Merry Christmas & Happy New Years.....

To all my friends and family!

We welcomed in a new addition to the family and I survived another year!

Looking forward to good things in 2008. Love to all. Peace and Merry Christmas.

Breakfast with Tiffany!

We put the little guy down for a nap and enjoyed a nice little brunch together. Good eats here. Nothing as extravagant as Booster or Asphyxiate, but good none the less.

These little treats are buttered bread with the centers cut out, replaced with an egg (centers broken, as Tiffany preferred them) and then cheese and bacon to top it off. Some bacon and I grilled up the centers as well. Might as well not let them go to waste ya know!

Winters here. Snow predicted thru Wednesday. We'll see.......

All I want for Christmas is........

This little trick device!

We all know how nerdy I am, but this thing just hits the spot for me!

This is the Vave100 Universal Remote Control with Windows Vista SideShow Technology from Ricavision. You can learn about Windows Sideshow technology over on Wiki. I read about this over on Chris Laniers blog and was enamored with it.

The gist of it is being able to hook up to your Windows Media Center and view albums (and art), photos, and much more thru your remote control. Pretty nerdy huh?

For $280, I'm gonna have to be extra special the next few weeks!

Lot's on my mind........Ready? Fire............

You've read the sub-line to my blog, and this is a rare occasion that I feel like typing it all out.

For your sanity, I'll keep them to topic for each section. Bare with me as there my a few to swim thru.

Ladies and gents, what you are viewing here is my new 'addiction'. I am completely consumed with this concept of a 'connected lifestyle', screw 'connected home', I'm way past that.

Since we moved in to our new house I've been looking for a pet project. You see, I don't have many skills. If I can't do it outside of the computer, I'm pretty much screwed. I can barely keep the oil changed in my own car, that's how bad it was. I was the kid standing next to dad on a Saturday morning while he worked on cars, however, I was standing there pouting and kicking the dirt cause I was pissed off and wanted to be inside 'gaming'. Not that I am any good at gaming having spent countless hours playing as a child, it's just something that I've grown to love doing with my spare time.

I had an unacceptable absence in the 90's due to sex, drugs and rock and roll, but that's a story for another time.

So, back to the present. An opportunity presented itself during the summer where I was able to get a head start on my project.

What I wanted to do was start testing out some of these theories of connecting everything around me. Example, from the TV I wanted to be able to look at the pictures on my computer, some how, some way. Easy to start with.

At the point that I'm starting I've already done a little homework, so I know what I'm dealing with, and the roadblocks/stumbling blocks to come.

My dad get's me started with the computer system. Let me rephrase that, I saw this system my dad had started to put together and I  got bug-eyed over it and guilted him in to letting me buy it off of him at a rock bottom price. I'll break down the system for you in another post.

The purpose that I was looking at for the PC was to have it serve as the main hub for the home, naturally.

I have a big screen TV in the living room which serves the whole family. We have family over and throw 'lil shindigs here and there and I wanted to be able to provide entertainment in the room instead of just having the TV set on in the background.

Windows Media Center in Vista Ultimate was my fix for this.

I already had the 360 tied to the TV, and going over the top with my gaming habits in this instance showed an added bonus to my lovely wife.

The wife has to be key to all of your decisions with you going down this dreaded path. There is some 'incurred' expenses and with that comes monthly charges for all of the 'add-on's'. You can see where this road can lead I trust.

In my case, as is pretty much the case all of the time here, my wife gave me some leeway with the 'experiment'. As an added bonus I got a chance to build my man cave. My own little place to escape and play.

I put the system together and topped it off with a nice Dell wide screen, HDTV of course and put another HD DirecTV box in the office. With that added touch and already having Sunday Ticket I was bound to never leave from the cave. I just need a toilet, shower and a fridge in here and I just may never leave. Just wait 'til the basement is ready to move in to.

Well, with the final touch I pretty much interrupted the 'perfect' set up. I had the Media Center fine tuned and had finally wrapped up some hefty firewall discussions with the boys from Microsoft OneCare on why their products couldn't co-exist in the same eco-system having come from the same damned company. Be assured this is a topic for it's own. I'll deal with you later.

I had set up the wife's favorite programs along with a few of my own to be recorded thru the media center for viewing downstairs, on the tv when ever she wanted, ala DVR. She dug it. But once I added the HD box to the set up I could no longer capture video thru my already unstable tv tuner card.

This is the main reason for leaving that to a different discussion. I am in search of the perfect fit for just getting back to recording SD video again. Until then, I'll hold off on that subject.

So, there I was stuck with nothing left to do until after the holidays. There's this whole 'Christmas' thing that I have to buy tons of gifts for, then I can play again.

Well, I had recently reintroduced my Sony PSP and Nintendo DS to a dusting off of the portables and a good re-powering of their juices so they could be played again.

This is when I picked up on something really cool. I could share my media center content with my PSP as well. Now were talking.

For another $20 for a 2GB memory stick (thank you EBay) for the PSP and $16.95 for my Sony Media Manager software I was able to sync up and have my media content on the go, recorded TV included. Bonus.

I spent a few hours the other night loading up the PSP with some of my content and even downloaded some stuff from the new Sony Store Online, included in the download onslaught was SOCOM Tactical Strike. After it was all said and done I still had about 400mb left. I was impressed. It had compressed down all of the video and fit all perfectly.

