This is really it, then. This is my farewell. This is my farewell to Se7enet, and to all of those who have visited and followed throughout the last eight years. Goodbye, all of you. Thank you for all the good times. Of course, it doesn’t have to be goodbye for you. The only real goodbye, here, is between me and Se7enet. And as I write this, I am sort of just now realizing exactly how hard that goodbye really is. When I posted the thing this morning, I wasn’t really thinking about it… I was just… posting. Now I’m kind of tearing up a little bit. Because this time it’s more real, somehow.

Anyway, I better get this over with, before I lose it. It’s kind of ridiculous, really. I’m a grown man, and this is just some stupid website. It’s not like it’s my kid or anything, right? And yet, here I am, wiping my stupid eyes.

Thanks again, everyone. You have no idea how much you’ve meant to me.

=====

Neverset – The Last Hardest Thing

I’ve got something to say
And I hope you take the time to listen
My words get in the way
You can blame it on me if it eases your pain

‘Cause I’m tired of holding on
I can’t do this alone you know

The first hardest thing
Is for me to walk away
But I’ll keep moving on
To get where I need to be, so don’t look back at me.

There’s nothing left to say
I can’t be the man that you want me to be
Our hearts want different things
Now the hard goodbye just got easier for me

‘Cause I’m tired of holding on
This time I’ll do it alone, you’ll see

The first hardest thing
Is for me to walk away
But I’ll keep moving on
To get where I need to be, so don’t look back at me.

All the lies that you told
And the secrets you hold
Sleepless nights all alone
All rolled into one
I said I wouldn’t leave
You should have believed
I can not get over what you did to me

The first hardest thing
Is for me to walk away
But I’ll keep moving on
To get where I need to be, so don’t look back at me.
The last hardest thing
Now that we both parted ways
Is to ask for forgiveness
And not to look back at me
And that’s the last hardest thing.

Yeah that’s the last hardest thing.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I believe Se7enet has run its course, and my blogging focus, such as it ever was, has changed. It saddens me… I’ve been using this domain since 2001, so it’s got a lot of history… a lot of me wrapped up in it.

I do plan on keeping the Se7enet.com domain, and at some point I may start using it again for something else. If nothing else, I’ll probably keep it for the email, since I’ve had just this one email address for the last 8 years. But for now, consider this my final post here. Thank you all for the wonderful times.

Once again, you can continue to follow me at JaminBlount.com.

Se7enet was always a place where I had my games, and my forums, and all kinds of other things, and the blog was kind of an afterthought. And now it’s really not any of that anymore… the forums are closed, I don’t work on the games anymore. Now it’s just the blog. And the blog has become more about the baby and my family and everything, rather than my computer and my projects and other technology stuff.

So I think it’s time to say goodbye to this one. I will make a new blog… I’ll get a new domain, or use one of the ones I’ve already got… but it will be more of a thing for keeping up with family and friends. I’ll put a link here. But whatever I end up making next… it won’t be Se7enet anymore. It hasn’t really been Se7enet for quite awhile anyway, I’m just dropping the attachment to the name.

(Why yes, he did manage to hit Option+Z to get the Omega sign there at the end.)

• Roll over in both directions.
• Prop himself up on his hands/elbows while laying on his stomach.
• Put the binkie back into his own mouth.
• Put himself to sleep with (mostly) minimal fight.
• Throw toys on the floor from his high chair and watch Mom and Dad pick them up repeatedly.
• Say “mama.”

Things my son has not learned to do.

• Say “dada.” Not jealous.
• Remain asleep through the night.
• Crawl.
• Walk.
• Go in the toilet.
• Be a linebacker for the Cowboys.
• Astrophysics.

And I’m not talking about how Dubya stole the 2000 election from Gore. I’m talking about the Iran thing that’s going on right now.

I suppose it helps to control the media. If you can put a gun to someone’s head and say “Tell them I won,” that probably helps. But can you take it farther than that? Like, exactly how far has Ahmedinejad gone to make it look like he won? Just tell the news to say so? Or did he (and is it possible to) actively play with the actual paper trail results?

