this morning woke up to the kids screaming that the fone was ringing... not believing them i just rolled over. finally getting up around 8 i checked my blog as i usually do to see if anyone posted any comments. seeing there was one i clicked on it and saw it was mike telling me the office is having major problems. wonderful, well i got 6 days without any problems so i guess that is better then i could have imagined. after logging into the servers i found out the mail server was down. nobody has been able to send/receive mail since 2:30am. well isn't this just great. the connection is so damn slow, so we all got dressed and headed to the local wifi hotspot. the only one available is in lihue about 25 minutes away at borders. so here i sit trying to fix the mail server while heather and the kids are shopping. this is going to cost me :)

i think i have figured out the problem now its a race to see which will finish first the defrag of the database or my battery dying. should be a close one they are both about an hour away. after i fix this, hopefully real soon we are going to head to kipu falls since we haven't had a chance to get there. it is right around the corner from where we are at so at least that is a plus.

tomorrow is already friday and i can't believe the week has already come to an end. i am not ready to go back to reality. this is definitely the life for me. when i told joey i had some work to do, he about freaked out and said WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO CALIFORNIA. hahaha, i wish.

update: well i lost the race, 10 minutes before it was finished my computer shut off... luckily i was connected to the server and it kept running while i drove back to the condo. everything is now back to normal, i hope :) heather and the kids are at the pool, i think i am going to go find them.

finally getting adjusted to the time we slept until just before 8. after getting ready and eating breakfast we headed to the coconut marketplace to return our snorkel gear to snorkel bobs. after returning the gear we walked around the mall looking in the shops, the kids figured out what they wanted to bring back as souvenirs to their friends. we got some ice cream and dippin dots as well.

we then headed over to the wailua river where we purchased tickets for boat ride to the fern grotto. according to the book:

The Wailua River Cruise launches from the Wailua Marina dock and sets off at a leisurely pace for the Fern Grotto, which was formed millions of years ago and is known for it profusion of ferns and unusual acoustics. Expect to be serenaded by Hawaiian singers in the Grotto. The Wailua River is the only navigable river in Hawai'i and the lands along the river are known for their historical significance as the sites of ancient temples and the birthplace of royalty.

we got to the docks about 12 and boarded the boat about 12:15. once we got on the boat and set sail up river we were entertained with hula girls and singers. it was pretty neat, the boat ride took about 20 minutes. when we got to the fern grotto we walked about 150 yards through most beautiful forest. when we reached the fern grotto they gave us a brief history and then let us climb into the cave to take pictures. afterwards they sang us the hawaiian marriage song and we all got married :)

we got back into the boat and headed back, on the way back the singers and dancers were not there we just had the driver who told us all the history of each place we passed. now starving we finally got back and headed to lunch. we ate at tc's island grill which so far besides last night was the best food. everybody ate, including cameron and joey. we are now back at the condo resting a little bit and trying to figure out what we should do next, we may head to kipu falls or just go to the beach.

update: just looked at the pictures and most of the pics from the fern grotto did not come out, bummer. i am uploading some to flickr now so check it out when you get a chance.

the morning started out with the kids waking us up WAY to early :) cameron lying on the floor pulled his loose tooth out, finally. i am not sure if the tooth fairy will find him here or what kinda tooth fairy there is here, maybe a menehune will come and take his tooth. after that we got up and headed out to eggberts again for breakfast. after we ate we walked around the coconut marketplace and found a cool shop that sold a hawaiian print luggage. the kids all found backpacks that they wanted so they each picked out there favorite color. the guy who worked there was extremely nice and told us a bunch of places we should go check out that wasn't on any maps. told us how to get to some cool waterfalls that the kids could actually play in.

