It’s barely February and 2008 has “upheaval” as its theme. Personally, there’s been workplace role changes, a newlywed son away in the military. The very recent and very unexpected death of a father has shaken us. A 3D graphics company I’ve beta-tested for these past 8+ years has been absorbed by Microsoft. The world situation is contributing mightily. Nationally, more war, less work, a realigning election, public engagement driven by frustration.

Somehow, 40 years ago keeps coming to mind. I was a 14 year old growing up in Detroit in 1968. A last year of innocence transformed into adolescent messiness. It was the kind of year that changes everything and cements itself into your psyche, the kind of year scholars ponder ever after.

There’s got to be better things ahead in 2008 (after all, the Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 World Series and the Phoenix Suns just acquired Shaq). Despite dubious change and heartache I’m hopeful. How’s your 2008 shaping up? Will this be a benchmark year? Are you optimistic (or not)?

Quick and dirty in Excel and PDF format, prints in landscape on letter paper.
Had to throw this together for next weeks Super Bowl XLII neighborhood party, wanted something simple and legible that can be filled out without digital intervention. The logo is just for kicks of course, the NFL certainly doesn’t endorse gambling or sponsor our little low budget neighborhood get together, even if we are just 11 miles north of University of Phoenix Stadium.

Click here to download PDF
Click here to download XLS

So hard to believe. Uma, namesake for binkydognose, has moved on. Seizures began the day after Thanksgiving. She was almost back to her usual self, but yesterday afternoon we returned from grocery shopping to find her in her bed having more troubles. Canceled a birthday dinner for Nick, watched over her for less than an hour, and by 4 pm we were at the vets and she was gone.
I love you. I miss you. I wish you were still with us being the daily pain in the ass and cutie you were.

A few friends are wondering…. why no posts? site dead? something wrong?
What a long/short/busy/strange year. First half was consumed by long work hours, finishing up an SAP implementation that went live in July. Any free time I had after work/family was spent beta testing trueSpace. One son moved out, another back in. The son who moved back in married, he and his wife enlisted in the USAF, moved out. We’ve been re-arranging, painting, making the home what we envisioned when we moved into it 3 years ago. So looking forward to having everyone back for the holidays.
Work/-/Deja vu all over again, working SAP support, ambiguous job status. Health/-/went on meds for stage2 hypertension and high cholesterol. Need to take time away to get back into shape and clear my mind. Play/-/still fascinated by 3D, beta testing, photography, digital works in general - still love the outdoors and it’s creatures - hope to return to active creativity very soon, clean the digital house over the holidays.

Pranksters decorated our front yard with assorted Halloween yard objects (from other peoples homes I suppose). There was even a large tar-spattered road cone on the roof. Didn’t help that we were returning from a wine dinner either - “Oh look, Nick decorated the yard, HUH?! Nick wouldn’t cheese out the yard like that?! Wha…? Spoot.”

Now reminded that Halloween is lurking it’s only fitting that I post this picture. We were eating left overs. I glanced at Val and was stunned to see this monster on her fork. “DON’T MOVE!” Grabbed the camera and snapped this amazing image of a Vegetable Biryani Devil before he was destroyed in masticular combat with Val’s mouth. She’s saved us all…

Finally got around to uploading some vacation sunset pics from August. The “nuthersunset” series are from our favorite place to stay - Crystal Pier (I’d really like to update their website).