Busy Saturday

Today was a busy day. Dea is suffering with an eye infection, so we went to the walk-in clinic and they prescribed her some medicine. After that we went up to Target to get the medication, then went to our first Renew bible study for this year, then home.

Doesn't seem like a lot, but it sure took a lot of time. Tomorrow isn't any less busy.

In the morning, Gabe and I are heading up to the ball field to hit in the batting cage and practice catching. In the afternoon we have a party for a friend who got their Masters degree. In the evening Dea is singing and DC is reading at the first Lifeteen mass of the year. After that we have a different bible study, then home.

And I thought weekends were for relaxation.

Vacation - 80 Candles

Our third day on vacation we celebrated my Mom's 80th birthday. It was a great time where we got to spend time with family and friends. Plus, Mom was surprised by the visit of Rusty and Ann, from her childhood. My Mom was in tears of joy at their arrival.

We had a great time. Pics below...

Mom with Rusy and Ann.

Catherine and Christina.

Ann looks at pics from Loretta and Bob.

Gabe and Chaz finish up a tour on the lake.

John, Steve and Dad relax on the grassy hill.

Jack explains how he'll be a great husband to Christina.
Chris and Jonathan aren't so sure.

Christina gives an enthusiastic thumbs up about her upcoming
wedding to Jack. Brianna... not so sure.

Stephanie and Mary.

Kristi and the crafty Lauren.

Gabe, Chaz and John Paul throw rocks in the lake.

DC hangs out on the dock.

Women Paid to Carry Baby to 12 Weeks before “Harvesting” for Beauty Treatments

Satan has a wonderful way of convincing all of us that something bad is actually something good. And, before we know it, this bad thing is so common it's accepted.

Abortion, for example. Somehow, this procedure of hacking up living infants in the womb and tossing them in the garbage can like last nights leftovers has become so common place that people believe it is their right. The tipping point on whether a "fetus" = "baby" is merely in the mind of the mother. If she deems it of value, it's a baby. If she doesn't, it's a fetus.

Incredible. Now the UN wants to implement abortion as a... get this... a human right! HUH? Destroying human life is a human right? I think that pretty much seals it... the UN needs to evaporate like the League of Nations.

Well, abortion was the start of moral relativism, where it is our individual views of right and wrong that matter over a societal view of morality. This problem continues to grow and the idea of "absolute truth" is an eroding concept.

Well, the continual devaluation of humanity has, not surprisingly, turned to this... poor women are being paid a couple of hundred bucks to get pregnant, only to have the fetus "harvested" for beauty products for the rich. That's right, even though the baby's heart is beating and brainwaves working, after 12 weeks, they're chopped up, sacrificed, so rich people can keep their youth.

Nazi medical experiments have now become mainstream. Does anyone else think this is completely sick and repugnant?

You can read the entire sick story HERE.

God help us all.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad turns a billion years old today. Back when he was a child, he played in the Garden with Adam. He said something about stealing apples from a tree, but he's never elaborated.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad! May your next billion years be as fruitful as your first :)

Vacation - Georgia Aquarium

The second day of our vacation we stopped by the Georgia Aquarium. It was a great time with Katie, Sarah and Luke. The large tanks were impressive and the variety of fish, sharks, sea lions and penguins were amazing. If you visit Atlanta, you should check it out. You won't regret it.

Luke and Gabe.

Outside the Aquarium.


Inside the Aquarium.

The gang: Dea, Katie, DC, Gabe, Luke and Sarah.

DC and Sarah take in the sights.

Pete points out some sharks to Gabe.

Dea and Luke.

Luke staring down Pete's thinning hair.

The fam.

Vacation - Atlanta

Okay, so now that we're back from vacation, I can spend a quick few minutes to recount our time away from home. We left after I got off work and spent the night in Valdosta. That was a great idea and is something I will do from this point forward. It allowed us to break up the eight hour drive to Atlanta and made the four hour trip from Valdosta much more palatable.

Our first stop was to visit Dawn, Dea's sister, and her family. The kids got a lot of time to spend together, having fun jumping on the trampoline in the backyard. Gabe played catch with his Uncle Patrick and we were later joined by Dea's parents at Dawn's house for dinner.

After dinner, we said our goodbyes and drove over to my niece Katie's house to spend the night with Katie and her family (Brian and the kids). It was a nice time with family and allowed Dea and I to unwind and put aside all of the daily worries that we left back in Safety Harbor.

Dea prefers this pose for all future pictures.


DC on the trampoline.


Gabe in mid-kick.


Poppy at Dawn's


Nonni at Dawn's.


