Spool Dock

I am a huge fan and user of Reddit. What fascinates me about the website is that there is someone for every visual pallet. It doesn’t matter if you are like me and like to visit tech and gaming “subreddits” (the separate sub-communities of Reddit) like /r/technology or /r/gaming, or if you like to visit the popular cute animals and babies in /r/aww or typically stunning photographs of /r/pics. There is literally something for everyone. There are also a plethora of much darker and adult themed subreddits, but that is something best left undiscussed for now.

Perusing the website the other day I stubbled across /r/iPhone. Being an iPhone fan–I stood in line on release day for my iPhone 5s–I clicked through the links to see if anything of interest caught my eye. That’s when I first laid eyes on Spool Dock by Quell&Co.

Spool Dock is a project on Kickstarter and is what I consider “the perfect dock for iPhone and iPad mini.” Not only does it dock either device, it also has built in cable management. The dock is made up of two primary parts that allow for your Apple Lightning cable to wind itself around the core of the dock–similar to a spool of thread.

Spool Dock also looks great. It has a modern look, without being made out of a chunk of aluminum, and yet maintains a classy, elegant look as well. The spool design is simple and something that surprisingly hasn’t been done yet. It’s comprised of three main materials: hardwoods, 100% Merino wool felt and a durable powder-coated metal base. It is as gorgeous as it is practical.

Unfortunately, the Spool Dock Kickstarter ended yesterday and came nowhere close meeting its goal of $85,000. In an email to Spool Dock’s backers, Quell&Co. said they still had great interest in their dock and that they were “pursuing a few different paths to bring both the Spool Dock and Quell&Co. to life.” Be check back in here or check out QuellandCo.com for updates on the future of Spool Dock.

Seven weeks in

It has been seven weeks since we have moved into our new place, and while the majority of the house is fairly neat, we do have a few boxes that are still in need of being unpacked. That’s fine as the new place feels more like a home to me than any apartment Allison and I have ever had–perhaps with the exception of our first place…I mean, it was our first place after all.

I was sick last week and then Allison got sick with something completely different, but now I think I am coming down with whatever she is getting over. So goes the vicious cycle. I can’t make any promises but I’d love to write more this weekend. Until then, here is a picture of Sully I took this morning…oh and you can follow me Twitter while you’re at it if you would like.

Sully was looking like a puppy this morning. #walkwithsully #frenchie #bulldog http://t.co/4ff0pptJzE

— Mike Ackerman (@mikeack) September 26, 2013

This will change everything

It has been well over a year since I’ve last posted on this site and a lot has happened. I by no means plan on updating this blog with all that has happened, nor do I believe it would be all too interesting. Instead, I would like to focus on what is happening now…on what is new.

My wife, Allison, and I recent moved to an area of Norfolk called Ghent. We’re renting the third floor of a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood and have turned the 1,300 square feet of space into a home for both us and our three year-old French bulldog, Sully.

I should probably stop for a moment and mention that I have no recollection as to what I’ve written on here previously, so from here on out I’ll just assume that everything is new.

I like to think that my tastes in things are a bit eclectic. My major in college started out in biology and ended with me successfully completing a degree in animation…with stops at accounting and computer science along the way. Now I find myself working on a master’s degree in journalism and loving every minute of it.

I work in the IT department of the university that I received my animation degree from and am lucky enough to be able to take two grad classes per year for more or less nothing because of my job. However, I find myself wishing for a different job and hoping to receive my master’s degree from a different school. While I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to take these classes at such a discounted rate, I loath my environment…well, most of it.

I moved to Virginia when I was 10-years-old so my father could go to the same university that I did and have lived in the same zip code ever since. That is, until this past weekend. Allison (my wife), Sully and myself moved out of Virginia Beach and into Norfolk! We’ve been here less than a week and already feel so much more at home than we ever did in Virginia Beach. We will take Sully on walks and random strangers will walk by, say good morning and smile. There is an actual sense of community and a feeling of belonging to that community that in my 26 years I have never felt.

Everything just seems right in the world.

