Brutally Honest

Much needed context

The content of this post has been removed.  I may re-publish at a later date.

Skydiving video (UPDATED)

Aight folks... I'm continuing to struggle with getting my video converted... so I've put together a montage of sorts of my still pics... to some Doobie Brothers... while we await the real thing (which looks so nice on my 61' Samsung... but I digress)... it's short... there are huge gaps... but it's all I can give ya at the moment:

UPDATE: Okeydoke...The good news is that I've solved the problem for Mrs. BH and so here is her video... note the fearlessness, the nervousness-less, the pure excitement and anticipation on her face... then note my expressions... priceless:

An exhilarating ride

Well we did it.

The missus and I now join that small percentage of the population that's jumped out of a perfectly good airplane.

The experience is unmatched.  From the ride up in the plane to the landing in the grass field, it was sensory overload.  I so recommend this to the hearty.

Was I 'skeert'?  I think nervous is more like it.  We were scheduled to be jumping before 1 PM.  We didn't jump till after 6.  There were delays due to a shortage of videographers and a plethora of people like me and Mrs. BH wanting to record the event.  But it was worth it nevertheless.

The people at Skydive Suffolk were outstanding.  The lady coordinating all the jumpers kept apologizing for the delays but it seemed no one was bothered by the wait.  The weather, though initially somewhat threatening as to rain, got better as the day wore on.  We (Mrs. BH and I) were on Load #14.  3 single jumpers and then our two tandems.  We climbed to 14,000 ft and after the singles left the airplane, I was next. 

Though I was nervous at times during the day, especially after one guy's main chute failed and he had to go to his reserve, that event taking place one flight before our own, it didn't really hit me till I was told that we were at 13,500 feet and the single chutists began preparations for their exits.  Once they were out of the airplane and I was told to begin scooting toward the door, that's when I began to question the wisdom of it all.

Yet before I could really get too anxious, out the plane's door I went, falling away on my back initially while watching the plane for what seemed like a while but was probably no more than 2 or 3 seconds, then flipping over on my belly and enjoying the rest of the ride. 

It was truly incredible.  The vistas, the sensations, your 5 senses taking it all in.  It's indescribable.

I wanted to get video up with this post but alas, I'm having technical difficulties with the format in use.  Once solved, I'll post the vids.  In the meanwhile, I leave you with separate pics of me and the missus to mull over (click to see the larger images).  I hope to turn all our stills into a slideshow and get them posted as well.

What am I, chopped liver?

Melissa Clouthier has a list of the 10 hottest new media guys on the right... she must've missed my own set of stud-muffin pics...

Just sayin'.

Celebrating life

Well before we learned that President Bush (41) had yet again jumped out of an airplane, the missus and I had scheduled our own. Tomorrow around noon, we'll celebrate life ourselves. 

Hats off to President Bush for his inspiration and leadership. 

Here's hoping we all learn that life is short and meant to be enjoyed.

28 years

Happy anniversary to the woman of my dreams.  Looking forward to 28 more and beyond... and to tomorrow's tandem parachute jump.

Love you woman.

Not quite into The Top 100

Via Rick Klein at ABC's The Note:

... here’s an interesting tool I recently came across: From Wikio.com, it’s a ranking of political blogs -- emanating from everywhere from living rooms, mainstream media organizations, and the White House.

The rankings are compiled based on links from other blogs -- with extra weight given to blogs that rank higher via Wikio’s formulas, and based on how recently an item is published. Blog rolls aren’t taken into account, so only fresh postings impact the rankings. http://www.wikio.com/about-us

One of the intriguing aspects of this list is that it puts everyone in the same pot. The list has mainstream media blogs -- from ABC News, CNN, The New York Times, and others -- alongside well-known partisan bloggers -- Michelle Malkin, FireDogLake -- and even government-run bloggers, like WhiteHouse.gov’s.

We got a sneak peek at the latest rankings -- due to be published Friday -- below. It’s a fun list to analyze: Huffington Post has the top spot, with the liberal Center for American Progress’ Think Progress and the conservative National Review’s The Corner right behind.

My colleague Jake Tapper’s Political Punch blog also cracks the Top 10. The Note -- which launched as a blog in December, after serving only as a morning tipsheet before that -- is No. 30 (and climbing); George Stephanopoulos’ Bottom Line blog is No. 39, and the now-discontinued Political Radar blog is still No. 40, because of (presumably) older links to the site.

