Fall into Winter

Hello and welcome back to the world's favorite blog.

A few days after my last entry, Richie and I went to the Fryeburg fair to see what kind of mischief the woods people have been getting into. Wow were we in for a suprise. I am no lightweight, mind you, but we were astonished at how many really humongous, morbidly overweight people we saw. As Richie puts it, there were women, young women in their 40's, who had "front butt". A syndrome where your belly is so large, it is literally down between your knees and the seam in your stretchy pants creates a cleavage like your bum. Were they feasting on vegetable tempura and rice cakes? No, not at all.. Use your imagination.. Richie and I weren't real hungry for fair food after a while.

Well, we're part of the way through the holiday B.S...

Halloween was pretty uneventful as I never see any kids at my door for treats. Good thing because I never buy any. If I did, the trick or treaters probably still would never see them. Yeah, sugar is my drug of choice. Still, even though I didn't have any plans, I perused the giant halloween party store in South Portland to stay "up to date" on the latest devilish offerings their creators have imagined. I must say that things have changed a little since I was a kid.

I had a batman costume when I was five and I thought it was amazing. It was more or less a smock that you wore, hanging down about to my knees, with the batman logo emblazened on its chest. It had a molded plastic mask that was thin, cheap painted material. It had a elastic band that was simply stapled on each cheek to hold it on your head. Nice and simple, no frills and the elastic band almost lasted long enough for the one night it was designed for. Curiously, the eye holes were too close together, or I have had a big head since birth. I think it's the latter. My mom has confirmed that for me many, many times.

Today, we have moved forward from the simplicity of a $5 "complete costume in a box" to some really elaborate things. The designers seem to be pushing the limits of what the market will bear as far as how gory, complex or sexy something is, and how young the potential customer can be. We had Casper, Batman & Robin, Snow White, Scooby doo, Charlie Brown.. etc. I could list a lot more, but the point is the same. Today we've got costumes, some starting at $50 and $60 bucks, that are way over the top. Either way too revealing, or so scarily shocking that it would never have been imagined 25 years ago. In the simpler time of years past, it was enough to feel like you were that super hero and let your imagination hide the fact that you didn't have a cape or a belt loaded with gadgets. That was what the fun grew out of. Now, most are trying to out-do the neighbor kids. Sadly, the costumes made today are so current with the latest movie or video game, that they'll be out of vogue next year. I think a costume should be like a tux. Classic and always appropriate.

Thanksgiving was great. I called Shelley to see what I could bring for turkey day and she said she had everthing at hand already. "I'm not doing anything fancy, just nice and simple." Ha. She's so cute. I showed up at her house and there was so much food. The table was beautiful and had decorations and candles. The whole house smelled of family cooking. Warm and humid with all the different recipes vying for stove-top space. She cooked a huge bird. HUGE. I don't know how she got it in the car. Everything was delicious and perfect, especially the turkey. Not all of us were in attendance, however. The Cheney's were in New York visiting Ashley's future in-laws, (she's gonna get mad at me. he he) and Mom was home ill with a 24 hour bug of some kind. She's better now, thankfully. After feasting together, we played several non electronic table games and it was, as usual, a gas. (and it was a gas... Richie was there.)

My pals were out of town. The Morg's and Ferg's ventured off to Maryland to visit more of the Morg fam. I am still waiting to hear how the 'Stang performed on its first road trip excursion. Maybe I'll catch up with them this weekend.

All we have now, is to plod along until January 2 or so. That means getting past the meaninglessly sanitized and politically correct "Holiday" (can't call it Christmas) and the New Year. I don't mind the new year. It gives a sense of cleansing and renewal in a strange way. Hopefully 2008 will be that for all of us. "Holiday", however, has lost any connection to what I remember it being. Much like Halloween, its just not like it used to be when we lived it back then. I haven't put up a tree for 7 years. I don't know why really. Might be that a real tree is a waste of a nice living little tree, and to me, a fake tree is just retarded. Not that it isn't great for those who have them, they're beautiful, just that I don't want one. I know.. it's the smell. Plastic just doesn't have it.

Psoriasis update: As most of you probably know, I am having serious issues with the psoriasis in my feet. The weekly Enbrel injections are managing the disease quite well everywhere else, but in my feet it is not working. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I began a new puva treatment on just my feet that hopefully will give some results. It requires applying this goo on my toes a half-hour before the treatment, so I have to be careful about the timing. The goo makes the skin receptive to the puva light. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Please, whatever your faith, keep me in your thoughts. I have been losing many night's sleep and it is getting somewhat overwhelming. If you've ever had a night where you just couldn't find a comfortable position to be in, add to that the factor that your feet feel like they're on fire. That's a pretty accurate analogy.

