I haven’t been posting as much as I would like due to numerous things taking up my time lately, but I wanted to post this video I took just this past fall. I can’t believe I hadn’t posted it sooner. It’s really quite awesome. We have at least 1 family of bear that hang around our house’s general area. This video is just one of them and believe it or not, he or she is the middle-sized one.

Here’s a couple funny stories regarding the bears.

One night, Sandy forgot to close the garage door. Of course this is where we keep our garbage cans. In the morning, Jonathan heard something outside and he came into our room to tell us to look out the window. Sure enough there were 4 bear dragging our garbage through our backyard into the woods. There were 2 little ones, the one in the video above and a bigger one. I remember the quote of the morning. Sandy says “wow that’s so kewl” and I replied, “yeah well you can clean it up” lmao Obviously we all pitched in. What a mess!

Another day Sandy was in the backyard leaning over the pool looking at the water when she heard a crack. I wasn’t there so I can’t verify the distance (hehe), but she said there was a bear approaching her from about 10 feet away. I had been upstairs and didn’t know it until I heard her screaming like she was on fire. She bolted right for the house (we talked about walking away slowly next time lol). I ran downstairs and sure enough there was a bear (the same one from the video) walking up around the back of our yard towards the left side of our house. I walked out on the deck (he was about 50-100 feet away) and he seemed to completely ignore me. I’m not sure if he realized I was claiming my territory…or that I would have went back in the house had he come towards me haha

Then, another time, Sandy and Jonathan ordered me a box of cherries for Father’s Day. They arrived, but some of them were spoiled so after a phone call to the company they agreed to send out another box. After about a week I asked Sandy about where it was and she said she wasn’t sure. The next morning I found the box on the side of the house with a bear claw mark in the side of it. There wasn’t one cherry, pit or stem left. I was so pissed! lol

The final story is just before Thanksgiving this year. We typically always cook a turkey a week or so before Thanksgiving for practice and use the leftovers for lunch, etc. Well, Sandy tossed the carcass in the garbage in the garage and left the door open cause Jonathan was outside. She later comes into the garage to find a bear with both paws around the turkey carcass chomping away at it. The bear ran away into the woods when she saw him/her, but damn! lol

As of now, they’re hibernating, but I have a feeling we’ll see more of them in the spring.

P.S. – Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

It’s 3 hours away until Santa comes and we’re all excited here. We’ve got to put the cookies and milk out for the big guy and also some carrots outside for the reindeer. They have to keep up their energy of course. Tomorrow is a big day here at the Ille house cause we’re going to host Christmas and we’ll have even more people than at Thanksgiving. I just wish everyone could come. Sometimes as families get bigger it gets near impossible for everyone to be together.

Regardless, we wish everyone near and far to have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. If you’re not here with us, we’ll be thinking of you.

Somewhere stands a Foosball table in an unnamed place where for months I’ve had my butt handed to me by an unnamed person, but right now the Foosball table is lonely and I imagine, for at least for the rest of today it will continue to be. You see, there will be no more games today. For I AM…

VICTORIOUS!

I came across a quote from John Adams and wanted to share it because I think it’s brilliant in so many ways. On the face it’s very simple, but I think the obvious nature of it shouldn’t dilute what shows through behind.

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.
– John Adams

In this quote it’s not only easy to see a wise understanding of the progression of a new country and it’s society from being at war for independance to building a nation of laws to being able to enjoy freedom, prosperity and peace, but it also shows a forward thinking logic about the success of a family and a country’s people without any expectation of skipping steps or instantaneous results.

This quote embodies the idea that sometimes without fighting and sacrifice, there can be no peace or true advancement, that it doesn’t always come easy or quickly. It speaks volumes to anyone who expects to roll the dice, land on the ‘Resort and Spa’ property, buy it at a cost lower than Virginia Avenue and charge a rent higher than Boardwalk.

With any hope, the basic idea of this quote can be easily applied to the many smaller trials we face in our everyday lives. Despite the ever increasing popular expectation of achieving greatness without bumps or bruises or the quick fix mentality that seems to have become the adopted strategy for so many people, it’s temporary nature will not be something future generations can sink their teeth into. The shortcuts everyone seems to be so fond of nowadays rarely carry an individual for any period of time let alone the weight of us all.

