Truer Words - A Journal

Our First Attempt at Camping

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:09:17 GMT

This was quite a weekend.

Occasionally, our ecclesia goes camping together. It's not every year, but probably 3 out of 4 years, in mid-June. Wanting to share new experiences with Lauren, I decided to give it a go this year.

I've never camped. Maybe 30 years ago, when I was little, Jed and I used to camp out in our back yard, but otherwise I've never camped. That's ridiculous.

We all got spots near each other at the Hopeville Pond State Park (thanks to Ellyn for organizing the whole weekend). Not being a camper, I have no tent so Mark and Michelle loaned us theirs, and an air mattress. Gary and Ellyn loaned us a couple of sleeping bags, and Lauren and I headed over there Friday evening.

Mark helped me set up the tent (he wasn't staying over night) and pump up the air mattress, then we all settled in around the campfire. At about 10:30 I said goodnight to everyone because she was falling asleep on my lap and I wanted to let her sleep in the tent. After a diaper change and lots of fun taking out my contacts near total darkness, she was curled up like a kitten on one of the sleeping bags, fast asleep.

That lasted for a little over an hour. More than enough time for me to fall into a deep sleep.

Then, she woke up. Happy. VERY VERY HAPPY. She came over to me. She patted my face. She laid her head down on my chest and said "aaaaahhhhhhh", then went back to sleep for three minutes. Then she kissed my cheek and slept with her head on my arm... for a few minutes. Then she laid down completely on top of me and slept for a few more minutes. Then she tried to get into the suitcases.

This went on for hours. She wouldn't settle down, and would cry when I try to put her back on her own sleeping bag. Otherwise, she was perfectly happy... but also totally wide awake and unwilling to let me sleep.

At 3:45 AM I finally gave up. By 4, we were both back in the truck and headed home.

I think if I were ever facing torture, I could handle some pain, but they'd break me in a day or two with sleep deprivation.

I/we slept until late morning, then drove back to the camp site. Saturday night we didn't even try: just went home, got a good night's sleep, and went back again Sunday morning.

I'm glad we tried, and I hope we can try again next year when she's a year older.

Happy New Year, One and All

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 15:22:11 GMT

2006 was a good year for me and mine, in many ways.

To all of my family near and far, to my ecclesia here and worldwide, to all of my friends new and old, close or distant:

Happy
New Year!

Hoping 2007 will be even better, for all of us...

Season of Change

seth@macrobyte.net — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 20:38:20 GMT

I'm not afraid of change, generally, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to the stress it brings. Right now so much around me is changing that there seems to be another source of stress no matter where I look.

Macrobyte has been doing fairly well this year... enough that Corinne put in her notice and is finally staying home again. It's been a long, long time. She still has some healing to do. Hopefully being able to focus on some other areas of her life will help with that. (Plus, I never wanted her to have to work in the first place.)
Our plans for Thanksgiving this year have been pretty messy. Corinne thought she was going to have to be working so she didn't sign up to serve the shelter. That was a disappointment. Then she gave her notice. I believe things have worked out and we know where we're going, but it hasn't yet been finalized. Wherever we end up, they'd better allow us to bring some food! :-D

Seriously, I can't imagine going to a big dinner like that, with Corinne, without at least a few pans/dishes in the back of the Blazer.
Jed (my brother) has lived with us since late July, 2005. Despite the obvious stuff like space issues, (occasional) fraternal friction, and some loss of privacy, I have truly loved having him here.

Unfortunately, he's not just moving out, he's moving away, putting an entire continent between us. It's for the best of reasons: he has found true love, but Alycia lives in British Columbia. Logistics were such that it made more sense for him to go there than for her to come here, at least for now.

