Wild Tangents
Marc talks about life in Nashville, life as a Catholic and life as a geek.

Just before lunch time today my mom called me with the sad news that my aunt Annette Malone passed away today. My mother was a single mom who worked hard to provide for herself and me. My aunts really lent a helping hand to here in raising me, so I am closer to them than most men probably are to their aunts.

But the kindness and generosity of my “Aunt Nett” didn’t stop with me or her family. She loved everyone she met with the same smile and generosity she would extend to her own flesh and blood. She always put others needs above her own.

My Aunt Nett suffered from Purpura almost her whole adult life, but she never let it get her down. She charged forth and lived her life to the fullest. She especially never let this disease stop her from helping other people. When it started to hurt, she just pushed herself harder.

Most importantly my Aunt Nett was a woman of great faith. Even with all the adversity she faced in her life, she never lost her faith. She loved God and went to church every Sunday.

So to say she exemplified the Christian virtues of Faith Hope and Charity is an understatement. She is an example wold could follow right to Heaven. I want to see my Aunt Net again, so now I have one more reason to “finish the race” as Saint Paul tells us. But now we also have one more helper in that could of witnesses. With surety in my heart, I know that my Aunt Nett is also Saint Nett.

It’s been a long time since our Vegas trip. I’ve been a little busy and a little lazy. But I am fianlly getting around to posting some of the pictures. Here’s a sample:

Our first stop after getting to Vegas was the Hilton to go to the Star Trek Experience. They had Klingons and a Borg walking around. Here’s one of the Klingons.

Not long after getting there, Suzette was suddenly attacked by a Gorn!

I was able to fight him off, but I worked up an appetite so we had lunch. MMMM……Iguana burgers!

Exchanging war stories with with a crusty old Klingon warrior.

This was Suzette’s main reason for going to Vegas. She really wanted to ride the Gondolas at the Venetian. She got her wish. Here we are. This is inside BTW. They had a huge indoor shopping area that was made to look like an open air mall.

I managed to meet up with Vegas favorite and the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. Here I am showing him some new dance moves. He was standing around at this place that must have been a big hang out for celebs. It was Madam something or other.

Here’s Suzette getting a little too close to her favorite actor at that celeb bar.

Here we are with a nice scene of the strip behind us. I think this one was taken from one of the walkways that go over the street.

We took a lot more pictures. Some of them I’ve posted up on Flickr. Take a look at the whole set!

Technorati Tags: Elvis, pictures, Klingon, vacation, Vegas

Yeah…My mom now has a blog. There’s only one post over there, which is actually something I posted here for here a while back. I guess I better watch out now. There’s no telling what she might reveal about me!

But seriously, if you have a notion to go welcome her to the blogospere.

Her blogin’ name is “Hippie Nurse“.

Technorati Tags: blogs, family, moms, mother

Our life together started on this day….

When you said “yes”…..

There is no end in sight. I loved you then. I love you now. I’ll love you forever.

My mom sent this to me in an email. I told her she’s needs a blog. She replied with, “So post it somewhere”. Since I (almost) always do what “mom” tells me, here you go.

My, how the world has changed!

I graduated from public high school without…

Ever wearing pants to school
Ever riding a school bus
Ever going a day without PE (from track and volley ball to dance)
Ever going a year without either band or chorus
Ever getting a free lunch
Ever going a day without the pledge and a prayer over the “PA” system
A computer
A cell phone
A pager

I graduated from public high school with…

The equivalent of a college education now
4 years of Latin – I actually translated Beowulf from Latin to English
2 languages (French and Spanish)
Algebra, geometry, trig
Biology
General Science
Civics
American and English literature
World history
Tennessee history
American History
Home Economics
Typing
Band and Chorus
4 years of PE
Public speaking

Maybe that’s why I made 28 on the ACT when I finally took it 33 years after graduation.

I started my first job ….

Still couldn’t wear pants – skirts and dresses only
No copiers – Mimeo??? I still remember the smell. Reports were done on an IBM selectric typewriter using mimeo stencils. You actually had to use a razor blade to scrape the ink off if you made a mistake.
No faxes – we used snail mail
No desk top computers – only terminals from the monster that was kept in the air conditioned ninth floor…the whole ninth floor.
Can you say key punch???
No word processing software – IBM selectrics??
No spreadsheet software – Graph paper…
No ten-key adding machines – comptometers. I must admit that the 10 key came out shortly after I started working.
At my first job I made $2.53 per hour and thought I had died and gone to heaven.

