A belated happy sixth anniversary to my Phoenix-based friends Kim & Rad. According to the Internet [aka Wikipedia], the “appropriate” gift for them is either iron or wood. Hmm. Rad’s a big comic-book fan so I’m confident he already owns a copy of the Iron Man DVD, no luck on me being clever there. Wood is a trickier one that Ethan & Kelly were able to solve. Maybe, I can find a way to combine the two. 
 
Either way, it was a fabulous weekend in Phoenix. The weather was warmer than Austin’s, for 2002. They were married outdoors in a really nice ceremony at this private clubhouse place. Even our hotel room had a great view of Camel Back Mountain from the porch. I think the climate took the sting off of the Bears losing [as expected] for my friend Steve staying next door with his family. Kim & Rad’s wedding was also memorable for people bugging me about if I was going to get married to Somara. Obviously the answers varied, based upon who replied. I showed her the following Spring, didn’t I?! 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

Posted by: Steve Maggi

What a nice coincidence today is. Another friend of mine has a birthday on October 29, my friend Doc, aka Lee. He is pretty significant in my life and indirectly with some of you because Doc is the guy who convinced me to move to Austin instead of returning to Milwaukee 15 years ago. 
 
We originally met 19 years ago at Marquette but I'm saving that story for later since it's pretty funny. We became fast friends during the Summer of 1989 and I stayed in touch as he soon left my alma mater for another school in Beaumont, Texas. Within a year, he moved to Austin to pursue his dream of attending film school. All his letters, pictures and phone calls made the city sound interesting yet I only thought about visiting. 
 
As I stated in an earlier post about Helen's 25th birthday, I decided to return to Milwaukee in 1994. It was the last place I remembered being happy and I realized how much I couldn't stand living in a big town masquerading as a city; or what another friend called Bloomington-Normal, the suburb with no metropolis attached. The last visit during Helen’s birthday weekend really amplified those feelings. 
 
A couple weeks after the decision, I called Doc on his birthday. I wanted to wish him well, see how film school was going, how was his Japanese progressing [he started this in 1990 at Lamar], etc. Somehow my desire to return to Milwaukee came up. I probably announced it knowing my mindset then. What shocked me was how much Doc disliked his two years there. He proposed that I move to Austin; he could convince his boss with the private dorm to hire me on as a leasing assistant. The response wasn't very open minded. I said, Austin? I'm already living in a college town the only difference is yours is also the capital of Texas which also makes it a sleepy government spot, much like my old home Springfield. Doc countered on how those impressions were untrue in the Nineties plus my perceptions were colored improperly by what little I had seen on Austin City Limits on PBS and my mother’s visit in 1983. He made a decent case at the end of the call. I said I would consider it. The following week pushed me over to the Austin camp; yet another run-in with my psycho co-worker Celli. You know the rest of the story. Mainly the end result. 
 
Today, tonight and maybe part of tomorrow [I am posting this rather at a rather late time] is all about my friend. May his birthday be a relaxing, festive occasion he gets to enjoy with his wife Masami and his pets [I don’t know which cats are his lately]. 
 
Should you know him, drop him a line. If you don’t, feel free to wish him a happy birthday here…before I have to shut off the comments when the spammer hits this post, I give it a week. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

Today is the birthday of my little friend Ryanne. Or as I jokingly call her, the president of the Steve fan club, Austin Chapter. I have the fan art posted in my cube to prove it! Right there with other pieces friends' children have sent.  
 
RC [as her parents call her] will be celebrating today with one of Somara's special cupcake set ups; pictures will appear later. It's similar to the Elmo thing she did for another friend. There's a layer of frosting over a bunch of cupcakes so it has the appearance of a cake from above yet there's less mess or need for utensils. I got to see the finished work this morning. It looked great. Melia and Tarl [parents] will love it. Children? Hard to tell. Based upon my nephews' behavior earlier this year, I think RC will be more interested in the decoration due its toy-like quality. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

Around this time last year, we had returned from Jose & Nancy's wedding. Thanks to the food, booze, fun and general laziness, I weighed 243 pounds! Course, the few days in Orlando weren't the exclusive reason. My weight had be gradually creeping up several pounds a year ever since I recovered from my immune system being crippled in 1999; boy, I miss weighing under 190 then! 
 
