TIME TO VENT!

Have you ever had one of those days (or weekends in this case) where nothing goes the way you hoped or planned? Well, that pretty much sums up the weekend that Lisa and I had.

We had been looking forward to this past weekend for a while now. Back in December we had asked some ‘friends’ to go to the Keith Urban/Carrie Underwood concert when it came to Charlotte. Even though they only live two hours away, we hadn’t seen them since last June, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to see them again and do something that we don’t normally get to do with others. A week or so before the concert things started to unravel. Even though we had gotten these tickets back in December, our ‘friends’ suddenly had another couple and their kids visiting with them the same weekend, and they weren’t even sure if they were going to go to the concert with us. They decided to squeeze us in and even suggested going out to eat together before the concert, and they invited us to go to Carowinds with them and the other couple the next day. So things were looking up. We planned on meeting at their house, going out to eat and then heading to the concert. Now this is when things really started going downhill.

On our way up to their house, Lisa’s ‘friend’ calls to tell us that she is going to be a little late because she is out with the other girl getting a pedicure! We get to their house at 5pm, and we talk to her again and find out that she is not going to be there until about 5:30 at the earliest. And she still needed to change clothes. We had hoped to eat something besides fast food, but in order to get to the concert with a little bit of time to spare this was going to be impossible. So we decided to just meet them at the concert, and we would grab something on the way. We had planned on riding with them since they know the area. Needless to say it took us a little while to find the arena and a place to park. There was a Burger King across from the arena, so we ate there and got inside a little bit after 7pm with the concert starting at 7:30. This is when the next disappointment came. Our seats were terrible. We were basically at a right angle to the stage and about ten rows from the top of the arena. Our ‘friends’ then get there right before the concert is about to start.

We ended up having a decent enough time at the concert. The sound wasn’t that great for Carrie Underwood’s half of the show, she was basically the size of an ant and we couldn’t see her screens from where we were sitting, but she put on a good show and did a cool cover of Guns N Roses’ Paradise City. Keith Urban’s half of the show, while not as enjoyable for me as when I last saw him in Greenville, was great. The top half of his screen was cut off, but the image was a lot clearer, and his sound mix was better. He really puts on the best concert performance that I’ve ever seen, and with Carrie Underwood there, we got an awesome duet. They sang Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty’s Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.

After the concert we drove back to their house in better spirits, stopping at what Lisa said was the cleanest gas station that she had ever been in (she even told the store clerk this) for snacks and drinks. We ended up getting in bed around 2am.

At different times in the middle of the night the other couple’s kids came into our bedroom thinking they were climbing into bed with their parents. I’m so glad that our boys don’t do that.

We got up the next morning thinking that we all were going to try to get to Carowinds when it opened at 10am. Lisa and I got ready and went downstairs to find the rest of them still sitting around in their pajamas, drinking coffee and making pancakes. Apparently their kids had already eaten all of the bacon. We were really feeling like we were intruding on their weekend with their other friends, and they showed no intention of getting to the park that early. They asked us to stay for breakfast, but we didn’t want to spend $70 for Carowinds and only get to stay for two or three hours. So we stopped at Sonic for breakfast, went on the Carowinds and told them to call us when they got there so we could meet up. Well, they finally call us around 12:30, and by their conversation they had no intention of hanging out with us. Lisa and I ended up having a decent enough time together at the park, but Lisa was disappointed that her friend treated her the way she did all weekend, I was disappointed for Lisa, Thunder Road was closed, one ride was closed after we had waited in line for over an hour and it rained some! So we ended up leaving the park a little after 3pm with the hope of stopping somewhere decent to eat before we had to pick up Ethan and Connor from Lisa’s parents.

So we stopped at an Outback on the way home, which was another disappointment due to crappy service. We got home a little after 6pm, Lisa went to get the boys, we got them home, bathed and in bed. Unfortunately the highlight of the weekend ended up being back at home on our couch watching Friday night’s episode of Battlestar Galactica.

We really tried to roll with the punches and make the best of constantly changing plans this weekend. But we ended up feeling like an unwanted intrusion on our ‘friends’ weekend plans. I’m just not the type of person that flies by the seat of my pants. I like to make plans, know what time I’m leaving, where I’m going to go, what I’m going to do and then stick by those plans. Plus it really does hurt when you think that you are ‘friends’ with someone to find out that you really aren’t that important to them and even though you have had a special weekend planned with them since December, they can easily change those plans if someone more important to them comes along.

The two things that I take away from this weekend are that I’m never making plans with this couple again, and that Lisa and I were simply meant to be together. Our personalities are so alike, that we are just the perfect match. I feel like even though things didn’t go the way we hoped and planned, we grew a little bit closer. She really is my best friend in the whole world, and there is no one else in the world that I would rather be miserable with. :)

LOST: THE ECONOMIST - SPOILERS

WTF!?! In the flashforward, Sayid is now killing people for Ben in order to protect the rest of the Oceanic Six!

This show just continues to blow my mind!

ETHAN'S NEW WORD OF THE DAY

Ethan created a new word last night - commerate. While looking for a box he could make his 'treasure chest', he asked if I could 'commerate' some of my stuff so that he could have an empty box. When I asked him what that meant he had the most assured look on his face and explained to me that it basically meant reorganizing things from one place to another. But of course!

