Will they come?

www.seanbossinger.com will be the new home of my blog, effective now.

the best way I know how.

I just handed $15 over to a friend who is donating the money tonight to his friend. You see, his friend happens to be none other than Raymond Clamens. Mr. Clamens is a Supply Technician here at the University. He also happens to be the recently-widowed husband of Staff Sgt. Lillian Clamens.

Sgt. Clamens was killed in a rocket attack in Baghdad on October 10, two days before she was to deploy for home. She leaves behind three children: Ayinde Williams, 14; Lana Clamens, 8; and Victoria Clamens, 7.

I don't agree with the war. There is no valid reason for us to have been there in the first place. However, when it comes to supporting one of "the family," I will do what I can.

I've had the experience working on the Host Committee for the 2008 Annual Inter-American Development Bank meeting in Miami. It is being held in April 2008 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

I got the opportunity to work with individuals who really know what they're doing, in terms of bringing in a network to support about 350 corporate workers while they're stationed here in Miami making loans to countries, most of which are in the Latin American and Caribbean areas. I also got to see an impressive network set-up at the Miami Beach Convention Center, where they set up and break down networks for vendors for every show.

Probably the most lasting experience from this will be watching the byplay between someone from the county aviation authority try to end-run around many of the requests put in place by the IDB in order to save money.

Every other week I get stuck in this meeting... I have to be here because I write down the action items for everyone. It's about 20 people. Boring. Blah.

So I try to get a lot done.

Today I'm getting a lot of typing done into my blog. The blog I've ignored for a very long time.

I ran into Serena Cruz today. Serena was instrumental in helping me become acquainted to graduate studies. I miss the old gang from my early grad school days. Ah, the vagaries of changing programs mid-stream.

I get to go to the oral surgeon today. Supposedly, I'm receiving a consultation for five extractions, and preparation for two implants. Wheeee...

Anyhow, that's my mundane life at the moment.

The weekend was relaxing.

Went out with inariargenteus and the boyz on Saturday, and ended up hitting a few interior design supply houses up in the south part of the design district (better known as the "Buena Vista" neighborhood, or by the name of the shopping center: "Midtown Miami"). We also went to the airport, for no other reason than to look around at the new terminal, which is nice and airy, but still dusty.

Sunday, we went out for breakfast, and then I had to come to the office to do some research for classes that I'm taking and for a book chapter that I'm writing. After I got that done, we went out again and headed to Lincoln Road over on Miami Beach. Tracy spotted "Española Way," and we took a detour down to that area. Then we came home, and had a picnic dinner on the floor while we watched "Cars".

All in all, it was a great time...

Technorati Tags: Weekend

To turn a phrase from Kit Ramsey, one of Eddie Murphy's characters in Steve Martin's "Bowfinger": "We've been watching films, not movies, lately."

This week, we watched two interesting films: "The Good Shepherd" and "Cinema Paradiso".

It took me a good 12-14 hours, eight of them sleep, to get past my disgust for the loss of life amongst some of the spies in "The Good Shepherd" to appreciate the acting of Matt Damon, in this Film Noir directed by Robert de Niro. I really did not like much of what the characters did in the film, but the acting that went into it was tremendous. For Matt Damon to be able to play his role as Edward Wilson, as straight as he did, must have been extremely difficult. The man shows zero emotion throughout the whole movie, except in a couple of fleeting instances, one being where he falls in love with Laura (played by Tammy Blanchard), the other being where he learns he was being taken advantage of by Hanna Schiller (played by Martina Gedeck), and realized he'd have to order her death.

Cinema Paradiso is a different story... obviously... but no less bittersweet. Put succinctly, it's a story of having to trade one's dreams of love for dreams of fame. Quite easy to see why this one won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film in 1990.

No, I'm not well. I'm still trying to recover from a cold that turned into pneumonia. Since I'm no longer running a fever, the docs office says that I don't need to go to the hospital, but I do need a follow-up chest x-ray in two weeks. No big deal.

