Over the past month, I have gone over a number of ideas of how I wanted to approach this memorial, whether a blog entry or a long biography filled with photos, but for now it has come to this – a bit of both worlds.  I have created a separate page as a tribute to my dog, Katie, which for now includes a eulogy, a large photo gallery, and a place for any of you to write about a fun memory of her you may have.  I have alot of ideas and things to work on for this site on a whole, and part of that will be the addition of more Mark Mushakian Classics (my old movies), which often starred my dog, and also a section tentatively called Home Movies, which would be clips of exactly that the title says – and Katie will definitely be featured there quite often.

As I just mentioned, this site is going to undergo a MAJOR overhaul in completion and fluidity.  I am going to work very hard on getting this site up to par with what it should be – some of it is done already.  Already, over my spring break, I have been working non-stop on the things that are already changed.  In the effort to clean up this site, I have had to drop support for any Internet Explorer under version 6.  I know – who still uses that?  But still, it’s worth the mention.  Also, the menus operate by javascript now (since Internet Explorer made using CSS just impossible), so if the flyout levels don’t work for you – that’s why.  And, if that’s all over your head…just ignore it.  I am still learning alot about all of this, and as I do, there are things that I discover that will make this site even nicer.  I am still working on updating the blogs and the Site News to a new style, so until then they may be out of regular service or unavailable.  I know I say it alot, being excited about new ideas and all, but that’s because this site is always in transition as I learn more and more.

So yes, I’ll say once again, I am excited about getting back to work on this site and improving/adding a number of features.  I miss my dog, I miss the hell out of her, but I’m not a sobbing mess.  I’ll always remember her, I’m able to share that here, and it has taken some adjusting to not having her around anymore – but life does move on, and as that little box on the left reminds us every week, there are always reasons to enjoy life.

That’s how my dog lived.  Of course, she was just a dog, but she always smiling a genuine and content smile, always finding a reason to be happy, and that’s how I like to live my life – even while others may not understand how or why.

For those of you who may not know, I recently decided to go back to college.  It’s been about 7 years since the last time I was in school fulltime, and that, coupled with the season changing, has caused me to look like this for the past few days…

Regardless of that, though, I have been working my hardest on my short animation, because I’m really intent to have it done for Valentine’s Day.  However, feeling as I look, I occasionally need a break, and that’s when I remember one of the great joys of life.  This being, that when you’re a little under the weather, there are few things better than a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup…

and mindlessly watching something good on TV…

(for OBVIOUS reasons)…

Boy, warm food and women – you can’t do better than that!

As I sat here in my room yesterday and stared into my closet, I realized something.  This is something I have known for many years, but it struck me once again rather profoundly last night, so I wanted to share.  I am a dark, dark man.  My choices, are usually very dark and bland, but I can’t help it…that’s what I tend to prefer.  I am talking about, of course, my clothes.

Look at that, there isn’t a bright and cheery color anywhere to be found, and that image doesn’t even show all of my dark colored sweaters.  There may be a few white dress shirts, but that’s about it.  I had a good laugh when I saw this, so I had to take a picture.  It’s just a sea of browns, greens, blacks, and grays – all dark and muddy.  But, hey, it could be worse.  I could walk around dressing like this -

(Smiley faces always added to protect the innocent)

A brief thought, today.  This is something I’ve often wondered about, but it’s really come to the forefront of my thoughts lately.  How do we have different opinions?  I love a movie, yet you can hate it.  Where the heck do these opinions come from?  Sure, some opinions come from previous experiences or the influence of others, but do they all?  It’s really something I find very interesting.  How can two people look at the same painting, and while one may think it’s beautiful, the other thinks it is ugly.  To me, this is a very strange thing, and if you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to comment – I’d love to hear your opinions on why we have opinions.