tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34603392007-09-06T13:10:49.909-04:00Joshnoreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-3530479968546596452007-09-06T13:05:00.000-04:002007-09-06T13:10:49.950-04:00

L is for La Quinta Inn, a hideous rat-trap slum of a motel that almost ruined our trip to the Kohl's tournament in Naples. Just about all of the families on the team made reservations with this particular La Quinta in Naples due to a great deal they were offering on their website. Long story short, the hotel was an absolute pit and was extremely overbooked to boot. So we found ourselves wandering

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-15654582372833541732007-09-06T12:54:00.000-04:002007-09-06T13:04:33.027-04:00

K is for the Kohl's All-American Tournament, an annual Florida state-wide all-star tournament for recreational soccer players that was held in Naples this past February. I coached the CPUSA girls U-10 all-star team in the tournament. We took eleven girls total, six of whom played for me in the regular season (including Zoe). The other five girls were taken from two of the other three girls U-10

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-91063961320420840342007-09-06T12:45:00.000-04:002007-09-06T12:54:11.615-04:00

J is for Joe Gross, my neighbor. As I'll discuss later in the entries for P and S, I had some major landscaping issues to address over the winter and Joe provided invaluable assistance in dealing with those problems. This is par for the course for Joe, who is an exemplary neighbor in every sense of the word. If you can imagine a friendly, helpful, generous neighbor character in a setting like

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-70253504599534309282007-09-06T12:42:00.000-04:002007-09-06T12:45:19.106-04:00

I is for the Inn at Pelican Bay, a very nice Naples hotel that figures into events that will be described later in the list. Suffice to say, this place turned what could have been a disaster into something almost resembling a vacation.

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-61232803309403209512007-06-16T04:11:00.000-04:002007-06-16T04:13:18.393-04:00

H is for Hollywood, whose output I've been consuming in copious quantities lately via DVD. A few thoughts: Life Is Beautiful is a great movie. I've long been torn between Cary Grant and Gregory Peck. Who would I rather be? I've finally decided. I'm a Gregory Peck man. I can now officially say I just don't get the whole Audrey Hepburn thing. I've seen My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday, Love In The

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-1836235829133638582007-06-16T04:00:00.000-04:002007-08-01T13:12:36.413-04:00

G is for Girl Scouts. Zoe and I had our first troop father/daughter camping trip in October and had a great time. We (OK, I) were very thorough in our preparations, believing that if we were going to do this thing, we were going to do it right. So we had the trip planned down to the most minute detail. Of maybe eight or so father/daughter pairs, we were alone in carrying everything we needed (

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-79641843634356208132007-06-08T22:46:00.000-04:002007-06-08T22:55:12.240-04:00

F is for flag football, Ian's newest interest. He's wanted to play football for the last couple of years, and he finally got his chance this spring in the local youth flag football league. The coaching was pretty poor (as much as I like one of the guys, whose daughter I coached in soccer last season), so he didn't learn much about the game during his practices and games, but he and I covered

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-85310982710321961252007-06-08T22:34:00.000-04:002007-06-08T22:45:18.421-04:00

E is for emusic.com. For reasons that will become clear when I get to M, I was in the market for MP3s shortly after last Christmas. Long story short, I went on a three month long emusic.com bender. Emusic is the perfect (for me) combination of outstanding indie selection, DRM-free/platform-independent downloads, legality and affordability. You have to pay by the month and your monthly allottment

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-56863908128286005902007-06-07T23:18:00.000-04:002007-06-07T23:23:59.754-04:00

D is for the Decemberists and their outstanding album The Crane Wife. I'm not sure what to say about this except "Buy it!" What a great album. I received this as a Christmas gift from Ian, who is a fan of Picaresque. Why yes, my children do have fantastic taste in music. Thanks for noticing! I also picked up The Tain shortly after Christmas and it's equally brilliant. You just can't go wrong with

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-40751908983123941592007-06-07T23:06:00.001-04:002007-06-07T23:17:26.373-04:00

C is for CPUSA (Central Pasco United Soccer Association). CPUSA is the soccer club within which Ian and Zoe play and I coach. This past season I coached Zoe's U10 girls rec team. We went 8-2 in the regular season and then made it to the final of the league tournament, where we lost 2-1. We ended the season with eight players (U10 is played six-on-six), and all eight did a great job. The

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-5073026070587630882007-06-07T22:57:00.000-04:002007-06-07T23:04:58.502-04:00

B is for BB guns and bows and arrows. Three cheers for a child's first functional weapons! For Christmas, I gave Ian a BB gun and Zoe a bow and arrow set. Both had shown interest in their respective weapons platforms and they are about the age I was when I first started shooting stuff, so it seemed like a good idea. Neither was knocked out with excitement but both were intrigued. We've only used

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-28711226491130049162007-06-07T22:46:00.000-04:002007-06-07T22:56:17.942-04:00

A is for Antics, the outstanding album by Interpol. In my world, there are CD bands and there are MP3 bands. The former are too good to be trusted to the ever-shifting sands of pure digital consumption; I need a reliably-permanent recording, cover art, etc. The latter are, of course, not. Interpol had been an MP3 band for me. I have several great tracks of theirs on MP3, but never felt like I

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-11130760242262742742007-06-07T22:35:00.000-04:002007-06-07T22:46:11.673-04:00

Yeah, OK. So I disappeared for a few months. You get what you pay for. I've been in the mood to talk lately, but before picking up anew, I feel compelled to go back and document for my own purposes the more interesting events of the past several months of my life. To make that reasonably manageable, I'm going to go with the A to Z format I've seen others using lately. I can't imagine any of this

