Since this Memorial Day, I would be remiss if I didn’t take some time to express my sincerest gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all of the men and women of our Armed Forces who served, are currently serving, and have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this great country. Without you, this country would not be free and we would not have the things we take for granted every day. You are all heroes and have my utmost respect. Know that Americans support and appreciate all that you do. Hopefully someday all Americans will appreciate what you do and the sacrifices you make. May God continue to bless all of you in uniform and these United States of America.

I consider myself a hear-and-there racing fan, only watching an Indy Car, Formula One or Nascar race when it’s the only thing interesting on TV at the time. However, there is one race I always watch every year, the Indianapolis 500. There is something about the largest attended sporting event in the world and Indy car racing that is appealing to me.

I enjoy the sound of the cars at top speed and the open wheel style of racing. I am not really a fan of any specific driver, I just enjoy the drama and speed of the event as a whole. As I am watching it now, I have to say the pace and amazing driving this year has made this race one of the most exciting to watch in years.

In my 31 years, I have been a part of a generation that has seen the digital age grow exponentially. As I sit outside writing this on my 12″ Mac G4 Powerbook using wifi from inside my house, the technology that allows me to do this is frankly amazing. Not that I am naive or do not keep upon technology, quite the contrary.

I remember playing one of the first video games “Pong” on a TV using a box consisting of 2 dials to control the pong players (Rectangles really…). I also remember using one of the first personal computers the Commodore PET in 3rd grade. Atari and Intellevision, Commodore 64 and 128, Apple IIe, the IBM PC, the original Apple Macintosh, on and on to today.

My generation was the last that grew up without a true personal computer/video game console during our lifetime. Albeit a short part of that lifetime since I don’t remember seeing a computer until maybe the 2nd grade. Now look where we are.

Today’s world relies heavily on things that didn’t really exist in any functional form outside of the government and universities until about 30-35 years ago. Though I do not have the exact date, you see my point.

What a tremendous gift from God! The significance of which we take for granted today.

Today began the summer tradition here in the Chicagoland area of 2 baseball series between my favorite baseball team the Chicago Cubs and the much despised Chicago White Sox. As you can tell I adhere to a strict allegiance to the Cubs. In this area, much is made of this time as both teams have 3 games in their home ballpark.

If you grew up here, as I did and are a sports fan of any kind, you have to choose between the Cubs or the Sox. Those who say they just root for “Chicago” teams and are a fan of both the Cubs and Sox are one of 2 things: 1. Didn’t grow up here 2. Non-committal/boring. Of course I’m joking… somewhat…
In my opinion the choice is simple, what better place to spend 3 hours outside in the spring air than Wrigley Field! I grew up with Bill Buckner, Ryne Sandberg, Leon Durham, Jody Davis, Andre Dawson, etc.. as my baseball heroes. And what better announcers than Jack Brickhouse, Harry Caray and sidekick Steve Stone!
So what if the Cubs lost today! They still can win the series! Ah yes… the eternal optimism of Cubs fans!

We have a short golf season in my neck of the woods due to that thing we call snow. That being the case I like to get out to the driving range on a regular basis. In the past 2 weeks I have only been able to go one measly time! Weather and my schedule have not allowed for more, but as one who enjoys to get outside it’s down right driving my crazy! Well maybe not that extreme, but around here we like to pack in the enjoying the warm months while we have them!

My moblog is up and running! See the moblog section in column to the right for the cool link to it! Click on the moving pictures or the standard link. I’ll try to update it often.

Url: http://jimporett.textamerica.com

FYI… For those who may be thinking, “What in the world is a moblog?” A moblog is a photo album with a mixture of cell phone pictures and regular pictures. The fun thing about a moblog is you can take snapshots with your cell phone and e-mail them from the phone to the moblog directly! Hence the “Mo…” for mobile!

Many use it to capture a variety of moments, scenes, life going by and share with the rest of the world.

I will be using it for all of the above.

I finally launched my website: jimporett.com! Mind you it is just this blog for now, but I’ll add more content as time goes by.

This blogging thing is starting off on a strange note. It has kept me up way too late/early. I can’t think of the last time I was awake @ 3:00am. Back in college I guess. Zzzzzzzzzzz….

This is my first post in my first ever attempt at blogging. Be nice! I’ll do my best to post on a regular basis and keep things interesting.