In short, let’s not look for the quick fix in our lives, but long-lasting foundational changes that can sustain ourselves, our families and maybe even someone we’ve never met. That’s the way to achieve greatness on all levels.

EDIT: A friend made a point that I hadn’t added. “The quote embodies the correct idea. However, children that were given a chance to learn poetry and such should not forget about war and politics entirely.” This of course is a lesson to appreciate and never forget the core values, traditions and ideas that brought you ‘here’ whether they were a direct result of your Grandfather or John Adams.

I caught two short films on YouTube that while they aren’t extremely uplifting, the authors are really talented. Give them a look-see.

Reach
Sebastian’s Wood

Repeating it comes with age I suppose and while I know it’s such a tired old cliche, I can’t help repeating it. At least I’m trying to keep my resolution to make posts on this site regularly, but then that sometimes even requires a bit of prodding from friends.

Anyways, today I tried to take some time for myself and look over this site. I’ve neglected it for a long time and even after the time I spent I still can’t fix all the issues. I hope you can’t find them At least the gallery works now and I’ve reformatted a bit of the page layouts. The sidebars are a bit more functional and I’ve upgraded to the latest version of Wordpress which is a nice improvement.

I wonder if I can get to my other sites after I sort out the issues with this one. TRAM Design for instance needs a complete overhaul, but…since I haven’t done any game design, despite my good friend Trevor’s attempts to suck me back in, I’m not sure I should bother with it.

We’ll see what time brings. Meanwhile, it’s off to do some yard work

Not sure how I got a collection of weird stories relating to office chairs, but it happened.

Boy Killed Anally When Office Chair Explodes
Now you know what story to tell your kids when they won’t stop playing with that lever that lowers the chair quickly lol

Twitter Account Used to Broadcast Fart Details
Genius, smelly and an all time low for humanity. Lucky we’ve found good uses for technology lol

Men Wheel Dead Pal In Office Chair To Cash Cheque In NY
He was dead for 24 days? haha I would have loved to see the acting when those two guys pretended to be surprised about him being dead? lol

Once again it’s Valentine’s Day. The day single women and roses hate, married men scramble to find somewhere to same day ship and committed women and Moms wear giant smiles smelling their beautiful bouquets and wonder if they they should eat that extra piece of chocolate.

Regardless, how your Valentine’s Day goes and regardless who you are this year in the spectrum of situations, it’s just one big festering neon commercial distraction. Just make sure that you’re consistent in loving the people who are most important to you everyday and the rest will fall in place.

To all the people I love, Happy Valentine’s Day

This has to be one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time, but I must warn you, it’s not sweet and innocent so put the kids to sleep and put on your rated R hat. It’s a list of the 9 most insulting sayings from around the world. I have to try to remember “He’s as thick as a bull’s walt”.

Someone just sent me this one today and it’s truly amazing, funny, sad and unfortunately not a sweeping endorsement of a US education. A Verizon wireless customer fails over and over to get several Verizon customer service reps to understand the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars. They literally think it’s the same thing. See the story or just get the audio here. It’s a bit long, but worth it. If you know 4th grade math, you won’t believe it.

I’m not sure how I happened upon this one, but it’s…err…different…I’m not sure Europe intended this type of display when they wrote the Final Countdown lol

This last one is more of a ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ story. This article is trying to tell you that if you’re in a long distance relationship, “The planet is about to suffer for your love.” So just for the record, it appears that the importance of low carbon footprints have surpassed love. Imagine that.

Eh ok then here’s a one more for some laughs.

I find it hard to believe that so much has happened over the last year and I’ve said so little about it. Two posts over the last year during what seems to have been the most active and monumental part of my life?

Back in September of 2006 I met a wonderful woman named Sandy and her 10 year old son Jonathan and we all really hit it off in a big way. So much in fact that we decided to put her smaller house on the market and look for something larger so we could live comfortably. As luck would have it the timing was just right as the market was taking a turn for the worst and we sold the house for a reasonable price even though we did have to drop the price a couple times. We closed on Sandy’s house in May 2008.

