Future Poltergeist

If my math is right, this is the seventh anniversary since this blog here was created. Update: And my math was not right. This is the eigth anniversary. Yeesh.

It feels like it's been a busy year but I can't really account for much of it. The 'recently read' list on the side of my blog is about 15 months out of date (and I don't think I'll fill the gap). Time to restart it though, I think. We saw few movies of note this year and almost nothing 'must see'. At least nothing that I can remember. I guess this year was spent just living with the kids. I worked part time all year, something I haven't done since leaving home. This meant that I got to spend simply a ton of time getting to know my children. Also got so spend more time with the FP Gal, which is clearly a plus. On the downside, I now feel very disconnected with the outside world. Best book I read this year? That's a tough one. My Hugo reading fell off, or at least fell out of order. And the reviews dried up completely. The best one was probably 'The Vor Game' by Bujold, but the most enjoyable was probably 'Blackout/All Clear' by Wi...

Heidi gave me a puzzle of Austin. Yep, Austin MN, the town that knew me when. A pretty cool thing, the puzzle is centered on the house that I grew up in. The other night the FP Gal and I put it together. A 400 piece puzzle, it took us about five hours to get it all done. The actual town area (shaded red) was fairly easy. The surrounding countryside was very difficult. Despite the look of intense concentration, we had lots of fun doing this.

Sick sick sick sick sick. And it ruined a day off as Dad came up to watch the kids for us. Guh.

Sorry, didn't mean for the blog to go dark there. It just kind of slipped away from me. On Monday we went to Willernie to see some friends and family . We met at Aunt Liz's house so we could see how it's been refurbished. It was a great time. Afterwards Mom came over so we could exchange gifts. And then I was done, done, done. That was three days in a row watching the kids at other houses. That's three away games in a row. Throw in new toys for the kids and the FP Gal and I were both exhausted. After we put them down for bed we slowed things down with a card game and had an easy night. Yesterday was a good one. The FP Gal is off for winter break and she gave me an easy day. She took the kids to daycare and picked them up afterwards. Then she was off to her parents for dinner, leaving me with more blissful calm. Ahhhhhhh . . .

Lots of wonderful stuff going on but the image that is sticking with me right now is DF and his new yellow Tonka dump truck. He's been running around the downstairs with that most of the afternoon. He holds on to the back (the dumper?) and runs and runs. Sometimes he comes to a controlled stop but not always. He's taken about 40 or 50 pratfalls, anyone of which would have retired me to the couch for the rest of the afternoon. Relia after him with a flashlight, also smiling. She's playing with various dolls other princess related things. Also very happy. They say that Christmas is for kids and while that isn't quite true, it's easy to see what is meant.

If you don't know what I was talking about in the previous post, you can see some lanterns here: Of course we only launched two, not 11,000 but it was still thrilling.

It was a busy day so I'll just go with highlights: Drove down to Austin this morning. The kids surprised us by not taking a nap. Yep, neither one took the nap that we expected. Well, not that surprising with Relia but DF regularly naps in the morning. This did not bode well. Met up with Dad and spent some time at his place. It's always interesting to see what the kids will adopt there. For Relia it was a large bell. For DF it was a mechanical dog that we got for Grandma many years ago. After lunch we drove for quite some time so we could get the kids to sleep. After they dropped off we went to Joann's so the FP Gal could get some things. (I may have caught a few winks too while listening to the game on the radio.) Over to Aunt Donna's and Uncle David's. Able to watch some football and relax. DF got to spend some time with an honest to God gog (dog). You may remember that he is on patrol for them out of several windows in our house. This time he had one r...

Incredible video from the ISS. The flashes in the opening is a thunderstorm seen from overhead. Then a comet comes over the horizon. It must be amazing up there.

The DF leads me to the front window. DF: Gog! Gog! Me: Is there a dog? DF: (looking) No gog. Me: Is there a bus? DF: (looking again) No bus. Me: Do you need a hug? DF: No hug! All done! All done! He got a hug anyway.

I put together a Christmas CD last week and wanted a version of 'Noel Nouvelet' on it. After some searching, I settled on this version and boy howdy, it's gorgeous. We sang this back in high school. I can't remember if we did it as a full choir or just in Austinaires. It's a traditional French Christmas carol and it's both beautiful and haunting. Enjoy!

Tonight I told Relia about when I decided to cut my hair, oh so long ago. Relia: You should grow it back. Me: You think I should? Relia: Yeah. Because right now you look like . . . you look like . . . a thumb.

DF has discovered the moon in a big way. Through books first, 'Goodnight Moon' and others, of course. But he's also discovered it hanging up there in the sky. This morning started early. Relia came into our room about 430a with a complaint. The FP Gal (bless her heart) went with her and fixed things. Unfortunately, both of us were then awake. After some time I crept downstairs and the FP Gal dozed off again. DF woke just before 6a and I brought him downstairs. While we russeled up breakfast he did his normal search for dogs at the various windows. No 'gogs' were found but a sliver of the moon was hanging up to the south of us. "Moon, moon, moon" he said, to make sure that I saw it too. I agreed it was there. We looked again several times until nearly two hours later I dropped him off at daycare. The FP Gal told me that he asked where it was tonight too. I'm sure he'll be at the south window looking again in the morning. Hard to explain to him that ...