after shopping stopped at snorkel bobs to rent some snorkel gear so the kids could try it out. we headed to lydgate park to check out what kinda fish we could see. the water was so clear that before we put are masks on we could see the huge colorful fish. unfortunately we didn't buy the waterproof case for our camera so we have no underwater pictures. after about 20 minutes joey was done with snorkeling, he just wanted to float out in the water. vicky and cameron had a better time with just the mask, they couldn't quite figure out how to get the snorkel part to work correctly. heather and i enjoyed snorkeling very much, it is so peaceful underwater you can't hear anything :)

we came home for a little bit taking a short break then got ready for our dinner reservations at gaylords. we left a little early so we could tour the plantation at kilohana. we took a private clydesdale driven carriage ride around the plantation. it was pretty cool, learned a lot about the island and the plantation. took some really good shots. i asked the lady why there were so many roosters, well actually i said whats the deal with all the roosters and she laughed. she said the deal was in the last hurricane a lot of the farm raised chickens that lay 50 - 60 eggs at a time got loose and mated with all the wild roosters. now they have a problem :) she said we were more then welcome to take home as many chickens as we liked and it was ok if we ran over a couple as well, hahaha.

after the carriage ride we sat down for dinner. we ordered drinks and brie. it was delicious. this was not really a place to bring the children though, they didn't really have a kids menu. they had a couple of scaled down items from the regular menu. they all ordered the chicken breast. joey and vicky both liked it but only ate half, cameron took one look at it and said NO WAY i am not eating that as loud as he could. oh well, it will be good for lunch tomorrow. heather ordered the filet and i the ahi both of ours was delicious. for dessert heather had the banana cream pie and i the ginger creme brulee. it was perfect!! the kids each had a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

on the way home we stopped at the grocery store to get some cereal and laundry detergent. now we are home getting ready for bed. cameron is trying to figure out where to put his tooth so the tooth fairy will find it. its only 8 but its been a long day. tomorrow i think we are going to go find the waterfall the guy from the luggage store told us about and also i think we are going to take the boat trip to the fern grotto. friday is coming really fast, i don't think i am going to be ready to come home.

while heather took a nap, the kids and i went to the pool for the first time. the pool here is pretty cool, right on the cliff over the ocean. when a big wave comes in it crashes over the pool. we hung out there for about an hour then came home to see if heather was awake. she was so i lied down and fell asleep :)

after the much needed hour nap we put our bathing suits back on went an exchanged our towels for news ones and headed to the beach. we stopped at the market first and got some sand toys for the kids. while building a sandcastle the kids made a new friend name james. he was 2 and half and loved playing with the kids. heather made a new friend as well, talking with them for at least an hour. finally to my rescue joey was ready to go home :) while walking back we saw the best sunset yet.

we are now back home and just ordered pizza hut for delivery. i tried calling on the cell fone first and got cut off while trying to give my address. trying to call back they did not answer, as i am sure they thought it was some kinda prank. i finally called on the condo fone wasting a dollar, the lady sounded very put out so who knows if it will show up, we shall see.

today we ventured back towards the north side of the island going to the kilauea lighthouse. we first drove down the street where we got married unfortunately it was on a private residence so we couldn't get to the actual place to show the kids. we cruised up and down the streets finally making it over to the lighthouse. it was pretty cool, it has the most amazing views and some really cool birds.

we got back in the car and headed to opaekaa falls, a pretty neat waterfall halfway up the wailua river. got some pretty good pictures, also chased some roosters :) we then headed down the mountain to lydgate park. lydgate is a beach that has a protected cove where you can swim and snorkel and not worry about the rough waters around. its sourrounded by huge lava rocks that keep the waves out but the awesome fish in. the kids loved it. we are going to rent some snorkel gear tomorrow and go back.

we are now back at the condo resting, since we have been up since 6:30a. we are going to go back to poipu beach in a little while and buy some sand toys for the kids. i just made reservations for gaylords tomorrow night. gaylords is the fancy restaurant we ate at after we got married. then made reservations for kilohana luau thursday night. should be fun.

after a much needed rest we put are bathing suits on and headed to the beach. walking to the beach is such a great idea on the way there, full of energy on the way home is another story. we had a lot of fun, wading around in the water building sand castles and walking along the shore running from the waves. we headed back just about sunset and got the most amazing pictures. really awesome, just about then though it poured down rain, all the way home. joey was so exhausted he had to be carried most of the way, little punk.

we all took showers and then got in the car in search of dinner. not finding anything somehow we ended up on the other side of the island. we ate at a really bad burger place, not feeling very satisfied with dinner we got some ice cream. it was pretty good, but now we had to drive home. kauai has very few street lights and it is VERY dark. for some reason everybody likes to drive with their bright lights on, so it was very hard to drive. finally making it home the kids are wide awake, figures. it is supposed to be quiet time between the hours of 8p - 8a very difficult with my kids. the first 2 nights they were so exhausted they fell right asleep, tonight is a very different story so it may be a long night.