New words to my vocabulary over the years.
Computer
Personal computer
Cell phone – I actually had one of the first. The battery was bigger than a bread box.
Byte and all the mega, giga, etc., that goes with it.
Microwave oven
Cable TV
Remote control – Yes we actually had to walk over to the TV to change the channel or adjust the volume.
Garage door openers. If you had a garage, you had to stop, get out of your car, pull open the door, drive your car in, then pull the door back down. Why do you think so many houses were built with carports?
Terrorism – It was a word, but it didn’t have quite the same meaning as today.
Blow Dryer
Curling Iron
Microdermabrasion
Illegal alien – People who came into this country from all over the world were immigrants…and the vast majority were legal.
Politically correct – I’m really tired of this word and all the angst it causes.
Cruise control – Hard to get in a 57 Chevy
8 track player – Couldn’t get that on a 57 Chevy either
DVD – Again, 57 Chevy may not be the perfect venue
Compact disc
VCR – If you wanted to see a movie, you actually had to go to a movie theater
Digital anything
Interstate highway…the “long and winding road”…usually two lane
The Beatles – speaking of “long and winding road”
The Rolling Stones
The British Invasion – of the 1960’s
Flower Power
Hippie
Yippie
Groovy
Cool
Anything that plays music other than a vinyl disc called a record album.
Significant other – Either you were or you weren’t
Paradigm change– duh??? Please.
Peter Principle – Seen a lot of that
Employees as associates – Again with the PC-ness
Quality management – assumes you have quality to manage in the first place
Watergate
Iran-Contra
Sex – as Bill Clinton defines it.

Leave a comment if you think she needs her own blog….

Technorati Tags: blog, employment, family, history, interesting, politics, rant

I know….It’s just an hour and a half in my time zone before Christmas Day is over. So you might think I’m a little late. Well, we had our big family thing. I was without computer access. That’s allowed, right?

But you know what? It doesn’t really matter that I have not posted Christmas greetings until now.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m Catholic. That means that to me Christmas isn’t over, it’s just starting. We’ve been through the four weeks of Advent. Advent is a time of anticipation and preparation. Now that Christmas has actually started, we have twelve more days to celebrate the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So you should know that it is with hope and joy in my heart that proclaim as loudly as my voice with allow to everyone, “Merry Christmas!”

Technorati Tags: catholic, family, holiday, christmas

Today is the feast of Saint Nicholas, who is the original inspiration for the character we know as Santa Claus. He is probably the only historical figure who acts as such. He is also the saint Suzette and I have adopted as the patron of our marriage. Santa Claus has always been portrayed as a gift bearer. That’s why the Feast of Saint Nicholas is so special to me. Because it was on this day three years ago that I received the greatest gift ever. It was on that day that my wonderful wife and I exchanged our “I dos”. That’s why Saint Nicholas is our patron.

Every time I hug my wife, I am reminded how blessed I am for her to be such an important part of my life. I would truly be lost without her. I love you Suzette!

To learn more about the real Saint Nicholas, click on the link below.
Saint Nicholas ::: Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus

Also, in doing the research on Santa Claus I learned the origin of the name “Kris Kringle”. From Wikipedia:

A Christmas gift-bringer in Germany. The name “Kris Kringle” is a mispronounciation of the German name; the actual German figure is called “Christkind”, “Christkindchen” or “Christkindl” and is derived from the earlier Christkindl, which was introduced by Martin Luther. All of the German names mean “Christ child” and originally refer to the new-born Jesus.

I really like that since it reminds us of the true nature of Christmas. While Santa Claus brings us physical gifts to satisfy our earthly needs and wants, we must also remember that Christ comes to us to satisfy our spiritual needs.

Technorati Tags: christmas, family, marriage, santaclaus, saintnick

My Aunt, Doris Trout fell and broke her hip this afternoon. The doctors are saying that the only chance for recovery if the fractured hip is a full hip replacement. Unfortunately, she has various other medical issues that I won’t go in to. These issues might be a problem with the surgery as she might not be able to be weened of the respirator after the surgery. The picture to the left is of my aunt at my wedding. She overcame health issues and a great deal of pain to attend. I know she did this because she loves me. I love her too and that is why I ask for help here. I ask everyone to please keep her in your prayers. She needs all the help and who better than to provide that help but the creator of the universe.

I want to wish a happy Labor Day weekend to everyone.  Please stay safe and be careful out there.  I plan to spend plenty of time with my family and I hope more of the same for everyone.
For some information on this holiday, go here for the Wikipedia article and here for a write-up at the US Department of Labor.

Special thanks to PD Photo for the image.

Isn’t she beautiful.  Samantha is the daughter of Corrie and Brad.  Viki, who is Corrie’s mother is also my cousin.  I want to extend my congrats to Corrie, Brad and Viki on wonderful event.  My eyes are wet.  My Heart is warm.  I love you all!

Dad with the new baby girl.