Whom?

Okay... so if you read my posts back a few, you see that I saw "Amelie" a couple weeks ago. I liked the movie so much that I think I fell in love with the main character. She was beautiful in all senses of the word - and I developed a crush on her. Initially I thought it was Audrey Tautou I was in love with - the actress who played Amelie Poulin. But alas, I finally realized that it was the character with whom I was enamored, and not the actress who played her. But the damage was already done. Shortly after seeing the movie, we rejoined NetFlix, and I've ordered a couple more films with Audrey Tautou.

Regardless of my feeling and belief that Audrey Tautou is a superb actress, experiencing her acting has broadened my film horizons a great deal. As a start, I am now willing to watch French film, where before I was not. This started with looking at Jean-Pierre Jeunet's repertoire. I expect to be watching more of his films in the not-so-distant future (though I think I will skip Delicatessen for reasons I won't go into here).

Also, I've corresponded by e-mail a couple times with someone who I have read is Audrey Tautou's boyfriend: Lance Mazmanian. Honestly, while I found him by researching her, I don't care if he is or isn't her boyfriend. What he is, definitely, is interesting. He's a good photographer, and a decent writer, who is working on a short feature film called The Endgame Study. I'm trying to see if he'll let me see this feature; right now it looks as though viewings are limited to those who are in the industry. Ah well... it doesn't hurt to ask - something I've done already and am awaiting an answer.

I was talking to inariargenteus today, and told her that I'm surprised by many of the links my life seems to have spawned recently... From an interest in Audrey Tautou's acting, to the impressive photography and political musings of Lance Mazmanian, to a propaganda film recommended by my father-in-law, The Zeitgeist Movie, things are moving at a good clip right now...

And I like it.

Again.

I don't usually mind this, because it gives me a chance to connect with my customers, to join with the forces of the students running amok studying in the library, to become one with myself through hard work. Yeah, right... more like to sit here and answer mundane questions like: "Can I use any of the computers here?", or "How late are you open?", or "Do you have any headphones?", or, my current favorite, "Do you have a stapler I can use?" (as the student is standing right in front of a sign that says "Staplers are on the table behind you.") I'm also awestruck at the people who come in while I am trying to help a student, and just barge to the front of the line and demand to be helped. In the span of 3 minutes of helping someone here, I've ignored two of them already.

Anyhow, It's boring work, but one of my student employees called out sick, while she was here, and asked for a replacement. It's probably not that she's sick... I think she's just overwhelmed with the semester - being that its one of her last - and she's feeling that. I've seen it in students before. Hell, I've lived it. It's Not Very Good Fun. This is why I come in to replace my employees, even while I have a son at home who isn't doing so hot himself.

But I do need to get some research done, myself, so I will do that, and make the most of my time here.

For those of you who wonder if we still have a problem wish racism in this country:



Yes, I know I said that I would withhold political commentary from this site, but I felt this was an important piece that needed airing.

Thanks to PrincessLoki for this...

Okay... Facebook seems to be all the rage now, online. It is the new MySpace. I pride myself on being a geek, but I Just Don't Get It.

I can't figure the application out.

If I want to write about something to let you know about it (you, in this case, being my meager audience), I put it here. You come to my blog, and you read it, and perhaps comment on it.

On Facebook, it seems to be all about writing on OTHER people's "walls" (as bulletin boards are called in Facebook parlance). So, I guess it's a more active way to keep in touch with friends. Is that what it is?

Somebuddy HEP me!

Otherwise known as "Amélie" in America...

This Jean-Pierre Jeunet film was recommended to my wife and I by my father-in-law. He recommended it to us months ago, and I poo-pooed it, until a few days ago when my wife recommended we watch it. She was looking for something a bit more grown-up than the typical family fare that we watch. I am glad she recommended it. It has become, rapidly, a favorite film of mine.

