Thunderbolt

Matt’s parents took us to see Huey Lewis and the News in the summer of ’84. Read the rest here.

Working on the latest Basement Song and I've now listened to "Baby" by Justin Bieber over 15 times. The song actually gets better, especially Ludacris' rap in the middle. What have I become?!

Another Saturday at the beach, yesterday. Not much to report except that I'm getting used to the whole "do nothing and listen to the waves" aspect of what the beach experience is supposed to be. I've been reading Lonesome Dove this summer and even though I picked the book up is spurts yesterday, I managed to get through 50 some pages and still retain what I read. The beach up in Carpinteria was CROWDED. I can't recall the last time I've seen that many families hanging out and enjoying the coolness of the water breeze. On the way home we blew a tire on the van. Just like last year's experience with Mom and Dad, the spare had to be put on with traffic speeding by in intervals. It was nerve racking, but there was also this rush of adrenalin that made me feel useful for a change. Luckily I had the experience from last summer to get me through last night's excitement rather quickly. Believe it or not, I didn't slip out any obscenities except for once,...

Why has it become so much harder to get into the groove after returning from vacation. I swear, I left for Ohio feeling stoked about what's on the horizon, then I enjoyed one of the most relaxing week's in a long time, and now that I'm back, I feel like a ten pound weight has been placed around my neck. It's not just work related, I just can't find the energy or motivation to write a single column or story or script idea. It's just the weather, right? It's just that this confounded heat is bearing down and making it hard to even think, right? I hope so.

I've decided to embrace the beach as best as possible. For years I've been indifferent about going to the beach with the family. The sand. The waves. The undertow. The cold water. It just wasn't me. But this year is different. I'm going to take it all in. I'm going to relax in the sand. At some point I may actually go into the ocean (baby steps, people, baby steps) and I'm going to have fun, enjoy being with the kids, take in their laughter and joy. We went up to Carpinteria this morning and met some friends and their families. It was overcast, at first, but the clouds soon burned away. The day was fun, lazy and a superb get away.

This afternoon during the Dodgers broadcast, the great (understatement) Vin Scully took ten minutes to explain the significance of June 6, 1944, "D-Day." I don't know any sports broadcaster who takes time out of the game to give a history lesson, but Sculley is old school. The man has seen the worst in the country and he has certainly seen the best in all of his years as the God of play by play. He's as patriotic as he is poetic and listening to him is one of the best parts of living in Los Angeles. Anyway, the fact that he pointed out what today means and that when we talk about sacrifice in sports or when we call athletes "warriors," we should take a moment to think about what true sacrifice means and what a true warrior looks like. One need only watch the harrowing opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan to understand. Thanks, Vin! Okay, let's get back to the game.

Woke up this morning to the startling sound of Jacob throwing up. My stomach dropped when we saw blood mixed in with the phlegm he threw up. He threw up a couple more times, each with spots of blood in it. Julie took him to the doctor and they put him on antibiotics. Since then he didn't throw up again. I nearly lost it a couple of times while we got ready for Jules to take Jake to the doctor. Honestly, I expected him to have to go down to Children's and feared he'd be admitted. We've been blessed that he hasn't required hospitalization since he was a baby, but the possibility of that happening is always in the back of my mind somewhere. Julie continues to amaze me with her composure under duress. She seemed calm throughout everything, even when we were both placing our fingers in the phlegm/vomit trying to feel the texture of the red spots. We weren't 100% sure it was blood until then. Jake and I stayed home all day and missed a pool party with several of our f...