BrianJarrett.com

The Family - January, 2010

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In the spririt of Baby Traci thinking of Baby Orson, here’s the Trent version.

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So just a little background; I started working for my current employer back in December 2007.  Their reporting was a mess, as were some other things, but now we’ve got a brand-new, from scratch data warehouse.  Our internal team worked with an external team to build it out and it transitioned over to us  officially maybe a month or so ago.  Now that we’ve got it, we’re uncovering a few things that need to be fixed or re-engineered.  We expected that; it was a tight deadline and we were already aware of certain areas that would required our attention once the transition occurred. Read more…

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So now that I’ve been back in “writer mode” for a bit I’m falling into the writer’s mindset again.  Just about everything in life is an opportunity for reflection, even some of the most mundane things.  But isn’t mundanity somewhat subjective?  I feel myself wanting to write about these things, to extrapolate on them primarily, to some end that might not be obvious.  I feel compelled to write something down, that transference from the brain to written word so important.

The enemies of this process-at least for me-are lack of time and distraction.  The real conundrum though is when the lack of time and the distractions are spawned of one’s own choosing.  For instance, my lack of time and my distractions come from my work and my family, primarily.  In the case of my family I chose that, I continue to choose it, and have no regrets about choosing this distraction.  They force me to interact with other humans, they keep me from becoming a recluse or a digitized version of a real person.  They provide me with real life, with experience, and with feelings I’ve never had before.

In other words, in so many ways they’re actually my muse. Read more…

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Purged.  All of it.

This site needed a new purpose.

I write so I want to write and write about writing.

I played guitar in a band called Flood a number of years ago.  I’m proud of that.  That stuff will make it back into the site in due time.  I play guitar still (sometimes) and want to start another band eventually.  I might like to write about that process.

I’m a programmer and I want to write about what I’m working on. Read more…

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Traci and the boys at Tower Grove Park

Sometimes I can feel a moment so clearly it’s like I’m even aware of my movement forward in time.

Sometimes all the variables are right, everything is just so, and a surreal awareness washes over me for a minute or two.

I was at Tower Grove Park today with Traci and the kids.  At first it was pretty normal, hanging out on a playground with way too many people around.  Then we walked behind the pavilion and I was greeted with a huge field, peppered with large trees.  It was strange because the park is right in the middle of South City so it almost doesn’t seem real.  The air was cool in the shade of the trees and I watched as Traci walked out onto the field, followed by Orson and Trent. Read more…

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The family paid a visit to the City Museum a week or two ago; these are a few pictures. There are also a couple from the roof. Cool night air and a beautiful view.

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So we packed up the kids on Thursday night, August 6th, and we headed off to Chicago, Illinois.  We were going to Lollapalooza of course, but this time would be different for us.  We were taking the whole family, including the kids.  We take the kids lots of places but we’ve never taken them to a show before and definitely not one of this duration and magnitude.  I knew it would be a little challenging but I also figured it would be pretty cool to do together.

So after an hour or so delay due to a slow leak in one of our tires we were off for Chicago.  That trip went okay but I was very tired on the way up.  Traci and I switched off on the driving and eventually we made it there.  After arriving in Chicago we circled the same block about five times until we finally figured out where our hotel was.  We stayed at the Hotel Burnham in Chicago’s “loop” area.  The doorman was really helpful, especially at 1:30 am; we needed the help.  The hotel valet parked our car and we crashed in the room.  We really enjoyed the hotel; I’d recommend it to others.

Day one was rainy. Read more…

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