Not even realizing, there was another pleasant surprise. I got in the car the next morning and realized that I could plug the jack from my Sirius radio in to the PSP and enjoy some podcasts I needed to catch up on. I'm just glad that after having this for almost 2 years now, I have finally found a great use for it. Oh yeah, and it plays some games too.

I'm definitely behind the times when it comes to this stuff, but it was fun learning about all of it now.

A classic example of 'They go in 3's'

Not really sure why, but the past few weeks have had me reflecting, again, on life and the possibilites of dying.

Now, don't jump to conclusions, but this is something that is permanently embedded in my DNA now and I think jotting it down here makes sense, if only for me.

I haven't been feeling well the past few weeks and I'm not sure if it's that old 'Ohio' sickness that I used to get ever so often or if it's more. I've been to my oncologist and the bloods great, but over the past few weeks I've had terrible headaches (for days on end, and no, aspirin hasn't helped) and just some odd body aches. I laid in bed for 2 hours with a strange sensation in the right side of my body. Almost bone-deep was the pain.

So, as I'm going thru my week, I find out on Thursday that a friend of the family has died for a fight with cancer. Ron was a dear friend of my dad's Aunt Barb. Good 'ol Aunt Barb had the 'hots' for Ron back in high school and had recently reconnected and became good friends again.

A few months ago, Aunt Barb called and wanted me to speak with Ron as he was just diagnosed with cancer. What type, he wasn't sure of. The doctors went back and forth over simple lung cancer to a few weeks later telling him it was a terminal organ cancer. As I spoke with Ron he was just shocked, 'Aaron, I feel just fine. I wouldn't have known that I had cancer unless the doctors told me so.' Then a few weeks later in talking with me he said 'Wow, you go from our conversation a few weeks ago to them now telling me I'm not gonna make it til Christmas'

Ron was a good guy, and I'm sad that I didn't get to talk to him more in his final days. Ron, your with the Lord now and your pain is no more. Your 'reaquaintance' with Aunt Barb had a purpose. Soon, we shall know that purpose. Aunt Barb is now back in Florida with Uncle Bob. I send her my thoughts, prayers and love.

So, as the heading says, 'They go in 3's' and indirectly i saw this unfold. Sean Taylor, of the Washington Redskins, was shot in his house while there relaxing from an injury he incurred just a few weeks prior. Now, here's a guy who had a lot of issues with the law and everything, but since the birth of his child he had been making tremendous strides in becoming a better person and putting that 'lifestyle' behind him. I don't know Sean personally, but reading the stories the past few days has made me reflect. Sad to see such a tragedy like this. Just another child who will have to grow up not knowing their parent because of some pathetic piece of garbage.

And the 3rd on the list was a big inspiration to my 'Metal (rock)' roots, Kevin Dubrow, of Quiet Riot.

Yes, the classic band that brought us the 'correct' version of 'C'mon Feel the Noise' and 'Momma Were All Crazy Now' and the classic 'Metal Health' album.

No known cause of death, but it's just sad. He was 52 years old.

The reason I mention this one in particular is due to the fact that this is a part of my generation now that I'm seeing die. Wether it be from natural causes or what have you. Soon, other legends of my rock and roll lifestyle will pass on and it again makes a person reflect on life and what were all doing.

I am making sure daily that if I do pass that I have left a legacy behind that I am proud of. I want my son to know that everyday I made an effort to interact with him and be a part of his life so that, if I pass early, he remembers how much his daddy loved him.

We are just days away from Brooke giving birth to Ayden as well. So as we say goodbye to some, we are about to welcome another! Good luck sunshine! We'll be there for you.

Stupid Cancer Show

Well, just wanted to post a quick note about an opportunity that I can now confirm.

This coming Monday, November 19th, 2007, I will be co-hosting 'The Stupid Cancer Show' live via the Internet at 9:00pm EST.

Please join me for this great event.

Thanks to Matthew Zachary for the invitation!

This is really becoming a very exciting program to be a part of and I look forward to seeing just how far we can reach out and help the cancer community.

Hope to hear that some of ya tuned in! Drop a line and let us what you thought.

Stupid Cancer! Survivors rule!

  Most of you know that I suffered from a rare form of testicular cancer called non-godnal germ cell seminoma. I am in remission from it right now and everything has been going great so far.

I decided awhile back that I wanted to get involved with something and find a way to give back to a community that did so much for my family and I during this time.

I ran across a website just browsing one day and I felt the urge to sign up with them. As I was browsing the site I ran across a section for getting involved and I filled out an application for their Young Adult Leadership Council. After interviewing over the phone I was just really moved that this was going to be something special.

There are big things planned with this up and coming organization and I am glad to be involved.

You'll be seeing a lot from me on here promoting the site, discussing my disease and pretty much the same 'ol rants that have been here for almost 2 years now.

My first order of business that I want to promote here are 2 cd's put out by i[2]y. The are put together from those around the cancer community and it is a great listen. I have the Volume 1 disc and it's pretty neat to listen to.

With all organizations there are charitable events and promotions, this is i[2]y's to begin with.

