Sounds good...

Recently started reading about speaker design again and my wallet can't afford to build the floor speakers I have in my head so for now I'm going to continue listening to my BA-635's on the computer and jot down some great tracks to test my eventual speaker system

Tribal by Benise on the album Mediterranea - 

great tambourine and other percussion, with crisp guitar.  Even on MP3 you can hear some of the guitar nuances.  Typical GREAT classical guitar with southern italian feel, almost flamenco-esque.  Great separation in the recording too.  Can't wait to pump this one thru some morel highs and mids.

Recuerdos A Zucarados by Gipsy Kings on Pasajero - 

another powerful acoustic guitar piece with at least 3 separate guitarists and rapid punchy percussion and some DEEP bass.  This should separate the wheat from the chaff with the right amplifier.

Stay tuned, more coming.

Little Things in Big Places

One month and counting till my RNY GB-WLS.  Yup, there's a mouthful.  Literally.  So this post will be dry and maybe a bit bitter like a good wine.  What is RNY GB-WLS? It's a Roux en-Y Gastric Bypass Weight Loss Surgery.  Hereon called my WLS.  This procedure is done thru 4 or 5 laproscopic holes in the abdomen (small things in BIG places) and aside from a new set of rules to follow, will allow me to re-embrace life. 

People who have never really fought the fight with weight just don't understand.  Diets work short term, as does working out.  My buddy Mike and I were religious about going to the gym and working out HARD for 4 or so months.  All I did was stay flat...the weight stayed the same and my muscles got big.  not huge, but definitely noticeable.  I'm still strong but I weigh one hell of a lot more now than I did then.  Proof again that lifestyle and diet are not the only keys to the battle.  sometimes genetics play a BIG role - both my families sides are large people - EXCEPT for my mom and dad.  They got the recessive genes.  We used to joke that my dad had a tapeworm.  He could put some food away...and yet he's never been over 190.  I doubt he's ever been over 180...not even in the height of his physical peak in the late 70's-early 80's in the USAF.  

What am I gonna miss?  

Holiday feasts, stuffing, ice cream, sweet things (i don't like alot of them...but once in a while I really like a good brownie), being able to chug some water...beer...diet pepsi...

I'm gonna miss standing in the spectator crowd while my sons ride the amusement park rides.  It's gonna be a real drag not being able to take their pics while I ride the roller coaster next to them.  It's gonna SUCK not being able to see the fishing boat drift out into the lake with my sons on it because I'm so caught up in the shore shrinking away.  I might miss being able to rest a beer on my belly when sitting in a camping chair.  Picking belly button lint used to be a comforting thing for me.  Scratching that big ol' buddha was pretty relaxing and felt very manly too.  I'm gonna miss being the poster boy for a Swanson Hungry Man meal.  I'm really gonna miss checking for load limit stickers on chairs at friends houses.  Blowing the airsoles out in running shoes.  Sweaty moobs. 

Until you are fat, you never really grasp just what a bad place the underbelly of the world is...I have one now...and the underbelly is a bad bad place.  I'm going to miss taking all them blood pressure drugs.  I'm gonna miss making my kids rough-house with me in the living room on the floor because I could not chase them.. They are SCREWED.  I'm gonna miss my pack of hot dogs on the back of my head that makes it hard for me to do my own hair cuts.  I'm gonna miss cutting my own hair.  I'm gonna miss judging a meal by the size of the plate.  I'll miss being Big Jay.  I'm gonna miss calling my skinny friends to come over and climb the ladder to clean out my gutters and fix my house because i can't find a ladder that has a 400lb weight limit.  I'm gonna miss walking on the roof for fear that I'll fall thru.  Telling - and hearing - all the fat jokes.  People assuming that I want that last piece of pizza.  I'm gonna miss not having the will power to pass up that piece.  I'm gonna miss the way my ankles swell up.  I'm gonna miss buying a new bed mattress every 5 years because my wife and I wear it out.  I'm gonna miss the way my wife turns me down because we must appear like walrus' getting their groove on.  Yeah, and I'm really gonna miss mis the hot sloppy walrus sex when she doesn't turn me down.  I'm gonna miss wearing out the mattress from sleeping on it.  I'm really gonna miss the way I can feel that slab of back fat whip around my side when I throw a football to my oldest son.  He's 5 now...I hope he doesn't miss his "fat daddy" and grows to like his new daddy quickly...I'm sure he will as it will be alot easier to keep up with him.

I only hope that once I'm back to my highschool size/weight that my personality makes up for the stage presence I have.  I hope I never become bitter because of the way the world treats obese people.  I hope that others can look to me for hope and guidance to a healthier lifestyle.  I hope that I can still eat venison...some people have strange inabilities to digest certain "favorite" foods post-op.  I hope I can afford all the new clothes.  I'm gonna miss spending $20 extra per pair of anything because it's in a 3 or 4x size.   I'm gonna miss joking about shopping at Ahmad the Tent Maker for my clothing.   I'm gonna miss being able to give the scary fat guy stare at people to intimidate them.   I'm gonna miss them thinking "what the heck is that fat fawker staring at?"...

I'm gonna miss being a fat fawker.  

Yeah right....I'm a walking Dodge commercial right now.  Grab Life by the Horns! :)

Big things in small places

If ever there was a person who had a red phone straight to Jesus - My Aunt Linda has that priviledge, hands down.  She's one of those insterestingly eclectic people that if you didn't know her, you probably wouldn't know her, and I'm glad I do.  She's alot like me in many ways, and taught me much about following dreams.  I rarely heeded her advice and kick myself often for it.  She championed my individuality, creativity, and nurtured the little artist within me.   I still remember how she endured many a pot of ramen noodles in which I had dumped a plethora of spices and seasonings with never a bad word to say.  I knew she was nuts then...I too have tasted some of my early creations.  

We call her...no wait...she asks that we call her CAL - Crazy Aunt Linda.  I love her to death.  She's one of those people that when you get a hug from them...you just KNOW it's for real.  She has had a life of trials and tribulations - many of them self wrought but who am I to judge...I just know that with a life of sparse materialism she has gotten to a place where the small things mean so much to her.

Last week an ice storm took over much of the midwest, much like the storm my father and I endured when I was moving my family back to the 'Burgh in the winter of 2007/2008.  CAL has been without power for 4 days.  Her biggest concern?  She wasn't gonna get to watch the Steelers play in the Superbowl.  CAL loves her sports.  Living in Kentucky, she sports the Wildcats colors every saturday and loves to watch UK basketball.  With her little baby brother and her little JayBird (my dad and I) living in Pittsburgh - she's a die hard Steelers fan.  I can't imagine what life was like in her house with the pending game looming closer and closer without power.

I remember staying at her apartment once...the cold never really bothered her.  Her oldest son told me once that she is part Polar Bear.  I'd believe it.  There was a time when we would open her fridge to warm up.  All she cared about yesterday was how she was gonna be able to watch the game.  Luckily, I have a buddy who has put together a home brew DVR and has recorded the game for me to burn as a DVD and send her a copy.  Just a small token of appreciation and admiration I have for her, it really doesn't seem enough but it's perfect for her.  She would want nothing more from me.  I hope someday to get into her camera bag and start scanning some of her photos...she is a WONDERFUL photographer and still shoots old school.  I need to send her some film.  

Back to God for a minute - Yesterdays church service was incredible.  Prayers do get answered, and needs met - Amanda has been given the courage to start a Womens group at church.  Another big thing...in a small place.  She's the best EVER!