Photoblogging Monday!

I can't think of a better way to get back into blogging than with a new photoblog (although it hasn't worked the last few times).

I've really been enjoying the last few weeks spending time with friends and my beautiful wife. There's been a few opportunities to get my old trumpet out and make some noise, and I'm making inroads in the constant battle against the weeds in my back yard.

One of these days I'll hopefully have the talent (that many of my fellow bloggers have) of telling a story with my photos. Until then, it'll be show & tell....or, tell & show if we want to be chronologically accurate. I tell the story, then show the photo.

Today's photo is of my good buddy the grouper. He resides in the World of the Sea aquarium in SeaWorld and I've had the pleasure of spending the night with him twice now, thanks to the SeaWorld Adventure Camp. He's always kind enough to let me snap a shot of him 1st thing in the morning, even though he hasn't had a chance to 'freshen up'.

Rolling over at the break of dawn to see his morning face peer out at me has given me a deeper appreciation for my beloved wife, as she experiences the same thing every morning when she rolls over and sees me.

Grouper Morning Face

Manilow Hell

My lovely wife's and my passion for Barry Manilow started a few years ago when I got a box of cassette tapes my buddy from work, Jose, gave me (I think his friend on the bus gave them to him). After weeding through the Time-Life Swingin' Years tapes and Journey hits, there he was staring at me in a white leisure suite, star necklace and the cocky "I write the songs" smirk.

We were quickly mesmerized by his catchy, cocaine like melodies and lyrics. He had plenty of practice growing up, writing countless jingles for every brand you can imagine...."I am stuck on band-aids, cause they are stuck on me!"...and, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there."

After watching his live show on PBS, we decided we had to see him in concert. We had a trip to Vegas planned already, coincidentally staying at the Hilton where Barry has an ongoing show. Of course the weekend we stayed there he took off. The only dark weekend in months.

One day we were riding in the car with my Mom and Uncle when lovely Wife and I spontaneously broke into song...a Manilow song. My Uncle said, "Hey, that's Barry Manilow! We just got to see him last week at an invite-only free show at The Forum."

Apparently, he and my Mom wouldn't think that we would enjoy his music...and that The Forum was too long of a mid-week drive for us, so we didn't find out about it until after the fact.

It also turns out that the trumpet player for Barry's show is a friend of mine from college. Despite all the connections to Manilow, we haven't been able to score tickets, or make the time to get to Vegas and see the show.

Then I had a brilliant plan. Barry is doing a Valentine's Day show at the Staples Center! I decided to go all out (because lovely Wife deserves it!), and bought 2 floor seats to the show. This was back in December. It turns out that her schedule in her second semester Master's classes consists of back to back classes on Thursday nights. After a few weeks I put 2 and 2 together and realized Valentine's Day falls on a Thursday.

Much of her grade in those classes is based on attendance and class participation.

In the past few weeks I've tried unsuccessfully to unload the tickets and salvage some of the small fortune I spent on them. In the meantime, I had to scramble to find something else to do for V-day (note: we normally don't do much on Valentine's Day, but in light of our lack of anniversary plans this year, I thought we could make up for it).

While I can't divulge my backup plans here since lovely Wife lurks, it involved another (not as lucrative) purchase.

If the Manilow tickets don't sell, I'm going to personally call her professors and explain the situation and make her go with me! Add that to the backup plans scheduled for the night before and we're going to have a Valentine's Day extravaganza.

Good thing I'm going to be a lawyer...I might be able to eventually pay for Valentine's Day this year!

Ellen's 12 Days of Christmas

Yesterday started with a funny and prophetic read of one of my favorite bloggers, Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame). His post discusses "The Wonderful Time" between when you hear wonderful news and learning it is wrong, or not as good as you thought.

My beautiful wife had a ticket for the taping of Ellen yesterday. She was pretty sure it was during her "12 Days of Christmas" series where she gives away loot to everyone in the audience.

After hearing the news, I entered 'Wonderful Time' when I started researching past shows and giveaways. Last year there were $1500 necklaces, $3000 fridges, Wiis, Xbox 360s. This year already looked promising with iPod touches, Wiis (again), Smartphones, gift cards, etc. This person went on day one and scored.

I began planning what we would keep and what we could sell off. Electronics that we didn't need like game systems and stupidly expensive cell phones would sell well on ebay. Home items we could unload pretty easily. Any cool stuff like iPods or jewelry or trips would be kept.

Towards late afternoon yesterday, I started getting the jitters wondering what was in store for her (and me too!).

When she finally called the first thing out of her mouth was, "It was designer day!"

While she got some great stuff and certainly deserved all of it, my personal "Wonderful Time" ended.

Here's the rundown:

• $150 gift card to Bliss for spa services
• Bliss body butter (?!?!)
• Head & Shoulders package - bathrobe, slippers, towels, body products
• Diamond Necklace - not sure of designer, this one's coming in the mail
• Calvin Klein Collection Sunglasses ($399)
• Gucci "New Britt" bag ($695)

Again, I couldn't be happier for my lovely wife; there isn't a better giveaway for her, except maybe if a cruise or some shoes were involved....but come on!

I couldn't get 1/10th of what the purse, glasses and necklace are worth thanks to all the fakes and knockoffs without a receipt. Not to mention the castration involved by even broaching the subject.

Yes, I'm spoiled (and a little whinny); however, the implications of these gifts dig deeper -with Christmas, our anniversary and her birthday looming just around the corner, my gifts will pale in comparison. Sure, it's the thought that counts...but whoever said that didn't know my wife and purses!