patrickrhett

I haven’t had a landline for 12 years, ever since I got a mobile phone. I still have the first mobile phone I owned and it is huge. The most recent phone is an iPhone, and it’s not only smaller, I’m also posting this blog entry from it. The point is that, for me, as soon as I got that giant brick of a phone 12 years ago, the landline was obsolete. There was nothing it could do for me that the monochromatic brick couldn’t. The reason I make this point is that, as of last Tuesday morning, when I walked into the Time Warner office and handed them my digital converter/DVR/feed-of-zoned-out-happiness box, we no longer have a television.

We do think we were spending a little too much time in front of it, but we aren’t some hippie Luddites that will now spend all of our new found free time making hemp jewlery, or whittling. We really love television in general, and quite a few shows specifically, and all of it is available somewhere else. If I can’t get it on iTunes, it’s on the network website, and if it’s not there I can Netflix it. If I really like it I’ll buy the DVD’s. I don’t think cable has anything to offer me anymore. We’ll see if I feel the same in a month or two.

Thanks to the presence of Molly and Olivia. You exceeded my every hope, and you are both welcome anytime.

Pictures.

And hopefully I’ll have good stuff to write about in a week or so. Until then…

Happy Holidays to all my far-flung friends and family.

I left my iPhone at home today. Walked out the door with it sitting atop the toaster. (I don’t eat much toast, and it feels safer up high, off the counter.)

Since I got the phone last July, I have never been without it. The first several months were full of the joys of discovery, as I found new, intuitive ways to use it every day. For a couple of months after that there was appreciation, as I integrated all these uses into my daily life. Sadly, the last month or so, I feel I’ve been taking it for granted a bit. The wow factor is gone. If I want barbecue, of course I can just pull out this little touch screen device, type “meat food” into the map search, and instantly get names, locations on a map, phone numbers and websites I can call or visit with a touch. All phones don’t do that?

But now it’s gone. Or, not here. It’s on the toaster.

Ten times today I’ve reached for it to do something, check on something, make a note of something – and none of those times had anything to do with placing a phone call. I appreciate my iPhone again. I won’t forget it tomorrow.

Inigo Montoya hates you.

This time it was James and Shannon, and thankfully all I had to do was show up.

Well, it happened. I stood up and performed a wedding. it was a beautiful day, Ethan and Julie looked fantastic, and their friends and family are kind and generous people. Which you would expect of two kind and generous people, had they not been friends of mine. I practiced my little speech for hours with my extremely patient wife, and as a result I projected well and only forgot about a third of it. The most important third, the go-for-the-heart third – but I don’t think anyone really noticed. I think I could do it better given one more chance. Not another wedding, mind you, just that one – one more time.

Oh, and I was so full of adreneline before the event that I forgot my camera and didn’t get a single picture. Hopefully I’ll get a couple from some of the other people there.

[edit] It seems that Julie created a Flickr Group named Ethan and Julie get Hitched. Right now there are only two pictures in it, and none of the wedding day, but hopefully that will change.

To those of you who don’t know/use Flickr – use it. It is awesome. And it doesn’t make you create a damn login to see pictures that other people have uploaded. I’m looking at you, Zardaiken, with your damn Snapfish full of damn pictures that I can’t see. Damn damn damn. [/edit]

This is Ethan and Julie. They’re getting married this weekend. I’m performing the ceremony. This is us, planning the ceremony. I’m a little nervous, but I’m sure it’ll all turn out ok. Or I will ruin their lives.

I grew this in the backyard. Then Elaine cut it up, I took pictures and about 3 bites, and then we left it in the fridge for weeks and wound up throwing it out. Lesson: grow things you would normally eat. It was pretty, though.