I don't consider myself a huge fan of foreign cinema, but this work is absolutely brilliant, with never a dull moment. Audrey Tautou, who also appeared first-billed in The Da Vinci Code, opposite Tom Hanks, but who typically sticks to French film, was the absolute perfect choice for the character of Amélie.

Frankly put, I have never experienced an actor or actress who is able to make me feel what the character is feeling at the moment, the way she was. I am particularly referring to the scene in the movie where she is riding in the Fun House, and encounters her love interest, who is working as a skeleton, Nino Quincampoix.

The movie was nominated for five Oscars, and has won 49 other worldwide awards, garnering another 38 nominations in the process.

It truly is worth an investment of your time to experience this work of art, for the English tagline of the movie is true: One person can change your life forever.

I had a 32ms latency...

So, I've changed my academic program. I am now in the Ph. D. program for Public Management.

What this means is that I can focus on my real interests - technology, transportation, and economic development. One week in these courses has had me wondering why I spent so much time trying to chase a goal I didn't really want to attain - a masters in International Relations. But then it would be a waste of time to dwell on that. So I won't.

What I will dwell on is that I have some firm ideas where I want to focus my research, and, since I had really good training in being a graduate student in the IR program here, I know what pitfalls to avoid, and how to best improve my prospects of a successful program.

Now... back to the books.

So, I took the boys to McDonald's this morning for breakfast. This was so mommy could sleep in after a rather late night of movie watching.

We're sitting at the table, Donovan and I, while Logan was playing with the hand dryer. As I prepare the boys' big breakfast, Donovan hits and knocks over my drink, into the food. ALL of the food.

As I tear off to get napkins, he follows me through the restaurant, shouting: "I'm sorry daddy, I'm sorry daddy!"

Now, most parents probably would have responded to this much more calmly than I did. But it was his sixth spill in three days. Literally.

So, after throwing away $12 worth of food, we left and I calmed down enough to promise to teach him how to eat like a proper gentleman.

So that's where we are now, at burger king, eating.

This was an interesting question... so I decided to answer it.

My first crush was a girl named Juliet Jones.

I remember, to this day, walking around South Dade Park with her, her sister, and my sister, when I was oh... I think I was 11. She had braces, and was wearing a yellow and white terrycloth jumper. Her sister and mine were playing around, walking arm and arm. She and I were walking arm and arm, just skipping around the park.

Her folks were visiting mine, after having move to Atlanta the year before.

Julie, if you're out there, send me an e-mail... I'd love to try to get your mom back in touch with mine.

So - Who was YOUR first crush? What were they like?

Nothing like standing in line at the bookstore trying to return books.

Most diabetes patients are not doing even close to what they should to protect themselves. I know I'm not, but I hope to improve with some new therapies that I'm going to be on shortly.

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A favorite line from one of my all-time favorite movies, "Blazing Saddles". But that's not what I'm talking about here.

My son, Donovan, who is five, has taken up chess as a favorite game. He's incessantly asking us to play him. So, we've chickened out, and put him online with Chessmaster 10.

Well, for the first time in a couple weeks, I actually got some time to play him a couple days ago. While I was able to wipe him out in the first game, he nearly checked me good in the second. He learns THAT fast.

But it was fun.

Not that there was anything exhausting about it; but it was relaxing.

These past two weekends have been wonderful, in that we really haven't done anything, except take the kids to playgrounds, and watch movies, and eat loads of popcorn that is popped in hot oil, the way it should be. Relaxed to the point of lazing around starting at 5pm on Saturday in pajamas. (Didn't do that this weekend, but did last weekend.)

Something I've realized over the past couple months of not having school to do for the first time in a couple years, is that my family really is important to me, and I really have forsaken them for quite a long time. I'm glad they've hung in there this long. Only two more years to go guys.

Then I had to come back to work this morning... to a message from an employee who is caring for his sick mother, indicating that he would not be in today. And to another member of the team, indicating that he would be out today because he's not feeling well.

I guess it's part and parcel of being the boss.

What fun.

Thank Whomever, it's great to be focused on the family once again. :-D