So there's a trailer-full of mixed emotions over this one. I couldn't be happier that he found her, but I'm selfishly sad that his find is our loss. Plus there's a hint of jealousy, because he's moving to my favorite place, somewhere I haven't even managed to visit since Corinne and I went to BC on our honeymoon in '97.
Jed has been our ecclesial secretary for years. Him leaving is a bit like throwing all the cards up in the air. While I think it's good to shuffle things around, it's most definitely a source of stress.
Mark & Michelle are pregnant! This is officially 'super cool,' the only downside to it is that Mark isn't willing to be the secretary in Jed's place because he's going to have a new baby to care for. I don't blame him, but it's too bad because he was the obvious choice.
As long as I'm listing stuff that's changing... my Mom and Dad are moving their 'warehouse' to a completely different facility. This isn't a real big deal for me, but it's one more happening in a family that's a little overloaded at the moment.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Isn't that enough?

Congratulations Mark and Michelle Drake!

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 02 Aug 2004 07:58:59 GMT

My friend Mark Drake married Michelle Shaw on Saturday. Friday night was the rehearsal dinner, the wedding was on Saturday at 2PM, the picnic reception at 5PM.

This all had Corinne and I very busy (though she was much busier than me). I was a sort of semi-usher in the wedding: I read Genesis 2: 18-25 and Ephesians 5: 17-33 at the beginning of the ceremony (my brother, Jed, actually 'performed' the wedding), and then organized/managed the process of a couple hundred people flowing into the "receiving line."

Michelle was absolutely radiant. It's too bad I don't have a single picture! I was supposed to be the assistant photographer also, but Corinne needed my help with the reception more than Bonny Pride needed my help with the photos, so I think I made the right choice. (Unfortunately, I didn't make this decision until after purchasing eight rolls of film and a pack of batteries for my 35mm rig, and charging up and cleaning up my digital camera.)

The picnic reception was a great success! Corinne had been told to expect as many as 200 people there, so she prepared enough for a "few extra." Frank Locke ran his gas grill to cook Indian chicken kabobs. Jim Burns ran two grills cooking hotdogs and hamburgers (and nearly getting smoked into a stupor). I ran three grills, cooking some burgers, some cajun-rubbed flank steaks (which were later cut down into thin strips for consumption) and some more chicken kabobs. Lesson learned: running three grills at once is a bit of a stretch, especially when everybody knows you're the husband of the caterer and so asks you dozens of questions about what, where, when, and how. Things ran much more smoothly when I handed one of the grills off to my Dad.

Our ecclesia had another picnic Sunday afternoon, to finish off some of the food. I took Corinne home right after meeting so she could get some (much needed) sleep, and then returned in time for the tail end of the picnic. When we were all done, everybody took home whatever leftovers they wanted. I grabbed five "Gladware containers" of Potato Salad, the Cajun flank steak, and Indian chicken... and then brought three full catering trays of food to the W.A.R.M. Shelter. :-) (Like I said, she made a "little extra." She cooked for 200 adults, but my best guess is that the reception had 100-120 people, evenly split between adults and kids.)

This entry is officially about Mark and Michelle, who Corinne and I are both very happy for, but I have to say (for the umpteenth time) that I'm incredibly proud of my wife! That she was able to "put aside," or at least work-through, all of her own pain while producing such incredible volumes of truly excellent food... well, she's just amazing. The totally oppressive heat and humidity finally wore her down Saturday afternoon so she left the reception a little early, but not until after all of her work was done. What a woman!

Congrats to Levi, and to Mark, and Off on a Tangent...

seth@macrobyte.net — Fri, 11 Jun 2004 06:16:31 GMT

A couple weeks ago I mentioned Life of Levi, and since then I've been reading it semi-regularly (though I wish he'd follow up on some of his stories!).

Yesterday he announced that he and "the love of his life," Melissa, are getting married at the end of the month.

My friend Mark is marrying soon, too. At the end of July, he and Michelle will start their life together.

Life can be very hard, for all of us. Take and share what joy you find, whenever and wherever you find it. Not pleasure, which is fleeting, selfish, and nearly worthless, but actual joy. Joy in the union of two hearts, joy in faith or hope, joy in learning (or helping someone else learn) something new, joy in a baby's cry, joy in old friends, joy in Spring's colors. Joy in just being able to put aside your troubles for a few minutes.

(In case it isn't obvious, I wrote the subject and this postscript after the rest! Originally I was just going to post a "congrats" blurb to Levi.)

