Most likely to be a social media nerd

Although I didn't think of myself as exactly being at the top of the social ladder in high school, apparently many of my former classmates now consider me the king of social media.

Last night Niskayuna High School's Class of 1990 had their 20-year reunion.  It was so great to see so many old faces -- many of which I haven't seen since graduation. At least, not in person.

That brings us to modern marvel that is Facebook.  I seriously lost track of how many people said to me, "Hey, Chris, I see you on Facebook all the time!" or "Yeah, you're all over Facebook."

Another person looked at the drink in my hand and asked why I wasn't drinking a cup of coffee. Apparently I've written many status updates about enjoying a cup of coffee.

Then there was the guy who told me I'm on Facebook so much that I have the most recognizable face in the room.  I know that was meant as a compliment, but I admit I was a little embarrassed. Am I putting too much out there?

For the record, I think I only did a few updates on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare during the course of the party.

I also only sang karaoke twice. I haven't done that since college.  But the ham in me couldn't resist the urge to grab the microphone and make an ass of myself.

I was one of the first singers of the night and did a very lame rendition of "Great Balls of Fire."  Much later in the evening I had the urge to take another crack at it.  It took a while to decide what song to do, but I finally settled on Van Halen's "Jump." However,when the DJ told me I'd be the last song of the night, I immediately changed my mind. "New York, New York" would be the perfect song to end the night!

I managed to get a good number of the attendees on the dance floor to sing along and start a kick line.

And of course I couldn't wait to update my Facebook status about it.

Fun with negative space

Listening to the Current Geek podcast recently, they referenced "the arrow in the FedEx logo."

I have to admit, I wasn't sure what they were talking about.  I hadn't ever noticed an arrow in the logo before.  I tried to picture it in my head, but I wasn't seeing it.

Then while driving home work earlier this week I was behind a FedEx truck -- and there is was!  It's as plain as the nose on my face.  How did I never see it before?  Now I can't look at the logo without the arrow jumping out at me.

All-Star annoyance

I'll spare you my usual rant about baseball coverage on Fox and the late start of important games like the All-Star Game and the World Series.  Instead, I'll let you hear straight from one of those most affected by the annoying practices of MLB and Fox...



For the record, tonight's first pitch came at 8:50 p.m. ET.  Nolan got to watch the first two innings before going to bed.

The bendy bike

I spotted this on Discovery News the other day and thought it was pretty cool.

A 21-year-old British college student designed this bendable bicycle. The idea is that by being able to wrap your bike around a pole like this you can lock up your frame and both wheels with one simple lock giving you a more secure setup.

Apparently the bike uses a ratchet mechanism so it's both rigid and bendable, but not simultaneously. When you jump off the bike to park it, you push a lever on the frame and the bike becomes flexible, so you can wrap it around the nearest post or bike rack.

Kevin Scott's design was runner-up in the Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award.  He hopes to commercialize his invention.

What do you think bike fans? Is this something that you'd want?

The pilgrimage

I mentioned our trip to Yankee Stadium.  Here are some photos...



We went to the game on July 4th. The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 7-6 in 10 innings.  This was our first trip to the new stadium and Kris and Thomas' first big league ballgame.

Today is the first day of the rest of your blog

My three-month blogging hiatus is over.

Lately, anything I've felt like saying I've been able to say in 140 characters or less on Twitter.  Any interesting links I spotted or photos I had were shared on Facebook.  Updates on life with the Rooney family were posted on the Rooney Train.

I was no longer sure this blog served a purpose and came closer than ever to pulling the plug.

The truth is, I thought about the blog almost every day. I usually felt guilty for neglecting it, but I was actually a little relieved when I thought about getting rid of it and not worrying about neglecting it any more.  If keeping this blog going is a source of stress, then what's the point?

So if that's how I feel about it, then why am I back here posting again?  I'm really not sure.  I guess I just don't want to give up that easily.  I shall endeavor to do better.  Wish me luck!

Decade Day

Nolan joined the Double Digits Club today. Where the heck have the last 10 years gone?

In the blink of an eye, this little baby we brought into the world is now a 10-year-old kid about to go into the fifth grade. In another of those blinks will he really be 20 and in college? Hard to fathom!

As is often the case with our kids, the celebration was stretched out over a few days. It started back on July 4 with our first trip to the new Yankee Stadium. The tickets were actually a Christmas gift from Kris’ folks, but we decided to time our trip close to his birthday and bought him an extra souvenir while we were there.

Last night we took him out to dinner at the restaurant of his choice. He picked Red Robin.

Tonight we had dinner with my mom and his cousin Louis. Nolan requested a Boston cream pie for his cake.

I think he had a good day today. When he was going to bed he asked how much older I was. When I told him I had 28 years on him Nolan remarked that he had a lot to do before he reached that age -- middle school, high school, college, finding a job. I advised him to just take life one day at a time.

That’s how we’ve done things so far. Day 1 of the next decade starts tomorrow.