My Angel

Five years ago this evening we were getting ready to head to the hospital for a scheduled C section which would bring our second child Emily Skye Blackmore into our lives.

This event would mark the first and last time that Emily followed any kind of schedule or rules. The last 5 years have been awesome. Emily is a truly unique kids who gets up every day and walks to the beat of her own drum. She's beautiful and wacky, caring and creative, loving and unique and i wouldn't have her any other way.

I'm reduced to mush every time she looks at me and calls me "Dada" and truly humbled to be a father to such an incredible human being.

She's my angel with dirty wings and i can't wait to see her grow up into the amazing young woman she's destined to be.

Happy Birthday darling.

Here come the clowns

Was standing on line at the grocery store the other day and happened to see this in the magazine rack.

As you may or may not know, fresh from 8 years of ruining the world the Bush's are moving to Preston Hollow in Dallas, not all that far from here.

D Magazine which I know nothing about but appears to be pretty popular here in North Texas, seems rather excited about our new neighbors.

I can only hope that someone with a basic knowledge of Photoshop pasted the 43rd president's head on someone else's body and that "dubya" didn't actually wear this ridiculous outfit.

Now paste on a clown hat and it'd be quite fitting.

In the name of fashion

This September will mark 14 glorious years I've spent working in various areas of the "fashion" industry (quotations added because my involvement has hardly been of the design studio in Milan variety, more the buy one get one free variety).

Currently deadlines are creeping ever closer and work is approaching fever pitch for our Spring 2010 line. In those 14 years it has never ceased to amaze me just how much people freak out over $7.99 tee shirts and 2 for $14.99 pajamas.

I've always been someone who took great pride in my work and did the absolute best job i could wherever i found myself. But in a time when the world appears to be headed to a really weird and dark place and families are finding themselves helpless and homeless on a daily basis, i can't help but chuckle (in a sad, pathetic sort of way) when i spend my days listening to people have meltdowns over shades of pink. I mean really, is this making the world a better place? Are we finding the cures to age old killer diseases? Nope.

The irony is that because of the current economic climate, the reason the creative elite are really concerned about being blamed for getting that shade of pink wrong is that they don't want to become one of the helpless and homeless. This leads to tense workplace relationships (in place of true teamwork), coworkers trying to outshine one another (rather than helping one another to shine) and an environment where no one really cares who they step on to show that they truly are an asset to the company.

I find it all a bit sad.

Greed

Interesting article from Newsweek.

Chick Music

In some ways I can't believe I'm writing this but I recently aquired a copy of the new Kelly Clarkson album All I Ever Wanted and it's actually really good. Lots of variety, lots of catchy pop music. Maybe these American Idol people know what they're doing after all!

Random Ramblings

Realize i haven't posted anything on here in what seems like an eternity. Here's a brief list of highlights...

• In course of running errands yesterday i say seven (yes seven) sets of twins in various locations. Seriously weird.

• Was due to have the kids this weekend but won't see them until tomorrow. They've been in Puerto Rico visiting their grandparents and due to flight complications are a few days behind schedule in returning. I miss them so much.

• Traded my completely impractical and apparently on some kind of high risk list, sports car in for something much more sensible. Got a 2007 Mazda CX7 and managed to lower my monthly payments and insurance costs in the process. Love the car plus the kids now have a real back seat.

• Had yet another run in with the ignorance of individuals who think that taking pot shots at me will somehow impact the ongoing awful situation. The irony being that i have an inflammatory list a mile long of my own which i've never uttered a word of to another human being. Brings to mind an old saying about people in glass houses. The "high road" is a hard route to find at times.

• Had my year end review at work. Was extremely humbled to be told that despite the obvious hardships of the last year, i've managed to continue to improve and make new contributions in my position. That meant a lot.

• Just finished a major project which will hopefully bring in a bit more income.

• Just purchased a real vacuum as my Roomba appears to have died. Was shocked to see the contents of the dirt canister which the Roomba had apparently missed!

• My little girl turns 5 in just over a week. Those 5 years went by fast!

• I'm really tired. The notion of weekends being a time to recharge for the upcoming work week, never seems to work out for me.

• I can't wait to see my kids!

For Sale

In case any of you out there in blogland are looking to move to an up and coming area of the Dallas Metroplex and are looking for the perfect house. Look no furhter than here.

Number One Republican?

A friend just sent me a link to a video montage of this tool among tools, Rush Limbaugh's finer moments.

See for yourself. Click here.

Back in the saddle

Today's my first day back in my routine after spending about 3 days visiting my parents and sister on Long Island.

I'm exhausted today. I took the last possible flight back to Texas last night which got me home after midnight. The flight was crowded and hot and my shoulder provided a wonderful pillow for the portly Indian gentleman sitting next to me who kept falling asleep on it.

I did toy with the idea of being "sick" today just to have some time to catch up but after a couple of days out and considering the state of employment nationwide, i dragged my tired backside to the office.

Had a great time with the family. Always do. Really enjoyed hanging out with Jace my 8 year old nephew who i'm told acts a lot like me at his age. I just wish i had his energy!

The thing that struck me as strange about this trip to the place which is as close to "home" as i could claim, is that for some reason it didn't feel like it. Sure there's a familiarity and comfort being around loved ones but when it came to the actual place I felt like a visitor. The people's accent's sounded funny, the houses looked odd, the roads and scenery felt nothing more than familiar and it generally feel didn't feel like a place i called home for some 14 years. I attended my Dad's church on Sunday morning and a lot of people said it was good to see me home and it felt weird. Seriously weird.

Now i know it takes time to adjust to living somewhere but does there actually come a point when the switch happens? I got back to Dallas last night and listened to the Southern drawls of people waiting for luggage. I walked out of the airport as 2 cab drivers were getting ito a verbal sparring match and was surprised by it (commonplace in NY!). I drove on the light gray, non blacktop roads of the highway and looked at the lights of homes i could see for miles around me in the wide open, flat spaces of Texas. And it felt familiar, in a good way and safe and almost like....home. Weird.

On another note i also encountered several people on Sunday morning who read this drivel. So apologies for my brutal honesty regarding certains topics in my life currently.....or not!!!

In a New York state of mind

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to take one of my favorite trips. I'll be taking an 8:20am flight from DFW airport to JFK airport in New York, then an hour's drive to where my parents and sister live on Long Island.

Friday is my mom's 64th birthday. My sister, Charlotte, called me with the idea some time ago of surprising my mom for her birthday and i'm actually really excited!

It seems it doesn't matter where we are in life or how old we are, there's always something special about going home. Our family (I mean the original unit of 4) has been through a rough couple of years and i'm looking forward to us all being in the same room, probably around the same table and just reconnecting.

By the way Long Island is still covered in a thick layer of snow. Tomorrow's high temperature there will be 39 degrees. Tomorrow's high here in Texas will be 83 degrees and sunny!