My brother sent this to me this morning, suggesting that I needed this as a treat for myself. I'm not entirely certain why I'd want to have my picture edited into a print of Plan 9 from Outer Space, generally regarded as the worst movie ever made, that is to be released on DVD in the near future. But the production company behind the DVD has this auction going on eBay to give the highest bidder a chance to put his (I'm not going to mention 'her' becuase you know that just won't happen) picture into a scene in the movie.

Ah, yes, to be forever immortalized in a relatively permanent print of one of the worst films of ever. That's definitely how I want to spend my Christmas money this year...

I heard something today that is just flat wrong.

Nirvana done muzak.

Eek.

My wife, the teacher, has missed the last two days of school because she has had laryngitis. So how do I respond to her adversity? By taking her to the Chamber of Commerce mixer, of course. A two-hour event where we mingle and talk with a whole lot of other people. In an environment where it's hard to hear, so it's even harder for her to talk.

I'm such a considerate husband...

Just my luck. It's not enough that I'm totally afraid of flying and rely on Xanax to help me cope. No, my intense phobia of children is also tested on this flight.

I get Seat 32A, the window seat in the second-to-last row on the plant. Immediately in front of me is a family of three with their 24-30 month old child. Across the aisle from their row is a woman with a 6-9 month old infant. Immediately behind her is a family with an older infant. Right behind me is a family of four with an infant and a 2-3 year old who is sitting in seat 33A. The screaming ensues even before the flight takes off. There are moments of respite, but very few, as each child continues to trigger outbursts from the others. And the kid right behind me is constantly kicking my seat.

I thought I'd be a little smarter on this trip and only take half of my Xanax does (since I have just about zero recollection of the flight out to Seattle other than what I'm now reading in my blog posts. I managed to nap slightly, but the screaming children didn't allow for much in that regard.

Now as we begin our descent into DFW, the turbulence is kicking into high gear, which is only increasing the turmoil surrounding my seat. And the captain just turned on the seat belt sign, so all the screaming urchins have to be located right around me.

This is gonna be a really which knuckle landing for me...

If you like, you can read about my exploits in Seattle this weekend at my business blog OnQ. I had a good weekend, and now I'm getting ready to fly back. Getting access to the internet from the airport has been an interesting challenge to say the least. Still, it's pretty amazing that you can get there at all these days.

I did have one last chance to eat at Red Robin before I left the Seattle area. My stepbrother picked me up at the hotel and we stopped for lunch at Red Robin before heading to the airport.I had the Banzai burger, which is marinated in teriyaki and topped with pineapple. Yum.

Super! I just figured out how to blog from my phone. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I remember exactly where I was four years ago today. I'll remember that moment for the rest of my life. I immediately understood what my parents meant when they said they remembered exactly where they were the day JFK was killed in Dallas.

Sure, I remember a little about where I was the day Reagan was shot, but that memory is nothing compared to 9/11.

I look back over the last four years and wonder just how much different life is now than it was then. Sure, I'm more annoyed at the airport, but Xanax takes care of most of that for me now. Sure, gas prices are higher, but that would have happened anyway. But when I get right down to it, I don't know that I approach daily life today any differently than I did on 9/10/2001.

Which means that, at least for me, they didn't win. Yes, what happened was horrible, and many, many people worldwide were impacted. But I'm not looking over my shoulder every day wondering if the building I just passed would suddenly explode. I don't fear getting on a bus (well, any more than I would have feared it before) or flying on a plane (ditto previous parenthetical remark).

Does that make me naive? I don't know. But as I watch the memorial services on TV this morning, I am still proud to be an American and I welcome the freedoms that these terrorists would like to have taken from me.