So where, you might be asking, is Brutally Honest?

Sure, I'd like to be higher but I've been in this 'sphere long enough now (since 2003) to know that aspirations like that can be a trap. So I just keep on keepin' on... and I try to have fun with it.  And the neatest thing about it all is my regular readership... some of you have been around for quite some time and to you I give a hearty thanks.

I've yet to find out what the bottom of Wikio's rankings are so that I can get some sense of where my ranking is... nevertheless, I'll take it and run with it but clearly, as this The New York Times piece published today touches upon, the 'sphere is strewn with the bodies of abandoned blogs:

According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled.

...

Richard Jalichandra, chief executive of Technorati, said that at any given time there are 7 million to 10 million active blogs on the Internet, but “it’s probably between 50,000 and 100,000 blogs that are generating most of the page views.” He added, “There’s a joke within the blogging community that most blogs have an audience of one.”

Given all that... I'll take my Wikio ranking and pronounce that all is good.

Sis-in-law update

Robin has posted the following at her place:

My wishes in the previous post were not granted. Dad passed at 1:30 in the morning, Wednesday May 20th. We were all able to be there with him.

The outpouring of love and support from family and friends has been amazing. We have never felt so loved. It truly makes the healing process easier.

Brandon is healthy and I am so grateful for him. He is helping me keep my sanity, reminding me to eat, and sending me love taps in the form of kicks and punches.

Dad's memorial service was this past Saturday. We were able to reconnect with old friends and family. Dad didn't want a funeral, and his memorial service was a celebration of his life, a chance to share memories, cry, laugh, and heal.

The family gathered at my aunt's house after the memorial service, the weather was perfect, exactly how Dad would have wanted it. I was able to release some pent up frustration with an AR-15, some rounds of ammo, and a few clay targets. I was in a dress, barefoot, and pregnant, with a rifle. Now why didn't we get a picture of that?

I am more than thankful for all of the prayers, I am trying my hardest to trust that He wouldn't give us anything we can't handle and that this is all part of His plan. I have to say that it is a bit hard not to be mad right now though.

More updates will come soon, I'll close this with the sweetest conversation I had all week, this one with my seven year old nephew.

Jacob: "Auntie Robin, when cell phones break, do they go to heaven?"
Robin: "No sweetie, they can't go to heaven. Why?"
Jacob: "I was hoping that they did so Granddaddy can call us if he gets lonely."

Hoping God's comfort and closeness is tangible and soon.

Prayers for my sis-in-law and her family

Robin writes:

Dad had a massive heart attack and wasn't breathing when the paramedics took him. She needed Mike and I to come down. The trip from Gloucester to Chesapeake was the longest trip I've ever had to take.

The paramedics revived Dad on the way to the hospital, he is currently in ICU. One of his bypass grafts collapsed during the attack and his heart is not pumping full strength. If he recovers he will need an implanted defibrillator.

Dad never woke up Friday night, the heart attack occurred in his sleep. They have kept him sedated since then, trying to allow his body to heal. The next step occurs today, they will try to wake him up and see how he responds.

The worst case scenario is that due to a lack of oxygen to his brain Friday night, he won't recover. Our hope is that since Mom was right there and immediately began CPR, which pumped blood to his brain while he wasn't breathing, that he will recover.

I would give anything to see him wake up today, look around, and say "WTF?".

Lord God, make your tangible presence known in this circumstance.

A hearty welcome to the 'sphere

Hope you regulars will head over to the sis-in-law's new place and say hi.  She's decided to chronicle her goings on as she moves toward motherhood.  From what I've seen thus far, she's quite the verbsmith and can paint with words quite nicely.

An example, this nursery rhyme put together for her soon-to-be that I think well describes her as a bit of a baseball fanatic:

Hush little baby, don't say a word.
Red Sox gonna kill some Orioles birds.

And when those birds no longer sing,
We'll show the Yankees our home run swings.

And when New York no longer shines,
We'll beat Tampa Bay in the bottom of the nine.

Sleep little baby, that is all.
Cause Canadians can't play no real baseball.

And when our bats no longer swing,
Papi will show you his Championship ring.

I'll set aside my personal thoughts as to the girly-men status of the BoSox and simply state that I think all of you should join in welcoming her to the blogosphere.