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-65710506203168521742007-02-19T23:42:00.001-05:002007-04-13T23:11:49.159-04:00

Basement Jaxx – Take Me Back To Your House Sufjan Stevens – Sister Winter Age Rings – Dead Man's Float Jeremy Enigk – Been Here Before Shiny Toy Guns – Don't Cry Out Memphis – I'll Do Whatever Catfish Haven – Crazy For Leaving Islands – Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby Adem – Something's Going To Come New London Fire – When I Try Mirah – Sweepstakes Prize Kings Of Convenience – The Girl

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-73138600438208051702007-01-16T15:45:00.001-05:002007-04-13T23:12:29.551-04:00

Cowboy Robot – Was The Light Green Pinback – Concrete Sounds Venice Is Sinking – Andropolis Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Phenomena Mew – Special Will Dailey – Boom Boom Mutemath – Reset Travis – Sing Foma – Departure Monarch – Talk Is Cheap Funkiller – Fish Out Of Water Aveo – Newton & Galileo Placebo – INFRA-Red Daft Punk – Digital Love Decemberists – The Island

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-2637081392115130952007-01-01T23:13:00.000-05:002007-04-13T23:05:34.646-04:00

NOTES: (1) Yes, I know. Not all of these albums were released in 2006. These are the best albums I bought this year, not the best that were released. I'm not hip enough to catch all the best stuff the year it's released. (2) I didn't obsess over these rankings enough that any meaningful distinction can be made between, say, number 22 and number 21. Any given album is likely to be no better or

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-40718748637033703672007-01-01T17:06:00.000-05:002007-04-13T23:07:27.910-04:00

NOTES: (1) Yes, I know. Not all of these albums were released in 2006. These are the best albums I bought this year, not the best that were released. I'm not hip enough to catch all the best stuff the year it's released. (2) I didn't obsess over these rankings enough that any meaningful distinction can be made between, say, number 22 and number 21. Any given album is likely to be no better or

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-30128330935622025692006-12-31T14:46:00.000-05:002007-04-13T23:08:59.647-04:00

NOTES: (1) Yes, I know. Not all of these albums were released in 2006. These are the best albums I bought this year, not the best that were released. I'm not hip enough to catch all the best stuff the year it's released. (2) I didn't obsess over these rankings enough that any meaningful distinction can be made between, say, number 22 and number 21. Any given album is likely to be no better or

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-4323958827365924222006-12-28T22:19:00.000-05:002007-04-13T23:10:08.745-04:00

NOTES: (1) Yes, I know. Not all of these albums were released in 2006. These are the best albums I bought this year, not the best that were released. I'm not hip enough to catch all the best stuff the year it's released. (2) I didn't obsess over these rankings enough that any meaningful distinction can be made between, say, number 22 and number 21. Any given album is likely to be no better or

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-27230818512567283232006-12-24T15:15:00.000-05:002007-01-01T22:51:16.108-05:00

NOTES: (1) Yes, I know. Not all of these albums were released in 2006. These are the best albums I bought this year, not the best that were released. I'm not hip enough to catch all the best stuff the year it's released. (2) I didn't obsess over these rankings enough that any meaningful distinction can be made between, say, number 22 and number 21. Any given album is likely to be no better or

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-1161625373439183902006-10-23T13:42:00.000-04:002007-04-13T23:14:12.252-04:00

Snow Patrol – Ways & Means Guster – Amsterdam Peaches – Boys Wanna Be Her Decemberists – Yankee Bayonette Snowden – Black Eyes Chad VanGaalen – Mini T.V.s Ester Drang – One Hundred Times Camera Obscura – If Looks Could Kill Mates Of State – Think Long Dirty On Purpose – Kill Your City Keane – Is It Any Wonder What Made Milwaukee Famous – Selling Yourself Short Panurge – Sweet Fanny

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-1161494815465935532006-10-22T01:05:00.000-04:002006-10-22T12:52:51.993-04:00

There's a great thread at Fark concerning the advice people would offer their twelve-year-old selves if they could. I'd say the following: Get out of that school. It's destroying you. Whatever you have to do. Whoever you have to assault. Just get out. Less skating, more soccer. When the time comes, wear your retainer, dummy. The violin is a waste of your time and your parents' money. Stop. If

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-1159770322744070932006-10-02T02:22:00.000-04:002006-10-02T02:31:12.136-04:00

Blogthings is reading my mind again: You Are Guinness You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-1159686633634010252006-10-01T02:57:00.000-04:002006-10-01T03:14:10.953-04:00

When it comes to music, I'm not much of a lyrics pusher. The impact of lyrics, good lyrics anyway, are extraordinarily personal. One person's epiphany is another's dross. But I can't let this one pass without chronicling my response. This guy crawled right into my head to write these lyrics. This is "Nora" from the album When I Pretend To Fall from The Long Winters. Most of their stuff is clever,

Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3460339.post-1158915778356379902006-09-22T04:39:00.000-04:002006-09-22T05:07:40.143-04:00

How do you eulogize a fish? I came home from a quick skate tonight to find a note on the kitchen counter in my daughter's unmistakable hand saying the following: Betty is dead. It did not eat for a week. Zoe (I never want a pet again!) She was in her bedroom crying. If that doesn't break your heart even a little bit, I don't want to know you. She had said nothing about Betty's apparent

Joshnoreply@blogger.com