Despite looking for several months prior, the first Saturday we went out to look, we found the house we wanted and in July 2008 we closed on our new house and surprise! as she opened the front door for the first time, I got down on one knee and proposed to her

Backstory: It’s important to note that I was planning on proposing for a while. I’d already asked her parents for permission several months before and her family offered me Sandy’s Grandmother’s ring to use. This was especially important because Sandy’s Grandmother was extremely important to her. The surprise of me asking her to marry me plus the fact that it was her Grandmother’s ring made me worry about her fainting lol

Over the next few months, we had gone to several weddings and the topic would of course come up frequently. I would tell Sandy I was looking to take things slow and, get this,… that I felt we were on the 5-7 year plan. This eventually really got her steaming to the point that she would say things like ‘Let’s change the topic’ lol I have to give her a lot of credit for sticking by me with the patience of an angel. Surely she gets props for not killing me or telling me to go to hell at the very least. I think even she will agree now that the torture heightened the surprise of me proposing that much more.

One night when we were at her parent’s house for dinner she brought up the topic innocently. Her parents brilliantly pretended to be upset about me not asking her knowing full well what I had planned. Her Father even taunted me with the fact that he owns guns lol The next day I talked to Sandy and told her “Can you please not bring up the marriage thing in front of your parents? I don’t want them to get upset at me” and she apologized having no idea that they already knew I was waiting for our new home’s closing. Damn I’m evil haha

As we got closer to the closing on our new home I took Jonathan out to the Hot Grill, the place we go out to lunch when it’s just him and I. They have the best ‘all the way’ hotdogs will chili and onions — oh my I feel the craving for one now — and I asked his permission as well. With him all for it, I then let him in on the plan. Little did I know it would work out perfectly and he would be such a great help.

1. We close on the house and go there directly after
2. I gave Sandy the keys and she opens the door
3. She walks in ahead towards the kitchen
4. I’m on one knee with the ring out the second I get in
5. Jonathan goes in front of her stopping her to turn around
6. She turns around and sees me
7. Before I get a chance to ask, she runs completely out of the hallway into the kitchen with arms in the air like she was on fire
8. After getting her breathing under control she came back about 2 full minutes later
9. I proposed
10. She accepted

It was a truly great day.

We’re planning on getting married on September 20, 2009, but we don’t have all the plans set. Jonathan will be my best man which will be great since over the last two years he and I have really become close. He’s my son and my best buddy. I’m not sure what to expect of a 10 year old’s bachelor party plans though

So what about the house? Awesome. I couldn’t be more happy with it. It’s a split level with approximately 3000 sq. ft. and 5.5 acres of land. The land was what initially drew me towards the place, but we fell in love with the rest of it when we walked in. The next day we asked our family and friends to look at it with us to double check our heads. They agreed with us. The house is laid out beautifully, there’s a giant 30 x 15 pool for Jonathan, an oversized garage, a great attic, full basement, 4 bedrooms, formal living room and dining room, eat in kitchen and a spacious family room which will allow us to entertain in comfort.

One of the first projects we did was painting which turned out nice thanks to Sandy and some help from her family. Sandy, Jonathan and I painted Jonathan’s room New York Ranger’s colors which turned out fairly nice as well despite Sandy being a New Jersey Devils fan hehe PS – Jonathan used to be a New Jersey Devils fan also, but it appears I brought some taste to the family and Jonathan realized this

So far we’ve only had enough money and furniture to furnish the rooms we live in most (kitchen, bedrooms and family room) and we haven’t hung pictures or anything like that yet. I did mount the flatscreen over the fireplace though and I have to admit, I think it calls for a 65″. It’s just a bit too pricey for now methinks. We’ll probably wait a bit for that. Luckily we were able to make it homey enough to host Christmas this year. It was great fun having both our families there together. The den was a sea of presents (can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of that) and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Oh and that’s a picture of our dog Loona Here’s another.

Sandy, Jonathan and I feel truly blessed. I wish everyone who reads this a happy and healthy 2009 and for this next year to be great for all of you.

And while I typically don’t practice New Year’s resolutions since I think we can make resolutions every day, here are some of the things that I would like to achieve this year on a personal level.

• Take more pictures
• Spend more time with family
• Host more parties in our new home
• Make more time for creation (music, writing, design)
• Update paulille.com regularly
• Exercise more often
• Lose a few pounds
• Eat better regularly
• Get away as often as possible
• Go hiking whenever possible
• Enjoy life

Hope you all had a happy holidays and have a great 2009!