this morning we ate breakfast here and then headed over to lihue to the kukuio grove mall. getting there way to early and no shops opening till 9:30 we found a starbucks. i know, i know, leave it to me to find starbucks :) we walked around for a little bit and then found a k-mart. getting all the kids sandles and water shoes we got back into the car and headed out towards waimea.

our first stop was the menehune bridge and ditch. the menehunes are hawaii's equivelant to leprechauns. little people who work in the middle of the night to build misc things. the ditch is basically a waterduct that goes from one side of the island to the other letting out at the menehune pond. the bridge is a suspended bridge that goes acrossed a river. we all walked acrossed, not much has changed here in the past 20 years. all exactly the same as i far back as i can remember. after exploring a little bit we saw a bunch of dead frogs, cameron picking up one saying i think this looks like a frog, gross. we walked a little more then got freaked out with a health warning sign saying "WARNING leptospirosis health hazard. fresh water streams possibly polluted with bacteria. swim and hike at your own risk" (i wish i could upload the pictures, but you will see soon enough) anyways, we got out of there very quickly.

getting back in the car we headed to waimea canyon. according to legend, mark twain called this the "grand canyon of the pacific". we found out though, mark twain has never visited the island of kauai, so they are not real sure where the quote came from. driving up the winding rode i remember bing 8 years old again, getting very car sick. luckily i was driving and nobody else has a weak stomache like me, we made it with no throwing up episodes. took a bunch of pictures, most of them looking like a fake background. headed back down the mountain it was so clear we could see ni'ihau, the forbidden island. got some really good shots.

looking for a place to eat we passed the russian fort. heather reminding me of mom says we have to stop!! so we turn in to a bunch of red dirt. we make are way to the beach and got some really good pictures of dark brown sand. not quite black, but very dark, very cool. headed back up and saw the ruined fort, unimpressed we got back in the car and kept our eyes out for food. drove through hanapepe, kauai's biggest little town, blinked and missed it completly. finally making our way to subway :) even eating fast food it costs us $40, ridiculous.

now we are back at the condo resting before we head to the beach. looking out our balcony there is a school of sea turtles feeding off the reef again. got really good pictures this time and joey got to see them. very cool.

today joey and cameron woke up about 4:30a. i finally got up about 5 and heather got up about 15 minutes after me. we woke up right as the sun was rising, got the most amazing shots right out of our balcony. we all just watched the sun rise and the waves crash for about 45 minutes. we all took showers and by this time it was 6:45 (9:45 california time), vicky was still asleep. completely amazed we let her sleep. vicky has never slept past 7, EVER. she was really tired finally got her up and ready we left to go to breakfast. we thought we would go see the wet and dry caves so we headed out to the north side of the island stopping at eggberts the local breakfast joint. we got some really good food and much needed coffee :)

we drove north for what seemed like an hour finally making it to the scary one way bridges that plague the north side. we finally arrived at the first cave, passing what seemed like 50 waterfalls. we also saw the most amazing rainbow. i wish i could upload the pictures right now, the shots we have are completely awesome. anyways we got to the first cave, which is the dry cave and walked all the way to the back until the kids saw something and got scared and ran back. acrossed the street was a pretty cool beach so we took a walk and put are feet in. the water here was really rough so we didn't go in, but heather got real close and a wave crashed right on her soaking her and her jeans. hahahaha, it was pretty damn funny even the lifegaurd was laughing.

we got back in the car and then drove down to the end of the road to where the wet caves are, not as cool since we didn't get in the water, we took a couple of pics and then headed back. we stopped at the poipu shopping center to get heather a bathing suit, then drove back to the condo and changed. realizing how close we are to the beach we decided to walk. the water was really warm and protected so both joey and cameron went swimming. vicky, being vicky, didn't have any sandles so she cried and said she wasn't going in the water cause she didn't want to have to put her tennis shoes back on. poor baby, she laid down under a palm tree.

