Merry Christmas, Family!

Scott and I wish you all our love and much happiness during this holiday season and every day of the year.

And I promise to get you all caught up with our upstairs bathroom remodeling. MPOW (that's a blog abbreviation for My Place Of Work) has kept me especially busy this past month, which left me feeling pretty lazy about blogging. The bathroom is almost done--I expect to be posting photos of the finished product within the next two weeks. (It would be sooner, but the contractor is only working Wednesday and Thursday of this coming week between Christmas and New Year's Day.) We can't wait for you to see it!

Love,
Steven

Hey Justin...

Happy Birthday!

Sorry, no photo of you to post with this birthday blog greeting. And, of course, your card will arrive late. Such is the curse of being a member of our family.

Love,
Uncle Steven

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

A couple of exciting developments in the upstairs bathroom today (work day 13)...just not what we expected.

In the photo you see our new recessed mirrored medicine cabinet, and the new light fixture above it, in the...the...hey, where's the wall?!? I'm a little confused by the mounting of these items in a wall with no drywall. But I'm not a contractor. I'm not even a DIYer. So, who am I to doubt that this isn't the correct order in which to do the work. I keep telling myself to just take a deep breath and trust that the contractor and her crew know what they're doing.

Click the photo to view a few more on Flickr.

Update: Turns out Alvaro (the lead worker on our job) installed the medicine cabinet and light fixture just so we could see how they look. He'll take them down before the drywalling starts. See, my deep breath and trust strategy works!

Upstairs Bathroom Remodeling: Work Day 12

"Although still early in the process, we expect the pace of work to pick up and proceed rather quickly now."

That immortal line is taken from my previous blog post dated Monday, November 13. In the last week there's been very little visible progress, if only because much of the work being done was "behind the wall" stuff like replacing the water pipes all the way down to the basement and rewiring the bathroom so it's on its own two circuits in the breaker box.

Finally, late last week and today there's some 2x4 framing that's starting to give the bathroom some shape, but all of the walls are still bare studs. But the contractor tells me the work will be half way completed by the end of the day this Wednesday. Really? I'll be curious to see what qualifies as "half way." I'll post photos, of course. In the meantime, here's a gratuitously cute photo of Calvin and Abner.

We're not discouraged though. As a matter of fact, I'll be signing another contract with the contractor to redo our powder room and turn our basement into a livable TV room. That work will start as soon as the upstairs bathroom is finished. As much as we'd like to have our house all to ourselves again, we want all of the remodeling projects completed more.

The Whirlpool Tub!

Work day 7 and the new whirlpool tub is in position and the plumbing has begun. We finished up most of the shopping for the bathroom this past weekend, buying the tub, two different kinds of thin set and two different colors of unsanded grout (for two different types of tile), and a new floor register. We also scouted medicine cabinets, which we still need to buy. The only other items still on our shopping list are paint and switch plates.

Although still early in the process, we expect the pace of work to pick up and proceed rather quickly now. And despite the mess and stress the bathroom remodeling is causing, our contractor is meeting with us this Thursday evening to discuss two more job -- redoing the powder room on the first floor, and turning the front room of our basement into a TV room/home theater space.

Random Facts About My iTunes Library

(Or, is there such a thing as too much Kylie?)

The following facts and statistics were generated by a website called the iTunes Registry. You upload a file of your iTunes library and it analyzes it for you. So, presented here for my amusement and yours, are some random facts about my iTunes library...

• Most Played Track: "Shocked" by Kylie Minogue


• Most Played Album: Kylie Minogue's "Greatest Hits 87-97"


• Most Played Artist: Kylie Minogue


• Newest Track: "Smile" by Lily Allen (last week's free download from the iTunes Store)


• Least Recently Played: "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing" by Pet Shop Boys (does not include songs in my library that have never been played)


• Average number of Albums per Artist: 1.84


• Average number of Tracks per Artist: 9.46


• Average number of Tracks per Album: 5.15
  

iTunes Registry is pretty cool -- but not perfect. For example, it says I have 6,196 tracks in my library, when iTunes itself says there are 6,287 items. And iTunes Registry says the longest track in my library is one called "More More More." I do have a song in my library called "More, More, More" by Bananarama, but it's only about 3 minutes long. And I have a song in my library called "I'm A Man" by Macho that's over 17 minutes long, which really is the longest, but somehow iTunes Registry missed it.

Bugs are to be expected since iTunes Registry is still in beta form. But even with the bugs I like this site and will continue to upload my library data to it.

Upstairs Bathroom Remodeling: Work Days 2 & 3

The demolition was pretty much done by the end of the second work day, which was yesterday. I've uploaded a new "day 2" photo set to Flickr so you can see the carnage.

New construction hasn't even started and already we're making changes to the original plan. Here it is only the third work day and we've decided that, because we have enough capacity in our breaker box to support a second circuit in the bathroom, we should install a whirlpool tub! Scott is very happy. And that's all that counts, isn't it?

