So here it is, the official Vintonville family ala pumpkin. Heyo!

So once Lady-Friend recovered from her warm-up Half-Marathon, we struck out to see the local sights… which is pretty much red rocked desert. And while that sounds a little “Meh”, it’s ridiculously invigorating and awe-inspiring country with so much to see from horizon to toe-tip your eye can hardly take it all in.

When we arrived to our first hike in Arches National Park, Little Sis had totally passed out like she’d been on an all-night milk and cookies bender, which is almost partially true. With parental foresight unequaled by any but God Himself, we’d packed a hiking backpack just for this kind of this-family-won’t-be-held-back-by-anyone’s-need-for-sleep-edness. We carefully pulled the rag-doll formerly known as Little Sis from her car seat and placed her into the pack.

Two minutes later she was awake and delighted to be there.

Twenty seconds later, not so much.

I hope.

In the mean time, this sucker’s still a work in progress, so things may change a bit (backgrounds, logo, a few extra boxes here and there, etc.), but for now Vintonville’s search for the ultimate sexy is pretty much finalized.

I’m pretty in love with how it’s turned out for the most part (Bokeh POWER) and excited to play with a ridiculous list of flirty features and design options, but do let me know what you think because “0 Comments” posts are the equivalent to my ego being karate-chopped in the pants.

Enjoy.

For a while, I thought I was a PC guy.

Post-college, my on-again-off-again advertising/graphic design relationship with the Mac did a triple reverse pike belly flop into the pool of quick and dirty corporate PC computing. Which was ok with me. I’d been dating PC for decades and had plenty of comfortable, “I can fix that” history with all its bugs, driver updates and plug and pray theatrics.

BUT, after decades of making out with the utilitarian PC brand and a few years of flirting with a Macbook Pro, our family recently invested in a “you gave my TV big time screen envy” iMac. I’m late to the party, but the streamlined, simplified elegance of this machine is like warm–but still at arms length– hug. The computer’s IN the monitor? No more towers? No more wires? No more jet turbine cooling fans? Customer support that practically wraps me in a scarf, skinny jeans, Converse, square glasses and stylized bedhead? Cutesy, pop bubblegum graphics to visually hold my hand with a wink and  a smile?

It’s double-fine.

And double the price. We had to rent the basement out to a wandering troupe of lost magazine salespeople for two weeks and three days, but what’s price when you’ve got a gleaming, glowing monitor the size of your youngest child perched on the desk in your office?

Nothing, that’s what.

This might be more urgent if I’d actually posted anything in the last few days, but hey, there you go.

I’ve just been to lazy to post anything about it. That and there’s too many pictures to sort through. Soon enough.

When the first day of spring greets you with a snowy kick to the privates, sometimes caution can eat it. And right now, caution is stuffing its face.

College funds, debt elimination, investing, saving, budget-based sanity: weak-willed excuses of the past.

We’re going to Hawaii. Soonish. And when the brain comes up with some excuse cow-towing to its iron-fisted overlord of fiscal responsibility, I’ll shout back, “Dammit, Man! I’m an American! Fiscal irresponsibility my a constitutional obligation!”

Sure, using the cost offset of Sky Miles is a flaccid excuse for tapping savings but when my family’s begging for a handout off the overpass of I-15 and Consequences Blvd., we’ll have photographic stacks of warm Kauain memories to give us some perspective. Or use as firewood.