February 25, 2009 by David.

In January Sharlet went to Hawaii to see granddaughter Aimi. She’s now two years old and still cute as ever. My objectivity holds NO bias, by the way.

 Here’s a couple pictures of Aimi modeling in Japanese magazines.

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February 20, 2008 by David.

Martha Beck wrote a terrific article about love and the loss of love.

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October 31, 2007 by David.

Dustin’s daughter, Aimi, took first prize in a Toys-R-Us Halloween photo competition in Japan.  Dang cute, say I.

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August 8, 2007 by David.

Here’s a set of questions from Oprah for couples considering marrying to consider (listed by CNN) that I thought were pretty good:

Question 1: What percentage of our income are we prepared to spend to purchase and maintain our home on a monthly or annual basis?

Question 2: Who is responsible for keeping our house and yard cared for and organized? Are we different in our needs for cleanliness and organization?

Question 3: How much money do we earn together? Now? In one year? In five years? Ten? Who is responsible for which portion? Now? In one year? Five? Ten?

Question 4: What is our ultimate financial goal regarding annual income, and when do we anticipate achieving it? By what means and through what efforts?

Question 5: What are our categories of expense (rent, clothing, insurance, travel)? How much do we spend monthly, annually, in each category? How much do we want to be able to spend?

Question 6: How much time will each of us spend at work, and during what hours? Do we begin work early? Will we prefer to work into the evening?

Question 7: If one of us doesn’t want to work, under what circumstances, if any, would that be okay?

Question 8: How ambitious are you? Are we comfortable with the other’s level of ambition?

Question 9: Am I comfortable giving and receiving love sexually? In sex, does my partner feel my love for him or her?

Question 10: Are we satisfied with the frequency of our lovemaking? How do we cope when our desire levels are unmatched? A little? A lot? For a night? A week? A month? A year? More?

Question 11: Do we eat meals together? Which ones? Who is responsible for the food shopping? Who prepares the meals? Who cleans up afterward?

Question 12: Is each of us happy with the other’s approach to health? Does one have habits or tendencies that concern the other (e.g., smoking, excessive dieting, poor diet)?

Question 13: What place does the other’s family play in our family life? How often do we visit or socialize together? If we have out-of-town relatives, will we ask them to visit us for extended periods? How often?

Question 14: If we have children, what kind of relationship do we hope our parents will have with their grandchildren? How much time will they spend together?

Question 15: Will we have children? If so, when? How many? How important is having children to each of us?

Question 16: How will having a child change the way we live now? Will we want to take time off from work, or work a reduced schedule? For how long? Will we need to rethink who is responsible for housekeeping?

Question 17: Are we satisfied with the quality and quantity of friends we currently have? Would we like to be more involved socially? Are we overwhelmed socially and need to cut back on such commitments?

Question 18: What are my partner’s needs for cultivating or maintaining friendships outside our relationship? Is it easy for me to support those needs, or do they bother me in any way?

Question 19: Do we share a religion? Do we belong to a church, synagogue, mosque or temple? More than one? If not, would our relationship benefit from such an affiliation?

Question 20: Does one of us have an individual spiritual practice? Is the practice and the time devoted to it acceptable to the other? Does each partner understand and respect the other’s choices?

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June 18, 2007 by David.

I’m signing in to write this here post and I notice that my last blog entry was June 8.  Where the Hell did time go?  I hear the older one gets, the faster time moves.  Actually, nothing is moving faster, say I.  Rather as one gets older, one moves more slowly and thus everything else seems to be moving faster, not just time.  But then, have you noticed how older people, like really old people, say one of the things they wish they’d done when younger was slow down sooner?  Like, slow-down-and-smell-the-roses slow down.

…and smell the fresh air and sunshine.  Did I mention I love living in California?  One of Sharlet and my favorite things to do is eat outside, whether at home or a restaurant.  Just something about it that refreshes the soul.  Much easier to do here in the land of sunshine and hot cars than it was in, say, …aw, I’ll let up on that previous Land-o-Rain that I used to live in.  If you live there you already are more than aware of the “mist that surrounds [continuously, forever and ever, amen].”  For me, it is dang hard to beat working for yourself, seated on an outdoor balcony, short sleeve shirt, gentle warm breeze, laptop in, um, your lap, and a grin that keeps curling up the corners of your mouth for no apparent reason.  I try so hard to be a grumpy old fart and this fucking sunshine makes it real work to keep that whole bitched-out, the-world-hates-me state of mind going. 

Then to top it off, my daughter Jill ups and calls me from “ya-all” land just to tell me what an awesome Dad I am - and how she got into this arguement about who had the best Dad and she won.  Talk about a spirt lifter; that girl can give ‘ya a real boost.  Not that I’d admit it to anyone.  Hell no.  I’m hard at work perfecting the fine art of Grumping.  Meanwhile, let me kick back a few minutes in this here chair.  The temperature is God-given perfect.  Maybe Jill will call again…  DANG.  There I go again.  See, how hard it is to be a hard core grump around this neck of the woods?  Focus, man.  Focus.

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May 8, 2007 by David.

Monday Sharlet, my wife, flew to LA to work with Master P and his son Lil’ Romeo on their books.  Each will have a book published soon.  Sharlet is also working on her own book, which will be published later this summer.

Sharlet with Lil’ Romeo & Master P.

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March 26, 2007 by David.