So, to John and Roy.. stop flogging my blog. I'm here and I hope you're happy now.

Long time no see..

Does life grab you? Does it just take you by surprise and run with you without your really knowing where it's taking you? That's been my experience these past few weeks since my last post. Last thing I knew, it was my birthday.. still late spring and everything was so fresh and green. Had some great fun all summer with friends and family and then BAM~! It's the end of September.. I truly don't know how that happens. It isn't amnesia, because I have tons of great photos and memories of what I have been up to. Before you know what's hit you, it's over in a flash and you're shoveling snow again. We all need to face it. Summer is short.

Summer starts mid June and is over, usually, by the beginning to middle of September. Two or three days ago, you wouldn't have thought there would be an end to Summer, but you can feel it in the air now. The sun feels good, but the breeze has a chilling effect instead of a cooling one. Also, I have noted that tons of flies are gathering on the side of the house looking for a place to hide. That's a definite sign of change. The animals and bugs sense change long before we do. I guess I have to put away my patio table and umbrella and wait for next year to have dinner outside. That will be missed.

My open air dining room has been a lot of fun all summer. If you didn't have the opportunity to come for dinner on a Friday night or two, I'm taking reservations for next year starting after Memorial Day. I haven't put the menu together yet. I'll need something to do on those cold winter nights.

Shelley and I are still going to the gym 5 days a week. My old friend SJC has also joined about 5 weeks ago and is loving it. He's a great addition to the characters that show up every day. If laughter was like cardio exercise, we'd be modeling by now. Since I finally smartened up and made dietary changes, plus started drinking about 5 liters of water every day, I have dropped twelve pounds. I'm a loooong way from where I want to be, but it's a start.

Later~

Great Concert

Shelley and I attended the aforementioned concert by Great Big Sea Saturday night. What an absolute blast we had. We had to agree that it was the best concert by far that we had been to. Some of the determining factors for that were perfect weather, excellent performance with lots of humor and crowd interaction, and drunk girl. Obnoxious drunk girl. So drunk in fact that she just didn't care what or who was around her. "MARGARITA" she'd exclaim at the top of her lungs. We didn't know if it was the name of a song she wanted to hear, or that her glass was empty. Probably the latter. That small detail aside, it was really truly excellent.

Given that the show didn't start until 7:30 that night, I thought showing up at 6 would be plenty of time to arrive and get a great vantage point. After all, these guys are unknowns. I had never heard of them before getting the concert schedule in my email from JoAnn (thanks babe!). Man oh man was I wrong. People had started showing up at NOON and claiming their lawnchair wide patch of earth. When we did get there, there was no place to sit in the actual bowl-shaped stage area. Fortunately for us, LLBean thinks of everything. Just in front of the bowl, beside the retail store, they set up a huge video screen and speakers for the overflow. Yeah I know that doesn't sound great, but it really was! To our surprise, we could still see the stage, at quite a distance, but we had a better view than most because the projector was excellent. We probably saw more than those who were waiting all day to sit closer than us.

After the encore, we got up and folded our chairs and walked over towards LLBean's retail store. From there, we were able to stand on the bottom row of temporary bleachers they had and Shell could get a nice close-up view of the last couple of songs they performed. Yes, the concert was great on the big screen, but we still wanted to see a couple of songs performed in plain view. To any of you who didn't go. Too bad. It was great great great. Shell screamed in delight pretty often, so I pretended I didn't know who she was a little..

On our way to the car I committed an act of rampant indiscretion, thinking we were alone of course. Shell just kind of froze and stared right at me... needless to say, I'll check behind me more carefully next time. Two people were traversing the sidewalk right behind me and did their best to act like nothing happened. Shell and I just jumped in the car and laughed ourselves silly. See what you miss by staying home?

For more information about a really great band, CLICK HERE.
Later~

What the..? Again?

Yep.. Back again. Blogging twice in one day should keep my critic's at bay for a while.. then again, it is technically Sunday now, so...

I just wanted to send out a reminder to all my pals. This coming Saturday evening at 7:30, the L.L Bean Summer concert series is presenting Great Big Sea. They are a really good celtic rock group hailing from Canada. I am already committed to going with at least 3 other people in tow. Wayne, Nancy and JoAnn. If you would like to join us, call or email and let me know. Click THIS to see one of their music videos on YouTube and click THIS to see another. Listen closely to the words of "Ordinary Day". Very uplifting. I listen to it frequently when I am not happy with my current place in life. I love how it gets me through some of the rough spots.

