Everyone makes excuses when they don’t blog for a while. I will certainly be not pleading the 5th on this, instead i’ll just talk about why I been a little pre-occupied. Books. Lot’s of them. On top of blowing through a book every two weeks (sometimes only a week) I have just been crazy with work and such. I have kept with reading more memoir / humor for the most part except for the Joe Torre book “the Yankee Years” which would be classified as Sports / General.

I am so glad I decided to read this book. The new york media sucks huge balls, they are always just trying to sell a newspaper instead of doing what they should be doing reporting the news. All throughout Torre’s tenure it got worse with the new york media, with them trying to create problems within’ the clubhouse and with the front office. There was a fair share of shady stuff going on throughout the organization but the media was the little kid pouring gasoline on a match just to see if he could.

It was very upsetting to see how Joe was treated at the end of his time with the Yankees. Basically, he worked with what he had and sometimes disagreed with the higher up’s on who they chose (free agents and trades) but was given the responsibility to force it to work. The book shows the progression from the start of the 1996 season where Torre would win the World Series with a bunch of players who always thought ‘WE’ instead of the group of players that came in around 2001 that thought all about ‘ME’. This book really openend my eyes to the mis-match of players and personalities brought into just WIN and not gel together as a TEAM and get the job done to win a world series.

Without giving too much of the book away, I’ll end off with this being said .. it’s funny how George Steinbrenner basically deteriorated over the past few years showing the Yankees Dynasty crumbling along the way. Just as much as Joe was a big part of all the World Series won, George was also a key component to make sure everyone was on there toes. Joe Torre was immune to Georges scare tactics and George knew it. That is why George liked him so much because they found common ground which you rarely heard about in the newspapers, who always made it seem like there was serious hatred. When the Yankees finally let Torre loose (in the book) the call really didn’t even come from George, rather then the idiots who are now running the team.

Well that is about it .. I loved the book it was an easy read especially if your a Yankee fan because you can imagine the exact moments they talk about in the book and place yourself back in the moment where Luiz Gonzalez broke your heart with a blooper over Jeter’s head. I shortly after that play burnt my Yankees hat with Charlie in his dead end while being outrageously upset. Joe will never see this blog, but I just want to say thanks for the memories and the titles if there was three people I would want to have dinner with living or dead you would be the first guy I pick.

The book I’m reading now and I’m almost done with is “My Horizontal Life” by Chelsea Handler. I read her most current book “Hi Vodka, it’s Me Chelsea” which was hilarious in itself but then decided to read the first book she wrote about her ‘sexscapades’ through life. I’ll probably wind up blogging about that soon. Lata.

The meaning of the title of the post “Squeaky Clean” is not supposed to be after me but rather the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) of this website. lol. Since I was always having trouble editing the website to the exact way I wanted I decided to ‘crack a book‘ and teach myself all there is to know about CSS. I had always relied on asking people for help when something was wrong and it always seemed like a simple fix. Since I’m always at borders I wound up using one of my e-mail coupons they always send me and purchased “Beginning CSS: Cascading Style Sheets for Web Design (2nd Edition)” from WROX. It was a little on the expensive side for the list price of $40 but with a 30% discount I got it for $28 where it was just perfect.

Let me just say before I purchased this book I wasn’t a complete novice to CSS I had done some research online over the years enough to barely get by but now since I have read this book and applied it to the site I totally get why CSS is so powerful. Basically, with a external CSS linked to your site you are able to control every little detail of how you want things to be presented with ease. With this knowledge now creating my OWN layouts and such should be a lot easier and more efficient then before.

I have to say purchasing this book was probably one of the best purchases I have made to further my education in my life. I know that is a big thing to say but CSS is a starting point, and after that PHP, MySQL and Apache are on my plate of things to learn. I have already purchased a book containing all three of those so it’s only a matter of time before I have a even greater understanding of different programming languages. Upon cleaning up the sites CSS, I am able to display this badge proudly.

Enough of the nerd talk a good reason why I have been less frequent with the updating other then cleaning up the CSS is I have been hit with Serous Otitis Media. Basically I have fluid behind my ear drum in the ‘middle ear’ and it is not being able to drain out to my nasal passage via the Eustachian Tube. Only reason I know this much about it is because of using google to research it. All I have to do is take an antibiotic (Amoxicillin) to kill the bacteria that is causing the swelling of the Eustachian tube. Until then, I seriously can’t hear a damn thing out my right ear and about 50% out of my left ear. It’s uncomfortable as fuck because I can hear my own pulse due to it being in my neck and all. I’ll get over it but its been over a week so far with no improvement but I guess I just have to give it time to kill the bacteria that is causing the problem. Ah well, that’s just my luck i guess.