Today our whole family got together at a Napa Valley restaurant.  Daughter Jill came out from Nashville; Son Dustin from Hawaii; Heromi and Aimi from Japan (Dustin’s girlfriend & baby); Sharlet’s brother Ed’s family and her Mom & step dad; plus Karen, a long-time family friend who was the kids’ first grade teacher. This trip is the first time I’ve seen (My “first sighting”) grandaughter Aimi.  She slept through the whole thing, flash pictures and all.  She’s damn cute.  We celebrated three birthday’s: Jill’s 21st, her cousin Katie’s 18th, and Aimi’s 100th day, which I’m told is a day of note for a baby in Japan.  Family days are good!

Here is  a pic of yours truly doing his best to continue his encouragement of decadance in the younger generation.

More pictures of the cutie can be found at http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p236/murl_taiji/

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January 29, 2007 by David.

Today my cousin Larry ordered a new Harley Davidson Road Glide.  Black.  This is his first Harley and he’s been badgering the sales guys at Latus Motors in Portland, Oregon for months now.  It paid off.  He got it for a grand under list.  This is the shop I bought my two Harleys from and I thought I got a great deal on my 2005 when I got it for list price, but Larry got his for a grand under what I paid two years ago.  Nice going, Larry!  Now he’s faced with the challange of what to do to it right off the bat, but he’s got a month ’till it arrives.

So, be like Larry.  Getcha one er dem oh sevens, ya hear?

Ok, I’ll spill Larry’s secret.  The Albany, OR dealer is offering a grand under list till the end of January and Larry got Latus to match it.  Actually, the Albany dealer is one of the most agressively priced Harley dealers you’ll find, so if you are within driving distance, I’d check them out.  However, I can’t personally vouch for them as I haven’t ever been there myself.

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January 25, 2007 by David.

Sharlet recently was at a recording studio in LA and ran into Alice Cooper…

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January 20, 2007 by David.

Pictures of Aimi, Dustin’s new baby…  Is she the cutest kid ever, or what?

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December 28, 2006 by David.

Two days before Christmas, Sharlet’s 17 year old niece was killed in a car accident.  So sad.  Sharlet was in Hawaii with her new-born grandchild at the time.  The brother of the niece that died is stationed in Hawaii so she was able to be the comforting aunt for him.  At this point, we are driving the pickup 1500 miles to Utah for the funeral.  Yesterday we went through Vail.  I haven’t been there for over ten years.  We are scrambling to beg and borrow ski clothes so on the way back we can stay a day or two and ski.  It just so happens my sister has a time share in Vail and will be arriving the day we are heading back home.  So since all of our ski equipment and clothing is buried deep in a storage unit, we have to come up with some ski clothes, which it looks like we’ll be able to do.  We may look like we have misfitting clothes from decades ago, but, dang, we’ll be skiing Vail - a first for Sharlet.

Thus, I may not have many posts to the blog for a week or so…

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December 22, 2006 by David.

Now that I’ve written about Dustin, I’ll do some crowing about Sharlet’s daughter, Jill.  Jill is 20, smart as a whip, funnier than hell, very creative, an extreme extrovert, and a looker.  No, I said Looker, NOT Hooker.  She is attending the International Academy of Design and Technology in Nashville, TN, taking courses in fashion design.  She’s a natural-born entrepreneur and no matter what she chooses to do in life, she’ll kick butt.  If nothing is happening, she makes it happen.  Both kids believe they can do anything they want - an outlook that Sharlet deserves unending accolades for instilling in them.  One of Jill’s objectives is to know seven languages by the time she’s 30.  She spent a summer in Spain in a Spanish language immersion and nine months in Venice studying Italian, working, and in general creating a ruckus and breaking hearts everywhere she went.

She has her Barista certification, so, frankly, she is a coffee snob.  She thinks she’s going to die when Sharlet microwaves her coffee to warm it up and talks about how a coffee “doesn’t hit the tongue right.”  To me, all coffee tastes like shit.  Well, unless Jill makes it, that is.  (Geez, I’m gonna pay for that smart ass remark someday)

Bottom line, there aren’t two cooler step-kids in existance.  Or two kids, “step” or not, for that matter.  I love seeing them grow up, expand their view of the world, and I can’t wait to see where their lives will lead them.  As far as I’m concerned, they are my kids.

To see pics of the kids, go to our wedding site www.misssharlet.com.

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December 20, 2006 by David.

Saturday, December 16, my wife Sharlet became a grandmother.  Her son, who is near graduation from University of Hawaii with a degree in Korean studies, had a bouncing baby girl, Aimi.  The mother is Japanese and the kid is cuter than, well, anyone else’s kid.  Ok, I guess that kinda makes me a grandpa, even if it isn’t my “bloodline.”

While I’m on this topic, I’ve gotta brag a bit about Sharlet’s son, Dustin.  He is over six feet tall, blond, blue, dang good looking.  He can be a deep thinker and come to some amazing conclusions.  He’s social and friendly and an all-around good guy.

Back in high school he roomed with a Korean and that started him on his Korean quest.  He has visited Korea a number of times.  He can speak, read, and write Korean fluently.  He spent the better part of a year going to a University in Daegu, Korea on a scholarship which he got from a referal from a Korean language teacher here in the states.  He’ll get scouped up by some company doing business in the US and Korea with such an unusual set of skills.

There are lots of stories related to Dustin and Korea (not to mention other stuff) but that’ll have to wait for some other post.

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