This pic has me breaking the tenth commandment in a big way . . .

(Warning, spoilers ahead!) So the season started with me writing this about 'Survivor' and the return of Coach and Ozzie. As the whole thing has now ended I thought it would be nice to bookend the season. Got it? Yes, there will be bullet points . . . I was worried that Coach and Ozzie would over shadow the season. And they did. And I didn't really care for it. It was nice to see Coach continue his character arc as he really does seem to have learned some things. Ozzie on the other hand seemed to become more true to his nature. Interesting, but overall not worth it. All new contestants for next season please. Not that either of them won. The winner was kind of quiet and behind the scenes all season. Interesting choice on the part of the producers. And yes, I think there were some societal double standards in play. I was sooooo glad that the jury called the remaining people on the cult like quality of their tribe. It felt like several people were badgered into ...

DF is getting more and more wordy. Specifically, he's using more and more phrases. The most used one is "No dog" although he actually says 'no gog'. This is used when he looks out the back window for the neighbor's boxer or out the front across the street. He is constantly on the lookout for 'gogs'. Constantly. Today at Target we were in the freezer section and he spotted a display. It has the Target dog and a Kemps cow together. He broke up into laughter! "Gog! Gog! Gog!" "Yes, buddy, I see the dog." And so on. He also has a couple of picture books and he can hardly wait for the dog pages to come up. One of them has a potty on the other page. Because he spends so much time with the dog, he also knows the word 'potty'. I'm trying to remember where Relia was at this stage and frankly I can't. Not without checking back at the blog history at least. I think he's farther along but I'm not sure. ...

Poor DF has a slight cold. Some coughing and runny nose. Obviously tired more easily. We're slightly afraid it will be the croup but if it is at least we know how to treat that. And . . . I think I might have a little something going on with my system too. I've just been so tired all week. Maybe it's the early darkness or something. Actually, I have no complaints about the weather at all this week. The temps have been in the 30's and we've had mists and rain. Reminds me of the week I spent in Oregon and Washington eight years ago in December. Ah.

Yesterday I put together a new CD of Christmas songs. I included this one and played it for Relia in the car. She was upset that they kept 'messing up the song'. I told her that they were doing it for fun but I'm not sure she really believed me. Sweetheart, here it is, you can see it for yourself.

You might remember that I got a new computer right around Thanksgiving. I don't think that I shared the fact that it's disc drive didn't work. It would open up and close just fine, but then it would make a rattling noise and (worst of all) the computer had no idea that you'd given it something to read. Yesterday I took it back and exchanged it for a different computer. The sale price on the new computer was a little better so I even got a little money back. All good. Brought it home and set it up. Got all the things on the back plugged in. Went through the start up. Connected to the internet and (bam!) got hit with some kind of virus. I was seriously on for about three minutes and then a near constant stream of virus warnings shut it down. The computer wouldn't let me do anything . Even things like Free Cell were messed up. So. I packed it back up and took it back this morning. Told them my woes and again they exchanged it. I've set it up too and it...

I've been thinking about introducing the kids to some better lit recently. This urge becomes especially strong when she wants to watch some kind of tween show. With this in mind, I ran across this post from Stan where he talks about the things he has read to his kids. (Don't miss his first five suggestions.) With this in mind I started reading 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' to Relia. She seems to like it but her attention span needs some work. We'll see if that improves with time. I also like the idea of reading some poetry to her. Everyone should have some appreciation of a good turn of phrase.

I recently finished Adler's 'How to Read a Book'. Very good book and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in some serious analytical reading techniques. One of the first suggestions is to go heavy on the note taking. Underline, highlight and write stuff in the margins. They even suggest using the flyleaf! This all makes some sense but I find the idea of actually marking up a book to be a near sacrilege. In my thirty some years of reading I have never written in a book guilt free. I don't bend the pages. I even feel bad when the spine on a paperback breaks. Taking notes in the actual book is a step too far. Enter the Kindle. I've started doing the reading for the Great Books list (feel free to join in, should be fun!). To take a note you simply start typing with the key pad. It opens up a window for you to put your thought in. You can simply save this or 'save and share' and the window closes. A number appears in the text and you can...

Megan McArdle has her annual Holiday Kitchen Gift Guide up and, as always, it's a fun read. If you have someone who likes to cook in your life, this is worth a read.

Interesting article in the WSJ on left handers (I want to say southpaws but that makes my dad upset). The FP Gal and I both have a left handed parent so our kids have a 1 in 4 chance of being lefties. Relia is clearly right handed and it's too soon to tell if DF tends towards the sinister. Only time will tell.

I'm thinking of moving the home office to here.

Just so you/we had snow.

This is DF's favorite hat. He likes to put it on and wander around the house. I'm more of a Fox in socks guy, but he really is adorable.