Probably the most cutest baby in this world! Of course I’m going to say that because he is my godson but dammit he is seriously too cute. 7lb 12oz’s of cuteness. I cannot believe my younger brother brought life to this planet. I love John, my sister in-law Kristin and of course baby Brayden for giving me another reason to keep trying my hardest in dark world.

Sorry, its about a couple days late but it was a very relaxed weekend for me which i’ll talk about tomorrow. I’m writing the post next and putting it on deck for tomorrow so come on back.

Please read this post from Felisa (one of the only bloggers I actually link to that actually takes interest in my writing and comments about it). She is a very bright girl who have amazing incite. Please read this post first before going on!

Now that you have read her article I’m going to discuss what I think of the situation. Well as for seeing the kid who is obviously deformed in some way who is already probably shy because of this of course you don’t bring it to his attention. As for just asking the parents? That is kind of a tough subject. You don’t know how the parents handle the kids disfigurement. They could have a really tough time dealing with it and it really isn’t your place to bring it up in the first place. If you have a nice relationship because they are frequent customers and you get the vibe it’s okay then I guess you can take a shot at bringing it up when the kid is not around.

I have had many times like this myself. Where you see a little kid who has a disfigurement or disability but always tend to look so innocent because the world hasn’t judged them yet, or they are not aware yet. Now it is not pity I feel for the kids because they had no choice in the way they were produced. I have to say one thing my father has always instilled in us was NEVER and I mean NEVER laugh, taunt, ridicule, make fun of or disrespect a person with disabilities. They were not asked to be born that way and you can be pretty sure if they had a choice they would choose not to have that disability and live a ‘normal’ life. Which leads me to have the values to not judge by appearance.

I have had times where people with disabilities feel sorry for themselves and feel the world owes them one so they should be able to get away with treating everyone like shit and that pisses me off. Then I have no respect for that person at all, but once again will never make fun or belittle that person because of it.

Next thing discussed was “If you knew you kid before being born would have a life altering disability where they will not be able to live a normal life would you terminate the pregnancy if it were an option?”

It is so hard to answer this question especially since my brother is about to have a little baby boy whom I am the godfather. I am an honest person and will give my honest whole-hearted opinion because I do not care what people might think of me as long as I stand by my beliefs. I believe I would terminate the pregnancy. This can change when I do have a child as my own but as of right now that is what I would do. My reasoning is that it was hard enough for me to end up the way I am which I believe is a great person with a big heart but has his share of issues. Now give someone a disadvantage before they are even born and that is just simply not fair. See I don’t’ think you can answer this question until you are an expecting parent or are in the situation where you have to decide whether or not keep a child.

I just loved this topic because it really got you thinking. Thanks again Felisa.

I’m so glad Christmas is over. It’s always like this every year for me. I’m not big on people buying things for me, never have been. I have always tended to be self-reliend and self-dependant. Never really asked my parents for anything like most kids usually did growing up. Whenever I wanted new clothes, new sneakers or the newest video game system I got a job and worked until I achieved what I wanted. Wow, went in off in a tangent there for a second. I like buying gifts for the ones I love its fun and I always try to get something unique and special to that person. I don’t do gift cards and gift baskets type bullshit. It has no feelings or emotions behind it.

For example, this year for my brothers I got my brother Tom an end all be all of work out logs for which he will use when he goes to the gym. He was always writing his workouts and goals in little notebooks, now he can be more organized and keep better track of his progress. To me that is something he could use more then a shirt or a gift card. For my brother Glenn, me and him constantly fight about him wearing my clothes and such. What did I do? Went out and bought him a couple packs of boxers and socks. He never tells my mother he needs them so he uses mine, that present should end it. I also, cleared out all of my extra clothing and gave him the option to take what ever his heart desires. That is another thing I take pride in and like to do from time to time. I go though all my drawers and my closets and if I haven’t worn that article of clothing within a years time I donate it to charity. Someone I know should do this and she wouldn’t need 5 dressers for her room ::cough::Melanie::cough::. For my last brother he has been catching up on all the seasons of LOST and was missing season 4. Since he will be having a baby really soon and his time will be consumed by the little bundle of joy and he will probably need something to do while watching, changing, burping, feeding and all sorts of baby related things to keep him occupied outside of baby care.

