Last Friday Julian came down with stomach flu and because of how much he threw up in such a small amount of time, we rushed him to ER where he got IV, and tests. It's pretty hard trying to treat a sick kid when you're not sure what's wrong with them and they can't tell you much either. So for a couple of days it was puke and poop filling the air in our place. By Sunday night it hit me and it hit hard. I was vomiting by 10pm and again around midnight before finally ending. The next day I felt rough and by evening it had made it's way south for yet another night of fun, plus I became very dehydrated and hit the water and electrolite solution every hour. Eventually I was ok, but wow, stomach flu is no fun.

Spent all of last week in Indiana over Thanksgiving Break. One of the big tasks I wanted to knock out was to clean out my room. The entire house has been a bit dusty from my perspective so we had all of the carpets cleaned in the various rooms and several things thrown out. My room has only wood floors and a small throw rug but my closet had a lot of items that I've been keeping over the years like old coats, toys from my childhood, playing cards, cassette tapes, and even an old Pittsburgh Steelers locker bag from the mid 1970s. I really didn't want to part with it, but it was stored inside a foot locker and was completely moldly and smelled really bad. I hated to toss it, but I just didn't feel it would ever be used in any meaningful way. So before I threw it out, I took a few pictures, one of which is shown here. With my cassettes i have roughly around 25 of those fake wooden cabinet looking plastic cassette holders each holding about 30-45 cassettes. Around 14 of them was given to me from a friend, so I'm looking to maybe part ways with about half of them, the other half being mine, but I'll never give up. From around 1985-98 I made cassettes almost religiously because I couldn't afford CDs. I still have a ton of rarities on original cassette, as well as great sounding dubs. I also have a small collection of old playing cards, such as baseball cards, basketball cards, Star Trek the movie cards, original Star Wars cards, and much more. I'm going to try to sell many of these on eBay as they've got to be worth something? I also threw out old college books, most of them are poly sci in nature since I was a poly sci/geography major in college. Once my room was straightened, I also cleaned up the attic a bit and put some additional things up there. Aside from that we were able to see Phil E in Bloomington and check out his new home. He did quite a number on it, and looked fantastic. Plus his neighborhood is quiet and very green and has a yard. We sat around drinking tea near his fireplace and then headed out for a meal at Samira. I've eaten there once before and it was incredible. I'd probably give my meal a 10/10. A rare occassion. Before parting with Phil we talked about getting together on Saturday with Scott and breaking in Electric Flannelland but sadly it never happened due to Sunday's wintery mix that caused us to leave on Saturday.

I think Julian had a good week other than coming down with a cold. He got to see many of his relatives and play with his grandma and some cousins on different days. We also took him out for some brief walks on the days where the air was a bit warmer.

On the way back to Chicago I gave Julian a new toy - a kiddie cell phone that lit up and made noises. He's obsessed with buttons and lights and portable electronics. It kept him busy for at least an hour and a half. As soon as we came home Julian started climbing on the couch - a new 'feat' or milestone, I guess. Good for him! Bad for me! :)

Here's to my son turning 1 today. He's the greatest person in the world to me. It's been a wild ride this past year, and totally worth every second of it. I love him dearly and hope a good life for him in the years ahead. He gives my life meaning and makes everything that more colorful. Yes, I feel like an old man around him, but for once that's not so bad.

Four years ago today Sonya and I got hitched out in Narragansett, RI. In the past four years we bought a new car, moved, both a condo, and had a baby. We gots busy!

About a week ago, Lewis bit Julian. I wasn't here, but Sonya was super-pissed. We started discussing even putting Lewis down. The problem with Lewis is that he doesn't like the energy that children give off, so ever since Julian was born, Lewis hides and runs away.

I really don't want to put him down because besides not liking children, he marks on some things. We pretty much know what things he'll mark, so we keep the place tidy of the things he wants to leave his scent -- rugs, rubber, plastic, and people with other animal scent.

After months of Lewis being demoted as second favorite and days of hearing Julian whine and chase him and realizing that Julian is the household's favorite son, Lewis got even. Lewis bit Julian for the first time today and drew a bit of blood and left a few scratches on Julian's right hand. Sonya was super ticked off and we have considered giving him away or even kicking him out. But we'll not do anything yet. My mom says we just need to teach Julian not to mess with Lewis, but this is the beginning of it, I believe. Plus Lewis can't stand to be around the boy and even tries to run outside or hide in our room to stay away from him.

It's official, I've crossed over into a new decade.

With all this foul weather, flooding, and tornadoes, I think it's finally caught up with Sonya's mental state. Around 4am this morning Sonya wakes me up saying we've just been hit by a tornado and that it sounded like a jet running over the streets. I woke up, hearing nothing and followed her to our back door. She opened it and to her surprise our streets and parking lot was untouched.

I have a copy of the new Coldplay album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends produced by Brian Eno. My initial thoughts -- too complex and overproduced. Coldplay is about simple songwriting and it feels too 'larger than life'. However after relistening I am enjoying it a bit more. I'll have to see how it fairs after repeated listenings.

I've been reading Obama's Audacity of Hope. I really enjoy it. He's both a very good storyteller as well as giving me real insight on his personal character and how Washington works.

Sonya, Julian, and I will be down over the Fourth of July weekend in Indiana. Friends beware. Then in August we're planning a trip to South Haven, MI with some family members at a B&B. I really looking forward to that as well.

Julian is just on the verge of really crawling (I call it 'classic crawling'). He's starting to realize military style crawling is for babies! He also sits up most of the time now, and enjoy playing all day. He and I have been sitting on the back porch and looking at our flowers and I always point out to him where the moon is.

Tonight is the mid-season finale for Battlestar Galactica!

I was contacted a couple of weeks ago from Lake Magazine who wanted to use a couple of my pictures from South Haven, MI for their magazine. I'm once again getting nothing for it but street cred, but that's good enough for me.

So Julian has begun crawling and grabbing things. This weekend Sonya and I will be going to both IKEA and Lowe's purchasing items that will ensure his safety. Our TV needs better protection, and our plants needs put up and repotted and books hidden and toys set aside more neatly.

It was three years ago today that Sonya and I rolled in from Providence back to Chicago after a two day drive pulling our car and giving Lewis a ride of his life. It's so weird that time has floated by so fast.

I started thinking about that after bringing our car in for an oil change when Toyota said that our tires were due for a full change by Winter. I thought, how can that be, we just got our car like....4 years ago??? Wow, crazy.

Indiana seems to be the last possible hope for Obama to really edge away from Hillary. My mom just last night told me she's not sure if she's voting for him after all this Rev Wright crap. Up until then she's been solidly backing Obama. This feeling probably represents a ton of people in Indiana. How can people be so stupid? It's just so frustrating. I've tried giving her everything I can think of but small town Bedford people aren't the most informed folks on the planet (sorry mother).