According to the internet here (and if we can't trust the internet, what can we really trust?). Any errors come from me trying to decipher pictures. Or just simple internet mistakes. The list (with my commentary in parenthesis): 1960 - Barbie 1961 - Etch a Sketch 1962 - Troll doll 1963 - Easy bake oven 1964 - GI Joe 1965 - Operation 1966 - Action man (an action figure) 1967 - Battleship 1968 - Lite-Brite 1969 - Hot wheels 1970 - Nerf balls 1971 - Wheebles 1972 - Uno (much earlier than I thought) 1973 - Playmobile 1974 - Dungeons and Dragons (again, much earlier and more popular than I would have guessed) 1975 - Pong 1976 - Connect Four 1977 - Star Wars figures 1978 - Speak and Spell 1979 - Strawberry Shortcake (1979? really?) 1980 - Rubik's Cube 1981 - Legos (I'd guess this was always a high seller) 1982 - Bicycle 1983 - My Little Pony 1984 - Care bears 1985 - Cabbage Patch Kids (biggest fad toy ever?) 1986 - Transformers (last year that I was in tune with what was being ...

I've been doing some in depth research into some schooling (I'll talk more about this at some point maybe). Anyway, I'm looking at a technical college here in the Cities and today I played with a tuition calculator. I was telling the FP Gal about this. After inputting various factors it came up with a figure of over $12k. The FP Gal said this was less than she paid for her masters degree. I told her that it included $5k for room and board. She was relieved and told me that we could cover that here at home. I told her that I'd always felt a little left out that I'd missed my chance at living in a dorm. She said something like 'you bet you have!'. Fair enough. Though I can't help but think of the shock on some 18 year old kid's face as he opens the door and a nearly 40 year old graybeard is sitting on the other bunk. I wonder how long it would take him to ask me to get him some beer? The FP Gal said that they'd probably pair me up with some...

To help you understand this one, I need to tell the story of some book buying. Last year I took Relia to B&N Har Mar and let her pick out two kids books from the used section. One of them was a book about Hanukkah, detailing the lighting of the various candles. Just one more sign from the universe that our family should really be Jewish. Anyway, this conversation took place yesterday on the ride from daycare: Relia: (pointing at the house next to the place, yard covered with various Christmas decorations) Look, she has her Hanukkah candle up! Me: Yep. It's called a 'candelabra'. Relia: 'Candle-agra'. I hope that Nana puts hers candle-agra up soon. Me: Does she have one? Relia: Oh yes. And soon she'll put it up. (pause) And then she'll make angel food cake like she always does. (pause) And then Grandpa will sit and watch the stupid old TV. Me: Um, is that a Hanukkah tradition too? Relia: Yes, he does that every year. For the record, the FP Gal...

It's not even December yet (not quite) and I'm already having trouble dealing with the weather. We've only dipped into the 20s and it still feels . . . unfair somehow. I think Meigan said we deserve extra credit for living through Minnesota winters and that is certainly true. Unfortunately, I don't know what we're storing that credit up for. Maybe life on the upper plains makes it easier to get into heaven. I feel this way especially in the morning. Our downstairs is very tricky in terms of gauging just how warm it is outside. As a result, I rarely feel confident that I got the kids dressed right. Once we get into true winter this won't matter as much because then you simply load on the clothes and go. During the transition periods it's harder. I keep wishing we had a steam room in our house. Doesn't that sound nice? Not really a sauna as I want something wetter. Maybe like those big Russian baths. Today I actually ran the water in the shower for about t...

Now that Thanksgiving is done, I'm hoping that things calm down here on Walton mountain. We're finally all healthy again. Probably. DF may still have some lingering thing. But he's no longer running a fever. (And yes, I knocked on wood after typing that out.) I have a new computer up and running. Much to the FP Gal's consternation, I went with another HP. What can I say? I also bought another Kia after the last one dern near killed me. Guess having a product crash doesn't permanently chase me away as a customer. Our house is becoming more and more Christmasy. Relia is incredibly aware of what's going on. She asked us today where Santa lives and wasn't satisfied with just 'at the north pole'. She wanted specifics. And then she tried to figure out where he puts all of his food. I suggested that he use the flying reindeer and she told me that 'he is magic and can go a week without food'. Then she got upset when I mentioned that Santa is pretty f...

DF's sleeping set up is kind of screwy. Instead of a pillow he has folded up blanket and for a blanket he uses a towel. Last night I told the FP Gal that we just need to get a pillow to dry him with post-bath and the cycle would be complete. I'm sure every family has some kind of idiosyncrasy like this. I can even explain exactly how ours got this way. As an infant DF didn't use a pillow of course. At some point I thought he'd be more comfortable with one so I grabbed what was handy, a blanket, and improvised. When the weather turned colder this fall I needed something to put over him. The towel was handy. The tricky part is that Relia has kind of a special pillow. The FP Gal has long had a sea turtle stuffed animal with a broad flat shell. At some point it went to Relia and has become her special thing. When she's crying it becomes her comfort talisman. And it puts some pressure on us to get something good for DF. Which is maybe silly, but it's a nut...

I suppose this should be fall or winter looking but, honestly, look at that trail of blue. Isn't that cool?

