[Daniel] Remarkable Framework 1.0

Remarkable Framework has launched! Version 1.0 is out and ready for download.



Remarkable Framework has been my pet project for quite a while now. It's a web framework to help speed the building of web applications. I built it to make future Remarkable Umbrella projects go quicker. Since it was useful to me, I decide to open source it, though I doubt many people will latch onto it, given the relatively large number of PHP frameworks already in existence. (Shrugs) Time will tell.

[Moriah] Welcome To The World!!!

I would like to personally say welcome our new little niece, Avalin Maeve Sapien! She came into the world at 12:42 AM on this day, Thursday, December 15, 2005; ironically, one day before her mother's birthday. Quite the birthday present for Mya this year! A healthy little girl, Avalin weighs 7 lbs, 9 oz and is 19 inches long, complete with a head of dark black hair. We heard she has Mya's nose and Stewart's lips. I can't wait to see for myself some day!



Daniel and I are excited to be an aunt and uncle, and we look forward to spoiling Avalin! We wish Mya, Stewart and Avalin health and happiness in their new journey as a family. We love you guys!

[Moriah] Update to "Moriah" Page

I have revised and added an updated post to my page. If you feel so inclined, please take a few moments to read through it and check out some of the links I've posted.

[Moriah] Performances

This past week, I've been involved in several flute choir performances. Last Thursday evening, we played for a lawyer's office party in a downtown highrise. It was quite a posh party, and was fairly fun to play for. Though, I don't think most of the attendees were listening or cared about us playing. Only a few actually acknowledged us and thanked us for playing.



Sunday, we played for a service at the flute choir director's church, St. John's Methodist. The flute choir plays for one service each year to pay them back for letting us rehearse at the church. Unfortunately for me, it was not a very pleasant experience. Playing the music was fun, but having to sit through the service was extremely uncomfortable. While I was raised Catholic as a child, and then Lutheran when I was older, I have always felt uncomfortable with those religions. As I've grown older I've turned further away from organized and Christian religion and have followed my own set of beliefs, which are much closer to those of Native Americans. While I sat there listening to the ministers preaching away, I was angered by many things they said and did. The entire scene bothered me. I nearly jumped out of my seat and yelled at the preachers for some of the things they said, but of course that would have ruined my reputation with the flute club and choir. Soooo...on to the third performance.



Tonight we played for a retirement home downtown called The Summit. It was fabulous! The residents were so excited to have us play for them and they enjoyed every piece. They even asked us questions about the history of the flute and about music after we finished playing. They laughed and joked and clapped many times. It was a great time and I hope we play there again soon!



This coming Saturday, we're finishing off our fall season by playing for a luncheon at St. John's. We'll see how it goes.



Overall, I'm having tons of fun playing in a group again. I am extremely grateful for the treatments I've received at the chiropractor that have allowed me to pick up my flute after not being able to play for the past three years. I am looking forward to many more performances in the future. WHEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Daniel] New Guitar Tunes!

Thought I would post two new sound clips of my new guitar (Ibanez GAX 70). I'm pretty excited about it (it has a great sound and a great neck).



The first song is a little blues. Nothing in particular, just me noodling around.



The second song is me playing along with an Offspring song, "Leave It Behind" from their "Ixnay On The Hombre" album. Not perfect again but I was just kinda testing this out to see what the guitar sounded like in all kinds of situations. Enjoy!

[Daniel] New Pictures!

We've added two new sections to the Gallery: Thanksgiving 2005 and Guitar albums. Thanksgiving was spent here in Austin with Mom & Dad S. And the guitar gallery has my old guitar (the Epiphone Explorer) and the guitar I traded it in for (Ibanez GAX 70).



Also, we've got some new pictures of Bear up. He's certainly smiling a lot more lately. :D

[Daniel] A Great (Pro-Vegan) Article

I can tell I'm driving people away already. I should go watch the site's stats just to see them drop like a rock due to all the vegan talk lately.



However, I would spin this differently. This article is well-written (though a little long). Like I've said before, not everyone wants/can go vegan but that's not what I'd like people to take from the article. I'd like people to understand my reasons, even if they don't agree with them. And I doubt I could put it more eloquently than this.

[Daniel] Being Vegan - Week 1

I've completed my first week as a (mostly) vegan. I've gotten rid of most everything that wasn't already vegan, save for a leather belt and a box of honey tea, both of which I will be getting rid of soon. I made one major mistake (used a milk/honey handsoap for three days without realizing it). Outside of that, I've got everything else under control.



It didn't take much. I'm donating a pair of leather shoes (maybe trash as they're pretty old), getting rid of a couple ties (no more silk), a silk shirt, a pair of sandals, a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese and a package of ice cream. Nothing too major.



It's going better than I thought. I haven't had any cravings for dairy since I stopped, amazingly. Me, Mr. Cheese-A-Lot from Wisconsin, not wanting cheese. (Shakes head)



I can already imagine what some people would think of this. Getting rid of stuff that I've used before, that I paid GOOD MONEY for, for some thing that doesn't "benefit me directly". I don't agree with that position. I'm actually getting a lot out of this, even if it does mean spending extra money. For one, huge health benefits. I'll post an article in a bit which details them a little. Two, peace of mind. Every time I think about using leather or eating cheese, I think about what it would be like if I were forcing Bear in those situations (being skinned alive or, and I don't know how, trapped in a little stall being pumped for milk without rest). Seeing how sad his eyes would be in those situations is enough to make me shudder. It's not like the animals involved are any less intelligent than him, just not as cute as he is.



Overall, I could claim I really feel better. I've slept better this week, I've had an easier time getting up in the morning and I feel kinda energized. Maybe it's just from doing lots of new stuff but it's refreshing. Let's go, week 2!