we walked back to the condo, changed again and then drove out to the spouting horn. the spouting horn is a lava tub that when a wave comes it shoots water hundreds of feet in the air. got really cool pics then looked at the shops around there. got back into the car we headed to old koloa town and had lunch at tomkats grill. the food wasn't very good and the service was worse but atleast we filled up a little. we then stopped at the grocery store and bought food for the rest of the week. now back at home we are just relaxing as we had an exciting day. as we were laying out on the balcony we spotted a couple of sea turtles feeding off the reef, pretty cool. later i think we are either going to walk down back to the beach or if the kids fall asleep we may just stay in tonight.

the flight was good, really good. the kids where phenomenal... for the flight. once we got here we had a little scare at the baggage claim, our suitcase was three planes behind us. no sweat we got it and off we raced to the alamo rental where are SUV was surely waiting for us. we got through the line and paid for the car, she told us to go out to the SUV area and choose whatever one we wanted. cool! when we got there they had every single kinda minivan you could imagine, but there wasn't a single SUV. feeling scammed i went back in and the guy apologized up and down, apparently there were 6 SUVs brought in today and of course they all had damage. not wanting to give us a damaged car (how thoughtful of them) they said we could take a minivan and they would deliver the SUV in the morning. no problem

headed out towards poipu, going by the nawilliwilli coast and past the condo's we i stayed in as kids. went through the tree tunnel and finally made it down to the poipu shores. by this time the kids were in melt down mode. they have been up since at least 4:30am, prolly earlier, and they just couldn't contain themselves. screaming at the top of there lungs, crying for this or that... very frustrating. the rooms are really nice. two story two bedroom condo right on the water. i am laying in bed right now listening to the waves crash on the rocks, this is what heaven is all about. anyways, we decided to get the kids out of here to get some dinner since it was now 9pm their time. we found a great place, the poipu broiler. heather had the ginger chicken, i had the macadamia mahi mahi and of course the kids had chicken strips. the mai tai was the best part :) finally calming down from all the crying from earlier.

we made it back to our place, heather, vicky and cameron are downstairs watching tv. joey is laying next to me in bed watching me type :) things are as they should... finally the peace i needed, it was well worth it. tomorrow we will start exploring the island, it should be fun!

[unrelated: the damn internet sucks here... the place doesn't have any kinda hook up so i am tryiing to use the t-mobile card. i don't have very good reception here so i don't know how well i am going to be able to keep this up... as long as i don't try to upload any pictures i think i should be fine, we may go to starbucks and use there connection if they have it.]

the day started at 4:45am. i don't think cameron or vicky has been to sleep yet. the limo picked us up at 6 and the ride was perfect. we got to LAX at 7 checked in then waited in the most ridiculous line we have ever seen. it must have been a 1/4 mile long. the kids were exceptionally good, i know shocking!! we are now sitting in the terminal eating cinnabon waiting to board.

took a couple pics in the limo don't forget to look at at flickr for our updated camera fone pics. i will try to post the pics from the reg camera everynight.

tomorrow we leave. 6:30am the limo picks us up and i can't wait. i can't believe that its finally here. i will be doing my best to blog from hawaii, i am not sure if the condo has internet access though. i may just be on my slow cell phone connection. i setup flickr to accept pictures from the camera phone so check it often as we will be taking pictures like crazy!

tomorrow is going to be a hell day though, the plane ride is about 5 and half hours. i don't know how the kids are going to be able to handle it, they can barely handle the 1.5 hour drive to san diego. may need drugs, for me and them.

well hopefully the next time you hear from me i will be laying on the beach with a mai tai, aloha!

my 10 year old daughter comes home today from school now being the "only one in her class" that doesn't have a cell phone. what!?! what in gods name does a 10 year old need a cell phone for?

wired article

"Anyone who works with kids knows about the big 'P' -- peer pressure," Butterworth said. "Once someone gets it, everyone has to get it."

well ain't that the damn truth!! this really sux, now my daughter is in her room crying and her so called friends are calling eachother right in front of her saying we would call you vicky but you don't have a phone, hahahaha. damn kids suck.