Here are the notes about the cd:

The I'm Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation For Young Adults (i[2]y) is a global support community for young adults affected by cancer who get busy living and rock on – and we use music and the arts to make it hip to be a young survivor and talk openly about stupid cancer.
Nearly 70,000 young adults between the ages of 15 and 39 will be diagnosed with cancer this year, a number that increases each year. That said, we're not here to scare people. Seriously, we're not. This compilation CD (and educational toolkit) was a labor of love 3 years in the making and what it represents is not only hope, but a united community of survivors who often feel they're the only ones out there. Well, this album is changing the rules.
100% of all net proceeds benefit the foundation, For more information visit http://ImTooYoungForThis.org.
Stupid cancer, Survivors rule. Rock on!

No pressure friends, but I'd like to encourage you to help out if ya can and pick up one of these discs. Now the music may not be for you, but knowing that purchased it can make ya feel good! Pass the cd on to a friend who may like it.

You have my thanks and appreciation friends! Enjoy!

Keeping it real......

Here we are, another week past and looking forward to another weekend.

I've been keeping myself really busy lately. I've got all of my irons in the fire right now and I can tell it's a bit much, so I plan on approaching it a bit different now.

I am just in love with some of the activities I've got brewing up right now and the excitement I think is what is getting the best of me. There is some real potential for a few of the projects and I just think that it's really going to lead to big things.

I am being a bit coy and teasing you here, but its all for a good reason. Lots of i's to dot and t's to cross before I say anything official.

One thing that I want to mention right off the bat is that it is now 5 years since my beloved XBox Live service launched, and I got that killer 'Welcome to the Beta' email from Microsoft. It was a rush that I'll never forget and am glad to be a part of it. XBox is making it special by posting over on their website about it, see it here.

I want to talk about just how special this is. When I first got online I gamed with a few classy cats on the beta. I was just stunned by how the gaming world was transforming right before my eyes. I quickly thought back to how horrible multiplayer gaming was on PC's. YUCK! And now we had Live, and a voice to go with it. We would run around in Re-volt for hours having a blast and shooting the shit with each other. The forums that Microsoft had at the time were just plain horrible. So there was another group that eventually formed later on called XBox Live Friends. Also a part of this group were the founding members of Gamertag Database, now known as Gamertag.com. Let's just say that I have never met a cooler group of people. I don't have many friends here in Ohio, the friends I have are mostly from this community.

To this day I still hang out with quite a few of them and even visit them, at least once a year. Mr Silverblood, Ram2600, Keg O War, Vitamin B, Headgamer, Team Binky, Chado, and Antek718 are like my brothers. They are just world class individuals. Not just limited to guys either, you close-mnded knuckle heads, no-no, there's also LonestarGal and Lulu, and even my lovely Mrs Scary Aaron. These girls got game too!

So to see the LiveIs5 page and see our names blazed across the site it just makes it that more special. Happy 5th XBox Live!

I'm taking a trip in a few weeks to New York City. I will be making an announcement about this trip in a few days. Why would I be making an announcement about my trip? Tee hee, because it's gonna be something that YOU my friends may be taking part in. Stay tuned for my big surprise!

All this going on around me, you may wonder where the heck is the family and how am I spending any 'quality' time with them when I'm burning the candle at both ends. Well, I do make time for them and they are all doing wonderful.

Brooke is coming along quite well now. She is due the 12th of December. The baby and mommy are both very healthy. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I'm going to be a grandfather, but I'm dealing with it. She's learning the hard lessons of life at a young age and she knows it. She doesnt need the stress of my freaking out and creating an uncomfortable environment. We all know the wrongs of this, we now have to deal with it. We will provide the best environment for her and the baby, count on it.

Tiffs doing wonderful. I am just so happy to be with her and have her by my side. She is my everything. I make stupid, dumb mistakes in my life and sometimes I'm just struck by how she just accepts me for who I am. I'm a jerk at times and this woman tolerates it. For everything that she went thru with me, to helping raise my children in the end she is my hero.

Big Al is doing great! The kid is growing so damn fast. I stop his ADHD (my analysis) ass every day to slow him down for 2 seconds so I can enjoy that day of him being that small. It's going by so fast and I'm trying to keep up. Now if my damned lungs would just get back to healthy so I could do just that, that would be super! We had our first Halloween that meant something this year. He dressed up as Spiderman and we walked him 3 blocks. It was just a fun time.

See that, I take so long to post and then you have a ton to read. Let's do our best to keep this pace up a little more.

Thanks for stopping by! More real soon, I promise!

Happy Halloween!

It was my buddies first Halloween to enjoy and he went out in style! That's right, Spiderman!

We wouldn't wear the mask, so we went with the hat and gloves, as it was pretty cold as well. It started to rain, but by that time 2 blocks and lots of candy were enough for this little monster!

We then sent him to Mamma's and Poppa's where he went out to eat and mommy and daddy had some alone time! Nice!

The week went quite well, and uneventful otherwise.

I saw the doc on Tuesday for my 'every 2-month' check up. The blood in my body is recovering quite nicely. My hemoglobin has doubled and that made the doc pretty happy with me! My weight is spiraling out of control however. I'm back up to 186 and climbing! YIKES!

I'm back on the heart medication and we upped my meds for my aching feet and the ringing in my ears. We'll see how that works out. I'm holding off on taking the meds for me feet til the end of the day as the buzz is a bit much for being out and about! ;)

The cold has finally reached us here in Ohio and I'm none too pleased! I've already scored 2 major colds, and that is 2 more than I had in all the time down in Florida. More than enough reason to move back I say!

