I’m not sure I can make this a completely non-baby post, but I might be able to go half and half.

Last month we drove up north to Turlock for my Grandmother’s 89th birthday. This was a place we went several times a year for my entire childhood, and I have very fond memories of those trips and the people we went to see. I bought my video camera just in time to take it on this trip, so I shot some video to help me remember the place. If you’d like to watch it then go here:

Turlock Almond Orchard

For the geeks out there, I’ve decided to render all my videos twice. The first is a super high quality 1080i AVC/264 that can be played back beautifully on the PS3 (or the htpc if I can get 264 material hardware accelerated), and the second is a smaller 720p version that can easily be played back on a modern computer using quicktime. That should give me the best of both worlds with just a little extra rendering time and storage space.

So this baby of ours is a fussy little booger. He likes to eat all the time, and rarely sleeps for big blocks of time. He also loves to be held, and 9 times out of 10 if you lie him down to sleep he’ll wake you up with his cries a few minutes later. The worst part is that it means very little sleep for mom because she is getting up constantly to feed him. She’s upstairs sleeping right now and I’ve got the baby entertained (and quiet!) downstairs.

I think God knew he had to make little babies cute so that people would put up with the lack of sleep and crying. Every time this little man poops it is fart city. It’s like he can’t poop without making massive amounts of noise, it’s great. And his little sneezes are the cutest thing in the world. How they go from cute little baby sneezes to obnoxious adult sneezes I have no idea. His mouth even made a smiling motion this morning, but I think it was more of an accident than anything. Shortly after though he sounded off with a loud fart, so maybe the two were connected.

I still have some more Turlock video to edit, but after that I’m on to some of the baby footage.

I’m supposed to be working on the book, but I’m watching Yellowcard in HD from Letterman from over a year ago instead. The violin is so cool. I want more music in HD.

It’s been almost a week since my last post, which is pretty bad for the blarg. I apologize. Not a ton has happened since the last post. Went to Turlock over the weekend for Grandma’s 89th birthday. It was fun going up there. Got to see three of her brothers that I’ve never really met before. Got some good video of them and the almond orchards. Haven’t gotten around to editing it, but I just need to make time.

I finished my second league in The Show ’07. I went 11-3 this season, same as the last, but once I again I lost in the World Series! As someone else accurately said, I am the Buffalo Bills. The new game comes out in less than two weeks. I’m not sure how, but I promise to myself to make time to play. One game a week!

Now I’m watching the “Brothers Forever” guy from American Idol this season. It’s so hilarious, I love it. Not only is the song catchy and gets stuck in your head, but he says a bunch of funny stuff.

Funny Part 1

Paula: “Why is Simon’s name on your hat?”
Guy with funny hat: “As long as there is free media, television, radio, people will speak the name of Simon.”

Funny Part 2

Guy with funny hat: “You are heaven’s chosen, to give chance to any talent…for free of charge.”

I love that this guy is such a supporter of capitalism, it’s great. OK, off to write the book now. Go Dodgers.

Hello to all in the blogosphere. I survived day 3 of jury duty, but I’m afraid you must wait to hear the juicy details until the case is over. I didn’t tell the judge about the blarg, but I know it’s such a famous website and all, he probably checks it in his chamber on those little sidebar doobers.

I was able to scribble out over 3000 words during my first three days of jury duty! That brings me up to a momentous 75,000 WORDS! There is something about that number that feels like I’m rounding the final turn in a race around the world. I was telling Stacie that for this last part of the book I think I’ll have to write it almost non-stop.

I went ahead and bought the Canon HV20. I was able to produce some beautiful looking video on the PS3, and that sold me. We’re heading up to Turlock in a month, so I’m excited to take it a long and do some filming of the almond orchard and old house. Many a childhood memories were made there.

In case you haven’t been following the Presidential Primaries, I’m happy to report that Romney won in Nevada after winning in Michigan earlier this month. He leads all candidates in delegates and total votes. It looks like Florida will be a very important race where the four top candidates are all running neck and neck in the polls. I’m hoping Romney gets a similar boost that he saw in Michigan as discussions focus on the economy. You never know, California could actually become a deciding factor come February 5th: Super Tuesday! In case you didn’t notice, I’ve got a little Romney endorsement to the right.

The case could take all of this coming week, so my sub plans are there just in case. I don’t like using my sick days, but I am certainly enjoying the break. I wish I could be writing the entire time, especially since I probably won’t have a vote once the trial is over, but I’m having a good time observing the process. Heck, if I ever need a good court scene in a future novel I’ll have some firsthand experience to draw from.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day! He is by far my favorite civil rights activist.