Grand Ayatollah such-and-such has all but called for a recount, or said it was invalid, or something. But if one was really intent on stealing an election, how much would a recount matter? I mean, if you’re gonna steal an election, you probably put a gun to someone’s head (figuratively or literally) the first time and told them how to report things, so wouldn’t it make sense that you would do the same thing for the recount? I mean, really. Even if it’s just to make things look good, you’ve got a gun to your head, so you’re gonna be all like “yeah, that other guy totally got… like… three extra votes that we missed the first time.” And it doesn’t matter at all.

Or do you take it a step further. Don’t even worry about the media, or the election officials, but physically force people to vota certain way so that whatever paper trail exists is actually “legit” so far as any outside entity can tell.

I really am genuinely curious how this whole thing works. I mean, there was that “election” in North Korea recently where ol’ Kim Jong Il got something on the order of 98% of the vote. And we all knew it was a sham, because it was kind of one of those things where no one even pretended it was anything other than a sham. But this Iran thing… they at least had the makings of a legitimate vote, but the “winner” played around with the results just enough that it looks like they tried and that it was fucked with at the same time, which I think was the biggest part of why it’s all going to hell in a handbasket now. He would have done much better to win by just 1-2% which would have at least looked legit, or to dispense with all question and win with 98%. As it is, garnering 65-70% just reeks of election tampering, because it’s too much to be legit but not enough to be an obvious sham.

And then there’s the other side of the whole issue, which is, why?! From what I’ve read, the “President of Iran” isn’t really the guy in charge anyway. The Guardian Counsel, and the Lord High Ayatollah So-and-So are the kids who really call the shots. Such is the problem with a theocracy… the “election” can’t be trusted to the plebian masses, so the real running of the country is in the hands of those “chosen by God Himself.” So as best as I can figure, this whole election was some degree of worthless in the first place. It would be like the White House Press Secretary rigging an election for himself. Dude, you’re just a mouthpiece anyway… so why all the fuss? It’s not like you have any say in the matter. You know, we know, everyone knows that you just do what you’re told to do. So is it really worth the possibility that the plebian masses are going to get pissed and take out everyone?

That’s all I’ve got. If you have any thoughts, feel free to comment. I’m done being all philosophical. Enjoy.

===

Jhonen,

Welcome to the world, my son. Now, at the beginning of it, I want to wish you the best in your coming life. By the grace of God, your mother and I have been given the opportunity to play some small part in that life, and I truly hope that our contributions will be looked upon favorably, once they have been summed up at the end.

From the first moment you arrived into the world, I have felt the enormous burden of being almost solely responsible for the life of another human being. Every part of my life, every daily decision, has been subjected to the scrutiny of whether it is best for my son. Your mother and I are, at this point in our lives, lucky enough to have been blessed with the means and ability to treat you to everything we believe to be contributory to that goal: to provide you with nothing but the best. And if the result of our contribution to your life is that you can do the same for your own children, then we will have been successful.

In the hospital room after you were born, I stood next to you while the nurse cleaned you, measured you, checked you, and tested you. And when I put my hand near you, you grasped my finger in your tiny little hand. Since that moment, I have loved you with all my heart, with everything that is in me. If, at the end of all things, the final tally of my life results in nothing more than having created you, I will consider it complete.

Ever since the first moments after you were born, you have been so very interested in the world around you, and I pray with all my heart that you never lose that ability. You live in a very big world, with a great many interesting things, and it is my belief that someone who fails to appreciate the sheer greatness and wonder of everything around them does not live life to its fullest. Never limit yourself to the house, the town, the state, the country, or even the planet that you were born a part of. Your potential is and always will be unbounded by any artificial limitations. If you fear the unknown, if you tell yourself that something cannot or should not be known, cannot or should not be done, you fall short of the universe’s plan for your life. I know in my heart that you are destined for great things.

As I write these words, you have been a part of my life for about four months. You cry, you fuss, and you fight so hard when we try to put you to sleep. But you also smile, you laugh, and you squeal with delight when we find new ways to entertain you. All the crying, all the fussiness, all the sleepless nights begging you to calm down and go to sleep so Daddy can be coherent at work tomorrow… one single smile pays for all of it. I simply cannot imagine my life without you, and I would not trade one laugh for all the riches in the world.