This week also brought my 34th birthday! Yay! Spent a lovely night out with my wife and kids out to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner and Tiff and the kids scored me Ace Combat 6 for the XBox 360. What a great game! Dylan called me the night before and took me up to see a great, favorite band of mine, Down. We entered the pit and took out a few aggressions! Great time, thanks Dylan for callin a brotha up!

That's a wrap! More later I'm sure!

Maybe next year......

ENOUGH SAID..........

Not going our way!

So I'm enjoying a weekend at home sans the wife and children. Nice and quiet, but sure miss them a lot!

As you can see from the image above, I am multi-tasking tonight, however, the picture on the right is pretty ugly. I've quit switching back and forth at this point.

I hate to say it, but I be having to get the vocal cords ready for a song for my Mass. buddy!

Lets go Tribe, no one wants to see that video!

Cleveland Rocks!

Yankess disposed of!

Watch out Boston, here we come!

Excuses, excuses!

Since I seem to be using it in my life for EVERYTHING, I thought I would blame my lack of postings here lately because I have cancer! :)

OK, in all seriousness, it has been very hectic in my neck of the woods. Here's a quick re-cap:

1. Got all of our stuff moved back here from Florida! I can't tell you how much of a relief it was. I had some great people go out of their way to help out with getting it back here and I couldn't be more appreciative! It's so nice to have my 'fat man' clothes back! I was really struggling to fit in to all of those clothes that I had brought with me. My favorite part about it all was that Tiff is pretty much purging out all of the stuff now. We gave our furniture to my sister who desperately needed new stuff and I had given my tv away, but now have decided to keep it for myself. Yeah, I'm, selfish!

2. I've been spending waaaaaaay too much time building my own computer and my new office. Tiffany decided that we could use the spare bedroom we were going to let Brooke use as her nursery and she'll now do that in her room. She has plenty of space up there. Yeah, you could chalk it up to me being selfish again, but understand this, every man needs a place of solitude. Some use strip clubs and bars, while I like the creature comforts of my own home. I'm a homebody what can I say? The room turned out fantastic and I'll post some pictures soon.

3. Halo 3........................that's all I'll say about that!

Other than that life is peachy king here! Alexander is the apple of my eye. The kid is just so inspirational to me. I look at other losers with their children and I'm just appalled at the way they can treat them and it makes me do better every chance I get. Now, I wouldn't fault anyone for seeing it a bit 'over the top' on how I treat him, but I can see that me being a part of his life is something that he will cherish and remember forever! I'm so glad that in my life I had the opportunity to have my own child. Yes, I am at fault for treating my own child differently than Brooke, but trust that I am ashamed of that as well. Time heals, and I hope that I can make that road a better paved one for her to travel in the future.

I am a real turd of a geek too! I've been consumed with Microsofts Windows Vista and Media Center. These toys are over the top and way cool. I'm gonna post more on my experiences, but I want to throw one question out there for you to consider. How can a Microsoft product not work with other Microsoft products? I'm beside myself with this question. And honestly, I'm so pathetic that I even laid in bed at night consumed with this question!

Hope everyone's doing great! All 2 of ya that stop here to read! More later!

PATHETIC

You have done sports an injustice! You should be ashamed of yourself you pathetic little turd!

E-A-G-L-E-S.......EALGLES!!!!!!!

Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory.

Fight Eagles fight, score a touchdown 1,2,3.

Hit em' low, hit em' high, and watch our Eagles fly.

Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory!

E A G L E S - Eagles!

Yes it's that hallowed season for all men who wear pants! Fantasy Football season!

Where being a fan of a team kinda fades in to the background and you find yourself HAVING to root for an opposing running back or quarterback! Yes, fantasy football is here for 2007!

I held my first draft of the season here at the house and it turned out well. 7 of the 8 showed up and the other called his picks in. We completed 15 rounds in about 2 1/2 hours. It would have been 2 but there was a bit of an interruption as my mom fainted on us and damn near gave me a heart attack. It was in the mid to high 70's and she was standing out in the garage with my wife and sister talking. She was wearing a sweater as well because it was cool outside to her. But in the garage it was well over 80 degrees. Well she fainted and fell back on my airhockey table that she was leaning against. My sister bolted in to the house freaking out and told me that my mom had passed out and wasnt breathing. I rushed out just as my wife was helping her sit on the floor. She's claiming 'Im fine Aaron, I'm fine!!' But her eyes were seriously dialated. So I helped her up to sit in a chair. She's still proclaiming that shes fine but I could see that she started sweating really bad. And just as she tells me again that she is fine her eyes rolled back in her head and she gasped 2 times for air. I freaked out!!! I screamed to call 911 and started checkin her vitals. Nothing more creepy than this type of an experience, and one I'll never forget. After about 30 seconds she came thru and acted like the past 30 seconds never even happened. By this time 911's on the phone with me and we're checking everything out with them and my mom freaks out that she doesnt want an ambulance there. So after talking with the dispatcher and her convincing her that she was fine no ambulance was dispatched.

I made mom promise to go get looked at and she called her doctor on Saturday. She goes in to see her on Tuesday.

Wild weekend ensues!!