See that is the plus side of Christmas. As for the downside, all the money you spend really starts to catch up to you. Depending on how many people you wish to buy presents for and all the events leading up to Christmas. I was so lucky to have 2 Weddings the week before Christmas (not being sarcastic .. sort of). It was a lot on my plate and it kinda sucked the fun out of Christmas a little. Regardless, it is all behind me now which means I can look forward to New Years Eve/Day for a good time and some relaxation while starting 2009.

As much as this sounds like a cry baby emo rant from me, I sit back and reflect on this year. For most of my life the cons beat out the pros each year at the end. This year I have to say I think I actually had more pros then cons. Just of the top of my head I can name 4 things that have made this year amazing.

1. My brother having a baby
2. Fixing things with Melanie
3. Winning DirtyDalerz softball championship
4. Actually making strides to fix things in my life instead of moping

Now that this year is almost behind us, I just hope to whom ever stops by here and actually reads this has had and even better year then myself. I been trying to keep the attitude “It could be worse” in my head when things happen that take a bad turn. I can’t believe i’m actually writing in a postive manner, I guess it just shows there are ups and downs. Let’s just all hope we have more up’s then down’s.

If you ever need to talk or have someone listen and give you a fresh persepective / advice I’m always open to emails and will always be there to respond bcinelli@gmail.com

There is a new WordPress Update to version 2.7 which is a pretty big update in the world of WordPress. WordPress is what I use to run this site. It basically is the backbone of this site, I create the layout and WordPress helps me with all the content. Just wanted to explain that before diving into this topic.

I hated the old layout of WordPress 2.6 where everything was a couple clicks away and just looked so bubbly and gross. They finally took a page out of the new Google Reader book and made things box(y) and gives you so many options on your screen to change in a great layout. Now without scrolling down the page I can select categories and add tags without the hassle. I am really excited for this upgrade.

Also want to say if your not using the Automatic Upgrade feature in WordPress to upgrade to the newest builds you don’t know what you missing. With EASE I can now backup, update, and BAM! the upgrade is done in few simple clicks. If you have been around WordPress for a while you can definitely appreciate this feature. Takes so much time out of upgrading. The old process you used to have to backup everything manually via FTP. Now its all done for you. On top of that it goes out downloads the newest WordPress build and installs in the background. Saves me time and effort. Have to say WordPress is the best blog/info content system out there. Here’s a screenshot of how it looks:

Now onto Twitter. Twitter is kinda like the “Brian is .. ” feature in Facebook where you put what your doing such. Example: “Brian is .. working all day, then going to the gym and is super tired”. Then people can just see what you had written as if to keep tabs on what your up to which they are able to comment on and such. I really can’t get into updateing things like that. I mean hard enough I try to keep this thing updated as much as I can but twitter is just another thing I cannot fit into my day. Anyone feel the same way? I dunno. Maybe I’m just lazy in that aspect. lol.

Keep your eyes peel’d for more updates about projects I’m doing.

Yes, that is true. I’m going to be the god father of my brothers baby boy. I’m guessing it would be meant to be. Since he will be not only joining my family but he will be BC the second. I would like to think of it as “BCII – Electric Boogaloo”. It’s very exciting seeing Kristin get bigger and bigger as the baby comes along farther (that was no knock at Kristin she is getting bigger only because Johns monster baby is in her).

There is not a time when I see her where I don’t run to go touch her stomach and talk to Brayden. I am a little harsh on the poor soul. Telling him to “come out already” or “i wanna play” all the time. He still has 57 days of free meals and heat from Kristin until he is expected out her belly and playing with me. Until then I’ll give him a break and just think of all the fun things were gonna do together!

Now it feels as if I’m having a kid. Because I’m now going to be permanently apart of this kids life in more ways then him having my last name and being my brothers baby, i’ll be his godfather. It’s big responsibility, and I know I can get the job done and be there for him every step of the way as Uncle BC.

I’ll keep you all posted with whats going on with little Brayden. But, don’t expect some pictures until Jan. 20th (damn it feels like so far away). Until then, here is a picture I drew of Brayden.

Let me start off by saying, it takes a lot for a book to grab my attention. I had major problems growing up reading. The problem was, if I’m not interested in the books message or theme my mind tends to just give up and I eventually stop reading the book entirely. I wound up going to reading class until I was in the 8th grade. Not only did I sharpen my reading skills but I also learned that you don’t HAVE TO (unless school makes you) read a book that you don’t want to. You cannot FORCE yourself to be into a book, no matter the topic. I blew through 100+ pages the first day I got this book it was so great. I read over I believe two chapters because I wanted to solidify them into my head because they were so well written and had a great message.