Mark Gets a REALLY Big Check

seth@macrobyte.net — Fri, 24 Oct 2003 15:38:57 GMT

My friend Mark Drake obviously has a lot more luck with the radio contests than I do. He was listening to WCTK in Providence when they ran their Celebrity Mystery Voice contest. They play two seconds of a celebrity saying something, and you have to be the 50th caller, and have the right answer.

He did both (a couple weeks ago), and won $2,298! Wow. (Follow the link for a picture.)

I won't speculate on what he might buy with that money. ;-)

Bumped

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 21 Oct 2003 16:10:51 GMT

One of my best friends just kicked in a little over half of what I still needed for the PMC. Less than $100 to go...

2003 ACS Relay for Life

seth@macrobyte.net — Sat, 31 May 2003 16:14:43 GMT

To everyone who sponsored me in the relay last night: Thank You! I really appreciate it. You know who you are.

This was my third year, and it was definitely the best so far, mostly because there were even more people. Our team was bigger (more from the ecclesia decided to participate this year), and there simply a lot more people there. Also, Ellyn and family really did a nice job of setting up the team "camp site," so there was food and nice chairs.

Two years ago it was very hot. Last year it was very cold. Last night there was a chance of rain, but it never happened (surprising, considering the rain we've had this year). Temps were in the upper sixties, with no breeze, which is perfect for walking.

I walked from 10:10 to 11:10 PM, and went around the track eleven times. Afterwards, I made myself a steak-and-pepper sandwich on the grill, and hung around chatting with Ellyn, Mark, Jed, Eric, Avonlee, Jasmyne, Bonnie, Mandi, and Katie (listed in the order I remember them sitting around the circle) until 1 AM.

Eric was threatening to fall asleep in his chair, and I was feeling a little too comfy in mine, so I went home when he started setting up the tent for he and Av (daughter). Bonny was home with the boys, she was going to walk this morning.

Really had a great time, I wish we could have get-togethers like this (with or without the teeming masses of strangers) more often.

Next up: my first century is next Saturday (one week), and then there's the PMC on August 2nd, for which I still need to raise at least $1100.

My Bizarro Family

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 10 Mar 2003 18:36:27 GMT

I'm cleaning up and resizing dozens of digital photos for my mother. She's going to use them in a photo quilt for Sandi Smith (from the Hudson, NH ecclesia).

Unfortunately for me, she needs the images "flipped" horizontally (left to right). For some reason, all of them men among my friends and family look wrong, just plain wrong, when you flip them around. Mark's face looks swollen, my dad looks about 15 years older, and I look even weirder than normal (believe it or not).

Sometimes I wish my brain wouldn't play tricks on me. ;-)

Remember Dave

seth@macrobyte.net — Thu, 17 Oct 2002 09:01:32 GMT

It's been one year since we said goodbye to Dave Bilello. Eric reminded me early this morning.

We still miss him, and we still imitate him at every opportunity. It's a salve for this wound that heals much too slowly.

Thinking about our loss -- his early rest -- still chokes me up, and brings a tear to my eye.

2001 was framed with the death of dear friends and punctuated with 911. What a lousy year.

Ride #76: Another Flat Tire, Dead Cars

seth@macrobyte.net — Wed, 09 Oct 2002 16:47:19 GMT

I was at the part of my ride which is furthest from home (about ten miles) when my tire began spitting air at me with each revolution.

Psst ... Psst ... Psst ... Psst ... Psst ...

Another flat. So, I walked the mile up and over the hill (Route 234) to Seafood, Etc., and asked to use their phone. Corinne was taking a nap, so my Mom said my Dad would be there to get me soon.

Ten minutes later, Mark showed up. He and my Dad were both working on the ecclesial hall, except he wasn't doing anything and offered to go get me. He tried to take my Dad's Jeep, but it wouldn't start, so he came in his own car.

I disassembled the bike and packed it into his trunk... and then Mark's car wouldn't start! We waited a few minutes, moved it to a different position in the parking lot (more "downhill"), and eventually it did start up.