Please know that your mother and I will always be here for you. Even after one or both of us have been taken from this realm and into whatever comes next, we will remain in your heart and in your mind. Ask us any question, and we will give you whatever answer we are capable of giving. Ask for any assistance, and we will provide whatever help we can. You are the sum of our parts; you are the completion of our lives. If all of it were to end tomorrow, your mother and I would look back on a job well done, because we were given the opportunity to create you.

I love you.

Please never stop being yourself.

Love forever,

Dad.

And let me tell you: it is better. Oh, how awesome it is. There are currently Throwback versions of both Pepsi and Mt. Dew, and they are both simply stunning compared to their normal counterparts. If you are a fan of either, you should go to great lengths to find the Throwback versions. Seriously. They’re that good.

I was born in 1982, and was able to make informed opinions on the taste of pop significantly later – significantly after the switch to HFCS. So I’ve never really even been exposed to the “before” recipe. And I can still tell a difference. I can still say that it’s better.

Unfortunately, from what I’ve read, the Throwback versions are going away sometime in mid-June. So it would be wise to get what you can – try it if you haven’t yet, and stock up on it if you have – as soon as possible.

My own personal opinion is that since corn (obviously the primary component of HFCS) is rapidly becoming expensive due to the green movement, there will come a time when sugar is actually cheaper than corn. And when that happens, Pepsi and pretty much everyone else will do well to consider switching back to using real sugar as their standard sweetener. So maybe this whole “throwback” limited edition thing is a precursor to rolling sugar out across their entire product line in order to save money.

In the meantime… keep stocking up on it. According to everything I’ve read, it’s going away in a couple weeks. And then I’m going to have to face the unfortunate reality of going back to “regular” Mountain Dew. And that’s just not something I want to think about at the moment.

I realize that “crossover” is simply our generation’s word to replace “station wagon,” but hey, it’s better than a minivan, right? So here’s what I think, after having driven it a several times over the last couple weeks.

1. The rear window is effing tiny. The cars I’m used to driving, the rear window is a big square thing that takes up pretty much all of the space it’s provided. Here, it’s fairly small to begin with, and it is very rounded for aesthetic purposes, so there’s a lot of wasted space in what would have otherwise been the corners of the window. The rear pillars are pretty big, too, so it’s got a bit of a blind spot that’s marginally annoying.

2. I could stand some more cupholders and power jacks. Up front, there’s a big cupholder and a small cupholder. Not wanting to ruin the new car smell any faster than absolutely necessary, I haven’t actually gone anywhere that would require me to use the cupholders… but there’s enough room that they could have made both cupholders the same size so that we don’t have to choose who gets a large drink. Also, unless there’s one in the back seat that I haven’t found yet, this car has exactly one cigarette lighter power jack. Which pretty much forces us to buy a power splitter if we need to charge our GPS and iPod at the same time (which we definitely will need to do, in a month or so when we drive up to KC).

3. The CVT (continuously variable transmission) is bleeding awesome. It’s smooth as butter. Speeding up, slowing down, whatever, there’s never a kick when the transmission shifts gears (because, as I understand it, a CVT doesn’t actually have gears, it just adjusts the power as necessary at any given moment). And even though it’s just an inline 4-cylinder (and ~700 pounds heaver than the Sentra it shares the platform with), it actually feels like it’s got a bit of spunk in city driving. Going from 30 to 70 on an on-ramp isn’t quite as peppy, but going from 0 to 40 after a stoplight feels like there’s quite a bit of power behind you.

4. The base model is actually fairly well-equipped. Power locks, windows, and mirrors, and an AUX jack in the stereo so I don’t have to fuck with the stupid FM transmitter for my iPod. The CVT (which replaces an Automatic transmission) is standard, so you don’t have to pay the extra grand to upgrade from manual. It doesn’t have a sunroof, in-dash satnav, or anything super fancy, but it’s got all the basics – a lot more than normally came standard the last time I went car shopping (six years ago).

What happened to my life plan? I’m in an HOA neighborhood in the suburbs and driving an SUV. I even wear effing Ralph Lauren now. I definitely did not see this coming, like, 5 years ago.