I just found out that Anne McCaffery, author of the Dragons of Pern books has died. I was first handed one of her books sometime around fifth or sixth grade. It was 'Dragonsong', a lovely story of a young girl who had serious musical talent that she wasn't allowed to explore. The girl, Menolly, was driven from her village and took refuge out in the wilds. While there she impressed (befriended but stronger) some small dragons. I read that book to shreds. This led me to the other dragon books and I read them pretty heavily too. McCaffery was the first author that I read who built a serious and detailed imaginary world. (I'd count CS Lewis but Narnia loses focus as soon as you get away from the stories. Pern seemed substantial enough to go on its own.) I'll always treasure that. A couple of years ago I gave them to the FP Gal to read. She devoured them, so they must still hold up. If you're looking for some good young adult reading, this is an excellent series. All...

If anyone is curious, here is where things stand now: My computer is dead, dead, dead. Or at least the amount of money that I would need to spend on fixing it is close enough to the price of a new one that this is the route that I'll go. Hope to get that done this week. I've been using the FP Gal's laptop off and on this week. She has been very good to share it with me. But I'm soooooo ready to be back with my piece of hardware. My own bookmarks and music and so on and so forth. Yep. Everyone in the house feels good right now (knocks on wood). We had a rolling bout of something but it seems to have rolled away. One casualty of both sickness and dead computer is my Nanowrimo attempt this year. Between the two of them I found myself about 7000 words behind. And that's even before the busy stuff of birthdays and Thanksgiving. I don't feel bad about this. There were truly events that I just couldn't overcome. The FP Gal is still posting so you can go to her blog...

To the FP Gal! I hope that you have a wonderful next year with many blessings.

Yesterday morning when I went to wake up my computer it wouldn't wake up. It still hasn't. I'm looking into fixing it but nothing yet. Not sure if it's easy enough to fix on our own or if I'll need experts. So I've been on internet withdrawl for the past couple of days and it's not pretty. Obviously, posting may be light to non-existent until I get this all fixed.

Joni Mitchell popped up on my iTunes tonight (yes it did, don't judge) and brought to mind my on and off search for a part of the Vancouver Olympics opening ceremony. For some reason the bit where they celebrate the prairie is simply hard to find. It featured an acrobat from Montreal doing big wire sailing movements above movies of fields of grain. All of this set to 'Both Sides Now'. Very beautiful stuff. Anyway, here it is . They won't let me embed so you'll have to click through. Not the best, I'm afraid. I wish I could get the actual feed from NBC but that seems to be beyond my google-fu. This is the best I can do. Enjoy!

This is the most interesting thing I've read today . I think early in our relationship I gave the FP Gal Rand's 'Anthem' to read. She gave me Lowry's 'The Giver'. Interesting that we exchanged small dystopian novels. Since then I've pushed some other books on her because, well, I'm a book pusher.

(Thought I posted this yesterday but I must not have. Ah well, there goes NaBloPoMo!) On Sunday the FP Gal went out with her mom while I watched the kids and some football. At one point this exchange happened: Relia: DF is poking me with a knife! Me: Well, move away from him then. After the play was over, I walked over to see what was happening. DF had gotten a steak knife from the counter and was now gently stabbing a door with it. I bravely wrestled it away from him and put it in the dishwasher. Later that day he dragged one of the forty chairs we have in the downstairs area into the kitchen. He then opened up the silverware drawer and got out another knife, this one only for butter. We gave him the 'no no no no' treatment and got it away from him. So we have an 18 month old who wants to search the drawers and seems to like knives. Nothing unheard of but a bit of a surprise for us since Relia never went through this. Live and learn, I guess. We've moved all of th...

I've posted about this list before, the top 200 songs that reached #1 on the charts. Each week I'd have the FP Gal try and guess the song from the teaser lyric that they would provide. She is a) pretty good at this and b) sad that the list is finally done. Because it is and they've revealed the final selection. I thought I'd share the final 20. 20. Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees 19. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics 18. Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel 17. American Pie - Don Maclean 16. SexyBack - Justin Timberlake 15. Don't Be Cruel - Elvis 14. I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett & the Heartbreakers 13. Hey Ya! - Outkast 12. Sweet Child o Mine - Guns n Roses 11. Heard it Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye Some solid songs and a few ridiculous ones. Both Timberlake and Outkast, well, ugh. I would have preferred a list that only went up to 2000. Would give us a chance to look back at least ten years to see how songs age. (Apparently they have s...

We took Mom's advice and went swimming today at the Edinborough Park pool. The kids loved it and it wasn't bad for us either. We spent at least an hour in the pool and Relia only touched the side for a few minutes of that. The rest was spent floating and kicking or being dragged through the water by mom and dad. I asked her later if she enjoyed it and she said, "didn't you see me smiling?". There were no family locker rooms so I took DF into the men's locker room. He did not care for the heavy plastic mat on the floor there. It was ouchy on the feet. He did like all of the locker doors (of course) and thought it was fun to shower with daddy. After we were done we left for home and he took a very long nap. The pool tuckered him out! I wonder if they have a four bedroom apartment there for the cost of our mortgage?