Now I AM going to bed. No, really.

~Later

Don't Fall Down!

Yep.. Don't be shocked!! I am blogging again already. One day after my re-surfacing from the abyss of blog-neglectdom, I am here doing my duty to instill wisdom, humor and smart-assery to the masses. Ah, who am I kidding? I know I only have about 3 or 4 regular readers.. I must give credit to Richie for my use of the word smart-assery. Your royalty check is in the mail.

Today was another steamy, muggy one. Mid-upper 80's with 100 percent humidity. So much moisture in the air in fact that it looked like fog in the lower areas in the woods and along the road. It was the second day in a row that I had to turn on the A/C for most of the day. Of course I used the power saver setting for most of the time. Must save resources for future generations to waste I guess..

My mission, this morning, was to find some sandals to wear for the remainder of the Summer. I ventured to Reny's in Bath, but it was wiped out of the type I was looking for. I either wanted to find some Tiva's or some HiTec's, but no luck.

With tears of disappointment welling in my eyes, I headed home empty handed. At the last minute, I thought I should check out Target here in Topsham. YAY! No. They didn't have the brands I was originally looking for, but they had some nice ones for cheap. The tag said $19.00 . I thought that was an ok deal because I liked the design and leather. At the checkout, they rang up $9.00. YAY again. I like surprises like that. The big downer was that they were on sale for early Fall clearance. Early Fall Clearance. If that wasn't bad enough, all the summer stuff was noticeably absent from the store, and back-to-school crap was everywhere. How long before we start seeing Christmas crap everywhere? Mid September? Say it isn't so. 2007 is 7/12ths gone.

Later in the afternoon, my sis Shelley called me from Brunswick to see what I was doing. Silly me, I was anticipating some visitors, but hadn't heard from them until after Shell came to pick me up and take me out cruising. Sorry guys. (you know who you are~!) I am so in demand and popular that I will have to start keeping a date book and schedule my time out so everyone can have a piece of the majesty that is Dan. Book early. Tickets are going fast.

Shelley, Will, Ken and I had a fun cruise up through Monmouth, Green and Leeds and headed back South to make dinner and care for her dobie pups, Annie and Rusty. I made my magic A1 chicken, guacamole and bruchetta with baguette bread. There were no leftovers except a couple of pieces of chicken. Will, who is not a tomato lover, devoured my bruchetta like a wild potassium starved chimp on a banana plantation. Shell couldn't believe he loved it so much. Ken eats pretty much anything without complaint, quickly converting anything and everything he eats into methane.. as we found out in the car. I bestowed an Otter Pop blessing on my visitors and they were quickly converted. Otter Pops are Awesome! Go to RiteAid and get some before Summer is over and they're GONE again.

That's how I see it.. and now.. to bed!
~Later

Bad, Bad Boy.

Ok.. I get the message. Get back on the horse Dan and blog dammit! Thanks to Roy and Chief for the words of encouragement. I didn't really need them, but time does allow for me to get back to this a bit.

The car show mentioned in the previous blog was a big hit. It was the 4th annual Casco Bay Car Show held at Pine Tree Academy, my old school, in Freeport. Here is a link to the pictures my niece Ashley took. I shot some video, which I have no time to edit right now, but hope to in the future. Maybe a promo commercial will be made for next years show from it.. who knows.

So.. what is taking up all my time? Well, as some of you know, I am dealing with a really bad, but much improved, skin disorder Psoriasis. It got so bad last December, that my Doctor pulled me out of work and had me apply for disability. Since then, I have been injecting myself weekly with the miracle drug Enbrel. It has made my life livable again. The disability checks have kept me afloat since April and it is truly a miracle I was approved for them so fast.

With regard to that, a good sweetie of a friend has taken an interest in my Photoshop abilities and is helping me to polish my skills in it and also learn Adobe Illustrator. As for why it is taking up alot of my time? Well, I'll tell you. I have a long way to go to become proficient, but once I manage to produce at a high level, it could turn out to be quite lucrative. YAY.. No more disability checks! No looking for a job. I could work from home editing and illustrating in my underwear. (sorry for that visual). That also means... no commute.. no time clock.. no limit to how much or how little I want to work on a particular day.. In short.... AWESOME.

What else have I been up to? Well, I still show up at the gym every weekday and pump my iron and put in my dreaded cardio time. My sis Shelley is steadfast in her coming to workout every day and it is really beginning to show. Though she doesn't see much change, everyone else at the gym is noticing. We are all our own worst critic. False self image has alot to do with that. Shelley had a particular glow about her this morning, but nobody knows why... He he..