Had an old friend that I hadnt seen in years stop by for a few hours. Great visit, was awesome to catch up with him.

Saturday was another draft with my old XBox gaming buddies. The Band of Gamers disbanded a year or so ago, but we continue to hang out and this is a tradition we still continue.

It's now Sunday and this is the big dawgs league! It starts at 2:00pm and I don't on getting home any sooner than 7 or so. Should be interesting and tiring. Lots of beer consumption is the order of the day as I am a mere 3 houses from home!!

My teams so far have shaped up well! I held the 8th position, key for me I thought, in the Friday league. My first 2 picks I was a homer and went McNabb and Westbrooke. I just think their gonna have a big season. Hey, I know, I played with my heart there! But I rounded it out with 3 solid wide recievers and anther 4 backs in case I falter. I didn't reach too far with the picks as most of the fantasy stuff I had put me in about the right spot to pick em.

Saturdays worked out even better. I went with a different strategy picking Stephen Jackson with my first pick and going with Carson Palmer second. Rounding out the good picks was Marquez Colsten from New Orleans! We'll see how it goes!

Well, I'm off to see how this draft ensues. Report later!

Stupid Cancer!!! Survivors rule!!!!

RIP Miles!

During my battle with cancer I learned a lot about life and people.

You learn that being respectful to others and showing a kinder, gentler side really makes a difference in people.

Our genetic code as human beings is some what altered in the fact that we begin to look past petty stuff and appreciate the finer points of a person, no matter how deep or hidden that may be.

So, when I see a person who is suffering in this hard fought battle, I am compelled to stop and talk to them and help encourage them and keep their spirits up.

Why am I babbling here??

It's simple.......

Yesterday I signed in to CNN to check out the news and I saw this article on a young guy who had finally lost his battle. I spent the rest of the night just thinking about this and how important the internet is in helping those of us with cancer deal with it on a personal level, and also let's us share our thoughts and ideas on the disease with others who may be searching for answers themselves. There's a chance that one bit of a thought I (or anyone for that matter) may have could have a very big impact. Miles Levin looks like he did just that!

My condolences to the Levin family on your loss, but know this, your son's words will eminate across the internet forever now!

Take the time and stop by his blog and read thru it. I have bookmarked it and will add it here to my site as well! Enjoy!

Singing a tune!

Check out Bubba's song of the day!


Alexanders 2nd Birthday

Over-stuffed weekend!

Wow, you won't hear me say it often, but damn am I glad it's Monday!

The weekend was just full of things to do and just not enough time to get it all done, but as usual, we somehow managed!

As I mentioned before, we had Alexander's 2nd birthday party on Sunday. We had such a great time. Let's just say that holding a party from 3-5 didn't quite turn out that way. The first crowd rolled in around 1:30 and the last guest left at 10:30. Daddy's whooped!

So Alex is a big boy now! We bought him a whole new bedroom [see my flickr site for all the photos] decked out in the movie 'Cars' theme! This kid is a bit obsessed with that movie. On an average watching the flick 3-4 times a day. Not to mention, 'Car, car's' is all the kid says at the moment! I just love em! After being completely tired out we put him to bed about 10:45. We were fearing the worst. And it started out bad! We let him walk up the stairs, and he went immediately to our room where his crib was moved, and threw a fit. After about 2 minutes he realized that his efforts were fruitless and caved! We put him in the bed, Tiffany tucked him in, and within 5 minutes he was out cold! Such a precious little kid!

As usual, we went all out for the event and, of course, bought way too much of everything. We are now stocked up in pop, water and beer for the better part of a month, and I'll be eating sloppy joes for lunch over the same amount of time! But the food was outstanding. I cooked dogs, brats and burgers to go with the sloppy joes, and we see who won that battle! Potatoe salad, fruit salad, nachos/dip, blah, blah, blah..............So good!

Tiffany and Brooke did a great job.

We started all the work on Saturday, which was the best thing we could have done. I couldn't imagine having to wake up on Sunday and pull off what took me til 2:30am to accomplish. Just wasn't happening. I started around 9pm on Saturday putting the bedroom together and it was just meticulous! So many damned small screws, poles, and plastic and only my 2 hands. What a bitch! But I overcame the odds, and I didnt have any leftover hardware!!

I wanted to be creative with the whole bedroom, so I had Tiffany move his crib to our room and he napped there on Sunday while we moved all of it in to his room and set it all up. I then had Tiff put wrapping paper on the door with a bow and I wanted him to go in there during the party for the 'big gift' presentation. Well, lets just say that the plan didnt go accordingly. We made it until around 4:30 when I hear this tremendous screaming and schrill coming from upstairs. Of course, parental instincts overcome me and I jump up running up the stairs. All I hear is 'Daddy, daddy, car car's, car cars!!!!' Followed by more screaming. Yes, Alex snuck away and made it up the stairs and thru his door. Little smarty pants! So much for getting to see the instant gratification! But hey, he loved it!!!

I wanted to thank everyone again for all the gifts and just for showing up. After a bombed 1st birthday, I think this will be one he remembers..........even at 2 years old!

Reflections - The Spirit Carries On

So another week has now passed and get this, it ends on a good note!