Yesterday I took Relia to a swim lesson. This will be the new routine on Friday mornings and it might be a bit hectic. The timing of the lesson and some other Friday things is very tight and we'll have to move a little fast to meet them. Which meant that for some period of time yesterday I had to act a bit like a mule driver ("Go, go! Put on your pants! Put on your shirt! We have to go!"). None of this had any effect on her. As we were putting her into the car I said exasperatedly, "Someday I will teach you the meaning of urgency." She simply said, "Not today!" I was laughing too hard at her to be upset. I only saw a bit of the lesson as I was chasing DF the whole time in an adjoining room. We watched briefly through the window though. Relia was happy as could be in the pool. She's really taking to these lessons and I wish I could figure out a pool our family could go to this weekend. DF thought that the Y was wonderful. Mostly because h...

Actual photo taken from our bathroom this morning.

This is Relia's current favorite song. At first I thought it was the upbeat timing of it that she really liked but it's also the whistle. She says that she likes the 'aaah-aaaah' part too. Not sure what she means but I won't question it. This all came about because only last week did I learn that Kate Bush put out a new album earlier this year. I knew that she has one coming out in a few weeks, but this one came as a surprise. It's called ' Director's Cut ' and features reworks of several of her songs from 'The Sensual World' and 'The Red Shoes'. I picked it up on iTunes and I'm digesting it (as we speak!). Any good? Some yes, some ok. The whole album is slower and more atmospheric, save for 'The Red Shoes' which sounds much like the original except for more speaking instead of singing. The only ones that really catch my ear so far are 'Deeper Understanding' which is improved and 'This Woman's Work...

Interesting article from the New Yorker on the virtue of rereading a book . Few would question looking at a great painting twice, or watching a favorite movie again and again. But, perhaps because rereading requires more of a commitment than giving something a second look, it is undertaken, as Spacks puts it, “in the face of guilt-inducing awareness of all the other books that you should have read at least once but haven’t.” It engages, she fears in her darker moments, a “sinful self-indulgence.” Never mind Nabokov, or Flaubert, who marvelled at “what a scholar one might be if one knew well only five or six books.” I've wrestled with that exact issue. Should I reread something or tackle something new. In the last five years or so I've very consciously tried to keep grabbing new stuff. After a while I fall into a rut and go back to something that I already know. Maybe I need to drop the guilt. Interestingly, I don't think that I have a feel for an album until I...

Here is an interesting article . AbeBooks tracked Harry Potter readers to see what they read after the Potter books. Any guesses? Well, they went practically everywhere. Top ten: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Covey Unbearable Lightness of Being - de Rossi The Bluest Eye - Morrison The Dukan Diet Recipe Book - Dukan The Postmistress - Blake Beloved - Morrison How to Stop Worrying and Start Living - Carnegie The Soloist - Lopez Cather in the Rye - Salinger Land of Painted Caves - Auel What I'd be more interested in is some idea of whether they bought more or less books than the average reader.

Update: actually I like this one more . . .

Relia and I sitting at the dining room table as she continues her quest to understand how knock-knock jokes really work. Relia: Knock-knock. Me: (wearily) Who's there? Relia: Um, um, (long pause as she thinks up a joke) - DF: (running from the other side of the house) KNOCK! KNOCK! (collides with my leg while looking supremely pleased with himself) Me: Hey buddy, who's there? DF: KNOCK KNOCK! We're trying hard to figure out humor over here.

This is from today's Astronomy Picture of the Day.

(Note, this post contains some politics but is meant in a light tone. Please take it as such.) An interesting post at NRO about what each of the candidates favorite movies are. The list is as follows: Herman Cain: The Godfather Michele Bachmann: Braveheart , “or maybe Saving Private Ryan ” Newt Gingrich: “Probably” Casablanca Rick Santorum: Field of Dreams Ron Paul: “I don’t watch many movies” Gary Johnson: Dr. Zhivago Mitt Romney: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Rick Perry: Immortal Beloved Barack Obama: Casablanca , The Godfather , Lawrence of Arabia , and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest If someone handed you this list and asked you to match it to the candidates it would be pretty tough to do so. As it probably should be. Both Obama and Gingrich like 'Casablanca' (as do I) but it almost certainly has to do with the witty writing and the love story more than any possible political reference. It made me think about what I'd answer if I was a candidate (don't ...

I'd like the kids to learn that when I open the refrigerator door to get them something it is not an invitation for them to jam their way in or open the door to it's widest possible angle. Not sure how to teach them this but as God as my witness; they will learn.

A couple of months back I had a conversation with my dad about our various e-readers. I made a point to him that old, classic books were usually free. To illustrate this I used the example of the Great Books of the Western World series. All of this, I proudly told him, was now free through my Kindle. Well, almost all of it. If you're not familiar with the series, back in the 50's a collection of the important books of Western civilization was put together by Encyclopedia Britannica. It stretches back to the ancient Greeks and is as far forward as the 19th century, ending with Freud. We had it while growing up and dad gave it to me about ten years ago or so. Here is wikipedia on it . The only thing not out there for free was the introductory book, called 'The Great Conversation' and two volumes that index the set by ideas. After talking to dad I cracked open the Conversation just to see what it gave me. To my great surprise it had a suggested reading plan. The s...