Cooking is still one of my free time endeavors. I got the ingredients from Elizabeth's bruchetta and made some last weekend. We all loved it. She is so nice to have shared it with me. I also try to get to the Hong Kong market in Portland about once a week to stock up on their rediculously inexpensive curries and shitake mushrooms. Gotta get my curry in me. Nothing makes me sweat like a good prik king curry with chicken and rice. Wow is it hot. Wow is it good!! Burns me twice. (no kidding about that)

I'd like to send out a thank you to Elizabeth and Roy for introducing me to one of the greatest (best kept secret) lunch locations in Portland.. Yes, I am talking about Market Street Eats. Since you spoiled me there I have been there 2 more times. With my buddy from dermatology Dennis and his wife, (Dennis went ga ga for it) and then with Dennis and my Dad a week later. We have a new lunch location forever. Everything is right about that place. The price, the location, the menu... and Colin is really nice. A real entrepreneur who does his darndest to make you feel like his only customer. All these things make us go back again and again. (try the Basil Wrapbone sometime should you find yourself in the old port district of Portland). If you know the old port, Market street is a one way street running uphill one block to the left of Exchange Street if your facing the waterfront. Find it. It is SO worth it.

That's it for now. I will not neglect you so badly again. Promise!
Later~

I'm Alive

Yip. I'm alive and well. Been kinda busy with several projects. More on that later. For now, I have to get ready to go with JoAnn to the Casco Bay Car Show, in Freeport. It starts in an hour or two. Watch for pics and maybe some video!

Later~

Photography Tour Day

Today, I took 2 of the Cheney kids for a romp around the coast for photo ops and some beautiful fresh air and sunshine. The day began foggy and rainy.. Didn't matter much to us because some of the best scenic pictures are of crappy weather situations anyways.

We began our trek at Spring Point in South Portland, walking out to the end of the breakwater and along the beach. Next we headed for the world renown light at Portland Head. Wow! Was it ever amazing out there. Luckily there weren't really alot of people and the fog was still hanging in the air off the coast.

Later, we headed to my place for lunch and then back out again. This time, we headed for Cundy's Harbor, Orr's and Bailey Islands and Land's End. By evening, we were completely exhausted and crispified. We had such an amazing day. We've made plans to again seek out more of our scenic wonders and also more historical sites.

Seen here is just one of the pictures taken. It's just a teaser. Rather than upload 32 pictures to my blog, I am instead providing a link to some of the pictures I took. Just click it.. and enjoy! CLICK HERE!

My niece Ashley has also uploaded some of the pics she took. They can be seen HERE as well as a large collection of her other photos she's taken. She has studied photography at college and has a remarkable natural talent for it.
~Later

Monday Cruise Night

Every Monday night at 5:30, the Topsham Fair Mall has 'Cruise Night'. It's a fun car show with a deejay playing music and fun giveaways from the mall businesses.

Shelley came with her ponytail mustang and two boys. I went with Matt's lady Joann and Gene arrived a little later. It was really cool and around 60 cars showed up. Not their biggest turnout to date, but a nice crowd of unusual cars considering the sky was kinda threatening and it even sprinkled once.

If showing a spiffy car, you're handed a numbered orange ticket upon arrival. As the evening progresses the deejay calls out a number and if it is yours, you win one of the prizes available. One of the more incredibly awesome prizes was a free oil change from Meineke car care. Shell didn't have her ticket on hand when the number was called out, so she sent Will and Ken to run and get it from the car. As luck would have it, when the boys returned, the number called was not Shell's anyhow. Actually, nobody had the number so they either had already left or lost their ticket (?) Good thing though! Since nobody claimed their prize, they called out a new number. Shelley's number! She let out some kind of crazy war whoop and gleefully trotted over to the deejay tent to claim her certificate. It was hilarious. Enjoy the pictures and experience the magic for yourselves. It's almost as good as being there.

Public Sauna.. for FREE

Unless you live in a cave, where it's nice and cool and the ambient humidity stays low underground, you probably are well aware that we have enjoyed 2 knockout summer days in a row. Around here, sizzler isn't a restaurant, it's an adjective for the intensity of heat and the humidity that comes with it.

Our local sizzler restaurant closed and became a gym. Ironic.. All those 'fall-off-the-bone ribs', burgers, chicken and other greasy offerings replaced by people wanting to get fit as a result. All this talk of meat.. I'm gonna go throw a steak on the grill.. of my car. I bet that would be a rare occurrence. Pun intended.. (Well done Dan, well done!) 2nd pun. Man.. I crack myself up..