I had my meeting with my oncologist yesterday to discuss my CAT scan results. This is the first scan since I went in to remission in February. To say I was a bit nervous would not do 'nervousness' justice. I hadn't slept comfortably in several days. I should have known better than to worry since if the results were not good, I would have gotten a phone call from the doc.

I was not expecting the news I did get though, it was simply earth shattering to me.

I arrived about a 1/2 hour early for the appointment, and ended up sitting there almost an hour and a half after that before finally getting back to the doctor. Talk about punshing ya!!

So first results, I've now ballooned back up to 180 lbs, and for the first time in 2 years my blood pressure was down to 90 after posting between 120-150 prior. So far, all good news!

Then the doc stops in smilin ear to ear. We get the casual greetings out of the way and then the doc say's "Aaron, you are simply an amazing individual. You amaze us more and more every time we see you!" " Your CAT scan was excellent! As a matter of fact, your tumors are all smaller than they were compared to your PET scan from February!"

Wait a minute, the tumors are shrinking without chemo? WOW!!!! Aside from some scar tissues and soreness in my body from where the scar tissues lay, Im fit and healthy! He expects a full recovery!!!!

After this, the doc orders some blood work just to confirm everything, and 15 mins. later he steps in with the results proclaiming, 'Looks like you have 'super blood'!'. In other words, all of my levels are above average! OUTSTANDING!

So, as I got in to the car to drive home, I turned on my CD player in the car as I was listening to a CD of mp3's I had and a song came on from Dream Theater. Yeah, I know, I'm posting a lot about them lately, but stick with me here.

I sat in the car and had a moment to myself listening to the lyrics and reflecting on this experience.

Friends, I was afraid of dying. I felt like I was incomplete and that I still wanted a chance to do something good with my life before I met my maker. I wasn't ready and was afraid of the unknown. I trust in my God and his decision to lead me the path that I walk, but still I had no sense of what my 'mission' was. And with everything that's going on around me now, I can see that a path is being set forth for me to continue my journey. What is that journey? I have no clue, but I'll continue to post the ventures here!

So, back to the song and my reflections............As the song states, 'we're only given one shot!', and it is with that I had my eyes opened wide!

Alexander just turned 2 this week, and we are going to have a very big celebration for him on Sunday, and this my friends is 1 reason I am still here. He needs his dad to show him the rights of this world and to show him how to become a man. Learn about sports, learn about cars...........so he can teach his dad!!! This child helped me stay alive that whole time. With him, the rest of my family (Tiffany and Brooke), I was able to keep up my battle. Their encouragement made me better.

I sat there and I realized that I had been shown so much love and support, and that is what makes us stronger. It's those around us, those who inspire us, those who give us hope! I am compelled to now do the same for others.

I have a whole new outlook on life and I believe that it's time I give back something to those who could really use it.

I've begun, as I've posted here already, to involve myself with cancer support groups starting with Chemlads and I'm Too Young For This. Youre going to be seeing a lot more about both of these organizations here on my site. I encourage you to share this with others who may find the info resourceful and even to help yourself gain knowledge.

Another realization that I have had since this all went down is how 'shallow' of an individual I had been my whole life. I find myself now compelled to make donations when I see a jar on the counter asking for donations for a little boy struggling with cancer, or even clicking on a 'Breast Cancer Awareness' logo. Friends, we need to do what we can to help those suffering thru this.

So, I ask everyone of my friends, or any random person reading this, to stop and think about someone else for a change, and ask yourself, how can I help!?

I'll leave you all with the lyrics the song I caused my reflection..........Read them, take note, and remember after you die 'Your Spirit Carries On' How do you want your spirit to be remembered?


The Spirit Carries On Lyrics (Dream Theater)

11) Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On (06:38)- John Petrucci

[Present]

[Nicholas:]
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is anything certain in life?

They say, "Life is too short,"
"The here and the now"
And "You're only given one shot
"But could there be more,
Have I lived before,
Or could this be all that we've got?

If I die tomorrow
I'd be all right
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on

I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
I'm not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcend

I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try

If I die tomorrow
I'd be allright
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on

[Victoria:]
"Move on, be brave
Don't weep at my grave
Because I am no longer here
But please never let
Your memory of me disappear"

[Nicholas:]
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My questioning mind
Has helped me to find
The meaning in my life again

Victoria's real
I finally feel
At peace with the girl in my dreams
And now that I'm here
It's perfectly clear
I found out what all of this means
If I die tomorrow
I'd be allright
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on

So good, so good!

Wow!

That was absolutley everythingI had hoped for! Seeing them live again just amazes me! These guys are truely phenominal musicians. The night was beautiful, the seats were top notch, and my wife looked awesome! :)

Here's the set list from the show:

2007-08-11 - Tower City Amphitheater - Cleveland, OH

1. Constant Motion

2. Panic Attack

3. Blind Faith

4. Surrounded (extended)

5. The Dark Eternal Night

Keyboard Solo

6. Lines In The Sand

7. Scarred

8. The Spirit Carries On

9. In The Presence Of Enemies

-------------------------------------------------

10. Shmedley Wilcox:

I.Trial Of Tears

II. Finally Free

III. Learning To Live

IV. In The Name Of God

V. Octavarium (Razor's Edge)

A night out!

So tonight Tiffany and I get 'a night off' from Alexander!