A few months back I ran across this concert on TV and DVR'd it. What a gorgeous and lush version of 'Roxane' here! Simply wonderful. This is my 'Calgon, take me away' video. For when the the kids are driving me a bit nuts. All you other at home parents have these types of things too, right?

I was able to watch most of today's game. The first half pretty closely, the second half had a lot of family stuff and then work. From what I saw I was very happy with the play of Ponder. The Vikes are not on the same level as the Packers but they certainly gave them a game. They obviously have some building blocks in place. After this loss they are 1-6 and certainly not a playoff contender. This has some fans dreaming of draft position for next year and I can't say that it hasn't crossed my mind too. At this point last year there were only five teams with either zero or one win. There were also five teams with two wins. Here is the list and their eventual draft position: Buffalo 0-6, drafted third San Fran 1-6, seventh Carolina 1-5, first Dallas 1-5, ninth Detroit 1-5, thirteenth Denver 2-5, second Cleveland 2-5, sixth San Diego 2-5, eighteenth Cincinnati 2-4, fourth Minnesota 2-4, twelfth After this week there will be six teams with either zero or one wins. There will als...

DF is picking up more and more words and the pace is accelerating. This means more conversation, some of it very funny. The best part is when you ask him a question and he very confidently says 'Noooo'. Occasionally he gives you a 'yeah' but not that often. If he bumps heads he pulls back and says 'sorry' (more like 'sah-ee' but you can tell what he means). He is also very clear about wanting 'up' or 'down' or 'outside'. Very, very clear. With this you can also do some basic bargaining. Things like offering food or reading a book instead of going right to bed. It also lets us reassure him that, yes, he too will be getting a snack when Relia does. My favorite bit is that he sometimes sings along with the music. Not often and he still has a lot to learn, but it's pretty sweet. We were kind of afraid that with Relia being so aggressively verbal, DF would be kind of quiet. If he didn't have to talk, why would he? In...

I remember we used to lay out the track when we'd have a snow day from school. Nothing like this though.

(We had tacos, not Ritz crackers. And DF learned how to say 'taco'.)

The latest Booker Prize winner was awarded yesterday. Congratulations to 'The Sense of an Ending' by Julian Barnes. I haven't read it nor any of the others this year so I have no opinion on its quality. From what I understand the author is very well regarded. I also take it that this years shortlist was widely panned. This has prompted quite a bit of soul searching as to what the Booker Prize should actually be looking for. Here's an intriguing answer from Jeanette Winterson. There are plenty of entertaining reads that are part of the enjoyment of life. That doesn't make them literature. There is a simple test: "Does this writer's capacity for language expand my capacity to think and to feel?" As I said, it's intriguing. Under this definition two of my favorite authors, Heinlein and Stephenson, would certainly qualify since they fit that exact quality. Each of them has expanded my 'capacity to think and feel'. I think Stephen Ki...

I should have mentioned that Nano starts in a couple of weeks. I'll keep the sales pitch brief and just send you to their site here . If you've ever been tempted, well, give it a try.

I just wrote out a post for CWT's travel blog regarding my bucket list of future travels. Don't remember when it will be published but I'll flag it when the time comes. It's a little embarassing because the whole thing reads like I've been watching too many of those retirement commercials where people have vineyards and backpack the silk road. Yeah, without winning the lottery, my list will go pretty unfulfilled. While I was mentally composing the list it struck me how different this list would have been just five years ago, before the kids started arriving. Back then I could dream of longer trips and riskier venues. If I was gone for six months the FP Gal would miss me. If I left her with three kids for six months, she'd probably kill me. Not that I'm complaining. There are compensations. The cross country road trip and the stay at Yellowstone will be different and better. Even the trip to DC will be better because I'll get to tap into their youthful wo...

After I picked up Relia today she quizzed me on her lunch. Relia: Guess what I ate today? Me: What? Relia: Peaches and pizza. Wanna know what was on the pizza? Me: Sure. Relia: Goop [our family word for sauce and cheese] and meat. Me: What kind of meat was it? Relia: Pizza meat!

Today, willfully and happily, Relia wore jeans to preschool.

Gorgeous shot from Vienna.

This morning I took Relia to the MOA while the FP Gal stayed home with DF. The one on one dynamic is an unusual thing for us now and in some ways much easier. We had more freedom of movement and fewer demands. Here are some of the things that happened: We stopped so I could get some coffee. They had a chalk board where people could write about their dreams. I asked her what she dreamed about, fully expecting her to say something about princesses or something. Nope, she simply said 'the sun'. I dutifully wrote that down. There was an older lady using two of those ski pole thingees as she walked. We met her as we were getting on an elevator. Relia: Why does she have those sticks? Me: Uh, it helps her. Nice lady: Do you like these? They help me walk. Relia: (pause while she tries to keep the conversation going) My Grandma D is still alive! Nice lady: Oh . . . ! Me: (shakes head and struggles for words while the door closes) Relia: I wish we could have talked with her lon...