I still think my idea of a combined gym/laundromat would be a hit. Laundry is boring, boring, boring. I usually walk down to the pet store or hang with my friends Don and Cheryl, the laundry owners, while my duds go kathump kathump. Just picture it for a moment. Instead of reading a magazine or watching endless episodes of the Waltons or Little House on the Prairie, you could leap onto a treadmill or elliptical and make.. more dirty laundry. I think it is job security for whoever takes my idea and runs with it.

Anyhow. Enough of that. It has become necessary, for sleeping comfort at least, to run a window insertable cooling device for a couple of hours before bed. My version has a remote control. I can be at full command of my entire domain from the comfort of my couch. Music, entertainment and comfort. Whoever invented the couch is a genius, but I bet he or she never envisioned it becoming a 'home command center'.


Late this afternoon, I had to run for my camera. In the eastern sky, there was the most amazing thunderhead formation growing. Unfortunately it was moving away, denying us of the downpour of rain that we could have run around in. I snapped several pics of the formation and have a couple here for your optical enjoyment. Ok ok.. I might have done a little tweaking on one of them in CS2, but I wanted it to look really angry. The pictures do the scene some justice, but it doesn't really allow the colossal scale to be realized. Think of it as looking out your window and seeing Mt. Everest looming over the pines.. That was how it felt.

Tomorrow evening, as per usual on Fridays, is dinner at my place. Open invitation. Drop me a quick call so I can plan deliciousness. My old friend SJC is coming with Sue and I know Elizabeth is coming. So what are you waiting for? Grab the phone now and come hang with us. You know you want to.
Later~

This Week Flew By

Thought it was only yesterday that I posted.. well, not really. It only seems that way.

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to go see "West Side Story" at the Maine State Music Theater on Tuesday. Here's a link: http://www.msmt.org/ (photos by Pierce studio). It was fantastic. I borrowed these pictures from the web as photography during performances is 'strictly prohibited.' Too bad! We were in row B on the right side of the stage! In the center section of the theater, there is one more row, row A, but on our side of the stage, row B is in the front. So cool! Everyone involved with these productions are professionals who come up to Brunswick from New York. I've never seen a play on Broadway, but I doubt it would be any better. Matt and Joann took me to see it with them. Thanks Joann and Matt!

Shelley has started going to the gym with me every weekday morning at 6. I am ecstatic. It was always fun, because I get to work out with Joann and joke around with Matt, but having my sister coming in is extra fun. We are good at motivating each other. If I had my way, I'd have my whole fam damily working out there. Yeah, I spelled that wrong on purpose.. Shell took a liking to Joann's ipod shuffle and got one. Had to kinda help her with it.. I wouldn't call her electronically challenged... well.. not to her face anyways..

Father's Day on the Lakeside

Father's Day was wonderful. I got some long awaited one-on-one time with my sis, Shelley, and as usual we were cracking up all the way up to Dad's house (especially after we were both hopped-up on caffeine and sugar from our iced coffees from DND.) She took her Mustang, and I suffered through the ride in that beauty as best I could. I did get scolded when I committed a very minor "indiscretion" involving air quality within the bounds of her car. We had the windows open, so I thought it was ok. She had concerns about permanent damage to the leather upholstery, which were unfounded, I think.

Lunch was, as usual, awesome. Barbie and her sis Linda made amazing burgers and dogs on the grill with some crazy good crinkly fries. I had to stop eating the fries or I would still be eating them now. I brought the fixin's for my now world renown deviled eggs and stuffed mushrooms. Dad enlisted my help and advice with creating a magical macaroni salad. The secret ingredients made it most delicious. If I told you what we did, it wouldn't be a secret now would it? Then, as if anyone had any room left, we had brownies and ice cream. Glad I skipped breakfast today because if anyone had offered me a thin mint, I might have popped, no matter how wafer thin.


Once we were all satisfied with our excellent summer fare, and when my bro-in-law Gene and nephew Will were finished destroying the hammock, almost all of us piled on to the party barge for a cruise up the lake. Even though the sky was a little angry, it only rained once for just a short while. Then it opened up and got nice and sunny/steamy. It is so peaceful on the lake. The late afternoon there makes the water like glass. Several loons surfaced and didn't even seem fazed by the presence of 4 dogs on the boat with us. Can't wait to go up there again soon and take some friends with me. Dad and Barbie make anyone and everyone feel like long lost family returning home, and it is awesome.
Later~

Otter Pops?