i just had the strangest experience. the family decided to go to the orange mall to look for some shorts for hawaii. we walked past payless and thought it would be a good idea to get the kids some new sandals. after picking out the right ones we went to the cashier to pay for them. i tried to use my atm card but she says it didn't go through, somebody was using the computer in the back. she then walked to the back to tell the person to get off and came back and said ok try again. this time it went through but came back declined. what!? i say impossible so i pick up my cell phone and call bank of america. while i am talking heather tries her card but now the system has gone offline. i finally get ahold of somebody at bofa and they say yes the transaction went through and he would like to talk to the cashier. as i hand the phone to the cashier the manager butts in and starts yelling at us. she says there is no way the transaction went through and then starts speaking in spanish to the cashier. it was a bizzare situation to say the least, we finally said fine and walked away. i called my bank again and they said since it was an atm purchase the only thing we could do was dispute the purchase, they already had the money. i told heather to go back and get the managers name so we could complain. when she got back in there the cashier was on the floor crying. she gave the information to heather and said please call, please complain. wow, all this for $30, somehow it just isn't worth it. needless to say i will never be shopping there again.

now i know its not supposed to be easy but come on. vicky had a parent/teacher conference today that heather attended. let me give you some background first. in kindergarden through 3rd grade vicky had excelled in school, always at the top of her class. the school she goes to breaks up K - 3rd and 4th - 6th with a completely different principal and all. when she switched over to 4th grade everything fell apart. she started bringing home c's, d's and gasp, f's. at first this was attributed to the grade change and all her friends were doing bad. after the first awards ceremony this was debunked as all her friends were either on the high honors or honor roll. so we decided it was time for her to go to sylvan since we have heard nothing but good things about it. well fast forward 6 months and now we are into the 2nd month of 5th grade. last night we had an episode where vicky at the very last possible moment starts crying and screaming that she has to do her homework. she is supposed to copy off some website and turn it in as a report. heather told her no, that is not how you do a report, you are supposed to research it and write about what you read but not copy it word for word. well that turned into a huge ordeal with vicky developing some life threatening stomachache. when she got to school today she proceeded to tell the teacher that her mom was in bed and was WAY to tired to help her with her homework and told her not to do it. wow! what did she think, she knew her mom was meeting with her teacher today?? well needless to say, vicky has been telling us one thing while telling her teacher something completely different. i thought you weren't supposed to start lying to your parents until you were 13? great we have an early bloomer... oh the joys of parenting.

sad but true, sims2 is my replacement. my wife prefers the virtual world to the real world, not that i can blame her. only a week after missing me so much, she has now completely forgotten about me. i haven't really seen her at all this weekend, as they have been down in san diego. up until the minute they left yesterday, and not 2 minutes after she got home, she's been playing it. i have really never seen anything like it. i guess now would be the time to get a hobby, i will have a lot of free time in the upcoming weeks. any suggestions?

last night heather, vicky and cameron spent the night at sea world. i am sure in the next few days you will be able to read all about it on heather's and cameron's blog. i am not sure if you will read it on vicky's cause she hasn't ever updated it (i am sure somehow that is my fault as well). i uploaded the pics already so you can check them out. pretty cool, cameron actually got to sleep in the shark tunnel.

joey and i slept in and headed to san diego about 10:30, getting there about 12:30. it was a beautiful day, about 75 the whole time. we got to feed the sting ray's, pick up the starfish, see the dolphin's and sharks. we only lost cameron once ;) for about 10 minutes because he was hiding in one of the gift shops. all in all it was a pretty good day. we left about 3:30 and now everybody is exhuasted. four days left before the big day, can't wait!

heather, vicky and cameron left for sea world so joey and i tried to figure out what we were going to do. he has been asking me for tak 2 so i thought we could go to fry's and get it. walking around the store wearing my im bloggin this t-shirt i had atleast 6 people ask me what does that mean? haha, it was pretty funny only one person said cool shirt, i have a blog too.

fry's didn't have the game so we decided to head to target, alas they didn't have it either. we did see a sims2 offical game book so joey and i decided to buy that for heather and he saw a pajama sam game that he wanted, got that as well. driving out of the parking lot we saw an EB game store. they did not have it either but they did have spiderman 2 and we also thought it would be cool to get dance dance revolution complete with the dance pad and all.