Until next time,

Mike

Day 05 - Learning to Breathe

"Learning to Breathe" by Switchfoot is the song that I chose as the "song that reminds you of someone" song. While I tend to discuss my wife in these posts there really is more to my life than just our marriage. However, since none of those things are as incredibly important to me they will not be discussed in this post either. "Learning to Breathe" is the song that Allison and I chose to be "our song." While this may be slightly surprising to someone who knows both Allison and myself, it isn't Ben Fold's "The Luckiest." Allison and I may both believe ourselves to be the luckiest, "Learning to Breathe" was "our song" long before Fold's lyrics ever fell on our ears. "Learning to Breathe" was and will always continue to be a song that attempts to describe the way we feel about each other. So, without further ado, I give you the lyrics of "Learning to Breathe" by Switchfoot.

Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way that I'm

[Chorus:]
Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad

[Chorus]

So this is the way I say I need You
This is the way that I say I love You
This is the way that I say I'm Yours
This is the way, this is the way

[Chorus]

Hello good morning how you do?







Until next time,




Mike

Day 04 - Brick

I certainly haven't been doing these posts every day like I would have hoped. However, now that I am done with my first semester of journalism courses I have some more time to write on here--not that I necessarily will.

The next song in my list is Brick by Ben Folds Five. I have loved this song since I first heard it. Allison shared this song with me one day at her parents' house on Blueberry. If memory serves me correctly, it was the first time I ever went over to their house. I remember her sitting at the family computer and me sitting on a chair that I pulled up next to her. I remember her opening Windows Media Player and playing Brick. I will alway associate that moment with this song.

While this sounds like a happy moment--which is was--it doesn't sound like a very good song to have chosen to be a song that makes me sad. The song itself is sad a sad one. It makes me sad. It is as simple as that. Luckily I have that happy moment to bounce me back to my equilibrium.

Brick

6an day after Christmas
I throw some clothes on in the dark
The smell of cold, car seat is freezing
The world is sleeping, I am numb

An' up the stairs to her apartment
She is balled up on the couch
Her mom and dad went down to Charlotte
They're not home to find us out

And we drive
Now that I have found someone
I'm feeling more alone
Than I ever have before

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

They call her name at 7:30
I pace around the parking lot
Then I walk down to buy her flowers
And sell some gifts that I got

Can't you see
It's not me you're dying for
Now she's feeling more alone
Than she ever has before

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

As weeks went by it showed that she was not fine
They told me son it's time to tell the truth
And she broke down and I broke down
'Cause I was tired of lying

Driving back to her apartment
For the moment we're alone
And she's alone and I'm alone
And now I know it

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
Off the coast and I'm headed nowhere
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly




Well friends, that is it. Day 04 is now complete.

Until next time,

Mike

 

Bar Stool Warmer

There is an old man, sitting by himself at the corner of the bar.  He is already on his fourth glass of cheap white-wine.  A solid gold ring sits too big on his old, thin ring-finger and is face droops as his jaded eyes stare into the distance.  Attempting to follow his gaze I realize that he is looking at nothing in particular.  Perhaps he is looking back to brighter days; summer days with his family at the beach, or even further, to the eyes of his bride standing at the altar.  Whatever he is looking at, it is apparent it is long gone.


Until next time,


Mike

Day 03 – Army

Ah, "Army," what a great song.  Ben Folds Five released the song in 1999, and although I was not introduced to it until around 2004, I am always happy to hear it.  In high school I was in a band and upon graduating I got a job at Chick-fil-A.  The song is fun and whiny--plus you it has the word "fuckin'" in it.  The breaking down withe the brass before the bridge just makes me want to sing along.  I will always remember that first summer after high school in my Ford Explorer; blaring the CD with the windows down driving to work and TCC.

Army


Well I thought about the army
Dad said, Son you're fuckin' high
And I thought, yeah there's a first for everything
So I took my old man's advice
Three sad semesters
It was only 15 grand spent in bed
I thought about the army
I dropped out and joined a band instead

Grew a moustache and a mullet
Got a job at Chick-fil-a
Citing artistic differences
The band broke up in May
And in June reformed without me
And they'd got a different name
I nuked another grandma's apple pie
And hung my head in shame, oh....

Been thinkin' a lot today
Been thinkin' a lot today

Oh, I think I'll write a screenplay
Oh, I think I'll take it to L.A.
Oh, I think I'll get it done yesterday

Ah, shit

In this time of introspection
On the eve of my election
I say to my reflection
God please spare me more rejection
'Cause my peers they criticize me
And my ex-wives all despise me
Try to put it all behind me
But my redneck past is nipping at my heels

I've been thinking a lot today
I've been thinking a lot today
I've been thinking a lot today
I thought about the army...




Until next time,


Mike