Now, don't get me wrong, this is just a nice evening away, and believe me both of us will be missing him around half-way thru the evening, but we'll try to keep our minds occupied with this evenings event, Dream Theater live in downtown Cleveland at the Tower City Amphitheater. An outdoor venue and a great place to see a show.

Tiffany surprised me the other night after I got home from work, and on her own, ordered us reserved seating! I was blown away, she found us great seats, center stage, about 20 rows back. I am super pumped for this! We had agreed on just general admission, standing room tickets, but, her knowing how terrible my feet are for standing, she went with the reserved seating. Ya gotta love her!

Alexander's going with my youngest sister for the night and shes coming to get him around 2, so we plan on 'hangin out' around the house for a few hours before heading up to a crowded Cleveland, get parked, go grab a few beers and have a little dinner before the show. Cleveland is jam packed with events tonight with both the Indians and Browns playing plus about 3000 right around the corner at Tower City so the traffic should be horrendeous. Fun!!

On a health note, no phone calls all week from the doctors after my CAT scan last Friday, and you know what that means..............Nothings wrong if ya don't get a call! Holla! I'm gonna keep positive and go and see the doc on Tuesday to review the results. But I'm feeling pretty damn confident these days! F' You cancer!

Life updates!

So I'm again, trying to make an asserted effort to keep posting here! I now believe I've found yet another inspiration to do so.

Today I was looking for banners on the web for this site and my other sites for cancer survivors and cancer awareness when I came across a site called "I'm Too Young For This" . It looks like a great site and I'm excited by what I see so far.

One thing that I learned from all the peopel I met during my chemotherapy inspired me so much that I felt compelled to get involved as much as I could when I recovered. It's been 6 full months now and I'm ready to see what I can offer. I put out an application to participate at this site and I encourage all of you who may stop by here to hit the link on my page and check the site out.

Over the next few days I'm going to start sharing some stories of mine during this time and keep ya up to speed with what's going on around me.

On a personal note, this past Friday was my 6-month CAT Scan checkup. I was a bit nervous, but it went smoothly and I am just awaiting feedback from the results. If I don't hear anything my doc will talk to me a week from this Tuesday. I'm feelin pretty confident though, hell I'm feeling so much better lately. Now if I could just get rid of the foot pains I'd be all set!

Dream Theater: Systematic Chaos

I posted this over on my MySpace site today and wanted to put it here for those of you that don't go over there at all. Enjoy!

As many of you may or may not know I am huge fan of music! I've been listening since I was in diapers and followed the metal path, if you will! I started young as KISS fan (and am still a proud member of the KISS Army!) and stayed true to my roots since then.

Over the years I've discovered a lot of my music on my own. Dream Theater is one of those bands. I first ran across their Images and Words cd when I was still in high school, my senior year if I remember correctly. Their songs were dark and edgy and I thought their guitarist, John Petrucci, was a god! Dude could burn up some strings!

Over the years they keep punching out some killer music, and just recently we have been graced with another disc from them. I thought I'd share my review here!

This disc is a monster from the beginning! EPIC I tell you!

It's only 8 songs, but for any DT fans out there, its 1hour and 20mins fist pumping music! On average the songs are right around 7 minutes with the longest clocking in at almost 17 minutes.
I picked the Special Edition of the disc up a few days ago, and it was well worth the extra $4 for it. It was a dvd bonus of 1 1/2 hours of them recording the new cd, and it gives you a great insight as to how the album progressed and came together. I really started to appreciate this cd even more as I continued to watch them putting this together.

For me this is the best that I have heard from them, period! I was a huge fan of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, but just on the ride home I knew this would become my favorite real quick. And boy, was I right!

The albums first 5 minutes just hits you in the face with a killer instrumental to start off with before cueing in to the chorus of In The Presence of Enemies. The tempo keeps rockin right on in to Forsaken. Constant Motion, the 3rd track is very progressive, and has one of my favorite guitar solos in it, so far! Track 4 is a killer dark song! It's got this heavy riff right near the end that is just worthy of a head bang! Kids, I'm talking H.E.A.V.Y.! As Mike Portnoy put it, the heaviest John has ever played. It's sick!!

Repentence, song 5, and the disc's first 'softer' song. But it's not your 'Feeling Fine' kinda soft, it's a darker soft that get's ya thinkin a bit. Mike Portnoy penned this one and from the dvd you learn that it's a song that he's writing as a progression from several other albums where he's dealing with his demons in a 12 step type of deal. Very cool, and the lyrics are killer! At the end there is a star studded group that confess their sins, if you will. Chris Jherico, Cory Taylor, Dave Ellfison, Steve Via and Joe Satriani to name a few.

Prophets of War and the final track, In The Presence of Enemies, Part II, has a cool section in them where it's fans of Dream Theater chanting in the song. Kind of gives it a Queensryche, large crowd in the album, sound! Very cool.

The Ministry of Lost Souls and ITPOE II are the 2 longest tracks on the cd and keep you entertained from first to last chord! Ministry has a very cool story of a person being saved by another, but upon the rescue, the rescuer dies. As a result this person suffers with the grief of this death until, in the end, they finally 'take the hand' of their savior! Just an awesome tune!

In the end you are left feeling a sense of satisfaction that I personally havent had from a band in a very long time. I think Dream Theater just moved in to my Top 3 all time bands!

Give it a listen my friends! It's worth it!

Test 'email' post!