I took a more aggressive stance through exercise and cutting back my intake. The blood test really put more emphasis on less red meat and mayo. Then the Wii Fit [which I will get back into come November] helped put me at under 224 today. Another 40 should do. However, I made a bet with Somara on not eating red meat for the month of October; this includes pork, she says it's technically red, not white despite the ad campaign. I'm going to pull it off but you can count on me being at Outback this Saturday evening, then I'll probably stay away for around a week. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

On this day last year, Jose and Nancy tied the knot. What a great time, namely the food and friendship. 
 
According to the Internet, the gift options are rather lame: paper or clocks. I wonder how clocks are modern when you can see the time on numerous appliances and people wear watches. 
 
The people who determine this should change it back to paper because cash and checks are made of this material. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

The fun little daughter of my friends Ethan & Kelly had her first birthday. Not exactly sure if they celebrated today, in advance or later. 
 
Maybe there will be some pictures in the near future of a party or something. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

Here's to the longest friend I've had from Marquette. Longest? I met Helen in a class before Paul [through his roommate on a Friday evening] so that's how she receives this title. 
 
Looking back, her birthday is special to me because we all could usually celebrate it in school: mine and Paul's were always during vacation and Jose's was right before final exams. I think midterms were over by then which led to everybody letting off steam. 
 
The were two memorable ones, 1988 and 1993. Helen can recall these pretty well. I won't go into great detail on 1988 since it almost ended in the hosts being evicted from their apartment. The latter was more personal. We [Paul, Helen and I] all met in Milwaukee for a long weekend at Julie's apartment; coincidentally, Julie shares the same birthday as Helen. We hung out with Julie's friends mainly but took in the sights and memories of Milwaukee-Marquette. So much had changed yet we had only graduated from the area three years earlier. How I wished that weekend never ended. 
 
On the drive home, I teared up, thinking about how much I missed my friends, the old city I used to call home and wonder aloud, why was I staying in Central IL. All the people in Bloomington who made life bearable moved away: Lester to WI, the Bryants to Chicago and even Phil gave up the ghost to work/live near his parents. There were other friends to pass the time, they just seemed to have no qualms over their lot in a place I felt had no future. I decided then I would return to Milwaukee sometime in early 1994. First I needed to save up a nest egg to buffer the long streak of unemployment. I had been living with my grandmother for a couple months [not by choice], I would only need to scrimp for another six months; how wrong naive I was. I can't recall what were the other parts of the plan. I only knew the situation in Bloomington was untenable. 
 
Good thing I shared my idea with Doc a couple weeks later. He convinced me to gamble on Austin instead. The rest is history. 
 
Back to Helen's birthday. If you know her, drop her a line. If you don't, I'm sure you still can send some good vibes her way. Helen has endured knowing me for 22 years, that's worth a few pounds of karma. 
 
I didn't intend this post to be so twisted around myself. I wanted to share how Helen's birthday has a specific place in my memory and mind. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

You may recognize his name in the numerous maps for D&D and these days, the Pathfinder series of adventures and supplements from Paizo Publishing. I did see him in the latest Fourth Edition revision to Forgotten Realms. 
 
Lazz as he liked to be called is a cool guy and very talented. 
 
Last year he gave me an indirect kiss off. Indirect? He never explained why, what or anything I may have done, said or not. It was rather heartbreaking. He even sent back a package of Pink Floyd shirts I had been saving for him. Darn USPS took three weeks to do it. Someone at his house actively rejected it, the markings weren't automated. 
 
Doesn't matter. The objective of my site is to be positive, not always complaining, grousing or navel gazing. 
 
I only hope his birthday is spent with those who matter with him. Lazz is one of the best cartographers I've ever met and his handiwork has brought enjoyment to thousands. Through Paizo, I am glad he continues to do so. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi

At the insistence, suggestion or wishes [take your pick] of Somara, the liquidation of my D&D collection has been put on hold. 
 
Why? 
 
Well, I know she doesn't have any plans to be a DM and anything elaborate her characters do is already covered in the books she has; she'd buy the ones she wanted or needed anyway. 
 
Somara thinks I'm experiencing the side effects from the medication; there was a long list, if only I had "dry mouth." 
 
As for the bridge burning…I would rather wait for the doctor to assess. 

Posted by: Steve Maggi