree. Surfs up.  Bad, Bad Santa!  Speaking of Santa. Good News, Stretch has something to do in April! This is cool!  Wow, 8 months.   It was a win-win for him.

Rock On, Jack

As I lay here the other night, I realized I couldn’t hear the rain outside.  Two stories from the ground, the patter of water meeting ground did not reach through my windows, and two stories of life above me, people unknown to me, living in my exact floor plan, just at a slightly higher elevation, blocked any chance of the drops hitting the roof making a sound over my bed.  I have always lived in houses or smaller buildings where, on the off chance of a California storm, I could fall asleep listening to it’s song, my bed a sanctuary from the elements.  That is how I know this is not home.

Home was where my family was. It was where I felt comfortable and wanted to be.  This is temporary, the next step in the reconstruction of my deconstructed life.  That may be why it is so odd to look around the apartment tonight.

On Friday, when I picked up the kids, my Ex presented my with a large green plastic tub, on the side, in my writing, was written “Christmas Stuff”.  I recognized it, it was one of the many tubs full of decorations and holiday things that I would lift up and down from the attic when we lived in our tiny rental house in Burbank and later carry up and down three flights of stairs from and to the garage at our condo in Santa Clarita.  I didn’t really want to take it, but Lucy was fully aware that it existed and was excited to decorate my house with it’s contents.

Now I wasn’t much of a Christmas person before I got married… OK, there was that one year after a particularly long night at Dalt’s, I rode my bike to the 24 hour Sav-On’s and bought a whole bunch of lights, came home to the apartment my sister and I shared and did a little drunken decorating.  My sister woke in the middle of the night to flashing red and white lights and thought the place was on fire and there were emergency vehicles outside, let’s just call that misguided holiday spirit on my part.  But as soon as my Ex and I got together I tried to be better about Christmas.  For our first, I got a tiny live tree for us to have in my little loft apartment with a few special ornaments.

I kept that tree, giving it water and watching it grow.  It didn’t stay in that perfect, cone fir tree shape, it kind of grew wild, going this way and that… But that was perfect for us, it was like our marriage, not perfect, a little wild and unpredictable, but growing.  It grew pretty big, I kept transferring to larger and larger pots.  When we moved it was too heavy for me to lift, I had to use the refrigerator dolly to get it up the stairs.  It survived a tiny patio overlooking Dalt’s, a little backyard where our large black dog made sport of torturing squirrels and a balcony in Canyon Country where it would sit under circling hawks and butterflies would rest on it’s branches.  On Christmas it would again get to wear lights and an ornament or two.

When the kids and I returned to my apartment on Friday Lucy couldn’t wait to bust open that green Christmas tomb and start spreading it’s contents around… As I assumed, it was mainly filled with the items my Ex didn’t want.  But despite if it was a cherished heirloom or some garland with burnt out lights, I couldn’t imagine how it made me feel to see these items spread around this apartment, around this new “home”, around my new life.  These were decorations of celebration acquired during my marriage, symbols of family and holders of holiday memories from a time only a few years ago, that seem like forever ago.  I let the kids put them where ever they wanted and I didn’t say a thing, and they will remain where those tiny hands placed them… But they do not belong here.  Those artifacts of joy are now just reminders of pain.

It’s kind of weird for me to think about, but my Ex kept that tree.  It sits somewhere in her new life, surrounded by new people that have no idea of it’s history.  I’m not going to lie, if she had left it behind for me to deal with when we moved, I would have thrown it away.  I could not have looked at it’s branches, twisting and turning towards the sky, it’s needles of green, poured water into it’s soil, and not have thought about going to the store to purchase it on our first Christmas, seeing it placed on the counter separating my kitchen from the living room, lights twinkling in the darkened room, the joy and hope that it represented.

That rain that was falling the other night, the rain I could not hear, was heard by that little Christmas tree, it’s moisture may have even soaked it’s branches and soil, I will never know and don’t really want too.  I do know that someday I will again regain my sanctuary, that on those rare nights when the Los Angeles sky opens and rinses away our cities sins, I will hear the rain and I will feel comfortable again, that I will be home.

The kids and I enjoyed our weekend…  We didn’t let the rain keep us from having a good time.  Friday we decorated the tree and house… Lucy was very proud of her work, Bing was more interested in practicing his bowling.  Saturday, we had a bagel at Panera, baked cookies and watched holiday movies.  Sunday, we had a play date and a party to go to… See, we were pretty busy!

It’s our last week of Podcasts and CRN shows before the holiday break… I am interested to see what 2010 will hold for Stench and Me?  Friday we’re having our unofficial Christmas Party at the CRN Studios, if you’re in a festive mood come on down any time between 8-10pm!

Bing told me that he was going to buy me a BMW (He knows they are my favorite) and himself a Mustang… But then he realized he had no money, but it was the thought that counts!

It’s been fun watching all the holiday programming… although, The Flight Before Christmas was kind of lame… even the kids tired of it about half way through.

I’m sure you’re all tired of the Tiger story, So all I will say is that I’m glad that his sponsors have started to drop him… Although Nike is sticking by him, way to support cheating, disrespect marriage and show little concern for children Nike!

Got a kidney for Gris?  I think Heidi and Spencer should have been #1!  This should have happened sooner.  Bell ringers are not feeling gay.  Kids love the weed.  Quick get Stench a glass!  I can’t even imagine what these poor parents went through.   Some cool drinks.  This is too hard, I’ll just walk.

Rock On, Jack

My current state of affairs has left me with little to enjoy lately, mainly my soul source of joy is spending time with my kids… And they haven’t been around much lately.  But last night I got to enjoy one of my simple pleasures…. A car chase!  But not on TV, it came right by me on Lankershim on my way home, my Mom had called and tipped me off that there was drama in the hood, but at first it looked like it would come nowhere near me, but then they turned around.  My mom even saw my car on the news as they passed me… What can I say, it doesn’t take much to amuse me I guess.

I got my little Christmas tree today… Now I just need those kids to decorate it.  Lucy informed me that she had decorations her mother didn’t want to bring over, she was excited about it, so I too had to act excited…  But I’m sure this will be like when we moved out of our house, I will be left with all the junk she didn’t want.

I can’t tell you how much I love the CRN peeps… They are working so hard to try and make things happen for us.  Don’t forget, Friday the 18th at the CRN Studios in Sun-Land, the Jack and Stretch Unofficial Christmas Party and Hanukkah Hoedown!

I am BBQing right now as I write… It may be a little cold, but it’s not too cold to “Q”!  Although, they are saying the rain will start up again tonight.

I noticed a lack of Christmas spirit (Not that I have much) as I was out running errands… I did not hear holiday music in any of the stores I visited, The bell ringer out Ralph’s was just sitting there not ringing and decorations around town seem to be at a minimum, maybe things will kick up a notch as we get closer?

I guess cheating is good for the economy.  2 in the top 5 isn’t bad.  His truck hated him.  Your heart wants bread!  Godzilla attacks Mexico. Someone stole my X.  Kiss my grits.   TV pays when man loses bet.   The happiest convict on earth.  Norway spiral no longer mystery.   A sassy holiday event.  Can you kill my killer?  This explains Clear Channel management.

Rock On, Jack