we then headed to downtown disney. wow, what a weird bunch of people hang out there. i felt like i was walking down hollywood blvd, i saw every kinda person imaginable. we walked around, got ice cream and then decided to eat. after seeing the lines for anywhere there was atleast an hour joey said lets go to burger king! as we were eating joey says to me "dad, i know why nobody had tak 2. it doesn't come out until october 11". wtf?? why would he just spit that date out of nowhere, and then when we got home i looked it up, he was right. hahaha, nice.

so now i am playing ddr and its really addicting, i am going to be extremely sore tomorrow but its an awesome work out. joey and i get to sleep in and then we are going to drive down to san diego to meet up with the rest of the fam to spend the day at sea world. heather just called and said they are having a great time, cam is really excited because they get to sleep in the shark tunnel. hopefully they are getting good pictures.

this morning cameron had his first soccer game. like i said before, i do not understand this game at all. but after watching my son i actually really enjoyed it. and he is really good. at this age it is a little slow at times, having to stop every 20 seconds because they kick the ball out of bounds but i can now understand all the hoopla around it.

heather, vicky and cameron are now getting ready to head to san diego for a sleep over with the sharks. joey and i are going to spend the day with eachother, should be lots of fun!

7 more days... i don't know if i will be able to make it. we leave for kauai next friday thank god. this week has been extremely long and frustrating very glad its over. my poor wife has been waiting forever for sims 2 to come out. she pre-ordered it with amazon and had all kinds of problems getting it. finally when it does arrive, her graphics card doesn't support direct x 9.0. great... on my way home i stopped at fry's and bought a new graphics card and dvd player for her computer. i have spent the past hour installing it for her and now everything is good, i hope. unfortunetly/fortunetly (depending on how you look at it, haha) now i have lossed my wife, i am sure i won't see her for the rest of the weekend.

where have you been? you left me 14 years ago and my life just hasn't been the same. there is not a day that goes on that i don't think of you, there is not a day that goes on that i don't need you. i have had to become a man with out you, learning the things only you could teach me. why did you go? why did god take you? surely i needed you more then he.

now i am a man, with a wife and 3 kids of my own. i will never be half the man you were. in the 15 years i knew you, you were the best friend i have ever had. whenever i needed you, you were always there for me. never once did you disappoint me, never once did you put yourself before me. but you are gone now, now when i need you the most, to teach me how to be a great father, a great man. who do i turn to, who do i ask? every night you used to come to me in my dreams, but no more, why? i need you more now then ever, i am slipping losing my ways. how can i make you proud, like you once were. where did i go wrong.

dad i need you to help me, i need you to show me the way. i know you are there, i still get chills when i know you are close to me. i just can't hear you, even though you are probably screaming at me. i want to be the father you were the man you were, but i need your help. please show me the way. i love you.

wtf how many game boys can there possibly be. launch date set for the new nintendo ds is november 30th for just under $200. great it won't be enough that the kids have a gameboy, gb color, gb advance, gb sp now they are gonna have to have the nintendo ds or they won't be able to show there faces in school

this week sux. the only good thing that i can think about is we get to leave for kauai in 10 days. unfortunetly those 10 days will seem like 10 years. when do things turn around? when do things get better? i sure hope soon cause i don't know how much more i can take of this. life sure does suck sometimes.

"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." - Kristian Wilson, Nintendo VP, 1989

sound like any rave's we've been too, lately? hahaha

original link

ok after looking at my past couple of posts it looks like i have an obsession with tiesto. i just bought tiesto in concert and it was unbelievable. i even got my son into him, last night i put it on to show heather a live performance and cameron starts screaming TIESTO TIESTO!! haha, it was pretty funny.

finally made it home from our retreat. i'll write more on that later. after being gone the entire weekend i was really looking forward to seeing my wife, who i missed terribly and my kids who i missed just as much. much to my surprise they aren't here. apparently it is her sister's childs 1st birthday. figures, i come back from temecula at the same time they are driving to temecula. well i guess i will have some time by myself for another hour or so, hmm what to do with myself.

just heard that tiesto is going to release the dj set he did during the opening ceremonies of the olympics. the cd will be released on oct 18th.