Back at my place, he habitually shut the car off before we took the bike back out and reassembled it. Afterwards, it wouldn't start again. (In fact, more than a day later, it still won't start.) I drove Mark home, and now he's planning to have AAA tow it to Dennis, our friendly neighborhood mechanic.

At least he stayed for dinner and enjoyed some of Corinne's cooking (sausage and pepper "grinders", aka subs).

Stats: 21.5 miles (34.61 km) in 1h 5' 19" for an average speed of 19.74 mph (31.79 kph).

Surprise Party!

seth@macrobyte.net — Sun, 01 Sep 2002 16:05:26 GMT

After meeting, Corinne and I came home to change our clothes then went to Gary and Ellyn's for a cookout. Gramma and Grampa are going back to Florida now that Summer is over (mostly), and they were leaving right after the cookout.

We walked into the yard, and Corinne yelled "Surprise!" then everybody else yelled it. I thought she was yelling "surprise" because we weren't extremely late (a bad habit we definitely have). Took me half a minute to realize that they were yelling it at *me*, and that the yard was decorated with "Happy 30th Birthday" decorations. Heh.

(My birthday is on the 9th.)

To make it even funnier, I'd just told her (on the way over to the cookout) that I'd like to have a family cookout next week for my birthday, but probably on Sunday so that I could still do a long ride on Monday as I've planned. We even joked that I'm the only person who could literally plan his own surprise party, because I'm so forgetful. (Get it?)

Wow, I can be so clueless sometimes. Corinne gets upset with me for figuring out secrets way ahead of time, but I had absolutely no idea this party was for me.

They had a cake for me, and on it was a photograph (inkjet printed with food coloring, a technology that is very cool) of a two-years-old Seth riding his first tricycle. My Mom said, "those were your first wheels." Very appropriate.

Presents included: a very nice Cuisinart coffee maker (the same one that everyone else in the family has), a bunch of coffee, a bean jar, a large mug, interesting hot sauces, a gift certificate to Bombay Spice & Grill, money, and lots of funny and/or sappy cards. Oh, and my parents gave me a silly little bell for my Bicycle, just as a gag. (They also gave me a new suit a couple weeks ago!)

The best present of all, though, was just having (almost) everybody together, happy, and relaxed. With all the travelling over the last couple weeks, I haven't seen most of them in awhile, and I'd missed them. I really appreciated this. A few people coudln't be there for various reasons: Mark was visiting his girlfriend in NH, Heather's in Canada, etc., but it was still a lot of fun and a great surprise.

(Most of the credit for the party apparently goes to Corinne, Ellyn, Mom, and Art. Thank you!)

Another Cat Show in Baltimore

seth@macrobyte.net — Fri, 19 Jul 2002 05:58:01 GMT

Corinne and I are going to Baltimore for the weekend, for a cat show. We have a plethora of kittens right now, and we're hoping to find buyers for two of them (plus, Corinne's been suffering severe cat-show-withdrawl).

Actually, the show is in Laurel, MD, right outside Baltimore. Cat shows are pretty hectic, but it would be nice if I could find some time to visit with the Klings, who I haven't seen in years and live right there in Laurel. (Not likely, but it would be nice.)

I'm hoping to write a lot of documentation for Conversant this weekend, too. We'll see.

We'll be leaving in a couple hours (after I drive up to Mark's and Jed's place to borrow their mini-fridge), and be back late late late Sunday night.

About a Boy, at Castle Cinema

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 25 Jun 2002 20:37:52 GMT

Jed, Mark, Corinne and I went to the Castle Cinema in Providence tonight to see About a Boy.

The movie was great, but that's almost beside the point... What a great way to see a movie! The seats were all from Lincoln Towncars, the food was very good (especially the Calimari, which they actually served with Pepperoncini!), and the waitress didn't get in the way of the movie at all.

I know there's at least one other "dinner and a movie" place like this in US, somewhere in Texas. If you live near one, try it out. It's definitely worth it. The evening only cost $35 total for the two of us, about the same for Jed and Mark. It would have been another $5 apiece but Jed had free passes to the movie. I'd go to the movies more often if the whole experience was always this enjoyable.

