Wednesday, September 25, 2002 09:16 a.m.
My vacation is going very well. I am almost done with the new Tim O'Brien novel July, July. Ever since I read The Things They Carried, I've been hooked on this guy. He just has this simple language that takes you places, emotional places, you just don't expect to end up. I think it's because you get so relaxed with his storytelling, you allow yourself that liberty, to be taken somewhere. I met him when I worked at Black Oak, and I was very impressed by his personality. He was very friendly, wanted to talk about my life with me, what took me to California, etc. We talked about my Dad's involvement in the Vietnam War, and his. And I started to think about all those men, the ones trying to pick up where they left off when they got back, but not being able to find where they left off anymore. The ones that never came back. For all sides. War, Death, War, Silence, War, anticipation...

And as I write this, the United States will be entering the constant buzz of this word called war, as many others are already within it. It seems like it is a neverending stream of war that various countries jump in and out of. We will surely jump in again, the only question is when...

Friday, September 20, 2002 08:54 a.m.
A very Happy Birthday to my wonderful wife, Katie. She's is 22 today. We also have a doctor's appointment today. I think we will hear the heart beat again!

Other than that, we will go out for dinner tonight, and relax.

I got Katie some of these for her Birthday. She is simply the best.

Saturday, September 14, 2002 12:18 p.m.
I uploaded a song I wrote called
ALL THE DAYS
to the wedding page. You have to download the MP3 to play it. Enjoy!

Sunday, September 1, 2002 07:48 a.m.
Ahh, it's been awhile since my last entry...

We have been looking at places to rent and it's kind of frustrating. We saw a place in Durham that was so beautiful, it's a victorian with french doors and maple floors and the bullseye doorways and everything. But, but, but...

There is someone above with like 6 people living there, and there was junk laying around in the yard. Also, it doesn't come with a fridge or a stove and it's $750 a month. The commute would be 40 minutes. We're going pass on it, but it was just so beautiful inside...

Saturday, August 10, 2002 09:24 a.m.
Went down to Eliot to Katie's uncle Ray and Aunt Helen's house. They have a small above ground pool and I went swimming with Katerina and played with floats. It was fun. I haven't been in a pool for a long time.

Started writing a short story today. on a whim I suppose. it just sort of came out when i sat down to write this morning. I am never really sure what will come out when I sit down at the typewriter. Today I felt very prosey, I guess.
This weekend I read The Smile at The Foot Of the Ladder by Henry Miller and I started to read Cat's Cradle again. You know, people don't really think about Hiroshima and Nagasaki much. It was recently the anniversary of these atrocities. Selective memory, I suppose...

Thursday, August 8, 2002 12:41 p.m.
I looked myself up on ABE today, put james day leavitt in the author field here Weird. I wonder how I got to Nevada!

Saturday, August 3, 2002 05:06 p.m.
Went to Popham Beach today and played in the sand. It was very crowded but wonderful all the same.

Tuesday, July 30, 2002 12:10 p.m.
"If some one loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself: 'Somewhere, my flower is there...'"

--The Little Prince

Monday, July 22, 2002 01:26 p.m.
Things are shaping up with insurance situations. We thought we would get medicaid, because we're so poor. We applied and got accepted, but then got a letter saying that we made $200 too much a month. It's strange that someone sets an arbitrary number, like drawing a line in the sand and says "do not cross". Shouldn't each case be judged on that situation, not just monetary ones. So I guess we will do my insurance at work, which is an ungodly amount a week and with the new increase will probably be $100/wk!

Maybe we should move to Canada.

In other news...

Check out Ten Past Midnight, my brother's blog. He usually has the lowdown on all things Movie oriented and the 411 on what's up in Maryland. Right on...

I am glad you decided to join the blog community, Andrew. I had a good time when you were here.

I'm trying out DSL free for a month. It's great,you just watch the line fill up when downloading, no more starting the download, eating dinner, taking a bath, brushing your teeth, getting ready for bed, then checking you progress, to see that 1 megabite file is only half done.

It will be hard to go back to the wheelchair.

Sunday, July 14, 2002 10:54 a.m.
I completely rearranged my apartment yesterday. It freed up some space. It took me 4 hours, but it was worth it. Katie's doing great. Her first doctor's appointment went well and everything is as it should be at six weeks. My Mom gave us a little cash for our wedding, so we went to Marden's and got bikes. They were only $40 each and look like this.I almost forgot how much fun it is to ride a bike. I rode to work this morning in about 10 minutes! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 09:54 p.m.
The big news...

Katie and I are having a baby!!!!

More details to come soon.

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 06:49 a.m.
Great Blue Heron

Not that your trembling
begins again, but breaks to
a calm steadiness.

It the midst of the sea, your long
grace, the sway of your mercy
for me.

The warnings of
fog horns, the silvery light
A shadow ghost along the flash
of the shore.

We went to Popham beach Sunday night and saw a Great Blue Heron wading in the shallow waters of high tide. What an amazingly beautiful creature. So graceful and ghostlike in the dense fog. I instantly felt honored to be in it's presence.