Tiësto - Parade Of The Athletes (Magik Muzik CD 04)
1. Heroes
2. Breda 8pm (DJ Montana Edit)
3. Ancient History
4. Traffic
5. Euphoria
6. Athena
7. Olympic Flame
8. Lethal Industry
9. Coming Home
10. Adagio For Strings
11. Victorious
12. Forever Today

shaq has a new album coming out in which he calls out kobe bryant:

"Even with wings you never as fly as me ... you remind me of Kobe Bryant trying to be as high as me ... but you can't ... even if you get me traded ... wherever I'm at, I'm Puffy; you Mase and you're still hated."

omg that is the funniest thing i have ever heard. shaq is my hero. i hope he and the heat win the championship and mitch kupchek is fired!! oh this is to great!

we had an amazing night. we got there about 4:30, since we had vip tickets we were able to walk right in without waiting in line very cool. walked around and checked things out, there was a lot of people but compared to later in the night it was pretty empty. we walked into each of the rooms and checked out all the vendors.

met tom from the speaker junkies, a very cool guy. walked into the trance room and donald glaude was spinning. from the words of vinh:

glaude is god!

he was awesome, really got the crowd going. check out the video. dj irene was on next, she was pretty good as well, but nothing could compare to rabbit in the moon. somehow heather and i snuck up to the front row and met some really cool people. rabbit was just completely amazing, can't even really describe it. check out the video kinda gives you a little perspective on who they are.

ok, its official my wife is completely looney. like i said last night we had 5 kids plus my 3, now apparently that isn't enough. vicky's friends from down the street want to come up as well. sure why not, the more the merrier right? ha! only if you belong in some kind of institution.

this evening has been a strange one. we had my nephew's trevor and austin over all day and to spend the night. for some reason heather thought it would be a good idea to invite 3 more kids over to spend the night as well. while at work they all decided we needed a new pet. we have been looking into getting a bearded dragon for sometime now so i guess tonight was as good as any. after a couple of trips to petsmart and petco we finally got one, the kids named him spike. spike is about the calmest thing in our house, but i am sure thecrippens can change that! spent the rest of the night building a cabinet for him. now its 11 o'clock and the kids are just getting into bed. i am exhuasted and need to get some rest if i am going to be any fun tomorrow at nocturnal wonderland.

just got an email from tiesto's website saying he will be doing a short tour through the US. of course he won't be making it here to the west coast, dammit!

This month Tiësto will do a short tour through the US. The first gig of his tour will be in New York City's most famous Central Park. This promises to be a special event due to the unique environment in downtown New York. The definite dates and venues, including the Central Park gig, are published on the website. In 4 days, he will attend New York, Warehouse 405 in Nashville, Bayfront Park and Space in Miami and Pure in Philadelphia during the end of September.

i finally got the bugs worked out and the site now validates! ok lets see how long i can keep it validated before i decide to change the site again. we'll see but i am pretty proud right now. its been a bad, bad day so i am glad i got something right today.

update: just checked my css style sheet and it validates as well. i rock tonight! good ending to a bad day.

this day has been a horrible day, the night has not gotten any better. kids have not stopped crying or complaining all day, i have not been able to work for more then 20 minutes at a time, being called away for every little damn thing. please end this day soon.

this morning i was real proud of myself getting my site to validate. of course that wouldn't last, i can never let it alone and just be happy. i didn't like the way the daily links where on the side bar. liking the way kottke does his page i decided to move them to the main blog area in between posts. i like it much better but now i have screwed up all validation. right now i think there is only one error but when i fix that it gives me 67 errors. so back to the drawing board. as far as i can see the site works fine, its just not validating so if you do find something that isn't working let me know.

ok, i think the site is now valid html 4.01 strict. or atleast this page is. i am still working on the rest. pretty awesome to actually write valid code when microsoft doesn't. makes me proud!

what a geek.

update: ok, i have f*'d it all up now... i am rearranging the site to have the daily links within the blog instead of on the side. in doing that i have screwed up my validation. now i have to figure out what is going on. i hate bugs!

finally finished the redesign of my site. so far i like it much better. orange is one of my favorite colors and i like the way it contrasts against the white. i am still testing to make sure all the bugs are out. i am in the process of making the site validate but right now its not, give me a couple of weeks to get the html bugs worked out.

let me know what you think or if you find a bug. if you do find a bug send me an email otherwise leave your comments on the new look.