Patrick with Sarah.


Rachel and Dea.


Kelsey and Gabe.

More Vacation Pics

As I try to catch up on the 1493 emails that were waiting for me upon my return to work, I don't have a lot of time to write an entry today, so I'll just post some more vacation pics...

A cannon at Fort Pulaski looking toward the marshes.

The force and sound of a muskett shot was impressive.

Gabe and I in the fort.

Gabe, Dea and DC crossing the moat into the fort.

One of the underground bunkers at Fort Pulaski.

Dea and DC looking over the broken wall.

DC on a Ghost Tour in Savannah.

Goin' Out To Cally – Part 62, Where Are We Now?

It’s been over 18 years since that trip to Cally. Life has not gone as we had planned back then, but life rarely does. We had many surprises and challenges, exciting achievements and heart-broken disappointments.

Unlike our trip to Cally, life is about the journey, not necessarily the destination. If we spend too much time asking “are we there yet?” we’ll miss those magical moments that happen during the trip.

Tim and I remain friends… he’s my best friend, actually. We go to movies together, watch sports together and our kids spend a lot of time together. We compliment each other very well. He inspires me and grounds me and makes me laugh more than just about anyone else. He is the most loyal and generous person I have ever known. It’s an honor to call him friend.

Tim and Beth have since been married and divorced, sadly. They have two beautiful daughters whom I love as if they were my own. Tim intended his first marriage to be his last, so such an outcome has been particularly difficult for him. Tim also has another daughter from another relationship and she’s adorable and lovable and wonderful. Tim’s managed to move on in his life and trust the Lord will guide him as his journey continues to take unexpected paths.

Beth remarried and lives with their two daughters and two step-sons in Florida. Thanks to her I was able to get to convert our home movies from the trip to DVD and put some of the screen captures on the web.

Pete Producer finally got his film produced. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to secure Robert DeNiro, but he did get a Robert to play the part. Robert Urich played the lead role of Harry Spooner in the family film Spooner.

Pete also gave me direct and honest advice on my first two screenplays. Unfortunately for me, it was an opportunity wasted because my writing talents were not good enough at the time. Future screenplays would win me awards and get produced, but not because of Pete. Eventually, I’ve lost touch with him. When I look him up on the internet, I find his last screenplay was produced in 1998. I don’t know what’s happened to him since. I hope all is well.

Sunday and Dave moved to Los Angeles soon after our trip to Cally. Sunday went on to get numerous supporting roles in television and movies. She’s most notable as Olive, the cashier with the long fingernails on Seinfeld. Her character ended up dating Kramer, who had a persistent itch. Their relationship only lasted one episode as his itch eventually dissipated.

Sunday and Dave continued to date for another ten years before finally tying the knot. Sunday converted to Catholicism when they got married and I was last able to speak to her in person about seven years ago. She mentioned how she attended the same church as Gregory Peck. I was in L.A. in 1998 and was surprised to find the last phone number I had for her no longer worked. I haven’t talked to her in a long time. About once every six months I scour the internet to see what she’s up to. I found this headshots recently, which means she’s still pounding the acting pavement in LaLa Land. I am impressed by her passion for her art and so proud of her persistence.

Within a year after college graduation I would develop Crohn’s disease, which would end up changing my professional career forever. The disease eventually forced me to give up on trying to be an actor for a living. It was not an easy decision, but inevitable. Acting was the most fulfilling profession I’ve ever had. I miss it dearly.

I was able to work at Nickelodeon for a few years, behind the scenes, but eventually needed health insurance to manage my disease. I ended up retraining myself from scratch and am now a global technology manager of a $5 billion computer manufacturer. I fill my creative needs by making movies on the side and writing a lot… screenplays, short films, my blog and this story.

I eventually met and married my beautiful wife, my soul mate, Dea, with whom I’ve been married for over 14 years. Words alone cannot effectively describe just how much I love her. We have been blessed with two beautiful children. My daughter, Dorothea, who shares my passion for acting, my sense of humor and my love of film. My son, Gabriel, who shares my love of sports and my strong competitive nature. I have so much in common with both of them… I realize that I am one very lucky man. I am truly blessed.

This trip to California in the dry, hot Summer of 1988 was memorable for so many reasons. It was my first great adventure, the first great experience for which I was uniquely involved. It had romance and drama and thrills and spills and hopes and dreams and pain and suffering. It was the first story of my life worth telling and its taken eighteen years for me to finally get it down on paper.

Goin’ Out to Cally was a journey where my world expanded and my dreams were forged. It has remained carved in my memory, where it will stay, for the rest of my days.