It's so tempting to blog on about what we've got planned for the bathroom...but you're just going to have to wait to see it as it happens. Stay tuned!

Our Upstairs Bathroom Remodeling Begins

We're finally getting around to remodeling our upstairs bathroom. Or, to be more correct, we're finally getting around to PAYING someone to remodel our upstairs bathroom. We signed a contract with our contractor over two months ago, and the work finally started last Friday morning. We're documenting the process, beginning with some "before" and "day 1" photos on Flickr. (Sorry, but I wasn't very creative with the captions.)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

C'mon, you didn't think I'd let your birthday go by without a blog post...did you? :-)

That's Mom and me dining outside during our trip to Poplar Tree Bay in August. I think it was taken at Foxy's in Fischer's Landing. Scott is the photographer.

Love you and happy birthday!

Steven

Andy Dick Denies He's Gay...

...and gay men everywhere breathe a huge sigh of relief!

"Andy Dick Denies He's Gay"
http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2006-10-11/celeb/9

--World Entertainment News Network

Viva Las Vegas!

Scott and I are off to Las Vegas Friday morning for our annual pilgrimage to "Sin City." The forecast is for lower 100s and sunny almost every day we're there. But it's a dry heat. ;-)

We're back in Chicago Tuesday night...hopefully with some gambling winnings in our pockets. Wish us luck!

Poplar Tree Bay, June-July 2006

Poplar Tree Bay Jun-Jul 2006-21
Originally uploaded by steventhemusical.

Here at last...the long-awaited photos to our trip up to Poplar Tree Bay over the Independence Day pre-holiday weekend. Scott and I drove up and arrived Friday. Kathy flew up and joined us Saturday.

It was a great trip. We were able to golf twice...which was good even though my own golf game was awful. No bike rides though. The sporting goods store that we took the bikes to for a tune up and to fix a flat tire, and which told us they'd be done on Sunday, just called us today (yes, a week later!) to tell us the bikes are ready to be picked up.

Scott and Kathy's Uncle Jim and Aunt Bev had us over for their annual Clayton, NY fireworks party, with a fantastic view of the fireworks display over the St. Lawrence River from their own private dock.

Scott and Kathy's sister, Dawn, and her daughters, Erin, Jill and Lisa, arrived the Monday before the holiday to begin an extended vacation all their own. Unfortunately, Scott and I had to hit the road that same afternooon, so we didn't get to spend much time with them. We expect Erin, Jill and Lisa will be very popular with the teenage boys of the multiple families from Rochester that occupy the Poplar Tree Bay community.

Driving from Chicago to Cape Vincent is rough...but even staying overnight in a hotel along the way it's still cheaper than flying most of the time. And there's something especially relaxing about not stressing over airport checkin, security, flight delays and checked baggage. We'll be driving up again in August (when Mom will be joining us), but will probably fly if we squeeze in a long weekend in September.

Click on the photo of me, Scott and Kathy to jump to this new photo set on Flickr.

Where I've Been; Where We're Going

Hiya, Family!

Last weekend I was in New Orleans for work. The 2006 American Library Association Annual Conference, which is about this time every year, was New Orleans' first post-Katrina large scale convention...and it appears to have been a big success for the city. For an idea of what this event meant to New Orleans, here's an excerpt from a column that appeared in the city's newspaper, The Times-Picayune:

"A friend of mine passed on to me a story from the Windsor Court Hotel, where, one night, a group of drunken librarians raced up and down the hallways in a
juvenile thrall in the wee hours of the morning, raising a holy ruckus.

"I don't mean to read too much into this event, but it's a sign that New Orleans is ready to be, once again, New Orleans when drunken librarians in relax-fit jeans and plaid shirts cavort in the halls of fancy hotels.

"It's one small (wobbly) step for man, one giant step for New Orleans."

Of course, the whole drunken thing is one of the reasons I kind of hate New Orleans. But so it goes.

Anyway, hardly a chance to catch my breath before Scott and I hit the road to Poplar Tree Bay for the holiday weekend. We're leaving immediately after work this afternoon. Scott's car is packed full of stuff we're taking to leave up there, as well as my big ol' suitcase (because I always overpack). We'll drive as far as Port Huron, Ontario tonight; spend the night in a hotel; then continue on our way to Cape Vincent Friday morning. Can't wait!

We'll take more photos, which I'll upload to Flickr after we get back on July 4th. (Sorry, no Internet access in the trailer yet, so I won't be blogging in real-time.)

Have a Happy 4th of July, everyone!

UPDATE: More about the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans...

"'You are pioneers, and you are sending a signal to the world that says New Orleans is okay,' Mayor C. Ray Nagin told librarians at the opening session of the American Library Association’s June 22–28 Annual Conference in the Big Easy, the largest convention in the city since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the region in August and September 2005. With 16,582 attendees streaming into New Orleans, the conference was an economic shot in the arm estimated at about $20 million."

