You’ve probably heard more than enough about the iPhone already - it’s impossible to read the paper or watch TV without the hype machine making an appearance. I gotta say, though, that it is the single coolest device I have ever seen. It’s like having a computer with me all the time - nirvana to a geek like me. It has nearly limitless uses: Email - it notifies me whenever I get a new message; Web browsing - amazingly easy to use; Music - it’s a better iPod than my iPod; Sports - I can check on the Sox in real time, with highlights; Video - I can record House on my iMac and automatically rip it to play on the iPhone; GPS - I’ve used it in the car to find a meeting spot; and I even used it to tune my guitar - sadly, it can’t help me play decently. And it gets better every day. New applications (apps) arrive on the iTunes App Store daily, tempting me to part with my hard-earned (ahem) dough. Fortunately, some apps are free. I've already gone through Mahjong and Sudoku addictions and am now hooked on a puzzle/RPG game. I have downloaded useful apps too - an Italian language guide, a unit converter, a movie theater app, and a couple of ebooks. This thing does so much it’s unreal. And oh yeah, it’s also an excellent phone.

I like metaphors (shaken, not mixed).

After a week of rain and thunder, the sun has poked through today and I’ll be heading back to the beach soon. I’ve said it before, but the beach is a special place. Every time I go into the ocean, I turn back into this 12 year-old version of myself.

It’s another trip down memory lane, but for Jazzy this time. I wonder whether all her old dog friends, too many of whom have passed on, appear in her dreams sometimes. And what of the people who she was always excited to see? Do they appear too? Does she miss them all when she wakes? I hope the dog experts are right on this one and that she doesn’t.

Going way back for what appears to have been my first golf experience. Judging by the looks on our faces, I must have beaten Larry and Steve in whatever oddball form of the sport we played. Either that or we didn’t play at all and I figured I’d pretend to have won so that many, many years later I could write this blog entry and claim victory. Oh, and how about those snazzy colored plastic visors - I bet those seemed very futuristic at the time.

I took this photo when I met Jf and Noreen (and little Sylvia) at Beavertail State Park in Jamestown last week. It’s a beautiful place, and the rocky shore makes for an interesting hike. Jf and I were walking along the rocks and talking about survival shows (Man vs. Wild, Survivorman) when we decided to cut across the island to the other side. Having walked much farther than usual, however, there were no paths to take us inland. So we decided to try to find a way through the dense brush (being guys, we weren’t about to be smart and backtrack). It didn’t go well; Bear Grylls would have been ashamed. After getting scratched up and not making much progress, we eventually had to find our way back the way we came. Fortunately, it was impossible to lose our bearings since we could easily tell which way the water was. Otherwise we might still be out there.

“I am not an animal!” For some unknown reason, I’ve always liked this ‘elephant man’ photo. Perhaps because it’s just so odd and raises so many questions. Why was I covering my head with a sweatshirt? Why was I wearing a ratty sweatshirt with a big hole in it? Was that couch actually in style?

Back to the retro review... here I am getting ready for my first day of work at the Choate school. It was a great job because I was able to work the whole summer with my best friend Jf. It was like getting paid to have fun (hmm, that sounds familiar). Oh, and even though I’m smiling in the picture, it’s not because of the onions at my side. I still haven’t conquered my disgust for onions. It’s on the list, so hopefully someday I’ll be less of a pain in the butt to cook for.

So I don’t have a new iPhone yet. My big plan was to wait out the weekend rush and pick one up on Monday. Unfortunately for me, they sold pretty much all of them (1 million!) before the “work week” began. So I’m not sure when I’ll be able to cash in (ahem) my very generous birthday gift. Then again, sometimes things are even more appreciated when you have to wait for them a bit.

Mission accomplished! I recently set out to recreate a favorite food. I first had fried chips down at Sandals in the Bahamas. Now, I certainly wouldn’t recommend the resort for their food. Far from it, in fact. Frankly, it’s pretty sad when the British Pub has the best food of all the restaurants. But the chips were totally delicious and very memorable, even though I don’t remember what the main course was. They also had a great sauce that came with them. Sadly, I don’t recall the specific taste so I can’t recreate it. Since then, I’ve had similar chips at the museum at which I used to work, and at the Stadium Sports Bar. Neither was as good as the original ones, and since I’m not eating at those locations regularly these days, I took matters into my own kitchen. For a first try, I must say I’m quite pleased. No sauce, but instead I sprinkled some adobo and pepper for extra flavor. Tasty!

Crazy libertarians strike one for the working class! Okay, I know people don’t think such things are realistic, but this is a test of an entire state’s sanity. I don’t even live in Massachusetts and I contributed to this cause. If it passes, the state income tax will have to be repealed, and the average worker in the state won’t have to pay $3,600 of his or her own hard-earned money to the state to be wasted. Yes, I’m sure they’ll have to raise other taxes to make up for part of the shortfall, and then they’ll have to tighten their belts just like every family (and corporation, for that matter) does when times are tough. That’s a good thing.

Here’s a pic of me working in my first career - as a graphic designer for a small print shop back in the early 90s. I enjoyed design quite a bit at the time, and even today I like to put something together once in a while. I think I’ll make the time to visit my old friends at Awards & Printing soon.

I like dreams, but I don’t remember them nearly often enough. Last night I had at least two dreams. One had a television character in it, but curiously from a show I haven’t seen in quite some time, though last night I was watching a related show so that might have triggered that one. The other dream centered around a real life person I haven’t seen in a while. Sadly, I can’t remember many of the details from either dream, but like almost all my dreams they were positive. One thing I’d love to see is a dog dream - I’m sure Jazzy dreams mostly of chasing the ball, but other times there seems to be some sort of conflict or danger in the dream judging by the sounds she makes. Way back on this day when she was a puppy, I’m sure she and her visiting sister Bailey were way too zonked after a day of romping and playing to dream.

Back to the 90s with a photo with Mom and Dad at my old apartment. I’m very lucky to have such loving parents.

A very special “thank you” to everyone who contacted me on my birthday. It really means a lot to me. And no, this wasn’t my cake. Actually, this is the dog food cake that I made for Jazzy and her sister Bailey for their first birthday back in 2001. I took a cake pan, packed it with canned dog food, flipped it onto this horribly ugly sunflower tray, and then decorated it with dry food. I’d like to see the omnipresent and annoying Rachel Ray come up with something to match it.

Kindergarten was so much fun. I remember the time when our teacher, Arnold Schwarzenegger, brought in a ferret. Oh, wait... I guess I don’t really remember Kindergarten. And unlike the 6th grade photo from a while back, I can’t name one of my classmates from this photo.

Here’s a pic of the day I moved into my old house in Sterling. I really liked that place, but it was way too much house for just Jazzy and me. And it was in the middle of nowhere. One of things I really like about my current apartment is that it reminds me of my old place, but isn’t nearly as big. And it’s waaayyyy closer to the ocean.

Going back five or six years, here’s a Sunday morning tradition that has faded away. For a while there, we were playing roller hockey on the tennis courts at the old Plainfield High school once a week. Sure it looks lame in this photo, but it was actually fast, physical and highly competitive. In the hot weather we’d often wear shorts, yet we’d continue to block the hard plastic ball with our legs to stop a goal, leaving large red marks that would later turn to bruises. Sadly, we stopped playing once these courts (which were totally unfit for actual tennis playing, btw) were torn down to make room for the new high school.