Today marks the first year anniverary of this grand and ground-breaking social experiment that I like to call... blog. It was one year ago this very day that I put forth my mission statement to "share a few things about myself and things that I find generally interesting." Well, I certainly haven't shut up about myself, but I'm not entirely sure if any of it has been the least bit interesting. Oh, well. The important thing is that I haven't given up on keeping you — the viewer — up-to-date on the hard-hitting facts about your's truly. What will the next year bring? Only the Almighty above knows for sure but, if this is the most fascinating thing I have to blog about right now, it doesn't look good. But, stay tunned just in case.

Posted by Thom at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For a long time now, I have thought of myself as something of an amateur photographer. That is, until I meet some world-class photographers that also referred to themselves as amateurs. I guess that makes me sub-amateur.

Now, I admit that I have never taken any formal photography classes, but I have read up on my ƒ-stops, my aperture settings, and my such-and-such. But the costs of film and, worse, development has always held me back from really experimenting with photography as an art form. I cringe at the thought of spending $25 to find out I exposed 36 frames with the lens cap on. But, thanks to the seasonal generosity of my family, I managed to upgrade my camera this year and I have traded in my film grains for the pixels of a digital SLR. And, while I think that Robert Mapplethorpe has nothing to fear from me, I say let the experimentation begin. For my first trick, I'll take a picture of my camera on the outside.

Posted by Thom at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The answer, of course, is yes.

Today is my Grandma Kennedy's 95 birthday. A feat unto itself, the most amazing thing is that she is as sharp and funny as she ever was — she still does the New York Times crossword puzzle, albeit in big print. Beth and I got the chance to visit with her over the summer and although she is a little shorter and a little more frail than I remember, she is still every bit the Grandma of my childhood. If my fate is generous, I've managed to inherit some of those genes. Happy birthday, Grandma.

Posted by Thom at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WARNING: This entry gets a little queasy.

Last time, I offered only the briefest of mentions concerning Beth and my mother's holiday-cheer related illnesses. Apparently, those wrathful gastro-intestinal gods found this as an unacceptable tribute and saw fit to exact their revenge upon me. And boy did they. While Beth certainly suffered her own troubles that included that most miserable transcontinental flight of her life, she will be the first to admit that I was hit much harder. Starting late last Tuesday, I began the tedious process of expelling everything in my body through every available opening. By Wednesday night, after vomiting blood and the last drop of fluids I tried to intake for the day, Beth and I began to nervously debate whether I should go to a hospital despite my healthy fear of them (son of a doctor, you know).

While I have never been sicker in my adult life, I still managed to dodge the ER bullet this time. Thank the gods for Saltines and Gatorade. Back on my feet again but still a little weak, I finally made it back in to work today. It'll probably be a few weeks before I'm 100%, but at least I'm not in that swirling hell of nausea and acheiness anymore. And, Mom and Beth are doing better, too.

Posted by Thom at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

See you next near — that inane phrase that everyone dreads but, someone always utters before you take one last walk out of the office for the holidays. You may have done it yourself — you know who you are!

Well now that they're officially over, I hope everyone had respectively pleasant holidays. Beth and I spent ours out in California as guests of the Mannings. Joined by my mother, we made our way out to Sacramento on Christmas Eve and spent the following week visiting with friends and the immediate Manning family.

Beth's parents are in the middle of remodeling their house and I have to give props to Betty for getting everything together in time for Christmas. It was a monumental undertaking and it did not go unappreciated by Beth, my mother or myself. We had an excellent and loot-filled, if not interesting time. Everyone got to chase Seamus the family dog around while he attempted to make chew toys out a stolen personal items (Christmas gloves for Beth and a cashmere sweater for my mom). We went to a midnight mass where the priest berated the congregation for not responding loud enough. And Beth's father had a blender full of cocktail blow up on him. And now for the interesting moments... Actually, the only real tragedies were the unrelated illnesses suffered by Beth and my mom on the trip home. They're getting better. See you this year.

Posted by Thom at 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)