A Night of Boggle and Mayhem

seth@macrobyte.net — Mon, 01 Apr 2002 16:34:18 GMT

Jed, Darren, and hopefully Mark will all be here for dinner and Big Boggle tonight. Corinne's whipped up a feast for us (of course), but if I know my wife she'll retire to parts-unknown.

It's "bosy's-night-in" tonight, and the din of shaking Boggle Dice will rattle the eardrums -- and the nerves -- of the townsfolk for a mile in every direction. Hopefully the shaking won't cuase a Major Event this time... I hate it when the military comes knocking on the door.

"Sorry, Captain. No, we're not firing automatic weapons. We're just playing Big Boggle again... you know how loud that can get, in the wrong hands."

Headin' Out

seth@macrobyte.net — Sat, 23 Mar 2002 16:48:50 GMT

Mark and I are going to a movie tonight and then having dinner afterwards.

I need a break from this office! Projects are starting to tie up, but there are others still in the queue that I haven't even looked at yet.

Hopefully an evening off -- even if it is without Corinne -- will recharge my batteries enough that I'll really be able to tackle things tomorrow.

Man, I need to ride my bike. I hope my season starts soon...

Less Sick

seth@macrobyte.net — Wed, 20 Feb 2002 15:01:15 GMT

I'm a bit healthier today than I have been all week, but I still have a headache and I'm a bit foggy.

I agreed to trade with Mark, so I'm exhorting this weekend. That was a silly thing to do, I'll blame that on the fog.

Blah. This cold, and a client's server that refused to cooperate, have made this a very unproductive week.

The Legend of Drunken Master

seth@macrobyte.net — Sun, 27 Jan 2002 18:53:54 GMT

Yes... it's Yet Another Moview Review!

Friday night I watched Jackie Chan's The Legend of Drunken Master. I loved it! In my opinion, this is the best movie Jackie was ever in.

I thought Greg (who knows more about movies than anybody else I know) gave it a bad review, so I'd been putting it off for awhile. However, it turns out that there are two "Drunken Master" films starring Jackie Chan, as Greg said in his comments.

This Drunken Master was originally called "Jui Kuen II", or "Drunken Master II" (in fact it has a whole bunch of other titles, which makes for a little confusion if you're looking for reviews on the net). They re-released this 1994 film in the U.S. in 2000.

The fight scenes are incredible, the plot is interesting, the characters are well developed. What can I say? I'm a Jackie Chan fan, and I think this is his best movie (though there are a number of close runners-up). The movie is dubbed, but they did a great job with it and I think Jackie actually did his own voice-over. Besides... I like dubbed flicks, even those with really bad dubbing.

New Year's Eve 2001

seth@macrobyte.net — Tue, 01 Jan 2002 17:00:33 GMT

Last night Corinne and I went to Jim & Dee Burns's house for the ecclesial New Year's gathering/party/devotional/shindig. The devotion, run by John and Heather Woodward, was based on a talk I gave in the first half of the year (that was a pleasant surprise, sometimes I wonder if anybody's still awake... I have the same problem here!).

A little exercise they devised for us all was picking someone's name out of a hat, and then writing on the piece of paper (with the name) something positive about that person. Very much a feel-good activity. Corinne and I were spooked at first because we both thought they were going to tell us to write down what we'd want for that person. We'd considered suggesting that, but hadn't, so it was weird that they even came close to it. (Incidentally, Bonny Pride and I usually pick each others' names for these little activities. Strange.)

Later, Ken Willis and I were talking in the Dining Room (near the chips and dips, of course), and he asked me about our financial situation. I told him that 2001 was horrible. It was like we (Corinne and I) were "walking hand-in-hand through the valley of the shadow of death" for most of the year.

Nobody warned us ahead of time that there was a monster in the valley called "financial woes". That beast tried very hard to pull our hands apart while it was also beating us each over the head with a club and making a lot of noise.