Apparently, there is a large contingent of people out there who have no idea what Otter Pops are. If y0u have read my blog thoroughly, you might have noticed that Otter Pops are included on my list of interests when you click "View my complete profile." They are there for a reason.

Every summer, I find it is necessary to supply my freezer with some nice cool refreshment. My freezer, in turn supplies me with some frozen treats that are second to none.

I know. There are other freezer pops out there, but none can match Otter Pops for variety of flavors and quality. Also, they are the perfect size.. Any smaller, and you'd think "hey, that was kinda small.." any bigger and you'd get a freeze pop headache, and nobody needs that.

Another reason they are so awesome, is the names they give each flavor.. I could tell you, but then you would have no surprise left when you go out and find some for yourself.


Otter pops come in two sizes, that I have seen. 18 packs, for beginners, and 100 packs for the connoisseur. I have never purchased the 18 pack. That just seems silly. 100 packs are $3.00 You read that right! Three Dollars! In my locale, the only place I have found them, ironically, is Rite Aid drug store.

So get out there and get yourself some real delicious Summer treats today. They are seasonal, so once they're gone, they're gone. If you don't buy them, someone else will.. Probably me!

Footnote:
Dear Jel Sert Corporation, http://www.jelsert.com/products_otter.asp
If you read this blog entry and feel as though I should be compensated for my praises sung of your wonderful product, please contact me through my blog and I will accept any remuneration in the form of cash, stocks, shares or cases of Otter Pops.
Sincerely, Dan

Beautiful Brunswick Maine

As promised in an earlier blog, here are some choice pictures of Brunswick I took yesterday.

First, is the monument to Civil War Hero Brevet Major General Joshua Chamberlain, on the Bowdoin College campus. Thanks to the crude humor of some of the Bowdoin students, I have seen the statue dressed up as Santa Claus, and I've seen it donning a bra.

Second is a shot of the beautiful Bowdoin campus pathways. Took me an hour to sweep the grass clippings off the paths.

Third is 2 of the gracious captains houses on Park Row. Gracious? I don't know.. It sounded good..

Fourth is the view of Fort Andross, from across the Androscoggin River in Topsham. Fort Andross is a renovated mill complex that now contains many businesses: restaurants, offices, boutiques, antique stores and a theater venue for live music and other entertainment. A disco would make it perfect.

Fifth is the 1932 Frank J. Wood bridge connecting Topsham and Brunswick. Try bungee jumping off that, and you'll crack your head like a nut.

Finally, sixth is the view of Topsham from the Brunswick side of the same bridge. It shows the old Bowdoin Mill complex, also rejuvenated with many offices and restaurants, including Sea Dog Brewery... Don't ask me how I would know that...

This is all for now, but there are more to come. I need to re-size them and get them uploaded to the site. Enjoy!

Later~

Photos published

This is kind of cool! On returning from my treatment in Portland today, a thick black plume of smoke was seen on the horizon. I grabbed my camera and Matt jumped in the car with me to investigate. It was so big and scary, we didn't know if the town of Brunswick was burning or what. Minutes later, we discovered the plume was coming from the NASB, Brunswick Naval Air Base. We made a couple of passes on the road at the end of the runway, snapping a few pictures. Turns out, one of the old wooden hangars on base had caught fire, and many surrounding fire departments had been called in to assist the navy's force. The hangar was from the WWII era, and either being renovated or torn down. It is not clear which.

Being wise guys, we headed back home. Matt watched as I emailed the best pictures to two local television stations, WGME and WCSH. Both stations posted either one or both of the pictures we took on their news websites, with my name credited as the photographer on them. We were so stoked seeing something we did show up on the web for all to see. I never thought of myself as an ambulance chaser or news photographer, but I got bit by a bug today. The thrill might be addicting enough to pursue alot more.

My Old Friend SJC

I went to see John tonight. Without question he is one of the funniest people I know. Whenever we run into each other, it's like our conversation from months ago picks right back up from where it left off. Both he and his wife Sue have always made me feel like I am very welcome and loved whenever we get together. Tonight we spent most of our time on their backyard patio talking by the outdoor fireplace. It was a great spot to just reminisce and exchange the latest jokes.

Our history goes way back, John and I. We worked together for many years and had many gut-busting times. We could always crack each other up, no matter what was going on around us.. A fine example of that would be our little hot glue gun/compressed air experiments. We had the whole shop "cob-webbed" one day and it was hysterical. Our boss wasn't necessarily impressed.

On one occasion, when we felt extra devious, (daily occurrence) we discovered that we could shoot grapes through a plastic tube out the shop window at our boss's goats. I don't know if we could have laughed any more than we did that day. After that, if we just opened the window and made a pfffffftt sound, the goats would run away, much to our satisfaction.

