In other news, Ethan is now 6 months and weighing in at a rolling left to right, back to front 19 pounds. He is a little smile bug and learning to grab everything within reach. We can no longer hold him in one arm and carry food in the other without him reaching for a taste. He is eating one meal a day of solid foods. He has eaten rice cereal, oatmeal, and, as of tonight, sweet potatoes. He loves the sweet potatoes, but mommy’s milk is still his favorite. He is sleeping 9-11 hours continuously as of this week. Laura finally decided no more nighttime feedings and it’s worked well. He has two bottom teeth showing now. Of course, this causes some discomfort so we let him suck on a cold, wet towel to take some of the pain away. Tomorrow, he visits his doctor for 6 month shots. It could be a long day and night tomorrow after those shots.

We spoke to our friend Gohar last night. She lives in Armenia, but we have not phoned her in a loooong time. Since our last phone call with her in December 2005, we have only communicated through letters. Letters allow us time to express ourselves a lot better in the Armenian language. It was her birthday yesterday and Nellie, an Armenian friend living in the US, helped us call her via Skype. It was great to speak to her and Zhana, her daughter. Through the conversation, we realize that we really can’t speak Armenian, though we did try. As usual, Laura could understand better than I, though I was able to speak better. Typical marriage. Wife listens, husband talks.

The three of us, along with two graduate students in my planning program, head north to Seattle on Sunday to take an early Monday test for the Presidential Management Fellowship. Each of us, as well as three other graduate students in my department, were nominated for the Fellowship. We now take the test and, if we pass, make it to the applicant pool to compete for coveted jobs working with the Federal Government in mid-manager positions (GS-9 and above) for two years, with hopes of landing permanent positions. The test by no means is easy so we’ll see how this goes. The test will assess our critical thinking skills, life experience, and writing fundamentals.

Click here to view the video for their latest single, “Not Ready To Make Nice“. The song dicusses the controversy that revolved around the band saying, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas” during the Iraq War.

The show went well.  It was a polished, slick show last night, though no pyrotechnics.  Jon Bon Jovi did great crowd interaction going into the crowd on numerous occasions which is difficult to do in an arena.  But, what I don’t understand is why they had to play most of their material from the last two albums (the last five years ot so)?  It is horrible. Maybe 45 minutes of the 2 hour 15 minute show was pre-1990 and the rest was the new stuff.  Even some of the old stuff was toned down.  Very disappointed in that.  Yes, many people knew the newer songs but everyone got into it when they would play the songs off the Slippery When Wet and New Jersey albums. These albums are what made them popular.
A lot of bands who didn’t have a career in the 90′s are making a come back.  But, some bands think it’s cool to play new songs. That’s crap.  I saw Motley Crue last year and they played all old stuff except for a few songs, which were horrible.  Of course they are going to fall in the same trap as Bon Jovi and record a new album.  It’s not worth it.  These bands need to look at people like James Taylor and Neil Diamond who stick to the past hits and the crowds keep coming back.