Hello kiddies!

 

I'm trying out some new 'Blogger' functionality and wanted to see how it works!

 

If this is successful, you'll be seeing more frequent posts from me.

 

Please hold for your next 'insightful' post!

---

Missed the show?  Watch videos of the Live Earth Concert on MSN. See them now!

Wokka, wokka, wokka!

We finally spent our first weekend in the new home! Wow, it feels great to be under the roof of a place I am on my way to owning! What a feeling!

So, of course with every purchase of a home, there comes the dreaded repairs! Or in my case, get 'er dones! The first 3 tasks included a new shower head, check, hooking up our stove, check and finally fixing the shotty job on the hot water tank, uncheck! Being that it was Fathers Day (happy, happy to all the Fathers out there!) I didn't want my dad to spend the whole day working around my house when my mom had bigger plans for him, like getting the yard ready for their new pool. So, not a bad weekend for me!

I got a few new toys this week as well. First was an air hockey table from my neighbor! Funny story to this. My nephew was over with my brother and we were out in the front yard when out of the kids mouth comes 'Dad, can we buy that air hockey table before Uncle Aaron does??' Haha, it caught me off guard and I had to check it out. Of course my brother put the kibosh on the purchase, I couldn't resist! Done! The second purchase was a new TV. Now, I don't necessarily have a need for this, but being that all of my stuff is still in Florida, I was in need of some things while the wait continues for me to travel and get my belongings. This thing is monsterous! A lush 65" of viewing pleasure for gaming and HD-DVD viewing at its finest! It's a Mitsubishi DLP 1080p so it has all the goodies a electronic geek could need.

Our first movie on it was 'Flags of our Fathers' and it was a great film to see on this TV. The real test came Saturday when my brother and his son and step-son stopped over. Greg had never seen Forza 2 yet and he wanted to check it out firsthand. So, in it went! And as he and my dad said, it was like looking thru the windshield of a real car. Just stunning to look at. There was some split-screen action that took place but ended a few hours later with me kicking everyone out so that I could eat dinner and watch another movie with Tiffany. Later that night as Tiff decided to take a relaxing bath, I hit the power to the 360 again and hit the XBox Live Arcade where I spent the next 3 hours jamming on, get this, Pacman Championship Edition. Can you imagine? I have all these trick games and I go back to my roots and play this game? Trust me, I couldnt't believe it either. But, I had a blast nonetheless! I did get a chance to play some Crackdown as well, where I spent about an 1 1/2 hunting elusive orbs for my taking! Great game to check out if you have a 360!

Not much happening this week, just getting ready to get some repair work done to the house after the haunting hail storm we had here about 10 days ago. Luckily I wasn't home for the event, but according to Tiffany, it sounded like a full on war outside. We had hail pound around there the size of softballs, busting out a window and torturing my siding. The management company that I bought the house from has insurance on it, so their gonna tackle that next week for me!

Hope everyone has a great week! We'll post more soon!

Whatdaya say we give this a try, AGAIN!

Hi friends!

Yes, its me, Scary Aaron, back on the scene............CANCER FREE SUCKAS!

Look's like my last report was quite some time ago, so let me catch most of you up, if anyone still stops by here!

Yes, I was officially diagonsed with non-godonal seminoma (testicular cancer, minus any testicular damage). The treatment at Mayo was just spectacular. Seems they biopsied the same tumor, thru the same spot, as the doc's in Erie did, but this time it was confirmed as cancer. I began my chemotherapy immediately, as it was at a critical stage. I was just fortunate enough to get up there when I did. The tumors were crushing my trachea and my heart and it was just a matter of time before one or both gave up. I ended up in Cuyahoga Falls General in October as I had made my way home. I stopped in the Falls to pick up my kids to head back home but my body pretty much just shut down. I was in a pretty bad way, borderline death. I had to be put in an ICU unit which was locked down from anyone coming in to visit me. I had staph infections along with septic shock. Not the funnest adventure!

So after a 2 week stay there I was released and headed back to Florida where I began an horrendeous regiment of chemo. I was taking cysplaten, etopicide and bleomycin on 8 cycles. The cycles consisted of 5 days, 6 hours followed by 3 weeks of 1 day, 1 hour sessions. It was just brutal to my body. I lost over 52 total pounds during that time, lost all of my hair and every bit of muscle mass I had.

During all of this I still tried to keep up with work, but it just wasn't happening. The ass I worked for pretty much cut me off and wouldn't give me anymore work, and on top of that the stress from not knowing how things were gonna work out for me and my family pretty much was pushing me over the edge. He couldn't even give me the time of day to talk about things. F' em I say, his loss!

I decided that my best option was to return to Ohio and start fresh. So we picked up and came back home in March. I started a great job that was less stressful to work at and began the recovery process. In the meantime it was time to improve our personal lives as well, so Tiffany and I purchased our first home in Akron. (See above!) I also needed reliable wheels so I picked up a 2007 Dodge Caliber! This car rocks!!

Things are looking up though! We just needed to stop and redirect our focus and energies. It's paying off now.

I'm hoping to start keeping this more up to date and I hope you'll all stop back to be amused and entertained.

I've got tons more to blog about, including the life suck of gaming which is titled Forza. This game is just hardcore. Stop back and I'll throw ya a few opinions soon.

Later clowns!