John is a retired merchant seaman and would always sing perverse sea shanty's and other limericks. Luckily, we have pretty much a compatible taste in music, so our work CD collection was usually dually tolerable. Eventually, I did convince John that Yanni was spectacular. I do have some doubt though whether he has any of his CD's. Shame.

One of these Fridays, he and Sue have GOT to come over for dinner and hang out with the rest of us.. (I know you're reading this John, so consider this a reminder.)

John has a truck. John has a very big beast of a truck. His Diesel pride and joy, no less. Some may say it needs a ladder to climb up into it. I think it must be 3 or 4 feet off the ground. Huge beefy tires on shiny polished rims. It has some interesting modifications to it too. Too many gauges to count.. oil pressure, turbo pressure, coolant temperature, altimeter... all mounted on the dashboard like chicks in a row. He's got a really class tonneau cover and rack in the bed as well. Hmmm.. most people buy tanks of propane for their outdoor grills... interesting..

Oh yeah. If you're ever in the area and you're following a huge black Ford pickup truck, and suddenly get a hankering for french fries, blame John. He bought a kit so he can used recycled cooking oils. Dee licious. First time he showed it off to me, I could swear I smelled donuts. Would that mean that the smoke rings created by his exhaust pipe would be the ghosts of donuts past?

Love you buddy. Keep in touch and behave yourself. And Sue.. sorry for the dirty jokes. Wait a sec.... you live with John.. NEVER MIND!
Later~

WAX ON...

For the past few weeks, every Friday night, all my pals seem to turn their cars towards my house and join me for dinner and a few laughs.. Until this week. For one reason or another, everyone had somewhere to be Friday night. Was I upset? Absolutely.... not. I was rather relieved, to be honest, because my "day in the life" photo project took so much effort. I welcomed the break. Instead, I just called everybody up and had them come over Saturday afternoon instead.


What started out as Friday night's small gathering moving to Saturday, evolved into the "FIRST ANNUAL MEADOWVIEW CAR SHOW". Yep, Elizabeth and Roy came with their black beauty, my sister made an appearance with her 2 boys in her 'windveil blue' 'Stang, and Dad and Barbie showed up in their convertible bug!




It was a great time. Everyone was admiring the Ferguson's mustang, with it's fresh paint and new hood scoop. Roy and Elizabeth, against my recommendation, did not sell tickets for rides in their baby.. My nephew Richie, along with Matt and Eric were taking in the whole show. Maybe next year, we'll bring in another car or two. Being the perfect host, I had fresh fruit, stuffed mushrooms and wasabi deviled eggs for everybody.


All in all, the whole time we had together was awesome. The sky looked a little threatening at times, but it was rain free and warm. If I get my way, this will have to become more than an annual event. This is something I hope happens several times all summer. Gives me a good excuse to clean out my fabulous Honda Accord coupe (V6!) and baby it the way it deserves..
Later~

Paint and Saliva

As promised in my last blog, "a day in the life of Dan" began at 5 am this morning. Throughout the day, until tonight, I somehow managed to take 177 pictures! The picture seen here is only one of them. It'll likely take a couple of days to process and sort them for upload, but it will be amazing, simply amazing. Probably too much information for some, but also hysterical.

Ok, back to the picture seen here.. This morning, after my workout and morning routine was done, I left to go to Portland for my phototherapy treatment at the dermatologist's.

Since Roy and Elizabeth's Mustang was not ready for them to pick up yesterday, I left for my treatment early and stopped by the Ford dealership on my way to Portland to see if it was there yet.. Alas, no car. It hadn't been delivered back from the painters in Lewiston.

Roy was dismayed, yet hopeful when I gave him the news. Always optimistic is he. So on I went to Portland. I re-assured Roy that I would stop by the dealership again on my way home and report back to him what I saw.. Again, no car in sight.. I relayed this to Roy yet again, hopeful that he would hear from the dealership soon.

So I pulled my car onto the highway and headed home. Listening to the radio and enjoying the breeze rustling through my eyebrows, I wasn't paying much attention to anything in particular. About a mile up the highway, something caught my eye in the distance. I am not kidding when I tell you what happened next. 2 big, wide stripes, white in color, on a shiny black car, came closer and closer. I thought to myself, "It can't be. What are the odds of that?" NO KIDDING! As I passed the BLACK mustang with the WHITE stripes I knew. I pulled off the next exit and headed back down Route 1 for the dealership. By the time I got there, there were four or five sales people and service personnel standing around the car. I called ROY. I took pictures with my cellphone and sent them to ROY. ROY was some friggin' relieved.. After giving the poor guy the confirmation he was waiting for, I finally headed home, for real this time..