Quick review and then some detail, ok? Neal Stephenson's latest is a kind of computer culture thriller. It reads like a cross between Clancy and a hacker magazine. With a little bump for the quality digressions that Stephenson is so well known for. It's a big book (1000+ pages) but reads quickly enough. It features not one, but two different action sequences that are at least 150 pages long. 'Reamde' isn't as mind stretchy as some of his recent stuff but it was well worthwhile. Now for some of the things that struck me (possible spoilers): The main family features three brothers that grew up in the farm country of Iowa. The family is extremely into gun culture. The opening scene features a Thanksgiving family reunion shooting range. Given where I grew up (and especially my in-laws!) I felt pretty at home with all of this. Lots and lots and lots of guns in this book. They are treated respectfully throughout. Both in terms of people being taught to use them ...

We had a nice and rumbly thunderstorm roll through here around lunch time today. Very nice. I was hoping it would stay through the afternoon but it didn't. Or at least it's done now and hasn't come back. The last few weeks have featured oddly warm weather. Especially for October. Some nights were legitimately hot. I confided to the FP Gal that I was ready for something cooler and it may have arrived. I could go for a nice killing frost actually. Get rid of the wasps (a real problem for me this year!) and stop the fall allergy season. On the other hand, I don't want the really cold stuff that will be here in a few weeks either. Sigh.

Relia brought a bunch of crayon pictures home from preschool today. The top one on the pile was labeled 'American Robin' so I asked her what it was. Relia: It's a robin. Me: What color is its tummy? Relia: Its tummy is red. Me: And what color is your tummy? Relia: Golden!

Inspired by the comments from this post , I'd like to write about when good bands go bad. These are some of my favorite bands/singers and some of their music that I just can't stand. Tears for Fears, 'Shout' - I don't like the rhythm or the message. And this song just got played into the ground. In the pre-cassette days I'd fast forward through it. Naked Eyes, 'Always Something There (to Remind Me)' - Liked this song just fine when it first came out. Then it got overplayed. Even later it became one of the most popular song on retro '80s radio. Gah. Sting, 'Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot' - This isn't one of his biggies, true. It came from his 'Mercury Falling' album which was mostly very strong. Only two bad songs and Sting went ahead and released one as a single. I'd scratch this one right off of the disk. REM, 'Happy Shiny People' - Maybe a stretch to call them a favorite band but I liked a lot of what they did...

The UN can be a scary place.

Rolling Stone conducted a poll of its readers to find out what the worst songs of the 80's were. Ready? 10. Rick Astley - 'Never Gonna Give You Up' No real argument here, it's not a good song. However, it really isn't any worse than most of the awfulness that was popular around '88 and '89. My guess is it stands out now because of the rick-rolling craze. 9. Taco - 'Puttin' On the Ritz' This wouldn't have gotten my vote. It's certainly not a great song but it isn't bad. In fact, it has some good ol' nostalgia going for it. 8. Toni Basil - 'Mickey' I'll disagree here too. This song still has wonderful pep and energy. Would not have gotten my vote. 7. Bobby McFerin 'Don't Worry Be Happy' I have dim memories of this song being overplayed back in the day but it doesn't bother me now. Sorry, not on my list. 6. Falco - 'Rock Me Amadeus' This song has been in heavy rotation on the '80s ...

I think this is how Ozzie sees himself.

We're still working on alphabet stuff with Relia. She's more and more interested in what letters go with what words. We often will say 'what sound does it start with' and then matching that up with the correct letter. So the other day we were talking and whales came up. It went something like this: Me: What sound does 'whale' start with? Relia: Wuh. Me: And what letter says 'wuh'? Relia: (pause) Um . . . I don't know. Me: It's a 'W'. That's a tough one. It doesn't say its own name. Relia: (pause) That's because it doesn't have a face. True that, little girl. True that.

Tuesday is Nana day so after I picked up the kids I dropped Relia off at the FP Gal's parents house. DF hates this (he wants to stay too) so I tried to cheer him up by taking him to a park. We had the park all to our lonesomes, which was odd since it was a nice day. Not that big of a deal since he really isn't dependend on finding new friends yet. And in some ways it was nice since I didn't have to dodge someone else's little darling while keeping him from tipping off of a platform. We did the slides and the swings and (his favorite!) the steering wheel. We walked around for a bit. This park is right next to a large playing field, currently striped for football. No one was there so we walked out there. After some time he got tired and wanted to be carried. So up on my shoulders and we took a long route back to the car. Nuh-uh! When I tried to put him in he tried to shut the door. DF was not done at the park! So we walked back to the equipment and I let him lead me to wh...

Relia: Dad, can we got to West Virginia? Me: Probably some day. Relia: Good. I really want to go their so I can make some cousins. Me: (pause) 'Make some cousins'? Relia: Yes, I want to go their and make some cousins. I asked her how you 'make' cousins. She told me that you talk to them and be nice to them and then come back a few days later and do it again.