Landed safely, got my ride from the airport, and got checked into the hotel. Xanax has really made me exhausted, so I'm going to grab dinner and hit the sack. Early day tomorrow

The in-flight move was Sisterhood of the Traveling pants. I'm a fan of Amber Tamblyn, mostly because she's the daughter of Russ Tamblyn, one of my favorite actors from the short-lived ABC series Twin Peaks, so I had a modicum of interest in the film. I didn't watch much of the movie because a) I wasn't just dying to see it (major chick flick) and b) they wanted $2 to rent headphones to listen to the movie. Fortunately, I had brought my own earbuds from my iPod, so I was able to plug in and listen to parts of the movie after I lost my iPod between the seats. Let me tell you – these seats are barely capable of seating averaged size grown adults comfortably, but God help you if you drop something like an iPod between the seats. Fortunately, my seat neighbor, who is a big fan of Xanax as well, left to roam the cabin after the movie ended, so I was able to play contortionist and retrieve my iPod from beneath the seat. Of course, since this is the kind of day it has been, it was running the whole time, so my battery is show on it. At least I had the foresight to bring the charger for that and my other cameras.

Unfortunately, I was unable to remember to bring business cards. Silly stupid me. I have a few in my laptop bag, and I think I have a few in my pocket still, but I intended to bring the remainder of my box to hand out at the conference. Now I just feel like a fool. OH well, if that's the worst thing I forgot, I'm in good shape.

To entertain us the reminder of the way, we apparently get to experience some form of 60-minutes type programming on the in-flight display. Fortunately, I have iTunes on my PowerBook so I can listen to music the remainder of the flight, while I attempt to work more on the book.

The Xanax mut be working, because I had no trouble with takeoff at all. Of course, having a chat with an armed service veteran who was returning in time to see his son's birthday party could have played a part. Unfortunately, he had the wrong seat and had to relocate to another set when another couple occupied the remaining seats in the aisle. They are from Florida, stopped off to see their daughter to recently moved to the Ft. Worth area before finishing their trip up to Vancouver for their Alaskan cruise.

The in-fight move is Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which I must ad mist a small fascination with, but there's no way I could make it through the film under the influence of Xanax. It's hard enough or me to control my motor skills to pen these blog entries.
Takeoff was smooth, but I was in the middle of a conversation about travel plans when we actually got airborne

Short flight, they say due to favorable weather conditions, We'll see when we actually land

Until next time…

It's only a few hours away. I'm due to leave the greater Metroplex area and head for the joys of Seattle in just a bit. Down to my final bit of packing:

Clean underwear - check
Toothpaste and toothbrush - check
Appropriate outerwear for Seattle - check
Plane ticket - check
Identification - check
Hotel reservation confirmation - check
iPod, earbuds and power cord - check
Good engaging mystery novel - check
PowerBook, fully charged - check
Cameras and batteries - check
Cell phone - check
Cash - hmmm, better get to the bank with a - check

I'm getting ready to hit the road again. Pound the pavement, so to speak. Thursday I fly out to Seattle for a conference. Once more into the breach, where I tackle my fear of flying head on. Fortunately, I have a strong ally on my side - Xanax. The last time I flew, December 2002, Xanax helped me get through the flight to Chicago with little to no side effects. At least that's what the people I flew with told me. I don't remember much of the flight at all.

The conference I'm attending is SMB Nation, which is a collection of geeks from around the world who focus on either supporting small businesses or the Small Business Server product from Microsoft. For the book I've been writing, this is the target audience.

The upside is that I get to go back to Seattle, where Anna and I spent our honeymoon in 1994. The downside is that I can't drive to get there.

Off to pack...

As we come up on the 4th anniversary of September 11 and we're still within the first month of the aftermath of Katrina, I've had many moments to look back on where I am and where I could be. I catch myself complaining about my own state of life not nearly as often as I could, but more often than I should. This past week has really impacted me on a level I haven't been touched in a long time. And in an unusual twist for me, I actually took immediate action to participate in the relief efforts for the survivors of Katrina instead of my usual hemming and hawing about "which is the right way to help."

Perhaps this is what age and maturity do to you. Perhaps it's the result of looking outside my own circle for so long. I don't know. What I do know is that I've spent more time and energy trying to work with others than dealing with some significant issues in my own life.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not patting myself on the back. In fact, I'm still not sure that I've done enough. But at least I'm aware and am taking action. While one person's individual contribution to a cause may not make a significant financial difference, if the act of doing that influences two others to take action, and those actions in turn influence others, then one person choosing to try to make a difference really can make a difference.