Chronicles Of Mark

Time Marches On Had to skip my morning treadmill torture today. I’ve had a catch or something in my side for two days. Today, I felt it on awakening, an almost stab-like sensation on my right side right about the bottom of the rib cage. Another one hit in the shower. Where the first few…

File this one under: You know you’re getting old when: You go to work and spend the first two hours of the day wondering whether or not you turned off the heating pad that you were using to doctor your aching foot. And then you finally leave work and take an abbreviated lunch just that…

Whoever catalogues the Radio Stations for Windows Media Player needs to be shot. This morning, running behind and tired of listening to the same couple of albums saved as MP3’s on my hard drive, I decided to tune into some net radio during my morning jaunt on the tread mill. I picked an alternative rock…

First post of the New Year! Had a nice Christmas at home with the family. Spent a full week with my parents. I think that may be the first time since I moved to Atlanta 6 years ago. Every trip home that was very long usually included a trip to see other family… Still, it…

Much to report here at my oft-neglected BLOG. First last night – Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers came through again! I think that makes 4 or 5 times that I’ve seen them at Smiths Olde Bar. I took my digital camera, so I will post some pictures sooner or later (hopefully sooner, but I’m going…

Thanksgiving Cactus Almost two years ago, I visited my now-late grandmother at Christmas. While there, she gave me cuttings from two of her cacti. She told me one was a Thanksgiving and the other a Christmas cactus – the main difference being when they would bloom. Neither of them bloomed last year. This past January,…

Today would have been Granny’s 93 birthday. Last year my Dad and I went to see her a couple of days before her birthday since it was on a weekday, as this year. That’s the last time I really had a conversation with her. When I saw her on Christmas Eve, she was in ICU….

Nice weekend at home. I finished painting the trim on the front of the house and painted half of the porch floor. Also reglazed all of the windows I could reach (the ones behind fixed storm windows (if they even need it) will have to wait until I pull down the storms to paint those…

There’s so much I could say about the year to date. The highs, the lows – unfortunately more of the latter. Beginning with the loss of my grandmother in January and continuing with my mom’s multiple surgeries for a broken ankle in Feb, it’s been quite a year. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t…

It’s been over a week since we laid Granny to rest at Macedonia next to a grandfather that none of us grandchildren knew. She outlived him by almost 40 years, time enough to see all her grandchildren born and raised into adulthood and for the beginnings of another generation to creep in. But to me,…

It happened today in the late afternoon in South Alabama. My grandmother passed away. Intellectually, I can face it. Emotionally, I don’t think I’ll totally believe it until I’m at the funeral. I find it so hard to imagine never speaking to her again. It was hard watching even from my distance, the slow loss…

I haven’t written lately. I haven’t known what to say. On top of my own all-too-natural questioning of the universe and my place in it, I’ve been dealing at a long distance with feelings over my grandmother’s deteriorating physical condition. Everytime I talk to someone about it, I seem determined to tell them she’s 92…

About a week ago, Jonathan Harris, better known as Dr. Smith from Lost in Space, one of my favorite shows of childhood, passed away. It actually took a couple of days for the news to break, which is additionally sad. I was numb for about two days after I heard the news. It was like…

Have to post the lyrics to this song. Sung by Mark Wills (I know scary – country music, me??) and written by (according to my info) Chris Dubois and David Lee. Everytime I hear this song, I’m taken back to those long ago childhood years. They retreat further into the past every day. Saw Star…

Been feeling a little lighter the last day or so. That’s a positive thing at least! Friday night we went to a cornfield maze in Canton, GA. It was interesting, tho I felt like I was mostly just fumbling around in the dark. Ironically the same day, one of my managers sent out an e-mail…

The blues just won’t go away… On my way home from work today, I had pretty much determined that even if I waited until Spring, I was full-steam-ahead on the leaving Atlanta idea. There hasn’t been a day in some time I haven’t thought about it. And although I’ve done nothing active to make it…

I’ve been in a funk lately, just a borderline blue mood. I’ve been thinking a lot about moving closer to home. That’s even crept into a few earlier journal entries. Everytime I go home and drive back here, it seems… I dunno, like I’m driving a thousand miles instead of 150. Add to that my…

I can hardly be said to be a regular blogger, unlike my cousin Brian, who updates his online journal with some regularity. So much yet so little since the last entry. I had an awesome Labor Day Weekend at DragonCon now nearly three weeks ago… sigh, time flies. There’s little question next year will find…

