Cool Times

My friend Brandon texted me last week and said, “Hey, want to go see Ben Folds tomorrow?”, I said, yeah that would be awesome. And so we did. I got to see him on a makeup date for his “Paper Airplane Requests” show. I requested my fave, “Not the same”, but alas he didn’t get to that one. He did play so many great songs though, and even told stories about each of them beforehand. A bonus, he made up a song about the classic PA commercial “1-877-Kars-4-Kids”. If you live in PA and listen to radio, you’ve heard it. An awesome time, and so glad I got to see him live at least once.

I completed the Lego Natural History Museum set this week. What a cool build. The third set I’ve done in the modular line, this one was bigger, and had some cool story lines, though lacked a bit of detail that some of the other modulars have. Though I’ve only built three of them, the Tudor Corner is still by far the coolest lego set I’ve built to this point. It had so many cool details, and a unique layout that really put it over the top.

Beside catching my annual cold that sidelined me for a few days, this week is shaping up to be ok.

It's March of 2025. Man, a lot has happened.

Since I’ve last posted, it would be difficult to mention everything. But lets see.

  • Emma started 1st Grade and turned 7

  • We got a new dog

  • Christmas happened

  • New Years Happened.

  • Emma started Ice Skating

  • I have started building more Legos

  • Kerry has started making a lot of sourdough bread

So far this year, my goal has been to start messing around with music and photography again. I have been feeling the urge to exercise some creativity, and since I’ve finished school I need something to occupy my time. Now that spring is around the corner, I’m also hoping to dedicate some more time to riding my bike. I just need to commit.

Photo Collage!

As An Apple Lifer in 2024...

Yeah, no surprise here. I’ve been an Apple Computer guy since I was like 5 years old. I read MacAddict magazine in the 90’s, during the more painful years. I spent my Junior High and High School years using a Performa 550 (later “upgraded” to a powerPC Performa 575). That was the family computer for 7 years. I enjoyed the thrilling late 90’s and early 2000’s. I used a Power Mac G4, saw the iMac dominate, and lived out the thrill of the G5. On top of that, we got the iPod, followed by the iPhone, and then the iPad!

I used the Apple //e when Jobs and Woz ran the show. I used the Macintosh before Jobs left, while he was at NeXT, and when he came back, and after his untimely departure again (boo cancer). Many things changed in that time, but the one thing that kept me around was the continued innovation. Truly, Apple was always finding a way to bring new technology to us, in a way that worked.

Lately…. Apple has made some huge advances. I will say that the Mac, and their ARM based M chips are incredible. I use an M1 Macbook Pro, have for about 4 years. It still runs smoother and faster than most any Windows laptop I’ve used at work or elsewhere. The desktop and laptop line has delivered.

The iPhone literally redefined the cell phone market at release. I personally saw outspoken Apple haters not only buy it on release day, but talk endlessly about how amazing it was. The iPhone changed everything. It defined the framework for usable portable computing.

So, in recent years, Apple’s usually much hyped keynotes showcasing their new hardware have been replaced with pre-produced marketing pieces. And the innovation and daring of yore seems to have all but vanished. Sure, we see some incremental tech boosts, a faster processor, cameras that are ever so slightly better… It’s just not the same anymore.

So then I saw this video. And while it’s specific to the Airpods Max, I’m not so sure that it kind of applies to more and more to other parts of Apple’s business.

Yeah, so. This is kind of real. It’s kind of ridiculous to be passionate about a company like this in some ways. I get that. But that was what was unique about Apple, they made it fun, they gave us something to be invested in. I sort of see that leaving year after year, and it’s kind of like losing a friend, sort of. Anyways, I saw an upcoming Apple event in October, and I am yet again getting amped up to see what they’ve got in store. Lets hope there’s that “One more thing…”