I will not ruin the book for everyone but for me to tell you to go out and spend the $12 on a hard cover book because you’ll probably wind up reading it in one night because it is so good that says a lot. The best thing about it is that it leaves you wanting more but makes you realize that everyday is a struggle for this person and the minute you stop reading this book you want to google Brandon Novak to see if he is back on drugs. (at this point he is not)

The book starts off with him in a Garage basically coming off a night of heavy drug use. He himself is an homeless addict. A star at the top of his game who through it all away on drugs. Next you see this star who is so at rocks bottom that it is sickening to read on but you must. Lets just put it this way right before he enters rehab he winds up having to prostitute himself for fix .. by having another grown married man suck his d!ck. What happens after that .. is just heartbreaking.

Please Read this book it really has a good message that even the best can fall. If you do read it and want to say a couple words about it on my site I will more then happily oblige.

( email – bcinelli@gmail.com )

I been busy lately sorry. Between Gears of War 2 and the new book I’m reading Dreamseller my attention has been elsewhere. On top of that I have a beer pong tournament that I have to push promotion for coming up on the 22nd of November so that should only delay more posts but who knows what my insomniac nights bring. For now enjoy this book.

I haven’t written much about myself lately, as I look back at past posts. I have kind of kept myself out of my postings and just talked about material things and such. Well that ends today, I feel as if I owe it to myself to talk more about myself in my own blog other then to talk about shit I purchase or computer tech issues. Those topics will still be talked about but expect more talk about myself. That is what people find interesting and actually come back to read. So here it goes.

My birthday has just passed last friday. I celebrated it Saturday night because Saturday morning I had a softball tournament out east and didn’t want to be hung over for it. That is how I get when it comes to sports and competitions. I want to be at my best. If I falter I only have myself to blame and not the dozen and a half beers I drank the night before. Friday night, I went out to dinner with my family (mom, dad, brothers, Melissa and Melanie) for my birthday at New York, New York Restaurant. It’s pretty much my favorite restaurant right now to eat at. For one, its a local place and I rather give my money to them then a Chili’s or Fridays. Secondly, the Italian food is great. I had a crazy urge for lemon chicken and spaghetti with garlic and oil. NYNY always gives you a ton of food and never leaves you hungry. We all had a ton of fun eating and enjoying each others conversation. Afterward, we went back to the house to do the whole birthday cake thing. That was my 24th birthDAY.

As for Saturday, woke up about 6:45 got all dressed picked up john with tom and headed out east to Shirley to play softball in an Autism tournament. I can honestly say this is one of the best tournaments/leagues I have seen competition wise. All these teams are no joke. We lost two of our first games and were eliminated. Could we of won? Yeah, but our bats weren’t there at all. Still you play this great competition and you will only get better. Quickly went home and took a nap for the rest of the day since I was crazy tired.

Saturday night was the night planned on celebrating my birthday. I kind of felt like I was one of those people who celebrates there birthday all week/weekend. Well, I kind of didn’t do much Friday so Saturday was the real celebration. Me and all my friends went to Wasabi (hibachi place in Farmingdale) to celebrate with food and Saki Bombs. I seriously have the best times there. I love great food, friends and booze. There aren’t much better things in life that make me happy then that equation.

After Wasabi we all headed over to the Nutty Irishman for drinks of course and lots of dancing. Yeah, I like to get really full on food and saki, then get even more boozed up and dance. I’m not no fucking Chris Brown out there but I hold my own enough for people to not single me out for looking like a tool, or at least I think so. I had a ton of fun with everyone who came. Click on the picture below for the gallery.

I also have to say I got some great presents from my girlfriend. I got an authentic Lawrence Taylor Jersey (my favorite Giant of all time) and tickets to the Giants Vs. Ravens game November 16th. Seeing as the Giants only have two more seasons left in the Meadowlands (current one and next year) before it’s torn down, I really want to take advantage of every game I can get my hands on to go to. Its a scheduled 1 p.m. game but it’s one of those games where they can move the game to either 4 or 8 depending on how it will do ratings wise for the NFL. I have always been a fan of that new scheduling idea the NFL has used over the last two seasons with putting premiere games in the better time slots. Anyways I’m very thankful Melanie did this for me.

I don’t want to make one long drawn out post, so I’m gonna let this one soak in for a day or so. Also, check out the right hand side of the page where the menu is because I have changed a couple things up and updated links. Don’t forget to visit my friends.

EDIT: SORRY LISA .. i’m 24 not 25 .. THANKS FOR THE CORRECTION ass!