What Gets Me Through

Moving's been hard. I moved away from my wife and daughter, from my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, my friends and neighbors. I moved into a horrible smelly house I hate being in.

A man with less to look forward to, with less ability to self-analize would end up at home with his videogames and Miller Lite. I've got a lot of things that help get me through, though.

One thing is I got my daughter an iPhone. Her old iPod mini wasn't doing so hot, and a new iPod nano was $150. A new cheap iPhone was $100. So: $50 cheaper, plus you've got a phone, camera, email, texting... all the things an iPhone offers. The practical upside to this for me is I get some awesome photos from her.

"They're Proposing," she told me.

No explanation required.

My mom also has an iPhone, and she sends me rad photos of the kid at soccer practice and during games. As of the time of this writing, I really wanted a cool photo of Jaylyn stealing the ball during a game, but my mom wouldn't send it to me, so I settled for posting the following picture instead.

Mine is the pink one in the middle. She's so damn cute and sporty!

For all my complaining about having the wrong picture, all these types of photos are the right one, and I love love love getting them. It makes my heart sing.

I've also been going to the gym, as you know because I wont shut up about it. Tonight in particular, I had a super-good workout. Better than the last few. Why? Because Christopher bought me a pair of gloves for weight lifting. They grip the freeweights far better than my own hands do, so I end up putting all the strain on my shoulders or biceps or whatever, not on my fingers and wrists, so I'm getting more out of each rep.

The price was right, the fit was right, and they get the job done as well as could be hoped.

Christopher, since he's now an official sponsor of this blog, gets a big say in what photos get published here, now. So, what say you, dude? More half-naked pictures? Maybe half naked but from the bottom up? Say the word!

Music's another big one. Well, iPod audio in general, really. I sent the following letter to the guys at the Stuff You Should Know podcast [iTunes link]. I think it'd be cool if they read it out loud, but I don't have high hopes. Regardless of getting 45 seconds of fame, every word is true.

Stuff You Should Know Podcast People:

My job recently moved from San Luis Obispo, California to Denver, Colorado, and I moved with it. Sadly, what with one thing and another, I had to move out about two months before my wife and daughter. Without them, I've been lost and aimless. I'm renting a room in a house that smells bad, and I've got no friends out here. It's been really hard to get through the days.

One thing that's helped enormously, though, is the Stuff You Should Know podcast. My brother turned me on to it only a few months ago, so I've been steadily going through the back catalogue. But since moving, I've been craving the familiar. I've been listening to at least one Stuff You Should Know podcasts per day (more on the weekends), and regardless of the content, having you guys in my ear has really kept my Xanax intake down. 

I still miss my family like crazy, but between old familiar podcasts and using the gym as an antidepressant, I'm not going crazy missing them. 

I owe you a debt of gratitude, and thank you for helping me keep it together. 

iPodding's a big deal in general. I use my shuffle pod at the gym, my iPhone at work and in the car, and I've nearly always got something on. Lots of podcasts to be sure, but also lots of music. The following is a song that's helped get me through on some of the really hard days. It reminds me of why I'm doing all this, what I have to look forward to, and it's given me strength and put love back into my heart. If you like it, I'll send the album your way.

Then there's my wife. My wife's awesome. She's smart, strong, drop-dead sexy, and when she's thinking about it, a lot of fun. We have this thing where we'll both turn on the same episode of Doctor Who and settle down. It's really hard to get it to sync up good enough to watch and talk on the phone, so we text instead. I know, I know: "Machete don't text." Still, it's what we do, and it's nice.

There's this other thing Cassandra does that's nice, too. And it has a huge influence on how good my day's gonna be, overall. 

And lastly, I really do enjoy all the photography and writing I've been doing. This little blog has been a fantastic tool for keeping my brains inside my head. I like that the service, Blogspot, is a Google company, so all I had to do was sign in, choose a template, and start writing. I like designing, but didn't want to design this one. I just wanted it to be a vehicle for images and words, and it's done that really well. I like taking photos while I'm out exploring the river or the mall. I like figuring out how I'm gonna do another naked picture. 

Wasn't easy getting this picture. But you're worth it.

Thanks to everybody who's helped by sent money for gloves, leaving comments, phone messages, or other stuff. You're the best. Go you.