It has been a pleasant surprise to discover how often my humble little page gets read. It’s a pleasant surprise to hear from family and friends when they’ve seen something here and want to discuss it. What began as a way of keeping track of Hallie’s progress has taken on a life of its own, opening up avenues of self-expression I never knew existed.

To everyone who tunes in here, I wish to say thanks. Your encouragement and discussion have made this into an incredibly fun project, inspiring me to spend even more time describing the world from my point of view.

If what I write isn’t always exciting or noteworthy, I will at least try to always keep it real. You’re free to disagree with me. In fact, you’re encouraged. I don’t claim to know all of the answers. But the thrill in life is in discovery, is it not?

Thanks for being a fellow explorer!

It’s a new day today. The sun is shining. Birds are chirping. Flowers are in bloom. All this, and I am spending the day with my beautiful wife and my beautiful daughter. Life could be a lot worse.

Lulu is officially in the past. After a restless night of sleep, I’ve decided to put it to rest.

I enjoyed most of my time at Lulu. I think I could have helped take it to new levels of growth. Yet I had already begun the process of leaving it when yesterday’s news struck.

My lunch appointment with Bart was a test I set up to see if he would take time to listen to my concerns. It appears that he would rather not. So be it. It was yet another of my efforts to make Lulu a better place, and yet another unacknowledged.

I am a pretty low-maintenance employee. I am typically cheerful: I do not complain about my work. I am punctual. I work overtime when needed. And I am extremely flexible, doing anything that is required. Yet the thing that truly motivates me was always missing at Lulu – recognition for my work. In the five months I was there, I can recall just one time my manager ever praised my work. Just one. And about half the time he never bothered responding when I would email him with questions.

In short, he could not have been a worse manager for me.

Last night I thought a lot about the saying “there’s nothing wrong with me; therefore, there must be something wrong with the universe.”

There is nothing wrong with me. Therefore, there must be something wrong with Lulu.

Found a webpage that seems to indicate that CNN amplified the boos from the Academy Award audience after Michael Moore’s speech. Audio clips from ABC’s live broadcast can be compared to CNN’s rebroadcast.

You can listen for yourselves here. But then again, the media wouldn’t distort the news, would it?