A Bloy and his Blog

As promised, here are the best pictures from the roll I took during Mike and Kirstin’s wedding. Enjoy.

read the rest of: Mike and Kirstin’s Wedding pictures

Not having grown up Catholic, my family never celebrated St. Nicholas’s Day when I was a kid. Today however, I got a real nice e-card that led me to do a little research on St. Nicholas and his legend. That makes me think about starting some St. Nicholas traditions of my own. Thanks Dad.

It’s been three months since the terrorist attack, and the ruins at ground zero are still smoking and smoldering. I certainly don’t want to appear to be an ignorant American, but it just boggles my mind that people can have so much hatred as to cause that kind of devastation. To quote U2 (from their latest album):

Peace on Earth, we need it now. I’m sick of all of this hanging around.
Sick of sorrow, sick of the pain, sick of hearing again and again,
That there’s gonna be peace on Earth.

Hear it every Christmas time, but hope and history won’t rhyme.
So what’s it worth, this peace on Earth? Peace on Earth…

Today’s entry is brought to you by Design Rant, an excellent article about web design. I really liked the author’s ideas of a designer’s code being like an onion and how important it is to consider the structure of a website’s content before even thinking about a layout and look for the site. Of course it also talks about the importance of cascading style sheets, a subject near and dear to this designer.

Happy winter solstice! Well, at least for those of you living in the northern hemisphere. On this half of the planet, the sun is at its lowest point in the sky and we have the least amount of daylight for the year. Native peoples living in the North America believed it was a time for renewal, a time to celebrate. Once the longest night of the year has past, the Coldmaker relinquishes it’s influence on the sky, the sun begins to travel north again and we will have another warm summer to look forward to. So in the spirit of the solstice, may your darkness get a little lighter everyday and may you enjoy warm, brighter things in the coming year.

Now that the year is winding down, a lot of music publications are releasing their lists of best albums of the year. I thought it would be fun to mention a few favorite CDs that I listened to this year. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong by choosing any of these, so start listening and feed your soul.

Ryan Adams - Gold
Excellent rock & roll, and alternative country from the former front man of Whiskeytown.

Bjork - Vespertine
Put this CD on and revel in the icy, snow covered soundscapes that Bjork can paint.

read the rest of: 2001 Music Awards