Within maybe 10 minutes of arriving back home, I get a text message on my phone. "On my way!" was all it said. 15 minutes later, one very happy man with a big, wide, permanent smile on his face, pulled into my parking lot. What a beautiful job the paint shop did. The attention to detail and level of care was so obvious in everything. My bud Matt, nextdoor, who is not easily impressed by cars at all, was blown away. We just spent the next twenty minutes making crazy circles around the car admiring it. I just hope that saliva doesn't ruin fresh paint, 'cause we were drooling all over that baby.

Well, it is still pretty early, but I am gonna call it a day. I'm tired, but want to get up early tomorrow and take pictures of intown Brunswick and Topsham, as you may recall from yesterday's entry. Until then, happy highways all!
Later~

Time Flies

Ever notice how, as we age, time seems to start accelerating faster and faster? I was doing my 30 minutes on the treadmill this morning, and it occurred to me. I've been going back to the gym for nearly 3 weeks already. Couldn't believe it. We just took down the Christmas lights and it is well into June already.. I can still tell where the last snowbank of the winter season was.

Don't like scales too much.. I weighed in at the end of my first week, but haven't gotten back on the scale since. I'd rather wait, for whatever reason. Maybe it's because it'll be a bigger payoff by then, whenever "then" is.

I've been doing some job hunting this week. Since my doctor said I could start looking around for work, I have checked out several online help wanted sites. Since Portland is my 3 day-a-week destination for treatments, I wouldn't mind working there. More on that in a later blog as things develop.

I like Topsham too much to move to Portland. Topsham is still much quieter and has nearly everything Portland has too, 'cept for Olive Garden and an international airport. Besides, I just moved. It'll be a while now before I do that again. Hopefully next time it will be for something other than a flooded house. That would be cool.. way cool. Hey, wanna come over and use my wading pool? Cool! I use it as my bedroom at night too. (not so cool)

Tomorrow, I'm taking my digital camera out for a romp. Kind of a 'day in the life' kind of thing. We'll see how it goes. I'll put up some choice shots so you all can bathe in the excitement of my typical day. In addition, I'm going to spend some time this weekend to take some pictures of my 2 towns, Topsham and Brunswick. I'll try to make it interesting for you!
Later~

Pony Up!

Two smiling faces. Testimony to the power of steel, rubber, plastic and glass. Elizabeth and Roy stopped by today to share, with me first, their pride and joy. I tell you what. My head never slammed into a headrest faster than when I got taken for a spin in that baby. The stripes will happen this weekend, but in the meantime... They opted for an '06 GT and saved a big hunk of change. It might as well be considered new, as it only has 3000 miles. Varooooooomm!

Losing my blog virginity

So this is what everyone has been talking about. Blogging... Seems pretty straight forward. I type what I am thinking, and you read it. See? You're doing it right now.. Oh man this is gonna be interesting.

It is Tuesday, May 29, 2007. Day after my 39th birthday. I'm fine with that, though I don't know what happened to two of my 3 sisters. I always make it a point to at least call them or get together with whoever is having their birthday, but I figure since yesterday was also a national holiday, they forgot it was mine. I get revenge my own way, see? Yeah, yeah.. Watch your backs girls.. You know I love you.

My best buds are gonna get one of the new modern Mustangs. Bastards. I was consulted today about the color scheme/striping situation. It seems my "queer eye for the straight couples muscle car paint job thing" served them well. Being that the car is glossy black, Roy wanted either matte silver, gloss silver or white stripes. I pushed him in the direction of white and made sure that he asked for gloss. Waxing a car that is both gloss and matte in different areas is a royal bitch. So am I.

My Dad & Step-mom gave me a picnic table for my birthday. It may not sound that exciting, but it really means alot to me. It's something the two of them made themselves. They got the plans from a nearby university and slapped that puppy together one day last week. It's an awesome design. Looks pretty normal, until you realize it is somewhat stockier than usual. That's great, because it won't feel like it's gonna flip just because someone on the opposite side stood up. Perfect. The other clever design change is that the benches are a little further from the table so you can stand up straight to get in and out of it. More perfect. I've been painting it all friggin weekend. It's gonna take 3 coats, maybe 4. Hunter green latex enamel. The addition of a 9' canvas umbrella that's also hunter green makes it....yep. Even more perfect. Doesn't take too much to please me.

Ok. Gotta go get the paint off of my hands before hitting the hay. Later~