Last night I chanced across a former associates’ web page and her description of the Botcon in 2001. It brought back a flood of memories. You see, we once had friends in common who last night I saw pictures of and read about. These were people I thought I’d be friends with until the close…

My Trip Through LA (Lower Alabama) A few weeks ago now, my mom and I made a weekend trip through southern AL and spent two nights in the town she grew up in, Andalusia. My dad’s family was in the same county for like four generations (really beyond if you consider my cousin and his…

Ooooohhhhhoohhhhh my achin feet! But I had fun! After work today, I came home, changed clothes, and drove down to the North Springs MARTA station to catch a train downtown for Downtown Rocks and the chance to see Cake FREEEE BABBBYYY!!! Awesome concert and now I feel semi-moved to buy their new album sometime. There…

Largely a quiet weekend. We had a good week of rain. It’s been kind of gray and lazy but I hope the periods of rain continue. My plants need the rain! Saturday I got one of my friends to go to the comic shop with me for Free Comic book day. I sent out a…

Have been reading posts to the message board at Atlanta Comicon and just saw a posting for a review of the Con along with photos. I took some digital photos myself, but not too many. Unlike DragonCon where there’s tons of eye candy and elaborate costumes, Atlanta Comicon is more laid back. Not something I’m…

I had every intention of posting a blow-by-blow account of my weekend at Atlanta Comicon, however I don’t think I would know where to begin. From beginning to end, I had a good time. Friday night was a simple gathering at one of the two host hotels, the Ramada on Pleasant Hill. While I spent…

Just got home from Night #2 of Atlanta Comicon. So far, I’ve had a great time. I’ve hung out with some neat people and got some cool stuff. All in all a first rate weekend, but I’m entirely too tired to adequately document tonight. Soon!

Not much news on my personal front. However, I found out Easter day that my grandmother was in the hospital again and was likely to go into a nursing home. That happenned yesterday. I guess we all saw it coming. She’s 91 years old and my Aunt has had to take care of her daily…

I read something similar to this about a year ago when I moved to Alpharetta. Although I have an Alpharetta address, I technically live in unicorporated Fulton County. It’s kind of funny. I grew up inside the city limits of Montezuma, GA. My entire life before this I never lived in the “country.” Of course,…

Nothing much happenned this weekend. I managed to do some small amount of housework and almost put the living room back together afterwards. I guess I’ll do some more the next few nights since I got so little done otherwise. I spent a lot of time outside the past two days. I cleaned out some…

Week three of training for my new job – at least the formal training. I’m certain the on-the-job variety will continue for awhile. I’m kind of glad that the formal variety is nearly over. Then again, I don’t think I’d be nearly so tired today if I hadn’t had such a long day. I went…

Been an eventful couple of months. I got a new position at Equifax, where I’ve worked the past three years. I just changed departments. In some ways, I’m starting over, but going there with the knowledge I have, it’s not a total new start. And yet, I get a position that’s more to my liking…

First post of the new year. Nothing major to report on. Christmas was a pleasant time. I had a few days to myself here before going home to the family. Spent a few days with my grandmother, Aunt, & Uncle in Dothan, AL. Got plenty more material things to crowd my space. I’ll enjoy them,…

Not much going on tonight. I should probably go to bed soon. I was up very late last night as I left work at 12:30am along with a couple of co-workers I’d stayed behind to help get a project out of a ditch for. Was a very long day such that it was hard to…

Celebrated my grandmother’s 91st birthday on Saturday. Her birthday was actually yesterday (the 8th), but our family gathering was Saturday. Had some great aunts and uncles there and a few distant cousins. Only a couple of my first cousins were there, Tim, with his wife, Beth, and their 11 month old, Perry. Brian and his…

I haven’t posted anything in quite awhile. The time I normally used to post messages has been taken up e-mailing a new friend, Melanie, who I met last night at the Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble in Alpharetta. We talked for hours. I’m sure we were both a little nervous at first meeting in…

“Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.” “We have seen their kind before. They’re the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of…

Just finished my walk this evening and am now guzzling water. Not much new at work today, which isn’t per se a bad thing. The rest of this week may be a little busier than last but not a big deal I suppose. I bought back cookies and brownies for my team, our Technical Consultants,…