An interesting article from Neal Stephenson on our society's inability to do 'the big things' as well as we used to. My lifespan encompasses the era when the United States of America was capable of launching human beings into space. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on a braided rug before a hulking black-and-white television, watching the early Gemini missions. This summer, at the age of 51—not even old—I watched on a flatscreen as the last Space Shuttle lifted off the pad. I have followed the dwindling of the space program with sadness, even bitterness. Where’s my donut-shaped space station? Where’s my ticket to Mars? Until recently, though, I have kept my feelings to myself. Space exploration has always had its detractors. To complain about its demise is to expose oneself to attack from those who have no sympathy that an affluent, middle-aged white American has not lived to see his boyhood fantasies fulfilled. He talks about the various ways that...

Today was the Twin Cities marathon and our little family went down to the creek to cheer on the runners. I took Relia last year and she enjoyed it (I think the FP Gal and DF stayed home). This year we all went and it went pretty well. We parked and walked down to the course where we found a curb to sit on. The FP Gal and I cheered on the marathoners but the kids were quiet at first. I fully expected DF to get into it but he seemed more baffled than anything else. After a bit Relia got into it. Especially once we started pointing out names on shirts so we could make some cheers personal. DF finally warmed up and wanted to rush onto the street. We steered him away and let him run around near some trees. Eventually the trees got Relia's attention too and we were pretty much done with the runners. I'm sure the runners appreciate the cheering. They certainly seem to. But I can't help feel strange to sit there and watch ordinary people making huge effort. They run past...

We put a deposit down on a new car today. Well, new for us; technically a used car. The FP Gal wrote about it here . Not a fancy car, but one that will serve our needs and give us the space needed for a third car seat. The most astonishing thing about it and what made us move so quickly is that it is a used car with only 2000 miles on it. As far as we can figure it was only driven to church on Sundays by a family of seven. The inside looks very nice and the thing is functional as all get out. It's red, like the car in the picture in the link. I suggested that we name it Cherry Baby, but the FP Gal has protested.

Tonight while the FP Gal and I were finishing up dinner, Relia came up to DF and and loudly 'whispered' in his ear to distract us for a minute. He of course had no idea what she was talking about so he ran off. She then decided that it was up to her to do the distracting so she put on an impromptu dance. We never did figure out what she was up to.

I checked out this friendly map and I'm still having trouble figuring out who to root for in the playoffs. I'll give it a shot though: 8. Yankees. Ugh. 7. Phillies. Double ugh. 6. Brewers. Yeah, it's been awhile since they've been good. But we get enough smugness from Packers fans without them suddenly finding out about baseball. 5. Cards. Actually, this is about the point where I don't care if they do or they don't. 4. Tigers. See point four. 3. Diamondbacks. Again, see point four. 2. Rangers. In the same category as the previous three. 1. Rays. Because it might help them out of the ugliest stadium in baseball.

Today's happy place.

Tonight Mom complained that Facebook has changed the way we communicate. She misses the blog posts and emails. And frankly, if she was on Twitter, she'd feel it even moreso. Well, I don't miss the email as much but I do miss the blogging. I'm not sure what to do about it though. Other forms seem to offer better methods of getting info out. This is how I see it: Blogging: long form entries and things with a permanent record. Pictures (which would include personal pictures if we had a camera set up that I could work). Facebook: Shorter entries. Heavier emphasis on humor, especially funny kid stories. Links to articles and the occasional video. Twitter: Retweets and very short messages. Heavier political and sports content. Frankly the later two are easier. The quick hit form is more fun and better suited to my parenting duties. I worry that I'll miss having the record of those memories though. Would it bug you folks if I simply cross posted things on both Face...

There might be some crankiness here; probably will be. You've been warned. This is Banned Book Week. You may have heard about this somewhere or other. For me it's been from the Half Price Books twitter feed, where they've been promoting it like it's going out of style. Which is kind of ironic because the actual practice of banning books has gone out of style. What do I mean? Well, if you look at the list starting here , you'll see what I mean. Is there anything here that you can't buy on Amazon today? No? Well how can that be, seeing as how they are banned books? The reason is simple, these are all cases of things that were banned in the past, most of them more than a generation ago. At least one was 'banned' because a single Barnes & Noble store didn't want to stock it. That reflects bad judgment on on the part of that single store but it's far from a book being 'banned'. (By the way, if I go to the feminist bookstore at...

A couple of weeks ago when we went garage saling, I bought a 1000 piece puzzle. I'm not a huge puzzle fan but occasionally they scratch a particular itch like nothing else will. This one was a ' mizrah ', which is an ornamental Jewish wall hanging. (If you're curious, it looks similar but different than the one at the link.) Traditionally it should be hung on the eastern wall to remind prayers which way Jerusalem is. This will be useful when I someday convert to Judaism. Anyway, I've been pecking away at it up in my third floor abode for the past week or so and this morning I finished it. Or at least came as close to finishing as I will. The durn thing only has 999 pieces. I remember the house we got it from and I'm tempted to write to them and see if they still have the lone piece rattling around somewhere in their house.

From what I can tell, this is in Marseilles. (Quick story, I just booked a flight there last night. The airport code is MRS, which makes no sense given French abbreviations. They should have MME but that's being used by a regional airport in the UK.)