It almost beat us, honestly. Life was pretty dark for awhile, but we're still hand-in-hand (and heart-to-heart) and the monster seems to be shrinking. Finally. (Though he never really goes away, does he?)

For the first time in my experience, Ken didn't have much of anything to say. ;-) I don't think he expected such an honest and visual answer.

Thank God for family, friends, and above all a loving wife. That's my lesson from 2001.

This has been a Tough Week

seth@macrobyte.net — Fri, 19 Oct 2001 14:57:47 GMT

This has been a tough week. Dave's been on my mind almost constantly.

I think what bothers me the most is thinking about all the things he's not going to experience. That's not all of it, though... frankly, I'm going to miss him.

We'd been a lot less involved since I married Corinne, and of my closest friends he'd always been the "least close" (if that makes any sense).

I realized that fact last night. Then I completely freaked myself out by wondering how badly I'd be affected if someone even closer to me were to die, like one of my parents, or Jed or Sarah, or Darren, or Mark... or worst of all, Corinne.

Shudder...

Whoa, I think I'll avoid that one from now on. It's a pointless worry, anyway.

I know I'm not the only one feeling this way. Poor Karen, Dave's sister, is hurting a lot worse than I am. So is their dad. Jed and Mark lived with Dave for the last few years, while I've been making a life with Corinne... they're surely hurting a lot more than I am, too. Eric and Bonny were sort of a cross between Dave's best friends and a two-headed surrogate mother... I know Eric's miserable (but not constantly), because he wears his heart on his sleeve even more than I do. Darren is probably feeling an awful lot like I am (though he expresses it differently), which is more than I'd wish on anybody.

There's always hope, and I don't think any of us have forgotten or doubted that for a second. The pain comes from the loss we feel now. Hope doesn't make pain go away, it just helps you bear it and cope with it.

Tonight's the funeral, and tomorrow Dave will be buried on Long Island, presumably near his mother's grave. (I won't be at the burial.)

Corinne will be at the big cat show in New Jersey on Saturday and Sunday. I'm really, really hoping to spend time with a few people this weekend... hopefully they're all thinking the same way.

Go spend some time with the people you love, especially those you see the least. You just never know what tomorrow will bring.

Saying Goodbye to My Friend, Dave Bilello

seth@macrobyte.net — Wed, 17 Oct 2001 08:04:15 GMT

I just received a terrible phone call.

My friend and brother Dave Bilello died just a few minutes ago.

Shock, and tears, and sorrow... and maybe a little relief. He was suffering, badly, and now his nightmare is over.

And ours begins.

Dave is the crankiest, most caustic, most irritating, and without a doubt the funniest person I've ever known in my entire life. Every friend he has considers it a point of honor to be able to imitate him at the right moment.

He's a New Yorker, from Long Island.

Everybody loves Dave. Even (especially) those that couldn't stand him. He's a paradox: the attitude of a giant, or a jock, or a genius... impossibly stuffed into a small, frail, asthmatic, insomniac body.

Playing Basketball with Dave -- even just a game of HORSE! -- is a lesson in pain and humility. Elbows, man... sharpened to a razor's edge.

What Dave lacked in physique he more than made up for with his wit. There are certain things that one can say or do around anyone who knows him, which immediately bring Dave into the conversation. Some examples?

"Bicuspid of a Keebler Elf"
"Bicuspid of a Great White Shark"
"Nephie"
Making a loud thumping sound come from the floor, without appearing to move a muscle
"Clacking" his teeth, repeatedly
One quick, frustrated sigh... with his mouth half open
Wrecking his cars!
"I just want to get home alive!"

Dave and I were roommates for a few years. First we shared an apartment with Eric and Bonny Pride, and later with Mark Drake. When I moved out (work related), Jed took my place, and the three of them have lived there ever since.

I have so many memories of Dave... I've known him for most of my life. Things changed some after I met Corinne, but Dave's still one of the few people in my 'inner circle' of friends.

I don't want to believe it.

Sleep on now, Dave. Like those who went before you, we know you'll be back, better than ever before.

Romans 8:18-21
18* For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19* For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.
20* For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21* Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children
of God.