Happy Birthday, Paul

Birthday greetings from here in the steamy Windy City, cousin!

Hope you've had a great day and have big plans for the remainder of your birthday.

Love,
Steven

How to Tell If You're Young or Old

Thought this was funny...

From: gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards". Reprinted via Creative Commons license.

Happy Father's Day, Dad

Gee, Dad, how many other fathers do you know can say they were blogged for Father's Day? Unfortunately, I don't have a digital photo of you. So, instead I'm posting a homage of sorts -- my recreation of those photos you used to snap of yourself with the old instamatic, holding it at arms length and pointing it back at you. As a matter of fact, I've decided I like this silly photo so much I'm going to use it in my blog profile. Thanks for the inspiration, Dad, now and always.

Have a great Father's Day!

Love,
Steven

Happy Birthday, Stacey!

It's a Hofmann sibling first: a blogged birthday greeting!

Have a great one, Stacey. Celebrate a lot...or at least as much as you can get away with at our age. Yes, I know I'm older than you are -- and always will be -- but not so much that "our age" isn't still applicable. ;-)

Love,
Steven

Mom is Coming to Poplar Tree Bay!

Poplar Tree Bay May 2006 098
Originally uploaded by steventhemusical.

Scott and I are both really excited that Mom will be joining us at the trailer when we're there in August. We're driving up, and Mom will fly in to join us for four nights. I can't wait for her to see in person how beautiful it is up there in person.

(Update: Just correcting some poor sentence construction.)

Congratulations, Justin & Lauren!

Graduation
Originally uploaded by currierstacey.

Class of 2006.

Survey says "iPods more popular than beer"

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1795

Proof either that there is a God, or that the end of the world is near...depending on your point of view. ;-)

Another Hofmann sibling joins the blogosphere

Did everyone notice that Jenni and Billy have a blog now?

3goldogblog

We are such a cool family!

Poplar Tree Bay, May 2006

Poplar Tree Bay May 2006 141
Originally uploaded by steventhemusical.

Okay, better late than never. We've been back since Tuesday night, but I just now uploaded a bunch of photos of our vacation "home" (i.e. trailer) -- Poplar Tree Bay -- to a photo sharing site called Flickr. Click on this photo and you'll be taken to my Flickr photostream, where you can view all of the photos I uploaded. (Click a photo to view a larger version of it.)

We're planning on driving up to Poplar Tree Bay the weekend before July 4th and then again early/mid August. Anyone want to join us? Assuming we can replace the existing water heater (which is tiny) with something larger, the trailer should be able to sleep 4-5 of us in relative comfort.

Happy Anniversary!

Today, Scott and I celebrate our fourteenth year together. Nothing special planned for tonight though. We'll celebrate the event in a more proper fashion this weekend, when we're in Cape Vincent with Scott's sister and brother-in-law.

Subscribe to Steven: The Musical!

Because some of you aren't very well acquainted with blogs, you may not realize that one of the great things about them is blogs are syndicated. That means instead of having to visit a blog to check for new content, you can subscribe to the blog and let it tell you when there's something new to read.

You'll see a new "Subscribe" button near the top of the column just to the left. Clicking this button takes you to my subscription page on Feedpass. From there you can subscribe to my blog with any number of popular feed readers (what?!?), or even receive new posts via email. How convenient is that! And what's so cool is that this Feedpass page is a mini lesson about this whole syndication/subscribe/feeds thing. Might be worth a read.

And I can try to show you how all this works when Scott and I are in Danville this weekend.

See you soon!

Morning Commute: The last 5 songs that played on my iPod shuffle

1. "Disco Down" - Kylie Minogue
2. "I Want You" - Juliet Roberts
3. "Hold On" - Black Box
4. "Music Gets the Best of Me" - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
5. "Window Shopping for Blinds" - The Beautiful South

Evening Commute: The last 5 songs that played on my iPod shuffle

1. "Turn the Beat Around" - Vicki Sue Robinson
2. "You'll Never Stop Me From Loving You" - Sonia
3. "Still Standing" - Kylie Minogue
4. "I Feel For You" - Kylie Minogue
5. "Somebody Should Have Told Me" - Cissy Houston
   

Generation C (the "C" is for "Content"...or maybe "Crap")

There's an interesting quote in the online article at...

www.trendwatching.com/trends/GENERATION_C.htm

...that may give you an idea of what to expect from my blog:

"Don't get us wrong: superior tools and no talent still equals useless
content. GENERATION C is and will continue to create heaps and heaps of
crap which, at best, will be appreciated only by inner-circle friends
and family."

Lucky you, my "inner-circle" of family and friends. Enjoy the crap to
come!

Sibling Rivalry

My sister Stacey has a blog. Now I have a blog, too. See my blog, Mom? Mom! Mom, look at my blog!

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day! :-)