CLOSE CALL

We had a terrifying experience this past Friday night. Our youngest son, Connor, had an allergic reaction and went into anaphlatic (sp?) shock. Connor is allergic to eggs, milk and peanuts, so we are constantly reading labels and keeping track of food that is around him. We have a fairly good idea what set it off this time. He has had severe reactions before but never like this. Thankfully Lisa and my mother-in-law made it to the emergency room in time where they gave him a shot of epinephrine, put him on oxygen and a steroid. Lisa said that he was like a rag doll in her arms. About four hours later we were on our way home with our little angel sitting next to us dancing and singing along with the radio. It is really scary to think about how close we were to losing him. I honestly don't know what I would do if I lost another child. Unfortunately with Connor's food allergies we will always have this fear in the back of our mind, but thankfully he made through this time.

FIRST POST OF '08

To start off the year I was planning on doing an extensive breakdown of the number of comics and trades that I read this past year, much like I did for the year before, but I don’t really think anyone would care. However, just to make note of it…I read a total of 545 single issues, which averages out to about 45 a month, and 64 trade collections or graphic novels, which averages out to about 5 trades a month. I don’t think my geek status can ever be doubted.

Instead, I thought I would mention some of the books that I’ve read recently. On the trade front I’ve been trying to get caught up on Captain America. Ed Brubaker has made this a must read book, so I’m trying to make the switch from trades to monthlies. As of today I have one more trade to go, Captain America: The Death Of Captain America Vol. 1 HC, and then issues #31-33 to be up to date. I really can’t wait to see where the story goes after Cap’s death.

When it comes to singles…I recently read an interview with Geoff Johns where he said in 2008 he wanted to do for Superman what he did for Green Lantern in 2007. If the current Legion story in Action Comics is any indication, I think that things are definitely on the right track. My knowledge of the Legion Of Super-Heroes is pretty much limited to the cartoon which my son, Ethan, enjoys and the Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning era from a few years back. However, Johns and artist, Gary Frank, are crafting an exciting story that is doing a great job of introducing me to an older version of the Legion.

Over at Marvel, Spider-Man’s history has basically been reset thanks to Peter and MJ’s deal with the devil in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As I understand it, Aunt May’s life was saved by Mephisto at the cost of Peter and MJ’s love and marriage. I’m conflicted in my feelings about this. On one hand, I think rewriting Spider-Man’s history in this way is a bit of a cop out and leads to a headache if you think about it too hard. On the other, I am looking forward to the creative teams and the possibilities going forward. Has Marvel screwed things up for their universe by dissolving the marriage, which Joe Quesada has had a problem with from the very beginning of his tenure as Editor In Chief, in this way? Was a married Spider-Man that big of a problem? Besides the ramifications of the story on Marvel’s history, my biggest problem is the idea that on a realistic, human, emotional level, Aunt May was more important to Peter than his love for Mary Jane and their marriage. That being said, I can’t wait to see Steve McNiven and the other artists they have lined up in the coming months on Amazing Spider-Man, which begins this week with issue #546.

The adventures of Joss Whedon’s character Angel continues in Angel: After The Fall from IDW Publishing. Much like Dark Horse is doing with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, this is basically the continuation of Angel’s story from the final season of the television series. However, unlike Buffy over at Dark Horse, so far after two issues this series just isn’t matching the television series’ level of quality. While I find parts of the story a little confounding, I think most of the blame can be placed at the artist’s feet. Franco Urru’s art does a decent job of capturing the likenesses of the characters, but his layouts and backgrounds are confusing and muddled. It is a shame too, because I was always a bigger fan of Angel than Buffy. Television doesn’t get much better than Angel’s fifth season in my opinion.

LONG TIME COMIN'

I can't believe that it has been since October that I posted last. A lot of things factor into that, but it mostly comes down to lack of motivation and the general hustle and bustle of life and work. So to get back into blogging I thought that I would just run through some of the things that have been entertaining me lately.

Books

I recently received a comp copy of Scott Adams' – the creator of Dilbert – new book, Stick To Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! The majority of the book comes from Adams' blog where he writes about topics as diverse as cloning to losing weight. His thoughts on all these various subjects makes for some fun reading. And most are only a page or two long so it is perfect for the bathroom.

Comics

The Sinestro Corps War in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps has been amazing, and the Messiah Complex in the X-Men line has me enjoying those books again. DC's Countdown is starting to pick-up, but this weekly series doesn't even come close to the quality of 52. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are making Action Comics a must read. And Brubaker, Fraction and Aja's Immortal Iron Fist is one of my favorite books on the stands.

Movies

I haven't been to the movies in a long while. I guess 3:10 To Yuma was the last one I saw in a theatre. However, I did watch and enjoy the latest Harry Potter movie this past weekend. Next on the viewing list is The Bourne Ultimatum.

Music

I got to see Keith Urban in concert a couple of weeks ago, and it was the best concert I've ever been to. I had such a great time that we have already ordered tickets for his concert with Carrie Underwood in Charlotte this coming April.

TV

Thanks to the writers' strike and my DVR crapping out, I'll soon be running out of new shows to watch. But that isn't so bad. It just means that I can dive into some TV shows on DVD that I've been itching to watch. Veronica Mars Season Three here I come. In the meantime I've been watching a few miscellaneous episodes of Chuck and Journeyman. Chuck is decent, but Journeyman has become a show that I really look forward to. And I have to add that Battlestar Galactica: Razor is a must see!

SPIDER-PUMPKIN

It has been a long while since my last blog, but I just had to share this. My office had a pumpkin carving contest this past Friday, and I was fairly pleased with the way my pumpkin turned out.



And here were the others that some of my coworkers carved...